Disclaimer: Well, I still don't own any anime, so it would be pointless to sue me.
Engagement Dilemma
~~~ Japan ~~~
A star is shining bright tonight
I will find my way to you
Past the darkness to the light
Let my love be true
"Sakura! Get up!!" Sakura ignored the voice and curled deeper in the covers. Kero sighed. "Its time for drastic measures." He picked up the glass of water he always had handy by her bed and promptly dumped in on her.
"Ahhhhh!" She screamed and jumped up. "What did you do that for!?" She glared accusingly at Kero. Then she glanced at the clock. "No I am late!!" She sprinted towards the bathroom.
"It's Saturday."
Sakura ran back in, a toothbrush in her hand. "What!! Why did you wake me up than?"
"I want my breakfast!"
"Greedy…" She mumbled underneath her breath. But she didn't feel that angry. In fact, she felt strangely happy and elevated. 'This is going to be one great day.' She thought and looked over at the desk. Nothing was on it. "What?" She walked all around it, but couldn't find her letter anywhere. "Kero? Did you move a piece of paper that was lying here?" She asked.
"Nope. Why? Was it important?"
Sakura bit her lip nervously. "Well, kind of…Oh well I am sure it will show up." She laughed hesitantly. She wasn't ready to tell him she was still in love with Syaoran, not after she had been trying to convince him she was over him for the last two years. Like she had been trying to convince herself. If only he would call or something. She shook her head. He would come back to her. She had to trust him.
"Sakura, I'm hungry, and what ever your dad is cooking smells really good." Kero sniffed the air slightly for effect. She laughed.
"Okay, I'll bring you some food, just let me get dressed first."
A little later, Sakura happily bounded down the stairs. "Good morning dad!" She sat down by the table. Her father brought in breakfast and they both began to eat. "Where's Touya?" She asked after awhile.
"He mentioned that he was going out of town for a while, to finish up some business. But he didn't really say where. He was being very mysterious about the whole matter."
~~~ Hong Kong ~~~
I saw a cherry tree the other day
I found myself thinking of you
How have you been since I went away?
I wonder if you still love me too
But thoughts like these are buried deep
I have hidden them from the world
Only my heart dares to weep
When I see a cherry blossom begin to unfurl
I thought you and I together was fate
Life is ironic sometime
I never meant to make you wait
I just wanted you to be mine
My duties and loyalties for the clan
Forced me to depart
And even now they can't understand
The loneliness of my heart
Syaoran sat back on the couch, relaxing after another hard day of training. He glanced at his watch, wondering when Lena was going to arrive. She had called earlier to say that she needed to talk to him, but was very vague about the exact time. She just said that it was important. Lena was a good friend to him, though nothing more. They both had very similar problems. 'Our situation.' He thought to himself.
Flashback
Five years ago, a week after returning to Hong Kong
"Xiolang? The clan leader would like to speak to you." A much younger looking boy looked at his mother and nodded with an unnerving serious look on his face.
"Yes, mother." He followed her obediently to where the clan leader sat on the couch. A girl with short black hair and aqua eyes sat beside him. Already Syaoran felt that something bad was about to happen.
"Xiolang, I was very disappointed when I heard that you and Meilin decided to break off your engagement…" He began. "But I have found a new girl, someone who I believe will be a better match for you." He pushed the girl on the couch forward. "Xiolang meet Lena." Syaoran suddenly felt as though he had been shot.
"But, the reason I broke it off is because I am in love with someone else." He protested, thinking the beautiful girl he had promised to return to.
"I realize your feelings, but you must understand that we need the blood of the Li clan to remain pure." Syaoran shook his head, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall.
You don't understand! I love her!" He screamed.
The clan leader glared coldly down at him. "Don't be so selfish. You are thinking only for yourself and not for the clan. Do you even know if she returns those feelings?" Syaoran felt sick and fell to his knees. "Do you?"
He shook his head. "But…" He tried to contain the rage and anguish he was feeling inside.
"Are you going to threaten the entire clan because of some childhood love to whom you don't even know if the feelings are returned?" The clan leader's face softened slightly. "Besides, how long are you going to force her to wait for you? Two, three, even six years?" He shook his head slightly. "Let her go."
Syaoran closed his eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen this way. He was going to come back to Sakura. He was going to come back and eventually marry Sakura. Now, the clan wanted to take his love away from him. "No…No…" He repeated softly, hoping the nightmare would just go away.
"Don't be selfish. Let her go."
Syaoran looked up. Maybe he was being selfish. He just wanted to be with her. But then again, she never actually said she returned his feelings. He could be setting himself up for a downfall. 'But I can feel it…she does love me…' he brushed those thoughts aside. How long was he going to force her to wait for him? Clan training could take many years. He would never want her to be unhappy because of him… "Fine. I will do as the clan says." He said listlessly. "But I will never let her go." He stood up and walked out of the room.
He walked aimlessly around the clan mansion, before finally going into the garden. "What should I do?" He found himself drawn to the lone cherry tree that stood at the garden's center. He sighed and leaned back against it. "There has to be a way out of this." He murmured to himself. He was already getting over the shock of the situation and realized what he had said. "I am going to have to marry someone I don't even know." A tear fell down his face. He knew, that by now the Leader of the clan would probably forbid him to leave the Li mansion's grounds unless for school or special occasions, for fear that he would run away. He shook his head angrily. This was so unfair.
