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A Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction
"Heiresses Have No Fairytale Endings"
By Bloody Priestess
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Summary: With the disclosure of her arranged marriage, promising young fashion designer Tomoyo's fairytale dream to fall in love shatters… And meeting the mysterious Eriol Hiiragizawa in her self-imposed exile to Singapore, she finds herself picking up the shattered pieces…
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Disclaimer: The author does not own Card Captor Sakura, its characters or the setting of this fan fiction. Any dissimilarity to the CCS show/manga, inevitable mistakes are the authors own.
WARNING(s):
1) Author can get over-dramatic (for the worst or not; only her muses know…). lol
2) Very AU-ish. Example, ONLY the character's personalities and (family) relations will be used in this fic, therefore the whole—"...were classmates in Tomoeda Elementary School" has to be overlooked.
3) Well, if there should be any mention of magic it will only be the magic that is LOVE. Any thing other than that, will not be taken into account (e.g., reincarnations, split personalities... etc.). :)
Author's Notes: Hello there! Although the title's a tad bit glum and pessimistic, I intend this story to be quite the opposite... Yey, I'm so glad you could come and join me traverse in what I like to imagine as a story of disappointments and daring the possibility of being disappointed again. But that comes MUCH later in the story.
Hm, I'd like to believe that the fanfic's rating is self-explanatory. You've been warned. I look forward to your constructive criticisms, reviews and story/plot suggestions; flamers will justly be ignored. So, flamers, save your breath… you're going to need it. (Enter peasants with torches and pitchforks ready to fight back... just in case...)
XD
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Chapter One: Confessions Of An Heiress
We dream, but there will come a time when we must wake up and face reality.
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The Daidouji Toy Co. heiress looked very inconspicuous sitting in her commercial flight's waiting lodge. At a glance, she looked just like any other passenger waiting for her flight to be announcing boarding. The heiress looked nonchalant and chic. But, a closer inspection would show that her eyes were flashing, her mouth was set in a firm, tense line. She sat far apart from the other would-be fliers, engrossed in stringing her disordered thoughts and emotions into some semblance of order.
An observer would see that her long raven black tresses were caught up in a fashionably messy chignon. Her eyes almost an impossible violet hue as they peered through her arched eyelashes unto her laptop's screen. And her long slender fingers graceful as they tapped to and fro on the laptop's keyboard sitting on her lap… Her long, slender legs composedly crossed at her slim ankles.
In spite of the handsome visage naturally displayed, there was this certain degree of melancholy loomed that over her, which was unusual on someone so young, so beautiful... so affluent.
"What do I know of love?
Love, I strongly believe, happens to princesses in fairytales. And that is WHY they marry, because they fall in love.
What do I really know of love other than that?
And the answer is brutal as the question is blunt—Absolutely, nothing! Being only twenty one, fresh out of an exclusive Parisian all-women's college in a fashion designing course what am I supposed to know?
Nothing yet... Because I was supposed to learn that now that I'm finally 'out' in the world.
Most of my life has been lived according to what has been expected of me. They've been according to Mother's rules and expectations, societal rules and expectations, other people rules and expectations. People would say I am a good, dutiful daughter. Not this time. This is where I draw the line.
OH! But what's this? I am robbed of my chance to learn for myself...
Because, instead what I have is just this.
And… what do I have? Nothing but what I 'learned' from other peoples experiences and testimonies about the subject.
And WHY? Why, oh, why are you so dire on asking such trifling questions? Why are you so insistent in quizzing me about things that I really never thought about because I ASSUMED that no one asks questions about that..."
She missed a key or two— her spelling flawed — the mishap made her stop and sober up a little. Trying to breathe naturally, she continued...
"Could it be I'm simply raving, for the fact that I am only twenty one and practically demanded to betray everything that I have come to live by, the values and ideals I painstakingly cultivated all my life!
HA! Tell me someone who would NOT respond the same manner that I have!
Didn't Mother teach me to dream and hope? To have wishes for myself and challenged me to get it for myself? What the…? I did just that! I nurtured my own dreams—my own hopes… and now WHAT? She wants me to forget it all?
I'm a princess—sort of. As silly (and egoistical) as it may sound, that is the truth of the matter.
In our time, the equation goes something like— modern heiress equals fairytale princess. At the very least, in the same way the two are privileged?
Think about it. All my life, I've been reared a 'princess'. Wasn't that one is called if she has been presented with all and the best opportunities and privileges in life? And I don't mean JUST the money.
Heaven knows... My values and ideals were founded on that conception… Mother spoiled me but, as she proudly boasts, she never spoiled me rotten like most of the heirs and we can think of.
My mother, Sonomi is the only family I have and I love her ever so fiercely.
Reflecting on that detail… That is probably the motivation why she waited only until yesterday to tell me that I can NEVER have what I wanted the most—what I promised myself—
The fairytale ending: to marry for love.
Before I go on and ramble once again… All right, reality check.
I am betrothed to a young man I've never met face to face.
Of course, I am familiar of his family's company. Who doesn't? Almost all of the quality European books and other literary and/or journalistic compilations were printed in the Reed Publishing and promoted by the Reed Advertising.
But, will knowing about his family's company the only grounds for sustaining a happy marriage?
NO! Obviously. After all, what the Reed Heir and I have is NOT a love match. The affair is strictly business.
Well... After that long monologue in reply to that question of mine that she unleashed upon my ears. The practical-side of me (that must have come from the business-mindedness of my family) cannot help but agree that Mother is right. Clow Reed and I are a suitable match.
