Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. Dang, I wish I were rich.
Summary: It is the story about a girl called Sakura who falls in love with a boy who saves her life (Syaoran). Unknown to her, Syaoran has a secret! By daylight he is the cold, handsome boy Syaoran, but by nightfall, immersed in the enchantment of moonlight he becomes the mysterious white wolf of the forest. Will Sakura learn of Syaoran's secret before all hope is lost?
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DM:
Julia and Tania:
Thankyou as always for your reviews- I am honoured to be complimented by such talented writers as yourselves and am at present awaiting the new chapter of 'The Attractive Power of the Hope Card'!!
stargirl:
Thankyou for your invaluable advice. I know my later chapters have tumbled into somewhat darker and more complicated themes but you have to remember that it is a story of the adventure genre, though one admittedly with love as its central theme. But I shall indeed keep your suggestions in mind and try not to drag on for the sake of dragging on!
Hikaru Ayumi:
Your review: "OMG! he doesn't age! weird! so how is saku going 2 marry him?" was rather kawaii ^_^ Notice how many references to marriage I make in this chapter…
kitty:
"Her" refers to Sakura of course! The girl that Syaoran loves so much and would do anything for! *awwwwww*
AnonymousT:
You think Syaoran wanting to find the Jewels because of Sakura is weird?? But surely it would be difficult for them to be together if he keeps turning into a wolf at night, wouldn't it? *wink wink* XD
Natalie:
Girl- I feel your pain! I happen to be a big fan of Meiling; she has a humour, an emotional depth and a history with Syaoran that I think is really fascinating...I also happen to think she'd make a really good villain ^_^…erm, for my purposes anyway! She's about to get a little meaner in this and the next chapter however…. don't say I didn't warn you!
Everyone:
Thankyou to anyone else who has reviewed- I read and appreciate every single one!!
There is no compliment that will not make me smile and no suggestion that I will not take the time to consider!!
Without further ado I present to you…CHAPTER 8.
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Chapter 8:
"Peh. Kaijuu." Touya muttered.
He then winced, anticipating the familiar pain that came of one disgruntled younger sibling stomping down hard on his foot. When no such pain came, Touya blinked.
Sakura had both of her arms in the air and was spinning around the living room in circles as she sang a cheerful tune…at the top of her lungs.
"Yo! Kaijuu!" Touya yelled.
"I'm not a monster!" Sakura sang jovially as she continued to twirl around the room.
Touya put the newspaper down and shook his head confusedly. He hadn't seen his sister this…chipper since before the Snow Flurry Festival. And since when did his calling her a monster not earned him a right kick in the shin?
And then, a thought struck him. Touya's eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain brat you've been hanging out with, has it?"
Sakura finally stopped spinning and placed her hands defiantly on her hips.
"Syaoran is not a brat!" She sniffed haughtily.
Touya smirked and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Oh yeah? How did you know I was talking about him?"
Sakura turned bright red. Damn. Caught out.
"I- I…!" she spluttered.
Just then, Fujitaka entered the living room wearing his pyjamas and drying his hair off with a towel.
"The two of you aren't arguing again, are you?" he asked, chuckling gently. "Sometimes I think I should put a restraining leash on the both of you!"
Touya grinned mischievously. "Nah, just the kaijuu. Maybe you need to give her a muzzle too."
"I am not a KAIJUU!!!" Sakura yelled.
Fujitaka laughed and ruffled his daughter's hair affectionately. "Alright, alright you two. Enough of that. Son, the shower's free."
Touya thanked his father, rose from the couch and made his way toward the bathroom. He stuck his tongue out at Sakura on the way out. She, likewise, also stuck her tongue out.
Sakura then lifted herself up on tiptoe and gave her father a light kiss on the cheek.
"'Night Daddy. I'm going to bed." She said.
"Goodnight Sakura. Sweet dreams." He replied, giving his daughter a quick cuddle.
…
Sakura crawled onto her bed, grinning once again from ear to ear. As she burrowed under the thick comforter she allowed herself to giggle softly. Touya had been absolutely right, though she hated to admit it…a certain "brat" had indeed been the reason for her elated spirits these past two days.
