Vacation!

Chapter Ten: Fools In Love

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Wow

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This is it.

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The last chapter.

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I THINK I'M GONNA CRY!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

First of all, I would like—no, LOVE—to thank EVERY FRIKKIN PERSON WHO REVIEWED!!!!

Except for that one person who said that it was kinda funny but not really and everyone acted really weird.' Harsh words. Cuts me deep. I got a flame. T_T

AAAAWWWWW, WHO CARES!!!! pulls out microphone I WILL SUHVIVE!!! I WILL SUHVIVE!!!!

And this ain't the last story I'm ever doing! I've still got three stories—maybe four, now that I think of it— in the hole,' as I put it. There's the sequel to Beyond the Warrior. There's the sequel to A Camp Adventure Gone Wrong. And then there's this AU I want to do. Oh yeah, and my journal's going to keep going. And well I kinda I kinda wanna do a sequel to this. NO!!! DON'T KILL ME!!!

Oh yeah, and at this point I'd like to mention that I'm considering doing a Manga version of this.

No, seriously.

I know it would take forever, and it would be a far cry from Clamp's, but hey, I want to be a manga artist someday. I gotta start somewhere.

And it ain't gonna be chicken scratches, either. Ask Cutie Blossom. I'm a pretty decent artist. Or I like to think that I am. In fact, you can see something I did at Piggy Ho Ho's site, The Sakura and Syaoran Fanstation.' It's on the seventh page of the Guest's Fan Art. It says it's by Error! Hyperlink reference not valid..com. But that isn't my s/n anymore, cuz I had to change it thanks to those HENTAIS who SCREWED OVER MY INTERNET PRIVELEGES!!!!!! BLAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

Anyway, the point of this part here is that I want to say thanks. It's been a fun ride. I may do a Manga version. And a sequel. Thus says Chinchilla (Chinchilla is my nickname).

And yet, after all this hard work I still don't own CCS. Never have. Never will. Mokona Apapa, the artist behind Clamp, is a god. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, let's start the show.

Oh yes, and I hope you don't mind. I can't resist throwing in those oh-so-annoying/evil Author's Notes. They only make it more fun.

And so, the post trauma begins

Usually, Christmas Eve is a time of joy and togetherness, when friends meet and families gather, and people spend the night with their loved ones. For one princess, however, it was far from a merry Christmas.

On the eve of December 24th, shortly after a party hosted by the Marriott Hotel, Sakura Kinomoto, Grand-Niece of the Emperor of Japan, was drugged and kidnapped by two men whose names are, as of yet, undisclosed. She was smuggled to the bowels of the Plaza Hotel, in the underground portion that was built over after the Great Fire, where the two men reportedly tied her up and threatened her. Her boyfriend, Prince Xiao Lang of Hong Kong, found a note instructing him to go to the back of the Plaza Hotel at noon.

"I didn't know what to think," said the young prince, his face grim, "except that she was gone, and I had to get her back. That was all."

Well said, Romeo.

And so Prince Xiao Lang managed to get out of the hotel unnoticed, and arrived at the Plaza shortly before noon. The door led down a hall that used to lead into the old Plaza rooms, and had been blocked off. When he arrived at the dead end, it had been broken through.

"It wasn't the prettiest of surroundings," he admits. "There wasn't much light, and everything was breaking down. It felt like I was walking in the Elephant Graveyard." The underbelly of the Plaza is, as he described, over ninety years old, and had remained untouched for all of the last century.

After a short distance, he found the princess, who was unconscious and tied in a chair. He discovered later that they had injected her with a drug that had knocked her out for ten minutes, then spread to poison her, leaving her twenty-five minutes to live. She woke while he was untying her bonds, and allegedly was not happy to see him. "She and I both knew it was a trap, but I didn't care," he said with a shrug. "I couldn't leave her there." Shortly after being completely free, Princess Sakura's kidnappers entered the room and ordered them, at gunpoint, to drop everything. The doorway Prince Xiao Lang had come through collapsed, blocking that way out. Princess Sakura was nearly shot, but they managed to confuse their kidnappers and use the dumbwaiter to escape. [AN: AAAAAHHHHHH!!! IT'S RICKY GLASSY-ASS!!! RUN! HEAD FOR THE HILLS!!!] Sadly, the passage of the dumbwaiter had been sealed, too, and their attackers were shooting at them still. And so the royal teens had only one way to get out.

