Author's Note: Soooooo...yeah. I probably shouldn't have uploaded this, when I've got Accepting Fate and the others already here, but when I was cleaning out my docs file on gmail, this one appeared, and I decided to try writing it again. I actually started it at the same time I started Accepting Fate (before I got my account) but since then, AF took precedence over this, and it was forgotten...but now, I decided I'd try it on here! And no, to those of you who read my author's notes in AF, this one isn't the story that I spoke about that was very important to me, that's a different one that is NOT fanfiction.
Also note that I'm neither deaf nor blind, so this isn't completely authentic. I wouldn't know what a person in their position would really be feeling, but I'll try my best.
Anyhow, please enjoy, and I'll try getting the next chapter of AF done as soon as possible as well!
Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura or the characters affiliated with it. This is purely fan-made.
Kinomoto Sakura. A girl who got good grades and was practically the definition of beautiful. Her sparkling emerald eyes had captured many hearts of men...however, it was those eyes that turned them around as well. She was completely blind. She had been since an accident many years before, when she was twelve, in which glass had gotten to her eyes, leaving her sightless, despite various treatments and surgeries to try and get her sight back.
People had expected her to wallow in sadness, and always have somebody there beside her to help, or to, at the very least, get a walking stick or seeing-eye dog. But no, she'd overcome all of her problems. She trained her body to focus on all other senses, and she grew pretty darn good at it. She could sense the movements of people around her, and could smell the individual scents of the people she knew and met. It was like everything was enhanced.
She became independent, but that was only to prove that just because she was blind, she wasn't helpless. She helped others, and oftentimes when people first met her they didn't even realize she was blind. Sakura was always kind, and never hesitated to give advice or lend a helping hand.
However, everybody needs their solitude, and everyone has something they turn to, or a place to go, to get away from their troubles. For Sakura, it was martial arts. She excelled in many different types, including Shotokan and Kyokushin karate, jiu jitsu, judo, kung fu, and a mix of many others. She preferred against using weapons, but on occasion, she'd train in kendo or kyudo.
It was this thing she excelled in that made people cautious around her. That is, if they knew it. Many people didn't, as it was a secret hobby, but one that helped in improving her senses.
However, her father was worried about her and her blindness, despite her being trained so thoroughly.
So, when her father told her that she'd be staying Hong Kong for a while with a friend of his, who had a son just a year older than herself, she was surprised. She wouldn't be going with Touya, or himself, just...her. She had jumped on the chance.
And that was how Sakura found herself standing in front of a gate of what she presumed was a large mansion. She could smell the many wonderful fragrances of the large garden beyond these gates. The home was like a paradise on the edge of the huge Hong Kong city.
Sakura's POV
"Excuse me, but are you lost? You're just standing there," a slurred voice came from my left. I turned, trying to pinpoint exactly where the man's voice came from. I had to be on my guard, especially if it was a...male.
"No, I don't believe I'm lost," I replied, and turned back to face the mansion. "I just don't know how to get in," I mumbled as I felt around the gate.
"Sorry, but I can't see what you're saying," the man called to me. I turned to face him.
"I'm speaking loud enough, sir," I retorted before turning back to the gate to try and find the latch to open it. I had been given a key, but couldn't open the gate if I didn't know where the lock was.
"Loudness won't make a difference. I need to see it, Miss," he spoke, beginning to get very annoyed. I then noticed the way he spoke wasn't the same as other people. I turned to him, a frown on my face.
"Are you trying to find the lock? It's right there; how can you not see it?" he asked, walking over and putting his hand on the lock.
My anger flashed before I could stop it.
"Why can't I see it? Why can't I see it!? I'll tell you why, it's because I'm-"
He cut me off, the rude man, "You're not looking at me. It doesn't matter if you're yelling if I can't see your face."
I groaned, rubbing my temples. "Oh, isn't this splendid," I muttered to myself, and then looked up to where his voice was coming from.
"Well, I'm sorry, sir, but I don't always know where your face is, even if I have a good idea. You know why? Because I'm blind. And you're deaf. But it doesn't matter, because we probably won't be seeing each other again after this, so there's no need to worry of how we'll communicate," I ranted, taking hold of the lock and pulling out my key.
