Newport City, Sanc Kingdom
Despite all the rehearsals and walkthroughs of the ceremony that Sakura had been through, at the sight of her mother, she completely forgot what she was supposed to do, and instead went straight over and tightly embraced the woman she never really knew. "Okaasan!" Sakura exclaimed, tears of unimaginably joy forming in her bright green orbs.
Kinomoto Nadesico smiled lovingly as she looked down upon her beautiful daughter. "Sakura-chan."
"What are you doing here?"
"How could I miss my only daughter's wedding?"
"But-,"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," said Nadesico softly. "Now go and get married. I had a chance to meet Heero-kun earlier, and he is a very good man. You don't want to keep him waiting."
"I love you, Okaasan."
"I love you too, Sakura-chan." Sakura finally released her grasp on her mother and, while carefully dabbing away her tears of joy, made her way back up to Heero at the altar.
"Surprised?" asked Heero once Sakura had reached her spot at the altar.
Sakura smiled and laughed slightly. "That would be an understatement."
"I was going to tell you earlier, but I didn't want your mother, or myself, to miss that look on your face."
"If it wasn't already before, now this is definitely the best day of my life," said Sakura. "I love you so much, Heero-kun."
Heero looked down at Sakura and was happy when he saw her smile, but then he caught glimpse of her eyes. "What's wrong?" Heero asked quietly when he noticed the lack of sparkle in the Card Mistress' eyes.
"Absolutely nothing. Things couldn't be any more perfect," replied Sakura, smiling a little wider.
"Sakura," Heero stated.
Sakura knew she wasn't fooling anyone and she let her smile drop. "I know this isn't real."
"What are you talking about?"
"I know this isn't real, Heero-kun."
In a flash, the entire room, along with everyone in it, disappeared, and Sakura was left alone with Heero in a sea of white. "How long have you known?"
"Since the beginning," Sakura answered.
"And yet you didn't stop it?"
"I was happy. Everything you created is exactly what I wanted."
"Then why?"
"Because this isn't real. It is a dream. And although this dream is absolutely perfect, and I know I cannot have everything in real life that I can have here, I can't trade away my life for a fantasy."
"But in here you can have back your mother. You can marry the one you love. You can live happily ever after."
"But this happily ever after is not living. I know I can't meet my mother in real life. I know I may never have the picture perfect wedding and life I can have in here. But life is something that must be lived. I will take all the bad along with all the good. But I will not sacrifice my future for a fantasy."
"Do you truly wish to abandon this fantasy and go back to the real world?"
Sakura nodded her head slowly. "I do."
In a puff of smoke, the body of Heero disappeared and was replaced by a small fairy like figure whom Sakura recognized as looking very similar to the Sleep Clow Card. "If you truly do not wish to have this life, I will send you back."
"I do," responded Sakura with no hesitation. "This life is perfect. But it isn't my life. And a person must always take the bad along with the good. To me, a life that is perfect but not real, is not life."
"Very well, Mistress. But I am at your service should you change your mind."
Sakura smiled brightly at the Clow Card. "I won't."
Sakura wasn't certain, but she could swear she saw the little Clow Card smile back at her before her world turned to black.
Tokyo, Japan
Sakura slowly opened her eyes as she came back to reality. She found herself sitting at her desk, with her head resting in her open math book. Sakura scanned the room for a few moments, feeling very confused as the memories of her dream began to slowly return to her mind. It took Sakura a minute for her mind to determine what in her memory had been part of the dream, and what was reality. But eventually she remembered that she had been doing her math homework alone in her room when she had felt the presence of a Clow Card. She realized, to some level of disappointment, that the entire memory of being engaged to Heero and meeting her mother, had been a result of the Clow Card. It was at this point that she caught sight of the Clow Card lying face down on the floor near to her chair. Sakura bent down and picked up the black back Clow Card. The Card Mistress flipped over the Card and examined it. "The Fantasy," read Sakura aloud to herself. Sakura recognized the new Clow Card as being made up of three of the original Clow Cards; the Cloud, the Sleep, and the Dream. As Sakura stared at the new Clow Card, all the memories from when she was in the Fantasy world floated to the front of her mind, and the Card Mistress couldn't keep a smile from creeping across her lips. "It was a good dream though."
Knowing there was no way she was going to get her concentration back on her math book, Sakura placed the new Fantasy Card in her pocket and left her room to go find out what everyone else was doing.
Tokyo, Japan, One Month Later
Sakura walked in through the door into the girls' apartment and plopped down on the couch with a sigh. She was still wearing her beautiful white sequin dress, of course created by her best friend Tomoyo, but didn't care that at the moment she was wrinkling the masterpiece.
"Still not yet?" asked Ami, who had been reading alone in the suite, waiting for Sakura to get back before going next door to spend the night with Syaoran.
"No," stated Sakura with a hint of annoyance and sadness in her voice. "It's been over a month!"
"Don't worry," consoled Ami, who closed her book and moved over to the couch to let Sakura fall over and let her head fall into Ami's lap. "You know Heero does things in his own way and always waits for moments to be just about perfect before acting."
