Tamaki paced around his room leisurely. He had nothing to do, like any other Sunday afternoon. He stopped, then ran out his door, deciding to take a walk across the grounds. He grabbed his coat and slipped into his shoes, then was out of the mansion before anyone was able to question his actions. It was quite warm out in the sun, warmer than it had been a month before but still too cold to go without a jacket.
Tamaki looked at the trees lining the enormous gardens. He could faintly hear Haruhi in his head, calling him crazy for never wanting to explore those woods, they belonged to his family, after all. Tamaki stood on the front steps for a moment while deciding whether or not to continue his walk inside the forest, though he already knew the answer. He looked around, to see no one in his view, then briskly made his way towards the woods.
The trees were spaced apart enough for one to walk through them with ease, and there was not much shrubbery inbetween them. Tamaki kept walking, he looked at each of the trees as he passed, saw all the bushes and smelt every flower.
After a while, Tamaki spotted bright green grass, as if there was an opening ahead. He wondered if he had circled back to his home, there was no way he had come to another building. He was far from the edge of the Suoh estate, and as far as he knew, there were no other buildings near his home.
Tamaki continued towards the patch of green grass. Outside the shelter of the trees, the sun was bright, it lit up the old palace in front of Tamaki.
Tamaki gasped, "What is this doing here? No one in my family has ever mentioned a palace, not like this one!" Tamaki curiously headed towards the front gates. With much effort, he was able to open one side and head in.
The hall he found himself in after entering was completely deserted. Tamaki continued through every door he found, climbing the palace one flight at a time. Finally, Tamaki made it to the highest floor there was. There was few rooms in it, most looked like bed rooms but the last one held something he had not seen in the entire palace.
Laying on the embroidered, silk blankets, was a girl. She was, with a doubt, one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen, and she was sleeping peacefully, with no one in the entire palace to wake her. Tamaki cautiously stepped towards her, as if she could awake at any time and attack him like a wild animal, though he thought it was very unlikely, she looked to graceful and kind for anything of the sort.
Kiss her! An adorable voice said to Tamaki, it reminded him of Hunny-sempai, maybe the Hosts were playing a trick on him but the voice sounded more feminine than Hunny's. It also sounded distant, as if someone was yelling at him from outside. Tamaki ran to the balcony, but he saw no one.
Tamaki returned to the side of the bed. Kiss her!
"I can't kiss her! I could never take advantage of a young lady!" Tamaki whispered to the voice, not sure if it would hear.
It is not taking advantage of her! You would be saving her!
"How would I be doing that?"
As you can see, no one else is here to wake her!
"I don't need to kiss her to wake her up!"
Untrue, after being asleep for so long, your whispering would wake her, but, alas, she is still in a deep slumber! She is can only be woken by a kiss.
"That doesn't make any sense!"
When under a spell, everything can be cured by love's first kiss!
"That's insane! I'm going insane! This probably is just the twins idea of a joke! Those idiots..."
This is not a joke! Try to wake her.
Tamaki took the challenge and gingerly placed his hand on her warm shoulder, the gently shook it. He shook her harder until he thought he had done enough.
"I'll go get some water!" Tamaki said and hurried towards the doorway. An invisible barrier made it impossible for him to leave the room, as he tried the voice spoke again.
Now that you are here, we cannot let you leave until you attempt to wake her, at least.
"But I did! What if I take her with me?" Tamaki rushed over to pick her up, then attempted again to leave the room, but the barrier still would not let him pass.
The means to wake her are already in this room, and we have already told you what to do!
Tamaki placed her back on the silky sheets, then flopped down at the foot of the bed, "I can't kiss her! It's not what a gentleman would do."
Then you both will be stuck here for all of eternity, unless someone else comes to wake her!
Tamaki said nothing for a minute but sighed, "Fine! I'll kiss her! But it'll only prove that a kiss can't 'break her spell!'" Tamaki stood up and went to the edge of the bed near where her head lie.
He slowly bent over to press his lips to hers, hoping she would wake before he got too close, unluckily for him, she did not.
Tamaki kissed her, then pulled away from her as her eyes opened. They were groggy at first, but widened in horror and she screamed. Tamaki jumped back, halfway across the room.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? HELP!" She wailed, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.
"No! No! I'm not trying to hurt you! Some body told me I had to wake you up by kissing you! Otherwise I would have never done it! I swear!"
"A voice?" She calmed down, Tamaki nodded, "Was it sweet, like a butterfly's voice?"
"Well, I've never heard a butterfly talk, but I guess they would sound like that..."
"I apologize for my out burst but ..." She collapsed onto the bed, looking completely puzzled, "What is the year?" Tamaki told her the date and her face went paler than it already was, "I've been asleep for over two hundred years … Mother … and father … They're both … dead."
"Uhm … What?" Tamaki was still stuck at 'two hundred years.'
"Again, I apologize," She hopped off the bed and offered her hand to Tamaki, he shook it, still a bit confused by her words, "I am Princess Sakura. My parents … named me thus because when I was born, my beauty was, and still is, compared to the beauty of the blooming cherry blossom trees."
"I can see that," Tamaki said faintly, "Back to what you were saying before, you've been asleep two hundred years?"
"Yes, I believe so," Sakura sat down on the bed, "When I was merely an infant, a fairy placed a curse on me, she said I would die by the prick of a spindle before my sixteenth birthday. Another fairy was asked to stop the curse, but her enemy's power was too strong, she could only weaken it. It is because of that, that I have been asleep for two hundred years. She was the one speaking to you before I woke. It seems that my parents moved out of this palace, to let me sleep peacefully, if they hadn't I surely would have been woken before this."
"What is your family name?" Tamaki wondered, not even thinking of the rest of her story.
"Osumi..."
"Yes, I think my family bought this land from the Osumi family almost a century ago."
"So, you live here?"
"No! I live in a mansion through the forest."
"And no one has ever found my home?"
"I guess not. It seems weird."
Sakura nodded but had nothing to say. They sat without saying a word for a few minutes before Tamaki said; "Would you like to stay with my family? Since no one's here, it'll get boring."
"That's true. I think that would be nice, thank you … Tamaki."
"It is my pleasure, princess." Tamaki bowed, making Sakura giggle.
"You do not need to address me as a princess, you may call me Sakura."
Tamaki nodded without mentioning that he had only said that out of habit.