Let Me Help You
Ch.10 Was that a Smile I See
"Wei! Did you get the information I asked for you to get?" Syaoran asked.
"Yes, Master Li. Kinomoto, Fujitaka lives in 2543 Tomoeda, Japan. His phone number is 204-5522." Wei said.
"Thanks, Wei." Syaoran said.
Syaoran decided to send a letter to Sakura's biological father than to call him. He wrote:
Dear Mr. Kinomoto,
I am Syaoran Li. I have sent you this letter concerning about your ex- girlfriend from high school, Nadesiko. As you may or may not know, she is dead. However, she has a daughter named Sakura. That daughter was claimed as Nadesiko's husband's daughter, but that was a lie. Sakura is actually your daughter. I know this might sound strange and confusing, but it's the truth. I know this from Nadesiko's diary. Sakura was given this diary on her eighteenth birthday and in the diary she realized that she was a daughter of another man. If you do not believe what I am telling you then maybe we can have a blood test. Sakura has been living a terrible life since her mother past away. I am Sakura's friend and she does not know that I am writing this to you, yet. I hope you could write me back or you would be missing out on an opportunity to meet your biological daughter.
Sincerely,
Syaoran Li
When Syaoran finished writing the letter he placed it in the envelope, told Wei to send it to Kinomoto's house, and left for school.
~ Health Class ~
"Today we're going to start on a new project. This is the first time we have done this and I really hope it will be a success. Your project is to go to Tomoeda Orphanage and become a little girl or little boy's brother or sister. We have already assigned you an orphan and you're going to have a partner. You're going to write everything in a journal that we will be passing out. You're allowed to take the orphan out of the orphanage, but you have to sign out first. There are some rules that you must follow. Most of them are the basics: you are not to smoking in front of them, harass them, drink alcohol beverages in front of them, always keep a good watch on them, etc. You're going to be doing this project till May 31 and each day you have to spend at least three hours with them. You and your partner always have to go together while with the orphan. If you don't have any questions I'll be passing out a folder telling you who your partner is and who your new little brother or sister is." Ms. Vong, their health teacher, said.
Nobody asked any questions, so she started passing out the folders. As Sakura got hers, she opened it up and saw a picture of a little girl. She had brown eyes and black hair that went a little above her waist. She seemed very skinny, but she had a big smile on her face. Her name was Liu, Wu Deep. She was born in China and her mother moved to Japan and died of leukemia, her father died in China of lung cancer. Wu Deep is six years old and born on May 30. She's been in the orphanage since she was one year old. Sakura's partner is Li, Syaoran. As Sakura saw Syaoran's name, she automatically slouched in her seat. 'Out of all the people in the class I have to have the most nosiest person in the world as my partner.' Sakura thought.
Syaoran also saw the picture and read the brief summary of the little girl. When he discovered that Sakura was his partner, he quickly glanced at Sakura, which was at the other side of the room, and saw her slouching in her seat, looking a little disappointed. His attention on her was distracted when he heard Ms. Vong tell everyone to switch seats and sit next to their partner so they can discuss when they can visit the orphans. Syaoran got out of his seat and walked over to Sakura to sit next to her.
"So when do you think we can visit Wu Deep?" Syaoran asked.
"Doesn't matter to me." Sakura simply replied.
"How about three o' clock?"
"Sure."
"Okay then."
There was a long pause between them until the bell rang for the students to get to their next class.
The rest of the classes were the same as always and then school finally ended.
"So how was class, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked while walking with Sakura back to Tomoyo's house.
"Just as usual, but for health class we have to do this project." Sakura said.
"What do you have to do?"
"We have to be an orphan's brother or sister and we have to have a partner."
"Who's your partner?"
"Syaoran."
"Really? That's interesting."
"Not really. We're going to meet each other at the orphanage at three."
"Okay. Umm. Sakura it's 2:45 right now. I think you should go. The orphanage is about thirty minutes away unless you run there."
"Oh yeah, shit. Ok, bye Tomoyo."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, that's okay." Sakura said and quickly ran to the direction of the orphanage.
When Sakura finally arrived at the orphanage she was panting for air and saw Syaoran already there.
