" " – Speaking
' ' – Thoughts
Chapter 1- From Hate to Love
~*~ Sixteen Years Later ~*~
"Good luck marrying her off!" yelled Prince Yang as he walked to his carriage.
King Fujitaka sighed in his chair as another suitor for his daughter left again, in a hustle. 'That was the fifteenth suitor for her in just two months. When will she understand that I am doing this for her own good?'
"You wanted to see me father?" came a voice from the other side of the room.
"Yes Touya, I did. Prince Yang has left and we are running out of time for her. Why must she be so stubborn sometimes?" said King Fujitaka.
They were both silent for a while until Touya thought about the prince from the Li kingdom. He heard that they were good rulers and treated everyone as one, except for the prince. He was a cold person from what he heard and had turned down just as many suitors as his sister had.
"What about…that brat from the Li kingdom?" Touya asked, walking up to his father.
"Hmm, that reminds me. Sakura and Syaoran have not meet yet and they are suppose to for some reason, but it has been so long that I can't seem to remember," King Fujitaka said with a twinkle in his eye. "Send the messenger here for me would you, Touya?"
"Yes father," said Touya, turning around to go get the messenger for him.
"I still say that Prince Yang was a good suitor for you, Sakura. He was kind of better than all the others though if I do say so myself," said Tomoyo, Princess Sakura's best friend.
"I think so to Tomoyo, but there was just something about him that I didn't like. Besides, I don't want to marry just because I have to," said Sakura, looking up at the cherry tree they were sitting underneath. "I want to marry because I want to for love."
"I'm sure that you will find that special someone soon and it will be love at first sight!" said Tomoyo, looking over at her friend.
"Yeah, you're probably right. But my father and Touya keep on pressuring me and that was the fifteenth suitor in just two months! I know they love me, but do they want to get rid of me that quickly?" Sakura asked, still starring up at the cherry tree.
"Sakura, you know that it's not true! They love you and they just want the best for you," Tomoyo said as a servant girl came into the garden.
"Princess Sakura and Princess Tomoyo, King Fujitaka has called for you two to meet him in his study," said the servant girl as she bowed to them both.
"Sarah, you know that you don't have to bow to us and call us so formally. Sakura and Tomoyo is fine for us," Sakura said, standing up and smoothing her pink dress.
"I know, but habits die hard Princ…Sakura," Sarah said as she turned around and left.
'Hmm, I wonder what father wants to talk to us about? Hopefully its not another suitor.' Thought Sakura as she and Tomoyo started to walk out of the garden.
~*~ One Week Later ~*~
"Syaoran, when will you learn that you can not be treating the princesses this way? That is the twelfth one this month and your birthday will be coming up soon. You will be turning twenty in just a few months and you need to pick a bride by then or I will pick one for you," Queen Yelan said from the Li kingdom.
"Yes mother, I understand. But why must the girls that come here be all snobby self-centered girls that only care about riches and their title," Syaoran asked, as he looked at his mother.
Queen Yelan looked at her son and sighed. She knew that her son deserved better than all of those other princesses that have been coming, but they were all his age and the ones that were older, he disliked them. She couldn't find one that was suitable enough for him.
"Queen Yelan, there is a messenger from the Kinomoto kingdom that has a message from King Fujitaka. Should I send him in?" asked the servant as he waited by the doors of the throne room.
"Yes please, Philip," Queen Yelan said, wondering what he had to say in his message.
"May I be dismissed now, mother? Eriol is only staying here for about a month or two and I would like to catch up with my cousin," Syaoran said, hoping his mother would say 'yes'.
"Of course."
"Thank you," he said, turning around a leaving, wondering whom King Fujitaka is and where the Kinomoto kingdom was.
"I thought that your mother was going to be keeping you in there all day, lecturing you on how to treat a princess," Eriol said as he saw Syaoran walk up to him.
"…"
"So, whats up?" Eriol asked, walking up to him.
"Do you know who the Kinomoto's are?" Syaoran asked, as he passed Eriol and walked towards the study.
"Hmm, the name sure does sound familiar…why?" Eriol asked, trying to keep pace with him.
"I've never heard of them before and I'm curious to know whom they are and what they have to do with us," Syaoran said as he opened the doors and went inside.
Eriol was quiet as he tried to remember while Syaoran went to a spot and pulled out a dusty old book with all the kingdoms in it. As he opened the book, Eriol went up to him and looked over his shoulder. They must have spent an hour or two in there till they found a book with the Kinomoto kingdom in it.
