Spring Sakura
After witnessing such a rather disturbing event inside his only sister's room, the King of Clow walked away with an angry disposition. Where was the King headed?
Chapter
7:
Building Bridges between Blue Bloods before Breakfast
It was a wonderful morning in the Country of Clow. The birds sang a happy tune. The skies gave signs of the wonderful weather that's coming. The sunlight passing through the windows of the guest room greeted the purple eyed princess with delight.
The visiting princess stirred from her sleep. A yawn escaped her mouth. She rubbed her eyes like a little girl when she sat up. Sudden pain came from her head. The memories of last night's drink came flooding into her brain like some fast-forwarded film.
She lightly touched her forehead. Pain was written all over her face. But the pain didn't prevent her from walking gracefully to the basin filled with water. Her hands slowly touched the water. It was lukewarm and she sighed as she enjoyed the warmth flowing through her hands. Slowly, she lifted her hands and washed her porcelain-like face.
Her amethyst eyes slowly surveyed the room. She never had the chance to actually look at her temporary home. There were three windows as big as the room's door. The window in the middle was a doorway to a small balcony. Her bed was placed in between the dresser and the small table which was placed beside a closet that had her gowns. The ambiance was homey and she loved it.
A knock came from the door. Tomoyo replied with a chirpy "come in". The door slowly opened and her hand maid, Mikiru, came inside and bowed, as a sign of respect for the princess.
Mikiru stood up straight and walked towards the closet. "Isn't it a wonderful day, Tomoyo-hime?" She opened the door and surveyed her dresses.
"It is, Mikiru." The princess answered as she went to the balcony to look at the wonderful sight. The garden was just right below her the balcony. This caught the interest of the visiting princess for the blossoms were very pretty.
Mikiru already had two of her gowns in her arms. Mostly, those gowns were worn inside the palace. It wasn't made for the outdoors because of its delicate design and fabric. She was just about to show them to the princess but, even before she had a chance to show them, Tomoyo said, "Mikiru, please get me one of my outdoor gowns." She walked back inside and added, "I'm going to the palace gardens." The maid nodded and got her simple purple gown from the closet.
- - -
The ruler of Clow continued to march angrily around the palace. He sensed that something was going on between his sister and that brat of an archeologist under his nose. And he didn't like it.
A moment later, he got out of the palace and walked around the gardens. The sunlight bathed him with warmth, making him even angrier. It wasn't because he didn't like the heat. It just made him so. He couldn't cool off his head in that kind of weather.
He wasn't that moody when his father was still there. His kind-hearted father always guided him in everything – in making the right decisions, in enlightening the mysteries of life, and in passing the apt judgments. Clow Reed wasn't just a great father to him and his sister. He was a mentor, a teacher, a hero, and a man of many good qualities.
Touya closed his coal-colored eyes and took in a deep breath. A sigh escaped him right afterwards. He walked towards the red bridge which was over the ersatz stream flowing through the gardens. The garden was his mother's only memento to him. The late queen usually brought him there to play and sometimes, to read books aloud to him.
"Mother, Father," Touya whispered to himself, "Why did you leave me with such an arduous task?" He placed his palms over the wooden railing of the bridge. He gripped it tight. If he used a lot of force, he could've broken the railing into two.
A tall and slim figure of a girl slowly walked towards the bridge. She wanted to visit the garden to take in some fresh air. She rarely left her meditation room inside the palace in Nihon. That deprived her of the freedom to walk under the sun and rain. But she feared that she's stepping into someone's – namely the King's – boundary as she walked closer.
The King suddenly felt that he wasn't alone in the gardens anymore. He looked at his right side and saw the figure of the visiting princess standing on the foot of the red bridge. The visiting princess had a worried expression on her face. Then, he remembered what his best friend, the High Priest Yukito, asked him to do. In so doing, he smiled and bowed to the princess of Nihon as he greeted, "Good morning, Tomoyo-hime."
Upon hearing his greeting, Tomoyo curtsied. "Good morning, Touya-sama." Both of them stood up straight a second later and just… stood there. He felt anxious because he didn't know how to start a conversation with the princess. She, however, was scared of him because she didn't know what he was going to say.
The silence stayed there for another minute until the King got the courage to say her name again. "Tomoyo-hime," She looked at him with a fearful heart. "I…" Just say it, you fool! Touya heard his inner self say those words to him. Finally, he gathered up all of his courage and said, "I'm sorry for the way I acted last night."
Silence occurred around them once more. The chirping of the birds and the splashing sounds coming from the stream were clearly heard. Such silence could kill and it was already killing the King and the princess with worry.
It took Tomoyo-hime a second or two just to respond to Touya. "Oh, it is okay, your Majesty." She hastily answered, "I do not mind because it is indeed a fact that I'm a sorceress. I only use my powers for good." She looked away and sadly added, "However, no one's here to testify for me so I couldn't prove myself."
Touya walked towards the visiting princess and gently touched her face. Tomoyo looked towards his direction. Tears were already starting to fall from the princess's eyes. He looked at her with kindness as he wiped away her tears. "Don't cry, princess. You don't have to prove anything to me…"
Tomoyo searched for false intentions inside Touya's dark eyes. Seeing that there were none, she submitted herself into his arms. "Thank you…" Those were her only words as she leaned against his chest. Despite his lean figure, the King was indeed muscular and fit. His chest was hard yet very comfortable to the princess.
The King wrapped his arms around her waist, making her move closer to him. He whispered into the princess's ear. "If we really want this engagement to work, we have to know each other more. And I'm really interested to know you some more, Tomoyo-hime."
With those words, Tomoyo looked up. She stood up on tiptoe as she moved even closer to the King. The King was a feet and a half taller than her so it was rather difficult for her to do this. He had this wild guess on what was going to happen next yet, he took on that guess as he too leaned closer to the princess.
The kiss was short, yet passionate. Both stared into each other's eyes sweetly, as if love was really there even before they kissed. A smile formed in their faces as they let go. The King walked down from the bridge and said, "Let's go and eat breakfast, Tomoyo-hime." The visiting princess nodded to his idea and the two walked away hand-in-hand.
What the two blue bloods knew was that there were no witnesses to that sweet event. But they didn't notice the tall, dark man leaning against the post as he watched the scene with a mixture of emotions inside of him.
- - -
Author's Note: I am indeed sorry for this late and very short chapter. Life got chaotic. Once you step into university grounds, you'll loose the little things you do for leisure because you have a paper to write for English, a story to read for Literature, a sample Math exam to finish. It's exhausting.
To be honest, I also wrote what happened during their breakfast. OO But the title clearly said "before breakfast", right? So I decided to turn it into another chapter – probably another short chapter from me. Sorry about that.
I decided to make an outline of this story so I can finish it by next year, hopefully. The story will have around 23 chapters and an epilogue. I do hope you'll still look forward to the upcoming chapters.
I am really sorry for this delay and here, I thank you for reading the seventh chapter for Spring Sakura.
-angelraine-
