Disclaimer: I am not to blame if this is a bad story or if the summery, title, or rating had been misleading. That's your problem.
But I am to congratulate if this story turns out to be a success.
Real Disclaimer: Idon't own CCS.
Title: Cheated
Dedicated to kazoo, who is an angel-dumpling no matter what she says.
Summery: Sakura Kinomoto. A worthy friend, daughter, and fiancé. Her spirit will always be remembered by the ones that she loved. May she rest forever rest in the same happiness that she brought to this world. Birth. Death. – Sakura's POV.
(Sakura's Point of View)
I never thought that it would end this way.
A cliché thought, I know, but seriously. I never thought that I would die as though- as though...
As though, I was like everybody else.
I had hoped for a soft ending. With friends and family at my side. A kind of death with no regrets, no things left unsaid or undone. A death of old age.
Or, at the very least, a dramatic finish. Like sacrificing myself to save the world. Kero and Yue anguished and holding back a crying Li as I lifted my wand and cried out to the darkness that I was ready. But, of course, that never happened.
Because apparently, I wasn't. Ready, that is.
Because the darkness tangled itself into me.
Because we fought.
And because the darkness won.
.
I, Sakura Kinomoto, was killed on December 17, at a plain old corner, at a plain old street, doing a plain old, everyday thing as rollerblading home from school.
It was the stupidest thing that ever happened to me.
The day had been sunny. And even though it was winter, the air was unusually warm with light. And because of the good weather, I remembered choosing to take the long way home, instead of the normal shortcut. I remember grimacing at the amount of math homework I had that night and at the fact that I had to make dinner that night on account of my dad being away on a business trip and because Toya would be late in coming home from a job at a nearby restaurant. I remember thinking that it couldn't hurt to stay outside for just twenty more minutes.
So I went the long way. I made myself forget about my tediously long homework. I made myself forget about chores and the absence of my father and my annoying brother and how miffed Kero would be if I didn't bring him a snack. I slowed my skates and wandered down the street, admiring the way the cherry trees could still be beautiful even without their blossoms and leaves.
I remember the sound of a car brake squealing.
I remember twirling on my blades to see what was happening.
I remember remembering that I was in the middle of a street.
I remember thinking "Oh God-"
People say that car accidents are quick. All a blur. And everything seems to happen so fast that no one can recall exactly what happened.
But I remember.
I felt something explode against my thigh. I could hear something cracking, breaking, shattering. I never even saw the color of the car.
And as I flew through the air, the pain swallowed me alive.
The asphalt of the street was unforgiving, relentlessly hard and real.
Out of instinct, I think, I reached for my magic, fumbling through my mind for the name of a suitable card. Then I saw it coming. A black, mud-flecked tire. I forgot about cards and magic and anything that could have helped me at that point. I was beyond thinking.
Then the sounds as it went across my stomach and dragged me, skidding along. The sound of my clothes shredding. The thuds my bloodied fists made as I beat wildly at the rubber of the wheel. The rip of the skin on my back and the collapsing of my ribs. And above all, even the noise of the still-screaming car brakes, was the sound rising out of my own mouth. An ongoing, unstoppable cry. A plea for mercy.
And mercy came.
I remember knowing. Knowing that it was too late for anything or anyone to save me.
I waited for my life to flash before my eyes.
But it never did.
I waited for the pain to ebb away.
But it never did.
I waited for a bright light at the end of a long tunnel.
There was no light.
Only darkness.
And the pain grew steadily worse.
And I couldn't remember who I was or what was happening anymore at that point because all that mattered was getting rid of the pain. I could still feel pain even when I didn't know what the word meant.
Time sped into oblivion. All that I was, I was no longer.
I was dead.
.
For me, there was no judgment.
There were no angels to take me away, but there weren't any demons clawing at my soul.
There were no pearly gates or condemning fires.
There was no hell.
There was no heaven.
There was just me.
All alone.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself on the corner of a street where a tragic car accident had taken place. And I was unmarked, unscratched, unscathed. My clothes looked exactly the same as they had that morning. I even had on my roller blades. The pain was gone. What had just happened?
With great difficulty I raised my head back at the car accident open-mouthed. It couldn't have been-
Blood stretched for a good half a block behind the stopped car. A middle-aged woman was shakily being helped out of the driver's seat. She was pretty-or rather- she would have been, had it not been for the tears streaming down her pale cheeks. She looked so distraught, I almost ran to comfort her.
But I didn't want to get any nearer to that car, which I now saw to be white. The red splotches across the hood, bumper, and windshield seemed brighter against the color.
I never knew there could be so much blood involved in a car accident. It even pooled around the bottom of the car.
A feeling of foreboding shivered through me as a rescue team slowly shoved the car off of the body.
I screamed.
And screamed and screamed until I was sure my lungs would give out.
That was my body.
Mangled, used, and wasted, but I still recognized it.
My chest and middle were caved in, a pulpy mess that made me sick. I could make out my legs and rollerblades but my hips looked shattered and were twisted grotesquely. My arms were spread uselessly as though I were about to embrace someone. But my face- my face...
Looked as though it were still alive. My eyes were still open, but they weren't blank as a dead thing should be, they were staring into the sky. My mouth was parted a little, like I was about to say something.
My God-
The driver lady screamed louder when she saw the body and she fell sobbing to her knees, drenched in my blood.
No one but strangers to mourn for me.
I stopped screaming and got a loose grip on myself. How could I be there and here at the same time?
Was this death?
Was I some sort of ghost?
I looked back down at myself. I sure didn't look like a ghost. I wasn't transparent at all. And I felt solid enough.
The image of my own two hands beating at a tire slippery with blood drowned me for two long seconds. How could I- how could this-
If that's me, and this is me-
Oh, I moan inwardly, I am a ghost!
Someone help me
Someone save me
I drop into a crouch and hug my knees as I watch some more strangers lead the stranger-lady away. And she's still crying.
I want someone to lead me away. And hold me close. And say it'll all be alright.
But I know the truth now.
No one's coming. And I'm all alone.
I know because-
No one heard me scream.
I'm a ghost.
I'm a ghost.
Oh, God-
God.
I'm crying now too. Even though I know it doesn't matter. Because crying never really got anyone anywhere. But I'm too distraught and angry and alone to care.
I cry.
Red and blue sirens flash and flash.
The sakura trees are still as beautiful as ever. Naked and bare. They look cold.
And after the street is cleared, and after the sun dips low and disappears. Nighttime settles in, my mind slips away and I can think of only one thing.
One thing only.
"I'm sorry..." I'm still sobbing.
Still crying.
"... Syaoran."
