Pretty Baby, Why Can't You See?
By SwEeT AnGeL 1004
Chapter 2: Ten Years Later
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Ten years later…
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Sakura woke up panting, beads of cold sweat trickling down her face.
'Another nightmare. They're getting more frequent.'
Sakura rolled over, disturbing Tomoyo.
Sakura got up from the floor of the bedroom where the three girls slept, and headed towards the kitchen.
She flicked on the light and was surprised to see Yuki sitting there, gazing off into space.
Sakura didn't say anything as she fixed herself a cup of tea, but could feel Yuki's eyes on her.
"Fine. I'll tell you what my dream was about, since you keep on asking," Sakura sighed.
She got her favorite mug, poured steaming water into it and put a tea bag in it.
She sat down on the dining table with Yuki and started to talk.
"I keep having the same dream over and over. I'm in darkness, and someone's gripping me. I hear a gun shot, and then we burst out of the dark room. That's all I can remember…but it's scary. And I know I shouldn't be having nightmares; I'm 22."
Yuki gave Sakura a look.
"Yeah, I know. It's okay. Yuki, why don't you talk? I don't know how you could stand thirteen years or more without communicating with anyone. And you never eat. Or go to the bathroom. And your head's always bald. You're so pale. And you have a job, but we don't know what it is even though we've been living with you for thirteen years. All we know is that you're around 29 years old. We don't know who you are," Sakura mused.
Yuki reached out and took Sakura's hand, and held it between his own white hands.
"Yes, I love you too, Yuki. You know that," Sakura said.
She yawned and said, "Well, I better get back to bed. I have to go to work tomorrow. Yuki, stop going to work, okay? Stay home and rest or something. We three make enough money."
Sakura left the room and went back to sleep.
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Touya woke up and stumbled out his room, looking at his watch.
He was still wearing his clothes from the night before, and he groaned when he saw it was already 11.
He walked out into the spacious living room, where he saw Eriol and an unfamiliar girl laughing and drinking milk and bagels.
"Why didn't you guys wake me up?" Touya asked, raising his eyebrows when he saw that the girl was wearing one of Eriol's shirts, which came down to her knees.
"Hey, no good morning? Sukie, meet Touya, my roommate. He's 29 and grumpy," Eriol said.
The girl giggled flirtatiously and said, "Pleasure to meet you. My name's Sukie."
She flipped her hair and smiled sexily at Touya, who returned it with a glare.
"Where's Syaoran?" Touya asked, pouring himself a glass of milk.
"Out, of course," Eriol replied.
"Well, I better go. I'll change back into my clothes now," Sukie said.
She stood up and went into Eriol's room and shut the door.
"Where'd you pick her up?" Touya asked, stealing a bagel from Eriol's plate.
"At a club last night. After the meeting with Tsukiro," Eriol said.
"Was Syaoran there?" Touya asked.
"Yeah. He left right after. He said he's doing some extra work for Tsukiro. He took your car, though," Eriol answered.
"Aren't you a little young to be picking girls off the street and sleeping with them?" Touya asked.
"Hell no. I'm twenty-three. And she's not from 'the street'."
"Whatever. Where's Syaoran?"
"He's running errands; I already told you that," Eriol answered.
"For who?"
"Tsukiro!!"
"All right."
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"You have it?" Syaoran asked in the darkness of the broken down building.
"Of course."
Syaoran brought out a black leather suitcase and set it on the broken down card table.
"Here's the money."
"And the package?"
"Here."
The other men slid out an identical suitcase and handed it to Syaoran.
Syaoran gripped it tightly and took it.
"Aren't you going to check its contents?" the leader asked.
"As soon as I do that you'd shoot me down," Syaoran replied.
The man laughed and said, "Tsukiro's got a good man in his hands. Say hi to him for me."
"Of course."
Syaoran nodded and left the building, where he bumped into a pale, thin man wearing a black suit, sunglasses and hat.
In the car, Syaoran wrinkled his nose at the whiteness of the man.
"That guy needs to get some sun," Syaoran muttered.
He turned on the engine and sped off towards the apartment.
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"Where's Yuki?" Sakura yelled as she buttoned her shirt up.
"I don't know! He's gone! He's probably running errands or something," Meiling replied, holding a piece of toast between her teeth as she drew some eyeliner onto her face.
"I'm going to be late for work!" Tomoyo squealed as she ran out from the shower, wearing a towel wrapped around her.
"Me too," Sakura answered back as she gulped down a glass of orange juice.
"I'm outta here," Meiling replied.
She grabbed her purse and headed out the door, pausing to apply some lipstick on.
"All right. I'm going too," Sakura said.
Meiling ran out of the building and started the walk to her job.
Meiling worked at a health clinic, or rather a gym.
She used her experience from years of training with Syaoran to land a job there; today was her first day at the job.
'Syaoran. I wonder how he's doing…' Meiling thought, and as usual, felt a wave of sadness shower over her.
She missed him…but her life was different now.
She had been missing from Hong Kong for over 13 years; everyone thought her dead.
Little did she know she was living in the same city as her cousin.
"I'm off!" Sakura yelled to Tomoyo, who nodded.
Sakura ran downstairs and unlocked her bike from the bike stand and headed out.
She paused for a moment when her brain screamed, "ROLLER BLADES!!"
Sakura narrowed her eyes, and shook her head, "I can't afford roller blades."
In the sunny morning, Sakura waved to everyone as she rode her daily commute to the restaurant where she worked.
She parked her bike in the alley, where the entrance to the kitchen was.
"Sakura! You're late!" the manager exclaimed.
"I'm SOOOOOooo sorry!!" Sakura apologized.
She took her menus and headed towards the front of the restaurant, where people were waiting to be seated.
"Good morning! How many in your table? Five? Come this way."
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"Good morning, Tomoyo. The first group comes in at eleven. They're all the same people as before, but two people signed up at the last minute," Tomoyo's boss told her.
