Hi people, welcome to the first chapter of GAMES OF FATE! The intro is going to be super short because I have little to say, and I really want to finish this really soon, so…just one thing…I'm using plenty of big words, and if you don't know what they mean…well, that's what a dictionary is for! Okay? Okay! On with the show!
DISCLAIMER: If you think I own CCS, you belong in a pretty pink strait jacket.
Games of Fate
Chapter One: Died Just A Little
Rated PG-13 out of caution; language, a bit of dark themes
~*~*~
Li Syaoran stood on the balcony of one of the many rooms in the Li mansion. It had been ten long, agonizing years since that fateful day, the day he had lost everything that had ever made him feel at all human. And he had waited patiently for his deliverance, silent fury, pain, and such other vile emotions simmering ever so slowly beneath that cool, unmoving wall that people called his face.
Now, if you define the word face in any common American college-level dictionary, you come up with something a bit like so: outward appearance; the front or surface. This was only slightly true of Syaoran's "face;" however, said body part was really a sad kind of parody of the previous definition.
However, if you really are intent on finding something a bit more interesting than the obvious, you may scroll down and find several small variations of these things: assumed appearance; disguise; pretense. This was more like it! Syaoran's "face," as we commoners may call it for lack of other words, was very much this type of thing. It was a façade, a mask of sorts, hiding the only true emotions he had ever felt from mortal scrutiny.
Strange isn't it, how any ordinary, moldy, old dictionary can provide such provoking insights into one's soul. But enough of inspirational peeks into the thoughts and emotions of men. The thing that now, at this present moment, matters most is the man himself. Yes, that's right; the man, Li Syaoran.
As previously stated, Syaoran had been standing on his balcony, letting a rush of violent thoughts swirl through his mind. He could no longer stand being confined to this house, to the dreary course of events that took place daily. Everything now seemed a bit like the instructions you would find on something like a shampoo bottle: wake up, eat, be tormented by ignorant family members, sleep, and repeat. There was nothing here that interested him, nothing at all. Not even his fiancée, Meiling, could do anything to help the situation.
As a matter of fact, Meiling was just another one of the problems. Sure, he loved the girl, but as a cousin, nothing more, nothing less. And besides, she had lost the only thing that had ever made him befriend her in the first place: her ambition, her energy. After so long in this prison of a house, all the life seemed to slowly seep out of her, like water out of a sponge. She probably wouldn't even care if Syaoran left her standing at the altar (not that he would do such a thing anyway,) let alone if he merely left briefly to Tokyo.
Then that settled it. There was no reason to stay here, none at all. Thus, he would propose his plan to the Council of Elders. And if they didn't like it…well, that was tough noogies for them then.
~*~*~
"Sakura-chan?"
"Yes, Tomoyo?"
"Are you…all right?"
"Of course."
Sakura and Tomoyo were lounging in silence, Sakura hanging upside down from her best friend's huge bed so that her hair nearly brushed the floor, and Tomoyo efficiently editing her last video of Sakura. They had been silent for quite a while, seeing as Sakura said nothing and Tomoyo didn't want to pry. But the emptiness of sound began to unnerve the raven-haired young lady; it was never this quiet when she and Sakura had one of their "Best Friends Nights."
Of course, when she had broken the silence and asked her question, she had not believed the answer in the least. She knew Sakura too well and her instincts were too keen to accept such an answer.
The only problem was, she didn't know exactly what was wrong.
She couldn't be worrying about the cards; there hadn't been any threatening magical presences for years.
She couldn't be thinking about school; she never worried so much about those things, and besides, she had the best grades in the class next to Naoko and Tomoyo herself.
And she couldn't be thinking about Touya; she never really cared too much about his safety when Yukito was with him, which was the present case.
What in the name of all things holy could it be?
"Did you know that today has marked ten years since Li-kun left?"
Oh. That.
"Ten years precisely?" Tomoyo inquired, knowing full well what the answer would be.
"Hai."
"You miss him." Tomoyo replied. It wasn't a question.
"I suppose.… It's…strange…when he's not here. Empty."
"Sakura-chan, I –"
"You can't do anything about it, Tomoyo-chan. Don't feel bad. It's all my fault. I drove him away…"
"You did not!" Tomoyo exclaimed hotly, her blood boiling. How dare that high-and-mighty Li cause such horrible thoughts to enter her Sakura's mind! "If he told you that, then…"
"He didn't tell me that. I just knew. Why else would he have gone? Why else would he stop caring? I wasn't good enough for him, he loves Meiling, and it's all my fault for not being…"
"For not being what? For not being perfect? For not being an angel? Let me tell you something, if you're not perfect, if you're not an angel, hell, no one else is, much less that stupid Meiling!" Ooh, if I ever get my hands on that little Chinese piece of…
"Tomoyo…" Sakura whispered, barely audibly, tears running down her cheeks swiftly and silently, eyes never-ending pits of sorrow and pain.
"Yes, Sakura-chan?" Her anger melted like a ball of wax as she saw the look on her best friend's, and only love's, sad face, turning into deep pity for Sakura, and sorrow that she could never do anything to ease the pain.
"Tomoyo…he broke my heart.… But God I miss him so…"
"Don't worry Sakura, I'm here," the young Daidouji cooed, enveloping her cherry blossom in the warm confines of her arms. "It will all be fine."
And Sakura, tired and lonely as she was, sobbed until she could sob no more, and fell asleep in the arms of her best friend.
~*~*~
Syaoran strode briskly down the endless corridor that led to the meeting place of the Council of Elders, his heart accelerating to a thousand beats per second of every step. With every click of his shoes on the shiny hardwood floor, he was one step closer to Sakura. And another…and another…
Finally, he reached the carved, mahogany double doors that led to the Council Room. Taking a deep breath and pushing them open, he stepped in to face his destiny.
"May we help you, Master Li?" the eldest asked, stifling a yawn with his bony, wrinkly fingers.
"Yes. I have a request to make, Elders."
"And that would be?"
"I want to break the engagement with my cousin Meiling, and woo the young Kinomoto girl." He hated referring to his darling Sakura in such a vague, unconcerned manner, but he must give off the illusion of indifference.
"Ah, Master, we are afraid our answer is no."
"Reason being?"
"Reason being she is not a suitable match for you, and it is very impish of you to think otherwise."
"Ah. I see. So, the Mistress of the Sakura Cards, which, by the way, she created, and who is more powerful than everybody in this room put together, not to mention a descendant of Clow Reed, is not a suitable match. Of course! Oh yes, and it must be very impish of me to pursue my one soul mate, very uncivilized indeed." If you couldn't notice, this was all said in quite a sarcastic manner.
"Master Li, you don't understand…"
"Don't 'Master Li' me! It is you, my friends, who do not understand!" At this, Syaoran pulled out his sword, and aimed it in a way that would allow his to perform some dangerous magic. "You will not stop me from doing this."
"It is forbidden! You won't go to Tokyo, and that is final!"
"Forbidden! I no longer know of such pathetic boundaries! I am Li Syaoran, future head of the Li clan, and by the powers of everything sacred, you WILL NOT STOP ME!"
And in a burst of magical flames emitted from his sword, Syaoran stalked out of the room, already going over preparations in his head.
And at that moment, he vowed that he would once again find the girl…no, the woman…to whom every part of his being, from his heart to his soul, belonged.
