Author's Note: Yeah! Well, thanks for all your reviews and yes, I got the title from the wonderful, the incredible, the awe-inspiring Barenaked Ladies! And, for you fans and non-fans alike, you'll be sure to see more of their phenomenal lyrics coming your way! Anyways, read and as always, review!
Disclaimer: No, these characters do not belong to me. They belong, respectively, to CLAMP.
"One day I will build a fountain
Drink and never grow old
Then I'll market an elixir
That will eliminate the common cold
Find your sickness on my list
Pay up front and make a wish."
-Barenaked Ladies (Some Fantastic)
Chapter One: One Day I Will Build A Fountain…
There are different types of people in this world; reaching beyond the obvious stereotypes of life and traveling beyond the color of skin and preference of religion or anything to that extent. For now, I'll separate them into three categories. First, there are people who survive off of others; social vampires is the term I like to use. People who are social vampires are always seen with other people, sometimes the center of attention: sucking off of everyone's energy for survival. Then there are the type of people who I dub floaters. Floaters are the "norm" and generally most people fall in this category; too scared or self-conscious to step into the limelight but at the same time they have a certain level of necessity for others. And then, there are the incredibly rare yet self-actualized groups of individuals who can fulfill their lives without the constant need of others, who are very independent. And there is something about this last group of individuals that is very admirable and no one can hold a candle to these types. Sakura Kinomoto fell into this last category.
She was silent but very opinionated. Though she never forced her opinions on others, for that was one of her pet peeves, she hated people who just "sat there" and let life pass them by. After seeing so many of her friends graduate high school and never doing anything with their lives, she refused to have that happen to herself. Maybe that was why she was one of the smartest girls in Tomoeda University's junior class. And maybe that was why she loved to hear about the world and what was going on around her and why she loved to read beyond all other things (the local library/coffee shop being her favorite place as of now). And maybe that was why Sakura Kinomoto refused to have a boyfriend.
"Have you seen the cretins that attend this institution?" Sakura said nonchalantly before she bit into her apple. She was still sitting under the tree with her best friend, Tomoyo, at her side. "Besides, I like my life the way it is now."
Tomoyo let out a gust of air between a sigh and a groan. "Why do I even bother?"
"That's just what I was thinking." To this, Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Oh, c'mon! There's more to life than love."
"No there isn't, Sakura. And one would think that you would agree with me after all those books that you read on philosophy and stories that discuss the very essence of love and romance and…"
"So that's what you call it…I thought more along the lines of…"
"Spare me, Sakura!" Tomoyo said dramatically, falling into her best friend's lap with the back of her hand on her forehead. "Don't torture me with any more of your verbal rebuttals towards love," she said, with a hint of playfulness in her voice. Taking notice of yet ANOTHER book she was reading, Tomoyo flicked it with her hands and asked, "What are ya reading this time, Sakura?"
"Jeanette Winterson's Written On The Body and I still haven't finished Ayn Rand's The Foutainhead, mind you." Tomoyo rolled her eyes yet again. "Am I sensing a trend in the movement of your eyes?"
"No, not at all," she said, exasperated. "That's it, Sakura!" Tomoyo said, raising her voice, but in a teasing manner. "I give up trying to change you or your ideals or whatever!"
"It's not my fault, Tomoyo." And at this, Tomoyo's eyes went wide and she cocked her head in disbelief as she crossed her arms. "Hey! I told you, didn't I?! I told you that no one on the face of this planet could ever change me except for me!" Sakura said, laughing, yet being totally serious.
"Okay, whatever." Her opened mouth turned into a smile. "So, I'll see you tonight, okay?"
"Um, what are we doing again?"
"I can't believe you, Sakura. You're the brightest girl I know but I swear to God, you're completely forgetful…not to mention oblivious…" Sakura was the one who threw Tomoyo the "look" this time. "Don't get your panties in a bunch…we're going out to that new restaurant downtown. Remember?"
"Oh yeah…um…The Desert Fest."
"Dessert Feast, Sakura. The Dessert Feast. My God…"
"…or something to that extent," she mumbled.
"Anyways, I'll see you tonight at eight. Don't forget!" She said, starting to walk away from the tree.
"I won't."
"And if you miss it because you lost track of time reading, I'll be furious!" Tomoyo said, serious yet not at the same time. For, of course this had happened on various occasions. First it was with The Vampire Lestat and then it was with The Bell Jar and then it was Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban and so on and so forth. "Put a clock next to you or something!"
Sakura just smiled and waved to Tomoyo's retreating figure. I guess she'll never understand, Sakura thought to herself as another smile formed upon her face. No one really understands…but that's okay with me, she came to reason, the smile fading away as she stared off to the groups of people laughing and playing with a Frisbee. No one needs to understand, except for myself.
