Addiction Chapter 10: Love in Winter Part 2
NOT a new chapter, but since FFN was going crazy when I uploaded this, and some people PMd me to say they didn't get the alert, here it is again. Sorry to those who already read this!
SORRY! I forgot to move up the rating to M last chapter, and I have done so now. Please do not read on if you are offended by such scenes. Not pointless porn though.
Once again, please give a hand to my wonderful beta MikoKagome1113, who helped me even with a big bio project coming up. Hope you aced it!
"Fujitaka Kinomoto and Touya Kinomoto?" the guard called as he leaned into the rough hut they were in. They were cold; their thick but dirty cotton garments were not the best defense against the bite of winter.
Captured in a raid on their village, the two male Kinomotos were now prisoners of the Southern daimyo they opposed. They soon discovered that Sakura had not been caught; she was not in the pleasure houses as a forced prostitute, nor in the lord's house as a maid. For that they were grateful, but the hard labor they had had to endure had aged both of them by a few years in a short time.
They took comfort in that they could not feel that Sakura was in danger. Touya, for one, had always been connected to his sister, and he sensed no danger to her. Their sacrifice had worked.
But now, why were they being summoned?
"Apologies, Kinomoto Fujitaka, Kinomoto Touya." The guards sounded nervous. "Please, follow me."
"Er…" Fujitaka began.
"Don't trust them, Father," Touya muttered. He could not believe their jailers would show them any kindness or consideration.
Out loud he said, "Whatever it is you want, I'll do it if you spare my father." He kept his eyes averted; he knew Fujitaka would be upset if Touya allowed himself to be beaten up again.
"Just come along," the head guard said. "Someone's looking for you."
Touya looked at his father, both of them feeling wary. Was it a trick?
But when they followed the guard, they were led to the daimyo's castle, where, in a small, comfortable room, their slave collars were removed, and they were given clean hot water for bathing, then dressed in clean clothes. Soon they were in front of the daimyo, and there was a man in dark robes with a bat insignia on the front.
Menace radiated from the mild-looking man. The daimyo was trembling. "Kyle-san, here they are. We meant no harm. We did not know..." he babbled.
The man called Kyle merely stared at Touya and Fujitaka, bowing to the older Kinomoto respectfully, much to Touya's surprise. He then said softly, "They have been mistreated," as he straightened his glasses then smiled at the lord, who shivered.
"Did you think I would not be able to tell if you bathed them and gave them new clothes?" He spoke in a pleasant tone but Touya touched his father's arm; the room had grown cold.
"Please… We did not know Lord Fei Wang Reed was looking for them," the lord stammered.
Touya needed no special training to see that the lord and his guards were very, very afraid of the man with the small spectacles and slender build. But more disturbing was his father's reaction to the name Fei Wang Reed; he started, then sighed.
"Otou-san?" he whispered.
"It is nothing," Fujitaka whispered back.
"You're just one man," the lord tried to display some bravado by challenging Kyle.
Kyle smiled. Immediately the air turned so cold, everyone save for Kyle could see their breaths issuing from their mouths.
He smiled again, and said, "Such bad weather we're having, don't you think?" His cheerful manner was much more menacing than any amount of threats or aggressive posturing.
One of the guards' swords iced up suddenly and shattered; another guard yelped when his shoes burst into flame. The lord and the other guards recoiled when Kyle turned his gaze on them.
His voice was hard. "You will recompense the Kinomotos for all they lost under you and for their suffering. Say… two hundred gold pieces each?" He smiled when the lord blanched.
"As for me, I deserve a finder's fee." He stepped closer to the lord and smiled again. "The same amount. Bring it here now, along with thick traveling cloaks, a cart, horses, and other provisions. And don't try giving me poison in the food or water, or copper or silver coated with gold; I will know. If that happens," and he began nonchalantly cleaning his glasses, "you might find that a little… plague might ruin your little fiefdom. That would be so, so terrible, would it not be?"
"You heard him! Empty the treasury!" the daimyo commanded quickly. The sum was a terrible price; thirty gold pieces could buy a large farm and its animals, after all, but to get rid of Kyle, the lord would do anything.
Kyle waited as the gold was brought to them. Six hundred gold pieces went into a sack for transport; they were given a cart with horses, and Kyle bowed to the Kinomotos. "Should there be anything else you wish, I would be happy to provide."
"Command the daimyo to release the villagers," Fujitaka said, standing tall.
"As you wish—Lord Fujitaka." Kyle turned to the daimyo, who was hesitating. "Release the villagers, or…" He didn't have to complete his sentence. The lord, who feared for his life, whispered, "Do it!" to his minions.
Kyle turned to Touya and Fujitaka, who cringed when he smiled. "Why deny it? Why did you turn your back on your noble background?"
Touya gasped when his father said, "I… had my reasons."
