Chapter 3: The Emptiness Within
Kinomoto Sakura
7-3 Tomoeda Junior High
September 27
Watashi no nisshi,
Summer is over and it's been two weeks since the first day of school.
I'm happy because now I have school work to occupy my nights and other things to occupy my thoughts so I don't
have to think about how lonely I am.
But you know, sometimes, I watch TV, or I read, and I work with the cheerleading squad, or I cook or clean or whatever,
and when people greet me in school I smile and I say I'm all right, I'm happy, I'm okay.
And I tell otou-chan that everything is just great, and I fight with onii-chan like nothing has changed. And then I go up to
my room and do my homework.
And then, after all is done....
And I have nothing to do...
I stand alone in my room and feel so...
Empty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura unwrapped the towel from her head and picked up the blowdryer and a brush.
Tomoyo stood up and grabbed her own towel. The clock buzzed eight a.m.
"Otomodachi-san!" Sakura called. "Hit the speaker phone, please!"
Tomoyo pushed the button as she passed by.
"Concierge?" a male voice said.
"Any messages for either Daidouji Tomoyo or Kinomoto Sakura?" Sakura asked above the high buzz of the blowdryer.
"Ah, yes. Miss Daidouji and Miss Kinomoto....a Mr. Hiragizawa called."
*Eriol-kun. For Tomoyo, of course.*
"A Mr. Orochi..."
*Orochi-sama again.*
"A Mr. Tendou..."
*Hmm. Tendou-sama. I wonder why.*
Tendou Sojiro was the girls' manager.
"And a Miss Li."
*Huh?*
"Which Miss Li?" Sakura asked.
"Li Meilin. She left her phone number."
"Thank you. That will be all," Sakura said. The phone shut off.
*Meilin-chan. I wonder how she knew we were here...* Sakura wondered. Two seconds later she hit herself. *Hooee. Of course.
We're on tour- she must have seen us on TV or something. It's very like her to try and track us down.* She giggled. *Pretty
succesful, too.*
She selected a black skirt and a pink polo from her closet. She had finished dressing when Tomoyo came out of the bath.
"Who called?" Tomoyo asked.
"Eriol-kun did," she replied.
"Oh, right, I keep forgetting to call him back."
Sakura smiled. "Why don't you guys just get married already? It'd save you both a lot of trouble and a lot of money, for that matter."
Tomoyo laughed. "Whatever, Sakura-chan."
"I'm serious!"
"Hey-" Tomoyo said suddenly. "Aren't you going to try and get your suitcase back now?"
Sakura froze at the mention of 'suitcase'. "I... don't know."
"It's pretty strange, though, isn't it? If Li-kun has your suitcase he should've returned it by now," Tomoyo said.
Sakura only shrugged as she picked up the phone to call Meilin.
Tomoyo turned back to the mirror.
*Maybe he doesn't want to face me either,* Sakura thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They met Meilin for lunch in a cafe at a mall.
The girl hadn't changed much. Her long jet-black hair was down today, though, and she was wearing casual clothes of capri pants
and a sleeveless blouse. She still had the fearless, feisty, go-get-'em-girl attitude that usually got her what she wanted. And what
she had wanted in college was to be a lawyer. Which was, not surprisingly, what she'd become.
They talked for over an hour, catching up. And yet, Meilin was not satisfied.
"Why don't you spend some nights at our house, Sakura-chan?" she invited. "We can talk more. And we have to catch up on so
many things."
Tomoyo glanced at Sakura.
Sakura hesitated. She was thinking, *Meilin-chan lives next door to Syaoran-kun.*
Tomoyo smiled. "Sure we'll go, Meilin-chan."
Sakura looked up. "We are?"
"Yes, we are," Tomoyo confirmed.
"It's all set then! Let's go to your hotel and get your stuff," Meilin said, cheerily.
*Oh, well,* Sakura thought. *I'd have to face the music sooner or later.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you all right, Xiao Lang?"
Syaoran looked up and saw his mother, Li Yelan, standing before him. "....Of course, okaa-san."
"I sense... deep uncertainty in you these past few days."
Uncertainty? That was the understatement of the year. He wasn't just uncertain. He was flat-out confused. And gulity. And a whole
other bunch of things he didn't understand but was feeling in great intensity.
But of course he didn't tell his mother that. "I'm all right," he said instead.
Yelan looked at him intently. "You are thinking about Ying Fa."
He blinked, surpirised. Sakura's Chinese name was something he hadn't heard in a long time. "How...?"
"I've sensed the girl's spirit these past few days," Yelan explained. "She's in Hong Kong, isn't she?"
Syaoran nodded slowly. "It's nothing, 'kaa-san."
Yelan only smiled serenely. "All right." She left.
When he was sure she was gone, he buried his face in his hands and groaned.
In Sakura's diary all of his greatest hopes and worst fears were confirmed.
The girl had been lonely, confused. And then after seven full years of waiting she had given up. He was sure that Sakura held
some deep disdain or hatred for him. The thought made him... sad.
Every time she wrote down that she was feeling bad it was like a blow to his heart and a slap to his low, vile, cheating,
nonpromise-keeping face.
He closed his eyes. Sakura's countless faces in countless places.
