Standard Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this fanfiction belong to their rightful owners, not me.

Heaven Sent

Chapter 1: Angels

A rude, loud knock woke Kinomoto Sakura up from her deep sleep. The 25-year-old moaned in her sleep, as if to chase away the unwelcomed visitor and his irritating knocking. She buried her brunette head under the pillow to shut the noise up.

But the knocking did not stop.

Even though Sakura was usually a bright and cheerful person, waking her up early in the morning was never really a known method to bring out her happy and outgoing personality. Getting out of her small, mussed up bed, Sakura straightened her yellow pajamas as well as her short brown locks. She rubbed her eyes and placed her hand on the cold doorknob. In her mind, she was already practicing her lines to say to this person. She would tell him—or her—to go away for the time being and let her go back to her peaceful sleep.

And her wonderful dream. Wait, she wouldn't tell him that. That would stray from the point.

"Good morning, Ms. Kinomoto," the face of old Mrs. Sawada greeted her and a smell of freshly baked cookies filled the air. All of the sudden, Sakura's planned speech was forgotten. She stood there like a gaping idiot or in milder words, a goldfish in a goldfish bowl.

"Good morning, Mrs. Sawada," Sakura smiled sweetly. She could never banish the friendly old lady away from her doorstep. For one, she owned the place where she was staying. For another, she was her first ever friend here and she was really nice for a landlady. Today, the old landlady decided to put on a sunny yellow dress, which complemented her hazel brown eyes. Compared to her attire, Sakura looked like a wilted flower. The younger woman had the sudden urge to excuse herself and change into a more presentable outfit. "What brings you here this early in the morning?"

"Oh, I just wanted to give you these cookies. I baked a lot of them and I hate to see them go to waste." The old lady's face crinkled into a warm smile. She handed Sakura a plate of yummy, delicious carriers of calories.

"Why, thank you!" Sakura smiled back as she took the plate from Mrs. Sawada.

"That's all, dear. Merry Christmas to you." That was the last thing she said before she left.

ooOOoo

It was amazing how that simple sentence sent our brunette heroine to take a bath—a quick one, at that—and hop into the first taxi she saw to go to the nearest mall. Well, okay maybe the second taxi. The first time she hopped in a taxi she realized she wasn't even in a taxi.

"Darn it!" the girl cursed herself once she was seated inside a real taxi. "I totally forgot that I was supposed to buy everyone's presents today! I overslept!!" Sakura raised her hand and ran it through her still-wet brown tresses. She took out her Christmas list—the back of a supermarket receipt—and studied it. Sakura always had a lot of friends but she knew that with the kind of money she was earning, giving each of them presents would probably send her to a cardboard box for a house in the sidewalk with an empty can of old soup to earn money. The thought made the girl shudder.

Traffic was heavy and it was no doubt that Sakura will not reach the mall as early as she wanted to. To pass the time, she studied her "Christmas list". Of course, on top of her list was the name she had gotten used to almost all her life.

Tomoyo Daidouji

Tomoyo was known for being an excellent singer, a good cook and a superb friend. She was Sakura's best friend since the creation of man and Sakura doubts that would ever change. The cherry blossom already had the habit of running to Tomoyo every time she has a problem and she always did have this habit of talking to Tomoyo about everything that happened to her during the day. To summarize Tomoyo's role in Sakura's life, she was a diary, a pillow and a boom box, all in one. And Sakura loved her for that.

Next to Tomoyo's name was…

Eriol Hiirigizawa

That was no surprise. No lovesick girl would ever forget to give her boyfriend a gift for Christmas. The thought made Sakura blush. She and Eriol have been going out for three months now and Sakura enjoyed witty conversations with him, although most of the time it was Eriol who was talking, as well as the unexpected yet romantic moments that passed between them. Eriol was strong, independent yet gentle and sensitive at the same time. Sakura learned to appreciate that in him. He was never the type to forget and his creative ideas always make Sakura feel loved. Except for the time that he thought her cousin was a guy and actually gave him condoms for his birthday gift… cough Enough about that. Speaking of Eriol, they were supposed to meet for lunch today. The cherry blossom was already looking forward to it.

Below Eriol's name was her brother's, Kinomoto Touya

Back when she was still in school, Touya was the one who was always there for her. Their father was a busy man and Sakura knew better than to complicate his life with her problems. It was complicated to begin with. But Touya, Touya was different. He was ready to listen and even though he constantly teased her by calling her rude names, Sakura knew he cared. Presently, the girl wonders if she could say the same. After Sakura's graduation, Touya had moved to his new flat. As expected, Yukito's was not very far away. There were times that Touya would remember her and drop by her apartment but right now, there seems to be a few conflicts regarding his job. Sakura understood but she couldn't help but wish that he will drop by her place this Christmas.

