Chapter 12- Always (redone.)

Sakura woke up with a start. She looked around and found herself in The Governor's house; she could hear whispers coming from the room next to her.

"Er, how many people knew about this?"
Silence.
"Er, well, this is a very strange turn of events, er, Tokio, back in Japan, what would you do?"

"It is, depending on the circumstances, we would kill the person in question."
Sakura gasped and felt tears well up in her eyes.

'They're going to kill me?'

She slumped back down on the bed and buried her face in the pillow. She could hear shouts coming from the other room, then she heard the door open and it went silent.

After a few minutes, Sakura heard the door open softly. Feet slowly shuffled to the side of her bed and she felt someone sitting down next to her. Their breathing was deep and it seemed like they had been crying or something.

"Sakura." Syaoran breathed softly.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked up at Syaoran. His eyes were a little red and the usual warm amber was gone. His eyes looked empty now.

"I heard what they said." Sakura said blankly.

Syaoran hung his head and wiped his nose. Then he looked up at her, determination filling his eyes.

"We'll run away!" He said. " We can go in the night!"

He grabbed Sakura's wrist and attempted to pull her up, but she refused to move. Syaoran knelt down beside her.

"Sakura, come on." He begged. She sat there and looked up at him.

"I, I can't Syaoran." She said weakly.

"Please." "His voice was full of desperation.

"No Syaoran." She said firmly. "I broke the law, I must suffer the consequences."

Syaoran's eyes started to fill with tears and he bowed his head, putting it on Sakura's lap.

She stroked his hair and whispered soothing things to him as he wept freely for the first time since Sakura had met him.

Finally, he lifted his head and looked Sakura straight in the eyes. He took her into a big hug.

"I'll never leave you Sakura." He whispered as she returned the hug.

"I know Syaoran." She replied.

And they stayed like that for hours, until two men came to take Sakura away.

Still with Syaoran's hand in hers, they walked to the town centre. After that, Syaoran had to leave her.

The Governor looked stiff as he addressed the town.

"My fellow villagers, today we are to condemn a girl who has impersonated a man. We have discussed for hours on end and a conclusion has been made."

He looked sadly at his son and Syaoran's eyes widened.

"She must face the penalty of death."

A silence swept over the whole village. All eyes turned toward Sakura, who stood alone in the middle of everyone. No emotion showed on her face as The Governor announced her punishment. She looked at Satou, his eyes were full of tears, and so were all the Japanese boy's eyes. Meilin was weeping silently, Yelan stood proud as usual but she had bags under her eyes. She looked at Sakura and nodded, showing Sakura how proud she was of her. The Governor was pale faced and it looked like he hadn't shaved for days. Syaoran was whiter than anyone, tears were flowing down his face and he opened his mouth to say something. Sakura shook her head and he closed his mouth.

"We will give you a few moments to say your goodbyes." The Governor stated, breaking the silence.
****

Everyone was quiet as they all stood in the middle of the Village.

Sakura had said goodbye to all her dearest friends, Syaoran stood there, refusing to talk to her.

She stepped up onto a big platform of wood that had been placed there as she was talking with her friends.

A man stood behind her with her sword in his hands, he was sharpening it.

Sakura stood tall and proud as The Governor asked her if she wanted to say anything.

"I'm sorry I tried to be a man. I could've gone down another path, I could still be in Japan, but I chose this path and I'm glad, I'm glad I met you all."

The Governor was looking even rougher than a few minutes ago. Sakura knew this was hard on him, he was a good man but the law had to be obeyed.

"Don't worry Governor." Sakura said, smiling. "It's not your fault."

He smiled weakly as the man behind Sakura poised the sword.

Syaoran came running out of the crowds, yelling.

"Sakura! Sakura! Please don't go! I love you!" He shouted, running towards the platform.

"I love you too Syaoran! Always!" She shouted back. " Don't be sad!"
As Syaoran reached the steps of the platform, he saw Sakura's eyes widen. He gasped as he saw the blade pass straight through her chest. He stopped half way up the steps and watched as the bright emerald of Sakura's eyes dimmed, her face was pale and blood trickled down onto the floor. The man took the blade out in one motion and Sakura dropped to the floor, pale and motionless.

Syaoran ran straight up to her, he caught her and he fell over onto the hard wooden floor. He stroked her face, it was cold, her eyes were still wide open but all life had vanished from them. Syaoran pressed his face against her dead body and cried.

Everyone was silent as he cried into his beloved Cherry Blossom. He would never let her go. Never.

*****

The Governor stepped into his son's room. Two years had passed. Sakura's body had been taken back to Japan and Syaoran was finger a purple and gold handkerchief he had found in Sakura's kimono sleeve.

