Disclaimer: CCS and all its characters are owned by CLAMP. I don't own anything, don't sue me. The plot is mine though. ^.^
Warnings: Character death, angst, slight spoilers, what-if
Pairings: SxS, slight ExT
Summary: Years later, Sakura reflects on the one who never came back.
A/N: I wrote this while I was very bored and hyper; I admit it's very bad, it gets more confusing each time I reread it. Many thanks to Risa-chan for the plot bunny and to Toshi-sama for encouragement. Part one of the Colours trilogy, but it can be taken as a one-off. Please R/R, else I won't continue to post. All feedback either in review form or sent to: genki_gal@hotmail.com. Flames shall be used to roast the flamer's posterior.
Picks up from that part in Series two of CCS, where Syaoran leaves Tomoeda for Hong Kong.
Russet Faith -- by Chirika
Almost forty years. Thirty-seven years and a month to the day he left for Hong Kong. Then, the frost had just started to turn the leaves gold and russet, setting each tree ablaze, magically turning the park into a glorious blaze of russet, a cosy haven for dating couples. After the bus had disappeared into the sunset, she had marched purposefully through the fiery boulevards and shady tunnels, forcefully and pointedly ignoring the cuddling teenagers in the bushes, the myriads of memories the park invoked, the autumnal beauty around her, focusing only on the anticipated spring, when the sakura blossomed and the animals awoke from hibernation.
But all that had been long ago. Almost forty years. She had spent half of her life yearning for a long-dreamed of brush of lips, a shadow of a memory, delicate as a moth's wing. She still clung on to the threadbare and elusive fragment of hope. Through the fog obscuring her clouded senses and the rhythmic, soothing beeping of a machine, she caught a familiar, musical sound amongst shards of conversation; more familiar and musical to her ears than her own name.
"...Li-kun?"
"He's not coming back... ... died ... crashed ...all those years ago ... she doesn't know."
Ah, but he not dead, she wanted to protest. He promised to be with me always. He promised he would come back. I just have to wait; I just have to be patient. He just got held up. Nothing to it. Just a slight delay. She vaguely knew Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun fretted over her single-minded refusal to let him go, but she also knew he wasn't dead. He could never be.
"She's holding out for him, but he..."
Is not dead, she silently continued the sentence. Her breathing faltered. A fascinating russet aura was dangling just above her nose. She detected his presence, comforting and reliable. The russet swirled and arced gracefully. Silently bidding her best friend and her Significant Other goodbye, she reached for his hand, brushing of regret at leaving without a word. They were all wrong, even Tomoyo-chan, oh, so wrong; he was always with her, because love never dies. True love never dies.
The russet beckoned.
Outside the window, the autumn leaves swirled in the wind.
Completed 20/04/04
Warnings: Character death, angst, slight spoilers, what-if
Pairings: SxS, slight ExT
Summary: Years later, Sakura reflects on the one who never came back.
A/N: I wrote this while I was very bored and hyper; I admit it's very bad, it gets more confusing each time I reread it. Many thanks to Risa-chan for the plot bunny and to Toshi-sama for encouragement. Part one of the Colours trilogy, but it can be taken as a one-off. Please R/R, else I won't continue to post. All feedback either in review form or sent to: genki_gal@hotmail.com. Flames shall be used to roast the flamer's posterior.
Picks up from that part in Series two of CCS, where Syaoran leaves Tomoeda for Hong Kong.
Russet Faith -- by Chirika
Almost forty years. Thirty-seven years and a month to the day he left for Hong Kong. Then, the frost had just started to turn the leaves gold and russet, setting each tree ablaze, magically turning the park into a glorious blaze of russet, a cosy haven for dating couples. After the bus had disappeared into the sunset, she had marched purposefully through the fiery boulevards and shady tunnels, forcefully and pointedly ignoring the cuddling teenagers in the bushes, the myriads of memories the park invoked, the autumnal beauty around her, focusing only on the anticipated spring, when the sakura blossomed and the animals awoke from hibernation.
But all that had been long ago. Almost forty years. She had spent half of her life yearning for a long-dreamed of brush of lips, a shadow of a memory, delicate as a moth's wing. She still clung on to the threadbare and elusive fragment of hope. Through the fog obscuring her clouded senses and the rhythmic, soothing beeping of a machine, she caught a familiar, musical sound amongst shards of conversation; more familiar and musical to her ears than her own name.
"...Li-kun?"
"He's not coming back... ... died ... crashed ...all those years ago ... she doesn't know."
Ah, but he not dead, she wanted to protest. He promised to be with me always. He promised he would come back. I just have to wait; I just have to be patient. He just got held up. Nothing to it. Just a slight delay. She vaguely knew Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun fretted over her single-minded refusal to let him go, but she also knew he wasn't dead. He could never be.
"She's holding out for him, but he..."
Is not dead, she silently continued the sentence. Her breathing faltered. A fascinating russet aura was dangling just above her nose. She detected his presence, comforting and reliable. The russet swirled and arced gracefully. Silently bidding her best friend and her Significant Other goodbye, she reached for his hand, brushing of regret at leaving without a word. They were all wrong, even Tomoyo-chan, oh, so wrong; he was always with her, because love never dies. True love never dies.
The russet beckoned.
Outside the window, the autumn leaves swirled in the wind.
Completed 20/04/04