Hey everyone. This story is based on a real-life story I've heard just today at a lecture my grade had about… well, you will find out once you read that.

Please read Author's Note at the end of the story.

Enjoy.

How To Save A Life

Ying Fa was a cheerful eight year old girl with short auburn locks and dark, shining eyes.

She was her parents' joy and pride- their beloved only child.

One winter day, on her way back from school, young Ying Fa did not pay attention to anything around her, as she was mesmerized by the fascinating, beautiful, different kinds of Christmas decorations.

She always loved Xmas; getting gifts, celebrating with her family and friends… she smiled to herself and hummed quietly, happily, and ran across the road to the other side- where her house was.

She was too late to notice the car rushing her way.

The screeching sound of tires on the road was ear-deafening.

And then there was silence.

S&S

Li Xiao Lang was a serious, quiet five years old. He was a bright one- very smart for his age.

And he was dying.

Since he could remember himself, he was always taken to the hospital for check-ups and examinations. He was forbidden from playing with all the other kids his age and stopped going to kindergarten about half a year ago. That was also when he convinced his mother to finally admit the truth to him and confess- he was expected to die in a year, unless he would be lucky enough to find a heart-donor. For now, he was on a list, waiting.

His family was rich- they could afford all the medic care and treatments and surgeries known to men; but nothing helped, and he was young. The doctors gave a final judgment- he will have to wait for a donor and go through a transplant.

The stoic kid thought about his situation as calmly as he could, waiting patiently for his mother to come out of their doctor's office, when a sudden pang in his heart made him gasp in pain and horror.

His ears rang. His chest burned. Was he going to die? Already?

"I don't want to…" a raspy whisper made its way out of his suddenly dry throat, between cold lips.

The pain got stronger- and then it was gone.

All was gone, and only darkness remained.

S&S

"Mrs. and Mr. Kinomoto?"

"Yes," came the choked answer from the tired, broken woman who was crying her heart out just a few moments ago, judging from her puffy, red eyes.

"I'm so sorry. We did everything in our power… the hit to her head was too severe… she is still connected to the life-machines, but her brain activity… there are no chances of her waking up. I'm sorry."

Silence. The young couple stared at her as if she were speaking gibberish, the doctor's words not residing in their shocked, disbelieving, devastated minds.

"No." the quiet denial was more heart-breaking than any scream. "No, god, please tell me my little baby is alive," the young mother whispered, collapsing slowly to the cold floor.

Her husband looked just as stricken. Tears fell freely from his brown, pained eyes.

He crouched to his knees beside his wife, warping a hand around her.

"Nadeshiko…"

"She is dead Fujitaka! My little angel is dead…" and she cried, screamed until her throat was hoarse and hurting.

"Can- can we see her? Say… goodbye?" Fujitaka pleaded brokenly. The doctor nodded and led them to the room in which their brain-dead daughter lay.

"We will disconnect her from the machines when you are done. I will give you a few moments." And she was out.

Nadeshiko stroked Ying Fa's short, silky hair and touched her hand to her face, crying and sniffing. Fujitaka looked at his daughter's small face for a long minute before he bent down and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, my Ying Fa. Goodbye."

Nadeshiko let out a small whimpering breath as she, too, kissed her daughter, whispering, "I love you, baby girl."

They looked at each other with dull, sad eyes. Fujitaka took his wife into a tight embrace, kissing her long, dark hair, sharing the lost and helpless feeling they both felt.

The doctor came into the room again, a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need to ask you a question before we…" her voice trailed, but they understood.

"It's part of our protocol to ask whenever a patient dies if their family gives their permission to donate organs," she said.

Rage flared in the young father's eyes. "Have you no shame? We just lost our daughter- our one and only child- and you come here to ask us if we give you permission to cut her open and use her body part!" he yelled. "No! We don't! We are not interested!"

"Honey," his wife's sad, gentle voice cut him short. She put a reassuring hand on his clenched fist. "What, exactly, are we talking about here?" she asked the tired doctor.

"Hon-"

"Shh. I want to hear."

"Your daughter- she was a healthy, strong girl. Her heart… it could save another's life." She explained calmly, not wanting to cause the young couple any more pain.

"I understand."

"Nadeshiko, you can't possibly-"

"Fujitaka! Out daughter wouldn't want to hear you refuse to save life just because of anger. She… she would've want us to- to do the right thing."

The brown-haired man watched his wife silently for a while. Then his expression softened somewhat and he nodded slightly.

"Yes, yes you are right. I'm sorry," he took a deep breath. "I agree. We give you our permission… as long as you won't give away any information about us to- to whoever has our daughter's…"

"Yes, Yes of course. I understand. And I'm sorry for your loss." She nodded to the couple as they left.

Life is so full of tragedy… one dies, and saves another…

S&S

It has been three years since Li Xiao Lang went through a successful surgery which saved his life; it has been three years since an unknown donator gave him his life back on Christmas Eve.

Since then, he celebrated his birthday on Xmas, instead of celebrating at summer.

It those years, Xiao Lang saw the world with new, clear eyes. He was never your average kid, but now- now he had this aura about him, like he could see life for what it really was, on all its colors and sides, and appreciate it.

