Disclaimer: No, my name is not spelled C-L-A-M-P.

The great thing about putting one-shots together is that I never have to write another summary or disclaimer ever again!

Kinomoto Sakura had always been terrified of supernatural beings. Terrified, with a capital T.

That probably justified why she was squealing on top of her lungs when her gym teacher, Terada-sensei, announced that Class 6-2 would be having another courage test that year.

And that probably justified why she was quivering like a wobbly jelly right this second.

"Hoeee!" she wailed as she stood in the exact same seaside grotto where the courage test transpired two years ago. Everything was silent, except for the breaking of waves on the precipitous rocks outside the cave and… her knees buckling against each other.

This is so dark, the air is so still, I'm all alone, I can't breathe, it's already been so long, I think I'm going to die!

She gagged, clutching her throat tightly in both hands and crumpled down to the pebbly floor.

I can't stand this any second longer!

"Oi, Kinomoto!" a male voice barged into her trance. "You've barely stepped a foot from the entrance. Move along!"

She turned around sheepishly at Terada-sensei, a gigantic bead of perspiration on her temple when she realised that indeed, she was almost still standing at the threshold of the cavern. It did not help that a crowd had formed around the entrance to amuse themselves at her previous antics. She reddened in embarrassment.

A certain member of the audience gazed at her worriedly, knowing full well her fear of the unknown. When he caught her eyes, however, he gave her an encouraging smile.

A smile which sent a wave of valour through her veins.

She grinned in determination, her emerald eyes glinting brightly in the full moon(A/N: which always seem to be present in CCS XD). Fisting into the air, she proclaimed to herself, "I can do it!"

She got onto her feet with a leap, one hand holding a lit candle defensively, as if warding off whatever existed in the engulfing darkness. Inhaling deeply and keeping in mind Li Syaoran's supportive smile, she took a step forward.

One step was followed by two steps, and three, and soon, she found herself out of the vicinity of everyone. All her prior trepidation began flooding back again as she halted in the seemingly never-ending path they called a tunnel. The fact that she could barely see beyond her an arm's reach and her vision was solely sustained by a flickering candle did not help.

"Hoee!" she yelped again, the sound echoing off the walls and into her soul. "Why do I have to do this alone? Tomoyo-chan! Syaoran-kun!"

She sighed. Two years ago they were allowed to go in pairs or trios, but for this year, it was compulsory for them to complete the task of placing the candle in a shrine at the end of the pothole alone. One by one they entered the cave while Sakura attempted to stall for as long as possible, and much too soon to her taste she was the only one left.

"Zettai daijoubu da yo!" she murmured to herself, recalling the quote that had kept her safe through all the ordeals in capturing the Clow Cards. The bowed head jerked up again, under the illumination of the candlelight her lime irises gleamed fierily.

"I can do this! I HAVE to do this!"

Again she walked along, dreadfully sentient of every motion and sound in the dusk. Her feet shuffled the sand and rocks, the rustling sound reverberating over and over again in the claustrophobia-inducing channel. She glanced vigilantly around her, expecting something paranormal to jump out on her any second.

And something chose to brush past her feet at that specific moment.

"HHOOOEEEEE!" she shrieked and hopped an astounding amount of metres off the ground, and the burrow 'hoeeed' in reply deafeningly, creating the illusion that millions of Sakuras were screaming at the same time. This unnerved her even more.

"Syaoran-kun!" she cried for help. No one answered.

She backed into a stone wall, the candle brandished from side to side raggedly. Nothing was in sight – at least – nothing she could perceive in the dim lighting.

"What was that?" she breathed, not daring to speak out loud in case the passage opted to respond cacophonously again. Sweat drenched her shirt.

It was nothing, nothing! A figment of my imagination, that's all. I'll keep walking.

Her breath hitched, she began her way forward once more, her swiftness on a crescendo as her wish to accomplish the assignment ASAP mounted. Nothing troubled her anymore along the way until she reached the bridge.

It looked like an ill-fated viaduct indeed. The railing was termite-infested, crumbling at places. The wooden planks appeared relatively reliable, but Sakura would not trust them any more than she would the railings. The stream beneath was oddly calm and serene, without a single disturbance on the shimmering surface.

