AN: Hey everyone! I'm soooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating. to tell you the truth I've been extremely busy and in really small voice a bit lazy. ok not a bit - a lot. but you forgive me right? Right? looks around for fans Wait - is that one? Oh. It's just a janitor or something. once again, many many apologies for not updating sooner. On with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. slow and painful torture every time I have to say it. what do you want from me?
Always & Forever
Legends, Arguments and the Storm
"Ouuu, it's so pretty!" exclaimed Sakura; her eyes opened wide in wonder and excitement as she gazed out at the sparkling water. The group of friends had finally gotten out of Sherblue woods and was now crossing the Tenshi Lake.
"Careful, you don't want to fall in, now do you?" Syaoran told her. She was leaning over the banister and although she looked absolutely adorable, he still felt nervous that she was leaning over so much. Beside Sakura stood Meilin and on her other side was Tomoyo. Syaoran stood next to Meilin and Eriol next to Tomoyo. Sakura turned to Meilin, a childlike look in her emerald eyes.
"Meilin, why is it called the Tenshi Lake?" Sakura asked. Meilin's eyes seemed to falter just a little. Sakura got confused. "Gomen ne, did I say something wrong?" Sakura asked, getting a bit worried.
"No, you didn't say anything wrong," Meilin said, her voice betraying her words. She looked at Sakura. "I just don't feel all that great, I think because we're on the ship and all." Meilin mumbled quietly. "I think I'm going to go inside and rest for a while." With that she left and Syaoran looked at her, he wanted to go after her but knew that wouldn't be a good idea. Sakura saw the concerned look on his face, and she heard Tomoyo sigh. What aren't they telling me.she thought.
"Would you like to know what happened?" Syaoran suddenly asked, turning back to the water, his eyes focused on it. Sakura nodded and waited for him to continue. "There's a legend about this lake. There was this couple, a girl named Kari and a guy named T.K. (AN: Hehehe, I know, I know, I totally suck but oh well.) and they were completely in love with one another. They had left their families to be together; they were on a ship crossing this exactly Lake. At the time the Lake didn't have a name.
"One night, T.K. and Kari were outside on the deck talking when they noticed the weather. It seemed like there was going to be a storm and they were right; it was as if some powerful force of magic caused this storm. It hard and fast and they started walking back inside - or trying to anyway. They were trying to get to safety when a huge wave hit the ship and Kari fell into the raging water, and she couldn't even swim so the angry waves didn't make it any better for her. Without a moment's hesitation, T.K. was in the water trying to save her. She was knocked out unconscious.
"When she woke up she found herself in a room with many strange faces staring at her. She looked around for T.K., hoping to find his familiar face but she couldn't find him. She demanded to know where he was, and when she mentioned his name a few of the people started crying. One woman came and sat down next to Kari. She explained to her that when T.K. had gone in the water after Kari, he had managed to save her, but . he didn't survive.
"Kari was - there was no way to describe it. She couldn't believe it and ran out of the room onto the deck. It's said that when she did, the sun started shining so brightly and them she smiled. She then jumped over the railing into the water. The other people on the ship swore that they saw the happy couple together shining in the light, and they heard T.K. call Kari 'Tenshi', which he had always called her." Syaoran stopped and looked at the others. Sakura looked so sad, her eyes full of tears; same with Tomoyo. Tomoyo looked up at Eriol and suddenly hugged him tightly, and he hugged her back just as tight.
Sakura sniffed and looked at her friend and suddenly felt even worst. She wanted to be held like that.but knew better than to expect that. She suddenly left without saying a single word to anyone and ran off somewhere on the other side of the deck. She ran and finally stopped in a deserted area and managed to calm herself down.
"Sakura!" she heard someone call out her name. She shook her head, thinking that she was just imaging who just called her. "Sakura!" Came the voice again. She looked up to see Syaoran coming towards her, a worried expression on his face.
"Syaoran? What are you doing here?" She asked him, confused.
"I came to see if you were all right," he told her. He stood in front of her and she looked down. She didn't know it would be this hard to not look at him. it hurt so much. And if she did look at him it would still hurt.