But that doesn't mean I have to do what is 'expected' of me. Or that I am going to marry the man.
Mom must have read my mutinous expression for she went on and declared that I am fortunate more than ever. Now that my betrothed's family business—the Reed Advertising and Publishing Co. is doing extremely well in Europe. My future is set, she said.
I know she is right… but my heart is not convinced, nor does it want to be persuaded.
I had plans. I want to make plans of my own. I want a life that is of my own choices.
And as if I was not already feeling bad of this 'unfortunate' hurdle of my life's plan, Mother enlightened me that it was my dear, deceased father who struck the match with the Reed family, long before either of us (Reed and I) were born. She trusts my father decisions utmost certainty; she said I should too but…
And I told her, "I am just your daughter. Not you."
Mother looked at me forlornly but was extremely gracious enough to let me speak and continue, "You may settle to see that old arrangement is kept. 'We are only worth if we keep our promises' or so an old family saying goes. And having the Daidouji blood run through my veins entails I must honor father's word by marrying Clow but… mustn't I put first the honor I have for myself?"
Myself. The last word ringed in my ears (now, as I write this…) and it causes a dubious sting to my eyes.
I hate to be so selfish...
Gracious, I really am being selfish. Suddenly, I'm afraid that mother may have been wrong with her stand in the whole 'spoiled rotten' matter'—my God, if you can hear me... I don't want to be like the rest! I've always been an individual and I intend to keep it that way!
I held my tongue, speaking will only make matters worst. I could tell the reality of seeing me pack my clothes pained Mother. And all the while, I keep on telling myself that I wasn't running away from what troubles me—this was always the norm with me, she knew this—
"Practice the PAUSE. When in doubt, pause. When angry, pause. When tired, pause. When stressed, pause. When you pause, breathe deeply and view things from a different perspective."
I just want to be left alone to think things through. I cannot do that in the Daidouji Mansion, not when she's constantly trying to "help" me make up my mind—I don't want my decision to be affected my others, that's why I need to get away... I must!
My decision will affect my future! The "future" I well may exchange the rest of my life's happiness!
MARRIAGE? She wrote heatedly. Her typing fingers rising with a somewhat angry, unconscious flourish at double punctuation marks.
All right, all right... I realize that this business arrangement never held the "love" as one of its priorities... Heavens, it was never part of the equation at all! It is I who naively equated love into this whole situation... but that just it. This is my life—this is the rest of my life. Don't you see? That is where all this dilemma originate from! I want to marry for love... And given the reality of my situation, I see that I cannot have that dream to come true.
I guess... What truly pained her was the fact that I will sever all my connections with her during this self-imposed exile of mine. Yes, I'll live like an unsociable nomad for a while. And my only social link would be …this.
God, please help her understand that I really need this. I needed some time and some place all to myself—I need to find where I stand especially now that my ideals along with my dreams have been uprooted with the revelation of my fate in marriage.
"To marry then fall in love!" NOT the other way around!
That is not the way things should be. I'm sorry but I cannot help it if I'm so wildly romantic! I want the whole enchilada of courtship—moonlit walks, pretty bouquets of flowers, sinfully sweet candies that would rot my teeth and actually meeting the groom-to-be! But th—
"Attention, please." Her fingers froze in mid-encoding as a voice ringed through the lodge's PA system. "All passengers to flight CS-822 bound for Singapore's Changi International Airport, please proceed to Gate-3 for boarding. Attention, please. All passengers to flight CS-822 bound for…"
"Everything's going to be all right." She said to herself, trying to get the reassurance her beloved green-eyed cousin was not able to give her when she hurriedly left the mansion.
Her blue-violet eyes flickered over to the other passengers pacing to the lodge's exit and decided to promptly finish her entry. "All right, it's now or never."
She continued, "What do I know of love are those in fairytale stories—Princesses and their happily ever afters…?
I guess, heiresses and princesses aren't as similar as what I firstly supposed. Do you know why, my dears? For this simple fact…
Heiresses have no fairytale endings."
She guided the laptops cursor to the SAVE BLOG ENTRY icon tapped the pad twice and then did the same to the LOG OUT icon. After properly turning off her laptop, she replaced into its custom-made Gucci leather casing, she fluidly rose from her corner seat with an unparalleled, unmindful regal grace despite her Dolce and Gabana stiletto-heeled leather boots.
She subtly readjusted her rain-cloud-gray Hermés scarf around her neck after throwing a stylish Burberry navy blue trench coat over a Karl Lagerfeld rain-cloud-gray knee-high pencil skirt and sleeveless onyx-black top with a classy lace-ruffle shirt-front which designed and sewed herself.
The young heiress found herself feeling a tad bit unsettled whilst picking up her belongings and followed the stream of passengers out the lodge, as if she was not alone.
Tomoyo Daidouji paused, as if she sensed something. She turned and eyed the wake of her but saw nothing out of the ordinary…
Yet. The fates added.
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End of Chapter One
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Author's Notes: Reviews are my fan fic's life blood... "FEED ME!" lol \m/
Seriously, I would really like to hear from you guys. Drop off a review or two or ten, if you please. Heaven knows I need 'em… (Tell me! What did you like? What didn't you like? On what points to I have to improve on? What do I need to retain for future chapters? :D )
And my tireless "Thank you's" until the next chapter! Ciao for now!
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