Stolen Moments
Witch-Mistress-Animaru
A/N: Let's go writing! I hope I can do this... Well, this seems a bit hurried. Forgive this hazy, dreamy sequence. It's all I can come up with, having such a dreadful case of writer's block.
9: Harsh Realities
"Better hurt you honestly than mislead you with a lie."
"Love me... That's all I ask of you."
Syaoran was having a nightmare.
He dreamed he was inside a huge castle. He was inside a large green room, luxuriously decorated. Outside the window there was a vast wilderness and beyond it was what seemed like a village at a distance, beyond the wrought-iron gates surrounding the palace.
He didn't know why, but he felt his hatred stir as his gaze flew past the central village, on to the outskirts of the place (which, in his mind, he called his kingdom). He had no idea what he expected to happen in the dream, but somehow, in his heart, he knew.
He was floating, gliding past the gigantic walls surrounding the castle. Then he was inside yet another edifice—a church. And there was a woman waiting for him in the altar.
And it wasn't Sakura—it was evident from the distance that the woman had dark hair, much darker than Sakura's auburn, worn waist-length by its owner.
He was also certain that she would come short of his Sakura, at any rate.
This is not my wedding. Goodness knows this must not be a premonition of my own wedding. I cannot be marrying anyone else other than her. Sakura. My heart cannot allow it.
Yet the dream did not end with him in the altar. Before he can come close enough to see the bride's face, there was a commotion.
Groups of armed men arrived at the doorstep of the church. And dear heaven, he felt afraid.
...Afraid for his people, somehow. Yet the rage was there as well as one of the men approached, and he was near enough for Syaoran to see his face.
And then, and then Syaoran knew he was not dreaming as a burning hatred consumed his soul.
How could he have forgotten? How could he have forgotten that one face?
Kenshin Ayuhara. The man who killed his father, ruler of Li Kingdom.
Oh, God. No.
Ayuhara's face, it seemed, forced him to remember the horrors of his past.
His memory poured in torrents, unstoppable, even as he opened his eyes.
He remembered the blood. There had been a lot of it as his father lay dead on the floor.
He remembered the fear, mingled with more than a little rage, white-hot, filling his soul.
Then he remembered being brought home, alone. How his mother had grieved. How he had remained dead or, at least in his self, he knew he was dead. Or at least he had no soul anymore.
Kenshin Ayuhara took care of that.
Then he remembered how he stared at the Outlands with so much contempt. He imagined a thousand Kenshin Ayuharas hiding within the outskirts of his kingdom. That idea was enough for him to spurn the so-called outlanders, the immigrants.
And he remembered particularly the day he met a green-eyed waif who was very nearly ran over by his prized stallion. Definitely an outlander, he thought, causing his blood to boil then and there.
And he can never forget that face.
It was Sakura. His savior.
And the wonder of it all, amid all the unpleasant memories, he can only think of Sakura's betrayal.
For now he remembered the truth.
And now he wasn't so certain about his saviors' innocence. Or Sakura's, for that matter.
Was she among Kenshin Ayuhara's servants? Dear God, he didn't want to know the answer.
For he might have lost his soul to Ayuhara, but his heart he lost to Sakura.
As Syaoran sat about his bed, waves upon waves of memories flooding his system, discovering his past and more of Sakura's betrayal, Sakura sat near the mouth of the cave, awaiting her brother's return. She dallied with the cards in her hand, glancing at the three elementals she was holding. Fire, Water, Wind...one more to go and she will be able to face Kenshin Ayuhara. One more elemental and she will be able to claim the legacy never hers to begin with.
Everything must come to an end.
All her life, Sakura had nothing but dreams to hold on to. Her father was the resident archaeologist of Clow. Yet there was more to him, apparently, than being a scholarly widow.
He was the former king's bastard, brother to the current ruler of Clow. It was a fact everybody knew but nobody spoke of. He was just...just Fujitaka. And Sakura couldn't remember him ever being jealous or avaricious of his brother's position.
In fact, he was quite content, being who he was.
And so she did not quite understand why Kenshin Ayuhara murdered her father during Clow's siege.
She did not realize the unique position they were placed in just for being who they were.
And though she had always dreamed, she never thought she might be a princess. To have thought so would have been delusional. Or so she liked to think.
She stood up and approached the mouth of the cave, covered with leaves to serve as camouflage. Gazing up at the stars, she let out a sigh.
It felt like she could almost touch them...
...yet she knew she could not.
As she gazed at the stars, she thought of the responsibility weighed on her shoulders. It was up to her to seek out each and every one of Clow's legacy: the cards.
While her brother had to be king to what was left of Clow soon.
