Chapter 1: Whose that in the bushes...?
Yola, Aliano here, just saying, you know, hi… Oh, and this is following on from the anime rather than manga. So, um, I'll leave you alone now, yay!
Disclaimer: IfI really owned CCS, would I be writing a fanfiction? The answer is no. No I would not.
Syaoran nervously waited for Sakura to meet him. Today was the day he had been preparing for, and he hoped that everything would turn out all right. Sometimes he wondered why Sakura had ever fallen for him at all, much less stayed with him. Now that they were twenty-four, he was finally in a position to offer Sakura everything she wanted and deserved. He had wanted to ask her this before, but he held it back, they had been too young. But now they were older, his mother approved, and he would be able to provide for Sakura should she ever need it, so now all he had to do was convince her…
He checked his watch again. She was late. Syaoran smiled to himself. Of course she was late, she never managed to go anywhere on time, especially in the morning. He should have left it a bit later as well, knowing her like he did, but there was always the small possibility that she would turn up on time, and he never wanted to make her wait.
He had another look around to make sure everything was perfect. He'd gotten an outside table, with no other people around. He'd chosen the exact spot to be sure that they would be able to see the moon, from which you could see the moon shining in the lake. The candles softly flickered in the breeze, and while it wasn't warm exactly, it wasn't cold either. It seemed everything was in his favour. Now all he needed was Sakura.
As soon as he thought that, a young woman rounded the corner in a rush shouted, "Gomen-asai!" He couldn't help but stare at her. Sakura had grown into a lovely young woman, and tonight she looked particularly beautiful, with her hair pinned back and wearing a dress that suited her completely, most likely made by Tomoyo. The flush on her cheeks from running gave her face a glow, and made him want to kiss her more now than ever. But there would be time for that later.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," she said quickly. "I didn't realise how long it would take me to get here, and-"
Syaoran laughed. "It's okay, you're here now, and that's all that matters to me," he said, causing her to blush so her face looked even redder. Then she looked around.
"Wow, this is really secluded, I mean, I know you said to come straight round the back, but I didn't think it would be this empty," she said, admiring the view.
Syaoran watched her, admiring the view too. "Well, I just wanted some privacy."
She turned to stare at him. "You arranged for it to be like this?" She asked, her eyes shining.
He felt his face heat up. "Yes, well, um…" Then he saw the waiter trying to catch his eye. "Ah, if you're ready we can sit down," he said, grateful of the interruption.
"Oh, okay," she said, smiling.
They sat down and ordered, and Syaoran asked Sakura how her day was. She worked as a coach with younger children in sports, and usually had some funny tales of what the children had been up to. Today was no different, as she launched into a story about one boy showing off to a girl and somehow he managed to throw a discus at his head.
When their meals arrived, they ate pretty much in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. As they ate their deserts, Syaoran started to think about what he was going to ask Sakura, and found himself fidgeting nervously. Calm down, he told himself. It's not like she's going to reject you. Oh god, what if she does? What if she thinks it's too soon? I don't want to push her into anything. No, why would she? We love each other. At least I love her. I always have. But what if she doesn't love me anymore? What if she was planning to dump me soon, and when I ask her, she's going to feel guilty about it and say yes, but she wouldn't do that…
Sakura watched as the range of emotions chasing each other across Syaoran's face. It was quite funny really. She wondered what he was thinking about. He frowned, then the frown relaxed a bit, then he looked scared, she couldn't help but giggle.
Syaoran looked up at the sound. "What is it?" He asked, as she tried to suppress a smile.
"Nothing, nothing. Look at the moon, isn't it pretty?" She asked, changing the subject and getting up to lean in the rail by the lake.
"Yeah," he said, watching her. Well, he thought gathering his courage, it's now or never.
He got up to stand next to her, and said, "Sakura," softly.
She shivered slightly at the sound of her name from his lips, and turned to him, finding him blushing but looking determined. "What is it?"
"I," he stammered, reaching into his pocket, his fingers grasping around the box. "I wanted to ask you something."
She cocked her head on one side and smiled slightly. "Okay."
"Will, I mean, that is, would," he took a breath, and his cheeks blazing held out the open box said in a rush, "Would you do me the honour of being my wife?"
She gasped as he stood there, asking her to marry him. Syaoran, the only one for her, her number one, asking if she wanted to commit herself to him and him to her completely. What else could she say?
"Yes, Syaoran, oh, yes, I will!" She cried, leaping on him, wrapping her arms around him. She felt him sigh with relief, then he pushed her away to present her with the ring.
"I hope it fits," he said, grinning at her. He didn't think he would ever stop smiling. He took it out of the box and slid it on her finger. It looked a million times better on her finger than it ever could in the box. She threw her arms around him again and held him tightly.
From the bushes came a voice. "That was brilliant, so kawai, I'm so happy!" Tomoyo rushed towards the stunned couple holding her video-camera.
