An Unfinished Task: Part 7
By: Starlight Rose
Rated: PG
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: I wish I owned CCS but alas I don't own it. It's
owned by CLAMP, Kodansha, Nelvana, and maybe a few other
companies that I don't know of.

I’m really sorry this chapter took so long, but that’s what happens
when I lack both time and motivation. I was planning on making this
chapter longer but I decided to end it here and get something out.
Also the next chapter will really be centered on Syaoran and his
thoughts along with the training he had to go through and I guess I
wanted to devote more time and space to that than I would have if I
had left it as part of this chapter. The next chapter will also
hopefully explain a little about Tomoyo’s and Soujiro’s (BTW
Soujiro is inspired by Soujiro from Kenshin) relationship like why
she is dating him and how she met him. So look forward to it. BTW
for those of you that have not read the previous chapters they can
be found at http://fanfiction.net/master.cfm?action=Directory-
AuthorProfile&UserID=18865

Translator’s Notes:
Ganbatten ne- good luck
Daijobu desu ka- Are you alright?
Daijobu desu- I’m okay.
Arigatou- thank-you
Honto-really
Suberashi-wonderful
Chikusyoo- Damn it

*****************************

The week passed slowly for both Sakura and Syaoran as each of them
waited anxiously for Friday to come, but as Friday came both went
into fits of nervousness during they day. Each went about their day
as usual, but as they thought about the date they both started
turning crimson because of their blushing. As a consequence of this
many people including some of their professors kept asking them
whether or not they had a fever.

Finally Friday afternoon had arrived and Sakura sat in her room
with Tomoyo trying to decide what to wear on her ‘date’ with
Syaoran. Sakura blushed as she thought of finally being able to
tell Syaoran her feelings. Her face reddened further as she
realized that this would be her first date with someone she cared
about. During high school many guys had asked her out and she had
gone out with a few of them, but it had never felt right. She
didn’t feel comfortable, safe, protected, and warm with any of them
like she had with Syaoran. The realization sent new waves of
nervousness through her as she collapsed on her bed yelling, “I
can’t do this!”

Tomoyo looked over at her friend worriedly and asked, “Sakura-chan,
what’s wrong? You were really looking forward to this date.”

“I’m just so nervous Tomoyo-chan. This is going to be my first date
with Syaoran and I really want it to go well, but I’m afraid. What
if I do something stupid and embarrass Syaoran-kun and myself at
the concert? What if Syaoran-kun doesn’t like me?”

“What are you so worried about? You’re the Card Mistress. You’re
the most powerful magician in the world. You should be able to
handle a date with that kid.” Kero-chan said as he roused from his
nap.

“Because it’s Sakura, everything will be alright. I’m sure nothing
bad will happen and Li-kun will never not like you.” Tomoyo assured
her confidently.

“Honto?”

“Honto. Now lets decide on what you should wear on your first date
with Li-kun. I just finished making a really pretty dress for you.
I think Sakura-chan should wear it on her first date with Li-kun.”

Sakura sweatdropped and almost face-faulted at Tomoyo’s words. Her
friend would never change, but Sakura remembered the rather
extravagant designs her friend had made her wear during her card
capturing days and she was worried. “Anou...Tomoyo-chan you didn’t
need to make a dress just for this.”

Tomoyo giggled at Sakura’s reaction. She still had the tapes of
Sakura capturing cards in the outfits she made for her and
designing a dress for Sakura’s date had cast a wave of nostalgia
over her. Knowing just why Sakura was so worried, Tomoyo tried to
assure her saying, “Don’t worry it’s much plainer than the outfits
you wore while capturing cards. I wanted to add more things to it,
but Soujiro-kun said that you might want something less
decorative.”

“Go on and let Tomoyo-chan show you the dress Sakura.” Kero-chan
encouraged.

Sighing resignedly Sakura nodded her head in acceptance. Seeing
sakura nod her acceptance Tomoyo walked over to a chest of drawers
and drew out a large box and gave it to Sakura. Looking at the box
skeptically, Sakura opened the box prepared to see mountains of
lace and frills. Instead she pulled out a simple but elegant white
dress. Sakura gasped in pleasure, “Tomoyo-chan it’s beautiful.”

“Let me help you put it on.” Tomoyo suggested.

“Un.”

“Tomoyo helped Sakura into the dress and stepped back a few steps
to admire her best friend. The dress was a simple white silk dress
with slightly off-the-shoulder sleeves and knee-length skirts. The
dress’s arching neckline and off the shoulder sleeves accentuated
Sakura’s graceful neck and flowed softly around her pale arms. The
bodice of the dress hugged Sakura’s slim figure gently and the
loose skirts swirled lavishly around her legs.

