A/N: I don't know what's been up with me this week! My computer has turned into a vomitarium of Yue stories... and there's another one up my sleeve, too...

Anyhow, I've been watching a lot of my old CC videos recently, and I started to draw strange parallels between two of the unlikeliest characters. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, especially if you're like me and have a bit of a onesided Yue-Sakura bias. This is not a romance fic. I suppose you can interpret it that way if you want to, but I didn't write it to be romance. More a meeting of minds.

Anyhow, enjoy!

Rr x

Interlude

Unrequited love prompts an unlikely meeting between two very ill-matched people – who said the best commiseration is from someone you know? One-sided Yue Sakura and Mei Ling Syaoran, plus the obligatory mention of S+S.

It was dark in this stretch of parkland, but the girl could see the gravel path illuminated faintly before her, and her tread was sure. Ahead, she could see the dense avenue of trees that wound round a corner and led to a small ornamental lake, normally one of the park's most popular attractions. At this hour it would be deserted.

Mei Ling Li turned down the cuffs on her coat and made a beeline for the avenue. It wasn't unseasonably cold, but Tomoeda always felt chilly to her after the oppressive humidity of Hong Kong.

She'd needed to get away. To get out, even if only for a night. It was becoming impossible, sleeping in that place – the apartment that her aunt had chosen years before when the Clow Card fiasco had begun – to know that he was so close, just on the other side of the wall. Wishing that she could make the partition vanish, and have him look up and smile at her… even just a smile would send her to cloud nine…

Oh Syaoran, Syaoran, Syaoran.

She reached the end of the avenue, saw the lake twinkling. She sat on the bank and watched the water ripple.

She'd accepted a long time ago that the person she was in love with didn't love her back. Someone else received those gentle looks that she'd ached for all her life. And while Mei Ling had long since given up on her rivalry with Sakura and cherished her as a friend, the wound was still there and it still would not go away.

Through the trees on the other side of the lake she could see the street that led to the centre of town. Syaoran had taken Sakura out to dinner tonight, and they'd probably walk back home this way. She was bound to see them if she stayed here. Sometimes she could be such a glutton for punishment…

Out of nowhere, a flash of white flickered in the corner of her eye – she swung round, startled, to see that what she had taken for a pillar of the old bandstand was in fact something moving. A person.

"Who's there?" She called, suddenly feeling nervous. Hadn't she learnt long ago that walking around on your own at night was stupid, even in Tomoeda?

As the moon peeped out from behind the heavy cloud, the lake was bathed in light, and her eyes came to rest on the most unexpected person of all.

"Yue? What – what on earth are you doing out here?"

"I might ask you the same," came the cool reply.

She stood up, relieved and confused and tongue-tied all at the same time. She had never really spoken much to the elusive Moon Guardian before – her conversations (or arguments, rather) had all been with Kero, the Sun Guardian. She found Yue rather intimidating.

But she suddenly didn't want that to go on any longer. She was finished with intimidation. She had been cowed by Syaoran and even Sakura, and all it had done was make her feel inadequate. So she looked him square in the eye, and found it wasn't as bad as she'd thought.

"Bit restless," she said truthfully, sitting down again. "You?"

He seemed a little surprised by her familiarity, though not unwelcoming. Perhaps he was as fed up with being intimidating as she was with being intimidated.

"The same," he admitted, sitting next to her on the grass, albeit rather formally. "I don't think you should be out here on your own," he added with a sideways glance of admonishment.

"I'm not on my own. I'm with you."

His eyes narrowed. "That's not the point," he said dryly. "You obviously didn't know I'd be here. You want to be careful."

Mei Ling recognised the well-meaning behind the words, but Yue's tone was far from friendly and she was tired of admonishments. "You mean like you, out in your true form for all to see? Oh yes, very sensible."

Yue looked affronted and opened his mouth to snap back – but to her surprise, stopped himself. "Touché," he sighed, looking out at the lake with a decidedly un-Yueish expression.

They sat in silence for a moment, as if they'd both suddenly realised the awkwardness of the situation. The pause became ridiculous.

"So... why are you feeling restless?" asked Mei Ling, more to fill the gap than anything.

"Nothing to concern yourself with," Yue said stiffly, looking straight ahead and plucking at the grass with one hand.

"Well, we're both sitting here and neither of us looks like we're going to leave, so you might as well tell me," Mei Ling pointed out.

"I don't quite think I shall be spilling my inner thoughts to any foolishly-wandering girl I happen to meet by sheer coincidence," Yue disparaged, his tone turning haughty.

