AUTHOR'S NOTE: I decided to revamp The Glass Garden. Back then, I didn't quite fully grasp the direction of that fic so I left it at that. This time, I wanted to challenge myself to rewrite one of my works and I chose that. I hope you will enjoy this version as well. Reviews are very much appreciated.
II. Learning to Forget
"Congratulations! You may now kiss the bride."
Loud, welcoming cheers and howls of encouragement begin to fill the church as the two newlyweds, standing before the altar, share their first intimate moment, the matrimonial kiss.
"Capture every second of it, please. We need it later for the SME video." A sophisticated young woman in a mauve chiffon high low dress with intricate lace details directs her junior videographer as she endearingly watches the couple, who happen to be her dearest of friends.
If not for her role today as the maid of honor in her bestfriend's wedding, Daidouji Tomoyo would have a camera in hand to record this once-in-a-lifetime moment her friends, Kinomoto Sakura and Li Syaoran, are sharing. Lucky for her, capturing special memories has become her passionate business.
Establishing her very own cinematic videography studio for special events is among the wise decisions she has made in her entire life. She has enough confidence to entrust today's documentation to her staff, who she has trained to her pattern of recording and editing unique scenes. Yet, she has felt the need to remind one of her staff just to reassure herself that everything will go smoothly, everything will be captured.
As she keeps herself busy assisting guests for the picture taking, a hand gently rests on the small of her back to somehow get her attention. "Daidouji-san."
Startled, she turns to find a familiar face, gracefully aged like fine wine, delicately smiling at her. Her busy expression has suddenly been replaced by an enthusiastic smile. "Hiiragizawa-kun! You made it here, thank goodness! Sakura-chan persistently asked me to make sure you will make it. I'm glad you got my text."
"Yes, thank you. My flight got delayed but at least, I made it before the reception." She sees the relief passing over the dashing gentleman's face before her. She is relieved as well that she will have company later at the reception while her bestfriend and his now-husband will be kept busy by the programme.
"Yes, you did! Come on! It's our turn for the pictorial. Our classmates are already there." She offers a hand, which the other hesitantly took, and they both head to the platform before altar with the bride, the groom and their friends.
As soon as the pictorial is over and their classmates have gone down the platform, Hiiragizawa Eriol manages to congratulate the couple, giving the groom a generous pat on the back. "Congratulations, Sakura-san and Li-kun."
"Eriol-kun!" Despite the difficulty moving about in her elaborate wedding gown, Sakura takes the effort to give the man, who she hasn't seen for more than ten years, a tight hug. "I'm so glad to see you here! It's been so long since we last saw each other."
"I'm glad too, Sakura-san. You look marvelous today. Also, thank you for always keeping in touch. I hope Li-kun here will treat you well." Facing the groom, Eriol grins and teasingly winks at him, warranting the Clow Reed reincarnation a displeased scowl as if he's being challenged.
Standing beside the bride, Tomoyo is just quietly observing their conversation until Eriol's teasing remark caused tension between both men, sending her into a fit of giggles. As she regains composure, she senses Sakura leaning towards her to thank her, "Thank you so much, Tomo-chan. For everything."
She has heard these words of gratitude many times with her bestfriend but, this time, it has somehow struck a cord in her that, all of a sudden, she has suddenly become more susceptible to her own emotions.
She is reminded of the lengths she has gone through to organize this special wedding for her bestfriend; from the wedding gown to the reception, down to handing out the invitations, that she even had to fly to England to meet up with Eriol when Sakura got worried for not hearing from him for a long while. This somehow got her teary-eyed and almost shaking uncontrollably as her emotions finally get the better of her.
"Sakura-chan, you didn't have to do this now." Both women are now bawling their eyes out while being in each other's embrace.
Seeing this rather emotional scene, Eriol decides to go and ease Tomoyo, putting his hand at the small of her back, gently patting to comfort her, even offering his handkerchief hoping to make her feel a little better.
Syaoran does the same to comfort his beloved wife. "Ladies, I'm afraid we need to cut this short. The coordinator is signing us to hurry down for the next task."
"Oh yes, sorry, Syao-kun. Let's go, Tomo-chan, Eriol-kun." Sakura carefully wipes her tears even if she knows her makeup already got ruined. She turns to Eriol to ask for a favor—which she rarely does—from him, "Please take care of Tomo-chan for me."
"Alright, Sakura-san. You should go. We'll follow behind you."
A glass-dome garden, built to cater special events such as weddings at the outskirts of Tomoeda. The towering structure sits in the middle of a vast pond connected by a natural grass bridge. Behind is a picturesque backdrop of blooming cherry blossoms and a snow-capped mountain surrounded by low-lying clouds.
Tomoyo has chosen this undeniably highly aesthetic reception area. It fits perfectly for Sakura whose name means cherry blossoms. To be surrounded by these pink flowering trees in the Spring during her special day makes it more meaningful and unforgettable. Plus, she needs good material for her cinematic documentation of the wedding, thus her location choice.
Once again, she instructs her videographers to take dramatic scenes of cherry blossom petals falling, trees shuffling, the couple walking down the grass bridge, and a few others. Eriol stands nearby, observing her appreciatively. He knows how passionate Tomoyo is with recording literally everything that Sakura does. Borderline obsessive and creepy but it has, since then, drastically reduced as they grew older.
Eriol knows Tomoyo loves Sakura, but Clow Reed's successor doesn't see it beyond friendship. Eventually, Tomoyo has learned to acknowledge that her love for Sakura will never be reciprocated. The love she has given is as selfless as Eriol could imagine. My happiness is Sakura-chan's happiness, she has said during their meet up for the invitation.
He can imagine the sting in her heart as she convinces herself daily with her own lie like he does with his, but it is so much better than to keep hoping for nothing. Honestly, he is glad to have learned this from her. After that meeting, it has become easier for him to believe in his lie as a reality.
She has also come back to England a few more times after that day to work with a couple of clients with their destination weddings. She has often made sure to meet up with him despite her busy schedule.
There is that one time they met up at the London Eye and she invited him to skate with her. He remembers how happy she was just skating around, forgetting all her worries at least for just that night, her lovely ebony tresses flowing freely as it got blown by the wind like it is now.
"Hiiragizawa-kun? Shall we? The reception is about to start."
He snaps out of his thoughts as Tomoyo appears before him, almost flustered that she might have caught him lost in reverie at that one London night. "Ah, yes. Let's go."
He follows Tomoyo who has gone ahead to relay some last instructions to her videographers. He has caught up, and as soon as she's done speaking to them, he scoops his hand at the small of her back and leads her like the gentleman he always is, "May I?"