Title: Unending
Date: December 27, 2001 - January 5, 2002
Author: Shibo
E-mail: firesoule@yahoo.com
Standard Disclaimer: I do not own characters from Card Captor Sakura
nor do I have permission from CLAMP to use them in any way, but this
fanfic is for personal gain only and is not to be used commercially or
for any monetary profits.
And here begins the one-shot...
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
The gentle waves lapped at their feet as they dangled their legs in the
pond. It was the perfect afternoon for a heart-to-heart talk, Shibo
reflected a tad uneasily, but she was not sure she was ready to open
her thoughts to the beloved mother sitting beside her on the tiny
fishing pier yet. She didn't want to take the chance that the latter
would rebuke, or even worse, utterly reject her for her hasty albeit
understandable actions. Oh well... It was too late for regrets now.
"Daffodil for your thoughts," her mother offered. Shibo took the
yellow weed and started twirling it in her hands. She sighed deeply.
"Autumn's here, okaa-chan," she murmured. It wasn't really a response,
but it would do for the moment.
"Yes, the geese are spreading their wings already." Her okaa-chan
gazed dreamily at the V-shape in the sky, hunter-green eyes glistening
with yearning. "The ducks are filling the air with music, and the trees
are changing their coats at last. How I have missed this season all
year long."
"'Kaa-chan, you're doing it again," Shibo chuckled, unable to keep the
amusement bottled. "Thank goodness 'Tou-chan isn't here. I can't handle
BOTH of you in that mood at the same time."
Her okaa-chan turned to her and smiled. Shibo caught her breath. Even
after so many hardships over the years, her mother was still the most
beautiful woman she knew, both physically and spiritually. Her face,
though aged, was unlined and clear; her skin, flawless.
"Shibo-koishii, you're wearing that daffodil to bits. At least tell me
what you're thinking right now."
The gentle demand was a demand nevertheless, but Shibo was reluctant to
comply right away. "Demo 'kaa-chan... It's so hard to say it out like
this, to lay it bare to the bone. Gomen, but I just need a little more
time to compose my thoughts."
Her mother lovingly laid a hand on her own. "My daughter, you will have
as much time as you need. Feel no rush, please. In fact, would you like
me to tell you a story to help pass the minutes?"
Shibo searched carefully for any hints of sarcasm or condenscending
tones in her voice and found none.
"By all means, tell on."
Her mother's green eyes studied her face just as carefully for a minute
before taking on that faraway look Shibo came to associate with any
memories of her younger days.
"20 years ago," she began, "your 'tou-chan and I decided to get married
because one, we felt we couldn't wait any longer to be united, and two,
you were on the way." The grin she bestowed upon Shibo was startling in
its knowledge and understanding. "When your oji-chan found out, he went
ballistic, and to say THAT is an understatement..."
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
"WHAT?!" shouted Touya. He jumped up and charged towards Syaoran, and
would have hit him had Yukito not interfered.
"To-ya!" he yelled, wrapping his arms around the tall man in an
arm-lock. "Calm down, will you! Just listen to what they have to say!"
"I'm not listening to any more crap!" Touya snarled, trying to wrench
out of Yukito's grip. Surprisingly, the smaller man held on forcefully.
"He's not marrying my imouto as long as I can still breathe!"
"Then start holding your breath," Syaoran growled menacingly. "Or do
you need help?" He started up, but was stopped by his little cherry
blossom - his very ANGRY little cherry blossom.
"Syaoran!" Sakura snapped. "Sit down!" As he obeyed, she got up and
walked over to her brother. "Touya!" she said in that same voice.
"Stop struggling and start listening to me!"
Touya obeyed. As he looked at her, he almost grinned; his normally
sweet little imouto had transformed into a fiery lioness. And how
beautiful she was when she was furious; her cheeks were flushed, there
was an animated spark in her bright emerald-green eyes, and her very
hair rose and fell as energy waves passed through them. Sakura was
trying to channel her anger out but it obviously wasn't working.
