Love without Words
By Zilver Wings
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Summary: She was the ice princess who was mute. When her family hired a tutor to teach her sign language, they never expected love to blossom. But a princess and a commoner would never work together. However, things change and Syaoran proves not to be an ordinary peasant.
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Chapter 4
Portrait of a Cherry Blossom
Syaoran was humming softly as he walked to his room in the Kinomoto palace, with his hands in his pockets, smiling as he grasped the object firmly in his hand.
'I wonder if she will like it?"
Just then, he saw a familiar figure pinning a maid against the wall in the corridor and was roaming her sides as the maid struggled to break free of his hold. It was Chiharu, possibly the only maid in this palace who wanted only to be his friend and nothing more. He felt steam come out from his ears as he charged towards her.
"Stop it immediately!"
The figure immediately dropped his hands to his sides and turned his head around slowly,
Syaoran gritted his teeth in attempt to stop himself from punching the lights out of the boy who tried to rape Sakura a few days ago.
"Uhh, hi." The boy backed away fearfully as he saw Syaoran slowly advanced on him, both not aware that the brunette had already ran away in fright.
"What are you doing here?"
His voice was calm, but somehow, his murderous eyes scared him even more. He struggled to compose himself and spoke with a trembling voice.
"I am Prince Yoshiwa Yuki of the Yoshiwa Kingdom. I am going to be engaged to the fair Princess Sakura soon."
A smirk formed on Yuki's lips as he saw Syaoran's eyes widen with each syllable. He expected the proud peasant to crawl at his feet and beg for forgiveness, but instead, Syaoran whispered, "This cannot possibly be true." Before running off and leaving the prince alone, stunned.
Yuki's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Look out, I will make your life a living hell after I marry Sakura."
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The king was in his room, staring at some book which he didn't know as his thoughts drifted away.
He could not forget the look his daughter just gave him some time ago. They reflected so much emotion that he couldn't possibly list them out. But two stood out from the rest of them. Hurt and betrayal.
But he had no choice.
In Kinomoto, you could be the ruler as long you were capable, sex did not matter. Ever since Touya left them, the only candidate left was Sakura. However, in order to be a ruler, you had to be married by twenty so there would be an heir.
Fujitaka was aging, and he knew that it was almost time to let his daughter take over. He had let Sakura refuse all her suitors before because they had wanted her to move to their kingdom once they were married. However, the Yoshiwa Kingdom was more than happy to let the prince to move in the Kinomoto kingdom.
The Yoshiwa Kingdom was small, but Prince Yoshiwa Yuki, although was known to be quite a playboy, had also proved his ability as he had won almost every war he had ever led.
However, there was one secret Fujitaka hid from him. It was Sakura's handicap. He casually lied to Yuki that Sakura had suffered from a big attack and was in deep sorrow, so she was not going to speak for a while. The prince had looked quite doubtful when he heard his words, but at that time, Sakura appeared and caused the disastrous scene.
He half expected Yuki to stomp away angrily, but to his amazement, Yuki smiled and said that she was the kind of women he was looking for.
Fujitaka had some doubts, he knew Yuki only saw Sakura for her looks, but he was also in an arranged marriage with Nadeshiko, and they fell in love after a while. So it was going to be the same for the two, right?
His conscience disagreed with him, but he chose to ignored it.
He called in his faithful butler.
"I don't want to see anyone today."
The butler understood, and looked at the king sorrowfully before leaving.
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"What do you mean I can't see the king?"
Syaoran yelled as the two guards, who stood emotionlessly outside the hard wooden door that separated him from Fujitaka.
"I'm sorry, Li-san, but the king has forbid anyone to go see him."
"But I have something really important to ask him!"
"I'm sorry, we are only carrying out the orders."
Syaoran sighed in frustration and raked his hand through his tousled chestnut hair.
He walked to his room and opened the door in resignation when he saw someone standing outside the balcony.
It was Sakura. Her back was to him.
Anger left him and was replaced by confusion and concern.
He neared her and whispered her name softly.
"Princess?"
He stood beside her and realized that she was gripping the fence tightly, her knuckles turning white.
She was looking at the scenario below her, but he could see that her eyes, the tint of spark once present in her eyes since his arrival was completely gone. They became dull once more, and it made his heart ache.
"I'm sorry about your engagement, I will do anything to stop him from marrying you."
