Chapter 9: The Start of Triumph
Two days later, Troy called Syaoran.
Syaoran wasn't surprised when he received a call from Troy Collins. Syaoran's heart still skipped a beat when Troy said he was sitting in the same room with Sakura. It was so weird that he wasn't able to see Sakura in person and tell her he was sorry for everything his mother had put her through. "Would you like to speak with her?" Troy asked. Syaoran was quiet for a moment then answered, "No. Just tell her that I was busy and that I'll get back to her as soon as possible." Syaoran said. "That's it? You know the girl has been through a lot. That's all you want to say to her?" Troy asked in disbelief. "Yes now I have to go. I will contact you as soon as possible." Syaoran said. "Ok. Later." Troy said. "Later." Troy heard Syaoran say and hung up the phone.
"That's fine." Sakura said to a very worried looking Troy and Sahara. "You don't care that Syaoran isn't losing his mind and trying to scramble to get you back home?" Sahara asked disheartened. Sakura smiled sadly. "I can't go back there. His mother would have me killed the moment I'd step off the plane." She said. Troy put a worried hand to his chin. "Are you sure you and Syaoran are in love? I mean, if I knew that Sahara was shipped off to another country and one of my friends had found her I would be on the first flight over." Troy said. The day had been a busy one for Sakura. Tomoyo had made many shopping requests to keep her busy in America. She and Sahara had done so much shopping that she didn't feel like worrying if Syaoran was still dying to be with her at the moment. To her it seemed that there was nothing she could do to make anything happen and she didn't feel the need to go and have an emotional break down over a guy who was forced to marry someone he didn't love by a his crazy mother. "Yes. I think Syaoran is still very much like that but he's not in a position to outright disobey his mother. She did threaten to have me killed. Who knows what she would do to Syaoran. I'm sad but I'm too tired from Tomoyo's requests to be upset along with you guys right now." Sakura said walking into the guest room. Once Sakura shut the door Sahara began to giggle. "What's so funny?" Troy asked. Sahara turned around and gave him a tap on the nose. "You don't know do you?" She asked. "Know what?" Troy asked even more confused. "Things should be getting more interesting in the next twelve hours." Sahara said looking at her pure sapphire watch. Troy rolled his eyes. "In the next twelve hours it's going to be ten a.m. What's so special about that?" Troy asked. He pulled up his black pajama pants and sat down on the couch. Sahara gently fell against her boyfriend in his stark white t-shirt. Her long brown her was pushed to one side. She had on some white pajama pants with little streaks of color going up the sides and a pink spaghetti strapped shirt. "You'll see, now be quiet. My show is coming on." Sahara said turning on the TV.
When Sakura awoke little rain drops were falling against her window. The sky was a pale gray and you couldn't tell that it was morning. It felt more like a dull afternoon. Sakura ran a hand through her bangs and sighed. She then turned over under her dark green comforter and looked at the digital clock. Nine fifty nine. Is it ten already? Sakura asked herself. She turned back over and was about to stare out the window at the city for a little while when there was a knock on her door. "Just a moment." Sakura said loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear. She pushed her covers back and headed for the door. The white carpet felt nice against her feet as she reached for the golden door knob. When Sakura opened the door Sahara was standing there, already dressed like she had left and come back. Her hair was down and she had on a simple pair of dark jeans, black flats and a black blouse adorned with little silver buttons on one side. A silver button bracelet twinkled as she raised her hand to present a handsome visitor. "You have a guest." Sahara said happily and scuttled off to her own room. Sakura stood there in shock for a moment. Then she tried to straighten up her light blue pajama pants and black spaghetti strapped shirt as if she were wearing an outfit. A very handsome smile spread across Syaoran's face. He chuckled softly slipped his hands in his casual blue jean pockets. His white t-shirt looked nice against his skin. It was like they were meeting for the first time after sharing each other's feelings. Sakura then realized that she had run her hand through her hair before she opened the door. It had to be messy. "Um, sorry about the way I look." She said softly. "You look nice no matter what you're wearing or how your hair looks Sakura. To be honest, it's kind of a turn on." Syaoran said. Sakura blushed a deep shade of red. Syaoran chuckled shyly and apologized then his smile softened into a very sad look. He noticed a dark mark on Sakura's lip. It looked like a healing bruise. He reached up to touch it but Sakura backed away. "Um, why don't you come in? It's a little awkward to be talking to you with the door open." Sakura said making a good point. Syaoran followed Sakura into the room silently and shut the door. When she turned around to face him again he looked upset. "Did I offend you a moment ago when I wouldn't let you touch me?" She asked. Syaoran tried again to touch Sakura's lip. She backed away once more then looked into his eyes. "You have certain obligations to uphold. I don't think…touching is the right thing for… us to be doing." She said feeling very uncomfortable with every word