Remembrance

Summary: Every day, Syaoran would board the bus with a bouquet of flowers in his arms. On April 1st, Syaoran brings his daughter with him with a bouquet of flowers in his arms as he visits his wife and the mother of his child.

Disclaimer: One-shot, and I don't own CCS or anything CLAMP owns.

Note: This is my first one shot. I didn't feel like dividing it into several chapters. I wrote this in a day so it might feel rushed! Hope you likey!

April: spring, the season of revival, the season of renewal. The season where snow finally melts and evaporates, the season where bare trees, stripped naked from the harsh winters grow their leaves once again. There was a lot about spring that people loved – now marked the season before summer, now marked the longer days of sunlight and now marked the season where flowers bloomed, filling the air with lovely floral scents.

For Syaoran, spring was something else. It symbolized something else for him. It was more than just the superficial things and warm weather, no, it definitely was something else.

With a bouquet of flowers in his arms, he waited at the bus stop as usual. He would always wait almost every day, at 5 pm in the evening when the home-time rush had died down. Today was no different, he patiently waited at his bus stop at 5 pm on the dot. Except this time, it was different. He brought his daughter along with him, her name was Xiao Ying (謏櫻), which meant little cherry in Chinese.

"Good evening." The bus driver said as Syaoran and Xiao Ying got on the bus.

"Thank you." Little Xiao Ying said as she put the change in the pay-box.

"Good evening to you as well, Lara." Syaoran simply said as he held his daughter's hand and they both made their way through the bus. As usual, he sat at the front where he usually sat every time he was on the bus.

The bus driver remarked that this was the first time she's ever seen that little girl with him. Syaoran and Lara knew each other because, well, he's been riding this bus continuously at the same time for the past 4 years almost every single day. They'd greet each other once in a while when Syaoran was feeling talkative. Most of the time he wasn't; he was a classical introvert. Not exactly shy, but he did not like people either or talking to people. So it was odd to Lara that she saw Syaoran with a little girl, as she never saw him as the type to be a father – she only saw Syaoran as the handsome stranger that always held a bouquet of flowers in his arms; a playboy; she thought, since why else would a man have flowers in his arms all the time?

She must've been his daughter, Lara thought as she looked at the mirror, the mirror that showed the whole bus and it's entirety. Similar to a dashboard window but much larger. Lara came to the conclusion that Xiao Ying must've been Syaoran's daughter because of her dark brown eyes, they resembled Syaoran's as well. However she had lighter coloured hair, not even close to Syaoran's dark brown hair.

The bus was empty, it was usually empty at this time and this location because this stop was almost at the city limits of Tomoeda, rarely any people lived out here; there'd be people boarding from this area once in a while, but the only person who has been consistently here was Syaoran.

"Daddy, where are we going?" Xiao Ying asked as she swung her legs, which were easily dangling from the high seats.

He looked over to his daughter with a softened expression, "We're going to see mommy."

"Ohhhh..." Xiao Ying simply said as Syaoran revealed his intentions, "That's why you brought the flowers?"

Syaoran nodded, "You know mommy likes flowers." He handed them to Xiao Ying, "Did you want to hold mommy's flowers?"

"Yes!" Xiao Ying said excitedly as she proudly held them in her arms, "Daddy, I have a question."

"What is it?" Syaoran asked softly.

"Why did you choose these flowers?" Xiao Ying innocently looked up at Syaoran, to which Syaoran responded to with a smile.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds as he thought of what he was going to say, "Well. I chose these... you see this branch here?"

"Mhmmm!"

"Well, that's one of mommy's favourite flowers. The Sakura."

"Yeah! Mommy's name was Sakura." Xiao Ying said happily.

Syaoran smiled sadly, "Yes. That is mommy's name, Sakura, like the cherry blossoms. You see that's why we have this branch with some cherry blossom flowers on it; she really loved them... and these flowers, mommy is never picky about flowers. She loves them all, in fact, she loves everything." Syaoran then put his finger on Xiao Ying's nose, "and I KNOW mommy loves you, Xiao Ying. She loves you with all her heart."

"Do you think so?" Xiao Ying asked.

"That's a silly question to ask, of course mommy loves you." Syaoran chuckled.

"Daddy, how did you and mommy meet?" Xiao Ying asked.

Syaoran couldn't help it, he thought, she looked just like her mother. The way she looked up at him, all he saw was Sakura's face. He couldn't hide anything from Xiao Ying, and he especially couldn't say no to her, either. Xiao Ying was only 4 years old, but she was very mature for her age. Xiao Ying was a constant reminder of the love he shared with Sakura; Xiao Ying was a constant reminder of a miracle – even though he experienced having this miracle at only the age of 20 years old, she was still a miracle in his eyes.

"It's a long story, Xiao Ying. Maybe I can tell it to you before bed." Syaoran said.

"Nooo!" Xiao Ying whined, "You ALWAYS say these things, daddy! You never tell me ANYTHING." She put a lot of emphasis on ANYTHING. She glared at her dad, and for that moment, now she resembled Syaoran – I guess she looked like her mother when she was happy, but when she was angry she looked like her father. Syaoran found it both horrifying and funny.

