-----Angels Dancing On Her Eyelids
---------Written by Rainbow Dreamer
-----Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs solely to Clamp. I hold no claims on this fanfiction in any way. The plot, however, is mine and I would like it to remain that way. In other words, no plagiarism you evil little men out there! Hehe.
----- AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey you guys! Long time no see, ne? Well, I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is that I've done for the year except for finals. Bad news? Well, there won't be much updates coming up soon. No, I'm not quitting. How could I? I love writing. But the fact is that this story is coming to an end soon. I don't know when, but all the puzzle pieces are beginning to fall in place. And I know lots of you have been taking wild stabs at the answers.
Hm. I don't have much here. Hm. Graduation and prom will be coming up this week but I decided to update this a little earlier than expected since it's been so long since I last updated. And SATs..... do I really need to say much? How fun can they be anyways?
I wonder how many of you read all that blabber. Hehe. Anyhow, enjoy this chapter! A lot of little puzzle pieces will be showing themselves here!
Rainbow Dreamer.
----- SPECIAL THANKS:
dangerous-beans: thank you!
Katana-chan: hm... how does this mysterious guy know Sakura's address? Heh. As they say, "that's for me to know and you to find out." LoL. I'm so evil, aren't I? THANK YOU so much for saying that I'm your favorite author. That means so much to me when I don't consider myself that accomplished. There are many more in the world and on this site that are better than mine. And cool, your birthday is on 10/15? Awesome. And I'm overjoyed you like my nickname, though my friends think of more crazy ones that I don't want to announce to the public. Heh. And you're done with your SATs? WOW. And you are 14 right? What are you, some genius or SAT freak? Just kidding there. :)
Anime Obsession Fantasy: thank you for waiting for so long.
Azi: wow. lucky you. While I'm having the time of my life taking those wonderful SAT tests, you're on vacation. Wah. But, I do hope you have fun however and catch up with my story when you have time!
Hana Tenshi Himeko: Should I have something from Lei's point of view? I'd rather leave him in the dark and let you guys have the honor and fun of guessing! Yep. :)
Kittiekat: Sorry there about the cliffhangers Cryst. Hehe. And yes, you've been telling me since the beginning that it was Syaoran who encouraged her to get the eye operation. LoL. Just teasing, girl.
Sweet Madison: Hey smiley girl. Hm. I don't recall describing Syaoran's eyes when Sakura was breaking up with Syaoran. I'll check on it however. Thank you for bringing it up. SATs are pain in the butt. And about prom, yes, I'm a vice head for decoration and THE head in charge of buying senior gifts. To tell the truth, I haven't been to prom before neither! This was my first time. Yep.
Tomoyo-chan: Thanks. I should say double thanks for the two reviews you gave.
D: Sorry for not updating earlier. Bah on you since you don't have tests. Just rub it in, won't you? LoL. Well, another year and I'll be off to college of my choice..... At least I hope so. :p
Cherri ookami: Lucky you; you're out of school. Me? I go up until the last day of June. Argh. And thank you for both reviews, since I did get the review for ch.11
Sakura Love: Thank you.
Di: Wow! Long review! Heh. Sorry about the misunderstanding about the cherry blossoms and Syaoran's two personalities. I'm glad that you like Nadeshiko in this story as well as Daphne. So, thank you, thank you, and thank you.
Tiffa: Thanks!
Lauren: Thank you!
Smilez: You're going to be amazed at how evil I can be. Heh. Thanks for reviewing.
Azure Roses: Thank you and I hope you got the email I sent you.
Ash Night: Okay, I admit, you've used your name wisely. Hehe. Thank you for the luck, I'll probably need it. Oh, and when are you going to update for "Trial of Fate"?
Scarlet Rose: Oh dear, WWIII eh? You declaring war on me girl? Heh. Just kidding there. Anyhow, thank you!
Monsterrat T: Yay! I like Meiling too. I'm glad that she's likable the way I've portrayed her in this fic.
Eclipse: Thank you.
Mini Sweety: Thanks. Arigato.
Xonnie: Thank you!
Moshi Moshi Queen: Hehe. Don't you just LOVE cliffhangers? LoL. Thanks.
Chibi Neko chan: Like I said before, I can be pretty darn evil sometimes if I want to. Be prepared. LoL. I should make that my logo. And I should thank you, not you thank me! You've done so much in reading and reviewing this!
Leena Chan: I've decided to christen you the title "Freakish fan" from your title of "freakish fan of fics and would kill to see the next chappie." Of course, if you have any better ideas "assassin," be sure to tell me in your review! LoL. Thanks for making me laugh girl!
Cherry Princess: Your wish hasn't come true yet, princess. Read on and you may find out that I'm not the fairy godmother I pretend to be. LoL. I can't believe I just wrote that. I think I've been so busy that I'm being so lame. Hehe. I only hope that you might have a low humor level........ Like me. Heh. Anyway, thank you for reviewing!
Gohansfan: Thank you for reviewing and wishing me luck on my SATs, prom, and graduation. And what are you graduating from? Middle school? High school? College? Heh.
Pink Cherry Blossom: "Yes mother. I'll try hard on my SATs to make you proud." Hehe. And you think you've got all the puzzle pieces in place huh? Hm. Keep on reading!
Ayunli: Hehe. You'll see what Syaoran says here.
Cheler: Wow! Thank you for all your wonderful compliments. I'm glad you found your way to my story and that it's good enough to read. Hehe. Thanks.
Mesmer: Thank you!
--- Did I miss anyone? If I did, a HUGE thank you! You guys, every single one of you, are simply the best. What would I do without you all? Yes, I think I've missed a few people out there since fanfiction had some "human error" that erased a few reviews. Hm. So if you're one of them, tell me in your next review and I'll make sure I thank you twice. :) THANK YOU.
Rainbow Dreamer.
----- CHAPTER TWELVE:
-----"Give all to love; obey thy heart."
-----Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
--- Sakura ---
"What-- What did you say?" Syaoran seemed flustered by what I had just said. I gave him a confused look.
"Are you okay? You look a bit pale, but your cheeks are flushed." I responded, ignoring what he had just said. "Oh, gomen. I shouldn't have brought you out here when the wind's so big and your hair's wet." I smiled wobbly at him, and stood up, brushing my dark skirt to get the dust off.
He caught my wrist, asking me softly without words to stay. I looked at him, his eyes piercing into mine, as if wanting to know my secrets. Pained, I looked away. "Onegai, I have class to attend." I spoke, trying not sound like I was begging. I wanted to sound like I was strong. I didn't want to be weak in front of him. He always seemed so strong and courageous in front of me.
I heard him sigh and his grasp lightly loosened, and I tugged it away gently. I closed my eyes, and opened them, but didn't look at him. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry about this morning. I don't know what came over me, but I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry." I said quickly.
"I just don't know how to say it." I whispered before I quickly turned on my heels, walking away from silence, and from him.
"Sakura." His voice was soft and yet hard at the same time. I found myself not walking anymore, his voice captivating me. "Sakura." He repeated when I didn't respond.
I knew I had to speak. "H-Hai?" I could hear my own voice, proclaiming my own insecurities.
"The truth is, I don't know what to say neither." He gave me a small smile that threw me off guard.
"I, uh," I started. I didn't know how to respond. Meiling had told me to come to talk to him. I knew I had to, but I got so nervous around him. And after what happened between us that morning, it was as if the two were fighting over, well, me. I didn't like the feeling of that, of the idea that both of them liked me, and were willing to fight over me. Mainly because I didn't know what I'd do when it happened, so I stopped Lei before it did. I knew that Meiling was wrong; Li-kun would of fought Lei if Lei had attacked first. He would never let his pride run away like that. All these things I did not dare tell Meiling that morning.
"Sakura." His voice was soothing, calling me back. I was afraid of meeting his eyes, afraid of what I would see in those amber pools.
"Why are you calling me by my first name?" I asked meekly, looking at the ground.
"Sakura, look at me." Syaoran's voice was soft, but commanding at the same time.
"No." I finally replied.