"Listen, Sakura - " he began.
"No, you listen to me!" she shouted. "I am eighteen years old and am
perfectly capable of making good decisions! If I want to marry Syaoran,
the man I have loved for almost eight years now, I'll do it! What's
wrong with you, Touya? Why can't you approve what everyone else,
including otou-chan and okaa-chan, have already?"
"Because he's not good enough for you!" Touya spat out in Syaoran's
direction. "He's a rude, arrogant, smug S.O.B. and I KNOW he's just
toying with you! Look, even now he's smirking at me! Do us all a favor
and find someone else with a heart! Anyone else!"
Syaoran jumped up from the couch with an oath. "I'm not going to sit
around and listen to you insult me! Whatever Sakura wants to do with me
is her decision alone and you had better not poison her mind with YOUR
goddamn ideas! Kami-sama knows I love that girl, and I'll fight to the
death before I'll let anyone take her from me!"
"No fighting!" Yukito put his foot down firmly, both figuratively and
literally. Touya took advantage of his loosened arms and wrenched free.
He stared at Sakura, his eyes glowing with inborn fire.
"Sakura, even though you're my own imouto, if you marry - THAT," he
furiously stabbed his finger in Syaoran's direction, "you can be sure
I'll never talk to you again." Then he was out the door. Yukito, after
mumbling some incoherent apology for his partner, went after him and
left Sakura and Syaoran alone in the house.
Syaoran glared in the direction Touya had gone and muttered, "Good
riddance." As he turned back to Sakura, however, his heart stopped. She
stood facing him, her eyes lifeless and lips trembling. Blood seeped
slowly from her nose.
"Sakura!" he cried, crossing the room sweeping her into his arms in an
instant. When she didn't respond to anything he did, even after a firm
slap to the face, he became worried. Her grey face and the increase of
blood flow shook Syaoran to the core.
"Hell, girl, don't pull a trick on me now," he muttered, trying to
discover where the blood was coming from. "Kami-sama, please let her
and the little one be all right..."
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
Shibo was torn between fascination and fright, and shivered as her
mother momentarily paused in her story.
"Am I scaring you, daughter?" Her okaa-chan laughed a little. "Your
'tou-chan told me I gave him the worst fright of his life then, but
wait until you hear what I was doing... "
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
Sakura floated freely upon nothingness. All the previous pain left her
body, erased by the bright vortex of zero enclosed about her. Pain?
What was pain but a paltry vassal subject to joy?
She felt a feather-light touch on her face and opened her eyes, smiling
happily as she realized who it was. That long, trailing curly
ash-brown hair, those grey-green eyes, that wonderful laugh...
Nadeshiko.
"Okaa-chan!"
Sakura threw herself into her mother's arms, crying with joy. Nadeshiko
gently stroked her daughter's hair, at the same time infusing love and
security into her touch.
"There now, Sakura-koishii," she said softly. Sakura looked up into her
mother's understanding eyes and sobbed once more for good measure.
Already she felt better.
"Okaa-chan, why does Touya abhorr Syaoran so? Can't he see that I love
him with all my heart, and that he's hurting me by rejecting him?"
Nadeshiko sighed, looking away. "The day I left the mortal world, your
brother made himself your protector and vowed that you would never be
hurt again in any way if he could help it. When your strong, dangerous
wolf appeared on the scene - " Sakura smiled, " - Touya instinctively
knew there was competition for your love, even though the two of you
didn't 'hit it off' at first sight. Your brother also feared that you'd
get hurt because he felt certain Li Syaoran wasn't all he seemed..."
"But 'kaa-chan! There was never any competition, nor any danger!"
Sakura cried, interrupting. "I love them both equally! Just in
different ways, that's all."
"Child, Touya doesn't see it that way," Nadeshiko said gently, reaching
down to touch her daughter's face. "He was the one you had clung to in
your childhood, the one that nursed you through most of your illnesses,
and the one that loved your cute, childlike ways. He's just so afraid
breaking the special bond between you two. Ever wonder why he persists
in calling you a baka kaijuu?"