"You're late." Syaoran said.
"I . know." Sakura said between big deep breaths.
"Come on. Let's go inside."
Sakura just followed. They walked into the office and saw a woman sitting in a chair typing on her computer.
"Hello. We're here to see Liu, Wu Deep. We're part of the project done by Ms. Vong in Tokyo High." Syaoran said to the woman.
"Your name, please." The woman said.
"Syaoran Li and this is Sakura Avalon."
The woman typed more things on her computer and said, "Follow me."
They followed her to a big room with at least ten beds on each side of the room. The woman pointed to a little girl sitting on a bed looking at a picture book and then left. Syaoran and Sakura walked up to the little girl.
"Hi. I'm Syaoran Li and this is Sakura Avalon. We're going to be your new brother and sister. Is it okay if I sit next to you?" Syaoran said to the little girl and pointed to Sakura.
"Sure. I'm Wu Deep." The little girl said.
Syaoran sat next to her. Sakura just stood there, staring at the little girl with her arms crossed.
"Well, Wu Deep, what are you looking at?" Syaoran asked.
"A picture book."
"You like picture books, huh?"
"Yeah. I like all the pretty pictures, but some other people scribbled on it." Wu Deep said and pointed on one of the pictures that had red crayon marks all over it.
"You have a really nice name. I notice that Wu Deep means butterfly in Chinese."
"Really? I never knew that."
"Yeah. Do you want to go outside?"
"Sure I do!" Wu Deep said with excitement.
Syaoran took her little hand and walked with her out of the room. Sakura just followed along again. They signed out at the office and walked around the neighborhood.
"Why don't you talk to her?" Syaoran whispered to Sakura so that Wu Deep couldn't hear.
"There's nothing to talk about. Besides you're doing fine without me." Sakura said.
Syaoran was about to say something, until he saw Wu Deep staring at an ice cream store that they just passed by.
"Why don't we get some ice cream?" Syaoran said and walked to the ice cream store still holding Wu Deep's hands and with Sakura following along. " Wu Deep, go stay with Sakura for a moment while I go get some ice cream. What flavor do you like?" Syaoran asked.
When Sakura heard what Syaoran said she quickly whispered "What the hell are you doing?"
"I need to get the ice cream and it's a pretty long line so it might take a while. Now go find a seat and watch Wu Deep for me." Syaoran said.
"Why can't I get the ice cream? I'm not good with kids."
"Well, I have the money."
Sakura couldn't argue anymore.
"I want chocolate chip ice cream." Wu Deep said.
"Okay, what about you Sakura?" Syaoran asked.
"No, thanks." Sakura replied and took Wu Deep's hand gently to an empty table.
"Can I call you Sakura?" Wu Deep asked.
"Sure." Sakura said.
"Why aren't you happy? Am I being a bad girl?"
"No. Why do you say that I'm not happy?"
"Because you're not smiling."
"You're being a good girl."
Wu Deep smiled at that. There was a silent pause and then Sakura asked "Do you remember anything about your parents?"
Wu Deep shook her head no. Sakura felt sorry for this little girl to have not remembered who her parents were.
"My mommy went away." Wu Deep said.
"Mine did, too. But I'm sure our moms are angels right now. They're up in the sky watching over us." Sakura said in a soothing voice.
"Really? Then why can't I see her when I look at the sky?"
"Because they're so far up that we're not able to see them."
"Oh. Come on. I want to go say hi to Mommy in the sky." Wu Deep said getting of the chair and pulling Sakura's hands.
"Okay. Okay. But wait till Syaoran comes back with the ice cream."
"Okay." Wu Deep said with such a cheerful face that Sakura couldn't help but smile a little.
When Syaoran finally got the ice cream he started walking up to where Sakura and Wu Deep was sitting at. While walking he stared at Sakura and noticed something different. He saw Sakura's lips go up a little. She was smiling. He couldn't believe it. She, Sakura, smiling for the very first time, in a long time. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him so he rubbed his eyes and looked again but this time he saw Sakura's normal emotion on her face. Syaoran just ignored what he thought he saw knowing quite well that Sakura Avalon would never smile.