"Why not?" I could hear faint amusement in his voice and I could tell without seeing that he had a lazy smirk on his face.
"Just because!"
"Because," he prompted.
"Because I'm afraid of what I'll see!" I replied, talking louder than I had expected. His eyes widened slightly, surprised at me response. "I'm afraid that you'll love me." I continued, blurting out everything I was feeling. My hand flew up to my mouth, horrified at what I had just spoken, and looked at my toes wiggling in my shoes.
"What makes you think I love you?" Syaoran's voice asked softly, not judging at all at what I had said, but neither did his voice show any emotion or signs that he actually did have feelings for me or feelings that he didn't. Had I misinterpreted his look that morning?
"I--oh-- never mind." I replied quickly. "Just forget what I said." I am such a baka, I scolded myself.
"But I can't."
"Why not?" I demanded. "Why can't you just forget it?"
"Because....." His voice faded off. I looked at him confusedly. "Can I ask you a question?" Syaoran asked suddenly, his amber eyes meeting mine.
"I guess." I hastily replied, darting my eyes away from his. I knew if I looked into them, I would never come back.
"What made you defend me this morning?" I had to bite my lip from saying something stupid again. His voice was so warm and comforting that I wanted to pour out my thoughts to him. But I couldn't. Things would never be the same if I did. I didn't want to ruin our friendship that I had so hard gained back.
"I didn't want to see you hurt." I said, trying to let him think simple.
"I wouldn't get hurt." His answer was a fact, and I knew it as well. Without saying it, both of us knew that if they had fought, Lei was the one who would of got hurt.
"Or him." I added.
"That's not the reason, is it?" His eyes caught mine, and bore into my eyes, searching for my answer. I tried to tear the gaze away, but his caught mine firmly. "Is it Sakura?"
"Why are you calling me by my first name?" I asked again desperately.
"Because you called mine." My mind whirled to the incident that morning.
"But I--," Syaoran's gaze softened and so did his features. He looked away from me, and a wave of relief swept over me.
"You don't have to answer." His reply made me blink. "I shouldn't be asking you all these questions when you clearly don't want to answer." He paused. "Gomen."
What he just said threw me off guard. I was supposed to apologize and here he was apologizing to me! "Li-kun, I'm the one who's supposed to be sorry."
He smirked at me. "I know."
"Shut up." I replied hotly. Syaoran just smirked even more. I glared at him.
"So what did you drag me here for?"
"I wanted to skip calculus." I replied. Syaoran snorted and I grinned.
"Isn't that what we've been doing?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going to talk to him later?" He finally asked, breaking the silence. I looked over at him, his eyes looking at the soccer players on the field. I studied his calm face, his eyes in deep thought, but unreadable.
"Yeah. I don't want to lose him, not yet." I replied lightly, not wanting to start the tension between us once again. "He's been great, waiting for me to come out of the hospital."
"Hm." He grunted in response.
"What?" I asked, knowing that he was a bit amused. "Did I say something wrong again?"
"Neither that or I heard something wrong." Syaoran replied.
"What?"
He shrugged. "I thought you said earlier that you were thinking of breaking up with him."
I stared at him for a few seconds before I started to giggle. "Yeah, sure, laugh at me won't you?" I smirked.
"You really thought that?"
"Yeah, I guess." This made me laugh even harder. I could tell that he was getting ticked off so I made my best attempt to muffle my laughs. "So, things will be back to normal?"
"I intend to try." I replied honestly. "I guess I was just afraid that I'd lose you this morning. I didn't want to see that happen." Syaoran looked at me, waiting for me to continue. I gulped and looked at my feet. "When I was blind five years ago, the thing I feared most was that I was losing everyone around me and that everyone was just pretending to care. It took me a while to understand that it wasn't true."
"Gomen." He grasped my right hand reassuringly and gave me a genuine smile, something I hadn't seen on his face often. His hand was warm, comforting.
"Arigato." He nodded and gave my hand another squeeze before letting go.
"Come on, or else we'll be late for gym and I have to order people around." He gave me another smile and I found myself falling in love with those soft, caring smiles. He truly should smile more often.
"We still have martial arts?"
"Yeah, last week though. Next week we'll be doing swimming." Syaoran replied. I nodded and ran up to catch up with him. But as I jogged lightly beside him, I couldn't wipe the thought from my mind that his hand around mine felt somehow familiar. I frowned, not being able to recall where, but it felt .........perfect.
"Will you hurry up?" He growled to me. "You just made me skip class for the first time! You should be lucky my mom doesn't live with me."
I laughed and ran up to catch up to him who was mumbling impatiently.
--- After school ---
"Sakura!" Meiling called across the room in a playful tone. Sakura turned and smiled at her friend.
"Yeah, what Mei?" She grinned and walked over to her friend, who was looking much better than in the morning.
"Have you talked to Long yet?" The Chinese girl whispered. Sakura shook her head.
"I've sent him a message on his phone that I wanted to talk to him after school. He replied to me just now that he would."
"Nervous?"
Sakura laughed wryly. "I guess you can call it that." She replied. "Strangely enough, I don't feel as nervous as I did this morning when I had to talk to Li-kun."
Meiling grinned. "Perhaps you're confidant that things will be okay."
"I hope." She corrected.
"Well, keep your cell phone on, girl, okay?" Meiling asked. "I want to know what happens as soon as possible."
Sakura nodded. "Sure. I'll go over to your house if it's not too late."
"Oh, just go over to Tomoyo's house. I'll probably be hanging around there."
"I'm glad you two have become such good friends, Mei." Sakura smiled softly. "I don't know what'd I do without the two of you."
"Yeah, don't you just love me?" She joked, giving her huge grin. "Come on, cheer up. I don't want to go through another whole psychological lesson with you." Sakura giggled. "You can do that after you're done talking to Tomoyo."
"I know, I know."
"Good, you know, you know. Now go and talk to him!" Meiling demanded teasingly, but the light in her red eyes showed that she was serious. Sakura nodded and grabbed her backpack from her chair.
"Wish me luck!" Sakura yelling, running out the door. Meiling just grinned and waved her off. She stood by the window, watching Sakura run out of the school building to a figure waiting by the gate. She saw her friend call out his name and the guy turned to her. The two talked shortly and began walking. Meiling sighed.
"Never you were so just, Meiling." A deep masculine voice said quietly behind her.
Meiling laughed dryly. "Yeah, what I do for that girl." She replied. "Or should I say, what we do for that girl?" She asked with an evil smirk on her face.
Syaoran shrugged. "Whatever."
"Sakura was really happy today during lunch. I assume the talk went well?" She asked her cousin as they headed out the door to their apartment.
"We didn't talk about much." He said, slinging his bag over his right shoulder casually.
"Right. Whatever you did tell her helped her a lot, Xiao Lang." Meiling said, not believing him. "I mean it. She was totally out of control this morning, bawling on my shoulder. This all has been too much for her."
"No, we really didn't talk much," He mused quietly. "She was so nervous I could feel it."
"Of course she was damn scared!" Meiling cut in. "She was afraid that she was going to fall in love with you." She whispered. "And she can't."
She studied her cousin's face, wondering if she had said something wrong. Finally Syaoran spoke up. "So that was why she didn't answer me." He laughed, but it was an empty one. "How stupid could I be?" He demanded.
Meiling didn't respond to his question, but was grinning slyly.
"Damn!" Syaoran cursed, slamming his fist to the door of their apartment just as Wei answered the door. The young man stormed into his room after throwing a brief greeting to Wei. The old friend gave him a weird look but let him past. What surprised him even more was Meiling behind him with a huge smile on her face.
"Uh, Meiling?" Wei asked timidly, closing the door behind them. She turned and gave him and big smile.
"The whole truth has just hit him hard in the face, Wei. There's nothing to worry about." She replied.
"Shut up Meiling!" Syaoran yelled from his room. Meiling just grinned and Wei smiled, although he didn't quite know what was happening. Syaoran came out from his room, changed out of his school uniform into a casual forest green polo shirt and khakis.