"Sssh, don't yell." Syaoran whispered. Even though it's been 4 years since Xiao Ying had come into his life, he was still clueless as a father. It was still new to him, in fact. He took a deep breath and submitted to his daughter's pleas.

"Do you really want to know?" Syaoran said quietly.

Xiao Ying nodded excitedly.

"Then you have to promise me one thing, Xiao Ying." Syaoran said.

"What's that?"

"You have to keep quiet. There's other people on this bus you know." Syaoran whispered.

"Okay. I promise daddy, I promise I'll be quiet if you tell me this story. Pleeeease." Xiao Ying's eyes widened – she always did this when she wanted something from her dad. Of course, he couldn't say no. Back then before he had her, he hated children and he swore to never have one himself. Now, the tables have turned. He never would've foreseen that he'd have a daughter – and that he was whipped, whipped towards his daughter. After all, she came first. She was his everything now, too, on par with his wife, of course.

Syaoran stayed quiet as he tried to figure out what to say. There was too many things TO say. How could he start? How should he approach this? He looked at his daughter who was patiently waiting for his story. He had time, of course, the bus ride to where his destination was took roughly an hour. An hour was enough time, more than enough time to tell his daughter how he met Sakura.

~x~

Flashback...

It was autumn. It was autumn when they first met. Of course it would've been autumn, seeing as how he met her when school started. Syaoran and Sakura were only 12 years old, respectively, when they met. The only thing that differentiated them was that Syaoran was a Chinese exchange student and she was a Japanese girl.

Immediately, as Syaoran entered the classroom, Sakura with all her cheerfulness and optimism greeted him. She was so friendly, too friendly, he thought. For a while, the thought of being around Sakura sickened him. He was not used to the attention, to the friendliness, and the overall happiness that radiated through Sakura. He was used to being alone, or at least not overly happy if he was around people. He was taught back in Hong Kong to keep his composure.

At first he avoided her like the plague. It was nearly impossible, seeing as he sat right beside her in class. Sakura was a talker, she constantly liked to talk which disrupted Syaoran during school because if she wasn't trying to talk to him, she'd talk to Tomoyo, Sakura's best friend, who was right beside Sakura as well. All he'd hear was whispers. Then when Sakura didn't open her mouth, she'd be writing and doodling him notes.

It was early in the morning when Syaoran decided that he would confront Sakura. It was this day that both him and Sakura had classroom duties, so they both had to come to school 2 hours early before class even started. There was no soul in sight on school grounds except some few teachers and the groundskeeper.

It was the perfect opportunity to tell her off – yet it didn't go as planned as Syaoran imagined this confrontation to be.

"Why, Kinomoto?" Syaoran asked as he finally got a moment of alone time with just Sakura, no one else. He didn't want to cause a scene, and now he found a perfect opportunity to confront her and to tell her that she was annoying. Everything she did drove him crazy.

They were both standing outside, with Sakura looking at him with a questioning look.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"You. For the past few months you haven't left me alone!" Syaoran raised his voice, "I can't concentrate in class because of you, because you keep talking!"

"Really?" Sakura looked at him sadly, "Am I that annoying?"

"YES." Syaoran raised his arms in the air, "Yes, Kinomoto, you are annoying."

"...I'm sorry." Sakura said sadly, "I can't help how I am."

"How can someone be so happy all the time?" Syaoran said to himself, which Sakura heard.

"It's better to be happy than to be angry at the world." Sakura said, "That's what my dad told me. It's better to be friendly than to be reclusive."

"Why me?" Syaoran said, "Out of all the people in this class, why must you constantly follow me around and talk to me?"

Sakura took off her hat and as she looked sadly at Syaoran, "I don't know." She said as she looked down at the ground, "I guess... I like you. I don't know, when I saw you walk into the classroom I felt like... we could connect, you know? Like we can be friends. You always looked so tense and so unhappy, I thought it'd be good to bring you at least some joy. I mean, I don't know. You never talked to anyone in class... except for Eriol Hiiragizawa and Yamazaki, but that was rarely. I guess I thought you needed a friend."

"I don't need a friend." Syaoran said with resentment in his voice, "I don't need you to pity me. I'm not unhappy with life, Kinomoto." Syaoran angry that Sakura, a girl that he didn't even know that well, was judging him.

She walked up to Syaoran, keeping her eyes locked with his. She stopped when they were only inches apart. This startled Syaoran, which caused him to step back a bit. What was she doing?

"I'm sorry." She said earnestly, "I really am. I'm sorry for judging you, and I'm sorry for assuming such things... it was stupid."

He couldn't stay angry at her – he was mad, but he wasn't angry towards Sakura.

He took a deep breath, "Alright, alright. Apology accepted." He sighed. He was never good with girls. Ever. The past 'romances' throughout his life – no, Syaoran didn't consider those to be romances at all; just girls he's had crushes on... they all ended up in a huge failure. He was never good with talking to girls because he scared them off: some of them say it was because he looked angry all the time, or that he looked intimidating, or that he always looked so unhappy – and that was weird.

Now there was one girl, a girl he barely knew – she disregarded all that. He found it strange, endearing and confusing at the same time.