The man stared at me for a moment, before letting out a chuckle.
"Miss, this is my home that you're trying to get into, and I don't know why, but you seem to need to be here," he said. I stopped, my face pale as I turned to his voice.
"You live here? What connection to you have to them, then?" I questioned, looking worried.
The man smirked, not that I could see. I heard it more than anything.
"I'm the heir of the Li Clan, Li Syaoran, son to Yelan Li. Who might you be?" he replied.
I stared blankly, not at anything in particular, as I couldn't see, but man, I was surprised.
"I-I'm Kinomoto Sakura. Your mother invited me here, so...here I am," I said nervously, moving the strap of my duffel bag to a more comfortable position.
Syaoran rose his eyebrows. "Is that so? Well then, I should be a good host and take you inside," he said, taking me by the arm and leading me down the pathway to the door of the house.
I let myself be dragged along. It wasn't like I wasn't used to this. People did it all the time, thinking I needed their help to be able to get anywhere...which was the exact opposite of the truth. And it was something I would have to teach these people, just like I did to my family and friends back home in Tomoeda.
He opened the door and entered, and I immediately sensed the presence of two other people.
"Syaoran?"
"Ah, Young Master Syaoran, who might this be?"
The first voice belonged to a girl who sounded about the same age as me, and the second was the voice of an aged man. Along with the voices, I could feel hands moving rapidly in what I guessed was sign language, seeing as the person their questions were directed to was deaf.
"I'm a guest of Yelan. The daughter of Kinomoto Fujitaka of Japan," I replied, giving a smile in the direction of the older man.
"Ah, Kinomoto-san! It's a pleasure to have you here. I'm the butler, Wei...you're the daughter who is...who cannot..." he drifted off, trying to find the most polite term for my...condition.
"I believe blind is the proper term. Don't worry; I'm not offended by it. It's the truth, after all, and not something I can change. I might as well get used to it. It has been six years," I said, offering a smile.
"Oh, alright then, Kinomoto-san. Ah, and before I forget, this is Li Meiling, Lady Yelan's niece and Young Master Syaoran's cousin," Wei introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Li-san," I greeted, holding out my hand to shake. She took it, and I could feel the hesitance resonating off of her touch. She was not used to being in the presence of a blind person. That much was obvious.
"Nice to meet you as well, Kinomoto-san. Please enjoy your stay here," she said as our handshake ended.
"Thank you," I said, smiling to her before turning back to Wei. "Alright then; I believe I have to get to my room and start unpacking," I said, giving him a bright smile.
"Eh, Miss...are you sure you don't want help with that? Young Master Syaoran could come and-"
"I'm sorry, but that isn't necessary. I'll be fine on my own," I cut in, giving him a confident grin.
He nodded. "Okay. I'll take you there now, then," he said, and started walking further into the house. I followed him towards the stairs, where he stopped and asked as politely as possible if I wanted help. I declined the offer, but I knew he kept glancing back to make sure I was alright until we reached the top.
He led me down a few halls until he stopped at a bedroom door.
"Here it is. If you need anything, Young Master Syaoran's room is the next one down. All the other rooms in this wing are empty," Wei offered, and I nodded.
"That's alright, then. I assume my other luggage arrived safely and is waiting inside?" I asked, putting my hand on the doorknob.
"Yes, that's right. Call for me if you need anything," he said in a farewell before leaving to attend to other matters.
I sighed, opening the door and walking inside, letting my hands drift over the furniture. The desk; the bed; the dresser; the wardrobe...soon, I had the room memorized. I'd long since dumped my duffel bag full of clothes on the bed, and I proceeded to empty them into the wardrobe and dresser.
This took some time, considering the amount of clothes I'd been told to pack, and the fact that I was still getting used to the room, but after a while, it was finished. I emptied the rest of my things to where they needed to be, and left the bags in the closet.
Now that this was done, I decided to step out onto the balcony. The air was fresh, despite being in a large city, and there was a refreshing breeze.
I suddenly felt and heard somebody's presence, and was surprised I hadn't noticed it earlier.
