Forgotten Dreams
By Cherry Blossom
DISCLAMER: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, any of the names used here, etc. They belong to CLAMP and its rightful owners.
Eight years after Li Syaoran's return to Hong Kong, he comes back to find Sakura. But each time she sees Syaoran, she discovers her heart is not with her current boyfriend, but with a person who has returned from her past.
Chapter Two
Penguin Park
"Sakura-chan!"
"Huh?" Sakura looked up. "What do you want Tomoyo-chan?"
Tomoyo eyed her suspiciously. "You know, ever since last night you've been acting strange. Did something happen on the way home?"
Sakura's eyes widened at the mention of the night before, yet she shook her head slowly. "Iee…nothing happened."
Tomoyo glared at her. "Hmph. What a good friend you are…you never were great at lying anyway. Now are you going to tell me what happened or are do I have to do something before you do?"
Sakura sighed. "Nothing happened," she insisted. But her own actions betrayed her mouth. She took out the small bear, the one the stranger had given her. Here's your hint…his words had echoed in her mind over and over again throughout the night, and most of the day as well.
"HOW KAWAII!!!!" Tomoyo shrieked as she spotted the bear. "Where'd you get it?"
Sakura remained silent, but not for long. "At the fair," she quickly replied, not wanting Tomoyo to sense that she was not telling the truth.
"Oh….do you think you could get me one?" Tomoyo asked. For once, she did not spot the lie. Sakura shrugged, her eyes sad.
Sakura faced Tomoyo. "Tomoyo-chan…"
"Hmmmm?" Her friend was absorbed in a fashion magazine.
"What…what if someone, you know, that you used to lo-"
Tomoyo snuck a peek at her watch. "AAIIIEEEEEE!" she exclaimed. "I'm supposed to meet Eriol at the library! Are you coming?" Before Sakura had a chance to answer her friend was halfway down the block. She smiled to herself, then felt sadness- Tomoyo had somebody, while her love was so far, so far away.
They promised to write to each other, and they did. She wrote a letter almost every single day. The letters from him came almost daily as well. Then they came less and less often, until at last, the stopped completely. She had given up hope. He was sure to have found some beautiful Cantonese girl and married her. They probably had a large apartment in Hong Kong, where they could see all the city lights at night.
Sakura walked to the swings and sat on one of them. Ah, the good old swings. Some things would never change, right? But people changed. He had changed, and so had she. Her fingers traced the rusted chain that held the swings up. Back then she would make up excuses. He was busy. He didn't have time to write. He didn't have time to buy more paper. He was out of town. It was as if she would never give up on him, like she still believed that someday he would come back to her, like her knight in shining armor. He would come back and kiss her and everything would be alright. But deep down, a voice told her that she was living a dream, a dream that would never be able to come true. It was that voice that told her that he would never walk into her life again. It was the voice that told her the reality of the situation.
They had started separate lives, lives where they would never have to remember the Card Captor days again.
Apartment
Syaoran lay on his bed, thinking.
He was thinking about the girl he had bumped into last night. He was sure it was hers; he had sensed her pink aura. He tossed the pink teddy bear. Up, down, up, down, up, down. He sighed. Sakura…when will I meet you again?
It occurred to him that perhaps eight years really was too long. Too long to make amends, too long for a happy ending for both of them. Was it better this way? Was it better to remain a stranger?
Up, down, up, down…
No. It was his feelings for her that had driven him back to Japan in the first place. He wanted to be with her forever, he wanted to make her smile, to make her laugh.
Up down, up, down…
Syaoran stood up, putting the bear down on his desk, deciding to go for a walk. After all, it was a walk late last night that had made Sakura bump into him, wasn't it?
