The Reunion

By like a falling star



Chapter 6:

At a fancy Italian restaurant, dinner time

"… so we decided to decorate reception hall with Nadesikos instead of Sakuras." Sakura finished, jabbing her fork into a cheese-smothered mushroom.

"That's a good idea," Tomoyo commented, idly stirring her bowl of minestrone soup as they chatted. "Nadesikos are pretty, and they're elegant at the same time. And they'll look great with your dress!"

Chiharu took a sip of her orange juice and nodded. "Besides, they're a change from the usual wedding flowers. You know, instead of roses and Sakuras." [A.N.: Is this true? I'm just saying that even though I have no idea.]

"Thanks for the support." Sakura smiled. "When I told onii-chan, he freaked out on me and told me that I might as well not have flowers at all."

"Guys will be guys," Chiharu said, pointedly casting a teasing glance at the three guys who sat at their table, namely Eriol, Syaoran and Yamazaki.

"I like Sakuras," Syaoran defended himself. "They're.. nice."

"Hmm? I think you mean you like Sakura, not Sakuras.." Tomoyo corrected, grinning slyly at Syaoran, who blushed faintly and looked away.

"He means both, don't you, Syao-kun?" Sakura smiled sweetly at Syaoran, who promptly choked on a piece of meat and turned an amazingly deep shade of red. Whether it was due to Sakura's smile, or due to choking, it will remain forever undiscovered. [A.N.: It was both.]

"Are you ok, Syao-kun?" Sakura asked, innocently placing her hands on his cheeks to see if he was running a fever or anything.

Syaoran coughed again. "I- I've never been better," he said.

Yamazaki turned his slit-like eyes on them and held up his index finger. Everyone knew what was coming. "Speaking of cherry blossoms, did you know that they actually originated from Alaska? They were grown from mixing antelopes' antlers and rotten blueberries under a ladder at 3am in the morning."

"Really?" Sakura was looking fascinated, and Syaoran had put down his fork and knife to listen to Yamazaki's story.

Yamazaki nodded earnestly. "Yes, but one day the evil queen of-- YEOW!!!"

Chiharu had carefully grinded her heels on his foot, causing him to cry out in pain.

Syaoran blinked. "The evil queen of Yeow? I've never heard of a place called Yeow."

"Me neither. It sounds interesting, though." Sakura said. She turned back to Yamazaki. "So tell us where Sakuras originated."

Tomoyo laughed. Seems like none of her friends had changed much.

Chiharu shot Yamazaki a glare that seemed to say "One word and you're not getting your goodnight kiss!"

Yamazaki understood and shut up.

Tomoyo decided to save the situation. "So, what colour are the Nadesikos you're planning to get?" she asked, changing the subject.

Sakura turned her full attention back to Tomoyo. "Oh, Daddy said that the red ones would…"

[A.N.: Did you notice?] Eriol kept out of this conversation entirely. His words were stuck, lodged deep in his throat as they had been the moment Tomoyo had stepped out of her room this evening.

She was dressed in a short red spaghetti-strapped dress and white stilettos. The deep, wine-red dress was a startling contrast to her milky white skin, which was smooth and unblemished, and which Eriol, for some reason which was unknown to him, longed to caress. Her hair was done up in an elegant french bun at the nape of her neck. She wore almost no makeup, except for lipstick and a touch of mascara, but she looked gorgeous nonetheless, like she'd been made to model. Lust, Eriol thought. Only lust.

Pretty soon their conversation turned to their old gang.

Tomoyo delicately dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin before speaking. "So, when are Naoko and Rika arriving in Japan?"

Chiharu immediately looked up from her chicken salad. "Oh! I just spoke to Rika last night, and-- guess what!?! She's pregnant!"

All at once the girls let out a high-pitched squeal! "Oooooh!"

The guys silmultaneously winced.

"That's great!!!" Sakura gushed. "Did she say whether it's a boy or a girl?"

Chiharu waved her fork at them. "She doesn't know yet, exactly. It's too early to tell. But she says that she'll be back from her vacation about two days before the wedding."

Tomoyo wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Ooh, Kenzu [that's Rika's husband btw] has been a bad boy!"

"Hoee?" Sakura looked confused. "Why is he bad? Rika tells me he's been very nice to her."

Tomoyo sighed. "Nevermind, Sakura. We'll explain when- when you get older."

Chiharu giggled. "Or Syaoran will."

"Probably on your wedding night." Tomoyo said, smiling.

Syaoran scowled at them, blushing madly.

"Hoee?"

"Tae called me a few days ago." Yamazaki told them.

"NO. MORE. LIES!!!" Chiharu shouted.

Yamazaki blinked. "Tae did call. He told me that Naoko forgot to RSVP since she's been so caught up in writing her latest ghost story. They're coming around the same time as Rika."

Sakura nodded. "After all, it doesn't take much time to travel from one side of Japan to another."

Chiharu turned eagerly to Sakura. "So… when will we get to see what our bridesmaid dresses look like?"

Sakura turned to Syaoran. "Syao-kun…?"

"… tomorrow." He supplied.

"Tomorrow." Sakura confirmed. "So we'll meet at the hotel and go pick up the dresses.. is that okay?"

"Sure!" Chiharu chirped.

"What do the dresses look like?" Tomoyo asked curiously.

Sakura pondered for a moment. "The bridesmaid dresses for Rika, Chiharu and Naoko are pink."

"Pink?"

"Pastel pink. They're very pretty." Sakura said. "With a long silk skirt… and it's spaghetti-strapped. Oh, and matching heels!"

"Sounds great!" Chiharu commented happily.

"Tomoyo has a different one, though." Sakura told them.

Tomoyo cocked her eyebrows, interested.

"It's pale lavender and it's made of this very fluffy material… I forgot the name…"

"Chiffon." Syaoran said, his eyes softening at his bride-to-be.

"Yes, right." Sakura smiled gratefully at Syaoran. "The skirt part is made of chiffon, and the top is strapless and made of silk." She described.

Tomoyo's eyes sparkled. "I can't wait to see it!"

Chiharu pouted. "Why does she get to wear a purple one? I want one too!"

Sakura blinked doubtfully. "Well, it's cos Tomoyo is my maid-of-honour, but if you really want one I guess I could--"

Chiharu grinned. "Just kidding, Sakura-chan."

Eriol sighed inaudibly. He had just been getting over how great Tomoyo looked tonight when they brought up the topic of her maid-of-honour dress. He could just imagine Tomoyo in that pale lavender gown that brought out the smoky amethyst colour of her eyes, her long, curly, lustrous locks flowing gracefully in the breeze, the light chiffon skirt swirling gently around her ankles…

Eriol sighed again, this time audibly.

"Is anything wrong, Eriol-kun?" Tomoyo asked sweetly, looking directly into his eyes.

Everyone swerved to look at Eriol, who was blushing slightly.

Syaoran frowned suspiciously, Sakura looked concerned, Yamazaki hmm-ed, and Chiharu had a look of enlightenment on her face.

"N- nothing's wrong," he stammered. "Just… a little tired." He lied, tearing away from Tomoyo's concerned gaze.

Hmm.

Syaoran's frown deepened, Sakura was back to her normal cheery self, Yamazaki hmm-ed, and Chiharu found out something that no one else knew.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*