Pretty Baby, Why Can't You See?
By SwEeT AnGeL 1004
Chapter 7: The Competition, Christmas and Confrontation
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22nd…day of Meiling's snowboard competition…
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"Geez, these people look serious," Meiling said rather nervously.
"C'mon, you know they're just fancy clothes and expensive snowboards. You can beat their butts, after all, they're just rich spoiled kids," Sakura said, smiling.
"Tsk, tsk, such a brat," Tomoyo teased, sticking out her tongue.
Sakura mock pouted, and said, "Ooh, look. There's a sign that says all contestants must meet at top of mountain in five minutes. The contest is starting!"
"Great. I hope you do great," Eriol said to Meiling, and gave her a small hug.
"Thank you, Eriol. And to you, Syaoran, for letting me do the competition. Knowing what a protective cousin you are," Meiling said slyly.
Syaoran rolled his eyes and scowled, "Good luck. Break a leg."
Sakura squealed in disapproval, "That's only for on stage performances! You don't really want her to break a leg, do you?"
Syaoran let out a tiny smile, "Maybe."
He expertly ducked a swing from Meiling, and Sakura said, "You better get going. We'll cheer for you from the sidelines!"
"All right. Wish me good luck!" Meiling blew a kiss to her friends and started heading up to where all the people were, snowboard in tow.
The five people took a place by the ropes holding them back, Sakura squished next to Syaoran.
"Meiling's amazing, isn't she?" Sakura asked Syaoran.
Syaoran shrugged, "She gets annoying. We were engaged, once."
Sakura was shocked, "What? But you guys last met when you were like nine…"
"I know. We were engaged since we were two. Obviously, not anymore. I love her, but only as a younger sister. She used to adore me and follow me around everything. She's grown out of it. I think she's forgotten about the whole engagement thing."
"That's crazy," Sakura said thoughtfully, "But I'm glad."
"Glad about what?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura didn't get to have a chance to answer because a roaring cheer came from the other people, and they looked up.
They spotted Meiling, briskly rubbing her hands together and pushing her snowboard back and forth to give herself some momentum.
"Three…two…one…GO!" someone shot a gun into the air, and twenty contestants shot off like rockets.
"I hope she doesn't get hurt," Sakura said, looking at Meiling's flying form in worry.
"She won't," Syaoran assured, "She's too tough for that."
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Meanwhile, Meiling was shooting down the mountain.
She quickly passed several people, and made sure that she wasn't going to fast.
Biting her lip in concentration, she slid to the side quickly to avoid crashing into a huge evergreen tree.
Unluckily, two other contestants weren't so fortunate. They slammed into the tree, and Meiling winced as she heard audible cracks, and the crowd moaned in pity.
There was a hill coming up, and Meiling gave herself some more momentum and pushed herself to the limit.
She went flying over the mountain, and to the pleasure of the crowd and judges, jumped off the board midair and did a back flip.
She landed perfectly on her board back on the ground and continued speeding.
There was a curve coming up, so Meiling leaned to the side and skidded around on the wall of the curve, nearly sideways.
She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, and continued concentrating on the course.
Meiling soon became aware that she couldn't see anyone.
"Damn, they must all be ahead of me," Meiling gritted her teeth impatiently.
Little did she know that she was in third place, with only two people ahead of her.
She spotted a person several yards ahead of her, and grinned wickedly.
Meiling gave herself as much force as she could, and sailed ahead.
She found herself right next to the next contestant, and said, "Heya! How you doing?"
The contestant gave her a glare and said gruffly, "Don't have time to talk."
"Oh. I'll get out of your way now," Meiling said, winked at the contestant, and blew ahead.
The other contestant was so surprised by her acceleration that he lost his balance, and Meiling yelled to him, "My bad" and flashed the man on the ground painfully rubbing his butt and peace sign.
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"Meiling's second place!" Tomoyo said excitedly to Touya and Eriol, who were standing beside her.
"She's good," Eriol said, and nudged Touya, "Isn't she?"
Touya grudgingly admitted, "Eh. She's okay. For second place."
"I hope she gets first," Sakura said, adding into their conversation.
They continued watching, squinting their eyes at a television that had been set up outside to track each person's progress.
A reporter from JSN (Japan Sports News) was saying into his mike, "And an extraordinary snowboarder named Meiling Yuki has made her way up to second place! She seems to be closing in the distance from herself and the first place winner, who was champion from last year's competition."
"Did you hear that?" Sakura asked Syaoran excitedly, "Meiling's name is on the news!"
"Her face will be too, if she makes first place."
"Wow, my own sister's making the news!" Sakura said.
Syaoran raised his eyebrow at the word sister, and said, "Sister?"
Sakura smiled, "Of course. I've lived with her for thirteen years. More than half my life. A LOT more than half my life."
"Mm," Syaoran said, and pondered why he never called Touya his brother.
"Woo!" Sakura suddenly shrieked, nearly bursting Syaoran's left ear drum, "They're almost at the finish line! They're tied! COME ON MEILING!!!!!!!!!"
Syaoran winced, but half-heartedly cheered along.
He squinted at the television and saw Meiling speeding towards the finish line.
He added his voice in the cheering, "Meiling! Meiling! Meiling!"
"WOOH!!!!!!!" Tomoyo screamed shrilly, "SHE WON!!!!!"
Indeed, Meiling had sped ahead the second before they reached the line, and broke the ribbon with her body.
Meiling skidded around to a stop, breathing heavily, but raised her fists in triumph, and let out a scream, "WOO HOO!!!!"
It echoed through the mountains (thank goodness it didn't cause an avalanche), and Sean Kopitski came forward with a huge gold trophy and a check.
"You won this fair and square. Congratulations, Meiling. Anything you want to say?"
Meiling shrugged and grinned, "I want to thank everyone who knows me! And thank you for the check and trophy!"
Meiling trotted off to find her friends, and found Touya, who reluctantly shook her hand and said, "Good job. You deserved it. But I want another rematch."
Meiling smirked, "You're on."
Tomoyo and Sakura engulfed Meiling into a hug, and Meiling also gave Syaoran and Eriol a hug.
"Congratulations. What are you going to do with the money?" Sakura asked.
"Splurge!" Meiling grinned.
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The party of six was at a restaurant that was on the main street.
It was a quaint little cozy restaurant that served home style American food, like potpies and mulled apple cider.
They settled into a booth and Meiling declared, "My treat! I'm paying for this dinner."
