YAY! It's an update!
Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed. I'm so glad everyone likes my story. Oh
and yay for there being another Eleanor out there who likes CCS. I know
there are probably tons but hey, yay for us anyway.
Umm, only commentary to address is something that someone commented on the fact that Sakura got so angry. Well, I actually think this is in character since people like her usually don't get angry unless they have ample cause. And when they do get angry it's scarier than anything. And I think going two plus months without knowing what is going on is sufficient reason. As for any other oocness I'm sorry. I'm trying to keep true to the character as I see it. If anyone has problems, tell me and I'll commentary it away I hope. Anyway here you go!
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. However my cousin and his friend do manage to emulate the behavior of Touya and Yuki pretty well. Kinda scary since they are both straight. .
Chapter Twelve: The Advent of Royalty
Li followed the princess at a length. Actually he was following her aura and keeping his path in the general direction of where it was going to end up. This was more difficult than usual, though, since her aura seemed to encompass the whole house. She was in the gardens, most likely the one where he had kissed her the night before. But more than anything she radiated the need to speak with someone and he knew that Tomoyo had been hassled off with his sisters so they could all create new clothes for the Princess.
With a sigh he walked out into the gardens until the distraught girl finally came into view. She was pacing quickly, her pale lavender skirts and long belled sleeves fluttering in the wind current. She seemed oblivious to everything around her but when he stepped forward her head immediately jerked up and her eyes met his.
"Is there something the matter, Li? Something I wasn't told perhaps?" her voice was preoccupied but didn't seem harsh or expecting as it had been earlier. Finally gaining the knowledge that had been kept from her for so long calmed her and returned her to her natural state of cheerfulness. Well perhaps it would have if she had not been so weighed down with the information.
Silently, Li shook his head. "I just thought you might want to talk. I know Daidouji is out of the house and by the wear pattern on the grass you have been pacing furiously."
Sakura looked at her feet and blushed. She did feel like talking but didn't know if he was the right person to talk to. Then a thought struck her, he was probably the best person to talk to since he understood more about her situation than even Tomoyo did.
With a sigh, the princess leaned against a tree at her back, ironically, Li noted, the one she had been captured against not a full day before. "I always knew that I would probably become queen, what with the way that Touya's affections ran. But having someone tell you absolute that you will be something is always different than guessing as much. It scared me."
Again Li heard her reference this love affair of her brother's. Before he even stopped to think he found himself asking, "What is so unacceptable about the person your brother loves? Are they someone like me? Or-" he broke off as Sakura interrupted him with a confused look.
"What is so unacceptable about you, Li? In fact you are probably the most socially acceptable match that could be found since you are royalty without the formal title." She shrugged. "No, Touya has a different problem. One that can not be bypassed."
He realized that she never answered his question but still he couldn't help but feel relief at the idea that she thought that he would be preferable for a marriage partner. When that consciously came to mind, though, he shook himself and wondered why that mattered so much.
"Do you think you won't make a good queen?"
She smiled. "Li, do you think you won't make a good ruler of the Li clan and the Chinese people?"
He blinked. "No. I know I will do my duty as I have been taught from birth. If I wasn't acceptable they wouldn't be making me leader once I am finished with my training."
"Then that should answer you."
He nodded. Truthfully, it made sense that she had the same expectations from herself as he had to himself. They were both born and breed as leaders and knew from the first that they had to be their best or a people would be punished for it.
"Then what?"
"I don't know," she giggled. "I guess the one thing that keeps running through my head is the heavy burden that I now bear since my life is in jeopardy. If I do not do as I must in this situation and live to tell the tale to Naoko then my people and my brother will suffer for it. They will have to suffer under a king who takes his throne from responsibility not for love since his will be pushed aside."
She sighed again and grew quiet. Li was stunned at the deep thinking of such a silly girl. True he had learned in their travels that she was not the lack for brains that he had thought of her at the Capitol but she never struck him as being thoughtful or particularly brilliant at anything but magic. And for a moment he watched her until realization dawned. The burden of responsibility can do many things to a person, even making them grow wise in an instant and mature in a day.
"Cheer up, princess. You have already done so much that a new ruler needs to do. You have met your people, you understand your land and the path of the common person. You have made your allies afresh." He paused. "And since you know you are to be queen doesn't that mean you survive this monster of a man?"
She looked up at him, her dazzling green eyes boring into his soul. For a moment she just looked at him before breaking into a heart stopping smile. "I hadn't thought about that Li. After all, my father I still relatively young and he is not sick in any way. Knowing my future can sometimes benefit my present I think." She laughed a little. "Oh, did you know the Cards can be used to fortune tell?"
He nodded. "How many Cards do you have left to initiate? I haven't been keeping track."
"Just two. The Light and The Dark are all that remains. Kero says I need to initiate them together so I should wait for some need. Mostly, I've been working on the spells that Eriol left me."
Li nearly growled at the mention of the blue eyed sourcerer. "I'm sure they are all so useful."
She nodded, missing the shift in his mood. "Most of them are, even if they are just for fun. But some are confusing. They are long chants that I don't understand their meaning. I'll look over them and have them all committed to memory but I don't understand their purpose."
"The Elders say that some incantations are for summoning the Power to aid you when you need it most. But only for those times. Elder Chen Rong made me learn many of those. He told me I'd need them someday. He's the most clairvoyant of anyone in the whole Chinese lands. Except perhaps you."
Sakura looked at him. "Huh?"
"Nevermind. Why don't we go in? It's getting cold and we don't need you catching a cold, princess who will be queen."
Sakura blushed and nodded as she followed Li into the large mansion. She didn't know why he came to talk to her since he had never really been forthcoming on conversations that didn't have anything to do with the Cards or traveling. Whatever his reason, she was glad he did and tried not to think about the fact that someone was still after her and no matter what the future may hold she still had to defeat him before he took her soul for his own use.
"Tomoyo, do you think it's weird that the idea of someone using me sounds worse than someone just out to kill me?"
The amethyst eyed girl looked at her friend as she sewed. "Not really. No one likes to be used but everyone has to accept death."
Sakura nodded as she paced back and forth in her room. It had been an interesting evening meal with the Li family since everyone had heard what was told in the closed doors, through some means or another.
"It's almost insulting. It's like being treated as a means to an end. A middle point instead of the finale." Sakura shrugged then shook off her morbid thoughts and sat on her bed, facing her friend.
