Blossom in a Gilded Cage Chapter 14: What She Doesn't Know…
Shout out to Esa MaRie: Thank you for catching the error last chapter!
Sakura's little happy discovery will occur next chapter, sorry about that, as this chapter was already so long.
Forgive the delay in updating. I've had to move apartments, buy new furniture...Stupid storms U_U
I'm still not happy with this chapter, and I posted this only partly beta read, but I didn't want to delay this any further because you've all been so wonderful and kind with the reviews. Special thanks to Sixteen Candl3s who plowed through the rough draft of this!
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Syaoran and Shuhuaku were videoconferencing, as they regularly did, at least once a week on a secure line.
Under Syaoran's guidance, Shuhuaku had, posing as Syaoran Li, moved from strength to strength; soon the LHK Group of companies, ruled by Shuhuaku (as Syaoran Li) and Meiling, Eriol Hiiragizawa and his young wife Tomoyo—formerly Daidouji, and Touya Kinomoto was in control of nearly a quarter of the finance companies in Tokyo.
No assassination attempts, harassment, or other kinds of problems were made on Shuhuaku, but none of them relaxed their guard. Shuhuaku finished detailing the security measures set in place for himself and his wife Meiling, Touya Kinomoto, and Eriol and Tomoyo Hiiragizawa.
"The Hiiragizawas have a couple on standby to pose as them should Sonomi Daidouji move against them," Shuhuaku said.
"Her own daughter," Syaoran mused. "My God, how many people must suffer for one twisted woman?"
Syaoran was bemused when Shuhuaku quietly promised, "You two shall never suffer again."
"I can take care of myself—and her," Syaoran said. "Don't worry about that. Hiding is not cowardice, not when there is someone precious to protect."
"I know. But still…" Shuhuaku paused. Protect her. Love her, for both of us. How is she? Is she all right? Has she forgiven me? Questions raced through Shuhuaku's mind, questions he could not bring himself to ask as he felt he had no right, not after what he had done to Sakura.
That Syaoran had forgiven him—and indeed, trusted him after everything, was nothing short of a miracle. Shuhuaku did not dare approach Sakura himself, although he had apologized to her through Syaoran and Meiling and Eriol and Tomoyo—he only stopped short of Touya.
Since he knew Shuhuaku wanted to know about how Sakura was, but would never ask, Syaoran added, "Sakura is happy; she teaches now, just as she always wanted. And we're trying to have a baby; she's a bit worried because it's been some time now, but I told her not to worry."
Shuhuaku clenched his fists. Should he reveal what he had found in Bel Shin's files? But what good would it do? It would simply upset Sakura, and distract her and Syaoran from the happiness they had found together.
No, not until he could find a way to neutralize it—and he and Meiling were working on it, with Eriol's quiet help. He would only say something once he knew it could be remedied.
"Could you…give me a sample of her blood?" he asked Syaoran.
Syaoran raised a brow. "What, planning to clone her?" he joked wryly.
"No," Shuhuaku said, "we might be able to answer her infertility problem."
Syaoran could sense the younger man was serious. "Fine. I'll send it by courier. And…Shuhuaku…thank you," Syaoran said. "You knew I was using you…"
"Penance, for what I did…to Sakura," Shuhuaku bit off, looking away uncomfortably.
Syaoran realized Shuhuaku didn't want to discuss it, so he said nothing more; he'd realized how much Shuhuaku was like himself, and how little he wanted to hear about that episode in their lives. But he had to say it.
"Don't you think you've earned the right to end the charade?" Syaoran said gently. "Sakura has forgiven you and I…I trust you."
Shuhuaku looked him in the eye—or as closely as he could in a video conference. "Thank you. That means a lot to me. But I made a promise to you and to her and to Meiling. I intend to keep it."
