Sooo first attempt at a multi-chaptered fic :) I have the whole plot planned out so updates shouldn't be too far apart. Enjoy!

CH.1-This Is Called an Exposition, Kids

Could life be any more perfect?

Sakura Kinomoto closed her eyes in happiness, feeling the sun shine down on her and listening to nature's sounds with content. There was not one thing in her life that needed improving on, not one want or need that wasn't fulfilled. A warmth inside her that couldn't entirely be attributed to the wonderful day outside was taking over her mind, and she could only give credit to-

"Look, I could be at home, out of my business suit and relaxing. Let's look at some goddamn clouds already!"

Strangely, the warmth only got stronger as she registered those words. She opened her eyes and giggled as she looked at her best friend and boyfriend of over five years, Syaoran Li. She smirked at the mock-angry face he had on, but decided to let his remark slide, since he did seem pretty uncomfortable. He had just gotten out of a meeting, so he was wearing dress pants and a suit jacket, and they were on their way home when Sakura decided the day was perfect for cloud-watching. After a lot of whining and coercing from Sakura, Syaoran finally decided to entertain her for five minutes and gingerly sat down on some grass on the side of the road, before leaning back.

"I can feel the ants eating through my thousand-dollar Armani," Syaoran complained.

"Oh shut up, Syaoran," Sakura said. "I'm the birthday girl, and you're lucky I'm not mad that you blew me off the whole morning for some stupid meeting. Today you do what I want. Oh, look at that cloud, Syaoran-kun!" she cried, distracted and slipping into her childish tendencies. "It's a duck!"

He squinted up at it, but for the life of him he could not see a duck. Either Sakura was going crazy or he was, because he was absolutely sure…

"That's obviously a flower."

Sakura immediately whipped her head around at him, eyes narrowing and nostrils flaring. "It's a duck, Syaoran, and that's final."

Of course she was right! Sakura reasoned. Syaoran had about as much imagination as a pile of wood. The first time they had done this Syaoran insisted each time that the cloud looked like a Rorschach ink blot. She snorted at the memory.

"No, it's a flower. A sakura blossom, to be exact. Just like you."

Sakura rolled her eyes, ignoring the flirty smile that he sent her way. It's incredible how much he's changed, Sakura mused as she dimly noticed Syaoran go into a detailed explanation about why exactly the cloud looked like a sakura blossom. When Syaoran had first moved to Tomoeda in the tenth grade, he wasn't the most social boy at school. In fact, he was probably one of, if not the, most anti-social boys Sakura had ever met. Not that that made him a loner, because even then he had been extremely attractive, and found he couldn't get away from a pretty big group of girls who made it their high school goal to go out with the elusive and devilishly handsome Syaoran Li.

Sakura scoffed at the memory of them. Not one of them had been successful.

So Syaoran was an extreme emo who didn't like to talk when Sakura stumbled upon him and changed him with her bubbly and nice to the extreme personality. It may have taken her three years to get him to come out of his shell, but it was worth it when she saw him able to bond more with the guys.

It wasn't worth it when she saw his fan group grow dramatically, but she was content when she saw he never returned any of their affections.

However, it also bothered her that he never seemed to show any interest in girls. She never admitted to herself why she never gave up on him, why her heart flared with jealousy when she saw some other girl talk to him, why when the day of graduation came, she cried over Syaoran more than even her best friend, Tomoyo. Really, it was obvious, and as she drove away to a prestigious school in Osaka, she couldn't deny it in any longer.

She was in love with him.

It was three months into the new school term when she got the phone call. Apparently, Syaoran had gone drinking with his buddies at his college in Tokyo, because he obviously sounded drunk when he confessed his undying love for her.

Actually, it was more like, "Damn Sakura, I can't get that picture of you in a bikini out of my head. I think I'm in love with you."

She didn't talk to him for a month.