Did she...
Never forget?
Kinomoto Sakura
7-3 Tomoeda Junior High
September 27
Watashi no nisshi,
Summer is over and it's been two weeks since the first day of school.
I'm happy because now I have school work to occupy my nights and other things to occupy my thoughts so I don't
have to think about how lonely I am.
But you know, sometimes, I watch TV, or I read, and I work with the cheerleading squad, or I cook or clean or whatever,
and when people greet me in school I smile and I say I'm all right, I'm happy, I'm okay.
And I tell otou-chan that everything is just great, and I fight with onii-chan like nothing has changed. And then I go up to
my room and do my homework.
And then, after all is done....
And I have nothing to do...
I stand alone in my room and feel so...
Empty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura unwrapped the towel from her head and picked up the blowdryer and a brush.
Tomoyo stood up and grabbed her own towel. The clock buzzed eight a.m.
"Otomodachi-san!" Sakura called. "Hit the speaker phone, please!"
Tomoyo pushed the button as she passed by.
"Concierge?" a male voice said.
"Any messages for either Daidouji Tomoyo or Kinomoto Sakura?" Sakura asked above the high buzz of the blowdryer.
"Ah, yes. Miss Daidouji and Miss Kinomoto....a Mr. Hiragizawa called."
*Eriol-kun. For Tomoyo, of course.*
"A Mr. Orochi..."
*Orochi-sama again.*
"A Mr. Tendou..."
*Hmm. Tendou-sama. I wonder why.*
Tendou Sojiro was the girls' manager.
"And a Miss Li."
*Huh?*
"Which Miss Li?" Sakura asked.
"Li Meilin. She left her phone number."
"Thank you. That will be all," Sakura said. The phone shut off.
*Meilin-chan. I wonder how she knew we were here...* Sakura wondered. Two seconds later she hit herself. *Hooee. Of course.
We're on tour- she must have seen us on TV or something. It's very like her to try and track us down.* She giggled. *Pretty
succesful, too.*
She selected a black skirt and a pink polo from her closet. She had finished dressing when Tomoyo came out of the bath.
"Who called?" Tomoyo asked.
"Eriol-kun did," she replied.
"Oh, right, I keep forgetting to call him back."
Sakura smiled. "Why don't you guys just get married already? It'd save you both a lot of trouble and a lot of money, for that matter."
Tomoyo laughed. "Whatever, Sakura-chan."
"I'm serious!"
"Hey-" Tomoyo said suddenly. "Aren't you going to try and get your suitcase back now?"
Sakura froze at the mention of 'suitcase'. "I... don't know."
"It's pretty strange, though, isn't it? If Li-kun has your suitcase he should've returned it by now," Tomoyo said.
Sakura only shrugged as she picked up the phone to call Meilin.
Tomoyo turned back to the mirror.
*Maybe he doesn't want to face me either,* Sakura thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They met Meilin for lunch in a cafe at a mall.
The girl hadn't changed much. Her long jet-black hair was down today, though, and she was wearing casual clothes of capri pants
and a sleeveless blouse. She still had the fearless, feisty, go-get-'em-girl attitude that usually got her what she wanted. And what
she had wanted in college was to be a lawyer. Which was, not surprisingly, what she'd become.
They talked for over an hour, catching up. And yet, Meilin was not satisfied.
"Why don't you spend some nights at our house, Sakura-chan?" she invited. "We can talk more. And we have to catch up on so
many things."
Tomoyo glanced at Sakura.
Sakura hesitated. She was thinking, *Meilin-chan lives next door to Syaoran-kun.*
Tomoyo smiled. "Sure we'll go, Meilin-chan."
Sakura looked up. "We are?"
"Yes, we are," Tomoyo confirmed.
"It's all set then! Let's go to your hotel and get your stuff," Meilin said, cheerily.
*Oh, well,* Sakura thought. *I'd have to face the music sooner or later.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you all right, Xiao Lang?"
Syaoran looked up and saw his mother, Li Yelan, standing before him. "....Of course, okaa-san."
"I sense... deep uncertainty in you these past few days."
Uncertainty? That was the understatement of the year. He wasn't just uncertain. He was flat-out confused. And gulity. And a whole
other bunch of things he didn't understand but was feeling in great intensity.
But of course he didn't tell his mother that. "I'm all right," he said instead.
Yelan looked at him intently. "You are thinking about Ying Fa."
He blinked, surpirised. Sakura's Chinese name was something he hadn't heard in a long time. "How...?"
"I've sensed the girl's spirit these past few days," Yelan explained. "She's in Hong Kong, isn't she?"
Syaoran nodded slowly. "It's nothing, 'kaa-san."
Yelan only smiled serenely. "All right." She left.
When he was sure she was gone, he buried his face in his hands and groaned.
In Sakura's diary all of his greatest hopes and worst fears were confirmed.
The girl had been lonely, confused. And then after seven full years of waiting she had given up. He was sure that Sakura held
some deep disdain or hatred for him. The thought made him... sad.
Every time she wrote down that she was feeling bad it was like a blow to his heart and a slap to his low, vile, cheating,
nonpromise-keeping face.
He closed his eyes. Sakura's countless faces in countless places.
Did she...
Never forget?