A/N: It's the 15th and I finally have a nice one shot! If you've ever heard of the song "At the Beginning" from the move Anastasia sung by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis, this is what this is about! I've happily finished my shit load of homework so I've finally decided to pick and song and do something for my favorite cousin! This is a wedding story, I couldn't think of any other situation that fit this song better than that, so yeah. Heh, so this is for you Abi! Much love! Hope this satisfies you!
At the Beginning
I stand nervously behind the gigantic doors with my fingers fidgeting. I listen closely and I hear the distinct sound of footsteps shuffling, people whispering, laughing, and the pianist quietly playing the piano in the background. My knees are buckling up, my breath is uneven, and I am seriously this damn close to fainting.
"Calm your nerves down would you, Sakura?" an irritating voice demands behind me.
I inhale, "Sorry Meilin, I'm just… a bit nervous."
She snorts, "Pfft, nervous." she mumbles to herself.
I remember what she said to me right before Li asked me to marry him, and I can say so much that it helped me...
"Don't marry someone you can live with, marry someone you can't live without," she says with a smile.
I sigh and I hear footsteps coming towards me, "Hey monster," a low male voice sneers.
I take an angry breath in and nearly shout, "IT'S MY WEDDING DAY AND YOU'RE STILL CALLING ME THAT!? HMPH!"
My older brother laughs and says, "No worries, I just wanted to say it before you belong to someone else."
I blink. Did he just mean that he wanted to say it for old times, before I get married?
He walks away before I can ask and a smile creeps up my face when I begin to reminisce since the first day I met him.
It was normal day at school when I was young. I was figuring out who was the boy in my dream I had the night before. And well, talk about déjà vu when my teacher says, "Everyone! We have a new class student, his name is Li Showron."
I turn away from the window and towards the front of the room and I swear I could feel my eyes bulge. What the hell? Yeah, that's the boy in my dream, how else was I supposed to react, huh?
"I suppose you could sit in the empty seat behind Kinomoto," the teacher points behind me and continues.
I look behind me, and sure enough, there is the empty seat. I cringe when we walks past me with a full-on glare on his face. I'm pretty sure he saw the confused look on my face, but the whole time during class, I felt his beady little eyes behind my head and it was most definitely distracting. God, what is it with this kid?
I laugh at my memory but I was interrupted when I heard Madison and Meilin warn me that they're going to be opening the doors soon.
"Shit," I say as I feel the jittering nervous coming back.
Out of nowhere, my dad takes my arm and rests it on his.
"Ready, Sakura?"
We were strangers, starting out on our journey
Never dreaming, what we'd have to go through
Now here we are, now I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you
I stand still, mostly because I simply cannot move! I feel like a statue, but I can't force myself to move by my own free will. I watch the doors that block between Sakura and me. I wonder if she's feeling more wrecked that I am right now. Ugh! Damn it, Li! Get it together! You're a man! You can handle this!
I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder, "Dude, you look like you're not breathing," Eriol says quietly laughing.
I give him a tiny glower, "Maybe because I'm not."
Eriol smiles at me and removes his hand off my shoulder, probably because he knows I hate when people touch me… except Sakura.
"Ever wonder why God gave us two…" Eriol beings to say absentmindedly, though I know he's saying it for me to hear. "A right hand to show the left what to do, one ear to listen and one to hear the problems of others, their laughter and fears. One eye to watch and one to behold the beautiful treasures that life has to hold. One foot to travel and one to stand tall, two feet to land on if we should fall. One man to stand by a woman's side, on woman to cherish being his bride. The love between partners comes shining through, and maybe that is the reason why God has made two."
I was absolutely shocked at Eriol's words.
I never did think about love until I was in deep friendship with Sakura. I never thought that there was time for love for me. So many times, I thought if I failed, it'd stay that way. But she'd always tell me, "When the world whispers, 'give up', hope whispers, 'try one more time'.
Before I can say anything else to Eriol, the doors open. The wall between me and Sakura is broken, I see her…
And I can't help but smile wide.
No one told me, I was going to find you
Unexpected, what you did to my heart
When I lost hope, you were there to remind me
This is the start
The doors creak open and all eyes are on me. Man, I hate attention!
Every familiar head turns towards me, and my eyes are straight ahead, looking for nothing. The pianist plays the piano which is my cue to go, but my feet don't move. My eyes are in panic, "Why won't these damn stubby feet of mine move!?"
Thankfully, Meilin gives me a light shove and my dad helps out too.
I feel like I'm walking clumsily, but every eye doesn't make a laugh at me, they stare at me with… with awe?
By the time I'm done looking at the crowd, my dad has already let go of my arm and I feel a new pair of strong arms lead me. I look up into his soft, warm brown eyes and I get hypnotized. His voice wakes me from my daze, "You look absolutely beautiful."
In his eyes, I also find admiration and adoration… for me? "Who, me?" I ask without thinking. He chuckles as he leads me up the steps, "Have you honestly looked at yourself after Madison was done with you?"
I think about it for a brief second, "No… actually, not one bit. She wouldn't let me because she'd think I'd whine about it," I say with a smile.
"Figures," he says softly.
And life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning,
I'll be there when the storm is through,
In the end, I wanna be standing, at the beginning with you
I watch her walk down the aisle, watching the audience. Her face looks confused, I chuckle at that. After what it felt like forever, her father let go of her arm. Before I take it, he grins at me. I nod, and silently slip her arm on mine. I can't help but stare at her, and she notices. "Me?" she asks shockingly.