"Are you done with your goofy smiles?" He demanded. Meiling smiled wider, just to get him annoyed. "Fine! Keep smiling! I'm going to work!" He fumed and within seconds, he was out the house.
"That was, uh, interesting," Wei commented quietly, not knowing how to comprehend what just happened.
"Indeed. Now Wei, if you don't mind, I have to go to Tomoyo's house." She spoke.
"Not at all, Meiling." The girl nodded and quickly disappeared into her room to come out quickly dressed comfortably in a red wine shirt and white pants.
"Arigato Wei. I don't know if I'll be home for dinner, but I'll call you either way." She told him as she grabbed her bag. Wei only nodded and watched her fly out the door just as Syaoran had a moment ago. He smiled confusedly and sat down on the sofa.
"I think I'm getting a bit old." He mused out loud. But upon hearing what he said, he let out an amused chuckle.
--- Tomoyo's mansion ---
"She what?" Tomoyo yelled. "How could he? And on her first day back! Oh, I'm so glad that you were there Meiling. What would Sakura have done if you weren't? But oh, Long! I never thought that he'd do that!" She ranted.
Meiling gave a hearty chuckle, breaking Tomoyo's thoughts she was tossing into the air.
Tomoyo shot her a look. "What's so funny?"
Her friend grinned. "Just relax. Things will be okay. All we have to do is wait to see how Sakura and Long's chat went."
Tomoyo sighed and sat down on her bed, surrendering. "Fine, you win Meiling. But what are you so happy about? You come here with this huge smile that looks like you've done something mischievous." She squinted. "What have you plotted now, Meiling?"
"Well, this time was none of my doing, but it's way better than we could of planned." She replied. "The truth has just come around the corner and hit my dear cousin straight in the face."
"You mean with Sakura?" Tomoyo asked, her eyes dancing with curiosity.
"Bingo. But get this, Tomoyo. Syaoran likes her, but she's with Long. But our dear friend Sakura has just realized that she might like Syaoran."
"But Sakura will stay loyal to Long." Tomoyo added, nodding her head.
"Exactly. And my dear cousin will never admit to his feelings." Meiling finished.
The two smiled, looked at each other before laughing evilly. "So, what are we planning to do about this?" Tomoyo asked, an evil smile on her face that was identical to Meiling's.
"This is where a friend of mine comes in handy." She replied, pulling out her dark red cell phone.
Tomoyo went to get some drinks for her and Meiling while Meiling made the phone call. She said that it was to someone she knew called Xiao Lang. It must be some Chinese friend of hers, she thought as she heard the two talk swiftly in their native language.
Meiling was pacing in her room as she heard her friend talk to her.
"Xiao Lang, look. We have to act a bit faster." She snapped. "We don't have that much time."
She frowned when she heard cursing from the other end. Just as she was about to blow up at him, he quickly spoke to her under his breath.
"Oh my God! They're there? You mean Sakura and Long? Right now?"
A deep amused chuckled came from the other end.
"What do you mean, what should we do?" Meiling shot back at him. "Look here, Xiao Lang. Now listen carefully and make sure it's only the three of you....." She instructed, giving him exact details.
--- Mikomi Sono---
Xiao Lang observed the couple in front of him and brushed his black hair from his eyes and went to help them. "Konnichiwa. Welcome to Mikomi Sono, how can I help you?" He asked, just like he always did.
Sakura flashed him a bright smile. "Konnichiwa." She greeted back to him.
"Anything the lady wants," Her partner answered him. Xiao Lang nodded.
"Shall I give you a small tour?" He asked with a smile.
"Hoe!" Her eyes lit up. "That would be wonderful!" Lei chuckled lightly.
"Sakura, I'll go next store to get some drinks for us, okay? You stay here and take your time. Call me when you're ready and I'll pay." He said with a grin.
"Oh, Arigato Lei!" She gave him a quick hug before turning her attention to the shop owner, her eyes bright with excitement. Xiao Lang smiled to himself as he remembered what Meiling told him over the phone.
"Ah, Miss. Here are some recent flowers that we just imported in that may catch your attention. Quite lovely and they have a wonderful scent as well." He steered her to the flower section that Meiling had told him that Sakura would absolutely love and they had a bonus as well.
"Arigato! Please come again to Mikomi Sono!" Xiao Lang called, bowing to them in goodbye. Sakura nodded and promised she would. Lei just followed Sakura's example and smiled, his arm loosely around her shoulders.
Just as he walked behind the counter to his position, his phone rang. "Moshi moshi. This is-,"
"I know who you are." The person snapped. "So, how did it go?"
"Oh, I thought it'd be you, Meiling. You have a quite accurate sense of sixth sense." He complimented, stalling his time.
"Arigato. Now can you cut the compliments and get the point?" She asked. "Besides, if you didn't notice, I'm across the street."
He chuckled. "Knowing you, you would be. Why don't you come in and I can tell you in person. Takuro should be coming back from his delivery soon."
"Meet me at the café nearby."
"You mean, The Chestnut Café?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"Don't want to see him?"
"He'll just be annoyed." She replied. "Hurry up. Oh, and Tomoyo's with me as well."
"I see. I'll be there as soon as possible."
"Okay. Ja." She hung up before he could say another word. He chuckled; that was perfectly understandable for Meiling. Takura walked in from the back door, his dark brown hair in hiding his golden eyes.
"Hey, Takuro, what's up?" Xiao Lang called.
"Oh, hey." He replied. "Nothing. I'm just a bit tired from that delivery that Ms. Asyuni wanted."
"Oh her? That old lady that lives five blocks from here right? The one who loves to talk about her two cats."
"Yeah, that one." He said.
"So, what story was this time about?"
"The one about that gray and white kitten called Dustball and its incident with the rocking chair." Takuro replied. "It was interesting the first time you hear it, but after the sixth time, it's kind boring."
"I hear you. Every time I go, I listen about that golden one called Sunlight and its daring adventures chasing some toy mouse." Xiao Lang said with a sigh, chuckling a bit. "At least she loves flowers as much as she loves those dear cats of hers."
"Yeah."
"Takuro, are you okay?" He peered as his partner. "Because I have this appointment with a friend of mine for a cup of coffee."
"It's okay. You go and I'll watch the shop. No one usually comes during this period of time anyway." Takuro insisted.
"Arigato." Xiao Lang said, taking off his apron. "I'll see you in fifteen minutes at the most."
"Take your time." Xiao Lang just smiled and strolled out the front door.
Meiling was sitting in the far corner and was tapping her finger on the table impatiently. Tomoyo was sitting next to her, talking to the waitress as she decided what to order.
"I think I'll have a vanilla cappuccino." She told the waitress with a smile.
"Wonderful choice. I'll have one too." He spoke up, scaring both the waitress and Tomoyo.
"Took you long enough, Xiao Lang," Meiling drawled, fixing her blazing red eyes at him. To Tomoyo's surprise, he just smiled pleasantly.
"You must be Meiling's friend, Tomoyo Daidouji" He greeted her, totally ignoring Meiling. "I'm Xiao Lang Hiiragizawa."
"Hiiragizawa!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "Are you somehow related to Eriol Hiiragizawa?"
"Yes, in a way." He gave her another smile. "Well, Meiling have you ordered something to drink?"
"I don't need any. Now, can you tell me what happened?" She said, her eyes daring him to talk about anything else.
"Meiling you were always so impatient. But since I am the one who took a bit longer to arrive, I apologize." Tomoyo was amazed at his politeness, but Meiling, however, was unfazed. "Kinomoto and Long came into the shop and he told her that she could choose any flower she wanted while he waited outside."
"Perfect!" Meiling cut in.
"Yes indeed." Xiao Lang nodded. "So, I showed her some of the lilacs, roses, carnations, and some other flowers. She ended up choosing some beautiful pink roses that come from England. They're quite small in size and have this wonderful fragrance."
"Sakura's always had a wonderful taste in flowers." Tomoyo said, smiling.
"I do agree. Now, of course, Meiling had directed me to give her some special flower with some perfect meaning. And because she didn't buy the one I had in mind, I gave her a single one as a gift."
"Did she accept?" Meiling asked.
