A/N: It's back to classes for me in the morning. T_T It seems like just yesterday that my break had begun. *sobs*
Anyhow, here's the chapter you guys have all been waiting for. Sakura and Tomoyo's shopping trip! With a very unexpected twist thrown near the end. ;) ;)
Enjoy!
"Sakura, you have to try this on," Tomoyo's voice rang throughout the shop.
"No way!" the jade-eyed brunette shook her head, backing away from the medic who was advancing towards her with gleaming lavender eyes. "No! I'm not going to wear it!"
"Aww… But Sakuraaaa…" Tomoyo wailed, making the younger girl wince at the pitch of the other's voice.
"No." she responded firmly. "There is no way in hell that I'm…"
"…going to wear it." She groaned, stepping out of the changing room, plugging her fingers in her ears as soon as the older woman opened her mouth to let an ear-shattering squeal.
"That looks absolutely amazing on you," she gushed, dragging her towards the mirror. "It's decided. You're buying this dress."
"But Tomoyo, how in the world am I going to fight in this thing?" Sakura tried to change her mind.
"You can use that glamour-spell thing to change out of it." Tomoyo waved her hand dismissively, pushing her back into the changing room and handing her another pair of clothes to try on, this one a black knee-length skirt and a green halter neck top with cherry blossoms embroidered on its lower right corner. "We're buying this dress." She informed the saleslady with a sweet smile as Sakura held it out of the curtains for her the lavender-eyed woman to take.
"I don't even know when I'll be able to wear it." Sakura sighed as she once again parted the curtains and stepped through, "That's something to be worn to one of those high society dinner parties."
"Perfect!" Tomoyo clapped her hands in approval, rushing inside the changing stall and stuffing Sakura's original clothes, a pair of faded jeans and a pink t-shirt, into one of her shopping bags before walking out. "You can keep on wearing this. We'll remove the tag once I pay for it. Oh, and don't worry, you work for Ichihara, I'm pretty sure you attend plenty of those high society dinner parties."
"Okay, you got me." She hung her head in defeat. "At least let me pay for my clothes."
"After all that you've done for us?" Tomoyo narrowed her eyes at the younger female. "No chance. I'm buying these for you and that's final."
"But-"
"No."
"I-"
"Ah-ah-ah"
"Tomoyo, I-"
"Sakura, give it a rest. You can't change my mind."
Sakura opened her mouth to protest further, but seeing the look on the other's face, she closed it, murmuring a small 'Thank you' as the saleslady smiled at them, handing Tomoyo back her credit cube.
"See, that wasn't so hard." She laughed, cutting the tags off Sakura's new clothes before taking her hand to pull her out into the streets once more.
"Now, to the Shoes Emporium!" Tomoyo declared enthusiastically.
"Wha- but, Tomoyo," Sakura almost whined, realizing that her torture was nowhere near its end. "Come on! I have very comfortable shoes."
"But those sneakers are definitely not going to go with that beautiful dress we just bought." Tomoyo explained patiently as though telling a four year old that two plus two equals four. "You need a classy pair of stilettos for that baby."
"S-Stilettos?" the jade-eyed girl stuttered in horror. "Tomoyo, I- Whoa!" she cried out, bumping into someone and ending up on her bottom in a rather painful fall.
"Oh. I'm so sorry, miss." The man who had hit Sakura apologized as he held out his hand to help her up, adjusting a pair of spectacles back on his nose. "I didn't see you there… S-Sakura? I never thought I'd bump into you here of all places."
"How do you know my name?" the girl immediately grew defensive, observing him through narrowed eyes. The man seemed to be around Touya's age, with a pointed face with pale skin and dark shoulder-length hair currently pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck. A pair of soft grey eyes observed her through round-rimmed spectacles.
"You mean you can't recognize me?" the man asked in disbelief, "it's me, Kyle, your cousin."
"Cousin?" she repeated in an equally disbelieving voice.
"Yeah," he nodded smiling brightly, "I haven't seen you in ages." He scratched the back of his head in an apologetic manner, "I didn't mean to vanish on you guys so suddenly, but I got into one of the best medical colleges in the galaxy and I had no time to let you know. I bet Touya would want to kill me for it." He laughed lightly, "Speaking of which, how is he?"