"Well, let's see," Kyle flicked his eyes at Touya. "Your daughter is missing."
"Do you know what became of her?" Fujitaka became more alert, stepping towards Kyle, a new straightness to his back.
"We do… but you must come home to see her—and the rest of your family."
Touya stared at his father, who clenched his fists, clearly in the grip of some unpleasant memories. He'd never spoken of his own family, after all. Then, "All right. We'll go with you."
Kyle nodded, then took the position of the cart driver; a confused Touya and a tense Fujitaka climbed in after him.
"We'll get more provisions along the way… this will be a few days," Kyle said. "I shall take care of it, Lord Fujitaka."
With every mention of the word 'lord,' Touya noticed that his father frowned. But now was not the time to ask, and he decided to ask later, out of earshot of the strange man named Kyle Rondart.
"Delicious!" Syaoran tapped the bowl with his chopsticks. "I should win bets with you more often," he gloated. He and Sakura had bet on who the last card they captured—which was Shield—would float to, and it had been him. The penalty was that Sakura had to make Syaoran's favorite food: tenshin, a shrimp omelette with gravy over fried rice, and fried breaded kisu fish.
In truth Syaoran had simply wanted to see if she could cook well; plus, his pride had been wounded when she'd been the one to think of a plan to catch Wood last time. He wasn't disappointed; she had a light hand with ingredients, and her flavors were subtle rather than overwhelming.
Sakura smiled. "You got lucky," she said, "and don't gloat. It doesn't become you," she chided. "Next time though, you're making me menrui. Zaru soba!"
"Oh for heaven's sake." Syaoran grinned, then pecked Sakura's lips gently. "There. Better?"
"Still doesn't become you," she said impishly. "Maybe if you do it again?"
Syaoran threw his head back and laughed; then he kissed her again, more deeply this time. Sakura threw her arms around him and kissed him back. They rubbed noses when the kiss was broken, then laughed together.
It felt wonderful, and he'd been doing it often lately, laughing in Sakura's presence. They were happy together, and they'd even begun sleeping in each other's chambers, snuggled together like happy kittens. Though the scene with the drying cloth had never been repeated, the new trust and intimacy between them made him happy.
Sakura herself found that Syaoran's presence was soothing. Despite the dangers they faced, what with Clow Cards coming one after the other to test them—and now they had begun testing how she could use the Cards in ways other than how they had been intended. He had begun searching for her family, and Sakura guessed at this because he asked a bit too many questions about how they looked like.
"Hey," Sakura said as she snuggled in his arms, "when are we going to do anything about the Card outside? I think it's trapped in the ice." It felt like the Card was begging her to come for it, in fact.
"It can stay in the ice," Syaoran said lazily, turning to kiss her. "Wouldn't you rather snuggle with me?" He proceeded to feather kisses across her lips, nuzzling her neck with his nose and licking gently at her shoulders.
"Uh…" Sakura found it hard to concentrate when he was affectionate, "Syaoran, really, we should… ohh…" She closed her eyes as he explored her nape with his tongue; it was a sensitive spot, and he tended to take advantage of those when he found them.
Not that she didn't when she found them in him.
"Ohh? What's that?" he teased.
She gave him an exasperated look, and he laughed. "Fine, fine. Let's go get it." He stood up, helped Sakura stand up, then they trudged through the darkening corridors of Shiroihana, hand in hand. Soon they stood outside the academy, near a frozen pond.
"Oh, the poor thing," Sakura said; a rabbit-like creature was desperately trying to break through the ice.
"Why, that's Jump," Syaoran said. He summoned his sword from his pendant and carefully cut through the ice to free the Card. Sakura summoned Firey and asked it to help warm the other card.
Shivering, the little rabbitlike card peeped gratefully at Sakura and Syaoran and made a sound like a little chirp as its fur warmed up. Then it closed its eyes and snuggled into Sakura's arms.
"Oh thank the gods it's not going to be a tough capture," Sakura sighed. She called her staff then said, "Return to your true form, Clow Card!"
The little creature turned into a card labeled "The Jump" and Syaoran looked up. Large—snowflakes?—were drifting from the sky. He held out a hand. No, they were sakura petals.
"Another card," he said. That happened too often; they tended to come in pairs, and Syaoran figured Sakura was simply getting strong enough to manage such captures.
"Mmm," Sakura said as she stood up. Petals from peonies, sakura blossoms, peach blossoms, even plum and nadeshiko blossoms wafted towards them. She giggled as whole blooms began raining on them.
"Look, Syaoran, aren't they lovely in the snow?" And they were; the riot of colors against the pristine white snow looked like a little patch of fairyland.
"Look, Sakura, shouldn't you catch the card?" Syaoran playfully retorted.
