Unquenchable
~§~
Last Chapter:
An elderly advisor held an arm out to Syaoran, who gratefully accepted.
"Honestly, Your majesty, why don't you just do away with her?" he asked.
"No Wei," Syaoran shook his head. "There is another reason for keeping her alive…a reason which I'm sure that even she's not aware of…"
~§~
Chapter 4: Resistance
Sakura's mind was swimming over in confusion…
Shiehua…
Touya's wife.
She couldn't believe it.
Syaoran had killed his own sister?
He really did seem that type, she asserted. Power-hungry…they must have been elder to him…so they married them off to other kingdoms, took over their kingdoms and slain the sisters…
Disgusting…Sakura shuddered.
Sakura was so confused…it never struck her that it was her brother-in-law who had stuck her here…
~§~
"Shiehua…" Sakura said, staring at the young queen.
"Yes, Sakura?" Shiehua smiled at the young girl.
"When will I get to meet your family?" Sakura asked curiously.
Shiehua smiled at the little girl. "Soon…" she said. "Very soon…"
~§~
Sakura jolted out of her memories. That had been the day before the Lis had taken over the Kinomoto kingdom. But…had Shiehua known about this?
Or had she been as shocked as the rest had been?
Sakura's eyes closed in confusion. Why was the world so confusing? Why was the king such a jerk?
Unable to answer all these, Sakura's eyelids began to droop. Against her will, she fell asleep.
~§~
She was floating around in empty space. There was an unknown force in the air; a force so powerful, she felt as though it would rip the world apart, had it not been controlled by (Sakura couldn't believe it) her. She smiled. For once, she was in charge…
"Sakura…" a voice echoed through the darkness.
Sakura jolted. She wasn't the only one in this odd place. There was someone calling to her.
"Sakura…" the voice called again. Sakura blinked.
The darkness lifted, but the mystic eeriness stayed. The room was dimly lit by a ghostly white light that cast long, pale shadows off the woodwork.
Sakura looked around warily…the room looked vaguely familiar…a place out of a dream, no doubt…yet…
The memories were painful. Sakura brushed away a tear as she remembered how she and Touya had played hide-and-seek so merrily among the bookshelves. He had often complained how unfair it was that she was so tiny that she could fit under a bookshelf.
He had been ten years elder to her, yet found time every day to spend with his little sister. How she missed him!
But what was she doing here?
"Sakura…"
The voice was different. It seemed to sound like hundreds of ghostly voices calling out her name at once. And it was coming from…
Sakura followed the sound of the voices cautiously, like a mouse treading over cat's territory. Slowly, stealthily, she made her way through the many shelves of books, looking like dark blobs in the dim light.
"Sakura…"
The voice was growing louder. She was getting closer! She sped up her pace…faster and faster…
"Sakura…"
She could almost see the voice, it was so close. Just at her fingertips she caught a flash of it. Something vivid and red…the Kinomoto crest emblazoned on it…a slot that might have held a key…
"Sakura…"
~§~
Sakura awoke with a start. Her breathing was extremely laboured. Dwelling on the dream, she remembered what she had seen…yet…it made no sense…
Her hands fiddled with the necklace around her neck. Hanging off it was an ornately carved gold pendant, shaped like a sun, adorned with an intricate Kinomoto crest…identical to the one on the strange thing she had seen in her dream. It used to belong to her grandmother; she had rescued it from the palace ten years ago, lest the enemy find it.
The crest matched the one on the silver ring on her left hand. The size of a chicken's egg, the ring was huge; made of silver, featuring a flat, egg-sized, oval diamond covered in silver filigree and all manners of precious stones big and small, all elaborately worked into the stone to form the Kinomoto crest.
It was then, when she ran her fingers along the crest on her ring, that a bright light filled her cell; a bright, golden light rather like sunshine…and it seemed to be coming from…
Sakura's hand clasped around the golden sun on her neck, feeling its warmth flow through her body, calming her, renewing her, repairing her, healing her…
It went out the moment the cell door opened. Once again, Sakura found herself facing not two, but ten Li soldiers who had been assigned with the legendary task of taking her to the king.
"The King wants to see you, girl," one of them sneered.
"Oh really?" Sakura asked carelessly. "What did he ask for this time?"
"He wants to have a little chat with you," the soldier replied aggressively.
"Really?" Sakura asked. "Well, I suppose you'll do no better than to run back up to that selfish dense dithering old fool and tell him I'm in no mood to talk to him today and that no amount of flogging will suffice to loosen my tongue today."
They pounced, all ten of them. Sakura was now powerless in ten iron grips, yet she didn't let it show on her face.
"Oh well," she shrugged. "I suppose I have been a very bad girl and now I have to be punished."
"That's right girlie," one of them sneered.
"If the punishment is the king showing his face, I'm dead scared."
~§~
Sakura stopped in front of a large set of green doors. The Li symbol decorated both doors. Sakura knew where she was being taken. It was the king's own chambers.
Confusion whirred in her head.
What the hell did he want with her here?
The guard, sneering at her, knocked officiously at the door.
"Who is it?" came a sharp voice from inside.
"Highness, it is Relieve Number Twenty-Two. Mission accomplished and ready to be presented," the guard barked.
The voice replied back. "Well, don't just stand there! Send her in!"
The guard bowed. "As you wish." He opened the door, grabbed Sakura and threw her into the room.
"You may go," the voice said. "And close the door!"
