Pre- Author's notes (IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! THANKS!):
Okay. When I put ***************************************************************************, it means flashback/end of flashback.
These ' . . . . . ' mean thoughts, this " . . . . . " is speaking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ means POV (Point of view [Li or Sakura]) change.
The Scent of a Cherry Blossom-Part 2
Li opened his eyes. it was morning, and the light was shining through one of the windows into the room, making it bright as day. He started to sit up, then realized something heavy was on his shoulder. Something named Sakura. Li stared in disbelief, wondering when and how Sakura had gotten there. He wanted to move because he was nervous, but another longing, just as stong, wanted him to stay and enjoy the sense of Sakura laying on his arm. In the end, the nervousness lost. He curled back up, and sat there drowsily in the morning sun, wanting the moment to last forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura opened her eyes. Sunlight was srteaming through the windows. As she lay there on the couch, she recalled the previous night.
***************************************************************************
"And you're even more beautiful."
***************************************************************************
She felt the warm feeling wash over her as she recalled Li's comment. She snuggled against the couch, which was warm . . . . . too warm. After a few seconds, she realized it was Li. She almost jumped up and ran upstairs . . . . . almost, but not quite. Instead she settled back down onto the couch (and Li), and enjoyed the sensation of Li's chest against her head. The sense of . . . . . not perfection, but more like . . . . . like this was right, the way she belonged. The senstation became stronger, and she decided to stay like this until Li woke up, not moving and just enjoying the moment. She stayed as still as possible, not wanting to wake Li. After a few minutes, she drifted back into sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Li awoke again a few hours later, and the sun was much brighter than it had been when he had previously awoken. Sakura was still laying on his right side, and she was warm and comfortable. He realized that he had a blanket over him, and didn't remember going to get it the previous night. 'Sakura must have gotten it for me. She's so kind. She always puts others before herself.' He was jerked out of his thoughts as he smelled the same thing he had last night in the alleyway when he was crouched over Sakura. 'It must be her. She smells so much like a flower, but the scent is so much more perfect . . . like she is.' He slowly eased Sakura off of his shoulder, laid her down, and went to his room. He opened up a secret drawer in the back of one of his other drawers. It was stuffed with papers. He glanced at a few of them, remembering when and why he had written them. He started another one.
I smell the scent of something beautiful.
I look up, and there you are.
You rustle in the wind, so delicate
But at the same time you stand stronger than anything alse around.
No one with an eye for beauty could fail to notice you.
I wish that I could have you.
But you're too perfect to be mine.
You're too high up in the tree to reach
For me to pick you as my own.
I wish, that for just one moment, you weren't so high up
But you will never go lower, because that is not part of you.
You're too beautiful to stay low to the ground.
You shine high above the rest, and there you'll stay.
There isn't any way you could come down by me, or I come by you.
My cherry blossom.
---Li Showron, Little Wolf
After he finished writing, he started to put everything away, but he stopped as he heard Sakura cry out downstairs. He ran as fast as he could, and ran over to her to support her as she fell. "Sakura! What are you doing? You're not strong enough to be walking around yet." She looked at him defiantly. "Yes, I am!" He glared at her. "No, you're not!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" Li did a mock glare at her. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but . . . . " And without further conversation he picked her up again. "Hey! Not fair!" Li grinned at her. "Whoever said I was going to be fair?" Sakura giggled. Li smiled at her and carried her up to his bed again. As he set her down, he accidentally brushed his hand against her wounded side. Sakura winced. "Ow." Li looked at her sadly, apologizing almost before she got hurt. "I'm really sorry, Sakura. Are you okay?" She smiled at his concern. "Yeah." Li looked relieved. "I'm really sorry. I know that wound was really bad, and I didn't mean to hurt you." Sakura smiled yet again. "I know you didn't. Hey, how did you know it was so bad? I mean, I know because it's my wound. And why am I wearing a different shirt?" She looked at him as he blushed. "Li, you didn't!" She started to get angry with him, because she knew why he was blushing. "Sakura! Just let me explain! I promise, I'm not some pervert or anything." Sakura calmed herself. She might as well listen before she killed him. Li looked at the floor as he explained, not daring to look Sakura in the eye. "Okay, when I got back, you were bleeding really bad in the side of your head." Sakura nodded, showing she belived him. He then continued, telling how he treated her other cuts. "But then I noticed that your shirt was all full of blood, and since it had been bleeding for so long, there wasn't enough time to get you to a doctor. You might have lost too much blood, so I . . . . . cleaned the wound myself." Here he paused uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, Sakura, but there wasn't any time. I wouldn't have done it if I could of avoided it, but you could have . . . . . died. And I'd never forgive myself if you died because I didn't do anything." "It's okay, Li. Thanks a lot." Li shuffled uncomforably, then went downstairs. "I'm going to go make breakfast, okay?" Sakura nodded at him. "You stay here, okay?" Sakura smiled mischevously, but nodded her head again. "I will, Li." Li shook his head at her and grinned. "I'll have to check on you to make sure you're still here, I guess." With that, he walked out the door. Sakura looked at the doorway, but she felt her eyes begin to droop, and she fell asleep yet again.