"Um, you don't have any cash. You spent it all on your secret Santa gift at that bo--" Sakura's mouth was quickly clamped over by Meiling.
Sakura smiled sheepishly, "Oh yeah. It's a secret. But you don't have any cash with you until you go to the bank and cash in the check."
Meiling looked crestfallen, "Damn. I was hoping to treat everyone out to dinner for once."
"It's all right. If it makes you feel better, I'll pay for this dinner. After you cash in the check back in Tokyo, you can take us out for ice cream or dinner," Sakura suggested, "I haven't done anything so far. Eriol and Syaoran have taken us out for dinner; Touya let us borrow his car to drive up here so we didn't have to rent a van."
"Do you have enough money?" Tomoyo asked, knowing that Sakura usually didn't have much cash with her; after all, working as a hostess or teacher didn't pay very well.
Sakura grinned, "I made my Secret Santa his/her present. That saved me some cash. Well, I'm almost done with it."
"All right. We're ready to order," Syaoran told the restaurant owner, which was a plump little lady.
"What do you want, honey?" she asked.
They ordered their food quickly and it came out, and they feasted on food, Meiling eating the most after her tiring competition.
"Do you think you'll come out in the news?" Sakura asked while chewing on a piece of pumpkin pie and milk.
"Probably," Tomoyo said, "Remember that man from JSN?"
"Yup," Sakura said, nodding.
She took a gulp of milk to wash it down and smiled, "That was a good dinner."
"I hope I come out into the news," Meiling said, "That'd be way cool!"
"Thanks for the apple pie," Touya said to Sakura.
She grinned, "I hope I'll treat you guys more often. I like it."
Eriol suddenly cleared his throat and said, "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you, but Meiling, I found a job for you."
"Really? What is it? Boy, today's my lucky day!" Meiling exclaimed.
"It's at the Tokyo Medical Hospital. You're going to be an aid there for one of the physiological doctors. It was the only one opened, and it'd match up to you," Eriol said.
"What would I do there?" Meiling asked, not liking the sound of 'physiological'.
"Well, technically you'd be working in the mental illness department. So mainly you'd probably be restraining patients or giving them medicine. It's easy, and its twelve bucks an hour, which is a good deal," Eriol explained.
"Mm…is it safe? Do I get health benefits? Can I work it around my schedule? Is the doctor I'm working for hot?" Meiling shot off her questions.
Eriol laughed, "Yes, yes, yes, no."
"Darn. I'll take the job. When do I start?" Meiling asked, sipping her soda.
"The Monday we get back," Eriol said, and pulled out a business card, "Go here. For the first day, you'll just be in training."
"All right," Meiling pocketed the business card, "Thank you SO much! You just gave me the best Christmas present---a wonderful, well paying job."
"You are very much welcome," Eriol said modestly.
They left the restaurant, leaving a generous tip to the owner, and started for outside.
"I think I'm going to walk home," Sakura said, stretching her arms out and staring at the sky.
Tomoyo and Meiling exchanged mischievous glances and declared, "We're riding the car."
"I'm driving. I've had enough of Eriol and Syaoran's horrible driving skills," Touya scowled.
"I'm going with Tomoyo," Eriol immediately volunteered.
Meiling said, a little too sweetly, "I think Syaoran has to walk Sakura home. I mean, he wouldn't just leave girl to walk home alone, would he? Think of all the dangers!"
Syaoran glowered at Meiling, who had a sugar smile pasted on her face, but resigned, "All right."
"We'll see you back at the house! Take your time!" Tomoyo exclaimed, and they hopped into the car.
Sakura laughed and said, "I think they're up to something."
Syaoran muttered, "No duh."
Sakura chattered on the walk home about Christmas, Meiling and Tomoyo, and her two jobs.
"Don't you think it's tiring to have two jobs?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura shrugged, "I like it. I admit, sometimes the sore feet and blisters get to me…but I feel like I've accomplished something by working hard. It doesn't pay very well, but I'm getting a good experience."
"Oh," Syaoran reflected on what she said.
"What do you do?" Sakura asked Syaoran.
Syaoran's insides squirmed slightly, but he gazed at Sakura and said calmly, "I work at a consumer purchase business. It pays pretty well and I get a lot of time off."
Which was the truth.
"Lucky. That's why you have three cars, don't you?" Sakura asked.
"Between the three of us, seven cars. Actually, four of them are the company cars. Mine is the Lexus, Eriol's is the black Mercedes and Touya's is the Explorer," Syaoran stated matter-of-factly.
It wasn't until the words were out of his mouth that he realized how snotty he sounded.
He quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound like a rich brat."
Sakura laughed, "It's all right. I don't mind. I like hearing about the lifestyles of the rich and the famous."
"We're home," Syaoran said, and opened the door for Sakura.
"I'll duck in before we have to kiss again," Sakura said, and made Syaoran blush, remembering the short kiss that had happened under the mistletoe.
The rest of the people were there, and Tomoyo had turned on the radio.
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas…
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
to hear sleigh bells in the snow…"
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Christmas morning…December the 25th…
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"Wake up! Wake up!" Sakura shook Tomoyo's shoulders.
"Ugh. The one morning you choose to wake up is always Christmas," Meiling groaned, slowly opening her eyes.
"No duh! It's Christmas time!" Sakura nearly shrieked, and ran out to the hallway.
She pounded on Syaoran's and Eriol's doors and yelled, "Wake up! Last one down stairs is a rotten egg!"
She thundered downstairs, and Touya came out his room, rubbing his eyes, "What's wrong?"
"We've just been Christmased," Eriol said, and groaned, "It's only six o clock!"
"She wakes me up the one morning I choose to sleep in," Syaoran rolled his eyes.
Nevertheless, they headed downstairs.
Sakura beamed at the sight of six presents wrapped up and under the festively decorated tree.
"Eggnog for everyone!" Sakura poured out a carton into six glasses and served them to everyone.
"This doesn't taste that bad," Touya said thoughtfully, and gulped the glass down.
"Presents!" Sakura yelped, and took the first one she could see.
It was a big package and said, "This one is to Syaoran. From your secret Santa."
Syaoran took it and slowly unwrapped it.
It was a set of silver picture frames, and a note was attached, "I'll send you the pictures as soon as I get them developed. Especially the one with you kissing Sakura."
Syaoran blushed and crumpled up the note before anyone else could read it, and cleared his throat, "Thanks, Tomoyo."