"You have to promise me one thing, Kinomoto." Syaoran said.

"What?"

"Tone it down just a bit, you scare me sometimes." He smirked.

Sakura's eyes widened, but she wasn't offended. Instead she lightly chuckled to herself and nodded, "Alright then."

It was strange. After he confronted her, Sakura stopped really talking to him. She would casually greet him during class, before class, and perhaps even goodbyes – sometimes. Now that she left him alone, it drove him nuts too. He realized, after some soul-searching and after many months of not being acknowledged-so-much by Sakura that he liked the attention she gave him. She grew on him – you know, he hated her at first – well, not hate. Hate is too much of a strong word, and an inaccurate word to describe Syaoran's feelings; he was more annoyed than anything.

Yet the more he noticed her, the more he listened to her laugh, the more he watched her smile, and the more she spoke, the more she grew on him. He had gotten accustomed to it. Her smile was infectious, as was her laugh. Little by little, without Sakura even trying, he was warming up to her.

She wasn't so bad, right?

Now it was his turn to make the effort.

"Hey Kinomoto." Syaoran greeted Sakura. It was classroom duty again, both of them up so early in the morning; and they were alone.

"Oh, hi Li. What's up?" Sakura said as she took off her jacket. Even though it was spring time now, it was still obnoxiously cold outside. The signs of no snow meant winter has come and then left, but winter left it's lingering nippiness for everyone to enjoy – or not.

"How are you?" He asked. This was a familiar scene. Usually it would be Sakura asking him how he was. Conversations never moved past that.

"Oh... I'm alright." Sakura coughed, "I'm just a bit sick, that's all."

Syaoran hadn't noticed, but Sakura was looking a bit pale now that she mentioned it. Even when she was sick, she still managed to keep a smile on her face.

"You know, Kinomoto, you can sit this one out. I can sweep the floors and arrange everything. You can sit down if you want." Syaoran said as he picked up the broom and dustpan.

Sakura coughed several times, as she had inhaled too much air, "No!" She protested, "Li-kun, it's okay." She coughed and coughed, "I can do it."

"No you can't." Syaoran said with his voice raised. Some might've mistaken it for anger, but he was concerned; not because of the fear he'd catch her sickness, but because he didn't want her to put a strain on her body. She was sick, and classroom duties involved physical labour, obviously being sick and doing physical labour was two things that should not be put together.

Sakura was surprised, "You can't boss me around, Li-kun." She weakly stood up and got the other broom and dustpan, "It's only a cold."

"Only a cold... huh? You can barely stand up." Syaoran took the broom away from Sakura, "Please. Just sit down."

"Why do you care?" This was probably the first time Sakura acted anything but cheerful. She was defiant, and frustrated. Anyone who wasn't dense could see the frustration in her face.

"...I'm worried." He told her, "Okay? You're sick. You've been coughing and hacking all week. I don't even know why you're at school. What if you collapse? You shouldn't be exerting yourself, you moron."

"You're worried?" Sakura said quietly.

He was too stubborn to admit it, but the fact was already out in the open so he couldn't deny it. So he nodded just to satisfy her questions.

"Why?" She asked, "I thought I irritated you?"

"Even if you are irritating..." Syaoran smiled, "You're still a person. You're sick, and that's no good at all. You should go home."

"But..." Sakura protested.

"I'll even walk with you home, if you want." Syaoran offered, "I know I'll get in trouble for not doing classroom duty today but I'm pretty sure it's a legitimate reason."

Sakura grinned, "You just want to get out of classroom duty."

"Maybe." Syaoran said with a smile, "But maybe I'm worried about you too... yes, I can't believe it either." He ended that note with a laugh.

After much convincing, Sakura finally gave in to Syaoran's demands that she go home. She couldn't get a ride home because Touya was already at school – after all, he dropped her off this early. Calling him would've been an inconvenience and she knew Touya would skip class to take care of her. Her dad was constantly busy with work – and she had no mother. She never knew her mother at all because she was dead. It was just Sakura, Touya and Fujitaka, her father.

"Thanks for walking home with me." Sakura said quietly as both of them walked down the street. It was unexpected for Sakura; Syaoran was the LAST person she'd ever guess that would care enough to walk her home. It was like some weird delusion, she thought perhaps it was the side-effects of her medicine that provided this weird hallucination.

But it wasn't a hallucination.

It was real.

They walked together in silence because the whole thing was awkward; they momentarily stole glances before looking away. For a few moments, Sakura would be looking at Syaoran, and then for another few moments Syaoran would look at Sakura when she wasn't paying attention. It was weird, Syaoran thought, he wasn't friends with Sakura, but yet here he was walking her home.

"This is it." Sakura said as they stopped in front of a modest looking yellow house.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura nodded, then she started coughing fiercely once more, having an internal battle with her lungs and her throat. It was more than just a cold, Syaoran thought. It was possibly a flu? He didn't know, but he wasn't convinced.

As Sakura entered her house, she noticed Syaoran did not walk away. Instead he just watched her as she was going inside.

"Li?" Sakura blinked, "Why are you still here?"

Syaoran looked at her shyly, with his face becoming hot, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm alright." Sakura tried to affirm that she was okay. Though her constant coughing, her lack of coordination and her obvious signs of physical weakness was an indicator that she was not.

