Ikite Yuku Doko Made Mo

Chapter One: Vacation's Out!

Disclaimer: I dread this part of every fan fiction-admitting that I do not own CCS or any
other characters that may happen to appear from other manga/anime series'. I can always
rant about myself owning the plot though...-rubs hands together maliciously-
No, I won't keep you waiting...here's my latest fiction.
Remember to review, 'cause a fan fiction isn't worth the hassle if no one's reading...

If you're wondering what the title means it is Japanese for "Wandering to the ends of the Earth".
It seemed to fit my plot perfectly, so I stole it from a Japanese song. looks ashamed
If you wanna check out the song, be my guest-it's called "Fukai Mori" ("Deep Forest"). It's from
the Inuyasha soundtrack-the second opening song to the TV series. Oh wait, was it closing?

Summary: He refused to admit his love for her, but she remained true to her feelings. Sakura is
on a Euro trip to catch a break from her hard life back in Tomoeda. On the way she encounters Syaoran Li,
secretly known as General Xiao Lang of China's army. A story of how time can torture people hiding from the truth...
Can Syaoran admit his love to Sakura before she is taken by the darkness?

"I can't believe he proposed!" Sakura exclaimed, only a bit disappointed as she chatted with Tomoyo Daidouji-her best friend-on the phone.

Tomoyo, being the smart, sensitive friend, caught the disappointment in Sakura's voice, "So what's bugging you?"

Sakura sighed, No use lying. She was a little ashamed of her selfishness. "I-well-you won't be able to go through with the vacation plans, will you?"

"Says who?"

"Nani?"

"I can still come-in fact Eriol, my dear fiancée, is coming as well." Tomoyo replied.

Sakura smiled, trust Tomoyo to remain loyal to her friends. She suddenly knew what this meant-not as much time as she wanted to spend with Tomoyo. It didn't matter though; Tomoyo was still coming! Sakura felt a catch somewhere in the midst, "what did Eriol do?" she asked suspiciously.

Tomoyo giggled, "Not much-he just got a refund on all of our tickets and bought First Class for the three of us, instead."

Sakura gasped, "Oh no he didn't! He shouldn't have bought mine! Oh! Now I totally owe him!"

"No-you owe me."

"Oh, alright."

"You owe me one favour."

Sakura sweat dropped, "Is that all?"

"Trust me, it'll be big when the time comes." Tomoyo said.

"Knowing you, it's modeling your clothing." Sakura suggested uneasily.

"Hey! All designers need to test out their clothing on amateur models first!"

"Amateur, eh?" Sakura sighed. "I've been hearing that for eight years now. I feel old."

"Relax, you're only eighteen," Tomoyo pointed out.

"And done high school, for that matter. It's gonna be a pain-university, that is." Sakura complained.

"Why are you going to university?" Tomoyo asked for the umpteenth time that week.

"Hey, I haven't been getting good marks for nothing! I'm done with night school for dance, so I figure if I can get a degree for teaching, I'll keep my options open." Sakura paused, "It would be great teaching a class of grade fours, like Mizuki-sensei did at one time. I miss her. She was a great teacher."

"You know your singing career will be great! I just don't understand why you need your options open." Tomoyo encouraged, "You're working way too hard in honour of your father."

Sakura would not let Tomoyo sense her sadness. Losing her father to his archeological work was too much to bear at times. "Y-yeah." Sakura stuttered, holding back the tears and sobs as she remembered the last breath her father took in the hospital before the mysterious disease from the Mayan tombs claimed him. "Listen, I have to go-I'll s-see you tomorrow."

"Uh, Sakura. when Eriol changed the seats he also changed the date of our flight-we're leaving tomorrow." Tomoyo informed Sakura quickly.

"Oh no! I better start packing!" Sakura excused herself from the phone. "Bye."

"See ya."

---

Sakura stared at the suitcase she had packed. On top of all her clothing was a picture of her mother and her father on their wedding day. Sakura shuddered, ignoring the sharp shards of pain aimed at her heart. She hadn't cried the day her father stopped breathing. She hadn't cried the day of the funeral. She hadn't cried any day after. She would certainly not cry now.

The trip to Europe would do her some good. Sakura unfolded the trip brochure and red it over as she had done so many times before. She had always wanted to travel around Europe, and the wrinkles on the brochure were proof of it.

YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS COULD ENJOY
THIS FABULOUS EURO TRIP!
Limited offer-you and your friends can register for our tour of Europe!
See Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, England, Germany, France and Greece!
Only designated airport cities that support Four Seasons or hotels interconnected with
Four Seasons will be available for touring. See list below. Five day stays, must remain
with tour groups at appropriate hotel. Fees for flight to the tour group's
nominated meeting area in Hong Kong must be paid separately.

