This is my first CCS fic, I hope you all like it. Any constructive criticism is welcome :) I've tried to keep this as canon as possible, but one or two things have been changed. The biggest difference that that neither Syaoran or Sakura have confessed their feelings for each other. This takes place about 10 years after the series when their 21-22 years old.

I'm only going to say this once at the beginning of the fic: I don't own CCS

Summary:

Syaoran takes Sakura on her "dream vacation" as a birthday present but things don't quite go as planned and they end up stranded. SS, ET, TY

Anyways, Enjoy and let me know what you think!

.oO***Oo.

Syaoran woke up and looked around. This is not where he was expecting to be... He looked around, trying to figure out where he was and how he got there. He was on a beach. His clothes were wet but were starting to dry. His head hurt. He reached up to touch his forehead, his fingers came away with flakes of dried blood on them and he felt a scab forming. Ok, so I hit my head at some point... Think, idiot, think. What happened?

Flashback

Their class had had an assignment: write about your dream vacation. Of course, this had sparked conversations during lunch about what everyone was going to write about. He hadn't paid much attention to Tomoyo or Eriol. It was Sakura he listened to.

"I've always wanted to go on a cruise," she had said. "Somewhere warm and tropical. Going scuba diving and seeing the fish and the reef, watching the sun set. It just seems like so much fun! What about you, Syaoran-kun? Where would you like to go?" That had been a hard question, he literally could go just about anywhere. He didn't remember anymore what answer he gave, it had just been something that sounded good nothing really in particular. He felt a little guilty when he looked at her, she looked so happy it was the look she always gave him when she learned more about him. Like she felt they were even closer now.

End Flashback

Flashback

Her birthday was coming up and he wanted to buy her the perfect present. He wanted to see that look on her face that's says he got her exactly what she wanted. Tomoyo was making her clothes (surprise, surprise, he thought), Eriol had said something vague and cryptic (meaning he didn't know yet either), Touya had just glared at him and asked why he wanted to know what "the kaiju" wanted, Kero had told him to buy her sweets, lots and lots of sweets. And cake. And sweet potato sticks. Syaoran got the feeling Kero was just saying what hewanted and not Sakura.

He sighed and put his head in his hands, staring at his desk. Then, as if fate itself were telling him, an assignment from several weeks earlier on his desk caught his eye. It was the vacation assignment. What had she said.... tropical cruise? he struggled to remember, Yes, yes it was a tropical cruise... and scuba diving with fish... It had to be fate telling him this: he usually threw out assignments when he got them back. You can't ignore fate.

End Flashback

Flashback

Her birthday came, when he gave her the present she told him she couldn't possibly accept, it was far too extravagant.

"Nonsense," he had told her, "besides the plans are already made." She had still looked hesitant, then it occurred to him: maybe she didn't want to be alone with him? That had hit him like a rock... "Its not just you and me, if that's what you're worried about, I also invited Daidouji and Hiiragizawa. If you want to you can invite your father and brother, Yukito-san too... It's your birthday present, you can invite who ever and how ever many you want."

"That isn't what I was worried about at all!" she had said it so earnestly, "Its just... this is such an expensive present..." Relief flooded him, it really was just because it was expensive.

"Sakura, I would not have given it to you if I couldn't afford it. Please, accept it." He gave her what can only be described as a pleading smile and could see in her eyes she had given in and would accept.

"Alright, thank you very much." He flashed her his biggest, most brilliant smile.

"You can still invite who ever you'd like," he chuckled slightly, "Your bother probably won't let you come unless he can come to watch over you." She laughed with him.

End Flashback

Flashback

It was the second to last day of the cruise and he had asked Tomoyo and Eriol to give him some time with her alone that evening. They had readily agreed knowing he has feelings for her and hoping the two would finally become a couple. Yukito had convinced Touya who, grudgingly, left them alone for the evening. Syaoran had then asked Sakura to dinner, saying the others had plans with each other. He had the whole evening planned out.

It was going to be a romantic evening. Candle lit dinner watching the sun set, the captain assured him most of the clouds that filled the sky would clear up by evening. She had come wearing a pale peach colored sundress and a light weight white sweater. Around her neck, as always, was the key. It had changed as she had gotten older, it had started to look more like something an adult would wear. Something a woman would wear.

Oh and she had become a woman over the years, he had not failed to notice this. She had grown her auburn hair out from that childish hairstyle and it now reached her mid-back, although tonight it was pulled back into a loose bun. She had pierced her ears several years before and now had the pearl studs in them her father had given to her for her 18th birthday. He was touched she would wear them for this evening, they had been her mothers and he noticed she tended to only wear them on special occasions.

The evening had been going wonderfully, although his plans to watch the sunset had been dashed as the clouds had not cleared. If anything they had gotten darker and thicker. When the waves had started getting bigger and the boat started rocking dramatically he got worried. He excused himself from Sakura saying he just wanted to check something with the captain. She smiled and said that was fine, she wanted to grab something from her room anyway.

