Agent08 Reporting for Duty!
Now… on with chapter ten!
Casting Shadows
Decade
"I know this is sudden, Kaito-kun, but… trust me, I know what I'm doing," Sakura told her fiancé as she paced the floors of the airport. She knew it was wrong of her to make this call so last minute – but she knew that if she had informed him of the trip any earlier, he might have talked her out of it. Now, the next day since being told the new plan, with all her things packed and flight booked, there was no more putting it off.
"I'm really not so sure about this, Sakura," he said, the apprehension and uneasiness in his voice terribly evident. "You said you were going to a school reunion – fine. But in London? You've only been there for three days and now you're going to China? Is this some sort of international scavenger hunt reunion thing that I've never heard of before, or—?"
"I know it all sounds really hard to believe," she interrupted; worried that he might catch on. "But… I promise, I really am with school friends. And this trip to China that we're taking, it's – it's… just an idea that one of them had! You know, the one I told you about before, Eriol-kun… he practically told us it's all expenses paid, and…"
"Sakura, your stay in London was all expenses paid too, need I remind you?" he asked quietly. She felt like crumpling at the sound of his hurt voice. It was obvious that felt like as though what he had given her and her friends in London was not good enough. But that wasn't the case at all, but there wasn't a whole lot of the truth that Sakura could reveal to him. Frowning, she tried to ignore the guilty pang in her heart that throbbed incessantly.
"Y-yes, well… I haven't been to China in years, and neither has Tomoyo-chan. We sort of just… felt like it was fate!"
He was silent for a moment. "All right, well… who am I to stop you?" he finally conceded.
Sakura could have shrieked with relief. He was far too good to her. The answer to his question was: he was her fiancé. That was who he was to stop her from going on such an impulsive trip. But he didn't. He knew very well that she was her own person whom he could not control – whom he would never even dream of controlling.
"Oh, Kaito-kun. Thank you so much for understanding. I'll be back with you sooner than you know it, I promise."
"I should hope so," he answered, his voice not half as thrilled as hers. "I've never met this Hiiragizawa fellow, but I'm sure he will take good care of you in his home. Make sure you text me his address and phone number after you land, so I have another way of reaching you. Take care, sweetheart, and I will see you soon."
"I won't forget this time. I love you," she told him – but felt as though she were saying so for all the wrong reasons. Instead of whole-heartedly meaning it, the way she always did, she felt as if she had to let him hear it, so she wouldn't feel so guilty about leaving on yet another spontaneous trip.
"I love you too," he said gently, and added before hanging up, "and tell your friends I'm sorry for not being able to accommodate them in the Yoshida Tower in China. If construction had been finished sooner, I would've given you all the penthouse suite again."
"Of course," she said to him, "they will definitely understand. Bye, Kaito-kun. I'll be careful, I promise."
She shut her phone off quickly and re-joined her friends who were sitting at the gate, killing time with one another before the boarded their flight in just a few minutes.
"You finally got it over with?" asked Tomoyo when she took a seat with next to her on the bench.
She nodded. "Yeah. He wasn't exactly pleased," she said, "but he understands."
Eriol and Tomoyo nodded, glad that Kaito didn't make too much of a fuss. Syaoran, however, was looking away and pretending not to have overheard their phone conversation yet again, or the current conversation his friends were having.
"He also says he's sorry for not being able to give us a room in his hotel," she relayed, "the tower in China isn't quite built yet, actually. There was another building over the spot where they wanted to construct it. They only began to bulldoze and deconstruct the original structure a month ago. According to Kaito-kun, the whole place is a mess and they've still got a long way to go. He's really sorry."
Eriol smiled, "Make sure you tell him not be sorry at all," he responded cheerfully. "It was nice of him to offer, but we can't always expect him to give your friends fine suites to stay in while we're abroad. In any case, there's more than enough room in my summer home in Hong Kong. I'd rather we all stayed there, anyway."
Truthfully, he was just trying to maintain Syaoran's sanity. Whether they stayed in his home or in a Tower was of no matter to him, except just the previous day his old friend had vented to him about the strains of staying in a "rival's" hotel. Were it not for that, he would have gladly accepted an invitation to stay once more in a penthouse suite. He guessed it was just coincidence that the Yoshida Tower was not yet fully constructed yet.
"Yes, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo chimed, "you must tell Yoshida-kun not to be bothered. In fact, you should tell him not to worry about us at all… and while you're at it, you can tell Li-kun to lighten up," she said, emphasizing her words as she poked him in his shoulder. He turned his face to stare at her with an annoyed look but did nothing more.
Sakura giggled and opened the side of her pink duffel bag slightly. "Kero-chan, how are you doing in there?"
The yellow beast's mouth was dripping with chocolate. "Um… Sakura, you'll have to buy more sweets for me. I… uh, ate them all."
"Hoe!" Sakura said to him, "You ate them all? Kero-chan, that was supposed to last you another eleven hours!"
"I couldn't help it; Tomoyo picked out the most tempting ones!"
As they argued back and forth for another short while, Tomoyo and Eriol once more ganged up on Syaoran to see what on earth his problem was this time.
"Aren't we doing exactly what you wanted?" Eriol whispered, his tone of voice coloured with confusion over Syaoran's discontent. "We're getting out of Yoshida's hotel and getting a change of scenery."
"I said I didn't want to stay in his hotel – I never said anything about going back to China. I haven't shown my face there since I left."
"But don't you miss your family?" Tomoyo wondered, "You haven't seen them in so long."
"We talk over the phone," he said, referring to Meiling, his sisters and his mother. "I call them almost every week. And anyway, it's the other half of my family I don't want to see. If the clan realizes I'm back in China, they'll—"
"Do nothing," Eriol finished for him, sounding confident. Syaoran stared at him questioningly, wondering what he meant by that. "They won't do anything to you, Syaoran – you abandoned them, remember? If they hear you're back in town… they'll just leave you be, won't they? I mean, if Tomoyo told me the story correctly, they said they didn't want anything to do with you."
Ignoring the fact that Tomoyo had filled him in on what had happened after he abandoned the clan, he protested anxiously, "Y-yeah, but... they might find out about me being Clow's heir and… and…"
"They won't find out from me," assured Eriol, understanding why he didn't want them to discover the truth.
"Or me," agreed Tomoyo quickly.
Despite their promises, Syaoran was still not feeling very excited over his return to his hometown. He simply did not feel right about this trip to China… there was just no telling who they would run into while they were there.