The guard bowed, and closed the door. Sakura blinked. It was pitch black. What Sakura wouldn't give to have that warmth spread through her body like it had done so in the dungeons…
Sakura closed her eyes, rubbing her finger over the elaborate ring on her finger, hoping for the warmth to come, shine a light in this dark room and take her away from here…
Almost on cue, the lights flashed on, but it wasn't by her ring or her necklace. The king was standing by a lamp, a lit match in his hands. He flicked it indifferently to what Sakura thought was herself, but was indeed a flat dish filled to the brim with oil. It burst into flames, the light illuminating the whole large room Sakura recognised as her father's.
"I have a few questions of you, Sakura Kinomoto," the king said slowly, advancing on her.
Sakura didn't flinch, but remembered Shiehua, anger flaring up inside her like the torch beside her.
"And what would they be…dear brother-in-law?"
Syaoran froze in his tracks, puzzlement showing on his features.
"Your sister," Sakura said pointedly, "was married to my brother. Shiehua. You killed her, didn't you? You animal! You – you – you butchered your own sister?! Just because she owned land that you wanted?! She had a – a happy life and you – you took it all away from her, you – you misfit! You – you're a monster!"
Her voice shook with anger, the fanatical fire of hate dancing in her eyes.
"But that has nothing to do with why you, or why I, am here today," Syaoran continued, resuming his advance. "You said I wanted land, didn't you? You think that I am here today because I wanted this land to be my own? Even though it would fall heir to me anyway?!
No. Even though you are a clever girl, Kinomoto, you will never understand why I conquered this kingdom. You may understand your reason for being here, but you shall never understand your purpose in my eyes."
"Good!" Sakura spat. "You think I want to be a part of your – your sick fantasies?! You think I want to know what you do to women behind closed doors, you…you…"
"You misunderstand me," Syaoran said delicately.
"And you to me," Sakura said. "You think I enjoy being here? You think that I enjoy watching you live here – here! Where my father used to live!"
"Possibly," Syaoran said, growing closer, eyes glinting maniacally. "But do not misunderstand me. I have no intentions of what crosses your mind. So ease that fear of yours – "
Sakura stepped back. "Did you just tell me to ease fear?" she whispered.
He didn't answer.
"DID YOU TELL ME TO EASE FEAR?!" she yelled.
"I – "
"SHUT UP!" Sakura yelled. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, OR WHAT YOU THINK! I'LL NEVER GIVE UP TOMOYO'S LOCATION TO YOU!"
"But you do care," Syaoran said softly. "You would care after all, if I were to tell you that Tomoyo Daidouji was caught today, moments before I dispatched the guard to send you up here."
Sakura's breath froze.
"What?" she whispered.
"You do not believe me. Yet it stands true: Tomoyo Daidouji was surrendered to us by a very useful information source. We have names of all who were in your Resistance – "
"LIAR!" Sakura screamed.
" – and tomorrow, at dawn, they will all be – "
"SHUT UP!" Sakura tried to drown out his words. "YOU'RE A SICK MINDED SWINE! YOU LIE, SYAORAN LI!"
" – executed," Syaoran finished, a sickening smile perched on his lips.
Sakura had had enough. She actually clapped her hands over her ears and shook her head violently, still unwilling to believe.
"You believed that your puny little Resistance would stand a chance after we caught you, girl?" Syaoran said viciously. "Well, perhaps. Yet, there was a very valuable spy who gave us all the details – "
"And you expect me to believe the fact that one of my Resistance members betrayed us all?" Sakura whispered in deadly rage, her hands falling from her ears.
Syaoran shrugged. "It is up to you whether to believe in reality or go on living in your little dream world – "
THWACK!
Syaoran clapped a hand to his cheek in shock. Sakura stood less than an inch in front of him, her hand raised. She had slapped him across the face with all the strength she could muster (which was considerable).
"It's you who's living in the dream world," she said, her voice soft, yet cruel. "You. Not me. You. You make this world your own personal living quarters and in the meanwhile, turn life into a nightmare for everyone else. I haven't been living a dream these past ten years. It's been a nightmare, Syaoran. A nightmare. And it was created by you. And that's why I hate you."
She slapped him again.
"That's why I enjoyed that so much," she whispered.
She kicked his shin.
"That's why you should learn that the strength of a woman surpasses your own," she said.
Syaoran's spite returned.
"So, in spite of my saying that one of your Resistance betrayed you, you don't believe me?"
THWACK!
She slapped him again.
"You shut up," she whispered dangerously, breath heaving in and out. "Just – shut up. You honestly believed that I'd believe your lies? This world's not only black and white, Syaoran. The ground's solid, and it's more than dreams that make it up. It's faith. A new word to add to your vocabulary. Faith."
Sakura smiled wistfully.
"Knowing you, I should have realized that you would try such a dirty trick. But I know now. Neither has Tomoyo been caught; nor has there been any spy. It's all a lie. A dirty lie."
She raised her hand menacingly.
"But I'm warning you," she said, her voice low. "Any more shit from your mouth, and I'll personally see to it that that toothpick you call a backbone pins your lying tongue to the very roof of your mouth!"
She looked him squarely in the eye.
"Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to sleep."
~§~
Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd make it the real plot.
A/N: Sorry about the length in time, but I had a brainwave about my other ficcie, Arms of the Angel. Now I'm waiting for my fifteen reviews for AotA and then I'll start back on that. But I thought I'd get back to here as well. XD.
I wuv all my reviewers! Sixty already! I can't believe it! That's twice as much as I got for my HP fic!
Till next time,