Tomoyo smiled up at her friend but didn't comment. She knew by now that something else had happened, something that Sakura hadn't told her yet. She was prepared to wait in silence until her friend cracked and admitted the truth to her. She was patient after all. That and she had enough fabric for at least three new dresses with accessories.
"Umm.Tomoyo, I have something to tell you. I need your opinion.um, or something. I don't know what to think. And you are better at thinking than I am." She giggled nervously.
"What is it, Sakura?" she asked, cackling evilly on the inside.
"Umm.last night I went out to practice my sword again."
"I know, I heard you leaving."
"Well, last night Li showed up, too. And umm.we practiced together."
Tomoyo stopped sewing and looked at her friend with pointed interest. She had known that something else was going on. But that the something had to do with the intensely handsome heir of the Li family was almost enough to make her decide to start following Sakura around without stop so she wouldn't miss anything at all.
"Umm.and I beat him, but then he said he won and he, umm," the naturally graceful and eloquent princess was showing an almost pulsating shade of red from the roots of her hair to where her skin disappeared beneath her neckline. "And, umm, well then he kissed me."
Tomoyo dropped her needle and mentally noted that she needed to pick it up later after she got the whole story out of her friend.
"And, umm, I kind of kissed him back, and well, yeah."
The raven haired girl sprung to her feet, giggling with glee. "Sakura got her first kiss! From Li too! Oh was it exciting? Why did he do it? Did he say he was going to? Did you dare him? Tell me everything."
Tomoyo continued to badger her friend until Sakura had retold the whole encounter from the moment he entered the clearing to when she had run out. Her face was glowing with embarrassment as her friend mentally planned their wedding.
"Umm, Tomoyo, do you think he likes me? Or, is it just a guy thing?"
Amethyst eyes widened as they looked into averted emerald eyes. Sakura was so dense. But then, Li hadn't shown any signs of being any less knowing of his own feelings so perhaps she shouldn't be too harsh as of yet.
"I don't think it's just a guy thing, Sakura."
"Really?" the princess inquired hopefully.
"Nope. I don't know how much he likes you," she continued with her fingers crossed behind her back, "but I know that he does like you more than just a friend."
"Oh," Sakura replied with almost a glassy look. "I think I'm going to lay down now, Tomoyo. I feel a little light headed."
The duchess giggled internally at her friend but nodded as she gathered her belongings, specifically her needle and headed towards her own room. "Good night, Sakura. Dream well."
"Night, Tomoyo. And don't tell anyone or I'll die of embarrassment!"
The giggle didn't comfort Sakura much but she knew her friend well enough to know she wouldn't tell anyone. With a head full of thoughts swirling around and beating each other back so to gain forefront in her mind, she tiredly changed her clothes and slipped into bed. And for the first time since she had come to the Li family home, she slipped easily into sleep.
*He is there. That same laugh is flowing from his mouth as he approaches the man sitting comfortably in a chair facing a roaring fire. He feels a sick pleasure at the idea that he is actually there. He made it there past everything set up to stop him. He is there and nothing can stop him now. He steps quietly, hoping not to startle his prey until the precise moment that would be apt and pleasurable.
He comes to the man in the chair and quickly steps out in front of him. The man barely reacts before a long and sickly blade is cleanly placed into his middle. He laughs as the man looks at his murderer in shock and down at the blood seeping from himself. It was impossible, the man thinks. Impossible. But he had done it and he laughs out loud into the still night as the man slowly bleeds to death. He walks away and disappears from the room now filled with the stench of blood and the horrifying sounds of someone breathing their last.*
Li could feel the princess' aura fluctuate wildly in his sleep. It grew to such a whine and pitch that he woke up and instantly was on his feet, not even bothering to pull clothing on his bare chest. She was dreaming again and he had to get to her. He raced down the long hallway before throwing open her door and finding the princess tossing back and forth in her sleep. She was whimpering and was obviously frightened. Something was scaring her to death.
Slowly and calmly he walked over to sit on her bed. He reached out his hands and placed them on either shoulder, shaking her slightly. But she wouldn't wake. The warm pink aura that had always brought comfortable feelings was now silently screaming and gave him a blinding headache. It built up until finally it burst and the princess screamed loudly as she fought her way awake. Her eyes flashed open and she sat up, inching away from the hands holding her.
"Princess, shh, calm down. Calm down, it's just me. It's Li," he said soothingly as he tried to break her from the wild, irrational state of mind that held her prisoner though she was at last awake.
"L-Li?" she whispered, finally focusing her eyes onto him. Before he could nod she threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "He killed him. He killed him and I had to watch. I couldn't do anything. I was just watching."
"Shhh," he whispered to her, as his hands stroked her mussed hair. "It's okay. It was just a dream. It's okay, calm down." He continued to rock her back and forth until her tears subsided. When at last she stopped crying she pulled away from him slightly, looking up at him with tear filled emerald eyes. So he did what came natural to him.
Leaning forward he brushed his lips over hers before settling down over them. It was a gentle kiss that was meant to give comfort not to incite passion. She leaned into him, sighing slightly as she wrapped her arms around him. They stayed that way for a minute before pulling back and staring into each other's eyes. Both were held in a trance they couldn't, nor particularly wanted, to break from.
Until they heard someone cough at the door.
Cursing mentally, Li turned to see a gaggle of girls staring at him from the door way. All four of his sisters, his mother and Tomoyo watched them with barely contained humour and interest in their eyes. Meiling was watching also but she looked more thoughtful than happy. Li cursed himself over and over in his mind as her realized that the rest of his family would have felt the strong burst of her aura and Tomoyo and Meiling would have heard the princess' scream. He should have expected them to come.
And all while Li was trying desperately not to turn a brilliant shade of red as he mentally berated himself, Sakura stared at the seven women with a bit of wonder at first. It was obvious that she was still too dazed to understand just what all this meant. And of course the instant that she put all the pieces into place everyone knew from the high pitched squeal of embarrassment and sudden infusion of red to her cheeks.
"Ahem, I assume that you are alright now, Princess Sakura?" Yelan asked with a small smirk. "My son seems to have been quicker than the rest of us. However, if you need any thing else do not hesitate to ask."
Sakura glanced over at Li, realizing for the first time that he wasn't wearing a shirt and just how handsome he looked in the moonlight. And how utterly compromising their situation must appear. "No, my lady. I think I am just fine. I'd like to get back to sleep. Thank you everyone for rushing here so, um, quickly."
The four sisters began to giggle uncontrollably. "She' so cute!" Xiefa exclaimed while Fuutie nodded and added, "Especially with her hair shining like that in the moonlight."
