1. Back Again
"…The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."
Syaoran put the book that he just finished. 'Wow, this is what the normal humans thought about magic and magical world? Granted it is a work of fiction, but still…. ' He thought to himself. Wand fights, evil sorcerer and a school for teaching magic? But he had to give credit to the writer. She got a very admirable sense of imagination. Creating a whole world out of nothing. But there is no way he is going to let Feimei know that he enjoyed the book. When she suggested the book, he said it would be a waste of time. But after the 7 long books, not only does he think that he didn't waste his time, but he kind of enjoyed it a little. But since he is a very good brother, there is now way he will let Feimei know that. 'I told you, you would love it. See, I am the best sister or what. You, little brother, is very, very lucky to have me' he can already imagine what she might say.
Magic, Sorcery, Jufu, Talismans, Clow Cards…
His face became a little hot when he thought about the cards and the card mistress.
Sakura. Why does she still have this effect on him?
'I wonder how she is doing now. Granted, day before yesterday only I talked to her, but still. She must be radiant today. Daidoji must be in her face all day long with her cam. ' He couldn't help but smile about how she pouted when they talked last time, dreading this day, only because of the over enthusiasm of her second cousin. Less than an hour left. He confirmed after checking his watch. 'I can't wait to …. What exactly am I excited about?' He thought to himself. 'Today is a special day for Sakura. May be I should have told her. Or at least give her a heads up. But, that would have ruined the 'surprise' '.
His memories took him back to the first time they met. He came from China with a mission, to capture the Clow cards. To increase his own magical ability by becoming their master. The first time he sensed a Clow card, The Silent, she was there. Dressed in a funny outfit. In the middle of the night, he was watching them going, after successfully capturing the card. He thought about confronting her, then and there. But later decided against it. The next day, his first day at the new school, then only he noticed the girl. The first thing he noticed about the girl was her eyes. Green. His favorite color. One moment there seems to be some sort of recognition pass through her face, like she had already seen him somewhere. He also had a similar experience when he looked at her. As soon as the feeling came, he pushed it back. He is a warrior, future leader of the Li Clan, here on a mission. He stared her down. There was nothing special with this girl. But he could sense the great amount of magic present in her. It was overwhelming. It was even greater than his. And he thought about that, how could that be possible? He was a direct descendant of Clow himself. But this girl has greater power than him? Who is she? Was he wrong? He didn't know. For unknown reason, he decided to 'hate' the girl. Be a complete bully, demean and belittle her. That was his point of attack. And how did she react? By being the exact opposite.
No matter how much harsh words he said, how much harsh deeds he did, she always saw the positive and even tried to befriend him. Slowly she taught him that sometimes it is good to think with your heart than with your brain. He couldn't remember when he started to develop feelings for her. She was generous to all and cared greatly for other people. Was she a typical Mary Sue? No. Not at all. She was brave and feisty. She was simple and stubborn. She was innocent and naive. She was….. Sakura. No other words can describe her. He know at first he started respecting her. Even when he considered her as his rival, he couldn't help but feel a sense of esteem for her. Then later on, slowly, he became her friend and an ally. But when did it turn out to be something else? He couldn't quite remember. But those feelings, they were so foreign to him, it scared him. He never really had a crush on her, he just fell in love slowly. He can definitely use the L word, because even after 6 years, even now, he still retain those feelings with the same intensity and passion.
'I was being an idiot. I mean, it's already been 6 years. May be I shouldn't have confessed my feelings. Till now she hasn't said anything to me. Sure we had kept contact. All most on daily basis we mail/write to each other. Occasionally there will be phone calls/web cam chats (Don't know why, but Meiling says that it is a Web Date). But it has been 6 years since I saw her in person. And it had been 6 years since I told her that I loved her. Now if you think about it, how can a 12 year old be in love?' But he know, it was not impossible. He himself is an example. Did he still love her? Answer was short and simple. 'Yes'. But if she wants only to be his friend, he can live with that.
