Watch the Rain Fall, by CheeseyCraziness

Summary: Sakura appears to die in an inferno and Syaoran vows never to love again. When she wakes up in someone else's body, Sakura discovers that she can never reveal herself to those she loves, or Syaoran will die. But fate has a way of stepping in... SxS

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. (Succinct, but it works, don't you think?)

.o0o. Chapter One: Farewell .o0o.

“Ano, Tomoyo-chan… Isn’t this a little young for me? I’m turning sixteen tomorrow!” Sakura stepped out from behind the curtain, blushing as she adjusted her dress.

It was an emerald green princess’ dress. The material was satin, falling just above Sakura’s feet. The dress had long, flowing sleeves flaring at the end. She wore a pair of light green slippers. Sakura looked like the most wonderful princess ever, practically stepping right out of a storybook. There was an uncomfortable smile on her youthful face, which had been covered with some light natural make-up and a dash of glitter. She looked absolutely –

“Kawaii!” Tomoyo screamed happily. “Sakura-chan is the most kawaii princess ever!”

“Hoe…” said Sakura, sweatdropping in embarrassment. “Am I really? I don’t know…”

“Of course! You’re the great Sakura, Card Mistress of the Sakura cards!” Kero remarked, smiling.

Tomoyo shook her head. “Why, if only Li-kun were here, he would drop dead just looking at you!”

The words had the intended effect on her friend. She blushed brightly and looked down. They had been going out for years now, in a long distance relationship that, with complete unerring faith in each other, worked. They saw each other no more than once every three months, but for them, it was enough. They loved each other with all they had – it was practically a fairy tale.

And last time he’d come, around spring break, they had shared their first heart-stopping kiss together, and Sakura would never forget it. They had gone out to the amusement park, and Tomoyo forced them to take a ride in – where else – the Tunnel of Love. Sakura was holding hands with him in the dark, giggling about how Tomoyo had no doubt rigged the amusement park with cameras, even in the tunnel. They looked at each other, smiling, and it all came together perfectly, neither of them expecting it, sending her heart over the moon.

Sakura loved him. She loved life. She loved living. She had the best family, the best friends, the best love, the best magic… Everything. And she would never trade that life away. Cute Sakura was who she was.

“You miss him, don’t you?” Tomoyo said, startling Sakura out of thought. Smiling slightly, Sakura nodded.

“I wish he was here,” she whispered. “If only-”

Sakura broke off in the middle of her sentence, and fell to her knees with her eyes wide open. For a moment, the shine in her eyes faded.

“Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan!”

Then she snapped awake again, panic in her face. “Tomoyo-chan, I have to go,” she said quickly, and she bolted out of the room, down the stairs, and ran out into the shattering rain, sprinting as fast as she could. Tomoyo took only a moment to follow behind.

Sakura ran, and kept running. No, she thought over and over again. No!

Her exhausted feet were running on adrenaline now, but she was nearly there. Tomoyo had fallen behind, but by now Sakura’s destination was clear.

Into the house she went, and she had but a second to glance into the dining room. Her father and her brother were in the kitchen, chatting.

“Why are you still letting Sakura date that Li kid?” asked Touya.

“You know as well as I do how much he loves her,” Fujitaka replied.

His son sighed. “I know. I’ll miss Sakura. But she’s in good hands.”

Touya approved of Syaoran? Since when? But anyway, it made her very happy to hear it, even if it was reluctantly, from him.

Maybe everything really was alright, and that vision had just been a false alarm, a waking nightmare or some other hallucination. Maybe things were okay, and she’d worried for nothing.

Satisfied, Sakura smiled.

Then, all hell broke loose – almost literally.

Suddenly the whole house went up in an inferno, burning everything. Through the roar Sakura barely heard the dying screams of her family, but wasn’t screaming herself. She just stared. Why wasn’t she getting scorched to death?

Sakura realized she couldn’t feel it because Firey was protecting her. The card had released itself, struggling against the flames to save its Mistress. But Sakura saw it was losing the fight. She wanted to do something, but her throat was closed up in fear, and she couldn’t move.

Firey grew weaker and weaker, until at last the fire became too much for it.

She felt unbearably hot as she was burning away, but then suddenly everything became icy cold.