His talk with the captain had made him even more worried. The storm had suddenly gotten much worse and had become more than the boat could handle. They needed to get to the emergency safety pods. (AN: Lets just say that the lifeboats are actually pods that can survive big, turbulent storms. Only the latest and greatest for our dear Syaoran) The captain told him that it was likely the ship would be fine and after the storm they could return, but as a safety precaution they would be asking that passengers and most of the crew depart as the pods would be safer than the boat.

He rushed to Sakura's room, hearing the announcement on his way there. He wanted to make sure she got into a pod, the others wouldn't look for her, they would assume she was with him and he would make sure she got into a pod. Tomoyo and Eriol would trust him with this. Touya wouldn't, but Yukito would convince him. Her father hadn't come on the cruise, he'd had a dig he had to go to.

Usually Syaoran didn't mind her tardiness, in fact he almost looked forward to it. The way she would always run in at the last minute looking disheveled and out of breath.

This was one thing he did not want her to be late for...

He made it to her room and started knocking frantically on the door. Please be in, please be in, he silently begged her. She didn't answer. He cursed and ran back to his own room, hoping she had gone back there. His mind told him she could have gotten in a pod when she heard the announcement, but he had to check. He had to make sure she was safe.

Syaoran had sighed with relief when he found her in his room. Looking back he vaguely noted she looked as desperate and out of breath as he was. He ran to her and grabbed her in his arms, thanking any and all gods he could think of that he had found her. He decidedly ignored the fact that his desperation to find her and then his relief at finding her were disproportional to the amount of danger they were in. When he released her (turning a brilliant shade of red), he started telling her they needed to get to the safety pods, but he didn't even get out a full sentence when a particularly large wave hit the side of the ship. He remembered stumbling, then pain in his head, then darkness.

End Flashback

"Oh god, Sakura!" he muttered, then started searching frantically for her. He saw her a ways down the beach from him. He immediately attempted to get to her, his body protested every movement but he had to make sure she was alive. As he got closer he realized that she was breathing, it was shallow, but it was there. She was still halfway in the water, so she was shivering. He grabbed her under her armpits and attempted to drag her up the beach. He managed to get them a ways away from the water when his legs gave out. He fell backwards still holding onto her, she ended up laying on top of him. Any other time he would have enjoyed their closeness, right now however, he was falling back into blackness.

Some time later, Sakura awoke laying on Syaoran. In her hands she clutched the Sakura Cards, thankfully they had not been damaged by the water. She wasn't sure if they could be, but she was relieved none the less. She looked around and noticed the drag marks up to where they were laying and realized Syaoran must have dragged her out of the water. She looked at the sky and saw it would be getting dark soon.

Though she was very comfortable where she was and would have been perfectly happy to remain there, she knew that they would need fire and food for that night and the next morning. She was not eager to wander around the forest behind the beach in darkness or first thing in the morning. She stood, her body exhausted from the amount of magic she had to use to save them (AN: you'll find out about this later), but she pushed herself and gathered firewood and built a fire near Syaoran.

She was thankful she'd been camping with her father and brother before, it allowed her to build the fire the old-fashioned way. She risked the fire burning out this way, FIREY's fires wouldn't burn out unless she allowed them to, but this way did not waste magic. They would do without shelter tonight, she decided, it was going to take the rest of her strength to get them food. Sakura looked around some, but she had no idea what was good and what wasn't. The last thing she wanted to do was poison them.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked, directing her question towards the heavens as there really wasn't anyone else to ask. Looking up though, she noticed she was standing under a banana tree. She and Syaoran couldn't live off them until they were rescued, but the bananas would at least get them through the night.

Sakura sighed, the only way she could reach the bananas was more magic and she was already on her last legs. She would have to use WATERY later to get them water that didn't have salt in it, did she dare risk using some now? There was no choice though, they needed food. Which card to use though? She decided on JUMP to get up there, then she could pull them off the tree with her hand... she hoped... otherwise she was going to have to use SWORD too...

Sakura carried the bananas back to their "camp", dropped them near the fire, and collapsed back onto Syaoran's side with her head on his chest.

"Night Syao..." she muttered to comfort herself not realizing he was awake. Syaoran had seen her coming up with the bananas, he just hadn't been able to get his body to react fast enough to help her and she had been too tired to notice his efforts. He had been shocked when she had curled back up with him, he'd been even more shocked when she called him Syao.

"Night Sakura..." he whispered, not wanting to wake her, then fell into sleep himself.

Syaoran woke before Sakura the next morning. For half a second, he was pleasantly surprised to find her still curled around him, but then the events of the previous day came flooding back and, though he was still glad to have her curled around him, he wished it could have been under different circumstances. The fire had burned out during the night so he got up, careful not to wake Sakura, and attempted to rebuild it. He wasn't exactly the out-doorsy type, so it took him longer than it had taken her but he did manage it. Sakura woke just in time to see him finally get the fire started.