Checking her watch, it read 3:48. "Better leave now if I want to get to class on time." She threw out her apple in the nearest trash bin and packed up her things before she crossed the quad, walking towards her Creative Fiction Writing Class.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As the day rolled on, Sakura found herself sitting in her dorm. She lived in a single dorm and was lucky enough to get one. In her own words, "I couldn't stand living with another human being…" Well, maybe Tomoyo, but still, the idea of living alone appealed to her very much.
Lying on her back in her small twin bed, her feet were raised towards the ceiling as she threw a tennis ball up to the sky and then caught it. Looking at the clock, she figured she had been doing this for the last fifteen minutes. 7:55 it read. "Oh…crap." She said unenthusiastically as she threw the ball into her drawer next to her. "I'm gonna be late." The restaurant was only a few minutes away by car but her old red Mustang convertible was in the shop…again. "I totally forgot about that…great…now I'm gonna have to walk."
Standing up, Sakura walked over to her closet and grabbed a pair of red skater shoes and quickly slipped them on. She suddenly got a little giddy as she grabbed her skateboard. "Awesome…" she whispered to herself. Taking her wallet and room keys, she set her skateboard outside her dorm into the hallway and jumped on, taking off in the general direction of the restaurant.
It was cool outside and her hair blew behind her as she skated down the sidewalk. It's been too long since I've done this last! When was the last time, anyways?! Oh! Must have been ages ago, I suppose. Seeing a sign above her for The Dessert Feast, she jumped off her skateboard and held onto it as she entered.
"Sakura?"
Turning around, she saw Tomoyo standing before her in a short, pale yellow dress with small pink cherry blossoms decorating it. The low neckline was covered with pale yellow lace. The dress was very spring-like and matched her yellow sandals perfectly. Next to Tomoyo was their mutual friend and Bio 101 study pal, Meilin Li. Like Tomoyo, she was dressed in a red knee-length skirt and a white tank top with a pair of those sporty sandal/sneaker type deals for shoes. Staring at her own get-up (a pair of long, tight, jeans with a baby blue tank top under her black black sweatshirt and her bright red skater shoes with a skateboard with stickers of her favorite bands on the back in her hands), Sakura felt a little underdressed.
"Didn't I tell you this restaurant was a little on the um…fancy side?"
"Guess you skipped over that minor detail," Sakura said shyly but not feeling very guilty about it. It's not as if she could change anything.
"I guess…" Tomoyo said, snubbing it off and leading Sakura to a table. Once they sat down and Tomoyo ended her mumbling about Sakura and her streetwear, she introduced the girl with her. "You remember Meilin Li, right?"
"Yeah, of course. We were Bio partners and I have French with her now. So, how's it goin' girls?" Sakura said, placing her skateboard on the seat next to her in their booth. Meilin and Tomoyo were on the opposite side of her, in their pretty dresses and nice hairstyles while Sakura had the windblown hair effect and Tomoyo's dubbed "streetwear" on. But of course, "I don't care if this is a fancy restaurant. There's no sign about a dress code."
"Of course you don't care, Sakura," Tomoyo stated, half-jokingly. Sometimes Sakura's carefree spirit was too much to bare. "I already ordered for us."
"Oh? What did ya get me?"
Tomoyo laughed. "What do you think? The banana split, with no chocolate ice cream which I substituted with black raspberry and no jimmies which I substituted with peanut butter sauce: your absolute favorite."
Sakura smiled ear-to-ear thinking about her favorite dessert. "I'm glad you picked this place."
"Actually," Tomoyo said truthfully. "It was all Meilin's idea."
"Yeah, well, my cousin's fiancée owns the place so I go here all the time."
When Meilin said the word cousin, something piqued Sakura's interest. Memories of a boy a few years ahead of her when she was in high school hit her. Trying to sound not too obvious, Sakura looked to Meilin. "Wow, I haven't heard about Syaoran Li in forever. How's he doing?"
"Oh, Syaoran? He's doing great. But he's not the cousin I'm talking about. I'm talking about the cousin on the other side of the family, Toki. Quite a romantic story actually. My cousin, Toki, is the head chef here at Dessert Feast, the premiere dessert and specialty restaurant/catering service in the area. When her future fiancée hired her, he thought that Toki was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and when he tasted her cheesecake, he totally fell for her. Cute, huh?"
"Oh, that's so wonderful. So, when are they getting married? A spring wedding would be so cute…" And this is the point where Sakura started to drown out what they were saying and sort of stuck herself into her own little world, as she so often did. To her, weddings weren't very interesting and besides, there was only one thing she was pondering at this instant: Syaoran Li. It's been so long since I've heard that name. When was the last time I even saw him? Earlier this year maybe?"Sakura, don't you agree?"
