Part 4: There's Always a Miracle in a Story
My parents did the miracle of miracles those days after the English project. They were acting like best friends. They talked to each other, and then gradually started to tell each other secrets. They even started flirting!
No one knew this except for them, though. It didn't really matter anyways, because outside of the room, dad would hang out with The Dragons, and mommy with her girlfriends.
One day, that snobby Billie Jean started gossiping about the science and history projects. She went on and on about a field trip, and no one believed her until one morning the chaperons and teachers went around with loud, annoying bells. They stopped at every students' room and rang the bell noisily, waking the students to a start.
Mommy and dad were annoyed. Very annoyed. They still went to the main lobby like everyone was supposed to, though. The teachers and chaperons explained that they were to pair up with their 'husband' or 'wife'. They were going to many museums today for the history and science projects, just as Billie Jean had said.
"This totally sucks," Tomoyo sighed as the students boarded the bus. "I'm so sorry, Sakura."
Sakura shrugged to Tomoyo's shock. And then she said to Tomoyo's horror, "It's not that bad. Syaoran has transformed somehow. It's like I'm seeing a totally different him. The other day he invited me to coffee in the café, and he told me a bunch of secrets."
"Like what?" Billie Jean asked, popping out from nowhere.
"If I told you it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?" Sakura replied as she went onto the bus after Tomoyo.
Tomoyo sat down next to Sakura and grinned. "So does this mean my best friend has a crush on a gang member?"
Sakura blushed horribly and shook her head wildly. "Of course not! We're - we're just friends."
"Sure," Naoko said from behind the two.
"Tell me a better lie," Chiharu grinned from beside Naoko.
Sakura puffed her cheeks out angrily.
All day, the class went to boring museums that droned on and on about the history of Japan and China and America and blah, blah, blah. The worst part was that the students actually had to listen because they had to hand in essays on this junk.
Finally, they were at the last stop: an astronomy tower. The many pairs of students had to find constellations. Surprisingly, Syaoran was pretty good at astronomy, so it was absolutely no problem for him and Sakura. In fact, they finished long before the other pairs did.
"You know, Mars is actually a constellation," Syaoran said after a while of silence.
"Really?" Sakura asked, looking curiously at him.
Syaoran nodded. "Yeah. Mars symbolizes the heart of a young man."
Sakura raised her eyebrows incredulously. "Oh, really?"
Syaoran nodded.
"What's the myth? Every constellation has a story to tell, after all."
Syaoran shrugged. "Well. uh. Okay. There was once a man who had fallen deeply in love with a sickly princess. The law had forbidden any common man to be in love with such a beauty. And. It didn't matter anyways because the princess had no idea he even existed. The man. he. uh. He worked at the castle. He knew everything about the girl. She wanted to learn poetry and hear stories about the world, but the king said it was too stupid to want to learn shit - I mean, subjects like that."
Sakura stared blankly at Syaoran. How obvious was it that he was making this up? Very obvious. Sakura allowed Syaoran continued anyways, though.
"The king said she should start thinking about her future. Um. The man. The man, he went up to the girl's window and started reciting poetry and stories for her. The princess fell in love with the mystery man and. She crept out of the window to see who he was. She recognized him for the man that worked in the castle and they ran away to live in the countryside. but."
Syaoran stopped to think. Sakura bit her tongue so she wouldn't laugh.
"But. She died! Yeah, she died of the disease. And the man's heart is Mars, all alone, waiting for the princess's heart to come back to him."
There was a silence like no other silences before Sakura burst out laughing. Syaoran blushed and crossed his arms. "What?"
"You made that up!"
"I - I did not!"
"Oh, really? What's their names?"
Syaoran's mind instantly went blank. He couldn't think of a single name! Syaoran continued to fumble for the first names to come to his mind, but Sakura put up her hand for silence. She was still laughing. The bell rang, signaling time was up, but Sakura couldn't stop.
"It was beautiful, really," Sakura said after she captured control of herself. "I hope you get the names soon and get that story written down."
Sakura stood up and brushed herself off. "I didn't know such an infamous gang fighter could be so poetic," she added as she walked away.
Syaoran stared after Sakura, and he muttered to himself, "Sakura. That will be her name."
"Will the man's name be Syaoran?"
Syaoran jumped and looked into the shadows. A figure moved, and, as he guessed, Meilin stepped from the shadows. "You shouldn't listen in on other people's conversations," Syaoran growled.
"How poetic of you," Meilin smirked. Before Syaoran could reply, she said, "There's still a bet for us to win."
"Thanks for pointing that out," Syaoran sighed. He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. Meilin stooped down and picked up his leather jacket.
"Five hundred," Meilin continued. "Five hundred dollars will go down the drain if you don't get her into bed quickly!"
"How do you know if I haven't all ready?" Syaoran muttered, taking the jacket from Meilin.