"Oh, let it have some fun." Sakura saw the card, a lovely girl with curled pink ponytails, dancing atop one of the walls of Shiroihana. It smiled when it saw Sakura looking up at it, and beckoned to her.
"Don't get too close," Syaoran warned.
"What's the harm?" Sakura took Syaoran's hand and placed a peony blossom in it. "I imagine you'd like this," she smiled.
Syaoran stared. A peony. His favorite flower, not that he'd ever told her. And she'd just given it to him.
It was a sign. Who was he to ignore fate?
Sakura was dancing in the snow, laughing happily as snowflakes and petals and blossoms floated about her. Syaoran watched her, feeling his heart warm.
I love her, he thought.
And he knew it was true, though he did not yet have the courage to tell her. She was his world, and she made his world brighter and happier. Syaoran placed the peony in a pocket of his winter kimono, and beckoned to the Card, which he had recognized as Flower.
"Come on," he said, "don't make it hard for Sakura now."
The Card nodded, smiling as it danced in the air towards them. He touched Sakura's arm once he was near her.
"The Card, Sakura," he whispered in her ear. "Come on, seal it so we can go back inside."
Sakura turned, and watched his amber eyes as he looked at her. The expression in them was ineffably tender, and he touched her chin.
"If I… should it come… I mean," Syaoran stammered.
She watched as he struggled with words, and was stunned when he asked, "If I were to ask, w-would you consider m-marrying… me? I mean, if I were…to do so?"
"Hoe," she said softly. "But… Syaoran… why?"
"What do you think this is?" He touched his forehead to hers. "Did you think I kissed you to pass the time? Do you think I spend time with you… for no reason? I choose—to be with you, don't you know?" he said softly as he tucked her hair behind her ears.
She said nothing, but crept closer so that he could fold her into his arms. Then, "I think I would, I mean, say yes, if you should ask, should the time come," she said softly.
"I'm sorry that time isn't now, yet," Syaoran said as he pressed her to him. "I need to fulfill certain obligations first. And there's the Cards to think of, for you. Plus—I'd have to ask your family… if they can be found…"
Looking up at him, Sakura nodded. "I understand." And when I feel ready, she thought, I will tell you that I love you.
They hugged again, Syaoran pressing his face to her hair to hide unexpected tears. Boys don't cry, he admonished himself. He loved her so much, and it was the first time he had known such a powerful, intense emotion that he was scared. Could love be a weakness? Why did he feel so strongly about her? No, he must master himself first, his pride insisted. No weak knees, no overly sentimental thoughts.
He kissed the top of her head, then chuckled when she said, "Uh, Syaoran? The flowers… are burying us…"
Syaoran turned and saw Flower riotously celebrating around them, flinging handfuls of petals and blooms in their direction. And they were now waist deep in the blooms. He gave the Card a withering glance, but Flower merely laughed and winked, still spewing out flowers.
"Cut it out," he said gruffly. The Card obeyed, to his surprise.
"Please, thank you," he heard Sakura say as she raised her staff and sealed Flower.
The weather around them calmed down; in the little light they had left to the day, Syaoran suddenly stopped and looked back at the flowers carpeting the path.
I will marry her in the Spring after this one, he promised himself. I just have to talk to Eriol, and to my mother. If they approve, then I will find what has become of her family and make it formal.
"Syaoran?"
He looked at Sakura and smiled. "I'm here," he said as he took her hand in his. "Let's go back." They trudged back into the academy, not seeing the birds that had been watching them all this time.
"Hiiragizawa-sama," the maid said as she bowed to Xiaolang then passed.
Excellent, the dark Xiaolang thought. The maid, who has served here for five years, does not recognize me.
He turned to go back to his chambers, then removed the robe he'd enchanted with Eriol's hair. His hair immediately turned into shimmering waves of light copper from the midnight blue they had been; one of his eyes went from blue to amber; and his build became slender again.
As Eriol, he intended to penetrate Shiroihana and keep a closer watch on Sakura and Syaoran—to sabotage what he knew was their deepening relationship. Cursing the magical limitation that prevented him from spying on the pair in the elite students' quarters, Xiaolang rued that Sakura was now being openly courted by Syaoran. Earlier, in fact, Syaoran had informally proposed marriage to her.
And she accepted!
He'd held back on going to Shiroihana because he was waiting for one last ingredient for The Shot. It would be ready in three days, and in the meantime he intended to go to Shiroihana as Eriol.
Syaoran trusted Eriol, and had even seen his friend off as he left for Kuroyama. As Eriol, he would be able to plant poison into Syaoran's mind, and spur Meilin into action. That's one love story that will not have a happy ending, that of Sakura and Syaoran, Xiaolang thought grimly. I am her happy ending, and she just needs to see it!
