Urthe: Yoo-hoo! My first S+S ficcie! Can you believe it? There's only one bad thing….
MY SISTERS AREN'T HERE!!!! THEY WENT ON A TRIP AND LEFT ME ALL ALONE!!! I don't know what to do ;_; … emmm yeah! Let's start *clears her throat* Now I wanna thank everyone who supported me during these weeks which were really hard, with me breaking my leg and all. God…. I love y'all so much *kisses everyone*. I especially want to thank:
KyteAura: You're the damn best E+T writer stalker on ff.net. I'll be sure to start typing the newest E+T soon and give it to you before even posting it… Hell would you like to be my E+T stories beta reader until my sisters come back?
T-Rex65: Thank you for being a true friend. I still can't believe how you put up with my rants and my brattiness. You're definitely the best dominoes partner a girl with a broken leg can have *kisses you* thank you TeddyDino!
The Cool Guys at #SSFOREVER: Especially A_s0uP_Sp0oN, Nurik0, MiaEntler, setsu, Soul_Taker and lime-chan. You guys are so great!
Everyone who reviewed my other ficcie "Tender Deception": I'll be sure to start another E+T very soon. For those of you who haven't read it… WHAT ARE YA WAITING FOR? Go read and leave a long review!
Anyway I think those are all the thanks I have to give.
This story I want to dedicate to my best friend irl, Leonardo… Thank you for always supporting me Leo. "Te quiero muchísimo amigo mío y estoy segura de que en el cielo los ángeles te quieren tanto como yo"
Urthe: Any who, CCS don't belong to moi! Everything belongs to CLAMP yes to them! Except the story, this is totally mine. Also, this is OOC so… no flames about not guiding myself by the CCS story line, or flames about my grammar (I'm from Venezuela!). However… constructive criticism is allowed!. Okie… now that that's done… ON WITH THE FICCIE!!!
The six women locked themselves in the master office to discuss the delicate issue more privately. Of the six only Sakura didn't talk. On the other hand, Meiling was making the decisions for all of them.
"We can't say this is bad. Its better that you noticed what was going on for the very beginning. I know it hurts Sakura but… it could've been worse. Anyway, you have to wait at least two years to be legally divorced"
"I know" she said in a low tone of voice, but she didn't say anything more because Rika interrupted for her.
"Sometimes people get the wrong ideas Sakura. I've know Li-san for the same time as you and he always looked as if he was crazy in love with you"
"One thing is the love you mention Rika" said Chiharu "and plain sex is another. Regularly men don't stop loving their spouses just because they have an adventure with another woman. It's not about that, it's about the fact that Sakura doesn't want her husband to hold another woman that way"
"It could also be a coincidence" said Naoko in a very low tone of voice thinking the other women wouldn't hear her
Sakura was tired of hearing them. She had three hours hearing other people's opinions about something that mattered only to her, when she already knew what she had to do.
"I told him yesterday night and will not back out of my decision. The day before I went to his office and saw him through the mirror. The image I saw was caught in my eye, but far more intensely in my feelings. I'm not capable of keeping intimacy with a man who sleeps with another woman other than his wife, a woman who spends hours in his office because they work together. My only way of escape is through work, that's why I came here, to heal my wounds. I never thought I'd be coming back so soon"…
Sakura stopped talking and her friends respected that silence. It had been a terrible shock for all of them and they knew that for Sakura had to be simply dreadful. After a while she resumed the conversation.
"Once the time the law orders me to wait passes I'll divorce Syaoran. I won't be the first or the last, but I won't accept that my husband cheats on me when we only have a year of being married"
"Well" said Meiling "I'm only 24 years old and have been divorced for 2 years, meaning I didn't even last a year married. I understand Sakura completely, even if Syaoran's my cousin. If a woman is loyal, she'll expect he same loyalty from her spouse"
In that moment a cell phone sounded. Tomoyo reached for her purse and answered it.
"Yes? How?... When did it happen? That's not possible! Oh my God, What a disgrace!
