Starrie: Hey everyone! Well, it's my first week back in school and I'm having a great time!! Ehhh…yeah classes suck but that's nothing new, I'm just glad to see my roommates and my other friends again! Hahaha I went to a karaoke bar last night and AACK!!! Me singing is like a cat yowling! –shudders- yeah it's that horrible! Anywho, here's the next chapter, please read and review, thanx! Chapter 4

Sakura smiled when she saw the peonies laying ontop of Kenshin's grave. She bent down and placed her cherryblossoms next to them.

"Hi honey"
She whispered as she looked down at Kenshin's grave. She inhaled deeply and let the warm spring air run through her hair.

"I know you'll be glad to hear that Syaoran and I have become friends. It's funny how just a week ago I hated him, but thanks to you, I realized that he's not bad at all. He's been a great friend."
She laughed,

"He reminds me so much of you. No wonder you two were such good friends. He tells me stories of what you two did when you were in college."

She sat down on the grass and placed her hand ontop of the cool gravestone.

"Kenshin, will I ever be able to move on?"

She asked in a small whisper as she traced his name with her fingers. A few tears ran down her cheeks,

"Because, it seems like I will. Everyone says that with time the pain will ease, but that's not happening. I keep thinking that you're just away on another trip and that someday, you'll return. How can I move on when I don't want to let go of you? The memories we have are so precious, I don't want to forget them...or forget you"

She stayed there for a few minutes and after a while got up and wiped her tears. She smiled down at the grave,

"Well, I have to go now. I'll stop by tomorrow. Bye, honey"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on Sakura, let's go to the Summer Festival!"

Sakura looked at Tomoyo and shook her head,

"Why must you insist? I just don't feel like it"

"But Sakura, it used to be one of your favorites! You haven't gone to it in two years."

Sakura put down the assignment she was grading. Recently, she had gone back to work as a teacher again. She gave Tomoyo a please-stop-insisting look

"Do it for Syaoran?"

Tomoyo asked, using her last excuse. Sakura gave her a bewildered look.
"What does he have to do with this?"

"Well, he agreed to come with Eriol and me. It's his first time going to the festival. And well, what if Eriol and I decide that we want to take a romantic walk along the lake? That means we'll have to leave Syaoran alone and it would be better if four of us went rather than three so that way we can split up evenly!"
Sakura let out a giggle,

"Is that your best?"
Tomoyo smiled sheepishly,

"Last resort"

Sakura shook her head in amazement of her friend's persistent nature.

"Alright, okay I'll go. If you want me to go with you that badly, I'll go"

"Yay! That's wonderful because I just made you a new summer dress for the occasion!"

Sakura shook her head, she should've known that her friend was up to something!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sorry about my brother"
Sakura whispered to Syaoran as the Tomoyo, Eriol, Sakura and Syaoran left Sakura's house. Syaoran laughed,

"It's okay, overprotective older brother, I understand where he's coming from. Actually, I'm just like that with my cousin Meiling. She's just a few months younger than me, but still. To me she's like a little sister. I always give her guy friends, along with boyfriends, the I'm-going-to-come-after-you death glares."

Tomoyo giggled and turned to look at Syaoran,

"You seem to very good at them."

Eriol laughed and nodded in agreement with Tomoyo,

"Touya looked like he wanted to rip your head off, Syaoran."

Sakura continued to blush in embarrassment,

"He shouldn't have been so mean to you, I'm really sorry. I told him that we settled our differences but its like he doesn't believe me."

Syaoran smiled at her and with his finger, gently tugged on her cheek to make her smile,

"Hey, it's okay, honestly! I don't want you to be upset okay?"
Sakura looked up at Syaoran and gave him a weary smile,

"Are you sure it's okay? It's not going to affect our friendship right?"

Syaoran shook his head,

"Ten million Touyas would not be able to keep me away from a friend like you. Plus..."

Syaoran winked,

"Who would I scare?"

Sakura's cheeks puffed up,

"Syaoran!"
She poked him on the side of his ribs, knowing that it was his weak spot. Syaoran jumped but then his eyes grew wide,

"Sakura, there's a ghost behind you!"
"aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Make it go away!!!!"

She gripped onto Syaoran's arms and shut her eyes tightly. She slowly opened when she felt Syaoran's chest shake with laughter.

"You--"

"Hey! Are you guys okay?"
Tomoyo called out from a few feet up ahead.

"We're fine!"

They yelled out unanimously. Sakura turned to look at Syaoran,

"I'm mad at you!"
With that said, she sprinted up to Tomoyo and Eriol and began to walk with them. Syaoran lagged a bit behind, still laughing a little. Sakura turned to look back at him and stuck her tongue out. She wasn't really mad at him though, they both knew it. It was a just a usual game they played.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This place looks so pretty!"
Sakura gasped in amazement as she walked through the festival with her three friends. Syaoran nudged Eriol,

"Are you sure she's the age she claims to be? Have you checked her I.D.?"

