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The Council of Thirteen

Book Three: The First Lord

Restitching the Web of Love

Chapter 4: Disentangling the red thread

Beta:

A week after their day at the beach, Sakura was once more meeting with Syaoran. This time they had chosen Victoria Peak Garden with its scenic view for their date. At Syaoran's request they were meeting alone, with Tomoyo-chan and Kero-chan waiting for them in her car at the bottom of the hill.

"Why did you want to speak to me alone?" Sakura asked as she leaned back against a railing that ringed the edge of the park and looked at her husband with a quirked eyebrow.

"Must a husband, even an estranged one, always be chaperoned when he wants to speak with his wife? Am I an abuser?"

"No, you aren't." Sakura admitted.

Syaoran smiled at that, as if he'd won some kind of victory.

"I think I've figured out why you're so upset."

"Oh?"

"You're angry that I didn't respect your consent that night, aren't you? That I am taking it less seriously than I should in general?"

Sakura nodded, honestly surprised that her husband figured it out. Whilst he was not an unintelligent person, he was quite dense at times when it came to matters of the heart.

"But the rift between us has grown beyond that, hasn't it?" He added, shocking her even more with his perceptiveness.

He deserves an answer. Sakura thought as she bit her lip and looked away but couldn't bring herself to reply. What he said was true but the reasons for it were things she was not yet willing to fully admit, much less discuss.

"You always bite your lip when you are troubled by a decision you've made that you're not entirely comfortable with," Syaoran said with a frustrated sigh.

Sakura looked at him sharply, even as a surge of confusion flooded her mind.

I haven't made a decision yet, right?

Ignoring her response, or lack of one, Syaoran just shrugged and kept talking.

"You shouldn't be surprised, even if we are estranged now, we have been together since we were children. Of course I'd know your tells."

"I haven't made any decisions." Sakura insisted but whether she was saying it to convince Syaoran or herself, she couldn't say.

"You think so," Syaoran said with a nod. "And that's all the room for maneuver I need."

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked warily.

"I haven't given up yet."

Sakura just looked at him in bewilderment, completely lost about what he was talking about.

"Why don't we go on a date, just the two of us?" Syaoran suggested. "To try and see if we can rekindle the romance between us?"

Aren't we on one now? Sakura almost blurted out but managed to stop herself at the last minute to instead just nod hesitantly.

If Syaoran was willing to try then the very least she could offer him was the chance, wasn't it? It was the fair thing to do, right?

The night of the date between Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun arrived a couple days later and Tomoyo found herself eagerly helping her best friend dress for the occasion. This despite being torn over how the situation was developing and what, if anything, she wanted out of it. On the one hand, she very much wanted Sakura to be happy and even now she thought that Syaoran could give her the happiness she deserves. But on the other hand, the sunscreen incident at the beach gave her hope that maybe she could do the same.

And if Sakura is open to it, I'd be sure to do loads better than Syaoran ever did!

The question though was whether Sakura was open to a romantic relationship with her at all. Was the sunscreen incident just an accident or was it a sign of more?

Much to her shame, even after more than a week she still hadn't plucked up the courage to ask Sakura about it.

"You look gorgeous as always," Tomoyo told her best friend, as she finished putting the final touches to the other woman's makeup and pushed her thoughts aside.

"And a lot of that is thanks to you." Sakura-chan replied with her characteristic smile. One that never failed to make Tomoyo weak in the knees.

"Maybe, but she's not wrong." Kero-chan commented as he floated around his Mistress, inspecting Tomoyo's handiwork. "You look good. The makeup is perfectly done, better than you'd have managed on your own."

Sakura playfully swatted at her Guardian Beast and rolled her eyes.

"You expect humble old me to compare to a maestro like Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura teased and all three of them laughed.

"Thank you for the compliment Sakura-chan, but you better go or you'll be late."

Sakura glanced at her watch and nodded, standing from her seat in front of the vanity in her hotel room.

"Yeah. I don't want to keep Syaoran waiting. But one last check? Do I look good?" She asked as she stuck a pose.

Dressed in a plain t-shirt paired with a suspender dress accented by a bowed belt at the waist, Sakura looked stunning. Even more so than usual. She exuded a healthy mix of cute and beautiful at the same time. It was the perfect combination for a date.

"Of course," Tomoyo-chan affirmed, barely smothering the blush that threatened to spread across her face.

"You'll knock his socks off." Kero-chan echoed, offering two thumbs up for further measure.

"Alright. Then I'm off." Sayoran nodded as she began moving towards the door, the others trailing behind her.

As they said their goodbyes, Tomoyo's previous thoughts on what she wanted returned to her and she had to call on her considerable skill as an actress to act normal.

Even as she waved at Sakura as the elevator doors that would take her down to the lobby where Syaoran-kun would pick her up closed, one thought dominated her mind.

What do I want?