He cleared his throat, then changed the topic. "We've gotten a three percent stake in Hong Kong Shanghai Bank, and a five percent stake in Japan International Banking and Finance. Should I begin the overtures for Kyoto Computing and Consulting? They need a financier, and they're poised to win that big Chinese defense contract. I think they're a good investment."
"Thank you for always consulting me, even if by all rights it's your call," Syaoran said, understanding that the younger man wanted the topic closed. "I'm amazed at what you've done with the Li industries," he added.
"We need power to ride this mess out, and Meiling is magnificent at what she does," Shuhuaku said. "She even knows the problems the Yakuza are having and I have learned not to ask her how she knows these things."
"Then you know her better than I do," Syaoran said sadly. "I've never understood that cousin of mine."
Shuhuaku almost spoke up, but held his tongue. She's in love with you; always has been. How do you think you escaped the Yakuza so easily?
But what good would telling Syaoran all that now, do for any of them? Meiling would be furious at him—and that wouldn't do.
"She has your best interests at heart," was all Shuhuaku said.
"You've become a stoic," Syaoran said.
Shuhuaku shrugged. "It's the persona you cultivated. I continue it." And it was safer; the fear Syaoran had inspired in others kept them all safe from prying questions.
"What of Bel Shin?"
"Your aunt has given up all the information necessary. We have solid evidence that it was she who planned for Sakura's abduction last year—she confessed to me, thinking I was you." He swallowed his anger, then continued, "Bel Shin was selling her to a brothel—and had sold admission to a gang rape party, advertising her as a 'virgin in both holes,' in fact." Shuhuaku grimaced; he would never forgive Bel Shin for that one—and when he'd punished her, he'd felt a terrifyingly intense pleasure. "And—she gave up Sonomi Daidouji when I convinced her that Meiling was in league with Daidouji."
"Why am I not surprised?" Syaoran said.
"Her suicide a few days ago was terrible," Shuhuaku smiled coldly. "Did you read the papers? She seemed to be in despair over the betrayal."
"I only wish I could have done it myself." Syaoran clenched his fists. "Driven her into madness with my own hands."
"Your hands remain clean. In fact I should not have told you, except I knew you wanted to know."
What Shuhuaku would not tell Syaoran that it was he who had driven Bel Shin into despair; he and Eriol had designed and implemented a whispering campaign that destroyed Bel Shin's reputation. He let himself be photographed dining out with her, and Eriol fed the photographs to the rabid tabloid press. Add a slow news season, and Bel Shin became the poster girl for unfaithful, ungrateful wives.
When she ran to Shuhuaku for help, he'd had the encounter filmed by Meiling and showed it to her rich, elderly second husband (Meiling's father having died long ago in suspicious circumstances). Bel Shin found herself cast out of her home, disinherited and divorced, and without a penny to her name.
Shuhuaku falsely offered consolation, but once they were alone in the apartment Bel Shin wound up renting, he'd forced her to turn a knife on herself "to prove you love me," claiming it would be a double suicide and insisting that they both write suicide notes. Desperate and almost insane with bewilderment, Bel Shin obeyed…and was shocked when Shuhuaku then placed his hands over her own and pushed the blade in.
"Only you are going to die tonight," he said.
"But Syaoran…why…" Bel Shin gasped.
At the point where he knew she was dying, he removed his contacts and whispered into Bel Shin's ear, "You haven't been fucking Syaoran, but I've fucked up your whole life on his behalf—the way you fucked up his life."
And he had watched her die with a look of utter fright and confusion in her eyes. He had waited patiently, allowing her hands to stiffen in rigor mortis after some time, and let one hand fall off the knife. He'd then cleaned all traces of his presence, and left through the window.
Bel Shin's neighbor had found her later, and it was ruled a suicide as no one had been seen going in and out of her apartment, and she had died gripping the kitchen knife. A note in her hand read, "Forgive me for bringing shame to my name."
In public, Shuhuaku repudiated the rumors and provided proof, courtesy of his wife Meiling and business partner Eriol Hiiragizawa, that he'd been elsewhere when Bel Shin had been spotted with "Syaoran," cleaning up Syaoran's name.