Sakura turned to look at Syaoran and gave him her I'm-still-mad-at-you look. Eriol laughed at the game the pair was playing,

"Sakura's always loved the summer festival. She hasn't come here in a really long time, that's why she's so excited."

"Eriol! The jewelry!"
Tomoyo exclaimed in excitement as she saw a stand where a lady was selling hand-crafted necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Eriol let out a deep sigh as Tomoyo began to drag him in that direction.

"The thing one does for love"
He murmured softly as he was being taken away. Syaoran watched the two and let out a small chuckle.

"ooooh!!! Gold fishes!"
Sakura said excitingly as she walked to a stand where people were trying to catch a fish with a small paper paddle.

"you want one?"
Syaoran asked as he came up from behind her. Sakura nodded as she stared at the golden-orange fishes swimming in the water. Syaoran gave her a sly smile,

"Will you forgive me if I get you a fish?"
Sakura looked pensive. A small smile tugged at the end of her lip,
"maybe"

Syaoran shrugged as he paid the man for a paddle,

"In that case, bring on the fishes!"

Sakura giggled at Syaoran's determination. You have to be careful though; your paddle might break. Syaoran gave her an assuring grin,
"Mine won't break, I'm good at--"

Sakura giggled,

"Oops, missed the fish, there it goes, swimming away...and your paddle's broken"

Syaoran stared in confusion through the hole of his broken paddle,

"What the—hey that wasn't fair I was distracted!"

"Syaoran, it's okay if you couldn't do it"
Sakura said while giggling, she knew Syaoran hated it when he couldn't do something. He shook his head as he paid the man again,

"this one won't get away"

"are you sure about—oops, there it goes again"

"It's the paddle, I keep on getting bad ones!"

"Syaoran, really its o--"

Before she could even finish she saw that Syaoran had already paid for 15 paddles and was trying over and over again...

(20 minutes later)

"I got one!"
Syaoran called out triumphantly as he held up his little bowl with a gold fish swimming around. Sakura looked up at him and laughed,

"By now, you should be an expert at this!"
"It's harder than it looks you know? It takes skill and practice."

Syaoran thanked the man who handed him his goldfish in a plastic bag. Syaoran turned to Sakura and handed her the bag,

"Here, the fish is all yours. So am I forgiven?"
Sakura smiled at Syaoran as she took the bag,

"Thank you for my fish. And yes, you are forgiven"
She hugged him and Syaoran let out a sigh,

"Good, because after all the trouble I went for that one fish, I'd be upset if I wasn't!"
Sakura laughed and lightly punched him in the arm,

"Hey, You're the one who insisted on catching it! I would've forgiven you with or without the fish!"

Syaoran let out a groan,

"Now you tell me?!"

Tomoyo and Eriol came walking up to them, laughing.

"We heard there was some crazy Chinese guy obsessing over a fish so we just had to come and check it out"
Eriol said as he smiled at Sakura and Syaoran. Tomoyo looked at the fish Sakura was holding and looked at Syaoran,

"I had a feeling that crazy guy they were talking about was you"

Syaoran blushed and pulled the group away along with him,

"Let's get outta this area"
He muttered as he glared at anyone who turned to look at him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I was in complete shock Sakura, I didn't know he was going to propose to me!"
Tomoyo said in excitement as she finished telling Sakura about the night before when Eriol had proposed to her. Sakura smiled at her, happy for her best friend,

"This is great! We have to start planning for your wedding soon!"

Sakura tried not to show the sadness she was feeling. It wasn't because of Tomoyo, it was just that whenever she thought of weddings and the preparations for one, she was reminded of Kenshin. Tomoyo noticed almost immediately and looked somewhat hesitant,

"Sakura, I wanted to ask you if you'd be my maid of honor. Now I want you to think this over before you give me a response. If you don't feel comfortable doing just tell me and I'll--"

"Tomoyo are you kidding? I'll be happy to be your maid of honor!"

"Really? You'll do it?"
"Of course!"

"Thank you Thank you Thank you!! That makes me so happy!"

Tomoyo took a sip of her tea and then took a deep breath, Sakura, I've been meaning to talk to you about something else.

"Yes?"
"Well, It's been almost two years since Kenshin's death. Don't you think it's time that...that you umm...maybe umm...begin dating?"

Sakura stiffened at Tomoyo's comment. She put her tea down and looked somewhat uncomfortable.

"I can't Tomoyo, at least not yet. I can't look at a guy without thinking of Kenshin. No one can replace him in my heart."

