Chapter 7
The Getaway Girls
Author's note: I am very sorry for the delay in updating; work has been hell on writing time but it is so much fun! I just have to say this: I have the joy of watching a real-life Sakura and Syaoran at my office, and it is so much fun, I may someday write about them XD
From now on please check my profile for notes on updates. This is what happens when you have three fics in progress and a busy busy time at work! This fic will continue to be updated at least once every 15 days, because I usually revise before posting after two wonderful authors, parma-violets and Blatant Subtleties, have gone through it and given their brilliant suggestions. If you haven't read parma-violets' "Void" (magnificent story that takes off after the second movie, with a beautifully tortured Syaoran!) and Blatant Subtleties' "Ice Princess" (which brilliantly tortures BOTH S&S and has yummy Yue/Touya in it!), you have missed half your FFN life:D
I am including suggested mood music with new chapters for you to listen to if you want to get into the mood of the chapter :D
Chapter 7 Mood Music: "Light of My Life," Lara Fabian and Lee Hom Wang
Yelan Li watched as Fai Flourite, in a well-cut Armani tuxedo, entered the party with Mei Ling. Such a handsome young man, Yelan thought. She had been surprised to receive a phone call the day before from Fai, asking formally for an audience with her. She immediately made her assistants run a check on his background, and found that he was the young man who had been in the dojo with Mei Ling earlier.
And she knew what Fai wanted.
Interesting,she thought, and she smiled. First, Mei Ling approaches me for advice about this Fai, and now, here he is, seeking me out.
She agreed to meet with Fai at ten in the morning the day after the New Year's Day party, and she was looking forward to meeting the man who had tamed Mei Ling. He's got to be quite a character, Yelan thought, and I will enjoy finding out more about him.
And she had two other, equally interesting appointments that day, in the afternoon. A saying from her deceased husband Xiao Lang ran through her mind: know thine enemy and be thine enemy's friend, for friends are vulnerable and easier to destroy.
Yelan was interested in finding out who needed to be destroyed for the sake of the happiness of the next generation of her Clan, after all. She'd arranged for Eriol to be present during the first appointment, and Syaoran during the second.
She had an interesting day to look forward to, and unconsciously, she stretched out her long, lacquered nails. Very interesting.
A Bit of a Complication
Eriol pulled himself erect after he was thrown out of the Li library by Sonomi Daidouji. It had gone as badly as he'd thought it would.
I can't give up Tomoyo! Not now! But I can't force her to choose between me and her mother...I have no right!
But I love her! He clenched his fists and caught himself in time to prevent himself from banging his head on the wall.
Another voice in his head said, Ask Tomoyo what she wants. Because whatever it was that she wanted, he would give it to her. But if she abided by her mother's wishes, what then? Could he walk away from the woman who gave meaning to his life?
And yet, could he separate her from the mother who adored her?
I love her, Eriol thought. I want her to be happy! Eriol had never wanted anyone more, and he knew he'd wasted two years already, two years he could have spent loving the woman who meant the world to him. Now, faced with the prospect of losing Tomoyo, Eriol decided he would fight for her if she wanted him to. He suddenly tasted blood; he gasped, realizing he'd bitten down hard on his lip as he was thinking.
I have to make something of myself for Tomoyo's sake...and my own. But as Syaoran said, I have to stop thinking only about myself. So he picked himself up and searched Li Manor for Tomoyo. He heard her beautiful voice and followed it, feeling honey run through his ears; she was running through scales on the piano as she vocalized.
She is so beautiful in so many ways, Eriol thought. And if she'll let me, I want to spend the rest of my life finding out just how many reasons there are to love her. Finally, Eriol smiled. It was hard for him to think of Tomoyo and not smile these days.
Tomoyo turned as soon as he was in the doorway, seeing her handsome, raven-haired lover come up to her quietly with a soft expression in his midnight-blue eyes. "Eriol Blue," she greeted, and came up to plant a kiss on his lips, a kiss he returned with the fear that it might be one of their last.