"Umm… I haven't seen my brother in a long time either," Sakura admitted, lowering her head to avoid his gaze.
"Oh." The man visibly deflated before his gaze fell on Tomoyo. "And who might this lovely lady be? I'm Kyle, Sakura's cousin."
"Tomoyo Daidouji," the medic smiled politely as Kyle took her hand and brushed his lips against the back of it when he introduced himself. "I'm a friend of Sakura's."
"A pleasure to meet you." Kyle smiled charmingly, as he let go of her hand. "So, if you don't mind my asking, where are you ladies headed off to?"
"We were just headed to-"
"The ice-cream parlor!" Sakura interrupted Tomoyo all of a sudden. "Would you like to join us?"
"Only if you allow me to buy both of you lunch." He replied, smile still in place.
"But we…" Tomoyo trailed off seeing the pleading look on Sakura's face. "Of course." She smiled back at Sakura's cousin, feeling happy for the jade-eyed girl. She just found another family member. Maybe he would be able to help her uncover the past she was searching for.
-0-
"Oh, God, really?" Tomoyo laughed, dipping her spoon into the bowl of ice-cream before her.
"Yes. Sakura was quite a rebellious young girl when she was little." Kyle nodded while Sakura lowered her head, blushing at the thought of having hit this charming man, "I can still feel the pain from where she hit me one time."
"I'm sure she didn't hit that hard." Tomoyo said in an attempt to make Sakura feel better.
"Oh, you have no idea of how hard she can hit." Kyle shook his head before looking outside. "So tell me, what brings you to Piffle?" he asked, looking back at the two women seated across from him, "Judging from the amount of shopping you have done, I'm sure you're just visiting."
"You got that right," the medic answered, "we're only stopping for a day to replenish our supplies. We're actually headed to Infinity."
"I see. And you ladies are travelling alone?" he quirked a brow, a worried frown adorning his lips.
"No, my boyfriend owns a cargo freighter. We're travelling on that."
"Ah." He nodded, "I hope your pilot is a capable man, no offence to his abilities or anything, but the flight from here to Infinity is quite perilous."
"Oh, Fai is one of the best there is." Tomoyo answered nonchalantly.
"Fai Flourite?" he looked surprised.
"Yes," Sakura joined in the conversation wondering how her cousin knew about the pilot, "Do you know him?"
"It is a small world after all." Kyle laughed lightly, "I met him a couple of cycles ago, here on Piffle. He was travelling with another young man named Syaoran at the time. The poor guy was in need of some serious medical attention. It seemed he had met with some sort of accident. They left before his treatment could have been finished though." He finished with a sad sigh, shaking his head regretfully. "I wonder how he is doing now."
"He's doing a lot better than before," Sakura replied making Kyle look at her.
"So he is still with Fai?" Kyle inquired politely.
"Yes." Tomoyo answered this time, "Syaoran is still with us."
"I don't mean to impose or anything," Sakura's cousin rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish gesture, "but would you mind taking me along when you head back to your hotel room or the docking station?" He asked in a hopeful tone, "I'd love to meet them again."
"Of course." The lavender-eyed medic agreed happily, "we still have a few things that we need to buy but we can meet here again in say… two hours time?"
"I'll be here." Kyle gave them an eager smile.
"We'll see you then, in that case." Tomoyo said climbing to her feet as Kyle did the same.
"I'm really glad to have seen you again, Sakura." Kyle shook her hand. "Heaven must really be smiling down at me today." He grinned. "By bumping into you, I not only found my long lost cousin but two old friends as well."
"Me too, Kyle." The jade-eyed girl smiled sweetly, picking up a few shopping bags while Tomoyo picked up the rest. "So I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours."
"Yes. See you then."
"Oh, my God!" Sakura squealed as soon as they stepped out on the sidewalk. "Tomoyo, I am so happy! In less than two days, I found my brother and cousin. Am I lucky or what?"
"You're really lucky." the medic laughed as they headed into the Shoes Emporium, without the ecstatic girl paying any attention to where they were going. "Because not only did you find two relatives, we're also going to find you the perfect shoes!"
"Shoes?" Sakura stumbled and almost fell, coming down from her high as she remembered what it was that they were supposed to be doing before they had bumped into Kyle.