Destinations:
Athens, Greece
Milan, Italy
Davos, Switzerland
Paris, France
Berlin, Germany
London, England
Dublin, Ireland

All destinations are in order of Euro trip visit.

Sakura smiled, weakly. She didn't think her father would approve of such a vacation, but Tomoyo had insisted that she take a break. She even used her father's career against her. "Your father always loved traveling-you should too!" She laughed to herself, imagining Tomoyo's voice echoing throughout her head. Ever since her father had died Tomoyo was like family to her, despite her brother's consistent play throughout her life. Touya and Tomoyo were always there for her when she was down. Though Touya was a great brother, Tomoyo was Sakura's confidant. When things went down like the loss of a boyfriend or failing a huge test, Sakura would rely on Tomoyo's reassurance, not Touya's. After all, Touya would say "Good riddance that brat is gone" or "It was just one test". However, Tomoyo could never help Sakura when it came to the loss of her father-never.

Sakura fell asleep remembering the times she had spent with her father-even the awful moments in her life. It didn't matter to her provided he was there by her side...all the time.

---

The next morning, Sakura Kinomoto awoke to the slamming and thumping of Touya downstairs. Sakura groaned, Asshole knows I'm asleep! She got changed quickly and spent at least half an hour doing her hair. She only stopped when Touya yelled to her after picking up the phone that had rung minutes before.

"KAIJUU!" he boomed.

"WHAT!?" she raced to the stairway.

Touya, handsome as ever, was standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding the phone grumpily.

"Who is it?" Sakura stumbled down the stairs, straightening her mini skirt.

Touya gazed at the emerald-eyed beauty, "I'm not telling. Why don't you find out? And do you have to wear such short skirts? I mean some guy might think of-"

Sakura growled under her breath and yanked the phone away from her brother. She stuck out her tongue as she held the phone to her ear. She figured it would be Tomoyo calling about their flight plans for that evening. "Ohayou-gozaimasu!" A.N. Good morning (polite)

"Ohayou, Watashi wa JapanSound shusshin desu." the man on the other end said cheerily. A.N. Good morning (informal), I am from JapanSound.

"Oh! How are you!?" Sakura said anxiously.

"Genki-desu, anata wa?" he asked in return. A.N. I'm fine, and you?

"Great!" Sakura exclaimed a little too excitedly. "And what a pleasure it is to receive your call. For what reason, may I ask, do I receive such pleasure?"

"Kochira koro. I'm calling with regards to your CD production request. It was sent by your agent last week, I presume." he said formally.

"Yes, it was."

"Well, frankly-" the man laughed. He sounded young. Maybe a little older than Sakura. She wondered if he was cute. Then she slapped herself for thinking it. "-are you okay?"

"Oh, of course!" Sakura exclaimed, "Gomen, just a little excited." A.N. Gomen Sorry (informal)

"Ii-desu-yo," he replied. A.N. That's okay "Anyway, frankly, your rough CD make was excellent! With a little bit of editing it could've been ready for sales! We want you to start recording for us next week..." he informed, happily.

Sakura held in her squeal of delight, but ended up squealing anyway. "Oh! Thank you so much!" Then it dawned on her. Se would not be in Japan to record on time. "Oh no! I'll be gone next week!"

"Oh, well, when will you be back?" he sounded quite disappointed.

"Oh-hold on-I'm leaving today for this Euro trip, which I can't cancel now...it's about five days in each of the seven cities that we go to-er.." Sakura calculated on her fingers, gave up on that and resolved to calculating it in her head. "-I'll be gone for thirty five days! About a month..."

"Oh dear..." he sounded extremely upset, but Sakura heard a smile in his voice, seconds later. "Where in Europe?"

"Uh, Athens, Milan, Davos, Paris, Berlin, London, and Dublin." Sakura replied, apprehensively.

"Excellent!" he cried. "We have a few recording studios around Europe. You can record in Milan for the week that you are there and then I will transfer the record, personally, to London, where we should meet again for editing and finishing up. The rest you can finish recording in Japan. We can even focus on your image and making you hit it big!" the man said. "Watashi no name wa Yukio Hattori desu." A.N. My name is Yukio Hattori

"You must know me as Kinomoto Sakura-call me Sakura, though." she said casually.

"And you call me Yukio-I will meet you in Milan then, ne?" he stated more then asked. "You might want to take down the address of the studios."

"Yes, of course I will..." Sakura began, restlessly. Tomoyo was right. She did not need her options open. She did not need to teach. But she wanted to make her father proud.

---

"I'm so proud, Sakura!" Tomoyo exclaimed in Eriol's limousine.

Sakura blushed as passer-bys pointed and stared at the limousine, "Did we really need to take the limo, Eriol?"