She looked at him when they pulled apart. She knows, she always knows, Eriol thought; it was the way she was looking at him.
"We have to talk, snow girl," he whispered in her ear softly as he held her close, breathing in her beloved scent.
Tomoyo looked at him, sensing his disturbance.
"She hates you," she said softly, and her gaze became distant.
Eriol did not reply; instead, he watched Tomoyo, his heart aching, wanting nothing more than to take her away to somewhere where no one would ever find them.
Stop being selfish, Hiiragizawa! he chided himself.
"We'll see about that," she said, her jaw set in a nasty line Eriol had never seen before. He knew Tomoyo was an obedient child, and a woman who always put her mother first, before everyone else, so he stared at her and said soothingly, "Snow girl, she is your mother, after all."
"So?"
"So I don't want you to regret anything you say or do now, that's all," he said as he ran a hand down her long, silky hair.
Tomoyo pushed Eriol away, her violet eyes flashing dangerously.
"You always say that," and her eyes narrowed. "It's as if you think I don't think things through. Didn't you say you loved me?"
"I do," Eriol said softly.
"Then who cares what she says? And why worry about me making a mistake? I know what I want, Eriol...and it's you."
Eriol drew in his breath, and to his surprise, he felt his eyes water. She touches me this deeply, he thought, the way no one else has. That's why I have to think of what's best for her.
He drew in a deep breath, fighting his anger at Tomoyo's mother, tempering it by reminding himself of how much he loved her. "I do care what your mother says, because you're the one who's going to have to live with the consequences." Eriol narrated what had happened in the library, and Tomoyo listened silently.
"I know you two are close," Eriol said. There was a strained look on her face that worried him.
"That was before," Tomoyo said. "When I was younger."
"Why, have your feelings changed?" Eriol asked, alarmed.
"Not really, except...I'm not a girl anymore, Eriol. Who I choose to love is not something she can dictate."
"But she can make your life miserable, you know. I've seen it happen with other friends and people I know. I don't want to drive a wedge between you and your mother. Parents are important," Eriol said gently.
"Easy for you to say; your parents worship you," Tomoyo said. "It was just me and my mom when I was growing up. You lived the life of a spoiled prince, from what I hear from Syaoran."
Eriol sighed. "Not exactly. They don't say it but I know they wish they'd had someone like Syaoran instead. They tolerate me because I'm amusing and good-looking. In case you haven't noticed, they haven't moved here to Japan with the rest of the Clan."
"Neither have Mei Ling's parents, and that doesn't mean they don't love her," Tomoyo pointed out. "Are you going to obsess over this parent thing? It's not like you're marrying my mom! What's more important to you: what my mother thinks, or me? You said you waited for me for two years. Fine. Now you have me. And you're going to let me go because my mother doesn't like you?"
He was silent, waiting for her to continue.
"I want you, Eriol, and if you love me you're going to stay right here with me no matter what my mom says. If you leave now then everything you showed me, everything you said will be a lie. Was it?" Tomoyo stared straight into Eriol's midnight-blue eyes.
Eriol drew in his breath, gathered Tomoyo into his arms, and bent down to kiss her passionately. "No lie, snow girl. Never with you."
"Then stay," she breathed against his lips, "because that's what I want."
They shared a kiss made sweeter by the knowledge that they could lose one another anytime soon.
As they walked out of the conservatory, hand-in-hand, they saw Mei Ling and Fai walking quietly through the gallery of Li Manor. Tomoyo put a finger over Eriol's lips before he could say something rude, and drew him into the shadow of an archway.
Fai had an arm over Mei Ling's shoulders as he explained which pieces were valuable, and which had probably been chosen for sentimental value. He also explained the difference between various media, types of brushstrokes, and even the kinds of paint used; he was enjoying talking about his art, and Mei Ling was listening intently to him, pausing to ask questions every now and then.
