Wai, wai! Two more chapters to go! And since everything is all worked out
in my head I can hopefully get them out this weekend. Anyway....
I'm glad people liked the bit with Fujitaka. I just felt it was kind of
necessary that I let him laugh at the bastard who killed him. That and he
was beating me up for not letting him be in the story at all before he bit
it.
And, I'm not telling you whether Syaoran lives or dies. That would take the
fun away from it. But I do warn you, I like to do what is unexpected. So,
expect a really non thought of ending. ...if you can.
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. I adore you!
Brief A/N: there is brief mention of a consort. Consorts are the husbands of women who are the technical rulers of a country. Like Queen Victoria was queen and her husband was a prince. In some instances when a female ruler marries her husband will always stay as her consort, a lower status, but in others she may choose to raise him into the title of king. She still has the final authority in this case but it cuts down chain of command if he wants to do something like making a law or issuing stuff etc.
Disclaimer: I dun own CCS. Enough said.
Chapter Twenty: To be Worthy
"You mean that stupid blue eyed idiot told you that you would be fighting alone? What kind of simple fool do you have to be to believe anything that he says, Sakura?"
"Honestly, Syaoran, he has been very helpful to me since we met all that while ago. I really wish that you two could get along better. And I have no reason to think that he's lying anyway. My dreams are proof enough."
Syaoran stared at her in frustration before turning away and resuming his pacing. Since they had woken hours before dawn, fully rested from almost a fully day's rest, he had been interrogating her over her dreams and what else she knew that was making her feel so down. Sakura didn't know that he would react so unreasonably to Eriol's words, despite the fact that she herself wasn't very comfortable, but she didn't account for his jealous dislike of the blue eyed sourcerer.
"Anyway, despite all this, you don't need to work yourself to death, Sakura. Whatever happens, we WILL be there to help you through it all. You don't need to hide your fear or worry from us either. We want to help you in anyway we can so please, don't hide from us, me, anymore. Promise me."
Sakura stared up at him for a minute, noting how tired he looked and genuinely worried about her, and nodded. "I promise, Syaoran. Now, stop yelling at me. Please?" she pleaded, reproaching him with her puppy dog eyes.
He sighed. "Fine. It's almost time for breakfast so why don't we head on there?"
"Sounds good. I'm so hungry."
"That's probably because you haven't eaten since lunch yesterday. I've never known you to voluntarily miss a meal when there was plenty of food to be had. Glutton."
"Syaoran!" she growled playfully, as he grinned at her. Briefly he winked before racing out of the door quickly followed by a laughing Sakura.
They couldn't help but feel like everyone in the room was trying their hardest to suppress a grin. When they entered the room together, laughing at the other's antics, everyone in the room paused in their conversation and looked at them in unison. It was a really eerie sight, even more so than usual since it was obvious they were about to skewer the two alive.
"I'll distract them while you run," Syaoran whispered quietly to Sakura as she looked increasingly nervous.
But it was already too late. They were not about to let their prey escape so easily as they quickly realized when Tomoyo bounded out of her chair in a completely unladylike fashion and took Sakura and Syaoran's arms in a vice-like grip.
"Sit down, sit down. I'm sure BOTH of you must be hungry."
"After all you were in that room ALL DAY yesterday," Meiling chimed in with a sly grin.
"All day TOGETHER you mean," Zhi Ye commented.
Sakura and Syaoran exchanged glances. "I don't think we'll be escaping anytime soon. Might as well enjoy our last meal while we can," Sakura sighed. Silently, the two took their regular seats, trying not to sweat nervously at the attentive stares everyone turned on them. The pokes and innuendo were not going to be the worst of it, they knew, but nor did they know what the worst would be. That is until something neither of them expected happened.
Yelan joined in.
"I realize the two of you are engaged but I wasn't quite aware this entailed spending the night in the other's room, Xiao Lang," she observed with a small smile.
"Uh, mother she was ill and I wanted to make sure she recovered."
"This requires locking the door?"
Sweat really beginning to build up, he looked around nervously. "I didn't want that stuffed animal in there disturbing her.
Yelan looked at him for a long moment before nodding silently. Syaoran exhaled in relief, glad that his mother accepted that and wasn't digging further.
"Still, I'm not quite sure that the two of you sleeping on top of each other is quite proper," she added with a sly grin, taking a sip of her tea.
Syaoran paled. He was done for, dead. Never would he live this down for as long as he lived. He had no clue how his mother found out about them sleeping together since she had never noticed it before, but he knew this was definitely not something she was going to let go. Nor, judging from the other looks pointed at him and Sakura, were any of the rest of them.
Sakura at this point was roughly the colour of a tomato and getting redder. She knew that Syaoran had locked the door, having had to unlock it when he left to change his clothes earlier. However, she had no doubt that they had seen the two of them in bed together. Looking at Tomoyo through the corner of her eyes, she found her best friend staring at her like the cat who got away with the cream. Never would she let this go as long as Sakura lived.
