Metajoker: As I still, despite my best efforts, cannot locate your reviews, I will reply to the comment that stuck in my head the most. As to the wedding - I'm having a regular old western-style wedding. Sorry, but I don't have the knowledge to write anything else and I am so pushed for time at the moment that I don't have time to research the matter. I apologise if this disappoints anyone.
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. Concept of the wrong cake borrowed, again, from Friends.
Butterflies
Chapter Twenty-Six
Disaster Central
Syaoran, Tomoyo would have been glad to know, was true to his word and did indeed eat his pancakes when he arrived at his house. He was very glad of this, as they were rather delicious pancakes, but he also regretted his actions, as he now had something in his stomach with which to throw up.
Thankfully, he hadn't become quite that panicked yet.
However, Syaoran supposed that, as this was, after all, a Li wedding, that it was only a matter of time.
He pulled up to his house and was promptly leapt upon by his best friend, his four brothers-in-law, Meiling's husband and Eriol.
"Do you realise how late you are?" his best friend, Lei, demanded.
"I know, and I'm sorry! There were a few crises and I (understandably) got a little sidetracked," Syaoran explained as the six other men pulled him into the house.
"Oh, well, you're here now, I suppose. Let the wedding madness begin!" Eriol said with a grin.
"God, help me," Syaoran muttered. One of his brothers-in-law, Hideki, grinned.
"It's a bit late for that, Syaoran-kun," he said, "you should have thought about this when you married her."
…
Sakura was alternating between sitting and fidgeting (this included biting her nails and tapping the ground with her foot) and sitting staring into space for minutes at a time.
Tomoyo supposed that Sakura's nerves were really kicking in big time, so she left her best friend to it while she ran around calling people. Tomoyo was such a good organiser that everyone who was required was present at the Li-Daidouji household within half an hour.
…
Sakura, Meiling, Yelan, Fuutie, Fei Mei, Shiefa, Fan Ren, Fan Ren's children, seven-year-old Tohru and five-year-old Kotarou, Fei Mei's daughter, ten-year-old Rina, Meiling's son, six-month-old Sasuke, Fuutie's identical twin girls, four-year-olds Riku and Alice and Shiefa's son, nine-year-old Minoru, were all squashed into Sakura's bedroom, waiting for Tomoyo's grand unveiling of the bride and bridesmaids' dresses.
(AN. Oh my God, that is THE most confusing sentence EVER! It was confusing for me to write it, so God knows how confused you all are reading it, but please bear with me : -))
"My apologies again, Sakura-chan, for bringing him with me, but it really is impossible to get a babysitter at eight A.M., and everyone in the family is busy getting ready for the wedding," Meiling apologised. The other women apologised for the presence of their offspring too.
Sakura beamed and shook her head.
"No, really, this is absolutely lovely," she said as she smiled at baby Sasuke who was sitting happily on her lap.
"I really wouldn't rather have it any other way," she said, and the sincerity in her words lit up her face. Ten-year-old Rina smiled shyly.
"You really mean that, Aunt Sakura?" she asked.
Hearts burst into Sakura's eyes and she hugged Rina.
"You are so adorable!" she gushed. "I love you so much! Yes, of course I mean it!"
Rina blushed.
"I'm glad we're not a bother," she said softly as she hugged her aunt back.
"Wow, Sakura-chan," Fei Mei remarked, "you really are a natural with kids."
Sakura smiled.
"Well, I've always loved them," she said.
"You really will make a fantastic mother for my grandchildren!" Yelan chipped in brightly. This time Sakura's smile was a little more forced.
"And won't she and Syaoran-san have such attractive kids?" Tomoyo grinned from the doorway. Sakura blushed immediately.
"Tomoyo-chan!" she scolded. Then, all the females in the room over six realised what she was holding and immediately fell upon the plastic-wrapped garments with much exclamation.