"I personally think our dear younger brother was the cutest here," Feimei said with a sly look to the half dressed future lord as he slowly inched away from the princess.
"Perhaps them together is best," Fanren argued.
"Enough ladies. The princess is fine so we shall all go back to our beds," she said, herding the girls away, all except for Tomoyo who had already rushed off to find her inks and paper to catch the memorable scene down on paper. Mentally Li thanked his mother for being reasonable and completely unlike hi sisters.
"And perhaps, ladies, we can have half such a pleasant night once we get there," she added slyly before closing the door behind her.
Evil Chinese woman.
Sakura looked at Li for a moment before averting her eyes in embarrassment. "Umm, thank you Li for your help."
"Heh, it was nothing." Or at least nothing he needed thanking for, Li thought as he stared at her mouth unconsciously.
"I think I'm going to try go get to sleep again. If you want I'll tell you the dream later. You always seem so interested in my dreams."
Li nodded and began to rise before pausing and turning back to the Card Mistress. "Princess, you said that the only Cards left were Light and Dark. When did you test out Dream?"
"Oh, a week before we arrived here."
"You had a prophetic dream and you didn't share it with anyone else?" he asked a little incredulously.
Sakura blushed a deep shade of red, surprising Li. "Well, umm, the dream was sort of personal and didn't seem to have anything to do with whatever problem we are facing so, umm, I didn't think I needed to tell anyone."
And for a moment, as he looked at the face of extreme embarrassment on the innocent seventeen-year-old girl's face, Li would have traded his soul to know the contents of that dream. But it passed and he stood with a nod before quickly and silently leaving the room.
Sakura stared at the closed door, her cheeks still flaming. Slowly she laid back down and curled on one side, looking out the window at the stars. Two kisses in two days from someone who rarely spoke to her when he wasn't passing information. It was almost enough to forget the horrible dream she had had.
Enough all together was how she remembered the dream the Card had brought. And how wonderful it had felt when two strong arms had been wrapped around her and small butterfly kisses had been pressed against her neck. She couldn't quite wait for that dream to manifest itself and now she had someone she wished those arms and lips to belong to.
The following week passed with relative calm. Sakura spent a portion of every day with the Elders. They would always open the session with pleasantries and she would always try to see what else they knew about her enemy. But she never so much as got a name. Mostly she was trained with them and they were harsh taskmasters. Each taught something different and it was obvious that they were doing more than helping her ready for her nameless and dateless battle, but what their intentions were she couldn't quite puzzle out.
Elder Long summoned her early on the day after her dream He informed her succinctly that she would now be training with them for most of the day, each Elder in turn, every day until they were satisfied with her actions. A bit surprised and uncomfortable, Sakura nevertheless agreed, feeling awkward and conspicuous as she followed the Elder through a series of rooms until they ended in a small room not unlike the ones she had often sat in with Touya.
"You will start your day in this room promptly after breakfast. It has been a long time since we have had the honour of being able to teach the royalty of Tomoeda so understand that this is our honour, not the other way around." He smirked a little, surprising the fearful princess. "Now, you will start your day with me and I will teach you about the Chinese customs. The man after you has grown from our people and understands them and lives by many of them. Know thy enemy."
His lessons started off as lectures and usually ended up as discussions. Sakura was eager to learn about these people she had only learned little of, despite the fact that she would one day rule over them. They were so different from her in so many ways and it fascinated her. And if some of the eagerness came from a desire to know as much about the Li family and thus Li himself, then it only came as a bonus.
Long himself was pleased with his new pupil. It had been many years since he had trained Meiling and Xiao Lang and now to educate the princess on the ways of life he held so dear to himself and his family was gratifying. In the past, the Kinomoto family and their ancestors had come to meet, greet and learn of their ways as tradition and wisdom dictated but it had been many years since one was so avidly interested and it bode well for the future.
After Long, Sakura met with Quen Yuan who taught her magic and grasping her Power. He strode into the room as Long left and greeted her merrily. She returned his greeting and waited for him to begin the lesson, and actually to tell her what she was to be learning from hi.
"Ah, the magnificent Card Mistress. May I see them? I hadn't expected my life to still be stretched upon this earth when the Cards would be known to their owner."
Sakura nodded, having expected this for some time since none of the Elders had ever asked to see the Cards particularly. She pulled them from the small purse Tomoyo had made to match her outfit and set them carefully on the desk in front of her. "Here they are, Elder Quen Yuan."
He nodded, staring at them intently. "May I see you use one of them perhaps? Flower, I think would be best."
She nodded and stood, bowing slightly to the man who stepped back a little to give her room. She recited the incantation with practiced ease and released the staff like wand. Before she could call upon Flower, Quen Yuan stopped her.
"Excuse the interruption, but is that really the Wand? I was told it would be well, about this big," he said holding his hands about a yard apart. "That is as tall as you are! Amazing!"
Sakura blushed but nodded. "I thought wand was a silly name really."
"No, it's not a silly name but perhaps a bit unapt for your apparent fluctuation in Power. Now please continue."
She nodded and threw the Card into the air. "Flower!" she yelled before a light burst into being and began to shower cherry blossoms down upon the room.
"Amazing. I am awed," he chuckled as he watched her place the Card with the others. "No, keep your 'wand' as it is. You may sit though." He waited for her to resume her seat, holding the long light staff to one side with ease. "I am to teach you what you already know, you might say. I am to teach you magic and everything about the Power that you do not already know.
"Xiao Lang informed me that you have a small book worth of spells written out from a young sourcerer you met on the road. Is this true? Ah, well tomorrow please bring them with you and I will help you with what you haven't already mastered. Yes, I understand you already know most of them and that your mastery of the Power is awing to see."
Sakura frowned. "I don't understand. I'm not particularly mastered with the Power. I only just started learning!"
Quen Yuan looked at the girl before him for a moment before realizing that she spoke what she truly believed and not false modesty. "Perhaps. However, today I am going to teach you what you really do already know, just perhaps in a different way. You have four element Cards correct? And they all obey you obediently? Yes, now have you ever seen Xiao Lang use magic? No? How interesting."
Sakura watched as the talkative man answered for her most of the time. When he ended his speech she saw him reach into his garments and pull out several yellowed pieces of paper.
"These are ofudas. They are what we use to summon up elemental Powers. Now, I will tell you what to do and I want you do exactly what I say. Li has a slightly easier time of this since he has his sword but I think you can manage." He paused as he waited for Sakura to join him. Slowly he explained a series of motions and words he wanted her to say and she tried to memorize it so that she wouldn't fail at what must be an easy thing to do.