"Easy," Meilin smirked as she started to walk away. "You would've simply told her that the princess's name is Sakura and the man's name is Syaoran."
Syaoran glared after Meilin, but he followed her towards the steps anyways.
The large group of students arrived in the hotel lobby around one o' clock in the morning. They were all talking excitedly, and when Sakura walked in with Tomoyo, the talking went down to even more excited whispers.
Sakura noticed this, but Tomoyo didn't seem to, and she continued talking about how cute Eriol was without his shirt on. She was interrupted when Naoko and Chiharu ran up to them. "Is it true?" the two said together.
"Is what true?" Sakura asked curiously.
Naoko and Chiharu gasped. They turned to each other, then they turned back to Tomoyo and Sakura.
"You mean you don't know?" Chiharu asked all the more quietly, as if everyone was listening hard (which they were).
Sakura and Tomoyo slowly shook their heads, and Naoko bit her lip, but she said:
"There's a rumor. About. About you and."
"Syaoran."
Tomoyo's jaw dropped to the ground, but Sakura just stood there with that curious expression still on her face. After a few seconds, she seemed to register this, and she cocked her head to one side and called out sweetly, "Oh, Billie.!"
Billie Jean grinned and stepped away from the counter. She came towards Sakura and eyed her. "I was hoping I'd find a hair of Syaoran's on you," she smirked.
Sakura's hands twitched. "Well, there wouldn't be. Now what is this about a rumor?"
"You and Syaoran are going steady," Billie sighed. "Sad, isn't it?" she called out to everyone else. The Dragons growled but kept to their positions near the hallway, but everyone else nodded fervently. Sakura shook her head.
"We're not," she announced.
"But Sakura," Billie said in that angelic voice. "Everyone saw you two sitting off by yourselves and talking so passionately! Yet, I guess it wasn't fair of me to say that you were making out since I was the only one who saw you two."
Sakura's hands twitched again, but this time, it was obvious they were rising slightly into the air, as if to wrap around Billie's throat. "I assure you, Syaoran and I weren't making out. Right, Syaoran?"
Sakura looked off to the hall, but she could see then and there that he would be no help. He simply didn't care. He just shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips.
Sakura gaped angrily at Syaoran, but instead of yelling at him, she grabbed Tomoyo's hand, who grabbed Chiharu's hand, who grabbed Naoko's hand. The four of them went up to Sakura's room. Iris, as all of the other babies, had been turned off so no points would be taken. She was currently lying down on Syaoran's bed.
Sakura growled. "Oh, that Dragon! I hate him! How could he not care that such a rumor was spreading around? Doesn't love mean anything to him? Doesn't symbols of love such as kissing mean anything to him? That inconsiderate bastard!"
"You didn't seem to think he was such an inconsiderate bastard when you to were talking so passionately," Chiharu grinned.
Sakura blushed and grabbed a pillow off of her bed. She threw it at Chiharu, who ducked. The pillow hit Tomoyo - or rather, Tomoyo's camera. Tomoyo dropped the camera in surprise and it landed with an ugly crash on the ground.
"Oh, that's it, girlfriend," Tomoyo said angrily. She picked up a pillow and added, "No one messes with the camera!"
The four girls were soon entrapped in a pillow fight.
Sakura rolled over tiredly and opened her eyes. She didn't know what woke her up, and she didn't care either. She was just closing her eyes when she heard a sound. She sat up and looked towards the windowsill.
Syaoran was sitting there, rocking Iris. He must've turned the volume off because fake tears were leaking out of her eyes, but there was no sound coming from her. Sakura would of appreciated this greatly if there wasn't another cigarette stuck in Syaoran's mouth.
"What're you doing?" Sakura yawned.
Syaoran jumped and instantly threw his cigarette out of the window. Syaoran turned slowly and sheepishly to Sakura, who had just gotten out of bed and was standing there with her hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes and walked over to Syaoran and Iris.
"May I try?" Sakura asked, and Syaoran handed Iris to her. Sakura started singing and rocking Iris, but it didn't work. Syaoran shook his head.
"Like this," he said as he took Iris back. He sung softly to her and rocked her gently, and after a second, the tears stopped rolling down the doll's cheek.
"Why didn't you just do that in the beginning?" Sakura asked, and Syaoran shrugged.
"I like rocking her to sleep."
Sakura smiled and sat at the edge of Syaoran's bed. "I'm still angry that you didn't say the rumor wasn't true earlier, but I must say, you're way more different from how I expected you to be."
Syaoran smirked lightly and looked out of the window. He didn't reply. Instead, he put Iris down into the cradle and climbed into his bed. It was as if he was ignoring Sakura, but then, he opened his eyes and looked at the girl that was sitting down on his bed when he was trying to sleep.
"Good night," he simply said and closed his eyes again.
