*~*~*~*~*~*
It's a quick one-shot that I decided to do with alternate pairings. No S+S, and no E+T. Totally different. If you don't like that stuff, go away. I wrote this for those who enjoy Eriol/Sakura. Besides, there's more than enough S+S fics out there, too. Well, it's a fic about... um... Sakura. *finishes lamely* Yeah... I wanted to make it a one-shot, so it's a bit rushed. Heh...
Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura does not belong to me. Okay? Leave me alone.
Crystal Quartz
"So it's over?" Sakura asked, looking at the ground. She was sitting on a swing, letting it go back and forth lightly, feeling the summer breeze blow against her, and was happy moments ago that there was no school during this time.
Syaoran looked at her. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I've done a great harm to you, Sakura."
"Who is it?" she questioned.
He gulped. "It's Tomoyo," he finally said.
Sakura's eyes widened, and jerked her head to look at him. "Tomoyo?!" He bit his lip, and nodded.
"At least Meiling..." she begged. When Syaoran didn't respond, Sakura felt her breath shorten. "I can't believe this. Why Tomoyo?! Does she KNOW?!"
"No," he said calmly. "She doesn't know at all."
Sakura stared at him, peered straight into his face, though he wasn't looking at her. She saw the pain that he was dealing with, the conflict of going back and forth. "How long has this lasted?" she asked him, watching him swing lightly as well.
"I don't really know," he admitted. "I... I remember when she would smile lightly at me and tease me about liking you. She'd know stuff about me that you didn't even realize about. But that was when I thought I liked you. When-"
"When you thought you loved me," Sakura choked out. "What am I supposed to do now? Am I supposed to just forget about you, Syaoran? And pray that you two will be happy with each other?"
"If we're lucky," he bit. "Sakura, I didn't want to lie to you. And besides, Tomoyo doesn't even feel the same way about me. I doubt she ever will. But Sakura, I just didn't want you to get hurt later on."
Sakura nodded. "I understand. I understand completely."
"Besides," he told her, "you're not the one."
That felt like a slap on the face. "What?!" she hissed.
"You're not the one," he repeated.
"What does that mean?"
"In our magical lives, Sakura, we each have a second half. One whom we cherish and love, and must seek in each of our lives. The saying is that when we find the one, we can usually tell just by speaking to him or her. And Sakura..."
"I'm just not the one," she concluded, dazed.
Syaoran nodded. "Don't tell me that you didn't feel the way that we've been edging away from each other, Sakura."
She could tell him, if she wasn't in denial herself. She remembered how during these couple of months, they haven't been as happy with each other as before. How they haven't really cared as much as before. How they didn't really have as much fun as before. Truthfully, Syaoran and her weren't the best couple as everybody else thought they were.
But it was time. It was time to stop lying to herself, and to Syaoran as well.
"Yes," she wrenched the words out. "You're right, Syaoran. It's time for this to end, ne?"
Syaoran nodded. He then got off his swing, and walked to her. When he got there, he lifted her up gently, so that she stood on her feet, and gave her a small peck on her forehead, before he hugged her tightly. Sakura felt her hands move as they wrapped around his waist, but her thoughts were all taken over what had just happened.
It's over, Sakura realized dazely. This happy charade is over. She felt hot tears in her eyes, on the verge of flowing down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"No," he shook his head. "You can never be sorry about this. Never."
In respond to that, Sakura just let herself go, and sobbed softly into his embrace. The two of them just stood there, hugging each other as the sun was crawling slowly over the horizon, down the hill.
It was over.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Sakura, I love you.
Sakura, I loved you.
Sakura, you're the only one.
Sakura, you are my angel.
Sakura, we have to stop this act.
Sakura, I love you, and good-bye.
"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura," Sakura mumbled to herself as she walked away from the park by herself, taking each step at a time. "I'll never get over this. I'll never get over this." But she had to. She had to, in order to move on.
This was her fourteenth day taking a walk like this. Guess it could also be known as two weeks. Sakura has been repeating these thoughts in her head, still wondering, still brooding. She didn't talk to anybody. Not Li, not Tomoyo. Kero tried to get her to say something, but ended up with nothing. When he didn't show up for the past couple of days, Sakura suspected that he had left to stay at Tomoyo's. Yue wasn't around, either, thank goodness. He understood that she needed space, and let her have it.
But, now back to her other worries, how could she suddenly not love someone who she risked her life for, and fought together against those they needed to? Sakura felt her wrench at herself again. Damn it. How could she believe that the pain would be over after everything else was going to be over? Afte Li came back into her life six years ago? Wow. That's actually a fairly long time. Fairly long?! She didn't know anybody else in the world except for married couples who lasted that long.
