F R E E . T A L K

2007.12.25: Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Happy New Years, everyone! I hope you all have a great holiday season, and will hopefully spare the time to drop me a review and let me know how I'm doing. It's been a while since I've written anything, and I'm a little rusty, so I hope this isn't too horrible.

(x) Date: 2007.12.10
(x) Author: Kuroi

(x) Summary: Set in an alternate timeline after the Void Card; his most precious feeling gone, those memories connected to that feeling have also disappeared. How are Syaoran and Sakura supposed to find their 'happily ever after' if he can't even remember her? Of love, friendship, and the process of rediscovery.
(x) Pairing: Syaoran/Sakura
(x) Warnings: spoilers for the series and second movie; het

(x) Card Captor Sakura © CLAMP, Morio Asaka

— T H E . W O R S T . C A S E . S C E N A R I O —
FIRST

—x—

"Even if this feeling disappears, I'm sure...that once again, Sakura, I'll..."

—

"This is my cousin, Syaoran," Meiling introduces, her voice is loud and exhuberant. "These are my friends, Kinomoto Sakura and Daidouji Tomoyo."

In unison, the three bow slightly to each other in acknowledgement, "Nice to meet you," they say together.

There's an awkward silence; Syaoran has never been one to say much, and to Sakura, there is so much to say and no way to say it. She blushes and stares down at her feet, while beside her, Tomoyo looks at her sadly.

"I have some errands to run, Meiling," Syaoran says shortly after, turning away from his new acquaintances to face his cousin. "I'll see you at home, okay?"

Meiling smiles in response, of course, what else can she do? "Aa, I'll see you later."

Syaoran looks back at the other two and nods to them. "It was nice meeting you two, maybe next time we can do something together." Without waiting for a response, he looks away and begins to run off, not even pausing as he yells, "Ja matta, ne!" over his shoulder.

—

It was as if he had never met them before. The way they were introduced, the way he held himself stiffly and the way his eyes didn't linger on Sakura the way they used to. It's painful to think about, and Sakura shuts her eyes tightly and tries to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes. They're still standing in the same spot, Meiling, Tomoyo, and she. Just the three of them, and Sakura tries to keep her eyes closed and smile the same smile even under their sympathetic gaze. Syaoran had never liked to see her cry.

"Meiling-chan," she starts, and berates herself over the hitch in her voice, "would you like to have dinner with me and Tomoyo-chan tonight?"

Tomoyo claps her hands together and smiles kindly at them both, "Yes, do come and eat with us today, Meiling-chan." Sakura has always loved to spend time with her old friends, especially if they couldn't meet so often. And so she hopes maybe Meiling's presence and self-appreciating personality would help take Sakura's mind off of other matters.

Tomoyo has always had Sakura's best interests in mind.

"A-Aa, okay..." Meiling agrees and tries to cover her hesitation; Syaoran will be expecting her home, but she's sure he'll understand if she gives him a call and explains. "Thank you, Daidouji-kun, Kinomoto-san." There isn't much else she can say, and seeing that sad look on Kinomoto's usually happy face makes her feel worse than she ever has before.

What is it about Kinomoto that makes everyone so weak-kneed and nerveless around her? Even Syaoran had fallen for her sweet and exceedingly kind personality. That in itself was shocking, and once extremely hard to say. But it became easier and easier to admit each time she did so.

It's hard to blame someone that has no fault, Meiling realized long ago.

Even harder is to admit that all those tears she shed for hers and Syaoran's lost love now seem to have been shed for nothing.

—

Their trip was only supposed to be a single week long; long enough for Sakura to give an answer to Syaoran's feelings. Just long enough for the two to realize they really were meant to be, and that Meiling and Tomoyo hadn't spent all that effort, or made such a sacrifice of their own feelings in order to push them together.

Nobody ever said Syaoran and Sakura weren't a little slow. Waiting until the festival was already pushing it, but neither Tomoyo or Meiling had ever expected Sakura to be too late.

"It's all right even if you think nothing of me, Syaoran."

How incredibly disappointing.

What a brutal reality check on their ideas of true love. The love Syaoran had for Sakura was one that had grown over a period of two years, it was never a sudden thing. A love that spans and grows over time...isn't this the kind of love that conquers all? Tomoyo has never had delusions about love, while Meiling has many. But to both of them, for that love to just disappear and fade away so completely that there aren't even any memories...

"Start over. That's the key. Syaoran fell for Kinomoto-san once before, it's not impossible for it to happen again."

If only things were that simple.

—

"Tadaima!"

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner, Kinomoto-san," Meiling says as she removes her shoes before entering the house.

"Sa-ku-ra!" Whirling around to face Meiling, Sakura waves a finger before her Chinese friend and smiles, "we're friends, right, Meiling-chan? You can call me by my given name."

There's a pause, and Meiling glances away and back several times before a light blush crosses her cheeks and she smiles shyly. "Al-all right, Sa...ku...ra..." The taste of the name is foreign on her tongue, and she says it again, just to get used to it. "Sakura."

Sakura smiles widely and leans away from the other girl, crossing her arms behind her back and practically skips into the kitchen. "I invited Tomoyo-chan and Meiling-chan for dinner, Otou-san," she announces happily, and if Meiling hadn't seen that sad look cross her face before, she never would have thought anything had happened.

But Sakura's not very good at faking her happiness, and everyone knows that. "Sa-ku-ra...-chan..." Meiling tries out one more time, and this time it feels right.

They are good friends after all.

And throughout all this, Tomoyo just stands off to the side, her quiet kindness ever present in that soft smile on her face, and she giggles lightly to herself.

—x—

tsuzuku
I had hoped I'd have more of this done by the time I posted it, but I'm still in school, and when I'm not, I'm still doing school work. I really don't have that kind of time. But I'm also silly in the way I got so excited to post on Christmas, so I decided not to ruin that for myself. I know this plot idea has been done before. However, it's never been done by me. That in itself makes this story different from the others. I'm a long time fan of Card Captor Sakura, and Syaoran/Sakura has been my all-time favorite pairing of all series. Nothing makes me melt the way they do. I'm new to actually being active in this fandom, though, so I hope you guys will give me and this story a chance. (You probably know how hard it is to try and write a story that keeps the characters in character, and at the same time hasn't been so overdone that it's cliche.)

That said, I'm a huge fan of all the characters in this series. And I'll do my honest to goodness best to keep them all as in character as I can. Christmas is a time of giving, if you're online on this day, or any day afterwards, will you take the time to give me a review? Thanks a lot, I'll try my best to write more as soon as possible.