She closed the phone and looked at Sakura with a worried expression. What she just heard was terrible and she didn't know how her friend would react when she told her, but she had to do it.
"Sakura… it seems yesterday night after you left Syaoran at his house, he got awfully drunk, went into his car and had a terrible accident, almost mortal. He's in the hospital"
They all stood up. They were tense and pale. The silence was broken by Chiharu:
"We're going over there"
Sakura didn't think twice. They all got in their respective cars and headed towards Tomoeda's general hospital clinic where Syaoran was gravely injured.
The first person they saw upon entering the hospital was Eriol, Syaoran's best friend. He was a lawyer and worked with Syaoran in one of the companies The Li's owned in Japan.
Sakura couldn't take it anymore and she ran into Eriol's arms, her body racking in sobs. The others also walked to him. He had the same age as Syaoran, strong with blue eyes and very black hair. He had an athletic aspect that made him very attractive. He held Sakura and began explaining the situation to her.
"It's been terrible. His wounds aren't too deep, and it's possible he'll be completely recovered with a little plastic surgery, but there's something the doctors don't understand: He's conscious, but he doesn't remember anything. He doesn't even remember his mothers, sisters or me, nobody. Not even the doctors who's attending him" He looked at Chiharu "He saw Takashi and asked him who he was."
"Does he have amnesia?" asked Tomoyo
"Yes, yes. His wounds will heal soon but his brain… He doesn't remember anything. That he got in his car after getting drunk. He doesn't even remember that he saw Sakura and we know that because Sakura called Yelan and told her everything" He then separated from Sakura and looked into her eyes "Are you sure you saw Syaoran hugging and almost kissing Meiko? I work at his side everyday; I know all his secrets… I'm having a fling with my secretary, but she doesn't ask me for marriage, nor do I plan to ask her for it… But Syaoran; I mean Meiko's way younger than he is. She's 18 years old and not even attractive. Didn't you imagine this Sakura?"
"No!" she said as she separated from him a hurtful look in her eyes. She then headed inside the hospital to look for Yelan. Everyone followed her.
During that week everyone lived in the hospital. They changed impressions with Yelan, Syaoran's mother, with Eriol and with Syaoran's sisters who arrived later that week from Hong Kong after hearing about the accident. Syaoran's amnesia hadn't retreated at least one bit. In fact once his wounds were healed they sent him home.
A month after Syaoran returned to his house, Yelan called Sakura on the phone.
"I need to talk to you Sakura"
"Don't tell me Syaoran has gotten worse, or… did he recover his memory?"
"No my child, he hasn't gotten worse. His wounds are healed and the surgeries that they've done on him are invisible. But his mind is still drifting away. When you both lived with me here in this house Sakura I was truly happy. I was eager to have a grandson, and when Syaoran told me he was going to marry you I was elated. You were and still are such a pretty girl, educated, a professional with the right age for my son. But I call you now because I have to ask you a favor"
"Ever since I left your house I've been working with Tomoyo, You must accept my new situation. I cannot go back to Syaoran, because what I've seen; I've seen with my own eyes, nothing you, Eriol or anyone says will make me change my mind and I'd prefer not to mention it again. I don't know what you want from me Yelan, but you don't have anything to do with this, so after work I'll pass by your house"
The grounds of the Li Corporation were enormous, located in the outskirts of the city. The family manor on the other side was located to the northern part of the city in a very peaceful and refined area, surrounded by trees. The family formed part of the society elite. Syaoran took charge of the company as soon as he graduated, and between Eriol and him they made the company more valuable and productive, even more than when Yelan's had it in her hands.
Sakura reflected about her life. She was 23 years old. Her mother died when she was 3. She had met Syaoran when she was 10 and stayed with him till she was 14, when her father and aunt Sonomi interned her and her cousin Tomoyo in a luxurious school. Fujitaka thought it would be the best thing since Sakura was broken hearted when Syaoran had to return to China. When she graduated from the intern school, she went to the University she lived with her grandfather but he was very old and died almost immediately, leaving her and her brother Touya with an immense fortune and a huge manor. She left the manor to her brother so she could continue studying abroad. It was in college where she met Syaoran once again. The love she felt for him hadn't died and vice versa. The year before she graduated he proposed and a year later they were married.
