Courage to Love
By: sakuraflowergal
Chapter 10: Wedding 911
Syaoran's room
"Syaoran," Meiling entered the room and saw him drinking at the balcony. "Eriol told me about you and that girl, Sakura."
Syaoran ignored her and continued drinking glassfuls of wine as if no one else existed except him.
"Syaoran, why didn't you go after her and explain to her about us and your leadership? I'm sure she would understand."
Again, he was so into his own world that he didn't even bother to acknowledge her presence.
Irritated now, Meiling went to the balcony and snatched the wine glass from Syaoran's hand. "Did you hear what I said?"
Syaoran gave her a terrifying glare and went off to drink from the bottle itself.
"Will you stop drinking? This stuff is toxic to you body." Meiling took the bottle away and hurled it out into the gardens below.
"What did you do that for?" Syaoran yelled.
"I was saving you from killing yourself! Don't you know how bad alcohol is for your liver?"
"Shut up! I don't need salvation. I need to be alone without you or anyone else to disturb me!" Syaoran stood up, knocking the table and chairs over.
"No, you need Sakura to be with you. You want her to be with you. But why are you here drinking alone? You could be doing a lot more by going to her hotel now and do some explanation!"
"What I do is none of your business."
"Oh, but it is! You promised to help me escape from here, but if you are killing yourself, who is going to help me?"
"That's your problem." Syaoran turned and walked back into his room.
"Come back here!" Meiling held him back by his shirt. "What do you mean by: that's my problem? How can you be so selfish?"
"Yes, I am selfish. I'm the most selfish person in the world! Now, would you leave me alone?!" Syaoran gave his last yell before pushing Meiling out of his room and locking the door behind him.
The next morning, Kowloon Hotel
"Sakura-sama, your private jet will be ready for your flight back to Japan at 9am." The butler informed Sakura when he entered the living room of the suite.
Sakura had spent the night packing and arranging for the flight back home. She had been so disappointed in Syaoran, or more accurately, disappointed in her poor judgment of men. And so, she decided that she could no longer stay in this foreign city where she had no family or friends to depend on.
Just before the butler leaves the room to bring Sakura her last breakfast in Hong Kong, he announced that there was a guest at the door.
'Who could it be?' Sakura thought. The immediate answer was: Syaoran. "Tell him that I'm not seeing anyone today, or any other time." She ordered.
"Too late, I've let myself in." Meiling commented as she stepped into the room.
"Oh, it's you. I thought it was…" Sakura mumbled to herself.
"Syaoran?" Meiling, who had heard her, completed the sentence. "Well, I had hoped that he would come, but that stubborn cow is so…stubborn."
"I don't want to know anymore, Miss Meiling. I'm going back to Japan today and I don't ever want to see him again." Sakura said before turning to go into the bedroom, hinting that the meeting was over.
"Miss Sakura, don't you love Syaoran anymore?"
Sakura paused for a long while before replying, "I fell in love with my own imagination of Syaoran, not the real Li Syaoran of Hong Kong."
"How can you be so sure? Everything you've heard is from the media; you didn't even give Syaoran a chance to explain himself; you didn't even talk to him! The media can be misleading sometimes. For one thing, Syaoran and I are not childhood sweethearts. Oh, for god's sake, Syaoran and I had just met for the first time few days ago! If we get married, it will not be for love, it will be a forced and miserable marriage." Meiling exclaimed.
"…"
"Whether you believe it or not, Syaoran loves you, and I know you love him too. I won't force you to stay in Hong Kong, but if you change your mind and decide to give Syaoran and yourself another chance to happiness, you can always come to the Li mansion to find me." Meiling stuffed a card into Sakura's hand, "Just show the guards this, and they will bring you directly to me."
After that, Meiling gave a small sigh and left the room.
Li Mansion
"What are you doing in my room?" Meiling questioned when she found Syaoran inside her room.
"Where did you go to?" Syaoran asked back.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I…I…" Syaoran stumbled, "I want you to tell me where Sakura is."
Meiling frowned, "Why? Have you changed your mind? Do you want to go and explain things to her? Too late, she should be at the private airport to return to Japan now."
"What?!" Syaoran yelled and quickly dashed out of the room.
Kowloon Hotel
"Sakura-sama, the jet is ready for flight." The butler informed Sakura.
She looked at the card which Meiling had given her intently before finally replying, "Okay."
Hong Kong Private Airport
"Miss, I want to page for Miss Kinomoto Sakura." Syaoran told the counter lady when he dashed into the building.
