Chapter 2
Author's note: Questions will be tackled in order of reviews.
No, there will not be magic in this story. This is the first time that I have ever broken canon. But in this story, magic will not work.
Nadeshiko died because of failing health. I will follow the manga's / anime's reason for her death. As for Syaoran's dad, well, I will cover that in this chapter with the reason why they are burying him in Japan. (Think of it really as author's privilege)
I believe that Yelan is kind. She is authoritative and can be kind, at least from what I've seen anyways.
Thank you so much for the reviews. And with that, I shall take this fairy dust (drugs)and weave you a story.
Chapter 2: Leaf Fight
Three weeks have passed since the funeral and the Kinomoto family was recovering bit by bit. Sakura was out in her backyard, playing with her cousin and best friend, Daidouji Tomoyo. In her backyard was a lovely cherry tree and, when the slightest of winds blew, some of the petals came off and danced around the three-year-olds.
Fujitaka, still on leave, was preparing lunch for the kids when he heard the phone ring. He picked it up. It was Li Yelan, the woman that found Sakura when she was lost at the cemetery. She wanted to set up a play date for her youngest son, Syaoran. Agreeing to tomorrow, he hung up the phone and smiled. Sakura was going to be so happy.
Tomorrow became today and Sakura was playing around tree that was her namesake when her father called out to her. "Sakura-chan."
"Yes, tou-chan." She answered back. The lean man came to her and put on the hat that her mother gave her. "Do you remember the nice woman and her son, Syaoran?"
She gave him a look that said, of course. Her emerald eyes gazed at her father expectantly. "Yes. Why?" She started to put two and two together and got four. She squealed in delight.
He smiled. That was one of the things he loved about his daughter. She loved surprises. It is no shocker that her birthday fell on the day where everyone tried to fool their friends. "Well, Li-san is going to bring her son over so that you two can play."
The young auburn haired girl hugged her father as hard as a girl her age and size could. Fujitaka, in response, patted his daughter on the head. "He will be here in a few minutes."
Sakura went running to her room in search of some games that she could play with Syaoran. Fujitaka chuckled. It didn't take much to excite her.
Within the timeframe that Fujitaka told Sakura, there was a knock at the door. As expected, Li Yelan and her son Li Syaoran was on his doorstep. With a smile, he allowed them in. He noticed that both of the Lis had something in their hands, Yelan a box of some sort and Syaoran, a pie. Yelan gave her gift to Fujitaka.
"In our community, it is customary to give a gift to the master of the house whenever you are invited to their homes for the first time." Yelan explained. Fujitaka nodded and opened the gift. It was a tie with decorative Chinese kanji across it. He smiled.
"Thank you so much." Yelan smiled and took a seat on his couch. Fujitaka also took the pie from Syaoran and put it on the counter.
Meanwhile, little Syaoran stood up, a bit apprehensive of his environment. That is, until a three-year-old bundle of energy came running down the stairs. "Otou-chan," Sakura raised her voice so that her father would give her his attention.
"Yes, Sakura!" He smiled as his daughter came down the stairs. "I can't reach..." The emerald-eyed girl stopped her words when she surveyed the living room. She saw both Yelan and Syaoran and immediately rushed to see them.
"Hello, Mrs. Syaoran's mom. Hello, Syaoran." With a respectful curtsy, she greeted the Chinese woman and her son. Yelan smiled at her cuteness. "Hello, Sakura." She smiled and patted her head. Syaoran mumbled a hello and kept his eyes face down. "Why don't you take Syaoran and play while your father and I talk?"
Needing no other invitation, Sakura grabbed Syaoran by the hand and took him outside.
Fujitaka chuckled and made some tea for his guest. "You have a lively daughter, Kinomoto-san." Yelan commented. "She takes after her mother, Li-san."
With the tea prepared, Fujitaka and Yelan started to have a conversation. "Li-san, I know that you are not from Japan from the accent. Please don't think of me as rude, but why did you bury your husband here?" Fujitaka looked at her with calm eyes, awaiting her answer.
Yelan took a sip of her tea and looked back at Sakura's father with steely eyes. "My husband was the leader of the Li clan and the CEO of the Caritas Corporation, the world's largest pharmaceutical company. His life's work was to rid the world of disease so that the children of tomorrow would only know about sicknesses like influenza, cancer, and AIDS only from textbooks. Most of his work took him to Japan, or should I say that the only place that he loved more than Hong Kong was Japan." She chuckled as if in a memory.