Sakura turned in surprise. His voice had been as hard as steel as he said that sentence. Should she trust him?
A look at his determined eyes told her that she could trust him with her heart.
Syaoran stared into her eyes. They were clouded with doubt at first, but then, they cleared. It was strange. They seemed to form some sort of bond with each other. Somehow, the sign language Syaoran taught Sakura never did come to use. Sakura was rarely with her father, since he was a busy man, and she certainly didn't communicate with the servants. That left only him, but they could always tell each other's emotions whenever they looked into each other's eyes. To them, it was the best communication tool.
He saw that she was pale of cheer, so he walked behind her and put his hands on hers, making her face slowly turn beet red.
Gently, he unclasped her fingers on the fence and turned around so she was facing him.
He fumbled around in his coat, and feeling the object in his hand, he took out his other hand to cover it and took it out.
"I bought this for you at the market I saw today."
He took away one hand and Sakura gave a soundless gasp.
On his hand was a beautiful necklace. Fixed at the center of the thin, silver chain, was a little silver bear sitting while holding a small pink cherry blossom. There was a small jade at the middle.
"You like it?"
Syaoran let out his breath in relief as he saw her nod her head vigorously. When he designed it, he thought it looked pretty childish, but somehow, suited her. Luckily, his conscience didn't fail him.
He took it from her hands delicately and put it on her slender neck. Secretly enjoying the cold and warm touch on her milky white skin, Sakura quickly picked up a hand mirror and looked at her reflection.
It was situated just below her collarbone, and was simply breathtaking. She held the pendent in her hands, then feeling a scratch behind it, she turned it over and her eyes widened. In the back was a was a word engraved artistically on it- Sakura.
Syaoran saw her confused look, and walked closer to see the word. Cursing in his mind, he quickly spoke.
"Uhh, the person who sold it to me was very nice, and let me engrave your name on it."
Sakura nodded her head and her face radiated in happiness although she wasn't smiling.
Syaoran couldn't believe it. How dense was this girl? He personally thought that the first excuse he said about buying the necklace in a market was pretty ridiculous. I mean, for a princess, she should probably know all about jewelry, and that necklace there certainly cost him a fortune. But the second one, about him engraving it in five minutes, it was simply absurd!
Oh well, it was because of her dense nature that made him get off the hook so easily. She was one strange girl, he concluded. She had such clashing personalities. It seemed impossible to have all the personalities she did in one person, but she did, and somehow, it still made her perfect.
He stared, entranced by her beauty. She seemed so happy, such a sight should not be gone unseen. Suddenly, he got an idea.
"Hey, Princess Sakura, how about I draw you an oil painting portrait?"
Sakura looked up from her mirror and knitted her eyebrows together. She didn't like to be watched by others, but seeing his eager expression, she didn't want to disappoint him, so she nodded her head in hesitation.
Happy with the reply, Syaoran quickly fished out his drawing equipments from his bedside drawer before settling down on an armchair next to the bed.
'What does he expect me to do, just sit there?'
On cue, as if reading her mind, Syaoran opened his mouth.
"Sakura, you can just sit there. Strike whatever pose you like, just freeze."
Then, they both froze.
"Oh my, I am so sorry, Princess Sakura, it just slipped out of my mouth, please excuse me for that."
However, Sakura's face showed no anger. In fact, a very small but visible smile was playing on her lips. It was the first time she saw him squirm, and it was very funny.
No one outside the family had ever called her Sakura before, only five people did. Her father, mother, onii-chan, Tomoyo, and Daidouji-san. Somehow, it seemed so right when he called her name.
"So, Princess Sakura"
He stopped mid-sentence as he saw her frown. Immediately, he realized what was wrong.
"Do you want me to call you Sakura?"
One look from her eyes and he knew that his guess was right.
"Okay, Sakura," he emphasized the word, making Sakura smile in satisfaction. "Just stop moving for now, okay?"
After a while, Sakura stopped squirming, and Syaoran took out some brushes and began to paint.
He drew her face first. It was thin and oval-shaped, and her facial features were delicate. Her look was serene. Her big emerald eyes were looking faraway, as if in thought, and glowed softly. Her nose was straight, and her full pink lips were curved slightly upwards. A blush on either side of her face contrasted with her pale complexion, and her auburn hair framed her face nicely. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought that she was a fallen angel.
Then, after he'd finished her head with alarming speed, he moved downwards.
