Xiao Langs Formalities
Part 1:
Author Note:
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura is property of CLAMP I do not own any rights to any of the original characters from the series or manga. Only those which I have made up myself for the purpose of continuing the storyline.
This Fanfic takes place following the ending of the Cardcaptor Sakura Manga. If you are not familiar with the Manga please keep in mind that Meilin was created for the anime series only and that Sakura never met Syaoran's mother nor had she ever been to China in the Manga. This story follows Syaoran after the ending of the Manga when he returns to China to take care of his "formalities."
Syaoran fell back on his bed, exhausted. He had just taken a shower after a hard training session and wore only a pair of boxers and had a towel hanging around his neck.
He had been back in Hong Kong for a couple of months now, taking care of his "Formalities." Because he was the heir of the Li Dynasty there was a lot that was expected of him. The Elders hadn't been very happy that he didn't return home as the new master of the Clow cards. The cards were now Sakura cards and his girlfriend was their new mistress.
"Sakura," he spoke her name out loud as his thoughts wandered. Everything that he did, he was doing with the hopes of a quicker return to Japan. He pushed himself to train harder in order to accomplish the skills required of him by the Elders to learn. The sooner he mastered them, the sooner he and Sakura could be together.
A quick glance at the clock on his desk told him that he would soon have to leave for school. He had been up since 4:00 that morning. It was now a quarter past seven. He would be late if he didn't get moving. With a groan he kipped-up and landed on his feet at the foot of his bed. With a yawn he stumbled around his room and proceeded to try to put on his shirt in place of his pants.
Syaoran's stomach growled in protest when he turned in the opposite direction of the kitchen upon reaching the bottom of the stairs. He had worked longer on his forms during his morning training then he normally did and didn't have time for breakfast.
Yelan watched, unnoticed, as her son made his way to the door to leave for school. While she was glad to see that he was taking his training seriously, she wondered if he wasn't pushing himself too hard. She hadn't noticed until last night when he skipped dinner in order to train earlier so that he wouldn't miss an important phone call. Now he was skipping breakfast. He could train all that he wanted, but if he wasn't eating properly then all of his efforts would be in vain.
That girl in Japan, the new Mistress of the cards, had most certainly captivated her son, Yelan thought. He had grown and changed a lot during his time there, even if he hadn't been successful in capturing the Clow cards. Her son had learned an important lesson, love, and returned to Hong Kong stronger because of it.
Yelan could see the benefits of her son's relationship as what it would bring to the Dynasty as well as to her son's position as Heir. Surely most of his training could just as easily be done in Japan. It wouldn't be any trouble for him to travel back for any future formalities that might need to be taken care of in Hong Kong. She would talk to the elders about what needed to be done before Xiao Lang could return to Japan.
That afternoon, when the lunch bell finally sounded, Syaoran couldn't begin to explain his relief. It felt like his stomach was twisted into knots and he was amazed that the growling of his stomach hadn't interrupted class.
"Xiao Lang!!" a familiar female voice called after him from down the hallway. He had just stepped out of his classroom and was excusing himself from a handful of friends. "Xiao Lang!" the girl called again and caught hold of his arm once she had finally caught up to him.
"Ni hao, Mei Ling," he responded to the girl. She was a classmate from another class. They had been friends ever since the fourth grade when her family had moved to Hong Kong from Beijing. On her first day, she had gotten lost on her way home after school. From the limousine that had picked him up from the school, Syaoran happened to notice her standing at a corner waiting for the light to change so that she could cross the street, and she was crying. Since the limo had just stopped at the light, he had offered her a ride home. Luckily she knew her new address, which he had given to his driver.
"Are you going out to eat?" she asked him excitedly. He nodded and continued down the hall with her still clinging to his arm so as not to be separated from him. "Goodie, can I join you?!" she pleaded, accustomed to his nonverbal communication.
They left the school after nodding a few apologetic excuses to various friends who addressed them throughout the halls. "You know, Xiao Lang, I've hardly seen you since you came home from Japan. What have you been doing all this time? A girl might think you're trying to hide from her," Mei Ling teased as he led her off of the school grounds and down the street towards a buffet restaurant.
"Sorry, I've been busy training," he answered as he hurriedly rushed them across a crosswalk before the light changed.
The girl glanced at him as they partly jogged across the street. In the year and a half that he had been in Japan she could tell that he had changed. He seemed somewhat distant from her. It bothered her a little, because they had always been close friends. "Have the elders changed your training schedule since you returned? I don't remember you ever being THIS busy with it. Dad hasn't mentioned anything about extra training sessions with you." Her father had transferred to Hong Kong when she was 8 as a request from the elders of the Li Dynasty in order to train their Heir. Her father was known throughout the country as one of the best martial artists and trainers in China. She use to accompany her father to Xiao Lang's training sessions and the two usually trained together.
"Dui bu qi, I'm sorry, Mei Ling, It's just that I have something very important to accomplish. I've been working on mastering my forms. Your father is coming for a training session tonight, I thought you knew," he explained apologetically as they entered the restaurant.
"Something that's more important then me?" she asked as they sat down at a table.
Syaoran stared at her blankly from across the table, he wasn't sure how to respond.
"Oh good grief, Xiao Lang, I was only teasing," she told him with a cheerful smile, though inwardly her heart sank, his response wasn't what she had hoped for. Sure she thought he was cute. What girl in school didn't? He had a lot of responsibility resting on his shoulders though, so he probably didn't have time to think much about girls.
