♥ disclaimer: CLAMP owns CCS, cause' if we did, we'd be somewhere else enjoying our money ♥
Summary : The day when she found out she was adopted, Sakura's world turned to a total mess, running away, she finds herself in another world, in the arms of a guy who claimed to be her long lost fiancée, who mentioned earth was an illusion made by the enemies?. But who your friends and foes are in this planet of deception, what is the true past behind the fallen forgotten memories long gone? What does the pendant around her neck has to do with the destruction of the planet? And why on earth did they call her 'Princess'?
♥Prologue: Saying my Last Goodbye♥
Gloxinia Palace
Border of Li and Kinomoto Kingdom
Year 0034
"Take him", the woman dressed in black said, panicking. She handed her sleeping son to an elder lady who was sitting in a carriage.
The woman managed a smile as she placed a kiss on her son's forehead.
"Yelan", another lady appeared by her side, carrying a bundle.
Yelan looked at her; they kept their gaze afloat as Yelan held the woman's free hand in her own.
"Nadeshiko", she said in almost a whisper, her voice slightly trembling, "what are we going to do?"
Tears started falling down her pale, livid cheeks. Her eyes were red and you could tell she's been having a hard time.
Nadeshiko pulled her hands away reaching for her handkerchief; she pulled the white lace material and gently wiped the tears away from her best friend's face.
She looked down at the sleeping baby she had in her arms as a boy ran out of the palace doors, scrambling onto them.
He stood up straight and tried to fix his clothes; he clutched his bag tight as he looked up to his mother.
He bowed to them and went to put his bag inside the carriage, then rushed back to his mother's side.
"Mother", he said, his voice was soft, unlike his usual loud voice, "I think we ought to go, the watchtower guards informed that they are nearing", his voice stirred with uneasiness, "I... I"
Nadeshiko ruffled his hair, "Touya", she said so softly that it was barely heard.
She saw the tears coming out of her son's eyes, "War can be harsh, but life all together is just plain harsher"
"Mom", he said, but was cut off by his mother, who pulled him into a tight embrace as her smiling mask faded into bursts of tears.
"Take care of your sister, okay? I won't be there anymore", she said between sobs.
"Mom, don't say that, of course you will, right?" Touya rambled, "You'll be here when we all go home, and we'll live normally again, you, me, dad and Sakura"
Nadeshiko struggled to stop crying, but her efforts were broken when the boy in the carriage, awoken by her cries, plopped down from the carriage and held to his mother.
Yelan looked down at his son worriedly, but she put up a façade of smiles like Nadeshiko did.
Nadeshiko let go of Touya, who was staring with obvious dislike at the brown-haired boy.
He tugged on her long dress with a pout on his 6-year old face.
"We were wondering when you're going to wake up"
"Where are we going mother?" he asked, looking at his changed clothes.
Yelan didn't answer, instead she lifted him up and hugged him, "You see that little girl?"
He nodded, "Well, Xiao Lang, she's going to be yours one day"
Nadeshiko nodded slightly, looking at Yelan. Touya looked up at her with a confused expression, but his mother's reassuring looks made him drop his question.
Xiao Lang frowned as he looked at the baby, "What do you mean mother?"
"She will be your bride", Yelan said, "If you ever find her, remember her, for she is yours to claim as queen"
"Mother-", Xiao Lang said, but Touya immediately butted in to the conversation.
Touya stared at Syaoran, "That gaki, is going to have my sister?"
Xiao Lang couldn't help but to stuck his tongue out.
"Look at her Xiao Lang", Yelan said, in a calm voice, Xiao Lang obeyed as she handed him a pendant. Xiao Lang looked at it and realized it was the sacred Li pendant, which has been passed on from each generation, bearing magical powers beyond their imagination.
It was a beautiful pendant, with the black orb in the middle of its golden cage, adorned with detailed carvings and the heart shaped crystal that covers it. It was truly a masterpiece.
"I want you to put this on her", Yelan said, and then she turned to Nadeshiko, who smiled in return.
Xiao Lang reluctantly put the pendant around her neck, as he gazed at her sleeping face, his hard sad eyes turned a little soft as he smiled to himself, he bent down and whispered in her ears, "nice to meet you, you're mine, do you know that?"
The old lady who was cradling her heard him, and stifled a little laughter.
'Such innocence', she thought, 'the poor children'. She sighed as Xiao Lang turned his back and went back to his mother's side.
"Where are we going mother?" Xiao Lang asked again.
Yelan couldn't help the sad look in her eyes, but she managed an answer out, "We're going for a vacation". She knew she was lying, but she will not have him worry.
"But I thought-", Yelan shushed Xiao Lang before he could say anything else, and pushed him into the carriage.
"Mom?" Touya looked up, "we'll be back right? And you and dad will be right here waiting for us right?"
Nadeshiko gulped, searching for the right answer, but there was none she found true. So she said what she knew.
"I don't know", she said, she stared at his eyes that started to water once again.
"I mean", she sighed, she couldn't lie, but something in her mind told her it would be easier to see him walk off with no worries, so she smiled, "we will dear, we will.."
The bell rang loudly as Nadeshiko and Yelan looked up in panic.
Nadeshiko quickly pushed Touya inside the carriage and closed the carriage doors.
"Remember what I told you son", she said, "Take care of her, and be true to yourself"
"Mom!" he screamed, "No! I want to stay with you!"
"I love you Touya and your sister too! I love you both, take care!" Nadeshiko screamed as the bell's rhythm was faster and faster.
"They're here!" a soldier ran up to them, panting hardly, "Your majesty, we must get them out, quickly!"