"Oh, how high and mighty we are," snapped Mei Ling in retaliation, half shocked at her own boldness and half thinking he should have been spoken to like this a long time ago. "You're just as bad as Kero. No magic means I'm not worth your time, does it? Well, for all their magic the others don't seem to be very good at seeing what's right in front of their noses! Coincidence, is it, that you happened to pick this very spot for a bit of night-time rumination?"

Yue jerked round, taken-aback. "What do you mean?" he said with a high edge to his voice. "I just happened to stop here."

"Yes," Mei Ling carried on, feeling some smug recklessness at the knowledge of what she was sure no-one, except possibly Tomoyo, had noticed. "And I suppose the fact that Syaoran and Sakura will be passing this way has nothing to do with it."

She couldn't quite tell in the moonlight, but it seemed like Yue had gone even paler than normal. "I didn't even know they were out," he said icily.

"Yes you did," Mei Ling said moodily, her snappishness evaporating. "Sakura mentioned it to Yukito yesterday. Unless you were choosing not to listen; it's not nice hearing the person you like talking about a date that isn't with you."

Yue was pale and silent; it looked like he was struggling for words. "I don't – that has nothing–"

"It's ok. I won't press it. I know exactly what you're going through."

Yue was silent for a minute or so. Then, his voice sounded quiet and defeated: "How…?"

"It's easy to spot when you've been feeling this way for years," Mei Ling said softly, her eyes taking on the sad acceptance that so often haunted her these days. "I know it inside out and back to front. All the little things that you do, spend hours over, hoping they'll see and praise you for it, but when the times comes they don't notice at all… little slip-ups when you talk to them that you don't even bother to hide anymore, because you know they'll never pick up on them and won't care even if they do… The nervousness you feel before you see them, and how angry and ashamed you are for feeling that way because you know it's so pointless – they'll never feel nervous or excited when they see you. I know it like I know my own face. And I'm so sick and tired of it, because it'll never go away."

Yue had looked away. He's not interested, she thought. He's probably embarrassed for me. He's going to just get up and leave. God, how humiliating. Why can't I just shut up? What is wrong with me?

But Yue did not get up, and when he spoke, his voice was soft.

"The Li boy… does he know?"

"Of course. I've never made a secret of it. He just doesn't care, that's all. He's only got eyes for your golden girl. Perfect Sakura."

"Don't snipe at her," Yue said sharply, his defensive wall coming back up.

"Oh – I didn't mean it," Mei Ling said helplessly, fighting back the intimidation that had risen again at his tone. "I love Sakura, I really do. And I stopped feeling jealous a long time ago. But I've never stopped… well… wanting what she has."

"No," Yue said. Mei Ling was astonished at how miserable he sounded. She'd never imagined he could be anything other than the cool, composed guardian of their adventures so long ago. "I don't suppose you do."

"At least she likes being with you," Mei Ling coaxed, trying to cheer him up.

Yue hesitated, suddenly stiffening. "Do the others know… what you know? I mean, is it so obvious?" He sounded quite alarmed.

"No. I'm pretty sure. The only person who might see is Tomoyo, but she's even less likely to bring it up than you are."

"I would not have picked you out as so perceptive," Yue mused, rather carelessly since it was a less than flattering comment.

"Oh, here we go again," snapped Mei Ling, the familiar tide of resentment washing over her. "Stupid, non-magical, loudmouth Mei Ling. She wouldn't notice if a hippo tapdanced over her roof. There's no chance that she'd actually care about what those around her are thinking and feeling. She's jealous of Sakura, so that must make her a bad person. God! I'm not stupid, you know! I saw the signs a mile off!"

"Alright!" Yue said, sounding startled and also quite sorry. "I didn't mean that the way it came out. I just mean – well, we've never really spoken. And you do seem to be rather…"

"…Obnoxious? Loud? Threatened? Self-confident?"

Yue actually cracked a small smile. "You're definitely not self-confident. I think you're far more insecure than you let on."

"Who isn't... but I'm obnoxious and loud, right?"

She was amazed to hear Yue chuckle. "Only when you put on a front. I can tell that much, you know. I'm not stupid either."

As they smiled tentatively at eachother, they both simultaneously realised how utterly bizarre this situation was. There was another awkward silence.

"This is weird," Mei Ling said stiltedly after the lengthy pause. "I never thought you'd be one to… well… chat. If you want to know, I was always sort of scared of you."

"Well, I don't make a habit of – what did you call it? – chatting," Yue said curtly. "And if you want to know, it's not easy being the one everyone's terrified of."

"Well, you don't exactly make it easy, do you?" Mei Ling scolded, getting some of her boldness back. If she could have told herself yesterday that she'd actually be chastising the ice-cold Moon Guardian everyone was so afraid of… "You never let your guard down. You don't open up to people. And that unbearably superior deference you have… how someone can claim to be a servant and still be so bloody righteous, I don't know. Sakura may be your Card Mistress, but none of the rest of us are – can't you at least treat us normally?"