"Oh come on," Tomoyo said encouragingly, "don't be such a worry wart. That nasty spirit trying to contact Clow didn't hurt any of you last night, and we get to go on a trip like the one we did in the fourth grade. For now, everything is fine. Can't you loosen up just a little bit?"
He lifted the corner of his mouth in a pathetic attempt to smile, but let it droop almost immediately. Tomoyo rolled her eyes. To him, there was just no seeing the bright side, was there?
"Tomoyo-chan," they heard suddenly, the voice both disrupting and ending their conversation. "I'm really sorry about this – but can you sneak Kero-chan some more food on the plane? He's just impossible."
"He's not the only one," she muttered, standing up as the two flight attendants standing by the podium some ways away from them began allowing passengers onto the flight. As they were all first class, they stood to board first.
As they got their tickets checked, Syaoran and Eriol gave the girls their space as they had their own conversation about the new journey they were about to embark upon. Without any of the girls around to complicate things, Syaoran asked, "Is this trip really necessary?"
"Necessary and convenient," Eriol answered. "Necessary, because I have a bunch of old things of Clow's that have survived all these years in my attic of the summer home. We can try looking there for some answers. Convenient, because you were going mad in the penthouse and you practically begged for a change."
With a sigh, Syaoran finally accepted the fact that they had to return to his home. "All right. Fine. But you'd better hope that we don't run into anyone I don't want to see."
"Relax, we're not going to run into the elders, Syaoran," Eriol assured him with a roll of his gray eyes.
"I'm not just talking about them," he ground out, annoyed.
Eriol paused before following the girls into the plane. "Who are you talking about?"
Shaking his head, he lightly pushed the blue-haired annoyance past the flight attendant who finished with his ticket. "Never mind."
xxxxxx
It was afternoon by the time the plane touched down in Hong Kong. Much like the last time Syaoran landed on foreign soil, his stomach was a mess of knots, while Sakura's was not at all like that. She, as well as Eriol and Tomoyo, were eager to disembark and begin their new "adventure" together.
His three friends wasted no time in gathering their luggage and exiting customs. For some reason, they simply could not wait to leave the airport. He wondered why, because it wasn't as though the car service Eriol said he had called in advance was going to leave without them. So whatever it was that was causing their rush was beyond him.
As soon as they were out on the sidewalk, breathing the fresh Hong Kong air, their heads were swivelling every which way to find their driver. Apparently Sakura had spotted him or her right away, because she was waving wildly in their direction and hurrying toward them. Turning to follow the direction of her frantic waving, Syaoran realized with a painful sigh who their "driver" actually was.
"Ni-hao!" cried Meiling, rushing forward to greet Sakura with a bear hug. The girls embraced and for some reason, it was still hard for Syaoran to process whenever these girls were together, that it was the girl he loved with the girl he was once affianced to.
"Meiling-chan!" Sakura squealed, obviously just as happy to see her. They parted for a moment so both could give a quick appraisal of the other. Meiling appeared ever the same, which was a common thing amongst their group. There were few changes. She still wore her long, black hair in two pony tails at the sides of her face, which didn't look childish on her in the slightest. On her, she somehow made the style look very mature. And her eyes, just as Sakura expected, were still as piercing red as they had always been.
"Tomoyo-chan, Eriol-kun – Keroberos!" Meiling greeted.
"Brat!" Kero said enthusiastically from Sakura's bag, appearing to have survived the flight and very happy to see a familiar face. Having heard his loud cry of excitement, Sakura shoved him back inside the pocket after Meiling gave him a light pat on the head.
Quickly going over to her other friends and giving them tight squeezes, Meiling finished with the rest of her greetings. Because of the long embraces she was giving each one of them, it was a while before she finally got to Syaoran, who was standing behind them all, pretending not to notice the happy reunion.
"Syaoran," his cousin continued, eyeing him with a teasing smile in her eyes and on her mouth. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
He put his hands in his pockets. "Of course I'm happy to see you."
"Well – give me a hug, you big grump!" she laughed, throwing her arms around him and burying her face into his shoulder. Who were they trying to kid? They weren't really like cousins – more like brother and sister.
"Meiling, why didn't you tell me you'd be the one to pick us up?"
She glanced at her three friends with her eyebrows raised slightly. "You didn't tell him?" she asked in sincere confusion.
Eriol and Tomoyo shrugged. "I happened to still have Meiling-san's number," explained Eriol. "We had a feeling you might object to her accompanying us on this trip."
"You're damn right I would have objected," Syaoran said at once, releasing her from their hug. "The more people in my family that know I'm here, the easier it will be for the elders to find out, too."
"Syaoran, calm down," Meiling soothed, rolling her eyes. "Even if they knew, I'm sure they wouldn't make a fuss over it."
"Why risk it?" he asked, still worried and not the least bit consoled.
"Oh, Syaoran-kun," Sakura chided, smiling at him, "don't be so upset. I'm sure they won't realize you're here. We'll keep a low profile."
Despite the butterflies that appeared in his stomach when she grinned at him, he turned away and grunted, "Yeah. Three magically-inclined people and two crazy girls. We'll definitely be laying low."
Sakura frowned, clearly affected by his tone of voice and sarcasm. Allowing her smile to drop somewhat, she laughed lightly, attempting to throw his moody behaviour over her shoulder, as she had been trying to do since the left Japan. She knew he was trying to be more cheerful, and she completely understood that being back in China set him on edge. It was just hard for her to hear him speak to her like that, no matter how often he'd been doing so lately – especially, considering what day it was…
"Sh-shall we get going?" Sakura suggested, not noticing the concerned stares her friends were throwing between herself and Syaoran. "We can drop our things off at Eriol-kun's house."
"And get something to eat!" Kero proposed from the bag.
"Those are both great ideas," Eriol agreed, following Syaoran's lead and carrying everyone's luggage into the two separate vehicles Meiling had brought with her. One she had told them she'd driven herself, and the other she had the airport to prepare for her in advance. As the two men loaded the girls' enormous suitcases into one and theirs in the other, Meiling hopped into the backseat of her own car and ordered Tomoyo to take the passenger's seat.
"Eriol-kun, you don't mind driving to your house after the flight, do you? If you're tired, I can do it," Meiling said.
Eriol shook his head. "No, I'm all right to drive. Syaoran, why don't you follow behind me with the other car?"