-0-
Kyle was waiting patiently for them, seated at the table they had all consumed their ice-cream at. He waved them over as they entered the quaint little ice-cream parlor that doubled as a coffee shop. It was little before the second sunset, the smaller of the two suns on Piffle having already set an hour back.
The night on this planet got really cold so it came as no big surprise to Sakura to see that Kyle was sporting a warm-looking jacket that reached a little above his knees when he stood up.
"I figured we could all use a cup of coffee before heading to the docking stations." He told them as the girls seated themselves at the table, "the nights can get rather cold over here."
"I know what you mean." Sakura agreed, "Coffee seems like a very good idea."
The topics they conversed about were nothing out of the ordinary, ranging from the weather to the current politics to the status of the availability of proper medical care in some of the distant planetary systems of the galaxy.
"Chocolate?" he offered, digging inside an inner pocket of his jacket before holding out two wrapped bars for the girls to take as they stepped onto the streets a while later.
Handing them their treats, he dug around for a third bar, this one a different brand name from the ones he had given them. "I can't tolerate sweetened chocolates, I'm afraid." He admitted, unwrapping the bar and taking a bite from it, "but I know not a lot of people can appreciate the delight that is dark chocolate." Looking over at the girls happily munching on their bars, he chuckled quietly, "I can see you two prefer the side of light over dark."
"Hmm?" Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"Chocolate." He clarified causing her to giggle as comprehension dawned on her face.
"Oh. Yeah. I'm definitely on the side of light. I can't say much about Tomoyo though." Sakura added, nibbling another bit off, "she can be pretty evil sometimes. Especially when it comes to shopping for shoes." She glanced sideways at the medic.
"I resent that," Tomoyo retorted in a slightly offended tone, "But you have to admit. That is one killer pair of shoes I got you to buy, didn't I?"
"Yeah, they most definitely are." Sakura agreed, laughing good-naturedly before coming to a halt outside a ship. "We're here." She announced, watching the chrome-colored lettering embossed on the dark metal of the ship.
"Little Dragon." Tomoyo said proudly as she entered a code on the small panel next to the hatch that led to the cargo bay. "This is it." It gave a hiss as cool air rushed out of the ship's interior as the locking mechanism unsealed. "Let's head inside and dump these bags someplace, shall we?" she marched up the ramp, looking at the other two over her shoulder. "Fai will probably be down in the engine room."
Once she had the dark haired man seated at the table in the galley, she took Sakura's bags from her, motioning for her to sit down as well while she put the bags away in the jade-eyed girl's cabin after assuring the two that she would call Fai on her way back.
Sakura sat at the table, smiling at her cousin as millions of questions raced through her mind. But she refrained from asking any since he definitely did not know about her amnesia so it might come off a bit strange. For some reason, she could feel her limbs getting stiff at the thought of making her cousin think she was strange. A cold numb sort of feeling began to settle on her body but before she had any time to ponder over why she was feeling this way, she could hear Tomoyo return with Fai.
"I have to say Tomoyo," Fai's laughter drifted towards them as the pair approached the galley. "I was afraid you were going to buy the whole shopping district but I can see you settled on a couple of shops."
"Very funny, Fai." The medic responded lightly, sneaking a glance at Sakura and her cousin who was sitting with his back turned towards the entrance. "Guess who we ran into while shopping?"
"Kurgy?" the blond ventured, not noticing the figure sitting before Sakura until he stood right across the behind jade-eyed girl, behind the stranger. "Or not." He laughed, realizing his mistake, "Who's this?"
"This is my Sakura's cousin," Tomoyo beamed brightly at Fai, her voice bursting from happiness. "Who also happens to be an old friend of yours."
"Oh? And who might-" Fai broke off in mid sentence as the man finally turned around to face him. "You…" the pilot breathed as the color drained from his face. His eyes widening in shock as his grin was replaced by a look of horror.
"Why hello there, Fai," Kyle smiled brightly, ignoring the look of alarm on the two females' faces at the blonde's reaction. "Or should I say, Yuui."
Sakura was paralyzed in place as realization dawned upon her.
A/N: So how's that for a cliffie? ;)
Wonder what's the history between Fai, Syaoran and Sakura's cousin aka Kyle. Are Kyle and Fai really who they claim to be? Or is there something more sinister involved in their pasts? Only time will tell. Though I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
