A/N: I'm very sorry for not getting this last chapter out sooner, but I had trouble writing it. I just wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. Anyway, I did it this way, so I could write a sequel if I felt like it. It's possible…
Thank you very much for all of your reviews and I hope you enjoy this last chapter. I pretty much tried the best I could, but I hope my best was good enough.
Hope you enjoy,
night writer
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The Ever Patient Love
Chapter 5
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Syaoran looked down at the girl sleeping in his arms and let out a content sigh. She was so beautiful in the moonlight that shined through the open window. Her auburn hair was sparkled in the moonlight and her skin seemed to have a soft glow to it. He could imagine her emerald eyes shimmering in the moonlight letting out an ethereal glow.
She had seemed so lost earlier that night with her eyes red from crying and her mouth trembling. So far from the happy and loving girl he remembered just a month earlier when her father still lived. She had lost the special spark in her that was what made her stand out from the other teens their age. The special spark that made her seem so…alive.
She had reached out to him that night and asked him to teach her to love. He held her in his arms like he longed to do for years and then she cried so heartbreakingly. He never wanted to let her go and…he hadn't.
When she had finished crying, he had listened to her talk about the way she had felt in the past weeks. The accident, her father's memory, her brother's constant absence, the stares, the rumors…all of it was let out in the mist of sobs and tear-jerking whispers. She told him of her fear to care and to love again for the pain it would cause her if she lost it. She told him about the way she felt with losing her mother and then her father and the way she felt she had lost her brother also.
Then when he felt she had let it all out, he had told her she could count on him for anything and everything within his power. He would be there for her always and would help her love again. All he needed was her trust and, soon he hoped, her love.
He had helped her to her room and tucked her into her bed. As he was about to leave, though, she had called out to him. She told him she didn't want to be alone and she wanted him to stay and keep her safe. He had hesitated and then she told him about the nightmares, which had plagued her sleep every night since the accident. The nightmares of seeing her father's chest dripping with blood and the steering wheel jammed into him. The way she had felt so helpless, even with all her powers, to save her father. How she felt she could have done something if she had moved fast enough. That made the decision for him.
So here he was now, a beautiful cherry blossom tucked in his arms to protect from the darkness. He thought back to the night of the accident, when he had talked to Kinomoto-san and made him that promise…
FLASHBACK
Syaoran walked down the hallway of the hospital towards the room, where Sakura's father lay in waiting. He passed by doctors and nurses, by patients in wheelchairs, by small kids with their mothers, and by carts filled with the instruments that were needed to help keep people alive. He walked by them all without thought or acknowledgement, only processing the room numbers as he passed by them.
223
224
225
226
227…
There it was…room 228…the room in which Kinomoto-san lay in wait for him. Where Sakura's father waited for death to come to him. He opened the door slowly, and passed within the doorway, taking in the room. There was a window with blinds that were blocking out the streetlights, a machine that beeped in a slow rhythm, fake flowers on a dresser, a door on the right to what was probably a bathroom, a bed with sterile white sheets and pillows, and in the bed lay the reason for Syaoran's visit.
Kinomoto-san had machines and wires all around him. The man's eyes were closed and lines of age showed on his usually cheerful face. He had a hospital gown on, but it didn't cover the bandages all over his body or the cuts on his face. He looked worse for the wear that was for certain.
Syaoran closed the door gently behind him, shutting the room in darkness except for the lamplight next to the bed. When he turned around again, Sakura's father was watching him silently with the gentle eyes of a father.
"L-Li-kun?" His voice was soft and gentle still, but sounded faint and tired.
"Hai." Syaoran walked to the bedside and sat in the chair next to it.
"I-I am glad y-you have come."
Syaoran remained silent, but looked at the older man with grave amber eyes.
Kinomoto-san reached out a hand and said, "Come closer, Syaoran."
Syaoran's face showed his surprise, whether at being called by his first name or the request was uncertain at the moment. Either way, he obeyed the request and came closer, holding the man's hand gently.
"I need a promise of you, Syaoran. Once made, I know I can rest peacefully and join my wife. Will you hear my request, Syaoran?" The older man's eyes were calm as he asked this question.
"Yes," Syaoran replied in his soft tone of voice.
Kinomoto-san nodded slowly and closed his eyes. "I ask you to watch over Sakura and protect her as best as you can. I ask you to keep her safe from harm. Can you do this?"
"I promise, Kinomoto-san."
"I ask of one more thing before you leave," his eyes opened and met Syaoran's eyes steadily. "You must tell my daughter of your feelings when you feel the time is right. Promise me, Syaoran. Promise me you will tell my daughter of your love for her."
Amber eyes widened at the request and then closed for a moment. The young man was silent for a moment before speaking softly, "I promise to keep your daughter safe from all harm. I promise to put her life before my own. And I promise to tell her of my feelings, Kinomoto-san, but only if I'm sure she is ready."
The older man smiled gently, "Then I may rest in peace knowing she is in capable hands. Send my daughter in here, my son."
Syaoran nodded slowly, struck by the man he respected enormously calling him 'son'. He got up and walked to the door.
Before he left, though, he was stopped by Kinomoto-san's voice. "She cares for you deeply, my son. After I go, she will need time and you will have to be there for her. Stay by her side and aid her in the ways you can. She will give you her love in the end. May the angels watch over you, my son."
Syaoran gave him a rare smile and replied, "I will keep your daughter safe from harm and stand by her side always…father."
END OF FLASHBACK
Syaoran was shook out of his thoughts by the moving of the woman in his arms. He looked down only to get lost in the emerald eyes he dreamed of in his sleep. He felt his hand moving slowly upwards from her hips to her face, and then he was tracing her jaw line. He watched her eyes close as she shivered at his touch. Then her eyes opened and once again, he was lost in Kinomoto Sakura's eyes.
*****
Sakura opened her eyes to see them met with amber ones. Li Syaoran was looking down at her with warmth in his eyes that made her…made her feel something she was scared of. It was a tingly that traversed her whole body. A feeling that jumped seemed strongest at his touch or when he watched her with his eyes. Those amber eyes that seemed to shine only for…her.
She felt herself getting lost in his eyes and then he touched her. His finger was feather light on her face and made her eyes close at the pleasure his touch gave her. Her body shivered as the tingles flared up once more.
And her eyes opened once more…to be met with amber ones that glowed in the moonlight.
*****
Kinomoto Touya watched from the open bedroom door as his sister stared into the eyes of the one person, who could love her the only way she deserved to be loved. He watched silently as their faces drew closer and their eyes closed. He watched as they silently promised their hearts to each other in a kiss that radiated love. He watched as the two shared a kiss that would begin a relationship that was fated to be.
He turned as he saw a glow in the corner of the room. There, two people stood smiling upon the two lovers. One spoke in a mellifluous voice that sounded like that of a silver bell, "Take care of her Syaoran, and be there with your love. Be patient for she will return your love slowly, but surely."
The other merely said, "Keep your promise, my son. Take care, my daughter."
The two turned to Touya and smiled. "Watch over them, Touya. Protect them from those that mean to do them harm and guard their love. And do remind your sister you love her," his mother spoke in a gentle tone of voice. His father just nodded in agreement and gave him a smile.
Touya looked at the two lying together in the bed and back to his parents before nodding. With Syaoran's ever patient love and Sakura's trust in him to guide her. They will make it without my help, but I will guard them from others if need be.
"I'm trusting you with my sister's heart, Li, don't mess up."
With one last look at the now sleeping couple, he shut the bedroom door silently behind him. If Touya had looked behind him one last time before he had left, he would have saw Syaoran's amber eyes opening and then closing with a smile on his face.