He was all she could truly think about. Even at this very moment.
Sakura gazed unfocusedly into the gloom of her darkened bedroom and breathed his name. She could almost see his handsome face on the pillow as though he lay beside her. Syaoran's enchanting amber eyes, the adorable mahogany coloured bangs that fell partly in front of them, his sweet smile, his soft laughter…she could almost feel the tenderness of his touch, the warmth of his muscular body against her own, so gentle, touching places…
Sakura shook her head frantically, apparently fearful of the fantasy she was having, of losing control and becoming carried away.
True that she had never been with a man before. Shared her bed. Now in her late adolescence she had to begun to wonder about it a little more than before, though it made her blush, as though the thoughts were too…unsavoury.
Of course, it wouldn't be unsavoury for her…she would be married when she finally allowed it happen and it would be with the person she loved. It would be pure and wonderful and fulfilling.
The person she loved.
Resolved to think no more about the matter, Sakura closed her eyes and chose instead to remember Syaoran's kisses, memorising the shape of his soft, pink lips; every curve and surface and taste.
The point at which Sakura fell asleep and her thoughts became dreaming was unclear, for she immediately began dreaming of him…
The dazzling azure sky swelled overhead. There was a warm breeze blowing; inflating the wide sails of feathery white clouds, carrying the delicate cherry blossoms and peony tranquilly adrift…somewhere…
…In the field where Sakura lay.
She ran her fingers through the soft, fragrant grass; so green and cool to touch. She fingered a stray peony blossom, one tiny velvety white petal.
She realised with somewhat serene contentment that she was laying in a sunlit field of peony…an ocean of fluttering white flowers, aglow in the morning light. She was lying next to him.
Syaoran's beautiful face appeared above her just then, his radiant amber eyes warm and loving.
"Sakura…" He whispered, bending his head slowly forward to give her a sweet, chaste kiss.
Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him gently down to her.
"I love you, Syaoran," she breathed, "Never leave me…do you promise?"
Syaoran opened his mouth ever so slightly, the words of his promise forming upon his lips…and then…
The sky grew dark. It was as though a deep black cloak had veiled the pure blue of the morning sky.
The rain clouds groaned, muttering ash black boulders from whence sharp flashes of lightning tore deep fissures into the sky and the rain began to pelt down furiously.
Sakura watched in horror as every peony blossom in her field turned black, curled inwards and died. Syaoran's face was passive, as though he were quite oblivious to it all.
In one blinding burst of hot light, the ground shook and broke apart; the earth crumbling away into the dark abyss below.
Sakura and Syaoran were now on separate slabs of crumbling rock; a mere arm's reach from each other. Syaoran stared sadly at Sakura whilst she stuck her arm out, reaching for him.
"Syaoran! Take my hand!!" Sakura cried, "Hurry!!"
Syaoran obligingly stuck his arm out and reached for her.
Their fingers were barely touching.
"Syaoran! Come on, reach!!" Sakura shouted. The looming, black sky had begun an assault of tiny, icy hail stones that pelted and bruised their tender flesh.
An enormous blood- red moon reared its ugly head in the sky, its crimson beams dripping morbidly to the ground.
Still Sakura struggled to reach for Syaoran, his fingers so near…
Just then, a fearsome howl sounded in the night. Sakura swung her head around and peered into the darkness for its source.
A flash of lightning, so brief as it illuminated the sky that she barely saw it.
A creature, white as the purest snow was watching her from the distance. The White Wolf. But while she had never been afraid of this creature before, the very creature that had once saved her life…she could not help but fear it at this very moment.
There was something different about it. Its eyes were not the colour of warm amber any more...
…they were an eerie black- blue.
Suddenly, Syaoran's rock gave way and he tumbled down the fissure that separated he and Sakura.
Down…
…Down…
…Down…
Until his body disappeared into the darkness.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" Sakura screamed.
"Noooooo!!!"
Sakura jolted upright in bed, woken abruptly by her own real scream.
She peeled away the sheets that clung to her sticky body and wiped a bead of perspiration from her forehead with a clammy, trembling hand. She then placed a hand on her chest and swallowed, trying somewhat to calm her ragged breathing, the thundering of her heart.
Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she drew her knees toward her chest and sobbed.
For a good five minutes, Sakura released all the tension in her heart and cried her eyes out. When the tears had finally subsided, she glanced over to the simple vanity drawers on the far side of the room. Placed unobtrusively beside the mirror was an object she recognised; a small pink teddy bear with white wings.
Syaoran had given it to her on the night of the Festival.
"No…Syaoran." Sakura whimpered, hugging her knees again.
The greater part of her, the logical part, told her that she was being ridiculous. Clearly she was sitting on her bed, in her bedroom at home and not in a decaying black field watching her true love fall to his death. Surely she was overreacting…
But there was something about that dream that didn't feel…right. And the smaller part of her could sense it.
Wherever Syaoran was, he was in danger.
And he was running out of time.
Quite on impulse, Sakura leaped out of bed, ran to her cupboard and threw its wide doors open. She pulled out her back pack and began to empty the contents of her cupboard into it; all the clothes that would fit and the savings in her money jar.
When she had finished this, she slung the backpack over her shoulders, opened her bedroom door and crept soundlessly past her father and brother's room toward the kitchen. There she filled the remaining space in her bag with some food supplies; two sticks of cold bread, a couple of apples, a pear and a canteen of water. This would last her until she at least arrived in another town and could stock up.
Finally, she reached for the pad of paper and pen lying beside the stove and hastily wrote a note to her family:
Dear Dad and Touya,
I'm sorry if it shall startle you to find my bed empty this morning but I have got some very urgent business to see to…can't really say what it is but I hope you'll understand and know that I'm alright! I packed warm clothes, some food and money and shall be home as soon as the things I have to do are finished in…
In…Where exactly was she going? It suddenly occurred to Sakura that she didn't even know where Syaoran lived…if he even had a home! She always just seemed to run into him in random places; the Dark Forest for one, or Aurana…
Aurana!
She almost yelled with joy. She had run into Syaoran one day in Aurana when she and Tomoyo were making a delivery to a store there. If he didn't live there than there at least had to be someone who knew him and knew where he was! Yes, Aurana, that's where she would start!
Sakura sucked on the nib of the pen and completed her note:
And shall be home as soon as the things I have to do are finished in Aurana.
Love you both,
Sakura
Sakura reread the note and placed it on the kitchen table where her family would be sure to find it in the morning. She then walked to the front door of the house, pulled a thick cloak over her shoulders and sat down on the threshold. She knew better than to step out onto the roads in the deep of the night in the middle of winter. She'd die of frost bite if she wasn't attacked by strangers first.
No, she would wait.
And at first light, before her father and brother woke up, she would go to Syaoran.
…
"Syaoran Li," Sakura enunciated, "He's about this tall, has dark brown hair that's sort of messy and light brown eyes…"
The young sales lady in the shoe store shook her head. "I'm sorry miss, I've never heard of him," she replied with a sympathetic smile. Sakura nodded, thanked the woman and stepped out of the store onto the road.
Her heart plummeted with disappointment.
For half of the day, Sakura had walked up and down the length of the street in which she had bumped into Syaoran that morning in Aurana. She had entered every single store along that road and surrounding streets, asking them about the whereabouts of her Syaoran Li and receiving the same answer every time. "Sorry love, never heard of him."
Sakura didn't know what she had expected to find that day; it was indeed highly improbable that anyone would know a single person in such a large city as Aurana, especially if Syaoran wasn't even resident there.
Slowly, exhaustedly and about to lose her last shred of hope, Sakura wandered down a quieter street along which some restaurants and clothing boutiques were situated. Her eyes came to rest upon a small Japanese café where there was a picture of a flying bunny rabbit painted on the glass window. The sign read: Usyagi's Udon; World's Best Japanese Noodles!
Sakura's eyes lit up with recognition. This was the place she and Syaoran had come for lunch…and there was even a manager there that seemed to know Syaoran!…well, it seemed that way, by the way he had shouted and called Syaoran a 'thief' for no apparent reason…
Sakura unhesitatingly strode through the door of the restaurant.
There was a young man with an apron and a head scarf at the front counter when Sakura walked through the door. He bowed politely to her. "Good afternoon Madam. Just one dining here today?"