Quickly she executed the motions, holding the ofuda vertical between two fingers and reciting an incantation. Then she threw the paper forward and watched as it turned into a fire ball. Giggling she turned to the Elder with glee.
Quen Yuan stared at the girl in amazement for a moment before beginning his speech. "Now, you must have felt the difference between this magic and the Cards, correct? It takes more Power for you to summon without the use of a wand or anything that can focus Power. You might wonder why I would teach this to you well," he began and continued to talk explaining the necessity of having a back up plan incase anything would happen to the Cards. But all the while he was talking in the back of his mind he was still in awe of this small girl who so easily mastered advanced magic. Xiao Lang had been right when he said this was someone to be reckoned with, someone almost to be scared of.
After Quen Yuan came Xing Zhi who led her into the training room adjacent to the school room she had been in for the morning. It was the same one she had fought Meiling in and she felt comfortable knowing how to get to where she was supposed to be every morning without having to ask one of the Elders for directions. He informed her that he was to lead her through martial arts both unarmed and armed, "Though," he commented, "You hardly need it."
They went through hand to hand combat for fifteen minutes before going into swords. When she beat him only a few minutes later, the Elder wisely decided not to waste time on something she was already so proficient in and moved on to the bow and arrow. After only forty minutes practice she was already adept and was pronounced not needing further help.
"I think I will suggest to Elder Long that you skip this session since you do not need help in any of these areas. However, most likely he will not agree and you will at least get time to practice."
The princess, thoroughly tired, was set free to go to lunch with the rest of the family. When asked where she had been, she quickly explained what she had been doing before hungrily eating her portion. The look that passed between the Li family members escaped Sakura's notice but not her friend who began to wonder about what exactly the purpose of Sakura's training was. She continued to wonder for the rest of the week and made up her mind to ask Li about it when she got the chance.
After lunch Sakura was whisked away to study meditation with Sheng, a nice break since her body was completely drained of energy and the meditation helped her regain a good portion of it as well as help her focus more in general. She had always known that meditation was important to magic and learning the limits of your Power but it wasn't until Sheng excused himself from the room to make way for Chen Rong that she realized exactly what the difference it made was.
Chen Ron walked into the room and sat across from the tired princess. He stared at her for a long moment before smiling. "They give you to me at the end of the day. Perhaps it is a little unfair. However, since I already know that you have prophetic dreams and can divine things with your Cards, I shouldn't really complain. Instead perhaps I should tell you not how to divine yourself but how your enemy does."
He went on to explain that the Chinese people were a people of the Moon and that much of their Power came from it. He went on about how they used the moon for divination and that since it was the night sky that told fortunes it was more reliable than most forms of fortune telling.
"Except yours, princess. You use the Power of the Stars, the very source of knowledge of what is to come. You tap into the very flow of time itself. However, for all that you may see glimpses of the future your enemy is probably using something that can tell him your every move."
"What is that, my lord?"
"The Mirror of Truth. It is a spell that allows someone to view the events of persons far away. It is very complicated and takes great Power but it is also very accurate and ultimately valuable. I can only warn you princess that you need to be ready when the time comes for the one thing you will not have on your side is the element of surprise."
A long week had passed and, in efforts to see the princess at any time aside of meals, Li, Meiling, Kero and Tomoyo joined the sessions. Quen Yuan had a great time with Keroberos there to poke and fawn over. The whole group had had a wonderful discussion with Long, who was pleased to see that his former pupils had actually absorbed something from him. But Tomoyo and Kero sat to one side as the other three practiced during the princess' session with Xing Zhi.
Eventually, Meiling joined Tomoyo as Li and Sakura began another sword fight. The Chinese girl had accepted a number of things in the past week and couldn't help but stare in awe as the two combatants flowed so quickly that motion was hardly seen. Everyone was so intent on the battle that the two auras approaching at top speed escaped their notice until the doors into the training room where thrown open.
Sakura dodged an attack from Li before spinning around to see who had entered the room. "Yukito! Touya what's the matter with Yukito?" She ran over to her brother and long time friend, who was looking faint and tired as the prince leaned him against a wall.
"Sakura," Touya said quietly instantly drawing her attention. Touya rarely called her by her name. Monster, little sister, hey you, those she heard all the time. So when she heard him say her name so solemnly she grew scared.
"Prince Touya?" Meiling asked as she and the others joined Sakura. Xing Zhi quickly went to gather the other Elders who were talking with Yelan. When they had all gathered into the room Sakura was still staring at her brother with pleading hope and Touya was returning her stare with no hope to give.
"What happened, Touya?" she begged to know.
Instead of answering, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring that Sakura instantly recognized. "Father?! No! How? Tell me what happened Touya!" she nearly screamed.
"He was assassinated, Sakura. They came to the castle really late at night when father was the only one left awake. He was reading. It was a stiletto." He stopped speaking as he looked at his little sister who had gone completely white and was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Mom?" she asked.
"She's fine. She's gone into shock though and is in bed now. Heavily guarded."
Sakura closed her eyes in relief, causing two tears to escape and trail down her cheeks. She sat there silently for a moment, trying to absorb what her brother was telling her. She realized in that instant that the dream she had had a week ago and almost completely forgotten had been the foretelling of her father's death. After a moment she opened her eyes again, looking determined.
"Don't worry, big brother," she said softly as she held out her right hand. "It's my turn to protect you."
Touya stared at his little sister who had already guessed his silent plea. He glanced over at Yukito then back at Sakura.
"He knows, Sakura. We both knew from the start that it might not be meant to be. You are seven years younger than me and I don't even feel ready for this. Are you sure you want to do this?"
She gave him a watery smile and straightened her hand at him. "I always knew it would be this, Touya."
He nodded silently and slid his father's ring onto his little sister's right hand ring finger. It was a golden blazing sun and looked a little odd on her small hand. But he knew that it was now there for life. She looked at her hand for a second then dropped it to her side, standing as straight as she could as tears steadily flowed down her cheeks.
Touya stepped back from his sister and kneeled down. Everyone followed his actions until everyone present was kneeling before the small honey haired girl who was trying desperately not to break into uncontrollable sobs. It was even harder to stay there as she heard Yelan quietly speak.
"All hail the Queen of Tomoeda."
(A/N: So it's a bit of a switch to have Fujitaka die and not Nadeshiko. Don't kill me . I swear it's good for her development! Anyway, I've got the next bit prepared in me head so I should have another update soon. REVIEW! Ja!)