"Oh the times of woe we are now to face. Two people forced to marry each other against their will for the good of the people while their hearts remain with others." Syaoran almost yelled in surprised as the girl with her aqua eyes and black hair jumped out of the tree he was leaning on.
"What are you doing here!" He exclaimed standing up to glare icily at her.
She shrugged and quickly responded back, her glare easily matching the one he gave her. "You said that the girl name was Sakura, right? Well Sakura means cherry blossoms, so I figured you'd eventually make it here." She sat down next to the tree. "Oh, stop glaring at me. Its not like I requested to be married to you. In fact, I am in love with someone too, as I said before, if you weren't listening." She gestured for him to sit down beside her.
He complied, though his expression didn't change. "Have you told the clan that you are in love with someone too?" He questioned wearily. She shook her head. "Well, maybe if they know we both don't want this marriage, then they may let us not get married." She shook her head again, this time tears were gleaming in her eyes.
"I can't tell them, or else they may believe that I am a little insane and send me away." She said sadly. Syaoran blinked.
"What! How bad can this guy be?" He continued to glare at her, but eased up on it slightly. It did give him strange comfort to know that she was in the same predicament as he was.
"Hmmm, well, I don't know." She answered truthfully. "And if you mind, I rather not talk about it right now. I only just met you." She stood up and started to walk off, turning around once to say, "I am sure that you and you cherry blossom will be together someday. If she loves you, and you love her, not even the clan can come in the way." She left then, leaving Syaoran with a lot to think about.
End Flashback
Syaoran sighed a bit. He knew that he should have called Sakura right then to tell her about his situation, but what would he have said? "Oh hi Sakura, this is Syaoran, the guy who said he loves you. I just wanted to say I have a fiancee now…" He couldn't do that. He wrote many letters to her, but they all lay in his desk, unsent. His mind drifted back to Lena. He could never love her, but then again she could never love him. In just a year they would be married together and he would become leader of the clan. Neither of those was at the top of his to do list. He shrugged slightly. It was too late to worry about that now. Lena was a good friend, even though she showed her affection in an odd manner. Their friendship grew when she finally trusted him enough to reveal her secret.
Flashback
One year after returning to the clan
Tap tap
Syaoran covered his head with his pillow and tried to ignore the strange sound. 'Probably a branch hitting on the window.'
Tap tap
He opened one eye, but after hearing nothing for a moment, went back to sleep.
Tap tap thomp!
He sat up and glared around suspiciously. The last was definitely not made by a tree branch. He eased himself out of his bed and quietly crept towards it.
Tap tap
The window! He pulled back the curtains to reveal…Lena standing behind the clear glass plane. She grinned for finally getting his attention and suddenly dropped to one knee. "Hark? What light do yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun." Syaoran sighed and opened the window.
"What are you doing?"
"I am reading you poetry, stupid." She sniffed slightly.
"It is 3 o' clock in the morning! And besides, Romeo is the guys part."
"I am sure somewhere in the world it is only 3 o' clock in the afternoon." She reasoned. "And as for the poetry, I believe I have named you Juliet."
"Lena, just go away and let me sleep." He started to close the window.
"No!! Please don't go!' She looked pleadingly. "I can't sleep. He is always there."
"What?"
"The boy I love. He haunts my dreams." She whispered quietly.
"You are strange. It is natural to dream of the one you love." He blushed slightly, which gave no question to whom he dreamed of.
"You don't understand." She sighed and looked towards the sky. "Of course it is natural for you, but…" She drifted off. Suddenly she turned around at him and stared into his eyes. "I have never met him." She said simply.
"Met who?"
"The man I love."
Syaoran just looked at her. "Then how can you love him?"
"Well, I just saw him in my dreams and fell in love. He comes back every now and then. I am glad when he does, but at the same time, it scary knowing that the only man you love is trapped inside your head. A figment of my imagination." Syaoran looked a little startled and she laughed nervously, brushing back some of her short black hair out of her face. "You probably think I am crazy, but I know that my feelings are real. That is why I can't tell anyone. I trust you now, though."
"Um…thanks." He said hesitantly then tried to offer some reassurance. "Maybe he is real and you are just seeing the future or something like that."
She brightened slightly. "Maybe…well, thanks. Bye." She ran off into the night.
End Flashback
He laughed slightly. Lena was a little weird. Okay, a lot weird. For one thing, you never knew what she was going to say, especially since her feelings seemed to fluctuate in the wind. She was nice though. He did kind of hope she would find her 'dream man' someday…and he could find his cherry blossom. He sat up suddenly, hearing the doorbell ring.
He opened it, but instead of finding Lena, he found a tall man standing in the doorway. He had dark brown hair and was wearing a pair of sunglasses, despite the dying light. He looked strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite place from where. "Hello? Can I help you?" The words may have sounded pleasant enough, but the glare he gave killed all acts of friendliness.
"Is there a Syaoran here?" The man asked gruffly, and, despite through the thick shades, Syaoran knew that the man was glaring with enough force to match his own.
*****
Hi! Sorry that it took so long to update. So, what do you think? It is kind of diverting from what I originally had in mind. I wasn't even going to add a new character (Lena) but it just kinda happened. Oh, and as you can probably tell, there is from now on going to be a little less poetry and more story. Wow, I didn't even mean to write this much ^_^ A lot longer than the previous chapters. Anyway, thank you to all that reviewed & please continue reviewing! I feel more obligated to write when I get feedback!
Good? Bad? Review!! Flames r good as long as it is understandable.