Maybe that's where the premature disappointment laid. Maybe she didn't recognize it because she was crazy with him, she didn't really know him. He had been the best to her when they were young, maybe she needed to know him better. She was dominated by a blind rage, an almost mortal hatred and most of all, a jealousy she couldn't control.
She didn't give Syaoran a chance to justify himself. When she saw him with Meiko, hugging her and touching her as if he didn't care what the world would say, she turned around and walked away, very fast. He managed to see her when she was very far away. When he was about to reach her she got in her car and drove away from him. It was then when she headed to the Li manor, packed her bags and headed to the little house where she had lived when she was a little girl. Her father wasn't home and her brother was with him in an excavation outside Japan. She was glad they weren't here. Must have been later that night when he got drunk and the accident happened. Now she was living on her own again in the same little house where she had been happiest in her whole life.
She headed to her house at 5:30 pm and she parked the car in the garage. She needed a shower and to prepare herself for her mother in law. She loved Yelan because she had always been caring and tender towards her, ever since she met her when she was a little girl. The same with his sisters and Eriol. In fact, they had such level of trust that she knew everything about Eriol's run around with his secretary, who was a very beautiful woman that spoke many languages. She was in charge of making the exportations to other sucursals of the company spread around the world.
Sakura was under the shower when she heard the doorbell. She got out, enveloped herself in her bathrobe and looked through the window. She saw Yelan's limo on the porch.
"Yelan-san" she said "I was getting ready to go to your house"
"Yes, but… I was afraid you had changed your mind. That you decided not to go so I decided to come over here. I can't wait any longer; I have to talk to you"
"I'll get dressed in a second and go down. Enter through the garage. It's open because I was planning to take the car out again"
Yelan nodded gave a signal to her chauffeur and he left. She walked through the garage and entered the house. She looked so young, always dressed elegantly, no matter what she wore, she always looked regal. Everyone said she was cold and distant, but Sakura adored her.
It was cold outside and she wore a fur coat. Sakura wasn't surprised of seeing her dressed that way. After all she was a lady of society who belonged to the city's elite. She had never recovered from the death of her husband but she managed to keep her family and her corporation together, until she retired and Syaoran took over.
In that moment, Sakura entered the living room, wearing a black skirt of and a green silk blouse. She wore sandals and looked very elegant.
She was a very original woman. Her combination of green eyes and amber colored hair made very alluring, feminine and sexy. Yelan always thought that her son had great taste when she saw he had chosen her as a wife.
"I prepared some tea while you were getting ready Sakura" said Yelan and she prepared the tray with the cups on the little table "Hope you don't mind"
"How is he?" She said after hugging Yelan and kissing her on the cheek
"In the same condition. His memories don't come back. The doctors say they will gradually. For the moment even I am a stranger to him. Eriol talked and told him he was suffering amnesia, he wasn't surprised. He finds comfort by staying home and doesn't go to the office. Eriol had to hire 2 administrators to take over his place; we can't let the business go down the toilet. Thousands of persons depend on our corporations and subsidiaries. We have to maintain it." She finished serving the tea and sighed, and then she looked at Sakura. "Anyway, how's your job going?"
"Well its good" She answered "I've gotten accustomed to its fast pace. I live here. My father gave me the key before he left. I never thought I'd needed, even thought I came here to clean and water the plants every week. But since I'm so busy now I've hired a lady to take care of the place for me"
Yelan was very still and quiet. Sakura noticed and she felt that whatever Yelan had to tell her was very important.
"You see Sakura, what I have to ask you is very delicate. We've talked to the doctors, and they told us that the very best medicine Syaoran could have, even if he doesn't recognize you, is your presence. It might make him remember the past he has forgotten"
Sakura took a deep breath and looked at Yelan
"What are you trying to tell me Yelan?"
