My gift for the *counts* Seventh day of Christmas. It is short
comparatively but if I made it any longer the mood would be off and I'd
have to make it a LOT longer. But I plan to update again soon so, meh.
THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed. I am SO glad that people like my story. It positively tickles me pink. Or some relating colour.
Anyway, as for the questions, some will be answered here and some I prefer to not disclose answers to because, well, that would be telling. However, to assure everyone, "everything will definitely be alright". That includes conflicting political agendas.
Now on with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. Well, actually I bought every bit of CCS anime and manga I could get my hand on so technically I do. Does that count?
Chapter Ten: The Dangers of Sword Play
In the darkness of night one could barely see the slight figure moving around in the garden farthest from the Li mansion while still being in the complex. The green eyed princess wore hematite coloured silk in a dress done so similarly to the rest she owned but for the fact that it had no sleeves and was only held up by two thin straps. Sakura found this particularly helpful at the moment since it allowed more freedom of arm movement and she was most definitely moving her arms.
As she went through the series of dance like movements Li had taught her previously she let out all of her pent up anger. For two and a half days she had been in the very bosom of the Li home. For two and a half days she had been unable to sleep well, having trained her body in the past months through non stop walking and then added training sessions to hold off sleep until bodily exhaustion wouldn't let her. She had little to do that compared to the exhaustion she had been feeling, even with the almost full day long sword training classes that Li was giving her under the Elder Long's instructions.
But mostly she was angry because for two whole days she was left knowing as much as she had when she left her home. There were no answers to who was following her, to who wanted her very life. She had been promised answers and expected them almost the moment she arrived. But still they wouldn't tell her anything. They were discussing. Discussing?! They were discussing while she, the person in mortal danger who had never complained was left in the dark!
The princess was so caught up in her anger as she let the small tai chi sword fly in her hands that she was completely unaware of the presence of someone she could sense miles away.
Li watched the beautiful girl from a distance. Her fluidity was amazing and the passion that shone in her eyes made her look like dark fire had sprung from the earth and was coming to collect its toll. Everyone from the Elders to Meiling had been surprised at the speed that Sakura was learning sword play. Everyone, except the princess herself, who still hadn't thought it might be odd that a few weeks training for a few hours a night could be enough to win over someone who had been training hours per day from infancy.
But maybe that was because Meiling had never complained about her defeat, a rarity in itself. Instead she had been forced by her very personality to admire the girl she considered a rival. Li sighed as he watched the princess try to tire herself out as she had done the night before. She was too good. She made movements that weren't born from someone who was just learning but someone who was remembering. Perhaps the Sword Card had something to do with it. The Fight had never, to his knowledge, possessed the Card Mistress while the Sword had.
With a mental shrug, Li emerged from his hiding place where he had been watching unobserved. It took a moment for the furiously moving girl to realize his presence but when she did she immediately stopped and stared at him. For a moment that is all she did: stare at him. And then, in an action that completely surprised him, she growled.
Li blinked. He had never seen the princess in a bad mood or angry. A little upset or occasionally tinged with sadness, yes, but anger? He didn't know she was capable of anything beyond mild irritation. And this went FAR beyond irritation.
"What do you want, Li?" she asked bitingly, turning to face him completely.
"This is my home, princess. I am allowed to go where I please when I please."
"Don't give me that garbage. You came here last night too. Are you checking up on me to see if I'm worthy? If I make a mistake?"
He blinked. She was VERY angry and he wasn't entirely sure why. "Just watching, actually."
She snorted, which was generally not a very lovely action but somehow looked almost cute from her. "Whatever. Why don't you go away unless you are going to do something useful," Sakura retorted icily as she turned her back to him.
"Useful as in?" he asked warily. Li was a relatively smart boy and knew that asking probably would incite more anger from this slip of a girl who managed to be so imposing at the same time. But his curiosity got the better of him. What could make such a sweet girl so angry?
"Oh, I don't know, why don't you tell me what I'm doing here? Why don't you and your family and your Elders tell me why I spent MONTHS traveling away from my family to a place full of people I don't know? Why don't you tell me what this evil that lurks in the corners is? Or hell, why don't you tell me why I am the one who got to be the Chosen One? Some answers would be nice, Li! I haven't asked anything from anyone since that first night, but now I'm tired and I'm angry and I want information."