Umm, only commentary to address is something that someone commented on the fact that Sakura got so angry. Well, I actually think this is in character since people like her usually don't get angry unless they have ample cause. And when they do get angry it's scarier than anything. And I think going two plus months without knowing what is going on is sufficient reason. As for any other oocness I'm sorry. I'm trying to keep true to the character as I see it. If anyone has problems, tell me and I'll commentary it away I hope. Anyway here you go!
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. However my cousin and his friend do manage to emulate the behavior of Touya and Yuki pretty well. Kinda scary since they are both straight. .
Chapter Twelve: The Advent of Royalty
Li followed the princess at a length. Actually he was following her aura and keeping his path in the general direction of where it was going to end up. This was more difficult than usual, though, since her aura seemed to encompass the whole house. She was in the gardens, most likely the one where he had kissed her the night before. But more than anything she radiated the need to speak with someone and he knew that Tomoyo had been hassled off with his sisters so they could all create new clothes for the Princess.
With a sigh he walked out into the gardens until the distraught girl finally came into view. She was pacing quickly, her pale lavender skirts and long belled sleeves fluttering in the wind current. She seemed oblivious to everything around her but when he stepped forward her head immediately jerked up and her eyes met his.
"Is there something the matter, Li? Something I wasn't told perhaps?" her voice was preoccupied but didn't seem harsh or expecting as it had been earlier. Finally gaining the knowledge that had been kept from her for so long calmed her and returned her to her natural state of cheerfulness. Well perhaps it would have if she had not been so weighed down with the information.
Silently, Li shook his head. "I just thought you might want to talk. I know Daidouji is out of the house and by the wear pattern on the grass you have been pacing furiously."
Sakura looked at her feet and blushed. She did feel like talking but didn't know if he was the right person to talk to. Then a thought struck her, he was probably the best person to talk to since he understood more about her situation than even Tomoyo did.
With a sigh, the princess leaned against a tree at her back, ironically, Li noted, the one she had been captured against not a full day before. "I always knew that I would probably become queen, what with the way that Touya's affections ran. But having someone tell you absolute that you will be something is always different than guessing as much. It scared me."
Again Li heard her reference this love affair of her brother's. Before he even stopped to think he found himself asking, "What is so unacceptable about the person your brother loves? Are they someone like me? Or-" he broke off as Sakura interrupted him with a confused look.
"What is so unacceptable about you, Li? In fact you are probably the most socially acceptable match that could be found since you are royalty without the formal title." She shrugged. "No, Touya has a different problem. One that can not be bypassed."
He realized that she never answered his question but still he couldn't help but feel relief at the idea that she thought that he would be preferable for a marriage partner. When that consciously came to mind, though, he shook himself and wondered why that mattered so much.
"Do you think you won't make a good queen?"
She smiled. "Li, do you think you won't make a good ruler of the Li clan and the Chinese people?"
He blinked. "No. I know I will do my duty as I have been taught from birth. If I wasn't acceptable they wouldn't be making me leader once I am finished with my training."
"Then that should answer you."
He nodded. Truthfully, it made sense that she had the same expectations from herself as he had to himself. They were both born and breed as leaders and knew from the first that they had to be their best or a people would be punished for it.
"Then what?"
"I don't know," she giggled. "I guess the one thing that keeps running through my head is the heavy burden that I now bear since my life is in jeopardy. If I do not do as I must in this situation and live to tell the tale to Naoko then my people and my brother will suffer for it. They will have to suffer under a king who takes his throne from responsibility not for love since his will be pushed aside."
She sighed again and grew quiet. Li was stunned at the deep thinking of such a silly girl. True he had learned in their travels that she was not the lack for brains that he had thought of her at the Capitol but she never struck him as being thoughtful or particularly brilliant at anything but magic. And for a moment he watched her until realization dawned. The burden of responsibility can do many things to a person, even making them grow wise in an instant and mature in a day.
"Cheer up, princess. You have already done so much that a new ruler needs to do. You have met your people, you understand your land and the path of the common person. You have made your allies afresh." He paused. "And since you know you are to be queen doesn't that mean you survive this monster of a man?"
She looked up at him, her dazzling green eyes boring into his soul. For a moment she just looked at him before breaking into a heart stopping smile. "I hadn't thought about that Li. After all, my father I still relatively young and he is not sick in any way. Knowing my future can sometimes benefit my present I think." She laughed a little. "Oh, did you know the Cards can be used to fortune tell?"
He nodded. "How many Cards do you have left to initiate? I haven't been keeping track."
"Just two. The Light and The Dark are all that remains. Kero says I need to initiate them together so I should wait for some need. Mostly, I've been working on the spells that Eriol left me."
Li nearly growled at the mention of the blue eyed sourcerer. "I'm sure they are all so useful."
She nodded, missing the shift in his mood. "Most of them are, even if they are just for fun. But some are confusing. They are long chants that I don't understand their meaning. I'll look over them and have them all committed to memory but I don't understand their purpose."
"The Elders say that some incantations are for summoning the Power to aid you when you need it most. But only for those times. Elder Chen Rong made me learn many of those. He told me I'd need them someday. He's the most clairvoyant of anyone in the whole Chinese lands. Except perhaps you."
Sakura looked at him. "Huh?"
"Nevermind. Why don't we go in? It's getting cold and we don't need you catching a cold, princess who will be queen."
Sakura blushed and nodded as she followed Li into the large mansion. She didn't know why he came to talk to her since he had never really been forthcoming on conversations that didn't have anything to do with the Cards or traveling. Whatever his reason, she was glad he did and tried not to think about the fact that someone was still after her and no matter what the future may hold she still had to defeat him before he took her soul for his own use.
"Tomoyo, do you think it's weird that the idea of someone using me sounds worse than someone just out to kill me?"
The amethyst eyed girl looked at her friend as she sewed. "Not really. No one likes to be used but everyone has to accept death."
Sakura nodded as she paced back and forth in her room. It had been an interesting evening meal with the Li family since everyone had heard what was told in the closed doors, through some means or another.
"It's almost insulting. It's like being treated as a means to an end. A middle point instead of the finale." Sakura shrugged then shook off her morbid thoughts and sat on her bed, facing her friend.
Tomoyo smiled up at her friend but didn't comment. She knew by now that something else had happened, something that Sakura hadn't told her yet. She was prepared to wait in silence until her friend cracked and admitted the truth to her. She was patient after all. That and she had enough fabric for at least three new dresses with accessories.