Sakura made a face and stuck out her tongue, but smiled a little.
Nadeshiko laughed, then became serious. "Hai. But you see, although
Touya outwardly snaps and growls at your Syaoran, deep down, he knows
the extent of his love for you and that if need be, he would die to
keep you safe, which, on Touya's list, is the most important thing next
to loving you, Yukito-chan, and your otou-chan."
Sakura was touched. "Then... Touya's behavior just now - "
" - was a demonstration of his love for you and his fear that Syaoran
has come to take you away," finished Nadeshiko.
"Demo 'kaa-chan," said Sakura, nearly in tears again, "he said he never
wanted to speak to me again if I married Syaoran!"
"What he really meant was, he couldn't bear NOT seeing you again and
that he needs you in his life. My son is notorious for verbal irony."
Nadeshiko hugged Sakura again. "You just need to tell him point blank
that the bond of siblings you two share will never be broken."
Sakura nodded. "Oh okaa-chan, you've made everything all right again."
"But there's something else you wanted to ask me, isn't there?" asked
Nadeshiko with a twinkle in her eye. Sakura nodded again, shyly.
"Okaa-chan, I'd said to Touya earlier that... ano... that...demo, I
don't REALLY know if..."
"To put your heart at ease, little one, I DO approve of Syaoran. He's
a fine young man with a most generous and giving heart." Her mother
placed her hand on Sakura's belly. "Have many children with him,
Sakura-koishii. The future will need your strong progeny."
Sakura blushed furiously. "Hoe! Okaa-chan, do you... ano... already
know about the little one in there?"
Nadeshiko bent down and whispered something into her ear. Sakura
blinked and looked at her, a little confused. Her mother winked. "Go
now. Touya and Syaoran are waiting."
Sakura waved to her mother and closed her eyes again. She heard a
rushing noise, and suddenly something pulled her down... down...
down...
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
"SAKURA! Sakura! Dammit, don't leave me!"
The cry of an anguished wolf rose about her ears. Sakura winced.
"Koishii, I'll never leave you, but you're bursting my eardrums," she
murmured. There was a gasp, and warm hands surrounded her cold ones.
"Sakura? Can you open your eyes?" She did so, and was shocked by the
tears in her wolf's amber orbs. She immediately kissed him and was
returned the favor rather hungrily and passionately.
"Princess Wolf? I didn't mean to scare you," she whispered comfortingly
against her love's shoulder.
"He wasn't the only one scared," two voices grumbled together. Sakura
looked up to see Touya with Kero-chan perched on his shoulder. Yukito
stood by the couch, grinning from ear to ear. She gently disengaged
herself from Syaoran and stood up, wobbily. Touya quickly came forward
and pulled her into a hard embrace.
"Kami-sama, baka kaijuu, if you do that again I'll NEVER let you marry
that wolf over there," he growled. "Nor will I let the little wolf see
his daddy either..."
Sakura started crying again, but this time, in happiness.
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
Shibo and her mother sat in companionable silence for awhile, each in
her own thoughts.
"So, 'kaa-chan, why did 'ji-chan come back?" Shibo finally asked.
Sakura shrugged. "He never told me the reason, but from what Yuki-chan
says I suspect that he had felt something was wrong and came just in
case I was in danger."
"Which you were," Shibo put in.
"Well, not really, if you think about it." Sakura smiled. "Your
grandmother was with me, so everything was all right."
"Demo, you were bleeding!" her daughter cried, distressed. Sakura
reached over and pulled her into a hug.
"Nosebleed from all that stress, no doubt," she assured her. They sat
in silence once more. Shibo thought hard and knew there was something
else bothering her.
"What did oba-chan say to you?"
Sakura had been humming and now stopped in the middle of the tune,
looking surprised. "That Touya wasn't really angry at me?"