"Sure," he agreed easily, before noticing there was more than enough room in the other car for the rest of his party to fit into. It appeared then that he would be driving alone… which, of course, did not bother him at all. A long drive by himself was exactly what he had been craving since his maddening day spent in London. It would hopefully do him some good to have a moment by himself.
"But who's going to ride with Syaoran-kun?" Tomoyo asked.
Syaoran noticed the mischievous twinkle in the three pairs of eyes that were watching him as he finished with the last of the luggage. He should have known! Why didn't he think ahead of time and realize that they would of course invite Meiling to help recreate the summer that he and Sakura had finally gotten together?
"You guys…" he began, unsure how to protest.
"Kinomoto-san – you will go with him, of course. Won't you?" Meiling asked.
With a swift glance between Syaoran and her expectant friends, Sakura gave a small, hesitant nod. "S-sure."
Without another word, she got into the passenger seat of the other car and waited for Syaoran to join her. Watching her go with his eyes, Syaoran then switched his gaze over to his so-called "friends" to glare at them before trudging to the driver's seat, where he would once again have to be alone with Sakura for however long it took for them to get to Eriol's summer home.
As soon as the door shut, it was as though they were being contained in a sound proof cage like two animals being forced to mate. Already feeling his throat close up because of his close proximity to her, Syaoran rolled his window down a crack to allow some air in. Sakura followed suit, but whether it was because she felt the same suffocating feeling as he did was beyond him.
He waited for Eriol and the other girls to pull out before him, then trailed after them, willing himself not to ruin the professional paint job on Meiling's brand new looking car. As much as he was tempted to smear the fine polish or make a tiny, little dent, he was even more tempted to grab Sakura's hand as they drove together, the way he used to when they dated, back in the day.
The majority of the ride was silent. Sakura looked out her window while Syaoran stole sideway glances at her absent-minded face, enjoying the view. It appeared as though she was somewhat at her ease, not at all noticing his nervous peeks he was taking in her direction. When she turned to face him, he flushed beet red and snapped his head straight forward to face the road full on and swallowed thickly.
"Are you going to visit your okaa-sama?" Sakura asked brightly.
He let out a slow breath, thinking of how he should answer. "Maybe," he shrugged.
"I think you should," she responded with a shrug of her own. "I know you're afraid the elders might found out you're here, but the others miss you. I miss them," she laughed.
"You do?" he wondered aloud, somewhat surprised.
She nodded in enthusiastically. "I adore your onee-samas and your okaa-sama. I would love to see them again."
He was quiet for a while before finally admitting, "They'd love to see you again, too."
She was the only girl he had ever introduced as a girlfriend to his family, and they loved her the moment she stepped in his home back in the fourth grade when he still hated her guts. It would be wonderful if he could just bring them all back together, but who knows what they might let slip in front of her? There were still certain things in China that he wasn't prepared to re-visit…
"Well," she said, smiling in his direction and nearly blinding him. "Maybe you'll change your mind. I think it would be really nice to see them and others from your past."
He swallowed the knot that re-appeared in his throat but said nothing. He terminated the conversation by not responding and continued to drive wherever it was that Eriol led. When he saw the roof of his surprisingly large summer home appear just beyond the other car, he restrained himself from shrieking in relief. The car ride with her wasn't as painful as he thought it would be – but the conversation they'd had he definitely could've done without.
He parked the car in Eriol's circular driveway, where a white fountain sat in a similar, circular patch of grass. He got out and leaned on the passenger side door, staring up at the house he considered a mansion. It was three storeys high with ancient vines hanging off the sides. The shell white paint was immaculate, as well as the gardening in front.
"Hoe… your house is… big," Sakura breathed.
Eriol, who was already unloading some luggage from the trunk, gave a brief glance upwards and a half shrug. "It's my summer estate. I don't stay here much."
Meiliing walked passed both Sakura and Tomoyo and went for the front door, opening it with the key Eriol had handed to her.
The girls helped by taking the duffel bags (because neither Eriol nor Syaoran would allow any of the three girls to carry the heavy suitcases) and stepped inside the estate, Sakura's eyes still wide and her jaw dropped. The floor they walked upon was white granite, smooth and impeccably clean. Before them was a curved staircase, to their left was the living room, and to their right a parlour. Climbing the first step of the stairs, Eriol beckoned the girls to follow him.
"Why don't I help you all to your rooms? Tomoyo, Sakura-san, there's enough space here for the two of you to have separate rooms. Meiling-san, if you want to stay here, there's room for you as well."
"Thanks, but I think I'll just go home after spending the day with all of you," she politely rejected.
Nodding, Eriol continued climbing. "Syaoran, let's help the girls first. I can show you your room last – it's just across from Sakura-san's."
Tomoyo gave a quick backwards glance to see Syaoran's reaction to being given a room right across from Sakura, and expelled a quiet "Ohohoho!" at seeing his stormy expression. Eriol, noticing the brief exchange between the two, smirked.
Upon arriving in a large corridor with lots of space between rooms, Sakura was shown to a spacious bedroom with a fireplace, queen-sized bed, and heavy white curtains. Tomoyo, whose room was right next to hers just a few feet over, was similar in size and décor. They put their things down and were left alone to freshen up or get into a change of clothes.
Syaoran, with his small rolling suitcase and lightweight duffel bag already in his possession, waited for all three girls to disappear before shoving Eriol's shoulder and dumping his things on the floor of his equally beautiful guest bedroom. Eriol did nothing but laugh at his aggression and followed him inside the room so that their squabble wouldn't be overheard.
"Very funny," Syaoran scowled, referring to his oh-so-clever room assignments.
"Syaoran, I wasn't very well going to give you the room on the other end of the house," Eriol laughed.
"And why not?" he grumbled.
"Because that would be ridiculous. Relax, it's not a big deal. So what if you see her, coming back from the bathroom wrapped in only a towel, again? Would that be so bad?"
Syaoran gave him another shove in the shoulder, only harder this time, to which Eriol just laughed even harder. Before they could continue their boyish arguing, a knock at the door stopped them. Tomoyo peered in after waiting a few seconds and stepped inside, Meiling in tow. She closed the door behind her.
"Sakura-chan is just getting settled in the other room. Shall we go get something to eat?" Tomoyo suggested.
"No," Syaoran immediately protested, suddenly feeling very congested in his large guest bedroom. "We can eat something here and get to work right away."
