Chapter 11-Nakuru
There was no doubt that Yue is getting weaker, poor thing! He kept his eye on Syaoran at all times. It was a strange bond between those two-for Syaoran never felt annoyed by all the fuss. He was very understanding.
After receiving the help from the wizards, we were all very much assured. Syaoran seemed to be relieved from most of the tension.
Time came for Xuyan to leave. And the two boys really did become close to brothers.
" Take care of yourself Syaoran." Xuyan smiled as he started to board the bus. "
And don't forget, on the next competition I'm going to beat you!"
" No way!" Syaoran's face broke out into a smile. " Because at that time I'll be
better than ever!"
The two boys laughed, as one departed. Syaoran waved.
We had all expected to see Xuyan again someday. Perhaps we will. But there was great hope. After all, with the help of the wizards, how could things turn bad? And with this promise of good fortune, Syaoran and Sakura went on their first date.
It was sooo kawaii! During the school year Syaoran was busy worrying about homework and managing to stay awake at school. Now with all that pressure off he could finally earn the chance to love someone. It was so nice and thoughtful of Syaoran to bring Sakura to his little special place. Although...he wouldn't tell me what it is. And neither would Sakura.
I guess it is one of their more private moments. Ones they get to share alone under the night sky, or something like that.
This summer, however, was worse than last year, and just being out would
roast you completely.
So there was not much to do. Eriol, went back to England. It was a lot cooler
there, of course. We enjoyed it.
George went over to Syaoran's one time, as Sakura wrote in her letter. He popped up as Syaoran was practicing his cello.
" Gyah! How did you do that?" Syaoran yelled.
" Shh!" George hushed. " I wasn't supposed to be here."
" Oh, right." Syaoran nodded.
" What's going on?" Sakura blinked. " Who's he? Oh, George?"
" That is one super nice cello!" George smiled. " Can I try?"
" You know how to play?" Syaoran asked.
" A little." George blushed. " I stopped several years ago. My cello stinks. I switched
to violin."
" Did you get one of those Italian ones?"
" Italian ones? Those are nice, I guess, but not nice as mine" George smirked. " Can
I just try it?"
Now Eriol was very happy. After about...two years, less actually, but anyway,
more than one year of being stuck with that cursed piano of his in Tomoeda he
could finally play something good without worrying over popped strings and
creaking pedals. Something like ' Pathetique' could have quite punished the piano
and given it a beating, but on something like the piano he has now, which was a B
piano, Six foot something, it actually sounded quite nice. The Czerny, as always, was
boring. The scales? Forget it. So all Suppi and I really listen to now is Beethoven's '
Pathetique', ( which I think is pronounced patheteek, not pathetic,) Chopin's '
Revolutionary', and one of Prokofiev's ' The Young Juliet' from our little
Shakespeare couple. To which, of course, we joked about the whole entire thing,
calling Sakura the Juliet Capulet-or was it Montague? And poor Romeo! But at least
none of them would die-
I hope.
About a week later, we received a desperate letter from Sakura-chan.
Dear Eriol-san, Kaho-san, Nakuru-san, Spinel-san,
The wizards tried to create a potion to help Syaoran heal. I handed them all my cards. But Syaoran grew worse. Try as we might we couldn't help him. Just last week we were at the park, and Syaoran yelled in pain, then started screaming, clutching his chest. Yue and I ran over and tried to calm him, but he simply wailed ' it hurts, it hurts', and then he began hallucinating, calling for Meiling-san and Li-san. It has been going on for days now. I don't know what to do. Can you help me?
Love,
Sakura
Eriol read the letter and sighed, taking his glasses to polish them. Then he read the letter over again to himself. Kaho stood next to me with a sad expression.
" Twelve years." Eriol sighed. " Twelve years. He is twelve years old. And now the
disease is taking its toll."
" What exactly is going on right now?" Kaho asked.
" He's seeing things." Eriol sighed. " Pain in the chest. Soon he'll be in so much pain
he'll be paralyzed. And I don't know what to do. That's what Sakura wants: my
help. But..."
" How did it happen?" I asked.
" How did it happen?" Eriol echoed weakly. " Ignorance and Confidence, Ruby
Moon. We forgot he was sick or thought that his chances of healing are completely
possible. We forgot that he could die. We were so sure he would be cured." There
were tears in his eyes. " It's too late." He whispered, and there was a sign of a sob in
his voice. " It's too late. We're going to lose him."
We did not answer the letter Sakura wrote to us, nor the next. We did not
answer Yue's letter. Nor Touya's. Because it seemed from that first note that Eriol
had realized that all hope was gone. And all the way here in England, there's really
nothing we can do.
Days passed. The sun rose and setted. Syaoran's distant aura grew fainter by
each hour, by each day.
I remembered how it all began. It had all started on the day of our graduation. Touya was dumping that water all over his head when Syaoran had a tiny pain attack, which had gotten them all wet and ruined Tomoyo's umbrella. And then there was a phone call that had Syaoran go back to Hong Kong, and we followed. Then there was Yue, revealing to be his father. And the herbs, the whole reason why Syaoran was so cold, so hard and so arrogant. All in the effort to protect himself. The reason he never got the Clow Cards. His talent at playing the cello-it was just last year. And then came Xuyan, the night when Syaoran was tricked into drinking almost pure alcohol, and then unable to control his magic, the auras began fighting each other outside of his body. His family died. His aunt and uncle died. Meiling died. And I remember how he had agreed to come with his father to Japan. And the two had grown so close. I remember how he had lost a lot of spirit for a while, before Sakura's accident. Sakura died. And we all ignored him, hating him, hating ourselves, hating everyone. It was too much for Syaoran. He ran away to his old apartment to hide. And after five days, Yukito found him again. How happy he was! And how happy I was, to see those two together again. Then came the three sorcerors, who tried to help him but failed. The day when Sakura came back with such a large price, but it seemed worth it. Syaoran had again given up, exhausted and tired. Yue took him out one night, and Syaoran was able to hover in the air, or glide with the wind. And that night brought back his spirits and his will to live. The cave of prophecies, which showed Syaoran and all of us. School. Syaoran and the soccer team. His admission into the best junior high school. The cave. His strength failing. Yue's strength failing. The wizards. The dead. The Great Dragon.
After one whole year it all just seemed unworthy. Having losing Syaoran after going through so much. After him going through all those long years, drinking bitter herb juices every day. Watching others as he sat out, because he couldn't last long enough. Having to depend on everyone else.
It just seemed so unfair...