"I know. I guess I am just a little impatient because it got me so excited."
It had been just over a month since Sakura's encounter with the Fantasy Card. She had given the new Clow Card to Heero, since it was a part of his set of cards, but she had avoided telling him about the dream itself. Fortunately for her, Heero hadn't pressed her on the issue, as she was quite embarrassed to try to explain about how they were engaged to be married in her fantasy. She had told Ami, Tomoyo, and the rest of the girls the entire story, trusting all of them to keep it a secret from Heero and the guys. However, ever since that day, Sakura had been waiting impatiently for Heero to tell her he loved her. She wasn't expecting an engagement proposal like what had happened in her time in the Fantasy Card's world, but she was still wanted to hear the 'I love you,' especially since he had been so close to saying it on the day they had fought the Lightning and Air Cards. Sakura knew, deep in her heart that she loved Heero, and had considered just telling him herself, but in the end, she decided she really wanted to hear him say it first.
University had just ended for the semester, leaving the campus very deserted. Everyone except Ami, Syaoran, Sakura, and Heero had already left for their summer destinations. Eriol had gone back to England and had brought Ukyo along, since she had always dreamed of seeing more of the world, and really didn't have anything better to do. Neither Duo or Minako really had anywhere to be for the summer break, so had decided to go traveling for the vacation. They had left in the Deathscythe Gundam a couple days ago, their first destination being the Middle East, where Duo and Heero's friend, Quatre Raberba-Winner, was residing.
Ranma and Tomoyo, to both their disappointments, where actually spending the summer apart. Ranma was going back to Nerima, as his father had decided Ranma's martial arts were getting sloppy and he needed to get back to rigorous training, and Ranma had to agree that he was right. Meanwhile, Ranma's pseudo-sister, Tendo Nabiki, had gotten Tomoyo an internship working for one of Italy's biggest fashion designers, and the opportunity was just way too good for her to pass up. Tomoyo had gotten Nabiki a job working for her mother, and with her own skills and talents, Nabiki had impressed a lot of people, including Tomoyo's mother, and had therefore risen through the ranks of the company at an exceptionally fast rate. It was through a company deal that Nabiki had met the designer and she had gotten Tomoyo the internship as a sort of thank you for getting her the initial opportunity at the company.
Heero, Sakura, and Syaoran were also leaving Tokyo in a few days, with Heero and Sakura heading back to the Sanc Kingdom and Syaoran going home to Hong Kong. Ami was the only one in the entire group who was going to be staying in Tokyo over break. She was going to be working at her mother's hospital for the summer, her status as a college student and being over the age of 18, finally allowing for her to do much more at the hospital than she had previously been allowed to do.
Over the last couple months, nothing exciting had really happened to the group. With the exception of Sakura's encounter with the Fantasy Card, no new Clow Cards had shown up, and for the most part, everyone had just enjoyed the peace and quiet. The only problem was that peace and quiet also gives people time to think, which is exactly what Sakura was doing. After Heero had recovered from the Lightning and Air Card fiasco, Sakura began to think a lot about those three little words Heero had almost said, before getting interrupted, which was probably the basis for her dream when under the influence of the Fantasy Card. She had told all the girls the story of how Heero had been about to tell her that he loved her along with her dream in the Fantasy Card's realm, and since that day all the other girls had been giddy with excitement at the prospect of the emotionless perfect soldier actually admitting to being in love.
"So other than the lack of 'I love you'," began Ami. "How was the rest of your night?"
"It was nice," said Sakura with a genuine smile. "We had a really nice dinner and then just walked around the park for a while."
"Sounds wonderful. And you are going back over there to sleep after you change?"
"Yup," Sakura answered with a nod as she got off the couch and started walking toward her room. "You heading over to Syaoran-kun's now?"
"Yeah. I was just waiting for you to get back before going over."
"You must be a little sad that you two aren't going to see much of each other over the summer," Sakura said softly, knowing that even though she didn't show it, Ami was probably quite disappointed that she was going to be separated from Syaoran for such an extended period of time.
"I am," Ami replied with a bit of a sad look on her face. "But we both have known for some time that we would be spending this time apart, so we have had plenty of time and opportunity to get used to the situation. Besides, there is still the phone and letters, and it will just make it all the more special when we do get to see each other again at the end of the break."
Sakura smiled at the blue haired girl. "I wish I had your strength. I think I would miss Heero-kun so much that I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I know it is probably not good that I am so attached and almost dependent on him, but I've gotten so used to being able to feel him nearby that I begin to feel lost without him."
"Well, you and Heero-kun do have a bit of a different bond than normal people. So it is probably natural for you to be unconsciously more dependent on one another."
"I guess that is true," conceded Sakura. "But I think Heero-kun is a little more self-sufficient than I am."
