VictorianPearl: Hello, I'm back. I've been able to get in some typing time.
Syaoran: I must say, I like this story better than the last one you wrote.
Li: Why? Are you criticizing VictorianPearl's work?
Syaoran: Maybe I am, what are you going to do about it?
Li: I'll-
VictorianPearl: Okay! This story is based eight years after the capture of the void. It is written as if Syaoran had to return to Hong Kong after the capture.
Syaoran: But Sakura and I are together right?
Li: Duh! Who the heck else would she put you with?
VictorianPearl: Thank you for your helpfulness Li.
Li: You're welcome.
VictorianPearl: Now, if there are no more interruptions, I'll begin the fiction.
Living Metonymy
Chapter 1 Reflections
Sakura sat on her bed. She was reviewing what had happened in the last seven years in her head. These thoughts came to her while she was watching old video tapes form fifth grade. Tomoyo had made copies.
Tomoyo now had an online shop. Her business was going well. She had come up with many new designs, but she kept the Cardcaptor battle costumes a secret in her special van.
Sakura laid back and sighed. Tomoyo had been a great friend and was always there, especially after Syaoran had left. Sakura had told Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko about her love for Syaoran after he had left. They were a wonderful comfort.
Chiharu and Takashi had gotten together. Takashi still lied all the time, one would think that he enjoyed being whacked by Chiharu all of the time.
Rika had baked cookies for a week for Sakura after revealing her secret love for Syaoran. Rika and Mr. Terada were now secretly dating; he was, after all, no longer their teacher. Rika insisted that they all call him Yoshiyuki, his real name, but it was still a little weird for Sakura to see her good friend dating her old elementary teacher.
Naoko had given Sakura many horror books on tape to keep her mind off Syaoran at night. Needless to say, it worked. Before, Sakura couldn't sleep for thoughts of Syaoran, now she couldn't sleep for fears of ghosts in the dark. But thanks to Naoko, Sakura eventually overcame those fears, she was no longer afraid of such things.
There was one more mysterious character, Eriol. He was to marry Kaho, but even though he was a reincarnate, he was still just Eriol, and he didn't think the relationship was going to work. Kaho left to, yet again, travel the world. Eriol remained, and soon, he and Tomoyo found each other.
Sakura sighed again. There was, of course, one person who should be in the whole picture but was not, Syaoran. Sakura wrote him, and continued to write him. She wished she could reminisce on all the wonderful things that had happened to them as a couple since the capture of Void, but he was in Hong Kong. Sakura missed him now, more than ever.
Sometimes at night she would listen to the radio, whenever an old love song came on, it reminded her of Syaoran, and she would cry. Her heart still ached for him, but she could do nothing, only wait.
One song, specifically, that made her cry was I Can be Your Hero. Thoughts of Syaoran would flood to her mind. This song had her in tears every time. Love hurt, but it would be worth it, all for Syaoran.
In Hong Kong, Syaoran was listening to that very same song. A solitary tear ran down his cheek. He looked around his room. He had a few framed pictures from Tomoeda on a desk.
Syaoran looked into his hands; he was holding the teddy bear, Sakura. He gave it a little hug. Soon, hopefully, he would be able to see her again. No more letters, he would be able to hold her close, wipe away any tears, and be there.
Syaoran gave a small smile. It would be soon. A great friend to him during these past seven years was Meiling. She was a great friend and support. Syaoran would go on talking for a long time after hard trials, Meiling would simply listen and comfort. Syaoran didn't know how she did it, become so strong.
Meiling did not have the best parents. Syaoran's mom, her aunt, was more of a mother. Meiling's parents didn't care about her; they only wanted her to marry for power. Meiling didn't want that.
Meiling soon had realized that she only loved Syaoran as a friend. She overcame and learned to treat him like a friend and not hang all over him. Syaoran had been a very good and much needed friend back.
Meiling's parents had tried to get Meiling involved in a few more engagements, but Syaoran was able to get his mom to talk them out of it. It had been hard times for Meiling. But she stayed strong and came through; Syaoran had helped her a lot.
Syaoran planned on taking Meiling back to Tomoeda with him. He would go for Sakura, Meiling would go for freedom. They would not live together, but they would attend Seiju High for their last year of high school.
School would be starting in one month; hopefully, he would be able to finish all of his business by that time.
Syaoran got up and walked over to his picture frames on his desk, the teddy bear clutched gently in his left hand. He reached out to a silver frame and picked it up. It was a recent picture of Sakura that she had sent him.
