Hi everyone! Sorry about the delay but I had finals and needed to study. Well, without further delay, here's Part 9!
Finding Him- Part 9
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Sakura broke the kiss and pulled back to look at her beloved. He stared back at her with glittering eyes.
Syaoran smiled. This was probably heaven. There were no sisters, no flying stuffed animals, and he was here with Sakura. Suddenly he felt sad.
Sakura saw the sudden downcast on Syaoran's face. "What's wrong?"
Syaoran looked at Sakura and saw her worried face. He sighed and hugged her.
"Sakura, I'm sorry that I have to put you through this. I wish I didn't need to and I wasn't bond down by all of these responsibilities because then I could be with you wherever and whenever I want."
Sakura slowly pulls away and gently touches Syaoran's cheek. "It's ok Syaoran. I don't blame you for those years we spent apart. It just matters that we are together now."
They stood in silence until the little wolf asked a startling question. "Sakura, did you bring your Sakura cards?"
"Yes, why?"
"The elders will test you and they will do anything to keep you from marrying me but don't worry because it will work out somehow, even if I need to denounce my birth right and family. I will do anything for you."
Tears slipped down Sakura's face as she listened to his sincere words. Syaoran took her up in his arms and hugged her quietly. He kissed her head and rocked her back and forth, trying to comfort her.
"Please don't cry Sakura. It hurts me to see you sad. You'll make me cry."
Sakura laughed and wiped her eyes. "I'm just crying because I'm so happy. I will do anything for you, even if it means meeting your clan elders and fighting a hundred monsters."
Syaoran smiled and whispered, "I don't think you need to fight that many," before he kissed her.
The two stood there, basking in each other's presence, for what seemed like lifetime, or at least until Kero came charging at Syaoran with fire in his eyes.
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The next day, Sakura found herself standing in the center of a large circular room with a lot of people in it.
In front of her, a long, flat wooden table stood with ten people sitting behind it. A large space was place between the table and the three people standing there. A small shallow well used for ceremonies stood in the center of the room.
Syaoran and Meiling stood proudly while Sakura glanced nervously around the room. The Li clan sat in a semi-circle around the circumference of the room. Many old men and ladies leaned to the side to speak to each other but their eyes never left Sakura. Young women simply watched and gossiped with each other, while young men observed Sakura, from head to toe. Young children fidgeted and complained but it seemed everyone's eyes were on a young, auburn hair woman standing in the center of the room.
Mixed feeling filled the air. Respect and disgust were clearly present but there was an overwhelming feeling of interest and curiosity. In fact, there was so much that it felt like it was smothering Sakura.
The young cherry blossom shifted nervously on her feet as she felt numerous pairs of eyes cutting into her body and soul.
Syaoran looked at Sakura and her nervous expression. Her eyes darted all about the room but it refused to look at the elders. When the eyes landed on Yukito sitting in the crowd, who stuck out like a sore thumb, relief filled them but worry soon washed back into the emeralds when they moved onto the next person.
He smiled and squeezed her hand reassuringly. She looked up at him and she tried to smile back at him. Her attempts failed. The little wolf raised her hand up to his lips and gave it a small reassuring kiss. The muscles in her hand tightened quickly and just as quickly, they relaxed in his hand.
Sakura gazed at her love. He was trying so hard to put her worries at ease but her stomach was a jumble of knots.
Flashback
"You have nothing to worry about Sakura," said Li Meiling. "We will walk into this room in a few minutes proud and confident. You will have the support of me, Syaoran, his family, and Tsukishiro-san. We will win this and you will go on to have a happy life with Syaoran."
End flashback
Sakura sighed. How could Meiling be so confident?
An elder stood up and called the meeting to start.
The young woman hoped with all her heart that Meiling would be right about this.
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Sakura stared up at the elders and they stared harshly back. She was scared and it was hard to hide.
Once again, Syaoran squeezed her hand reassuringly but Sakura did not feel reassured. Meiling stood in front of the two, ready to defend them. The elders surveyed the three young people standing in front of them and finally the head elder stood up and addressed everyone in the room.
"We are here because we have been notified that our future leader does not wish to marry within the clan. He is not willing because he claims his heart belongs to another woman. It is our duty as clan elders to decide whether Li Syaoran should be able to marry who the clan chooses or who he chooses."
He now turned and spoke to Syaoran.
"Li Syaoran, who is this girl you bring and why do you feel she is a suitable bride?"
Syaoran stepped forward and said, "This is Kinomoto Sakura. She is from Japan and she is a perfect wife for me."
Sakura had been sitting quietly with her eyes watching the ground but when Syaoran said that, she had blushed and her head perked up to watch him.
