Chapter Fourteen

Card Captor Sakura

Eyes of Mist

~starjade~

The Arrival

Syaoran ran to the post office as quickly as he could , his heart bumping hard against his chest. A letter , for him! His body tingled with a life that he only felt when he received these letters....these letters from Cherry Blossom.

He burst through the doors , his feet squeaking on the hardwood floors as he ran to the counter.

The post master rose his eyebrows at Syaoran's flushed appearance as Syaoran gasped out , " Has a package arrived for Syaoran Li from Hong Kong?"

The post master gave him a wary look and nodded. " If you'd fill out this form , I'll give you your letter."

Syaoran scribbled through the form as fast as he could and nearly grabbed the letter from the post master's hands.

The post master glared at him , but Syaoran hardly noticed. Syaoran ripped open the seal of the delicate pink seal and nearly sighed as he opened the sweet letter.

Yet everything seemed to freeze as his eyes skimmed the contents.

No , this wasn't right!!

The clock ticked softly , yet it blared in his ears. The quiet rumble of the crowd seemed to force through the nicks of his head , making him feel as if his head was being squeezed and compressed.

No....no...

His heart stopped beating completely as he read the letter once more.

I've talked to my father and he wants to meet you...probably not as badly as I want to meet you! Yet I feel as if I know you , from your soul and out, so that is why I think we should meet at the Lady's Cafe in Tomoeda , three days from now. I know you'll get the letter by then and be able to travel here in time.

Please come....its time for us to meet...

Three days from now..

The letter had come to his sister five days ago...

They were supposed to meet....yesterday.

~~~~~~~****~~~~~

Sakura cried , deep in her pillow , even as the merriment around her house seemed to put everyone in a good mood. Her heart ached , deep in her chest , her eyes worn and swollen from the amount of tears that she shed all day.

Why?

That was the question that banged through her defences.

Why?

Her mind thought back to the day before , that fateful day...

~~~**

Sakura tapped her foot , her eyes growing with worry. Why hadn't he come? Empty plates sat in front of them , as Fujitaka had proposed they eat lunch. Yet they still hadn't come.

Her eyes trained to the doorway , she tried to resist the feeling of betrayal. Where was her little wolf?

Her father tapped her arm. " Sakura? Sakura , dear , we better head home. It appears as if he forgot , or maybe did not want to come just yet. You can talk to him later and I'll be willing to meet him again. Sakura?"

Sakura felt her heart sink. Little Wolf hadn't come. He just...didn't come.

She slowly rose , her whole body drained of all energy that had made up her personality. All that cheerfulness ,happiness had left her eyes. Those emerald eyes now were just shards of jagged glass....green glass without one emotion flickering in those empty depths.

Suddenly , a cry at the door interrupted her. It ripped through her sadness and she raised her head , hopefully.

A pair of navy eyes met hers.

Glasses shimmered in the sunlight.

And navy hair framed a mischievous face.

Was he....was he Little Wolf?

Sakura peered at him , her heart thumping. Yet there was no tingle of recognition that she knew she should've felt when she met him-Little Wolf. Was he Little Wolf??

The navy haired man walked to them , his eyes reflecting recognition.

He recognised them??

Who was he?

The navy haired boy stopped in front of them and winked at Sakura. Her face flushed with embarrassment and shock as the boy turned to her father.