'What if she starts seeing someone? What if she already likes someone else?' A slight pang of jealousy and something else, he couldn't quite name, hit his heart. He remembered being jealous first time. It was when Tsukishiro was showing more attention to Sakura. Funny thing is, he wanted to impress him not her. Chuckling to himself, Syaoran remembered another thing he had in common with Sakura. Yukito Tsukishiro was the first object of affection for the both of them. While Syaoran's feeling was only because of the magic residing in Yukito, Sakura's were much more genuine.
The moment he realized that he truly loved Sakura, was when Tsukishiro rejected her feelings and told her that he loves Toya. He was in a whirlpool of emotions on that particular period of time. When she said she confessed to Tsukishiro, he was angry, sad and jealous. So many thoughts went through his mind, did he accept her? How am I going to stand by and watch them if he did accept her? Why did he had to fall in love with someone who only considers him as a friend and already likes someone else? Then for a brief period of time he felt relief when she said he loves someone else. But when she saw her crying, he felt like dirt. How could he be so damn selfish? She was crying and he was relieved? No, he felt lower than dirt. Someone once said, the real pain is when the person we love the most is sitting beside us and sharing his/her sorrow about the person he/she loves the most. But at that time, he felt pain, not because of what she said, but because she was in tears. Everyone says love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love. But in reality love is the only thing in this world that covers up all the pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. And when he comforted her, he knew, no matter what happens, no matter who she loves, he couldn't stop himself from loving her. And man, it was a wonderful feeling. If she is happy, then he can be happy for her.
And after that his greatest dilemma was whether to tell her or not, about his own feelings for her. He didn't want to do that. He cared too much about her to put her in a situation like that. But after speaking with Daidoji, he decided to tell her. And he did. When there were only both of them left, in the park, he told her that she is the one he loves the most. And being the coward he is, he didn't wait for a reply. Just told her to reach home safely and take care.
The last time he saw her in person was when he was leaving for Hong Kong. He decided to leave without saying good bye to anyone. Not even her. He was wondering whether she would be mad. Then all of a sudden he heard her, calling his name. He didn't know what to do, what to say. Why was she even there? How did she know? That's when Wei came in the picture. He gave him the teddy bear. The same teddy bear that he made with his own hands to give to her. And then and there, in the airport, she accepted the Teddy bear. No, she asked whether she could have the Teddy bear. And he gave it to her, after all, he made it for her and her only. But what did it mean? Damn, it's been 6 long years and still nothing.
And during these 6 years, his trainings both magic and martial arts along with the business lessons, have increased 10 folds. He couldn't visit Japan for the summer vacation of his school or invite her to come to Hong Kong during those times. It felt like mother and the clan elders were trying to prove some weird point or was testing something. And during the 6 years, apart from the unusual trainings, he was forced to learn Japanese [he was ok in it but now they made him fluent in it Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana], Cantonese, Persian, English, Urdu, Hindi and Pashtu. He was now an 18 year old boy who knew 8 different languages. He could read, speak and write in those languages, very fluently also. He always wondered why this much pressure was on him. But now, as he sat on the plane, he began to understand their reasons. He understood why his mother didn't 'allow' direct contact with Sakura in the past 6 years. Man, that woman was something else. He couldn't stop the smile coming from his face when he thought about his mother. He never questioned his mother or the elders. Just did what they asked him to do.
When his high school was over and he was getting ready to get into College, then only he understood why the elders, his mother were acting weirder than usual for the past 6 years. Like, what kind of mother forces her son to undergo that much rigorous training, and what kind of elders would push the heir of their clan like his elders pushed him. That's when his mother and the elders along with the Board of Directors for the Li Corp. decided to make the Project Evolution a reality. And as a part of that he was coming back.
"Remember Syaoran, distance never separates two people truly in love" Meiling cheered for him just before he set from home. He just sighed and shook his head. Meiling. What can he say about his cousin? She is a great girl. He couldn't help but find it kind of ironic that he loved her now more than when they were engaged. After she broke of her engagement with him, he thought it would be weird for her to be around him. But she became a good friend for him. No, she became a great friend. During the hell known as extra training, she was the only sane one who was there to support him. He felt like she became his fifth sister. She sometimes brings up Sakura and the days back in Tomoeda as a topic for conversation but won't push it further since she know it was kind of a soft subject for him.
