A/N: Hey! Sorry I took so long, I've been out of whack this past week. I'm excited about this chapter because SAKURA IS IN IT! I just love her, she's fabulous and adorable and perfect. A perfect angel. (Syaoran thinks this too) Okay, enjoy!
"Fujita- father," Syaoran got out. "Are you sure you want me to go with you when you speak with the king?" Syaoran asked, nervous as they made their way up the many steps to the palace.
He wanted to call Fujitaka father, he'd made that decision that yes, Fujitaka was his father. It had been over a year since he'd found him, and Syaoran felt that -it was still strange to him- but it was the right thing to do, as Fujitaka had said. It felt nice, although he couldn't help the stutter as he tried. He assumed that in the future it would be easier.
"You won't be in the way at all, Syaoran-kun, it that's what you're worried about," Fujitaka replied, not mentioning the familial address for the moment.
"I'm not- I…." Syaoran trailed off, taking a moment to string his words together. "What help could I contribute to such a meeting?"
Fujitaka chuckled softly. "Actually, the princess of this country is around your age. I was hoping perhaps you could make a friend with someone your own age."
Syaoran blinked, stopping mid-step. "The p-princess?"
With a smile, Fujitaka placed a hand on his back, guiding him forward up the stairs once more. "Don't worry, I hear she is very very kind."
Syaoran swallowed, more nervous at this than at the prospect of meeting the king for some reason. Fujitaka wanted him to be friends with the princess? Why? Surely she had a lot of friends who were more on her class level. He didn't even know what he would say to her; or if he could speak at all, his throat was so dry.
They arrived at the main palace and were led by a guard who chatted aimlessly with Fujitaka. It was so casual. All the kings and royalty Syaoran had ever read about were far more… kingly and formal than this place seemed to be. Everything was so peaceful. Syaoran doubted this guard had ever used that weapon strapped to his belt before.
They entered the throne room and Syaoran had expected the king to be sitting in a regal and ornate throne. It wasn't very ornate, it just carried the same simple elegance that the rest of the palace had. The king wasn't even sitting in it when they entered. He wore long, heavy robes as he stood by the open balcony across the room. When the guard announced them, the king looked up and smiled lightly.
"Welcome," he said kindly.
Fujitaka knelt, and Syaoran did the same. "Thank you for meeting with us, Clow-ou."
Clow smiled again, his glasses flashing in the light of the sun. He gestured for them to stand. "You've come a long way, I'm told. The both of you."
As he spoke those last words, he sent Syaoran a strange look. He was still smiling, but it made Syaoran feel like the was a cold draft on his neck. There was something in the king's eyes, as if he were seeing right through him. It made him feel uncomfortable.
"Yes, we have. As I told you in my letter, I am very interested in the ruins you have in this land. They seem like quite a mysterious landmark."
Clow looked back to Fujitaka. "They really are! I look forward to your reports of what you can find there. Yes, there are many secrets there waiting to be revealed, as all secrets must."
Fujitaka and Clow began discussing the details of schedule and how the excavation would go. Syaoran normally would have been very interested in it all, but he was so distracted by the king himself. Everything Clow said seemed to hold more than simply his spoken words, not even just double meanings. It was more like infinite meanings. The impression was hard to describe. Syaoran couldn't really think of the words for the man.
"Father!" A young voice interrupted, along with the patter of running feet.
Clow turned to the young girl with a smile. "Sakura-hime?"
"I'm sorry! You have a guest?" she apologized when she realized that they were there.
Clow smiled again. "It's quite alright."
Fujitaka stepped forward, dipping his head in a bow to the princess. Syaoran looked up and did the same.
"Hello, your highness," Fujitaka greeted. "My name is Fujitaka, I'll be overseeing the excavation of this country's ruins."
He touched a hand to Syaoran's shoulder. "And please allow me to introduce my son, Syaoran-kun."
The princess smiled and nodded.
"Excuse me for a moment, please," Clow said as he led his daughter aside, kneeling down to speak softly with her.
Syaoran looked up to Fujitaka. "That's the princess?" he asked.
Fujitaka nodded. "She looks nice, doesn't she?"
The boy looked back to her, noticing that she was glancing at him while she spoke with her father. Syaoran couldn't help it as his face heated up. She did look nice, and really pretty too. Her hair was a lighter brown with some red in it. She was paler than he would have figured a princess of a desert kingdom would be. Maybe she spent a lot of time indoors. When she noticed him looking at her, she smiled brightly, and Syaoran felt his heartbeat stutter, which was strange. He lifted his hand to the vein in his neck, trying to figure out why his pulse had quickened when she looked at him.