"Umm.Tomoyo, I have something to tell you. I need your opinion.um, or something. I don't know what to think. And you are better at thinking than I am." She giggled nervously.
"What is it, Sakura?" she asked, cackling evilly on the inside.
"Umm.last night I went out to practice my sword again."
"I know, I heard you leaving."
"Well, last night Li showed up, too. And umm.we practiced together."
Tomoyo stopped sewing and looked at her friend with pointed interest. She had known that something else was going on. But that the something had to do with the intensely handsome heir of the Li family was almost enough to make her decide to start following Sakura around without stop so she wouldn't miss anything at all.
"Umm.and I beat him, but then he said he won and he, umm," the naturally graceful and eloquent princess was showing an almost pulsating shade of red from the roots of her hair to where her skin disappeared beneath her neckline. "And, umm, well then he kissed me."
Tomoyo dropped her needle and mentally noted that she needed to pick it up later after she got the whole story out of her friend.
"And, umm, I kind of kissed him back, and well, yeah."
The raven haired girl sprung to her feet, giggling with glee. "Sakura got her first kiss! From Li too! Oh was it exciting? Why did he do it? Did he say he was going to? Did you dare him? Tell me everything."
Tomoyo continued to badger her friend until Sakura had retold the whole encounter from the moment he entered the clearing to when she had run out. Her face was glowing with embarrassment as her friend mentally planned their wedding.
"Umm, Tomoyo, do you think he likes me? Or, is it just a guy thing?"
Amethyst eyes widened as they looked into averted emerald eyes. Sakura was so dense. But then, Li hadn't shown any signs of being any less knowing of his own feelings so perhaps she shouldn't be too harsh as of yet.
"I don't think it's just a guy thing, Sakura."
"Really?" the princess inquired hopefully.
"Nope. I don't know how much he likes you," she continued with her fingers crossed behind her back, "but I know that he does like you more than just a friend."
"Oh," Sakura replied with almost a glassy look. "I think I'm going to lay down now, Tomoyo. I feel a little light headed."
The duchess giggled internally at her friend but nodded as she gathered her belongings, specifically her needle and headed towards her own room. "Good night, Sakura. Dream well."
"Night, Tomoyo. And don't tell anyone or I'll die of embarrassment!"
The giggle didn't comfort Sakura much but she knew her friend well enough to know she wouldn't tell anyone. With a head full of thoughts swirling around and beating each other back so to gain forefront in her mind, she tiredly changed her clothes and slipped into bed. And for the first time since she had come to the Li family home, she slipped easily into sleep.
*He is there. That same laugh is flowing from his mouth as he approaches the man sitting comfortably in a chair facing a roaring fire. He feels a sick pleasure at the idea that he is actually there. He made it there past everything set up to stop him. He is there and nothing can stop him now. He steps quietly, hoping not to startle his prey until the precise moment that would be apt and pleasurable.
He comes to the man in the chair and quickly steps out in front of him. The man barely reacts before a long and sickly blade is cleanly placed into his middle. He laughs as the man looks at his murderer in shock and down at the blood seeping from himself. It was impossible, the man thinks. Impossible. But he had done it and he laughs out loud into the still night as the man slowly bleeds to death. He walks away and disappears from the room now filled with the stench of blood and the horrifying sounds of someone breathing their last.*
Li could feel the princess' aura fluctuate wildly in his sleep. It grew to such a whine and pitch that he woke up and instantly was on his feet, not even bothering to pull clothing on his bare chest. She was dreaming again and he had to get to her. He raced down the long hallway before throwing open her door and finding the princess tossing back and forth in her sleep. She was whimpering and was obviously frightened. Something was scaring her to death.
Slowly and calmly he walked over to sit on her bed. He reached out his hands and placed them on either shoulder, shaking her slightly. But she wouldn't wake. The warm pink aura that had always brought comfortable feelings was now silently screaming and gave him a blinding headache. It built up until finally it burst and the princess screamed loudly as she fought her way awake. Her eyes flashed open and she sat up, inching away from the hands holding her.
"Princess, shh, calm down. Calm down, it's just me. It's Li," he said soothingly as he tried to break her from the wild, irrational state of mind that held her prisoner though she was at last awake.
"L-Li?" she whispered, finally focusing her eyes onto him. Before he could nod she threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "He killed him. He killed him and I had to watch. I couldn't do anything. I was just watching."
"Shhh," he whispered to her, as his hands stroked her mussed hair. "It's okay. It was just a dream. It's okay, calm down." He continued to rock her back and forth until her tears subsided. When at last she stopped crying she pulled away from him slightly, looking up at him with tear filled emerald eyes. So he did what came natural to him.
Leaning forward he brushed his lips over hers before settling down over them. It was a gentle kiss that was meant to give comfort not to incite passion. She leaned into him, sighing slightly as she wrapped her arms around him. They stayed that way for a minute before pulling back and staring into each other's eyes. Both were held in a trance they couldn't, nor particularly wanted, to break from.
Until they heard someone cough at the door.
Cursing mentally, Li turned to see a gaggle of girls staring at him from the door way. All four of his sisters, his mother and Tomoyo watched them with barely contained humour and interest in their eyes. Meiling was watching also but she looked more thoughtful than happy. Li cursed himself over and over in his mind as her realized that the rest of his family would have felt the strong burst of her aura and Tomoyo and Meiling would have heard the princess' scream. He should have expected them to come.
And all while Li was trying desperately not to turn a brilliant shade of red as he mentally berated himself, Sakura stared at the seven women with a bit of wonder at first. It was obvious that she was still too dazed to understand just what all this meant. And of course the instant that she put all the pieces into place everyone knew from the high pitched squeal of embarrassment and sudden infusion of red to her cheeks.
"Ahem, I assume that you are alright now, Princess Sakura?" Yelan asked with a small smirk. "My son seems to have been quicker than the rest of us. However, if you need any thing else do not hesitate to ask."
Sakura glanced over at Li, realizing for the first time that he wasn't wearing a shirt and just how handsome he looked in the moonlight. And how utterly compromising their situation must appear. "No, my lady. I think I am just fine. I'd like to get back to sleep. Thank you everyone for rushing here so, um, quickly."
The four sisters began to giggle uncontrollably. "She' so cute!" Xiefa exclaimed while Fuutie nodded and added, "Especially with her hair shining like that in the moonlight."
"I personally think our dear younger brother was the cutest here," Feimei said with a sly look to the half dressed future lord as he slowly inched away from the princess.