And that month would have lasted longer if he hadn't shown up at her college, apologizing for the drunk-dialing and his stupidity. He told her that he would quit drinking for the rest of his life, because he wanted to be sober for important things like telling the most perfect girl his feelings for her, thank you very much. He gave her a dozen red roses, asked her out on a date, and they went out and had the most fun Sakura had had in a while. It ended with them stealing up to the college's roof, thanks to Syaoran's planning and coercing, and enjoying a night of gazing at the stars.

Sakura decided that maybe she could forgive him. She did love him, after all.

And they've been going out ever since.

As Sakura finished reminiscing about the boy next to her, she laughed out loud as she realized he hadn't finished his rant about how the cloud looked like a flower.

"It's a duck," she interrupted him, closing her eyes again. That's final, her whole position said.

"It's a flower, Sakura," Syaoran repeated. Apparently he didn't understand her message. Or maybe he was too stupid.

Her eyes flew open. "Duck," she insisted again. "Duck, duck, duck, duck!"

Her nostrils were flaring again. She looked so adorable that Syaoran found himself with enough courage to reach into his suit pocket, and clutch the small velvet box that he had been carrying around for years. "Sakura," he began slowly. She looked up at him and held her breath, wondering if he was going to ask her it.

There was a long pause, as they stared into each other's eyes. She watched in disappointment as she saw the resolve fade. He stared in confusion at her expectant face, silent.

"Syaoran?" she prompted. "You were saying something?"

Syaoran blinked a few times before grinning sheepishly. "Sorry," he said apologetically. "I forgot."

"Oohh, I can't believe him!" she cried, throwing her hands in the air. "He made me think-so stupid-how could he-MAY GOD SMITE HIM WHERE HE STANDS!"

Tomoyo Daidouji just smiled serenely at her cousin as she stormed around her room, cursing Syaoran to hell and back, only to send him to hell again. Sakura was so kawaii when she was mad, Tomoyo just wanted to marry her herself!

Insert shifty eyes here, as she froze and looked around for any random mind readers that may have heard that stray thought.

She did not just think that while she was perfectly happy with Eriol. It was just the lingering feelings of an unrequited crush. Duh.

Tearing herself away from those extremely awkward thoughts, she held up her hands and said soothingly, "Maybe he just got scared?"

"DO NOT TRY TO SOOTHE ME TOMOYO!" Sakura screamed. "I want you to only be my best girlfriend, and not a friend of Syaoran's also. I want you to help me plan a horrible plot of revenge, preferably including leaving him naked in a mall with no money! I want you to call him every bad name you know because for some reason I can't! Do it, Tomoyo!"

Tomoyo hesitated, slightly scared at this fuming Sakura.

"…that bastard…?"

Sakura giggled and threw herself on Tomoyo's bed. "Thank you!" she squealed, hugging her. "Although it was a bit mean."

Tomoyo laughed. "Even when you're mean Sakura, you're still nice."

"Hoe?"

"I'm just saying; even when you're madder than heck at a person, you still won't stoop low enough to call them something bad. You refuse to call Syaoran any bad names because you know he doesn't deserve it, and you love him."

Sakura sighed dreamily, thinking of the man she loved. "Yeah…" she mumbled. "I do love him a lot…"

Suddenly she narrowed her eyes at Tomoyo. "Don't try to trick me into forgiving him."

Tomoyo widened her eyes innocently. "But I didn't say anything about forgiveness, Sakura! I may have reminded you of your love for him, but you were the one who brought up forgiveness."

Sakura glared at her, refusing to speak.

Silence.

More silence.

Sigh. "I'm still mad at him."

"Of course."

Syaoran didn't really know why he was here.

All he knew was that for some reason, Sakura was mad, and for some reason, he was the cause of it, so he had to take her out to a fancy restaurant to make up for whatever he did.

Che. Women.

"Sakuraaa," he whined pitifully, while they waited for their order. "Won't you tell me what I did wrong?"

She just scoffed and turned away, trying to hide the blush that was creeping onto her face.