Many people will never forget the sight of two young adults crashing out of what had been the solid wall in the lobby and falling to the ground from a height of approximately seventeen feet.

In a few seconds, the would-be assassins had come through the door, and the prince and princess made their escape in one of the glass elevators, only to be followed. After reaching the top, they took the Equinox elevator, then ran into the restaurant. Their pursuers had put bullets in the door of their elevator seconds after they entered. In the restaurant, they unfortunately had several encounters with the servers.

"Yeah, I, like, was serving," explained a waiter, "when all of a sudden this dude and this chick both run into me. And I was like, Dude, what's your problem?' but they, like, kept on running."

Several of the workers in the kitchens were witnesses to the flight of the two young nobles as they darted among them, closely followed by their attackers. After overturning a shelf of pots in the path of their pursuers, they reportedly climbed onto the counter and went through a trapdoor onto the roof. After a moment, the attackers had followed. After dodging several bullets, the two teens were shown that one of the men had the antidote to the poison they'd given Sakura, who was swiftly losing energy. Sakura, who knew that they'd want something like Xiao Lang's life in exchange for the antidote, refused, and they were fired on again. Xiao Lang managed to get the antidote from them, but in the process, all three men fell off the edge of Equinox's roof. Xiao Lang caught a bar that was part of the structure, but the attackers fell approximately thirty feet. One suffered a broken arm, while the other broke his leg.

When he had gotten to the top of Equinox once more, Princess Sakura was unconscious. "I thought she was dead," Prince Xiao Lang said. "It was the worst moment of my life."

The princess was barely breathing, and he gave her the antidote as police cars and ambulances pulled up to the hotel. The prince and princess's classmates, Tomoyo Daidouji and Eriol Hiiragizawa had alerted them. "I was—and still am—very worried about Sakura," says Ms. Daidouji, her best friend. "We found the letter a little after Syaoran—that's how we say Xiao Lang—had vanished, and all we could think was What if they both die?'" Princess Sakura was taken to a hospital, where she remains in a coma.

"Unfortunately, the poison used is one that stays in the bloodstream for quite a while," says her doctor. "Her body is still fighting it, but all the antidote was neutralize part of it. She may still die if her immune system can't fight it off."

All our prayers go out to her and her friends and family." Eriol folded the newspaper and smirked at me. "My, my, someone's quite the Prince Charming."

"Shut up," I growled. I never should have talked to that reporter The woman who'd written about Sakura and I when we'd dated' had wanted to do an article on this, too. "Tomoyo, make him go away."

"I don't think we can leave those two alone," he said to Tomoyo with mock concern. "Not with Sakura still asleep. Touya would butcher Chester the Molester over there."

"Tomoyo?" I asked pointedly.

"Come on, you loon," she said dryly, pulling him away by his ear as he protested.

I watched Sakura sleep, feeling the worry rise in me even as Eriol's yelps of pain echoed up and down the halls. Five days—five days since Christmas, and she still had not woken up. Her face was so still and white that it hurt to see.

What if she never woke up? What if she died? I'd never been able to tell her

Did I want to, though? If she woke up, would she want to hear that?

I moved my gaze to the wall, deep in thought.

Something was happening when I looked over at her. She was flinching, and I could sense something—but what?

I held her hand in mine, now deeply concerned. And it came to me: it was almost as if I was sucked into something—

It was like a scene from a movie, or a dream. I stood on empty street, looking into the distance. As I watched, buildings started cracking and falling to the ground, far in the distance first, then closer as a running figure came into sight.