Sakura had been craning her neck over the counter and looking around the dining area for any sign of the manager. When the waiter spoke to her she glanced back at him distractedly.
"Huh?...Oh no. I'm sorry, I'm not dining here, I'm looking for someone. There was a young man that I came here with some months ago, Syaoran Li, he has brown hair and amber coloured eyes, we were sitting just there," the words came tumbling out in a rush as Sakura pointed to the table by the fireplace.
"Um…I'm sorry, I don't remember…" the waiter began.
"No, of course you wouldn't, but the manager here seemed to know him and I need to speak to him now…"
"I'm sorry, the manager's really quite busy now and I can't just let you come in here…"
"No, you don't understand! Syaoran, my…my husband…is in danger! I need to find him!" Sakura was almost shouting and quite a number of other customers had turned their heads at the commotion. Perhaps if she told the man that she was married to Syaoran he would be more sympathetic and tell her where the hell the manager was!
Just then she saw him.
That balding head and bristly moustache, that purple, ruddy complexion. She would never forget a face like that.
The manager strode out of the kitchen, demanding to know what the entire ruckus was about. When he saw Sakura at the counter he almost fell over in shock. And why wouldn't he remember her? She had after all scolded him out right in front of all the other customers. At any rate, he decided not to let her know it and tried to cover for his reaction by coughing.
"Excuse me sir! I'm looking for Syaoran Li, you must remember me from the last time I came here with him and…" Sakura began.
"What is this nonsense?" the manager snorted, "Who is this girl anyway? I've never seen her in my entire life!"
Sakura's jaw dropped with incredulity.
"She's his wife." Whispered the waiter at the counter, trying to be helpful.
"Wife?! Why, that's impossible, they weren't married when they came h…" The manager quickly cleared his throat, "Uh what I mean is…they can't be married…because she is too young!…besides, I don't know who this Shoro character is!"
"Syaoran!!" Sakura yelled. How dense could this guy be?! He had called Syaoran a down right thief and she had given him an ear full the last time they were there. How could he not remember?!
"I'm sorry Madam but we're going to have to ask you to leave this restaurant if you can't control your tone." The manager said, quite with an air of formality. He spun around with his large nose high in the air and disappeared into the kitchen again.
Sakura wanted to cry. Syaoran was in danger, maybe hurt and dying right at this moment and she had just lost her very last chance to find him!
She dropped slowly to her knees and buried her face in her arms as the racking sobs consumed her.
Somebody tried to pick her up from the floor just then. She assumed it was the young waiter at the counter trying to comfort her.
The smell of aftershave and cigarettes met her nostrils as she looked up to meet a middle aged man with cool grey eyes, matted black hair tied back in a pony tail and a longish unshaven chin. He was wearing a charcoal grey suit and had risen from his booth in the restaurant. Obviously a customer.
"Are you alright lady?" he asked. His voice was soft and husky…probably from years of chain smoking.
Sakura nodded. She drew a surprised breath when he bent down and whispered into her ear.
"I didn't know Li was married." He grinned.
Sakura blushed and stared at him. "Y- you know Syaoran?"
"I know of him. Kid's got quite a reputation where I come from…I could take you to a guy who knows him personally though."
Sakura grabbed the lapel of the man's coat gratefully and he grinned again.
"Alright, stay close." He whispered.
Sakura and the man walked out of the doors of the restaurant and back onto the lively streets of Aurana. As they walked, the man threw a glance over his shoulder at Sakura to make sure she was following him.
"By the way," He said, "The name's Tobee Quilteado. You can call me 'Tobbs' if you like."
"Sakura," said Sakura, introducing herself.
They turned off the busy street and stepped down the darkest alleyway Sakura had ever seen in her lifetime in the middle of the day.
…
Sakura had heard about the Shadow District. All the parents and all the teachers at school had warned the children about the dangers of wandering into that pitiable, soulless suburb. They were horrifying stories told, enough to send an icy shiver down one's spine, even as an adult…stories of rape and murder, illegal drug and weapon trade…merely having your wallet pinched while you walked down the street would have been a relatively good day for anyone as far as crime was concerned.