Meiling already knew the Syaoran that left Hong Kong and the Syaoran that returned were two different people. And she knew that Kinomoto was the one who changed him. She was truly happy for them. But when Syaoran said he didn't get a reply from her, she was kind of sad and mad. But when she heard from Sakura the reasons for that, she was able to understand. She didn't like it, but she knew that some things in the world are worth the wait.
"Just like I said that day in Tomoeda Syaoran, You've chosen her over my incredible cuteness, I will not forgive you, if you mess this up." This was her warning to him all the time.
"But Meiling, I already told you, I have told her. She haven't given me a reply till now. It is true that she accepted the Teddy bear I made for her. But that doesn't mean anything. She just did that to be nice to me. It is obvious that she doesn't…" Syaoran was interrupted by her laugh.
"Oh Syaoran, you really are an idiot." Meiling said
"But …"
"You poor boy, even though you grew up with 4 sisters, you don't know a thing about girls." Now she was teasing him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Syaoran asked hotly.
"Time will tell my dear cousin. Time will surely tell." Meiling said with an unreadable expression on her face.
During the 6 years, Syaoran and Meiling became really close and she began training him in one other subject called 'girls'. He was only interested in a particular girl. But still she insisted that he listen to what she says and try to act more gently. She also asked him to watch different videos of how to kiss? Which lead Syaoran to one conclusion. She is a nice girl. Mental, but nice. She also insisted that he learn to play a new instrument. He already know how to play flute, but she said a violin/guitar would be more romantic. She mentioned that Hiiragizawa knew how to play piano. And he did a piano recital to impress Sakura one time. That jackass. Even now Syaoran didn't know how he felt about Hiiragizawa. He didn't like him, that's for sure. But he came to respect him. Wasn't he supposed to be the reincarnation of his great great great great uncle or something?
He appreciate the fact that Hiiragizawa helped Sakura and himself to become stronger. But still did he needed to make him so jealous? What was the purpose of that? Was he proving a point that Hiiragizawa was better than him? He was really worried when that idiot tried to get close to Sakura. He was worried that Hiiragizawa was trying to replace him. Sakura was oblivious to his tries just as she was oblivious to Syaoran's feelings. But at last everything ended in a good note. He left and stays in England with Mizuki-sensei. He can only hope that he doesn't return to Tomoeda. He know that's kind of mean, but he couldn't help it. It is a good thing that Hiiragizawa decided to speed up his age and became old enough to be seen with Mizuki or else she would have been arrested for being a pedophile. That guy always had a creepy smile on his face. He didn't understand when Daidoji said that Hiiragizawa doesn't have any romantic feelings towards Sakura and if he open his eyes and observe he can see that. And he did. When Hiiragizawa was explaining why he did everything the way he looked at him and Sakura was so similar to the way his own father and some of the elders in his clan used to look at him. But that doesn't explain why that moron kissed her hand while he was here. Syaoran balled his fists, feeling angry and jealous. All though it was years ago, he still…. 'That stupid son of a mother fu…..'
"Li-sama, we will reach our destination in another 10 minutes."
The air hostess informed him breaking him out of his thoughts. He nodded and said a thanks to her.
"Syaoran-sama, you're really excited to be coming back, right?" Wei asked him.
He didn't reply, but just gave a small smile to him. Like the last time, Wei was here with him this time also.
"We will be staying in our old apartments till your class starts." Wei said. Syaoran already knew that. He just nodded. "Classes won't start till July, that leaves you with 3 months free time Syaoran-sama and you can use this time to catch up with old friends here." Wei again said with a small smile and a knowing look in his eyes.
Syaoran just looked at him with a raised brow. He shook his head and let his mind wander freely.
"Falling in love is easy Syaoran. But staying in love is a little difficult." Meiling said to him one day while they were resting after their martial arts training.
"Where did you learn that? From some fancy novel or did your boyfriend said so? " Syaoran asked her.