But that would remain a secret. He would protect Syaoran—and through him, Sakura—with the knowledge of the truth suppressed forever.
"One more thing," Shuhuaku said. "We need you to find out about a man named Clow Reed, and what his connection to Sonomi in Hong Kong was."
"I know that name, somehow…" Syaoran mused.
"Meiling says she had contact with the man, who disappeared a few years back. He was being chased by the Yakuza for some reason. His body was recently discovered in Osaka. We think Sonomi had something to do with his death."
"Dear God, what possessed that woman anyway?" Syaoran asked. "I have no connection to her, not that I know of."
Shuhuaku managed to conceal his surprise, but asked, "Do you remember your first customer?"
Syaoran's eyes glazed over. "No. That…all I remember was being forced to fuck her…I threw up afterwards, then my pimp…" His voice trailed off.
"She was your first customer, don't you remember? And she was the one who tried to turn Sakura against you through her daughter," Shuhuaku said quietly.
"Shit." Syaoran could not, for the life of him, remember his first customer. Perhaps it was the trauma of the first time that prevented him from doing so.
Clow Reed. Where have I heard that name before? Syaoran wondered.
"I'll think on it then let you know what I can find on my end. All right?"
"Next week then," Shuhuaku said, then cut the connection, closing down the laptop he'd used. He looked up as Meiling entered their shared workspace.
"And so we have brought my mother to justice," Meiling said quietly. Shuhuaku nodded; he'd lost his garrulousness and exuberance, becoming a quiet, taciturn person. It served him well; people who encountered him as Syaoran Li were afraid of him. He had stepped into Syaoran's shoes deftly and with an almost terrifying dedication.
"All that remains is Daidouji," Shuhuaku said. "We must move soon but carefully. She's hidden her tracks so well, it may not go off without a hitch,"
"The net tightens," Shuhuaku agreed. "We have most of the proof in our hands."
"No regrets?" Meiling asked.
"None," Shuhuaku said, and he took her hand in his. No further words were needed.
Over the year of their marriage, Shuhuaku had discovered that he cared very much for his strange, quiet, driven wife. Syaoran told him Meiling had been a very lively child, and on unguarded occasions, he still saw glimpses of it. But Meiling seemed to be very much in possession of herself, and always seemed sad.
She will not learn to love me, Shuhuaku thought sadly, but because he had learned from what he had done to Sakura, he chose to let Meiling be, supporting her instead when she was undergoing her strange difficulties.
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From the journal of Sonomi Daidouji:
So the net tightens around me. By now Bel Shin, that weak idiot, has probably given me away to Syaoran Li. But he and his allies dare not move against me. Why should they? They have no evidence but what my daughter says about the shrine I have to Fujitaka…and that is easily taken care of. Traitorous little bitch.
I visited his grave today. I often do that when I need to think.
I wonder what his beautiful body looks like now? Perhaps it's intact; he was as close to a saint as a person could be.
She sleeps in eternal rest next to him, and I left her no flowers. She took him from me, after all.
The story goes that she fell into his arms from the sky, like an angel, and that I was furious because I loved her. The story is wrong. The angel was the one on the ground who caught her.
I've never been good at expressing my feelings; when I used to love her, I was possessive and overprotective. And I suppose I did love her, for my love to gradually turn into hate when she fell in love with and married him. I never had a chance! She was, after all, a model, and while I am pretty in my own right, how do you compete with those heart-melting green eyes, that long beautifully waved hair, the thick lashes, that sweet disposition (which Sakura seems to have inherited from her)?
You don't.
He called me 'Sonomi-kun,' like a little boy, for Christ's sake! He had eyes only for her. So I pretended to hate him, when in truth I would take cups he had left behind and drink from them, so that I could say my lips touched his. But I could never get him alone. Something had to be done, especially when days turned into years, and she gave him a son.