"How'd you know it was me?" Tomoyo asked indignantly.
"I have my ways," Syaoran smirked.
"Next one is to Meiling," Sakura handed Meiling a small envelope.
Meiling ripped it open, tearing the envelope to shreds.
"Ooh! Three passes to my old gym's rival! Thank you so much whoever gave it to me," Meiling said happily.
Touya spoke up, "It was me. I heard what happened and figured I should get you something like that. The other two are for Sakura and Tomoyo. Since they probably don't want to go to the old gym. They're yearlong."
"Thank you!" Meiling reached over and gave Touya a small hug.
"This is Touya's," Sakura said and handed it to Touya.
"I'm guessing it's from you?" Touya asked.
Sakura blushed slightly, "Guilty."
Touya carefully opened it and saw a pair of knitted mittens, earmuffs, hat and scarf, each in a dark shade of gray.
"I hope you like it. I'm not really good at that stuff but I managed to make it all under a week. With the help of Tomoyo," Sakura said.
"Thanks," Touya said, and nodded kindly at her.
"Ooh! This is mine!" Sakura picked up a small box and shook it.
There was an audible rattling, and Sakura smiled, "I hope I didn't break it."
She carefully ripped the wrapping paper apart and opened the box.
There was a note and a pair of keys.
"I hope you don't mind used gifts," Sakura read, "This is a car key?"
Syaoran spoke up, "One of my cars I don't use. It's a Toyota Corolla, and its too feminine for me. You should share the car with Tomoyo and Meiling. And don't worry, it wasn't a big burden on me."
"Oh thank you!" Sakura leapt up and gave Syaoran a tight hug, surprising him.
"Uh, no problem," Syaoran answered, eyes down and blushing.
Sakura resumed her position on the floor and picked up another gift.
"To Eriol," Sakura said and handed him a heavy package.
Eriol smiled and tore open the package, revealing a large yellow book…
Entitled, 'Proposing to Your Girlfriend for Dummies.'
Tomoyo's eyes widened at she shot a look at Meiling, who was rolling on the floor with laughter at the look on Eriol's face.
"Sorry---" Meiling chortled, "I couldn't help myself. But it's a good book, eh? Hehehehe!"
Eriol smiled, and said, "Sakura, get the next present."
Sakura handed Eriol a tiny box, and he said, "For Tomoyo. From me."
Tomoyo uncertainly took the present and unwrapped it.
It was a velvet ring box, and Tomoyo pressed her hand against her mouth, "Oh."
"It's not what you think it is," Eriol hurriedly said, "Open it."
Tomoyo obeyed and the silk lined box revealed a plain silver ring.
"It's a promise ring. I'm wearing the same one," Eriol showed Tomoyo and explained, "I just want to tell you that while I'm wearing this ring, I promise to be faithful to you, love you and that I want to take our relationship very seriously."
Tomoyo's eyes were teary as she said, "Oh. So we're like engaged to being engaged?"
Eriol shrugged, "If you want it to be."
"I do," Tomoyo nodded, and sniffled as Eriol took the ring out of the box and slid it on Tomoyo's ring finger.
"Wait!" Sakura exclaimed.
She grabbed Tomoyo's camera and took a picture of them hugging, rings visible.
"There's something inscribed in the band," Eriol took off the ring and showed it Tomoyo.
She read, "Eriol and Tomoyo's promise ring."
"That's so beautiful," Sakura sighed in happiness as she watched Tomoyo and Eriol give each other another hug.
"Yeah. They're so cute together," Meiling agreed.
Syaoran cleared his throat, breaking up the sweet atmosphere, and said, "Well, Christmas presents is over. Time for breakfast."
Touya added, "We're all cooking."
And so in everyone's opinion, this was the best Christmas they had ever had.
They had a wonderful Christmas breakfast, went outside to the backyard for a snowball fight (even Touya and Syaoran participated), came inside for a break with lots of hot chocolate with marshmallows, went outside for two hours of snowboarding, had lunch and dinner.
Of course, the three girls didn't forget about Yuki at home.
After dinner, which the three men had cooked, Sakura took the cordless phone from the kitchen and trotted over to the living room.
"Hey, I'm calling Yuki to wish him a merry Christmas and see how he's doing," Sakura said.
"Good idea. Oh my gosh, we haven't called him once since we came here!" Meiling clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Ugh. I know. I feel bad. We should make it up for him and talk to him for a long time," Tomoyo said.
Sakura started dialing the number to their apartment back in Tokyo.
After several rings, they heard someone pick up.
"Yuki?" Sakura asked.
It was pointless, since Yuki didn't speak, so Sakura said, "I'm guessing it's you. Well, sorry we haven't called. We've been really busy."
Sakura passed to phone over to Meiling who said, "Guess what? Did you see me on TV? Well, I don't know if was on TV, but I won a snowboard competition over here! I won 1,000 dollars and this really cool trophy. What'd you do today? We're coming home in a few days, so don't worry about us!"
She handed to phone over to Tomoyo, who excitedly said, "We're having a really good time! And we'll make it up to you, okay, Yuki?"
She went on to tell him about the Secret Santa and all the gifts they received, and she described the cabin and the mountains and their ski lessons from the men.
"Well, we've already been talking for twenty minutes, Yuki," Sakura said into the receiver, "We better go. See you in a few days!"
They heard Yuki put the phone down and the dial tone, and Sakura clicked the phone off.
Eriol had been watching them and asked, "Doesn't Yuki talk?"
"He's not much for words," Tomoyo said, "But we communicate quite well."
"I can't believe almost two weeks has passed since we've come here. I've learned how to ski and snowboard, and I got a new car. We got a new car," Sakura said happily.
"We still have five more days here," Syaoran reminded, "But we got to spend two of those precious days putting the Christmas tree down and cleaning up."
"All right," Meiling stated, "And then I get to start my new job."
"Let's hope you keep it. Which won't be likely," Syaoran muttered, and quickly ducked from Meiling's flying fist.
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December 29th…day before they're leaving…
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Since they would be leaving tomorrow at noon, Sakura, Syaoran, Eriol, Touya, Tomoyo and Meiling were taking down the trees and its decorations, and all of the other decorations around the house.
They had had a quiet, peaceful Christmas, without any interference from anyone, especially a certain doe-eyed Shawna.
