The following is a non-profit, fan-made work for the purposes of entertainment. Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP and Madhouse. Please support the official release.

Contents

Part 1: "Christmas Wonders", the original fourteen-year-old version. Posted 22/Feb/2004.
Part 2: "Winter Wonderland", the re-edited version. Posted 15/Mar/2019.

For a reimagining of this work, see 'Cocoon' on my main account Scarlettpeony (link in profile).

Wonderland

A/N: This is the re-edited version. The plot is essentially the same though I have tried to fix the issues with characters acting "OOC" and the flipping between which holiday they are celebrating.

"Time to go to the park!" Sakura beamed, as they exited the complex.

Syaoran smiled; Tomoyo filmed; both followed her towards the door.

"It's a shame Meiling can't come," Sakura then said as the walked out. "She'll miss the fireworks... and she was looking forward to it!"

"Yeah," Syaoran murmured, looking back up at the building. "She was looking forward to it. I made her some milk and honey before we left; it did wonders when I was ill."

Sakura hugged his arm. She had given her mother's secret "Milk and Honey" recipe to him whenever he had a fever and he was well right away. Meiling on the other hand...

Tomoyo smiled sadly, too. "I offered to stay with her but she said she'd feel bad if I missed the fun."

"Me too," Syaoran sighed.

"Well, she didn't want you to miss your heart-throbbing date with Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo giggled.

Syaoran blushed.

Tomoyo continued, "She said for the four of us to go out there and have fun watching the fireworks for her. She said I should just make sure to film it for her so we can all watch it again later together."

"Meiling has always been a good friend," Sakura sighed.

She felt a little guilty to be having fun without her and silently hoped Meiling would feel better soon.

The three of them walked on together towards the winter festival where the fireworks would be. They were going to meet Eriol in the park as it was his idea to go in the first place. All of them had been so excited when he told them about the fireworks. New Year's Eve was going to be great, but poor Meiling would have to miss it.

"I offered to stay, too," Kero added suddenly. "But she said I'd only make her headache worse."

He was angry when the others laughed at that.

"UGHHHHHHHHHH," Meiling cried in frustration.

She was shivering with a fever so much that it hurt. 'It really hurts,' she even thought to herself, 'I hardly ever get sick, I had almost forgotten how icky it is'. She hated missing the fun, too. That made it hurt even more.

Meiling felt her forehead. It was all clammy and stuffy and hot to touch. It was horrible to be ill during the Christmas season, almost as bad as being sick on a birthday. Meiling hated being sick; she didn't even like the attention it gave her. She'd rather get attention for doing something impressive, not looking gross and sick.

She hated missing out on the fireworks, really hated it, but she didn't want to ruin her friends' fun. She told them to go without her. Even as she said it, she felt sad though.

"It'd be nice to have company," she lamented.

Syaoran had offered to stay. So did Tomoyo. Even the dumb stuffed animal had offered. She refused them all. She brought it on herself.

Meiling closed her eyes and tried to think about how to best turn around this bad moment when the door rang. Her weary eyes opened. 'Who the heck?!' She hoped they'd go away but it rang again. Reluctantly, she pulled herself up and stumbled out her room in her nightdress, slippers and dressing gown.

She stumbled towards the door and opened it to the cold.

She looked up and saw a smiling figure.

"Happy New Year!" Eriol said with a closed-eyed smile. Then he opened them to see Meiling in her bedclothes. "I thought you guys had left already. You aren't even dressed!"

"The others did leave," Meiling told him trying to stay warm. "You can catch up with them." Her nose felt even more blocked in the cold.

Eriol's brow knotted; she looked terrible and worse still was by herself!

"You're sick?" he said obviously. He lifted his hand and placed it on Meiling's forehead. It was very hot, He flinched and the looked into her weary amber-red eyes. She looked like she'd bee crying. "You have a high fever! You should be in bed."

"I was," she groaned. "Til you rang the doorbell."

"Then I'll stay here with you and look after you," Eriol stated, stepping into the house and immediately taking off his shoes.

"Oh, no, you don't have to," Meiling sniffed. "I already refused three people-"

She was trying to sound well; she failed.

"Besides" Meiling went on, "Sakura, Daidouji-san and Syaoran are all waiting for you."

Trying to step away from him, she almost fell over with lack of strength. Eriol put his arm around her to keep her up. Meiling felt very flustered, now. She muttered something about him "just going" to make him leave. He knew it wasn't that she didn't him there. She just didn't want to ruin his fun.