Throughout her long speech she had started walking towards him, her voice getting increasingly loud. By the time she had finished she was only inches away from him and her breath came heavily and uneven from the shouts her lungs had expelled. Li looked down into the dazzling green eyes, filled with such passion, and was for a moment shocked into silence. His heart skipped a beat and he didn't know how to respond. But only for a moment. After that he quickly gathered his brains together and smirked.
"Fine."
"Huh?" Sakura asked stupidly. Whatever she had been expecting 'fine' definitely wasn't it.
"I said fine. I'll tell you everything you want to know. But only under one condition."
The princess wasn't quite ready to get her hopes up and tentatively asked, "What condition?"
"Beat me at swords."
Her eyes widened a little. While she was getting better she knew that she was still a novice and obviously easy to beat. Or so she thought. What the princess didn't realize is that if she had been fighting anyone but Li she would have probably won more than one of their sparring sessions. And yet, for all her apprehension, the girl was desperate.
"Fine. Now?"
He managed one of his rare grins, dazzling the green eyed princess for a moment. "Why not?"
Stepping past her, Li walked to the middle of the open grounds. Though considered a garden, it was really brush with wildflowers and a coble stone path that wound its way through the trees that lined the clearing. It was a good place to fight.
Sakura was confused for a moment. True she had a sword, two if you counted the Card but Li had nothing. She was about to ask him about that when he pulled the black onyx orb from around his neck. She recognized it readily since she had never seen him without it on. However she was more than startled to watch as it changed from a pendant to the ornament on the sword he used during their training matches.
"Have you always done that?"
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, princess."
"Oh." She shrugged. He had always had it transformed into a sword by the time she had arrived for training. After a moments hesitation she joined him in the middle of the clearing and squared her shoulders.
"You sure you want to do this now? I might just refuse to give you any information until you can beat me. That may take weeks, months, even years. If you fight me now you'll be agreeing to that."
She hesitated and bit her lip, unconsciously leaning back on the foot placed slightly behind her. For a moment, Li thought he had ruined his chance for some fun and perhaps at getting to see the princess without having twenty other people watching her, getting to see her free of nervousness and anything but pure battle fervor.
But then she smiled. "It won't take me an hour."
Li almost laughed but instead exchanged formal bows with her before gaining his stance. The two looked at each other for a moment in silence and the rest of their surroundings seemed to follow suit. The world was still as the two adversaries measured each other up. But only for a moment before it broke into a fury of motion.
It wasn't two minutes into the duel that Li realized this girl with him now was completely different than their normal sessions. She was raw and without restraint. And she was good. But more than anything, she seemed to be having more fun than he would ever have imagined possible.
They started out easily, trading blows of offense defense. They moved in circular movements with their feet, Sakura having to move quicker to compensate for the lightness of her blade against the weight of his. They seemed evenly matched until Li lunged forward and caught Sakura off-guard. She was forced to skip lightly backwards to miss being cut. He was aiming seriously and would have put a long gash in her side if she hadn't dodged.
"Careful, Li. I like this dress!"
"Then fight in something else, Princess!"
She laughed and danced to one side, twirling as she brought her blade over her head and then in a low arc aimed for his legs. She did it so quickly that even he, practiced as he was at reading movements, had to flip backwards to escape.
"I think I'll be fine in this," she smirked.
Li grinned. The fight was on now. The two parried and twirled, flipped and lunged. It was sword play as it was meant to be: play. Sakura stopped being angry and Li stopped being determined to give her humility. Instead their bodies merely moved, as if without thought or pre-designed flow. They moved together so well that it was almost a dance, choreographed for show to an audience. Except that any audience watching would have been too astounded to even see the expertise in their movements for the sheer speed of them.
Unbeknownst to either party, the actions they took were so speedily done it bordered on recognizance to the others movements. The moved faster than the eye could follow and looked like flashes of colour against a blacked backdrop. The fight raged on and their movements increased in fluidity and speed. They weren't human anymore but were something else.
Li watched the princess in amazement and awe. She didn't need lessons but almost should be the one to teach. She reacted in her own way, using ingenuity against his practiced technique. She twirled and danced against his fluid practiced motions. She was beautiful and more entrancing than anyone he had ever seen. And it was his awe that was his downfall.
Sakura noticed his lack of concentration and quickly rushed forward against him, forcing him to retreat. In a stroke quicker than light she flew out her hand and stole his sword from him, shocking him beyond belief. With two swords in hand she laughed in glee as she pinned him against a tree, one blade pointed to his throat and the other to his middle.
"I won! Admit defeat!" she laughed in glee and astonishment at her own cunning.