Beneath the anxiety, her gut wrenching unease as bloodshot eyes watched their progress through the rain soaked, trashed, blackened alley, was a deepening concern at the pit of Sakura's stomach…just what kind of person was Syaoran? What kind of reputation did he have exactly?
Sakura then shook her head dismissively. Syaoran wasn't a bad person at all and she knew it. He was warm, gentle and kind and she loved him. Whatever reputation he had in the Shadow District must have been a good one…like busting up a drug deal or maybe saving an innocent family from murder by the Mafia!
At that moment, Tobbs held up an arm to stop Sakura. They had reached a narrow alleyway with a single rusted iron door, lit only by the pale flickering of a dying yellow fluorescent light. Tobbs turned to Sakura with what he thought was a passive facial expression. The worry lines etched into his dark brow betrayed him.
"Sakura," he whispered in his low husky voice, "There is a man in here known only as The Informant. If anyone knows anything at all about the dealings of the District it's him. He will tell you what you need to know but at a price..."
"I'll give him all of my savings if I have to." Sakura replied with an air of determination. She strode forward and made to turn the brass knob on the rusting door when Tobbs caught her arm.
"Just be careful." Tobbs murmured, "He's …dangerous."
Sakura swallowed unconsciously and nodded at Tobbs with wide eyes. She turned the door handle and pushed it gently open. Tobbs followed behind her.
They had entered a kind of long dim hallway, perhaps one belonging to an old Victorian style terrace with its faux gold seventeenth century furnishings. An ornate mirror and portrait paintings took their place on red tungsten lit walls and there was even a vase of deep red roses on the polished Venetian table beneath the mirror.
Sakura would almost have called the setting beautiful…if it wasn't so damn creepy.
As if from the very shadows, a kind of giant emerged, towering before Tobbs and Sakura with his tattooed tree trunk arms folded across his wide chest. He peered down at the two behind a pair of dark sunglasses. It seemed quite ridiculous to Sakura that he should be wearing sunglasses in a room that was already so dark but she imagined it had something to do with the tough macho image of being a bouncer.
"Tobbs." The giant guy grunted.
"Rimaldi." Tobbs acknowledged him with an expressionless nod. "We want to see His Esteemed."
"We who?" Rimaldi rumbled, shifting his head suspiciously to Sakura.
"M- my name is Saku…"
"A girl," continued Rimaldi as though Sakura had not spoken, "I think he'll be willing."
Tobbs nodded and he gave Sakura a gentle push as they followed the bouncer man down the dim hallway.
At the end of the hallway and situated at the top of a grand staircase was another door. A double door in fact, painted a gaudy bright red. Rimaldi gave three solid taps of the gold- plated knockers and pushed the doors open.
Sakura had never seen a seedier room in all her life. Its lipstick red walls and shag carpet, the purple satin cushions, reminded her of a bachelor's love nest or a brothel….apart from the eight very sullen looking men dressed in suits standing along the walls. The Informant's personal body guards she assumed.
The man himself was a well manicured slender man in his late thirties. He had shoulder length white blond hair that was almost the same colour as his white designer suit and his skeletal fingers were adorned with a number of gold rings. The most startling thing about his appearance however was his eyes. One was dark brown and seemed to be quite normal. The other was a pale ice blue, so pale it was almost white. It was a glass eye.
The Informant sat on a throne- like plush arm chair, his posture ringing with intimidating authority. Sakura swallowed hard again. She did not like the look of this man at all.
Tobbs nudged Sakura between the shoulder blades and she moved forward. She cleared her throat nervously.
"Y- you are The Informant…" Sakura tried to sound confident but was failing miserably.
"Who wants to know?" the man purred as his one good brown eye pervertedly roamed her body.
Sakura shivered, she felt violated under his intense watchfulness. "M- my name is Sakura…I'm looking for Syaoran Li."
A coy, wicked smile appeared at the corners of his thin lips and again he addressed her in cat like tones.
"Do you know why they call me The Informant, young Sakura?"
When she merely shook her head nervously his smile widened, pearly white fangs flashing.
"It is because I know everything. I don't miss a snippet of information." He rose from his chair and glided toward Sakura. "I can tell you what you need to know…for a price…"
Again, Sakura swallowed hard. "A- Alright."