“Suberashi! The dress looks wonderful on you. Li-kun will love it.
I just wish I could record your date. It would make such a great
video.” Tomoyo exclaimed.

Sakura blushed at the compliment as she hugged her friend and
whispered softly, “Arigatou, Tomoyo-chan.”

“We have a little time left. Let me do your hair for you. I think
you should put on a little lip-gloss too. Your cheeks are flushed
enough so you don’t need any blush.”

“Un.” Sakura agreed.

Tomoyo brushed Sakura’s silky hair softly with a brush and
reminisced on their childhood when she and Sakura used to do each
other’s hair. Skillfully she twisted and secured Sakura’s hair into
a French twist and allowed a few curly strands to fall loose to
frame Sakura’s delicate face. When she was finally done Sakura
looked at herself in the mirror and realized how mature she looked.

“It’s almost time for you to meet Li-kun, isn’t it?” Tomoyo asked
Sakura, glancing at the clock.

“Un. I guess I better go now.” Sakura said as she stood up and
grabbed her purse ready to leave.

“Ganbatten ne, Sakura-chan! Have fun!” Tomoyo said encouragingly as
Sakura left.

“Tell me all that happens and if that kid priest tries anything
with you tell me so that I can beat him to a pulp!” Kero-chan
shouted as the door closed.

After Sakura left Tomoyo sat down on her bed and sighed with
relief. “I hope she’ll be okay.”

“Un.” Kero-chan replied a serious expression plastered on his
stuffed animal face. “Ne Tomoyo-chan, shouldn’t you be getting
ready for your date now?”

“Hai. I just wanted to make sure Sakura-chan was ready first. I
guess I’ll go get ready now.”

*****************************

‘I wonder what is taking Syaoran-kun so long,’ Sakura thought as
she stood beneath the sakura tree that she and Syaoran had agreed
to meet at. They had agreed to meet at 6:30, and Sakura had arrived
ten minutes early. Having arrived early she leaned against the tree
and waited for Syaoran. As she waited for him and he didn’t show up
her doubts and insecurities slowly surfaced and started eating away
at her thoughts. ‘What if he doesn’t come? What if he changed his
mind and doesn’t want to go out on a date with me?’

Time ticked by slowly and twenty minutes after Sakura was supposed
to meet him, Syaoran had still not shown up. Tears started to sting
her eyes as she thought, ‘I guess he isn’t coming,’ but her eyes
saw running towards her a blurry figure.

“Syaoran-kun...” Sakura started to shout before her voice stopped
short, the shout barely uttered as she realized that the person
wasn’t Syaoran, but Christian.

“Hoe? Christian-kun what are you doing here?” Sakura asked
confused. Christian was dressed as if he was about to go somewhere.
He was wearing a neat white shirt with a black tie and a pair of
black khakis. His dark-brown hair was combed neatly and parted to one
side.

“Ah...susimasen, Sakura-san, but Syaoran-kun couldn’t make it today
so he told m to come instead since he didn’t want the ticket to go
to waste. I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Oh...it’s okay. So Syaoran-kun can’t come.” Sakura said her face
and voice filled with disappointment.

“Sakura-san? Daijoubu desu ka?” Christian asked worriedly.

“Hai, daijoubu desu.” Sakura answered trying to smile cheerfully up
at the dark-haired boy.

“If you’re okay then we better go. The concert is going to start
soon.”

“Hai.” Sakura replied as she began walking away from the tree with
Christian by her side. Suddenly a tree root seemed to rise out of
the ground and Sakura tripped over it. Loosing her footing Sakura
began to fall. She closed her eyes ready to feel the hard ground
hit her, but instead she felt soft cloth and a muscular chest as a
pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her. Opening her eyes
Sakura looked up to find herself starring at Christian’s chest.
Sakura’s face turned a flaming red as she realized that Christian
was holding her. Trying to regain her footing, she again slipped
and Christian tightened his grip on her. Christian’s ice-blue eyes
bore deeply into Sakura’s emerald eyes as he asked her softly,
“Sakura-san, may I tell you something?”

“Hoe?” Sakura asked perplexed at what he might want to tell her.

“I really like you.” Christian whispered softly.

Sakura smiled up at him and replied, “I really like you too,
Christian-kun.”

“Honto?!?” Christian said excitedly as he slowly leaned in to kiss
her. Realizing what Christian meant to do and what he meant when he
said he liked her, Sakura pushed herself away from him. Christian
looked at her with a hurt expression on his face and asked, “I
thought you said you like me too?”

“I do like you Christian-kun, but only as a friend.”

“Oh...I see. I’m sorry I misunderstood you.”

“Ah...it’s okay. Um...let’s just go to the concert now ne?” Sakura
queried, wanting to get away from the uncomfortable situation.