Touya and Sakura were in charge of taking down the decorations upstairs, in the bedrooms and bathrooms, while Tomoyo and Eriol were sorting through the ornaments and tinsel.
Syaoran was outside on a ladder, ripping off the lights from the roof and windows, and taking down the wreaths. And Meiling was in charge of the rest of the house.
Sakura was upstairs in Touya's room, peeling off window decorations, standing on a ladder, while Touya vacuumed the floor that was littered with pieces of trash.
Sakura finished detaching the bright transparent Christmas trees and lightly jumped down the ladder.
She miscalculated her step, however, and fell onto the carpet with a big, "Oof!"
"Oh crap," Sakura muttered, when she realized her chain necklace had broken, and her ring was somewhere down her shirt.
"Want some help?" Touya asked, and sat down on the bed, watching Sakura perform strange antics to get her necklace out of her shirt.
She finally stood up and shook it out, and the ring landed on the bed, right in front of Touya's face.
Touya stared at it.
His prayer had been answered.
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"Where'd you get that ring?" he asked, his voice nearly cracking from emotion.
Sakura looked up from string the ring back onto her chain, "Oh, long story."
"I have a lot of time. And I need an explanation," Touya said.
Sakura gave him a weird look and said, "Well…if you really want to know, I had it with me since I was nine. I've never really told anyone else besides Tomoyo and Meiling this…but Yuki found me unconscious and wounded on the arm in a dumpster in Tokyo. I had this ring with me, and that's all the identity I have, since I seem to have had amnesia."
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You light me up and then I fall for you.
You lay me down and then I call for you.
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Touya choked, "What?"
He suddenly got up and hugged Sakura so tightly she couldn't breath, and she gasped out, "Touya! What's wrong with you???"
"You're my sister, Sakura. Can't you remember?" Touya choked out, "Sakura Kinomoto. Don't you know? You're my sister!"
Sakura wrestled out of his grasp and stepped back quickly, fear apparent in her eyes.
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Stumbling on reasons that are far and few
I let it all come down and then sung for you.
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"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked slowly.
"Sakura, I told you. I lost a sister when she was nine. Emerald eyes, brown hair. Our father gave your that ring. It was our mother's, who died when you were about two or three. She loved that name and had the ring made when you were born. She wanted to give it to you when you were sixteen…" Touya trailed off.
"I have no clue what you're talking about. I'm sorry, Touya. I don't have a family. It's just not possible that I could be your…sister," Sakura said.
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Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
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"Please, Sakura," Touya pleaded, "We could do a DNA test or something. I've been looking for you the past thirteen years. Well, not exactly looking, but I've been praying that you'd drop out of the sky or something."
Sakura looked at him, confused, "But…Touya, I don't remember! I don't have a god damn memory about you or anything else! Sure I might have some brief flash--" Sakura stopped.
Touya looked at her, hopeful, "Sakura. I loved you. You know that. C'mon, don't you feel at least a hint of recognition? When you first met me? I have all the memories, Sakura. Just please…let me tell them to you."
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I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming 'round.
Oh pretty baby
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"I'm sorry, Touya. But it wouldn't feel right. I mean, what if it turns out that I'm not your sister? And you're not my brother?" Sakura asked, stepping towards the door.
She had visible tears running down her face; the emotions were too much to handle.
"Just a simple DNA test, please? If you are…well then, that'd be the best Christmas present anyone could ever give me," Touya said.
"No," Sakura said, sobbing, "I can't. I've lived enough years without a brother, I can survive the rest of my life."
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"And I know things can't last forever
But there are lessons that you'll never learn.
Oh just the scent of you, it makes me hurt.
So havin' your love makes me better. Oh…"
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"Why not a DNA test? Please?" Touya pleaded, choking over his words.
"I can't, Touya. Why couldn't you just show me some more proof before you made accusations like this, huh?" Sakura asked, tears streaming down her face.
"I can't. I lost everything after Tsu--" Touya quickly shut up.
He couldn't let anyone know about Tsukiro Akatchi murdering his father.
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Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming
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"Tsu-what?" Sakura asked him edgily.
Touya sat in stony silence for a minute, "There was a man who killed our father. Don't you know? Fujitaka Kinomoto, archaelogosist. He got killed trying to get something. Sakura, don't you remember right before I lost you? We were in a dark closet, I was holding you--"
Sakura could vaguely remember that in one of her dreams…
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Can you hold me?
And never let go
When you touch me
And it's me that you own.
Pretty baby,
oh the place that you hold in my heart.
Would you break it apart? Again
Oh pretty baby
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But she quickly shook her head, "No, Touya. Let's just be friends. Let this matter drop. This was the past. I'm looking into the future, not dwelling on what happened 13 years ago."
Touya cried out, "What about me? Those sleepless nights I cried for my family? For you? How can I just let this drop when I'm this close from having someone I loved back? When I lost everything I had?"
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Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
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"I'm sorry, Touya," Sakura said simply, sniffling, eyes red from crying.
She turned around, not being able to control the flow of tears down her cheeks, and opened the door to leave.
She ran into Syaoran, who had been standing there, into a hug, and she began sobbing hysterically in Syaoran's arms of comfort.
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I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming 'round.
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"What's wrong? What the hell did you do to her, Touya?" Syaoran asked to Touya, who was staring at the wall stonily.
"Why don't you ask her?" Touya asked coldly.
He turned around and his eyes met Syaoran's, and Syaoran nearly gasped when he saw Touya's eyes wet from tears.
Not in the 10 years he had known Touya, he had ever seen Touya cry.
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Pretty baby, don't you leave me.
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"Sakura, go downstairs. I'll be there shortly," Syaoran gently let go of Sakura and she began walking unsteadily down the stairs.
"Tomoyo! Eriol! Meiling! Get to the living room quick!" Syaoran hollered as loud as he could
He heard their thundering steps, and stepped into Touya's room.
"Now tell me what happened. Everything."
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Pretty baby, why can't you see?
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Disclaimer: I don't own the song, "Pretty Baby" by Vanessa Carlton.
End of chapter 7. Next chapter, 'Back Home'.
A/N: Eh, I know it was pretty stupid to make Sakura not want the DNA test and everything. But don't worry, she'll do it later. Um...this is the end of chapter seven! Lol, I already said that. Chapter EIGHT will be up in the twentysixth (of March), but until then, please REVIEW!! I'm not getting very many reviews for this one.... :(
By SwEeT AnGeL 1004
Chapter 7: The Competition, Christmas and Confrontation
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22nd…day of Meiling's snowboard competition…
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"Geez, these people look serious," Meiling said rather nervously.