"Mother," Minoru yelled above the racket to Shiefa, "how about I take the younger ones downstairs and out of your hair? I'll play a game with them or something!"
Everyone in the room paused in their frantic unwrapping to exclaim about how adorable and helpful this was of him, and Minoru blushed.
"Yes, Minoru-kun, darling, that would be great," Shiefa said, "just leave Sasuke-chan here. Oh, and Tohru and Rina will probably want to stay, too."
The two older girls nodded their heads. Minoru collected up the twins and Kotarou and the four of them headed off downstairs.
…
"You look so pretty, Auntie Saku!" Tohru exclaimed when her new aunt put on her bridal gown.
Everyone else nodded silently, not knowing what to say. Sakura smiled nervously and whirled around to face the full-length mirror. She gasped when she saw her reflection.
"Tomoyo-chan," she whispered, "is that really me?"
There were tears in Tomoyo's eyes.
"You look radiant, Sakura-chan," she said softly.
"Thank you so much, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura exclaimed, and, with her vision blurring, she moved forward and hugged her best friend. The other women struggled against the lumps in their throats at the two friends' obvious love for each other.
"To Sakura-san," Yelan said tearfully, "a definite vision of loveliness."
"And," said Fan Ren, "to Tomoyo-chan, for creating these beautiful dresses!"
"Hear hear!" everyone cried, except for Tohru and Rina.
"Now," Yelan said, "will somebody please get me a tissue?"
…
"Hey, you look pretty good!" Lei remarked to the groom. Syaoran rolled his eyes.
"You don't have to sound so surprised!" he said. Lei grinned.
"You know what? I actually think that we're pretty much done," Eriol remarked as he brushed invisible dirt off Syaoran's shoulder.
"Well, it wasn't like we had much to do," Fei Mei's husband Daisuke pointed out. "Just get dressed and get to the church on time."
…
Sakura couldn't resist peeking in the mirror again. The dress Tomoyo had created was stunning - it was simple enough to satisfy Sakura's tastes, yet it was extremely elegant. The dress was white, with a long a-line skirt falling from an empire waist that was tied with a cream satin ribbon.
The top of the dress was simply cut across in a sleeveless design and Tomoyo had made a sheer, glittering white wrap for her shoulders that had white vines embroidered on it. The white skirt had green vines embroidered on it (this was the part Sakura liked best), that rose in a tangled line right up from the bottom of the skirt to the very top where the dress met the skin of her chest.
Cherry blossoms and Nadeshikos bloomed occasionally along the vines (Tomoyo had said that she just couldn't resist, and besides, now her dress would match her confetti!). Tomoyo had made a pair of simple, white ballet pumps with white ties right up to her knees for her feet (Sakura had opted not to wear high heels after the 'underwear' nightmare).
Tomoyo had grabbed her for her hair and makeup (A.N. I know that a bride will often go to a beauty parlour for this, but Sakura lives with Tomoyo, for God's sake! : -)) and Sakura's hair fell in ringlets (A.N. Can you tell I like ringlets on Sakura? : -)) around her face.
A simple silver tiara (with a live cherry blossom tucked into it for good luck, or so Tomoyo said) was used to hold her veil in place and her makeup was very simple and natural.
She was wearing a simple, platinum, heart-shaped locket that the women of the Li family had presented her with. She said she couldn't possibly accept something so beautiful and valuable, but they had all insisted. It was to 'welcome her into their family'.
"Are the bridesmaids nearly ready yet?" Sakura called in jokingly.
"I'm not getting any younger here, and I'm dying to see what Tomoyo-chan's bridesmaids' dresses are like!"
Then, in a line led by Tomoyo, Sakura's eight (A.N. yes, eight. Perhaps a little extreme, but Sakura's such a kind person, she didn't want to leave anyone
out : -)Besides, Syaoran was best man to all of his sisters, so it would be unfair if they didn't get to be his bridesmaids. And how could Sakura say no to all the little kids?) bridesmaids and flower-girls emerged.