"I'm ok now." She told him softly, still not looking at him. "It was just such a sad story," she told him.
"It is, but they ended up being together in the end, didn't they?" he told her. She looked up at his face and immediately at once got lost in his amber eyes. Syaoran stood there mesmerized, just staring at her; the way her hair flew across her face when the salty wind blew and it took every bit of strength he had to not reach out and move the few strands of hair that were there.
"Yes, they did," she said softly, her gaze never leaving his. How can she get me to be like this? He asked himself.
"Syaoran!" someone called him. At once their gaze broke and they both looked in the direction of the person calling. He didn't want to leave, especially when she was like this, but he had to.
"Are you going to be ok?" He asked her, still worried. Sakura nodded her head and gave him a smile, not trusting her voice at the moment. He hesitated for a moment, and then he turned and hurried towards the person who was calling him. Sakura turned back and stared towards the rippling water.
"Sakura?" A voice called out to her. She turned around and was surprised to see Meilin there.
"Meilin?" Sakura said, a bit startled. "What are you doing here? I thought you were sick and weren't feeling well." Meilin smiled slightly at how dense her friend was (AN: not in a bad way or anything just to let you know). Meilin said nothing but she walked and stood next to Sakura.
"It's pretty, isn't it?" Meilin said, half dazed. Sakura looked at her and nodded, a bit worried about her friend's reaction. "You know, Syaoran and I were suppose to be on a cruise crossing this Lake for our honeymoon." Meilin said quietly, her gaze never leaving the water.
"Hoe?" Sakura said unexpectedly. She had forgotten that Meilin and Syaoran were to get married. Then she noticed something else. "What do you mean, 'suppose'?" She asked. Meilin looked at Sakura, her smile sad.
"I called off our engagement," Meilin said softly, tears filling her eyes. Sakura felt sympathetic towards her and put her arm around the girl, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of hope that had suddenly grown inside her.
"But why?" Sakura asked and Meilin actually giggled, leaving Sakura very confused.
"Because he didn't love me the way I loved him," she replied. "He's in love with someone else." Sakura was shocked and when Meilin saw this, she hid a smile. Sakura felt her newfound hope disappear slowly.
"Who?" Sakura found herself asking, then turned red.
"I don't think I should tell you, I don't want Syaoran to get mad at me," Meilin told her. "But believe me, I really, really would like to tell you." Sakura smiled at her friend warmly.
"That's ok, I'm sure that Syaoran wouldn't like the idea of you telling me either, although it would have been fun to tease him about the girl he likes," Sakura said giggling, Meilin along with her. If you only knew how much fun, Meilin thought still laughing. "Are you ok though?" Sakura asked her seriously. Meilin shrugged.
"I'll be ok, it's just really hard, you know. Part of me knew that he never really would love me, but once he's happy I'm happy," she explained. Sakura nodded, not knowing what to say about what Meilin had said.
"Don't worry, Meilin, you'll find someone," Sakura told her. "What you did was a very brave and noble thing. You should be proud of yourself." Meilin smiled fully at her friend, feeling a bit better knowing she had done the right thing. Meilin looked behind Sakura as she heard footsteps coming towards them and wasn't surprised to see Syaoran with a worried look on his face. Sakura looked back to find him there and smiled at him. Syaoran looked from Meilin to Sakura and Sakura to Meilin.
"Uh, am I interrupting something?" he asked slowly. Meilin shook her head. "No, you weren't. But maybe we should get back to the Tomoyo and Eriol before they freak out," Meilin suggested, and as she said that both Syaoran and Sakura started sniggering. "What?" Meilin asked confused.
"Oh, its just that maybe we shouldn't go back just yet," Sakura said, now giggling wildly.
"They might be enjoying their time together, we wouldn't want to intrude or anything," Syaoran said, and when they looked at each other - they both started laughing. Meilin shook her head, still with a confused look on her face.
"I don't wanna know," She said as they all walked inside to get something to eat and Syaoran and Sakura still laughing. Sakura stopped in her tracks and groaned. "Hoe! I forgot to get Kero some food - he's gonna kill me!" she said as she ran back to her room leaving Syaoran and Meilin together.