"Okay. Right," Tomoyo said and she headed towards the doorway of one of the rooms.
She worked at an anger management clinic, where she was a counselor.
At night, Tomoyo designed clothes for the clothing brand XOXO.
The three of them worked constantly from morning to night, making money to support themselves.
It wasn't the ideal life for them, but they always had time for each other and time to rest.
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"WHAT??!?!??!?!?!?!??!" Touya blew up.
"See! That's what I mean!" Eriol explained to Syaoran.
"I see," Syaoran nodded thoughtfully, "You ought to go. No, you NEED to go."
"WHAT????" Touya yelled again.
"I'm going with you! You won't be all alone!" Eriol said persistently.
"I am SO not going to an anger management class! I'm fine as I am!" Touya shouted.
"Nuh uh. Besides, Tsukiro ordered it. He thinks even you're too 'angry'," Eriol said.
"Whatever. I'm going to the gym," Syaoran shook his head, sighing.
"Are you going to stop by the HQ to deliver the goods?" Touya asked.
"Yeah," Syaoran said.
"Don't take my car," Touya said, and continued his bickering with Eriol.
"Whatever," Syaoran said, rolled his eyes and left the apartment.
"Fine! We'll go once. If you hate it, we'll drop out," Eriol said
"What? You know I'm going to hate it anyways," Touya said.
"So? I have to follow Tsukiro's orders," Eriol said.
Touya blew at the hair falling over his eyes, making them billow out.
"I'll take that as a yes. Now, I got to go check on my stock purchases," Eriol said.
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"Here's the case," Syaoran handed Tsukiro the briefcase.
Tsukiro expertly cracked the lock on the briefcase with his teeth and opened it.
In it were crisp, new plastic baggies filled with white, sifted powder.
Syaoran's lip curled at the sight but hid his disgust from Akatchi.
The only reason he was staying in the drug gang was for his father.
He didn't want to have anything to do with drugs, but loyalty to his father preceded himself.
"Count it," Tsukiro directed.
Syaoran stood back as three bodyguards standing at the door came over and started counting the numerous plastic bags.
They were done in minutes, and Tsukiro asked, "Is it all there?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. And good job, Syaoran." Tsukiro praised Syaoran.
He winced inwardly, but gave a fake smile in gratitude.
"Now. You're 22. It's time for you to have some real jobs. You know the Noshiko gang?" Tsukiro asked.
"The ones I dealt with this morning? Who traded us?" Syaoran asked, racking his brain for any information.
"The one and only. Now, I have some information that one of their long time members are a computer genius. The man has created a formula for multiplying the main drug found in cocaine, and with that formula they could make billions by themselves. It's all some science shit which I don't care to explore, but we need that formula," Tsukiro said.
"Can't Eriol create one? Or at least copy it?" Syaoran asked.
Tsukiro laughed shortly and said, "The man spent 13 years on that formula. All we have to do is steal the disc that its on. That simple."
"But three things. They could easily make copies of the disc, where can I find the disc, and who knows if the man might make another one?" Syaoran inquired.
"The program is so large that it would corrupt any other disc. The disc was created by the man himself. If we have it, then Eriol could break through it and we can use it. We do not know where the disc is. But I've made a plan. If we just kidnap the man, as valuable as he is, the Noshiko gang will come up with the disc in exchange for him."
"And if they give us the disc?"
"We have the key."
"But what about the man? Do we destroy him, let him go or recruit him?" Syaoran asked.
"We'll deal with that later. This is your first mission, and if you fail--," Tsukiro motioned by slicing his finger across his neck.
Syaoran gulped, but said, "I will not fail."
He left the room briskly, mind already coming up with ideas.
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Sakura was in the bathroom quickly stripping off her restaurant uniform and donning a pink jogging suit.
"I'm out of here! I'll be back by 5 and take the closing shift," Sakura yelled to the manager, who nodded.
Sakura looked at her watch and saw it was 10:55.
"Oh crap, I'm late!" Sakura squealed.
She ran back to the alley and took her bike.
Sakura pedaled furiously to the Tokyo High School, where she worked as a gym teacher and a cheerleading coach.
Sakura quickly parked her bike with all the student's bikes and jogged into the building and across it to the gym.
"Sorry I'm late, you guys," Sakura panted.
Twenty high school sophomores stared back at her.
"All right. Roll call?"
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"Your customer. Help him," Meiling's boss, Mr. Shitoku, directed to Meiling.
"All right. I won't mess this up," Meiling told herself.
"Hi, how may I help you?" Meiling asked cheerfully to the man who had walked in.
He was her age, with tousled hair and chocolate eyes she could melt into.
"No thanks. I'll just be here for a couple of hours," Syaoran told her.
"May I see your membership card?" she asked.
Syaoran flashed a card at her, and scowled and headed towards the weight lifting machine.
Meiling's eyes lingered on the back of his head…
'I could swear that guy acts just like Syaoran.'
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"All right. Is everyone here?" Tomoyo asked mildly to the group of people.
"No. Two people are missing," one of the members said.
"Um…it's Touya and Eriol?" Tomoyo said.
"We're here!" a voice yelped from the hallway.
Tomoyo grinned and walked out the door to see a man her age holding down a bigger guy who was older than him.
"Touya and Eriol?" Tomoyo asked.
"The one and only," Eriol flashed a melting smile at Tomoyo, who immediately blushed.
"C'mon, Touya. Come inside and meet your new friends," Tomoyo teased.
"Shut up. I'm NOT going in," Touya said, grunting as he tried to pull back from Eriol.
"You're not…scared, are you?" Tomoyo asked.
"Of course not! Fine, I'll go in," Touya let go of Eriol, who promptly fell to the floor, and marched into the room.
Tomoyo gave Eriol a hand.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I am now," Eriol said, and winked at her.
Tomoyo could feel the heat rising to her face.