"Wow, you guys look amazing!" Sakura exclaimed, clapping her hands together in sheer delight. Tomoyo, Meiling, Fan Ren, Shiefa, Fuutie and Fei Mei smiled. Their bridesmaids' dresses were scarlet, with an a-line skirt like Sakura's, but the top of the dress was in a basque style. (A.N. If you're not sure what this is, picture a corset-style thing without the laces - it's like a corset, only completely smooth. Oh, and an empire waist is when the dress starts to flow out just below the bust, so the cream ribbon on Sakura's dress is tied just below the bust)
The dresses had gold detail on them, in the form of embroidered roses, and on their feet were ballet pumps, similar to Sakura's except in gold and without the ties to the knees. They were wearing gold tiaras on their heads and matching gold lockets, similar to Sakura's, around their necks.
Seven-year-old Tohru and the four-year-old twins, Alice and Riku, were flower-girls, in charge of throwing confetti down the aisle (which they had practised enthusiastically at the rehearsal) and they were dressed in adorable lavender-coloured dresses - all matching. Their dresses had gold thread shot through them in order to link them with the bridesmaids' dresses, and their design was quite simple.
There was a straight, a-line skirt like all the other dresses, (but it only reached just below their knees, to try to avoid any tripping) which met a sleeveless top with a high neck, which was white with lavender-coloured flowers. The straps over the shoulders were thick, and they wore lavender-coloured versions of the bridesmaids' shoes.
Tomoyo had, however, run into difficulties as to what to dress ten-year-old Rina in. As she was so tall and grown-up looking for her age, she would have looked simply absurd in one of the lavender dresses. However, she would have looked equally absurd in one of the scarlet bridesmaids' dresses.
So, Tomoyo had eventually opted for a 'junior bridesmaid' dress on Rina, which was a shimmering dress done in the lightest shade of pink possible. It had an a-line skirt like all the others, and it reached to Rina's ankles, like the bridemaids' and brides' dresses. The shoulder straps of the dress consisted of embroidered cherry blossoms linked together, and the top of her dress was cut straight across, like Sakura's.
She was wearing light pink versions of the bridesmaids' pumps on her feet.
"You really all do look great," Sakura said again. Then she stopped for a second.
"Oh my God, Tomoyo-chan, I've just remembered something," she said, a hand over her mouth in horror.
"What, what is it?" Tomoyo asked, sounding worried.
"I'm supposed to have eleven bridesmaids…" Sakura said. Tomoyo gasped.
"Oh my God! Where the hell are Chiharu, Naoko and Rika?"
"Not to mention everyone else, like my father and your mother and my brother!" Sakura wailed.
…
"Where the hell is our plane?" Chiharu demanded.
"Well I don't know, do I?" Yamazaki yelled.
"We're supposed to be at Sakura-chan's wedding in three hours! The flight takes an hour and a half! It's an hour late! This is so horrible!" she wailed.
Yamazaki, of course, did the sensible thing and whipped out his cellphone, dialling the number that Sakura had given them.
…
When Sakura heard the phone ring, she dived on it.
"Hello? Oh my God, please tell me it's Rika or Chiharu or Naoko or someone!" Sakura gabbled.
On the other end, Yamazaki laughed.
"Well, you were close," he said. Sakura's face lit up.
"Yamazaki-kun? It's so great to talk to you! You have no idea how excited I am about seeing you all!" Sakura exclaimed. Yamazaki sweatdropped.
"Uh, yeah, me too," Yamazaki said. "Anyway, Sakura-chan, this is about something a little more important."
Immediately, Sakura's eyes narrowed.
"Oh yes, might this, by any chance, have something to do with the fact that YOU'RE NOT HERE YET?" Sakura asked in a menacing voice. On the other end, Yamazaki cowered and held the phone away from his ear.
Because, don't get him wrong, he loved Sakura, but damn, was she scary when she was angry!