Sakura.

She was running from it, from something invisible. It was the unseen force that was tearing her world apart.

It was the poison. It tore after her, greedy, hungry, like a hyena getting ready for its kill.

Surprisingly, something like hope flickered in her eyes when she saw me. She didn't slow down, and in a minute I caught her in my arms.

She stayed still for a moment; then searing white power hit the poison and nearly pierced it through. I could see her fighting it, and then something snapped and she slipped away.

My eyes snapped open in time to see her roll over and pull my hand up to her face, now in deep, natural sleep.

I blushed a nice ruby red, feeling my fingers brush her cheek. When she woke up, though she wasn't going to be as happy as she seemed now. Sighing, I gently pulled my hand free, then gave in and brushed a hair away from her face, smiling sadly.

I was so confused.

For one thing, I was dreaming. And if I was dead, I wasn't supposed to be dreaming. Unless heaven—or hell—was like one unending dream. If it was, though, both were overrated.

I watched as my history teacher turned into an elephant and flew away, and my desk sprouted flowers. This is so weird

I walked outside, contemplating. Oh, how I wished I could have told Syaoran I loved him and now it was too late

The landscape turned into a rocky desert canyon, my footsteps squelching for no apparent reason. Hoof beats echoed off the walls, and then a cowboy galloped up on a glossy black horse, leaned down, grabbed me by the waist, dropped me in the saddle in front of him, and took off again.

"Hey!" I tried to get free, but he had an iron grip around my waist. "Let me go!" Turning around, I found it was Snidely Whiplash from Dudley Do-Right.

The ride came to an end, and I got off the plastic horse and walked out of the Fred Meyer's. The road out of the parking lot led to the highway, and I walked on the side of it for a long, long time. Then I broke into a run, now sprinting down an empty street in Tokyo. The buildings were crashing down behind me, flattened by something unseen, but that something wanted me too.

I remembered hearing somewhere that if you died in your dreams, then you died in real life.

I ran faster, realizing if it caught me, I would die.

Something stood ahead, in the middle of the street. As I dashed on, it didn't move.

His face came into sight; Syaoran. He waited.

I ran into his arms, and he held me there. There were crashes as the buildings fell down, and the thing—the unseen poison—came closer. I'm not going to die, I willed. I'm not going to die. I don't want my friends to be hurt.

White power blazed out from me, and it slammed into something huge. It was the invisible thing. There was a flicker, and it darkened into sight, a giant black mass.

My light pushed at the poison, shoving it slowly back. I was not going to give in this time.

Then my power speared through it. The pressure built, and then everything shattered.

I fell into a deeper, dreamless sleep.

"She's still asleep."

I registered the fact that I was returning to consciousness with difficulty.

"When will she wake up?"

"I don't know." I heard a rustle, but kept my eyes closed. "She's over the poison, but her body's exhausted from that. It's not surprising that she's taking her time."

I heard footsteps as the woman I presumed was a doctor walked out. A faint yell echoed down the hall.

My eyes fluttered open. An almost painfully sterile-looking white room swam into view as I blinked sleepily. Everything seemed tilted on its side, and then I realized I was lying on my side.

And then a headache started pounding in my temples.

I flinched and rolled over, grumbling. "Owww " I muttered lowly.

"Headache?"

I nodded, and a hand touched my forehead. The pain vanished.

Forcing my eyes open again, I looked around, and my eyes landed on Syaoran. "Hi," I said weakly, trying to smile.

"Hi," he replied, looking at me. There was something in his eyes that I had seen rarely, something I couldn't quite place.

For a minute, I couldn't move my eyes from his. Neither of us said anything.

"Syaoran, is she any better?" Tomoyo poked her head in, then saw me. "Sakura!" She rushed over. "We were all so worried—we thought you were dead, both of you, and then we thought you were going to die again from the poison—and—and—don't ever scare us like that again!"

I laughed. "I didn't really ask, Tomoyo."