Shimmering… Where did the light come from?

She glimpsed around, but there was no source of luminosity anywhere. The river simply radiated a glow by itself. Hands commenced their ritual of shivers – which in turn caused the candlelight to waver hazardously.

"Stay calm, stay calm," she chanted, but she ebbed away from the brook anyway. Her footsteps abruptly discontinued when she bumped into something hard and sharp.

"Hoeee!" screeched the aforementioned young lady yet again. She leaped around instantly, the candle wielded as a shield before her.

It's just a protruding rock in the wall!

She exhaled in relief, feeling slightly foolish at her unfounded fright. The thought was rapidly swept away when she discovered something written on the stony wall.

Something in jagged scarlet.

Save me…

"KKYAAAA!" She bounded away from the wall straight away, not realising that she had actually landed 10 metres away. Until something slithered against her feet. Again.

She inhaled sharply and froze on the spot – which incidentally was just a foot away from the ghostly rivulet, hoping to God that whatever it was slinking against her would dismiss her as a non-living object and most importantly, not ambush her.

Syaoran-kun… Tomoyo-chan… Somebody rescue me…

The sliding finally petered out after what seemed like an eternity plus one second, but still Sakura did not loosen her guard until she was absolutely sure she could no longer hear and feel anything,

She released her breath slowly.

"It must be another stunt pulled off my senseis… Let's get this over with!"

Hastiness betraying her apprehension, she loped with all her might across the dilapidated bridge, the barely burning candle gripped in an iron fist. The sound of her thumping against the wooden boards brusquely diminished all of the sudden, replaced by the speedy thudding of her heart.

Because as she stood at the very centre of the bridge, an apparition hovered above her.

Yes, an iridescent spectre was currently drifting beyond her head. Shamelessly.

That was the last straw.

"SYAORAN-KUN!!" she bawled her head off, her arms flung on top of her head protectively. Her whole visage blue with horror and her heart hammering like it had never beaten before, her acute ears caught a distant cackle.

"What's that…" she whispered in immense panic. She needed not had wondered because a moment later, UFOs launched a surprise attack on her, raining on her trembling form ruthlessly. By now, the candle laid forgotten beside her as all she cared about was fending off the flapping creatures of the dark.

"Fuuka, shorai!"

A gust of strong wind blasted off the airborne entities, and caring limbs circled around Sakura's huddled stature anxiously.

"Sakura! Sakura! Are you alright?" Syaoran inquired in concern. A petrified Sakura stared off into the darkness unseeingly.

"Syaoran-kun…" And suddenly, she dived into his embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck adherently, evidently unwilling to let go. Not that Syaoran minded.

"There… There are ghouls here!" she whispered fiercely into his ear, as if afraid some spirits present would hear her. Syaoran raised a quizzical eyebrow, but nevertheless patted her back comfortingly.

"What makes you think so?"

The question instigated a potent reaction from her, as she squeezed her eyes shut and pointed upwards timidly.

"I… I saw something there. Something glowing white…"

Syaoran aimed his torchlight upwards, a ray of light in the dense darkness.

"There's nothing there," he said matter-of-factly.

"There was! There was something there just now! And those bloody words over there!" she directed a forefinger at the crimson letters scrawled onto the rocks. Syaoran torched at where she indicated. The words 'Save me' were plainly in view.

"Oh, those! They're Terada-sensei's handwriting, don't you recognise? They were there too when I entered this cavern," Syaoran explained soothingly.

Sakura felt more and more idiotic by the second.

"Oh!" she said. "What about something slinking on the ground? I swear I felt it against my leg just now!"

Syaoran grinned, his amber eyes twinkling merrily.

"There!" he lit up the tunnel ground. "Does that answer your question?"

Sakura glanced over and saw a thick nylon thread on the ground leading along the passageway.

"Terada-sensei is outside controlling it, shaking it sometimes. It must be then when it brushed against you."

Sakura sweatdropped. All that worry for nothing.

"There's something else. Why is the river shining without a source of light?"

