Author's Notes: There is a bit of a scene that I'm a little weary to put under pg-13, but there's nothing really

graphic. You know what you can handle, so don't blame me. I like this fic, despite the way it's dramatic in t

the beginning and then gets a little more humor in the end. I hope that doesn't spoil anything. I always have

happy endings, I'll tell you that right now. It's cause I spent whole nights crying over sad ones. I also

try to put my whole story up (have I mentioned that before?). Anyways, I writing these author notes at the

same time as my aiiwf notes. This is my third story (third times the charm) and I rather like the whole idea o

f ancient China. CCS does not, and sadly will not, ever belong to be because they were created by the

amazing minds of CLAMP (I love CLAMP! Chobits is so cool!). Enjoy the fic! -Anrui

PS. Due to my lack of reviewing, I'm considering the one chapter at a time thing… something I hoped never to resort to. Please, please review. Aren't my stories any good? Anrui means silent tears, but I didn't want to have to cry.

It only took seven days, the Christians say, for the Lord to create the world. It only took three days, likewise, for Emperor Li Syaoran to start his life...

Day 1 - Sakura

Emperor Syaoran rested his head on his fist, listening to his advisors. "The people of China are starting to get upset," a little man started, bobbing his head the whole time like a ferret, "And rightly so, for with no apparent heir, if something were to happen to you there would be warring factions fighting for the throne. The empire would be in chaos!" The man emphasized this last line by throwing his arms up into the air.

Syaoran sat up and asked calmly, "So what do you recommend I do?"

A taller, more confident man came forward, "Your greatness, if you were to take a concubine it might sooth the people of China. The emperors before you have had harems full of them. Your notable great-grandfather, who saved China from the first attack from Mongolia, had himself thirty-eight. Surely, then, it would be fully acceptable..."

Syaoran raised his hand, cutting the man off, "I understand what you are saying. If I must, then look into the matter, and I will choose the girl myself." The advisor bowed, and the other seeing this, bowed, his head still bobbing up and down. "You are dismissed." The two men left quietly.

He sighed when they were gone... the prices of being born the son of an emperor. Syaoran didn't really care for women, they were silly, little subservient things that looked composed one minute and then giggled the next. The higher born ones were really no better, whining and complaining about everything. He frowned, this was not quite what he wanted.

But his advisors were right. The people had been known to overthrow dynasties for such reasons. He rose from his chair, attendants automatically rising to his side. The Emperor had attendants for every activity that the magistrates could think of. There was one to brush his hair, one to wipe his mouth at supper, and one that simply stood their with a glass of wine all day. They occasionally had problems with that one in the evening, the girl having the responsibility of drinking stale wine in order to pour a clean glass. Syaoran had told them that he could pour his own wine, but his advisors had only stared at him shocked.

They were all women, dressed in simple outfits, slaves they had captured from Mongolia. Even they, being captives of their enemy, flirted with him whenever they got the chance.

He walked into the gardens, ignoring the heat of the sun, and sat down. Three girls rushed over, one carrying a long fan, the other two holding a canopy over his head. "Tell my advisors that they may bring matters to me here," he said to all of them, forgetting which of them carried that responsibility. A younger one beside him rushed in excitedly, probably, Syaoran mused to himself, glad to have something to do.

She came back after a minute, breathing hard after having ran back and forth, "They told his greatness that they send you some possibilities back." Her Chinese was basic and hard to make out. He just nodded at her and watched as she fell back into place.

The first "possibility" that they sent back was a young girl of sixteen. She bowed, smiled nervously, and then starting babbling something that was too fast for Syaoran to make out. When she finished, he dismissed her with the wave of a hand. The next one couldn't stop laughing and blushing as she greeted the emperor of China. All day, such girls were sent to him, and he was starting to wonder if he'd ever find one that acted as if she had any sense.

His attendants stood in the early evening heat, panting wearily, and he ordered them to go get their replacements. They all thanked him happily, bowing, and then rushed off. Syaoran fanned himself a little, and then looked over as he heard something crash nearby. Two guards rushed in, pulling between them a beautiful girl.

She struggled desperately against her bonds, pushing her feet into the ground and taking a kick or bite at anything that came remotely near her. "Your greatness," a guard bowed to him, "We caught this girl in your stables, trying to steal a horse."

Syaoran sat up and looked at the girl, "You have been charged with stealing from the emperor, a charge punishable by death, what do you say for yourself?"

She looked up, her green eyes flashing angrily. "I will not answer a dog!" she yelled in Japanese, spitting at him. The guards pulled her harshly back for this offense.

"What is your name?" Syaoran demanded, the warning clear in his voice. She turned her head and held her tongue, still trying desperately to pull her arms free. Syaoran looked at the delicate pink outfit she was wearing and the cherry blossoms intertwined in her hair. "Fine then, if you shall not give you a name, I shall address you by Sakura," he said thinking it fitting to use the Japanese word.

Her head shot up, surprised, and she shouted at him again, "How dare you bring me here to take my name as such?" Syaoran remember that names were important to some Japanese families.

He still gazed at her, amazed at the open defiance of the bonded girl, and tried to look harsh, "You are the one that committed an offense."

Her green eyes turned hateful as she glared right into his face, an act that Syaoran had never before encountered, "Your guards killed my horse, I was only looking for compensation." She struggled with her bonds, and exhausted, finally left off. Holding her back and her neck straight, she sat on the ground as if she were herself royal.

Syaoran was intrigued by this. The girl was the only person he ever met to hold herself against the emperor with such pride. Her fierceness was only matched in her by the stunning look of her appearance. Her long, soft brown hair framed her light, cream colored skin which were both contrasted by the intensity of her bright green eyes.