"She's awake!" Chiharu, too, had poked her head in and seen me actually alive.

"Sakura!"

"Sakura!"

"Sakura!"

There were countless more shouts as my entire class managed to cram into the hospital room, which was a fairly spectacular feat. A few of my friends were crying.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Six days," Naoko answered. "We all agreed—you should've been Sleeping Beauty in that play, after all. Besides, Syaoran would've been a good Prince Charming."

I blushed as everybody went into reminiscences over that.

I think I need to change the subject before I die of humiliation. "I'm offended, you guys," I joked. "Six days, and not a single flower."

They exchanged glances. "Umm " Rika started. "Sakura, we had to move the stuff out, because there's too much."

"What do you mean?" I asked confusedly.

"Well " Chiharu frowned. "I think seeing is believing. Can you walk?"

"I can walk." I stretched my arms, then realized I was in a hospital gown and blushed. "Um, anybody got my clothes?"

At that, more than a few guys went into coughing fits, and Tomoyo and Rika laughed. "Go away, you guys," Naoko said briskly, herding them out the door. "She'll be out soon enough. And her adoring fans are going to want to see her."

"Adoring fans?" I asked quizzically as the door shut.

"You're a national fashion icon," Rika informed me as she pulled the curtains shut around my bed. "Here you go, Sakura."

She shoved my clothes in and I changed quickly, then ducked out. It felt like my strength was all back.

"Come on." Chiharu opened the door, and we walked outside. Some of the guys were making cracks about how much time it always took for girls to get ready, but they died off when Rika pointed out it had taken me less than two minutes.

Tomoyo led the way down the hall, and they came to an empty waiting room.

Well, empty as in no people.'

Every available surface was covered with flowers, stuffed animals, balloons, chocolates, cards—the works. Not a single space was left for even one more chocolate truffle.

"The other three rooms are like this," Yamazaki said matter-of-factly.

I waited for Chiharu to pronounce it as a lie, but she didn't, instead saying, "You picked up more than a few fans, Sakura."

"Oh," I said weakly.

Three rooms? Three more rooms, packed to the bursting point like this?

I swayed as the room spun. Oh, not again

I felt myself fall back.

"It doesn't take much, does it?" Naoko asked as I returned to consciousness.

Only it didn't feel quite like I was in a bed.

"Well, she just woke up a few minutes ago," debated Tomoyo. "Hearing you have four rooms of junk is a shock. She just needs more rest."

I cracked an eye open, and found myself staring at the wall.

Only it was moving.

Moving my head, I discovered that—to my humiliation—I was actually being carried. By Syaoran.

I could have died. In fact, I came astonishingly close for the second time, only this time there was no poison involved.

"Hey!" Tomoyo's face came into view. "You're awake!" She gave me an exasperated look. " I can walk,' indeed."

"I thought I could," I said defensively.

"And you were wrong," she said dryly. And then she grinned. "And poor Syaoran had to carry you."

She knew all too well that if I hadn't had the morals I did, I would not have minded.

"It's fine," I heard Syaoran say.

"Yeah." I stuck my tongue out at her. "You heard the man. It's fine."

"So, Sakura," Eriol said amicably. "Where did you get the idea that you could walk?"

I started to retort, but to my surprise, Syaoran cut me off. "Just leave her alone, okay?" he said, his voice firm. "The last thing she needs is your running commentary."

"Fine," Eriol replied simply, not offended in the least. "I say no more."

Things were getting serious. Not only was Syaoran carrying me, but he'd just stuck up for me

And he'd—he'd acted like he cared about me, back when we were in the Plaza.

And there was that time when he'd actually kissed my forehead.

I nearly passed out again, just remembering. It didn't help that he was still carrying me—my legs had long since turned to jelly.

Everything seemed to be going too fast; I couldn't quite digest it all. One minute, we were friends. The next minute, we were what?

Were we more than friends, like the newspapers believed? Or were we just really, really close?