Next to Touya's name, of course, was Tsukishiro Yukito's

Even back then, Touya and Yukito were inseparable. They were a duo and one wasn't really complete without the other. Somehow like Tomoyo and Sakura. The girl remembered the old times when she had a crush on Yukito. She had to laugh at herself for that. Now, they were good friends and if it was sensible to buy Touya a gift, it was more sensible to buy Yukito one.

"We're here," The driver in front announced in a gruff voice. He held his hand out, with his palm open. Sakura eyed his hand and then smiled at him. She took out a few bills from her purse and placed it on his large, calloused hand.

"Thank you and Merry Christmas!" Sakura greeted before she left the vehicle. The driver only nodded.

She straightened her outfit first, a mismatched pair of her shirt and skirt—the first things she laid her hands on. Checking her things, she secured her purse under her arm and looked up at the tall building that blocked out most of the sunlight. People were continuously rushing in and out of the doors, carrying packages of all shapes and sizes. Children were being dragged by mothers, couples snuggling in each other's arms. With the wind blowing cold on her pale face, Sakura smiled.

Christmas was finally here.

ooOOoo

"Excuse me," Sakura tried to squeeze through the crowd of people, all waiting to exit the mall. Her hands clutched her packages tighter. In an odd way, Sakura felt proud holding those packages. They were the fruits of her hard work, after waiting in line for about half an hour and arguing with one lady that she was not her child, Sakura felt a great admiration for herself for completing her list. But she did get somewhat annoyed by Christmas shopping and its hassles. No pain, no gain.

Sakura felt someone push behind her shoulder and she just sighed, knowing that she couldn't do anything but wait. She was slowly nearing the door and the girl suddenly felt excited to leave. She would be meeting Eriol in a few minutes and then, she would head back to her apartment to wrap everyone's presents. In the midst of the pushing crowd and the loud noises, the girl managed to take a deep breath as well as a peek at her watch. Her emerald green eyes widened as she saw the time. She was late! She was late for her date with Eriol!

She stood on her tiptoes. Good, the crowd had managed to exit through the small door. Her turn was coming up soon. Just be patient. When the big man in front of her finally got through the doors, Sakura took another deep breath before completely leaving the mall. She was finally getting ready to hail a taxi when she realized that she was standing in line to wait for taxis to pass by. The bad thing is, there were about fifty or so people waiting and she was last in line.

I'm late, Sakura told herself again. Darn it, why now?

Sakura knew better than to pout and complain. She just had to be optimistic. There were a lot of public vehicles here just waiting to be ridden on. Peering at the long line, she frowned.

Okay, maybe thinking optimistically is not a good idea. What now?

Scanning the streets, she hoped for a taxi—or anything to take her to Eriol—to appear. She had never been late for any of their dates before and it would be unfair to Eriol who was always on time if she didn't do anything. Sakura scowled. It would take ages for her to actually get inside a taxi. Just when she thought she had lost all hope, she saw a flash of yellow in the corner of her eye. She saw a waiting, empty taxi on the other side of the road! Without any other thought, she took a step then another, crossing the street with no other thought in mind except that she was late.

She stepped on the road to dash to the other side, just like the chicken.

But unlike her, there was no taxi rushing towards chicken. And if there was, the driver would've noticed the chicken. The taxi in Sakura's situation though, was different. And unlike the chicken, Sakura did not get to the other side of the road.

ooOOoo

The last thing she remembered was the white ceiling and those very bright, annoying lights. She remembered the knocking from this morning and the thought caused her head to ache more. Something inside of her was urging her to close her eyes but she thought otherwise. She wanted to know where she is and how she got here.

She couldn't sleep yet.

No, she told the voice in her head. I don't want to yet. She explained.

But the voice continued on and on, like a distant echo. Sakura's head was aching and so were the rest of her body. She was dead tired… if so, why won't she just go to sleep? Sakura felt her eyebrows knit a scowl. The voice was starting to get irritating.

NO! she said. NO!

But the voice was too strong and she can't deny the call of sleep any longer. All of the sudden, she felt her eyelids get heavy. Where am I? What am I doing here?

No, she whimpered. I want my mom… or my dad… or Touya… I want them… Where are they?

No, she pleaded. Not yet. I want to see Tomoyo. I want to see Eriol.

The voice became louder and firmer and the urge to close her eyes was too powerful to ignore now. Sakura wanted to go to sleep but at the same time, she didn't want to. She wanted somebody, anybody. She could hear faint noises but couldn't exactly pinpoint where it was coming from and what was causing it.

And finally, when she couldn't hold it any longer, she felt her eyes close and she surrendered to the sweet call of sleep.

Then everything went black…

ooOOoo

A/N: What do you think? It sucks? It's just something I thought of one night. Leave a review, I'll accept anything you have to say. :D

ELIE