Instead of going home, Sakura, in her stupor, just wandered around the cold streets at night. That was strange. When she had left the house, it was only five o'clock...
Oh, Daddy and Toya was not going to be happy.
Sakura didn't feel TOO depressed. Just... a sense of loss. A sense of rejection. A sense of pure shock.
I loved him. He loved me. But we're not meant to be, she thought to herself. Now he's dumped me, and I won't ever be with him. Again. She knew that he wasn't lying, either, when he said that she wasn't the one. There was no way that they could lie about magic. It seemed almost... illegal to try. They can try to conceal it, but lying, or giving false stories, to those who were supposed to rightfully know... That was a horrendous sin. So when Syaoran talked about them not being right for each other, there was nothing else to believe. There was nothing she could really do about it. She could argue all she want, but it would never change it. She would just be in denial.
When Sakura found herself back at the park, she bit her lip, and entered in again. This time, she took a long, slow look around. Everything seemed so lifeless. So dead. Full of freezing death, haunting her all around. Just like the hope she had before.
Not knowing what to do, Sakura just stumbled around a bit. Why was she here? What was she doing here? How could she even think about coming back here when hours ago, she just... she just...
Suddenly, something bright floated into her view. As it fell into her sight and grasp, she held her hands out, palms up, and let the thing come to her. Sakura peered at it, and found that it was white flower, cleaned of any thorns, if there were any. It looked like a lily, petals blooming out, as if wishing to curl out.
She held it up to the street light, and examined it some more, when she felt a tug of something in the back of her mind.
"Sakura," somebody whispered. Suddenly, the lights all around blacked out, creating a scene of a dark view.
Jumping a bit at the sudden actions, Sakura quickly regained her posture, and took out her key, which she still kept with her through all this time. She quickly mumbled the words, ending with, "release." When a moment passed, and nothing happened, Sakura tried again. "Release," she ordered, a bit more loudly. What in the world was wrong with her magic right now?!
"Release!" she yelled.
No response.
"Darn it!" she cursed softly, swerving around to get a look at her surroundings in caution. "What in the blazes is going around right now?!" She clenched the flower tighter in her hand, when she felt something else in it. Something that was slipped into it's bud. Something hard. Carefully, she took it out, and found herself staring at a smooth, clean cut crystal. Crystal quartz, she realized. It was of a clear, yet lightly faded blue color. Even though it was dark, she could see that the crystal itself radiated with light. The crystal was the size of her pinkie, one inch wide, and was shaped beautifully, so it resembled a cherry blossom petal itself, though the coloring was different.
Looking at it at all angles, and finally at front, Sakura suddenly caught a glimpse of an image flash by. Quickly turning it back to look at it from the frontage, she saw it glint again, but disappeared. "Show me, damn it!" she cursed. Then, slower than ever, she moved the crystal again in her hand.
Finally, catching the image, Sakura gasped. This not only didn't help her at all with the unknown going on, but added more confusion to it all.
"Why-" she started, but couldn't finish her question. It was too much for her. Way too much. With all this going on, she just remembered all the other troubles that she's been having. All these hidden secrets from her. All of this stuff. Well, she was done with all this crap. She was finished. "Come out," she said clearly. "And you better have a reason for all of this."
Out of the shadows, and into the small source of light from the crystal, he came. He walked towards her, the light finally catching his shoes. Legs. Body. And finally, his face.
"Sakura," he whispered.
Sakura felt her throat tighten up at the sight in front of her. "Why are you here?"
*~*~*~*~*~*
"I want an answer right now, Eriol," she managed to choke out. "What is all this?" She held up the flower and crystal in her hands.
Eriol looked at her, showing no expression at all to her. He looked the same, only six years older. Well, not precisely the same, of course. He was wearing a black jacket and jeans. All black, of course, and he looked to be maybe a few inches taller than her. His blue hair was still the same length, a few unruly strands in front of his eyes. He still wore glasses, and his face matured, showing his jaw lines and cheek bones when he had his teeth clenched down, like right now, Sakura could tell.
When he wouldn't answer her, Sakura walked up to him. "What is all this?" she asked again. "Why?"
As if an eternity passed, he finally let a breath out, and stared down at her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Sakura blinked. "You're... what?"
Eriol bent his head down, as if in dejection of himself. Slowly, he lifted his hand up, until he reached over to hers, and clasped it over the jewel. Holding her hand like that, he said in a voice hardly above the sound of flowing wind, "Reveal."