My parents did the miracle of miracles those days after the English project. They were acting like best friends. They talked to each other, and then gradually started to tell each other secrets. They even started flirting!
No one knew this except for them, though. It didn't really matter anyways, because outside of the room, dad would hang out with The Dragons, and mommy with her girlfriends.
One day, that snobby Billie Jean started gossiping about the science and history projects. She went on and on about a field trip, and no one believed her until one morning the chaperons and teachers went around with loud, annoying bells. They stopped at every students' room and rang the bell noisily, waking the students to a start.
Mommy and dad were annoyed. Very annoyed. They still went to the main lobby like everyone was supposed to, though. The teachers and chaperons explained that they were to pair up with their 'husband' or 'wife'. They were going to many museums today for the history and science projects, just as Billie Jean had said.
"This totally sucks," Tomoyo sighed as the students boarded the bus. "I'm so sorry, Sakura."
Sakura shrugged to Tomoyo's shock. And then she said to Tomoyo's horror, "It's not that bad. Syaoran has transformed somehow. It's like I'm seeing a totally different him. The other day he invited me to coffee in the café, and he told me a bunch of secrets."
"Like what?" Billie Jean asked, popping out from nowhere.
"If I told you it wouldn't be a secret, now would it?" Sakura replied as she went onto the bus after Tomoyo.
Tomoyo sat down next to Sakura and grinned. "So does this mean my best friend has a crush on a gang member?"
Sakura blushed horribly and shook her head wildly. "Of course not! We're - we're just friends."
"Sure," Naoko said from behind the two.
"Tell me a better lie," Chiharu grinned from beside Naoko.
Sakura puffed her cheeks out angrily.
All day, the class went to boring museums that droned on and on about the history of Japan and China and America and blah, blah, blah. The worst part was that the students actually had to listen because they had to hand in essays on this junk.
Finally, they were at the last stop: an astronomy tower. The many pairs of students had to find constellations. Surprisingly, Syaoran was pretty good at astronomy, so it was absolutely no problem for him and Sakura. In fact, they finished long before the other pairs did.
"You know, Mars is actually a constellation," Syaoran said after a while of silence.
"Really?" Sakura asked, looking curiously at him.
Syaoran nodded. "Yeah. Mars symbolizes the heart of a young man."
Sakura raised her eyebrows incredulously. "Oh, really?"
Syaoran nodded.
"What's the myth? Every constellation has a story to tell, after all."
Syaoran shrugged. "Well. uh. Okay. There was once a man who had fallen deeply in love with a sickly princess. The law had forbidden any common man to be in love with such a beauty. And. It didn't matter anyways because the princess had no idea he even existed. The man. he. uh. He worked at the castle. He knew everything about the girl. She wanted to learn poetry and hear stories about the world, but the king said it was too stupid to want to learn shit - I mean, subjects like that."
Sakura stared blankly at Syaoran. How obvious was it that he was making this up? Very obvious. Sakura allowed Syaoran continued anyways, though.
"The king said she should start thinking about her future. Um. The man. The man, he went up to the girl's window and started reciting poetry and stories for her. The princess fell in love with the mystery man and. She crept out of the window to see who he was. She recognized him for the man that worked in the castle and they ran away to live in the countryside. but."
Syaoran stopped to think. Sakura bit her tongue so she wouldn't laugh.
"But. She died! Yeah, she died of the disease. And the man's heart is Mars, all alone, waiting for the princess's heart to come back to him."
There was a silence like no other silences before Sakura burst out laughing. Syaoran blushed and crossed his arms. "What?"
"You made that up!"
"I - I did not!"
"Oh, really? What's their names?"
Syaoran's mind instantly went blank. He couldn't think of a single name! Syaoran continued to fumble for the first names to come to his mind, but Sakura put up her hand for silence. She was still laughing. The bell rang, signaling time was up, but Sakura couldn't stop.
"It was beautiful, really," Sakura said after she captured control of herself. "I hope you get the names soon and get that story written down."
Sakura stood up and brushed herself off. "I didn't know such an infamous gang fighter could be so poetic," she added as she walked away.
Syaoran stared after Sakura, and he muttered to himself, "Sakura. That will be her name."
"Will the man's name be Syaoran?"
Syaoran jumped and looked into the shadows. A figure moved, and, as he guessed, Meilin stepped from the shadows. "You shouldn't listen in on other people's conversations," Syaoran growled.
"How poetic of you," Meilin smirked. Before Syaoran could reply, she said, "There's still a bet for us to win."
"Thanks for pointing that out," Syaoran sighed. He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. Meilin stooped down and picked up his leather jacket.
"Five hundred," Meilin continued. "Five hundred dollars will go down the drain if you don't get her into bed quickly!"
"How do you know if I haven't all ready?" Syaoran muttered, taking the jacket from Meilin.