With a soft laugh, Fujitaka patted his hair. Syaoran didn't understand why he was laughing. What if there was something medically wrong with him? But he didn't get the chance to ask. The king walked back over to them, the princess by his side.
She walked forward, excitement on her face. "My name's Sakura. Your name is Syaoran-kun, yes?"
Syaoran blinked. "Uh- yes..."
Sakura giggled, smiling brightly. "Would you like to play with me, Syaoran-kun?"
"Uh…" Syaoran blushed again, then looked up to Fujitaka. For help or for permission, he wasn't sure which he wanted more.
Fujitaka patted Syaoran's back again, prompting him forward. "I'll come and get you when it's time to go home."
Syaoran swallowed, looking back to the princess. "O-okay.."
With another smile, Sakura grabbed him by the hand and led him off out of the throne room. He looked back to see Fujitaka smile lightly, then walk away to further discuss the matter of the ruins with the king.
"Come on, I'll show you my favorite part of the garden! You'll love it!" Princess Sakura said excitedly, pulling him down the halls of the palace.
Through the columns of pillars, they entered a large garden which was full of green plants and fragrant flowers. Syaoran wasn't entirely sure how it was possible to create such an environment for such lush plant life to grow in a desert climate, but they succeeded. Maybe it had something to do with the level of moisture in the air. It felt heavy with it, making his skin feel damp. They must have had some sort of system pumping the moisture into the air to make it more sustaining than the dry air of the desert. It was beautiful and ingenious.
The entire space was filled with green, more green that he'd seen in the entire existence he knew. The only thing he'd seen similar to this was the pictures in some of Fujitaka's books.
"Wow…" he couldn't help but mutter, totally in awe of the jungle he'd been led into.
Sakura looked back, smiling brightly. "I told you you'd love it! Now we're almost there."
She led him through the narrow paths between the growth. On either side of them was shelves holding up pots full of different sorts of plants and flowers.
"Here we are!" Sakura said triumphantly, and Syaoran couldn't help but let his jaw drop.
There were so many colors of every kind of flower (he assumed they were all there.) In the little corner was a small fountain made to look like a waterfall, crashing against the rocks. It spilled out, constructed to bring water to the plants surrounding it, so it was a tool rather than just a decoration.
From the side was a balcony looking over the kingdom, framed with columns. It looked like an entrance to the garden, which means Sakura had pulled him through the entire garden when she could've brought him to the closest door. He didn't mind, the garden was amazing.
Sakura hadn't let go of his hand, and was now bouncing up and down in excitement, jarring him with the movement. "What do you think, Syaoran-kun?"
He looked at her strangely. "Why have you shown me this place, your highness?"
Her head tilted to the side, confusion in her features. "Because I think it's pretty, and I wanted to show it to my new friend Syaoran-kun."
Syaoran couldn't help but stare at that. Friend? They'd only met a couple minutes ago, how could they already be friends? She was a princess and he was the adopted son of an archeologist. The class difference was quite large. Although he found himself not minding the label too much. He didn't really have any friends, and wasn't entirely sure what it meant to be someone else's. He had a father, and he had mentors, but not really friends. And earlier Fujitaka had said it would be good for him to have friends his own age. Syaoran couldn't tell what difference age made, but he didn't try to argue.
Looking back to Sakura, he couldn't deny the immense warmth which filled him at her words, and her smile. Is this what it feels like to be a friend? He couldn't tell, feelings were hard to understand sometimes. They were abstract, not concrete like facts he could read in a book. Emotions couldn't really be read.
"Sakura-hime," he said after a moment. "Thank you… for showing me this place. It is very beautiful."
Sakura nearly squealed, twirling around in delight. "It is, isn't it?!"
"Uh… yes, your highness," Syaoran replied, confused at the second question.
Sakura laughed, smiling at him once more. "I hope that you and your father stay for a while, and that I can spend more time with Syaoran-kun, if that's alright?"
The warmth blossomed within him once more and his hand moved to grasp his shirt, his fist over his heart. She was so kind to someone she hadn't even known an hour. "I-it's alright."
