As he encountered the two on the balcony he was uncertain if he would ever draw breath again. The knife pressing into her stomach made him feel violently ill. Junji was making a small circle with the knife poised either at her stomach or her throat.
"Well, well Mr. Li I do not commend your timing. I doubt you will let me leave with her quietly. I guess my choices have narrowed because I absolutely refuse to go back to prison; so, it's either Sakura or your brat."
Syaoran broke out in a cold sweat. The baby or Sakura was not a choice. These two people being threatened were his entire world. Before meeting Sakura he really had never understood why he was working so hard to control Li Corp, he always thought their was a certain family obligation, but when Sakura came she gave him a new reason to get up each day and do the best work he could. The baby was like an extension of Sakura, he showered it with so much attention because in a sense Sakura would scoff and think him crazy to pay her such obsessive interest. He had secretly been building a crib in his office during 'working hours'. He couldn't make a choice and he wouldn't. He could tell Junji was becoming agitated by his lack of response. Syaoran felt responsible for this altercation because Syaoran knew that Junji was driven to break jail when he found out Syaoran had impregnated Sakura.
He needed to do something fast before Sakura or the baby got hurt. He could see in the distance from the balcony a few guards on patrol going through the gardens. One was casually walking around and looked up to see who might be on the balcony, he froze and then reacted quickly. Syaoran knew what was coming and was prepared for it. A flare lit up the night sky as guards raced to see what the problem was. Junji momentarily shifted his gaze wondering where the flare had originated from. Syaoran rushed forward and jerked the knife up. The uncomfortable twist made Junji drop it. The knife clattered to the ground. Syaoran quickly pushed Sakura out of the way. She fell on her knees and proceeded to crawl away as Syaoran gave Junji a roundhouse kick to the stomach. Junji body slammed in the brick wall. Syaoran turned his attention to Sakura, he wanted to make sure she was out of the way. He hunched down to check her over. He would never have seen it coming. Sakura shrieked, "SYAORAN!"
He turned quickly and caught junji's fist with his nose. It broke instantly. He stood among the blood. Junji had gathered the dagger from the floor and was about to inflict further damage. He lunged forward and Syaoran expertly flipped him to the side however he fell over the balcony railing and landed hard on the cement patio under the balcony. Shots were fired ensuring he was indeed dead.
Sakura was sobbing hysterically when Syaoran picked her up and took her inside. His shirt was soaked with blood and he gripped her tight. He could not imagine ever going through something like this again. He didn't want her to see the dead man or the incredulous stares they were receiving. Guards swarmed him before any guests could ask whether they had some kind of altercation. The guards knew better to breathe a word and only to keep this in the family until the police could arrive. He ordered the two of them to be taken to the hospital. Sakura had a hard fall and he wanted to make sure first and foremost that she was ok. He still held her against him as she cried. His own tears started to leak when final realization had come to him that if he had been a minute later he might not have been able to save her. Syaoran knew from the look in Junji's eyes that Sakura was considered soiled and that he needed to be rid of her and the baby. She started to calm a bit before she wailed again, "your poor nose!"
He actually laughed and she cried harder. "If that was my only penance for still having the two of you come of this ordeal safely I am a very lucky man."
"Syaoran are you crying?"
"I almost lost the two of you; a man has the right to cry over something like that. Please tell me there aren't anymore psycho boyfriends, I can't handle it. I love you far too much to even make it through something like this again." Syaoran almost choked he had said the words without giving it much thought. He knew they were true but he had assumed they would be uttered in a more romantic setting.
"NANI?!"
"I just said we aren't doing this again."
She hit him through her tears, "Not that part."
"I love you?" he teased.
"Yes that part."
"I would have thought that part was clear way before now."
She then lectured him all the way to the hospital. She stopped ranting only after his nose was set and he was wincing.
Tomoyo and Sakura stood together at the rehearsal dinner, marveling at how many people were eating. Sakura's little bump had become a little more prominent. Syaoran had moved the wedding after the incident to be three weeks sooner. It had been two weeks since he had confessed to her that he loved her.