Ha! Are you kidding? She looks like a freaking angel right now, and the white dress puts a nice touch to my figurative phrase. But seriously, it's like she hasn't looked in a mirror this whole time! … Has she?
After our little conversation, we both face the priest as he grins and begins the vows. I look beside me and I see Sakura turn and smile angelically back at me. Her emerald eyes can do something to me, and lately I still haven't been able to figure out what it is. It's like the emeralds were crystal balls and I can see into them, but all I get is dizzy from watching it too closely. But now, when I look into them, I can see in her eyes both of us, married… happily married.
I have a temptation to kiss her right at this moment.
We were strangers, on a crazy adventure,
Never dreaming, how our dreams would come true
Now we stand, unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you
The whole audience, I believe is sitting perfectly still, hearing the priest's vows. I see Meilin and Madison give me an encouraging smile and wave. I look at the other side and I find Eriol giving me a friendly thumbs-up. And suddenly, I feel like I'm frozen in time. I want to stay in this moment. My friends are here cheering me on and Li by my side. I turn to look at him, and I find him staring back at me. I give him a smile and he seems stunned.
I look at his hair, flawlessly combed and his tuxedo makes him look like a million bucks! He smells like my favorite cologne on him and I want to lean into him to breathe him all in. My eyes bore into his and I saw pure happiness. I could even feel my face light up from that. What I wouldn't give to swim in those eyes of joy, drowning in gladness.
Even if I've said it to him so many times before, it couldn't hurt saying it again.
I love you, Li Syaoran.
And life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning,
I'll be there when the storm is through,
In the end, I wanna be standing, at the beginning with you
I knew I used to be sort of a stubborn kid. I wasn't really a social person and I kept quiet to myself. People, especially Eriol and Yamazaki, used to tell me I always had this intimidating look on my face that led people away from me. At that memory, I did a quiet laughter. But now, they tell me that my face always looks like a little kid, always smiling and happy. Can you imagine it? I couldn't either, until I took a look at myself in the mirror, and there was the evidence right there, looking right back at me.
I knew when I proposed to Sakura that I wasn't alone anymore. I knew that she'd always be by my side no matter what happens, and I trusted her 100%. That realization alone, scared me. But I knew, if she loved me back, she trusted me too.
We were dating for two years already. We were walking through the park on a Saturday evening. I knew she liked watching the little toddlers play, she knew most of them and played sports with them. Although I'd watch her clumsy self fall, I'd always see her get back up and try again. That little movement, made me have hope a little bit more each time I watched. The ring in my pocket weighed two tons that evening, and so I could finally find the perfect time, I led her to a bench. "Oh wow, this looks like the exact night you first asked me on a date…" she remembers while closing her eyes. She looked so peaceful, I held back my kiss I wanted to give her and I began, "Sakura…" She opens her eyes and looks at me serenely.
"Sakura, you know I love you. And I think I'll love you until the sun burns out, or even after that. I didn't think anything about love until I met you; I didn't think life could get any better after you came along. I trust you and I hope I'll be your only love too." After that, I went down on one knee.
"What I'm trying to ask is… Sakura, will you marry me?"
Knew there was somebody somewhere,
Like me alone, in the dark
Now I know my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart
I begin to contemplate on when he first asked me out. I was completely appalled. I didn't think he was going to fast or anything, but I just didn't think… well back then!
"Li…" I see him hold his breath in.
I smile.
"Yes, yes, a thousand times yes."
And to think it's been a year of planning, calling, and spending! Time with him just flies for me. I've never been so sure in my life that I'd marry him. I'd be there for him when the Earth's rotation stopped, I'd be there when the world ends, I'd be there for him through anything as long as I'm standing next to him in the end.
"I do," I hear him say.
My turn! Crap, Sakura! Don't screw up! It's only two words! And those two words are currently choking up my throat.
"I do," I finally reply.
"You are now pronounced, husband and wife," the priest ended.
And life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning,
I'll be there when the storm is through,
In the end, I wanna be standing, at the beginning with you
After we say the "I do's" and the priest tells us we're finally married, I try not to make it obvious that I've been wanting to kiss her this whole time. I take her soft hand, and with my other hand I tilt her chin up. I kiss her lightly for a few seconds, until I hear loud roaring beside me. I break off the kiss and I see everyone in the crowd standing up, clapping, and cheering. People then started coming up to us to congratulate us before we go into the limousine to leave.
I look back at Sakura and I tell her, "Forever and ever, Sakura, I promise you, I'll love you forever."
Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing
Starting out on our journey
The kiss he gives me was absolutely dazzling. This kiss was different than the others he has ever given me. Maybe because this kiss means something different, it means that this was our first kiss as husband and wife. I'm a wife? The name just gives me chills… the good kind! He tells me he'll love me forever and I easily believe him. I nudge him with my arm and I say, "I always thought that today would be the end of our childish ways. I remember the ways when we were little, and how we would deal with crushes. But right at this moment, I'm thinking differently. Today is not only the end, today is also the beginning." I smile and walk off with him to the limo.
I believe I was right, too. Why?
Well, a sunrise is also a sunset.
A sunrise for you is a sunset for someone else.
When you leave, you also arrive.
You leave someplace, but you also arrive somewhere else.
When it's an ending, it's also a beginning.
For you it might be an ending, but for us it's a whole new beginning.
I know we'll both be fine because in the end we'll still be standing strong… at the beginning.
And life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing
In the end, I wanna be standing,
At the beginning with you
A/N: Happy birthday Abi, you are absolutely incredible and I wish you the very best birthday =)
Love,
Your ctwinson