"Unbearably superior deference?" said Yue incredulously, looking highly offended. "Righteous? I most certainly am not. If anything," he retaliated bitingly, "I wear myself out day after day trying to look after your rag-tag bunch and their ridiculous whims! Half the instances during the Sakura Card transformations were a result of carelessness. I'm the only one who can seem to pick up the pieces – Cerberus couldn't get you all in order if his life depended on it!"

"And you say you're not righteous?" Mei Ling shot back hotly. "Please! And when you actually do admit fault, you have to agonise over it for hours in that melodramatic angsty way – it's so chic to be a guilt-stricken sinner, isn't it?"

Yue stood up, his fists clenched like a vice. He looked furious. "You have no understanding of me," he hissed. "Stupid little girl – you don't know anything – anything about me! And you have the audacity to sit there and calmly reel off my faults as if you've none yourself–"

Mei Ling stood up, too. Normally she would be terrified. Now, she was just angry. Very angry.

"I know what my faults are! At least I admit them and accept it, and try to improve them! I've got just as much reason to be as moody as you! What do you think it's like growing up in an ancient magical family, descendants of Clow Reed no less, and not have magic yourself? What do you think it's like knowing nobody thinks you're important or useful? Or even helpful at all? What do you think it's like being the black sheep of the family when magic is all that matters to them? I have every reason to be as angry as you, but I'm not! Because I know how to accept it and get on with things!"

They stood facing eachother. Mei Ling was trying very hard to tell herself that crying would undermine everything she had just said. Yue was shaking with anger, and for a moment she thought he might lash out.

But all at once, the anger drained out of him and he sat back down on the grass. After a moment, Mei Ling did the same; a little timidly, since she still wasn't sure whether she'd gone too far.

"I don't mean to be so superior," he said quietly. "I don't want people to think of me that way."

"I don't mean to be so blunt," Mei Ling said nervously. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry," said Yue after a while. He seemed to want to change the subject. "Your family – is it really that bad?"

"Not all the time," answered Mei Ling, also keen to skate over the moment. "They're good to me and I don't want to be unappreciative. But it's so hard sometimes. What do I have if I don't have magic? I bet they wish I just didn't exist. I'm an embarrassment to them."

"You're not," Yue said harshly; she jumped a little at first, but felt a little leap in her chest when she realised that he was actually defending her. "There must be lots of things you can do," he carried on. "Magic isn't everything. Only a handful of people in the entire world have magic abilities, you know."

"Isn't it just my luck that they all ended up in my family?" Mei Ling groused. She was thrilled to hear Yue stifle a laugh. "No – I can do other things, I suppose. I just never seem to measure up. At least not here, with Sakura and the others."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's just – well, ok, an example. I like singing. And I'm a good singer, you know? Not brilliant, but decent. But Tomoyo's a fantastic singer, and whenever I try to tell people I'm not bad either, someone like Kero puts me down and says I'm trying to steal the limelight.

"I like cooking, too – I make Syaoran lunches that take me at least an hour, but he never comments on them or even notices. And my one area of weakness is cakes, and what a surprise, I end up against Sakura in a cake-making class.

"Same with athletics. I'm good, but I can't get a break – I'll twist an ankle or get there late or something. The only thing I seem to shine at is martial arts, and who needs that when you've got magic to do your dirty work for you?"

Yue shifted slightly, looking out over the lake. "No. For each of those skills, you measured yourself against a different person. They have one, but you have them all. And you don't have magic to make your life easier - you have to do things the hard way, which makes you stronger."

Mei Ling couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was actually trying to reassure her! "Thank you," she said softly.

"You are welcome."

"I seem to have done most of the talking so far," Mei Ling ventured. "Although I suppose you don't really want to think about… you know... her?"

Yue looked out over the lake, his eyes melancholy. "There's nothing much to say," he said flatly. "I have a history of harbouring extremely unprofitable feelings for the least suitable people. Well, I say history–"

"But just one other, really," said Mei Ling without thinking.

Yue whipped round again. "What?" He sounded agitated.

"Well…" Mei Ling squirmed. She shouldn't really have brought it up. "I – you and Clow–"

Yue was momentarily silent, his mouth open. "Is nothing secret anymore?" He demanded, shocked and embarrassed.

"No!" Mei Ling protested. "I mean yes! It is! I just… I hear you and Kero talk about your time with him, and I saw the way you reacted to Eriol… I just sort of put two and two together. Like I said, it's hard not to notice these things when you feel them all the time yourself."