"Iie. You said that after you asked her if she knew about me, she said
something in your ear. What was it?"
"Oh, that!" laughed Sakura. "Well, she told me you wanted to be named
Shibo."
Shibo looked startled. "But I wasn't even born! How could she have
known?"
Sakura spread her hands in question. "I don't know, but you must
remember my okaa-chan wasn't living in our plane. She most likely had
powers we never knew of."
"Why would I want to be named Shibo, though?" she mused out loud.
"Ask that to yourself, my daughter," Sakura said with a smile. "It
means 'yearning', right? Well, what are you yearning for?"
Shibo thought about that and sighed a moment later. She turned to fully
face Sakura. "Okaa-chan, I'm ready to tell you what I dragged you out
here for this morning..." She looked at her mother, who was smiling
encouragingly. "I'm pregnant... Demo, it's not like I made a mistake or
anything," she rushed on to say. But one look at Sakura told her all
she needed to know.
Her mother hugged her again. "Congratulations, my yearning. I've waited
a while for those words."
Shibo was shocked. "You mean... you knew?"
"*I* did, but I doubt your 'tou-chan even has an inkling," laughed
Sakura. Becoming gentle, she continued, "Is the father who I think he
is?"
Shibo nodded quickly, and blushed. "We were going to get married
anyway, but somehow waiting was just a bit too much. Gomen - "
"Don't!" said Sakura sharply, looking into her eyes directly. "Don't be
sorry unless you regret the child within you!"
"Never," whispered Shibo. "I yearn for it."
"There now." Sakura kissed her brow. "That's what you've been wanting,
isn't it? A baby. A family of your own."
"It's just that it seems as if my love for my Koishii has burst into a
million bubbles! I have so much love inside of me, and... wo ai ta tai
duo le!" Overcome by emotion, Shibo lapsed back into her native
Chinese-Japanese mix. "Okaa-chan, ta shi wo de shen ming! Hao xiang, ru
guo wo mei you huai yun, wo jiu hui si diao! Ni dong me?"
"I understand, nu er, I truly do," said Sakura softly. "Remember, I had
the same problem when I was about your age... or gift, as I'd call
it..."
Shibo nodded but couldn't speak, and hugged Sakura one more time. A
whistle alerted them of two men coming up the tiny pathway, and as they
all stood together around her, Shibo cried joyfully. Finally, she was
complete.
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
Notes:
Wow! My first CCS one-shot, finished within the week! Just some editing
going on here and there...
I'm not entirely sure I like the way "Unending" keeps jumping around
time. But I am absolutely ECSTATIC over the fact that it is the first
fanfic I did NOT have writer's block on! Yay for me! *clears throat*
Yes, so anyway, I love writing about S+S and I *know* I messed their
characters up big here. All this sap and angst just seems so OOC... but
it's MY story so I can do whatever I want with it!!! MUAHAHAHA!!!
On a more serious note, I believe this is a milestone in writing for
me. I think the ideas came so readily because I could relate to the
fictional Shibo, and I could write about the closeness she shared with
Sakura because I've experienced that feeling myself with MY mother.
It's like they say - everything is parallel.
The following is a list of Japanese terms I've used in "Unending" and
their definitions:
Ano = Umm...
Demo = But
Koishii (or is it Koiishi? I've seen it spelled both ways) = Beloved
Oba-chan = Grandmother
Oji-chan = Uncle
Okaa-chan = Mother (Mom)
Otou-chan = Father (Dad)
That bit of Mandarin Chinese I used at the end means this:
Wo ai ta tai duo le! = I love him too much!
Ta shi wo de shen ming! = He's my life!
Hao xiang, ru guo wo mei you huai yun, wo jiu hui si diao! Ni dong me?
= If I didn't have his child, I'd die (because of too much love)! Do
you understand?
Nu er = daughter
May your days be filled with sap and angsty fanfiction! =D
^!^ Shibo.