At that moment, Sakura felt something jolt at her mind, and her body jerked at the magic that was affecting her right now. She managed to gasp in a breath, as she felt her sense and mentality open. It was like a locked door in her, one that she's been trying to reach since she was a child, and now she had the key. She was finally given the gift which she begged for since she took her first breath.
She felt her thoughts open, and showed new things to her. New things that she was supposed to know since she first met Eriol. When he first stepped into her class, and he took his first glance at her. Trying to breath, she slowly tilted her head up to look at him.
"... So... Soulmate?" she whispered, a hand over her mouth in shock.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"YOU?!" Sakura gasped. "You... are my..."
Biting his lip, Eriol turned his face away. In all of his years, all of his experience, all of his knowledge and lives, for once, he did not know what he should do. What he should tell her.
"But..." Sakura started to shake her head, as if she could not believe this. "You!" she accused, the entire feeling showing in her eyes. "You tried to hide this from me?!"
"I didn't... want to hurt you," he tried to get the wording right. "I mean, Syaoran... He and you..." he tried to get out.
"So why now?" she asked coldly. "Why try to hurt me now?"
Eriol looked at her again, and shifted around a bit, taking a hold of her fingers through his. Then, he took his other hand, the one that wasn't clasped on hers, and gently held her face in it. "I couldn't... I couldn't hold it in anymore. Syaoran, himself, he was breaking away from the s-"
"WHAT?!" she yelled, backing away.
"Couldn't you tell?!" Eriol argued back. "He knew something was wrong, very wrong about this entire picture. He knew that something was kept from him, no matter how hard he fought against it. I came back as quickly as I could when I heard about it. When I heard how... he broke it off."
"So... What about Syaoran and Tomoyo?" she asked, though she dreaded the answer the minute she asked that question.
Eriol's eyes squinted, as if he couldn't stand to see her like this. "Oh, Sakura... You know what they say. Opposites attract very often. Those two... they just don't know it yet. But, still, Syaoran is starting to understand what is going on."
Sakura felt tears in her eyes once more. "I can't believe it. I can't believe that this is happening to me. Then what's with the crystal and flower?"
Eriol took in a breath, before he started to explain. "The flower represents what one feels about you. I guess that a red rose should be what you would be expecting, but that's... just love. This is supposed to represent a lot more, Sakura, if you are willing to accept it, and if I am the one. The crystal is touched with strong magic. Strong, fated magic. If a person holds it in their hands, and look at it long enough, they get short images of the one who is their other half." Then, he let go of her hand, and slowly stroked her cheek with it instead. "I already know who mine is. Now all I need to do is know yours, and your choice," he said in a low voice.
Too much. It was yet again way too much for her. "I... I..." she managed to get out.
Eriol nodded his head, already understanding what she meant. Ever since he showed up, he had been serious the entire time. He hadn't once given her that warm smile that he carried, or that positive attitude that gave everybody a joyful feeling. "I know," he told her. "I... I guess that I rushed it a bit. What was I thinking?!" He raked his fingers through his hair, and looked away. "You're still recovering from your last fall. I should leave you alone."
"But-" Sakura started.
Eriol gave her a small peck on the forehead, warm and comforting. "If you ever need to talk to me, hold the crystal to your heart, and wish for me as hard as you could, Sakura. I don't want you to do this right now because you feel that you just need somebody there to love you. I need you to understand what this means." Then, he let her go, and backed away a bit, but still close enough to hold her in his arms if he wanted to.
Snapping his fingers, the lights came back on again, and Sakura noticed that the crystal's own source of glow was dimming. Then, he waved his hand in front of her face, and mumbled a few words. "Go to sleep, Sakura," he advised. "You really need the rest."
"But... Eriol..." she whispered, but found her eyes closing already. Later on, she would find herself in her bed, the flower and stone still in her grasp.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Sakura didn't remember much as she slowly opened her eyes, moaning as she did. Jerking up, she found herself in her bed, and realized that she was not where she was before. Groaning, she ducked under the covers again. She didn't remember much about it, but remembered enough to know that she didn't want to get out and face anything right now. I have a soulmate, she said to herself in realization, and he is ERIOl-KUN!! How can this be?! He never told me! He seemed to wisdom-y and mystic-like to even get into any of this stuff. (Wisdom-y... Okay...)
But he looked so truthful last night, another part of her was saying. How can one such as him lie?
He did once.