The Informant grinned maliciously at her and with a single flick of his wrist, dismissed everyone else from the room, including Tobbs. He then spun around, reached for the bottle of red wine on the table beside his "throne" and emptied its contents into an ornate crystal goblet. He took a sip from it and addressed Sakura with a business like tone.
"You are an innocent girl…clearly you do not know what you're dealing with…clearly you do not truly know who or what Syaoran Li is, otherwise you would not be with him."
"W- what are you talking about?" Sakura growled, rubbing her arms uncomfortably. Though she did not like the way this man was speaking about Syaoran, the concerns that had plagued her earlier deepened a notch. It was true, she didn't really know him; not his past, not where he lived and not what he did for a living. It hadn't mattered at the time.
The Informant chuckled arrogantly as he tossed a strand of white blonde hair over his shoulder.
"I'm going to tell you a little story now, stop me if you've heard it…
Once upon a time there was an innocent boy called Li who fell in with the wrong crowd…" he had rendered his voice to a childish sing- song tone…
"He was a very mysterious boy and no one knew where he came from…but little boy Li was on a mission…to find the truth…of course, even I don't know about that truth, do you? Hmm?"
The Informant paused in front of Sakura and smirked at her fearful expression before continuing with his 'fairy tale'.
"But as I'm sure you know, nothing is free in the Shadow World, not even truth, so wee little Li turned to crime; and I graciously took him under my wing…"
The Informant bowed gallantly and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, apparently overwhelmed with nostalgia.
"Yes, I taught him well, taught him everything I knew. It was a symbiotic relationship we had; I gave him all the information I could which would help him discover the truth he sought…and he would work for me…we would plunder. It is a cutthroat world out there but someone has to do it… Syaoran Li was a skilled smuggler, a worthy accomplice in a heist and an even worthier opponent in a fight…few have crossed paths with him and lived to tell the tale…"
Sakura had dropped slowly to the ground as the weight of his words took effect. Could what this man be saying…be true? Surely not. Not her Syaoran, sweet, kind, gentle… a lowly criminal?...a cold blooded killer, even?
The Informant's vampiric smile broadened wickedly as Sakura sat on the floor, slowly shaking her head with disbelief.
"Oh dear…" his voice sang with mock sincerity, "Do I hear the sound of a heart shattering?...It seems that handsome dashing Syaoran is not the prince charming we thought...oh dear, dear, dear."
Sakura glared at up at him through shiny tear brimmed eyes. "I don't believe you," she whispered through gritted teeth.
The Informant snorted arrogantly and took another sip of wine from his crystal goblet.
"Believe it. Don't believe it. I don't care. That boy was like the brother I never had…until he betrayed my men and I. Syaoran Li is a back stabbing little fiend and one of these days there will be hell to pay…"
"Where is he?!" Sakura shouted, rising suddenly to her feet, "Don't you dare hurt him!!"
The Informant took a surprised step backwards at this unanticipated outburst but recovered quickly. He glowered dangerously at Sakura, towering somewhat over her petit body.
"If I knew that, he'd be dead by now, wouldn't he?"
It was Sakura's turn to take a step backwards. She stared at The Informant with horror as he glided smoothly toward her, closing the space between them. Who was this man? He wasn't a friend of Syaoran's, that was for sure…but if he didn't know where Syaoran was, why had he tricked her into thinking that he did?
Sakura retreated against a wall as The Informant continued toward her, his predatory eyes boring provocatively into her own. She glanced once again at that lipstick red shag carpet, the purple satin cushions and gaudy décor, so reminiscent of a prostitution lounge. Something within her mind clicked and she immediately felt overwhelmed with nausea.
She realised with somewhat sickening inner turmoil…the kind of "payment" The Informant had in mind.
The Informant reached out and slowly traced her jaw line with a long thin finger, causing her to tense.
"You're very pretty," he whispered seductively, "I wonder what Li ever did to win such a fiery beauty…perhaps I can guess…"
The Informant ran his finger down the length of Sakura's neck. She whimpered when it came to rest on her chest, just above the opening of her dress. She could feel his hot, stale breath fanning her face.
