Love On Horseback:
Part Three
Sakura held her tear necklace (the one Li had given her) close to her as the plane descended on Hong Kong. Something inside her told her that danger lay ahead. She mentioned none of this to Li, but she also knew, she couldn't hide it from him for long. Sakura had a feeling though, he already knew. The plane came down and touched ground with a smooth landing.
Li smiled at Sakura. "Ready?"
Sakura nodded and gave a weak smile. "Can't wait."
Li bought it and got ready to get off. Sakura stared back out the window. What do I feel? Could he be back?
Li and Sakura found their luggage and made their way out gate 16. A man waved to them and Li smiled at seeing his old friend again. "Wei! Hi!"
Li pulled Sakura over and met his guardian. "Master Li, it's good to se you again."
"You too, Wei. Shall we go?" Li suggested.
Wei nodded and gracefully took Sakura's suitcase from her. She smiled. "Arigato Wei." Li and Wei went to the car and while Wei loaded up the luggage, Li took Sakura inside the car. Wei hopped in and they were off.
"Master Li. One thing bothers me. How will Sakura be able to understand your Aunt Rena? She doesn't speak Chinese." Wei said.
Sakura gasped. "He's right! Oh no!"
Li waved the worry away. "I'm way ahead of you." He took Sakura's hand and stared deep into her eyes. He began to mutter something, then he let go. "There. Now you know." He said in Chinese.
"I do?" Sakura responded in Chinese also. "Hoe! How'd you do that?!" She said once again in Japanese.
Li laughed. "A little spell I learned. Neat huh?"
Sakura smiled. "Hai!"
Wei dropped off Sakura and Li at Li's Aunt's house in the country of Hong Kong, and after Li took out their luggage, he left. Li and Sakura walked up to the door and with a deep breath, Li knocked.
The door flew open and a boy, about Li's age with light brown hair, cut short, with amazing hazel eyes, answered the door. "And who is this lovely lady?" He took Sakura's hand and kissed it the back of it. "I'm Takafumi, nice to meet you."
Li rolled his eyes. "Fumi enough." The boy glanced at Li and smiled. "Alright. It's good to see you too."
Sakura frowned in total confusion. Li look sideways at her and sighed. "Sakura, this is my cousin, Takafumi." Li introduced the boy.
"Please call me Fumi. So you're Sakura? A very pretty name for a very pretty young lady." Fumi smiled and opened the door. "Please come in."
Li led Sakura into the house, as Fumi closed the door and followed them in.
"Fumi? Is he here?" A girl called out.
"Yeah! Come down and say hello!" Fumi called back.
Just then, a girl, also about Li's age came down the stairs. She had long blond hair, and violet eyes. (Yes violet! It's my story so I can make up any color I want!). She ran up to Li and gave him a warm hug.
"Oh Li! It's good to see you again!" The girl said. She turned to Sakura. "Is this the cherry blossom?"
Li blushed. "Sakura, this is my other cousin, Suzanne. Most people call her Suzy."
Sakura smiled and shook Suzy's hand. "Nice to meet you." She said in perfect Chinese. Li let out a laugh and Sakura look worriedly at him.
He waved his hand. "Don't worry, you said it right. It's just it sounds so normal. I guess the spell worked fine after all." He told in Japanese so his cousin's wouldn't know. Sakura let out a sigh in relief.
"Li, dear! Is that you?!" Another voice called out. A woman in her later years (Okay she was old!) came from the kitchen area. "Oh look at you! You've grown so much! Come here and give your Aunt Rena a hug!"
Li sweat dropped, but reluctantly walked over to her and gave her a hug. Sakura smiled. The woman turned to Sakura. "And you must be the famous Sakura? You're a pretty as the flower you were named after!"
Sakura blushed. "Thank you."
"Suzy, why don't you take Sakura's things up to your room. Li, you can share Fumi's room." Aunt Rena said.
"Okay!" The four said and started up the stairs.
Suzy took Sakura into her room. Sakura looked around. "It's very pretty."
Suzy smiled. "Thanks!" She sat on her bed. "So…you're the girl Li likes huh?"
Sakura blushed. Suzy smiled. (She does that a lot huh?) "You must be very special to have Li come out of his shell like that. We rarely got to see that side of him when we were little. Now it's natural for him."
Sakura nodded. "He's very special. He just needed a friend."
Suzy grinned mischievously. "And I think he found that friend. A girl friend maybe?"
Sakura blushed. She went to the window and looked out. She saw a stable, a couple of sheds, a large rink, and a few poles. "Does Li really know how to ride?"
Suzy joined Sakura at the window. "Sure does. Really well too. See that horse there?" She pointed to a black Arabian that ran around the rink wildly. "That's Lightning. The most untamable horse we have. Li's the only one, Lightning will let ride him. He seems to know Li's back."
Sakura nodded and gazed at the horse. They have the same spirit. Wild and free.
Li put his things down n the corner and glared at Fumi. Fumi smiled. "What? I was only being friendly."
"A little too friendly." Li corrected.
Fumi shrugged. "Okay, okay. I'll remember from now on. She's Li's girlfriend."
Li blushed and Fumi laughed. "What did she do to get to you like that? No one in all of China could get you to notice them, be nice to them, let alone make you blush."
"She didn't have to do anything. She was just herself." Li said, sitting on the bed.
Fumi sat up. "And how's that?"
Li looked up at the ceiling. "She's kind, always thinks of others first, cheerful, a beautiful. She was nice to me, even after I called her names, when I first met her. She looked past that and found the me that I didn't even know was there."
Fumi whistled. "You should know how to pick them" Li threw a pillow at Fumi, knocking him down on the bed. Fumi came up laughing and looked at Li. "So what are you going to do with her, while she's here?"
Li sighed. "I don't know. I guess I could teach her how to ride."
Fumi snorted, making Li glare. "How'd you ever get popular with the girls, with ideas like that? I have a better idea."
Li raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" Fumi leaned in and whispered in Li's ear. Li smiled. That might just work.
Suzy and Sakura made quick friends and started giggling. "So that's when Li fell in the mud and ruined his new clothes!"
"How old was he?" Sakura inquired.
"Three. First time he saw a horse and he got scared stiff." Suzy told her.
"Wow. And I thought there wasn't anything Li was afraid of."
"That's not all. Later on…" A knock was heard at the door. "Come in!"
Li slowly opened the door. "Sakura? I was wondering. Would you like to go on a picnic with me tomorrow?"
Sakura smiled. "I'd love to."
Li smiled back. "Great! Talk to you later!" Then he closed the door and footsteps could be heard going down the hallway to Fumi's door.
"She say yes?" Fumi's muffled voice came through the door.
"Yeah!" Li reply happily.
"Great!"
Suzy and Sakura giggled some more at the boys' reaction and talked until Aunt Rena called them down to dinner.
Outside, a shadow watched the girls play in their room. I'm here my love. And soon your protector won't be able to stand in the way. It's only a matter of time before you come to me. Whither you want to or not.