By: Shirahana
**AN:** Hi everyone! ^_^ I'm back! Now that Do You Remember Me is out of the way, I'll have plenty of time to work on this story! This is just the prologue, and mind you, its very short! Also, I would like to mention my co-author, Shirazuki. She didn't really write anything, but she helped me make my plot more interesting. Okay, this is what happened. I had created a plot and I phoned Shirazuki and told her about it. Being the great author she is, she showed me character development, which I added to the story. This prologue lets you know a bit about Sakura's past. I hope you enjoy! Please R+R and tell me what you think about this new fic!
Prologue
Hanami peered out the open window nervously. A small breeze rustled through her hair as if to calm her. Was it anticipation that caused her to worry?
A fancy black car pulled into the driveway and Hanami's heart beat faster. 'Is she nice? Polite? Shy?' Inevitable questions flooded her mind.
A woman stepped out of the driver seat and went back to the passenger seat. She held the door open, and out stepped a girl around the age of six. The woman held her small hand in hers and the two made their way to the front door step.
Excited and nervous the same time, Hanami hastily opened the door. "Come in, come in," she ushered.
The two guests were led into the living room. Hanami quickly brought out a large plate of chocolate chip cookies she had prepared. She smiled warmly and set them in front of the young girl.
"Sakura, help yourself while we discuss some things in the other room, okay?" the social worker said calmly.
Sakura nodded slightly as she nibbled her cookie. Meanwhile, the two grown-ups headed into the kitchen.
Hanami shut the door gently behind her. "She looks really sweet and shy," she immediately commented.
Suki smiled, "Yes," she agreed. "Sakura is a very good girl. You shouldn't have any problems taking care of her." Then her expression turned serious. "Her parents died recently. Sakura used to be much happier. During these few days I've been with her, she's been very bashful and extremely polite. I suggest you try getting her comfortable here. She needs time to adjust."
Hanami nodded in agreement. "I will try my best," she said sincerely. Though she had never had a child herself, she was willing to accept the responsibilities that lay ahead.
"Great," Suki said confidently.
They headed back into the living room where Sakura was still quietly munching the fresh baked goods.
Suki kneeled down in front of Sakura. "I'll be leaving now, Sakura. Your new family will take good care of you, so don't you worry. I'll check back in a few days, okay?"
Sakura nodded. She hadn't spoken a word since.
Suki gave her a reassuring smile, "Now be good!"
Hanami led her out of the door then returned to check on Sakura. 'Here's my first big step to becoming a mother,' she told herself.
Hanami sat quietly across from Sakura, observing the young girl. She ate quietly, not the rude type. She was dressed neatly, not the messy type. Lastly, her eyes shone truth. Hanami couldn't help but let a small smile slip.
The young girl's eyes lifted and met Hanami's. From then on, a special bond between them formed. The new mother-daughter relationship started. To Sakura, she had finally found a family.
Chapter 1 : Funeral
An exasperated girl tumbled into her messy apartment. Her untidy auburn hair damp with the mid-July's heat in Tokyo. She carried a load of papers in a large duffel-like bag, cursing as she went. She tripped over a small pile of clothes, which sent all the papers flying into the air.
"Damn!" Sakura cursed. A bang covered her left eye and she gave a loud puff to blow it onto the side. "Just how am I supposed to sort all these back in the right order?!"
By now, her whole room was covered in white by the scattered papers. Sakura sat back, looked up desperately and sighed, "Boss is expecting me to finish that article by tomorrow..."
She impatiently picked up the papers one by one, muttering angrily to herself. She stashed them on her desk - which was already full with pens and other papers. She stomped into the kitchen and heated a TV dinner. The microwave door refused to close, so she punched it shut, hurting her fist along with it.
Sakura sat on the old brown couch and flipped through the channels on TV. Sakura came upon a soap opera that was at its climax. Her eyes softened, remembering her own experience. But she quickly shook the thought away. "Love, who needs it?" she spat, and turned the T.V. off.
The phone's piercing ring startled Sakura. Who could be calling her? 'Probably boss asking for more articles,' she thought glumly. Being the boss's favorite newspaper reporter was tough. They just asked too much of you!
"Moshimoshi (Hello)?" Sakura said into the phone.
"Sakura," came a familiar voice. A sad voice.
"Hanami!" exclaimed Sakura happily. So, she did remember to call. "Why do you sound so sad? Is something wrong?"
Hanami wept loudly on the other side of the phone, "He... passed away today..." she managed to say through loud sobs.
"Nani?" Sakura asked, thoroughly confused. "Who....?" Then it hit her. Of course! Her foster father! Yumiru! He was the other important person in Hanami's life! But now... he's....
"No..." Sakura cried. "That can't be true..." A wave of memories and emotion coursed through her body. 'Not again...'