When Mei Ling said, "I wish I had a portrait of me here," Fai laughed and said, "I would love to be the one to paint it." He stopped to lift her chin and kiss her tenderly. To Tomoyo and Eriol's surprise, Mei Ling did not slap him or say anything rude; instead, she twined her arms around Fai's neck, and pulled him closer.
"I love you, Mei Ling. Thank you for agreeing to marry me," Fai said as they walked towards where Tomoyo and Eriol were. Both started, and stared at each other, the same thought in mind: marriage? Hadn't those two only met each other a few weeks ago?
"Fai," Mei Ling suddenly stopped just a few feet away, and she held his hand in hers. "Thank you. I...I don't know how to say this, but...when I'm with you, my mind is quiet, and I'm not so angry anymore."
"It's good to hear that," Fai said softly as he stroked her cheek with one hand.
Mei Ling took Fai's arms and wrapped them around her waist. "I want to leave the world behind and just be with you." She closed her eyes and leaned back against him; Fai braced himself lightly to catch her, and nuzzled the top of her head; Mei Ling leaned into his embrace, and raised her lips to accept a gentle kiss.
Eriol cocked an eyebrow. Such a sweet scene...but since when had his nasty, hot-tempered cousin been so...sappy?
"Mei-rose, we can't. Sometimes the hardest thing is to live in the real world. Escape is easy, sweet rose. It's in dealing with everyday life that we see how strong we really are. I should know; I spent years trying to run away from myself."
"Aw, knock off the Confucius mode," Mei Ling protested, not even complaining about the nicknames Fai used on her. "I want you to be my romantic prince today."
"As you wish," Fai smiled, using a line from one of his favorite books. "I love you, Mei Ling Li. I would like to spend the rest of my life making you happy."
Mei Ling groaned, and tried to stomp on his foot; Fai dodged her easily. "Genuine lines! Stop using movie lines!"
Fai laughed. "So much fun to tease you, Mei-baby."
"Keep it up and I'm going to toss you over my shoulder," Mei Ling threatened.
"Does she have to ruin the mood?" Tomoyo whispered into Eriol's ear, and it was his turn to hold a finger to his lips.
Fai looked in their direction, one blond eyebrow raised, and Eriol yanked Tomoyo into the corridor through the archway. To his horror, they wound up in front of Syaoran's bedroom door, and they could hear Sakura giggling, then gasping Syaoran's name. Tomoyo smiled in delight, and pressed an ear to the door.
"How many times are we going to play voyeur, snow girl?" Eriol whispered softly, trying to tug her away.
"Shush! I want to know if they're making love!" Tomoyo whispered back fiercely.
Mentally making a note to invest in earplugs and an eye mask, Eriol sighed and resigned himself to his fate. If becoming a voyeur is what it takes to make Tomoyo happy, then just call me Peeping Eriol, he thought.
At least this time he didn't have to see Syaoran, and as Tomoyo began to tell him what she thought was going on inside, he smiled then picked her up in his arms.
"Eriol Blue!"
"Snow girl, we have to go back downstairs. Besides," he smirked, "you can't film through a door. I happen to know Syaoran's is made of solid mahogany." He laughed at Tomoyo's dismayed expression, then cheered her up with a gentle kiss as she lay in his strong arms.
They were unaware of an angry pair of violet eyes watching them from the end of the corridor. That bastard boy has the nerve to defy me within an hour!
Sonomi Daidouji chose to ignore the love shining in Eriol's eyes, and in her daughter's. He will never be good enough for her, she thought as her eyes narrowed. She remembered the marriage catalog service Yelan Li had once used in hopes of finding Syaoran a wife several years ago, and decided to talk to her about it later; perhaps there were eligible men there to take Tomoyo's mind off the good-looking playboy Li, since Syaoran was no longer available.
I can't have her end up with someone just like her father, Sonomi thought. I just love my little girl so much. I would rather that she hate me for breaking her up with that Eriol now than for her to hate me later for not stopping her from being with such a worthless person.
And I know Yelan will agree with me. Won't she? Doesn't she disdain the boy? I will come over again and speak to her tomorrow.