" Hello, Mr. Kinomoto. My name is Hirigizawa , Eriol. I have come here from Japan , to meet my brother , Li Syaoran and your....your daughter."

~~~~~~~*****~~~~~~

Tomoyo knocked on Syaoran's door.

" Syaoran, time for dinner!" She called out , awaiting the gruff response that always followed.

No voice responded.

Tomoyo's eyebrows rose. She had gotten the story out of Sakura , who had told her over the phone. It was quite surprising and she hadn't been able to look at Syaoran the same way she used to. She had thought...

Well , she had thought Syaoran...liked Sakura!

She laughed a bit. Now she knew the only reason Syaoran's eyes lit up at the mention of her name was for his best friend. She felt her heart grow cold to this man who had hurt her friend. She knew when Sakura was hurt...and Sakura was hurt. Hurt because of Syaoran.

And Tomoyo didn't like that one bit!

" Syaoran?" she called out once more , ready to leave. A sound of letter rustling was heard and she knew that he was in the room.

Slowly , she twisted the knob of the door , revealing the room that was lighted by a lamp at the far corner. Syaoran was laying on the bed , staring at a letter. When he found that Tomoyo was staring at him from the door , he quickly hid the letter.

" What?" he asked in an expressionless voice.

Tomoyo's eyes narrowed. " Dinner."

" Oh..." he whispered , his voice low. A hint of what seemed like sadness crept into the ice coated voice of his and Tomoyo's attentive violet eyes grew worried.

" Syaoran?" she asked , a little gentler. " Is there something wrong?"

Syaoran looked down ,not speaking. Finally , he looked up and Tomoyo's voice caught in her throat. His amber eyes were full of an indefinable emotion that made her throat go raw.

" I'm s-sorry...about Sakura...I didn't want....want to hurt her..."

Tomoyo felt her shoulders relax. " It's alright..."

Syaoran gulped. " No , I mean it. I'm so sorry , I wish I could change it , but I couldn't think of anyone else for Eriol , you see and I was so worried about the problems in my life-"

Instantly he shut up , his cheeks flushing at the amount he had revealed. Tomoyo nodded , slowly.

" You know what? I believe you...I think you are sincere about it. Though Sakura was really hurt and I think that you had no right involving us in your affairs. A rich man asking for Sakura's hand in marriage? You think her father would allow her to refuse it?"

Syaoran looked down , ashamed and Tomoyo opened her mouth to say more , yet her cell phone blared. It was the cell phone that only Sakura knew the number of...

Quickly , she answered it. " Hello?"

Sakura's monotonous voice answered , " He didn't come."

Tomoyo gasped. " What??"

Sakura went on , " Instead , we found Eriol. Hirigizawa , Eriol. The man who proposed to me today. And my father accepted."

~~~~~~***~~~~~

Sakura knew it was no use. She had been stood up by Little Wolf. He didn't come...which probably meant that he didn't feel the same way as.....as she did. She wanted to wallow in a corner and cry her heart out , but no teardrop came. She had run dry of tears.

She was too tired. She felt as if she had aged half a century and her bones felt weary and rattled.

Shortly after Eriol arrived , his foster mother came. She had told them that they were just about to make their way to the Daidouji Mansion , and stopped for a bite to eat. How wonderful it was that they had met?

Fujitaka invited them to the table and Yelan and Fujitaka made good conversation , laughing as if they were pals for years. Eriol , turned out to be quite the play boy. With flirtatious words , he kept the conversation going , but Sakura just stared at him with empty eyes.

She couldn't take it in.

Finally , with an air of grace , Yelan reminded Fujitaka of the marriage proposal. Sakura said not a word. Fujitaka took a glance at Sakura and replied , yes , but Sakura has to have the chance to back out of the marriage until the engagement party is over.

So , Sakura had the chance to back out.

She knew what her father was doing. He probably thought she was pining after a frivolous love who didn't care about her enough to come to a meeting with her father. He was setting her up for life! And yet , he still gave her the chance to back out of it.

She stared at the green envelopes in her precious box.

Oh , Little Wolf....

~~~~~~****~~~~~


Syaoran gaped at Tomoyo as she clicked the cell phone off.

" Is there something wrong?" he asked , his voice confused.

Tomoyo turned away from him , her heart sad for Sakura. She wished she could be there to comfort her , but she knew Sakura would turn away from any comfort. Sakura needed to get through this alone....and make the decisions she herself wanted.

" Something....happened , today," Tomoyo started , her voice weak. " Your friend...your friend came...."

Syaoran's eyes widened. Eriol? Came?

" He came??" Syaoran gasped.

Tomoyo nodded and her eyelids fluttered shut. " Her father said yes."

Syaoran' s heart dropped , for a reason he did not know. " What??"

Tomoyo opened her eyes. " Her father said yes to the marriage proposal. She has a chance to back out of it....but something happened and I don't think Sakura has the willpower to break out of this marriage..."

Syaoran felt his blood turn to ice. He wondered why his heart had stopped , exactly the way it had stopped when he had received Cherry Blossom's letter.

Why was he feeling this way....with two girls?

Syaoran put his head in his hands. He was at fault for all of this. If he had picked up his cell phone....if he had NEVER come to Japan....

It was all his fault.

a/n: Ouchie. This chapter is a bit of an...ouchie! Lol! If you have questions , please reveiw and I'll answer them ( because I'm sure you have alot aloooot of questions!)

And about the radio station and where it was positioned....in the middle of the two places. Hehehehe...okay , I never thought of that!! Lol! Thanx for pointing it out though! And yes , Yelan is Syoaran's mother , not Nadeshiko! TYPO!!!

lol!

Please review , and tell me what you think , aight? Luv ya all!