Yelan smiled. It was something she only did for her children and for Sakura. She took a sip of tea and finally said "Before all of this happened you used to call me Okaasan"
"That's true… but things have changed"
"Don't you think it's all a misunderstanding?"
"No. I saw perfectly how Syaoran hugged and was about to kiss his secretary. I was too disgusted to see anything else"
"I think you should know that love has nothing to do with desire"
"That was before Yelan. Nowadays the woman is very faithful and expects the same fidelity of her companion. I learned that in school and I wouldn't see any difference between men and women in those questions. If he's my husband he's supposed to respect all women, including me of course!"
"He came home like crazy Sakura, he asked for you and no one knew where you were. He went to his room and closed the door. When he finally came down he could hardly maintain himself on his own feet. He had drunk a lot, and went towards his car. I ran behind him. Logically I feared of what would happen next and my feelings weren't wrong. A person in such condition shouldn't drive"
"We've talked about that Yelan"
"Yes I know, and I came here to ask you a very important favor"
"What do you want to ask me?"
"I know it's difficult, but the doctors have told me and I have the duty of asking you…" She then looked at Sakura with a confused look as if she didn't dare say why she was there.
"I'm waiting Yelan"
She had finished drinking the tea and was placing the little cup on the tray that was on the table. Sakura did the same too but she didn't finish drinking the tea
Sakura understood how difficult it was for Yelan to ask whatever she had to say, but she also knew that Yelan wouldn't leave her house without saying anything, because she was a very brave woman. When she was young she had worked very hard with her late husband and created that great corporative monument that was the Li Companies. Later her daughters and her son made the company even more powerful, by launching great products into the overseas markets. For obvious reasons, Syaoran decided to work in the branch that was located in Japan, and with the help of Eriol they made it the model for other companies to follow. Syaoran was the president and Eriol was the vice-president. He lived on a little palacette on the south side of the city while Syaoran lived on the north side with his mother and wife.
"I'm waiting Yelan; I know you didn't come all the way here to see me only"
"No, no. I came here to ask you something very special, and to tell you the truth I didn't want to come here, but the doctors told me to do it. To push my self-esteem aside and pride. To think only about my son and that he needed me, because his recovery depended only of a past he wouldn't remember if we didn't help him"
The young woman looked at her mother in law. She didn't understand what she was trying to tell her.
"But… you're helping him"
"Of course, and so is Eriol. Since the accident he moved into our house. He comes directly from the office sits by his side and simply talks to him, of his company, of his past of their student days, of their friends… of you. But it's no good. Of the only thing he hasn't forgotten is about his passion for chocolate and of drinking it before going to sleep"
"It was always his favorite" said Sakura
"I came to ask you to return home. Please, help me take care of him. Let him see you talk to you, so you can find it in your heart to forgive him"
"Okaasan, you're asking me for the impossible!" And that was the first time in the whole afternoon that she referred to Yelan that way "maybe if we had 30 or 20 or 10 years… but we were on our honeymoon. "With my own eyes I saw him. The posture said it all. He hurt me in such a way; he destroyed me so much that it'll be very hard for me to forgive him"
"I understand you, but you really let him even give you an explanation"
"He didn't have time to give me one" she said "Remember that right after I saw him he made the silliness he did"
She thought after talking that Yelan didn't deserve such harshness. She had been a second mother to her, a great role model. She couldn't be cruel with a woman like her; she wasn't responsible for the actions of her son
"Please Sakura, he won't recognize you. And the day he recovers his memory, you can tell him whatever you please, but help me through this desolate times. Syaoran looks like a shadow; it's obvious he has lost his past. Eriol talks to him a lot, he has told him who he is, why did the accident happen, but to know avail. He gives his all to help him and I want to ask you to give him a hand. You know how Eriol is. He's 26 just like Syaoran, still single and living a bachelor's life. Eriol only trusted Syaoran and now… he's like a mummy!"