A small snag in his plans was that he could not penetrate Eriol's memories, no matter how hard he tried. Xiaolang would have to fly blind into Shiroihana as Eriol, who now lay in a hidden chamber, sleeping a restorative sleep. No harm was done to him, certainly; the sleep would actually strengthen Eriol's magic and body. If he had his way, he would have killed Eriol, but he knew that act would bring terrible retribution on his father.
No, he would have to wait until everything shattered at Shiroihana and he could release Eriol when it was too late for the son of Clow Reed to interfere. While there, Xiaolang could always pretend Eriol had been hardened by his weeks away from Shiroihana.
You're a fool if you think that will work, the Xiaolang buried in his consciousness taunted. You've lost sight of who you are, and it seems to include the intelligence I had when I was in control. Give up.
"Shut up!" Xiaolang faced the enchanted mirror his father had given him. In it, he could see himself, two versions of himself: the old Xiaolang, smiling and gentle, whom he had trapped inside himself with the help of The Shot, and himself, the new one, dark and hard and evil-eyed.
You will lose. You always will. You needed Father's help to take over my body, and you will need Father's help to shut me up. Who's the weakling, huh? The trapped Xiaolang taunted the dark Xiaolang who was in control.
"I'll teach you a lesson." Dark Xiaolang closed his eyes and entered his own mind.
"About time, you coward," the trapped Xiaolang taunted. "Do you know something? I know how to get into Shiroihana, how to win their trust, and how to win Sakura without the use of The Shot."
"But you won't tell me," dark Xiaolang sneered. "Because it's the honorable, righteous way. Spare me the pain of torturing the information out of you."
"No. Not until you give me back control of my body!"
"Why Xiaolang, don't you realize we are permanently connected?" purred the dark Xiaolang. "I am you—I am your darkest desires, the evil things you are capable of doing if you had no conscience. I am the better part of you. You would have given way to Syaoran over Sakura in the name of honor. Honor, pah! Weak, spineless fool! There is only power!"
"Since when is integrity weakness? That in itself is a form of power, fool," the trapped Xiaolang answered as he stood up to face the dark Xiaolang. "I kept you in check because you're the uncivilized part of me, the part that has no respect for anything, the part that can only destroy."
He gasped as the dark Xiaolang pressed a dagger to his throat, and let the tip of the blade slide in.
But then the dark Xiaolang gasped as well; an identical wound had opened on his throat, and was bleeding.
The trapped Xiaolang began to laugh.
"Kill me! Come on, kill me!" he taunted as he pressed the blade deeper into his throat. Dark Xiaolang pulled the blade away, aghast.
"You can't kill me without killing yourself. I am you, after all," he mocked the dark Xiaolang by using his own words. "And now…"
A blast of magic flung the dark Xiaolang against the walls of trapped Xiaolang's prison. The trapped Xiaolang began to cast more spells, pounding dark Xiaolang with the full force of his fury.
"Do you yield?" the trapped Xiaolang bellowed once he'd gotten his evil self pinned beneath him. "Give me back my body!"
To his surprise, dark Xiaolang began to laugh. "You just proved me right. Once I take Sakura, there is no going back for her unless she embraces the dark side of her—or she will die. Surely even you can see that her sweet little self will never win over her opposite, her dark half; imagine the power and evil in that lovely dark Sakura!" He licked his lips. "Sweet little Sakura will never, ever be able to fight her way out of the imprisonment our dark Sakura will devise for her—I mean, look at you!" He laughed, making the trapped Xiaolang wince.
"If you kill me now, we both die. If we live, though," and his voice suddenly became honey, "we taste her virgin flesh. We bed her, and hear her moan our name in pleasure. We see the secrets of her nubile little body, exposed for us alone. If we cooperate, we can be unstoppable. And we can see the dark side of Sakura exposed as well. Will she be a wanton lover in bed, I wonder?"
"No," the trapped Xiaolang moaned. "Leave her alone!"
"Oh no," the dark Xiaolang sneered. "I'm ready to go to Shiroihana. In fact, I think I shall deflower her right there, under cousin Syaoran's nose. I want him to see the rose stain of her virginity taken away."
"You can't!" the trapped Xiaolang screamed.
"Watch me," the dark Xiaolang smirked. Suddenly he was outside his mind. He faced the mirror, seeing the trapped Xiaolang pleading with him wordlessly.
"You remember the girl we practiced on? The one who looked like Sakura?" The dark Xiaolang summoned up sensual images of the girl, naked and writhing in pleasure, and he forced the trapped Xiaolang to face the false Sakura in his mind. "Have that to console you for now. Touch those pert little breasts. Shove your manhood into her. Do you like it?"
He watched as the trapped Xiaolang, helpless against the memory which was now seducing him, tried in vain to fight the false Sakura.
"Get laid. Now shut up!" The dark Xiaolang slammed the gate to his mind firmly shut, and laughed as the trapped Xiaolang faded away.