"Um. You can go in. I need to go to the bathroom and freshen up," Tomoyo said, and briskly walked to the bathroom, feeling Eriol's eyes boring through her.
Tomoyo went into the ladies' room and checked her face, and it was bright red.
'Argh. Why am I blushing? The guy's a total playboy!' Tomoyo thought to herself.
She took three deep, calming breaths and went back to the main room where the rest of the group was.
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Sakura was after school with the high school varsity cheerleading squad, which consisted of juniors and seniors not much younger than her.
"Okay girls. Let's work on that back flip," Sakura directed.
The captain of the squad flipped her hair and performed a perfect back flip.
Sakura smiled and said, "Good job. Tasha, why don't we split the group into two. I'll take one and you can take the other."
For two hours, Sakura taught the girls new tricks to use on their upcoming cheer.
"Ms. Yuki? It's already 4:50," one of the girls said.
"Oh my gosh, it is! Crap! I'm late--again! Bye girls!" Sakura yelled back as she ran towards the bike rack.
She got back on her bike and pedaled quickly back to the restaurant, sweating.
"I'm here!" Sakura announced to the chef.
"You have five minutes to change and clock in," the chef said.
"Right," Sakura said, and quickly ran to the bathroom.
She changed back into her hostess' uniform and went to the front of the restaurant.
Business was slow around that time, so Sakura went to the cash register and clocked herself in.
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After the session, Eriol and Touya left, but not before Eriol gave Tomoyo a seductive wink.
As expected, Tomoyo blushed deep red, and Touya dragged Eriol out, eager to leave.
"All right. I hated it. The other people are total freaks who should be at a shrink's office!" Touya declared.
"Uh huh," Eriol nodded absently, still thinking about the beautiful, long haired girl.
"So I don't have to go anymore, right? I tried it out, that's it, end of story," Touya said.
"Nope. We're still going."
"What the hell?"
"There's a certain purple haired girl I need to catch, and you're going to be my bait."
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Meiling followed Syaoran's figure with narrowed eyes, and didn't realize that her boss was standing right next to her.
"Ah hem," he coughed.
"Oh! Sorry!" Meiling apologized.
"You know the policy. No romance on the job," he said.
"I know. I just thought he looked like my long lost cousin," Meiling said, before realizing how lame it sounded.
"Right. Now, I need you to go counsel this young woman. She seems to have a problem with the ab cruncher," he said.
Meiling nodded, and cast one last, long look in the direction
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Tomoyo was at the XOXO work building in downtown Tokyo, in her own little cubicle she had acquired
She had spread out sketches of her latest designs, jean jackets lined with fur that came down to your knees.
However, she couldn't concentrate.
"Eriol…" she whispered.
Her mind slid back to noon, around 12:30 after the session was over.
It had been pretty uneventful, except for the fact that Eriol had seemed to be following every move she had made.
Tomoyo shook her head, and said to herself, "Stop it. Stop it, Tomoyo! You're not going to date unless your serious about getting married!"
Some people around her gave her weird glances, and she smiled sheepishly.
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Syaoran had been working out the whole day, ignoring time as he did push ups, pull ups, weights, joggings and sit ups.
And he was not completely oblivious to the fact that one of the girls working seemed to have a crush on him, or at least kept on staring at him.
She reminded him of his cousin, Meiling. Of course, she was way back in Hong Kong, probably thinking him dead.
'I wonder if she misses me.'
Syaoran got off from the work bench and got a towel to wipe his sweating face.
He took a swig from his water bottle, and sat on the machine, panting, when suddenly She walked in.
Time seemed to go in slow motion as a beautiful girl, slim, about his age, walked into the gym.
She was wearing a uniform from a nearby restaurant, and her hair swished around as she smiled and greeted the girl that had been staring at him.
Syaoran couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation, which mainly went like this:
"Hey! What's up?" the black haired one that worked at the gym asked.
"Not much. I'm on my break from the restaurant, but I gotta get back in ten minutes," she replied.
"What time are you working till?" the black haired one asked
The brown haired, green eyed one replied, "Closing. 11 pm. What about you?"
"Around 6. Same time as Tomoyo. Well, I gotta go. Duty calls," the black haired one said, rolled her eyes and waved.
"I'll be going, now. Bye!" the girl called as she headed out the door.
"Bye Sakura!!"
Sakura.
"Excuse me, are you going to be using that machine?" someone behind Syaoran asked.
"Huh? Oh, no. You can take it," Syaoran courteously nodded and left, heading towards the men's locker room so he could wash up and go home.
After taking a shower and changing, Syaoran headed out the door.
"Excuse me. That woman you talked to a couple of minutes ago? What restaurant did she work at?" Syaoran asked.
The girl looked at him surprised, "Um. The one between the stationary store and McDonalds. Oh, by the way, we just started a new policy. It's called the sign in/sign out sheet. We need to keep track of who comes in every night and when they leave, so could you sign here?"
Syaoran took a pen from the girl and quickly signed his name, "Li Syaoran."
The girl gasped.
"Anything wrong?" he asked curiously.
"N-nothing. Have a good night," the girl said, trembling.
Syaoran shrugged and racked his brain trying to remember the name of the restaurant.
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'So it is him. Oh my god. Why is he asking for Sakura? Maybe he likes her. Nah, Syaoran never liked guys. But then again, he's changed in the past 13 years. I still can't believe its him. I was right!' Meiling thought.
She sighed and stared at the sign out sheet again.
'Now how am I going to break it to him that I'm his cousin? He doesn't even know that I'm here…'
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"Table for one?" Sakura asked cheerfuly to the handsome guy in the lobby.
"Yeah," the guy replied, and gave Sakura a small smile.
"Okie-doke. Come this way. By the way, weren't you at the gym like thirty minutes ago? I saw you there while I was visiting my friend," Sakura said and handed him a menu.
"Your server will come in about ten minutes for your order. Have a nice night," Sakura said, bowed respectfully and left.
'Score!' Syaoran laughing thought, and shook his head.