The clan elder surveyed Sakura before speaking to Syaoran again.
"My grandchild, this girl is not of Li blood and our clan is the descendants of honorable Clow Reed himself. Nor do we know if this girl has enough magic to light a candle! Why is she so special that we should even consider allowing her into our clan?"
He then looked in interest when Meiling stood up. "Li Meiling, are you defending the girl who stole your fiancée away? Why?"
Meiling nodded and spoke. "Kinomoto has been very kind to me when we were in school together and she is still a very good friend of mine. Syaoran was never mine to begin with and I will defend my friends and help them as much as I can." She then turned and addressed all of the clan elders.
"Esteem elders, Kinomoto Sakura is of an interesting birth. When Clow Reed died, he was reincarnated into two people, Hiiragizawa Eriol and Kinomoto Fujitaka, Sakura's father. If you look at it in a certain way, Sakura is sort of related to Clow Reed."
Murmurs swept through the crowd.
One of the elders narrowed his eyes and said, "You could look at it in another way and she is sort of not related to Clow Reed and the Li clan."
Meiling and Syaoran opened their mouths to argue when the head elder stood up and stopped them.
"I hope the two of you have a better argument planned because we cannot accept that this girl is part of the Li clan. Her father might be Clow Reed reincarnation but she is not related by blood, only by soul. There is not enough evidence to support this argument. Please address a new topic."
Another clan member spoke up rashly, ignoring the elder's last statement. "Yeah how do we know. What if Syaoran is only after this Kinomoto girl because of her looks? He has no respect to the clan and our pure bloodline."
Syaoran growled and took a step closer to the man who had spoke. Meiling put a hand out to stop him and Sakura clung onto his arm, holding him back, as she spoke quietly to him and tried to calm him down.
Once Syaoran was under control, Meiling turn and address the man who spoke. "True, we have a pure bloodline but how will our clan survive if we do not marry with people outside of the clan? Already our blood has begun to run thin. I myself do not have any magic in me and others do not too. If we marry with outsiders with magic, perhaps our blood will become thicker and stronger."
The elders took a moment to absorb and discuss what Meiling had said. Finally, one stood up and said, "We will take this into consideration but we wish to still test the girl to see how strong her magic is. We have found it difficult to probe her magic so the next best thing to do is administer a test. She will need to be able to defend herself against anything that we present her with. Is she ready?"
Meiling and Syaoran looked at Sakura, who had turned pale. They quickly stood in front of her when Kero popped his head out of Sakura's purse.
"Kero!" they all hissed.
He looked at them in confusion. "What!?"
Meiling grabbed him and whispered ferociously, "Not so loud! They'll hear you." With that, she stuffed him in her pocket. She then gave Sakura a smile and wished her luck. Syaoran followed but he took a little longer to wish Sakura luck because he had decided to steal a kiss in front of the clan elders.
Sakura then approached the open center of the room with a flush face. Some elders watched Sakura suspiciously while others just gazed at her with a tired look.
She stood in silence until one elder stood up and spoke to her.
"Kinomoto Sakura, we would like to ask you why you are here today, seeking marriage of someone who is unreachable?"
Sakura stared at him as she thought, 'Why? Why am I here? I'm here because of Syaoran. I'm here because I want to be. I'm here because of the man I love…'
A thought struck her. Did she truly love Syaoran? If she did, why was she so afraid to tell anyone? More importantly, why was she afraid to tell him? She closed her eyes and envisioned him in her mind. She remembered every detail and his faithfulness, how he was always there to protect her when she needed him. He was he guardian angel and she loved him.
Her eyes snapped open. She now knew and she was sure.
"Miss Kinomoto, are you going to leave us in anticipation or will you tell us?" demanded the elder.
Sakura, with a new sense of confidence, raised her eyes and met the elder's. "I am here to be with Syaoran. I am here so that I can get permission to be with the man I love who is very reachable for I have been able to reach him and see into his soul." Fire burned in Sakura's eyes and heart as she said these words that meant so much to her.
An eerie silence fell over the room while everyone in the room stared at the young woman standing in the center.
The elders were the first to snap out of the trance.
One said, "Very well, since you are not really part of the Li clan, we will administer a test, to see if you have a decent amount of magic." He then threw something to the space in front of Sakura, pointed to it, and said, "Release."
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Well, I'm sorry if this chapter is too short but I'll try and write more but the next chapter will take a while cuz a new semester is starting. Sorry if there are any mistakes. I didn't really proof read this chapter cuz I'm lazy. Please R+R!!!!!!!
Preview of Part 10- What did the elders release? Will Sakura survive and defeat whatever it is?