With another blinding smile, she took his hand once more and led him to a small patch of grass and clover beside the columns. His face was hot again as she sat down, gesturing for him to do the same. Then she started picking at the little green leaf clusters and somehow knotting them together. Syaoran watched her while she weaved the stems together.
"Wha-what are you doing, your highness?" Syaoran asked after a moment of watching her hands tie.
Sakura looked up. "I'm making a flower crown! Well, not flower, since there aren't any clover flowers right now. But the clovers themselves work fine too. Do you want to learn how?"
Syaoran looked at her hands, then back to her smiling face and nodded.
"Okay, what you do is you carefully tie the stem in a knot around the head of each clover. When it's big enough to fit on your head, then you can tie the ends together," Sakura explained, showing him with her own crown as he picked a few clovers from the ground.
He tried pulling the stem into a knot as she showed him, although his snapped while hers curved.
"You'll get the hang of it," she encourage.
They spent a while working on the crowns, and Syaoran hadn't realized how much it took to just get two tied together, but he was determined to do his best. The princess had taught him, he would not let her down. Eventually he was able to fold the stem without it breaking, but by that time, Sakura's crown was almost done. Hers looked full and nice while his was quite flat and boring looking. She assured him it was completely fine, but he still worked hard to make it as good as hers.
"Oi, kaiju," someone said from above them. "Who's the kid?"
Syaoran lifted his head to the new person, people actually. There was a boy with dark hair and one with silver. They were standing by the pillars, the dark haired one eyeing Syaoran. Syaoran couldn't fathom what he'd done to receive such a nasty glare.
Sakura stood up, anger in her face. "I'm not a kaiju!"
The brown haired boy looked at her again, smirking. "That's just what a kaiju would say."
Sakura's cheek puffed as she stomped forward and attempted to kick at the boy's leg, which he dodged.
"That's probably enough now, majesties," the silver haired boy stepped in, a light smile on his face.
Sakura backed up to stand beside Syaoran again. "Syaoran-kun, this is my brother, Prince Touya. And this is Yukito-san, he's preparing to become a high priest."
Syaoran bowed to the both of them. "I'm Syaoran."
Yukito bowed his head in response while Touya simply frowned at him. "What's he doing here, though?" Touya asked with what seemed to be annoyance in his tone. The prince's attitude towards him completely confused him. Syaoran had paid the proper respects, introduced himself. He hadn't done anything impolite or of any other sort than just being there. He didn't think just being the same room as someone could warrant such a response.
Sakura gestured to him, seemingly not seeing Touya's glare, or simply ignoring it. "Syaoran-kun's father is the chief archeologist who's going to investigate the ruins outside of the kingdom. Fujitaka-san is here talking with father right now."
Touya sniffed, but Yukito spoke over that. "That should be interesting. Those ruins are quite the mystery, so I'm sure there will be many things to discover there."
Syaoran nodded. "There will be a lot of preparation before any digging can be done, though."
"So that means you'll stay longer?" Sakura asked, turning to him with excitement on his face.
Syaoran felt himself blush again, taking a step backwards. "Uh.. probably? I haven't heard any concrete details from my father yet."
Sakura jumped up, squealing happily. "i'm so glad! I'm glad that Syaoran-kun can stay and be my friend! C'mon, let's finish our crowns."
It wasn't long after that that Fujitaka came to get him. Sakura placed the crown she'd made on his head and told him she hoped she'd see him soon. Which made him blush. But he returned the sentiment, because he truly wanted to see her again as well, sooner than later. There was just something about her that was… more than kind, it was just a general pleasure being able to spend time with her. His heart still raced when she smiled at him or took his hand, but it didn't feel like a bad thing.
"What did the king say?" Syaoran asked, eager to know what the dig would be like.
Fujitaka smiled down to him. "He said that we could take as much time as we want on this project, that the historical prospect of it is important to him and to this country. We will have to make as much preparation as we can, because working in the desert is dangerous. It will probably be at least a few years before we're able to actually start digging. Are you okay with that?"
Syaoran smiled at that. "Yes. This country is nice, and... " He looked down again, heat rising to his face once more. "The princess said she would be happy if I could stay longer."
"So how was it with the princess?" Fujitaka asked as they walked home.
Syaoran gently touched the leafy crown as he held it in his hands. "She taught me to make a crown made of clover."
"Did you make that one?"
He shook his head. "This is the one the princess made. I left mine with her."
Fujitaka patted his head as they continued to walk through the streets.