that rolled off her lips. Syaoran approached her again as if he didn't hear anything she said. She tried her best to back away again but she ended up perched on her elbows on the bed with a very handsome and very forbidden Syaoran propped over her. He gently reached up and rubbed his thumb over her healing lip. Sakura held her breath but couldn't help but feel her body secretly shiver at the mere feeling of Syaoran touching her. "How'd you get this?" He asked with his face some inches from hers. His eyes were filled with soft anger. The cologne that Syaoran had on was causing Sakura to think of him in ways she hadn't thought of before. She tried her best to focus on answering his question but he was just too much of an overwhelming distraction to most of her senses. She saw that he noticed her blush because he started smiling at the sight of it. "The man that your mother hired to move me did it." She said softly. Syaoran's smile slowly disappeared and his head dropped. Sakura watched him attentively. "There are many things that we need to talk about but the very first thing I want to say to you is that I'm very sorry for my mother's behavior and I'm so sorry that you had to go through something as traumatizing as a man putting his hands on you. You don't deserve that. But now I don't have to get married to Leila anymore. Her father made me a deal I couldn't refuse. I won't be married in time for my deadline as heir and I'm still going to lose the power that goes with my family name. But you can go home now or… we could stay here and start a new life. I can't return to Readington Sakura. My mother would make me move back to Hong Kong and I can't be without you anymore. There are still some things I have to deal with but we can be together now…if you want to be with me. I would completely understand if you don't." Syaoran said now looking back into her eyes. Sakura suddenly lifted her head so that her lips touched Syaoran's. Syaoran's eyes shot open but then he relaxed on top of her and fell in motion with the kiss. He hadn't felt Sakura's affection in so long that he got lost in how he felt while kissing her. He rubbed a hand up and down her side and was once again surprised at how her body dipped and curved under his hand. Even if Sakura had never worn a revealing thing in her life, Syaoran was more than satisfied with her body. She seemed able to give shape to a garbage bag if she ever had to wear one. Then Sakura did the weirdest thing. She stopped kissing Syaoran. It took him a moment to realize that she was letting him do all the lip work. When Syaoran slowed down he realized how soft Sakura's lips were. The kisses turned into butterfly kisses and the sensation that Syaoran felt made him give Sakura one, long deep kiss. It encompassed his whole being. Nothing was as it seemed. The silence in the room seemed more like a sweet song and Sakura's very presence seemed to be that of a lost memory that Syaoran had magically found again. When she touched him back it was like a new discovery. He didn't know that he loved the way Sakura caressed his face or rubbed the palms of her hands up his arms and over his muscular shoulders. His skin rippled with goose bumps at all these thoughts and before he knew it, the five senses fest was over. Sakura pushed Syaoran up off of her gently. She then sat up and stared at the door. Syaoran sat next to her; watching her and hoping that she wasn't deciding to go home and not be with him. "I've noticed that while I've gone through all this stuff I'm not going through it alone. I started feeling like there should have been someone worrying about you in all of this. I know this is going to sound weird and backwards but I'm sorry Syaoran for not worrying more about you. All I would like to do is make your life better and if there is any way for me to do that, staying here in America despite what your mother would do or say is the least I can do. I want to be with you." Sakura said. Sakura suddenly found herself being pulled toward Syaoran. Her head ended up on his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his torso while his tightly wrapped around her shoulders. Then something unexpected happened to both of them at the same time. They started crying. Sakura sniffed first then Syaoran. They both pulled away from each other in surprise. When they saw the tears falling down each other's cheeks they both reached simultaneously to wipe them away. This started a chain reaction of laughter. "Why'd you cry?" Syaoran asked, laughing and stroking Sakura's cheek. "I feel like our troubles are starting to end. I'm happy. Why'd you cry?" She asked giggling and holding on to the wrist of the hand Syaoran was using to rub her cheek. "Because, you've got the most generous heart. I've never met anyone who cared for me the way that you have. I'm happy that I'm the one you love." He said. Sakura put her forehead to Syaoran's and they both closed their eyes. There was a knock on the door. Sakura called for the person to come in not wanting to move away from Syaoran. Troy opened the door and poked his head in the room. "You really are here. Sorry for interrupting. Syaoran, I have a little business proposal for you. Do you think you could leave the love of your life for a couple of seconds to come see this?" Troy asked looking a little embarrassed. Even though their foreheads were still touching, Syaoran turned his head to look at Troy. "Can we do it tomorrow? I would really like to spend the rest of this day with Sakura." Syaoran asked. Syaoran watched a big smile spread across Troy's face. "Sure thing," He said and left the room.