Eriol's smile was serene, "I insisted, didn't I?"

"Psh...gaikokujin!" Sakura rolled her eyes, rudely. A.N. Foreigner!

Eriol's expression didn't change, "I'm hurt."

Sakura loved irritating Eriol, though he was always sweet to her. He never really did get ticked off. He also knew that Sakura was simply upset he was going to take away her best friend from her, which he would never do to Sakura.

"So, how's Kaho, hyaku nin giri?" A.N. Playboy Sakura knew mentioning Kaho Mizuki would bother him just a little. Kaho had been engaged to Eriol at one point in time. She had left him for "unknown" reasons, as Eriol put it.

Eriol stared into space, "Actually, she was asking about you the other day."

"Oh really? What was she saying?" Sakura was all ears now.

"Calling to see if you were finally relaxing..."

"Oh."

Eriol didn't say anything else. Before Sakura could further the conversation herself, they had already arrived at the Tomoeda airport.

---

"So where were we supposed to meet, at the airport in Hong Kong?" Sakura turned in her seat to ask Eriol and Tomoyo. Her seat partner hadn't shown up yet, but she was glad Eriol had gotten her the window seat.

Eriol's glasses flashed at her, hiding his perfect deep, blue eyes. "In some board room that's apparently a few sectors away from our departure gate."

Tomoyo nodded, "They won't have people waiting at our arrival gate, claiming us, though. People from various different cities are coming, so we'll have to find our way to the room. Besides, I wanna check out the souvenirs at the gift shops before we meet."

Sakura sweat dropped, "Right..." she saw someone putting their hand baggage in the compartment on top of her seat. She turned back in her own seat and put on her seat belt, but she knew she could not stay still for that long in her seat. The man sat down beside her, staring at her awkwardly. Sakura tried not to notice the way he was looking at her.

"Your eyes are amazing," he commented as he buckled his own seat belt.

Sakura heard Tomoyo giggle and shot her a dangerous glare through the gap between her seat and the other man's seat. She turns to face the man again, not much older than her. She smiled, "Thanks."

"O namae wo klite-mo iidesu-ka?" he asked kindly. A.N. May I ask for your name?

Sakura stared into his dark brown eyes, "Do I know you?"

"Nan desu ka?" he seemed taken aback. A.N. Pardon?

"Oh, gomen! It's just that your accent-your voice, it all seems so familiar." Sakura said. " I'm Kinomoto Sakura."

The man's eyes widened, "On your way to China? I thought it was a Euro trip, Sakura."

"Huh?" Sakura jumped up in her seat, only held down by her seat belt. "Oh! You're Hattori-san!"

"Please call me Yukio!" he insisted.

Sakura had to admit, utterly, that he was adorable. His hair was a soft head full of curls, that almost reminded her of a halo. "We meet the tour guides and the rest of the group in Hong Kong..." Sakura explained.

"Oh, well-I'm off to a studio in Hong Kong. After I finish off there I'm to go off to Rome-to wait for you." Yukio stated.

Sakura laughed, "Is it always work-work-work, for you?"

"Not always-but I'm determined to make you hit the high notes! If this works for us you'll be a millionaire. Your voice is magnificent!"

"I couldn't help overhearing-" Tomoyo leaned over Sakura's seat. She held out her hand toward Yukio, "-I'm Tomoyo Daidouji, Sakura's companion."

"Ah yes! You suggested her to Sakura's agent, Mr. Omara!" Yukio remembered easily. "I hear you have quite a unique voice, yourself."

Tomoyo blushed, "Well, I do sing, but my passion is in my current line of work. I'm a fashion designer."

"Remarkable-you could design Sakura's outfits-"

"Oh no! Please don't!" Sakura interrupted.

Tomoyo chuckled, "It would be a pleasure."

Eriol whispered to Tomoyo, so Sakura couldn't hear, "This will prove to be an interesting few weeks, will it not?"

"For her good, "Tomoyo sat back down in her seat.

Twenty minutes later, the plane took off for Hong Kong.

A.N. Yay! My new fan fiction has begun! Woohoo-I'm a lazy butt! cough cough Anyway, I have a lot of Japanese dialogue, just to get the feel of regular life in Japan. I want it to be a bit more realistic. Of course, knowing me, I'll add SOME kind of action in it, including a bit of the supernatural intervening. Not much though-an author warning though. This story does contain some sort of twist that may lead to tragedy. Oh! and about the Japanese dialect-let me know if I'm off with my translations or the Romaji itself. Remember readers, review review review!!! I wanna know what you think of my new fan fiction-I'm going against my instincts here and already posting before I've finished the WHOLE story! Just because I'm so impatient...R&R!