Syaoran closed his eyes, remembering Sakura's face as she beamed at him. It was a smile unlike any he'd ever seen. So bright and beautiful and kind.
"The princess, she's so warm, isn't she?" Syaoran said, more to himself than to Fujitaka.
"Yes," Fujitaka answered. "Sometimes a kind heart can hold more warmth than the sun."
Syaoran looked up at him, unsure how that could be possible. The sun was a burning gaseous mass, giving warmth to the entire galaxy. How could one person's heart carry more heat than that? But as Syaoran remembered what it felt like to be with Sakura, he couldn't help but see the truth in Fujitaka's words. He held a little tighter to the crown and followed Fujitaka through the streets.
A few months had passed since Fujitaka had brought his team to the kingdom of Clow. It wasn't much different from the desert they had been in before, except the people there were unusually kind. The princess Sakura was a prime example of this, but it wasn't just her. The citizens themselves were so happy and content, living together peacefully. The market Syaoran had been found in had been filled with people who frowned and moaned complaints, fully ignoring the quiet, wounded boy at the side of the road. The people of Clow seemed much kinder.
Syaoran stood beside Fujitaka as they waited in line to pay for some produce at the market. Looking around, he took in the sight of the brighter market of Clow. Not everyone was smiling, but there was an indescribable air of peace to it. It was exciting. Looking around though, he saw a man sitting beside a wall. His shoes looked worn and his clothes old. In his hand was a warm-looking pastry, probably from the bakery not far from where he sat.
"Father?" Syaoran asked up to Fujitaka.
"Yes?"
Syaoran pointed to the man, then looked up. "Is he like me?"
Fujitaka looked at the man for a moment, then patted Syaoran's head. "We can't know what someone is like just by looking at them."
"Right," Syaoran replied, glancing at the man with an odd feeling in his stomach. Sympathy and… envy. It was a strange thing to feel. Maybe because he was being taken care of while he sat there. People smiled and talked to him as they walked by, handing him stray coins. Had it been because Syaoran was a child that people didn't want to help him? He didn't know, but he found himself walking over to the man.
"Syaoran-kun?" Fujitaka said questioningly, but didn't stop him.
As Syaoran approached, the man looked up with a kind smile on his wrinkled face.
"Hello," he said.
Syaoran said nothing, just stared at the man, trying to figure out this confusion he had.
"Can I help you?"
Syaoran blinked. "Why do you want to help me?"
The man laughed, which just confused Syaoran more. He tilted his head to the side. "Is it because people help you?"
The man looked up at him with a deep expression. "Maybe, I guess. I can't walk very easily, so there are many people I know here who go out of their way to help me. Are your parents here, little one?"
Syaoran nodded, then pointed over to Fujitaka, who was watching from where he stood in line. "My father. He adopted me after he found me alone on the street."
Syaoran wasn't sure why he was telling this man all of this. He felt a strange sort of solidarity with him. As he spoke, the man's face grew more solemn.
"That must've been hard, being alone like that."
"Are you alone?" Syaoran asked.
At that, the man smiled with sadness in his eyes. "Not at your age, I wasn't."
"But you're alone now?"
He laughed again. "My, aren't you a curious one!"
Syaoran looked down. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Asking questions is how we learn and grow, and you still got lots of both of those to do."
He knew that. He still was trying to learn all of the language people used. There was so much he didn't know, only having a year or so of memories. The books Fujitaka had were barely a fraction of the knowledge of the world. Syaoran wished he could learn it all, although he knew that was probably impossible.
Syaoran reached into his pocket and pulled out the couple of coins Fujitaka had given him to buy something he liked at the market. He bowed his head and held out the coins to the man.
"You don't need to give me this," the man said.
Syaoran shook his head. "I want to help, because you're alone, and when I was alone no one but Fujitaka-san helped me. I want to help you."
The man hesitated for a moment, then took the coins. As Syaoran looked at him, he could see the man's eyes glistening.
"T-thank you, child."
Syaoran bowed once more, then ran back to Fujitaka.
Fujitaka didn't say anything, just patted Syaoran's head as they moved off to finish their shopping.
A/N: Sneak peak - the next chapter will be called 'A Mother' and will have lots of Sakura in it, because I missed her and was so glad to have her back for this chapter! (I miss Fai and Kurogane and Mokona too.. maybe I'll be able to find a place to have them, because they're so great) Reviews would be so great, thank you thank you!