After a rather successful, at least in his opinion, date so far, Syaoran was enjoying a stroll through Victoria Park with Sakura to cap off the night. They had enjoyed a movie, he'd preferred a night at the theatre but Sakura's tastes were more plebeian and he'd catered to her this time, and then grabbed dinner at a cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-style café) which served wonton noodles he knew she loved.

Despite that however Sakura had refused to take his hand as they walked, instead choosing to just walk beside him. It rankled him a little but he pushed the irritation aside. He knew going into this that they were as good as starting from scratch in their relationship after all. If he wanted to regain her affections he needed to take baby steps. Though he could not help but agree with the faint whispers that constantly plagued his mind nowadays that Sakura was being unnecessarily cold to his conciliatory gestures.

"I hope you've enjoyed yourself tonight, Sakura." Syaoran said, trying to break the ice as the silence between them dragged on.

"I did," Sakura said, sounding grudging in her admission.

Why the hesitation? He grumbled to himself even as he outwardly smiled.

"I'm glad."

He expected her to pick up the conversation, but she didn't and they settled into an uncomfortable silence for a bit.

Perhaps some small talk will help?

"So have you heard what happened to Xiu Mi-"

He was interrupted in his attempt to bring up the latest happenings regarding one of their mutual acquaintances when Sakura let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Syaoran, this isn't going to work."

He froze. Was she about to drop the bombshell he had been praying she wouldn't resort to?

His hopes were for nought.

"Wooing me won't rekindle our romance." She told him bluntly. "My feelings have changed."

Don't you think I know that!? He barely restrained himself from shouting angrily. Do you think I'm blind!?

He would've had to have been to have missed how Sakura was falling in love with Tomoyo-san. No, that wasn't accurate. The two had always loved each other. As best friends and cousins. But despite the heiress' desperate wishes, for the longest time that was the extent of it. Now however, for the first time, Sakura's feelings for the other woman were clearly taking a romantic turn.

He wanted to blame this on Tomoyo-san. It was the natural thing to do. But he couldn't. Not when he knew it wasn't. The other woman was honest in her attempt of just being there for Sakura. While he knew she harbored feelings for his wife, he also knew she was too honorable to seduce Sakura. Not in their current situation, not when she'd held back when he and Sakura had simply been childhood sweethearts.

That leaves only one person left to blame…

"And why is that?" Syaoran asked in what barely avoided being a snarl.

Sakura was unfazed by his building anger and just sighed.

"I'm not sure." She said, echoing her words from Victoria Peak Garden. "I have an idea but I'm not certain yet and I'm not about to say potentially hurtful things until I am."

Like what you're saying isn't already hurtful enough?

Unaware of his thoughts, she continued.

"What I am certain of is that I no longer have romantic feelings for you." She told him with beseeching eyes. "I'm sorry Syaoran."

A moment of irrational fear surged through his mind, one that felt alien yet all so natural, and he turned to look at his wife with a harsh glare he had never turned towards the woman before.

It seemed to take her aback and she stumbled a few steps away from him.

"Am a toy to you Sakura!?" Syaoran shouted, driven by his fury, "To be used and discarded at your fancy?"

"No," Sakura replied in a confused whisper.

"No? Because that's what it feels like to me!" He shot back mercilessly. "Did our marriage vows matter to you at all? It doesn't seem like they do, if you're just going to leave me now that your 'feelings have changed'!"

Syaoran thought that Sakura would be cowed by his anger, instead his words seemed to stir something inside her and she glared right back. If he was in a saner frame of mind, he might have noticed how out of character it was for his normally calm, collected and even, dare he say it, meek wife. But as it was, he was hardly in the right frame of mind.

"Are you saying that those vows should bind me my whole life? Do my wants, my feelings, my consent not matter!?" Sakura shouted back. "Oh right, you have a problem with that don't you?"

"Don't you dare make spurious accusations against me like that!" Syaoran growled, eyeing the crowd forming around them worriedly. "I never touched you without your consent."

"Only because I didn't let you." Sakura snapped back. "The way you were going, it was only a matter of time."

At that Syaoran snapped and he took a step forward with a hand raised to slap his wife. Thankfully though, he caught himself moments before his hand made contact with her face.

A face that he noticed was etched in shock.

"You were going to hit me?" She gasped as bystanders surged forward to separate them.

He shared in her shock. What had come over him!? Why was he so irrationally angry? Yes, Sakura had crossed a line but what he almost did was infinitely worse. She after all wasn't saying anything about him that wasn't true.

What have I done? The Li heir thought despairingly even as the police arrived and pulled him aside to ask questions.

From the canopy of a tree overlooking the footpath the estranged couple had been walking on, a pure white spider the size of a small monkey looked down on the mayhem ensuing below whilst radiating satisfaction at a job well done.

Done!

A short one this time, but an important one as I'm sure should be obvious. It's a major step in the disintegration of Syaoran and Sakura's marriage. At the same time it also marks the point where Tomoyo seriously starts considering the option of actively pursuing Sakura for herself. She hasn't made up her mind yet, but that she is entertaining such thoughts at all is a major step for her.

Well that's all from me folks. Till next time sayōnara!