Date: December 27, 2001 - January 5, 2002
Author: Shibo
E-mail: firesoule@yahoo.com
Standard Disclaimer: I do not own characters from Card Captor Sakura
nor do I have permission from CLAMP to use them in any way, but this
fanfic is for personal gain only and is not to be used commercially or
for any monetary profits.
And here begins the one-shot...
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
The gentle waves lapped at their feet as they dangled their legs in the
pond. It was the perfect afternoon for a heart-to-heart talk, Shibo
reflected a tad uneasily, but she was not sure she was ready to open
her thoughts to the beloved mother sitting beside her on the tiny
fishing pier yet. She didn't want to take the chance that the latter
would rebuke, or even worse, utterly reject her for her hasty albeit
understandable actions. Oh well... It was too late for regrets now.
"Daffodil for your thoughts," her mother offered. Shibo took the
yellow weed and started twirling it in her hands. She sighed deeply.
"Autumn's here, okaa-chan," she murmured. It wasn't really a response,
but it would do for the moment.
"Yes, the geese are spreading their wings already." Her okaa-chan
gazed dreamily at the V-shape in the sky, hunter-green eyes glistening
with yearning. "The ducks are filling the air with music, and the trees
are changing their coats at last. How I have missed this season all
year long."
"'Kaa-chan, you're doing it again," Shibo chuckled, unable to keep the
amusement bottled. "Thank goodness 'Tou-chan isn't here. I can't handle
BOTH of you in that mood at the same time."
Her okaa-chan turned to her and smiled. Shibo caught her breath. Even
after so many hardships over the years, her mother was still the most
beautiful woman she knew, both physically and spiritually. Her face,
though aged, was unlined and clear; her skin, flawless.
"Shibo-koishii, you're wearing that daffodil to bits. At least tell me
what you're thinking right now."
The gentle demand was a demand nevertheless, but Shibo was reluctant to
comply right away. "Demo 'kaa-chan... It's so hard to say it out like
this, to lay it bare to the bone. Gomen, but I just need a little more
time to compose my thoughts."
Her mother lovingly laid a hand on her own. "My daughter, you will have
as much time as you need. Feel no rush, please. In fact, would you like
me to tell you a story to help pass the minutes?"
Shibo searched carefully for any hints of sarcasm or condenscending
tones in her voice and found none.
"By all means, tell on."
Her mother's green eyes studied her face just as carefully for a minute
before taking on that faraway look Shibo came to associate with any
memories of her younger days.
"20 years ago," she began, "your 'tou-chan and I decided to get married
because one, we felt we couldn't wait any longer to be united, and two,
you were on the way." The grin she bestowed upon Shibo was startling in
its knowledge and understanding. "When your oji-chan found out, he went
ballistic, and to say THAT is an understatement..."
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
"WHAT?!" shouted Touya. He jumped up and charged towards Syaoran, and
would have hit him had Yukito not interfered.
"To-ya!" he yelled, wrapping his arms around the tall man in an
arm-lock. "Calm down, will you! Just listen to what they have to say!"
"I'm not listening to any more crap!" Touya snarled, trying to wrench
out of Yukito's grip. Surprisingly, the smaller man held on forcefully.
"He's not marrying my imouto as long as I can still breathe!"
"Then start holding your breath," Syaoran growled menacingly. "Or do
you need help?" He started up, but was stopped by his little cherry
blossom - his very ANGRY little cherry blossom.
"Syaoran!" Sakura snapped. "Sit down!" As he obeyed, she got up and
walked over to her brother. "Touya!" she said in that same voice.
"Stop struggling and start listening to me!"
Touya obeyed. As he looked at her, he almost grinned; his normally
sweet little imouto had transformed into a fiery lioness. And how
beautiful she was when she was furious; her cheeks were flushed, there
was an animated spark in her bright emerald-green eyes, and her very
hair rose and fell as energy waves passed through them. Sakura was
trying to channel her anger out but it obviously wasn't working.
