Once Upon A Time
In China
A CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic By CardCaptor Schlueter (aka Syaoran-kun)
"CardCaptor Sakura" is a trademark of CLAMP and Kodansha Publishing.
Prologue: A Reflection On Things Past
Once upon a time in China…
That is how my story begins. I don't know much about writing and even less about beginning. That opener was Daidouji-san's idea. To be honest, I fail to see the point, for my story is hardly a fairy tale, although so far it has a happy ending. But, this whole project was Daidouji's idea from the beginning. Perhaps I should start from the beginning. My name is Syaoran Li, which will come as no surprise to anyone reading this. At the time I sat down to write this somewhat questionable document, I was twenty-six, just out of university and recently married. Lately, I've had to deal with a lot of the usual post-honeymoon hassles plus the added pain of shuffling back and forth between Hong Kong and Tomoeda. For those of you who think being rich is easy, I would like to protest. When you don't have money, your family can't expect you to shuffle back and forth on a whim. If you're family owns a private jet, however…
But, I'd best get back to the point. As you're no doubt aware, mine has not been a typical life. That was what gave Tomoyo Daidouji the idea in the first place. Sakura and I had agreed to meet her and Hiiragazawa for lunch about three weeks ago. It was an outing I was somewhat reluctant to be a part of, mostly because I still trust Hiiragazawa about as far as I can throw him. (Although, I must confess the idea of seeing how far I could throw Eriol is somewhat appealing.) I know that Sakura believes differently and insisted we invite him to the wedding. But, Sakura has always been a far more forgiving person than I. It seems I'm getting off topic. Anyhow, what came up at that lunch was yet another of Tomoyo's odd ideas.
And when it comes to her that's saying a lot.
"You want us to do what?" I remember asking. "Isn't it a tad early for us to be writing our memoirs, Daidouji?"
"But you and Sakura-chan have a great story to tell," Tomoyo replied. "Besides it will give you both a chance to write about capturing the cards from your own points of view."
Sakura smiled that same slightly strained smile she gets whenever she's faced with Daidouji's camcorder-wielding, costume obsessed side. "Tomoyo-chan… I don't know… Syaoran and I aren't much for writing."
"But, that's what will make it great!" Tomoyo replied. "It will have that rough-around-the-edges feel to it."
"Hardly a great quality in writing, Daidouji," I said.
"Syaoran…" Tomoyo said looking me straight in the eye. "Could you please just call me 'Tomoyo' already? You've known me for more than ten years and you still address me as 'Daidouji' .I was the maid of honor at your wedding for crying out loud."
"Gomen. Force of habit," I replied.
Tomoyo checked her watch. "Oop… I didn't realize how late it was. We'll talk about this over dinner tonight, okay?"
"Wait a sec…" I began.
"Ciao!" said Tomoyo as she got up and left.
"What's wrong?" asked Sakura.
"I sure hope her mother isn't going to be there," I muttered.
"Oh?"
"She always looks at me funny," I said. "She's almost as bad as Touya."
Sakura gave a small giggle and hugged me gently. "Oh, come on… What reason would Sonomi-san have to dislike you?"
"Knowing her, plenty," I muttered. "Why is it that I get the feeling that everyone thinks that when I married you I stolen a national treasure or something?"
"You don't think I'm a national treasure?" Sakura said pouting slightly.
"I don't want you to be," I replied. "Then I'd have to share you."
Sakura giggled and kissed me on the cheek. "You do have a way with words when you want to. Besides, if I recall correctly, when we got married every newspaper on Earth seemed to think I was some nobody trying to marry money."
"That was strangers," I said. "It's different when it's people you have to see in person."
What Sakura said was true, however. Shortly after our engagement was announced, a few news rags started to speculate that Sakura was a gold-digger looking to get her hands on the Li clan fortune. These speculations seemed even truer when it was discovered that Sakura was also one of Tomoyo's and Eriol's best friends. To the media it seemed clear that Sakura was some kind of wanton social climber. While my brother-in-law and I have almost never like each other, we had been very much united in the idea of taking those newspapers back to the editors and shoving them someplace very uncomfortable. It was Fujitaka-san who talked us out of this, claiming that any such action would only make matters worse. Sadly, we had to admit that he was right and Touya and I basically went back to hating each other, much to Sakura's annoyance.
Of course, there was no way we could have told the media about the events that brought us together in the first place, mainly because there wasn't a chance in hell of them believing it. But, on the other hand, no one in my family was thrilled with the idea of letting knowledge of the Clow cards (or more accurately the Sakura cards) escape, even if there was little chance of anyone believing it. Some of the elders still weren't thrilled about the fact that the matter had leaked as far as Daidouji-san.
That said, however, there were a few people who didn't like that I was marrying Sakura. Touya, of course, was less than thrilled. (Yuikito-san and Fujitaka-san both tried to make me feel better by telling me Touya wouldn't want his sister to marry anybody.) Sonomi-san was another matter altogether.
I know that Tomoyo won't appreciate me saying this, but Sonomi Dadouji is a woman who needs to get a life. Her fixation on her late cousin (who also would have been my mother in law) could be considered slightly disturbing at best. For my part, I must admit that she is not as bad as Touya although my marriage was, to her, much like Nadeshiko's marriage to Fujitaka-san.
All of that aside, I should get back to the point at hand. Tomoyo was not one easily dissuaded from an idea as Sakura could no doubt attest to. Her plan, as she laid it out over dinner that night, was to make one big book containing primarily mine and Sakura's accounts of our live leading up to the pursuit of the Clow cards.
"Tomoyo-san," I said, still adapting to using her first name. "What you're suggesting makes it sound like everything exciting in our lives has already happened."
"On the contrary, Syaoran-kun," Tomoyo replied. "But, you were part of something that may never happen again."
"Only a small part," I said.
"Oh, you know that's not true," Sakura said in a slightly chiding voice.
"I can write about the captures myself," said Tomoyo. "After all, I still have them on tape."
"Of course you do," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Besides, it would be interesting for all of us to know what your life was like before you met us," said Tomoyo.
I blinked. My life before I came to Japan? "I don't know…" I began. Writing about that seemed… Well, the fact was that I can distinctly remember all the hostility I felt back then. I was not a very nice person for a large part of my life. In a way I'm still not. I know that everyone likes to think that Sakura changed me completely, but, it was more like she brought out the good in me. To this day, I still have a certain amount of hostility left bundled away and there are still times when I feel, well… I guess I'll talk more about that later.
"You do realize that I didn't like you very much then," I said. "If I write about that honestly, it will be kind of harsh." That was an understatement, but I didn't want to make it sound too bad.
"I understand that," said Tomoyo. "But, I think this will be something important for you and Sakura to write about. A record to be read by generations to come."
"Assuming any of them believe it," I replied.
But, in the end Tomoyo convinced Sakura it was a good idea and it didn't take much for Sakura to convince me. So here I am to tell you the story of my life.
It begins, once upon a time in China…