His friends frowned at him. "Why?" Tomoyo and Meiling both whined. "Do we have to? Can't we go somewhere nice and—"
"No!" he objected, shaking his head. "We went to London, wasted one day there and woke up with bruises on our arms the next. Haven't we learned our lesson yet? These trips we're taking are not vacations – at least, not until we figure out who is bothering us to get to Clow."
"Listen," Meiling said, an imploring tone colouring her voice, "I know after what you've all told me that this spirit, aura, or whatever it is, is evil and that it's been bothering all of you for almost a full month, but we're all here together – me, you, Tomoyo-chan, Kinomoto-san, and Eriol-kun. We haven't all been together in years. One little lunch at a nice restaurant, catching up, won't do anyone any harm."
"She's right," Tomoyo chimed, glancing at Eriol for his support.
Knowing it would upset Syaoran if he agreed; he could only shrug with a defeated look about his face. He was trying to win Tomoyo over, and if agreeing with her was going to help his case, then he would do so, even if he knew Syaoran wouldn't be very happy with him.
"I don't think it's a good idea," Syaoran answered evenly, despite the pleading looks he was being given. "To waste more time on this would be stupid. It would be better to… stay indoors."
"We'll get to work right away, after we eat lunch," Eriol compromised, giving everyone a questioning stare, wondering if this worked for them all.
The girls didn't seem too happy about it, but neither did Syaoran. Eventually, Tomoyo and Meiling huffed in reluctant agreement, and Syaoran rolled his eyes, stepping away from the group and walking to the door.
"Whatever," he conceded, stomping out and approaching the stairs. "I'll be waiting in the car. Just pick a damn restaurant."
Eriol followed him out to calm his nerves while the girls squealed in delight, going to Sakura's room to tell her the plan. She let them in with a smile and went to the mirror above the vanity to quickly fix up her appearance.
"Hey you guys! Sorry, I know I'm taking a while. Did Syaoran-kun say yes? Are we going to a restaurant?"
"Yeah, he was cool about it," Meiling lied, taking a seat on the bed. "The boys are just waiting in the car. So… how does it feel? Being back here?" she asked her two friends.
"Great," Sakura said excitedly. "I've wanted to come back since the last time I left. Do you think Syaoran-kun will change his mind about seeing his family? We talked about it for a little while in the car but I don't know if I changed his mind at all."
Meiling blew air out through her mouth noisily, disturbing the bangs on her forehead as she did so. "I don't know, Kinomoto-san. Honestly. I know he'd love to see them, but he really doesn't want to take any chances on the elders finding out that he's here."
"I don't think he even wants to leave the estate," Tomoyo commented, shaking her head in confusion. "I mean – I understand why he wouldn't want to see his family. But not leaving the house? Who is he so afraid we're going to run into?"
Meiling pursed her lips and stared at the floor, shrugging. "Well… I don't know. We should get going, though. Syaoran said as soon as we were done with lunch, we'd be working on solving that weird little issue you've all been dealing with. Shall we?" she asked, rising and approaching the door.
They nodded and descended the stairs together, exited the house and joined the boys in Meiling's car. Eriol occupied the passenger's seat while Syaoran sat in the driver's seat, his fingers tapping impatiently atop the steering wheel as the girls ushered themselves inside. As Meiling gave directions to her favourite restaurant, Tomoyo and Sakura secured their seatbelts.
Leaning forward slightly in the middle seat, Sakura prodded Eriol lightly in the shoulder. "Eriol-kun, what's the address of your summer home, by the way? I have to text Kaito-kun the address of where I'm staying. I said I wouldn't forget to text him this time."
Upon hearing the other man's name, Syaoran's grip on the steering wheel tightened as he navigated around the driveway. Ignoring everyone's glances in his direction just to see his reaction at the mention of Kaito, he withheld an annoyed grunt and pushed down on the gas. The sooner they got to the restaurant, the sooner he could get the ordeal over with and get down to actual business.
Thankfully it wasn't a long drive to the restaurant, and the girls along with Eriol did enough chatting so that he didn't have to volunteer any comments or anecdotes. In fact, they talked so much that it was a wonder they even needed this lunch to "catch up" with one another. It seemed as if they had done enough of that in the car.
When they arrived at the restaurant where they served a mixture of both Japanese and Chinese food, he parked and stomped out of the car, already in a bad mood before the journey had even officially begun. He walked behind the rest of the party as they approached the maître d, and asked for a table with room enough for all five of them. They were shown promptly to a large table on their veranda so that they could enjoy Hong Kong's fine summer weather.
As they took their seats, Sakura giggled as the wisps of her hair tickled her face as they were blown by the wind. "This feels like a great day," she sighed happily.
"Definitely," Tomoyo agreed as Eriol tucked her chair in from behind her.
Syaoran first tucked in Sakura's and then Meiling's, taking one of the last two seats available across from Sakura and next to Eriol. He stared in her direction and blinked once, captured by the simple look of her in the summer light.
"You think so?" he asked, aiming the question at Sakura and speaking for the first time since they got in the car. "I mean – you think that it's a… great day?"
She looked up at him and blinked. "Yes. Don't you?" she asked.
He didn't nod, but still stared, thinking of how to respond. Eriol, Tomoyo and Meiling looked between the two of them, wondering what on earth was so great about this particular day.
A waiter with menus interrupted all their thoughts as he informed them of their specials for the day and what he highly recommended. Above her menu Sakura stared questioningly at Syaoran, her eyes narrowed slightly with a small pout on her face. When Syaoran was given his, he took a quick look at the words before him and attempted to steal an inconspicuous glance at Sakura's face, and instead met her eyes. He looked away quickly, pretending as though he hadn't just been caught trying to stare at her. Sakura's eyes narrowed further – did he remember what the day was, just like she did?
When the waiter left to allow them some time to make up their minds, they continued with the chatter. Sakura, less involved this time because she was far too busy gazing wonderingly in Syaoran's direction, could hardly keep up with the lively conversation. When the waiter returned some time later and asked for what she had chosen, she had no idea that any time had passed at all.
"H-hoe. I'm sorry, I…" she said, slowly moving her eyes off of Syaoran and back at the menu. He lifted his gaze from the table to look at her – he had felt her gaze on him the entire time. "I haven't made up my mind yet – could I…" she realized she had been speaking Japanese, and the waiter couldn't understand a word she was saying. She didn't realize that Eriol had translated for Tomoyo.
"She'll have a bowl of noodles with fried shrimp and your seafood medley," Syaoran said for her.
