Prologue

The room was dark; like a void. One couldn't tell where it began or where it ended.

He sat there in the center, on a red velveteen divan, wearing a similarly styled robe, slowly twirling his glass. His large sideburns pushed upwards as he smiled. The seven-feet tall man slouched forward and looked intently at the screen that was being displayed before him in smoke. His monocle shined brightly from the light.

He was admiring a girl. She had waist length auburn hair and deeply shaded emerald green eyes. They were putting a crown on her head and she seemed overjoyed, yet humbled. It was a throne room being shown in the cloud-like smoke and there were a lot of people congregated. It seemed festive and exciting.

The man leaned back on his seat and rested his face against his knuckles. There was a hazy yet overly-calm look in his eyes.

"Princess… You have grown beautifully."

He examined her young and curvaceous body, which was breathtakingly complimented by her pearl white dress. The bliss and kindness in her eyes lighted the space. It was her sixteenth birthday. In the Kinomoto kingdom, it meant that she would be crowned and acknowledged as an upcoming leader. Her father, King Fujitaka, sat on the throne, and proudly looked down at his daughter. She had gotten his auburn hair, but everything else was from his wife. The Queen had passed long ago, when Sakura was born. He knew that her rising in power would fill the kingdom's need for a female touch.

"Your mother would be very proud. You are truly a blessing of her everlasting love and kindness."

Sakura closed her eyes and bowed down.

"I am honored, father. I will do my best to follow in your's and mother's footsteps." Her eyes shone brightly with hope.

It seemed as though the whole village was present there in the giant throne room. Everyone cheered and clapped. They loved her. The sun shined brightly down at the Kinomoto Kingdom for this extraordinary occasion. No one doubted that there was a bright future ahead.

Prince Touya smirked at his sister with arms folded. She walked over to him with a knowing smile.

"Looks like the brat finally grew up."

Sakura did her best to hold back a sarcastic remark. She would soon be queen after all. It would be unbecoming of her to stoop to petty squabbles. The high road would be her choice from now on.

"Brother, I wouldn't be the person I am today without…"

She was stopped mid-conversation when Touya rubbed down her hair playfully with his palm, ruining Tomoyo's 5 hour-long work.

"WHY YOU…"

Sakura was about to bash at her older brother, but once again she was interrupted, but this time by a tight hug from the behind from her loyal attendant Tomoyo. The raven-haired, amethyst eyed girl was crying hysterically. A sweat dropped down the princess' face.

"Oh god! I can't believe the day is finally here! You're finally getting crowned! It's like your whole life is flashing before my eyes and…"

Tomoyo's eyes glowed excitedly as she eyed up and down the princess' white dress.

"I got to design your dress and do your hair!" She put her hands on her mouth, trying to hold back further tears of joy.

"You mean like how you got to do every other one of outfits all my life?" Sakura pointed out ironically. She hugged her best friend back tightly, realizing that her life was perfect because of people like Tomoyo.

Her other friends Chiharu, Naoko and Rika were right behind Tomoyo and they all exchanged heartfelt words of congratulations. They were all her attendants. They grew up with Sakura and were her closest friends as they were daughters of the kingdom's military personnel.

Keroberos and Yue Moon, the princess' magical guardians watched Sakura from behind the throne with immense satisfaction. Kero was in his true form as an angel-winged lion.

"I'd say we did good raising her." Kero smirked and looked over at his white haired angel partner.

"You talk like you're her parent."

"Well I kinda am."

"I think you have a lot more growing up to do before you can yourself that, Keroberos." Yue jested mockingly. Kero ignored it and went back to chowing down on his plate full of food.

Sakura looked around, put up radiant smile and waved at the people of the kingdom who were present at the ceremony. The crowd stretched out to the castle's gates as there wasn't enough space to accommodate everyone. She walked around and hugged all the children that were joyfully cheering for her. Everyone she loved was present to share the experience of what was probably one of the most significant moments in her life.

Except one person.

The glow in her stunning green eyes disappeared as she let in a slight frown. She kept looking around for him, but he was no-where to be seen.

He wouldn't forget about my crowning ceremony… Would he? I've mentioned it to him only about a thousand times… Her shoulders dropped a little bit. She couldn't understand why yet, but the fact that he wasn't here really saddened her.