"Syaoran, you know we've been talking about marriage lately." His father started. Syaoran turned and growled. The Governor backed out.

*****(The Bit I've redone)

Syaoran died in his sleep. He was eighty-four years old and was still a bachelor when he passed on. He had been ill for a couple of weeks and everyone could see he was going to die. Satou, who had stayed in the village with Meilin instead of going back to Japan, had stayed by Syaoran's bedside and said that Syaoran had whispered Sakura's name with his last breath. They buried him in the wheat fields.

*****Modern Day Tokyo*****

Xiao Lang threw the tennis ball up into the air; it came back down with a thud in his small hands. Five-year-old Xiao Lang was on a trip with his parents to Tokyo, his Father was some sort of Chinese representative and they often made trips around the world. Xiao Lang was nearly always lonely, but he never showed it, his parents had too much to worry about to hear about how lonely he was. He sat in the middle of a grassy park, playing by himself.

Xiao Lang also had another secret, he'd never told a living soul about it, not even his favourite teddy bear. Sometimes, at least twice a month, he'd have strange dreams. He dreamt that he was a boy living in Ancient China; the boy resembled him quite a lot, chocolate brown hair and cold amber eyes. The boy he dreamt about was lonely too, his village was under attack from a murderous mob and his father, the Governor, was dropping hints about him getting married. But one day, the boy met a girl and they fell in love, even though it was difficult as she had some sort of hidden identity. Sometimes, if Xiao Lang was having a bad day, he'd have nightmares of the girl dying and he'd wake up with a start, sweating and crying, like the dream had been real.

Xiao Lang sighed and tossed the ball into the air again. Dreams weren't real, no matter how real they seem. As he went to catch it, it bounced off the palm of his hand and went rolling to the other side of the park.

The ball landed near a pair of white shoes.

Xiao Lang ran after the ball and knelt down to pick it up. He stood up and came face to face with a girl. She was around the same age as him, maybe a little younger and she giggled as his eyes widened.
She looked almost exactly the same as the girl in his dreams.

Xiao Lang felt his cheeks burning up and he muttered a sorry, the girl giggled again.

"You look lonely ne?" She said.

Xiao Lang nodded slightly.

"Well.why don't you come play with me? I'm by myself too so I could use some company!"

Xiao Lang looked up at the girl, she had short auburn hair with two bangs at the front on either side and her eyes were a lively emerald green, Xiao Lang stared at her for a few seconds. She noticed him staring and cocked her head to the side.

"What are you staring at?" She asked playfully.

"Uh, uh, n.nothing!" Xiao Lang mumbled, averting his eyes again.

The girl mover closer to Xiao Lang and he blushed a deep red, she looked him up and down and put her finger on her chin.

"You look familiar." She stated, after a few minutes of contemplating. "Have I met you before?"

"I-I-I." Xiao Lang stuttered.

The girl suddenly clapped her hands together and squealed.

"You look like the boy in my dreams!" She said, jumping up and down.

Xiao Lang stared at her. Did she have the same dreams as him? She looked so much like the girl in his dreams.

The girl reached out her hand.

"I'm Ying Fa!" She said, Xiao Lang took her hand and shook it.

"Xiao Lang." He said.
"Teehee, my name's not exactly Ying Fa! It's the Chinese version!" She giggled excitedly.

"Wha?" Xiao Lang was getting pretty confused with this crazy girl.

"Well.I've noticed that you're Chinese! And daddy taught me my name in Chinese! Cool ne? Soooo, I thought it would be easier if you called me by my Chinese name as you're Chinese!"

It took Xiao Lang a few moments to process all that information as Ying Fa had a habit of talking VERY fast. He blinked a few times and nodded.

"So what's your real name?" He asked, trying to make conversation, he wasn't very good around people, especially mad, sugar-high girls who looked like people from his dreams.

"My name is Sakura!" She yelled, dancing around Xiao Lang. She stopped and smiled at him.

"You wanna come play with me?"

For the first time in years, Xiao Lang genuinely smiled; he nodded as Ying Fa grabbed his hand and led him away to the sand box.
He didn't know exactly who she was, but he was really starting to like her.
***OWARI***

There! And I'm NOT doing another ending! So if you don't get this one.TOUGH! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I hope you understand this ending as my fingers hurt again! If you understand it, either I'm a bad writer, or you're crappy readers!

-Ducks from the flying rotten tomatoes-

Okay Okay, I'm a bad writer! IS THAT SO WRONG?! I still need to think of an Inu Yasha plot. Ideas anyone? Please! I'm desperate! Anyway, constructive criticism-yes Mean horrible things-nooooo. Ok? Until next time.

Ja Ne!

Sakura Clover ^.^

.