Confused, Sakura laughed nervously and said "thank you" in Chinese (one of the only phrases she knew), and tilted her head at Syaoran once the waiter left. "What did you say?" she asked.
He suddenly felt sheepish. "I – I just ordered your favourite for you. I'm sorry – should I not have? Maybe you don't like seafood anymore…"
She smiled brightly. "No, I do! Thanks, Syaoran-kun."
He returned the smile weakly, unsure if he could go on for the rest of lunch if she continued to stare at him the way she'd been doing before – he knew he shouldn't have mentioned the day. He was a fool for even bringing it up.
Syaoran sat quietly and stared at his lap while his friends continued to talk. To his great relief, Sakura continued to stare at him for only a few more seconds then rejoined the discussion. And only a short wait later did all their food arrive, for which he was very grateful and decided to leave a very large tip for such good service. The sooner he got out of there, the better.
Thankfully Sakura did not end up giving him the stare for the rest of the time they were there. She would glance in his direction occasionally, but never continued to look for much long. She was having far too good of a time being with her old school friends again – and Syaoran was happy to watch her from across the table as she laughed and ate little bits off her plate.
While he did nothing but pick at his own plate of dumplings with his chopsticks and tap his fingers on the table cloth, he was brought out of his reverie by an insistent calling of his name. Somehow the conversation had gone on for a while without his participation at all – until now. He looked up in confusion, shaking his head slightly to tell them he had not caught what they were saying.
"What?" he asked.
"Why are you so quiet?" Meiling wondered, looking at him with a scolding stare. "You've barely said anything at all."
"Sorry," he mumbled, avoiding Sakura's gaze that had once again found its way to him. "I'm tired from the flight, that's all."
"Well – maybe we should get going," Sakura suggested, addressing the entire table to make sure she wasn't proposing a bad idea. "Kero-chan is getting antsy to get back to the hotel—"
"Make sure you pack up your left overs!" he yelled from Sakura's purse.
She shoved him back inside the bag and coughed to throw off a passing waiter. "And it looks like we've all finished…" she continued, indicating to all of their nearly empty plates – except for hers and Syaoran's.
"Sure," Eriol agreed, standing and helping Tomoyo with her coat. "I'll have the waiter pack our left overs for Keroberos."
Relieved, Syaoran stood and took his wallet from his back pocket picking out a thick handful of bills and leaving it on the table. He was sure he must've paid over than what they actually owed, but he wanted to show just how grateful he was for their service. He was amazed at how painless the lunch actually was. The food came fast and a waiter had already appeared at the table to collect the money and pack up what they had not eaten. Thanks to them, he could go back to Eriol's house and begin with the real work.
As the waiter thanked Syaoran incessantly for leaving such a large sum of money and as Eriol took from him the Styrofoam packages of their leftovers, he whispered to Syaoran, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Even though he was right, Syaoran wasn't likely to admit it aloud – especially not to Eriol who would just gloat. "It was torture. Now let's leave."
"You could have talked with us more," he reprimanded lightly.
"I don't have a lot to say."
Eriol gave him an annoyed look but followed him and the girls out of the restaurant. Eriol handed Sakura the two styrofoam boxes so right away. They spotted the vehicle where they had left it in the parking lot and strode towards it casually – all of them except for Syaoran of course, who was in a great hurry to return home.
In his rush, he didn't notice the woman walking towards them, digging with one hand into her purse, obviously too distracted by whatever she was trying to reach, to also notice Syaoran in her way.
When they inevitably collided with one another, she dropped her bag onto the cement, her car keys following afterwards, falling with a light splat. Steadying first the girl and then himself, Syaoran bent down to pick up the things she'd dropped and held them out to her apologetically.
"I'm sorry," he apologized sheepishly, "I didn't see you."
The girl with long, straight black hair shook her head at the apology and smiled kindly. "No, no. Don't be, I was just trying to get my…"
Syaoran and the girl made eye contact, and the words dissolved from her tongue into thin air.
"Xiao-lang," she whispered softly, a look mixed with disbelief and joy spread out across her pretty face.
Syaoran attempted to swallow but found it impossible to do so. Surely the pretty young woman standing before him had to be a mirage, because he couldn't believe that his luck could actually be this terrible. How on earth could this have happened to him? Running into her, of all people, with Sakura just behind him? Were the Fates actually trying to ruin his already awful life?
"J-Jia…" he breathed, blinking repeatedly. "W-wh… what are you doing here?"
She smiled helplessly at him as though she were so happy to have run into him, but didn't know whether a hug or a handshake was more appropriate to give. So instead she gestured to the restaurant he and his friends had just exited and said, "I – I was just going to order some food for take-out. What are you doing here?"
Syaoran didn't respond. He opened his mouth but could only gape open mouthed at the woman he called Jia.
"Oh crap," Meiling said from behind the pair of them, while Eriol, Tomoyo and Sakura exchanged looks of confusion. "Jia – I forgot you still went to this restaurant…"
"Meiling," said Jia to Meiling in a friendly, but guarded manner. "It's good to see you again. You and Xiao-lang… here… I didn't even realize he was back in the country… I – I'm so sorry, you're with your friends," she apologized, noticing the other three and shaking her head in embarrassment. And then she said, "I didn't mean to disturb all of you."
"You're not disturbing – not at all," assured Eriol, smiling kindly at her and offering his hand. "My name is Hiiragizawa Eriol. This Daidouji Tomoyo and Kinomoto Sakura-san. We are friends of Xiao-lang's from Japan."
In surprisingly good Japanese, she answered happily, "It's so nice to meet all of you."
Tomoyo managed a sweet smile in the girl's direction, while Sakura, who was still very much confused about the whole situation, could only muster a half grin. If only she could understand their conversation in Chinese! Clearly there was something about this girl that was making Syaoran very uncomfortable. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her since the moment he realized who exactly she was.
"I'm sorry again for disturbing you," she said, still in Japanese and her smile somehow becoming prettier. "My name is Ling Jia."
"How do you know Syaoran-kun?" Sakura asked, somehow able to regain her previous cheeriness. There was absolutely no reason for her to show unkindness to the girl – and even if she did have reason, she could never bring herself to act in such a way. But there was something very strange about the whole meeting and she just had to know how exactly she knew Syaoran and Meiling.
"Syaoran-kun?" Jia repeated, confused.
Sakura shook her head and realized she'd called Syaoran by the wrong name. "I mean… Xiao-lang?"