"So did you tell him about the flaw in his family contract about this whole honor and power thing?" Sahara said anxiously bombarding Troy in the kitchen. "It can wait. He said he needed time alone with Sakura." Troy said getting something to drink out of the stainless steel refrigerator. "Aw Troy you couldn't have just told him the good news?" Sahara said with her bracelet jingling as she put her hands on her hips. Troy put his drink on the counter and swept Sahara up into his arms. "Syaoran is not just a potential business advocate but a current client and my friend. If he doesn't want to discuss the details of his family's legally binding marriage contract at the moment then it can wait. Besides, he's got a week before anything really bad happens. If Sakura is the key to ending this conflict with his mother then he'll comply with the contract before the deadline. From the way they looked in the room together Sakura wouldn't tell him no anyway." Troy said with confidence and kissed his girlfriend.
Tomoyo rubbed her eyes when she finally awoke. She and Eriol had fallen asleep while watching a movie together. She looked at her black and red watch and sighed. She straightened out her red blouse and dark denim Capri pants. She then turned to look at her fiancé and he was still sleeping soundly. "I guess we partied too hard." She said to herself and kissed his cheek. "No Tomoyo you can't dress our daughter that way. She's still too young…" Eriol said obviously dreaming. Tomoyo blushed. She couldn't believe that he was dreaming about something like that. She could tell that Eriol really loved her. She kissed him again and then got up. It was one in the morning in Japan but in America it was noon yesterday. Tomoyo used her phone to call Sahara. Sakura still didn't have a new phone yet which was really bugging Tomoyo. She had wired so much money to Sakura that she should have been able to buy ten new phones but Sakura didn't seem to have time to do anything but shop for Sahara and Tomoyo. "I guess being friends with two fashion designers wouldn't leave you time to get a phone if all you did was shop for them and help them come up with new outfit ideas. I should apologize to Sakura after I talk with Sahara." Tomoyo said to herself as she dialed Sahara's number.
Sahara's phone rang a pretty little tune before she picked up her phone. "Hey Tomoyo! So glad you called. Would you like to hear the latest?" Sahara said cutting all the polite small talk that she and Tomoyo could have had before getting to the meat of why she called. "Hello to you too Sahara and sure thing. What's the latest? Did Syaoran make it there?" Tomoyo asked now in the kitchen cleaning up from her and Eriol's day off. They had cooked a wild little feast for two and end up having a food fight. This was a good idea until they both realized that the maids and butlers were off for the day. Now the night time fun was cleaning up and Tomoyo didn't want to wake her beloved. "Syaoran is here and all cuddled up with Sakura. He hasn't left her room since he arrived. I'm so happy for Sakura but I wish Syaoran would read the darn flaw in the contract that his mother has him bound too. It was very smart for him to hire Troy to look over the contract for him." Sahara said. "Why couldn't he have looked it over himself?" Tomoyo asked while wiping off the counter. "Well it says on the contract that who so ever is bound by it cannot read it. It's really a very stupid contract. If Syaoran had been able to read it he would have denounced being a Li a long time ago. These people literally have the legal ability to rule the lives of their children until they pass away. That is so heinous." Sahara said scoffing at the idea. "Oh, that does suck. What's so important about the flaw?" Tomoyo asked. "Well, Syaoran has a chance to keep the power of his name legally, comply with the agreements within the contract and get rid of this hold his mother has on him once and for all." Sahara said. Tomoyo listened very intently. "Ok, wait I haven't been asking the right question. WHAT is the flaw in the contract?" As Tomoyo listened to what the flaw was her mouth dropped open. "Is that what it is?" Tomoyo asked in disbelief. "Sure is. Do you think Sakura will comply with the flaw?" Sahara asked. "Heck yeah! Looks like I have to start a special project just for Sakura!" Tomoyo said excitedly. "Oh no Tomoyo! I've already got the perfect-" Sahara said and was interrupted. "No, she's MY best friend. You're going to have to take a back seat on this one." Tomoyo said feeling her competitive spirit rise. "Pleeeasse Tomoyo! You design for Sakura all the time! Let me just do this one thing for her!" Sahara pleaded through the phone.