As she opened the door, Syaoran followed her in. Sakura was startled at first, but since her sickness clouded her judgment she, as usual, gave into her usual naïve-train-of-thoughts. Syaoran wouldn't harm her, she thought. She did not protest to Syaoran coming in and following her.

Instead she asked, "Why did you come here?" Followed by another painful-sounding cough.

"Kinomoto..." Syaoran stammered.

Sakura smiled softly in response, "You really do care, don't you, Li-kun?"

Her question caused his face to get even redder. Sakura disregarded his expression, and instead she just giggled and smiled.

Sakura said as she took off her shoes and hat, "I think I'm going to rest."

"...Kinomoto, let me help you up the stairs." Syaoran did what he promised to do; Sakura was getting weak so he helped her up the stairs. Sakura said that Syaoran can go now, she's in bed, and now she's alright.

"Thank you so much, Li-kun... you can go now... I'll just explain to my brother what happened... thank you so much..." She said quietly as her eyelids began to feel heavy.

Syaoran became even more flustered, "...No problem, Sakura."

As Sakura fell asleep, she was still smiling. Syaoran put his hand on her forehead and he knew that she was definitely sick – she had a fever. He did not know what to do – Sakura was a big girl, she could take care of herself. Yet somehow, he felt bad – no, he even felt guilty if he left her there alone. Neither her father or brother knew that she was sick with a fever.

To Syaoran's own surprise, he stayed. It was kind of creepy, he thought, that he was staying behind and watching her sleep. He tried to look for anything, just anything, he thought – a phone number where he could reach Sakura's brother or dad. Though what terrified him the most was that he had to explain himself, for example, what on earth was he doing at Sakura's house?

He shook his head at the thought.

Maybe, he thought, he should just leave. He was an intruder, and even though Sakura had given him permission to stay, he felt like he was taking advantage of her dazed state; she was sick, she was unable to think clearly. He's been sick before, and he knew that when you're sick, everything is clouded and decisions seemed rushed or impulsive.

So he quietly stood up and slowly, he tried to open the door. Syaoran figured he'd leave a note somewhere before he would leave – he didn't really want to go to school, but it was too late; he was already skipping class. Where would he go, besides home? He didn't want to go home either because there was nothing to do.

He looked around Sakura's room for a piece of paper; anything, he thought. Anything he can use to write a note. He gave up, not wanting to intrude further into Sakura's life – her privacy, after all, it was her room. Pushing past those boundaries was taboo for Syaoran because he out of all people was so adamant about the notion of privacy. He got his backpack and he ripped a piece of paper from his notebook.

To Sakura Kinomoto's parent or guardian,

Sakura was sick today, and she had entrusted me to bring her home. She had classroom duties with me this morning but she could not even bring herself to walk or perform any tasks. As I write this, I must inform you that Sakura has a fever.

Regards, Syaoran Li.

He took the paper and headed down the stairs, all while doing this as stealthily and quietly as possible. He did not want to wake Sakura up, as she was sleeping peacefully in her bed. As he got to the main floor, he saw a billboard hung up on the wall where Sakura's name was written down, along with Touya (must be her brother, he thought) and 'Dad'. He took one of the magnets on the board and attached the note onto the board – the note was not hard to miss at all.

He sighed as he headed out the door while putting his shoes on.

"Li-kun, what are you doing here?" A familiar voice, he thought. He looked up and saw his classmate, Tomoyo Daidouji, was standing right in front of him. Syaoran almost fell over from surprise, but he managed to keep himself balanced.

Tomoyo was Sakura's best friend, so he wasn't really concerned with why she was here. Perhaps she figured out Sakura was sick and she skipped school herself to go see her.

"Hi Daidouji-san, I..." He was at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say without sounding like a total creep. He took a deep breath. Honesty, he thought, it was his best bet. Lying wouldn't do anything; and besides, he had no malicious intentions – why would he need to lie about this whole situation, as bizarre as it was.

Tomoyo tilted her head to listen to Syaoran's explanation.

"Kinomoto and I had classroom duty, as you know." Syaoran cleared his throat afterwards, "She was really sick so she asked me to take her home."

Tomoyo smiled, "That's nice of you."

Syaoran's face turned hot at Tomoyo's reaction, hoping she wasn't thinking that there was something more between them.

"I'm going now though." He said, "I left a note to let Kinomoto's parents know."

"Sakura is so stubborn." Tomoyo shook her head, "Sakura wouldn't let Touya make her stay home, you know."

"How do you know this?" Syaoran asked. I mean Tomoyo was Sakura's best friend, but how does she know that much?

"Well, I'm here because her brother told me to come visit her. Yes, I did skip school to do this." Tomoyo sighed, "Well. If she had come home. If she had stayed at school I would've kept an eye on her. When Touya dropped off Sakura for classroom duty, Touya called our house and told me all this. Which doesn't surprise me because Sakura always pushes herself when she's sick."

"I-I see..." Syaoran said. Does Sakura get sick often? He thought.

"I'll take over from here, Li-kun." Tomoyo gave him a reassuring pat on the back, "Thanks for taking her home."