"Oh," Syaoran responded, though he couldn't help but to think of how she reminded him of Sakura when Sakura was forcing herself to be cheerful. "I haven't had much time to be social. It's very important to me that I get through my formalities as quickly as possible so that I can return to Japan," he excused and then told the waiter that they would be having the buffet.
"Return… to Japan?" Mei Ling repeated, her face draining of color.
"Yes, to be with my girlfriend," Syaoran explained. He had just stood up to go up to the buffet, expecting that she would follow.
"Gi… Girlfriend…?" Mei Ling repeated, her stomach tied into a knot and her heart felt as if it had stopped. She stare after his back in disbelief as the tears started to weld up in her eyes.
"Mei Ling?" Syaoran questioned, turning around when he didn't hear her footsteps behind him. "Mei Ling?" he spoke her name in confusion upon catching a glimpse of her as she ran out the door of the restaurant.
His stomach growled and twisted in protest at his thought to follow her. Maybe she forgot something, Syaoran reasoned with his mind and decided to answer to the needs of his stomach.
After downing four plates of food, a glance at the clock told him that he would be late to his afternoon classes if he didn't get going. He figured it was safe to assume that Mei Ling wasn't returning and paid the bill to leave.
Syaoran jogged back to the school and found that he had just enough time to check Mei Ling's classroom to see if she was there. From the door, however, it was evident that her desk was empty.
"Have you seen Mei Ling?" he asked a group of girls who stood by the door.
"She had to run an errand for the teacher," one girl told him. The other four girls in the group huddled closer together, hiding Mei Ling, who was sitting on the floor crying, from his view.
"Oh, okay. Xiè xie, thank you," he said unknowingly. "Tell her that I will talk to her later then," Syaoran instructed to the girl and turned to head to his own class.
"As if you ever have the time," the girl muttered after him, though it went unheard.
The afternoon classes went by more quickly then Syaoran had expected and was caught by surprise when the bell rang to signal the end of the school day. He hurriedly gathered his things and rushed out the door.
Mei Ling stood, frozen, just outside the door to Syaoran's classroom when he appeared suddenly in front of her and rushed off down the hall, not even having seen her.
Once he arrived home, Syaoran rushed up the stairs to his room to change. Sifu Wang, his martial arts instructor, would be there soon, as he had requested, to evaluate his forms and to begin further training.
Grabbing for his sword on his way out of his bedroom door, Syaoran made his way to their training hall with the expectation to work on some of the more detailed elements of his forms.
Sifu Wang silently entered the training hall roughly 20 minutes later and observed as Syaoran finished his form. After Syaoran had finished, Sifu instructed on a couple of minor corrections, but over all was impressed on Syaoran's development over the past couple of months. "I am expected to report to the elders on your development tomorrow," He informed Syaoran. "I believe I can tell them that you are ready to begin learning the next form." Syaoran smiled in relief. His hard work was paying off. "However," Sifu began to state in a firm tone. "Your mother has informed me that she worries you are pushing yourself too hard." Syaoran's smile disappeared and he blinked in surprise. "Whatever it is that you are in a rush to accomplish, keep in mind that if you are not properly taking care of yourself all of your hard work will have been for nothing," Sifu told Syaoran in a softer tone with a smile and placed a fatherly hand on the young mans shoulders.
"Xié xie, Sifu," Syaoran said with a bow of respect.
"Now, I believe that I smell dinner, and I'm sure you also have homework to get to," Sifu stated, returning a bow to show that the session was over.
"Thank you, Sifu," Syaoran said with another bow and turned to leave in order to shower and change for dinner.
Syaoran ate his dinner silently that night, tuning out the chatter of his sisters, and excused himself early. "I have a lot of homework to work on, mother," he explained as he stood to return to his room. His sisters stopped chatting briefly to watch him go.
Once in his room, Syaoran let out a heavy sigh and closed the door. His head was pounding from the normal commotion that his sisters always made. Why did he have to be the only male in a house full of women? He yearned for the solitude of his apartment back in Japan.
Syaoran walked towards his desk and stare at his pile of homework with distaste, but knew it had to be done. He had examines coming up as the year was coming to a close. Soon he would be starting his 7th grade year. Pulling out his desk chair he sat and opened his books to set to work.
It was nearly 9:00 when he closed his notebook, set his pen down on the desk, and stretched back in his chair. With his chair rocking back on its back legs and his arms folding behind his head, Syaoran stare up at his ceiling. His thoughts wandered to Sakura. It was 10:00 in Tomeda and too late to call. Rocking back forward in his chair, setting it back on all four legs, he switched on his computer and decided to e-mail her. E-mail Tomoyo, actually, because it was Tomoyo who had the computer. Tomoyo would then give the message to Sakura.
Opening his e-mail, he clicked to compose and began to type out his message.
Sakura:
It's late and I was thinking of you. I wish that I could be back at my apartment in Japan. My sisters are loud and obnoxious as always. I should be learning a new form soon. I hope that all is well with you there. Sleep well.
Wo ai ni, I love you,
Syaoran
To Be Coninued
Originally I planned on making this a one shot fic. However, as "Twilight Kisses" can verify, my fics always turn out to be longer then I originally plan them to be. At this point I am thinking there will be 2 maybe 3 more parts. Don't quote me on that however. I can tell you that this isn't meant to turn into an epic fanfic series like my CCS-2 or Tomoyo's Desire fics. Nor is this fic related to my other CCS fics.
Do I HONESTLY need to include the meaning of all of the Chinese words that I used throughout the story? I put a translation of the word or phrase directly behind them. I figure that I can understand if no one understands the Chinese, unless you are a fan of Fushugi Yuugi, Ranma 1/2, or the live action Marmalade Boy TV series that they played in China.