“Hai. Let’s go.” Christian replied offering his arm to her. Sakura
looked at his arm worriedly. Smiling down at her, he said, “It’s
okay. I know when I’ve been rejected. I won’t try anything again.”

Looking down in shame for doubting him, Sakura nodded and took his
arm as the two of them headed for the concert. Overhead the sky
darkened as black rain clouds rolled over the area and covered the
sky obstructing the sun.

*****************************

‘Chikusyoo,’ Syaoran thought to himself glancing at his watch as he
ran to the place where he was supposed to meet Sakura, ‘I hope
Sakura isn’t upset with me for being this late.’ He knew he was
already twenty minutes late, but there was no helping it. The day
had started off normally for him except for he was slightly more
preoccupied than usual thinking of his date with Sakura. Other than
a few occasions when some people thought he had a fever, the day
had gone fine or at least it had gone fine.

Unfortunately it didn’t stay that way. Soccer practice had gone
horribly for both him and the other guys. Every time someone kicked
the ball it took off at weird angles or shoot out of control. Even
Syaoran’s usually well-aimed and perfectly controlled kicks went a
wry. It wasn’t that he was having problems with control that
perplexed Syaoran though, but it was the fact that everyone was
having trouble. To add to the problem Syaoran could have sworn that
he felt some magical spell being cast right before his practice
started, but because the sensation was so fleeting he couldn't be
sure.

Because of the horrible practice the coach kept everyone late so
Syaoran ended up not getting back to his room until 6:20. Even then
he would have actually still been able to meet Sakura and only be a
few minutes late, but it seemed as if he was jinxed. Once Syaoran
reached his room he discovered that his key was missing and the
door to him room was locked. He tried knocking on the door, but no
one answered. Knowing that it meant that the jerk wasn’t there the
one time that Syaoran needed him there, Syaoran ran down to
Morimoto Hikaru’s office hoping to find her and borrow her key.
Unfortunately the dorm manager wasn’t in. Having no way of getting
into his room other than breaking in, Syaoran settled for pacing
around in the front lobby.

As he paced around impatiently, Tomoyo and Soujiro who were about
to leave for their date spotted him and asked him, “Li-kun
shouldn’t you be meeting with Sakura right now?”

Turning to look at Tomoyo in surprise, Syaoran nodded gloomily and
explained his situation to the couple. Instead of looking concerned
Tomoyo’s face brightened as Soujiro grinned knowingly as he watched
his girlfriend pull his best teammate to her room. Once in Tomoyo’s
and Sakura’s room, Tomoyo ran to her closet and pulled out a box
saying, “The only reason you need to get in your room is that you
need something to wear for your date with Sakura-chan, right?”

“Un.” Syaoran replied still not comprehending.

“I designed that outfit for you to wear with Sakura-chan’s dress,
but I didn’t think you would be willing to wear it, but since you
need something to wear that would be perfect. You can shower in
here, but just try and make sure you hurry. Lock the door when you
leave.”

“Arigatou, Daidouji-san.” Syaoran said smiling thankfully at the
girl.

“You’re welcome. As long as Sakura-chan is happy then, that’s all
the thanks I need and you are the only person that can make Sakura-
chan happy. Ganbatten ne.” Tomoyo said as she closed the door
quietly behind her as she left.

Syaoran was slightly disconcerted by how fancy the outfit looked
once he saw it, but it was still comfortable and it gave him
something to wear other than his sweaty practice gear. So dressed
in a fancy white shirt and a black velvet vest and bow tie he was
running to meet Sakura.

Syaoran finally reached spotted the tree where he was to meet
Sakura and stopped short as he spotted her. She looked absolutely
stunning in the dress that he knew Tomoyo had designed for her.
Finally snapping out of his daze he was about to step forward when
he spotted Christian talking to her. Moving closer but remaining
outside of the two's field of view, Syaoran saw Sakura trip and was
about to rush forward when Christian caught her. Clenching his
fists in fury that the jerk had the audacity to touch Sakura,
Syaoran was about to show himself when he heard Christian say to
Sakura, “I really like you.” But those words were not what made him
stop. It was when Sakura replied by giving him one of her glorious
smiles and telling him, “I really like you too, Christian-kun,”
that Syaoran’s heart shattered. Sakura liked Christian. His coming
back to Japan was futile. All the years he had loved her and longed
for her had been in vain. Sakura liked someone else. The pain
caused tears to sting his eyes, but Syaoran refused to let them
fall. Syaoran saw Christian bend over prepared to kiss his love’s
soft lips and could not take the pain anymore. Turning quickly away
to avoid the sight Syaoran ran off, heedless of where he was
headed. He just needed to be alone.