"So how much longer are you going to make him suffer?"
Sakura
glanced over at her soon to be husband who was laughing at something
Eriol had said and then winced when his nose pained him. She thought
fleetingly about Junji, she knew she could no longer be afraid of a
dead man. She almost burned the expensive black dress Syaoran had
given her, but realized that Junji had already ruined that night he
would not ruin Syaoran's thoughtfulness and how she felt about the
gift and the man himself. Dry-cleaning was always the best option.
"About as long as I have to be pregnant." She smirked as Tomoyo scowled.
"The man declared himself and has made a decent attempt at appeasing you over his previous behavior. If I grilled a man over every stupid thing he said I would be alone to the end of my days. He wants to make this work; you owe it to him to at least hear him out."
Sakura walked away thinking while going through the motions with mingling with each guest. She found herself at the Tokyo Hotel where Syaoran was staying for the night to observe the tradition of staying apart from the bride until the wedding. She knocked on his room after getting clearance from management to come to his room. He opened the door and looked furious.
"What is it?" He was clearly furious with her. His hair looked wild from running his hands through it.
"I cameā¦"
"Yes I see you came to ruin everything. I won't allow you to cry off no matter how much you beg."
"Cry off what?"
He went on as he hadn't heard her, "You will marry me tomorrow and you'll be so damn happy that if it takes me 50 years to figure out how to accomplish that I will endure it, but you best show up in your white gown and a smile tomorrow. Is that so fucking much to ask!"
"Why are you yelling me? I was planning to get married anyways tomorrow!" Her eyes welled up. This was not how she had imagined this, damn these hormones.
His composure wavered as he brought her into his room. He breathed in and out heavily. "I'm sorry Sakura but when the bride shows up the night before the wedding, it isn't to bring good tidings."
"You thought I wasn't going to marry you tomorrow?"
"I believe the words you said on your doorstep when I proposed, were 'Fuck Off."
"You deserved it then and that wasn't a proposal."
"Ok well the point is to figure out why you are here."
"I wanted to talk to you." He was waiting for her to start 'talking'. "Ok well you apologized for what you said when you found out about the baby but you never explained why you acted the way you did."
"Have you ever been scared Sakura?"
"I think that question could be the dumbest you ever asked me."
"My point was that I was scared shitless, my whole world was collapsing around me and the news of fatherhood didn't come in such a way as to allow me to see clearly and realize the great gift I had been given."
"It wasn't my fault that news article came out before I could tell you."
"I assure you that didn't make me feel better."
"Well then I assure you I don't have to forgive you."
"I said I am sorry I don't know what else you want from me. I am ready to step into the shoes of fatherhood and as a husband. God damn it I love you, and I can't believe this stupid thing is getting in between how good our relationship can be!"
"Maybe if you said it more often I would be less mad."
"How many times I say it is irrelevant to the way I feel."
"That's what you think. I need to hear you say it as often as possible."
"I don't even know where this is going anymore."
"I love you, you big idiot and I was crushed when you threw me out of your life like I was nothing, that's the point."
He became so still she thought she had said something wrong. She was grabbed so suddenly that she nearly fell on her face. He held her tight to him, and squeezed the breath out of her. "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that. I will work hard Sakura, to keep us going; you are the only thing I can count on in this life. Please tell me you want to make a life with me."
"I do." Her choice of words left him ecstatic. He drew a paper out of a drawer and lit it on fire. He placed it in the fireplace and watched it burn. "The only contract we have now is with each other, I won't let you down Sakura." She was promptly pushed out of the room as Syaoran did not want to cast off tradition citing that he needed all the luck he could get. He would always remember Sakura's grumpy face as he closed the door on her, but damned if she didn't show up the next day at the church in her white gown with a smile on her face.
there is absolutely no excuse for the late update, but I wanted to thank all those who have stuck with me. I hope the journey was worth the patients.