"Easy," Meilin smirked as she started to walk away. "You would've simply told her that the princess's name is Sakura and the man's name is Syaoran."
Syaoran glared after Meilin, but he followed her towards the steps anyways.
The large group of students arrived in the hotel lobby around one o' clock in the morning. They were all talking excitedly, and when Sakura walked in with Tomoyo, the talking went down to even more excited whispers.
Sakura noticed this, but Tomoyo didn't seem to, and she continued talking about how cute Eriol was without his shirt on. She was interrupted when Naoko and Chiharu ran up to them. "Is it true?" the two said together.
"Is what true?" Sakura asked curiously.
Naoko and Chiharu gasped. They turned to each other, then they turned back to Tomoyo and Sakura.
"You mean you don't know?" Chiharu asked all the more quietly, as if everyone was listening hard (which they were).
Sakura and Tomoyo slowly shook their heads, and Naoko bit her lip, but she said:
"There's a rumor. About. About you and."
"Syaoran."
Tomoyo's jaw dropped to the ground, but Sakura just stood there with that curious expression still on her face. After a few seconds, she seemed to register this, and she cocked her head to one side and called out sweetly, "Oh, Billie.!"
Billie Jean grinned and stepped away from the counter. She came towards Sakura and eyed her. "I was hoping I'd find a hair of Syaoran's on you," she smirked.
Sakura's hands twitched. "Well, there wouldn't be. Now what is this about a rumor?"
"You and Syaoran are going steady," Billie sighed. "Sad, isn't it?" she called out to everyone else. The Dragons growled but kept to their positions near the hallway, but everyone else nodded fervently. Sakura shook her head.
"We're not," she announced.
"But Sakura," Billie said in that angelic voice. "Everyone saw you two sitting off by yourselves and talking so passionately! Yet, I guess it wasn't fair of me to say that you were making out since I was the only one who saw you two."
Sakura's hands twitched again, but this time, it was obvious they were rising slightly into the air, as if to wrap around Billie's throat. "I assure you, Syaoran and I weren't making out. Right, Syaoran?"
Sakura looked off to the hall, but she could see then and there that he would be no help. He simply didn't care. He just shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips.
Sakura gaped angrily at Syaoran, but instead of yelling at him, she grabbed Tomoyo's hand, who grabbed Chiharu's hand, who grabbed Naoko's hand. The four of them went up to Sakura's room. Iris, as all of the other babies, had been turned off so no points would be taken. She was currently lying down on Syaoran's bed.
Sakura growled. "Oh, that Dragon! I hate him! How could he not care that such a rumor was spreading around? Doesn't love mean anything to him? Doesn't symbols of love such as kissing mean anything to him? That inconsiderate bastard!"
"You didn't seem to think he was such an inconsiderate bastard when you to were talking so passionately," Chiharu grinned.
Sakura blushed and grabbed a pillow off of her bed. She threw it at Chiharu, who ducked. The pillow hit Tomoyo - or rather, Tomoyo's camera. Tomoyo dropped the camera in surprise and it landed with an ugly crash on the ground.
"Oh, that's it, girlfriend," Tomoyo said angrily. She picked up a pillow and added, "No one messes with the camera!"
The four girls were soon entrapped in a pillow fight.
Sakura rolled over tiredly and opened her eyes. She didn't know what woke her up, and she didn't care either. She was just closing her eyes when she heard a sound. She sat up and looked towards the windowsill.
Syaoran was sitting there, rocking Iris. He must've turned the volume off because fake tears were leaking out of her eyes, but there was no sound coming from her. Sakura would of appreciated this greatly if there wasn't another cigarette stuck in Syaoran's mouth.
"What're you doing?" Sakura yawned.
Syaoran jumped and instantly threw his cigarette out of the window. Syaoran turned slowly and sheepishly to Sakura, who had just gotten out of bed and was standing there with her hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes and walked over to Syaoran and Iris.
"May I try?" Sakura asked, and Syaoran handed Iris to her. Sakura started singing and rocking Iris, but it didn't work. Syaoran shook his head.
"Like this," he said as he took Iris back. He sung softly to her and rocked her gently, and after a second, the tears stopped rolling down the doll's cheek.
"Why didn't you just do that in the beginning?" Sakura asked, and Syaoran shrugged.
"I like rocking her to sleep."
Sakura smiled and sat at the edge of Syaoran's bed. "I'm still angry that you didn't say the rumor wasn't true earlier, but I must say, you're way more different from how I expected you to be."
Syaoran smirked lightly and looked out of the window. He didn't reply. Instead, he put Iris down into the cradle and climbed into his bed. It was as if he was ignoring Sakura, but then, he opened his eyes and looked at the girl that was sitting down on his bed when he was trying to sleep.
"Good night," he simply said and closed his eyes again.