Epilogue
The great ball of fire in the sky shone its blessing down upon the city of Tomoeda. Everyday life continued on; the residents of the city utterly unaware of what dangerous events had taken place the night before.
As on a normal weekend day the high street was busy with shoppers and stalls were set up along the side of the path in every available space. At one Sakura and Shaoran stopped and the two of them bought a bouquet of stephanotis flowers.
"Don't the roses look better?" Shaoran asked but Sakura shook her head.
"It's about what the flowers mean, Shaoran." She said reprovingly and the boy sighed, he was not uneducated in the 'language of flowers' but he was not one to pay much attention to it either.
"Come on, we should get going." He prompted her after looking at his watch. They walked down the street, glancing at the passer-by's without seeing them, the world was moving slowly for both of them, as if the disbelief in their minds had a physical effect on their surroundings.
They walked in uneasy silence and made their way away from the city centre towards the outskirts of town. Taking a bus didn't seem suitable for the occasion so they walked the whole way to the Daidouji residence. Many cars were parked beside the pavement before the gates with men and women in formal clothing stepping out of the vehicles, all wearing dark suits.
As they walked through the gates Sakura took Shaoran's hand and he squeezed back, feeling her unease with the situation. At the door a maid smiled at them as she always did and led them into the house proper and from there into the dining room which had once again been transformed into the gathering hall with small snacks and drinks on tables lining the walls.
Spotting Tomoyo the two made their way over and handed their bouquets over with serious expressions. Tears welled up in Tomoyo's eyes as she accepted them.
"Thank you for coming."
Sakura's father, Kinomoto Fujitaka, arrived shortly after his daughter. He too had a bouquet of stephanotis flowers with him having been resting on the passenger seat of his car. He picked the flowers from the seat and made his way up to the mansion with them in hand, feeling out of place with his coloured clothing that stood out against the sea of black and white suits around him.
The maid noticed him and gestured for him to step out of the crowd.
"The mistress is waiting for you." She informed him and pointed to the first floor which looked to be vacant. Fujitaka thanked her and then headed up the staircase to find Sonomi waiting for him.
"You know, I'm so proud of Tomoyo. She's so strong and brave." Sonomi didn't greet him but spoke as if she were continuing a conversation already in progress.
"Yes… I think Sakura-san would be too young for this right now." Fujitaka agreed. Tomoyo's mother noticed the flowers and smiled.
"I suppose those are for Tomoyo? She's downstairs in the dining hall with the other guests."
"What are you doing up here alone then?" Sakura's father inquired and Sonomi glanced down the hallway.
"I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?" Sakura's father asked kindly, seeing that she was troubled.
"What would you do in my position?" She asked and looked at him although it was clear she already knew what she wanted to do.
"I'd support her. He's a good boy, he'll look after her."
At the gates a close knit group of people who stood out in many ways were approaching the mansion doors. For starters there were plainly foreign, all had blond hair and blue eyes and all were taller than those around them. There were two girls, one early teens and the other looking to be the age of ten and both were dressed in colourful blue dresses that brought out their flowing blond hair and sparkling eyes. A pre-middle aged man and woman stood with the two girls and were obviously the parents.
The colourful clothing and hair marked the group out and they were a spot of colour in the sea of bland suits which seemed more suitable for the sunny weather. The two girls held bouquets of gypsophilia, more commonly known as Baby's breath, that were similar in colour to the bouquets of stephanotis that many of the visitors held in order to offer to Tomoyo.
The maid asked them politely who the group were and the man, with a very distinct English accent but in perfect Japanese, responded: "We're the closest family of Julius of course!"
"Ah, I'm glad to see you made it." Sakura and Shaoran turned to see Julius evading a group of businessman and making his way to stand by Tomoyo's side. The couple smiled at each other then turned to their visitors.
"I suppose you say 'congratulations' at times like this?" Shaoran meant it as a rhetorical question, feeling the pressure of all the formality bearing down on him too much.
"Yes you're supposed to but you look silly when you try to be formal." Julius teased. "Thanks for the flowers though. So, when're you two going to announce it?" Sakura and Shaoran both reddened and the boy laughed at their embarrassed faces.