"I was going to use FIREY last night, but I'd already used pretty much everything I had..." she croaked out. Her throat was dry from the salt water and not having had anything else for at least a day. (AN: remember, the storm came in the evening, they woke up during day light and its now the next morning which means they've now been on their beach for a full day.)

"You have the cards?" He questioned, she nodded and walked over to the fire.

"When I heard the announcement I turned around and grabbed them before heading to your room," she told him as she grabbed one of the bananas she'd gotten the night before. They both ate their fill.

"I'll find us water. You rest." Syaoran told her. She reached for the key around her neck, but he grabbed her hand stopping her. "No, like you said. You've used pretty much everything you have. Plus, we have nothing for WATERY to put the water in."

"No, I'm rested now," she told him, "Find something to put water in. We don't know what kind of bacteria could be growing in the water you find and we're in no condition to take care of each other if one or both of us gets sick. We'll live off WATERY until we find a better way." He sighed because he knew she was right, he'd just hoped to avoid having to use her magic. Living off her magic would leave her exhausted and him feeling useless. Syaoran decided he would find a way to get them off her magic as fast as possible.

.oO***Oo.

"Don't worry, Touya. Li-kun won't let anything happen to her." Yukito murmured to a frantic Touya.

"Why isn't she answering her phone then!?" Touya demanded. He had tried calling her over and over ever since the announcement to get into the safety pods. He'd maintained a semblance of calm until the ship started to sink, then he'd panicked.

"She probably dropped it or she didn't have it with her. You know she was having dinner with Li-kun tonight. Have you tried his phone?" Yukito asked calmly. He'd gotten used to Touya's over-protectiveness over the years and knew that there really wasn't a way to calm him down until he had his sister back in his sights again.

"OF COURSE! His phone doesn't even ring, just goes right to voicemail! He always has his phone on him and its alwayscharged!" Yukito couldn't help but wonder why Touya knew that. He fought back a smile imagining Touya calling them constantly and interrupting them, Yukito figured he probably wasn't far off from the truth.

"Perhaps he dropped it when they were running for a pod? Have you tried Daidouji and Hiiragizawa? They could have gotten in a pod with them."

"YES! They haven't heard from them!" Touya stopped his frantic pacing and fell to his knees staring at the ground in front of him. "Oh god, Yuki... What'll I do if something happens to her?" Yukito was shocked but recovered quickly. Touya had never acted like this before, it was always raging around until she was back. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

"Li-kun would sooner die then let harm befall Sakura-chan, isn't that why you trusted him with her in the first place? Even if it was just for one evening?" Yukito waited until he got a nod from Touya, "And don't forget... There's all of the crew in pods too. They could have easily gotten in a pod with one of them. All we can do is wait and remember, this is Sakura-chan we're talking about. Everything will definitely be alright." Yukito rocked Touya to comfort him with only one thought on his mind. Oh Sakura-chan, please be alright.He glanced at Touya, if not for yourself, then at least for him... Please...

.oO***Oo.

As Touya and Yukito stepped out of their pod, they saw Tomoyo and Eriol waving at them. Yukito noted that while Tomoya looked happy, it was forced and there was a very distinct worried glint in her eyes. Eriol looked anything but happy. As expected, the first words out of Touya's mouth were:

"Any word of Sakura?" Tomoyo's smile faltered but remained plastered to her face.

"Don't worry, they're still fishing up and last couple of pods. She'll be on one for sure. See? I have my video camera out so I can film 'Sakura-chan's Miraculous Rescue', right Eriol-kun? She has to be fine. She's Sakura-chan after all! Everything will definitely be alright..." Eriol gave her a sad look and hugged her to him.

"Of course, Tomoyo-chan." He whispered, closing his eyes to fight back that tears that wanted to fall.

The captain of the ship that rescued them walked up to them. Yukito could tell by the look on his face that they had not found a particular auburn haired green-eyed girl. Touya didn't miss the look and his legs gave out from under him, no longer able to support his weight. He started pounding his fist on the deck of the boat.

"Damn that gaki, damnit. damnit. damnit. I should have stuck around them to watch over her... I should have... I... I should..." He broke into sobs. "... Kaijuu...." The man finally reached them, Touya looked at him, silently begging him to say those three little words he needed to hear right now. (AN: No, not "I love you" he wants him to say "We found her")

But the man just looked into his hopeful eyes, "I'm sorry. We didn't find-"

"You missed a pod." Touya interrupted him, his voice suddenly calm. "You have to have missed a pod. Look again. There should be two more of people. A gaki and a kai... kaijuu...." Yukito pulled Touya to him as he broke into sobs once more. The captain gave them a sad smile. He had a little sister back home, he couldn't begin to imagine what this guy was going through. He didn't want to imagine what this guy was going though...

"We'll continue to search the area, but we found everything that was out there, son. There aren't anymore pods." The man placed a hand on Touya's shoulder for a moment then walked off, leaving them to grieve. The air was soon filled with Tomoyo's shrieks, Touya's yelling, and Eriol and Yukito's silent tears.

.oO***Oo.