Syaoran's eyes shifted uncomfortably between Sakura and Jia. How on earth was he possibly going to explain this one?
"She – she… we…" he stuttered, the sweat forming on his forehead.
"Actually, I… well…" Jia interrupted, this time the one between the two of them that looked sheepish. "I'm his fiancée."
Sakura's grip around the leftovers suddenly grew limp. They fell in a mess on the cement beneath them and Tomoyo could not help but shriek, for she was wearing a brand new pair of pumps that she did not want to get stained.
"I – I'm so sorry," she apologized breathlessly, bending down in a blind panic to clean up what she could of the mess. "I hope it didn't spill on you – I mean…" she was shaking her head, trying to make sense of what she had just been told. Squinting up at the girl, her eyes grew moist. "You're his – you're… you're Syaoran-kun's fiancée?"
"No," said Syaoran immediately, coming in front of Sakura and throwing the ruined leftovers to the side so he could attempt to explain himself. "No, she's not. She isn't, Sakura – we were – but not anymore! When I was in China—"
"No," she rasped, her breathing heavy as she avoided his touch and shrank away from his hold as he attempted to grasp her arms. "Please don't tell me… you've been engaged this whole time?"
"Please listen to me," he very nearly pleaded, moving forward as soon as she took a step away from him. "I can explain."
"Xiao-lang," said Jia, who the rest of them had practically ignored since she broke the news so they could observe Syaoran and Sakura's exchange. "You – you never told them?"
"Jia," Meiling stormed, no longer in such a friendly mood. "You know full well that you are not his fiancée anymore!"
Jia seemed to shrink at Meiling's reprimanding voice. "I – I know Meiling, I was just hoping… if ever Xiao-lang came back to China that he would – it would be because he decided to try things again with me…"
"Well I haven't!" he snapped, turning on her and taking her arm. Obviously Sakura was far too busy digesting this new piece of information and it would not help if he were there to get her even more riled up. So while Tomoyo attempted to calm her down, he took Jia away from the rest of his friends and practically thrusted her into another part of the parking lot. His face was angry while hers was worried, but also sad somehow.
"Xiao-lang, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have announced our engagement so suddenly like that. But I—"
"What engagement? Jia, there is no engagement. Why did you say you were my fiancée!" he barked, not caring whether or not he seemed like a jerk at the moment. "I ended that arrangement before leaving China – and you know it!"
"I'm sorry," she apologized once more, sounding sincere and panicked. "I… I didn't mean to. That girl – is she your girlfriend? I must have terribly confused her. Xiao-lang, please let me explain things to her, I never meant to…"
"No," he grunted, running a hand through his hair. "You have done enough, Jia."
The young woman looked as though she were about to cry. "Xiao-lang, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to give her the wrong idea – it's just that I…" she was wringing her hands together, as if preparing herself to make some big confession. "Xiao-lang – I've been waiting for you to come back ever since you left. All those letters I sent you were returned to me… I thought – I thought you knew how I still felt about you. There hasn't been anyone else since you…
Sighing, he didn't know how he could have this discussion with her without hurting her feelings even more. "Jia, I was never even your boyfriend! The elders betrothed me to you because of your family fortune. We barely even spoke – and you knew from the start that I was against our engagement!"
"I know, I know," she wailed. "But I… I fell in love with you, Xiao-lang... you know that."
He sighed again. How could this have happened to him? How could he even begin to explain to Sakura his history with Jia, without bringing up everything else he had done but not told her?
He released a concentrated breath. "Jia… I'm sorry I ended things the way I did. But I left you for a reason."
"And…" she asked, her eyes gravitating towards the ground. "Is that reason over there, hailing a cab?"
Syaoran looked over his shoulder and saw Sakura with Meiling and Tomoyo surrounding her, pleading with her not to get into the cab she had just waved over. He rushed forward, weaving in between the parked cars as best he could but still not making it in time to reach Sakura. The door had just shut in his face before he could even begin trying to talk her out of it.
"Sakura, wait," he beseeched, knocking on the car window. Sakura did not face him, only stared in her lap. "Please, open the door. Sakura… wait – Sakura!" he bellowed as the vehicle backed out of the parking lot. He had a half a mind to run after it – but he knew it was better not to. He was a decent runner, but definitely not good enough to catch up to a moving vehicle.
"Where is she going?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Back to my house," Eriol answered, feeling completely useless. "We tried to make her stay… we said you probably had a good explanation – which I hope you do, by the way."
"I do!" Syaoran scowled, staring after the car as it sped down the street. "I was going to tell her everything."
"Xiao-lang…" he heard a soft voice murmur. He turned to see Jia, still present, still wringing her hands nervously in front of her.
He sighed for the hundredth time and closed his eyes. "I have to go, Jia. Goodbye."
"Xiao-lang wait, please. If she is your girlfriend… I'd like to apologize. I never meant to complicate things…" she offered sincerely.
"She isn't my girlfriend," Syaoran moaned, his hands over his face.
"Oh," Jia anwered in quiet surprise. "If she isn't, then… why…?"
"It's complicated," he interrupted, taking her by the elbow and once more secluding them from his friends, who were watching their exchange terribly conspicuously. As soon as they were alone again, he took the opportunity to whisper, "Listen, Jia. I – I'm sorry for leaving you all those years ago. You deserved a proper goodbye. I hope this one will suffice."
"Xiao-lang, please… I don't care that you've been exiled from your clan – I still want to be with you."
"But I don't want to be with you," he said, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Jia, you – you're very beautiful. And you are kind and sweet and generous… but I…"
She smiled sadly, coming to the conclusion she was trying hard to avoid. "You're in love with that other girl."
He didn't respond. He didn't even nod – if he could spare the poor girl's feelings at least in this aspect, he would do so.
She gave a humourless laugh and shook her head. "Just my luck."
He frowned and attempted to reach out to her. "If it helps… I know how you're feeling right now."
The sad smile never left her face. Instead of talking, she took Syaoran by the shoulders, leaned in, and pressed her lips to his forehead. Stepping away from him, she gave a small nod and a wave, returning to the direction of her vehicle. It was obvious that she wouldn't be getting take-out anymore. If he were her, he would have lost his appetite, too.
He just could not believe thatsShe hadn't moved on after all these years. He could definitely sympathize with her, because of the obvious fact that he was still in love with Sakura. He at least hoped that this meeting between the two of them would give her the closure she fully deserved.
