Chapter Three-Soft Undertones
He walked into his room and watched the sleeping Sakura. She was dressed in a pair of his sweatpants that were obviously too big for her and a t-shirt. Li walked to his closet and took out a sleeping bag and an extra pillow and laid it next to the bed. Before getting in it himself, he sat on the bed next to her, watching the rhythmatic flow of her breaths. "You're safe now, Sakura. Just…please don't hate me when you wake up…I can't bare the thought of you…hating me." He lied down next to her for a moment, embracing her warm body that had regained its color. His eyes wandered around her face, searching for a sign she would awaken and hug him, but there was none.
Li slowly leaned towards her and kissed her forehead, "I love you, Sakura. Maybe I can tell you when you wake up how much you mean to me…and maybe you'll love me in return." He smiled at the thought and then retreated to his sleeping bag on the floor to try to sleep.
A tear escaped his eyes as he thought about the pain she must have gone through. That will never happen to you again. I swear it, he thought as he shed a few more tears, falling asleep.
The next day, Li watched over Sakura. He didn't leave her side for more than fifteen minutes. It was four o'clock by the time he started to feel like she would never wake up. She had stirred a few times during the day and even called his name, but she never opened her eyes. Not even once.
He had tried calling Meilin and Kero all day but neither one answered the phone. By the time seven o'clock came around, Li had already watched two movies and read a short novel since the beginning of the day. He got up after playing with an old yo-yo he found in a drawer and picked up his sword.
Three years ago, almost four since it was already the middle of July, on his fourteenth birthday, his mother had sent him a new, much longer sword. It still had the same design and virtually the same handle but of course it was much heavier so he had to practice everyday. Li had picked it up thirty minutes ago and was swinging it around with such grace that it even surprised himself but he found his mind wandered to the girl still sleeping.
He tried a difficult move but was thinking about Sakura and totally messed it up. Damnit! He thought in frustration, dropping the sword and sitting on his sleeping bag still on the floor. He propped his back against the bed and his knees were up to his face and his face was buried. Li felt the movement of something behind him and turned around to see Sakura watching him.
"Li?"
"Sakura, you're finally
awake,"he said as gently as he could, turning his body towards hers. "How are
you feeling?"
She sat up and curled her knees towards her, remembering what had happened the previous night. Sakura could feel herself tremble as the tears flowed like a river down her cheek. "Oh, Li…I was so scared…I just wanted you to be there in your Chinese robes and your sword so you could protect me like when we were eleven. I wish I still was…LI!" she threw herself into his arms and cried as hard as her body would allow.
"Shhh…it's okay. I'm right here. It's alright now. And I know we're not capturing the cards anymore. Hell, I'm too tall for my robes now anyways." Sakura laughed a little as she continued to cry. "But…I'll always protect you. I can't help it. You're too much a part of my life now," He held her close as she cried her heart out. "We can talk about it later if you want."
After a few more sobs she tried to talk. "Okay."
"You don't have to right away…I want you to be comfortable, Sakura. We can do anything you want to do…I don't want you to…to hate me."
She pulled away looking into his eyes. "Li…I don't hate you."
"But…"
"No, Li…I could never hate you!" She threw herself into his arms again and he hugged her close. Knowing this made his heart relax and just take her in. He picked her up slowly and sat on the bed so that he could cover them both with the blankets. She still had that cold after all. "Li…you didn't do this to me…Jason did. He was right. He took away from me the one thing I'll never have back…I didn't want it to be with him…I don't love him…I never loved him…I just…" Her words were lost as she cried some more.
Li was crying too. Sakura felt it and cried even more and then released herself from him and looked into his eyes. "Please don't cry, Li."
"I can't help it," he took his hand and put it against her cheek. "This is killing me, Sakura. I hate seeing you like this…this wasn't supposed to happen. You should be happy." You were supposed to…with me…Li thought. Your first real kiss wasn't with me, I was gone and in Hong Kong…so I thought that your first time should be…with me. Our first time…together.
He pulled her close to him and just held her until she couldn't cry anymore. The tears subsided and Li just held her while she took deep breaths to regain herself. "Li?" she asked meekly. She sounded so small.
"Yes?"
"Can I take a shower?"
"Of course, Sakura." Li rested her on the bed and turned on the faucets and grabbed a bathrobe and some towels and laid them on the table next to the sink. He helped her out of the bed and brought her to the bathroom. "A shower will do you good."
"I suppose, but…it doesn't matter how many gallons of water and how many bars of soap wash over me, I'll still feel dirty." He reached out for her hand and squeezed it gently to try to comfort her.
She didn't even look at him as she released his hand and shut the door gently. Li turned to leave, but found that he didn't know what to do so instead he just walked over to his bed and lied down. Oh, Sakura, he thought. I never imagined I'd see you like this. Damn Jason. I'll kill him…I swear to God.
As Li was thinking, Sakura was sitting in the bath, looking at her bruised body. She felt so dirty, like a piece of trash. She grabbed a piece of soap and a scrub-brush, determined to be clean.
About thirty minutes later, she emerged, wearing the bathrobe. "Um, can I have something to sleep in?"
"Yeah, of course," Li went to his drawers and grabbed a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. He handed them to her and just stood there, but then realized that she probably wanted to get dressed so he turned around to give her some privacy. He refused to leave the room and never would have, even if she had dragged him out. Sakura unrobed and threw it to him, tossing it at his head. Li grabbed it and noticed a few blood stains on it, then turned around to see her standing there, with numerous red marks. "Sakura, what happened?"
"I just wanted to be clean." Li went to her and held her face in his hands.