Sakura panicked. Inside, her mind was reeling with shock, fear, confusion… she wanted to scream but for some reason her throat had become tight. Too, too tight. The Informant put his wine glass on the table beside his throne chair, in favour of placing both cold, bony hands on Sakura's slender waist.
"N- No…" Sakura whispered, desperately. "Please…don't…"
God she wanted Syaoran, now more than anything. Even if everything The Informant had told her were true, he was her prince charming, he always would be…and he would never, ever let her get hurt.
The Informant reached down and slid his hot wet lips over Sakura's as she struggled in his firm grip.
One skeletal, ring adorned hand was moving up her waist toward her chest again when Sakura's hand groped for the table beside the throne chair. Her fingers closed around the empty bottle of wine. She swung hard.
With a deafening crack, shards of broken glass exploded against The Informant's head and he stumbled backwards, roaring with excruciating agony. He had unwittingly released Sakura from his grip.
Blood poured down The Informant's pale head in steady, crimson streams, staining his white designer suit, his tangled white blond hair and the carpet below. He touched his forehead and gave an infuriated, animalistic cry before lunging after Sakura.
Sakura had hastily made to escape as soon as The Informant had let go of her. Her hand had just wrenched the double doors open when her attacker seized her from behind and threw her roughly to the floor. She lay on her back, temporarily winded, when The Informant straddled her hips, pinning her entirely, and drew a gold, jewel encrusted dagger from the holster beneath his trouser leg. His eyes glinted murderously.
"You're gonna pay for that, bitch," he growled.
The Informant raised the dagger and Sakura shut her eyes, praying silently for a quick death.
But death never came.
Sakura opened her eyes as the weight of The Informant's body lifted from her own. He uttered a weak groan before he rolled off her and lay unconscious on the bloody carpet. There was a new bruise on the side of his head.
Sakura sighed gratefully as her rescuer, Tobbs, bent down and offered her a hand up.
"I…I'm so sorry Sakura… I lied to you…" he whispered, staring down at his feet with unmistakeable remorse.
"Tobbs, what are you talking about?" Sakura asked. Her eyes widened with immediate comprehension and she was suddenly very angry. "You knew he was going to do that didn't you?! You knew The Informant didn't know where Syaoran was and that he was going to trick me into…into…!"
Tobbs buried his face shamefully into his broad hands and pleaded with her. "I'm so sorry…he wanted a girl so I brought you to him, but I… I could never betray Li…"
Sakura's expression of anger was replaced with one of confusion. "You mean…you do know Syaoran… personally?"
Tobbs nodded. "And I know where he is…I saw him just this morning….before I met you."
Sakura's heart leaped with joy, strengthened at once with renewed hope. She would find him after all!
"I'll take you as far as I can to the place I saw him but we're going to have to move quickly…I've convinced The Informant's henchmen to take the afternoon off and get some drinks but they're not gonna be pleased when they come back and discover their boss has…well, gone beddy- byes," Tobbs continued. With a touch of wryness he added, "And I have almost certainly just lost my job."
Sakura followed Tobbs at a jog through the familiar, lively streets of Aurana, bathed in iridescent afternoon light. Some of the roller shutter doors of stores had come down, signalling the end of the business day and floods of weary but contented people made their way through the city streets, bound for home. Sakura was still a little shaken by her encounter with the Shadow World and was quite frankly, grateful to see the light of day again!
Tobbs and Sakura eventually stopped in front of a set of cast iron gates inset into a tall sandstone wall. Beyond the wall, there appeared to be a very dense but pretty green clump of vegetation that stretched some several miles beyond the gate. The words engraved into the silver plaque on the gate read:
"Aurana City Botannical Sanctuary "
Sakura looked up at Tobbs with wide bewildered eyes, waiting for an explanation as to why he'd brought her here. Part of her wondered whether this was another trap…Tobbs was after all, a member of that dark underworld known as the Shadow District.
Again, the smallest part of her, but nonetheless the very one that knew she was always right…told her that Tobbs could be trusted.
As if stirred by her thoughts, Tobbs looked down at Sakura with sombre, grey eyes.