"I'm sorry," he said again to her retreating figure. She turned around and acknowledged his apology with another smile and a nod of her head. And then, remembering himself, he asked, "And Jia? Could you… could you not let anyone else know that I'm back in the country?"
This time she smiled a real smile, as if laughing at his odd request. She slid her index finger and her thumb across her lips, pretended to lock the side of her mouth, and threw away the imaginary key as her promise to keep their little run-in to herself. If she was lucky, she would never have to recall the event for the rest of her life.
Finally able to attend to Eriol, Tomoyo and Meiling, he released a heavy long-held breath and trudged back to their car. Wordlessly he seated himself into the passenger's seat, simply because he was in no state to be operating heavy machinery, and waited for his friends to join him in the car. They did so but said nothing until they strapped on their seatbelts and started on the way home.
Finally Syaoran asked, "Is she… is she furious with me?"
Tomoyo shook her head in the backseat. "No… I don't think so. She just feels… lied to, sort of."
He groaned. "How am I going to tell her…"
Tomoyo and Eriol exchanged looks of expectation between each other and then stared at Meiling. His cousin merely shrugged and nodded in the direction of Syaoran, who was staring hopelessly into his lap.
"Well?" Tomoyo prompted. "Meiling isn't going to tell us anything. Are you?"
He was really dreading the moment that he'd have to delve into all the real details of his departure from China. He was hoping he'd only have to do it once, with Sakura, who was the only one he wanted to explain things to. But he couldn't deny Eriol and Tomoyo an explanation either – an explanation they both deserved.
He exhaled slowly before beginning. "Daidouji – do you remember when I told you I flew back to Japan after three years of being away?"
She nodded slowly.
Syaoran closed his eyes and continued. "I didn't just come back because I was fed up – it was because of that, and… mostly because… they betrothed me to Jia."
Tomoyo closed her own eyes upon hearing the real truth, and shook her head from side to side. "Li-kun… why didn't you ever mention this?"
"I didn't think I would ever need to," he said, sounding desperate for them all to understand. "Listen – I disputed the arrangement the second they made it, but there was nothing I could do! They scheduled my days so that for a few hours each week, I'd be spending time with her. I could tell she'd really started to have feelings for me and I wasn't sure if I could go through with breaking another girl's heart… I just…"
"In Syaoran's defense," Meiling chimed, noticing how Eriol and Tomoyo's faces grew more and more disappointed. "He complained about the betrothal every single day. To the elders and even to Jia herself."
"No," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose, his face still cast downward. "They all have a right to be upset. I didn't do enough. I should have left the minute they told me about the betrothal. I shouldn't have waited until a few weeks before the wedding."
"You waited until that long?" Tomoyo practically shrieked. "Li-kun! You have the most terrible timing!"
"I know, I know," he agreed miserably. "I get it, okay? I should have told all of you the truth, the minute we made arrangements to return to China. I shouldn't have kept any of you in the dark about it. Especially not Sakura." But, how could have he possibly predicted that his bad luck would grow even worse and put him in the same parking lot as his ex-fiancée?
"You'll have your chance to tell your side of the story," Tomoyo informed him. "Sakura was upset – but she said before getting into the cab that she just couldn't share a car with you – or with any of us. She just said she wanted a ride back to the house by herself – so she could be alone, to think and… you know, get this through her head."
He nodded, already preparing himself for the conversation he knew he had to have with her once they were at the estate. "For once in your lives, all of you – please don't meddle. I need to tell her what really happened between me and Jia."
They all raised their hands in surrender, though Tomoyo didn't look too happy about it. He was counting on Eriol to keep her busy by whatever means necessary so their conversation could at the very least be private.
As they neared Eriol's estate, they saw the cab that Sakura had taken exiting from his driveway. Sitting up, Syaoran was ready to bound out of the car and straight up to her bedroom, where he knew she'd be – hopefully not crying.
Together they left the car and entered the house where it was eerily quiet. Sakura was obviously settled, and there was nothing left to do but go to her and explain. With encouraging glances, Eriol, Tomoyo and Meiling left went to the living room where they would while their time away in agonizing suspense. How their lives had become a lot like a soap opera-slash-adventure-comedy they had no idea, but they were (for the most part) enjoying every minute of it.
Leaving them and making his way up the stairs, Syaoran calmed his nerves and tried to practice whatever beseeching speech he thought would work on Sakura. All too soon he arrived just outside her bedroom door – which hopefully was not locked – and any words that he had prepared on the short journey from the bottom of the stairs to the top had completely escaped him. But he couldn't let another moment go to waste, thinking of what to say. It was the moment of truth – literally.
He knocked on the door and put a hand over the knob, pushing lightly and praying he would not feel resistance. He realized with an inward cry of relief that she had left it unlocked. That was one hurdle passed – an even bigger one awaited him.
Closing the door behind him, he spotted her sitting at the foot of her bed, her back facing him as she peered out the window. Were there tears in her eyes? They were quite wet when he had tried to explain in the parking lot… perhaps the water works weren't through yet, or maybe they hadn't yet begun. If she were crying, it would make the conversation a whole lot harder to have…
"Sakura," he said quietly, coming slowly to her side. "Please don't ask me to leave. I owe you…" he trailed off, shaking his head. He owed her an apology, an explanation, the truth and nothing but the truth.
"No," she answered softly, turning to face him softly. "You… you owe me nothing, Syaoran-kun. I'm sorry. I… I overreacted."
He blinked as his eyebrows drew together. Were his ears functioning properly, or had Sakura just apologized to him?
Quickly he joined her on the bed, sitting a safe distance away from her, in case she was not yet prepared to have him so close to her. "Sakura – what are you talking about? You don't have to apologize for anything – it's me who is in the wrong."
"No," she insisted, turning to face him full on and looking very apologetic. She was staring at him so sincerely, it confused him even more. "It's me, Syaoran-kun. I… I don't have any—"
"Let me explain first," he interrupted. "Before we go on with anymore apologies – I need you to hear this. Please let me explain?"
She inhaled and it looked as though she really did not want to hear any more about his relationship with the pretty girl named Jia – but it was obvious that Syaoran was determined to get it out of him. So reluctantly she kept her lips together in a straight line, steeling herself for the story to come.
He copied her actions and breathed inward, releasing the breath through his nose. He began slowly, "I – I left you… all those years ago… and I never thought I would come back to you."
She smiled sadly. "But you did."
"Yes," he told her, "but… not a month ago, when I needed your help. Sakura, I – I came back three years after being away."