"C'mon, you know they're just fancy clothes and expensive snowboards. You can beat their butts, after all, they're just rich spoiled kids," Sakura said, smiling.
"Tsk, tsk, such a brat," Tomoyo teased, sticking out her tongue.
Sakura mock pouted, and said, "Ooh, look. There's a sign that says all contestants must meet at top of mountain in five minutes. The contest is starting!"
"Great. I hope you do great," Eriol said to Meiling, and gave her a small hug.
"Thank you, Eriol. And to you, Syaoran, for letting me do the competition. Knowing what a protective cousin you are," Meiling said slyly.
Syaoran rolled his eyes and scowled, "Good luck. Break a leg."
Sakura squealed in disapproval, "That's only for on stage performances! You don't really want her to break a leg, do you?"
Syaoran let out a tiny smile, "Maybe."
He expertly ducked a swing from Meiling, and Sakura said, "You better get going. We'll cheer for you from the sidelines!"
"All right. Wish me good luck!" Meiling blew a kiss to her friends and started heading up to where all the people were, snowboard in tow.
The five people took a place by the ropes holding them back, Sakura squished next to Syaoran.
"Meiling's amazing, isn't she?" Sakura asked Syaoran.
Syaoran shrugged, "She gets annoying. We were engaged, once."
Sakura was shocked, "What? But you guys last met when you were like nine…"
"I know. We were engaged since we were two. Obviously, not anymore. I love her, but only as a younger sister. She used to adore me and follow me around everything. She's grown out of it. I think she's forgotten about the whole engagement thing."
"That's crazy," Sakura said thoughtfully, "But I'm glad."
"Glad about what?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura didn't get to have a chance to answer because a roaring cheer came from the other people, and they looked up.
They spotted Meiling, briskly rubbing her hands together and pushing her snowboard back and forth to give herself some momentum.
"Three…two…one…GO!" someone shot a gun into the air, and twenty contestants shot off like rockets.
"I hope she doesn't get hurt," Sakura said, looking at Meiling's flying form in worry.
"She won't," Syaoran assured, "She's too tough for that."
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Meanwhile, Meiling was shooting down the mountain.
She quickly passed several people, and made sure that she wasn't going to fast.
Biting her lip in concentration, she slid to the side quickly to avoid crashing into a huge evergreen tree.
Unluckily, two other contestants weren't so fortunate. They slammed into the tree, and Meiling winced as she heard audible cracks, and the crowd moaned in pity.
There was a hill coming up, and Meiling gave herself some more momentum and pushed herself to the limit.
She went flying over the mountain, and to the pleasure of the crowd and judges, jumped off the board midair and did a back flip.
She landed perfectly on her board back on the ground and continued speeding.
There was a curve coming up, so Meiling leaned to the side and skidded around on the wall of the curve, nearly sideways.
She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, and continued concentrating on the course.
Meiling soon became aware that she couldn't see anyone.
"Damn, they must all be ahead of me," Meiling gritted her teeth impatiently.
Little did she know that she was in third place, with only two people ahead of her.
She spotted a person several yards ahead of her, and grinned wickedly.
Meiling gave herself as much force as she could, and sailed ahead.
She found herself right next to the next contestant, and said, "Heya! How you doing?"
The contestant gave her a glare and said gruffly, "Don't have time to talk."
"Oh. I'll get out of your way now," Meiling said, winked at the contestant, and blew ahead.
The other contestant was so surprised by her acceleration that he lost his balance, and Meiling yelled to him, "My bad" and flashed the man on the ground painfully rubbing his butt and peace sign.
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"Meiling's second place!" Tomoyo said excitedly to Touya and Eriol, who were standing beside her.
"She's good," Eriol said, and nudged Touya, "Isn't she?"
Touya grudgingly admitted, "Eh. She's okay. For second place."
"I hope she gets first," Sakura said, adding into their conversation.
They continued watching, squinting their eyes at a television that had been set up outside to track each person's progress.
A reporter from JSN (Japan Sports News) was saying into his mike, "And an extraordinary snowboarder named Meiling Yuki has made her way up to second place! She seems to be closing in the distance from herself and the first place winner, who was champion from last year's competition."
"Did you hear that?" Sakura asked Syaoran excitedly, "Meiling's name is on the news!"
"Her face will be too, if she makes first place."
"Wow, my own sister's making the news!" Sakura said.
Syaoran raised his eyebrow at the word sister, and said, "Sister?"
Sakura smiled, "Of course. I've lived with her for thirteen years. More than half my life. A LOT more than half my life."
"Mm," Syaoran said, and pondered why he never called Touya his brother.
"Woo!" Sakura suddenly shrieked, nearly bursting Syaoran's left ear drum, "They're almost at the finish line! They're tied! COME ON MEILING!!!!!!!!!"
Syaoran winced, but half-heartedly cheered along.
He squinted at the television and saw Meiling speeding towards the finish line.
He added his voice in the cheering, "Meiling! Meiling! Meiling!"
"WOOH!!!!!!!" Tomoyo screamed shrilly, "SHE WON!!!!!"
Indeed, Meiling had sped ahead the second before they reached the line, and broke the ribbon with her body.
Meiling skidded around to a stop, breathing heavily, but raised her fists in triumph, and let out a scream, "WOO HOO!!!!"
It echoed through the mountains (thank goodness it didn't cause an avalanche), and Sean Kopitski came forward with a huge gold trophy and a check.
"You won this fair and square. Congratulations, Meiling. Anything you want to say?"
Meiling shrugged and grinned, "I want to thank everyone who knows me! And thank you for the check and trophy!"
Meiling trotted off to find her friends, and found Touya, who reluctantly shook her hand and said, "Good job. You deserved it. But I want another rematch."
Meiling smirked, "You're on."
Tomoyo and Sakura engulfed Meiling into a hug, and Meiling also gave Syaoran and Eriol a hug.
"Congratulations. What are you going to do with the money?" Sakura asked.
"Splurge!" Meiling grinned.
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The party of six was at a restaurant that was on the main street.
It was a quaint little cozy restaurant that served home style American food, like potpies and mulled apple cider.
They settled into a booth and Meiling declared, "My treat! I'm paying for this dinner."
"Um, you don't have any cash. You spent it all on your secret Santa gift at that bo--" Sakura's mouth was quickly clamped over by Meiling.
