Identity's Past
by AlterEthereal
Syaoran returned to find his princess, but discovered she has been missing in action for years. Now, a mysterious, distant girl has arrived in the city... could his princess be right under his nose?
*groans* Stupid ACT... took Saturday morning... need spring break... starts on Friday... will sleep... lots... but not without updating, of course. Hell, maybe I'll even get a chappie or two up sooner than expected. Also, I'd like to thank... no... worship all the reviewers for taking the time to make me feel so happy! I love you guys and seriously wish I could give you all hugs! Anyway, this is the chapter where everything gets explained. Finally. Enjoy! ^_^
Alter-chan: lalalalalala....
Zuri: i'm so confused...
*they both stare at a big, red puddle in the middle of the floor*
Anaru: *whistles nonchalantly*
Zuri: alright... i give. what did you do to him?
Alter-chan: oh who could you possibly mean?
Anaru: *tries to suppress a smirk* *fails*
Zuri: *sighs frustratedly* you know exactly who i mean...
Alter-chan: *shifty eyes* i dunno... Anaru, do you know who she's talking about?
Anaru: *shakes head* nope.
Zuri: FINE! just be that way!! *stomps off*
Alter-chan and Anaru: *burst out laughing*
Anaru: *dries eyes* since it was my idea, you have to do disclaimer.
Alter-chan: *sighs* alright, i guess it's only fair. DISCLAIMER: I don't own CCS and probably never will. plus, even if someone did decide to sue me, they wouldn't get much 'cause i'm poor. thank you.
~~~~
"Sakura…"
Almost as if on cue, she felt her body becoming swallowed up by the now familiar sensation of the crimson hole sinking into oblivion. She gripped her slender, pink staff tightly as she began falling backward with an awkward rising feeling, as one would note when he or she becomes dizzy. At least, this time, she wasn't alone.
~~~~
Chapter 12: True
~~~~
"Li…"
He could feel her quick breaths on his lips. He wanted desperately for her to stay, and it was almost like he had to trap her to be close to her.
"Li… please, wake up…"
Wake up? His eyelids suddenly felt heavy, and he realized that they were closed. But how can that be?
He began to pay attention to physical sensations. Something beneath him was cold and hard, and his head felt like he had just thrown it against a brick wall. He tried to turn over or find a more comfortable position, but found that something was preventing him from doing so.
Thin fingers were grasping his shoulder, shaking him lightly.
He moaned, trying to open his eyes but only succeeding in making them flutter lazily. Those small hands shook him more violently, and allowed him the consciousness necessary to fully open his eyelids.
The first thing his not-so-fiery, amber eyes recognized was a pale girl with auburn hair and emerald eyes staring at him, concern written all over her face.
"Sa- Sakura?" he mumbled.
"Li!" She suddenly embraced him (as best she could, as he was laying on the ground), seemingly quite relieved that he was alive. They stayed quite content for a few moments, until she pulled away.
"What happened? Where are we?" He asked, noting her still-worried expression.
"I guess I've got a lot of explaining to do, huh?"
"Yeah, I'll say."
She leaned back and sat upright, allowing him to sit up himself. It was still difficult, as he felt a tremendous amount of pain emanating from his left arm. Pulling himself up with the rest of his body, he glanced down toward it to see his sleeve rolled up revealing a hastily-applied bandage, which was presently soaked in blood.
"I did what I could, but it really took a beating on the way down." She seemed to sense the inquiry that accompanied his inspection of the wound. "You probably shouldn't try to move it for a little while."
"How long was I down for?"
"Around an hour."
"I assume there are no clocks here?"
"How'd you guess?" she smiled bitterly, then sighed, preparing to explain the ordeal. "Two or three years after you left for Hong Kong, I met this guy who was after the Star Cards. He seemed to be connected to Clow Reed somehow, but I don't know much about that. We got into an intense battle and… well, I guess our powers cancelled out, and this is where I wound up. Think of it as a kind of cosmic waste dump. People that don't belong anywhere are thrown here."
"You've been here before?"
"Yeah. This is where I spent the last 4 and a half years of my life before you found me by the lake."
"Four and a half years? How did you survive?" he was slightly shocked, to say the least.