"You haven't given yourself a chance to fall in love."
"I don't want to fall in love again."

"Sakura, you're not being fair to yourself. You can't go through life alone, you're going to want someone by your side."

"Tomoyo, please don't insist. I've made up my mind; if it's not Kenshin, I don't want to be with anybody else."

Tomoyo sighed as she played around with her engagement ring.

"Not even...hypothetically speaking, Syaoran?"

Sakura gave Tomoyo an are-you-out-of-your-mind?! look.

"What I feel for Syaoran is completely different than what I felt for Kenshin. Syaoran is a friend, nothing more."
Tomoyo shrugged and leaned back in her chair,

"I was just throwing out a thought. He's wonderful Sakura, and he would make a great boyfriend."

"I don't doubt that, it's just that I can't possibly seeing myself falling in love with him."

"Why not?"
Sakura looked somewhat uncomfortable,

"I don't know, I-I-I just can't."
"Because he was one of Kenshin's best friends?"

Sakura looked at Tomoyo and frowned,

"That too I guess. I don't know, I feel like I would be betraying Kenshin."

Tomoyo moved forward in her seat and took hold of Sakura's hand,

"You can't tell your heart who to love, the choice is all theirs. If someday you find yourself falling in love with someone, don't feel like you're betraying Kenshin. Think of it as a gift he's sending you. He wouldn't want you to be alone, you know that as well as I do."

Sakura grinned and just nodded. Although she didn't really buy Tomoyo's speech because she knew she wasn't going to fall in love again, she pretended to agree just for the sake of it.

"Well, enough about this subject, lets begin discussing plans for your wedding!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura frowned as she felt her hair stick to the back of her neck. Yup, summer was here alright. The burning sun was shining brightly and she could hear the laughter of the kids as they enjoyed their vacation. She smiled at two little infants as she walked past them and stopped at tall apartment. The doorman opened the door for her and gave her a warm smile,

"Good afternoon Ms. Kinomoto."
"Good afternoon Ken. I'm here to see Syaoran."

"Ah yes, He is in his apartment, go right ahead."

"Thank you."

She walked past him and sighed as she stepped into the cool lobby. She walked up to the elevator and pressed the upward button. Once it arrived she stepped in and greeted the person inside politely.

"Ms. Kinomoto! Visiting Mr. Li I suppose?"

The woman asked with a smile on her face. Sakura nodded, returning the smile.

"You two make such a beautiful couple. It's so wonderful to see that--"

"Syaoran and I aren't a couple, we're just good friends."
Sakura interrupted. The woman looked somewhat surprised.

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you two were--"

She let out a laugh,

"You must excuse this old lady for making false assumptions like that."

Sakura let out a laugh too as they came to their floor.

"It's okay, it was an honest mistake."

"Well, I hope to see you soon again Ms. Kinomoto, take care now!"

"Bye Ms. Karu"

Sakura turned to her left and went down three doors. She knocked on the third one and greeted Syaoran with a hug when he opened it.

"Hot outside isn't it?"
Syaoran asked as he parted from the hug. Sakura nodded as she stepped into the spacious apartment and put her bag on the couch.

"Scorching. Syaoran you owe me some ice cream."
Syaoran chuckled and pointed to the coffee table,

"I thought you'd say that."
Sakura's eyes lightened up as she saw the bowl of ice cream. She smiled contentedly at Syaoran.

"You're beginning to know me too well! Oh by the way, what did you want to show me, certainly you did invite me for just ice cream."

"Syaoran laughed as he opened up a small drawer and pulled out some pictures.

"No, I didn't invite you for just the ice cream. I thought maybe you'd like to see these pictures. They're from when Kenshin and I were in college."

Sakura's instantly put her bowl of ice cream down and took the pictures Syaoran handed her. Sakura's eyes gleamed with delight as she slowly went through the pictures. Kenshin looked so young, so full of life. She came across a picture where Syaoran and Kenshin were standing in an airport in front of a window that had a view of departing planes. A smile slowly spread through her face,

"This is before he left to Japan isn't it?"
Syaoran looked at the picture and nodded,

"Yes. We didn't know when would be the next time we'd see each other so we took one last picture together at the airport. He was heading for his internship here while I began working for my families company."
Sakura let out a small laugh,

"You know I met him at the airport the day he arrived in Japan? I was in such a hurry to pick up Tomoyo that I almost ran him over! Luckily I stopped and he was safe, but I felt so bad afterwards. I couldn't stop apologizing and all he kept on saying was,

"It's alright, don't worry, I'm okay."

Then when I told him I'd do anything to make it up to him, he just gave me this sly smile. And he asked me,

"Would you go out on a date with me?"