"Of course." He replied. "I gave her a stem of Agapanthus."
"A what?" Meiling asked.
"An Agapanthus." Tomoyo repeated with a soft smile. "They're a light purple blue type of flower." Xiao Lang nodded in agreement, amazed at how much this girl knew about flowers.
"Indeed. Daidouji is correct. They mean, 'secret love.'" He continued. "I thought that it might be appropriate."
"Wonderful!" The Chinese girl declared. "Knowing Sakura, she's bound to know the hidden meaning. It'll keep her thinking."
"I truly hope so." The guy told them. "She was in extremely high spirits when she came in just a moment ago. They look like the fight never even occurred."
Meiling cursed. "Just when I thought it'd end as a happy ending!"
"We can always think of something else, Meiling. Let's just see what Sakura has to tell us later, okay?" Tomoyo asked, giving her friend a smile. Meiling sighed and nodded.
"All right. Xiao Lang, you in?"
"Of course." He replied. "Now if we're all done here, I told Takuro that I would be back at fifteen minutes at the most and it seems that my time is about up." He stood up and gave the two girls a gallant smile. "Meiling, the drink I ordered is for you. Don't worry, I've paid the bill already."
"Arigato, Xiao Lang. I owe you another." She thanked, giving him a grin.
"I'm making money out of this anyway." He said, making Meiling give him a glare. "Besides, I worry for them as well." He added, and walked out of the shop and towards the florist shop once more.
"I like him." Tomoyo said after he left. "He seems nice."
Meiling grinned. "Yeah. He's the perfect gentleman when he wants to be." The earlier waitress came and served their drinks. "Let's hurry and finish these drinks and go back to your house. Sakura should be almost done by then." Tomoyo nodded in agreement as she sipped her coffee.
Tomoyo and Meiling quickly walked back to Tomoyo's house after receiving a call from Sakura, telling them that she was already at the door. Thankfully, the florist was quite near and within ten minutes the three friends were in Tomoyo's big room comfortably.
"So Sakura, what's with the flowers?" Tomoyo asked, pretending not to know anything.
Her friend gave her a huge smile. "Lei was wonderful. We had a long talk at the park and we finally decided that we were really quite stupid that morning. And after a while, we started to amble along and I spotted my favorite flower shop, Mikomi Sono. Lei saw where I was looking and he offered to get to something there of my choice."
"Kawaii." Tomoyo supplied, giving Sakura a smile.
"It was so lovely in there, Tomoyo! And the service there was absolutely wonderful. I chose some small pink roses that the assistant said was from England. And then he gave me a single stem of Agapanthus!" Sakura squealed. "It's absolutely one the best flowers on earth."
Meiling grinned and made a mental note to send a gift or something to him later. He had done a wonderful job, a more than wonderful one actually. Sakura was indeed extremely overjoyed.
"So, did Long give you the bracelet as well?" Meiling asked, pointing to the delicately made sliver bracelet with small aqua beads twined in between.
"Isn't it lovely? Lei said that he was planning to give it to me this morning, but the morning just went a little weird with us." Sakura said happily. "He apologized to me, saying that he shouldn't have been listening to all those rumors in the first place."
"That's wonderful Saku." Tomoyo said, smiling. "So, are you guys back together again?"
"It seems like it, although we've decided to take things a bit slower." She answered. "Even if we aren't that close relationship, I'm glad that we're still friends for the time being."
Tomoyo and Meiling shared a smile. Sakura eyed the suspiciously.
"Right. Now that I'm done talking, may I ask why you two are sharing these looks that make me think that you're plotting against me? And why were you guys out?"
"Sakura, we're just happy to see that you're alright." Tomoyo said. "I mean, I get this urgent phone call from Meiling about what happened this morning, of course I was worried! She met me as I was walking home and we decided to route over to the Chestnut Café to have some vanilla cappuccino."
Meiling had to hide her smirk. She would never think, in a hundred years, that Tomoyo was a liar, and a skilled one at that.
"Oh." Their friend had nothing to say that against that. It made perfect sense, actually.
"Hm. Since everything's all settled, how about the three of us go to dinner? My treat?" Meiling said enthusiastically.
"Iie! You can't pay! I'll pay!" Sakura fought stubbornly.
"Oh, that's right. You hate people treating you to stuff." Meiling said with a grin. "I don't want to go fighting over whose turn it is to pay like you and my dear cousin." Tomoyo laughed while Sakura was mumbling incoherently with her face tinted red.
"You're so,"
"Mean?" Meiling finished with a wolfish grin. "I know. I love it when I'm evil."
Sakura just stared at her while Meiling laughed. "I don't think I'll ever understand you, Mei."
"Don't worry. Even I don't know myself sometimes." She answered. Sakura blinked before laughing along with Meiling and Tomoyo.
--- Mikomi Sono ---
Xiao Lang walked in from the back door to see his partner Takuro twirling a single peach rose in his hand. He raised his eyebrow confused and stealthily walked over, wondering what he was doing with a peach rose.
"I see you're back, Xiao Lang." Takuro suddenly said. "And quit staring at me like I'm a total idiot holding a champagne rose. I am aware that I am holding one."
Xiao Lang just smiled. "So, why the flower then?"
"A guy just walked in and told me to write a love poem for his girlfriend." He replied with an annoyed face. "I told you we shouldn't have suggested it to Mano. Now I'm stuck to writing sappy love poems to people I don't even know!"
"True, but you're so good at it." His friend replied. "You capture a person's heart and emotion so well. It's a wonder how you right so well when you've never had a girlfriend or fallen in love."
Takuro just sat there silently and didn't respond. Xiao Lang just smirked knowingly and went back to the carpentry to get some finished work that a man would be coming to pick up soon.
Mano came back around eight and told them to go home. The tired Takuro happily obliged and after saying goodbye, he sauntered out the door quickly. Xiao Lang stayed behind to help their boss to clean up. As he passed where Takuro had been writing, a few lines of poetry caught his eye and he bent down to read what was scribbled on the piece of scrap paper.
"I want to say I love you, with my whole heart and soul. I want to see your eyes shine, knowing that I love you so. But that only happens in dreams, where we can meet in a place no one else can enter. But you've already claimed my heart, and I know I'm not dreaming."
--- Later on that night ---
Sakura was on the roof again, admiring the hazy sky that was covered with a light blanket of cloud. Only the moon was still visible, its light shinning a bit. So many things had happened in one single day that it was absolutely amazing, and mind-boggling. She had gotten into a fight with Lei, but had made up with him right afterwards. And Li-kun, perhaps she was a bit closer with him as well after the incident; she didn't know.
She lay down comfortably against the cool roughness of the roof and raised her right hand, and admired the necklace twinkling under the moonlight. It was lovely and she was touched she Lei gave it to her. No guy had ever given something so elegant to her except for Touya and her father.
"How wonderful life is now you're in the world." She hummed, closing her eyes happily. What else could she ask for? She seemed like she was at the top of the world.
But something was nagging in the deep corner of her mind. And she found herself thinking about the lovely blue Agapanthus that the florist manager had given her. She pictured the flower in her mind and wondered why he had given that flower. His smile was so mysterious and when she left, he had wished her luck. What was he telling her?
She reminded herself to look up what Agapanthus meant tomorrow. But for now, she smiled happily, bathing under the moonlight for a while before crawling back to her warm bed below.
--- How was it? I know it's a shorter chapter this time. But things are going to be catching up speed the next chapter. Yes, the next chapter will definitely be a fast paced one. I'm thinking only about two chapters left. Hm. I'm still thinking about it though.
But don't worry. I have another crazy inspiration hitting me and I'm dying to write it out. But I'm going to wait until I have this story done since I've enjoyed writing this one immensely. Hm. My next story is going to be more action wise, but still romance filled. I love writing romance fics. Hehe.
All right then. Thank you so much for reading. And if it won't be much trouble, please review! Yay! Have graduation tomorrow and prom the day after that! I'm praying with all my might that it won't rain. It's been raining for a while these past days. Sigh. And both activities are outdoors. Anyhow, more later!