"You should probably be careful. It's a long fall."
I spun around, and the smell I'd become familiar with earlier came through my nose. It was the man who was deaf...Li Syaoran.
"Li-kun, it's improper to just come into a lady's room without at the very least knocking first," I said, my face creasing into a frown.
"But the door was wide open," he said, and I could feel his smirk.
"It makes no difference. There is still a door there that can be knocked. I would have heard. Don't they teach you proper manners in a family such as yours?" I questioned, almost forgetting that he had to see my lips to lip-read what I was saying.
"They do, but I see no need to use them here," he replied, shrugging in the same nonchalant way that he'd spoke.
"Well then, why are you here?" I asked, growing impatient with him.
"No reason. I was just curious at what you were doing," he replied.
I threw him a glare, and he heard his low chuckle.
"I heard you like martial arts. We have a practicing field just below this balcony that you are free to use," he offered, and the statement immediately caught my attention.
"Is that so? I'll ask Wei or somebody to take me there later. For right now, though, I'm kinda tired. I really hate jet lag...Anyways! You can move along now, okay?" I chattered, and Syaoran grinned at me before nodding.
"Alright, alright. Later," he said, and left me alone on the balcony. I entered my room again and made sure Syaoran had closed the door before flopping myself down on the bed, not bothering to change or pull the blankets around me. It wasn't long before I was fast asleep.
Third Person POV
After waking, Sakura left the room and started down the hall towards the front, running her hand along the wall. She was still getting used to this place, and she'd only passed through this hall once. She wanted to make sure she knew how to get back to her room.
"Ah! Kinomoto-san! Have you rested well?"
Sakura stopped and turned to where the voice came from.
"Yes, thank you, Wei. Um...could you please take me to the training field outside?" she asked, and Wei smiled.
"Of course," he replied, bowing as he took her arm lightly.
"Oh, and call me Sakura. It makes me sound old when you call me Kinomoto-san. Like my dad..." Sakura requested.
"Alright, Sakura-san," Wei agreed, his wrinkled face creasing into a smile.
As they walked, Wei turned to her.
"May I ask why you want to go to the training field, Sakura-san?" Wei inquired.
Sakura smiled. "I'm going to practice. What else would somebody do there?"
Wei frowned a little in confusion, but he trusted the girl, and let it go.
When they arrived at the training field, Sakura turned to Wei again.
"Are you busy at the moment, Wei?" she asked curiously.
"No, not especially," he replied truthfully, and Sakura could tell.
"Great! Well then, would you mind showing me around to the place. I have to memorize what it looks like first. I don't want to be bumping into things while I'm trying to practice," she asked hopefully.
Wei smiled, like he would to a daughter. "That would be fine. Come now, Sakura-san," he said, leading her around, and like that, he showed her the ins and outs of the training field. It was a rather large area, so it took some time, but Sakura was grateful.
After a while, Wei had to attend to some other business, leaving Sakura alone, but she had memorized most of the area already anyway, so it didn't matter much.
The first thing she performed was a high-level Shotokan kata.
"Dang," she cursed under her breath as she made a mistake, but finished the kata nonetheless. She proceeded to do it again to where it was without mistakes. Sakura was happy that she was only wearing sweats and a loose t-shirt. Otherwise, it would have been rather difficult to practice.
As she was practicing, she felt a strange tingle down her back, and immediately knew somebody was watching her. She finished off what she was doing and then stopped, her eyes scanning the area that she could not see.
"Who's there?" she called out, and heard a sigh and footsteps coming towards her. Her eyes narrowed on the area that the person was coming from.
"It's just me," the man said, and she recognized his voice as Li Syaoran's.
"Oh. Well, what are you here for? I prefer silence and nobody watching me when I practice. It makes me feel like they're suddenly going to jump me," Sakura said, tightening her ponytail.
"I'll just stay over here then," Syaoran said, sitting on a bench.
Sakura sighed, before turning away again and continuing her practice, going through katas and practicing moves for different martial arts.
"How did you learn to do all this? With your blindness, I mean."
Sakura stopped to turn back to Syaoran's direction.