"A Li never admits defeat," Li whispered seriously, startling the girl for a moment, but just long enough to dart forward and knock both swords from her hands. Deftly he grabbed her wrists and whirled them around until she was the one pinned against the great old tree. "Now you are the one that is trapped."
"That's not fair, Li!" she laughed up at him, her eyes awash with an almost unearthly glow of delight.
"I think it's perfectly fair," he mused with a smirk.
Sakura didn't like the look in his startling serious amber eyes. "Oh? Why?" she asked uncertainly.
"Because it means I can collect my prize," he whispered before closing the gab between them and settling his lips over hers.
For a moment the princess stiffened in shock only to melt and lean into him, despite having her hands pinned against the tree.
It had started as a joke, or at least that is what Li told himself. But the moment she responded he lost all rational thought. Groaning he let go of her wrists and pulled her to him in a long, passionate and thorough kiss. The instant he let go of her wrists she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with equal fervor.
They continued that way for a few minutes until some nocturnal bird chose that precise time to take flight noisily and startled the two from their actions. They instantly sprang apart and for a moment could do nothing but stare at the look on the other's face. Then Sakura slowly drew her hand up to her mouth, pressing it in confusion, as if she didn't quite believe that she was awake and what had happened really had. Li reached out a hand to her, startling her into action. Without looking back, nearly tripping on the two discarded swords, she sprinted for the main house and was quickly consumed by the darkness.
Li watched the princess as she ran, knowing that he could easily catch up with her, maybe. But he was rooted to the spot as he endeavoured to understand what had just happened. In his rational mind he could bring no justification for kissing the princess. He sat there in the dark for a long time rethinking the past few minutes over and over in his mind, desperately trying to find some reason for why he had kissed the princess at all, much less so passionately. And why he wanted nothing else in the world but to do it again.
Sakura didn't stop running until she reached the safety of her room, which she thankfully had all to herself, sparing her from the grievance of having to answer to Tomoyo immediately over what had happened. Her cheeks were furiously red and her heart could not stop beating. More over she could still feel where his hands and touched her and her lips still felt warm from his touch. She quickly changed and lay in bed for hours reliving the kiss and trying desperately to understand what her heart was trying to tell her. But her brain was too clouded to think clearly and eventually she was just left to sleep and dream of haunting amber eyes staring into hers with an unreadable expression.
In her room, Yelan moved away from the telescope she had been peering into for some time. She had seen the magnificent show of skills lavished between her son and the princess. But more, she had seen the passionate embrace her son had bestowed upon the innocent girl. While some mothers might have been upset that their son had instigated such a base action that could have led to more if they had not been startled, or been angry that the action was done with the princess of the Realm who would most likely become Queen in the years to come, Yelan was not.
Instead the tall striking woman smiled in a serene fashion, full of pride. For years she had watched her son brush off the many women who fawned over him. For years she had seen his distain for any company aside of his own and perhaps his family's. She had often worried that her son would not marry to carry on the Li line, or more importantly that he would live alone and never love, never understand what it was to put someone else's life before his own.
But she didn't think she had to worry now.
The stately woman walked from her balcony, closing the curtains behind her. It had been such a long time since there had been such excitement in her home, even if some of it was not the kind one normally invited. However, perhaps, all the terror and ugliness to come would be worth it if those two found the Power within themselves to love.
Far from the Li holdings and the Chinese Lands, a young man with cerulean eyes and fair hair sat watching the events as they unfolded through a mirror sitting neatly before him on a table. The boy frowned at the obvious Power the two possessed and at the obvious effort it would take to over power them. But when he saw the impassioned embrace between the two a slow smile began to grow over his finely carved features.
This will be the way to control her, he thought. This will be the key to gaining her obedience.
His smile deepened as he watched the young princess in her bed. Her long full hair was spread around her and her emerald eyes stared up, as if she were looking at him. She was beautiful and pure. Perhaps she was the most perfect creature in the world. And he would have her.
The man waved his hand casually, dispelling the image in the mirror. A low chuckle could be heard coming from the room where he sat and in her bed far, far away, Sakura shuddered as if her grave had called to her by name.
(A/N: I had SO much fun writing this chapter. Kinda makes me go all giggly when I get to write kissing scenes. Specially the out of the blue kind. Anyway. I'll be updating again REALLY soon so don't throw fruit and veggies at me for having such a cliffy like ending. And look! Just per reader request I added in more about the Big Bad! Alright I'll stop babbling. I should update again soon. Everyone get all kissy for New Years, like they did. Ja! Happy New Year!)
THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed. I am SO glad that people like my story. It positively tickles me pink. Or some relating colour.
Anyway, as for the questions, some will be answered here and some I prefer to not disclose answers to because, well, that would be telling. However, to assure everyone, "everything will definitely be alright". That includes conflicting political agendas.
Now on with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. Well, actually I bought every bit of CCS anime and manga I could get my hand on so technically I do. Does that count?
Chapter Ten: The Dangers of Sword Play
In the darkness of night one could barely see the slight figure moving around in the garden farthest from the Li mansion while still being in the complex. The green eyed princess wore hematite coloured silk in a dress done so similarly to the rest she owned but for the fact that it had no sleeves and was only held up by two thin straps. Sakura found this particularly helpful at the moment since it allowed more freedom of arm movement and she was most definitely moving her arms.
As she went through the series of dance like movements Li had taught her previously she let out all of her pent up anger. For two and a half days she had been in the very bosom of the Li home. For two and a half days she had been unable to sleep well, having trained her body in the past months through non stop walking and then added training sessions to hold off sleep until bodily exhaustion wouldn't let her. She had little to do that compared to the exhaustion she had been feeling, even with the almost full day long sword training classes that Li was giving her under the Elder Long's instructions.
But mostly she was angry because for two whole days she was left knowing as much as she had when she left her home. There were no answers to who was following her, to who wanted her very life. She had been promised answers and expected them almost the moment she arrived. But still they wouldn't tell her anything. They were discussing. Discussing?! They were discussing while she, the person in mortal danger who had never complained was left in the dark!
The princess was so caught up in her anger as she let the small tai chi sword fly in her hands that she was completely unaware of the presence of someone she could sense miles away.
Li watched the beautiful girl from a distance. Her fluidity was amazing and the passion that shone in her eyes made her look like dark fire had sprung from the earth and was coming to collect its toll. Everyone from the Elders to Meiling had been surprised at the speed that Sakura was learning sword play. Everyone, except the princess herself, who still hadn't thought it might be odd that a few weeks training for a few hours a night could be enough to win over someone who had been training hours per day from infancy.
But maybe that was because Meiling had never complained about her defeat, a rarity in itself. Instead she had been forced by her very personality to admire the girl she considered a rival. Li sighed as he watched the princess try to tire herself out as she had done the night before. She was too good. She made movements that weren't born from someone who was just learning but someone who was remembering. Perhaps the Sword Card had something to do with it. The Fight had never, to his knowledge, possessed the Card Mistress while the Sword had.
With a mental shrug, Li emerged from his hiding place where he had been watching unobserved. It took a moment for the furiously moving girl to realize his presence but when she did she immediately stopped and stared at him. For a moment that is all she did: stare at him. And then, in an action that completely surprised him, she growled.
Li blinked. He had never seen the princess in a bad mood or angry. A little upset or occasionally tinged with sadness, yes, but anger? He didn't know she was capable of anything beyond mild irritation. And this went FAR beyond irritation.
"What do you want, Li?" she asked bitingly, turning to face him completely.
"This is my home, princess. I am allowed to go where I please when I please."
"Don't give me that garbage. You came here last night too. Are you checking up on me to see if I'm worthy? If I make a mistake?"
He blinked. She was VERY angry and he wasn't entirely sure why. "Just watching, actually."
She snorted, which was generally not a very lovely action but somehow looked almost cute from her. "Whatever. Why don't you go away unless you are going to do something useful," Sakura retorted icily as she turned her back to him.
"Useful as in?" he asked warily. Li was a relatively smart boy and knew that asking probably would incite more anger from this slip of a girl who managed to be so imposing at the same time. But his curiosity got the better of him. What could make such a sweet girl so angry?
"Oh, I don't know, why don't you tell me what I'm doing here? Why don't you and your family and your Elders tell me why I spent MONTHS traveling away from my family to a place full of people I don't know? Why don't you tell me what this evil that lurks in the corners is? Or hell, why don't you tell me why I am the one who got to be the Chosen One? Some answers would be nice, Li! I haven't asked anything from anyone since that first night, but now I'm tired and I'm angry and I want information."
Throughout her long speech she had started walking towards him, her voice getting increasingly loud. By the time she had finished she was only inches away from him and her breath came heavily and uneven from the shouts her lungs had expelled. Li looked down into the dazzling green eyes, filled with such passion, and was for a moment shocked into silence. His heart skipped a beat and he didn't know how to respond. But only for a moment. After that he quickly gathered his brains together and smirked.