"Our flight's late," Yamazaki explained. "Chiharu is going crazy worrying about the fact that we're late, and we really are sorry."
Sakura immediately felt bad.
"No, I'm sorry for yelling," she said.
"Hey, don't worry about it!" Yamazaki said. "You're the bride, you're allowed to freak out! Do you remember Chiharu at our wedding?"
Sakura shuddered at the memory of being bridesmaid to a thoroughly panicking Chiharu.
"Good point," she said to Yamazaki.
"Listen, Sakura-chan, we'll be there as soon as possible, okay? Don't worry - I swear we'll make it. We just have to!" Yamazaki promised her. Sakura smiled.
"Thank you, Yamazaki-kun. I know you'll make it," she said softly.
"I hope everything goes okay until we get there," Yamazaki said.
"Me too!" Sakura said.
"I'll have to go, Sakura-chan. Chiharu's back from the bathroom," Yamazaki said, and he hung up.
Sakura sighed and replaced the handset of the phone to the cradle. Then the doorbell rang. Sakura sighed again - clearly there wasn't going to be a moment of peace this morning.
"I'll get it!" Tomoyo called as she dashed to answer the door, careful not to trip on her dress. She opened the door, and smiled at the deliveryman on the doorstep.
"Hello," she said, and the man blinked.
"Well, Ma'am, you're definitely the best-dressed person I've ever delivered a cake to!" he said. Tomoyo's smile became a grin.
"Thanks."
"Anyway," said the delivery man, when he finally managed to stop gaping at Tomoyo, "I guess you're all wearing wedding dresses for the hen-night, huh?"
Tomoyo was confused.
"I beg your pardon?" she said. Now the deliveryman looked confused.
"The hen night that this cake is for! You are Mrs Li Sakura, aren't you?" he asked.
Tomoyo nodded. She had placed the cake order in Sakura's name, so that was right, but what was he talking about a hen night for?
He opened the cake box and immediately, Tomoyo understood. Inside there was a cake with a picture of a bride dressed like a hooker and a large hen done on the icing, with 'one last wild girls' night out before the 'I do'!' written on it in piped red icing.
Tomoyo sweatdropped. She was in such a daze that she simply signed for the cake and said goodbye to the deliveryman. After she closed the door on him, she stood in the hall and opened the box quickly, taking a little peek at the cake.
Nope, it was still as inappropriate as it had been a second ago.
Tomoyo felt like crying. How much worse could this day get?
…
Meanwhile, Sakura was calling various people to check up on where they were. So far, she knew that Touya and Yuki had picked up Fujitaka (and, much to Touya's despair, Nakuru) and the four of them were on their way to Sakura and Tomoyo's house. Also, a check on Sonomi had revealed that she was on her way also, but the traffic was hell.
Honda Arisa and her boyfriend's plane had just landed at the airport and they were in a taxi on their way to Sakura's house too. Sakura still didn't know where Terada-sensei, Rika-chan and Naoko-chan were, and there had been no further word from Chiharu and Yamazaki.
Just then, Tomoyo walked in to the living room where Sakura was, looking so miserable that Sakura immediately feared the worst.
"Tomoyo-chan, what's wrong?" Sakura asked warily. Wordlessly, Tomoyo handed the cake box to Sakura.
"Oh, was the person at the door delivering the cake?" Sakura asked. Then she paused.
"Hold on, that's not right. Our cake is huge - the delivery person was supposed to stop here to get directions to the reception, then leave it there. It's too big to fit into a box - it has to feed over three-hundred people!" Sakura laughed, talking fast in her nervousness.
She froze when she realised what was wrong.
"This is the wrong cake, isn't it?" she asked as she opened the box. Her face paled.
"Oh. No. Tomoyo-chan, please tell me this is a nightmare," she said, looking up at her best friend.
"No, not a nightmare, Sakura-chan. Well, it is a nightmare, but it really is happening," she said.