"Umm... okay I guess." Was all Syaoran could muster. This is probably the first time Tomoyo ever spoke to Syaoran alone – usually he'd briefly greet her when she was around Eriol Hiiragizawa, Syaoran's good friend from school. Tomoyo and Eriol were dating after all, so it wasn't hard to run into her.

He worried over Sakura after that, as he left. Even though he didn't want to go to school he went anyways, he had no trouble explaining his absence to his surprise; the secretary was usually mean to students who were late without an explanation – she didn't think twice with Syaoran's explanation. When she heard Sakura's name, the secretary knew to let Syaoran slide.

Why, was it, he thought, he didn't know.

As the days went by, he thought of her constantly. Especially when she hadn't shown up to school for a week already. He wasn't Sakura's friend – he felt uncomfortable stopping by at her house to go check up on her. Instead, he relied on Tomoyo's updates since she visited Sakura every day after school.

Tomoyo found it sweet that Syaoran asked, she tried to hide her grimaces every time Syaoran asked, "How is she today?"

"She's doing fine, Li-kun. It's just the flu. She'll be back next Monday." Tomoyo said.

Monday couldn't have come soon enough.

As promised, Sakura did show up to school. She wasn't as pale as a ghost anymore, and her cheerfulness seemed to have returned to her. The first thing Sakura did when she got to school was approach Syaoran's desk, to his surprise.

"Good morning Li-kun." Sakura said in a sing-song voice.

He smiled, "I see you're getting better."

"Tomoyo told me that you were worried about me." Sakura said amusedly.

Syaoran only responded in a hurried nod.

"Thank you." Sakura said with a huge smile, "Thank you for worrying about me, Syaoran-kun."

No one called him Syaoran, ever, except his close friends. He closed his eyes momentarily before opening them again, to see Sakura's big green eyes looking right at him.

"No problem, Sakura." He said.

It was from then on, from those simple exchange of words – who knew that uttering one's name can bring people closer together? That's what happened. Ever since then, Syaoran did not mind Sakura's presence in his life. He slowly welcomed her into his life – and things suddenly became different, clearer and more colourful. No longer did he spend his days brooding or doing homework, now he spent his days with Sakura, sometimes with her friends, but he truly cherished the moments he spent with just her.

As the years went by, Sakura and Syaoran were no longer 12 years old. Now they were 17 years old and they were about to graduate from high school. For the 5 years that had seemed to pass so quickly, Syaoran found himself falling in love with Sakura. He had changed, he became more sociable – he smiled more often and people didn't seem to bother him as much as they used to when he was just a pre-pubescent boy.

They had grown closer then they had even been before.

It was at 17 where everything changed between them.

It was the start of their official romantic relationship. They did have a relationship prior to this, a friendly relationship that is. It was hard though, for both Sakura and Syaoran. As they got older, the sexual tensions between them rose. Syaoran was not just the mean-looking Chinese student to Sakura, he had gotten considerably handsome. Sakura had matured into a beautiful young woman. They were best friends but both were unsure how to proceed – it was awkward because they had both liked each other, and both were scared to take the plunge.

"What was it you wanted to tell me, Syaoran-kun?" Sakura asked as she closed the door from behind her. Sakura's room wasn't so foreign to Syaoran anymore, he had been to her house dozens of times now.

Syaoran moved closer to Sakura, which did not phase her at all. She instead looked at him lovingly and adoringly. Without saying a word, he took her hand and kissed it gently; Sakura responded with a light gasp, followed by a rosy tint appearing on her cheeks.

"Syaoran...kun?" Sakura could only muster those words.

"I love you." He said with confidence, but he looked very shy as he said it; it was contradictory, but somehow his confession had been conveyed as such.

Sakura did not look surprised, but instead she now moved closer towards him. She tiptoed to get to his level, internally cursing that while she had remained the same height throughout her adolescent years, Syaoan had gotten considerably taller. When she finally got to the level she wanted to be, she kissed him. Syaoran was surprised that Sakura was so bold as to kiss him first – but with realization he thought it wasn't so surprising after all. Sakura was the bolder one between both of them.

"I love you too." Sakura said as she broke the kiss, "I always have."

~x~

Syaoran snapped out of his daze – even though his thoughts, his recollection of the past spanned over 10 years, it was only for a mere few minutes that he was in a quiet daze. Xiao Ying finally snapped him out of it after some persistent whining.

"Daddy... Daddy! Earth to daddy!" Xiao Ying waved the bouquet of flowers in his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry honey." Syaoran smiled.

"You were going to tell me how you met mommy." Xiao Ying said sweetly.

He nodded, "Right... where do I begin..."

Syaoran could see Xiao Ying was getting impatient, so he had to hurry and improvise while still telling the truth.

"I met your mommy at school when I was just 12 years old..." Syaoran started. From there, he told Xiao Ying in the most simplified manner how he met Sakura and how he fell in love with her. Xiao Ying, even though she was just a 4 year old girl, was stricken with the love bug.

"How romantic." Xiao Ying sighed dreamily.

"Then, you were born." Syaoran poked his daughter on her chest, "You're mommy and daddy's miracle."