He put a hand to his beating heart- a heart that was given to him by another person, a child, who was now dead.

He wished he could meet the family of this dead child, who saved his life; both his mother and him tried to find them, to contact them, but to no avail; they refused to give away any details, and the hospital was obligated to keep their privacy.

"Xiao Lang! Come here!" he heard his mother's voice. He ran back to his house (more like a mansion) never failing, as always, to think with wonder about this gift; he could run now. Run with no fear of dying.

People truly didn't know how to appreciate their lives. They never truly understood what a valuable thing it was.

"You called me, mother?" he grinned at her as he found her standing with her hands on her hips in the warm, festively decorated living room. She let out a small chuckle.

"You are not yet ready, and guests are to arrive in less than half an hour!" she said. "Go get ready! No excuses!" she added at the look on his face. He faked a grimace before running up the stairs, laughing out loud.

Li Yelan watched her son with a soft expression. She was blessed with five children, and now they were all healthy- and all that thank to strangers who lost the world while she gained it. They gave her everything, not even knowing her.

Hopefully, that will change tonight.

She knew how much her son wanted to meet and thank personally to the family who gave him his future as present, and tonight, finally, they agreed to meet them, at his 'second birthday'.

S&S

All the guests left; the party was a blast, as his friends said. And now there were only Xiao Lang and his mother sitting in the living room, waiting- one patiently and one excitedly, though they were both nervous.

A light knock on the door was heard. Then the door opening and Wei's voice as he led the two strangers to the living room.

They got up to welcome them, just as the old butler showed, accompanied with a tall, brown-haired and brown-eyed man and a beautiful dark-haired and green-eyed woman.

For a moment, no one said a thing, then the woman broke the silence, smiling kindly and warmly, albeit sadly, at the mother and son.

"Hello there. It's nice to meet you, at last." Then she addressed the young boy. "I have to admit, part of me always wished to see you."

S&S

Nadeshiko and Fujitaka were about to leave, and Yelan and Xiao Land walked to wooden double door with them.

After a few awkward moments, the four openly started talking, sharing their experiences and feelings about three years ago, and about what happened since.

Xiao Lang, acting surprisingly (to them, at least) like an adult, thanked them sincerely, and asked them to call him Syaoran- the Japanese version of his name- when he learned they where originally from Japan.

"Before you go, I wanted to… ask… if you will be wiling to keep in contact with us," Yelan said.

"Oh, we don't want you to feel you owe us-"

"No, please. We are both grateful- all our family is- but even without that, both my son and I wish to know you better." Yelan insisted firmly.

Fujitaka smiled at her kindly. "If so, then we would like that, too."

"Thank you." His mother smiled. Nadeshiko hugged her and smiled back, tears in her beautiful eyes.

"Can I – will it be alright if… I hug you?" she turned to Syaoran with a serious, hopeful face.

Syaoran returned the gesture and nodded quietly; all evening, Nadeshiko glanced at him from time to time with a sad, wistful look in her eyes. Now he understood.

She got down to his level and stretched her hands slowly, almost fearfully, toward him.

He allowed her to hug him lightly, and then more tightly, and to put her ear to his chest, over his heart, and listen to his heartbeats, all the while hugging her back.

She closed her eyes and sighed, tears escaping her shut orbs. A few moments later, her grip loosened and she looked at him gratefully. "Thank you, Syaoran-kun. I wish you a happy, full life." She got up and took her husband's hand, smiling through teary face.

"If it's okay, I would like to go with you tomorrow to her- Ying Fa's- grave. I… want to say thanks, and sorry, and wish her a happy Xmas and give her a present," he said hesitantly.

Nadeshiko smiled at him, but it was Fujitaka who put a hand on his head and said, "We would love that."

When they got back to their car, Nadeshiko turned to her husband with a crooked half-smile.

"I knew it was the right thing to do. And beside the life it saved, where else would we ever be able to hear our little angel's heart beating?"

S&S

A month later, Nadeshiko found out that, finally, she was pregnant again.

Seven months later, she gave birth to twins- a boy and a girl.

The boy had a dark hair and eyes, and Nadeshiko and Fujitaka called him Touya. The girl had silky, auburn locks and vibrant emerald-green eyes. Except for her eyes, she was strikingly the spitting image of a certain angel who the couple knew will forever watch over them. They called her Sakura.

When Syaoran saw her for the first time, a few months before his eighth birthday- the age at which Ying Fa died- he swore to forever protect her.

With my life, till my heart stop beating...

I hope you liked, and I hope it made you think a bit about life and its importance and meaning.

After the lecture we had (and after most my classmates and I signed a card which is basically a statements that after your death you give permission to donate whatever will be needed… if you get my point) I thought I should write about it. Somehow, whenever I hear a story that touches me deeply (I almost cried when the person who came to talk to us told us abut the five-year-old girl who was ran over by a neighbor and her mother convinced her father to donate her heart- and so saved a boy's life), I just have to write it down. And I wanted to share it.

So please, review and tell me what you thought about the story.

Oh and if you want an epilogue, tell me.

Luv you all,

**Evermore**