"Perhaps them together is best," Fanren argued.
"Enough ladies. The princess is fine so we shall all go back to our beds," she said, herding the girls away, all except for Tomoyo who had already rushed off to find her inks and paper to catch the memorable scene down on paper. Mentally Li thanked his mother for being reasonable and completely unlike hi sisters.
"And perhaps, ladies, we can have half such a pleasant night once we get there," she added slyly before closing the door behind her.
Evil Chinese woman.
Sakura looked at Li for a moment before averting her eyes in embarrassment. "Umm, thank you Li for your help."
"Heh, it was nothing." Or at least nothing he needed thanking for, Li thought as he stared at her mouth unconsciously.
"I think I'm going to try go get to sleep again. If you want I'll tell you the dream later. You always seem so interested in my dreams."
Li nodded and began to rise before pausing and turning back to the Card Mistress. "Princess, you said that the only Cards left were Light and Dark. When did you test out Dream?"
"Oh, a week before we arrived here."
"You had a prophetic dream and you didn't share it with anyone else?" he asked a little incredulously.
Sakura blushed a deep shade of red, surprising Li. "Well, umm, the dream was sort of personal and didn't seem to have anything to do with whatever problem we are facing so, umm, I didn't think I needed to tell anyone."
And for a moment, as he looked at the face of extreme embarrassment on the innocent seventeen-year-old girl's face, Li would have traded his soul to know the contents of that dream. But it passed and he stood with a nod before quickly and silently leaving the room.
Sakura stared at the closed door, her cheeks still flaming. Slowly she laid back down and curled on one side, looking out the window at the stars. Two kisses in two days from someone who rarely spoke to her when he wasn't passing information. It was almost enough to forget the horrible dream she had had.
Enough all together was how she remembered the dream the Card had brought. And how wonderful it had felt when two strong arms had been wrapped around her and small butterfly kisses had been pressed against her neck. She couldn't quite wait for that dream to manifest itself and now she had someone she wished those arms and lips to belong to.
The following week passed with relative calm. Sakura spent a portion of every day with the Elders. They would always open the session with pleasantries and she would always try to see what else they knew about her enemy. But she never so much as got a name. Mostly she was trained with them and they were harsh taskmasters. Each taught something different and it was obvious that they were doing more than helping her ready for her nameless and dateless battle, but what their intentions were she couldn't quite puzzle out.
Elder Long summoned her early on the day after her dream He informed her succinctly that she would now be training with them for most of the day, each Elder in turn, every day until they were satisfied with her actions. A bit surprised and uncomfortable, Sakura nevertheless agreed, feeling awkward and conspicuous as she followed the Elder through a series of rooms until they ended in a small room not unlike the ones she had often sat in with Touya.
"You will start your day in this room promptly after breakfast. It has been a long time since we have had the honour of being able to teach the royalty of Tomoeda so understand that this is our honour, not the other way around." He smirked a little, surprising the fearful princess. "Now, you will start your day with me and I will teach you about the Chinese customs. The man after you has grown from our people and understands them and lives by many of them. Know thy enemy."
His lessons started off as lectures and usually ended up as discussions. Sakura was eager to learn about these people she had only learned little of, despite the fact that she would one day rule over them. They were so different from her in so many ways and it fascinated her. And if some of the eagerness came from a desire to know as much about the Li family and thus Li himself, then it only came as a bonus.
Long himself was pleased with his new pupil. It had been many years since he had trained Meiling and Xiao Lang and now to educate the princess on the ways of life he held so dear to himself and his family was gratifying. In the past, the Kinomoto family and their ancestors had come to meet, greet and learn of their ways as tradition and wisdom dictated but it had been many years since one was so avidly interested and it bode well for the future.
After Long, Sakura met with Quen Yuan who taught her magic and grasping her Power. He strode into the room as Long left and greeted her merrily. She returned his greeting and waited for him to begin the lesson, and actually to tell her what she was to be learning from hi.
"Ah, the magnificent Card Mistress. May I see them? I hadn't expected my life to still be stretched upon this earth when the Cards would be known to their owner."
Sakura nodded, having expected this for some time since none of the Elders had ever asked to see the Cards particularly. She pulled them from the small purse Tomoyo had made to match her outfit and set them carefully on the desk in front of her. "Here they are, Elder Quen Yuan."
He nodded, staring at them intently. "May I see you use one of them perhaps? Flower, I think would be best."
She nodded and stood, bowing slightly to the man who stepped back a little to give her room. She recited the incantation with practiced ease and released the staff like wand. Before she could call upon Flower, Quen Yuan stopped her.
"Excuse the interruption, but is that really the Wand? I was told it would be well, about this big," he said holding his hands about a yard apart. "That is as tall as you are! Amazing!"
Sakura blushed but nodded. "I thought wand was a silly name really."
"No, it's not a silly name but perhaps a bit unapt for your apparent fluctuation in Power. Now please continue."
She nodded and threw the Card into the air. "Flower!" she yelled before a light burst into being and began to shower cherry blossoms down upon the room.
"Amazing. I am awed," he chuckled as he watched her place the Card with the others. "No, keep your 'wand' as it is. You may sit though." He waited for her to resume her seat, holding the long light staff to one side with ease. "I am to teach you what you already know, you might say. I am to teach you magic and everything about the Power that you do not already know.
"Xiao Lang informed me that you have a small book worth of spells written out from a young sourcerer you met on the road. Is this true? Ah, well tomorrow please bring them with you and I will help you with what you haven't already mastered. Yes, I understand you already know most of them and that your mastery of the Power is awing to see."
Sakura frowned. "I don't understand. I'm not particularly mastered with the Power. I only just started learning!"
Quen Yuan looked at the girl before him for a moment before realizing that she spoke what she truly believed and not false modesty. "Perhaps. However, today I am going to teach you what you really do already know, just perhaps in a different way. You have four element Cards correct? And they all obey you obediently? Yes, now have you ever seen Xiao Lang use magic? No? How interesting."
Sakura watched as the talkative man answered for her most of the time. When he ended his speech she saw him reach into his garments and pull out several yellowed pieces of paper.
"These are ofudas. They are what we use to summon up elemental Powers. Now, I will tell you what to do and I want you do exactly what I say. Li has a slightly easier time of this since he has his sword but I think you can manage." He paused as he waited for Sakura to join him. Slowly he explained a series of motions and words he wanted her to say and she tried to memorize it so that she wouldn't fail at what must be an easy thing to do.