That little brat Syaoran Li caught me as I was putting a dose of the formula I'd bought from a Yakuza chemist, one that destroys the immune system, into Nadeshiko's tea. I served it myself at those gatherings of the Lis, Kinomotos, and myself. I'd just married Kotoko Daidouji to sate my sexual appetite; I never let anyone meet him so that no one would notice his resemblance to Fujitaka, if with much darker hair and eyes which, unfortunately, Tomoyo has inherited. I sent him abroad a lot, and the simple man proved such a good salesman for my toys, I let him continue in that role, scheduling his work whenever the Kinomotos came over.
Nadeshiko was weakening after the birth of the second child, Sakura. When the baby opened her eyes in the nursery, I realized that I wanted this child, not the baby I'd had myself. She had her father's hair and kind eyes, even if they were as green as Nadeshiko's.
Others might call it alchemy, but I have always loved chemistry. That's how Amamiya Toys expanded into plastics, cellphones, and so on. But I always reserved my secret love for the effects of chemicals on the body. Naturally I used my knowledge to try and eliminate my rival. She trusted me, took drink and food from me without a second thought, so it was easy to find a slow-acting formula that would leave no trace in her body save for the kind people assume is natural.
The formula I experimented with slowly sapped her constitution, and I watched happily. It was just annoying happenstance that the Li boy found me mixing it into Nadeshiko's drink one day. I calmly told him it was a vitamin compound, and he nodded. But the little moron then piped up at the table and asked for the vitamins as well: "Aunt Sonomi, could you give me those vitamins you put in Aunt Nadeshiko's drink too, so I can grow up to be bigger and stronger than my sisters?"
I should have killed Syaoran Li then and there for exposing me, but luckily everyone focused on him, amused at what he said. "Little boys shouldn't be demanding," his father said fondly.
"S-sorry, Aunt Sonomi," he apologized.
That little scene was running through my mind when I hired him many years later. I was his first customer, and he had grown into a stunningly handsome young man. A virgin and sixteen, I fucked him like there was no tomorrow, and taught him a few tricks on pleasing women. Apparently he'd never even made out with a girl before that, and he threw up in the bathroom afterwards. He was scared and upset, and I loved every ounce of his fear and shame, especially when I mounted him and rode him like a young stallion. He was still growing; I think he was just five foot nine then, but he lay under me, almost close to tears, as I used him again and again that night, in so many ways. I heard his pimp had to beat him badly before he accepted a second customer.
He ran to Bel Shin for condolence. How stupid is that, when she was responsible for driving him into prostitution?
And now he has recovered; how, I have no idea. He wriggled out of the grasp of the Yakuza, regained his family's fortune—and now he even has Sakura! I knew I should have killed him but then I realized I still had a use for him. As a father to Sakura's baby.
But then Sakura vanished. Touya says they never found her after Bel Shin took her, and he held a memorial for her. I can't find a trace of her anywhere, and Huang is in no condition to talk; she was mugged and killed on her way home from a party half a year ago.
Syaoran took the news badly, then married his own cousin. He changed into someone else, cold and stoic. Reaching him is impossible now.
At least my hands are clean. Getting rid of my husband was my first blunder, and I admit it.
I foolishly discarded Kotoko when he asked me why I had sent him to do dealings with the Yakuza. I realized he would betray me if I revealed my plans, so he had to disappear. No one had to know that I pretended to have Yakuza connections to get past several hurdles in regulation.
They say murderers feel great remorse at their first killings. I never did. I watched as the life ebbed from him, and realized, I wanted to watch Nadeshiko do the same. I was allowed at her bedside when she turned for the worst, and when the light disappeared from her green eyes, I almost smiled. But Fujitaka—I've never seen him so upset, before or since, and I hated her even more for putting him in that state. He wept and held her; he's never been a man for public displays but he mourned her like a lover.