And I was alive. What was up with that?

It was just a little too overwhelming and I was so tired

My eyelids slid down

"It was the cutest thing I ever saw," Tomoyo teased. "Sakura Kinomoto, sleeping like a baby in the arms of Syaoran Li."

"Shut up," I growled. "Do something useful. Help me with my hair."

"The day will come when you can do your own hair," she said dryly. "And I will relish its arrival."

I had woken up in the hospital bed once more. The doctors had explained that I was suffering from extreme exhaustion, and I wouldn't be feeling quite one hundred percent for a few days, because the poison had worn down my body.

Well, for a normal person, it would have been a few days. For me, it was a few hours, thanks to my magic.

Our flight home, scheduled for the 25th, had been cancelled, and the next one wasn't going to be until the first of January—tomorrow. So, because the flight was also in the afternoon, we could have a New Year's party. Supposedly, Tomoyo had made all the arrangements—including caterers, entertainment, a place to go—while I was clutching onto a shred of life, unconscious.

Somehow, I wasn't surprised.

"Pigtails? Or just down?" she asked.

"Umm down," I decided, peering into the mirror. I was back in my room at the Marriott.

"Right-o." She starting combing it out as I tried not to fidget. "So " she started casually. "While you and Syaoran were busy trying to keep each other alive, nothing happened to pop out did it?"

"What, did I tell him?" I asked, trying to decide whether to wear bracelets or a watch or a ring or She nodded. "No," I said with a sigh. Tears sprang up in my eyes again. "I I still don't know why he would put himself in that kind of danger, though!" I bit my lip. "He could have been hurt! Or killed!"

"Maybe he likes you more than you think," Tomoyo said simply.

I snorted, but remembered how he'd kissed me on the forehead and blushed. "In my dreams."

There was just friendship between us, no matter how hard I wished otherwise. He'd said so himself. We were just friends.

"You're good," Tomoyo announced. "What are you wearing?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you," I sighed.
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO WEAR???"

I picked myself up from where I'd landed on the other side of the room. My hair was sticking straight back from the sheer decibel force of her yell alone. "That would be a no,'" I said dryly. "You need to redo my hair now."

She started pacing up and down the room, ranting to what I estimated were the unseen Fashion Gods. "For the love of Gucci, you'd think she'd try to dress up every once in a while without me dragging her through every single step, but noooo, she doesn't even pick out something FOR THE PARTY THAT'S IN AN HOUR!!!" Her face was turning purple and it was starting to match her hair.

"Um " I flattened myself against the wall. "How how about jeans and a polo " I trailed off, seeing the look on her face.

"Jeans?" she asked unbelievingly. "Jeans."

"Uh "

"Jeans." She looked straight up at the ceiling again and started ranting some more. "She's going to the first party since she's come back to freaking life and she wants to wear jeans. Giorgio Armani give me patience."

I knew better than to ask what was wrong with jeans.

"I should have known," she said to the air. "Growing up with a father and a brother, you never can leave a man to teach a girl about fashion, I should have known." She ran a hand through her hair, took a deep breath, counted to ten, then looked at me, a glazed, slightly insane look in her eye. "Sakura."

"Yeah," I said nervously. "Yeah. Me. That's me. Me Sakura."

"You are going to wear a dress. A nice dress. In fact," she said, addressing the winds once more, "you are going to wear this dress." She darted out the room, and I tried to digest what had happened, absently running a brush through my now-normal hair.

She returned, an elegant green velvet dress in hand. Like the one I'd worn to the Christmas party, it was also sleeveless, but it had a scoop neck and cap sleeves, suiting me just fine.

"W-w-w-w-won't I be just a wee bit overdressed?" I stammered.

"Nope," she said proudly. "It's at a house my mom owns for business trips, and it's right on the bay, and everybody's going to be dressed up."

"But " I paused. Did I really want to go? Especially after the disaster at the last party I'd gone to "Do I have to go?" I whined.