"Why would that be a problem? You're deaf; you should know that people like me don't want to be treated as inferior. Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't do everything that everyone else can...and this is my way of proving it," Sakura replied, placing a hand on her hip in annoyance.
Syaoran sighed. "Look, I'm not looking down on you because you're blind. I'm just wondering how you know if you're doing something right if you can't see what you're doing, or what you're supposed to be doing," he said, starting to walk over to Sakura.
Sakura pursed her lips for a moment, before running a hand through her hair. "It was hard, but I forced myself to enhance all my other senses, because I wanted it so badly. My brother also helped me a lot with my fighting. He understands that this is what I need," she explained, thinking back to those painful few years of getting used to being blind. She sat on one of the pieces of equipment, Syaoran sitting next to her.
"Really? I had to learn how to defend myself even before I went deaf, so it wasn't hard for me to get used to not being able to hear. It was disadvantageous when in battle, but that's an obstacle that's easy to overcome," Syaoran commented, and Sakura cocked her head to the side.
"You weren't born deaf?" she inquired, and Syaoran shook his head.
"No. When I was thirteen, there was an accident, and I was closest to the engine when it exploded. The loud sound damaged my ears, in addition to the fact that my head got pretty hit up. I've never been able to hear since then. Now that I mention it, you only went blind six years ago, right?" Syaoran said, and Sakura nodded.
"Yeah, when I was twelve. We were on our way to an important party, but our car crashed on the way, and glass got into my eyes, and I couldn't see after that. I heard the other party involved also had some serious injuries, but luckily, nobody was killed," Sakura explained, leaning back.
"That's good then," Syaoran said, and they were both silent for a moment.
"Hey, do you remember what it's like to hear?" Sakura questioned suddenly.
Syaoran clenched his teeth. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how life was when I could here. The people who are born with deafness are lucky-they don't know what it's like to lose it when they've never had it, or they can't remember it," he gritted, and Sakura could sense his anguish. She nodded slightly, biting her lower lip.
Syaoran then turned to her. "What about you? Do you remember being able to see?" he asked.
Sakura nodded hesitantly. "Yeah...I can still see, in my mind, in my dreams...but all there is is darkness...it's hurts so much. But, you know, we can't change the past, and I try not to think about it. This is who I am now, there's nothing I can do about that," she mused light-heartedly.
Again, they were silent, both taking in what the other had said.
"Well, I'd better go eat or something," Sakura said finally, standing.
"Yeah. I have some other things to do, too," Syaoran said, also getting up, and the two headed their separate ways. However, the previous conversation didn't leave either of their minds.
It had all happened in an instant. What began as a quiet drive through a snowy street suddenly became a loud, erupting explosion of sound and debris.
It was a night that decided the fates of many. Two young people in particular.
Once the glass windshield of one of the cars had broken, splinters pierced the eyes of one of these people-a young girl at the age of twelve. The last thing she saw was the face of the other, although it was distorted through the damage, and she noted immediately those sharp amber eyes, before the glass destroyed her eyesight and left her screaming.
That boy heard her screams for help, watching her writhe around in pain, but his attention was soon drawn away as the engine exploded, furthering the damage of the crash and causing a heavy object to fall on his head, in addition to the loud noise he'd suffered from.
He was thereafter unable to hear.
Both recovered in the same high-class hospital, although she never regained her eyesight, nor he his hearing.
Neither forgot the other. They were in each other's nightmares, and in their dreams as well. Both were reminders of what had happened that day so many years ago.
Their first meeting had been a chance encounter. But after that, it is no longer a coincidence, and they are bound by destiny.
This is the story of the blind girl and the deaf boy who first met on that night when the hands of fate began to play.
A/N: Haha, both AF and this story mention there being fate (I believe in it, in a matter of speaking). Actually, I considered making this one a red thread story (those of you who know about the read thread connection thing, good for you. I'm not explaining it for those who don't, but most people should). I just finished watching Akai Ito (a jdorama; title means 'red thread') yesterday when I was finishing this chaper, so it kinda rubbed off on me. Heehee. But this won't be focusing on the red thread of fate. I might mention it a little, but it won't be the main factor.
Hope you enjoyed!
~*~Malaika Anystazya~*~