And there was nothing but black.

.o0o.

(A/N Don’t flame me yet, keep reading! What, you think this would be SxS if I killed Sakura? Possible, but unlikely. I prefer romance when they’re living, thanks.)

.o0o.

He knew he was the last one standing there, but didn’t bother to acknowledge the fact.

Syaoran stood there, his eyes tracing and retracing the engraved words in the cold, gray stone. He didn’t like the stone. It was too dark for her, too simple. She deserved something more. A bright, shining white stone, with beautiful artistry instead of such a blocky rock. But then again, he’d prefer most of all that she didn’t have a stone like this one at all.

The words on the stone read Kinomoto Sakura. The name once would have brought him joy, and maybe a blush. But at the moment all it did was make him more aware of the empty void in his heart. She was dead now. And with her, his heart had died, leaving only a shell of a body with a soulless heartbeat.

He had been told it was a gas leak that caused the fiery explosion. That couldn’t be. No mere gas leak would have killed her. She was too strong. He suspected it was something else. But somehow, he couldn’t find the energy to bother figuring out what. It didn’t matter, right? After all, she was gone forever anyway.

What hurt him the most? Syaoran was tortured by the thought of the opportunities he'd lost, all the kisses they could have shared, the love he had stored up for her... All was gone. He had kissed her, just once on a whim in the Tunnel of Love, and then again before he left for Hong Kong, a goodbye kiss. Now he knew it was an everlasting goodbye kiss instead.

He would have surprised Sakura for her sixteenth birthday with a visit and a celebration.

Tomorrow, it would be April 1st, Sakura’s sixteenth birthday, and Syaoran was in his room, practicing his speech. He was going to call her and wish her happy birthday in the best way possible. Yes – he was so crazy about her that he actually practiced.

In the middle of his thinking, somebody burst into the room.

“What?” he muttered without turning around.

“It’s only me, and you’ll love my news, so how about turning around to face your favorite cousin?” Meiling asked, smiling.

Syaoran turned, scowling. “Go ahead.”

“Don’t bother with the speech. Here, I got you a gift.” She pressed something into his hand. He looked, and his eyes widened.

Plane tickets to Japan!

“Yes, that’s right. I’m helping you slip away. We’re going to Japan to give your little cherry blossom a surprise. I have it all arranged.”

He gaped at her, and a slow grin spread across his face. Suddenly he hugged Meiling. “Thank you! How can I repay you?”

“All I want is to come along. I want Tomoyo to show me that tape of your first kiss, of course!”

Syaoran blushed and scowled. “Fine.”

He made a mental note to give Meiling a good surprise on her birthday. Though once a clingy annoyance, she had changed for the better, and he couldn’t be thankful enough.

Instead, he came for her funeral. She had died just before his arrival. He could have saved her, if it had only happened later, if he had only been faster. He could have saved the girl who had taught him friendship, kindness, and love, but now she was dead.

And it hurt. It hurt so much, that if he cut himself, he wouldn’t feel the pain at all. It just wouldn’t compare. The only thing that kept him living now, that kept him alive, was that she no doubt would want him to live – to move on, to follow his dreams, even if they didn’t include her.

He would live on. But he would not, maybe even could not, move on. Sakura was the only one for him. He knew it to the marrow of his bones. Sakura…

In that moment, Syaoran looked up to the blue sky and made a promise.

Sakura, I will never love another the way I did you for as long as I live.

I love you. I always will. Goodbye.

All traces of softness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by hard determination. He turned around, ignoring the slight stiffness in his legs, walking back out of the graveyard.

Wei, who viewed Syaoran like a son, was concerned for the boy. He opened the car door for him, and without a word Syaoran slid into his seat.

“Syaoran-sama?”

“Yes?”

“Are you alright, sir?”

Syaoran looked away. “I don’t think I’ll ever be,” he murmured. The coldness returned to his voice as he ordered, “Go to Daidouji’s.”

“Yes, Syaoran-sama.”

The car sped away. A tear fell from Syaoran’s eye, but it was quickly wiped away. He didn’t look back.

.o0o.

Sakura was drifting. The space around her was dark, was cold. She was afraid, but she wasn’t sure exactly why.