Ja, rainbow dreamer.
---------Written by Rainbow Dreamer
-----Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs solely to Clamp. I hold no claims on this fanfiction in any way. The plot, however, is mine and I would like it to remain that way. In other words, no plagiarism you evil little men out there! Hehe.
----- AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey you guys! Long time no see, ne? Well, I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is that I've done for the year except for finals. Bad news? Well, there won't be much updates coming up soon. No, I'm not quitting. How could I? I love writing. But the fact is that this story is coming to an end soon. I don't know when, but all the puzzle pieces are beginning to fall in place. And I know lots of you have been taking wild stabs at the answers.
Hm. I don't have much here. Hm. Graduation and prom will be coming up this week but I decided to update this a little earlier than expected since it's been so long since I last updated. And SATs..... do I really need to say much? How fun can they be anyways?
I wonder how many of you read all that blabber. Hehe. Anyhow, enjoy this chapter! A lot of little puzzle pieces will be showing themselves here!
Rainbow Dreamer.
----- SPECIAL THANKS:
dangerous-beans: thank you!
Katana-chan: hm... how does this mysterious guy know Sakura's address? Heh. As they say, "that's for me to know and you to find out." LoL. I'm so evil, aren't I? THANK YOU so much for saying that I'm your favorite author. That means so much to me when I don't consider myself that accomplished. There are many more in the world and on this site that are better than mine. And cool, your birthday is on 10/15? Awesome. And I'm overjoyed you like my nickname, though my friends think of more crazy ones that I don't want to announce to the public. Heh. And you're done with your SATs? WOW. And you are 14 right? What are you, some genius or SAT freak? Just kidding there. :)
Anime Obsession Fantasy: thank you for waiting for so long.
Azi: wow. lucky you. While I'm having the time of my life taking those wonderful SAT tests, you're on vacation. Wah. But, I do hope you have fun however and catch up with my story when you have time!
Hana Tenshi Himeko: Should I have something from Lei's point of view? I'd rather leave him in the dark and let you guys have the honor and fun of guessing! Yep. :)
Kittiekat: Sorry there about the cliffhangers Cryst. Hehe. And yes, you've been telling me since the beginning that it was Syaoran who encouraged her to get the eye operation. LoL. Just teasing, girl.
Sweet Madison: Hey smiley girl. Hm. I don't recall describing Syaoran's eyes when Sakura was breaking up with Syaoran. I'll check on it however. Thank you for bringing it up. SATs are pain in the butt. And about prom, yes, I'm a vice head for decoration and THE head in charge of buying senior gifts. To tell the truth, I haven't been to prom before neither! This was my first time. Yep.
Tomoyo-chan: Thanks. I should say double thanks for the two reviews you gave.
D: Sorry for not updating earlier. Bah on you since you don't have tests. Just rub it in, won't you? LoL. Well, another year and I'll be off to college of my choice..... At least I hope so. :p
Cherri ookami: Lucky you; you're out of school. Me? I go up until the last day of June. Argh. And thank you for both reviews, since I did get the review for ch.11
Sakura Love: Thank you.
Di: Wow! Long review! Heh. Sorry about the misunderstanding about the cherry blossoms and Syaoran's two personalities. I'm glad that you like Nadeshiko in this story as well as Daphne. So, thank you, thank you, and thank you.
Tiffa: Thanks!
Lauren: Thank you!
Smilez: You're going to be amazed at how evil I can be. Heh. Thanks for reviewing.
Azure Roses: Thank you and I hope you got the email I sent you.
Ash Night: Okay, I admit, you've used your name wisely. Hehe. Thank you for the luck, I'll probably need it. Oh, and when are you going to update for "Trial of Fate"?
Scarlet Rose: Oh dear, WWIII eh? You declaring war on me girl? Heh. Just kidding there. Anyhow, thank you!
Monsterrat T: Yay! I like Meiling too. I'm glad that she's likable the way I've portrayed her in this fic.
Eclipse: Thank you.
Mini Sweety: Thanks. Arigato.
Xonnie: Thank you!
Moshi Moshi Queen: Hehe. Don't you just LOVE cliffhangers? LoL. Thanks.
Chibi Neko chan: Like I said before, I can be pretty darn evil sometimes if I want to. Be prepared. LoL. I should make that my logo. And I should thank you, not you thank me! You've done so much in reading and reviewing this!
Leena Chan: I've decided to christen you the title "Freakish fan" from your title of "freakish fan of fics and would kill to see the next chappie." Of course, if you have any better ideas "assassin," be sure to tell me in your review! LoL. Thanks for making me laugh girl!
Cherry Princess: Your wish hasn't come true yet, princess. Read on and you may find out that I'm not the fairy godmother I pretend to be. LoL. I can't believe I just wrote that. I think I've been so busy that I'm being so lame. Hehe. I only hope that you might have a low humor level........ Like me. Heh. Anyway, thank you for reviewing!
Gohansfan: Thank you for reviewing and wishing me luck on my SATs, prom, and graduation. And what are you graduating from? Middle school? High school? College? Heh.
Pink Cherry Blossom: "Yes mother. I'll try hard on my SATs to make you proud." Hehe. And you think you've got all the puzzle pieces in place huh? Hm. Keep on reading!
Ayunli: Hehe. You'll see what Syaoran says here.
Cheler: Wow! Thank you for all your wonderful compliments. I'm glad you found your way to my story and that it's good enough to read. Hehe. Thanks.
Mesmer: Thank you!
--- Did I miss anyone? If I did, a HUGE thank you! You guys, every single one of you, are simply the best. What would I do without you all? Yes, I think I've missed a few people out there since fanfiction had some "human error" that erased a few reviews. Hm. So if you're one of them, tell me in your next review and I'll make sure I thank you twice. :) THANK YOU.
Rainbow Dreamer.
----- CHAPTER TWELVE:
-----"Give all to love; obey thy heart."
-----Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
--- Sakura ---
"What-- What did you say?" Syaoran seemed flustered by what I had just said. I gave him a confused look.
"Are you okay? You look a bit pale, but your cheeks are flushed." I responded, ignoring what he had just said. "Oh, gomen. I shouldn't have brought you out here when the wind's so big and your hair's wet." I smiled wobbly at him, and stood up, brushing my dark skirt to get the dust off.
He caught my wrist, asking me softly without words to stay. I looked at him, his eyes piercing into mine, as if wanting to know my secrets. Pained, I looked away. "Onegai, I have class to attend." I spoke, trying not sound like I was begging. I wanted to sound like I was strong. I didn't want to be weak in front of him. He always seemed so strong and courageous in front of me.
I heard him sigh and his grasp lightly loosened, and I tugged it away gently. I closed my eyes, and opened them, but didn't look at him. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry about this morning. I don't know what came over me, but I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry." I said quickly.
"I just don't know how to say it." I whispered before I quickly turned on my heels, walking away from silence, and from him.
"Sakura." His voice was soft and yet hard at the same time. I found myself not walking anymore, his voice captivating me. "Sakura." He repeated when I didn't respond.
I knew I had to speak. "H-Hai?" I could hear my own voice, proclaiming my own insecurities.
"The truth is, I don't know what to say neither." He gave me a small smile that threw me off guard.
"I, uh," I started. I didn't know how to respond. Meiling had told me to come to talk to him. I knew I had to, but I got so nervous around him. And after what happened between us that morning, it was as if the two were fighting over, well, me. I didn't like the feeling of that, of the idea that both of them liked me, and were willing to fight over me. Mainly because I didn't know what I'd do when it happened, so I stopped Lei before it did. I knew that Meiling was wrong; Li-kun would of fought Lei if Lei had attacked first. He would never let his pride run away like that. All these things I did not dare tell Meiling that morning.
"Sakura." His voice was soothing, calling me back. I was afraid of meeting his eyes, afraid of what I would see in those amber pools.
"Why are you calling me by my first name?" I asked meekly, looking at the ground.
"Sakura, look at me." Syaoran's voice was soft, but commanding at the same time.
"No." I finally replied.
"Why not?" I could hear faint amusement in his voice and I could tell without seeing that he had a lazy smirk on his face.