"T-Tomoyo-chan…" said Sakura, sweat-dropping.
Syaoran said, "I thought I told you no!"
"You knew she was planning on filming this? She knew you were going to ask?" Sakura asked, not sure whether she was confused or mad. It wasn't unusual for Tomoyo to follow them on dates with her video camera, and Sakura had thought that perhaps Tomoyo had just been lucky to catch them at that moment.
"She has a special skill for finding these kinds of things out," Syaoran said, sighing.
"When it comes to matters of Sakura-chan, there is nothing I don't know," Tomoyo said evilly before raising a hand to cover her mouth laughing. "Oh ho ho ho ho! Besides, how could I miss the moment Sakura's number one proposes to her?" She got starry-eyed. "I'll call this episode, 'Sakura's love proposes,'" she said, clutching her face and sighing.
It was a while before they managed to be alone, on Sakura's doorstep.
Blushing, she said, "My dad's away at the moment on a dig, and Touya doesn't live here anymore, so you can come in if you want."
"Sure," he said, and followed her inside. She was five steps to the kitchen before he caught her and started kissing her. Even though they were twenty-four and had been together for a long time, they had never gotten further than kissing. It wasn't that neither of them hadn't wanted to, it just had never been the right time, and they had both felt awkward about it. But now, right now, there was nothing either of them wanted more, and they were going to get married, so…
"Stop!"
Aliano jerked, and looked at the woman who had shouted at her. "What? Why're you telling me to stop? We're just getting to the good part!"
The woman said, "I am Yelan, Xiou Lang's mother, and if you think I am going to approve of this before they are married, than you have another thing coming!"
"But, but," Aliano stammered, "They're going to get married, so,"
"They are not married yet, and until they are they are not to be together in that way, is that understood? I will make sure you never write again if you disobey me," she threatened.
"What is the problem? They're in love, they're getting married," Aliano tried to argue.
"You may offend religious people."
Aliano gaped. "Are you serious?"
"Deadly," Yelan said darkly. "So you had better do something about that before anything does happen."
"Er, right…" It wasn't so much that she didn't want to offend anyone, but this woman was scary, and Aliano didn't want to give up writing, so it didn't look like she had much choice.
Aliano quickly sneaked into Sakura's bedroom, where Kero was sleeping. "Kero-chan!" Nothing. "Kero-chan, wake up!" Still nothing. "They weren't exaggerating when they said you couldn't be woken," Aliano sighed. Getting out her megaphone and holding it to Kero's ear, she shouted, "KERO-CHAN!"
"Wah, huh? I'm awake," He said groggily. He looked at Aliano. "Who're you?"
"That doesn't matter right now, listen," she said.
He did, and said, "Is that someone in the house? Sakura?" Then he floated off down the stairs as Aliano sighed with relief.
"Ah Sakura, I thought I heard you," Kero announced entering the room, before properly looking, giving Sakura and Syaoran time to jump apart.
"K-Kero-chan, I thought you'd be asleep!" said Sakura with a deep blush rivalled only by Syaoran's.
"I was, I was, but then I think I had a dream where this weird woman woke me up, it's pretty confusing, actually…" Then he looked at them and took in the colour of their faces. "What's up with you two?" He asked.
"Nothing," said Sakura, a bit too quickly. "Ah, Kero-chan, look!" she said, holding out her left hand.
"Wow, that's a nice rock, did you get it for her, kid?" He said, floating closer to get a better look.
"Yes," said Syaoran, still blushing slightly.
"Kero-chan, don't you know what this means?" said Sakura impatiently.
"The brat's gotten a better job?" Kero guessed, earning a glare from Syaoran.
"No, it means that I am no longer going to be Kinomoto Sakura," she said pausing for effect. "I am going to be Li Sakura!"
"Eh? You mean you're getting married to the brat?" Kero asked in disbelief.
"Kero, Syaoran is not a brat!" Sakura shouted. "But yes, we are getting married," she informed him.
"Eh, but," Kero started, but Sakura wasn't listening.
"We should start to think about wedding preparations, and who we want to be there, and telling my dad, and oni-chan," she said, then paused, suddenly down. "Oni-chan, he is not going to be happy." She thought for a moment, then, brightening, said, "But it'll be okay, cos if he argues with me I'll just use Big and stomp on him, and no more problem!"
Syaoran sighed, realising that in this way, Sakura was like a lot of other woman, and already knew what she wanted from her wedding. Neither of them noticed Kero looking troubled.
"I must consult with Yue on this," he muttered.
Wai, Wai, I've done the first chapter! I hope this story does better than my other, although I've only written 1 chapter of it, and it did get 1 review, so I guess I should be grateful. Also, this kinda runs with Back to School, even though there are different characters, and I am planning on having them bump into each other, though Back to School is more of a serious one. This, as you may or may not be able to tell, is less serious. Please review, tell me what you like, tell me what you don't like, then I can improve it, which is the whole point!