"Daddy, isn't that uncle Eriol and aunt Tomoyo right there?" Xiao Ying looked out the window.

"So it is, time went really fast, didn't it, Xiao Ying?" Syaoran stroked his daughter's hair, "This is our stop."

"Have a good evening." Lara the bus driver said as she watched the father and daughter get off the bus.

"Right on time." Tomoyo said with a soft smile.

Tomoyo looked almost exactly as she did back in high school, but acted more mature and poise. Tomoyo still had her long black hair, her beautiful blue eyes and a delicate stature. Eriol, on the other hand, aged a bit. He had facial hair, bigger glasses and longer hair; and of course he had gotten taller. After all this time, Tomoyo and Eriol were still married, even though they were only 24 years old, they had gotten married as soon as they could fresh out of high school.

"Auntie Tomoyo, uncle Eriol!" Xiao Ying said as she flung herself into Eriol's arms. Eriol was Xiao Ying's favourite uncle, after all. The two were laughing and playing as Tomoyo and Syaoran were speaking to each other.

"Are you ready to go see Sakura?" Tomoyo whispered.

"I'm always ready." Syaoran said with a smile.

The group walked along the sidewalk until they reached a secluded park: it was a beautiful park, so serene, so peaceful – yet it was eerie, with iron fences surrounding the area, adding a touch of a gothic feel to the place. It added character, after all. After entering the park, Syaoran took Xiao Ying and put her on his shoulders.

"This is the first time I've been here, uncle Eriol, did you know that?" Xiao Ying said.

Eriol chuckled, "Really? You're a brave girl, Xiao Ying."

The group went up a hill, and Xiao Ying noticed a lot of statues set up around the park – stones with names on them, some with flowers. There were a few stone buildings around the park too. Syaoran always told Xiao Ying this was a park but she thought it was strange that no one was playing in this park, and no one else was around. Still, she was looking forward to seeing her mother.

"I see grandpa!" Xiao Ying gasped as she saw Touya Kinomoto, Yukito Tsukishiro and Fujitaka Kinomoto a few metres away.

"Sssh, Xiao. Calm down." Syaoran hushed his daughter, "You're going to make me drop you – and you'll drop the flowers you're going to give to mommy."

"I'm sorry." Xiao Ying piped down.

They finally reunited with Touya, Yukito and Fujitaka. Syaoran put his daughter down while she ran up to her grandpa and uncle, smothering both of them with kisses. Eriol and Tomoyo joined the group and then they began to speak.

Syaoran walked up to them, "Hi, Kinomoto-san, Touya-san." Syaoran bowed.

"Good evening Syaoran-kun." Fujitaka said with a smile, "It's good to see you again."

Touya glanced over to his niece sadly, then he looked over to Syaoran, "Can I speak to you alone?"

"Alright." Syaoran said. Usually Touya and Syaoran alone together was never a good thing – he based this on past experiences. However this time Touya did not look angry as he usually did, but instead, he looked concerned.

"Are you sure that you should be bringing Xiao Ying here?" He said.

"I think she deserves to know." Syaoran replied, "It's better now than never don't you think?"

Touya did not utter a word, but instead he just nodded much to his discomfort. He knew those words well; after all, Syaoran had said it to him years prior, but it was the first time Syaoran had said these words with such calmness instead of anger.

"So where's mommy?" Xiao Ying asked.

"Do you want to see your mommy?" Yukito bent down to look at Xiao Ying at face level. He smiled sadly as he saw that Xiao Ying really resembled her mother, right down to the tee. Even though she had dark brown eyes like her dad, they were as expressive, naïve, and joyful like her mothers.

Xiao Ying nodded, "Yes, uncle Yuki! I want to see mommy."

"Let's go see mommy then." Syaoran said as he held his daughters hand.

Now the whole group was together, they continued onwards in silence to the other side of the hill. This side of the park, Xiao Ying thought, was beautiful: it was just the beginning of Spring and already the cherry blossoms have sprouted, sending a waft of floral scents around the air. It was a beautiful sight to behold; seeing dozens and dozens of pink petals falling from the sky but still, the mood was solemn and one part relaxed.

They finally stopped at a clearing that was surrounded by dozens of cherry trees. There was only one statue here among the trees. Just one statue.

As they got there, Tomoyo started to cry. Not audibly, but it was enough for little Xiao Ying to notice.

"Auntie Tomoyo, why are you crying?" Xiao Ying asked softly.

Syaoran looked conflicted as he overheard what was being said between his daughter and her aunt, but he figured it was better if Tomoyo explained herself than him.

"I'm just so happy..." Tomoyo whispered to Xiao Ying, "I'm happy to see your mommy, that's all. Can you feel her, Xiao Ying? She's here."

The trees branches rattled as the wind seemed to pick up, scattering more of the pink petals around the air. It was like a dream, it looked like a beautiful dream, yet people were crying. Xiao Ying turned to see that even her brave uncle Touya was crying. He was knelt down at the statue, looking down at it sadly.

"Why is everyone crying?" Xiao Ying said, "Where's mommy?"

