#clone!sakura

She hated the worry in his eyes. She hated that she was too weak to prove that she could do it. Even now, sleep dragged at her. It was a struggle just to keep her eyes open, and eventually her exhausted body succumbed. She didn’t feel Syaoran carry her upstairs to bed, but when she woke up, it was late morning. Of the following day.

Sakura scrambled to get dressed in clean clothes and staggered down the stairs and into the cafe kitchen before she was fully awake. “I’m sorry I’m late!” she gasped as she caught herself on the counter.

Fai smiled at her. “It’s no problem. We’re just having breakfast. Would you like some pancakes?”

“Yes, but, I should be helping,” Sakura said as Fai guided her to the table with a hand on her shoulder.

“I took care of it. It’s fine, Sakura-chan. You need to eat,” Fai said. He nudged her into a chair and left to make her a plate of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.

Sakura frowned at the tabletop. Her hands clenched in her lap. Syaoran and Kurogane were making plans to go out demon hunting again, as well as looking for information. That made her feel more guilty and useless. Everyone was working so hard, and she could barely stay awake!

She wasn’t very hungry, but Fai had gone to the trouble to make pancakes for her, so she ate them. They were delicious. Fai was an amazing cook. He was teaching her, but she wasn’t sure she would ever approach his level of skill.

Since it wasn’t time for him and Kurogane to leave yet, Syaoran helped her get the cafe ready to open. “Princess Sakura, is everything all right?” he asked.

Sakura jolted. She had paused in the act of refilling the napkin dispenser. “Sorry, I guess I spaced out a little,” she said with a nervous smile.

“If you need to rest more-” Syaoran began, but Sakura couldn’t take it.

“No, I’m fine!” she said with more force than she intended. Syaoran looked taken aback, and Sakura immediately felt guilty for snapping at him. He was trying so hard to help her get her feathers back, suffering hardships and injuries all for her sake. It wasn’t his fault she was weak. “I’m sorry, Syaoran-kun. I’m just frustrated. Everyone’s working so hard, but I’m no help at all.”

“That’s not true,” Syaoran protested. “We all know that you’re doing your best, Princess. We haven’t gotten enough of your memory feathers back. That’s why you’re so tired.”

“I know. It’s just...” Sakura said. But she wasn’t sure how to explain that she felt like a burden. She was the whole reason they were on this perilous journey, and she couldn’t help as much as she wanted.

Syaoran closed the glass display case where he had been arranging pastries and came over to take her hand. “I know it’s hard. I’ll do my best to gather your feathers as fast as possible, so that you can get your strength back. But for now, please be gentle with yourself.” When Sakura remained silent, Syaoran frowned. He didn’t let go of her hands. He took a deep breath.

“Princess, I know it’s hard when your body can’t do something you want it to do. I can’t see anything out of my right eye, and that’s frustrating. My depth perception and my balance are thrown off. And I know it’s not the same as what you’re going through. But all we can do is treat ourselves with the same kindness and forgiveness we would give someone else,” he said.

Sakura reached up to touch Syaoran’s face, close to his right eye. “I didn’t notice at all,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

Flustered, Syaoran dropped her hands and waved his in a ‘stop’ gesture. “No, that’s not what I meant! I mean, I’ve gotten good at masking it. I don’t want you to feel guilty. I’ve learned to live around it, but it caused me a lot of troubles when I was little.” At her questioning look, he gave an example. “I burned myself a lot, especially when I was learning to cook.”