"It would be excellent if we could do it all in one ceremony, wouldn't it? We could really make it an occasion then!" Tomoyo suggested excitedly as she warmed to her idea quickly.
"That's a brilliant idea! Alright you two, you need to get engaged and married before the end of the month then. You have…." Julius checked his watch, "Fourteen days!" The couple looked flustered and tried to make excuses but once again Julius just laughed.
Heads began to turn around them as a group of less blandly dressed people made their way towards the two couples. Julius recognised them immediately and couldn't help but hide his surprise.
"Julie!" The youngest girl exclaimed and ran forwards to leap into the boy's arms but then remembered the sobriety of the occasion and proffered the bouquet of flowers to Tomoyo. "Congratulations, onee-san!" The girl grinned then jumped at the other boy who had crouched down to be at her level.
"Hey Lizzie, what're you all doing here?" Julius asked the young girl.
"We came to see you of course!" The girl announced the obvious which wasn't really answering Julius' intended meaning but he didn't pursue the matter. The older sister had held herself back unlike her younger sibling and gave the flowers to Julius since Tomoyo's arms were full already.
"I'm glad for you." She said with genuine feeling and hugged the boy before stepping back to allow the adults to talk to the couple. Sakura and Shaoran had stepped to the side and were still trying to work out what relation the family before them was to Julius.
"It's nice to meet you, young miss. I see Julius has been blessed with good luck." If the man had been wearing a hat he would have been tipping it formally to Tomoyo, he had that kind of look. "Julius, I only wish your parents were still here to see this day." The man held a hand out for Julius to shake and they did.
"It's been a while, Uncle. How did you find out about this?" He asked and the woman, presumably Julius' aunt, answered.
"Your uncle's occupation gives him lots of sources around the world." She reminded the boy and stepped forward so that he could kiss her on each cheek.
"You didn't need to come all the way out here for this; the wedding isn't even for a fortnight." Julius reminded them. The elder couple shared a glance before turning back to Julius.
"You've been forsaken by your family for long enough I think, Julius. We decided it was time we threw politics aside and enjoy this moment of your life together." The man clapped a hand on his shoulder. Lizzie, the youngest girl, seemed unable to bear the formal atmosphere anymore and she grabbed Tomoyo's hand and tugged on it.
"Come on onee-san, let's go play!" She demanded and led Tomoyo off. The elder girl stood by Julius and slid an arm through his.
"I'd like to catch up with my older cousin too." She said and Julius couldn't help but smile.
"And I'd like to see if these two are bringing up my wee little Sandra up properly." He gestured for Sakura and Shaoran to follow before he headed after Tomoyo and his youngest cousin.
They left the bustling house and went outside to the gardens where Lizzie was dancing about laughing with Tomoyo trying to keep up with her which looked quite hard in a dress. Shaoran took Sakura's hand and led her away for a moment.
"What is it, Shaoran?" Sakura asked. The boy looked a bit sheepish which was unusual for him.
"Well actually… about what Julius was talking about earlier…." He reached into a pocket of his suit and pulled out a velvet box that he opened as he lowered himself onto one knee. Sakura gasped as she saw the ring inside the box and looked at Shaoran's face, feeling her heart and mind doing loop-the-loops.
"Sakura, will you?" He asked and for answer Sakura leapt onto the boy and hugged him tightly.
"Operation successful, eh Shaoran? Come on you two lovebirds keep up!" Julius' jovial voice caught the two off guard and they jumped before looking to see that the four had been watching the entire thing. The couple both turned bright red and the four laughed at their faces.
Lizzie ran forwards and grabbed Shaoran and Sakura by their hands and beamed at them.
"You can be Lizzie's onee-san and onii-chan too now!"
She turned around and dragged the still blushing couple towards the rest of the group and they ventured out into the maze of colour and beauty that was the Daidouji's garden, the sun shining down upon them, filling their world with a sense of fulfilment and joy.
Whatever the future had in store for them all they knew they would make it, the four of them, forever bound together by the bonds of friendship and love. With that surety in their hearts they laughed and danced in the noon sun with the blessing of the gods.
Fin
And thus ends the duology of Shaoran and Sakura's adventures with Julius. Future stories may well be put off for a while, I'm looking into the possibility of having an all original book published so look forward to it!
