Summary: - Sakura has spent her life in hiding from the winter courts. At her father's insistence she was to grow up in the mortal world where she would be safe from the squabbling of the two courts. In two months' time, on her 21st birthday, she will inherit the throne in the summer court and rule the summer fey. But fate has other plans and Syaoran Li appears in her life, seeming to be nothing more than a mortal. But appearances can be deceiving and they both find themselves walking down a dangerous path.

Disclaimer : - I don't own CCS, all the characters belong to CLAMP. I just like playing with them and making their lives a little more chaotic!

The title of this fic is taken from the song 'Iris' by Goo Goo Dolls and each chapter is named after a song. This chapters song is 'Strange' by Tokio Hotel featuring Kerli

Iris

Chapter two – Strange

A freak of nature
Stuck in reality
I don't fit the picture
I'm not what you want me to be
Sorry

When Sakura looked out the library window at lunch time it was still snowing. Frowning in disapproval she muttered a few choice words under her breath and leaned against a radiator, trying to draw in some of its heat. Tomoyo was sat next to her, absentmindedly flipping through a text book.

"I really hate snow." Sakura whispered, so not to disturb the other students. "I mean, its bloody February – it's not like its midwinter anymore! "

Tomoyo nodded, "but sometimes it snows in the middle of summer back home you know!"

"That's only when she's mad," Sakura retorted. "Normally at my dad. Do you think there will ever be peace between the two of us? It just seems like we've been fighting over nothing for a long time."

"Both parties involved are fickle." Tomoyo stated looking up from her book. "We're all feisty and short tempered – it's part of our nature. I doubt any one remembers why we're even at disagreement or who started it. But we're both too proud to back down or apologise to the other party."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "stupid pride getting between everything."

"You know you can change things in a couple of months – maybe try and make amends or reach an agreement between the two courts. In a couple of months you'll be queen and you'll have the opportunity to make changes." Tomoyo reasoned. "And it's not been so bad the last 5 years, there have been the odd small skirmishes, but nothing like it used to be. At least we can be grateful for that."

Sakura nodded and started to gather her stuff together for European History. It was one of the few classes her and Tomoyo didn't have together. She gave Tomoyo a hug as she grabbed her coat and headed off. She stepped outside to walk across the court yard, shivering at the cold that penetrated through her coat. She looked up at the sky, seeing nothing but the fat white flakes of snow as they coated her lashes. Shaking herself out of her thoughts she quickly made her way through the courtyard and pulled open the doors to the history department, a wall of warm air hitting her and melting the icy feeling that had settled in her bones.

Under the radar
Out of the system
Caught in the spotlight
That's my existence
You want me to change

Settling down at her desk she pulled her books out and rested her hear on her arms. The cold weather was taking its toll on her today, she felt tired and on edge. Breathing deeply tried to collect her wits, but the warm muggy heat in the classroom did little to help. Closing her eyes for a second she pictured home, the clean fresh air and the never ending blue skies. She sat up with a start as someone bumped into the back of her chair and the room tilted for a moment. She blinked, trying to refocus and looked up at the offending person that had bumped into her chair and was hit by a cold chill as she looked into the same amber eyes that had been at the back of her mind all morning.

"Sorry." Syaoran said. He stopped and looked at her, noticing her uneasy stance and flushed cheeks. "Are you ok?"

Sakura nodded meekly. This was honestly the last thing she needed when feeling like she did now – the new boy who made her feel uncomfortable, and whose eyes reminded her of someone, but she didn't know who. Syaoran hovered for a moment more and then sat down behind her and Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

Syaoran looked at her from behind raising an eyebrow at her strange behaviour. She seemed so small and frail, but behind those emerald eyes there was a fierceness he hadn't seen in a long time. He shook his head and concentrated on the task ahead of him, first he had to get through European history, and then later on probably kill his cousin for dragging him to Japan.

Eriol had been adamant that finishing their education in japan would be a good idea, that they could get away for a while and learn in a different culture before he had to take on the responsibilities of his family. He may have been the youngest of the 5 siblings, but he was the only boy. Apparently his parents had just kept going till they eventually had a male heir, so as a result he had 4 older sisters who made his life at home hell and spent their entire lives trying to set him up with their friends.

That was the main benefit of being in Japan – at least his sisters weren't here, and that was pretty much how Eriol had swung his decision. There was nothing quite as tempting as your cousin and best friend offering you a few months of piece and quite away from your sisters, never mind getting away from his over-bearing mother. He rolled her eyes and pushed that thought firmly out of his head and tried to concentrate on European history.

His mind started to wander again, this time focusing on the girl in front of him, now this was an unexpected bonus – he hadn't actually been looking for her, but somehow had stumbled across her hiding place. This would please his mother endlessly; she had been looking for the princess for quite some time, and had disagreed with Fujitaka for sending the girl away from the courts, her stance on it, as she had demonstrated with Syaoran, was that the future ruler needed to stay in the courts to learn how to rule.

He studied her from behind, she had silky auburn hair, and although it was tied up he imagined it being long and wavy. He'd seen her eyes, bright sparkling emerald green, though in winter they looked duller than he had imagined. She was petit but slim and fair with flawless skin. She would be fun to play with, and he imagined that the betrayal would be exquisite, but getting her to trust him would be the hard part. He knew earlier when they had shook hands she had felt the extreme cold that clung to him like an invisible shield. His biggest fear was that she would recognise him, although they had never met he looked too much like his father – and his father she had met, although it was many years ago now.

