Julia: Hi, everyone! I'm back! Thank you to my readers that review
and those that do not. I was so happy when I got the reviews...
Kero: Yeah, but too bad there was only two...
Julia: Shut up, Kero! [Now blushing] Even if there is only two for
now, I'm still very happy about it. Two is better than none, right?
Kero: Why can't you think more negative?
Julia: [Ignoring Kero]For the readers, I have made some slight
changes on the first chapter, so it would be better if you read it
again. I don't own Kero, the characters and the plot. They belong to
Clamp and the company who made the movie series "The Rose". However,
Kero is now currently mine, so I have the authority to [grinning
evilly]...
Kero: [Starting to get scared] What do you want to, to do?
Julia: Please read this story while I suffocate Kero. Kero, I'm
giving you three seconds to run, 3, 2....
Kero: Oh, no! Help! Suppi, Eriol, Nakuru, Sakura, anyone,
HELPPPPPPPPPPP!

"The Rose"
Written by Julia Lily Tan

Chapter 1: The girl named Sakura

The Rose Family

Carrying my suitcase, I walked stupidly up the mountain road, I have already rode a bus for a few hours already, then from the bus station I walked for another hour. The scenery around was getting more and more desolate; I couldn't even see anyone around here. Where exactly is this place, could mum's house be in this kind of place?

Panting heavily, I leaned on to a big tree to rest, the address that was crumpled in my hand was already wet. What if I'm going the wrong way? Although I was worried, I didn't have the energy to think about it.

Suddenly, I smelt the smell of wine. I turned my head to see a man wearing a pair of sunglasses and a coat walking by. He was so...elegant! I couldn't help staring at him, my heart jumping faster.... Ah! Wait, this isn't the time for my heart to jump, I have to ask him the way, or I might not meet anyone else in the next few hours.

"Um, Mr., wait a sec," I grabbed the suitcase and rushed up, but I tipped over a rock, and fell into the mud.

Oh god, my whole body is covered with mud... Did that person go far? I looked up and found out that the man had fell to the ground too. This seems to be because I threw out my suitcase just then and tripped over his feet. Oh no!

"Gomen nasai, are you alright?" I crawled up and ran over to him, but he turned his head and gave me a venomous glare, his eyes that were covered by the sunglasses gave me a cold and icy feeling. I quickly backed a few steps.

"Gomen" Even though I was feeling guilty; I had to summon enough courage to ask him the way. "Excuse me, is there a house here with the name Li? I'm lost..."

He didn't even bother; he just stood up and kept on walking. What am I going to do, what if there is only one person around here and it's him? I didn't care anymore, I just followed him.

I ran after him around a mountain curve and suddenly, a big mansion appeared out of thin air. Is this magic? While I was staring foolishly, the man had already walked over to the speaker and pressed the button, the big door opened up to reveal a path inside.

"Hey, you're going now? You still haven't told me..." Hurrying, I wanted to call him, but just then I saw, on the stone pillar next to the door, a golden "Li" was carved deeply on it.

Is it here-? A house as big as a castle, this is mum's house...? I immediately followed him, walking straight into the mansion. In the large living room, the first thing that caught my eyes was a person that was curled up on the sofa, long hair covering half his-or maybe her- face. I couldn't recognize whether he was a he or she? The person, who I assumed, was a boy heard the noise of us coming in, and he tilted his head up from the packet of food he was eating. He looked at the man for a while, before staring at me for two seconds, then pointing a finger at me, and asked," Syaoran, what is that dirty thing?"

"Who knows?" The man called Syaoran took off his coat and hung it up on the wall.

I, I'm not a thing...But, I just didn't know how to say it, so I just asked them while smiling stupidly, "Does Miss Yelan Li live here."

Unbelievably, the person who looked like both genders suddenly got mad and jumped up from the sofa, yelling, "I knew it! You're another one of mum's fans! None of you are normal! The last one took off all his clothes in front of me, nearly making me loose my appetite for three days! My name isn't Li if I don't beat you up today!

While he was saying, he suddenly pulled a BB gun out of no where and pointed it at me. "I'll shot you into a bee hive, and then I'll call the police and say you wanted to rape me, I was self-protecting!"

"Ah, I surrender!" I putted up both my hands, half crying said, " What is all this? I don't even know if you're a boy or a girl yet, how would I want to rape you?"

"God, it's so noisy, Eriol! Who did you just say wanted to rape you!" A beautiful woman came out, her long brown hair flowing down to her waist, but she had a sleepy frown on her elegant face.

"Chiharu, don't you see this insane person?" The one called Eriol pointed his gun at me.

Chiharu walked in front of me, looked at me, and brushed my long hair that was sticking on my face, before saying, "It's a girl. What do you want?

"I, I want to meet Miss Yelan Li." I smattered.

She pouted, while letting out a strange laughter. "You aren't going to say you're her daughter now, are you?"