When the thought of Tomoyo's father flashed through Sonomi's mind, she felt her cheeks burn. The bastard had seduced her, married her long enough to give her a daughter, then disappeared with almost half the family fortune. Certainly Eriol didn't need Tomoyo's money, but each time Sonomi remembered the times Eriol had landed in the tabloids, and why he had done so, she got even angrier, and more determined to prevent their relationship from going further or being consummated.
Sonomi had no idea how much she would end up hurting the daughter she so wanted to protect.
Once they realized that someone could walk into the corridor and catch them kissing, Eriol and Tomoyo decided to go back down and join the party. Once downstairs, they ran into Mei Ling and Fai. Tomoyo and Mei Ling looked at each other, introduced Fai and Eriol to each other quickly then abandoned the two young men in a corner.
Looking a bit disheveled but unable to control soft smiles from spreading across her face—and Tomoyo noticed, to her delight, that her lips were slightly swollen—Sakura joined Mei Ling and Tomoyo after a few minutes, and voiced a soft "Hoee?" when Tomoyo gave her an evil, knowing grin.
"Is that...an engagement ring?" Sakura asked when Mei Ling absently pushed her hair back with her right hand. "Oh, so nice! But who..." and she turned to look at Fai.
"Yeah, him." Mei Ling clearly wasn't volunteering any more information.
"You are going to have to tell us what happened; didn't you just meet him at the ball?" Tomoyo asked.
"Maybe another time." And Mei Ling was uncharacteristically silent.
"Aw come on," Tomoyo pressed, with an evil grin.
Mei Ling merely smiled and looked in Fai's direction, knowing somehow that he would be looking at her. He was, and he smiled gently; Mei Ling smiled back softly. Tomoyo followed the exchange, and was delighted that her normally volatile friend seemed to have found someone who calmed her down. She decided to let Mei Ling off the hook.
"Oh, all right," Tomoyo grumbled. "Everyone's getting engaged but me!"
"Like you and Eriol didn't just suddenly get together, huh?" Mei Ling shifted the attack, happy to have attention off her.
"Hah. Don't change the subject."
"Can we just have some coffee and cake?" Mei Ling began to walk towards the kitchen, and Tomoyo and Sakura followed her.
Back where Eriol and Fai were, Eriol was smiling. Based on the size of the rock he could see on Mei Ling's finger, he guessed Fai had proposed. Poor man.
"I don't think it's a bad thing, to be married to your cousin," Fai smiled.
"You read faces as well?" Eriol asked, unsurprised.
"Yours is telling me your heart has just been broken," Fai looked out the window so as not to embarrass Eriol, whom he remembered from high school.
Eriol sighed and chose not to answer. "Figures she'd pick someone like you. You've known her a long time, huh?"
Fai smiled. It was nice to meet someone for whom long explanations weren't necessary. "Since high school. My name then was Yui Sanosuke. I carry my middle name and my mother's maiden name now."
"Sounds familiar...wait, aren't you younger than Mei Ling?"
Fai sighed. "No, I just looked that way. But it's good to know someone remembers me, sort of. I came up to her in your junior year—I was a senior but I looked five years younger—and gave her a huge bunch of flowers and asked her out."
"Oh, THAT!" Eriol grinned, then cleared his throat. "Er...I kind of remember..." When Fai playfully raised an eyebrow, Eriol admitted, "Well, I did trash her about it for a few days, so I remember. Blackmail material is always memorable," Eriol said. "I bet you just love teasing her, don't you?"
"You know her so well."
"When you live with someone for that long, you remember things," Eriol said. "Are you quite sure you want to lock yourself up with Mei Ling for the rest of your life? Personally, I think it's insane."
"Good thing I'm already that way then," Fai cheerfully said, and Eriol grinned.
Abruptly, Fai asked, "Why are you worried about your woman?"
Eriol sighed again. "Do you have to be so perceptive?"
He got no response except a smile from Fai.
"Damn, just what I need, another Syaoran." He grinned at Fai, who grinned back.