The bell rang signalling the end of class. Syaoran slid his books into his bag, amazed that he had spent the entire class not focusing on what the teacher had said. It didn't matter; he would catch up with it later on. Standing up he walked into Sakura, jolting her from wherever her mind had been. He put his arm out to steady her so she didn't fall and she visibly recoiled from the cold he emitted.

"Sorry," he apologised. "It seems I just keep knocking into you today." He tried to ease her fears with a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Sakura looked at him closer, there was something familiar about those eyes, and there was something about him that made her edgy. She steadied herself against the desk, moving away from Syaoran and the coldness that seemed to follow him around. "Thanks," she muttered quietly gathering up her things and getting out of the room as quickly as she could. She needed to get away from him, he was making her feel worse and the cold wasn't helping either. Everything seemed dull and fuzzy and she couldn't pin point whether it was Syaoran or the weather that was causing it.

She leaned against the wall outside the class room trying to catch her thoughts and clear her head. She hadn't been affected by the cold like this since she first moved to the mortal realm – and that was over 10 years ago. There had to be something else making her feel this way. She filed it away to ask Yue about when she next saw him. All she had to do first was make it through the rest of the day and then get home through the snow.

But all I feel is…
Strange, strange
In your perfect world
So strange, strange
I feel so absurd in this life
Don't come closer
In my arms,
Forever you'll be strange, strange

Sakura managed to make it through the next class without bumping into Syaoran again, something she was strangely relieved about. By lunch time the snow hadn't stopped and the college had decided that they were going to close for the remainder of the day. Sakura tried to find Tomoyo, but with the mass exodus from class it proved impossible and she figured she would just meet up with her back at the flat.

Sakura grabbed her stuff and made her way outside, bundling herself up against the cold. She gritted her teeth and started to make her way home, trudging through the snow. By the time she got home her feet were frozen, her teeth were chattering and she was using every bad word she could think of to describe her feelings towards the cold. The flat was empty when she got back, but thankfully it was warm. Stripping her wet clothing from her, she climbed into a hot shower, letting the hot water defrost her limbs. Resting her forehead ahead the cool tiles she breathed in the steamy air and let herself relax.

As Sakura climbed out the shower she heard the front door bang. "Tomoyo is that you?" she shouted from the bathroom.

"Yea, it's only me, you going to be long? I'm freezing!"

"I'll be right out." Sakura shouted back through the door as she wrapped her hair in a towel. She pulled on her sweats and a hoodie and opened the door to let Tomoyo in.

Tomoyo looked how Sakura had felt about 40 minutes earlier, frozen. He pale cheeks were flushed from the cold air and her hair still had the odd flake of snow, though they were quickly melting in the warmth of the flat.

"Hot chocolate?" Sakura questioned as she brushed past.

Tomoyo nodded and shut the bathroom door.

Sakura busied herself in the kitchen, smiling as she listened to Tomoyo singing in the shower. Taking the hot chocolate through the living the room she settled down on the sofa, covering herself in a thick blanket she let the weariness overcome her and drifted off to sleep.

You try to lift me
I don't get better
What's making you happy
Is making me sadder
In your golden cage

The snow swirled around Syaoran as he struggled to contain his frustration. She was much stronger than he had given her credit for. But still the snow should have had more of an effect on her than it was. The snow danced around him as he scowled, trying to keep his temper. He was a fool to think that this might have been so easy and if his mother found out then she would laugh at his inability to control one little girl.

"She's not just any little girl you know" Eriol said softly.

"You need to stop peeking into people's thoughts," Syaoran retorted. "But I know you're right. I'd just imagined that she would but much weaker than she is."

"She's close to her coming of age; it makes sense that she's stronger. You know we could do the sensible thing and just leave it well alone." Eriol stated, forever the voice of reason.

Syaoran snorted. "You can't be serious? Can you imagine what my mother would say? In fact don't imagine it – I'll tell you, she would lose her temper, shout at me and tell me that I was useless son and then turn me into an ice sculpture for the next 50 years or until she forgets why she's angry at me. Leaving it alone is no longer an option!"

"I know," Eriol nodded. "But I had to say something."

"You and your compassionate nature," Syaoran smiled raising an eyebrow. "You know that compassion won't get you far in our world so why do you cling to it?"

"I'm not going to get into an argument about my need to change my morals." Eriol sighed. "I know I am different compared to other of our kin but I won't compromise what I think is right and we both know that."

Syaoran nodded, letting the argument drop. He watched the snow as it settled from its flurrying and breathed in the cold air, letting it sooth his uneasy mind.

"No-one said this would be easy Syaoran." Eriol stated. "You're trying to end a quarrel that no one remembers starting. You'll dress it up and say you're doing it for the good of your court but deep down you know that you're doing it to prove yourself to your mother. "

"I think I told you to stay out of my thoughts," Syaoran snapped.

"Well then stop lying to yourself about why you're doing this and your thoughts will stop shouting at me." Eriol retorted before stalking away.

"Syaoran took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew Eriol was right, he always was. But Eriol being right didn't change what he needed to do.

Strange, strange
In your perfect world strange
Strange
Strange, strange
In your perfect world
So strange, strange
I feel so absurd in this life
Don't come closer
You'll die slowly
In my arms,
Forever you'll be strange, strange
Like me…

AN: And there ends chapter 2 – sorry it's taken so long to get up – life got in the way of writing (again) but on the bright side I've only got a dew more weeks in my old job and when I move to my new job I'll have more time to write again.

Please R+R

RK

-x-