"Sakura, let me put it this way," she said sweetly. "It's formal, so that means our dear friend Syaoran will be in a tuxedo. You're going to want to go for this one."

I blushed, but sadly, that cinched the deal. I was going.

"Now get changed," she ordered. "I don't want to wait too long."

It got even better.

Not only did a fleet of limousines arrive to cart us away promptly at seven o'clock, but Eriol, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and I got one all to ourselves.

And you'll never guess where I had to sit. Or, more accurately, who I had to sit next to.

Okay, maybe you will.

So Syaoran and I were sitting next to each other—as usual—and too and Eriol were looking horridly smug, and I was ready to strangle them both on the spot.

The party was in full swing when I looked around, feeling slightly lonely, and again found everything in couples. Eriol and Tomoyo, Chiharu and Yamazaki

Ignoring the debating voices in my head, I stepped outside.

Where, more-or-less coincidentally, Syaoran was.

He turned around when I opened the door and smiled slightly, making me practically swoon. "Hey."

"Hi," I choked out. "D-Do you m-mind if I'm out here?"

"Not at all." He'd lost the coat and the bow tie, so he was just in his white shirt, which I noticed was unbuttoned a notch lower. Of course, it was no surprise that I noticed that.

Midnight was a few minutes away, and then it'd be the new year. I smiled sadly. Maybe things would be different for me this year.

For once, Tomoyo hadn't had to set this scenario up. Will the wonders never cease.

"What are you thinking about?" I heard him ask.

"New Year's resolutions," I lied.

He smiled crookedly, and my knees almost gave out again. He leaned on the rail, but neither of us said anything.

Finally, the silence was too much. "Syaoran—" I began. It felt like the right time to tell him; after so many brushes with death, I didn't want to risk dying without him knowing again.

"Sakura—" he started at the same. We both laughed, and I said, "You first."

"Um " He stared out at the water, and there was a pause. "Sakura I wanted to tell you " He looked—sad, was it? But why would he be sad? "When—when I said there was nothing between us—my mother was calling—and I heard the phone call from Touya, and I was upset because you said—" He stopped altogether, paused, and said slowly, "I was upset because I heard you say you loved someone else."

"What?" I was so confused.

And then I blurted it out, even without the assistance of the Inner Monologue.

"No—Syaoran—the only one I could ever love is you!"

My hand flew over my mouth, but it was too late.

I started to run back inside, but something caught my wrist and held me back. "Sakura, wait," Syaoran said desperately. "You—love me?"

I nodded and gave up trying to get back inside, as it was becoming blatantly apparent I would not be able to do so. A tear silently rolled down my face.

And gentle fingers brushed it away. There was a bit of silence, and then the words came, the words I'd waited so long to hear.

"Sakura," he said softly, "I love you too."

Stunned, I looked up at him, my heart pounding. "Really?" I managed to whisper.

"Yeah."

[AN: Sappy, so you know what that means don't get too complacent. Remember what happened last time I had the big confession and tons of sap? Yeah, that's right. Sakura ended up DRUNK AS A SKUNK AND WAILING DANCING QUEEN' AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS.]

For an eternal moment, I could not look away, his gaze holding my own. My mind, for once, was totally silent.

[AN: AAAGGHHH!!!! RICKY GLASSY-ASS! SAVE YOURSELVES!!!]

His hand hadn't moved from when he had brushed my single tear away. In fact, I was currently all too aware of its presence against the side of my face.

And then, somehow, we were getting closer. Our lips brushed as I blushed from head to toe.

"AAAAAAAAAAAALLELUIA!!! AAAAAAAAALLLLELLUIA!!! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLEEEEEE-LUIA!!!"

Music blasted out from speakers surrounding us that suddenly materialized. I felt magic at work and realized with a twang of irritation that it was Eriol.

Somehow, I wasn't surprised by this, either. But I was pissed.

The speakers all burst into flame, then vanished when I twisted a spell in my mind. I would have said it out loud, but my mouth was fairly well busy at the moment.

