Aishiteru

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It was a bright and sunny day with a slight breeze going through the air, it was just enough to be noticeable. It was three days before Christmas, the weather was mild for this time of year. The fall semester was just ending. The last of the final exams were being administered and soon there would be no students left on campus. Everyone was anxious to finish their finals and get out of there as fast as possible, all except for one.

Li Syaoron sat in his calculus class finishing up his last final. His professor had given the class two hours to take the test. But Syaoron was finished before the first hour was up. So he just sat there going over his test, checking his work and then checking his checks. There was still 25 minutes left of and he had already checked it four times since he had finished. He was so bored it was driving him crazy. The room was so quiet that you would've never guessed there were fifty some-odd college freshmen attempting to integrate trigonometric functions. Syaoron let his eyes wander around the room until he was staring out the window.

Just outside was a Cherry Blossom tree. Most of the blossoms had fallen off, but a few remained. And a few were all that was needed to remind Syaoron of Sakura. Her name fit perfectly. To Syaoron she was the most beautiful creature to have ever graced the earth. And he missed her more than anything.

Sure he missed his other friends from Tomoeda, but she held a special place in his heart. He missed her radiant smile, her song-like laugh and her warm, comforting emerald eyes.

"Li Syaoron!"

"Huh…?" as he was jolted back into the real world.

"The test is over Syaoron. You are dismissed." said Professor Wong.

"Oh." said Syaoron. "Sorry Professor Wong, I must have been daydreaming."

Syaoron handed in his paper and left the lecture hall. He put on his overcoat started towards his dorm room. 'Why is it that I can't seem to get her off my mind? I must be going nuts. Hell, I just got her Christmas card on Monday. It was only two days ago!' thought Syaoron. 'I can't seem to keep her out my mind for more than a couple of hours.' As he thought back to that very morning when he woke up in his bed wishing she was there with him.

'Could she ever love me as much as I love her?' Syaoron thought as he entered his single dorm room to finish packing.

'She could never love me.' he thought glumly as he jammed some more clothes into his duffle bag. 'I should thank my lucky stars that she even wants to be my friend, especially after how I treated her when we first met.'

These and other depressing thoughts entered his mind as he put the last two things into his bag. A carefully wrapped bundle that contained every single letter, photo and card she had sent him since he left Tomoeda. The other was a picture of him with all of his friends from Japan. Yamazaki had his arms around the waist of Chiharu, Eriol had his around Tomoyo, and Sakura had her arms around his shoulders. In the picture were also Naoko and Rika.

He could still remember that day they spent at the beach. It was the last day of their summer vacation, before they started their sophomore year of high school. And he could definitely remember the way he cheeks flushed a red hue when she draped her arms over his shoulders. That day he finally realized that what he was feeling for Sakura was not just friendship anymore. It was love. It wasn't some childhood crush, but true love.

Finally with a last glance at the picture he put it in his backpack and headed off to the train station.

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She stared out the window of her room and at the tree that was now covered with a light coating of winter powder. Looking at it reminded her of a certain amber-eyed sorcerer who'd stolen her heart. He had always loved to climb trees and take risks. He had always been willing to put his life on the line to protect her, and she loved him for that.

She tore eyes away from the tree and reminded herself that this train of thought would not help her already dampened Christmas spirits. She felt so alone.

Her father was out of town at some conference or other. Her brother Touya was with his wife and family. Yukito had moved to Australia two months ago and her friends were all with their significant others. Tomoyo was with Eriol, Chiharu was with Yamazaki and even Rika and Naoko were spending time with their boyfriends. But she had no one. And the one she wanted, she couldn't have.

Syaoron was in Hong Kong and she was in Japan. They were still exchanging letters and cards but somehow that just wasn't enough. Not when she would give anything just to have him hold her. Not a day went by without her wishing to be with him and with his strong arms around her in a loving embrace. She felt safe when she was with him, she felt like nothing else mattered as long as he held her. The way those piercing amber eyes just seem to dive into her very soul made her feel like there was no bliss in comparison. But then she would come out of her dream and find herself still alone.

She was tired of just being with him in her dreams, she wanted them to be reality.

She had actually made up her mind three months ago when she decided to transfer to Syaoron's school in Hong Kong. She sent in her transfer application and had received the acceptance letter yesterday. She would start at there when the spring semester began.

Her friends had all supported her. Her father was happy that she had finally taken the first step. Yukito was happy for her. Everyone she knew was happy for her except for her onii-chan and Kero-chan. Touya didn't trust Syaoron as far as he could throw him and Kero was just bitter about being called a stuffed animal by Syaoron. But they eventually learned to silence their objections in the face of such overwhelming support.

It was decided that Kero would stay with Tomoyo while Sakura was in Hong Kong. After all they didn't want to have to explain how a stuffed animal could fly, talk and use magic.

Honestly, Sakura was afraid of what might happen if she went to Hong Kong. She was so fearful of rejection by Syaoron that she had almost declined the acceptance letter when she'd first received it. But then she looked at the group picture they took at the beach that summer and all her fears vanished. Even in a picture she could still feel the comforting aura of the man she loved giving her strength. And she remembered that that was the day she first realized something Tomoyo had known for years, that she loved Syaoron.

It had been decided that she would go to Hong Kong two days after new years. This would give her four days to get settled in before the term started. Tomoyo and Eriol would go with her and help her settle in, then they would come back home before their term started. Since the spring term in Japan was scheduled to begin almost a week later then the Hong Kong one, that meant Tomoyo and Eriol would be able to stay in Hong Kong for a full week helping Sakura adjust.

Just then her alarm went off. She saw that it was 6:30 and began to get ready for the Christmas party that Tomoyo was holding at her house. The party was at 7 so if she wanted to get there on time then she would need to leave in10 minutes.

As she finished getting ready for the party she cast a final look at the picture on her desk and whispered, "I'll see you soon Xiao Lang."

To be continued…

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Arthur's Note: If you like it tell me, if you don't like it tell me. If you have any ideas tell me and I'll try to work it into my story.