"Sakura," he softly said as he led her to the bathroom and put lotion on the dry parts of her skin and put band-aids on a few scratches.
"I'm sorry, Li. I feel like I'm losing it."
"It's okay. You've been through a lot. I'll do anything to help you be okay again," he said as he finished putting the lotion on.
"Thank you, Li. If it wasn't for you, I…I…"
"Don't think about it," he said smiling. "You should rest."
"Yeah, okay,"Sakura said quietly, finally giving in to Li.
He picked her up and brought her to his bed, "I hope you don't mind if I sleep on the floor."
"No, not at all…I just…"
"What?" he asked, sitting beside her.
"I just…I want you to sleep on your bed."
"Sakura, you're sick…you're not sleeping on my floor…no way."
"Li, that's not what I meant…"
"Then…uh…you want me to sleep…here…next to…um…you? Uh, Sakura…" he turned about fifty shades of red as he realized how close he would have to be to her.
"Li, don't worry about it, you don't have to…I just…Madison always used to sleep next to me when I was scared about ghosts…and she's not here and…you're my best friend too…"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes…I trust you more than anyone…I don't care if you're a guy…Just please…I need someone to hold me."
He was a little nervous being so close to her and all but he took off his pants and socks anyways and slipped into bed along with Sakura. He tried to keep his distance because she didn't asked to be held yet so he didn't want to be offensive or anything. That's the last thing he wanted.
"If you need anything, Sakura. Wake me. You promise?"
"Yes," and with that word, silence spread throughout the room as if it was one of her cards. A few minutes later, she rolled over, only to look at his back as she spoke, "Li?"
"Yes?" he rolled onto his back and turned his head to look into her eyes. "What is it?"
"I want to talk about it now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she said. He moved in closer, holding her hands in one of his and stroking her hair with the other.
"Tell me everything, Sakura. I can help you take away your pain. Or…at least I'll try."
She smiled briefly, "Thank you, Li. You've always been so kind to me." Her smile turned to nothing as she started to open her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. She tried again but she couldn't say the words. He kissed her gently on her forehead and then the courage came. "Li…I was going to break it off with him…but then…then he tried something…he started to unzip my dress and….and…I told him to bring me home…he threatened me with a knife and told me to hand over the Sakura Cards…"
"He what? How did he know?"
"I don't know…I never told him…I never told anyone besides Madison…I think he was a magician or sorcerer or something….he said he had magic…" Li stroked her hair softly as he held her hands, caressing them with his fingers. "I told him I would never give him my cards…I love them…but he said that's what he wanted and if he couldn't have it…he'd take something else away from me…and then he…he…" She couldn't say it. He knew she couldn't and as she cried he slid over next to her, closing in on the space between them. Kissing her face and telling her encouraging words.
"We'll deal with this together…Sakura, you're my best friend. I'll always be here."
She paused for a moment and then added more to her story. "Jason also said…"Sakura stopped, remembering the horrifying moment in her mind.
"Yes?"Li asked, trying not to force her but he wanted to know anything else that bastard did to her.
When Sakura heard his soft voice, she smiled slightly then continued, "He knew about what I was afraid of most."
"You mean…ghosts, Sakura?"
"Mmmhmm,"she said in a stifled sob. She held it back as she talked. "He said that he knew of a few ghosts that wouldn't mind stopping by…but I told him I didn't care because I knew that if he found my cards that…I would lose them forever. And I knew that if he found my cards then he would find…you."
"Oh, Sakura…I'm so proud of you,"Li said, rocking her slowly. He whispered into her ear, "You were so brave."
After a moment she stopped crying and she looked up into his face. "What are you thinking about, Li?"
"How angry I am about what happened. But mostly how much I…I…I'm concerned for you." He couldn't say it, even though he wanted to. He just looked at her eyes, which were lighter than usual, because of the crying. They were now bluish-green, like the color of the ocean in tropical waters. "I just want you to be happy again."
"I will be…thanks to you. I feel much better now."
"Good," he said smiling and kissing her once more on her forehead. "Tomorrow's a new day. We'll face it together."
They held each other tightly as she realized what he had been saying to her the whole time. All of his comforting words and his touch…oh God…his touch was so soft and gentle. Sakura couldn't take it anymore. The words were eating at her, the reason that she wanted to end her fling with Jason. She smiled from ear-to-ear and then bit her bottom lip in excitement. "Li…you don't need to think about that."
"What are you talking about, Sakura?"
"You don't need to worry about me anymore."
"And why is that? What are you thinking?"
That was the question that she had been waiting for. Hugging him tighter she smiled. "Li, everything is okay now,"she softly said and then kissed him on the cheek very slowly before whispering in his ear, "Everything is okay now because…I love you."
His mouth dropped and his eyes widened slightly but then he relaxed and embraced her tighter as he felt the warmth from his heart spread throughout his body. "I love you too, Sakura." He took a few quick, deep breaths as he spoke, "I thought you would never know how I felt about you…I've loved you for so long…Oh, Sakura…I've finally found you…My love, Sakura."
"Oh, Li…I was a fool…I'm sorry about our fight before…because…you were right…you always were right. I'm sorry," she continued to cry as they both held each other.
"Sakura,"he softly said. She lifted her head from his shoulder. Li took his hand and held it to her face and in turn she leaned against it, smiling. He shook his head in disbelief, "I never knew I could feel like this…but…I love you, Sakura. I really love you…so much." His head descended and they both closed their eyes as his lips met hers. She was crying so much from happiness they had to separate shortly after.
"Li,"she softly spoke as she turned away from him so that her curves fit into his and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly and softly kissing her neck. They slept this way the entire night.