Ami laughed just the slightest bit as an image of Heero acting needy came to her mind. "Well, Heero-kun is Heero-kun. He's a soldier, even if he no longer fights in battle anymore. I doubt he really even knows how to depend on others." Ami paused for just a moment before continuing. "Although, over the past year, his demeanor has changed dramatically. And everyone knows that it is because of you. So although to an outsider it may not seem that he is dependent or attached to you, to those of us that know him, the Heero-kun of today, is completely symbiotic with your presence."
Sakura couldn't help but blush at Ami's comments. There was nothing that Ami had said that was really new news to her, but to hear someone say it out loud and to put it in such a way as Ami just had, made Sakura feel unbelievably special, and it made her love for Heero feel that much stronger. Sakura went back over to the couch and gave Ami a tight hug. "Thank you, Ami-chan. I know it may not make much sense, but somehow, what you just said, it really means the world to me."
Ami knew there was nothing for her to say, and simply returned the embrace of the girl who had become one of the most important people in the world to the Mercury Princess, despite not even knowing her for a full year yet.
"You don't start at the hospital until next week, right?" Sakura asked after releasing the embrace she had with her friend.
"Yeah. Not until a couple days after the rest of you leave," Ami confirmed. "Why do you ask?"
"When Heero-kun and I were walking around earlier, we saw that they are setting up for a summer festival not far from here, and according to the flyers, the opening night is tomorrow. I was thinking that the four of us could go to the festival before Syaoran-kun has to go back to Hong Kong."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," agreed Ami. "I will ask Syaoran-kun tonight to make sure he didn't have something else already planned, but I'm pretty sure tomorrow is good."
"Great! It should be lots of fun. I haven't been to a summer festival for years."
"Neither have I. Not since junior high, I think," concurred Ami, thinking for a minute. "I wonder what I should wear though. I don't think I have a yukata with me."
Sakura frowned slightly, remembering that she too did not think to bring the traditional summer clothing item with her to school. "I don't think I have one either. It is too bad Tomoyo-chan already left. She probably had some extras stored away somewhere." Mere moments after Sakura's thought, her phone started to ring, inciting a quiet yelp of surprise from the young girl. Looking down at the caller ID, a quizzical expression appeared on Sakura's face as she brought the small electronic device to her ear. "Tomoyo-chan?"
"I left you a couple new yukatas in your closet that I had been working on for you. Ami-san is only a little bigger than you, so one of them should fit her too."
"How did you know we were -" began Sakura before realizing the answer herself. "Did you leave that spy camera Heero-kun gave you here so that you could spy on us?"
"Of course!" cheerily replied Tomoyo. "You are my favorite subject after all."
"T-Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura whined in embarrassment.
"Oh, I have to get going. Have fun at the festival! And say hi to Ami-san for me! Bye, bye!"
Before Sakura could even respond, Tomoyo had hung up the phone and Sakura found herself listening to a dial tone. Slowly putting her phone away, her face still beet red from embarrassment, Sakura turned to Ami. "That was Tomoyo-chan. She says she left two yukatas for me in my closet. Since we are relatively close in size, we should each be able to wear one."
"She really does love videotaping you, doesn't she?" said Ami, more rhetorically to herself than as a real question.
"She's been like that since she got her first camera back in elementary school. It's embarrassing, but I love Tomoyo-chan, and it makes her happy, so I'm fine with it."
"She is quite a character. But she is a good person, and she is definitely a great friend." No sooner had Ami finished speaking when her phone beeped, indicating she had received a text message. Grabbing her phone and checking the message, Ami's face immediately colored as she read the 'Thanks Ami-chan!' text message she had just received from Tomoyo. Sakura couldn't help but laugh when Ami showed her the message, with the Mercury Princess joining in soon after. "Yup. Definitely a character."
When the two girls finally stopped giggling, they gave each other a hug goodnight, and Ami made her way over to Syaoran's and Sakura finally made her way into her room to change. After changing, Sakura skipped over to the guys' dorm room and hopped into Heero's bed, snuggling tightly against her boyfriend as he put down the book he had been reading while waiting for her to arrive. After a quick good night kiss and a recap of her idea about the summer festival, Sakura was soon fast asleep, the warmth of Heero's body heat and his magical aura allowing the girl to slumber deeply and peacefully throughout the night.
Author's Notes:
So I'm back, finally. I know this section is really short again, but hey, better short than nothing, right? As usual, still barely have time to sleep, let alone write, so things go real slow. But I guess that happens when you have a job instead of being able to screw around while in school. Anyway, hopefully I'll be back sooner or later with another update, but like usual, don't hold your breath. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy.
By the way, in case anyone is interested, once I finish this particular chapter (which will be one more section), there will be probably only two, possibly three, more chapters (again, split into two or three sections) before the story is finished. I have the plot all worked out, so now it is just a matter of writing it. So my goal is to finish the entire story, no matter how long it takes, because I don't want to be one of those writers who writes most of a story and then just doesn't bother to bring it all together. And as for the ending, I have two different possibilities in mind, one of which is happy, the other not quite as much. If anyone has a preference between a happy or slightly tragic ending, let me know and maybe it'll help me decide which route to take.