She snapped out of it quickly and went back to greeting the people from the village with cheer and glee.

The Next Day

Kinomoto Castle - Battle Arena

Syaoran examined his blade with satisfaction on his face. It was all scratched up, showing just how much it had to endure to help him get where he was today. He looked away from it to attend to his friend Yamazaki, who was now on the ground, conceding defeat as his sword had fallen several feet away from them.

The brown haired, amber eyed boy held out his left hand and helped his opponent get back on his feet. Yamazaki sighed, took a long breath and looked Syaoran in the eye with one of his trademark sheepish smiles.

"Congrats, my friend. You deserved this."

Syaoran smiled back and gave him a knowing nod.

Today the kingdom's elite team of highest ranking soldiers, The Royal Knights, were holding their tryouts for new recruits. All the younger men who were enlisted in the kingdom's military were at the arena going through several tournaments to see who qualified as the next Royal Knight. Ever since he was a kid, it has always been Syaoran's dream to be one of them. To him, protecting the country and the royal family was highest honor a man could achieve. Today he was one step closer.

He shook hands with Yamazaki and headed towards the audience seating area. It was mostly empty. Several young boys from the village were scattered around though, obviously there to draw inspiration from their heroes. Syaoran smiled and thought to himself; it wasn't long ago when he was just like one of them. He looked sideways to see Yamazaki return to his fiancé, Chiharu. Yamazaki was the son of the General; or so he told him. Syaoran scratched his head, confusedly. People always told him not believe anything Yamazaki said. Even though they had been friends for years, he still somehow regularly managed to fall for his weird lies.

But he stopped at his feet when a sudden female figure blocked his path. Surprised, he almost dropped his sheathed sword on the ground.

Sakura stared angrily up at Syaoran's starstruck face. Her arms were on her hips.

He blushed. He wasn't wearing a shirt and probably smelt like death from all perspiration. Everyone who passed by bowed and greeted. The princess' expression went from being angry to being genuinely hurt.

"You weren't there… I thought you's come by to see me…" She finally let out.

Syaoran knew exactly what she was talking about. He took a step back and looked down holding a hand behind his head, embarrassedly.

"Your highness, I swear I wanted to be there! But Prince Touya ordered all the soldiers to stay back at the arena and continue sparring…"

He breathed out all the air he was holding in. He couldn't stop blushing no matter how hard he tried. The princess, for some reason, never seemed to notice. The expression of hurt never left her face. A bit of the anger came back as well.

"You missed my crowning… Wait till I get my hands on Touya!"

It suddenly sit Sakura like a canon how close she was standing across from him. She straightened her posture and held a cheerful smile now.

"Well anyway, I came here to watch you fight!" She informed excitedly. "I remember you telling me that the tryouts for the Royal Knights start today. I'm so happy you won, you've worked so hard for this!" She put her fair hands together in front of her cutely.

"Thank you your highness! I'm pleased… that, uh… you're pleased." He stuttered painfully.

Syaoran bowed and tried staying that way, doing everything he could to avoid eye contact. He was extremely aware that everyone in the arena was probably looking at how the two of them were conversing so awkwardly. Syaoran was not one for attention, especially attention of THIS kind.

It suddenly dawned to him what the Prince would think if he saw or heard about this. He would not be happy. He hated when any kind of man interacted with Sakura, even royalty. Who knows what he'd do when a lowly poor grunt like him got any ideas. Syaoran gulped loudly.

He almost fell backwards from his bow when a striking set of emerald orbs showed up right in front of his heated face.

"Syaoran? Are you alright? What did I tell you about speaking to me so formally?" She chided him with a little disappointment, and then smirked teasingly. "We have known each other since we were children, you know?"

Syaoran continued to rub the back of his head. He had no idea what to say.

Author's Note: Hi readers! It's been a while since I've written a fanfic. I couldn't continue my last CCS story because of major writer's block. I kinda have a full story in mind for this one but obviously, no promises! If you like this little tit bit, you'll probably like the whole thing; that's all I'll say for now haha. Do let me know what you think; if you liked it, if you have any ideas, what you didn't like etc. I have high hopes for this one. There will some similarities between this and my last CCS fanfic but this is simpler, which I think is for everyone's best interest. Who knows, maybe if this one gets enough attention, I might start updating the old one again too haha. Anyways.