"Neither." Meiling replied with a small blush. He had never seen her blush. He know that Bao-Zhi was a good guy. May be he might be the one for her. They started going out 1 year ago and their relation was still going strong. He is truly happy for her.
The plane began to descend. All of a sudden he was feeling more and more excited. But the next second, his body and mind stiffened. Like some sort of electric current went through him. It was like something was seizing up the muscles around his lungs, causing shortness of breath. Something caused an irregularity in his heart beat. His heart stopped for a second, skipped a beat, and then resumed. He was confused. What the hell was that? He never felt anything like that before. As soon as the feeling came, it left him. All these happened in one single second.
"Syaoran-sama. Are you all right?" Wei asked him concerned.
"Yes Wei. I am fine." Syaoran lied.
'What is it? Is it Sakura's magic? It was a possibility. But still, what if it isn't. What he felt was not similar a person's aura. It was something else. But what?' Syaoran was gobsmacked. Something from the back of his mind was screaming that he was in for loads of surprise here in Japan again. And not the pleasant ones either. 'Oh Boy, I can't wait….. Not…' He thought sarcastically. He wanted to distract his mind.
"Wei ..." Syaoran began.
"It will take nearly 30 minutes from the airport to reach our apartment. After reaching, while you are getting fresh and preparing to go to the party, I will prepare a small snack and tea since the time would be around 5. If you start from our place around 5:30, you will reach Kinomoto-san's place by 6." Wei answered with a small smile.
Syaoran didn't answer or said anything straight away. "Am I that transparent?" after sometime he asked.
Wei just let out a small chuckle. "I have known since you were a baby Syaoran-sama. You were this excited only for a handful of events. And one of them includes visiting the Card mistress or being with her."
"Wei, I …"
"Syaoran-sama, Yelan-sama and even some of the elders knew about your feelings. And for this 6 years, they were kind of testing you and the strength of your feelings for Kinomoto-san. They wanted to make sure that what you had was not a puppy love. She is your mother and no mother will do anything to prevent happiness of her child. There are roles and responsibilities of the clan also. And I am proud to say that, you have passed the test. Even after 6 years, going through teenage, your feeling haven't faltered a bit Syaoran-sama. You are just like your father in that sense. We are all proud of you. That's why Yelan-sama personally made sure that you will be transferred to Japan as a part of the expansion."
"I know..." Syaoran replied with a small smile on his face. Even though his mother was a serious person, she was still a mother. Although his mother seems to be very strict, she cared deeply for her 5 children. The relationship of his mother and himself remains indelible and indescribable but he know that it is one of the strongest bonds in the whole world. He know that she is the person whom he respects the most and no one cares about him like his mother does for him (even though she might not show it all the time.).
That's why he did something he never done before, while leaving his house from Hong Kong. He went to his mother to say his good bye. And once they finished talking, he stood up and looked at the woman, who was also standing now.
"Is anything the matter Xiao Lang?" his mother asked him.
Instead of replying, he just went to her and hugged her tightly. He was now taller than her and hence her head was resting on his shoulder.
"Thank you mother." Syaoran said. "Thank you for everything. I love you."
When he looked at his mother's eyes, he could see true emotions there. She smiled, which was very rare and placed her hands on his cheek.
"You have made me proud my son." She continued smiling. "Be happy and be safe." She said. "Make sure that she is happy too." His mother finished with a meaningful look.
Syaoran's mind came back to him when he heard Wei speaking. "Yelan-sama already likes Kinomoto-san, you know that right Syaoran-sama?"
Of course he knew that. She even kissed Sakura on her cheeks when Sakura visited Hong Kong, something she rarely does for her own children. He still couldn't believe his mother did that.
"Just make sure that you will be able to give Yelan-sama and the clan a suitable heir soon. I believe that's the only thing they want." Wei said with a mischievous smile.
"Wei …" Syaoran's voice raised by one octal and face became a little red.
Wei simple laughed a little.
"Gomen nasai" Wei apologized to Syaoran. Although he could tell that Wei didn't look even a bit sorry.