Snapping out of her reverie, she looked in front of her. Two sets of eyes were staring intently at her. "Uh, sure."
Making a split-second decision (as only Tomoyo could) she countered that. "How long have you been zoned out? Really, Sakura…I don't even know why you bother to have ears; you never listen to anything."
"That's not true."
"Oh yeah?" Meilin said, playing around with the two. "Then what were we just talking about?"
"Probably about the wonderful advantages to traditional marriages and how love is 'a many splendored thing' and blah blah blah blah.…"
Looking towards Tomoyo, Meilin said, "You know, she's right."
"Of course I'm right. And I didn't have to be listening to figure that out either. I know Tomoyo too well for her to try to fool me." As Tomoyo's mouth began to drop, Sakura kept right on going. "And don't try to say otherwise, Tomoyo, because you know it's dead true. But, on the bright side of things," Sakura said with a smile. "You don't need to shut your mouth because here comes our food now."
Amazed (but not unexpectedly) by Sakura's wit, Tomoyo began to laugh. Contagious enough as it was, even Meilin started to laugh and Sakura even broke a smile. Half because of what she had just said and everyone's reaction, but mostly because of the large banana split in front of her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
About a half an hour, three desserts, four totally different conversations and one outburst of laughing later, the three girls exited the restaurant and started to walk down Main Street towards Tomoeda University. Sakura was skateboarding alongside of them, listening intently on their conversation about life, love, beauty and whatever they decided to talk about. Once in a while, Sakura would add a few comments but mostly she was concentrating on riding her skateboard.
As they arrived at Sakura's dorm (the substance and noise free area of the University), which was the first stop out of the three, Sakura got off her skateboard and started reciting her goodbyes.
"Well, it's been fun, girls. We should do this again, real soon."
"Definitely," Tomoyo agreed. "Well, I'll see you sometime this weekend, okay?"
"Yeah, of course."
Meilin stepped forward, smiling (as usual), "Hey, Sakura, I forgot to tell you…have you been sending any forwards to my cousin?"
"What?" Sakura said, totally lost in what Meilin had just said. "Meilin, I don't even know Toki."
"No, no,
not Toki. Syaoran. Have you been
sending e-mail forwards to Syaoran?"
Sakura shook her head. "No. I
don't even know his address and I hate forwards. I stop them at all costs so I wouldn't even want to forward it. Why?"
"Oh, that's strange. Because Syaoran told me about a week ago that he had been receiving these weird forwards from this girl. When he asked her what her name was she wrote that it was Sakura and since you're the only Sakura he knows, he just assumed…but oh, well. It's not you, right?"
"Nope. It's impossible."
"Strange. He's been talking about it for the last week and he won't shut up about it either. It's like he's got some crush on you or something," Meilin said, laughing. Like the idea of Syaoran having any feelings whatsoever towards Sakura was a remote possibility.
"Yeah…strange," Sakura said, feeling something odd surround her stomach lining. "Well, tell him I said, 'hi' okay?"
"Sure."
"Well, see you girls later. Bye." Sakura waved to the two girls and walked into her dorm hall. After checking with the local security officer at the front desk, she walked up to her room and fell back onto her bed. She began to think to herself. She started remembering little pieces about him. They were in the play, "The Wizard Of Oz" when she was in the ninth grade and he was a senior. Sakura was just part of the chorus, she remembered, but he was the great and powerful Oz. Syaoran was also on the prom court, a wonderful singer in the choir and the most popular boy in his senior class and probably the whole school.. They had been introduced through mutual friends (Sakura always hung out with the upperclassmen) and had hung out on a couple of occasions…she could remember her little crush she used to have for him. He was the most attractive boy she had ever seen, with his brown hair and matching eyes and wonderful acting capabilities, singing talent and the most wonderful sense of humor that she could ever remember in another human being.
I suppose the last time I saw him was earlier in the year when I ran into him at the bookstore. Yes, that's right. He was looking for some book called…oh, what was it? Um…The Star Wars Encyclopedia? Yeah, that was it…and I ran into him between the Fantasy and the Comic Book sections. Both places where we were avid shoppers by the way. We talked for about a half an hour before he was going to be late to work…it was so strange…and now he was talking about me…to his cousin. So strange…yet…intriguing she thought to herself as a slight smile played upon her lips.
"One day I will work with animals
All those tests I'm gonna do
All my stuff's completely natural
And when I'm done I'll boil it down for glue
That we could use to re-adhere
Your lips to mine if you were here…"
-Barenaked Ladies (Some Fantastic)
Author's Note: Well, if you can't already tell, the title of the story is named after the BNL's song, Some Fantastic. Read and as always, review!