"Those dreams she's been having bother me," Kaho paced her office as Yue stood by the window, listening to her. "It's a good thing they've abated thanks to Syaoran."
A small smile crooked Yue's lips. "Ever since he started sleeping with her, you mean. I thought students were," and he paused to search for a word that would annoy Kaho, "forbidden to have sex in the school?"
"You know they're not doing that," Kaho said a bit grumpily.
"Ah," and Yue raised a finger, as if he'd scored a point, "and that in itself is interesting. Since when does Syaoran resist temptation? They're all alone, and it's not like Sakura would truly stop him, not given his skill in bed and her feelings for him," Yue teased, while keeping his face straight.
"All right already; he's in love with her."
"Thank you for admitting it." Yue smugly folded his wings.
"Just because you predicted it doesn't mean you can be insufferable," Kaho complained.
"No. Merely, that I think my other prediction about the love that could blossom between you and…"
"Yue." One cold, hard word from Kaho. "Enough. You know it's forbidden."
"You can't forbid love," Yue said calmly. "When I loved my master, they also said that men could not love men. That creations could not love their masters."
"I am headmistress of this school and I cannot allow… I…" Kaho took a deep breath to calm herself, realizing that Yue had baited her into the verbal trap.
She gave him a glare, then said, "That Xiaolang accepted my lie without a fight… I'm glad, because Sakura has several more Cards to capture and this delay allows her to learn more and get stronger. But I don't like this."
"Neither do I," Yue said. "There are too many factors to consider, and Xiaolang's continued absence when he fought so hard for the privilege of training her—I don't know what to think."
"And Eriol hasn't come back yet."
Yue sighed. "I have a bad feeling about that. I've been making Sakura tell me her dreams, and she keeps seeing one scene over and over again: from behind, she sees a woman standing over a bloodied man, and the dream makes her anxious. I can't erase her memories of the dream over and over; you know what memory manipulation does to a person, so I tell her it's just her anxieties talking. But she is the Card Mistress, and if she dreams of those things repeatedly, then there is significance to it."
"She cried the first time she had that dream, didn't she?" Kaho asked.
"She did. Syaoran had to calm her down," Yue mused. "The dream repeats itself, and never varies."
"Does that mean the future cannot change?"
Yue began to pace slowly. "I don't know. The thing about the future is, it is never a fixed road, although in their rush to avoid fate, some people fall right into the trap of the future. I do not want Sakura to be trapped by the vision… else the tragedy of the world take place."
"Forgetting," Kaho shuddered. "All of us who have been near Clow Cards…"
"We're just bystanders," Yue said. "But as we speak, forces that need Sakura to fail, and forces that need her to succeed are beginning to align. Power attracts power, and Sakura is a prime target for those who want to use her and her power. So the faster she and Syaoran claim the cards, and we understand her dream, the safer Sakura will be. She is of marriageable age, and if she isn't married, she is vulnerable; with a husband…"
Kaho snorted. "Here we go again with that old myth of how women are better off with husbands."
Yue stamped a foot impatiently. "No, that is not it! I meant that if she has Syaoran by her side, then powers above them will find it that much harder to use them both."
"You forget that Xiaolang is also a descendant of Clow Reed who can protect her." Kaho's eyes twinkled. "You want Sakura to end up with Syaoran."
Flustered, Yue glared at Kaho, then flew off.
Kaho turned back to the window. Please let them finish catching the Cards soon, she prayed to no one in particular.
No one, though, heard her other prayer for the safe return of the one she secretly, desperately loved.
Sakura was coming out of her quarters, and was about to cross the garden between her and Syaoran's rooms when she saw something flicker by the entrance to the elite students' area.
Dark tousled hair on the tallest head. Glasses over kindly brown eyes. And long flowing hair…
… like her mother's.
No. Can it be? Sakura darted after the vision, dropping her fur-lined cloak. The visions were moving higher, upwards to the ramparts of the Academy.
"Wait! Please!" Did this mean her family was dead and they had paid her a visit in the school? She had to know!
Syaoran thought he heard Sakura call, and came out of his quarters to see Sakura's cloak on the ground. He swore.
"Sakura!" He set off to chase her aura. It was erratic, and there was a Clow Card with her. Not good.
When he found her, she was stepping off the highest part of the Shiroihana water tower, an expression of rapture on her face. She looked like she was about to embrace someone.
"NO!" Syaoran screamed, and cast a wind spell to catch Sakura. But he was too far… and he was too slow…
His wind spell managed to catch Sakura a few feet from the ground, and he was relieved when she began to cry, "Okaa-san! Otou-san! Onii-chan!" He cursed again, and scrambled to her side.
She was crying. He touched her face, and her eyes were wide open and unseeing as she called for her family.