"Did you tell her yet?" Meilin asked Syaoran making him turn bright red. "No," he grumbled. Meilin sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I'd hurry up if I were you," she said suddenly. He looked at her, a bit alarmed and his eyes questioning. "There are other guys in this world and she is very pretty, so don't wait too long." She added. Syaoran followed her gaze and felt his temperature rise. There was this guy who was flirting with Sakura, making her laugh. His Sakura. He found himself walking towards them and Sakura looked surprised to see him there, and a bit scared because of the look he had on his face. He glared angrily at the guy in front of her (AN: love his death stare.didn't I already say that?).
"I thought you were going to your room, Sakura," he said coldly, his eyes never leaving the guy. The guy gulped and said something about having to leave and left as quickly as he could.
"Why did you do that for?" Sakura said, sounding a bit annoyed. She enjoyed talking to that guy, he was very funny. Syaoran looked at her in surprise. "The guy was flirting with you!" He said, his voice mixed with shock and anger. Sakura looked at him strangely.
"No, we were just talking," she told him. "And why should that bother you anyway?" She added lowly under her breath thinking about how he loved another girl, then she realized what she had just said. She shouldn't have gotten angry over something like that, was she - jealous? She resisted the urge to shake her head, that was impossible, to be jealous of some girl she didn't know. She also didn't know that he heard.
"You know what, you're right. I shouldn't even care, you can certainly look after yourself." He replied his voice icy and he turned and left her there, shocked and a bit hurt all by herself.
"Wow, it's suddenly very cold," Tomoyo said shivering. Eriol put his arms around her, as Tomoyo gave him a grateful smile. They were both outside staring up into the dark blue sky. After Syaoran had left them to chase after Sakura they both went to get to get something to eat; that's when they met up with not only Sakura and Syaoran, but also Meilin who seemed happier. But they couldn't say the same for Sakura and Syaoran; they spent the whole afternoon not saying a single word to each other. Both of them were miserable, but they didn't notice that about each other. They spent the rest of the day together and after the sun had gone down they split up again.
"Do you think Sakura's ok?" Tomoyo asked suddenly, breaking the comforting silence that surrounded her and Eriol. Eriol sighed and thought for a second.
"I'm sure she'll be ok. We don't even know what happened, maybe it was just a misunderstanding." He replied to her.
"I know," she said sighing. "But it's not like Sakura to not say anything to anyone for a whole afternoon, especially if she likes him." Tomoyo paused and turned red; she had just left out her friends' secret. Eriol chuckled into her ear.
"It's quite obvious to everyone that they like each other - except for them," was all he said and she felt herself relax.
"I just hope that those two are going to be all right. I hate to see them this way," she said. "I know Sakura, whenever she's been in a situation where she had an argument with someone, she's always the first to talk to that person and settle it out. It's a bit strange she didn't go and talk to Syaoran right away to clear this."
"Don't worry about them, they'll be fine." Eriol said and that was the last thing they said to each other. That is - until they got interrupted by a person passing by.
"Um, I - oh, dear, I-, um, I'm sorry," the person mumbled to Tomoyo and Eriol. They turned towards the person who seemed quite embarrassed and they themselves turned red. "But the captain said that all passengers should get inside, there's a storm coming and all passengers will be safer inside." They nodded to the person and left the deck.
Sakura wondered around outside, wishing that she had brought her jacket with her. She didn't notice that the wind was lashing out, whipping her, the dark clouds, the thunder and lightning, or the angry waves hitting harshly against the ship, rocking it. She walked around with her dress moving with her. Ever since they had gotten out of the woods, Tomoyo suggested she wear skirts and dresses like the rest of the girls or she might start something, so she agreed. But her thoughts only on Syaoran and the argument they had earlier which had hurt her. She knew she had said something to offend him, but now he was ignoring her and pretending she wasn't there.
Suddenly the ship rocked deeply, causing her to crash into the railing and hurting her waist. She cried out in pain and for once noticed her surroundings; what the weather was like and that no one else was outside except for her. She felt her eyes widen in fear as saw the waves and she scrambled to get inside, tripping every now and then on her dress. Oh, stupid, stupid dress! She thought frantically.