"Arigatou Wei." Syaoran thanked him feeling a little bit relaxed and took notice the fact that both of them were speaking in Japanese now.
"And Wei, just the tea would be enough. No snacks."
"Whatever you want Syaoran-sama"
**********************************************************1*******************************************************************
After reaching the airport, both Wei and Syaoran took a cab to his apartment in Tomoeda. The packers and movers were already here with all of his stuffs. As soon as he reached the apartment, he opened his room and felt a wave of nostalgia hitting him. This was where he lived for 2 years when he was here. This is where he did his home works when he was a student in Tomoeda Elementary, this is the room where he sat confused about the feelings he got towards his rival card captor. After coming back here and being in this room only he realized how much he missed the old days and Tomoeda in general. Everything was different here. Even the air that he breathes in was different. Different in a very good kind of way.
"Please freshen up Syaoran-sama" Wei said to him standing in front of the door. "Mean time I will prepare some tea."
Syaoran bobbed his head once and went to the bathroom. It took him hardly 15 minutes to freshen up and then when he came back to his room, he was rather surprised. There was a pair of neatly ironed green Changshan and a pair of white pants for him on the bed. On the floor there was a pair of black half shoes.
He took the Changshan in his arms and examined. It was a loose fitting long shirt with 7 maroon colored traditional Chinese frog buttons across the chest. On second thought Syaoran came to conclusion that it was not a long shirt, more like a long gown. The Changshan he held in his hands reached just below his knee. It featured a Mandarin Collar with an inner detachable collar. There are side slits on either side and it also included a side pocket. And after the waist line the gown was split into four, like the petals of a flower.
"Costume for the special occasion Syaoran-sama." Wei informed him. "I believe it is a courtesy of your eldest sister and your cousin." Syaoran shook his head in amusement. 'Looks like I also have my version of Daidojis for me.' He thought and mused.
"Tea is ready Syaoran-sama." Wei told him and retreated back to the kitchen.
Syaoran got ready in 10 minutes and went to kitchen.
"I have called and informed Yelan-sama that we reached." Wei said as Syaoran started sipping his tea.
"Hmm…" Syaoran replied.
Wei smiled at Syaoran. "No need to be nervous Syaoran-sama. She would be very happy to see you."
Still Syaoran didn't reply. He just continued drinking his tea. "How will you go to her house Syaoran-sama?" Wei asked.
"Bus" was his reply.
Wei didn't push the conversation. He knew the young master had something in his mind and it would be better if he left him alone with his thoughts for some time. When Syaoran was finished with the tea, Wei took it to the sink and started cleaning the cup.
Syaoran slowly stood from the kitchen table and started walking. He was really nervous. 'How will she react? Who all will be there? Will she like my gift? '
He pocketed her gift that he picked for this occasion and put it in his pocket. Then her answer to every question came to his mind. 'Everything will be all right.'
**********************************************************1*******************************************************************
Syaoran was now standing in front of another familiar house in Tomoeda. The gate was opened. He slowly began entering and stood in front of the door. 'How long has it been?' He asked himself. '6 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 5 days.' He answered his own question. Wow, he is being a ... being a... he couldn't find a right word to describe him now. Mellow? Pansy? Sissy?
He waited patiently for the door to open after ringing the doorbell. As soon as the door opened, something, rather someone fell on him. He caught the person and helped her steady on her feet.
"Gomen. I don't know what happened. I just tripped and... "
Her words were cut short when she saw who was holding her.
Amber met Emerald.
Syaoran smiled at her.
"Clumsy as ever huh Sakura?" He asked with a chuckle and fighting a small blush coming to his face. "How did you trip when there is nothing there for you to trip over?" Amusement was clearly in his voice.
"Syaoran-kun?"
He couldn't even reply, because he felt himself trapped in a bear hug.
"It is really you, Syaoran-kun! Oh God … I missed you so much." He was sure that Sakura was probably in tears now.
Chuckling, blushing and feeling wonderful he whispered in her ear. "Surprise! Happy Birthday Sakura."