"Listen, Sakura - " he began.
"No, you listen to me!" she shouted. "I am eighteen years old and am
perfectly capable of making good decisions! If I want to marry Syaoran,
the man I have loved for almost eight years now, I'll do it! What's
wrong with you, Touya? Why can't you approve what everyone else,
including otou-chan and okaa-chan, have already?"
"Because he's not good enough for you!" Touya spat out in Syaoran's
direction. "He's a rude, arrogant, smug S.O.B. and I KNOW he's just
toying with you! Look, even now he's smirking at me! Do us all a favor
and find someone else with a heart! Anyone else!"
Syaoran jumped up from the couch with an oath. "I'm not going to sit
around and listen to you insult me! Whatever Sakura wants to do with me
is her decision alone and you had better not poison her mind with YOUR
goddamn ideas! Kami-sama knows I love that girl, and I'll fight to the
death before I'll let anyone take her from me!"
"No fighting!" Yukito put his foot down firmly, both figuratively and
literally. Touya took advantage of his loosened arms and wrenched free.
He stared at Sakura, his eyes glowing with inborn fire.
"Sakura, even though you're my own imouto, if you marry - THAT," he
furiously stabbed his finger in Syaoran's direction, "you can be sure
I'll never talk to you again." Then he was out the door. Yukito, after
mumbling some incoherent apology for his partner, went after him and
left Sakura and Syaoran alone in the house.
Syaoran glared in the direction Touya had gone and muttered, "Good
riddance." As he turned back to Sakura, however, his heart stopped. She
stood facing him, her eyes lifeless and lips trembling. Blood seeped
slowly from her nose.
"Sakura!" he cried, crossing the room sweeping her into his arms in an
instant. When she didn't respond to anything he did, even after a firm
slap to the face, he became worried. Her grey face and the increase of
blood flow shook Syaoran to the core.
"Hell, girl, don't pull a trick on me now," he muttered, trying to
discover where the blood was coming from. "Kami-sama, please let her
and the little one be all right..."
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
Shibo was torn between fascination and fright, and shivered as her
mother momentarily paused in her story.
"Am I scaring you, daughter?" Her okaa-chan laughed a little. "Your
'tou-chan told me I gave him the worst fright of his life then, but
wait until you hear what I was doing... "
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
Sakura floated freely upon nothingness. All the previous pain left her
body, erased by the bright vortex of zero enclosed about her. Pain?
What was pain but a paltry vassal subject to joy?
She felt a feather-light touch on her face and opened her eyes, smiling
happily as she realized who it was. That long, trailing curly
ash-brown hair, those grey-green eyes, that wonderful laugh...
Nadeshiko.
"Okaa-chan!"
Sakura threw herself into her mother's arms, crying with joy. Nadeshiko
gently stroked her daughter's hair, at the same time infusing love and
security into her touch.
"There now, Sakura-koishii," she said softly. Sakura looked up into her
mother's understanding eyes and sobbed once more for good measure.
Already she felt better.
"Okaa-chan, why does Touya abhorr Syaoran so? Can't he see that I love
him with all my heart, and that he's hurting me by rejecting him?"
Nadeshiko sighed, looking away. "The day I left the mortal world, your
brother made himself your protector and vowed that you would never be
hurt again in any way if he could help it. When your strong, dangerous
wolf appeared on the scene - " Sakura smiled, " - Touya instinctively
knew there was competition for your love, even though the two of you
didn't 'hit it off' at first sight. Your brother also feared that you'd
get hurt because he felt certain Li Syaoran wasn't all he seemed..."
"But 'kaa-chan! There was never any competition, nor any danger!"
Sakura cried, interrupting. "I love them both equally! Just in
different ways, that's all."
"Child, Touya doesn't see it that way," Nadeshiko said gently, reaching
down to touch her daughter's face. "He was the one you had clung to in
your childhood, the one that nursed you through most of your illnesses,
and the one that loved your cute, childlike ways. He's just so afraid
breaking the special bond between you two. Ever wonder why he persists
in calling you a baka kaijuu?"