"Just because!"
"Because," he prompted.
"Because I'm afraid of what I'll see!" I replied, talking louder than I had expected. His eyes widened slightly, surprised at me response. "I'm afraid that you'll love me." I continued, blurting out everything I was feeling. My hand flew up to my mouth, horrified at what I had just spoken, and looked at my toes wiggling in my shoes.
"What makes you think I love you?" Syaoran's voice asked softly, not judging at all at what I had said, but neither did his voice show any emotion or signs that he actually did have feelings for me or feelings that he didn't. Had I misinterpreted his look that morning?
"I--oh-- never mind." I replied quickly. "Just forget what I said." I am such a baka, I scolded myself.
"But I can't."
"Why not?" I demanded. "Why can't you just forget it?"
"Because....." His voice faded off. I looked at him confusedly. "Can I ask you a question?" Syaoran asked suddenly, his amber eyes meeting mine.
"I guess." I hastily replied, darting my eyes away from his. I knew if I looked into them, I would never come back.
"What made you defend me this morning?" I had to bite my lip from saying something stupid again. His voice was so warm and comforting that I wanted to pour out my thoughts to him. But I couldn't. Things would never be the same if I did. I didn't want to ruin our friendship that I had so hard gained back.
"I didn't want to see you hurt." I said, trying to let him think simple.
"I wouldn't get hurt." His answer was a fact, and I knew it as well. Without saying it, both of us knew that if they had fought, Lei was the one who would of got hurt.
"Or him." I added.
"That's not the reason, is it?" His eyes caught mine, and bore into my eyes, searching for my answer. I tried to tear the gaze away, but his caught mine firmly. "Is it Sakura?"
"Why are you calling me by my first name?" I asked again desperately.
"Because you called mine." My mind whirled to the incident that morning.
"But I--," Syaoran's gaze softened and so did his features. He looked away from me, and a wave of relief swept over me.
"You don't have to answer." His reply made me blink. "I shouldn't be asking you all these questions when you clearly don't want to answer." He paused. "Gomen."
What he just said threw me off guard. I was supposed to apologize and here he was apologizing to me! "Li-kun, I'm the one who's supposed to be sorry."
He smirked at me. "I know."
"Shut up." I replied hotly. Syaoran just smirked even more. I glared at him.
"So what did you drag me here for?"
"I wanted to skip calculus." I replied. Syaoran snorted and I grinned.
"Isn't that what we've been doing?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going to talk to him later?" He finally asked, breaking the silence. I looked over at him, his eyes looking at the soccer players on the field. I studied his calm face, his eyes in deep thought, but unreadable.
"Yeah. I don't want to lose him, not yet." I replied lightly, not wanting to start the tension between us once again. "He's been great, waiting for me to come out of the hospital."
"Hm." He grunted in response.
"What?" I asked, knowing that he was a bit amused. "Did I say something wrong again?"
"Neither that or I heard something wrong." Syaoran replied.
"What?"
He shrugged. "I thought you said earlier that you were thinking of breaking up with him."
I stared at him for a few seconds before I started to giggle. "Yeah, sure, laugh at me won't you?" I smirked.
"You really thought that?"
"Yeah, I guess." This made me laugh even harder. I could tell that he was getting ticked off so I made my best attempt to muffle my laughs. "So, things will be back to normal?"
"I intend to try." I replied honestly. "I guess I was just afraid that I'd lose you this morning. I didn't want to see that happen." Syaoran looked at me, waiting for me to continue. I gulped and looked at my feet. "When I was blind five years ago, the thing I feared most was that I was losing everyone around me and that everyone was just pretending to care. It took me a while to understand that it wasn't true."
"Gomen." He grasped my right hand reassuringly and gave me a genuine smile, something I hadn't seen on his face often. His hand was warm, comforting.
"Arigato." He nodded and gave my hand another squeeze before letting go.
"Come on, or else we'll be late for gym and I have to order people around." He gave me another smile and I found myself falling in love with those soft, caring smiles. He truly should smile more often.
"We still have martial arts?"
"Yeah, last week though. Next week we'll be doing swimming." Syaoran replied. I nodded and ran up to catch up with him. But as I jogged lightly beside him, I couldn't wipe the thought from my mind that his hand around mine felt somehow familiar. I frowned, not being able to recall where, but it felt .........perfect.
"Will you hurry up?" He growled to me. "You just made me skip class for the first time! You should be lucky my mom doesn't live with me."
I laughed and ran up to catch up to him who was mumbling impatiently.
--- After school ---
"Sakura!" Meiling called across the room in a playful tone. Sakura turned and smiled at her friend.
"Yeah, what Mei?" She grinned and walked over to her friend, who was looking much better than in the morning.
"Have you talked to Long yet?" The Chinese girl whispered. Sakura shook her head.
"I've sent him a message on his phone that I wanted to talk to him after school. He replied to me just now that he would."
"Nervous?"
Sakura laughed wryly. "I guess you can call it that." She replied. "Strangely enough, I don't feel as nervous as I did this morning when I had to talk to Li-kun."
Meiling grinned. "Perhaps you're confidant that things will be okay."
"I hope." She corrected.
"Well, keep your cell phone on, girl, okay?" Meiling asked. "I want to know what happens as soon as possible."
Sakura nodded. "Sure. I'll go over to your house if it's not too late."
"Oh, just go over to Tomoyo's house. I'll probably be hanging around there."
"I'm glad you two have become such good friends, Mei." Sakura smiled softly. "I don't know what'd I do without the two of you."
"Yeah, don't you just love me?" She joked, giving her huge grin. "Come on, cheer up. I don't want to go through another whole psychological lesson with you." Sakura giggled. "You can do that after you're done talking to Tomoyo."
"I know, I know."
"Good, you know, you know. Now go and talk to him!" Meiling demanded teasingly, but the light in her red eyes showed that she was serious. Sakura nodded and grabbed her backpack from her chair.
"Wish me luck!" Sakura yelling, running out the door. Meiling just grinned and waved her off. She stood by the window, watching Sakura run out of the school building to a figure waiting by the gate. She saw her friend call out his name and the guy turned to her. The two talked shortly and began walking. Meiling sighed.
"Never you were so just, Meiling." A deep masculine voice said quietly behind her.
Meiling laughed dryly. "Yeah, what I do for that girl." She replied. "Or should I say, what we do for that girl?" She asked with an evil smirk on her face.
Syaoran shrugged. "Whatever."
"Sakura was really happy today during lunch. I assume the talk went well?" She asked her cousin as they headed out the door to their apartment.
"We didn't talk about much." He said, slinging his bag over his right shoulder casually.
"Right. Whatever you did tell her helped her a lot, Xiao Lang." Meiling said, not believing him. "I mean it. She was totally out of control this morning, bawling on my shoulder. This all has been too much for her."
"No, we really didn't talk much," He mused quietly. "She was so nervous I could feel it."
"Of course she was damn scared!" Meiling cut in. "She was afraid that she was going to fall in love with you." She whispered. "And she can't."
She studied her cousin's face, wondering if she had said something wrong. Finally Syaoran spoke up. "So that was why she didn't answer me." He laughed, but it was an empty one. "How stupid could I be?" He demanded.
Meiling didn't respond to his question, but was grinning slyly.
"Damn!" Syaoran cursed, slamming his fist to the door of their apartment just as Wei answered the door. The young man stormed into his room after throwing a brief greeting to Wei. The old friend gave him a weird look but let him past. What surprised him even more was Meiling behind him with a huge smile on her face.
"Uh, Meiling?" Wei asked timidly, closing the door behind them. She turned and gave him and big smile.
"The whole truth has just hit him hard in the face, Wei. There's nothing to worry about." She replied.
"Shut up Meiling!" Syaoran yelled from his room. Meiling just grinned and Wei smiled, although he didn't quite know what was happening. Syaoran came out from his room, changed out of his school uniform into a casual forest green polo shirt and khakis.
"Are you done with your goofy smiles?" He demanded. Meiling smiled wider, just to get him annoyed. "Fine! Keep smiling! I'm going to work!" He fumed and within seconds, he was out the house.