"Xiao, come here." Syaoran said as he grabbed his daughter's tiny hand in one hand, and the bouquet of flowers in the other. Him and Xiao Ying walked to the isolated statue, where Touya and Yukito were standing. Touya knew it was his cue to leave and let Syaoran and Xiao Ying have their moment of silence.

"I always give flowers to mommy." Syaoran said to his daughter as they stopped in front of the statue: it was a statue of an angel, with an inscription on the bottom:

Sakura Kinomoto Li

April 1st, 1987 – April 1st, 2007.

"Always Loved, Always Smiling. See you at the other side."

"That's mommy's name and birthday..." Xiao Ying whispered to her dad.

"Mommy's right here." Syaoran said, "Since I give flowers to her all the time, Xiao, I think it's your turn to give her flowers."

"Alright." Xiao Ying said as she laid the flowers underneath the statue.

Syaoran sighed in relief. She didn't seem horrified, he thought. Instead she was staring at the gravestone, as if in a trance. Everyone else came together and paid their respects, with Fujitaka lighting up an incense stick. Everyone was gathered in a small prayer, then afterwards one by one, each person came to pay their own individual respects.

When it was Syaoran's turn, he started to cry. He did not sob, as he resented making a scene or even showing a bit of emotion. He was angry because he remembered one thing, one thing that Sakura told him.

~x~

Flashback...

"I can't believe this, Sakura!" Syaoran said as he angrily and tearfully slammed his fist against the desk. It was the only place he could do it without hurting Sakura, but she was startled. She looked hopeless and weak in the hospital bed.

"Please." Sakura whispered, "Please don't yell."

"I can't help it, Sakura... I just can't. Why did it take so long for you to tell me that you have cancer?" Syaoran said as more tears slipped out, "Cancer, Sakura. Cancer. Whatever you call it – leukemia, or whatever it's called, it's still cancer."

"I didn't want to make you worry." Sakura rested her head against the pillow.

"Remember our wedding vows?" Syaoran said as he showed her his wedding ring. Of course, Sakura was wearing hers despite being sick.

"I remember." Sakura coughed lightly.

"Really? The part about being honest and true to each other? Why did I have to find out now, when you're in the hospital? Did you mean to tell me all the visits with Tomoyo was actually chemotherapy?" Syaoran started to shake.

"I didn't know how to tell you, Syaoran." Sakura said, "I only found out about it when I was 16, Syaoran. I've had this for a while yet my brother and dad failed to tell me..."

"But why, why didn't you tell me?" Syaoran had never been so hurt in his life.

"I meant to eventually, you know. I thought I could fight this." Sakura said. Yet as she said that, she looked weaker than ever. Her hair was thinning out, her skin; oh her skin was paler than Tomoyo's snow-white complexion. Sakura's green eyes still retained their beauty, but her eyes were sunken in. Eye bags formed underneath her eyes. Her voice was weak and raspy.

He knew that it was going to be her time.

"Sssh." Syaoran said. He knew despite being disappointed, he couldn't stay angry at her. He couldn't. He wouldn't allow things to end like this on a bad note.

"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry Syaoran, that I didn't tell you. I thought I had beat leukemia... I found out after we graduated high school." Sakura said quietly, "I thought I could live a normal life; I thought I didn't need to tell you... I know it's foolish, but..."

"I told Touya that it was better now than never – I had to know the truth about my hospital visits." Sakura said as she stared at the ceiling, "They kept it a secret from me because the doctors told Touya and my dad that everything will be okay. That I should live a normal life. I thought I was just sick... but I never thought it would be leukemia. They never told me; they always treated me the same."

"Sssh..." Syaoran tried to quiet Sakura down, "Please, Sakura. Save your energy... don't talk anymore."

Sakura's eyes were welling up with tears, "But Syaoran... it's better now than never, don't you see? I want you to know everything before I..."

"Sakura... please don't say that." Syaoran did not want to hear it. He knew what she was going to say – he didn't want to accept it.

"Touya and daddy never treated me differently. They wanted me to live a life full of happiness and optimism. So I did, I did just that. It was better to be happy than to live sadly because... you never know if tomorrow will ever happen, after all, tomorrow is never promised..." She paused, "That's why, that's why we should live for today."

Syaoran started to cry. Even though Sakura was trying to be strong, he still cried. He hated crying. He hated crying in front of her – he was doing exactly what she didn't want: he didn't want her to worry.

"The cancer came back shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Xiao Ying." Sakura admitted, "I didn't want to break it to you. We just got married... everything was finally coming in place. You found a job, we were going to be a family, Syaoran."

"...Sakura, we still are a family..." Syaoran was still crying, but he kept silent afterwards as he listened to everything his wife said.

"I didn't want to abort Xiao Ying you know. I've always wanted a daughter, a child to call my own. The doctors told me that if I went through with the pregnancy I might've had a miscarriage, or worse, I would die." Sakura said.

Syaoran was conflicted; he loved his daughter, but he was angry that Sakura was so irresponsible and secretive. She was too selfless, and it would be the death of her.

"I knew that with cancer, I would've died eventually. So I went ahead with it anyways. I had nothing to lose; if I died, our baby could've died along with me. Either way, we could've both died..." She then smiled softly, "But she didn't die, Syaoran. She was a miracle. Even though I was sick, I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl..."

