Ascension
The Conclusion
"Sakura? Sakura can you hear me?"
Sakura slowly regained consciousness. As her eyes came back into focus, the first thing that she saw was the handsome Li staring back down at her.
"Sakura! Are you alright?"
"Uh, yeah," Sakura said, sitting up, "I think so." Sakura found that she had been lying on a sofa in the library. She also noticed that her left arm, where Walker had sliced her, was now bandaged up. "What happened? What am I doing here?"
The Head Elder stepped forward. "You were somewhat exhausted from your confrontation with Walker so we decided to let you rest first before letting everyone know our decision. Traditionally, we prefer to have the Ascension candidate awake when we publicly announce the results of their test."
Sakura took a look around the room. She noticed that Walker was nowhere in sight.
"What happened to Walker?"
"Let us just say that he is having a little 'time out' to think about what he did."
Sakura looked back over at Li, who, judging by the expression on his face, was quite relieved to see that she was okay.
"Say, how did you get in here Li?" asked Sakura. "I thought they weren't going to let anybody in until this was over?"
"Well, the Elders seemed to think that it would be a good idea for me to be here when you regained consciousness." Li took a gander at Sakura's medallion. "From the look of it, I guess you succeeded."
"Yes I did!" said Sakura, who unexpectedly threw her arms around Li and pulled him into a hug. This caught Li off guard (again), but he was quick to respond and the two found themselves locked in a mutual embrace. As they hugged, Sakura whispered into Li's ear: "And I couldn't have done it without you."
Eventually, the two of them were able to pry themselves apart. They both were surprised over what they had just done, but neither seemed to regret it. They did, however, feel a slight degree of embarrassment when they remembered that the Elders were still there and watching them. The Elders didn't mind though. In fact, they seemed quite satisfied, almost as if they had expected Sakura to react this way (which is probably why they allowed Li to come in.)
"Well, uh, I guess we shouldn't keep everybody waiting," Li said sheepishly.
The door to the library opened. Sakura, Li, and the Elders stepped out into the main room where everyone had been anxiously waiting to learn what happened.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," the Head Elder began, "say hello to Sorceress Sakura!"
Everyone cheered and applauded loudly, especially Kero. "Three cheers for Sakura! Hip-hip-horrah!"
Sakura blushed. She had never felt more special about having magical powers than she did at that moment. It was one of the happiest days of her life.
The party continued on well past midnight before finally coming to an end. Sakura personally bid farewell to each guest as they left. Meanwhile, Yelan approached her son, who looked like he was trying to make a decision about something.
"Penny for your thoughts Li?"
"Mom? Um, do you remember what you said to me before? About there being an ulterior motive in my decision to stay with Sakura?"
"I should hope that I remember. I'm the one who said it."
"Well, let's say for the sake of argument that you're right. What should I do about it?"
"I suspect you already know what you want to do."
"But what if she says no? What if I end up scaring her off? What if-"
"Don't go looking for problems Li; just do what you know you need to do."
Taking a deep breath, Li walked over to Sakura, who had just said goodbye to the last guest.
"Uh, Sakura?"
"Yes Li?"
"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
Meanwhile, Kero was busy finishing off the last of the leftover pudding. He stopped, however, when he noticed that Sakura and Li were having some sort of conversation. Judging from the look on Sakura's face, whatever Li was saying to her had come as a bit of a surprise. Kero perked up his ear to try and hear what they were talking about. He was only able to catch the last little bits of it though.
"You're serious, aren't you?"
"It's been a tradition in my family for generations. I take all of our traditions very seriously."
"But aren't we kinda, well, you know, too young?"
"I don't mean right now. But someday, when we're old enough, and unless one of us finds someone else, then we would. I once made a similar promise to Meilin, yet I never really gave it my full commitment. But I really want it to be different with us and to show you I'm sincere-"
Li then lead Sakura into another room and closed the door. This had really caught Kero's curiosity and the small Guardian Beast flew up to the door and put his ear to it. Unfortunately, Kero couldn't make out what was being said.
'What's goin' on in there?' Kero wondered. 'What are they up to?'
Kero shouldn't have been so close to the door because when Sakura and Li finally came out, the door swung back and Kero was smacked into the wall!
"Oyyyy, down I go..." groaned Kero as he fell to the ground.
Yelan approached Sakura, who was now wearing a very happy smile. "Well Sakura, I suppose I'd better make arrangements to have you sent home. Should I book one seat on the plane or two?"
"Two seats of course," Sakura replied. "After all, Li's coming back with me."
Yelan looked over at her son. "Is that so Li?"
"Yes mom. I still believe I should be around in case Sakura needs me."
It was then that Yelan noticed a shiny gold ring on Sakura's finger that had not been there before.
"Well okay Li," Yelan said. "If you think that's best."
Sakura and Li both exchanged grins to each other and then scuttled off for bed. Yelan smiled. There was no doubt in her mind that one day Sakura would make a wonderful addition to the Showran family.
THE END?
Well that, as they say, is that. I hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'd say I did pretty well for my first CCS fic. I would definitely like to try my hand at a sequel. I don't know when I'll get around to it though. First I have to think of a story. I'm thinking, if at all possible, I'd like to do a story that has something to do with Ms. Mackenzie (or "Kaho" or whatever you want to call her). I may be some time before I write again (in fact, I've been known to go months without writing a fic) but if you would like me to contact you when I'm finally ready to do another fic, I'll be happy to do so.