"Sakura, this is where I spoke to Li this morning. You'll have to sneak over the wall because the gardens are closed to the public and the gate is locked. Once you get over that wall it's up to you to find him. I'm not coming with you."
Sakura nodded and when Tobbs knelt down and held both his palms together to support her weight, she stepped into them and was hoisted on top of the wall.
"Why are you helping me?" Sakura asked. Her tone was gently curious rather than accusing.
Tobbs stared down at his feet again. It seemed he did that a lot when he was uncomfortable.
"Syaoran Li isn't a bad person, no matter what others might tell you. What The Informant never knew in all the time that I worked for him…was that Syaoran Li saved my life… and I could never betray him."
Tobbs shifted uneasily under Sakura's gentle gaze. He coughed self consciously and muttered. "Look, I have to leave, before The Informant wakes up and comes after me."
He turned and made to walk away when Sakura called out to him.
"Tobbs."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks." Sakura smiled warmly.
Tobbs nodded and made his way back up the street from whence they had come.
Sakura then swung her legs over the wall and dropped a few feet to the soft soiled ground below.
…
Sakura had landed in a kind of rainforest with its ancient trees; skyscraper –like structures with vines, stranglers and wide drip tip leaves forming a dense canopy through which shy spots of the day's fading light peeked through.
Sakura loved nature and she longed to explore the rainforests depths. Now however, was not the time for there were still some pressing matters at hand…Syaoran was still potentially in great, perhaps life threatening danger and needed her.
Macaws squawked and minor birds twittered; their mindless chatter and calls echoed throughout the sanctuary, almost seeming to enhance Sakura's sense of urgency as she ran through the dense foliage, relying once again on the tiniest of sixth senses to find her love.
At last, she heard his voice and she raced toward it.
He was speaking casually, calmly and her heart filled with unspeakable joy to know that he was alright!...Although, he appeared to be speaking to someone, even though she couldn't quite catch what he was saying…
Elated nonetheless, she burst through the shrubbery and into a clearing when at once she heard him say, "I've missed, you too."
Sakura smiled, preparing to meet the embrace of her lover when...with sudden chilling understanding…
She realised it was not she whom he had spoken to.
In the centre of the clearing stood by far the largest of all of the ancient rainforest trees, so wide that fifty grown men could have linked arms around its colossal trunk.
Alas, Sakura was not looking at the tree, rather at the two people standing beneath it.
One was a pretty girl with long black hair tied into odangos. The other was Syaoran.
Presently, the girl with the odangos had her arms wrapped tenderly around Syaoran's neck and her lips pressed against his in a passionate kiss.
Sakura stood encapsulated in this surreal moment as though it were frozen in time. Numbly, she waited until time restored itself, for the exact moment that her perfect world fell apart and the shattered pieces came crashing down around her ears.
At precisely the same moment, Syaoran pulled away from the mystery girl's embrace and discovered Sakura's presence.
A hand came slowly to his lips. "Oh my god…" he breathed, "Sakura…"
The girl with the odangos turned to look at Sakura; her ruby red eyes shining with an expression of mild curiosity.
Sakura turned on heel and pushed her way back through the foliage beyond the clearing. She felt slightly disembodied, as though she were a spectator watching her own life unfold before her very eyes like a soap opera.
Watching herself watch Syaoran kiss that other girl.
When Sakura heard his voice calling for her, calling her name, she broke into a run.
She ran and ran and ran, unsure and uncaring of where she was running to and of the many roots and vines that tore at her skin and made her stumble and made her bleed. She just knew she had to run. Far away from him.
Finally, blinded by her own tears, Sakura tripped over a rock and fell face first into the dirt. There, on the forest floor, beneath the canopy of drip tip leaves, she lay decidedly still.
Wanting to die.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
DM: *sigh*…poor Sakura…to think, all of her efforts to find Syaoran, her love, have come to nothing…or have they?
What was Sakura's dream trying to tell her…what dangers await Syaoran?
Who is the ruby red eyed girl that threatens to tear them apart?? (If you haven't figured it out by now we need to sit you down and have a serious chat *_*)
The first of many revelations unfold in the coming chapter. But of course, you need to REVIEW…