"In fact, I am. I have my childbirth ID as proof." I dived into my suitcase for my childbirth ID. But when I found it and looked back up, I saw all three of them starring at me with a whole face of shock.

I was making coffee in an unfamiliar kitchen. Even though I wanted to stop myself, I was like suffering from force disease, my mouth kept muttering, "Chiharu's coffee wants two spoons of milk powder and one spoon of sugar, two spoons of milk powder and one spoon sugar..." If not, my depressed thoughts would make my head explode.

Just now Chiharu told me, my father, Kinomoto Fujitaka was mum, Yelan Li's third husband.

"All of us have different fathers, I'm mum and her first husband's child, Syaoran's the second and Eriol's with the fourth. I suppose he's you're little brother. In the rich people's mind, things like these are very normal, so you don't need to be too startled." She said quietly, as if it wasn't much a big deal.

But was it really not such a big deal?

Syaoran and Eriol's reaction made me even sadder. That Eriol, with a I- don't- belief-it face kept yelling, "She can't be from our family, she looks just like a bun!"

And Syaoran, who had just been sent to call mum, walked over and started at my childbirth ID, before saying coldly to me "Mum loves cherry blossoms, but with the face of yours, do you even look like a Sakura?"

I know I don't really look like them, but that isn't my fault at all. I don't know why we have the same mother, but our looks are totally different. Those three have all got mums' beautiful face and slim figure, only I look like an ugly duckling that ran into a pack of swans.

The only one that comforted me was Chiharu. She said to me, "Don't bother, they just talk like that. Are you thirsty, want coffee?"

I looked thankfully at her and nodded, "If it isn't troubling you..."

Chiharu smiled and said, "No, not at all. The kitchen is that way. Why don't you go make some? My coffee wants two spoons of milk powder and one spoon of sugar."

Sugar, just where is the sugar? I desperately searched in the cupboard, when Syaoran's voice rang up near the door, "What are you doing? Don't touch the things in this house! I still haven't decided whether I want you to be in this family or not."

"No, Chiharu said-" I stopped searching to reply him.

"This my mum's home." Syaoran butted in.

Carrying the coffee, I walked to the living room. I could already hear mum's high pitched voice even before stepping in to the room.

"What joke is this? Why do I have another daughter now!" I saw mum walk in angrily, tool off her coat and threw it on the sofa, saying, "Using a fake childbirth ID to lie to me, it's sure for my money!"

What am I going to do? It's so scary! Hiding myself in a corner, my legs started to shake, but I had to go in to the living room.

"I didn't lie..." I said to mum with some scared voice in my voice.

"Sakura-!"

Unbelievably, mum, called out my name. I looked at her with shock, and I could see that mum was as much shocked too. But after a second she went back calm again, and asked me coldly, "Weren't you living with your grandma? Didn't your grandma refuse to let me have you? Does she know you're here?"

"Grandma is dead." I said, in a low voice. "She left me a letter for me to find you."

Mum stayed quiet. Syaoran, who was beside her, watched me, shook his head and asked her, "Are you sure we don't need to check her DNA first? She looks too different from us."

Eriol even used a looking at a movie expression while saying, " She looks like the nurse made a mistake and accidentally got her from the next door pet shop."

"Don 't beat about the bush saying that Sakura is a mini-pig." Chiharu scolded them loudly, "She won't understand."

This is just too much, these people... I haven't even started to protest, when mum suddenly went mad.

"Enough! Shut your mouths and be quiet! "She growled, furiously pacing to and fro, then snatching a pair of scissors from a cupboard nearby and walked towards me.

Does mum wants to kill me to silence my mouth? I closed my eyes with fear, feeling a strange, cold object at my neck. "Snip, snip." And something fell on the floor.

"Don't move! That bird's nest of yours makes me frustrated just by looking at it!" Mum commanded while cutting my long hair.

"Now that's more like it." After finishing trimming my bushy hair, mum's face finally lit up with a satisfying smile. "There's many rooms here, so just pick one to live in, do you know how to cook?"

I nodded my head quietly.

Mum kept on saying, "Good. The servant here has some injuries and is in the hospital, so help a bit around here. I'm just so tried, rushing back as soon as I got the call. I'm going up to my room, Sakura, remember to sweep up the hair on the floor later."

Not only mum, the other three quickly disappeared too at the staircase and the end of the hallway, in the big yet empty living room, there was only me left. Just what is this strange family? I helplessly picked up the broom and started sweeping the floor.

I couldn't help but feel that the days to come would certainly be a terror.

[The Rose Family]-Finished]. Next -[Syaoran] ...To be continued.

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A/N: To my reviewers: Sorry for confusing you all. Things will be clearer in the next few chapters, and I can guarantee that the parings are the usual ones, except that I can't tell you now, since it'll make you more confused. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you keep it on.