"Introduce me to your friend, Eriol?" Syaoran had walked up to them, looking like the cat that had swallowed the canary. Eriol rolled his eyeballs.
"Gloating, are we?" Eriol smiled evilly, then added in an undertone, "Someone finally got some loving after what, five years, huh?" Syaoran shot him a glare, then smiled at Fai.
"This is Syaoran Li, my cousin who's in the same situation as you, except I think he got engaged more willingly than you. Syaoran, meet the unhappy Fai Flourite, who's placed a noose around his neck by asking Mei Ling to marry him."
"Engaged?" Syaoran choked. "To Mei Ling?" His look of mixed horror and commiseration made Fai laugh out loud.
"Sorry," Fai said. "But really, Mei Ling is a wonderful woman."
"See here, I would understand if you said 'Sakura is a wonderful woman'. We're Mei Ling's cousins, and we think 'Mei Ling' and 'wonderful' simply don't go together," Eriol smirked.
"Trust me when I tell you that they do," Fai said.
"Dude, you need a drink," Eriol said.
"So do you," Fai smiled.
"Missing something, am I?" Syaoran said. He motioned for one of the servants to bring them three bottles of beer, and when they arrived, he held up his bottle. "To the beautiful women in our lives. May they always be happy, and may we always be the reason for their happiness," he proposed.
"Amen to that," Eriol clinked his bottle against Syaoran's.
"Same here," Fai said as he did the same.
"And so," Syaoran led the others outside to the large patio, and sat on one of the wicker chairs there. "Tell us how you met Mei Ling."
Fai and Eriol looked at each other, then laughed.
"Don't you remember Fai?" Eriol asked.
Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "Should I?" He looked at Fai curiously.
"In junior year...remember the boy we thought was from junior high who went after her?"
Syaoran stared at Fai then laughed. "You are so unlucky, man."
"Let me tell you then why I love her," Fai said, knowing it would change the conversation.
"Please. Spare us," Eriol said. All three laughed, and began to compare notes about their relationships. Though they didn't realize it then, they had formed the beginning of an alliance that would be of critical importance just a month later.
Fragments of Malice
Kendra stared in horror at the photos of Syaoran and Sakura; he was half-naked, and was clearly preparing to make love to Sakura. Photo after photo, his expression of almost aching love never left his face. When Kendra finally managed to tear her eyes from Syaoran to look at Sakura, she saw complete trust and surrender in the younger woman's face.
What bothered Kendra most was the look on Syaoran's face. His eyes were worshipful when they were open; and when they were closed, as in the photo in which he had the hem of Sakura's nightgown in his teeth—he never did that with me, he was never that playful in bed! —Syaoran had a look of blissful joy on his face. Even she could see how tenderly he was touching Sakura.
He never did that with me, and I was supposed to have been the love of his life! How is this possible? I had Sakura pegged for a naïve little prude who wouldn't let him touch her until they were married! Kendra scanned the photos; Sakura wore no engagement ring, just the odd little yarn loop she'd seen earlier. Which was worse; for Syaoran to introduce that little girl to his mother meant it was serious...but he hadn't proposed yet and here they were making out...what was going on?
She wanted to break something, to scream, to kill Sakura...but now she was thinking of what Tomoyo had said to her over a week earlier.
You don't know him anymore...
I've lost him, she realized, and she didn't feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. Forever.
Suddenly Kendra didn't have the will to do anything anymore. She slid to her knees and pressed herself against the wall. There is nothing I can do now; the thought tolled over and over in her head.
When she stopped crying, she realized that there was somethingshe could do.
She knew what she would have to do, now.
Kendra picked up the phone and first called her Picayune contact, Lai, one of Syaoran's secretaries. Lai reported that she had already spread the rumors around about Sakura, and so Kendra smiled. She also got Sakura's address from Lai.
Next, she called a videographer she knew, and discovered that he had found the video she needed. Not a match for the one she wanted to destroy, but close enough to support Lai's lies.