He couldn't help but notice the way her hair cascaded down her slender body, and the way her innocent green eyes blinked at him.
'Why am I thinking about women all of a sudden? It's not like I date. Hm. It's definitely her. She had alluring pheromones,' Syaoran thought.
Syaoran then shook his head again, horrified all of a sudden, 'Alluring?!?'
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It was around 7 when Tomoyo finally turned off her computer, put her sketch pad in her bag and clicked off the light in her cubicle.
"I'm leaving now," she said to no one in particular, and walked out of the section to the elevators.
Her stomach rumbled on the ride down to the ground level, reminding her to eat some dinner.
She headed out the double doors of the building towards the main entrance to begin the long walk home, and stepped out into the cool air of dusk.
"Can I treat you out to dinner?" a voice behind Tomoyo asked, and she shrieked in horror.
"Get away from me! I have pepper spray on my key chain!" Tomoyo exclaimed hysterically.
"You don't have a key chain with you, and I don't think you'd want to spray me," the voice replied.
Tomoyo whirled around and was surprised to see Eriol.
"I'm so sorry!" Tomoyo apologized, "Kind of paranoid at night. Never know who might jump me."
Eriol laughed, and Tomoyo couldn't help but admire his easy going smile and white teeth.
"So is that a no or yes?" he asked.
"To what?" Tomoyo asked cluelessly
"Dinner. I hope I'm not being too forward, but I'd really like to get to know you better," Eriol said.
"Dinner sounds fine," Tomoyo nodded, though her mind was screaming, 'Don't go with him! You don't anything about him!!'
"Car's waiting over there."
Tomoyo followed Eriol over to the sidewalk where a black Mercedes Benz was waiting.
Tomoyo flushed slightly at the sight of the rich car, reminding her of her past, rich childhood.
Now she walked to work everyday.
"Get in," Eriol said, and opened the door for Tomoyo.
She hesitated, and Eriol said concerned, "I hope you don't think I'm going to rape you or anything."
"Oh, no," Tomoyo laughed weakly.
She got into the car, breathing in the cool leather scent, and Eriol said, "Does that restaurant between McDonalds and the stationary store sound good to you?"
"Sure! My friend Sakura works there," Tomoyo said lightly.
They drove in silence the three blocks to the restaurant, and they finally parked in the parking lot of the classy restaurant.
"Hey Sakura!" Tomoyo chimed as she saw her friend in the lobby of the restaurant.
"Hey! Who's that?" Sakura asked.
"Oh. This is Eriol. I met him at one of my sessions. Not that he goes or anything. He brings his friend. He's quite angry," Tomoyo said, and blushed.
Sakura rolled her eyes humorously and said, "She's babbling. She must really like you, Eriol. Nice to meet you. If you'll just follow me this way, I'll take you to your seats."
Sakura led the two to a table, where Eriol said, "Sup, Syaoran! What are you doing here?"
Syaoran looked up from his dessert, and said flatly, "Having dinner."
"You could've told me you were here. Then we would've gone somewhere else," Eriol joked and winked at Tomoyo and Sakura.
"You two know each other?" Syaoran asked, pointing to Eriol and Sakura.
"We just met. She's Tomoyo's friend," Eriol explained.
"Your waiter will be with you shortly," Sakura said, and handed them the menus.
Eriol and Tomoyo took the table next to Syaoran.
"Let me introduce you. This is Syaoran, my roommate. And best friend since who knows when. This is Tomoyo. Touya's group counselor," Eriol introduced.
"Hi," Tomoyo said.
"Mm." Syaoran said, stirring his coffee slightly.
Eriol jabbed Syaoran and he said, "Hi."
"You're interested in Sakura!" Tomoyo exclaimed.
"What?" Syaoran exclaimed.
"Ha! I knew it. Sorry, but she doesn't really go for guys. But I guess you could have a chance…" Tomoyo trailed off.
"I never said I'm interested in her. I don't date," Syaoran replied and scowled.
Tomoyo smiled slightly, thinking, 'Same thing I said. And now here I am with a hot, rich guy.'
"What? Syaoran liking someone? Are pigs flying?" Eriol asked in mock surprise.
Tomoyo burst into laughter, while Syaoran scowled again.
"I'm done with my dinner," Syaoran said.
His waiter came, and Syaoran quickly signed the bill, and left.
On his way out, he nodded at Sakura, jacket slung over his shoulder.
Sakura gave him a smile.
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Meiling was at the computer, punching in her ID number to sign out for work.
"Hi, Syaoran. Remember me? I'm your cousin, Meiling. I followed you after uncle's funeral and I've been living with a guy who I barely know anything about, and two girls my age for the past thirteen years," Meiling mused.
"No…" Meiling said, and said, "Hi, Syaoran. I hope this doesn't come to as shock to you, but do you happen to have a girl cousin named Meiling? That's me!"
"Argh…." Meiling thought aloud, and finished closing out.
She quickly grabbed her purse from the locker room, and left the gym, outside in the night air.
It was 8 o clock, she was hungry.
"I'll have to cook up some mac and cheese for myself," Meiling thought aloud.
She crossed the street, passing in front of the restaurant Sakura worked.
A familiar figure came out, and Meiling couldn't help herself, "Hey Syaoran!"
The figure turned, raised his eyebrows and said, "Do we know each other?"
"Yes, we do," Meiling took a deep breath.
"And how?" Syaoran asked, fishing in his pocket for his keys.
"This is going to come as a huge shock to you, but most likely you're not going to react," Meiling was breathing quickly from nervousness and excitement.
"What?" Syaoran asked impatiently, finally retrieving his keys from the depths of his pockets.
"It's me, Syaoran. Meiling?"
Syaoran dropped his keys.
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End of Chapter 2. Next Chapter, 'Long lost Cousins'.