Sakura smiled sheepishly, "Oh yeah. It's a secret. But you don't have any cash with you until you go to the bank and cash in the check."
Meiling looked crestfallen, "Damn. I was hoping to treat everyone out to dinner for once."
"It's all right. If it makes you feel better, I'll pay for this dinner. After you cash in the check back in Tokyo, you can take us out for ice cream or dinner," Sakura suggested, "I haven't done anything so far. Eriol and Syaoran have taken us out for dinner; Touya let us borrow his car to drive up here so we didn't have to rent a van."
"Do you have enough money?" Tomoyo asked, knowing that Sakura usually didn't have much cash with her; after all, working as a hostess or teacher didn't pay very well.
Sakura grinned, "I made my Secret Santa his/her present. That saved me some cash. Well, I'm almost done with it."
"All right. We're ready to order," Syaoran told the restaurant owner, which was a plump little lady.
"What do you want, honey?" she asked.
They ordered their food quickly and it came out, and they feasted on food, Meiling eating the most after her tiring competition.
"Do you think you'll come out in the news?" Sakura asked while chewing on a piece of pumpkin pie and milk.
"Probably," Tomoyo said, "Remember that man from JSN?"
"Yup," Sakura said, nodding.
She took a gulp of milk to wash it down and smiled, "That was a good dinner."
"I hope I come out into the news," Meiling said, "That'd be way cool!"
"Thanks for the apple pie," Touya said to Sakura.
She grinned, "I hope I'll treat you guys more often. I like it."
Eriol suddenly cleared his throat and said, "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you, but Meiling, I found a job for you."
"Really? What is it? Boy, today's my lucky day!" Meiling exclaimed.
"It's at the Tokyo Medical Hospital. You're going to be an aid there for one of the physiological doctors. It was the only one opened, and it'd match up to you," Eriol said.
"What would I do there?" Meiling asked, not liking the sound of 'physiological'.
"Well, technically you'd be working in the mental illness department. So mainly you'd probably be restraining patients or giving them medicine. It's easy, and its twelve bucks an hour, which is a good deal," Eriol explained.
"Mm…is it safe? Do I get health benefits? Can I work it around my schedule? Is the doctor I'm working for hot?" Meiling shot off her questions.
Eriol laughed, "Yes, yes, yes, no."
"Darn. I'll take the job. When do I start?" Meiling asked, sipping her soda.
"The Monday we get back," Eriol said, and pulled out a business card, "Go here. For the first day, you'll just be in training."
"All right," Meiling pocketed the business card, "Thank you SO much! You just gave me the best Christmas present---a wonderful, well paying job."
"You are very much welcome," Eriol said modestly.
They left the restaurant, leaving a generous tip to the owner, and started for outside.
"I think I'm going to walk home," Sakura said, stretching her arms out and staring at the sky.
Tomoyo and Meiling exchanged mischievous glances and declared, "We're riding the car."
"I'm driving. I've had enough of Eriol and Syaoran's horrible driving skills," Touya scowled.
"I'm going with Tomoyo," Eriol immediately volunteered.
Meiling said, a little too sweetly, "I think Syaoran has to walk Sakura home. I mean, he wouldn't just leave girl to walk home alone, would he? Think of all the dangers!"
Syaoran glowered at Meiling, who had a sugar smile pasted on her face, but resigned, "All right."
"We'll see you back at the house! Take your time!" Tomoyo exclaimed, and they hopped into the car.
Sakura laughed and said, "I think they're up to something."
Syaoran muttered, "No duh."
Sakura chattered on the walk home about Christmas, Meiling and Tomoyo, and her two jobs.
"Don't you think it's tiring to have two jobs?" Syaoran asked.
Sakura shrugged, "I like it. I admit, sometimes the sore feet and blisters get to me…but I feel like I've accomplished something by working hard. It doesn't pay very well, but I'm getting a good experience."
"Oh," Syaoran reflected on what she said.
"What do you do?" Sakura asked Syaoran.
Syaoran's insides squirmed slightly, but he gazed at Sakura and said calmly, "I work at a consumer purchase business. It pays pretty well and I get a lot of time off."
Which was the truth.
"Lucky. That's why you have three cars, don't you?" Sakura asked.
"Between the three of us, seven cars. Actually, four of them are the company cars. Mine is the Lexus, Eriol's is the black Mercedes and Touya's is the Explorer," Syaoran stated matter-of-factly.
It wasn't until the words were out of his mouth that he realized how snotty he sounded.
He quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound like a rich brat."
Sakura laughed, "It's all right. I don't mind. I like hearing about the lifestyles of the rich and the famous."
"We're home," Syaoran said, and opened the door for Sakura.
"I'll duck in before we have to kiss again," Sakura said, and made Syaoran blush, remembering the short kiss that had happened under the mistletoe.
The rest of the people were there, and Tomoyo had turned on the radio.
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas…
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
to hear sleigh bells in the snow…"
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Christmas morning…December the 25th…
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"Wake up! Wake up!" Sakura shook Tomoyo's shoulders.
"Ugh. The one morning you choose to wake up is always Christmas," Meiling groaned, slowly opening her eyes.
"No duh! It's Christmas time!" Sakura nearly shrieked, and ran out to the hallway.
She pounded on Syaoran's and Eriol's doors and yelled, "Wake up! Last one down stairs is a rotten egg!"
She thundered downstairs, and Touya came out his room, rubbing his eyes, "What's wrong?"
"We've just been Christmased," Eriol said, and groaned, "It's only six o clock!"
"She wakes me up the one morning I choose to sleep in," Syaoran rolled his eyes.
Nevertheless, they headed downstairs.
Sakura beamed at the sight of six presents wrapped up and under the festively decorated tree.
"Eggnog for everyone!" Sakura poured out a carton into six glasses and served them to everyone.
"This doesn't taste that bad," Touya said thoughtfully, and gulped the glass down.
"Presents!" Sakura yelped, and took the first one she could see.
It was a big package and said, "This one is to Syaoran. From your secret Santa."
Syaoran took it and slowly unwrapped it.
It was a set of silver picture frames, and a note was attached, "I'll send you the pictures as soon as I get them developed. Especially the one with you kissing Sakura."
Syaoran blushed and crumpled up the note before anyone else could read it, and cleared his throat, "Thanks, Tomoyo."
"How'd you know it was me?" Tomoyo asked indignantly.