Finally, she called the Li residence and made an appointment with Li Yelan the day after Chinese New Year. Yelan had agreed, rather pleasantly, and set the time for 3 pm. That was the best part; with what she was armed with, she would enjoy destroying the older woman's perception of Sakura.
I am going to destroy that relationship, she thought, even if it kills me.
Florian Rivera was receiving the daily report from the detectives he had hired to follow Mei Ling around. They were unable to enter the Li compound due to the tight security but they reported that Fai had entered it with Mei Ling a day ago and still had not left.
Florian clenched his fists. Mei Ling is mine. He smiled tightly when he thought of the documents in the folder next to his laptop. One set was about the death of Fai's father. Surely Mei Ling did not know about who Fai really was. He'd tracked down the woman who'd witnessed it—Fai's father's mistress—and gotten her side of the story. Of course she was telling the truth, Florian thought.
The other document was the engagement contract Mei Ling had signed when they were together. He'd forced her to sign it, and being young, she agreed, not knowing what it was since he'd told her it would "prove her love" for him.
And he had an appointment with Li Yelan tomorrow, after Chinese New Year, at five pm. Florian smiled. Destroy the artist, get Mei Ling back. Lovely schedule for the day. He knew just how to handle her, and since she was a sensual creature, all he would have to do was get her in bed one way or another.
Capturing the only heiress to a fourth of the Li fortune was only icing on the cake; her money was second place to Mei Ling's biggest attraction. Florian remembered taking Mei Ling's virginity back in college, and the power he had felt when he'd broken her heart. No other woman had ever made him feel the way she did, and he wanted to feel the power he'd once held over her.
She's going to be mine again, and I'm going to enjoy destroying that Fai, and breaking Mei Ling the way I want...one more time.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and waited for this; I will respond in the next chapter, sorry for the delay :)
Where are Syaoran and Sakura? In the next chapter! Here's a preview:
"Oh, go ahead and kiss him," Mei Ling suddenly yelled. "And if you need to know, his bedroom's the second door in the third corridor to the right of the staircase! He's got a really big bed!"
Hoots and jeers greeted this announcement."Don't I know it," Sakura said softly so that only her fiance could hear, and he laughed.
Syaoran's eyes flickered to the Kinomotos, and he was surprised to see Fujitaka Kinomoto laughing heartily along with the rest of the Lis. Touya wore a sour expression on his face, and Yukito was cheerfully trying to calm him down.
"They have to quit forcing that gakion my sister!" Touya snarled. "I already caught them in bed two nights ago!"
"You can't assume they were doing anything," Yukito said cheerfully.
"She was half-naked and he was...he was only in boxers!" Touya whispered fiercely. "Do you honestly think they were just cuddling? Talking about the weather?"
"Well, you never know." Yukito smiled. "You know they're going to move in together now, don't you? They're almost as good as married."
"It's too fast," Touya sighed. "I don't want her to make a mistake, is all."
"Look at them," Yukito said. At that moment, Syaoran was bending towards Sakura, gently reassuring her in the face of the ribald comments and suggestions being thrown at them. "Does he act like someone who doesn't care?"
"That IS the problem," Touya pouted. "Yuki...if you'd just seen...he took the fight away from her, and stood between me and her without ever defending himself. He kept one eye on her, and when Sakura and I were arguing, he was listening, like...some stalker. The way he looks at her...the way...Yuki, he proposed after just over a month of dating, is that normal?"
"No," Yukito said soothingly, "but I would imagine that these are special circumstances. He has the look of someone who worships her, and I imagine the time they spend apart is torture for him."
"He could wait, you know..."
"Touya..." and Yukito looked at Touya straight in the eye, "how long did it take for you to show me you cared about me?"
Touya was silent, and so Yukito answered for him, "You were kind and friendly immediately after I transferred to Seijuu."
"That was different...you were special...oh," Touya looked back at Yukito, who smiled gently.
"You see?"
"I hate it when you're logical."
"And you prefer it when I'm otherwise," Yuki grinned.