She couldn't very well tell him that she was mad because she thought he was going to propose to her! Awkward much? Then he would feel pressured to get married, or he would realize that he wasn't ready and dump her! Oh no, he was going to dump her. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…but he said he loved her! So now he was a liar too? That lying, son of a…son of a-

Great.

She couldn't even call him a bad name in her thoughts.

Great again.

He was staring at her with a scared look on his face, and she realized her expression had morphed into a full-blown death scowl.

Triple great with an awesome on top.

She was saved from trying to laugh off her internal dilemma by the arrival of their food. She eagerly dug in, savoring the smell and taste of the delicious pasta. She paused as she realized that Syaoran hadn't even taken a bite.

"Syaoran, what's wrong?"

He shook his head and picked up his fork. "Nothing, I just forgot this is what I ordered."

"Mou, Syaoran, you're so forgetful sometimes."

"Only when I'm distracted by your beauty."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Go away, Syaoran," she giggled. "I can't be mad at you when you're this cute."

He smirked. "Isn't that a good thing?" he asked. "Although I'm pretty sure you're charmed by my suaveness, and flirtatious nature, not because I'm cute. I shuddered when you said that, you know."

Sakura laughed again. "I don't know how you make me fall in love with you more every day, but somehow you manage it."

Beaming at her words, his thoughts immediately darted to the ring still in his business suit, and he cursed. Such a perfect opportunity, he sighed, although he knew in this public place he could never muster enough courage to ask her. He was just sooo cowardly.

Damn.

So instead of celebrating an engagement and making mad love in the restaurant bathroom (Syaoran could picture it now), they ended their date with a car ride back to their apartment. He fumbled with the keys a bit (Syaoran said they all looked the same and he could never remember which one opened his door), but they managed to stumble in.

Sakura made herself at home in their familiar apartment. "You want marshmallows on your hot chocolate, Syaoran?" she called from the kitchen.

"Sure," he called back. Sighing, he loosened his tie and shrugged off his jacket, making sure to lay out a comfortable set of clothes that Sakura could change into. He threw himself on the couch, trying to look tired and worn out. Maybe Sakura will give me a back rub…

Too bad she was heartless and cruel, because all she did was shove his feet off one end of the couch and sit down. She put on a movie, eww chick flick, he realized, and studiously began ignoring him. She was definitely not close enough to be able to give him a back rub.

He let out a pitiful whine, rolling his shoulders. Too obvious, he realized. But he didn't care.

All he got was a glare in return.

"At least give me my hot chocolate!" She had set it on the table in front of them, out of his reach. He reached out for it, watching the steam rise up. He made sure he looked as pathetic as possible.

Another glare.

So she's still mad…

Fortunately for Syaoran, he knew the one thing that always got him back into Sakura's good books. Sakura knew he knew, and that he used it to his advantage every time he could. Their friends even knew he knew, even if they themselves didn't know what it was.

The point of this is, Sakura never could stay mad at Syaoran for long.

"Let's go stargazing."

Aah, the magic words. Against her will, Sakura immediately brightened.

"Okay!"

Mwaha, putty in his hands. Maybe he'll get that back rub after all…

As he held Sakura in his arms on top of the blanket they were laying on, and she mixed the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper up (again) and Syaoran had to correct her (again), suddenly all thoughts of tricking her into giving him a back rub disappeared. He knew Sakura wasn't seriously mad at him. I mean who could ever be mad at him? (Insert five minutes of self-absorbed complimenting, which every man needs once in a while.) Anyway, even though Sakura wasn't really mad at him, and he liked their witty bickering, he would always choose stargazing with Sakura over anything else. This was where they truly connected, when he was able to see their life together, past, present, and future. It was just him, her, and the stars above. They were in a world where it was just the two of them, with the stars as their sustenance and only entertainment. He sighed in content and wrapped his arms around Sakura tighter, thinking, this, this is perfection.