"That was, uh, interesting," Wei commented quietly, not knowing how to comprehend what just happened.
"Indeed. Now Wei, if you don't mind, I have to go to Tomoyo's house." She spoke.
"Not at all, Meiling." The girl nodded and quickly disappeared into her room to come out quickly dressed comfortably in a red wine shirt and white pants.
"Arigato Wei. I don't know if I'll be home for dinner, but I'll call you either way." She told him as she grabbed her bag. Wei only nodded and watched her fly out the door just as Syaoran had a moment ago. He smiled confusedly and sat down on the sofa.
"I think I'm getting a bit old." He mused out loud. But upon hearing what he said, he let out an amused chuckle.
--- Tomoyo's mansion ---
"She what?" Tomoyo yelled. "How could he? And on her first day back! Oh, I'm so glad that you were there Meiling. What would Sakura have done if you weren't? But oh, Long! I never thought that he'd do that!" She ranted.
Meiling gave a hearty chuckle, breaking Tomoyo's thoughts she was tossing into the air.
Tomoyo shot her a look. "What's so funny?"
Her friend grinned. "Just relax. Things will be okay. All we have to do is wait to see how Sakura and Long's chat went."
Tomoyo sighed and sat down on her bed, surrendering. "Fine, you win Meiling. But what are you so happy about? You come here with this huge smile that looks like you've done something mischievous." She squinted. "What have you plotted now, Meiling?"
"Well, this time was none of my doing, but it's way better than we could of planned." She replied. "The truth has just come around the corner and hit my dear cousin straight in the face."
"You mean with Sakura?" Tomoyo asked, her eyes dancing with curiosity.
"Bingo. But get this, Tomoyo. Syaoran likes her, but she's with Long. But our dear friend Sakura has just realized that she might like Syaoran."
"But Sakura will stay loyal to Long." Tomoyo added, nodding her head.
"Exactly. And my dear cousin will never admit to his feelings." Meiling finished.
The two smiled, looked at each other before laughing evilly. "So, what are we planning to do about this?" Tomoyo asked, an evil smile on her face that was identical to Meiling's.
"This is where a friend of mine comes in handy." She replied, pulling out her dark red cell phone.
Tomoyo went to get some drinks for her and Meiling while Meiling made the phone call. She said that it was to someone she knew called Xiao Lang. It must be some Chinese friend of hers, she thought as she heard the two talk swiftly in their native language.
Meiling was pacing in her room as she heard her friend talk to her.
"Xiao Lang, look. We have to act a bit faster." She snapped. "We don't have that much time."
She frowned when she heard cursing from the other end. Just as she was about to blow up at him, he quickly spoke to her under his breath.
"Oh my God! They're there? You mean Sakura and Long? Right now?"
A deep amused chuckled came from the other end.
"What do you mean, what should we do?" Meiling shot back at him. "Look here, Xiao Lang. Now listen carefully and make sure it's only the three of you....." She instructed, giving him exact details.
--- Mikomi Sono---
Xiao Lang observed the couple in front of him and brushed his black hair from his eyes and went to help them. "Konnichiwa. Welcome to Mikomi Sono, how can I help you?" He asked, just like he always did.
Sakura flashed him a bright smile. "Konnichiwa." She greeted back to him.
"Anything the lady wants," Her partner answered him. Xiao Lang nodded.
"Shall I give you a small tour?" He asked with a smile.
"Hoe!" Her eyes lit up. "That would be wonderful!" Lei chuckled lightly.
"Sakura, I'll go next store to get some drinks for us, okay? You stay here and take your time. Call me when you're ready and I'll pay." He said with a grin.
"Oh, Arigato Lei!" She gave him a quick hug before turning her attention to the shop owner, her eyes bright with excitement. Xiao Lang smiled to himself as he remembered what Meiling told him over the phone.
"Ah, Miss. Here are some recent flowers that we just imported in that may catch your attention. Quite lovely and they have a wonderful scent as well." He steered her to the flower section that Meiling had told him that Sakura would absolutely love and they had a bonus as well.
"Arigato! Please come again to Mikomi Sono!" Xiao Lang called, bowing to them in goodbye. Sakura nodded and promised she would. Lei just followed Sakura's example and smiled, his arm loosely around her shoulders.
Just as he walked behind the counter to his position, his phone rang. "Moshi moshi. This is-,"
"I know who you are." The person snapped. "So, how did it go?"
"Oh, I thought it'd be you, Meiling. You have a quite accurate sense of sixth sense." He complimented, stalling his time.
"Arigato. Now can you cut the compliments and get the point?" She asked. "Besides, if you didn't notice, I'm across the street."
He chuckled. "Knowing you, you would be. Why don't you come in and I can tell you in person. Takuro should be coming back from his delivery soon."
"Meet me at the café nearby."
"You mean, The Chestnut Café?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"Don't want to see him?"
"He'll just be annoyed." She replied. "Hurry up. Oh, and Tomoyo's with me as well."
"I see. I'll be there as soon as possible."
"Okay. Ja." She hung up before he could say another word. He chuckled; that was perfectly understandable for Meiling. Takura walked in from the back door, his dark brown hair in hiding his golden eyes.
"Hey, Takuro, what's up?" Xiao Lang called.
"Oh, hey." He replied. "Nothing. I'm just a bit tired from that delivery that Ms. Asyuni wanted."
"Oh her? That old lady that lives five blocks from here right? The one who loves to talk about her two cats."
"Yeah, that one." He said.
"So, what story was this time about?"
"The one about that gray and white kitten called Dustball and its incident with the rocking chair." Takuro replied. "It was interesting the first time you hear it, but after the sixth time, it's kind boring."
"I hear you. Every time I go, I listen about that golden one called Sunlight and its daring adventures chasing some toy mouse." Xiao Lang said with a sigh, chuckling a bit. "At least she loves flowers as much as she loves those dear cats of hers."
"Yeah."
"Takuro, are you okay?" He peered as his partner. "Because I have this appointment with a friend of mine for a cup of coffee."
"It's okay. You go and I'll watch the shop. No one usually comes during this period of time anyway." Takuro insisted.
"Arigato." Xiao Lang said, taking off his apron. "I'll see you in fifteen minutes at the most."
"Take your time." Xiao Lang just smiled and strolled out the front door.
Meiling was sitting in the far corner and was tapping her finger on the table impatiently. Tomoyo was sitting next to her, talking to the waitress as she decided what to order.
"I think I'll have a vanilla cappuccino." She told the waitress with a smile.
"Wonderful choice. I'll have one too." He spoke up, scaring both the waitress and Tomoyo.
"Took you long enough, Xiao Lang," Meiling drawled, fixing her blazing red eyes at him. To Tomoyo's surprise, he just smiled pleasantly.
"You must be Meiling's friend, Tomoyo Daidouji" He greeted her, totally ignoring Meiling. "I'm Xiao Lang Hiiragizawa."
"Hiiragizawa!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "Are you somehow related to Eriol Hiiragizawa?"
"Yes, in a way." He gave her another smile. "Well, Meiling have you ordered something to drink?"
"I don't need any. Now, can you tell me what happened?" She said, her eyes daring him to talk about anything else.
"Meiling you were always so impatient. But since I am the one who took a bit longer to arrive, I apologize." Tomoyo was amazed at his politeness, but Meiling, however, was unfazed. "Kinomoto and Long came into the shop and he told her that she could choose any flower she wanted while he waited outside."
"Perfect!" Meiling cut in.
"Yes indeed." Xiao Lang nodded. "So, I showed her some of the lilacs, roses, carnations, and some other flowers. She ended up choosing some beautiful pink roses that come from England. They're quite small in size and have this wonderful fragrance."
"Sakura's always had a wonderful taste in flowers." Tomoyo said, smiling.
"I do agree. Now, of course, Meiling had directed me to give her some special flower with some perfect meaning. And because she didn't buy the one I had in mind, I gave her a single one as a gift."
"Did she accept?" Meiling asked.