For how long, it took me years to discover. There was the business of raising Tomoyo, and establishing the business in Hong Kong and Taiwan to take advantage of the cheaper materials and labour. I left Tomoyo to the care of nursemaids, and the Kinomotos and Lis took her in from time to time. Fujitaka had made a new friend named Clow Reed, though, and his son Eli seemed to like Tomoyo very much. Good, a free nursemaid. But Clow watched me with his fathomless eyes.
He did not trust me. I could tell.
Then I overheard a conversation between him and Fujitaka. Fujitaka was wondering if his children needed another mother, but was clinging to his love for Nadeshiko. Clow Reed's answer? "Not Sonomi Daidouji, old friend."
Old friend?
Clow Reed warned Fujitaka about me and said I had the look of a killer.
It was tiring but I knew—I couldn't kill Clow Reed. So I killed him another way. I don't know how he knew what I was doing, but Clow Reed was a threat. Befriending him did no good; he was polite but reserved, always. So (So, what?)
When I saw Fujitaka again, I advised him on the companies to buy, to destroy the Lis. My contacts in the Yakuza allowed me to pin interference on him; they, guided by Bel Shin, had been planning to remove control of their fortunes from the Lis themselves. He earned their wrath when he stepped in first.
Receiving the order to poison him was the worst thing…but it fell within my plans. Dead, he would be mine—always. And so I held him as he died. Then I quickly modeled his body and made the replica my daughter found on my bed when she stumbled into my shrine. Damn her.
Touya trusted me as someone he could look up to, the only one who could help him in business. The fool, however, had no aptitude for it, and was soon in debt to that damned Syaoran Li.
Now I suspect he and Li are in league—but against me? How? I need to find out what their relationship is aside from their business dealings together.
But I still hold a final ace. I think I know where Sakura is. That girl is my true daughter, and once I retrieve her, I'll destroy Li and Kinomoto.
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"I'm just making sure you can't peek," Syaoran said.
He kissed the back of Sakura's neck as he fastened the blindfold on her.
"But why do I have to be blindfolded?" She protested.
"So, you don't cheat," Syaoran said.
He guided her towards the back yard of their new home, a beautiful ranch-style house on the outskirts of the city of Hong Kong. It had a lovely view of the beach, which was exactly 99 steps away from their back yard, and trees flowered profusely.
She leaned on him as he guided her outside to their screened porch, giggling as she tiptoed to give him a kiss. She missed, kissed his neck and they both laughed. Syaoran smiled; Sakura had finally put on some weight thanks to his careful watch over her diet—she tended to forget to eat when she was absorbed in something or upset—and he no longer feared she would break. Plus, the curves that resulted simply whetted his already rampant sexual appetite for his beautiful wife.
Sakura's sensuality had come into full bloom now that they were happily married. Making love with her was sometimes sweet and slow, and at times, it could get sweaty and violent; it varied, depending on their moods. Now Sakura would initiate lovemaking with a look or a touch, once, even to his delighted surprise, in the middle of the small forest near their home. And he wouldn't have it any other way. It was like life had finally smiled upon him, allowing him to make up for all the terrible things he had done to Sakura in the past—and she forgave him happily. It was simply her loving nature, and Syaoran was glad that he had found someone who loved him completely, and took joy from being with him as he did with her.
Everything he learned about her increased his love for her; her little habits, her beliefs, even silly mannerisms. He was amused that Sakura could recite his pet curses and phrases, and once, he even caught her swearing. She in turn took joy in just being with him, loving him and learning what she could of him.
They took turns with cooking and the household chores; Syaoran discovered that he had an eye for interior design, and even went to design school with Sakura. They enjoyed their new identities, and Sakura quickly picked up Mandarin and a little Cantonese, learning even the complicated writing system.