He did it for your own good. I guess you are right, though. You still can't fall in love with him. You're not ready. It'll seem that you only want a guy there for you, not Eriol himself.
Yes. That's true. That's very true. I can't do this. I can't.
And that would be all that she would decide. That would be all that she would want. All that she can accept. No love. Not now.
*~*~*~*~*~*
They say that a soulmate is the person that you've been looking for
The one that you live for
The one that you search for during your life
And they say that people rarely find their other half
They say that it hardly happens
That it is almost close to impossible
So that a person can live their life through
All the way to the end
And still be unhappy
They can be happy
But never truly happy
That is the curse
For the road to happiness
And the road to love
*~*~*~*~*~*
Two years later...
Sakura, now an eighteen-year-old, watches happily as her friends were dancing slowly to a song. Ah... the last dance she'll go to in her high school now. The very last, and yet, the very best, in a way. Graduating... What will that be like now? She continued to watch as Syaoran and Tomoyo held each other closely, king and queen of the event. Lovers till the end, the very end.
It was hard in the beginning, when she found out about Syaoran's love for her. For Tomoyo, her best friend. And yet, as time went on, Sakura found herself helping him gain Tomoyo's trust and heart. She shook her drink around a bit in the glass cup, and continued to watch them.
What a beautiful sight... she marveled. Beautiful, beautiful sight...
How many people, three to four years ago, could have sworn that Sakura would be queen, and Syaoran her king? How many people, now, would wish to take those words back and eat them up? Sakura giggled slightly at that thought, and found herself still smiling.
"Hey! Sakura! Give me the honor for this dance, please?" Yamazaki grinned, popping up in front of her view.
Feeling another burst of laughter about to erupt, Sakura nodded. "Sure. Let's go!" With those words, she left her drink at the table, and waltzed off over-dramatically in Yamazaki's arms. "Haha!" she laughed, feeling the wind in her hair as this exaggerated dance continued.
A magical night, she dubbed it. A magical night of love in the air, laughter all around, and happiness that went as far as the eye could see.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Midnight came and went, and Sakura had left the ballroom to go out. She stood outside the hotel building, where the dance was held, and sat down near a fountain. This was the exterior of the hotel, and it was designed with many gardens. Yamazaki had gone back to Chiharu, and Sakura found her alone in the night. Again. Happy night, she kept telling herself. It is a happy night, so she can't be sad. No. She can't be sad at all.
"Sakura?"
Jerking around, Sakura found Syaoran, standing there in front of her. She got off of the bench she was sitting on, and walked up to him. "Hey, Syaoran," she smiled.
Walking up to her, Syaoran suddenly gave her a surprisingly tight hug, and didn't let go soon afterwards.
"Hey!" another voice picked up. "What the heck are you doing?!"
Turning around, Syaoran smiled at Tomoyo. "I was about to thank Sakura endlessly for everything."
"And without me?!" Tomoyo said in a mocking shocked voice. "Thank you very much!"
Sakura grinned at them. "What are you guys doing here, and not inside?!"
"Well, it's not nice to leave a very good friend by herself," Syaoran nodded. "And you must admit, that you are a good friend to us. So it is not nice of us to leave you by yourself. Therefore, we were being mean. And we do not like to be mean."
Sakura blinked. "Huh?"
Tomoyo nodded. "My point exactly. He goes on a bit, these days." Then, Tomoyo's expression turned serious. "Sakura... You're not happy."
"What?!" she choked out a laugh. "That's sooo not true. I am VERY happy these days! You guys are happy! Everybody else is happy! Happy, happy! How can I not be happy?!"
"You haven't contacted him yet," Syaoran stated.
Ouch. That did it.
"I..." Sakura started.
"Don't try to even come up with something to block that statement, Sakura," Syaoran said in a flat voice. "What are you still waiting for?! For him to find a wife first before you call him?!"
"Syaoran!" Sakura gasped.
"You really didn't have to say that," Tomoyo told him.
"It is true. What are you still waiting for?!"
"For me to see if who I really want is him!" Sakura burst out.
Tomoyo blinked. "What?"
Sitting back down, Sakura covered her face with her hands, and rested her elbows on her knees. "I'm still not sure that if I call him, that I'll be calling him just because I want a guy to love me, or because I want him to be there for me. I... I don't understand! And he's been waiting for years for me to understand!" Looking up, Sakura then considered, "well, then again, maybe he's not."
"Yeah, right," Tomoyo retorted.
"Guys?" Sakura smiled sadly at them. "Can you please give me some time to myself to think about this? Please? Just some time to myself..."