"I understand all that Yelan, but… let me think about it. If I decide to go to your house I'll call you, but I don't feel capable of accepting right this instant. Even with everything that has happened, I still love Syaoran. He's my husband still but I plan to get divorced. I could never accept to be cheated or to be taken for a fool, and that my husband has done this to me gets me on my nerves"
And she hid her face between her hands. She broke out in tears and in sobs. Her mother in law got up from her chair and sat next to her hugging her, caressing her hair and kissing her on the cheek.
"I understand my dear, but I just want you to help me. The day you become a mother, you'll know how much a woman can love her son, and may the Gods spare me of asking you to return to him. I know you love him, but not even love can resist such disappointments. Life is long and maybe someday you'll fall in love again with another man, I won't reproach you. But right now I'm going through a terrible situation and I need a hand from you"
When the limo arrived at Sakura's house, she helped Yelan with her coat and walked her to the car:
"I give you my word that I will think about it, later I'll give you my decision"
A week had passed and Sakura's friends met at Tomoyo's office once again. Sakura had told them the story of her meeting with Yelan. She had cried and dried her tears with the napkins and handkerchiefs her friends extended at her. Nobody interrupted her. They've let her talk until the end and when she finished she looked at all her friends. There were so many expressions. Meiling was firm, ecstatic, as if saying "I wouldn't do it". Chiharu was very sentimental and looked at her with pity; Naoko seemed as if she hadn't heard anything and Tomoyo and Rika just sat at her side supporting her
You're not compromising to anything Sakura" said Tomoyo "Instead you're just lending a hand. I think Yelan is asking you for something that's very logical"
"Excuse me Tomoyo, but you forget that Sakura has only been married to Syaoran for only a year" said Meiling. "Besides, Meiko isn't cute or smart. In fact she's only a bubbly headed kid who doesn't know a thing about life. Syaoran would never fall for a kid and I still don't understand the reason of his behavior"
"Sakura, at least tell us" said Rika "How did you see them, what posture were they in. Sometimes there are things that deceive us and to judge a person without being sure, seems very cruel to me"
"Syaoran is tall and he was sitting on the table" explained Sakura "He had Meiko-san in front of him and he cupped her face in her hands. I couldn't see anymore than that" said Sakura, a single tear finding its way to her cheek "But I considered I saw enough"
There was silence that filled the room. It was Tomoyo who broke it.
"If I was in your place, I'd go. Not to forgive, because for that to happen he'd have to give me all sorts of explanations. But at least you help your mother in law, Eriol and Syaoran. The day his memories come back, you ask him for the proper explanation and then you can talk with him about separating and getting divorced. Your case needs to be studied, but with a husband that thinks and reasons properly not with one who has lost her memory"
"On the other hand" said Rika "if you're asking for our advice I think you should go and help Eriol. We know he doesn't trust anybody. To help Syaoran and to take care of the corporation must be quite straining for him. He'll trust you. He has always been your friend and always gave me the feeling…"
"The feeling of what?"
"… That he admired you Sakura-chan"
Urthe: Yes I know, too short and to top things off, with a cliffhanger. Will Sakura accept Yelan's proposal? Did Syaoran really cheat on Sakura with a bubbly headed 18 years old? Will Syaoran and Sakura really get divorce? Find out by reading the second Chapter of "Unfaithful" By me Urthe! The adorable Norn of the past!!! But since I'm not so bad I'll leave you with a preview of next chapter:
"Let me tell you something Sakura" said Eriol "You know I'm very daring. Life taught me lots of things. I've been very lonely all my life, in this world roaming in elite schools, where parents had no idea what their sons were up to. I learned a lot… about life, love and sex. If Syaoran wasn't married to you… I'm telling you… I'd go after you"
Urthe: Well since you reached here, why don't you leave a big, juicy, fat review for your this story? I'd love to hear from you guys, you can write to my e-mail urthewishbringer@hotmail. (Hint: Add me! Please Add me as a contact! I really don't mind!!!!) if you use irc you can find me at #SSFOREVER or at #Anime_Avalon, our anime chat channel, at the Aniverse server