Author's Note: Finally! I get around to typing this old thing down. I've had it on paper for ages…Just my laziness taking its toll. XP
Disclaimer: Yes, I'm that smart, to create a clone copy of- erm, sorry, almost spoiled it there. XD Point is, don't own. Okay?
Tugging At My Heartstrings
She stumbled and fell- almost. They were currently in a world crowded with so many people, and it was very easy to get separated. In fact, Kurogane, Fai, and Mokona had already managed to get lost. And so, it was just the two of them. Alone.
Well, not exactly…
"Princess? Are you okay?" Caramel colored eyes shone with worry. The so-called princess just stayed silent and faked weakness- she was much too comfortable being wrapped up in his embrace. She knew, however, that it was slightly improper to stay so close to him like this, so she slowly stood up, but still leaning fully on him.
Extremely concerned and panicking ever so slightly, Syaoran led the princess into a cozy little café, fussing over her health, ignorant of the smiles directed at them, and of the blush adorning his beloved's cheeks. Stopping at the sudden warmth he felt atop his shaking hands, Syaoran looked up, and saw the princess motion for him to settle down.
He did, and slumped against the soft red cushion behind him. She giggled, and her voice blended with the melody in the air.
"Too many billion people, running around the planet;
What is the chance in heaven, that you'll find your way to me?"
He stopped and strained to listen to the familiar song softly emanating from the store's hidden speakers.
"Tell me, what is this sweet sensation? It's a miracle that has happened.
Though I search for an explanation, only one thing it could be…"
He smiled and watched her silently, eagerly drinking in her features and the sweet resonance of her voice. Things had been relatively easier since the event that had transpired between them a couple of worlds ago.
"Yet another step on our long journey," he thought.
"That I was born for you, it was written in the stars;
Yes, I was born for you, and the choice was never ours.
It's as if the powers of the universe conspired to make you mine…"
Syaoran closed his eyes and suppressed the heat that was rushing up his cheeks. Sakura, on the other hand, mildly watched him with contentment written all over her features.
Urged on by curiosity and an irresistible desire, she slowly reached out to him, and gently traced his lips. He jolted at the feather-like touch, and she stilled. He let out a shaky breath, and allowed her to continue her wonderfully torturous exploration with her fingers.
With innocent curiosity eminent on Sakura's face, she went on once more, reveling in the softness of her companion's lips.
"And 'til the day I die,
I bless the day that I was born for you."
She stopped all of a sudden, and he carefully opened his eyes. He saw a waiter standing at her side, waiting patiently for his order. Out-of-sorts at the moment, he fumbled for the menu. Sakura merely giggled, and the waiter rolled his eyes. "Touya," his nameplate read.
Mentally fazed at the moment, Syaoran blurted out the first thing he saw out of the corner of his eyes. Touya raised one of his eyebrows and nodded, strangely curious about the young boy's rather… eccentric choice.
"Coconut Kiwi Tofu Tea, it is."
He then strode off to the kitchen, and Syaoran realized only too late what he'd blurted out. He made to follow the man, but was distracted when Sakura's hand softly alighted atop his, the twinkle in his eyes revealing her mirth.
"Too many foolish people, trying to come between us;
None of them seem to matter, when I look into your eyes."
A furious blush spread wildly across his cheeks, and he sat down, immediately forgetting the dreadful concoction he'd made. She had a questionably bad habit of doing that, really. She made him all weird, disconcerted, distracted; made him forget anything and everything, almost as if nothing was wrong in the world. Not the best thing to happen to him right now, really.
But he gazed at her and smiled, and like she always did, she smiled back.
"Now I know that I belong here, in your arms I've found the answer.
Somehow nothing would seem so wrong here, if they'd only realize…"
By now the voices and the noise of the café had dwindled down a little bit, and the song playing through the speakers could easily be heard. Syaoran thought back to that night in a world not too far ago; visualizing twinkling stars and comforting darkness, with Princess Sakura at his side.
"That I was born for you,
It was written in the stars;"
Hope is the cruelest of emotions, he thinks. No matter how hard he tries to push it away, it always keeps rushing back stronger than ever before.
"Yes I was born for you,
And the choice was never ours."
Sometimes he feels almost wrong to hope.
Why hope when you know you don't stand a chance? Hoping is a waste of time, he figures. Only for dreamers and innocents and people with too much time.
"What we have the world could never understand,"
Hoping is for the weak, he declares. It's a sign of weakness, of hesitation, of vulnerability, failure and certain destruction.
Still, he wasn't always as pessimistic as this, he wistfully recalls. He too once was innocent and carefree, lighthearted and free of burden.
"Or ever take apart…"
Love changed him, he decides. With love comes hope, and hope is never without despair. He then begins to wonder if it was ever wrong to fall in love in the first place; if it was fate's shadow who cast him along his way. And so he ponders, and he thinks.
"And 'til the day I die,"
No, he figures, and shakes his head. It may have been wrong to hope, but it was never wrong to have fallen in love. He does not regret falling in love.
"And as the years go by,"
Because even as he had always grown up detesting hope…
"I bless the day that I was born for you."
It's still the only thing that sustains him.
The song gently flowed to an end, and as if on cue, Touya reappeared with plain Jasmine tea for Sakura and the Coconut Kiwi Tofu Tea for our unlucky Syaoran. A light, catchy tune was now playing, and Sakura found herself moving to the beat.
As Syaoran watched her, all his preoccupations, time-tried musings and hard-founded doubts gradually ebbed away.
"Somehow," he thought, "Maybe we were destined for this journey."
He raised his cup and took a sip, momentarily forgetting what was in it. At that exact point in time, the three remaining members of their mismatched group appeared by their table, only to be drenched by the awful tea that spewed out of Syaoran's mouth.
For a split second, there was silence. The next instant, Fai and Mokona had burst out laughing and Kurogane was grumbling, muttering about the foul taste of tea and cursing under his breath. Syaoran blushed 20 shades of red, while Sakura simply watched on.
"Somehow," she mused, oddly detached from the group, "I know it's all wrong, but I feel like I belong here…"
Her eyes settled on her closest companion, and she smiled.
"With him…"
Another waiter rushed out this time, with short silver hair, and his nametag bearing the name, "Yukito." As Fai and Mokona rolled on the floor, laughing, Kurogane stood stiffly, dripping with Coconut Kiwi Tofu Tea, veins dangerously twitching as Yukito dabbed at the moisture soaking his features.
Seemingly oblivious to her surroundings, Sakura shyly reached out and placed her palm atop Syaoran's relaxed fingers, gazing straight into his eyes with a gentle smile. Startled, Syaoran could say nothing, and simply stared ahead into his Princess' eyes, and felt the workings of a blush creeping up his cheeks.
Caught slightly unawares, Syaoran, like he was worlds ago, stared dumbly and mutely, finding himself lost in the moment and struck speechless.
But he definitely felt the tiny pulsing warmth that was now persistently tugging on his heartstrings.
Yeah, so… I don't really like the ending, got a doozy trying to fix this one. Did I do good? I hope so! XD
Love,
Kiuna'yukina