Sakura was in the shade of a large tree, she was wearing a white dress that blew with the wind. Pearls were cascading down her neck. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were sad and dreary. She was so beautiful; he never wanted to take his eyes away from her. He wanted to jump into the picture and be with her, and then he could hold her in his arms and dance.
Syaoran set the picture down, what he wanted, of course, was not possible…at the moment anyway. Once he got back, he would dance with her. But until then he had better sleep. He looked out the window, the sparkling stars reminded him of Sakura's staff and of everything they had gone through as Cardcaptors.
Syaoran changed into his night clothes and set the Sakura bear carefully in a shoebox and pushed it under his bed. He then climbed into his covers, ready for sleep. The tear was still on his cheek.
Many miles away in Japan, Sakura was doing the exact opposite as Syaoran. She was getting off of her bed, wiping away her tears, and went to get a little bear in a shoebox in her closet.
Sakura tiptoed across her room and opened her closet, careful not to wake a sleeping Kero in her drawer.
Sakura knelt down and opened up the shoebox, pulling out her Syaoran bear. She pet his soft green hair on his head. Sakura would wait for Syaoran forever, no matter how long or how much it hurt. Sakura put the Syaoran bear away and got back into her bed. She fell asleep to the old videos playing in the background.
Sakura heard a distant ringing noise; she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She reached out and opened her eyes sleepily. She blinked and realized her cell phone was ringing.
Sakura yawned and got up and answered it.
"Hey Sakura! Sorry I'm calling so early." The voice said.
Sakura looked at her clock that read 5:00 AM. "
"Why are you calling so early Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.
"Well, I couldn't sleep," Tomoyo proclaimed, Sakura sat gaping, "But that's not all!" Tomoyo hurried, "You had better turn on your T.V. to channel 10!"
Sakura turned off her VCR and turned to channel 10, what she saw made her gasp.
"Mr. Syaoran Li has become the new clan leader of Li clan." The reporter started, a picture of Syaoran was brought onto the television. Sakura blushed; he had grown much more handsome in the past seven years.
"Syaoran," Sakura whispered, completely awed at the coincidence that she was reminiscing about Syaoran that night. Suddenly, a sly though somehow managed to enter her brain. "Tomoyo, why couldn't you sleep for such a long period of time?"
"Umm…" Tomoyo faltered, "Well, Eriol came over-"
"Eriol-kun!" Sakura cried, "He's over at your house now?"
"Yeah," Tomoyo whispered sheepishly, in the background, Sakura could hear a muffled, "Tomoyo!"
"You haven't been doing anything bad have you Tomoyo?" Sakura asked suspiciously.
"Of course not!" Tomoyo cried, but Sakura had a little feeling that she was lying.
"Sure, well I'm going to go make breakfast, there's no way I can go back to sleep now." Sakura said.
"Alright- yes Eriol, I'm almost done! See you later, bye." Tomoyo hung up.
Sakura hung up and shut off the television. She was still a little dazed. Now that Syaoran was clan leader, did that mean he would come back soon? She would write and ask him, but what if he couldn't come back and the thought only hurt him?
Sakura went down to make breakfast; she hoped that she would do the right thing when the time came.
"Because I'm Sakura, I'm sure I'll be alright." Sakura said out loud, she gave a small smile and continued downstairs to make breakfast.
Syaoran couldn't believe what was happening. He'd gone t bed thinking that he still had a bit of work before him, but was shaken awake with none at all.
No sooner than the news had spread, did he announce to the elders that he was going back to Tomoeda, and was taking Meiling with him.
Suddenly, everything was happening at an exceedingly fast pace. By that afternoon, Syaoran had already booked a flight to Tomoeda, the plane left in three days. That would give him and Meiling plenty of time to pack.
Syaoran already had everything planned in his mind. He would assign them into Seiju High. Tomorrow, he would make a phone call to get him and Meiling two separate apartment rooms.
Syaoran was packing, he was about to put away the silver framed picture of Sakura. He smiled at it, so much sooner than he thought would he be able to see her. Syaoran beamed, he just hoped Touya wouldn't be too hard to get by.
Nothing could bring Syaoran down at this moment. Not the elders, the reporters, or even Touya Kinomoto! He was finally free to go back, and nobody could take it away.
Tomoyo hung up her cell phone and turned to Eriol. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, Eriol looked troubled. They were both sitting on a fluffy sofa in Tomoyo's room.
"Come here." Eriol said gently, pulling Tomoyo onto his lap, holding her close.