Toodles.
The Conclusion
"Sakura? Sakura can you hear me?"
Sakura slowly regained consciousness. As her eyes came back into focus, the first thing that she saw was the handsome Li staring back down at her.
"Sakura! Are you alright?"
"Uh, yeah," Sakura said, sitting up, "I think so." Sakura found that she had been lying on a sofa in the library. She also noticed that her left arm, where Walker had sliced her, was now bandaged up. "What happened? What am I doing here?"
The Head Elder stepped forward. "You were somewhat exhausted from your confrontation with Walker so we decided to let you rest first before letting everyone know our decision. Traditionally, we prefer to have the Ascension candidate awake when we publicly announce the results of their test."
Sakura took a look around the room. She noticed that Walker was nowhere in sight.
"What happened to Walker?"
"Let us just say that he is having a little 'time out' to think about what he did."
Sakura looked back over at Li, who, judging by the expression on his face, was quite relieved to see that she was okay.
"Say, how did you get in here Li?" asked Sakura. "I thought they weren't going to let anybody in until this was over?"
"Well, the Elders seemed to think that it would be a good idea for me to be here when you regained consciousness." Li took a gander at Sakura's medallion. "From the look of it, I guess you succeeded."
"Yes I did!" said Sakura, who unexpectedly threw her arms around Li and pulled him into a hug. This caught Li off guard (again), but he was quick to respond and the two found themselves locked in a mutual embrace. As they hugged, Sakura whispered into Li's ear: "And I couldn't have done it without you."
Eventually, the two of them were able to pry themselves apart. They both were surprised over what they had just done, but neither seemed to regret it. They did, however, feel a slight degree of embarrassment when they remembered that the Elders were still there and watching them. The Elders didn't mind though. In fact, they seemed quite satisfied, almost as if they had expected Sakura to react this way (which is probably why they allowed Li to come in.)
"Well, uh, I guess we shouldn't keep everybody waiting," Li said sheepishly.
The door to the library opened. Sakura, Li, and the Elders stepped out into the main room where everyone had been anxiously waiting to learn what happened.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," the Head Elder began, "say hello to Sorceress Sakura!"
Everyone cheered and applauded loudly, especially Kero. "Three cheers for Sakura! Hip-hip-horrah!"
Sakura blushed. She had never felt more special about having magical powers than she did at that moment. It was one of the happiest days of her life.
The party continued on well past midnight before finally coming to an end. Sakura personally bid farewell to each guest as they left. Meanwhile, Yelan approached her son, who looked like he was trying to make a decision about something.
"Penny for your thoughts Li?"
"Mom? Um, do you remember what you said to me before? About there being an ulterior motive in my decision to stay with Sakura?"
"I should hope that I remember. I'm the one who said it."
"Well, let's say for the sake of argument that you're right. What should I do about it?"
"I suspect you already know what you want to do."
"But what if she says no? What if I end up scaring her off? What if-"
"Don't go looking for problems Li; just do what you know you need to do."
Taking a deep breath, Li walked over to Sakura, who had just said goodbye to the last guest.
"Uh, Sakura?"
"Yes Li?"
"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
Meanwhile, Kero was busy finishing off the last of the leftover pudding. He stopped, however, when he noticed that Sakura and Li were having some sort of conversation. Judging from the look on Sakura's face, whatever Li was saying to her had come as a bit of a surprise. Kero perked up his ear to try and hear what they were talking about. He was only able to catch the last little bits of it though.
"You're serious, aren't you?"
"It's been a tradition in my family for generations. I take all of our traditions very seriously."
"But aren't we kinda, well, you know, too young?"
"I don't mean right now. But someday, when we're old enough, and unless one of us finds someone else, then we would. I once made a similar promise to Meilin, yet I never really gave it my full commitment. But I really want it to be different with us and to show you I'm sincere-"
Li then lead Sakura into another room and closed the door. This had really caught Kero's curiosity and the small Guardian Beast flew up to the door and put his ear to it. Unfortunately, Kero couldn't make out what was being said.
'What's goin' on in there?' Kero wondered. 'What are they up to?'
Kero shouldn't have been so close to the door because when Sakura and Li finally came out, the door swung back and Kero was smacked into the wall!
"Oyyyy, down I go..." groaned Kero as he fell to the ground.
Yelan approached Sakura, who was now wearing a very happy smile. "Well Sakura, I suppose I'd better make arrangements to have you sent home. Should I book one seat on the plane or two?"
"Two seats of course," Sakura replied. "After all, Li's coming back with me."
Yelan looked over at her son. "Is that so Li?"
"Yes mom. I still believe I should be around in case Sakura needs me."
It was then that Yelan noticed a shiny gold ring on Sakura's finger that had not been there before.
"Well okay Li," Yelan said. "If you think that's best."
Sakura and Li both exchanged grins to each other and then scuttled off for bed. Yelan smiled. There was no doubt in her mind that one day Sakura would make a wonderful addition to the Showran family.
THE END?
Well that, as they say, is that. I hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'd say I did pretty well for my first CCS fic. I would definitely like to try my hand at a sequel. I don't know when I'll get around to it though. First I have to think of a story. I'm thinking, if at all possible, I'd like to do a story that has something to do with Ms. Mackenzie (or "Kaho" or whatever you want to call her). I may be some time before I write again (in fact, I've been known to go months without writing a fic) but if you would like me to contact you when I'm finally ready to do another fic, I'll be happy to do so.
Toodles.