A/N: Hey! Well...here's chapter two. I don't have much to say, but please review!! Haha...you'll get more chapters that way. :)
By SwEeT AnGeL 1004
Chapter 2: Ten Years Later
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Ten years later…
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Sakura woke up panting, beads of cold sweat trickling down her face.
'Another nightmare. They're getting more frequent.'
Sakura rolled over, disturbing Tomoyo.
Sakura got up from the floor of the bedroom where the three girls slept, and headed towards the kitchen.
She flicked on the light and was surprised to see Yuki sitting there, gazing off into space.
Sakura didn't say anything as she fixed herself a cup of tea, but could feel Yuki's eyes on her.
"Fine. I'll tell you what my dream was about, since you keep on asking," Sakura sighed.
She got her favorite mug, poured steaming water into it and put a tea bag in it.
She sat down on the dining table with Yuki and started to talk.
"I keep having the same dream over and over. I'm in darkness, and someone's gripping me. I hear a gun shot, and then we burst out of the dark room. That's all I can remember…but it's scary. And I know I shouldn't be having nightmares; I'm 22."
Yuki gave Sakura a look.
"Yeah, I know. It's okay. Yuki, why don't you talk? I don't know how you could stand thirteen years or more without communicating with anyone. And you never eat. Or go to the bathroom. And your head's always bald. You're so pale. And you have a job, but we don't know what it is even though we've been living with you for thirteen years. All we know is that you're around 29 years old. We don't know who you are," Sakura mused.
Yuki reached out and took Sakura's hand, and held it between his own white hands.
"Yes, I love you too, Yuki. You know that," Sakura said.
She yawned and said, "Well, I better get back to bed. I have to go to work tomorrow. Yuki, stop going to work, okay? Stay home and rest or something. We three make enough money."
Sakura left the room and went back to sleep.
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Touya woke up and stumbled out his room, looking at his watch.
He was still wearing his clothes from the night before, and he groaned when he saw it was already 11.
He walked out into the spacious living room, where he saw Eriol and an unfamiliar girl laughing and drinking milk and bagels.
"Why didn't you guys wake me up?" Touya asked, raising his eyebrows when he saw that the girl was wearing one of Eriol's shirts, which came down to her knees.
"Hey, no good morning? Sukie, meet Touya, my roommate. He's 29 and grumpy," Eriol said.
The girl giggled flirtatiously and said, "Pleasure to meet you. My name's Sukie."
She flipped her hair and smiled sexily at Touya, who returned it with a glare.
"Where's Syaoran?" Touya asked, pouring himself a glass of milk.
"Out, of course," Eriol replied.
"Well, I better go. I'll change back into my clothes now," Sukie said.
She stood up and went into Eriol's room and shut the door.
"Where'd you pick her up?" Touya asked, stealing a bagel from Eriol's plate.
"At a club last night. After the meeting with Tsukiro," Eriol said.
"Was Syaoran there?" Touya asked.
"Yeah. He left right after. He said he's doing some extra work for Tsukiro. He took your car, though," Eriol answered.
"Aren't you a little young to be picking girls off the street and sleeping with them?" Touya asked.
"Hell no. I'm twenty-three. And she's not from 'the street'."
"Whatever. Where's Syaoran?"
"He's running errands; I already told you that," Eriol answered.
"For who?"
"Tsukiro!!"
"All right."
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"You have it?" Syaoran asked in the darkness of the broken down building.
"Of course."
Syaoran brought out a black leather suitcase and set it on the broken down card table.
"Here's the money."
"And the package?"
"Here."
The other men slid out an identical suitcase and handed it to Syaoran.
Syaoran gripped it tightly and took it.
"Aren't you going to check its contents?" the leader asked.
"As soon as I do that you'd shoot me down," Syaoran replied.
The man laughed and said, "Tsukiro's got a good man in his hands. Say hi to him for me."
"Of course."
Syaoran nodded and left the building, where he bumped into a pale, thin man wearing a black suit, sunglasses and hat.
In the car, Syaoran wrinkled his nose at the whiteness of the man.
"That guy needs to get some sun," Syaoran muttered.
He turned on the engine and sped off towards the apartment.
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"Where's Yuki?" Sakura yelled as she buttoned her shirt up.
"I don't know! He's gone! He's probably running errands or something," Meiling replied, holding a piece of toast between her teeth as she drew some eyeliner onto her face.
"I'm going to be late for work!" Tomoyo squealed as she ran out from the shower, wearing a towel wrapped around her.
"Me too," Sakura answered back as she gulped down a glass of orange juice.
"I'm outta here," Meiling replied.
She grabbed her purse and headed out the door, pausing to apply some lipstick on.
"All right. I'm going too," Sakura said.
Meiling ran out of the building and started the walk to her job.
Meiling worked at a health clinic, or rather a gym.
She used her experience from years of training with Syaoran to land a job there; today was her first day at the job.
'Syaoran. I wonder how he's doing…' Meiling thought, and as usual, felt a wave of sadness shower over her.
She missed him…but her life was different now.
She had been missing from Hong Kong for over 13 years; everyone thought her dead.
Little did she know she was living in the same city as her cousin.
"I'm off!" Sakura yelled to Tomoyo, who nodded.
Sakura ran downstairs and unlocked her bike from the bike stand and headed out.
She paused for a moment when her brain screamed, "ROLLER BLADES!!"
Sakura narrowed her eyes, and shook her head, "I can't afford roller blades."
In the sunny morning, Sakura waved to everyone as she rode her daily commute to the restaurant where she worked.
She parked her bike in the alley, where the entrance to the kitchen was.
"Sakura! You're late!" the manager exclaimed.
"I'm SOOOOOooo sorry!!" Sakura apologized.
She took her menus and headed towards the front of the restaurant, where people were waiting to be seated.
"Good morning! How many in your table? Five? Come this way."
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"Good morning, Tomoyo. The first group comes in at eleven. They're all the same people as before, but two people signed up at the last minute," Tomoyo's boss told her.