Sakura made a face and stuck out her tongue, but smiled a little.
Nadeshiko laughed, then became serious. "Hai. But you see, although
Touya outwardly snaps and growls at your Syaoran, deep down, he knows
the extent of his love for you and that if need be, he would die to
keep you safe, which, on Touya's list, is the most important thing next
to loving you, Yukito-chan, and your otou-chan."
Sakura was touched. "Then... Touya's behavior just now - "
" - was a demonstration of his love for you and his fear that Syaoran
has come to take you away," finished Nadeshiko.
"Demo 'kaa-chan," said Sakura, nearly in tears again, "he said he never
wanted to speak to me again if I married Syaoran!"
"What he really meant was, he couldn't bear NOT seeing you again and
that he needs you in his life. My son is notorious for verbal irony."
Nadeshiko hugged Sakura again. "You just need to tell him point blank
that the bond of siblings you two share will never be broken."
Sakura nodded. "Oh okaa-chan, you've made everything all right again."
"But there's something else you wanted to ask me, isn't there?" asked
Nadeshiko with a twinkle in her eye. Sakura nodded again, shyly.
"Okaa-chan, I'd said to Touya earlier that... ano... that...demo, I
don't REALLY know if..."
"To put your heart at ease, little one, I DO approve of Syaoran. He's
a fine young man with a most generous and giving heart." Her mother
placed her hand on Sakura's belly. "Have many children with him,
Sakura-koishii. The future will need your strong progeny."
Sakura blushed furiously. "Hoe! Okaa-chan, do you... ano... already
know about the little one in there?"
Nadeshiko bent down and whispered something into her ear. Sakura
blinked and looked at her, a little confused. Her mother winked. "Go
now. Touya and Syaoran are waiting."
Sakura waved to her mother and closed her eyes again. She heard a
rushing noise, and suddenly something pulled her down... down...
down...
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
"SAKURA! Sakura! Dammit, don't leave me!"
The cry of an anguished wolf rose about her ears. Sakura winced.
"Koishii, I'll never leave you, but you're bursting my eardrums," she
murmured. There was a gasp, and warm hands surrounded her cold ones.
"Sakura? Can you open your eyes?" She did so, and was shocked by the
tears in her wolf's amber orbs. She immediately kissed him and was
returned the favor rather hungrily and passionately.
"Princess Wolf? I didn't mean to scare you," she whispered comfortingly
against her love's shoulder.
"He wasn't the only one scared," two voices grumbled together. Sakura
looked up to see Touya with Kero-chan perched on his shoulder. Yukito
stood by the couch, grinning from ear to ear. She gently disengaged
herself from Syaoran and stood up, wobbily. Touya quickly came forward
and pulled her into a hard embrace.
"Kami-sama, baka kaijuu, if you do that again I'll NEVER let you marry
that wolf over there," he growled. "Nor will I let the little wolf see
his daddy either..."
Sakura started crying again, but this time, in happiness.
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
Shibo and her mother sat in companionable silence for awhile, each in
her own thoughts.
"So, 'kaa-chan, why did 'ji-chan come back?" Shibo finally asked.
Sakura shrugged. "He never told me the reason, but from what Yuki-chan
says I suspect that he had felt something was wrong and came just in
case I was in danger."
"Which you were," Shibo put in.
"Well, not really, if you think about it." Sakura smiled. "Your
grandmother was with me, so everything was all right."
"Demo, you were bleeding!" her daughter cried, distressed. Sakura
reached over and pulled her into a hug.
"Nosebleed from all that stress, no doubt," she assured her. They sat
in silence once more. Shibo thought hard and knew there was something
else bothering her.
"What did oba-chan say to you?"
Sakura had been humming and now stopped in the middle of the tune,
looking surprised. "That Touya wasn't really angry at me?"