In public, they wore contact lenses: Sakura now had very dark brown hair, dyed almost as dark as Syaoran's once was, and she had grown it into long tendrils almost like those of her mother Nadeshiko; she wore brown contact lenses as well. Syaoran kept his hair short but dyed it black; with his blue contacts, he looked devilish, dangerously sexy. Sakura joked that his new look made it feel like she had a new lover. But she knew it was still him; though in public they called each other Shuhaxing and Ying Fa, at home they were still Sakura and Syaoran.
Though they did not speak of what had driven them to assume new lives in Hong Kong, they both understood that they were doing all this to secure their future. Their domestic bliss was something Syaoran thought he would never achieve. Yet here it was, and he was happier than he thought he ever could be.
He snapped out of his reverie when Sakura poked his side. "Syaoran, honey? Not that I'm complaining but…you were going to show me something?"
"I love you, Sakura," he smiled.
"I know. Love you too," Sakura smiled. "Now bend down, so I can kiss you properly."
"Dictator," Syaoran chuckled, but he gave her the kiss she wanted.
"Okay," Sakura perked up trustingly.
Syaoran turned her around and kissed her again gently; he loved kissing her, and making love with her was even better. She was now a kindergarten teacher at a local day care center, teaching the children about shapes, physical activities, and being responsible for introducing them to nature and animals. He had established a martial arts dojo with a gym next door; the financial profit shares the newlyweds Shuhuaku—now Syaoran—and Meiling Li sent them, coupled with the investments Syaoran had made, kept them very comfortable indeed.
"Now where's the surprise?" she asked.
Syaoran placed two bundles of fur in her arms; one meowed and the other curled up to resume its sleep. Sakura tore off her blindfold and screeched; two kittens, one black and one white, lay in her arms. They both opened their lazy yellow eyes and looked reproachfully at her.
"Oh! How did you know…Syaoran…Oh!" She almost dropped the kittens when she attempted to hug him, but Syaoran was quick to catch them, even as they screamed in protest, and Sakura began to apologize to him and the kittens.
They scampered off and began to play. Dusk fell gently about them, and Sakura, to Syaoran's surprise, pressed herself against his body.
"Let me thank you properly," she said softly, as her hand slid into his jeans.
Syaoran had long since learned that there were times Sakura liked to take the lead and kissed her softly as she stroked his hardness. He took her blouse off and bared her breasts to his mouth so that he could tickle her nipples with his tongue. She shuddered; Sakura loved that, and he marked her breasts and neck with pressure from his mouth. Her hand stroked his hardness insistently, and he sensed her mood was one of quick consummation; he let her push him down, unzipping his pants and freeing him to her mouth.
"God, Sakura!" Syaoran had only just developed control around her and he barely hung on as Sakura used her mouth on him.
She tickled the area beneath his scrotum; she had discovered his sensitivity there by accident, and did not hesitate to use it on him when she wanted him to come quickly—and he let go, letting her please him. Then, once he calmed down from the shuddering climax she'd given him, he carried her into the house, letting the kittens in as he brought Sakura to their bed.
"I figured you wouldn't want to corrupt the kittens with a naughty escapade," Syaoran grinned.
"Don't you like audiences?" She tapped his nose playfully.
He ignored her, spreading her legs, so that he could tease her through her underwear with his fingers, then tore the crotch so he could lick and suck on her clitoris. Syaoran ruined several pairs of her underwear in that manner each month; an exasperated Sakura took to buying cheaper granny panties, but stopped when he enjoyed tearing those up even more. Wetness spread through her, and Sakura moaned softly; he did not stop until she was slick and ready for him. Soon he slid into her and as Syaoran thrust into Sakura, he smiled down at her. She smiled back and pulled him down to kiss her.
Afterwards, when he had spilled himself into her, Sakura snuggled up to him. "I can't wait to have your baby," she murmured in his ear.
Syaoran smiled and nuzzled her nose. "Me neither.