What he did next showed him to be an emperor, for emperors are used to having whatever they want done without consideration for what their decisions might mean to others. Only as an empire at whole were people usually considered. "Take her to my chambers." he commanded confidently, "She is to be my new concubine."

He watched as they went. She kept her head up as she walked, knowing fighting to be useless. The replacements for the attendants walked in, taking up their jobs.

His advisors rushed in, the taller one speaking up, "Surely, you do not mean to do this."

Syaoran looked up, "Do what?"

He was speechless for a moment, but then he continued on, "There are many for you to choose such a girl. Emperors have done such things before, but in all truth, it never turned out to their advantage. Their are stories of girls who have drank poison or slit their throats because they were chosen. There must be some way you could find someone more willing..."

Syaoran held up his hand, cutting the man off, "You do not question my orders. I will have her or no one!"

The men stood there in silence, and then bowed, "As you wish."

Syaoran got up and walked to his quarters, attendants streaming behind him. "Leave me," he commanded, and they bowed quickly before rushing off. He opened the door slowly, light hitting squinting eyes. They had place her in a lightly embroidered silk gown that scantly covered any of her leg.

As he walked in, she held her composure but asked quietly, "Would you take an innocent woman without her consent?" Syaoran looked at her for a moment curiously.

He walked to the side of the bed and started untying her wrist, "I cannot let you go."

"I'm sure there are several. You could let me leave," her voice was strained now.

He lifted her to her feet holding her wrists gently, "There are no others like you. Come, dance with me." She complied, still holding herself tense. He eased her around in slow circles, hands on her back holding her to him. Syaoran felt her muscles ease as the dancing became more rhythmic.

After a while, he kissed her tenderly, and then again. Sakura allowed it as he moved down to her neck, feeling her quick pulse. He continued down until his mouth ran into the material of her gown and paused for a moment. Listening to her heavy breathing, he worked his way slowly down, lips lightly grazing the fabric.

He stopped again as he reached her lower stomach, slipping his hand under the material to rest on her hips. Then, pausing again as if in thought, he rested his head against her for a moment. She starting shivering as he finished and removed his hands. Standing, he set her back upon the bed. For a moment, what his advisor said came back to him, but was lost as she whimpered below him. He eased her legs gently apart, and then moved on top of her, kissing her eager mouth.

-----

Syaoran woke in the morning taking in the messy covers and the slumbering girl beside him. As if she could feel his eyes on her, she sat up suddenly, looking terrified. "How... how could you?" she asked, appalled, moving quickly off the bed with the sheet. Syaoran, with the second sheet wrapped around him stood up

She fought him as he took her into his arms, "Why must you fight me?"

Sakura stared at him as if he were crazy, "You ask me that after what you have done."

He couldn't help himself as he pulled her closer, "Sakura, I want all of you."

She stared at him wearily and held her head up proudly, "You may take my body, but you shall never have anything else." Sakura walked out stormily leaving him standing in the middle of the room.

Day 2 - Realizations

Her legs were helplessly tangled in the covers as they were every morning, and she lay curled around herself. Syaoran watched quietly, knowing better than to wake her. Carefully, he moved over to her and placed a tentative hand on the slight rise of her stomach. When she didn't stir, he lay his head on the area listening to nothing. It shocked him, the way that the heavens worked such things. Mystified at the way it made him feel to know inside her she carried his child. Syaoran found Sakura herself so remarkable. He'd find himself watching her as she moved about, entranced by the dignity at which she carried herself. She had a way of making him feel that she was too fit a prize for even an emperor.

Syaoran dressed himself and left the room quietly. Sakura was as good as her word. Whenever he encountered her in the morning or as they passed in the hall, she remained silent and went on with whatever she was doing without even glancing his way. It was humbling to, for the first time in his life, not be able to have what he wanted. She was his, yes, in one way, but in another, she was completely inaccessible to him.

He lingered outside the door, held there by some daunting thought. Syaoran watched as the door swung open, and she emerged prepared except for her hair, which fell messily down her back. He took her hand, "Sakura." She looked at him, her gaze cold. "Do you hate this child as you hate me?"

Her eyes softened for a moment, "How could I? It is not its fault that my body betrays me every time you touch me. There is something about somebody relying upon you for their existence that makes you want everything so... unimportant. No, I could not hate my child for either of its parent's sins." With that she had said more than she had cared to. Sakura took her gaze from him and walked quickly down the hall her footsteps quick, and Syaoran felt like a weight had been taken off him.

Something on the floor caught his eyes, and he leaned down to grab it. A pink blossom from her hair lay in his hand reminding him of the soft color of the cherry blossoms in Japan.

Day 3 - T'ien

Syaoran waited impatiently outside the room, walking up and down the halls like a tiger. There were one or two noises from the room, and then nothing again. He hit the wall in frustration. How could anyone stand to wait like this?

Something was said, and then he heard a wailing cry. Syaoran rushed to the door, but it was a minute before anyone came out. The midwife came out, holding a now silent form bundled in exquisitely embroidered silk. Syaoran held out his arms for the baby, and the lady handed it to him gently. "A fine, healthy boy," she announced proudly. Syaoran just nodded, staring at his tiny, sleeping son, fascinated. The midwife turned to leave and then on another thought turned back, "The mother has requested a name."

He looked up and waited for her to continue. "T'ien," she told him.

Gazing back down at the baby he smiled softly, "Then tell whoever needs to know that his mother's name stands." She bowed and hurried off. T'ien snuggled into his blanket a little and settled back down. Syaoran realized for a moment how much this one person meant to him. He also realized how much he loved the baby's mother.