Quickly she executed the motions, holding the ofuda vertical between two fingers and reciting an incantation. Then she threw the paper forward and watched as it turned into a fire ball. Giggling she turned to the Elder with glee.
Quen Yuan stared at the girl in amazement for a moment before beginning his speech. "Now, you must have felt the difference between this magic and the Cards, correct? It takes more Power for you to summon without the use of a wand or anything that can focus Power. You might wonder why I would teach this to you well," he began and continued to talk explaining the necessity of having a back up plan incase anything would happen to the Cards. But all the while he was talking in the back of his mind he was still in awe of this small girl who so easily mastered advanced magic. Xiao Lang had been right when he said this was someone to be reckoned with, someone almost to be scared of.
After Quen Yuan came Xing Zhi who led her into the training room adjacent to the school room she had been in for the morning. It was the same one she had fought Meiling in and she felt comfortable knowing how to get to where she was supposed to be every morning without having to ask one of the Elders for directions. He informed her that he was to lead her through martial arts both unarmed and armed, "Though," he commented, "You hardly need it."
They went through hand to hand combat for fifteen minutes before going into swords. When she beat him only a few minutes later, the Elder wisely decided not to waste time on something she was already so proficient in and moved on to the bow and arrow. After only forty minutes practice she was already adept and was pronounced not needing further help.
"I think I will suggest to Elder Long that you skip this session since you do not need help in any of these areas. However, most likely he will not agree and you will at least get time to practice."
The princess, thoroughly tired, was set free to go to lunch with the rest of the family. When asked where she had been, she quickly explained what she had been doing before hungrily eating her portion. The look that passed between the Li family members escaped Sakura's notice but not her friend who began to wonder about what exactly the purpose of Sakura's training was. She continued to wonder for the rest of the week and made up her mind to ask Li about it when she got the chance.
After lunch Sakura was whisked away to study meditation with Sheng, a nice break since her body was completely drained of energy and the meditation helped her regain a good portion of it as well as help her focus more in general. She had always known that meditation was important to magic and learning the limits of your Power but it wasn't until Sheng excused himself from the room to make way for Chen Rong that she realized exactly what the difference it made was.
Chen Ron walked into the room and sat across from the tired princess. He stared at her for a long moment before smiling. "They give you to me at the end of the day. Perhaps it is a little unfair. However, since I already know that you have prophetic dreams and can divine things with your Cards, I shouldn't really complain. Instead perhaps I should tell you not how to divine yourself but how your enemy does."
He went on to explain that the Chinese people were a people of the Moon and that much of their Power came from it. He went on about how they used the moon for divination and that since it was the night sky that told fortunes it was more reliable than most forms of fortune telling.
"Except yours, princess. You use the Power of the Stars, the very source of knowledge of what is to come. You tap into the very flow of time itself. However, for all that you may see glimpses of the future your enemy is probably using something that can tell him your every move."
"What is that, my lord?"
"The Mirror of Truth. It is a spell that allows someone to view the events of persons far away. It is very complicated and takes great Power but it is also very accurate and ultimately valuable. I can only warn you princess that you need to be ready when the time comes for the one thing you will not have on your side is the element of surprise."
A long week had passed and, in efforts to see the princess at any time aside of meals, Li, Meiling, Kero and Tomoyo joined the sessions. Quen Yuan had a great time with Keroberos there to poke and fawn over. The whole group had had a wonderful discussion with Long, who was pleased to see that his former pupils had actually absorbed something from him. But Tomoyo and Kero sat to one side as the other three practiced during the princess' session with Xing Zhi.
Eventually, Meiling joined Tomoyo as Li and Sakura began another sword fight. The Chinese girl had accepted a number of things in the past week and couldn't help but stare in awe as the two combatants flowed so quickly that motion was hardly seen. Everyone was so intent on the battle that the two auras approaching at top speed escaped their notice until the doors into the training room where thrown open.
Sakura dodged an attack from Li before spinning around to see who had entered the room. "Yukito! Touya what's the matter with Yukito?" She ran over to her brother and long time friend, who was looking faint and tired as the prince leaned him against a wall.
"Sakura," Touya said quietly instantly drawing her attention. Touya rarely called her by her name. Monster, little sister, hey you, those she heard all the time. So when she heard him say her name so solemnly she grew scared.
"Prince Touya?" Meiling asked as she and the others joined Sakura. Xing Zhi quickly went to gather the other Elders who were talking with Yelan. When they had all gathered into the room Sakura was still staring at her brother with pleading hope and Touya was returning her stare with no hope to give.
"What happened, Touya?" she begged to know.
Instead of answering, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring that Sakura instantly recognized. "Father?! No! How? Tell me what happened Touya!" she nearly screamed.
"He was assassinated, Sakura. They came to the castle really late at night when father was the only one left awake. He was reading. It was a stiletto." He stopped speaking as he looked at his little sister who had gone completely white and was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Mom?" she asked.
"She's fine. She's gone into shock though and is in bed now. Heavily guarded."
Sakura closed her eyes in relief, causing two tears to escape and trail down her cheeks. She sat there silently for a moment, trying to absorb what her brother was telling her. She realized in that instant that the dream she had had a week ago and almost completely forgotten had been the foretelling of her father's death. After a moment she opened her eyes again, looking determined.
"Don't worry, big brother," she said softly as she held out her right hand. "It's my turn to protect you."
Touya stared at his little sister who had already guessed his silent plea. He glanced over at Yukito then back at Sakura.
"He knows, Sakura. We both knew from the start that it might not be meant to be. You are seven years younger than me and I don't even feel ready for this. Are you sure you want to do this?"
She gave him a watery smile and straightened her hand at him. "I always knew it would be this, Touya."
He nodded silently and slid his father's ring onto his little sister's right hand ring finger. It was a golden blazing sun and looked a little odd on her small hand. But he knew that it was now there for life. She looked at her hand for a second then dropped it to her side, standing as straight as she could as tears steadily flowed down her cheeks.
Touya stepped back from his sister and kneeled down. Everyone followed his actions until everyone present was kneeling before the small honey haired girl who was trying desperately not to break into uncontrollable sobs. It was even harder to stay there as she heard Yelan quietly speak.
"All hail the Queen of Tomoeda."
(A/N: So it's a bit of a switch to have Fujitaka die and not Nadeshiko. Don't kill me . I swear it's good for her development! Anyway, I've got the next bit prepared in me head so I should have another update soon. REVIEW! Ja!)