She continued after taking another sip of her tea. "He had asked me, and I thought it was strange at the time, that if he should die, he would like to be buried in Japan. He said that the beauty of rural Japan superseded that of busy Hong Kong."
Yelan took a deep breath as she prepared herself for the next part of the story. "At the laboratory where he worked, there was a leak of a toxic gas. There weren't enough chemical suits to go around. He gave up what was his to save the life of a man whose wife was expecting a baby. He called me later and told me what happened. I couldn't help but feel torn between sadness and proud of his selflessness."
"I'm so sorry for your loss, Li-san." Fujitaka told her sincerely. He went to the teapot to refill their cups. After doing that, he sat down. "Not to intrude more, but since the funeral business is done, why aren't you going back to Hong Kong?"
"It's Syaoran!" She responded. "He is extremely introverted. He won't play with other kids and would be content doing nothing. He rarely speaks and spends more time in his room than with others. I took him to a psychiatric and there was nothing he could do. He says that Syaoran is going through a phase and that he will grow out of it."
Fujitaka smiled a bit. "I see! So you wanted Syaoran to be with someone full of energy like Sakura in the hopes of him opening up."
Yelan nodded. With that out of the way, Fujitaka told her about his wife.
Sakura and Syaoran were outside. Sakura was playing with the leaves of her namesake's tree while Syaoran watched her. "Come on, Syaoran!" she cajoled him. "Let's play!"
Syaoran stood dumbstruck. What a strange girl, he thought. He did not see the pile of petals hit him. Sakura giggled. "Leaf fight!" she shouted. The amber-eyed boy was frozen in his place. Sakura stopped laughing. He looked like he was about to cry. "Oh, please don't cry, Syaoran." the green-eyed girl pleaded.
"Why did you throw leaves at me?" he asked in curiosity. The girl looked at him strangely. "Because it's leaf fight! You can't play leaf fight without throwing leaves. Duh!" she looked at him as if her explanation was the simplest thing in the world. "Come on, you try." Sakura persuaded Syaoran.
He shook his head. "Come on. It's tons of fun! Look at me." Sakura took another pile of petals and threw them in the air. As the petals scattered from the pile, she started laughing and singing. "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring." She collapsed in a fit of laughter.
Syaoran looked at her strangely. How are leaves so funny, he wondered. Hesitantly, he picked up a pile of petals and threw them into the air. It was weird, but something inside of him thought that the rain of pink petals was funny. A smile tugged at his lips.
Another pile of leaves hit him. Sakura giggled. "Leaf fight!" she shouted again. This time, she was not disappointed when a pile of leaves came in her direction and hit her face. Syaoran started laughing as he and Sakura started throwing leaves at each other, oblivious to the smiling faces of two parents.
After an afternoon of throwing the sakura petals at each other, it was time for Syaoran to go home. Although both of the children were sad, both of the parents promised that they would play tomorrow.
Syaoran and his mother were walking home when Yelan noticed a bright smile on his face. She had never seen him smile at all. It was a wonderful sight.
"So did you have fun with Sakura-chan, Syaoran?" she asked.
"Yes, kaa-chan." He answered in an excitable voice. "We started throwing the cherry leaves at each other, then we raced, then we made it rain with the petals…"
As Syaoran recounted his day, he realized that Sakura was good medicine for her son, better than all of the high priced psychiatrics and drugs money could buy. And the funny thing about it was she did it in one day. Never had her son be more excited about anything before Sakura and that was a good thing. Perhaps they should stay in Tomoeda for a while longer. Her husband was right. Rural Japan is much better than busy Hong Kong. For Syaoran's sake, it would be a good idea to stay here for a good long time.
"Kaa-chan?" Syaoran spoke softly. His mother turned to him. "Yes, Syaoran?"
A handful of cherry petals hit her in the face. "Leaf fight!" he shouted. Yelan was shocked. She did not expected that from her once introverted Syaoran. There was a mischievous smile on her face. "Oh, I think that someone is looking to get tickled." Syaoran giggled as he was tickled all the way home.
That's chapter two. Don't worry! They will get longer as I get deeper into the story. The next chapter will cover the first day of school. Please tell me what you think of this chapter. I thrive on your reviews. And the fairy dust is a joke.