"Fine."
"Huh?" Sakura asked stupidly. Whatever she had been expecting 'fine' definitely wasn't it.
"I said fine. I'll tell you everything you want to know. But only under one condition."
The princess wasn't quite ready to get her hopes up and tentatively asked, "What condition?"
"Beat me at swords."
Her eyes widened a little. While she was getting better she knew that she was still a novice and obviously easy to beat. Or so she thought. What the princess didn't realize is that if she had been fighting anyone but Li she would have probably won more than one of their sparring sessions. And yet, for all her apprehension, the girl was desperate.
"Fine. Now?"
He managed one of his rare grins, dazzling the green eyed princess for a moment. "Why not?"
Stepping past her, Li walked to the middle of the open grounds. Though considered a garden, it was really brush with wildflowers and a coble stone path that wound its way through the trees that lined the clearing. It was a good place to fight.
Sakura was confused for a moment. True she had a sword, two if you counted the Card but Li had nothing. She was about to ask him about that when he pulled the black onyx orb from around his neck. She recognized it readily since she had never seen him without it on. However she was more than startled to watch as it changed from a pendant to the ornament on the sword he used during their training matches.
"Have you always done that?"
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, princess."
"Oh." She shrugged. He had always had it transformed into a sword by the time she had arrived for training. After a moments hesitation she joined him in the middle of the clearing and squared her shoulders.
"You sure you want to do this now? I might just refuse to give you any information until you can beat me. That may take weeks, months, even years. If you fight me now you'll be agreeing to that."
She hesitated and bit her lip, unconsciously leaning back on the foot placed slightly behind her. For a moment, Li thought he had ruined his chance for some fun and perhaps at getting to see the princess without having twenty other people watching her, getting to see her free of nervousness and anything but pure battle fervor.
But then she smiled. "It won't take me an hour."
Li almost laughed but instead exchanged formal bows with her before gaining his stance. The two looked at each other for a moment in silence and the rest of their surroundings seemed to follow suit. The world was still as the two adversaries measured each other up. But only for a moment before it broke into a fury of motion.
It wasn't two minutes into the duel that Li realized this girl with him now was completely different than their normal sessions. She was raw and without restraint. And she was good. But more than anything, she seemed to be having more fun than he would ever have imagined possible.
They started out easily, trading blows of offense defense. They moved in circular movements with their feet, Sakura having to move quicker to compensate for the lightness of her blade against the weight of his. They seemed evenly matched until Li lunged forward and caught Sakura off-guard. She was forced to skip lightly backwards to miss being cut. He was aiming seriously and would have put a long gash in her side if she hadn't dodged.
"Careful, Li. I like this dress!"
"Then fight in something else, Princess!"
She laughed and danced to one side, twirling as she brought her blade over her head and then in a low arc aimed for his legs. She did it so quickly that even he, practiced as he was at reading movements, had to flip backwards to escape.
"I think I'll be fine in this," she smirked.
Li grinned. The fight was on now. The two parried and twirled, flipped and lunged. It was sword play as it was meant to be: play. Sakura stopped being angry and Li stopped being determined to give her humility. Instead their bodies merely moved, as if without thought or pre-designed flow. They moved together so well that it was almost a dance, choreographed for show to an audience. Except that any audience watching would have been too astounded to even see the expertise in their movements for the sheer speed of them.
Unbeknownst to either party, the actions they took were so speedily done it bordered on recognizance to the others movements. The moved faster than the eye could follow and looked like flashes of colour against a blacked backdrop. The fight raged on and their movements increased in fluidity and speed. They weren't human anymore but were something else.
Li watched the princess in amazement and awe. She didn't need lessons but almost should be the one to teach. She reacted in her own way, using ingenuity against his practiced technique. She twirled and danced against his fluid practiced motions. She was beautiful and more entrancing than anyone he had ever seen. And it was his awe that was his downfall.
Sakura noticed his lack of concentration and quickly rushed forward against him, forcing him to retreat. In a stroke quicker than light she flew out her hand and stole his sword from him, shocking him beyond belief. With two swords in hand she laughed in glee as she pinned him against a tree, one blade pointed to his throat and the other to his middle.
"I won! Admit defeat!" she laughed in glee and astonishment at her own cunning.
