Chapter One: Fairy tale

Mizuko came to them by sky. It was a hot summer afternoon and the two ten-year-old children frolicked in a hidden forest that they had discovered six years ago.

"Eighteen… Nineteen… Twenty! Ready or not here I come!"

Syaoran removed his hands from his eyes and began his search. Sakura, who had yet found a place to hide, wandered around the trees and decided to follow the faint tweet coming from somewhere near her. While strolling through the woods, she accidently tripped on a log and rolled over a knoll. Syaoran, who heard her scream, dashed through the bushes and found her ensconced behind a Sakura tree, with a tiny blue bird on her palms.

"Sakura, I've finally found you."

Startled by Syaoran's tender voice, Sakura turned her head and saw him standing beside her. She smiled and put her hands forward.

"Look Syaoran, I found a bird! He fell from the sky and landed on here. I think he's injured… his peers must be really worried about him. What should we do?"

He looked at Sakura's worried face, then at injured bird, which was crying helplessly on Sakura's palms. He knew that his vacation house was nearby and had all the materials he needed to treat the bird.

"Wait here. I'll get some medicine for him and be right back. Promise me that you won't go anywhere while I'm away, okay?"

"Syaoran, I want to go with you!"

Syaoran had lied to Sakura that he, likeher, was born in an ordinary middle-class family, for he feared that he would lose Sakura as a friend if she discovered his family's prestige and powerful social status. Hence he was resolute not to let her know that he had a vacation house situated in the outskirt of the forest.

"Sakura… you can't." Syaoran smirked, "Remember that I walk way faster than you do and you always trip when you walk. And you know that this bird needs to be cured as soon as possible. So wait for me here. Okay?"

Looking at Syaoran's firm and fiery eyes, Sakura understood she could not change his mind and acquiesced. He then left the forest, leaving her alone with the injured bird, whose sapphire feathers reminded her of the water that once flowed in a river located near her house.

"Mizu… Mizuko!"

The bird chirped at the name.

"You like it, don't you? I'll call you Mizuko then."

Sakura grinned at Mizuko's cheery tweet and caressed her back.

"Ne, Mizuki… I don't like waiting. I'm always the one who has to wait. Oto-san, Oka-san, and now even Syaoran…Why is it that all I can do is wait? I'm tired of it."

When Syaoran came back with a medicine box, Sakura had already fallen asleep under the giant Sakura tree. He sat behind the same tree and contemplated her fairy-like figure. Her snowy skin that gleamed under the sun only tempted him to touch it because he wanted to sense her existence. Nevertheless, he did not dare disrupt her slumber for he wanted this moment to last forever. While struggling with his ambivalence, he noticed pink petals falling from the giant tree above them. Why are the Sakura flowers blooming in the middle of summer? He gazed at the pink and white Sakura blossoms. Beautiful and soft, the flowers resembled the girl in front of him.

Sakura yawned and rubbed her eyes. She had dreamt of a knight slashing twigs to obtain something, although she did not know what that thing was. When she opened her eyes, she saw the bandaged Mizuko on her palms with Syaoran staring at both of them.

"Syaoran…"

"Oh you're awake! I didn't want to wake you up because you were sleeping like a…" Syaoran chuckled, "…pig."

Sakura puffed her cheeks and hit Syaoran's head.

"And you snore like a cow!"

"Cows don't snore!"

"Yes, they do!"

The two laughed and chased each other around the Sakura tree. When Syaoran caught Sakura and clasped her arm, they both lost balance and fell onto the ground. Syaoran's body landed on top of Sakura's, albeit they did not touch. The two stared each other's face deeply. His amber eyes enthralled her – as if they existed to protect her - and produced a peculiar feeling of warmth that she could not find anywhere else. At the same time he looked at Sakura as though she was the sole beauty in the world. Her short ash brown hair matched perfectly with her pearl white skin. He placed his face closer to hers, enticed to kiss and feel her soft lips. Sakura closed her eyes tightly while Syaoran smiled and got himself up, giving her a hand. Annoyed that she got teased, she took his hand and pulled him towards the ground. The two lay on the flimsy grass with their arms and legs stretched out and gazed at the golden sky. Syaoran then slowly moved his right hand towards Sakura's left one and held it gently; she did not withdraw her hand.

"Syaoran, I named the bird Mizuko. She reminds me of the water flowing in a river that's near my house."

Syaoran grinned, "You always make up weird names."

"But Mizuko likes the name."

"How do you know that she likes the name?"

"Because she twittered!"

"Maybe she was saying that she doesn't like the name."

"She likes it."

Perhaps it was because everyone agreed to what Syaoran said at home, he always found Sakura's stubbornness charming. Sakura began humming a piano piece her father composed and frequently played. Her dulcet voice glided through the air, creating a peaceful ambience in the forest. Syaoran listened; only Sakura could produce such a beautiful melody because she was the sole one he knew who possessed an angelic voice. He reminisced his first encountering with her, which was six years ago – it had also been a scorching summer afternoon. Sakura had been alone in the woods. He remembered how he had instantly become enchanted by her emerald eyes. Yet, as much as her countenance resembled an angel his grandfather had once told him, her eyes always seemed hollow to him.

"Sakura, did I tell you how I found you in this forest?"

"No, but I remember that you thought I was lost when you found me."

"You were! You were alone in the middle of the forest!"

"I was picking up berries for my family…"

"Hmm, whatever. I found you by following your voice. You were singing the song that you're humming right now… What's the song called?"

"Fairytale. Oto-san made this song for Oka-san; he says that he and Oka-san are living in a fairy tale because they are living very happily together."

"Are we living in a fairy tale too, Sakura?"

Sakura grinned, "Maybe." She watched the pink Sakura blossoms above her being carried by the gentle wind. "The Sakura flowers are beautiful…"

"This doesn't make any sense. Sakura trees don't bloom in summer."

"Everything is possible. But people don't believe it, do they?"

Syaoran placed his arm into the air, his hand reaching for the golden sun that seemed within his reach, yet in reality was far away.

"I do, because I've already seen something that seems impossible to exist in this world."

Sakura smiled and the two continued enjoying their moment staring at the orange sky. From this day on, the Sakura tree became their favourite hiding place that they frequently visited.

A few days later, Mizuko left them by sky, leaving behind a trial of memories that they would recollect seven years later.

Author's note

Thank-you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and please do review! I really appreciate it and it really makes a difference for me since I still don't know whether I'm heading the right way or not... ugh. Anyway, arigatou! ;) I re-edited this chapter again after my looong hiatus! I'm really, really sorry for the mistakes I made! T_T Oh, and did anyone spot the connections I made between this chapter and the prologue?

- ethelra

Definitions

Oto-san - Father

Oka-san - Mother

Mizu - Water