Nadeshiko nodded as she held tight to Touya's hand that was waving out the window, she turned her gaze at Yelan, who was saying her final good-byes to Xiao Lang.
"Xiao Lang, remember the promises, remember us all", she said in a fearful tone as she let go of her son's hand.
Yelan stepped back and nodded to Nadeshiko, who immediately gave the carriage driver the signal to leave.
The carriage started to move along with the galloping horses as the screaming got louder and louder and nearer.
"Your majesty", the soldier stood up, "we must get you in"
Nadeshiko and Yelan looked at each other.
"Please your majesty, they'll be safe, now it's your safeties that needs to be worried about", he said, imagining how furious the king will be.
"Very well", Yelan sighed as she pulled Nadeshiko along, but Nadeshiko's gaze was still following the carriage.
'Nadeshiko', Yelan thought, 'I know how you feel'
Touya slammed his fists to the wooden window, creating a crack. He peered inside to see the images moving along, and his mother, on the other side.
He smiled, 'we'll be back', he thought and looked at his little sister, who was sleeping in the elder woman's arms.
Touya averted his eyes back to his mother, who was now distancing away.
Nadeshiko stood still there, watching the two most precious things in her life taken from her, gone.
She sighed, ignoring the cries behind her.
"Your majesty", the soldier pleaded, "We must return inside, it's dangerous"
Nadeshiko didn't listen; she was in a world of her own as she started to burst to tears once more.
Touya flinched as he saw the battle area was growing wider, he saw soldiers nearing from their enemy empire. Now he wished this carriage would go faster and carry them all out of here.
He stared, wide eyed as the opposing army started to get in the palace area.
He wanted to scream at his mother, 'Move mother! Go!', but he felt his voice stuck in his throat, burning his mind carelessly.
He clenched the edges of his suit nervously; waiting for his mother to go into the palace, the war was only yards away from her.
"Kinomoto-san" Xiao Lang spoke, realizing the worried expression Touya had on his face, "Are you all right?"
Touya bit his lower lip, hesitating to answer, he didn't turn his gaze to Xiao Lang but he answered him solemnly.
"They have entered the castle grounds", Touya said.
Xiao Lang fell silent as he wondered if his mother was fine, he tried his best to not sound scared, "Is our mothers still there?"
Touya nodded, "Apparently"
Trees flashed on his view and he lost his mother. He stared helplessly as the trees didn't end out of his eyes. Suddenly, he heard a shriek, followed by another that screamed his mother's name over and over again.
The trees flashed out of sight, and the last thing he could see before the carriage finally exited the Castle's south gates was his mother falling and Yelan kneeling over her as the mob of enemy armies entered his home, his palace.
He could not believe what he had seen, he could only let out a whisper, not the scream he wanted, his mother, was gone.
"No", Touya whispered all over again as he saw smoke rising in the sky a few minutes after.
His eyes were now distant as tears started falling out of them.
"Kinomoto-san", Xiao Lang said, confused, "My father said boys don't cry"
For once in their lives, Touya didn't retort back to what he said, nor did he look at him. Now Xiao Lang knew something was definitely wrong. He wanted to ask him, but feared what he might do.
The carriage moved along the trail as Touya soon fell asleep beside the little 'window' he has made. Xiao Lang wanted to wake him up, but the elder lady told him not to do so.
"He has seen a lot Li-san", she said with a sad smile, "it would be wiser to leave him so"
Even so, Xiao Lang couldn't help thinking it wasn't safe, so he struggled and moved Touya's head away from the small hole.
He smiled to himself as he notices the tear stained cheeks Touya had, 'we've all gone through a lot today', he said to himself mentally, 'I never thought I'd see the day Kinomoto Touya cry'
'I wonder how mother is', Xiao Lang thought, as an azalea petal flew in from the small hole, right into his open palms.
He glanced around, especially kept his gaze longest at the baby, as he remembered his lessons as crown prince of his kingdom.
'I will', he thought to himself, staring at the azalea in his hands, closing his open palm and bringing the flower closer to him, 'I will'. He looked at Sakura, 'and her too'
He closed his eyes in a moment of thought, of what had happened the past few months, just as the first time his father told him war had begun. Xiao Lang remembered the happy days when he and his cousin would play all day long until the butlers had to drag them out to take their lessons, and when he and his dad would go down the river to fish, or just look at the blooming flowers in the spring.
'But everything's changed', he thought to himself as though his world was shattering into a million pieces, like a broken mirror.
And he was right, it was.
A/N: sorry haven't written for such a long time, this is a new fic, retrieving my last words. When Syaoran said he will, I was referring to the meaning of the flower Azalea, which meant 'take care of your self for me', and he got it while remembering his mother. That's why the fic is titled that, and he will fulfill his promises to his mother and himself. About the name of the Palace, it's also a flower's name, it means love at first sight, and I was going to explain it later why I named it so.
I'm not going to tell you the ending, but there are a lot of chapters to come, and a happy ending probably. I do hope it won't be a typical fairy tale… The first few chapters, probably the prologue until chapter 5 or 7, will be all about the true past, then Sakura's life, and adventure starts after, I just wanted to give all the annoying flashbacks so you guys will understand the point of the story. The prophecy (yes I did not mention this before) will appear in later chapters.
Next chapter's gonna be FILLED with a lot of 'meaningful' conversations I guess….
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, feel free to tell us your opinions, constructive criticism and telling us you loved it would be very much appreciated, though I admit I'm not a very good writer, but flames, well, save them for new year… If there's anything you guys want to advice to me, like keep it all a mystery instead of putting it up before the story, please don't hesitate to email me or something! All right then guys, I shall be waiting for your reviews! MWAHAHAHA!
♥
Baka Deshis