Nearby the aura of the Card was overwhelming. Syaoran fought not to look at it, because he knew it would trick or attack him. He reached out a hand and called, "Raitei shourai!"
His anger made the spell much stronger, and the Card was stunned. He fired again and again, his fury turning his lightning bolts red, sizzling in intensity. Soon the Card was subdued, and he shook Sakura.
"Wake up! Goddamnit, Sakura, wake up! You must seal the Card immediately! Before I tear that worthless thing into half!"
Somehow Sakura woke up; fuzzy-eyed from crying, she said, "Huh?"
"SEAL THE CARD NOW!" Syaoran screamed; he had no choice but to force her to wake.
Sakura turned; the Card had turned into a strange pattern of lines and shapes that changed rapidly. "Return to your true form, Clow Card," she called weakly, and the Card was sealed.
"My dad… my brother… my mother…" Sakura said softly. "I couldn't reach them…"
Syaoran had never been sorrier to tell her she was wrong. "It was Illusion," he said. "It lied to you… showed you what you wanted to see and not the truth."
"Oh." Sakura closed her eyes. A lie. Not her family. Tears crept down her cheeks as she closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Syaoran whispered. He picked her up and carried her into his quarters, varying a fire spell to mimic what Sakura did with Firey to warm the room.
"Never ever tackle a Clow Card alone. Promise me that," Syaoran begged as he held Sakura.
"I'll always call for you. I promise," Sakura said.
Syaoran looked at her, touching her chin tenderly. And as if they had discussed it, their lips met. At first it was tender, two lovers reunited after a terrible threat of separation, but when his tongue entered her mouth, it became a passionate declaration of love. Tongues swirling, he gently pinned her to the bed, and she yielded to him completely, wanting him, needing him.
He pushed her kimono open so he could kiss her neck and nape. She gasped softly as his tongue fluttered at the hollow of her neck. Gently, he left a love bite on her shoulder, then he pulled her kimono away, leaving her in only her underkimono. Syaoran's amber eyes took in her creamy skin hungrily.
"Sakura," he whispered tenderly as he began to kiss her again, exploring her neck and shoulders. When his hand found her small breasts, and stroked them gently through the fabric of her underkimono, they both knew it was time for them to learn how to love each other.
The underkimono whispered off her, and he could see her breasts, small and round, crowned with small pink nipples. He touched them gingerly with the pads of his thumbs, causing her to arch towards him, and when she did, he kissed her again, letting his feelings of love pour into the kiss as he fondled them. Then he began to kiss her down from her chin, her neck, her shoulders, and then her little breasts, then he bore down on them with his mouth.
"Sakura," he whispered softly, raising his eyes to meet hers.
"Syaoran," she answered, then gasped as he returned to her breast.
His mouth was warm, and she knew he was tasting her as he teased and swirled each nipple in turn with his tongue. Her fingers twined themselves into his thick, dark bronze-colored hair, and she gasped as he left love bites on each breast in his eagerness.
"Am I hurting you?" he asked, when she gasped.
She shook her head, then reached up to kiss his neck; he rolled so that they were facing each other on the bed, and he let Sakura explore him as he had her. What felt like hours passed in this way, until Syaoran reached his fingers down curiously, sliding them between her thighs as he continued to kiss her. She closed her eyes and drew her breath in.
For Syaoran, it felt like his first time again. Sex to him had been an affair of getting quickly to his orgasm: he had the girls service him by sucking on his manhood, then he would mount them quickly and ride them until he was satisfied.
But not with Sakura; he wanted to keep the moment with her, to stay here, in the faint light of the flames in the braziers, hidden away from the world and loving each other slowly, tenderly.
After a while, he ran his fingers up and down her thighs, then, catching sight of the tiny pink folds under the sparse hair at the junction of her thighs, he sent his fingers questing there. Sakura bit her lip as Syaoran teased the little furled lips gently, and when they unfolded, he found a tiny bud which he began to stroke slowly and gently.
The dew that came from her, and her gasps and throaty expressions of pleasure intrigued him. He raised the finger he'd been fondling her little bud with to his lips, and tasted her dew. She was salty, like the sea, yet as always, sweet. And so he returned his finger there, wanting to taste more of it, wanting her to give him more.
He added another finger, gently rubbing up and down as he continued to kiss her. He found her tiny bud again, and stroked it gently with his thumb, using her own moisture as a lubricant. She moved, and gasped; she felt her body heating up, another surge of delicious sensations building up where he was touching her.
Sakura breathed hard; she could feel his emotions. No one could touch her that way and not love her; that she understood. His eyes were dark but gentle; he watched her intently, kissing her every now and then to reassure her.
When he took his finger away and knelt between her legs, Syaoran pushed her hips upwards, then plunged towards her womanhood. He gasped in admiration when he saw her small, roselike folds up close, took a breath, then pressed his mouth onto it, licking gently up and down them, greedily tasting her, feeling how soft she was, savoring this intimacy.