Ch.10 Was that a Smile I See
"Wei! Did you get the information I asked for you to get?" Syaoran asked.
"Yes, Master Li. Kinomoto, Fujitaka lives in 2543 Tomoeda, Japan. His phone number is 204-5522." Wei said.
"Thanks, Wei." Syaoran said.
Syaoran decided to send a letter to Sakura's biological father than to call him. He wrote:
Dear Mr. Kinomoto,
I am Syaoran Li. I have sent you this letter concerning about your ex- girlfriend from high school, Nadesiko. As you may or may not know, she is dead. However, she has a daughter named Sakura. That daughter was claimed as Nadesiko's husband's daughter, but that was a lie. Sakura is actually your daughter. I know this might sound strange and confusing, but it's the truth. I know this from Nadesiko's diary. Sakura was given this diary on her eighteenth birthday and in the diary she realized that she was a daughter of another man. If you do not believe what I am telling you then maybe we can have a blood test. Sakura has been living a terrible life since her mother past away. I am Sakura's friend and she does not know that I am writing this to you, yet. I hope you could write me back or you would be missing out on an opportunity to meet your biological daughter.
Sincerely,
Syaoran Li
When Syaoran finished writing the letter he placed it in the envelope, told Wei to send it to Kinomoto's house, and left for school.
~ Health Class ~
"Today we're going to start on a new project. This is the first time we have done this and I really hope it will be a success. Your project is to go to Tomoeda Orphanage and become a little girl or little boy's brother or sister. We have already assigned you an orphan and you're going to have a partner. You're going to write everything in a journal that we will be passing out. You're allowed to take the orphan out of the orphanage, but you have to sign out first. There are some rules that you must follow. Most of them are the basics: you are not to smoking in front of them, harass them, drink alcohol beverages in front of them, always keep a good watch on them, etc. You're going to be doing this project till May 31 and each day you have to spend at least three hours with them. You and your partner always have to go together while with the orphan. If you don't have any questions I'll be passing out a folder telling you who your partner is and who your new little brother or sister is." Ms. Vong, their health teacher, said.
Nobody asked any questions, so she started passing out the folders. As Sakura got hers, she opened it up and saw a picture of a little girl. She had brown eyes and black hair that went a little above her waist. She seemed very skinny, but she had a big smile on her face. Her name was Liu, Wu Deep. She was born in China and her mother moved to Japan and died of leukemia, her father died in China of lung cancer. Wu Deep is six years old and born on May 30. She's been in the orphanage since she was one year old. Sakura's partner is Li, Syaoran. As Sakura saw Syaoran's name, she automatically slouched in her seat. 'Out of all the people in the class I have to have the most nosiest person in the world as my partner.' Sakura thought.
Syaoran also saw the picture and read the brief summary of the little girl. When he discovered that Sakura was his partner, he quickly glanced at Sakura, which was at the other side of the room, and saw her slouching in her seat, looking a little disappointed. His attention on her was distracted when he heard Ms. Vong tell everyone to switch seats and sit next to their partner so they can discuss when they can visit the orphans. Syaoran got out of his seat and walked over to Sakura to sit next to her.
"So when do you think we can visit Wu Deep?" Syaoran asked.
"Doesn't matter to me." Sakura simply replied.
"How about three o' clock?"
"Sure."
"Okay then."
There was a long pause between them until the bell rang for the students to get to their next class.
The rest of the classes were the same as always and then school finally ended.
"So how was class, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked while walking with Sakura back to Tomoyo's house.
"Just as usual, but for health class we have to do this project." Sakura said.
"What do you have to do?"
"We have to be an orphan's brother or sister and we have to have a partner."
"Who's your partner?"
"Syaoran."
"Really? That's interesting."
"Not really. We're going to meet each other at the orphanage at three."
"Okay. Umm. Sakura it's 2:45 right now. I think you should go. The orphanage is about thirty minutes away unless you run there."
"Oh yeah, shit. Ok, bye Tomoyo."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, that's okay." Sakura said and quickly ran to the direction of the orphanage.
When Sakura finally arrived at the orphanage she was panting for air and saw Syaoran already there.