With that, Sakura dropped the phone. Its loud clang didn't seem to bother her this time. She felt tears approaching her eyes, but refused to let them out. She had vowed to herself to never cry again, and wasn't about to break that vow. Plus, she wasn't dubbed the Ice Queen for no reason. And Ice Queens did not cry. But why was it happening again and again?
Without a word of goodbye, Sakura hung up the phone, crawled into her bed, and hugged her blanket close to her. Why was this happening to her? She didn't do anything wrong.... had she? This was definitely not her day. Tomorrow didn't look so bright, either.
Sakura tramped into her boss's office empty-handed. Her upset expression told a lot. The cool air conditioning calmed Sakura down a bit, but was not enough. She closed the door behind her gently.
Yutaka looked up from his work and smiled at Sakura. "Need anything?" His friendly face shone in the bright morning sunlight that streaked through the window.
Sakura sighed and sat down in a chair. "I didn't get to finish the article on the new building," Sakura began.
"And why is that?"
Sakura took a deep breath, "Yumiru passed away yesterday."
Yutaka's expression reflected concern and gravity, "I'm sorry to hear that..." He knew very well of how kind Yumiru was. And he also knew very well of the last incident.
"W-would it be okay if I took a short vacation back to Tomoeda? I need to help Hanami prepare the... funeral." She paused at the word 'funeral,' for it sent chills down her spine. Discussing this topic threatened to spill tears.
After a short silence, Yutaka nodded. "Sure, how long would you like?"
"Maybe a week?" she asked uncertainly.
Yutaka smiled, "Take care, Sakura-chan."
"Hai," Sakura bowed and left the air-conditioned room.
"Hanami?" Sakura called as she stepped into a familiar house.
"Sakura!" cried Hanami as she ran down the stairs. They shared a quick hug and sat down. "So how has your work been?"
Sakura sighed, "It's okay, I guess. It's actually harder than I thought. All day long, it's just articles by tomorrow. I was supposed to do an article for Yutaka-kun today, but I didn't. Good thing he let me off easy!" Sakura said relieved.
Hanami smiled slyly. "Sakura, its about time you let someone else in your life..."
Sakura looked down, not wanting to remember the past. "But... how can I? He was everything to me..."
"Sakura, you can't be a loner forever! Yutaka-kun is a good man. He's nice and caring. It would really do you some good, Sakura!" Hanami scolded.
"But I just...can't! I still think about him..." Sakura said sadly. She lifted her eyes to meet Hanami's, "I don't think I can ever forget about him..."
"Yes you can leave him behind, Sakura. Of course you don't want to forget him... But you need to move on..," Hanami sighed. "Things like this happen..."
Sakura suddenly realized Hanami must be experiencing the same thing. After all, she came here to attend Yumiru's funeral. Disgust for her own selfishness swept over Sakura. How could she be thinking about her own problems when Hanami was the main target?
"I'm really sorry...I mean, for talking about this and all..."
"Sakura... it's not your fault, child..."
Sakura pulled on a black skirt along with a black top. She took a deep breath and reviewed her vow to herself. 'Remember,' she told herself sternly, 'no crying no matter what the circumstances.'
The week seemed to pass by faster than she could count. Hanami and she spent large amounts of time preparing for the funeral, wanting everything to be perfect. Yumiru was an excellent father to her. Though Hanami and Yumiru were not blood related to her, she still thought they were the best parents in the whole wide world. Who wouldn't?
Sakura groaned as another one of her, memory attacks, as she called it, hit her. It wasn't too long ago when Hanami told her about her real parents, Nadeshiko and Fuujitaka. It also wasn't too long ago when -
"Sakura, are you ready?" Hanami knocked on the door to her bedroom. "We have to get there before everyone else."
"Coming!" Sakura replied.
The last two family members climbed into Hanami's small and humble car and drove to Tomoeda's Funeral Home. Indeed, they were early, the first ones to be exact. Soon after, crowds of people arrived, filling the parking lot until the other had to park by the street.
One by one, the many friends of Yumiru said their farewells. Sobs and grieving could be heard everywhere. Everyone approached Sakura and Hanami, pitying them.
A tall slim girl with midnight blue hair and a tall proud brown-haired man stepped over to Sakura. Their outfits seemed expensive and much more highly classed than any other's. They looked to be in their early twenties, Sakura's age.
"You must be Sakura Kinomoto," said the blue-haired girl.
Sakura smiled politely and bowed, "Hai."
"Your father is my archeology teacher in the Tomoeda College. He's told me a lot about you!" the girl smiled. "Oh, what manners do I have? I forgot to introduce ourselves! Please forgive me! I'm Yaki Tenkuu and this is Syaoran Li." Yaki pointed toward the man beside her.
