Title: Once Upon A Time
Chapter: 3 - The Second Visit
By: Sparkling Crystal
"AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Sakura cried as she grabbed the reins of the wild galloping horse.
Syaoran was only a few meters away, but she was too occupied to notice.
She really wished that this was all a dream, all a nightmare…a few minutes and Wilma will be dragging her out of bed again…
"Sakura!?"
Syaoran gapped as he held out his sword and held it out at the wild horse that was coming his way. The horse raised its two front legs in surprise and shock as Sakura screamed with terror.
"Yume desu! Yume desu!" Sakura yelled uncontrollably.
Then White Beauty takes off to its right, causing Sakura to go off balance and flew right off the wild horse.
Syaoran dropped his sword and dashed for Sakura, as Sakura was about two inches above the ground Syaoran dived.
"Ahhhh!"
Syaoran grasped Sakura tightly, and the two rolled down the soft green hill. Finally they stopped as they got close to the lake, and Syaoran was on top of Sakura.
"S...Syaoran?!" Sakura finally looked at the person who had rescued her, "What are you doing here?"
"Ouch…" Syaoran moaned through gritted teeth.
Sakura slowly sat up, and she noticed that the side of Syaoran's shirt was torn and coloured in crimson red.
She hurriedly grabbed his arm and tried to roll up his sleeves, "Are you hurt?"
"Just...a little...it's no big deal..." Syaoran said stubbornly as he pulled his arm back, "Stop being such a worry-wart."
"Where are we anyways?" Sakura asked as she started to look around.
"This is...Naroays, see, the castle is just there - gaah -"
"No big deal my foot," Sakura said and went for his sleeves for the second time, "But how could you have gotten hurt so badly from just a little tumble down the hill?"
"You - be...be quiet," Syaoran shot back as he let Sakura roll his sleeves up this time.
"Stop trying to be so fierce," Sakura said plainly, "Everyone could tell that your arm is hurted badly and needs medication. I know you only got hurt because you tried to save me, so I guess..."
Syaoran was looking into her eyes. Sakura's face turned slightly red and looked down.
"Um…arigatou…" she muttered softly.
Syaoran looked at her again, and then slowly leaned forward and gently planted a kiss right on top of her lips. Sakura was a bit surprised at first, but then she kissed him back.
* * *
Knock, knock! …Knock, knock!
"Come in, come in!" The Queen said impatiently.
Syaoran slowly opened the door, and Sakura stood behind him looking at the floor.
The Queen moved her moon-shaped glassed around and looked at the bleeding Syaoran and the messed-up Sakura.
"What is THIS?" she asked in shock, "Did I not tell you that Princess Belle is coming to join us later for dinner?
"Um…"
Syaoran fidgeted with his shirt, "Sakura was…kind of riding along and somehow ended up here in Naroays, but then I scared her horse and it threw her off so I dived and - "
"And you heroically saved her, and now you would like her to stay with us for a night," The Queen said sarcastically.
Syaoran nodded uncomfortably.
"Well, the answer is no." The Queen said stubbornly, "If her wild horse is FAST enough to get here in such a jiffy, why can't she travel back the same way?"
Sakura looked down, Syaoran fidgeted some more, "Well…the horse ran off for one…plus that - "
Knock, knock!
"COME IN!" the Queen roared.
A servant stumbled nervously as he opened the door in terror. "I-I-the-Princess-horse-found-brought-" he trembled as he tried to say something.
"Good heavens! What are you trying to say?" The Queen growled in annoyance.
Syaoran and Sakura looked at each other.
The servant trembled even more, "The princess-the horse-I bring-"
"Is there NOT a useful servant around!?" the Queen shouted in frustration.
It seemed that the whole castle shook.
Sakura looked at Syaoran in a scared way, she had behaved in such a different manner at the other day. All the courage she had build up to come here flew away in mere two seconds.
Then another servant came in the room slowly and said, "Your Majesty, o my Great Honorable Queen, this, Stanley, is a new member of the staff and was terribly excited to see Your Magnificence, so hence could not act well. Please pardon him and forgive his sinful mistake!"
The Queen waved impatiently, "So what was the message?"
The old servant bowed low, "We would only want to humbly inform Your Majesty that Princess Sakura of Cherossyom's horse has been found and now kept at our stable."
The Queen nodded and waved again, "Very well, very well!"
The two servants hurriedly bowed and closed the door behind them.
The Queen looked at Syaoran, "Well?"
Syaoran looked at the servant hatefully, he just had to come at that time.
"Well…" he began, "The horse is probably very tired now…and Sakura need to change and all…"
The Queen shot a glance at Sakura, "Did I say she couldn't change and take a shower? There ARE other horses in this kingdom, you know. Simply have a carriage escort her back home, and we'll send her horse back when it has recovered."
Syaoran's head was boiling hot, he had no more ideas! "Um…but…"
DONG…DONG…DONG…DONG…DONG…
The Castle bell rang loudly and echoed throughout the halls, it was five o'clock.
It takes approximately at normal speed (not riding on a wild horse through a dangerous forest) 2 hours. If Sakura gets to slowly take up her time maybe she would last till six, and having to join them for dinner, ending till seven…perhaps a little problem with the tire of the royal carriage would hold up so while Sakura has nothing to do she'll join them for the Evening Dance which lasts till nine o'clock and then therefore too late to leave…for it is inappropriate for a young girl to be outside at such hour traveling.
But right now…he should come up with some excuses to hold up the time… Syaoran looked up at his mother, thinking what his mother would find as a good excuse. He finally said slowly, making it up on his way, "I'm sure Princess Sakura…would like to, spend her evening and night at our beautiful castle, to see the great and wondrous sites and all…"
Now he was almost copying the old servant, "After all, not many fortunate people are able to actually see the insides of our great structure, the history and many more passed down from generation to generation…"
The Queen glanced at him, it would be rude to send Sakura away now that he said all that, and Cherossyom is their neighbouring country. If Sakura had told her parents about how badly she acted towards her, there is great possibility that Cherossyom might start war on them, and that's no small deal at all.
A fake smile suddenly pasted over her face, "You're right, Syaoran. It would be such pity if Sakura never got to see our palace…why not join us for dinner too? It would only be seven o'clock when she leaves, you have plenty of time to show her around."
Syaoran nodded, as he had a plan in his head, but Sakura glanced at Syaoran shyly.
"C'mon, let's see if we can find a couple of dresses in here…"
To him, the greatest evening of his life was about to start.
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~*ARTHUR'S NOTE*~
Do you like this story? Do you? Do you? ^^ Please review, but if you don't like it...well, then don't review. Lol, just kidding. And in case anyone didn't understand, "Yume desu" from the beginning of the chapter pretty much means "This is a dream".