Reluctantly, after a few minutes, the two of them nodded. Then, they linked arms, and walked off, back into the ballroom. But before they did, Syaoran turned back around, and told her, "If you're not going to do it, then there's no point in wearing that stone with you all the time." With those words, he turned to walk off with Tomoyo.
Once they were far enough away, Sakura took out the stone, which she had turned into a necklace. She stared at the crystal for a few moments, before she caught the glimpse of his face again. And as time went on, the gemstone would always show what he would look like during that time. Right now, there he was, seconds at a time, looking somewhere else, away from Sakura. And no matter how much she wished that he would catch her eye, the Eriol in the crystal didn't.
She stared at it longingly, and soon realized that it hurt. A lot. She wanted him here again, to give her a small kiss on her forehead, that gave her warmth and feelings of safety. She wanted that right now.
"Ai... Ai-shi... Ai-shiteru," she whispered. "I love you, Eriol."
But after she said those words, nothing still happened. It was still all the same. She was sitting there, staring at the crystal. Sakura, feeling that hurt expand even more, reached her hand up to her hair, and undid the flower in her head. She looked at the white blossom, and then back at the crystal.
"Eriol?" she asked. "Where are you?"
Maybe she should really start to wish.
No! She... no. She was still unsure.
But she wanted to know. She wanted him here with her.
Clasping the crystal and flower into both of her hands, Sakura closed her eyes, and felt the yearning reach out of her as she tried, and hoped that it was working, to call out to Eriol. She now wished for him to be here. And if she could, she'd order him to do so.
Eriol... Eriol, where are you? I love you, and I've decided. I've decided that I want you here with me. I now know that it is you that I want here. Not any other guy. Not anybody else. Just you. YOU. Please. Please, don't leave me here by myself. Please, Eriol-
Sakura froze when she felt two arms wrap around her waist, and her eyes flashed open. Warm lips kissed her hair, and the person edged closer to her.
"Eriol?" she managed to whisper in a cracking voice.
"Love..."
But when she jerked her head to turn to look at him, she found that he wasn't there, and her heart sunk even deeper. To an even deeper hole.
"Eriol..." Sakura cried, bringing her knees up to hug her. "Eriol, where are you?"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Suddenly, Sakura, yet again, felt two hands on her face. She looked up, and caught a blurry image through her tears. Was it him? Was it? She felt fingers wipe the salty liquid away that was streaming down her face. When her view cleared, Sakura's eyes widened even more. The image was still there. He wasn't disappearing. He was still here. She felt her heart leap a bit.
He was!
Not even giving a thing about what she was going to do, she jumped forward, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Eriol!" she cried. "You're here!"
He smiled, and nodded. Still wearing his glasses. Still blue hair. Still deep eyes to get lost in. Still Eriol. "Yes, Sakura. I'm here. You called, and I'm here."
"The first time... An illusion..." she started, clutching him even tighter.
"It was an illusion," he said, confirmed to her. "I... I needed you to understand. That was the last step to take, Sakura, and you took it well."
"Ai-shiteru. Ai-shiteru!" she said. "I know now. I know."
Eriol nodded again. He pulled her away a bit, to look at her, still trying to wipe the tears away. Then, he lifted her up so she stood on her feet, and held her close once more to him. "Let's go. Leave this place now," he whispered into her ear.
"To where?" Sakura asked. "Not the ballroom?" she pleaded a bit. "I... I just want to be with you right now. Not with anybody else."
"..... You're right," Eriol decided, and smiled at her. "Let's just stay here." Then, he stepped away from her.
"What is it?" she asked him.
Eriol then held a hand to her, and asked, "Can I have this dance?" Standing there, in his jeans, Eriol looked to be in the total opposite of Sakura, who's dress was formal, while his practically could define casual.
Sakura gently took his hand, and looked into his eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "I would always." Then, she walked into his embrace, and let him wrap his arms around her waist. There, they just dances, small steps, slowly, not caring about the lack of music. She laid her head on his chest, and just listened to his heart beat slowly, moving to the sound. She smiled softly, and closed her eyes, just glad to be in Eriol's arms. It was meant to be this way. It was meant to happen. Fate. Faith. Destiny. Unpredictable. All of this stuff. So freakin' confusing. But as she let Eriol hold her like that, contentment enveloped her, and she just forgot all about those problems that had burdened her. Ah... Peaceful comfort.
*~*~*~*~*~*
For those who liked it, please review! ^^ For those who don't... Um... I'm sorry?