"I have my ways," Syaoran smirked.
"Next one is to Meiling," Sakura handed Meiling a small envelope.
Meiling ripped it open, tearing the envelope to shreds.
"Ooh! Three passes to my old gym's rival! Thank you so much whoever gave it to me," Meiling said happily.
Touya spoke up, "It was me. I heard what happened and figured I should get you something like that. The other two are for Sakura and Tomoyo. Since they probably don't want to go to the old gym. They're yearlong."
"Thank you!" Meiling reached over and gave Touya a small hug.
"This is Touya's," Sakura said and handed it to Touya.
"I'm guessing it's from you?" Touya asked.
Sakura blushed slightly, "Guilty."
Touya carefully opened it and saw a pair of knitted mittens, earmuffs, hat and scarf, each in a dark shade of gray.
"I hope you like it. I'm not really good at that stuff but I managed to make it all under a week. With the help of Tomoyo," Sakura said.
"Thanks," Touya said, and nodded kindly at her.
"Ooh! This is mine!" Sakura picked up a small box and shook it.
There was an audible rattling, and Sakura smiled, "I hope I didn't break it."
She carefully ripped the wrapping paper apart and opened the box.
There was a note and a pair of keys.
"I hope you don't mind used gifts," Sakura read, "This is a car key?"
Syaoran spoke up, "One of my cars I don't use. It's a Toyota Corolla, and its too feminine for me. You should share the car with Tomoyo and Meiling. And don't worry, it wasn't a big burden on me."
"Oh thank you!" Sakura leapt up and gave Syaoran a tight hug, surprising him.
"Uh, no problem," Syaoran answered, eyes down and blushing.
Sakura resumed her position on the floor and picked up another gift.
"To Eriol," Sakura said and handed him a heavy package.
Eriol smiled and tore open the package, revealing a large yellow book…
Entitled, 'Proposing to Your Girlfriend for Dummies.'
Tomoyo's eyes widened at she shot a look at Meiling, who was rolling on the floor with laughter at the look on Eriol's face.
"Sorry---" Meiling chortled, "I couldn't help myself. But it's a good book, eh? Hehehehe!"
Eriol smiled, and said, "Sakura, get the next present."
Sakura handed Eriol a tiny box, and he said, "For Tomoyo. From me."
Tomoyo uncertainly took the present and unwrapped it.
It was a velvet ring box, and Tomoyo pressed her hand against her mouth, "Oh."
"It's not what you think it is," Eriol hurriedly said, "Open it."
Tomoyo obeyed and the silk lined box revealed a plain silver ring.
"It's a promise ring. I'm wearing the same one," Eriol showed Tomoyo and explained, "I just want to tell you that while I'm wearing this ring, I promise to be faithful to you, love you and that I want to take our relationship very seriously."
Tomoyo's eyes were teary as she said, "Oh. So we're like engaged to being engaged?"
Eriol shrugged, "If you want it to be."
"I do," Tomoyo nodded, and sniffled as Eriol took the ring out of the box and slid it on Tomoyo's ring finger.
"Wait!" Sakura exclaimed.
She grabbed Tomoyo's camera and took a picture of them hugging, rings visible.
"There's something inscribed in the band," Eriol took off the ring and showed it Tomoyo.
She read, "Eriol and Tomoyo's promise ring."
"That's so beautiful," Sakura sighed in happiness as she watched Tomoyo and Eriol give each other another hug.
"Yeah. They're so cute together," Meiling agreed.
Syaoran cleared his throat, breaking up the sweet atmosphere, and said, "Well, Christmas presents is over. Time for breakfast."
Touya added, "We're all cooking."
And so in everyone's opinion, this was the best Christmas they had ever had.
They had a wonderful Christmas breakfast, went outside to the backyard for a snowball fight (even Touya and Syaoran participated), came inside for a break with lots of hot chocolate with marshmallows, went outside for two hours of snowboarding, had lunch and dinner.
Of course, the three girls didn't forget about Yuki at home.
After dinner, which the three men had cooked, Sakura took the cordless phone from the kitchen and trotted over to the living room.
"Hey, I'm calling Yuki to wish him a merry Christmas and see how he's doing," Sakura said.
"Good idea. Oh my gosh, we haven't called him once since we came here!" Meiling clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Ugh. I know. I feel bad. We should make it up for him and talk to him for a long time," Tomoyo said.
Sakura started dialing the number to their apartment back in Tokyo.
After several rings, they heard someone pick up.
"Yuki?" Sakura asked.
It was pointless, since Yuki didn't speak, so Sakura said, "I'm guessing it's you. Well, sorry we haven't called. We've been really busy."
Sakura passed to phone over to Meiling who said, "Guess what? Did you see me on TV? Well, I don't know if was on TV, but I won a snowboard competition over here! I won 1,000 dollars and this really cool trophy. What'd you do today? We're coming home in a few days, so don't worry about us!"
She handed to phone over to Tomoyo, who excitedly said, "We're having a really good time! And we'll make it up to you, okay, Yuki?"
She went on to tell him about the Secret Santa and all the gifts they received, and she described the cabin and the mountains and their ski lessons from the men.
"Well, we've already been talking for twenty minutes, Yuki," Sakura said into the receiver, "We better go. See you in a few days!"
They heard Yuki put the phone down and the dial tone, and Sakura clicked the phone off.
Eriol had been watching them and asked, "Doesn't Yuki talk?"
"He's not much for words," Tomoyo said, "But we communicate quite well."
"I can't believe almost two weeks has passed since we've come here. I've learned how to ski and snowboard, and I got a new car. We got a new car," Sakura said happily.
"We still have five more days here," Syaoran reminded, "But we got to spend two of those precious days putting the Christmas tree down and cleaning up."
"All right," Meiling stated, "And then I get to start my new job."
"Let's hope you keep it. Which won't be likely," Syaoran muttered, and quickly ducked from Meiling's flying fist.
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December 29th…day before they're leaving…
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Since they would be leaving tomorrow at noon, Sakura, Syaoran, Eriol, Touya, Tomoyo and Meiling were taking down the trees and its decorations, and all of the other decorations around the house.
They had had a quiet, peaceful Christmas, without any interference from anyone, especially a certain doe-eyed Shawna.
Touya and Sakura were in charge of taking down the decorations upstairs, in the bedrooms and bathrooms, while Tomoyo and Eriol were sorting through the ornaments and tinsel.