"Of course." He replied. "I gave her a stem of Agapanthus."
"A what?" Meiling asked.
"An Agapanthus." Tomoyo repeated with a soft smile. "They're a light purple blue type of flower." Xiao Lang nodded in agreement, amazed at how much this girl knew about flowers.
"Indeed. Daidouji is correct. They mean, 'secret love.'" He continued. "I thought that it might be appropriate."
"Wonderful!" The Chinese girl declared. "Knowing Sakura, she's bound to know the hidden meaning. It'll keep her thinking."
"I truly hope so." The guy told them. "She was in extremely high spirits when she came in just a moment ago. They look like the fight never even occurred."
Meiling cursed. "Just when I thought it'd end as a happy ending!"
"We can always think of something else, Meiling. Let's just see what Sakura has to tell us later, okay?" Tomoyo asked, giving her friend a smile. Meiling sighed and nodded.
"All right. Xiao Lang, you in?"
"Of course." He replied. "Now if we're all done here, I told Takuro that I would be back at fifteen minutes at the most and it seems that my time is about up." He stood up and gave the two girls a gallant smile. "Meiling, the drink I ordered is for you. Don't worry, I've paid the bill already."
"Arigato, Xiao Lang. I owe you another." She thanked, giving him a grin.
"I'm making money out of this anyway." He said, making Meiling give him a glare. "Besides, I worry for them as well." He added, and walked out of the shop and towards the florist shop once more.
"I like him." Tomoyo said after he left. "He seems nice."
Meiling grinned. "Yeah. He's the perfect gentleman when he wants to be." The earlier waitress came and served their drinks. "Let's hurry and finish these drinks and go back to your house. Sakura should be almost done by then." Tomoyo nodded in agreement as she sipped her coffee.
Tomoyo and Meiling quickly walked back to Tomoyo's house after receiving a call from Sakura, telling them that she was already at the door. Thankfully, the florist was quite near and within ten minutes the three friends were in Tomoyo's big room comfortably.
"So Sakura, what's with the flowers?" Tomoyo asked, pretending not to know anything.
Her friend gave her a huge smile. "Lei was wonderful. We had a long talk at the park and we finally decided that we were really quite stupid that morning. And after a while, we started to amble along and I spotted my favorite flower shop, Mikomi Sono. Lei saw where I was looking and he offered to get to something there of my choice."
"Kawaii." Tomoyo supplied, giving Sakura a smile.
"It was so lovely in there, Tomoyo! And the service there was absolutely wonderful. I chose some small pink roses that the assistant said was from England. And then he gave me a single stem of Agapanthus!" Sakura squealed. "It's absolutely one the best flowers on earth."
Meiling grinned and made a mental note to send a gift or something to him later. He had done a wonderful job, a more than wonderful one actually. Sakura was indeed extremely overjoyed.
"So, did Long give you the bracelet as well?" Meiling asked, pointing to the delicately made sliver bracelet with small aqua beads twined in between.
"Isn't it lovely? Lei said that he was planning to give it to me this morning, but the morning just went a little weird with us." Sakura said happily. "He apologized to me, saying that he shouldn't have been listening to all those rumors in the first place."
"That's wonderful Saku." Tomoyo said, smiling. "So, are you guys back together again?"
"It seems like it, although we've decided to take things a bit slower." She answered. "Even if we aren't that close relationship, I'm glad that we're still friends for the time being."
Tomoyo and Meiling shared a smile. Sakura eyed the suspiciously.
"Right. Now that I'm done talking, may I ask why you two are sharing these looks that make me think that you're plotting against me? And why were you guys out?"
"Sakura, we're just happy to see that you're alright." Tomoyo said. "I mean, I get this urgent phone call from Meiling about what happened this morning, of course I was worried! She met me as I was walking home and we decided to route over to the Chestnut Café to have some vanilla cappuccino."
Meiling had to hide her smirk. She would never think, in a hundred years, that Tomoyo was a liar, and a skilled one at that.
"Oh." Their friend had nothing to say that against that. It made perfect sense, actually.
"Hm. Since everything's all settled, how about the three of us go to dinner? My treat?" Meiling said enthusiastically.
"Iie! You can't pay! I'll pay!" Sakura fought stubbornly.
"Oh, that's right. You hate people treating you to stuff." Meiling said with a grin. "I don't want to go fighting over whose turn it is to pay like you and my dear cousin." Tomoyo laughed while Sakura was mumbling incoherently with her face tinted red.
"You're so,"
"Mean?" Meiling finished with a wolfish grin. "I know. I love it when I'm evil."
Sakura just stared at her while Meiling laughed. "I don't think I'll ever understand you, Mei."
"Don't worry. Even I don't know myself sometimes." She answered. Sakura blinked before laughing along with Meiling and Tomoyo.
--- Mikomi Sono ---
Xiao Lang walked in from the back door to see his partner Takuro twirling a single peach rose in his hand. He raised his eyebrow confused and stealthily walked over, wondering what he was doing with a peach rose.
"I see you're back, Xiao Lang." Takuro suddenly said. "And quit staring at me like I'm a total idiot holding a champagne rose. I am aware that I am holding one."
Xiao Lang just smiled. "So, why the flower then?"
"A guy just walked in and told me to write a love poem for his girlfriend." He replied with an annoyed face. "I told you we shouldn't have suggested it to Mano. Now I'm stuck to writing sappy love poems to people I don't even know!"
"True, but you're so good at it." His friend replied. "You capture a person's heart and emotion so well. It's a wonder how you right so well when you've never had a girlfriend or fallen in love."
Takuro just sat there silently and didn't respond. Xiao Lang just smirked knowingly and went back to the carpentry to get some finished work that a man would be coming to pick up soon.
Mano came back around eight and told them to go home. The tired Takuro happily obliged and after saying goodbye, he sauntered out the door quickly. Xiao Lang stayed behind to help their boss to clean up. As he passed where Takuro had been writing, a few lines of poetry caught his eye and he bent down to read what was scribbled on the piece of scrap paper.
"I want to say I love you, with my whole heart and soul. I want to see your eyes shine, knowing that I love you so. But that only happens in dreams, where we can meet in a place no one else can enter. But you've already claimed my heart, and I know I'm not dreaming."
--- Later on that night ---
Sakura was on the roof again, admiring the hazy sky that was covered with a light blanket of cloud. Only the moon was still visible, its light shinning a bit. So many things had happened in one single day that it was absolutely amazing, and mind-boggling. She had gotten into a fight with Lei, but had made up with him right afterwards. And Li-kun, perhaps she was a bit closer with him as well after the incident; she didn't know.
She lay down comfortably against the cool roughness of the roof and raised her right hand, and admired the necklace twinkling under the moonlight. It was lovely and she was touched she Lei gave it to her. No guy had ever given something so elegant to her except for Touya and her father.
"How wonderful life is now you're in the world." She hummed, closing her eyes happily. What else could she ask for? She seemed like she was at the top of the world.
But something was nagging in the deep corner of her mind. And she found herself thinking about the lovely blue Agapanthus that the florist manager had given her. She pictured the flower in her mind and wondered why he had given that flower. His smile was so mysterious and when she left, he had wished her luck. What was he telling her?
She reminded herself to look up what Agapanthus meant tomorrow. But for now, she smiled happily, bathing under the moonlight for a while before crawling back to her warm bed below.
--- How was it? I know it's a shorter chapter this time. But things are going to be catching up speed the next chapter. Yes, the next chapter will definitely be a fast paced one. I'm thinking only about two chapters left. Hm. I'm still thinking about it though.
But don't worry. I have another crazy inspiration hitting me and I'm dying to write it out. But I'm going to wait until I have this story done since I've enjoyed writing this one immensely. Hm. My next story is going to be more action wise, but still romance filled. I love writing romance fics. Hehe.
All right then. Thank you so much for reading. And if it won't be much trouble, please review! Yay! Have graduation tomorrow and prom the day after that! I'm praying with all my might that it won't rain. It's been raining for a while these past days. Sigh. And both activities are outdoors. Anyhow, more later!
Ja, rainbow dreamer.