A new set of speakers appeared out of thin air. Snapping, I set Eriol himself on fire this time. There was a yelp and a splash and a squeal that sounded like it could have come from Tomoyo, but I chose to ignore it. My hand found his and our fingers entangled, and I nearly fainted. How could this be happening? It had to be some kind of dream; there was no other possible solution. Syaoran didn't love me; we were still friends.

Then Eriol and Tomoyo dumped the bucket of cold water on us, and I had to admit it had to be reality.

And then this huge mound of fettuccine Alfredo landed on my head, and it became blatantly apparent that this was most definitely not a dream.

I never figured out what was up with that, I thought absentmindedly. The noodles vanished and we slowly broke apart. His arms were still around me, making me blush hard enough to keep me very warm.

"Can I kill him?" Syaoran murmured. "Please?"

I sighed, then frowned. I—I've never seen Eriol go in the water, I realized. [AN: Okay, okay, I know that he really does know how to swim, but I just watched this really funny episode of The Mysterious Play' and I couldn't resist!] "Can he swim?" I asked slowly.

"We're going to find out," he muttered, releasing me. With a single jump, he landed on the roof, fairly close to where Tomoyo and Eriol were perching, identical grins on their faces.

And then there was a yelp as Syaoran chucked Eriol off the roof and into the bay, followed by some unusual gurgling noises.

Syaoran dropped back down next to me. "Nope," he confirmed innocently. "Eriol doesn't swim."

"EEERRRRRIIIIIIOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!" Tomoyo wailed from the roof. "Sakura, do something!!!"

"Do I have to?" I mock-whined.

"Awwww But I don't wanna "

"SAKURA!!!"

A dripping Eriol floated out of the water, gasping for breath, then landed, glaring. "That was not funny."

"Actually, it was," I said blandly. "In fact, it was very funny."

He scowled fiercely at us. "I could have drowned, dammit!"

"And Sakura could have been crushed when you turned the teddy bear postal, or suffocated when you dumped the crapload of sheep on her, or flattened when you passed the crack that bronze horse at the shrine," Syaoran shot back.

"That was for a reason!"

"And this wasn't?"

"I think I'm going back inside," I said dryly. "It's almost midnight."

"Good idea." Syaoran held open the door. "And you're going to want to dry off before you come back inside, Eriol. Can't have water on the floor."

It was almost thirty second away from the start of the new year. Naoko and all the others were gathered around the big-screen TV, watching excitedly, and I couldn't help but smile. To think I'd almost died, and lost this

"Ten!"

Tomoyo and Eriol walked inside, and Tomoyo winked at me.

"Nine! Eight!"

And then I remembered the tradition of the new year. When the clock struck midnight you kissed someone.

"Seven! Six! Five!"

I glanced up at Syaoran, blushing slightly. It was hard, adjusting to the fact that he loved me too.

But it wasn't like I was upset or anything.

"Four! Three!"

He was also looking down at me.

"Two!"

I swallowed, our eyes locking once more.

And then he leaned down and kissed me.

"One!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!"

"Look!"

"Awwww!"

"Kawaii!!!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY SISTER?!"

There was a crash as Touya burst in the door, red-faced in fury. "SAKURA, ARE YOU INSANE???" he bellowed. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!"

"Well," Yamazaki said thoughtfully, "judging on appearances alone, she's making out with the prince of China."

Something told me that Yamazaki's decree was not going to go over too well with Touya.

There was a solution.

It was not one I personally would have chosen, but it was, indeed, effective.

"Shhoooouuuulllddd ooooolllllldddd (hic) acquaaaaaaaaiiintansh beeeeeeee forgooootttt, (hic) and neeeeeevvvvvvvvvvver brought (hic) tooo miiiiiiiinnnnnnndddd " Touya slurred happily, slumped over a table. "Shhhhooooooooulldddddd oooooollllllddddddd aaaacquaaaaaaainnnnntaaaanshe (hic) beeeeee forgooooootttt, and the (hic) of aaaaauuuuuuulllllldddd laaaaaanggggggg shhhhhhhiiiiiiinnnneeeee " An empty bottle was being swung from his fist; it had once contained alcohol, which was now inside Touya.