Syaoran burst out laughing,

"That seems like something he would do."

Sakura giggled as she recalled the memory,

"I was in complete shock. I mean, who in their right mind would ask someone who nearly ran them over out on a date!? Well, the next day we went out for dinner and...Well, I've loved him ever since."

Syaoran nodded in understanding and smiled,

"No wonder he didn't want to come back to China after his internship was over. I kept on trying to convince him but he always told me that there was something way too precious to leave behind here in Japan."
Syaoran looked at Sakura,

"I should have known it was you."
Sakura returned his smile as her eyes began to water,

"He promised me he'd never leave me. That he'd always be there for me. That I would never be alone and t-t-that we would form a family..."

Her voice became muffled as she buried her face in her hands as her body began to shake with sobs. Syaoran grabbed a nearby tissue box and took a seat next to Sakura. He placed an arm of her shoulder and held her as she poured her heart out. He could tell that the transition to a life without Kenshin was hard for her. It had been hard on him too but it was ten times worse for Sakura.

"I-I-I'm sorry"
Sakura whispered as she sniffled and wiped a strand of hair off her face. Syaoran didn't answer but his gaze told Sakura that he understood her. He took hold of a tissue and gently wiped her tears away,

"You don't have to be. There's nothing to be sorry about"
He whispered soothingly as he blotted the wet streams going down her face. Sakura stared into his deep brown eyes and found comfort in them. Syaoran was different from others; he wasn't pushing her to move on like other people were. He understood her, understood her pain. He let her go at her own pace, always there to catch her if she stumbled.

Syaoran couldn't stop staring at her beautiful green eyes. They sparkled like jewels despite the fact that Sakura had just cried. Although they reflected sadness, there was also something in them that he knew was meant for him. He had always known that Sakura was a beautiful young woman but he had never really noticed it until now. Her skin had a glowing summer tan that went beautifully with her eyes. Her golden auburn hair that swept past her shoulders was silky soft to the touch and he longed to run his fingers through it. Her mouth was a deep pink color and he felt a great urge to kiss them. He wanted to tell her that it was all going to be alright, he was here for her. He wanted to protect her from heartache, but most of all, he wanted to kiss her problems away...

"Syaoran...Syaoran...Syaoran"

Syaoran jumped slightly and quickly looked away from Sakura. He couldn't believe it, he was actually thinking of kissing her!

"I-I-I'm not feeling too well"
Syaoran said as he quickly got up from the couch. Sakura got up too and placed a hand on his back.

"What's wrong, do you feel sick?"
Syaoran's avoided her eyes and pretended as he was looking around his apartment for something.

"Syaoran, what's wrong? You look pale."
"I'm not feeling well."
He answered as normally as he could. He let out a sigh, trying to gain back his composure and opened the door.

"I'm going to take a nap, it's best that you leave."
Sakura looked reluctant. She didn't want to leave Syaoran alone, what if suddenly he got worse?

"Are you sure? I could stay, you know, just in case that--"

"NO! I umm.."

He cleared his throat and tried to remain calm as he ignored Sakura's confused/worried look.

"I just need some rest. Please, just...go."

Sakura realized that he wasn't going to change her mind, plus she didn't want to upset him anymore than he already seemed to be.

"Alright, good bye Syao--"

Her eyes opened wide in surprise as the door closed as soon as she stepped out. She didn't know whether to feel hurt or upset. Everything was alright and then suddenly Syaoran's attitude changed. Still thinking about that, she slowly made her way to the elevator. Once making up her mind that she would call to check on him later, she pressed the down button and waited for the elevator.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Syaoran leaned against the door and took in a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"What the hell is wrong with me?!"
He growled angrily. This couldn't be happening, there was no way this was happening! Out of all people, it had to be her! A picture of his long gone friend came to his mind and a wave of guilt came over him. He walked over to the bathroom and decided to take a shower, at least that would calm him down. He turned to look at himself in the mirror and couldn't help but feel angry as he stared at himself in the mirror.

"No...There's no way"
He muttered as he stared at himself coldly.

"I can't be falling in love with her, I won't allow myself to fall in love with her"

That was it, he had made his mind up. A relationship between the two of them was impossible. He was going to fight off these newborn feelings...

-To be continued-

Starrie: well, that's all for now folks! I hope you all liked it! Oh yeah and Final Fantasy Princess (Bren): WAAAII!!! Congrats on passing your driving exam! –does a small cheer- I knew my drunken 2am phone call would give you luck!! Muwahaha just think of it as pay back for that time you were drunk and woke me up at 2am with your CALL!! -innocent grin- I posted this chappie as a present for passing your driving exam, way to go missy!!!....about damn time too! You're almost 19… -grins evilly-