"Okay. Right," Tomoyo said and she headed towards the doorway of one of the rooms.
She worked at an anger management clinic, where she was a counselor.
At night, Tomoyo designed clothes for the clothing brand XOXO.
The three of them worked constantly from morning to night, making money to support themselves.
It wasn't the ideal life for them, but they always had time for each other and time to rest.
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"WHAT??!?!??!?!?!?!??!" Touya blew up.
"See! That's what I mean!" Eriol explained to Syaoran.
"I see," Syaoran nodded thoughtfully, "You ought to go. No, you NEED to go."
"WHAT????" Touya yelled again.
"I'm going with you! You won't be all alone!" Eriol said persistently.
"I am SO not going to an anger management class! I'm fine as I am!" Touya shouted.
"Nuh uh. Besides, Tsukiro ordered it. He thinks even you're too 'angry'," Eriol said.
"Whatever. I'm going to the gym," Syaoran shook his head, sighing.
"Are you going to stop by the HQ to deliver the goods?" Touya asked.
"Yeah," Syaoran said.
"Don't take my car," Touya said, and continued his bickering with Eriol.
"Whatever," Syaoran said, rolled his eyes and left the apartment.
"Fine! We'll go once. If you hate it, we'll drop out," Eriol said
"What? You know I'm going to hate it anyways," Touya said.
"So? I have to follow Tsukiro's orders," Eriol said.
Touya blew at the hair falling over his eyes, making them billow out.
"I'll take that as a yes. Now, I got to go check on my stock purchases," Eriol said.
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"Here's the case," Syaoran handed Tsukiro the briefcase.
Tsukiro expertly cracked the lock on the briefcase with his teeth and opened it.
In it were crisp, new plastic baggies filled with white, sifted powder.
Syaoran's lip curled at the sight but hid his disgust from Akatchi.
The only reason he was staying in the drug gang was for his father.
He didn't want to have anything to do with drugs, but loyalty to his father preceded himself.
"Count it," Tsukiro directed.
Syaoran stood back as three bodyguards standing at the door came over and started counting the numerous plastic bags.
They were done in minutes, and Tsukiro asked, "Is it all there?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. And good job, Syaoran." Tsukiro praised Syaoran.
He winced inwardly, but gave a fake smile in gratitude.
"Now. You're 22. It's time for you to have some real jobs. You know the Noshiko gang?" Tsukiro asked.
"The ones I dealt with this morning? Who traded us?" Syaoran asked, racking his brain for any information.
"The one and only. Now, I have some information that one of their long time members are a computer genius. The man has created a formula for multiplying the main drug found in cocaine, and with that formula they could make billions by themselves. It's all some science shit which I don't care to explore, but we need that formula," Tsukiro said.
"Can't Eriol create one? Or at least copy it?" Syaoran asked.
Tsukiro laughed shortly and said, "The man spent 13 years on that formula. All we have to do is steal the disc that its on. That simple."
"But three things. They could easily make copies of the disc, where can I find the disc, and who knows if the man might make another one?" Syaoran inquired.
"The program is so large that it would corrupt any other disc. The disc was created by the man himself. If we have it, then Eriol could break through it and we can use it. We do not know where the disc is. But I've made a plan. If we just kidnap the man, as valuable as he is, the Noshiko gang will come up with the disc in exchange for him."
"And if they give us the disc?"
"We have the key."
"But what about the man? Do we destroy him, let him go or recruit him?" Syaoran asked.
"We'll deal with that later. This is your first mission, and if you fail--," Tsukiro motioned by slicing his finger across his neck.
Syaoran gulped, but said, "I will not fail."
He left the room briskly, mind already coming up with ideas.
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Sakura was in the bathroom quickly stripping off her restaurant uniform and donning a pink jogging suit.
"I'm out of here! I'll be back by 5 and take the closing shift," Sakura yelled to the manager, who nodded.
Sakura looked at her watch and saw it was 10:55.
"Oh crap, I'm late!" Sakura squealed.
She ran back to the alley and took her bike.
Sakura pedaled furiously to the Tokyo High School, where she worked as a gym teacher and a cheerleading coach.
Sakura quickly parked her bike with all the student's bikes and jogged into the building and across it to the gym.
"Sorry I'm late, you guys," Sakura panted.
Twenty high school sophomores stared back at her.
"All right. Roll call?"
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"Your customer. Help him," Meiling's boss, Mr. Shitoku, directed to Meiling.
"All right. I won't mess this up," Meiling told herself.
"Hi, how may I help you?" Meiling asked cheerfully to the man who had walked in.
He was her age, with tousled hair and chocolate eyes she could melt into.
"No thanks. I'll just be here for a couple of hours," Syaoran told her.
"May I see your membership card?" she asked.
Syaoran flashed a card at her, and scowled and headed towards the weight lifting machine.
Meiling's eyes lingered on the back of his head…
'I could swear that guy acts just like Syaoran.'
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"All right. Is everyone here?" Tomoyo asked mildly to the group of people.
"No. Two people are missing," one of the members said.
"Um…it's Touya and Eriol?" Tomoyo said.
"We're here!" a voice yelped from the hallway.
Tomoyo grinned and walked out the door to see a man her age holding down a bigger guy who was older than him.
"Touya and Eriol?" Tomoyo asked.
"The one and only," Eriol flashed a melting smile at Tomoyo, who immediately blushed.
"C'mon, Touya. Come inside and meet your new friends," Tomoyo teased.
"Shut up. I'm NOT going in," Touya said, grunting as he tried to pull back from Eriol.
"You're not…scared, are you?" Tomoyo asked.
"Of course not! Fine, I'll go in," Touya let go of Eriol, who promptly fell to the floor, and marched into the room.
Tomoyo gave Eriol a hand.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I am now," Eriol said, and winked at her.
Tomoyo could feel the heat rising to her face.
"Um. You can go in. I need to go to the bathroom and freshen up," Tomoyo said, and briskly walked to the bathroom, feeling Eriol's eyes boring through her.