"Hmm, I still don't remember this kingdom and its people. King Fujitaka seems to be the one that is ruling the kingdom right now," Syaoran said as he flipped through the pages.
"King Fujitaka? Now I remember. He has a son, Prince Touya and a daughter, Princess Sakura. They are very kind and care for their people dearly. As far as I can remember, they have never gone to war with anyone. They help out both sides and try to stay neutral, which they have for some time," Eriol said, looking up from the pages and at his cousin.
Syaoran looked at Eriol then back at the pages on the book. He remembered his mother telling him something about the princess from the Kinomoto kingdom and how she was suppose to come over here so they could meet one another. 'I hope that the letter that King Fujitaka sent wasn't because of that,' thought Syaoran, as he sighed and closed the book.
~*~ Three Weeks Later ~*~
"I can't believe that I'm doing this," Sakura said as she sat in her carriage with Tomoyo.
"Don't worry it so much Sakura," Tomoyo said, looking up at her.
"But Touya told me that he is really old and a very cruel person to others. I don't think that I want to meet someone like that," Sakura said as she gazed out the window.
"Sakura, Touya was only exaggerating when he said that to you. He's only going to be turning twenty in a few weeks and you will be turning sixteen in three months. I don't see nothing wrong with this," Tomoyo said, looking at her friend.
Sakura was a slim girl with shoulder length honey gold hair and clear emerald eyes that twinkled when she laughed with her friends and those she loved. She wasn't tall, but she wasn't short either. She had creamy white skin and was very athletic and happy. She loved to fence and hand to hand combat and even though she was a nice girl, she had a quick mouth that sometimes got her into trouble with her father because of her suitors. She was wearing a light green dress that had long baggy sleeves and went down past her feet.
"I hope you're right Tomoyo. I don't feel like staying there for six months and be bored to death," said Sakura as she looked at Tomoyo.
She, like Sakura, was a slim girl with dark hair that went to the middle of her back and amethyst eyes. She wasn't tall, but she was an inch or two taller than Sakura. She had creamy white skin and loved to make dresses for herself and Sakura, along with a few others that were around the palace. She also had a quick mouth that sometimes got her into trouble as well with her suitors. She was wearing a light purple dress that was the same as Sakura's, but had short sleeves instead of long baggy ones.
"So, are you nervous about this?" Tomoyo asked, smoothing out her skirt.
"A little. For once, I have to be the one to go see my suitor and it takes about a week to get there. I really don't want to do this though, Tomoyo. I don't want to be engaged to someone that I don't know," Sakura said, looking back out the window.
"Umm, Sakura…I…"
"What is it, Tomoyo?" asked Sakura, as she started to get worried since Tomoyo hardly ever stuttered and wasn't really ever nervous.
"I'm…engaged," Tomoyo said, hoping that Sakura wouldn't over react like she knew that she would.
"…ENGAGED!!! Tomoyo that's wonderful! Why didn't you tell me before?!" Sakura said, moving towards Tomoyo to give her a hug.
" Well, I wasn't sure if you would be happy for me or displeased for agreeing to this," Tomoyo said, hugging Sakura back.
"To who?" Sakura asked as she let Tomoyo go and sat back down.
"Eriol from the Hiiragazawa kingdom, who happens to be Prince Syaoran's cousin," Tomoyo said.
"WHAT?!"
~*~ Li Kingdom ~*~
"Prince Syaoran and Prince Eriol, Queen Yelan has sent for you," said a servant as he saw them.
"Thank you Philip," Syaoran said, wondering what his mother wanted to talk to him about now.
"You know, the Kinomoto princess is going to be here today. Wonder what she looks like…" Eriol said as he hurried to keep up with him.
"Eriol, aren't you engaged to a princess?" Syaoran asked, as he pretended not to here the question.
"Well…yes, I am," Eriol said as his checks turned a hint of pink.
"Do you at least know what her name is?" Syaoran asked as he turned to his cousin and saw how his checks were turning pink to red.
"Princess Tomoyo of the Daidouji kingdom," he said, turning his face away.
"Eriol, are you blushing?" Syaoran asked as he smirked at him.
"Well at least I've already seen my bride to be," Eriol said as he quickened his pace to get to the throne room and away from Syaoran's questions and comments.
'Yeah, at least you have and you probably already love her,' Syaoran said to himself as he took his time to think about what would happen when she got here.
Thank you for reviewing and please keep on reviewing! I'll take anything! I'll be updating just about every day, so please keep on reviewing and reading! - Bluepiper J