Eriol shook his head, "No," he said, "You need to be taken care of. Plus, I don't mind missing the fireworks. Daidouji-san will film it and it's unfair you don't get to see them at the park. You wanted to see them more than any of us."

Meiling blushed.

Suddenly, Eriol picked her up, like the prince at the end of a movie, or a groom carrying a bride. Meiling felt her heart skip a beat as it had been a while since she'd bee carried this way.

He carried her to her bed and tucked the sheets around her. He wanted her to keep warm. It felt perfect like she was in a warm cocoon. She hoped after tonight she would come out healthy and well like a beautiful butterfly.

She smiled at him as sweetly as she thought she could. "Thank you, Hiiragizawa-kun."

Eriol nodded stiffly, then noticed that her mug was empty.

"Let me make you some tea. It will clear your stuffy nose."

He rushed as fast as he could to the kitchen to get the drink. It was like someone hit the fast-forward button on him and Meiling didn't understand why. She guessed that he was just a quick person. She was too.

Eriol was back so quickly with the tea that she wondered if he used magic. He helped her sit up and handed it to her.

"By the way," he said, "You can call me Eriol."

Meiling wasn't sure if she would, as she liked to be respectful of her elders as she knew he was. "Are you sure?"

"It would make me feel better, and besides, it is unfair for me to call you Meiling-chan without you using my first name."

She was surprised. "You never called me Meiling. You called me Li-san."

He smiled, "Can I call you Meiling, then?"

Meiling nodded and smiled. She took a sip of the green tea, its bitterness welcome. Eriol watched her as she did so like he was waiting for approval. She nodded, licking her lips. "Tastes great."

"Good," he nodded but kept staring, like she was some very rare creature. Meiling sipped each sip slowly, staying quiet. Not sure if she should be anxious, nervous or flattered?

After a while, she put the half-drunk mug down.

She looked at him and said, "Everything's unfair to you, but I don't being treated unfairly; it's been like that for a lot of my life." He looked confused. "You said it was unfair I didn't get to see the fireworks when you came in but this sort of thing happens to me a lot so you don't need to stay here because you feel sorry for me."

She smiled weakly.

This made Eriol feel sorrier... and drawn to her. She was a loud girl a lot of the time who said what she thought without thinking... but she was always thinking of others. Like Yuuko, he thought. "That's what Kaho used to say, too," he muttered under his breath.

Meiling pretended she didn't hear him. She didn't want to touch the subject of Miss Mizuki. Her sudden passing made everyone feel sad but it was worst of all for Eriol.

She looked at the clock; it was nearly twelve-forty. "Look, you still have time to catch the fireworks at the park if you run and the others will be wondering where you are."

Eriol shook his head again, "No. I'm not leaving you on your own. No matter what you say, it's still not fair."

"I don't mind."

"Clearly you do."

"But I'll live with it!"

Arguing with him, far from making her feel worse, actually made her feel better.

He looked at her sadly. "You're used to being left out or on your own, aren't you? I understand, Meiling." He used her name. "But today, you won't be left on your own. I don't want to leave you like this."

She knew why he felt this way. He probably thought if he had stayed with Kaho, perhaps by magic, she would have recovered. Seeing someone sick had to be hard for him.

Meiling smiled and put her hand on his. He felt tense by her touch.

"Thank you, Eriol," she finally said. "Really, really thank you."

She gave the hand one last squeeze and then let go.

Eriol felt a twinge go through his body when she had done that. Meiling picked up her cup, smiled at him. He couldn't help but think how cute she was when she did that. He felt guilty for thinking it.

"You are a good friend," she added.

Eriol smiled back. He then moved closer to her smile, like in a trance. Meiling moved just a little backward, she didn't know why it was her instinct.

Eriol snapped out of staring at her, and unchararstically became flustered. He jerked back into his chair.

"So you... you... um... came from Hong-Kong, like Li-kun?" he coughed out. "It's a place I've always been fond of. A great city. Historic and vibrant."

His awkwardness made Meiling chuckle nervously. "I wish I could say I've been to your homeland, too."

"England?"

"Yep," Meiling nodded. "I always wanted to travel and it'd be cool to go there. We speak English in Hong Kong so I hope it'd be easy to get around. They have museums, castles, gardens, rolling hills, green grass, fresh air-"

"I know," Eriol chuckled.

