Summary: Esmeralda von Einzbern and Alexander Schiffer fell in love during 1930 Germany. But unaccepted by society and hence killed for the same, they are reborn again none other as Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li. Will their tale extraordinaire come to a happy conclusion?
Fallen Angel
Prologue: 1930, Germany
It was raining heavily in Aushwitz that day. The night was moving towards the witching hour—the same hour when Cinderella lost her shoe.
It was midnight.
Esmeralda von Einzbern ran through the night, raindrops blinding her eyes. Her stockinged feet splashed through the muddy puddles which were omnipresent on the deserted forest road. Dark brown spots defaced her beautiful silk dress, which now stuck to her slender form and her curled blonde hair was fuzzy with grime and water. But she cared none about the beauty hidden behind the curtain the natural forces have cast.
Her large emerald eyes only stared forward: I have to get away.
She had left behind human settlement a long time ago; only farms and occasional wild lands bordered the puddled road.
She paused beneath a certain tree to catch her breath and slid down against the trunk, hugging her knees to protect her both from the cold and despair.
He's not here yet. Have they…taken him away?
The rain kept on battering the silent land endlessly. The emerald orbs stared on at the road in a relentless manner…waiting…waiting…
She was all of eighteen—at the grand entrance of her youth and a magnificent future. But a worrying thought nagged at the corner of her mind.
Will they succeed? Will they escape? Will they survive?
It might have been just a few minutes; it could have been an hour. But for Esmeralda, it was longer than a lifetime.
A steady patter of feet reached her ears; she lifted her eyes eagerly. Was it him?
It was him.
A tall well-built young man with raven black hair and amber eyes stood in front of her, rain drops running as rivulets down his chiselled face.
"I have come, Esmer." He said softly.
Esmeralda got slowly to her feet, emerald not leaving the amber.
"I knew you would," she replied softly.
Alexander Schiffer took her hand and together they speeded towards into the night.
After walking some distance in silence, their hearts thudding in their chests, they were suddenly blinded by huge searchlights focussed on their faces.
"Lady von Einzbern, please come with us immediately if you wish to be spared. You have broken the law, but after hearing the pleas of your father we have decided to give you another chance. But the other vermin has committed a crime punishable by none other than death. Lady von Einzbern, come with us."
Esmeralda looked pale and clutched Alexander's hand tightly.
Alexander looked at her with a worried look.
"I won't leave, Alex. Not today, not tomorrow. Not ever. Our fates are intertwined together—we are together. We face the world together."
Love and pride shone in the amber eyes.
"Esmer…" he said softly.
He enveloped his arms around her protectively.
"You are mine, and I will protect you forever." He whispered.
"Lady von Einzbern, last call to come back. Follow the directive or prepare to face the consequences."
Esmeralda stepped out from Alex's embrace and smiled into the light.
"I am where I belong. Why should I come back?"
Alexander stood next to her, feeling the happiest he had ever felt.
"On the count of three," the disembodied voice bellowed.
"THREE!"
I...
"TWO!"
I…
"ONE!"
Goodbye…
A series of thunderous roar shattered the quiet of the night. The nocturnals bore a look of bewilderment as the sudden noise broke the silence to which they were accustomed to.
The rain fell all the more strongly, as if the heavens themselves wept of the loss. The water flowed the red away in the greens as two innocent barely-adults lay, their only crime being that they listened to their heart.
Esmeralda and Alexander belonged to the fringes of the society: the rich Aryan and the poor Jew. Maybe their young eyes couldn't see the old age. But God wasn't so unforgiving.
Eighty years later, their story would resume. Hopefully to a beautiful, happy conclusion.
Chapter 1: The Flight to Tokyo
The Present Day
"Yes!"
"NO!"
"Yes. And you will."
"NO! NO NO NO!"
Yelan Li shook her head in exasperation as she surveyed the young man before her.
"Listen to me, Xiao-Lang. It is partly because of your irrepressible and completely unacceptable behaviour that I am sending you to Tomoeda. You have taken life and the things that come with it for granted and so, I need to send you some place where the name of Li will not permit unlimited privileges. And what better place than Tomoeda, where your cousin Eriol lives?"
The amber eyes now smouldered with rage and tension.
"I will not leave my home, mother!" he yelled again.
"You have been already admitted to Tomoeda High and the session brings tomorrow. A year of normalcy will hopefully teach you things which sixteen years of wild pampering have not. Your flight leaves at three pm. The suitcases have been packed and Eriol has been informed. You will be staying with him for the year."
Clad in white tee and blue shorts and his untidy chestnut hair bearing that bedraggled look of just waking up. But the face used to grins and smirks was now grimaced with anger.
"It's an order, Xiao-Lang. And it's final."
Syaoran stomped upstairs, fury apparent in his gait. He, the popular Syaoran Li, the heart-throb of Hong Kong and a page 3 regular, would now be bundled off to a common, non-descript town in a foreign country? Unthinkable!
He flopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling as his mind wandered. Yes, he did go overboard sometimes with his party habits and committed acts of vandalism in a drunken stupor—but that was not a regular occurrence. And he was sincerely ashamed of those incidents. He was not an irresponsible kid—he was approaching adulthood. How dare mother treat him as a child?
"Master Li?"
It was Wei, his butler and confidante.
"What is it, Wei? You must be happy; after all I would be leaving for a year…no one to bug you now."
"It is not that, Master Li. Mistress wants your best, and maybe this would prove to be a life-changing experience. You just never know the intricacies of fate."
Syaoran grunted in response, not believing the old man. Wei smiled and left; young master wasn't one to stay down for long.
"You never told us that you had a cousin, Eriol!" said Tomoyo Daidouji, surprised.
"Yep." Agreed Sakura Kinomoto.
Eriol Hiragiizawa shrugged in response as he spooned down the last bit of his choco-mint ice-cream.
The trio were eating ice-creams in their favourite café, enjoying the last day of vacations. As Eriol broke the news to the other two girls, they couldn't help but squeal in surprise.
"So how's this cousin? Is he fun?" asked Tomoyo, wiping stray bits of nut from her lips with a tissue primly.
"Spoilt brat is a more accurate description." He replied.
"Aunt Yelan—his mother—is of the opinion that a year is a non-descript town will kick some sense in his head. Though I do agree with her, I can't help but feel sorry for myself."
"Oh come on Eriol," said Sakura laughing.
"He can't be that bad, can he?"
After paying for their ice-creams, they left the shop for their various activities—Eriol went down to the train station to receive Syaoran while the girls went to catch up the last minute shopping; rather Tomoyo dragged off a completely reluctant Sakura to a wardrobe makeover. That girl did have some serious determination.
An hour or so later, he received a call from Syaoran announcing his safe arrival to Tokyo. Now it would take him barely forty-five minutes to reach Tomoeda.
Eriol gunned up his car and made way to the train station at a leisurely pace—he had an easy hour to complete a short distance so why not take the time?
His only memories of his cousin were of the time when he had visited Hong Kong for some family occasion—and he could vouch for the fact that those weren't happy ones. Indeed, he could sympathize for Yelan.
Maybe he has changed…maybe he has become more humane…
He just hoped that having Syaoran Li stay over wouldn't prove to be a mistake.