A/N: My 2nd CCS fic! Please be nice!

Disclaimer: Don't own Card Captor Sakura.

The Veiled Piano Mistress

By: Lotus Dreams

Chapter 1: Forbidden Pianist

A 10-year-old girl with auburn hair and green eyes ran a hand over the smooth, white and black keys. She pressed a note. Middle C rang through the grand piano. She ran her hands over the shiny, dark wood.

"Wow," she whispered softly. A boy beside her, with blue hair and glasses, smiled at her.

"You like the piano?" he asked her.

"It's so beautiful," she murmured. "I wish I could play..."

"But you can't, Sakura." The boy's voice became sharp. "It is against the law. Women are not allowed to learn anything; their sole purpose is to serve the men, and besides...you're a...maid."

"Can you teach me?" asked Sakura quietly. "Please, Eriol? Can't you teach me how to play?"

"That would be breaking the law." Eriol's voice was even quieter.

"But I want to learn music so much..." Sakura trailed off. The piano was such a big, beautiful instrument, and she had heard Eriol play a song on it--from that moment on, she wanted to learn how to play piano.

"Well...would you do anything for it?"

"Yes," answered Sakura fiercely.

"Alright then. But you MUST keep it a secret."

"I will."


7 years had passed since that day. Sakura was now one of the maids in the palace. Her job was to tend to the gardens of the Li Castle, making sure they were watered, trimmed, fertilized, etc.

The prince of the palace, Prince Syaoran, was a quiet, mysterious fellow. He rarely ever spoke, and when he did, it was either an insult, or an insult. His temper was short, and flared like fire, so not many people could get close to him, except for his cousin, Lady Meiling.

There was a piano in one of the palace rooms. Sakura's worn fingers were itching to move again, to run her hands across the keys like Eriol had taught her for seven years. Her hands were slender and perfect for piano playing, whereas men's fingers were often thick and too lazy to even play one note.

"Ms. Kinomoto." Sakua whirled around. Prince Syaoran was standing over her, his arms crossed, his eyes flashing. His dark brown hair shone in the sunlight and his empty amber eyes looked down at her in distaste. "Could you please stop daydreaming and at least tend to the garden properly? You're strangling that flower." Sakura just realized she had been pulling out a flower instead of a weed without digging out the roots first. She hastily let go of the tulip and started working on a weed.

"Thank you, sire, for correcting my mistake," she said, focused on the weed.

"When you talk to me, you look at me. Or am I too unbearable?"

"No sire," replied Sakura, looking at him straight in the eyes. "Forgive me for my careless error." Syaoran smirked and walked on. Inside, Sakura was boiling.

What right do YOU have to order ME around like that? she fumed. My GOD. You think you're so good and higher than everybody else, but the fact is, you are SO not flawless. Nobody is. I see every single mistake you make when you duel with Lady Meiling and I know exactly why you lost to her in martial arts that time. Be careful, SIRE, or I shall totally reveal your mistake.

After pulling out all the weeds, Sakura went to the garden shed to take a watering can. She filled it with water from the lake and dragged it to the flowers. Water sprinkled lightly onto the plants, creating tiny clear water droplets.

That piano, Sakura thought. That piano...how I wish I could play it! It's so tempting...what was that song called again? Eriol said it was called Canon in D Major, by Pachelbel. Maybe I should try it, although it's really basic.

"You're drowning the forget-me-nots."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, WHAT did you say?"

Sakura gritted her teeth and wheeled around. "PARDON ME, sire, did you say something that my ALMOST DEAF ears missed?" Syaoran gave her a hard look.

"You're drowning the blue flowers, stupid," he snapped, indicating the forget-me-nots. "Look, there's an ocean of water around it already." Sakura set the can down.

"Why, thanking for pointing that out for me, sire, but as these flowers haven't been watered in a week, I think they should deserve a fair amount of water, don't you think?" Syaoran smirked.

"They haven't been watered in a week. And whose fault is that?" Sakura remained silent. Syaoran laughed and walked off.

Why me? she thought grimly. Little butthead.
Why did Syaoran go and sneer at Sakura? Well, he was just strolling around in the gardens, quite bored, until he finally saw HER--Sakura, in her shimmering auburn hair, jade-green eye, porcelain skin glory. He found himself staring at her as she worked, daydreaming just as much as he was. Then he snapped out of it, and then, to get rid of the feeling, started chiding her to make himself feel better.

"Syaoran." Syaoran whirled around. His father was standing there.

"Yes, otou-san?"

"I'm going out on another hunting trip. Your mother has gone to an old friend's place. The palace is all at your hands now. You have the right to order people around now!"

"Wait a minute--did you just say hunting trip?"

"Why yes. Naze desu ka[why]?"

"Why can't I go?"

"Because."

"Because...?"

"I SAID BECAUSE!" Syaoran rolled his eyes. That was his typical father, always refusing to reason; but then, he had to be pitied, because he didn't KNOW any good reasons!

Syaoran sighed as his father walked away. Still, he would have liked to go on the hunting trip; he was 17, for God's sake! Why couldn't he go?

Oh well, he mused. Father has his OWN reasons for not letting me go. And besides, without somebody royal to be watching over everybody, how are we supposed to keep the palace servants and army under control? At least I don't have parents to be tailing me now.

Later that afternoon, most of the servants and maids were outside, cleaning the outer walls of the palace. They had already cleaned the inside, and it was time to polish the outside. Syaoran watched them work for a while, then retreated back into the cool shade of the palace.

When he entered the palace, however, he immediately heard a tinkling sound, like music. It was song...a song with a melody in high notes and a harmony in the bass.

It sounded beautiful.

But nobody plays piano in this palace, thought Syaoran to himself. Nobody knows...unless it's an intruder!

Quickly, Syaoran dashed up the marble staircase, almost running over his main servant, Wei ("Sorry, Wei! Wait a minute, why am I saying sorry?") and followed the sound of the music. The closer he got, the louder the music was.

Finally, he came to the room where the door was closed and the piano was inside. He dared not even to breathe. The music was so flowing, so melodious, so...cute. He opened the door a crack...
Sakura ran inside after she was finished tending to the garden. She washed her hands in the lake, and wiped them onto her maid's uniform (black dress with the Li insignia sewn onto it), and retreated to her tiny room.

Once inside her room, she went to her small drawer and pulled out a black veil. She clutched it to her chest. She had heard the butthead talking to his butthead father. The royals were going out of the palace except for the butthead. But that was okay, he liked to be outside to chide the servants anyway. It was a perfect chance for her to try out the piano.

She donned the veil, sneaking through secret passageways to the piano room. The palace had many secret passageways, and she had found one in her cramped closet. There was a tall but thin door at the very back of the closet. Opening it revealed a sort of slide. Sakura grabbed a candle, lit it, and slid down, not daring to make a sound. When she stopped sliding, she reached two small doorways; one was to the left, one was to the right. The piano room was to the right, so she took the right one, bending slightly to fit through. She tiptoed forward, until she reached another door. She opened it and blew out her candle.

She was in the piano room.

The piano in the center of the room was black, and shiny, a big grand one. Its keys were as white as ivory and the keys as dark as ebony. She made her way shakily to the piano, her fingers coated with sweat. She sat down and put her fingers onto the keys. She played the very first song she was taught by her friend Eriol--Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. It was a nice, tinkling melody that was unforgettably beautiful.

Then she heard the creak of a door. She nearly yelped out loud. Luckily her veil was on! She spun around.

There was the butthead (aka Prince Syaoran), standing there, watching her play!
Ooh, cliffhanger...review, people! Flames welcomed!