Olive_Oyle: For those who didn't like what I did to Eriol in the first
chapter, forgive me, I couldn't think of anyone who suits
that part… L L L
"CardCaptor Sakura" Lessons in Love
Chapter 2
A thousand twinkling stars could be seen on this clear summer's eve. A warm breeze softly tossed the treetops, giving a glimpse here and there of a full, rounded moon lighting the landscape. But the peace of the beautiful English countryside was broken by the Kinomoto coach rumbling over the empty, dusty road.
Inside the large, richly upholstered coach, Touya Kinomoto stared pensively at his own reflection in the window. A lone candle standing in the sconce on the opposite side cast a subdued light over the deep-blue-velvet interior of the coach.
He just might enjoy this trip to the city, Touya thought. He knew Sakura would. He turned to look at his sister, who was sleeping undisturbed on the seat across from him.
Sakura Kinomoto had changed from a mischievous tomboy into a strikingly beautiful woman, all in the short year that Touya had been away from home. He had been shocked to see her so grown up on his return a month ago and still couldn't get over the incredible change. Her figure had filed out to stunning perfection, and even her face had changed so that Touya hardly recognize her.
He studied her face now, as she lay dreaming sweetly. Gracing her high cheekbone were thick lashes that seemed to have grown longer in just a years time. Her straight, narrow nose and rounded chin seemed more pronounced now that she had lost her youthful chubbiness. Touya knew he would have his hands full trying to keep the young bucks at bay when they reached the city.
Sakura had wanted this trip to China for her eighteenth birthday, and Touya had found no reason to deny her wish. Sakura Kinomoto had always been able to get what she wanted, he mused. She had their father wrapped around her little finger, and now she had done the same thing for himself. Well, he didn't mind. Touya enjoyed giving in to his sister: she was all he had left.
He remembered clearly that fateful day four years ago when Fujitaka Kinomoto had died in a hunting accident. Touya had to inform Sakura of their father's death, for their mother took it so badly that she died three weeks later. But even with Touya's own grief, he somehow managed to help Sakura through her suffering. Sakura spent most of that time riding wildly across their estate on her black stallion. Touya let her do this freely day and night, for she had told him only three months earlier that she could forget her troubles by riding with the wind.
Touya wanted to laugh at her then, for what troubles could he possibly have at her age? Well, he had learned soon enough that troubles come to all ages. The riding helped Sakura through her grief, and she returned to normal sooner than she might have after suddenly losing both parents.
It was up to Touya to raise Sakura after that, but he couldn't have done it without the help of Mrs. Daidouji, the mother of Tomoyo, she had been their nanny when they were children, but now she took care of Kinomoto Manor and supervised all the servants of the estate. Touya could still see Mrs. Daidouji shaking her finger at him before they left for China, her brown eyes wide with concern.
"Now you be keeping an eye on your sister here, Touya." She had reminded him for the third time that morning. "You don't be letting her go falling in love with none of those Chinese boys. I don't care for the likes of those Chinese dandies with their uppity ways, so don't you be bringing any home!!!" Tomoyo had to hold the back of her mother's robes trying to prevent her from strangling Touya who was now red in the face.
Sakura had laughed and mocked Mrs. Daidouji as he got into the coach. "Shame on you, madam. What would I be doin' fallin' in love with a Chinese dandy when I have Eriol waiting on my return?" She threw a wink at Tomoyo who bowed her head in feigned embarrassment, Sakura knew too well that Tomoyo had always liked Eriol from the way she looked at him. Eriol on the other hand had come to see them off wasn't at all happy about Sakura's journey to the city.
Eriol lived with his guardian, Yukito Tsukishiro, on a neighboring estate. People who knew them were convinced that they have some kind of black magic that many of them should avoid, like one incident that caused other families to leave their houses to live in another place far away from them, so now the Hiiragizawa estate was nearly deserted, a farmer that used to work for them spotted him talking to a what seemed like a tiger then a man in white suit and a stuffed animal 'flying' in the back yard, terrified of what he had seen, he rushed back to town and told all the villagers what he had witnessed, so the villagers, not thinking twice, evacuated the town immediately.
Since there were no girls of Sakura's age living near by, she and Eriol had been constant companions since childhood. Touya and Yukito had always hoped that they might marry someday. But Eriol, with dark midnight blue hair and charming azure colored eyes that were concealed behind those fashionable glasses with bangs framing over his face, was only six months older than Sakura and was still just a boy in Touya's eyes. Sakura was now a young woman, however, and of an age to marry. Touya had hoped that Eriol would mature as soon as Sakura, but perhaps she would wait for him if she loved him.
Who knows how the mind of a woman works, Touya thought absently. He didn't understand Sakura's feelings for Eriol: whether she felt only friendship for him, or something more. He must remember to ask her about it later, but she would probably be so busy the next few weeks that he wouldn't have a chance.
Touya smiled, imagining the surprised faces of the young men who would seek her out when they discovered that Sakura as not only beautiful but intelligent as well. Touya chuckled to himself, recalling the heated argument that their parents had over Sakura's education. They had compromised, and Sakura was schooled like any man but was also taught the feminine arts of sewing and cooking whenever their mother could find her.
Yes, Sakura was educated and she was beautiful, but she had her faults. Her downright stubbornness was one fault that she had inherited from their other, who would stand her ground on any subject if she felt herself in the right. Another fault was her quick temper, for she could get angry over the smallest thing.
Touya sighed, thinking how hectic the next to weeks would be. Well, it would only be two weeks. He dozed off then, as the coach continued along the lonely road to China.
*********
Eriol watched as Sakura's carriage passed the gates and waited for Tomoyo and her mother to enter the house. "Ok you can come out now!" he blurt out. Immediately Yue, kero, and Spiniel emerged from the bushes that they had been hiding the whole time.
"Ouch! Spiniel that was my tail!"
"Really? I thought that was just a twig sticking out of the bush!"
"Ouch! You did it again!"
"Oh! Okay! Let me do it again for you!"
"You better not! Ouch! Ok! That's the last straw!!!"
"You asked for it!"
"Bring it on!"
"C'mon! Hit me baby one more time!"
"I'm gonna squash you like a bug you little stuffed toy!"
"Oooooo! I'm scared!"
"Knock it off you two! Why can't you get along like you two used to be?" Eriol said.
"Yeah! You two used to murder the fridge by eating all the food it contains." Yue added.
"That was before Spiniel here ate my last cupcake." Kero retorted.
"It wasn't my fault that you left that lonely cupcake lying in the floor without anyone eating it!" answered Spiniel.
"See? He admits it! You thief!"
"Oh Yeah? What about that time when you won that car racing game?"
"That was different, because I knew that I was the best!"
"Ha! You only won that game because you tricked me into passing the tunnel that turned out to be the devil's lair!"
"That's what you get for believing me you stupid (tuuuuut!)"
| PG |
a reminder from your author yours truly…
*( '?' )*
"When will they ever change?" Eriol Sighed.
"What do you want us to do?" Yue asked.
"I want you to follow her as much as possible, I have an odd feeling about her going to that place."
"That's why you asked her hand in marriage?"
"That's right! But she was so stubborn and insisted in going so I have no choice."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, that's all."
"We better get going then."
It was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up…
"Well I bet I could run faster than you!"
"Oh yeah? Well I bet I can fly higher than you!"
"Oh really?"
"Yeah really!"
Kero and Spiniel's argument hadn't stopped yet, and on it goes, all throughout their journey to prevent trouble from finding their mistress…
è That's it for this chapter! Hope you like it! If you've got any questions regarding this chapter don't hesitate to ask!
Jinx J