"Our government sees this place as a potential tourist attraction," Syaoran elucidated. "To increase the appeal of this cave to the tourists, pebbles that glow in the dark are scattered in the rivers so that this place seems more mystical besides enhancing the vision abilities of the tourists. Look." He pointed his torch into the motionless rivulet. "You see those pebbles that shine especially brightly under my light?"

"Ho…" Sakura gasped in admiration as she leaned over the bridge to look at the watercourse. Knowing that there was nothing ethereal about them anymore, she actually thought they seemed very pretty.

"In fact," he continued as he directed the shaft of light upwards again. "I think what you saw gliding in the air was probably the reflection of these glowing pebbles onto the smooth rocks above."

"What about the UFOs that assailed me just now?"

"Those are bats. Bats are extremely sensitive to movements and sounds on the ground because their preys crawl down here," he enlightened. Sayura's mouth formed an 'O' shape in realisation.

"Syaoran-kun, you're so smart."

Syaoran blushed marginally.

"Oh, by the way, what are you doing here?"

The blush deepened.

Syaoran rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh, well, I kinda heard you calling for me and I um… pretty much… sneaked in…"

"Oh," Sakura uttered as she reddened visibly even under the dim light of the candle. "Then I should complete my task quickly and you can sneak out without anyone noticing."

"Maybe I should leave now. People may detect my absence, you know, and you will have to redo this test." And endure some hard teasing from our classmates as well, he silently added.

Sakura's fine eyebrows arched up in the middle and her lower lip jutted out slightly - a look Syaoran never learnt how to resist. She tugged on Syaoran's sleeve pleadingly.

"Don't leave me here alone, okay? I… I only calmed down because you were here, because of your hug. I feel so safe when you hold me to you…"

Syaoran gazed in startle and affection at her flushed visage. He beamed.

"U-Uhn."

Together, they made their way from the bridge to the shrine. Sakura left the candle delightedly in it.

"I did it! I did it!" she exclaimed exuberantly. Syaoran chuckled.

"What?" she retorted. "Don't laugh at me."

"I'm not laughing at you, I just think that y-you're so cute."

Sakura reddened some more. The both of them fixed their eyes on everywhere except each other.

"Come on, we should get going," Syaoran urged in an attempt to shatter the silence. Sakura nodded in agreement. She took out the spare candle and lit it before following Syaoran.

They strolled on in hush, the silence broken only by the soft platter of their feet. Soon, they could see the light coming from the end of the passage. Sakura briefly wondered why the walk had seemed so long when she was in solitude.

"Syaoran-kun?"

"Hn?"

"Thanks. Thanks for coming for me."

"You're welcome," Syaoran replied simply. "But I want something from you in return."

"Eh?"

Syaoran suddenly swooped down and blew out the candle, plummeting darkness upon them.

"Syaoran-kun?" Sakura called out in shock. Suddenly, she felt a peck on her cheek. A peck bestowed on her by sizzling hot lips. She could feel the heat shooting from the spot where she was kissed to her whole head so intensely as if it was in slow motion.

"I'll go on first. Come out soon!" Syaoran said to her from somewhere ahead and she heard his running steps growing softer and softer. Somehow she did not feel scared anymore being alone in the dark.

She was too absorbed in something else.

A hand felt the precise position where it was formerly kissed. Cherry lips curved into a smile.

She never would have predicted her courage test would end like this.

OMAKE

A glowing silhouette of indefinite shape stared as the dazed auburn-haired girl made her way out of the warren dreamily. Its companion – another ball of radiance with fluid-like outline – floated up beside it.

"Ehh?" a feminine voice emanated from it. "When did we graduate from the scaring-the-daylights-out-of-people business to playing matchmakers?"

A masculine chortle came from the other phantom.

"I rather like it. They're so innocent and adorable, don't you think?"

"Growing soft, aren't we? No matter, I was thinking along the same lines. What about that pair? They look… promising," the female responded as it churned itself into an arrow shape targeted at a chatting pair of dark-haired duos. The girl was raven-haired with azure eyes and pale skin while the boy had midnight-blue hair with matching eyes sparkling gently behind a pair of spectacles.

The male manifestation stroke its err... chin... thoughtfully.

"Hmm… Not a bad idea. Let's start scheming now…"