Disclaimer: TRC belongs to CLAMP.
Spoiler warning: This is post-series. Even so, any possible spoilers are rather vague. (This really helped you, didn't it.)
Note: Believe me or not, this was inspired by a song At the beginning from the movie Anastasia, I still think song is wonderful, plus suits this pair better than anything I can write.
(Now this is being professional.) (And yes, everyone else gets ignored, such is life.)
Enjoy~
Sakura was happy. So happy to be able to stand once again, to breathe with her own lungs, to feel warm kisses of the sun on her own skin. Seeing the translucent reflection of her alight features undulate lazily on the surface of water filled her with curious amusement. She leant further over the balustrade, observing her russet bangs hang about her chins, hiding her clover-coloured eyes under a fringed shadow.
Freely being herself once more was a wonderful experience.
No less wonderful was to meet everyone, come face to face with all those with whom she had journeyed for so long and who had eventually found a way to liberate her from the reduced existence Sakura had been locked in, to enable her to return to life as an individual entity, for which she had had no real hope. And yet there she was, real, substantial, because they had hoped for her and managed to discover some foreign, mysterious type of magic that succeeded in dragging her out onto reality.
Her and Syaoran too, of course. Sakura could easily tell the boy's emotions were similar to her own when it came to welcomes. And not only to her own; in fact, everyone's faces had expressions of gladness, excitement and slight nerve written on them, even the always reserved Kurogane-san let out a contented sigh at the job well done.
It really was wonderful. And not only was she freely herself now, in fact never in her entire life – or maybe: in any of her lives – had she ever felt as free as at that moment of final liberation. There had always been some kind of chains, some kind of destiny weighing over her; a sort of plot, a type of frames awaiting her, be it matters of life and death, be it matters of the heart, be it whatever. Of course she did have choices, and choices she made, yet it was limited to a set of prescribed rules in a game she was winning, but never had a chance to pick for herself what game she actually wanted to play.
And now Sakura was free. Her destiny had ended back then, on that day in the Country of Clow, at the same time as her physical existence. Still, by a trick played against fate which no longer needed her by her friends who decided they did, that existence had been revived into the world, allowing her to inhale deeply, indulging herself in the freshness and fullness of the breath unrestrained by any chains.
Only now when they were gone did she realise how heavy they had been on her heart.
Initially, it had felt like a dream, but soon began to feel more and more like the opposite: an awakening from a dream, awakening into a new life stolen from destiny, new life without any prescribed schemes or patterns.
Sakura lifted her gaze to the cerulean sky and enjoyed its vivid colour before turning around to face the person going down the hill towards her. She had said she wanted time alone, however, she had also made sure her eyes said clearly enough 'and then, I want time alone with you…' It was he, her magician, her friend, her knight, whom she needed to talk to the most.
Her heart fluttered like a butterfly when she spotted the tall figure quickly closing the distance between them.
Fai approached and leant against the balustrade next to her; for a while they continued admiring their shared portrait painted with light on the delicately restless surface of crystalline water. Her eyes were sparkling with joyful excitement, while his bore a note of uncertainty, somberness, sadness even; that observation urged her to look at him with questioning care, upon which he only bowed his head.
"My princess," the magician said quietly, "my princess, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
Fai's voice faltered and broke, but the eyes he finally lifted to meet hers were pleadingly apologetic. Sakura blinked and shook her head fervidly. It had been so long ago… actually more than a lifetime ago for her, but they hadn't had a proper chance to talk ever since.
"No… don't worry about that," the girl smiles reassuringly. "Don't even think about it. It was none of your fault." She clutched his hand in both hers, looking at the magician earnestly. "I'm sorry," she added after a moment, "for your loss… for both your losses."
Fai averted his eyes again, but not for long; he nodded, accepting the condolences.
"Thank you, my princess."
"I am no princess," Sakura grinned, letting the happiness infusing the air take over her anew, "she is the princess. Don't you remember how you used to call me?"
The man smiled at the girl, and she was delighted to see how sincerely the smile appeared on his gentle features.
"She may be," he retorted, "but it is you and only you who is my princess, Sakura-chan."
"Thank you… Fai-san."
The shy hopes cultivated in her regained little heart crept in pale red onto her cheeks, encouraging Sakura to look at him a bit more closely, hold his hand a bit more tightly and say in a voice a bit lower:
"I'm happy I can be here… now that our journey has ended, I'm happy to be here with you, Fai-san."
"It has been a long journey…" the magician wondered aloud, his eyes briefly clouding with remembrances, "I never expected it would bring us to this point."
"Neither did I," Sakura traced her memories back to the start of the travels. "We were complete strangers, and had no idea what we'd have to go through before… before it would all end."
She remembered all those soul-wrenching turmoils, all those painfully trying times, all the times she had been sitting alone in the darkness and crying, and knowing all too well each of them, in their own way, had been doing the exact same. It seemed so distant now; a memory from another life, yet a life in which she had come to find her most important; and her dreams might finally be granted a chance to come true…
"Sakura-chan," Fai addressed her, this time lowering his voice and speaking almost directly to her ear, his breath tickling her tresses, "I think you are wrong."
"W-wrong?" She blinked, "How am I wrong?"
"This has been a long journey, and through multiple storms it has brought us here, but this is not the end."
"Not the end?"
"No, Sakura-chan." She felt Fai's arms wrap around her waist and hug her from behind. "This is the beginning."
She looked down only to see his face smiling warmly at her from the lustre surface of water running persistently beneath them; his eyes were the same colour as the bright sky framing the two of them in that ever-wavering picture. She returned the smile, suddenly filled with a blissful certainty that she didn't need to be afraid of whatever awaited her in the future, because for them it was indeed a true beginning.
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
So! It was fun playing a matchmaker for you two, now go get married, live happily ever after and don't bother me unless with a chocolate cake.
Pardon the fluff.
Pardon the quote: "(…)But it still would be really cool if you gave an official goodbye fic~" (Are you happy, Arin-chan? xD)
Pardon the PM: If you are maybe reading this, please have it for your community. There's also one community of yours I'd love it if you authored for… though it would be even more wonderful if you decided you preferred the swordsman over the bookman ;)
Pardon… pardon this story. I'd better go hide somewhere…
But please review~