Tomoyo went into the ladies' room and checked her face, and it was bright red.
'Argh. Why am I blushing? The guy's a total playboy!' Tomoyo thought to herself.
She took three deep, calming breaths and went back to the main room where the rest of the group was.
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Sakura was after school with the high school varsity cheerleading squad, which consisted of juniors and seniors not much younger than her.
"Okay girls. Let's work on that back flip," Sakura directed.
The captain of the squad flipped her hair and performed a perfect back flip.
Sakura smiled and said, "Good job. Tasha, why don't we split the group into two. I'll take one and you can take the other."
For two hours, Sakura taught the girls new tricks to use on their upcoming cheer.
"Ms. Yuki? It's already 4:50," one of the girls said.
"Oh my gosh, it is! Crap! I'm late--again! Bye girls!" Sakura yelled back as she ran towards the bike rack.
She got back on her bike and pedaled quickly back to the restaurant, sweating.
"I'm here!" Sakura announced to the chef.
"You have five minutes to change and clock in," the chef said.
"Right," Sakura said, and quickly ran to the bathroom.
She changed back into her hostess' uniform and went to the front of the restaurant.
Business was slow around that time, so Sakura went to the cash register and clocked herself in.
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After the session, Eriol and Touya left, but not before Eriol gave Tomoyo a seductive wink.
As expected, Tomoyo blushed deep red, and Touya dragged Eriol out, eager to leave.
"All right. I hated it. The other people are total freaks who should be at a shrink's office!" Touya declared.
"Uh huh," Eriol nodded absently, still thinking about the beautiful, long haired girl.
"So I don't have to go anymore, right? I tried it out, that's it, end of story," Touya said.
"Nope. We're still going."
"What the hell?"
"There's a certain purple haired girl I need to catch, and you're going to be my bait."
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Meiling followed Syaoran's figure with narrowed eyes, and didn't realize that her boss was standing right next to her.
"Ah hem," he coughed.
"Oh! Sorry!" Meiling apologized.
"You know the policy. No romance on the job," he said.
"I know. I just thought he looked like my long lost cousin," Meiling said, before realizing how lame it sounded.
"Right. Now, I need you to go counsel this young woman. She seems to have a problem with the ab cruncher," he said.
Meiling nodded, and cast one last, long look in the direction
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Tomoyo was at the XOXO work building in downtown Tokyo, in her own little cubicle she had acquired
She had spread out sketches of her latest designs, jean jackets lined with fur that came down to your knees.
However, she couldn't concentrate.
"Eriol…" she whispered.
Her mind slid back to noon, around 12:30 after the session was over.
It had been pretty uneventful, except for the fact that Eriol had seemed to be following every move she had made.
Tomoyo shook her head, and said to herself, "Stop it. Stop it, Tomoyo! You're not going to date unless your serious about getting married!"
Some people around her gave her weird glances, and she smiled sheepishly.
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Syaoran had been working out the whole day, ignoring time as he did push ups, pull ups, weights, joggings and sit ups.
And he was not completely oblivious to the fact that one of the girls working seemed to have a crush on him, or at least kept on staring at him.
She reminded him of his cousin, Meiling. Of course, she was way back in Hong Kong, probably thinking him dead.
'I wonder if she misses me.'
Syaoran got off from the work bench and got a towel to wipe his sweating face.
He took a swig from his water bottle, and sat on the machine, panting, when suddenly She walked in.
Time seemed to go in slow motion as a beautiful girl, slim, about his age, walked into the gym.
She was wearing a uniform from a nearby restaurant, and her hair swished around as she smiled and greeted the girl that had been staring at him.
Syaoran couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation, which mainly went like this:
"Hey! What's up?" the black haired one that worked at the gym asked.
"Not much. I'm on my break from the restaurant, but I gotta get back in ten minutes," she replied.
"What time are you working till?" the black haired one asked
The brown haired, green eyed one replied, "Closing. 11 pm. What about you?"
"Around 6. Same time as Tomoyo. Well, I gotta go. Duty calls," the black haired one said, rolled her eyes and waved.
"I'll be going, now. Bye!" the girl called as she headed out the door.
"Bye Sakura!!"
Sakura.
"Excuse me, are you going to be using that machine?" someone behind Syaoran asked.
"Huh? Oh, no. You can take it," Syaoran courteously nodded and left, heading towards the men's locker room so he could wash up and go home.
After taking a shower and changing, Syaoran headed out the door.
"Excuse me. That woman you talked to a couple of minutes ago? What restaurant did she work at?" Syaoran asked.
The girl looked at him surprised, "Um. The one between the stationary store and McDonalds. Oh, by the way, we just started a new policy. It's called the sign in/sign out sheet. We need to keep track of who comes in every night and when they leave, so could you sign here?"
Syaoran took a pen from the girl and quickly signed his name, "Li Syaoran."
The girl gasped.
"Anything wrong?" he asked curiously.
"N-nothing. Have a good night," the girl said, trembling.
Syaoran shrugged and racked his brain trying to remember the name of the restaurant.
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'So it is him. Oh my god. Why is he asking for Sakura? Maybe he likes her. Nah, Syaoran never liked guys. But then again, he's changed in the past 13 years. I still can't believe its him. I was right!' Meiling thought.
She sighed and stared at the sign out sheet again.
'Now how am I going to break it to him that I'm his cousin? He doesn't even know that I'm here…'
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"Table for one?" Sakura asked cheerfuly to the handsome guy in the lobby.
"Yeah," the guy replied, and gave Sakura a small smile.
"Okie-doke. Come this way. By the way, weren't you at the gym like thirty minutes ago? I saw you there while I was visiting my friend," Sakura said and handed him a menu.
"Your server will come in about ten minutes for your order. Have a nice night," Sakura said, bowed respectfully and left.
'Score!' Syaoran laughing thought, and shook his head.