Through the black, Sakura heard a voice that sent chills down her spine.

“You survived, didn’t you, Card Mistress? That’s a shame; I was hoping my fire would kill you.”

She didn’t reply, not giving this person the satisfaction of hearing her shaky response.

“Well, that blasted dead brother of yours is protecting you now. It would have been nice if he hadn’t regained power after he saved your guardian, but no matter. I can still be sure, Card Mistress, that nobody will ever know you again. Actually, this might be better. I’ll be able to see you in your misery, unable to tell a soul of your fate.”

“What do you mean?” Sakura said, only just keeping her voice from trembling.

“Why, isn’t it obvious? I’m cursing you. You will never be able to so much as give a hint to anybody that you might be the late Card Mistress.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Oh, but I can.” Before her eyes, a vision appeared.

She whispered, “Syaoran…” He looked to be sleeping peacefully.

“A single word, anything that might give you away – and he dies.”

Sakura closed her eyes. An unfamiliar feeling came to her, bubbling up inside. What was it?

Hatred.

She opened her emerald eyes again, and now they blazed with bright, pure power. Sakura was no longer just Sakura. “No,” she said strongly, in a voice not her own.

The feeling of her surroundings changed, becoming less scary and more scared, but she didn’t notice. Sakura rapidly raised her arms and looked up, and a bright burst of pink light gathered above them.

“You will not do this to my daughter!” she screamed. The bright light flew in all directions, sending power everywhere.

“This curse cannot be broken by your power!” said the chilling voice.

Sakura glared levelly at nothing. “But it can be changed. It has been changed. That much I can do for her.”

“You’ll pay for this!” the voice replied bitterly. The feel of the surroundings changed again. The power faded from Sakura’s eyes as she closed them slowly. When she opened them again, she saw in front of her a vision of Nadeshiko, her mother. Her brother Touya and father Fujitaka appeared beside her. Nadeshiko looked worn out as Fujitaka held her, a soft look in his eyes.

“Okaa-san? Otou-san? Onii-chan?”

“Sakura, you might notice that almost all of your magic is gone. It will return, in time. I’ve changed the curse he placed on the one you love.” Nadeshiko smiled tiredly, and looked at Fujitaka.

He continued, “She couldn’t entirely break it, unfortunately, but now you have a chance. If you tell anybody, he will still die. Still, if people figure out who you are on their own, then you may tell the truth to them. They will be unable to tell others who you are as well. But if that boy figures out who you are, and still loves you, then the curse will be broken altogether. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Otou-san,” Sakura whispered, her eyes watering. “You’re dead, aren’t you? Am I?”

“No, you’re not,” Touya answered. “We are, though. But you’ll be fine. Tell that kid you two have my blessings, alright? He’s a kid, but he’ll do,” he said gruffly. Sakura beamed at him.

A serene smile appeared on Nadeshiko’s face. She stepped forward to embrace Sakura, who returned the hug with a small smile through her tears.

“Never forget who you are, my sweet daughter. I’m proud of you.”

She faded away into the now comforting darkness. Touya and Fujitaka, smiling at her, faded after. Sakura did as well.

.o0o.

When Sakura was next aware of anything, she heard voices.

“Your daughter should be waking up any moment now. She has made a miraculous recovery from the pneumonia; her health is absolutely perfect. She’s only sleeping. She needs to build up her strength.”

“Thank you.”

Footsteps were heard, and then two voices were speaking in a language Sakura needed a moment to identify. Was that Chinese?

Curiously, Sakura opened her eyes.

.o0o.

A/N Note: Cliffy! Yes, I am evil, thank you for asking.

If you’re still reading this author’s note, I thank you for actually bothering to do so. This first chapter is for SilentCynara, my hyperactive beta who deserves plenty of credit for helping me perfect this first chapter, and work out the kinks in the plot soon to unfold.

Here’s my new story! This one is SxS, though I’ll end up with a little background ExT just to please myself, and for the other ExT fans who liked reading my other CCS story, In the Broken Lies. What is it with me and four-word titles?

I can’t say much now, but plenty will be revealed in the next chapter, and maybe then I can give my thoughts out without giving away the plot. Thanks for reading! Do me a favor and review, please! - Lauren