She spent her days trying not to think of the responsibilities thrust at their hands. In fact, she wanted everything back to the time when she was just the archaeologist's daughter, and not the princess...
Yet if that had happened, she would not have met Syaoran. And suddenly imagining life without him became near impossible.
To have him by her side made all her loss, somehow, worth the price.
She forgot, in her bliss, the circumstance which brought him here, with her.
She quite forgot her deception, which could tip the scale once more against her favor. She did not even consider how he might react upon knowing the truth of it all.
Though if truth be told, she knew in her heart that the end may come.
But she won't spend every minute worrying about it. She was going to take what was offered.
No matter how painful goodbye will be, she has to be strong to accept it—then she will take her rightful place as the princess of Clow and heiress to the mythical power of the cards...
It will happen soon... she did not know where the voice came from, but she knew it spoke of the truth.
It was time to let him go.
And as she turned and saw Syaoran approach her, she steadied her nerves and turned, not the least surprised by the hurt and anger apparent in his face.
Or rather, his eyes. For he was smiling—quite horribly so, yes, that he looked as if he might have a toothache, but his eyes—now that was a different matter.
She knew. Dear heaven, she knew that he knew.
"You're awake," she said tightly, turning away from him as her voice nearly failed her.
"Yes, I suppose I am." He approached her and pulled her quite violently towards him and kissed her hard on the mouth.
Not that they never shared a kiss before, but he was ever gentle and sweet whenever the occasion did arise.
"S-Syaoran," she whispered against his lips as she tried to pull away.
"What's the matter? You are not scared of me, are you, Sakura? Or is it Sakura?"
She pushed him fast and hard, avoiding his angry gaze as she put some distance between them.
She knew she will have to tell the truth now. And she also knew he might hate her more.
But she was going to clean up this mess.
"You know now, don't you?" She asked simply, gazing at his face wistfully as her tears very nearly fell.
Whatever answer he expected, this was certainly the last one. He gaped at her for a full minute before a sarcastic smile formed in his lips.
"Tell me, Miss Sakura," he emphasized the title as he gazed at her. "How long were you going to keep this farce?"
"As long as I could have," she answered honestly that he was, again, rendered speechless.
"Why?" He asked harshly. "Was it under his orders?"
"Whose orders?" She asked sharply, her gaze settling on his face again.
"Kenshin Ayuhara." He saw her face whiten at the name and he felt his heart drop.
She was his servant.
"You know his name?" She whispered. "You know?"
"How could I not know your master? I owe him a lot, I gather."
"He's not my master!" She answered vehemently, to his surprise. "He will never be, do you understand that? How...how could you think so?"
"You deceived me," he said harshly. "Was that not enough reason to doubt your intentions?"
She very nearly winced. "Whatever my intentions were, I did not mean to hurt you. I only wanted you not to worry. If I told you the truth that we were strangers, you wouldn't have trusted me..."
"You let me kiss you. You let me whisper sweet-nothings in your ear, caress you whenever..."
"Hush, if you please." He was glad to see her blush. Good, he'd unnerved her. "It...it doesn't matter now. But now that you're healed, I will see to it that you will make your way back to Li Kingdom."
"Is it that simple, Sakura?" He knew he was asking for a further set-down. But he needed that, damn her black heart.
"Yes, of course. Did you ever think otherwise?" She said briskly. "I took care of you in hopes of gaining your alliance."
"Alliance?"
"Kenshin Ayuhara destroyed my motherland. I want revenge."
"And how, pray tell, will you exact payment?" He asked laconically.
"I can do it soon. I..." she did not want to tell him of her true identity. "He killed my father, do you understand that? He won't get away with that. I won't let him."
Syaoran felt her anger and knew she spoke of the truth.
"I wonder what your father did to have the son of a bitch attend to him personally."
"My father did nothing..."
"Perhaps your father betrayed him?"
"My father never aligned himself with the likes of that man!" She screamed, losing all sense of reason as her tears poured out like torrents. "He liked his peace. He was naught but the archaeologist of our kingdom..." ...and Clow's heir, apparently, no matter how he was born on the wrong side of the blanket.
"Pray tell, what kingdom do you speak of? Is it the Runes?"
"No, heavens, no. We come...we come from Clow."
Syaoran's eyes widened at the mention of the name.
"Clow?" Yet another memory flashed through his mind.
Where are they? I know you are hiding them—the missing prince and princess of Clow.
"You...you caused the attack. You caused Ayuhara to attack us..." He whispered, feeling more stupid and angry by the minute.
"...You and your brother. You're the missing royalties of Clow."
TBC
A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry for this hasty chapter. But it's nearly midnight and I'm supposed to sleep. And sorry for the late update. Holidays just around the corner, expect an update soon on other fics. Till then, gracias. See you when I do.