"What are we going to do?" Sakura asked, not for the first time that day.
…
There had been a mass conference called together of all the women in Sakura's house to decide what to do about the cake fiasco.
"We could take this one back to the bakery that made it," Fei Mei suggested. Sakura shook her head.
"That wouldn't do any good. The bakery is so far away and Sonomi-san said that the traffic's hell at the moment. Besides, there's no way that they could make us another in time for the wedding," Sakura said, sounding miserable.
"But it's their fault," Shiefa said angrily. "Surely you've just got someone else's cake by mistake, so your cake is either still in the bakery or they've delivered it to the wrong person."
"But even if that is the case," Fuutie said, "and Sakura-chan's cake really has been delivered to the wrong place, then it's unlikely that they'll be able to track it down in time."
"However," Shiefa interjected, "there's a possibility it's still in the bakery."
"What are you saying?" Fan Ren asked. "That someone should take this cake back to the bakery and see if the other cake is there?"
Shiefa nodded. Sakura considered this.
"I see your point, Shiefa-san," she said. "But who would we send? I'm not sure I want anybody to go off at this point. I'm still missing a few key people and I don't want to lose anyone who is already here!"
"I know that, Sakura-chan, but Shiefa's point is too valid to ignore. It's too late to place another order with a different bakery, and aside from baking the damn thing ourselves, I really don't know what else to do," Meiling said.
Sakura sighed for the third time in the last half-hour, and somehow she just knew there'd be a fourth. And a fifth, and a sixth…
"Okay. But who are we going to send?" she asked.
"I'll go!" Fei Mei offered.
"I'll go with her," Meiling said.
Everyone else nodded.
"Okay. Get changed back into your normal clothes and for God's sake, step on it!" Sakura instructed. Fei Mei and Meiling saluted and dashed upstairs.
…
The phone rang a few minutes after Fei Mei and Meiling had gone (on what Tomoyo had dubbed 'Operation Cake Switch') and Sakura pounced on it, hoping against hope that it would be Naoko-chan, Rika-chan and Terada-sensei or Chiharu and Yamazaki.
It was Eriol.
"Hi, Sakura-san, is Tomoyo there?" he asked brightly.
"WHY aren't you NAOKO-CHAN or RIKA-CHAN or CHIHARU-CHAN?" Sakura demanded wearily.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Sakura-san," he said calmly. Sakura sighed for the fourth time.
"I'll get Tomoyo-chan for you," she said, and, covering the mouthpiece of the receiver, she yelled, "TOMOYO-CHAN! PHONECALL FOR YOU!"
"Coming!" Tomoyo called breathlessly as she ran to Sakura. Sakura put the receiver in her best friend's hand and walked away.
"Hey, Eriol. What's up?" she asked her fiancé.
"We're bored over here!" he wailed. Tomoyo laughed.
"I don't know what you're complaining about, myself. I'd give anything to be bored - it's disaster central over here," Tomoyo said.
Eriol was immediately alert.
"Why, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Well, for a start, one of the bridesmaids and one of the groomsmen are stuck at the airport, waiting for a flight. The other two bridesmaids and the remaining missing groomsman are God knows where, as we haven't even heard from them. Plus, everyone else that we're waiting on is stuck in traffic!" she explained.
"Then the wrong cake arrived at the house. It was a cake intended for a hen night, Eriol, and unbelievably inappropriate, so Fei Mei-san and Meiling-san are on their way to the bakery to take the cake back and see if Sakura-chan's real cake is still there. Oh, and probably yell at the people in the bakery. Everybody's quite tense at the moment," she finished cheerfully.
Eriol sweatdropped.
"Do you want us to come over and help you guys?" he asked.
"There's not much you can do, and Syaoran can't come over anyway, as he can't see Sakura-chan before the wedding," Tomoyo replied.
"So, basically, all we can do is sit tight here and be good boys," Eriol said.
"Yep. Oh, and you could pray. That might help."