But in truth he was worried. They had been in Hong Kong for over six months now, and had been married that long as well. Sakura was young and healthy, and they never used protection when they made love, which was on an almost daily basis. Why, indeed, wasn't Sakura pregnant yet? He was virile; he'd had himself checked out, and he knew his wife's periods were regular.
"Isn't it about time we had a baby?" Sakura murmured.
He thought so too, but didn't want to worry her. "Do you think I mind, Sakura? My mother was married to my father for a year before she became pregnant with my eldest sister. Don't worry about it."
"You just want to make lots of lo-o-ove," Sakura teased.
"That too," he chuckled as he stroked her back soothingly. He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.
"If you say so," Sakura let Syaoran pull her into a spooning embrace, and fell asleep in his arms.
I will keep you safe, Syaoran vowed as he watched her sleep. I will do all that is in my power to make sure you never have to wake in anyone's arms but mine, never know fear, never know pain again.
It was a vow he would keep all his life—with help from someone he had learned to trust.
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Tomoyo-chan, come back to CCS! Skylar McKay, Okay, thanks for being honest and I'll work on it! Unlove You, Wait for Sonomi! cupid 17, thanks! Daphne Lacrymosa, yes it was! Twilight Kisses, Oh yes, but you know the gang will find a way! mimichan88, Sorry for the delay! midnight blue08, revealing it slowly now... Luvia, wow, thanks! I hope I can improve to deserve that, and thank you! lhaine07, yes I agree, and don't worry, their marriage will make it! xCrazyxKindxOvxWeird, hang on, Huang's death will be described next chapter. thanks for being so nice! darkryubaby, Not exactly forever...sort of? haha i don't mind, thanks. EsaMarie, I think you are AMAZING for catching that! Thank you! Yes, it's nearing the end. I just wanted to show how much he loved her, for that not to matter to him ^_^ butterflyKISSU, haha sure you can have Shu-kun! MarieSeleneArroyo, can't tell, shh! XD xSapphirexRosesxFanx, gah sorry for the delay, here you go! DineyBlue, thank you and yes, I suspect you guessed that earlier haha. halliwells, it's no problem, thanks! oh do go on thinking ahead, your thought processes always help, thanks! Moons-chan, you make me blush...in truth this is kinda like a soap opera, I admit, but I will try my best! shika hiiragizawa, shh, no telling! glad you like shu-kun. MahalNiSyaoran, uh...um, what can I say? chainedheart999, don't apologize, look at me with the late update! I like Mei Ling hehe. Lifes Dark Angel, thanks and sorry for the delay! Sixteen Candl3s, where are you, woman? I miss you! (hugs) yingfa07, SORRY! My bad- She should be making her vows to Syaoran in his new name (embarrassed) pApAw, hehe ako ang kapal ano? pasensya na natagalan e na-Ondoy ako (p#$ yung bagyong yun!) Saki-Hime, Shh, I moved that to next chapter XD mitsuko310, whoa thanks, i'm happy you enjoy it! Xiron, (blush) yeah, my bad. but thanks for hanging on! winterkaguya, Haha yes it IS so telenovela at this point. But it is fun to think of twists, although I know I should get more serious, and I've tried. I love Meiling, and don't worry--you're right about something hehe. anonymous, aw, how can I thank you? Delicious Dreamings, Ooh, do I owe you an apology? I am so happy you enjoyed this. I admit, it is kind of like a telenovela but hey, I enjoyed coming back with this story. , oh that's okay, you have given me a review now, so thanks! pinoy ka din? musta? Delia, thanks! I hope I can improve more so you can enjoy the stories better. Sakura-chan Master of the Clow, Oh that makes me feel so good, coz I know the feeling! thank you for reading! TRC-TTR-TS, sorry for the delay! but really, CLAMP is a bunch of queens of story twists! SakuraLover, oh, thanks for the review. Sorry about all the mature concepts. But in re Syaoran and Sakura, as far as Sakura was concerned, it was Syaoran, so...hehe. twilightfreako, maybe, and maybe not...thanks!