"You're late." Syaoran said.
"I . know." Sakura said between big deep breaths.
"Come on. Let's go inside."
Sakura just followed. They walked into the office and saw a woman sitting in a chair typing on her computer.
"Hello. We're here to see Liu, Wu Deep. We're part of the project done by Ms. Vong in Tokyo High." Syaoran said to the woman.
"Your name, please." The woman said.
"Syaoran Li and this is Sakura Avalon."
The woman typed more things on her computer and said, "Follow me."
They followed her to a big room with at least ten beds on each side of the room. The woman pointed to a little girl sitting on a bed looking at a picture book and then left. Syaoran and Sakura walked up to the little girl.
"Hi. I'm Syaoran Li and this is Sakura Avalon. We're going to be your new brother and sister. Is it okay if I sit next to you?" Syaoran said to the little girl and pointed to Sakura.
"Sure. I'm Wu Deep." The little girl said.
Syaoran sat next to her. Sakura just stood there, staring at the little girl with her arms crossed.
"Well, Wu Deep, what are you looking at?" Syaoran asked.
"A picture book."
"You like picture books, huh?"
"Yeah. I like all the pretty pictures, but some other people scribbled on it." Wu Deep said and pointed on one of the pictures that had red crayon marks all over it.
"You have a really nice name. I notice that Wu Deep means butterfly in Chinese."
"Really? I never knew that."
"Yeah. Do you want to go outside?"
"Sure I do!" Wu Deep said with excitement.
Syaoran took her little hand and walked with her out of the room. Sakura just followed along again. They signed out at the office and walked around the neighborhood.
"Why don't you talk to her?" Syaoran whispered to Sakura so that Wu Deep couldn't hear.
"There's nothing to talk about. Besides you're doing fine without me." Sakura said.
Syaoran was about to say something, until he saw Wu Deep staring at an ice cream store that they just passed by.
"Why don't we get some ice cream?" Syaoran said and walked to the ice cream store still holding Wu Deep's hands and with Sakura following along. " Wu Deep, go stay with Sakura for a moment while I go get some ice cream. What flavor do you like?" Syaoran asked.
When Sakura heard what Syaoran said she quickly whispered "What the hell are you doing?"
"I need to get the ice cream and it's a pretty long line so it might take a while. Now go find a seat and watch Wu Deep for me." Syaoran said.
"Why can't I get the ice cream? I'm not good with kids."
"Well, I have the money."
Sakura couldn't argue anymore.
"I want chocolate chip ice cream." Wu Deep said.
"Okay, what about you Sakura?" Syaoran asked.
"No, thanks." Sakura replied and took Wu Deep's hand gently to an empty table.
"Can I call you Sakura?" Wu Deep asked.
"Sure." Sakura said.
"Why aren't you happy? Am I being a bad girl?"
"No. Why do you say that I'm not happy?"
"Because you're not smiling."
"You're being a good girl."
Wu Deep smiled at that. There was a silent pause and then Sakura asked "Do you remember anything about your parents?"
Wu Deep shook her head no. Sakura felt sorry for this little girl to have not remembered who her parents were.
"My mommy went away." Wu Deep said.
"Mine did, too. But I'm sure our moms are angels right now. They're up in the sky watching over us." Sakura said in a soothing voice.
"Really? Then why can't I see her when I look at the sky?"
"Because they're so far up that we're not able to see them."
"Oh. Come on. I want to go say hi to Mommy in the sky." Wu Deep said getting of the chair and pulling Sakura's hands.
"Okay. Okay. But wait till Syaoran comes back with the ice cream."
"Okay." Wu Deep said with such a cheerful face that Sakura couldn't help but smile a little.
When Syaoran finally got the ice cream he started walking up to where Sakura and Wu Deep was sitting at. While walking he stared at Sakura and noticed something different. He saw Sakura's lips go up a little. She was smiling. He couldn't believe it. She, Sakura, smiling for the very first time, in a long time. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him so he rubbed his eyes and looked again but this time he saw Sakura's normal emotion on her face. Syaoran just ignored what he thought he saw knowing quite well that Sakura Avalon would never smile.