Her eyes grew wide. She was quiet for a long time before finally asking with heavy emotion in her voice, "You came back? Why?"
He swallowed thickly. "It… it doesn't matter why I came back. It matters why I left. I left because – because…" wisely choosing not to admit his lingering feelings for her right then and there, he instead chose to tell her the other half of the reason, "because the elders had betrothed me to Jia, and I couldn't go through with the marriage. But I ended it, Sakura – she made it sound like we were still engaged, but we're not. I promise you, we're not."
She was shaking her head at him with a somewhat angry, somewhat disappointed look on her pretty face. "Syaoran-kun – why? Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It's just that I had caused you so much pain already, and to tell you about the engagement and about my return after a three year absence – it would do nothing for you. If anything it would just confuse you and cause you more harm than good."
"You still should have told me," she said adamantly, her eyes fixed upon his pleading face. "There has never been a day when I've been dishonest with you, Syaoran-kun. Even though we're not together anymore, I thought we could still do each other that courtesy of being truthful with one another." Her voice was growing louder with each word, and there was no doubting that she sounded hurt.
"I know, I know," he said desperately.
"Even with Kaito-kun, I was going to tell you about him. I was going to introduce you to him the very next day after you came back – the second time," she added, all the more hurt.
Having her mention her beloved fiancé did not help the situation, but he could not allow anger or jealousy to distract him from his current goal – gaining her forgiveness.
"I know," he said again, tightly this time because of the mention of Kaito, "I'm sorry, Sakura. I am so, so sorry. Please forgive me."
She looked about herself helplessly and turned to face the window again. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but thought better than to put a hand on her. She was obviously trying to gather her thoughts, and his touching her probably would not help.
After what felt like forever, she turned back around, and though there was still a hard stare in her eyes, she seemed calmer. And thank goodness, there were still no tears.
"Syaoran-kun, I… I still would like to apologize. I can't pretend like I'm… like I'm innocent in all of this."
He didn't speak, simply because he was far too confused. What did she mean?
She shook her head some more and looked embarrassed, smiling despite herself. "There I was, standing in the parking lot of a restaurant, feeling like a fool after finding out that my ex-boyfriend had been engaged… when I had no right."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Syaoran-kun, I'm supposed to be the dense one, remember?" she asked, laughing with mixed irony and hilarity, then continued. "When you found out about my engagement to Kaito-kun, you were so understanding about it. And I realized in the car ride back – if you could be okay with my current engagement to Kaito, why should it be so hard for me to just learn that you used to be engaged?"
"Oh…" he breathed. "Yes, well…"
"We… we loved each other very much for a time," she said, her voice a soft whisper. "But you were still so accepting and civil with Kaito. And me? I couldn't even string more than a few words together around Jia. I just… I just ran away."
His heart clenched. "Sakura…"
"No, Syaoran-kun. I was being unfair to you. I have no right to be upset over your engagement to Jia, when it's me who is still engaged to marry someone else. You've been nothing but understanding and I completely overreacted. I know you're not engaged to her anymore, but I should apologize for my behaviour to her as well."
Syaoran was far too speechless to conjure any kind of response. Yes, he was civil and understanding on the outside, but internally, he felt just as she did. He couldn't stand being in the same room as him or the simple mention of his name in a conversation. If he could show just how much he disliked Kaito, he would, but only refrained from doing so, so as not to upset Sakura. If only she knew how he truly felt…
"I just…" Syaoran began, ending the silence, "I want to apologize again. I wish I could have protected you from all of this – or at least have come clean on a different day."
Slowly lifting her gaze from his chin to meet his amber eyes, she asked quietly, "W-what is so important about today?"
Syaoran restrained a groan and the sudden urge to slap himself on the forehead. Why had he mentioned the day again?
"O-oh," he stuttered, feeling his throat constrict, "n-nothing…"
"Nothing?" she asked expectantly. "Really?"
His eyes grew soft. What was the point in pretending anymore? "You remember, too?" he asked gently, though he didn't need to. After listening to her conversation with Tomoyo after three years of being away, he had burned in his mind every word the two had exchanged. He particularly could not forget the fact that she knew which day marked his departure from Japan.
"Yes," she admitted, an unexpected tear appearing in her eye. "I remember every year."
They heard the doorbell sound but did not move. They sat, still evenly distanced from one another on the bed, staring at one another. There were voices heard as the door opened to allow the guest entrance, and from the sound of the voice it was a male visitor. But at the moment, Syaoran felt as though he'd ignore the whole world coming down around him before he would take his eyes off Sakura.
His arm appearing to have a mind of its own, it raised slowly and somehow it found its way to her face. He wiped away the tear, before it had a chance to fall. "I can't believe ten years has passed since I left you."
She didn't seem to mind his hand upon her cheek. It actually looked as though she whole-heartedly welcomed the touch. "A decade," she reiterated, sounding just as much in disbelief. "A whole decade. Time flies, doesn't it?"
Actually, each year he spent away from her felt like an eternity. It may not have felt that way for her, but he could not deny that his life without her was like an agonizingly slow existence without anything to truly look forward to. He wished more than anything that he could tell her that much, but knew better. So he answered, "It sure does."
The distance between them somehow disappeared. A mere inch separated their bodies on the bed, and even less separated their faces. Her eyes were closing and so were his, and the only thing present in his mind was the fact that it had been a whole ten years since he had last kissed the girl he loved. Perhaps it was time he broke the fast.
Suddenly the door to her room swung open and a booming voice called out her name, jarring them both from their trance.
"Sakura!" Kaito said excitedly as his eyes scanned the room. It was not long before he spotted her… on the bed. With Syaoran. And their faces dangerously close to each other's.
He dropped the suitcase he had in his hand. He opened his mouth, his suddenly flat voice a shadow of its usual optimism.
"Surprise, Sakura."
xxx.
Author Notes: Uh oh, spaghetti-o! Someone is in big trouble!
Also, many of you were wondering whether Meiling would appear in my story – ta-da! We have the whole gang! Well, the main gang, anyway… :P
I am working like a mad woman, and I am frantically trying to write the last few chapters of the story before my summer is over! I would hate to leave you guys hanging while I took an eternity trying to tie up loose ends for the story. I am doing my best, and I hope my best works out for all of us!
Reviews, though not expected, are wholly welcomed – and people who leave one for me are very much loved (as are the people who simply read)! :).
Signing off,
Agent08 – My life as a secret agent xD