Syaoran was outside on a ladder, ripping off the lights from the roof and windows, and taking down the wreaths. And Meiling was in charge of the rest of the house.
Sakura was upstairs in Touya's room, peeling off window decorations, standing on a ladder, while Touya vacuumed the floor that was littered with pieces of trash.
Sakura finished detaching the bright transparent Christmas trees and lightly jumped down the ladder.
She miscalculated her step, however, and fell onto the carpet with a big, "Oof!"
"Oh crap," Sakura muttered, when she realized her chain necklace had broken, and her ring was somewhere down her shirt.
"Want some help?" Touya asked, and sat down on the bed, watching Sakura perform strange antics to get her necklace out of her shirt.
She finally stood up and shook it out, and the ring landed on the bed, right in front of Touya's face.
Touya stared at it.
His prayer had been answered.
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"Where'd you get that ring?" he asked, his voice nearly cracking from emotion.
Sakura looked up from string the ring back onto her chain, "Oh, long story."
"I have a lot of time. And I need an explanation," Touya said.
Sakura gave him a weird look and said, "Well…if you really want to know, I had it with me since I was nine. I've never really told anyone else besides Tomoyo and Meiling this…but Yuki found me unconscious and wounded on the arm in a dumpster in Tokyo. I had this ring with me, and that's all the identity I have, since I seem to have had amnesia."
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You light me up and then I fall for you.
You lay me down and then I call for you.
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Touya choked, "What?"
He suddenly got up and hugged Sakura so tightly she couldn't breath, and she gasped out, "Touya! What's wrong with you???"
"You're my sister, Sakura. Can't you remember?" Touya choked out, "Sakura Kinomoto. Don't you know? You're my sister!"
Sakura wrestled out of his grasp and stepped back quickly, fear apparent in her eyes.
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Stumbling on reasons that are far and few
I let it all come down and then sung for you.
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"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked slowly.
"Sakura, I told you. I lost a sister when she was nine. Emerald eyes, brown hair. Our father gave your that ring. It was our mother's, who died when you were about two or three. She loved that name and had the ring made when you were born. She wanted to give it to you when you were sixteen…" Touya trailed off.
"I have no clue what you're talking about. I'm sorry, Touya. I don't have a family. It's just not possible that I could be your…sister," Sakura said.
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Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
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"Please, Sakura," Touya pleaded, "We could do a DNA test or something. I've been looking for you the past thirteen years. Well, not exactly looking, but I've been praying that you'd drop out of the sky or something."
Sakura looked at him, confused, "But…Touya, I don't remember! I don't have a god damn memory about you or anything else! Sure I might have some brief flash--" Sakura stopped.
Touya looked at her, hopeful, "Sakura. I loved you. You know that. C'mon, don't you feel at least a hint of recognition? When you first met me? I have all the memories, Sakura. Just please…let me tell them to you."
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I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming 'round.
Oh pretty baby
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"I'm sorry, Touya. But it wouldn't feel right. I mean, what if it turns out that I'm not your sister? And you're not my brother?" Sakura asked, stepping towards the door.
She had visible tears running down her face; the emotions were too much to handle.
"Just a simple DNA test, please? If you are…well then, that'd be the best Christmas present anyone could ever give me," Touya said.
"No," Sakura said, sobbing, "I can't. I've lived enough years without a brother, I can survive the rest of my life."
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"And I know things can't last forever
But there are lessons that you'll never learn.
Oh just the scent of you, it makes me hurt.
So havin' your love makes me better. Oh…"
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"Why not a DNA test? Please?" Touya pleaded, choking over his words.
"I can't, Touya. Why couldn't you just show me some more proof before you made accusations like this, huh?" Sakura asked, tears streaming down her face.
"I can't. I lost everything after Tsu--" Touya quickly shut up.
He couldn't let anyone know about Tsukiro Akatchi murdering his father.
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Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming
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"Tsu-what?" Sakura asked him edgily.
Touya sat in stony silence for a minute, "There was a man who killed our father. Don't you know? Fujitaka Kinomoto, archaelogosist. He got killed trying to get something. Sakura, don't you remember right before I lost you? We were in a dark closet, I was holding you--"
Sakura could vaguely remember that in one of her dreams…
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Can you hold me?
And never let go
When you touch me
And it's me that you own.
Pretty baby,
oh the place that you hold in my heart.
Would you break it apart? Again
Oh pretty baby
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But she quickly shook her head, "No, Touya. Let's just be friends. Let this matter drop. This was the past. I'm looking into the future, not dwelling on what happened 13 years ago."
Touya cried out, "What about me? Those sleepless nights I cried for my family? For you? How can I just let this drop when I'm this close from having someone I loved back? When I lost everything I had?"
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Pretty baby, don't you leave me
I have been saving smiles for you.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
You're the one that I belong to.
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"I'm sorry, Touya," Sakura said simply, sniffling, eyes red from crying.
She turned around, not being able to control the flow of tears down her cheeks, and opened the door to leave.
She ran into Syaoran, who had been standing there, into a hug, and she began sobbing hysterically in Syaoran's arms of comfort.
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I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm
You're the sun that breaks the storm
I'll be all right and I'll sleep sound
As long as you keep coming 'round.
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"What's wrong? What the hell did you do to her, Touya?" Syaoran asked to Touya, who was staring at the wall stonily.
"Why don't you ask her?" Touya asked coldly.
He turned around and his eyes met Syaoran's, and Syaoran nearly gasped when he saw Touya's eyes wet from tears.
Not in the 10 years he had known Touya, he had ever seen Touya cry.
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Pretty baby, don't you leave me.
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"Sakura, go downstairs. I'll be there shortly," Syaoran gently let go of Sakura and she began walking unsteadily down the stairs.
"Tomoyo! Eriol! Meiling! Get to the living room quick!" Syaoran hollered as loud as he could
He heard their thundering steps, and stepped into Touya's room.
"Now tell me what happened. Everything."
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Pretty baby, why can't you see?
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Disclaimer: I don't own the song, "Pretty Baby" by Vanessa Carlton.
End of chapter 7. Next chapter, 'Back Home'.
A/N: Eh, I know it was pretty stupid to make Sakura not want the DNA test and everything. But don't worry, she'll do it later. Um...this is the end of chapter seven! Lol, I already said that. Chapter EIGHT will be up in the twentysixth (of March), but until then, please REVIEW!! I'm not getting very many reviews for this one.... :(