Syaoran looked around, spotting different faces and heads but he still didn't see the bright emerald eyes he had been searching for. He saw Tomoyo, Eriol and Meilin coming towards him, each of their faces baring the same expression. He stared at their worried and frightened faces, and felt himself getting really tense.
"Syaoran," Tomoyo said, her voice strained and her violet eyes holding back tears. "We can't find Sakura anywhere! I don't know where she is. Did you see her anywhere?" Syaoran felt fear grow inside of him. "After we split up we figured she was with you and Meilin, but we found Meilin and she told us that you guys split up afterwards too. I'm so worried, we searched everywhere, but we still couldn't find her and I hope she isn't outside." Tomoyo's voice trembled with fear as she looked out one of the small windows to find the gloomy storm. The ship rocked violently making everyone fall down on his or her sides. Syaoran didn't wait for anyone or anything; he got up and made his way outside.
"Syaoran! Come back! It's too dangerous!" He heard someone call after him, but he wasn't paying attention. If Sakura was in danger, it was his fault; he shouldn't have gotten her upset. He opened the door to get outside on the deck and felt the wind push him back with powerful force. He clamped his teeth together and walked with effort out into the raging storm. He could barely see anything because of the rain and the wind, but he kept walking nonetheless on the deck trying to find her.
He suddenly heard a scream and knew right away that it was Sakura and he ran in the direction of the voice and her aura. He saw a small figure hanging tightly onto one of the railings, screaming and as he grew closer he actually heard what she was screaming and would have been in shock except he was only concentrating on saving her.
"Syaoran!" Sakura screamed as she felt herself starting to lose hold of her grip on the railing. Then somehow in front of her she saw Syaoran and she felt her tears starting to clear up, he was there and he would save her. He put his arms around her tightly and she held onto him just as tightly. Both of them starting walking back holding onto each other, facing the ferocious wind and rain. Syaoran felt Sakura's body shiver and heard her scream, her eyes locking on something ahead of them in fear. He followed the look and felt his own eyes grow wide. A huge wave was forming and was about to come down on them if they didn't get inside soon.
Both of them started running, but before they could reach, the huge wave came crashing down on them and he was now underwater but still on the ship. Syaoran felt Sakura being pulled away from him and fear rose inside of him. He stretched out his hands desperately trying to feel her, he looked around frantically trying to find her, but he couldn't see her. The water had somehow left the ship and Syaoran felt himself breathe in the air greedily, but within a second he was up looking for Sakura on the deck, which still contained some water.
Before he could do anything else another wave came crashing down on him, sending him flying back crashing against something hard. He felt pain radiate through his whole body but he still opened his eyes, trying to find Sakura. He heard another scream and he stood up quickly and just in time to see her going overboard into the roaring water. Without thinking he ran and jumped into the water after her. He swam around, trying to find her but he couldn't. He searched for her aura and felt it very weakly, and he knew she was underwater. He dived under the water and he saw something dimly and he went after it, knowing that it was her. He grabbed her and brought her up for air.
He swam trying to get nearer to the ship and when he was close enough, he grabbed on to one of the thick ropes. The next thing he knew he felt Sakura being lifted out of his arms and float above him. He looked up and saw Eriol focusing on her, and he knew that Eriol was trying to get her to safety. He watched until he saw Eriol had her and he saw another figure - Tomoyo and Meilin. They grabbed Sakura and he knew they were taking her inside. Eriol then focused on trying to get Syaoran up but another wave came crashing down and Syaoran felt his head hit hard against the ship and blackness surrounded him and his last thoughts were, She's safe now, that's all that matters.
AN: There, finished chapter 10! Wow, I'm actually on chapter 10? Hmm. I wonder how many chapters before I finish. starts mumbling and thinking. goes off into own little word. snaps back into reality Please, I'm always open for comments and reviews, let me know what you think (if you forgive me and aren't mad for taking so long!) Buh bye, I promise not to be so long for the next chapter!