"Um, yeah, of course, you know," Meiling said. Now she was the awkward one. "You must miss it. It feels like living in Wonderland."

Eriol listened to her say how much she loved the book 'Alice in Wonderland'. "I love the story and I'd read it to myself when I was a little girl. I had one with the pictures and just loved the image of Alice in her puffy dress, falling down into the middle of the earth." She stopped and looked at Eriol, worried she was rambling. "Sorry, it's silly."

"It's not," he told her. "And how about this? I'll take you there someday. To your wonderland."

Meiling laughed at the idea. "Thanks, you're cheering me up."

"I mean it. If it would make you happy to see England then I'll show it all to you," Eriol went on.

Meiling didn't believe it.

"I can't stand cold winters," she said suddenly.

"We have Summer there, too, you know."

"I hear that London is crowded," she then said,

"No more than Hong Kong," he pointed out. "Besides, we'll stay in the countryside. With those rolling hills, you like the idea of."

Meiling grabbed her mug again to hide her face. "Stop teasing me."

"I'm not, I promise. I'd be happy to have you in England."

Meiling looked up and his eyes met hers. Like magnets, they seemed to move closer and closer together. Then it happened. It actually happened. They kissed. Lips touching, hearts hammering, palms sweating - though maybe that was just Meiling's fever - kissing.

They yanked away from each other.

"I'm sorry!" Eriol said.

"It's fine," Meiling promised.

"No, no," he got to his feet. "No, that was wrong of me. I'm sorry."

She felt bad that he regretted it so much because she didn't. She felt that she might have liked to kiss him again but...

"It's fine," Meiling promised. "I'll forget it."

"No, but," he clenched his fist, then opened it. "I... don't want to forget it. I haven't kissed anyone since-" he paused, pale skin red as Meiling's feverish complexion. "Since she..."

Finally, Meiling understood.

She looked down and smiled, thinking about what to say next. Seeing the clock again and then glancing at her window, she decided she wanted to take his mind off his guilt. Like he had off her loneliness.

"Hey, the fireworks will be starting soon..."

"I told you, I don't want you to be alone-"

"No, I know," she nodded. "But, you know, we can probably see them from my window."

She looked towards it. Eriol finally looked up. After a second he got what she meant.

Meiling held up her cup.

"I can show you where the hot chocolate is, too." And she winked.

"It's nearly midnight!" Tomoyo called over to Sakura and Syaoran.

The two of them were warming their hands on paper cups of hot chocolate.

Syaoran was looking around.

"I wonder where Eriol got to? I hope he's not sick, too," Sakura pondered.

"Yeah, it doesn't seem like he turned up," Syaoran agreed. "But I think he would have called if he was sick."

Just then, the crowd broke into their chant of the countdown.

Tomoyo continued to film, "It is strange. Maybe he decided to call in on Meiling on the way here?"

"And decided to stay with her?" Kero scoffed.

"I hope she's alright," Sakura suddenly said. "We should head home as soon as the fireworks are over."

The countdown got to ten.

Syaoran took her hand and smiled. "We will."

"Smile!" Tomoyo said in-between counting. "She's going to see this."

Five.

"Three, two..." Tomoyo sang.

"One," they all said.

The crowd burst into cheers and the fireworks shot up into the sky, and Tomoyo caught every second... of 'Syaoran and Sakura's New Year's Celebration Hug and Kiss' it all out. The perfect shot. Meiling would appreciate this so she could tease them later.

Meiling was right.

They could still see the fireworks just about. They sipped hot-chocolates as they watched quietly.

Meiling was already feeling better. Eriol was relieved his earlier moment of weakness hadn't resulted in him having to flee in shame. It had been fun talking with her... and... then the kiss.

Now it was just fun to be near her.

Would Kaho be happy for him? He wasn't ready to think about that right now.

"Meiling," he said.

She turned to look at him, "Yeah?"

"I really will invite you to England one day soon."

"Keep saying that and I'll hold you do it."

"Please do," he smiled. "Though, it would be nice if you could be convinced to come in Winter. Then, I could show you a whole other side to those rolling hills."

Meiling moved closer to him, "As long as I'm wrapped up warm, I'm sure I'll survive."

He smirked.

"Yes," and he placed a hand on top of hers. "In winter, it really does become a very different Wonderland. It would be a shame to miss it."

Re-edited 15/Mar/2019.