Eriol awoke to his lovely fiancé arguing on the phone. He rubbed his eyes and looked down at his empty hands. He smiled at the sensation that the dream had left him. He could have sworn he had been holding their two year old daughter in his hands. "Tomoyo. Are you cleaning without me? And who are you yelling at?" Eriol said rising from the couch, straightening his purple polo and black slacks and heading to the kitchen. "Sahara thinks she's going to design the most important outfit that has ever been known to exist for MY best friend." She said being playfully combative on the phone. Eriol's ears suddenly perked up. "Ask Sahara if Troy is around and if I can call him." He said. Tomoyo playfully rolled her eyes. "Sahara is your business boyfriend busy? My business boyfriend wants to call him." She said. Eriol laughed and playfully waited. "She said you can call him now." Tomoyo said putting some dishes in the sink. Eriol kissed Tomoyo on the cheek and went to the living room to get his phone and call Troy.
"So did you find what I found?" Eriol said to Troy the moment he said hello. "Sure did. How'd you know that flaw existed in there?" Eriol heard Troy ask. "Well, for starters I read it without permission. I obtained it illegally back when I noticed how many unnecessary things Syaoran seemed to be obligated to when we were younger. Yelan didn't used to be as controlling as she is now. I don't know if it's because of the deteriorating state of her husband or the fact the family business is doing so well because of Syaoran but she wasn't always so unreasonable. I figured that since Syaoran began showing signs of independence Yelan felt that she was losing her hold on him. Thinking as she would, she probably thought that letting Syaoran come back to Readington would re-tighten her hold but instead it loosened it more. That's when she decided to tighten the reigns so as not to let Syaoran slip any further but her problems worsened every time she did that. I'm thinking things got worse after Syaoran refused to marry and house the fiancé she picked out. That would be why you now have Sakura in America at your humble dwellings because Yelan decided to send her away but I'm sure you know that side of the story." Eriol said analytically. "Wow, you've really been thinking things through." Troy said sounding astonished. "Well, Syaoran and I have been communicating as friends for years. I know more about his life than most people do. Hearing about his mother is almost second nature to me. So when I heard that she was going to extremes to make sure her son fulfilled the marriage contract I figured that there was something in there that she wanted to hold over Syaoran. If he marries the woman that she picked out for him, which is custom in their family, then he'd be complying with the restrictions of the contract. He'd be handing over nearly all of his freedom and human rights to Yelan until she ceased to live." Eriol said. "I see, and it would be a breach of the contract if someone other than a person hired to look at it saw it and told the contents to the person bound to it. The breach would result in immediate servitude to the family in question without all the rights that were set beforehand." Troy said. "That's correct. In Syaoran's case he was darned if he complied and darned if he didn't." Eriol said. "Until Sakura arrived in the picture. That's why Yelan tried her hardest to get rid of her but now we know what the contract says and Syaoran can trump her once and for all. This is too good. I love seeing bad people lose legal settlements." Eriol heard Troy say with joy. "Yes but we need to talk with Syaoran immediately. He had already had a plan, which was to denounce his family name. Now since Yelan pulled such a big stunt he's planning on denouncing his family name and staying in America with Sakura. It's a great idea since he wants to be with Sakura but it's not the best idea for maintaining any of his business ventures or the wealth he has accumulated since he would forfeit it the moment he denounced his title." Eriol said with worry. "Well according to the contract Syaoran has a week to do what needs to be done. I'm just worried if Sakura is ready to do what needs to be done as well." Troy said. Eriol looked at Tomoyo still arguing on the phone in the kitchen with Sahara and smiled. "Don't worry about Sakura. She'll comply. I think the one person who needs to be worried is Yelan. She's going to have a heart attack." Eriol said and felt himself chuckle with excitement at the sight of the almighty Yelan convulsing on the floor from not getting her way.