"Iie. You said that after you asked her if she knew about me, she said
something in your ear. What was it?"
"Oh, that!" laughed Sakura. "Well, she told me you wanted to be named
Shibo."
Shibo looked startled. "But I wasn't even born! How could she have
known?"
Sakura spread her hands in question. "I don't know, but you must
remember my okaa-chan wasn't living in our plane. She most likely had
powers we never knew of."
"Why would I want to be named Shibo, though?" she mused out loud.
"Ask that to yourself, my daughter," Sakura said with a smile. "It
means 'yearning', right? Well, what are you yearning for?"
Shibo thought about that and sighed a moment later. She turned to fully
face Sakura. "Okaa-chan, I'm ready to tell you what I dragged you out
here for this morning..." She looked at her mother, who was smiling
encouragingly. "I'm pregnant... Demo, it's not like I made a mistake or
anything," she rushed on to say. But one look at Sakura told her all
she needed to know.
Her mother hugged her again. "Congratulations, my yearning. I've waited
a while for those words."
Shibo was shocked. "You mean... you knew?"
"*I* did, but I doubt your 'tou-chan even has an inkling," laughed
Sakura. Becoming gentle, she continued, "Is the father who I think he
is?"
Shibo nodded quickly, and blushed. "We were going to get married
anyway, but somehow waiting was just a bit too much. Gomen - "
"Don't!" said Sakura sharply, looking into her eyes directly. "Don't be
sorry unless you regret the child within you!"
"Never," whispered Shibo. "I yearn for it."
"There now." Sakura kissed her brow. "That's what you've been wanting,
isn't it? A baby. A family of your own."
"It's just that it seems as if my love for my Koishii has burst into a
million bubbles! I have so much love inside of me, and... wo ai ta tai
duo le!" Overcome by emotion, Shibo lapsed back into her native
Chinese-Japanese mix. "Okaa-chan, ta shi wo de shen ming! Hao xiang, ru
guo wo mei you huai yun, wo jiu hui si diao! Ni dong me?"
"I understand, nu er, I truly do," said Sakura softly. "Remember, I had
the same problem when I was about your age... or gift, as I'd call
it..."
Shibo nodded but couldn't speak, and hugged Sakura one more time. A
whistle alerted them of two men coming up the tiny pathway, and as they
all stood together around her, Shibo cried joyfully. Finally, she was
complete.
* * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * *
Notes:
Wow! My first CCS one-shot, finished within the week! Just some editing
going on here and there...
I'm not entirely sure I like the way "Unending" keeps jumping around
time. But I am absolutely ECSTATIC over the fact that it is the first
fanfic I did NOT have writer's block on! Yay for me! *clears throat*
Yes, so anyway, I love writing about S+S and I *know* I messed their
characters up big here. All this sap and angst just seems so OOC... but
it's MY story so I can do whatever I want with it!!! MUAHAHAHA!!!
On a more serious note, I believe this is a milestone in writing for
me. I think the ideas came so readily because I could relate to the
fictional Shibo, and I could write about the closeness she shared with
Sakura because I've experienced that feeling myself with MY mother.
It's like they say - everything is parallel.
The following is a list of Japanese terms I've used in "Unending" and
their definitions:
Ano = Umm...
Demo = But
Koishii (or is it Koiishi? I've seen it spelled both ways) = Beloved
Oba-chan = Grandmother
Oji-chan = Uncle
Okaa-chan = Mother (Mom)
Otou-chan = Father (Dad)
That bit of Mandarin Chinese I used at the end means this:
Wo ai ta tai duo le! = I love him too much!
Ta shi wo de shen ming! = He's my life!
Hao xiang, ru guo wo mei you huai yun, wo jiu hui si diao! Ni dong me?
= If I didn't have his child, I'd die (because of too much love)! Do
you understand?
Nu er = daughter
May your days be filled with sap and angsty fanfiction! =D
^!^ Shibo.