Yue looked hard at her. "I can tell that there's definitely more about you than that Li boy has the wit to see. But you should not be thinking about this. It's all in the past, where I have been trying to keep it for years now without success."

"Alright," submitted Mei Ling. "I won't pry. I just wanted you to know you're not the only one. You don't have to go through it alone."

"I hardly think our situations compare," Yue said tartly, forgetting himself.

"Oh, there you go again," Mei Ling flared. "You play up the servant act, but none of us are really on your level, are we? Our feelings aren't as important as yours, are they? Get off your high horse and accept some sympathy for once!"

Yue opened and shut his mouth like a fish. "You – you loudmouthed, opinionated, rude-."

"Calling names isn't going to help, either," Mei Ling said imperiously, trying not to think about what she was saying and who she was saying it to before her spine went on strike.

Yue glared. Mei Ling glared back. This is going nowhere, she thought.

She rummaged in her pocket and found two chocolate chip cookies that had somehow escaped her lunchbag. "Have a biscuit," she said irritably, offering one to him.

"I do not require food," he replied testily.

"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped.

Yue broke his glare, took the biscuit and ate it. "Thanks," he said grudgingly.

The next time they looked at eachother, they stifled smiles.

"You know, I don't think Sakura knows how to handle you properly," Mei Ling said airily.

Yue almost choked on the biscuit. "I beg your pardon? Handle me? I'm not a pet–"

"Don't go off on one again," Mei Ling said wearily, trying to stem the flow before it was too late. "What I mean is, I bet you get really tired of people treading on eggshells around you. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. They treat you like you're about to explode, so that's how you end up acting. I bet you're fed up with it. You want to be brought down to our level, don't you?"

Yue paused. Then: "Maybe," he said offhandedly, giving her a sideways look.

Mei Ling gaped. Was he teasing her?

She couldn't believe it. She grinned at him; he grinned back.

"So," she joked, "all we have to do is shout at you and call you on your shots, and everything will be great – maybe throw a few practical jokes into the mix–"

"If you dare to think about doing any such thing," Yue said loftily, "you'd better be prepared for some serious retribution."

"Oh, what?" giggled Mei Ling. "Big scary Moon Guardian will put whoopee cushions on our chairs?"

"As a matter of fact–"

They both stopped at the same time, smiles frozen. There were footsteps on the street beyond the trees.

As they watched, Syaoran and Sakura appeared round the corner, bathed in the creamy glow of the street lamps. They were walking with their arms round each other, Sakura's head resting in the hollow of Syaoran's shoulder. Then, only yards away from the trees, they stopped and leaned in together for a passionate kiss, adoration on both their faces.

A moment later they walked on, and were lost to darkness.

Neither Mei Ling nor Yue spoke for a long time. Mei Ling saw that all traces of laughter had gone from Yue's eyes; he was icy and pale again, cold and remote.

"I'd better get home," she said softly after a while. The sadness had returned to her voice.

"Yes," said Yue emotionlessly.

She stood and brushed off her skirt, and was about to leave when she saw Yue was on his feet as well.

"I'll accompany you to your gate," he said.

"It's only a block away," she said.

"I know. But I told you off earlier for walking alone – I can hardly contradict myself, can I?"

They silently retraced their steps through the dark streets until they reached Mei Ling's apartment building. The window of her front door was dark – Syaoran was obviously still out walking Sakura home.

"Well, thanks," Mei Ling said awkwardly, strangely unwilling to say goodbye, even though Yue was cold and silent once more. Why did their time have to have been cut off so abruptly? They had been almost getting along…

"You are welcome," he replied immutably.

She turned and walked down the path, but before she could unlock the door, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Take care," said Yue. "You are worth more."

She couldn't quite form a response, but the look in his eyes was of understanding; shared sympathy. It made her heart stutter unexpectedly. Then, with a flick of feathers, he was gone.

When she went to bed that night, she found she could block out the knowledge that Syaoran was just on the other side of the wall, and her sleep was the best she had had in a long time.

A/N: I'm getting out the champagne because I've just done a filter and realised that this fic will be the only one in the entire CCS section to be listed under the Yue/Mei Ling category! Go me!

Anyhow, I have no idea what people are going to make of this, so it'd be nice to hear people's thoughts. I think Yue needs someone boisterous like Mei Ling to keep him in line. A lot of the time in this ficlet, she's speaking for me - I do think Yue can be a bit affected and needs to be brought down a peg or two. Oh, yes - and the four lines about the biscuit is a paraphrase of the Harry/McGonagall scene in Order of the Phoenix, page 224 (UK version). I just love the image of Mei Ling being the no-nonsense McGonagall to Yue's emo Harry. XD

Rumms xx