"But now, you're sick, Sakura." Syaoran held her hand tightly, "I don't want to lose you... I don't want Xiao Ying to grow up without her mother."

"I'll always be there even if it seems like I'm not." Sakura squeezed Syaoran's hand as best as she could but even then her grip was very weak, "Okay?"

Syaoran didn't say a word.

"I think this is it, Syaoran." Sakura said as she sunk in her bed.

"Sakura please don't say that... be strong." Syaoran pleaded.

"I love you. Please take care of Xiao Ying..." Sakura's eyes started to close.

Syaoran sat there and held Sakura's hand all the way to the end; he watched her, he watched her as she slipped away.

Then she fell asleep.

She never woke up.

~x~

"Daddy, please don't cry." Xiao Ying said as she slowly crept over to be at her father's side. He was startled because Xiao Ying has never seen him cry before, and he remembered Sakura's promise: stay strong. He felt like he betrayed her, he wasn't strong, he was crying; now he's crying in front of his daughter.

"Xiao..." Syaoran said, "It's just... I really miss mommy." He told her, "She's sleeping, you know. She's sleeping and she's up there with the angels." Syaoran pointed to the sky.

"Really?" Xiao Ying asked.

Syaoran nodded.

"Because I see mommy, right there." Xiao Ying pointed to an empty clearing.

When Syaoran blinked and opened his eyes, for a mere moment, he saw Sakura standing where Xiao Ying was pointing. She was smiling, wearing her white dress – the same white dress Sakura wore at her funeral service. She looked happy, and she was waving over to them all.

Syaoran quickly ran to where he saw Sakura, but when he arrived where she was, she was gone.

He fell to the ground on his knees, in shock and in denial as more tears fell. His mind was playing tricks on him, he thought.

Xiao Ying ran after her father.

"Xiao, please go back with your auntie and uncles." Syaoran said as he quickly wiped the tears from his face.

"Daddy, I talked to mommy just now. She came to me when you were running out here." Xiao Ying said.

Syaoran gave his daughter his undivided attention.

"She said thank you, daddy."

Syaoran smiled and thought, it must be nice to be naïve and to be an innocent child. It was the same childlike innocence that Sakura once had – everything Sakura was. Xiao Ying reminded Syaoran constantly, every day, that the love he had with Sakura was real – Xiao Ying existed, and that's as much physical proof as one can have.

He looked behind Xiao Ying, and there he saw Sakura's figure again, nodding and smiling.

"Can we go back with grandpa?" Xiao Ying said.

"Alright." Syaoran said.

Xiao Ying ran towards Fujitaka and the others who were standing in front of Sakura's grave. They were idly chatting; Syaoran was stationary, staying put where he was; where he saw Sakura. He closed his eyes as he inhaled the sweet spring air. It was his way of keeping calm. Breathing, just simply breathing, made all the difference.

"Syaoran." He heard Sakura's voice in his head.

He opened his eyes to find Sakura standing in front of him.

"Sakura..." Syaoran said. He knew that this wasn't real – but he believed in spirits.

"Thank you." Sakura said. He felt a familiar warmth around him, surrounding his body. He couldn't move at all, he just stood still. He saw her, though, and he felt her presence.

"Thank you for being strong." He heard her voice again. He felt the warm feeling leave his body and he saw that Sakura's spirit—or whatever it was, was fading away. Still, she had that same smile – it had to be Sakura, some apparition of Sakura. Somehow, he thought, somehow.

"Sakura..." Syaoran whispered, "Wait... before you go." He extended his arm – he regained control of his mobility, his body.

The apparition stopped to look at him one last time.

"I love you." Syaoran said, this time, he mustered a sad smile before he saw his love leave him once again.

Sakura's figure came back to him cautiously, but slowly. Syaoran watched as Sakura put her arms around him. Then, for a moment, he felt the familiar feeling of what a kiss felt like; it felt so long ago—no, it was long ago since he's ever kissed Sakura, let alone another woman. It was so familiar, he thought, how could this not be real?

Sakura said lovingly, "I love you too, Syaoran. Always."

He opened his eyes and she was gone.

"Daddy!" Xiao Ying yelled, "Come on!"

"I'm coming!" Syaoran said.

~x~

It was April, the first day of the month – a month within the season of spring, it was he season of renewal, the season of revitalization. April was also the month Sakura was born, and the day she left the earth to go fly with the angels.

He missed her more than words can ever express.

Every April, it would be the same – he'd bring her flowers to her grave.

Yet four years have passed and when he saw Sakura again for the first time since she passed away, he knew.

She was there with him, with them, as she promised.

Authors Note:

I wanted to challenge myself and experiment with this. I know it might be kind of awkward, lol because I wrote it in one day but I hope you all like it. It's my first one-shot and in case you don't see the Chinese characters, Xiao in this sense means "little" and Ying means "cherry" in this sense!

Another note, initially my idea with this whole thing was to make it a longer story, more history, more development - more tragedy but I couldn't figure out how to write it without being too... boring. You know? I had one theme, one idea in mind in this story, as you can see. I think this plot works beautifully as a one-shot than it does as a whole series.

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think.