"Eriol." Tomoyo breathed, she knew something was bothering him. It was almost as if his emotion was flowing through his veins and into hers.
Eriol breathed in the scent of Tomoyo's hair. "A great evil will follow Syaoran to Tomoeda; it will be a very large threat to the four of us." He murmured.
"Sakura!" Tomoyo whispered, "Can- can you feel something…an aura?"
"A dark aura, Eriol said, running a hand through Tomoyo's hair, this was causing her to breath deeply. Eriol had called her at about 3:00 AM. Tomoyo hadn't been able to sleep anyway, so he came over.
Eriol had explained what Syaoran had to do in order to come back to Tomoeda. He had kept fairly close contact with Syaoran over the years, even though it was to Syaoran's distaste. Together, Eriol and Tomoyo had watched the reports a bit before deciding to call Sakura.
Eriol moved both his hands down Tomoyo's bare shoulders and forearms. Tomoyo was only dressed in a long, white, thin strapped night gown. Tomoyo shuddered as his hands moved to the bare of her back.
Eriol began to kiss the back of her shoulders, his warm hands on her forearms. Eriol couldn't tell what this new danger was, but Tomoyo was going to be very involved in it. He would have to protect her, he wouldn't let her get hurt, and if she did…he would never forgive himself.
Eriol began to move the kisses up to her neck. Tomoyo reached back with one arm and ran a hand through Eriol's dark blue hair.
Eriol's hands slid down to her waist and turned her body to face his. Eriol tenderly kissed Tomoyo's lips. She ran her hands from Eriol's hair down to his back.
Eriol learned Tomoyo down onto the sofa; she looked up at him, her lovely dark hair falling beneath her.
"Don't worry," Eriol whispered with an emotion-filled voice, "I won't do anything we might regret."
"I could never regret you Eriol." Tomoyo whispered, and with that, his lips came upon hers once more.
Although three days may sound evidently, very empty with nothingness, they were not. At least not in Tomoeda they weren't. Although Eriol could sense the oncoming danger, Sakura could not. Not because she was having trouble with her magic, but simply because her mind was much too occupied with thoughts of Syaoran to focus.
Sakura did not know that Syaoran was coming to Tomoeda, but she had a feeling he was coming soon. Although she did not sense the dark aura, she could sense Syaoran's warm one, for some odd reason.
The next three days, that were seemingly uneventful, had a lot to do with the oncoming danger. Eriol noticed it; Tomoyo noticed it, only Sakura could not. She also had a very good reason not to, after finding out that the love of your life might be coming back after seven years of not seeing him is definitely something to think about.
The first day, Rika, Naoko, and Chiharu all brought their boyfriends(Naoko found a boyfriend named Hachiro) to all see Sakura. They all kept telling Sakura how wonderful their lives were now that they had found love. Eriol and Tomoyo, who were there, had many thoughts about Syaoran approaching soon. For Sakura, the whole affair made her depressed.
An hour later, Sakura was walking around the park. She breathed in deeply. She absolutely loved her friends, but couldn't they see that they were saddening her? It was too much, she had to get out and get some fresh air.
Sakura walked into the clearing with the King Penguin slide. Memories, this place held so many of them. Sakura walked over and sat down on the swings. She just sat there, swinging, for a long time before someone came to join her.
Yamazaki sat on the swing next to Sakura. He just sat there for a while, studying the ground before saying anything. "You know, Sakura, I really did try to stop Chiharu from touching the 'couple' topic." Yamazaki started, "I had seen him on T.V., you know who, and I told Chiharu that you might not want to listen. But you know Chiharu." Yamazaki chuckled.
Sakura sighed, "It's quite alright Yamazaki, I know it's not your fault. I know that nobody meant any harm."
"That's just it," Yamazaki replied, "Nobody thinks that they'll actually hurt someone when they're trying to help them. Sometimes the way you picture someone's reaction is much different from the way it really happens."
Sakura thought a while, "Thank you," she said.
"What for?" Yamazaki asked.
"I don't know, but thank you anyway." Sakura said. For some reason, Yamazaki made her feel better.
"You know," Yamazaki said, "Back in the old days, saying sorry meant-"
"Yamazaki!" Sakura cried, "You don't want me to pull a Chiharu and hit you over the head, do you?"
Sakura left the room, everyone in the room fell silent. Suddenly a wave passed through the room, and everyone who did not already know that they caused her to leave sighed. They know what they had done wrong.