"I made friends. There's a village not too far from here. Apparently, I wasn't the first to arrive; people have been living down here for centuries."
"You couldn't escape?"
"Nope. Not with every single Star Card I had. They helped to keep me alive, though. For a long time."
There was a long silence, during which Sakura stood up. She extended an arm to him, which he gladly accepted, rising to his feet and being extremely cautious with his tender arm. Once he was standing, however, he found that he felt light-headed.
"Whoa! Be careful, would ya? You're really starting to scare me!"
He suddenly realized that he had come close to falling, his only saving grace being the gentle, but strong arms Sakura had wrapped around him to prevent his collapse. She then swung the good arm over her shoulder and helped him take the first few steps.
Her helping me feels so strange… but so right. She's become strong… probably even stronger than me… He mused to himself as they traveled. I wonder… no, I hope… that she'll always be here, by my side… always.
~*~
They had been walking for some time now, and Sakura was beginning to feel uneasy with the silence. She decided that she might as well tell him the rest of her story.
"Li?" she began hesitantly.
"You can call me Syaoran, you know."
This made her smile, despite the thoughts that were running through her mind. "Syaoran?"
"Yes?"
"There's something else I have to tell you. About why I kept my identity a secret."
He raised an eyebrow, seeming to be interested. "Go on."
"The only way for me to go back was to strike a deal with the same man that got me here in the first place. He's the one that took the wand and the Star Cards." She sighed. "He didn't tell me the final condition until we were already on the surface. You see, there was still one other person who could've posed a threat to his power. He ordered me to kill that person, or else he would send me back to this 'cosmic waste dump.' I wasn't really left with any options, so I accepted." Her head hung low, for the first time feeling the true shame behind what she was about to tell him.
"Sakura…" She looked up, and there was care in his eyes. He let his arm slip down off her shoulder and around her waist. "Why don't we take a rest for a while?"
She nodded her head, almost solemnly, and led him to the nearest cave. Coincidentally, it turned out to be the same one in which she had first glimpsed humanity during her last trip. They sat down on the flat, stone ground, and although it was rather cold, it was refreshing to be off of their feet.
"Should I… keep going?"
"If you want to."
Yes, it was painful, even a little embarrassing. But she would need his help later, so it was important that he understand everything that had happened.
"The person I was sent to kill," she breathed, "was you."
The boy's eyes widened in shock, and Sakura could feel tears beginning to form in her eyes. She tried to blink them back.
"I couldn't bear to make you suffer the knowledge of what I had to do, or for you to break down when I realized I couldn't do it and had to leave again. So I created Artemis, a quiet, antisocial girl bent on not letting anyone get close to her. I thought that I could stay distant from you, that at least one of us wouldn't be sad in the end. But then I fell in love with you… all over again."
As hard as she tried, she couldn't contain the tears any longer. The stream of clear, warm drops poured down her cheeks silently.
She felt overwhelmingly weak. Suddenly everything that had happened rehashed in her mind, all the mistakes she had made because of her weakness.
She had been too weak to defeat her enemy in the beginning… too weak to refuse the deal regarding the safety of the Star Cards… too weak to face Syaoran with her true identity… too weak to carry out her agreement… too weak to leave without saying goodbye…
She suddenly felt a gentle finger brush away her falling tears and raised her eyes to meet soft, but vibrant amber ones.
"Part of being strong is knowing when to be weak and let your guard down." He almost whispered, as if he had seen her very soul in her eyes. She let herself fall into his waiting embrace and wrapped her arms around his midsection in return, remembering the aching uncertainty when she had found him unconscious on the ground, and bleeding profusely, at that. "I love you, Sakura, whether you're strong or you're weak."
Her eyelids fell shut as she felt his lips close passionately around hers--Sakura Avalon's first true kiss.
~~~~
Alter-chan: geez, that was long. hope you all enjoyed!
Anaru: what was enjoyable about it? it was complete sap. so fluffy... *shudders*
Alter-chan: so it was long and fluffy. like one of those cashmere scarves... *eyes get all glazed over* *runs off to buy a cashmere scarf*
Anaru: *rolls eyes* whatever. anyway, please review.
~AlterEthereal