He painted her neck without the necklace so it would dry, and then to her dress. It was only a simple yellow knee-length cotton dress. He had seen more beautiful ones. But, at that moment, no dress in the word could look more becoming than the one she wore. Her hands were folded neatly on her lap and her slender legs were crossed with white flat heels.
Then, he came back to the neck, and slowly painted the necklace he had given her. It added a spark to her rather dull outfit.
"All done."
He looked at his watch and chuckled as Sakura gaped at him.
"Okay, I know, two hours is pretty short, but hey, I'm a master! Come closer to have a look."
Sakura got up from her sitting position and walked closer towards him.
When she saw the oil painting, she was astonished. She had plenty of self-portraits, but not one of them could be compared to the one Syaoran just drew. It looked real. The colors were bright, and it captured the person's, in that case, her, facial expression completely.
Just then, someone knocked at the door and in stuck Chiharu's timid face.
"Uhh, Li-san and Princess Kinomoto, the king is expecting you downstairs for tea."
Sakura narrowed her eyes at the wall, letting out all her anger on it, then walked downstairs, followed by Syaoran.
When they arrived, Fujitaka and Yuki were already present, each taking the ends of the table, the seat reserved for her father and for an important guest.
"Good afternoon to you two. Syaoran, come and sit next to me." Fujitaka smiled pleasantly at the two.
She saw her otou-san wiggle his eyebrows at her suggestively to the seat next to Yuki, who was grinning from ear to ear while his eyes traveled down her body, making her shiver involuntarily. She ignored her father's will and quickly grabbed a seat next to Syaoran.
Yuki's grin faltered and Fujitaka's lips were in a straight thin line, but Sakura didn't take notice of them as she slowly grabbed a cheese sandwich in the basket closest to her.
In the Kinomoto palace, there was no such thing as dinner, teatime was the last meal of the day, so many delicacies were present on the table, so it was impossible for a person to sit at the table and get everything they desired.
Syaoran was standing up and reaching over to get a piece of salmon sushi when he felt a hand tug on his sleeve. He looked down to see Sakura staring at the piece of sushi he grabbed on his chopsticks.
Smiling affectionately at her, Syaoran gave his piece of sushi to her before grabbing another piece for himself.
Sakura moved her hands, a gesture in sign language that meant arigatou. Syaoran just stared at her for a moment, before beaming and did back a 'you're welcome' gesture.
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, but the scene exchanged between the two had been carved deeply into the minds of the two men.
Fujitaka looked worriedly at the two as he saw a jealous Yuki glaring furiously at Syaoran.
To be continued…
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Whew, I've finished another chapter, whoppee! stands on chair and does a victory dance before losing her balance and fall upside down on her head
Hope you liked this chapter, I thought it wasn't bad.
There's a strange thing I've realized in all of my stories. The reviews have a tendency to drop after every chapter, why is it so? Good grief! Oh well, thanks for everyone who reviewed and please continue to R&R.
Firnoviel- I appreciate your wanting to beta my story, but unlike all other great authors, I tend to think of the plot for a long time before finish it in a few hours and then just post it online, so I won't have to worry about being accused of not updating my story frequently. But it would be great if you could help me rewrite some sentences where I always mix up my tenses so I'll understand what's wrong with it, if you have time, I have already studied four grammar books when I was in primary school, and you know what, I still forget what adjectives and adverbs are, I'm a hopeless case! Sorry but making it unclear, but Sakura is not color blind, the 'life she once saw as colorful and bright turned to black and white' is just her perspective of life. And about the engagement ring, you were right, I asked my classmates and they said it was the middle finger. Then, I looked up on wikipedia and it said it was supposed to be on the ring finger, ar, thank you so much for pointing it out! runs out of house with knife and hunts down my classmates
l x lmystikalxstarzl x l- Thanks for volunteering to be my beta reader, please refer to the reply I gave to firnoviel. Yeah, people do say that I give out too many details, but I don't plan to keep it a secret. I've also said earlier, I hate those kind of angst fics that don't give anything out until the last moment, when everything just comes out suddenly. It's ridiculous, as if the writer hadn't thought of the plot earlier and just wanted to hurry up and finish the story.
For all the others, thank you again, if you spot any mistakes or have any questions regarding this story, please feel free to tell me.
By the way, do you think Tomoyo should appear in this story? I want her here, but I can't find any place for her. If you have any suggestions, please tell me.
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