"I-I didn't think…" Chiharu whispered sadly. Yamazaki gave her a little hug.
"Poor Sakura," Rika said, "She needs to be rid of her sadness." She looked up at Mr. Terada and back down.
"Maybe we should go and take her out to lunch to show her how sorry we are." Naoko suggested.
"No," Yamazaki said, "I'll go see her." He stood up and went to the door, then stopped and turned around. "Um… where do you think she went?"
Everyone sweat dropped, "Try the Penguin Park." Tomoyo said.
"Oh, he he," Yamazaki said, scratching the back of his head, "okay." He then went out to follow Sakura.
Once he had left, Chiharu sighed, "That's my Yamazaki." She murmured. Everyone left after that, even Chiharu("Yamazaki will know that I went home.").
Tomoyo smiled and turned to Eriol. They were all alone in Sakura's house. Fuijitaka was out on an archeological dig in the Dead Sea, and Touya was at work.
"I'm glad they all learned their mistake." Tomoyo said, "And if not, I can copy this event off of my video camera!" She patted her camera enthusiastically.
"You know," Eriol said, taking the camera and setting it on the coffee table, " I think your obsession with that camera is extremely tempting."
Tomoyo gasped, "Eriol! You have a very dirty mind!" She pretended to look horrified. Eriol grabbed her shoulders and pushed her roughly against the wall.
"Correction," Eriol said, "I have a very evil mind!"
"You're not offended I hope." Tomoyo said, raising an eyebrow.
Eriol was about to kiss her, when he felt Sakura approaching the house. He gave Tomoyo a sly look.
"We shall finish this later." He said, releasing Tomoyo, just as Sakura walked through the door.
"I'm back," Sakura said, shutting the door behind her. "I'm sorry that I just left, but…"
"We understand," Tomoyo said, smiling.
They all sat down and began to talk. Eriol was debating whether or not to tell Sakura about the dark aura. He decided that the sooner she found out, the better.
"Sakura," Eriol interrupted. Sakura looked at him with confusion and interest while Tomoyo looked downward. "I have something to tell you."
"What is it?" Sakura asked.
Eriol took a breath, but before he could say anything, Touya came through the door. All heads turned towards him, and then towards the clock. IT had gotten late without them realizing it.
"Hello Tomoyo, Eriol, kaiju." Touya said, walking into the house.
"Touya, "I'm seventeen!" When will you stop calling me that?" Sakura said exasperatedly.
"Dad sent a package." Touya said, ignoring her words.
"We had better go." Eriol said, both him and Tomoyo standing up.
"Are you sure?" Sakura asked, standing up as well.
"Yes," Eriol replied, "We have some business to take care of at my house."
Sakura saw them to the door before coming to the kitchen table where Touya was.
"Open it!" She cried.
Touya carefully opened the package. Inside was a not on top of something wrapped in papyrus. The note read:
Dear Touya and Sakura,
I hope you are doing well.
I am doing well in the Dead Sea, it is a very exciting experience.
I found these artifacts while digging and I had a feeling you might like them.
I hope you do like them.
I love you and take care of yourselves,
Love Dad.
Touya pulled out two necklaces. They were both on skinny, silver, chains. One was in the shape of a wing. It was pure silver and studded with rubies. The wing itself was very small, about the size of a silver dollar. This necklace was no doubted for Touya.
The second necklace, for Sakura, was very similar. The only difference was that her pendant was in the shape of a starfish and was studded with pearls.
"Wow," Touya commented, "I wonder what else dad found down in the Dead Sea."
They both put on their necklaces and wrote a letter back to their dad.
VictorianPearl: Soooooooooooo…. What did you think?
Tomoyo: Interesting.
VictorianPearl: Don't worry Tomoyo dear, you didn't let Eriol do anything he wasn't supposed to.
Li: It's so… mushy!
VictorianPearl: Yes, that leaves me to leave a note. When I originally started writing this, it was summer break and I didn't intend to make it to fanfiction.
Li: That explains a lot.
VictorianPearl: I didn't realize how mushy I made it until I read it over. You should be thankful though, this version is cut down!
Tomoyo: x.X I'm scared to think about what the uncut version was like.
VictorianPearl: Yes, well…what can I say. I get really bored over the summer.
Li: Apparently.
VictorianPearl: The next chapter should, be up before next Sunday. I have a funeral to go to and I have to help set up. Not only to mention that it's at the Greek Church, they drag every ceremony out as long as possible. Anyway, I will put in an effort. Please review, it would mean a lot. Ja ne.