He couldn't help but notice the way her hair cascaded down her slender body, and the way her innocent green eyes blinked at him.
'Why am I thinking about women all of a sudden? It's not like I date. Hm. It's definitely her. She had alluring pheromones,' Syaoran thought.
Syaoran then shook his head again, horrified all of a sudden, 'Alluring?!?'
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It was around 7 when Tomoyo finally turned off her computer, put her sketch pad in her bag and clicked off the light in her cubicle.
"I'm leaving now," she said to no one in particular, and walked out of the section to the elevators.
Her stomach rumbled on the ride down to the ground level, reminding her to eat some dinner.
She headed out the double doors of the building towards the main entrance to begin the long walk home, and stepped out into the cool air of dusk.
"Can I treat you out to dinner?" a voice behind Tomoyo asked, and she shrieked in horror.
"Get away from me! I have pepper spray on my key chain!" Tomoyo exclaimed hysterically.
"You don't have a key chain with you, and I don't think you'd want to spray me," the voice replied.
Tomoyo whirled around and was surprised to see Eriol.
"I'm so sorry!" Tomoyo apologized, "Kind of paranoid at night. Never know who might jump me."
Eriol laughed, and Tomoyo couldn't help but admire his easy going smile and white teeth.
"So is that a no or yes?" he asked.
"To what?" Tomoyo asked cluelessly
"Dinner. I hope I'm not being too forward, but I'd really like to get to know you better," Eriol said.
"Dinner sounds fine," Tomoyo nodded, though her mind was screaming, 'Don't go with him! You don't anything about him!!'
"Car's waiting over there."
Tomoyo followed Eriol over to the sidewalk where a black Mercedes Benz was waiting.
Tomoyo flushed slightly at the sight of the rich car, reminding her of her past, rich childhood.
Now she walked to work everyday.
"Get in," Eriol said, and opened the door for Tomoyo.
She hesitated, and Eriol said concerned, "I hope you don't think I'm going to rape you or anything."
"Oh, no," Tomoyo laughed weakly.
She got into the car, breathing in the cool leather scent, and Eriol said, "Does that restaurant between McDonalds and the stationary store sound good to you?"
"Sure! My friend Sakura works there," Tomoyo said lightly.
They drove in silence the three blocks to the restaurant, and they finally parked in the parking lot of the classy restaurant.
"Hey Sakura!" Tomoyo chimed as she saw her friend in the lobby of the restaurant.
"Hey! Who's that?" Sakura asked.
"Oh. This is Eriol. I met him at one of my sessions. Not that he goes or anything. He brings his friend. He's quite angry," Tomoyo said, and blushed.
Sakura rolled her eyes humorously and said, "She's babbling. She must really like you, Eriol. Nice to meet you. If you'll just follow me this way, I'll take you to your seats."
Sakura led the two to a table, where Eriol said, "Sup, Syaoran! What are you doing here?"
Syaoran looked up from his dessert, and said flatly, "Having dinner."
"You could've told me you were here. Then we would've gone somewhere else," Eriol joked and winked at Tomoyo and Sakura.
"You two know each other?" Syaoran asked, pointing to Eriol and Sakura.
"We just met. She's Tomoyo's friend," Eriol explained.
"Your waiter will be with you shortly," Sakura said, and handed them the menus.
Eriol and Tomoyo took the table next to Syaoran.
"Let me introduce you. This is Syaoran, my roommate. And best friend since who knows when. This is Tomoyo. Touya's group counselor," Eriol introduced.
"Hi," Tomoyo said.
"Mm." Syaoran said, stirring his coffee slightly.
Eriol jabbed Syaoran and he said, "Hi."
"You're interested in Sakura!" Tomoyo exclaimed.
"What?" Syaoran exclaimed.
"Ha! I knew it. Sorry, but she doesn't really go for guys. But I guess you could have a chance…" Tomoyo trailed off.
"I never said I'm interested in her. I don't date," Syaoran replied and scowled.
Tomoyo smiled slightly, thinking, 'Same thing I said. And now here I am with a hot, rich guy.'
"What? Syaoran liking someone? Are pigs flying?" Eriol asked in mock surprise.
Tomoyo burst into laughter, while Syaoran scowled again.
"I'm done with my dinner," Syaoran said.
His waiter came, and Syaoran quickly signed the bill, and left.
On his way out, he nodded at Sakura, jacket slung over his shoulder.
Sakura gave him a smile.
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Meiling was at the computer, punching in her ID number to sign out for work.
"Hi, Syaoran. Remember me? I'm your cousin, Meiling. I followed you after uncle's funeral and I've been living with a guy who I barely know anything about, and two girls my age for the past thirteen years," Meiling mused.
"No…" Meiling said, and said, "Hi, Syaoran. I hope this doesn't come to as shock to you, but do you happen to have a girl cousin named Meiling? That's me!"
"Argh…." Meiling thought aloud, and finished closing out.
She quickly grabbed her purse from the locker room, and left the gym, outside in the night air.
It was 8 o clock, she was hungry.
"I'll have to cook up some mac and cheese for myself," Meiling thought aloud.
She crossed the street, passing in front of the restaurant Sakura worked.
A familiar figure came out, and Meiling couldn't help herself, "Hey Syaoran!"
The figure turned, raised his eyebrows and said, "Do we know each other?"
"Yes, we do," Meiling took a deep breath.
"And how?" Syaoran asked, fishing in his pocket for his keys.
"This is going to come as a huge shock to you, but most likely you're not going to react," Meiling was breathing quickly from nervousness and excitement.
"What?" Syaoran asked impatiently, finally retrieving his keys from the depths of his pockets.
"It's me, Syaoran. Meiling?"
Syaoran dropped his keys.
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End of Chapter 2. Next Chapter, 'Long lost Cousins'.
A/N: Hey! Well...here's chapter two. I don't have much to say, but please review!! Haha...you'll get more chapters that way. :)