Sakura noticed the man Syaoran for the first time. She was quite startled by his appearance. His expression was stern and serious; his eyes deep and mysterious the same time. He stood tall and dominant, a feature that a lot of men lacked. Sakura quickly shook the thoughts out of her head and replied, "Nice to meet you two."
"Aw... to have your otousan (father) pass away when you're so young..." Even though they were strangers, Yaki gave Sakura a friendly hug. "Everything will be fine as long as you concentrate on your goal," advised Yaki.
Sakura couldn't help but smile. People haven't been this nice to her in years! "Thank you," she said, sounding a bit surprised. As soon as she was labeled a loner, no one bothered to care about her anymore. Sakura could only push herself deeper into isolation.
Not long after, a soft conversation started between Sakura and Yaki. The two new friends chatted on about their life, goal and hobbies. Who'd ever expect there'd be happiness in such a sad place?
Syaoran stood politely aside, listening to their conversation like a reserved gentleman. He was quite amused by Sakura's life, all the hardship she had endured and her ability to go on. Her innocent face reflected none other than honestly, diligence and truth. Yaki on the other hand, always gave up too easily when she encountered a tough obstacle.
'Wait,' Syaoran stopped himself from his thoughts. 'Why am I comparing Yaki to Sakura?' he questioned himself. He hastily shook the thought out of his head and looked around. People were starting to leave and Sakura and Yaki were still chatting. Maybe he should subtly interrupt the conversation like the trained gentleman he was brought up to be; that way, he wouldn't seem rude to Sakur-
'Arg! I'm doing it again! Why am I so nervous to make a bad impression in front of Sakura?! Its not like I've ever made a bad impression of myself before, so why should I now?" he questioned himself. by now, Syaoran was frustrated at himself.
"Oh!" Yaki exclaimed, breaking all of Syaoran's thoughts. "Look at the time! It's getting late and I think it's about time to leave."
Sakura looked wildly around for a clock, her face horror stricken. Everyone was leaving. "Oh no!" Sakura cried. "I was supposed to stand outside to say bye to all the people who attended! I gotta go! Sorry!" she called out as she ran toward the exit.
Syaoran chuckled softly to himself, then turned to Yaki. "We better get going."
Yaki nodded and looped her arms around Syaoran's and the two left the funeral home.
Sakura's eyelids threatened to shut on her as she drove to work the next day. "Why is this happening again?" she moaned to herself, over and over again. She parked the car and trudged into her office. With her posture low, Sakura slumped into her seat. She waved off all the people who greeted her.
Sakura scrunched her eyebrows in fury as she wracked her brain to find something to write about. She stared into the dark computer screen in front of her, then gasped in shock.
A man around the twenties seemed to materialize in the computer itself! His jet-black bangs covered his eyes. His hand reached out to Sakura, as if calling, "Come.... I need you..."
Sakura reached her hand toward the computer, but the screen blocked her off between the man. "No.... Tenouchi-kun.... Come back..." she wailed quietly as the man began disappearing mysteriously as he had came.
"SAKURA!" a deep voice boomed into her ear.
Sakura gave a startled cry, and stared at Yutaka with eyes full of hope. "Did you see him?" she asked him eagerly. "Did you see him?? He was there!"
Yutaka sighed and sat down beside Sakura. "No, Sakura-chan... There was nothing... You were hallucinating. There was nothing on the computer screen."
"No! He was there! I saw him! He came for me..." Sakura said firmly.
Yutaka sighed once more. "Sakura-chan..." he said slowly. "He's dead now... He's gone... You need rest. Look at you, you're practically falling asleep. Why don't you take today off as well? You're not up to the work today," he said, his voice filled with concern.
'She won't forget,' Yutaka told himself. 'If only she would forget...' his thoughts trailed off.
"A-are you sure about this? I mean... I already took last week off... " began Sakura.
Yutaka smiled, "You need all the rest you can get! Plus, I need my top reporter in good shape, right?" he joked.
"All right..." Sakura agreed reluctantly. "Thank you, Yutaka-kun."
As Sakura left the building, she could hear Hanami's words echo through her mind, '"Sakura, its about time you let someone else in your life... Sakura, you can't be a loner forever! Yutaka-kun is a good man. He's nice and caring. It would really do you some good, Sakura!"'
'Maybe everyone's right... To forget... Find someone new...' Sakura convinced herself.
To be continued...
**AN:** o_O; Poor Sakura.... So many things happened to her.... So, has anyone figured how who Tenouchi-kun is yet? *lol* I think I left enough clues on that! Just answer in your review ^_^. Plus, if you answered, I'll know people actually read the Author's Notes.
If you would like to be notified of the upcoming chapters, just drop your e-mail off in your review and tell me that you want to be notified, okay?
Chapter 2: hopefully coming out on August 11th.
Until next time...