"I'm sorry, Sir, There is currently no passenger in here now. The last jet had just taken off." She informed him politely.
Li Mansion
"Chen, get the private jet to prepare for a flight to Japan." Syaoran ordered.
"Why, Master Syaoran?"
"Chen, if you want to continue your job as my personal assistant, you have to stop questioning my orders." Syaoran warned in a low voice.
"Yes, Sir." Chen bowed to show his respect. "Master Syaoran, Miss Meiling had asked you to go to her room immediately when you return."
"Okay."
Syaoran marched to the West wing and entered Meiling's room with a bang. "What do you want, Meiling? Make it quick because I need to pack; I'm going to…"
Then he caught sight of a familiar someone at the sofa, drinking tea. "…Japan."
"Sakura?" Syaoran mumbled softly in anticipation.
The honey-brown haired girl stood up, "Yes. I am Sakura. Meiling asked me to wait here for her while she…"
Sakura was broken off because Syaoran had rushed forward and brought her into his arms. Sakura smiled at the sign of affection and raised her arms to hug him back.
"Sakura, I thought… I thought I had lost you." Syaoran whispered.
"I thought I had lost you too. You don't know how much it had hurt when I heard that you are getting married." Sakura started crying at this point.
"I'm so sorry, Sakura. I should have told you all about my family, my past, my…"
"Shhh… I didn't come all the way from Japan to hear you say all this. I…I hope that you still love me, because I came to tell you that I love you." Sakura finally confessed.
"Say that again."
Sakura pressed her lips to his ear, "I'm going to go crazy if you don't kiss me now!"
Of course, Syaoran gladly obeyed and the couple shared their first official kiss, under the scrutiny of 2 spies hanging outside the room.
When they finally broke off, Syaoran picked up one of the couch pillows lying on the sofa and threw it towards the door.
"Come out now!" Syaoran shouted, "I know you two are there."
Reluctantly, Meiling and Eriol emerged from behind the door. "Hahahaha, when did you find out that we were hiding there?"
"When I hugged Sakura, I heard the door swing a little even when there was no wind." Syaoran replied with a straight face.
Meiling sweatdropped, "That means you knew about us from the start. I guess we weren't very good spies, are we?"
Eriol smiled, "Well, now that your problem is solved, I think we should move on to Meiling's problem."
Meiling nodded vigorously and then she turned to Sakura, "Whether we like it or not, Syaoran and I are still engaged. Until this problem can finally be solved, no one here can live happily ever after."
Sakura nodded her head in agreement. "What can I do to help?
"All you can do is to go back to your hotel and lie low for the time being." Syaoran told her. "The plan I have involves Meiling acting like a selfish, arrogant brat. When the Elders see how unsuitable she is for the position of the 'First Lady', they will call off the wedding themselves."
"This plan is so old-school." Meiling commented.
"Well, no one ever said that old-school doesn't work." Syaoran argued.
"Okay, we'll commence the operation…" Eriol paused when the Chen entered.
"Miss Meiling, the seamstress is here to take measurements for the wedding gown."
"Get her to wait for me in the study. I'll be over in a few moments." Meiling ordered.
"Yes, Miss Meiling." And Chen left the group.
Eriol smiled and continued from where he left off, "…now."
Li Mansion, Study
"Miss Meiling." The seamstress bowed when Meiling entered the room
Meiling ignored her and settled herself on one of the comfy sofas near the window. The seamstress went over to her and passed her a small sketchbook.
"Miss Meiling, these are the designs of the wedding gown. Please take a look and tell me if there is anything of your liking in there."
Meiling briefly flip through the sketchbook and took note that the designs are all really nice. But as it is, the plan is for the bride-to-be to be nasty.
"What are these?!" Meiling threw the book on the floor. "The designs are absolutely horrible! Don't ever show me such trash again!" With that, Meiling marched out of the room, feeling very guilty for what she had done.
"Miss Meiling" Chen greeted when he met Meiling on the hallway. "The Mistress (Yelen) wishes to see you in her room to confirm the guest list."
Meiling nodded her head and went to find Yelen.
Yelen's Room
"Aunt Yelen, Chen told me that you want to see me." Meiling said when she saw Yelen in the room.
"Yes." Yelen put down the book that she was reading and took out a PDA from a drawer. She handed Meiling the PDA which contained a long list of names.
"Check if everyone whom you want to invite is in there."
Meiling scrolled down the long list and found a whole bunch of names which she had never even heard of.
"Aunt Yelen, who are all these people?" Meiling read out a few of the names to Yelen.