He thrust his tongue inside her, moving it in and out over and over, savoring the taste and feel of her most secret place, the one he knew only he had the right to touch. She clamped her thighs around his face, and then, after she arched into him, he felt her shudder. Sakura gasped, and tightened her grip on the sheets as she came, hard, for the first time in her life. She hadn't known such ecstasy was even possible, and she raised her hips so that he could continue touching and fondling her down there.
He slid back above her, and kissed her again, letting her taste herself on his mouth. He felt he would burst from the love of her, and embraced her, trying to touch as much of her skin as he could with his.
Syaoran realized that it was time he consummated the act; he raised himself and stood up, shedding his own clothing, until he was naked in front of the girl he loved.
He knelt in front of her, raising himself on his elbows and looking down at Sakura, impossibly beautiful in the scant light of his chambers. Syaoran could not believe they were in his bed, intimately locked together in an embrace meant only for lovers.
But I am her lover now, am I not?After all they had kissed so often since the first time, and they had moved onwards to the final intimacy they now found themselves in. The urge to love her and protect her almost overwhelmed him; he could not speak now, not even if he wanted to, because he could feel his heart swell with love for her, defeating any words of love he could have said.
Sakura closed her eyes as Syaoran's lips met hers; she believed was ready. She loved him so much, and when she looked into his eyes, she saw the same emotions. The way he'd gone berserk after the Card had hurt her showed her the truth; she couldn't be wrong.
He positioned himself between her thighs, kissing her gently, using her moisture to ease his passage into her. There was only pleasure at first from his heady kisses—then suddenly, something hard was slowly intruding into her body, making her feel as if she were being ripped apart. Sakura jerked away from Syaoran, crying out in pain.
"Sakura!" Syaoran pulled himself out of her as fast as he could, then moved to hold her. His eyes were riveted to the tiny bloodstain he saw on the sheets. Gods, hadn't he prepared her properly? How stupid and impatient was he?
It never occurred to him that she simply was small, and it was, after all, her first time. Though he hadn't fully penetrated her, he had been the first—hence the blood.
"Oh Kami-sama I am so sorry!" Syaoran groaned as he stroked her back. Sakura was shuddering, but thankfully, she was not crying. The sensual mood was broken, and Syaoran felt horribly, terribly guilty.
She's not the kind of girl you fornicate with and leave. Eriol's voice rang in his ears.
How could I have done this to her? I forced her, I never asked her if she wanted to make love! Syaoran crooned gently into Sakura's ear, holding her as she shivered. He felt like a big monster looming over her, and he realized how much bigger he was. She was so small, and he'd just… forced himself on her.
Hot shame flooded him. He stood up once she stopped shaking, and wordlessly handed her her clothing, apologizing profusely and looking away as she put them on, a bewildered look in her eyes. Once she was dressed, he carried her back to her quarters and stayed there, holding her but not saying anything, until she fell asleep.
I'm a monster, he thought. How could I have hurt her?
He walked aimlessly out of Sakura's chambers, his mind confused and awhirl as he wandered the corridors. How could he face Sakura now?
She probably thinks I took advantage of her. A cold chill gripped his heart when he remembered asking her if she would marry him the other day. It looked like he'd said that, proposed marriage so that he could bed her! And only the worst of cheaters and ruffians used marriage to trick poor girls into bed.
If only he had been stronger! If only he had hung on to his self-control, if only he hadn't taken things so far, if only he hadn't wanted Sakura so much!
"Problems, Syaoran?"
Syaoran's head whipped around. "Eriol?" What Syaoran thought was his friend stood at the entrance to the elite students' quarters. Strangely, the barrier to outsiders was shimmering, and Syaoran would not realize the significance of this until it was too late.
"I'm back. How about inviting me into our area?" Xiaolang, who was wearing the robe that granted him Eriol's guise, held his breath, but Syaoran wasn't paying attention.
"Come on in, idiot," Syaoran muttered, granting Xiaolang access to their quarters.
"And why are you disturbed?" Xiaolang asked in Eriol's smooth baritone.
Syaoran clenched his fists, then, "Can you come into my chambers, because… I need to talk to you… about… about…"
"Sakura." Xiaolang could barely keep the triumph out of his voice. Syaoran looked worried and uncertain.
"Yes… I need your help."
I have you now, fool! Xiaolang rejoiced, then said, "Come, let's talk about it," you unsuspecting idiot, he added in his mind. The trapped Xiaolang was screaming so hard it was difficult to block him out, but Xiaolang forced his presence down with a silent spell. "Perhaps I can help you with Sakura."
"Thank you," Syaoran said gratefully, and turned to lead the way to his chambers.