"A Li never admits defeat," Li whispered seriously, startling the girl for a moment, but just long enough to dart forward and knock both swords from her hands. Deftly he grabbed her wrists and whirled them around until she was the one pinned against the great old tree. "Now you are the one that is trapped."
"That's not fair, Li!" she laughed up at him, her eyes awash with an almost unearthly glow of delight.
"I think it's perfectly fair," he mused with a smirk.
Sakura didn't like the look in his startling serious amber eyes. "Oh? Why?" she asked uncertainly.
"Because it means I can collect my prize," he whispered before closing the gab between them and settling his lips over hers.
For a moment the princess stiffened in shock only to melt and lean into him, despite having her hands pinned against the tree.
It had started as a joke, or at least that is what Li told himself. But the moment she responded he lost all rational thought. Groaning he let go of her wrists and pulled her to him in a long, passionate and thorough kiss. The instant he let go of her wrists she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with equal fervor.
They continued that way for a few minutes until some nocturnal bird chose that precise time to take flight noisily and startled the two from their actions. They instantly sprang apart and for a moment could do nothing but stare at the look on the other's face. Then Sakura slowly drew her hand up to her mouth, pressing it in confusion, as if she didn't quite believe that she was awake and what had happened really had. Li reached out a hand to her, startling her into action. Without looking back, nearly tripping on the two discarded swords, she sprinted for the main house and was quickly consumed by the darkness.
Li watched the princess as she ran, knowing that he could easily catch up with her, maybe. But he was rooted to the spot as he endeavoured to understand what had just happened. In his rational mind he could bring no justification for kissing the princess. He sat there in the dark for a long time rethinking the past few minutes over and over in his mind, desperately trying to find some reason for why he had kissed the princess at all, much less so passionately. And why he wanted nothing else in the world but to do it again.
Sakura didn't stop running until she reached the safety of her room, which she thankfully had all to herself, sparing her from the grievance of having to answer to Tomoyo immediately over what had happened. Her cheeks were furiously red and her heart could not stop beating. More over she could still feel where his hands and touched her and her lips still felt warm from his touch. She quickly changed and lay in bed for hours reliving the kiss and trying desperately to understand what her heart was trying to tell her. But her brain was too clouded to think clearly and eventually she was just left to sleep and dream of haunting amber eyes staring into hers with an unreadable expression.
In her room, Yelan moved away from the telescope she had been peering into for some time. She had seen the magnificent show of skills lavished between her son and the princess. But more, she had seen the passionate embrace her son had bestowed upon the innocent girl. While some mothers might have been upset that their son had instigated such a base action that could have led to more if they had not been startled, or been angry that the action was done with the princess of the Realm who would most likely become Queen in the years to come, Yelan was not.
Instead the tall striking woman smiled in a serene fashion, full of pride. For years she had watched her son brush off the many women who fawned over him. For years she had seen his distain for any company aside of his own and perhaps his family's. She had often worried that her son would not marry to carry on the Li line, or more importantly that he would live alone and never love, never understand what it was to put someone else's life before his own.
But she didn't think she had to worry now.
The stately woman walked from her balcony, closing the curtains behind her. It had been such a long time since there had been such excitement in her home, even if some of it was not the kind one normally invited. However, perhaps, all the terror and ugliness to come would be worth it if those two found the Power within themselves to love.
Far from the Li holdings and the Chinese Lands, a young man with cerulean eyes and fair hair sat watching the events as they unfolded through a mirror sitting neatly before him on a table. The boy frowned at the obvious Power the two possessed and at the obvious effort it would take to over power them. But when he saw the impassioned embrace between the two a slow smile began to grow over his finely carved features.
This will be the way to control her, he thought. This will be the key to gaining her obedience.
His smile deepened as he watched the young princess in her bed. Her long full hair was spread around her and her emerald eyes stared up, as if she were looking at him. She was beautiful and pure. Perhaps she was the most perfect creature in the world. And he would have her.
The man waved his hand casually, dispelling the image in the mirror. A low chuckle could be heard coming from the room where he sat and in her bed far, far away, Sakura shuddered as if her grave had called to her by name.
(A/N: I had SO much fun writing this chapter. Kinda makes me go all giggly when I get to write kissing scenes. Specially the out of the blue kind. Anyway. I'll be updating again REALLY soon so don't throw fruit and veggies at me for having such a cliffy like ending. And look! Just per reader request I added in more about the Big Bad! Alright I'll stop babbling. I should update again soon. Everyone get all kissy for New Years, like they did. Ja! Happy New Year!)