"If the oshean were whishkey and I were a duck," he sang drunkenly, "I'd dive to the bottom, and nevvverrrr come up." He tried to get up and fell back. The chair tipped backward and dumped him onto the floor as he continued to wail out his song. "But the oshean ain't whishkey and I ain't no duck, so I dive to the bottom, and alwaysh come up. Rye whishkey, rye whishkey, rye whishkey I'd cryyyyyyy, if I don't get shome whiskey I shurrrrrly will diiiiiiiiiiie."

"Look on the bright side," Eriol said cheerfully. "At least he won't be bothering you for a few hours, and then he'll have that hangover in the morning."

"Right," I said wearily.

"Get me off get me off GET ME OFF!!!!"

The seatbelt light went off, and in a moment Eriol was sprinting up and down the aisle, screaming at the top of his lungs.

I smiled contentedly and leaned my head against Syaoran's shoulder.

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP THE PLANE!!! I WAANNNNAAAAA GEEEETTTTT OOOOFFFFFFF!!!!!" Eriol burst into sobs.

"Did you know that more planes coming from California have crashed than ones coming from anywhere else in the world?"

Eriol halted in the middle of his fiftieth run down the aisle and fainted.

There was a weak cry of pain as he was run over by one of the stewardesses and her beverage cart.

"I'm sorry sir, will you please return to your seat, thank you, have a nice day," she said in a bored monotone. There was an unpleasant noise as she shoved the cart over his prone form, and after about five minutes he sat up, his glasses cracked and wheel-tracks on his face. "I c-c-can't f-feel my nose," he muttered. Forcing his eyes open, he saw where we were and bolted to his feet, then started running up and down the aisle again, yelling in acute terror.

The only problem was that he ran into the beverage cart on his way up.

There was a crash as he collided head-on with it, then silence. Sweet, sweet silence.

"Sakura! Phone for you!"

I rolled over on my bed. It had been a week since we'd finally staggered off the plane, A highly traumatized Eriol in tow.

It was good to be back home. I wasn't quite as much a celebrity as usual, and Syaoran and I were able to spend a lot of time together. Touya had had some well, qualms about us, but they were settled soon. We'd only had to drug him twice.

I switched on the phone. "Sakura Kinomoto."

"Ms. Kinomoto, congratulations! You've won a trip for five to England!"

::lets out long, long, long, long sigh:: Ah, chaos ensues. ::snort:: And you'd think, after all I've put you through, I'd have the decency to not make it end like this. ^_^ But nope, no decency here. Try some other author.

::ducks as tomatoes and various plant life are thrown at her:: WHAT?! AAAAAHHHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! ::runs around screaming and trying to pull Venus Flytrap off finger:: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! ::shakes it off:: Dear sweet Flaming Waffles!

Okay, okay! I'll do a sequel!

Eventually. ^_^;

I mean, I told you all already. I've got a bunch of other stories I wanna work on, and my laptop's busted until I can pay top have it repaired, so it ain't gonna come overnight!

I think I can give you a hint about what it's going to be like, though. This is something I've had in mind, thanks to my Invader Zim-obsessive friend (Massive Ally!):

So whaddya think? Funny? Do you get it? Ha, ha, ha?

No, I guess not.

Oh jeez, I'm worthless.

::sigh:: And no one died I'm starting to feel depressed Well, there's always that sequel

Until later, my faithful readers! Domo Arigato gozaimas to all of you! This has been one of my favorite stories to write and I guess it really isn't over yet!

Adiosity! Dos Vedanya! Vayo con dios! Au bientôt! Aurevoir! Ja mata ne!

SO SAYS CHINCHILLA!!!!!

Go on, bend my spoon.