Syaoran never saw the cruel smile that graced the fake Eriol's lips as they entered his chambers. Xiaolang knew he would formulate an appropriate response once he heard Syaoran's story, bad advice which would tear them apart.
In her room, Sakura sighed and slept on, murmuring Syaoran's name lovingly, unknowing of the disaster that awaited her.
Coming up next: The dark Xiaolang, in the guise of Eriol, gives Syaoran… and Meilin… very bad advice. Sakura is lured to Kuroyama to see her family, unknowing that a terrible fate awaits her there at dark Xiaolang's hands.
Aren't SxS so sweet? Apologies for the fluffiness. But now the question is, How did all this sweetness turn into the horror you saw in Chapter one? Stay tuned, and please do leave a review? ^_^
Notes: Syaoran and bets: Syaoran has a lot of pride in the series although when it comes to Sakura he can control it. I needed to magnify this flaw for the pivotal point of the story to work, so forgive the non-canon detail.
Tenshin: Listed as Syaoran's favorite food in the manga (he and Sakura both dislike konnyaku, a jelly-like snack, haha) so I used it here. As for the fish, I added that detail in myself.
Menrui: Noodles, usually cold; in the manga Sakura happily sits down to a cold soba meal in volume 1. Her father and brother are both good at cooking this!
Card behavior: Kero notes in the manga and anime that the cards are all testing Sakura before allowing themselves to be captured. Some call out to her, literally, and others give her problems. Since I can't do all 70 captures in the anime (yikes!) I went with the 19 in the manga. But I shall put a spin to this later on, heh heh.
Dark Xiaolang: I've been wrestling with this and then a friend pointed me to several readings and similar anime/cartoon episodes. The best example of what Dark Xiaolang is can be found in Justice League Unlimited, in the episode called Ancient History. He embodies the dark side of Xiaolang, present (theoretically) in everyone: our darkest desires, the evil things we are capable of doing. Watch him carefully.
Trapped Xiaolang is the original Xiaolang. He is a nice guy, basically, who's lost control, no thanks to The Shot scroll, of himself. His father helped trap him there because Fei Wang knows the depths Xiaolang can sink, and the powers he can unleash when his conscience is not in control.
THANK YOU to Star Melodies (oh thanks! Here's the update!), poems2songs (Much sweeter, yes? And isn't that torture: Yelan KNOWS but can't do a thing… The Shot weakened Meilin badly, so FWR easily got to her. Re Yelan in the future: Can't say, shh XD Same thing with Eriol; I'm sorry about that but all will be revealed in time. We're almost at the present now!), XxSakura-HimexX (No! He IS in love, muahaha! XD Kero will be back in a bit; his role comes up AFTER Sakura is in Xiaolang's hands), Shiona Acitiu (I agree—they have been put through so much, but wait till you see what Sakura goes through next chapter. But, and major spoiler, one of them may not survive. Senseless things happen to good people, after all), BunnyParfait (BLUSH! But I will gladly give you lotion XD See the spoiler above with my response to Shiona Acitiu? Heh heh), winterkaguya (YES, exactly! Honestly writing chapter 11 is quite emotional for me, so wish me luck. Yes, Yelan has a history with FWR, to be revealed later, and how the heck did you know? As always, you are sharp. I wonder how you feel now that you know there are two Xiaolangs in his body? Which in itself does not bode well for Sakura. Eriol here is not Clow's reincarnation but the boy I felt he deserved to be. Oops for him, haha), DN Angel and Cardcaptor Sakura (It's nice of you to see that! And you're right—they love each other very, very much. Keep that in mind when things go to hell next chapter XD), brokenshadow23 (Please don't apologize, it's ok! Aww, but I know there are several good ExT stories here. I need something else to torture Eriol with here. LOL Kaho knows more than she's letting on, as always, ne?), yuuki O O (HAHA! I know, and I bet I lost a few readers because I took it slow but at least you can see that SxS didn't rush into things, making what happens next more painful because they fell in love slowly), CcsXTrc123 (Here's part two, and do drop me a review? XD), michiko14anime (EEK thank you for pointing it out, are you offended? Sorry!), MikoKagome1113 (Part of the story's goodness is thanks to you—hugs. Thank you ever so much!), teenureen (Thank you so much! Honestly, I love writing, and it takes my mind off the people I want Dark Xiaolang to massacre at the office—kidding. I hope you enjoy this chapter!), and Darkness carrier (Wow, what a pen name! I am so so thankful for your review. I was a little resentful that people ignore fics which use canon, but now I realize that you guys are the best. I tend to agonize over my chapters—ask MikoKagome1113 who betas for me haha—because I do not want to disappoint you and my other readers, plus I want to do justice to SxS and not just make this fluff in which replacing their names with "Ana" and "Bob" make sense. I do not forgive your long review… I LOVE IT THANK YOU!)