"Friends of the elders, I guess. I don't know every one on the list either. I merely compiled it from the guest lists everyone contributed."
Meiling narrowed her eyes. "They will not be invited."
"What?!" Yelen almost jumped up from her seat.
"This is MY wedding. Why should I invite the people whom I don't know? If the elders want to invite their friends, get them to have their own wedding!" Meiling returned the PDA with the new guest list to Yelen and walked out of the room.
At this point, all Yelen could do was stare in shock.
Kowloon Hotel
"Stay here for the time being. After the wedding problem is solved, I'll arrange for you to move into the mansion." Syaoran told Sakura as he tucked her into bed.
"No need for that. I was thinking of going back to Japan to wait for you." She replied.
Syaoran shook his head violently, "No! We will not be separated again. Believe me, it won't be long before you become my wife."
Sakura blushed furiously and hid her face under the bed sheets. "I've never said anything about marrying you."
"Alright." Syaoran got up and walked to the door. "Since you have no intention of being with me, I guess I better leave now."
"Wait!" Sakura rushed to him and hugged him from behind. "Don't leave me."
Syaoran smiled and turned to her. "I'll never leave you. Unless you tell me to walk away, I'll stick to you like glue forever and ever."
Sakura smiled and gave Syaoran a peck on the cheek.
"Hey, that was not a real kiss!" Syaoran complained and kissed Sakura fully on the lips.
2 Weeks Later, Li Mansion, Ballroom
"Drape that black curtain over there" Meiling commanded as the servants rushed around to decorate the ballroom for the upcoming wedding reception.
For the past 2 weeks, Meiling had done as much as she could to annoy the people around her, especially the Elders and Yelen. Yet, she didn't get the desired response from them. Most of the time, the Elders and Yelen would stare at her in shock whenever she does something offending or disrespectful. But because they were so used to the people bowing and taking their orders, that they were totally at a lost when someone actually had the guts to stand up against them.
"I want all the candles to be white in color. Throw those ugly red ones away!" Meiling ordered when she say the menservants carrying boxes of red candles.
Just when Meiling was about to get the servants to put on the black tablecloths, Yelen stepped into the ballroom and got a shock of her life. The entire room was decorated in black and white and it looked like it was being prepared for a funeral and not a wedding (In China, red is considered to be lucky while black and white are colors used for funerals and will bring bad luck.)
"What are you doing?" Yelen shouted.
"Decorating the room for the wedding, of course. The theme is: Victorian Dreams. Everything must be in black and white with lots of lace and feathers!" Meiling exclaimed in excitement as she waved a black feathered fan around.
"What?!" Yelen yelled loudly. Everyone in the room stopped their work and quickly ran out of the room. Yelen is seldom angry, but when she does get mad, she will tear the house down. No one in their right mind will be willing to be in the same room as Yelen when she's angry.
"Victorian is the new trend. Plus the Li Clan should try something new or else I'll try into an old hag before I turn 30." Meiling argued.
"That's it! You're coming with me to see the Elders!" Yelen took Meiling by the arm and dragged her to find the Elders. On their way to the Elders, they met Syaoran in the hallway and Yelen dragged him along with her since the matter is about his wife-to-be.
Great Hall
"Yelen, why are you here?" One of the Elders questioned.
"I have a grave matter that I feel the Elders should take a stand." Yelen started. "For the past few weeks, Meiling had displayed several acts of disrespect and disregard for the Elders and me. I feel that if nothing is done to correct her behavior, she may eventually bring shame to the Li Clan."
"What do you have in mind?" The Elder asked.
"I feel that Meiling lacks the qualities of a good wife and the Elders should therefore reconsider the arranged marriage of the Syaoran and Meiling."
There were murmurs among the Elders as they discussed about the matter. There were too many factors to consider: on one hand, the Elders were afraid that if they decide to break the engagement, they would lose their credit-worthiness. But on the other hand, if Meiling were to being shame to the family, Li Clan may loss their status in the high-class society altogether.
"What do you think, Syaoran?" The Elder asked him for his opinion.
Being confident that the Elders would surely act according to his plan, Syaoran pretended to be obedient and said, "I'll do whatever the Elders instruct."
"Very well." Wei appeared from among the Elders. "We have made our decision. The wedding will still go on as planned. Yelen will be responsible for shaping Meiling into the ideal Li wife."
"What?!" Both Meiling and Syaoran exclaimed at the same time.
To Be Continued
AN: Chapter 10 is finally up. As always, I hope to get at least 10 reviews for each chapter. I assure you that the next chapter is already written and so as soon as I feel like updating, I will.