She had to put a stop to this ridicule and there were only two ways to do so. Glancing at Syaoran who looked decidedly nervous and speechless in a way she had never seen him before, she opted for the second way.
"Uh," she started, instantly gaining any attention that had been focused on Syaoran. Taking a deep breath, she fortified her nerves and started again. "I never heard that it was against any particular rules for two people to sleep in the same bed," she announced with a slightly shaky voice.
Meiling grinned with what she assumed was her friends naiveté. "Are you sure all you did was sleep with my dear cousin?"
Zhi Ye and Xi Wang, no longer able to control themselves anymore, broke off into coughing fits into their napkins while the husbands began laughing openly at the wide eyed look on Syaoran's face that betrayed some measure of guilt. It was obvious to everyone present where HIS thoughts were.
Blushing even redder, if possible, Sakura took a deep breath before beginning again. "Yes, all we do is sleep."
"Do?" Xiefa chimed in.
"That's present tense," Feimei giggled.
"Does that mean that you 'do' this often?" Fuutie asked with a grin, winked at Fanren who was giggling too hard to actually give the couple a hard time.
Sakura's eyes widened at her slip up. Glancing quickly at Syaoran who looked even worse now than he had moments before, she promised to apologize to him later. She really wasn't helping matters but she was determined to persevere so she could eat something before her stomach leapt out of her and beat her into submission.
Closing her eyes, she strained for control, pleading for her cheeks to lessen their reddened state and her heartbeat to become less erratic. When she finally got a hold of herself her emerald eyes flashed open with a glare of battle in them, surprising those of at the table who hadn't yet seen the girl truly angry, which was everyone excepting Syaoran and Tomoyo.
"We aren't doing anything dirty or that we aren't supposed to. Now stop teasing us and let me eat before I go find a way to make it a LAW for no one to ever talk about this subject again. And trust me, I CAN do it."
Everyone at the table immediately silenced and started at their queen in awe. It wasn't often that this slip of a girl threatened to use any of the power she had so readily at her fingertips, politically or magically. As if on a well practiced cue, everyone nodded once in acknowledgement before looking down at their plates, desperately trying to grasp a new conversational gambit.
Syaoran, looking at his honey haired beauty even more lovingly than ever before, leaned over and whispered almost inaudibly in her ear. "You could have just told them the truth."
"No, I think that wouldn't have shut them up for days."
"I think you scared everyone," he observed with a smirk.
"I didn't want to," she sighed with a frown. "But, it was the only way."
"Nah, they deserved it."
"So, when will we be heading to the Capitol?" Jin finally asked, giving direction the conversation once more to everyone's relief.
"How many Cards are there left that you don't feel totally confident in?" Elder Quen Yuan asked looking at the tired and panting girl standing to one side of him.
"I think I have all of them down really. Except for two, that is."
"I'm guessing you mean The Light and The Dark?" he asked.
"And I'm not particularly handy with The Return but that isn't something I think I'm going to need in the heat of battle, nor do I like how it feels when I use it. It makes me so tired."
The Elder nodded. "You are doing exceptionally well with your Cards. You are also doing very well with the ofuda as well. Really, there isn't much left to teach you that is useful at the moment. More than anything you need to work on refining and controlling your Power. It is very strong, so much that you get overwhelmed with it at times I can tell. You need to work so that this doesn't happen or else you may end up falling into unconsciousness in the midst of battle."
Sakura nodded, wiping the sweat from her brow. "It is rather tiring doing this everyday. I got a long lecture from Syaoran earlier about being careful with my magic so I don't over extend myself."
"He was right to. Your life is very precious to all of us. Not only are you the legendary Card Mistress, stronger in the Power than anyone, but you are also the Queen of Tomoeda. You need to looking to protecting your own life as well as those you love."
She nodded, letting his words settle into her mind before bowing and making her way to Elder Sheng for meditation. These were the only two training sessions she kept to everyday, not having the time to sit through the other three despite her wishes to the opposite. Still, Elder Long took the time to come sit with her a few times a week and advise her. She frequently toyed with the idea of making the five Elders official Advisors but she was afraid to ask, fearing they may take it as an insult to their pride in their heritage.
After classes she brought the matter up with Syaoran, but he wasn't of much use. Fully admitting reluctance to speak with the Elders at all when necessity didn't demand, he was actually a little baffled to see why she'd want to talk to them on a semi-daily basis. After pointing out that she already talk with them on a DAILY basis, he merely shrugged and muttered something about that being bad for a person's life span.
Finally, Sakura got up the nerves to stop just thinking about the issue and to actually do something later when Elder Long came to visit as usual. Sometime passed in silence before the slip of a girl took a deep breath to brace herself before she spoke to a dragon of a man.
"Elder Long, I have something I wish to speak with you about."
Looking up expectantly, he sighed at her slight hesitation to continue. "Out with it, girl. I won't eat you. High Treason."
Smiling, Sakura nodded. "These past few weeks I have learned a great deal from you and the other Elders. It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to come to understand your people, which, sadly, before now I knew very little about. It's because of my own ignorance that I have been thinking more and more lately about stopping the general ignorance of the populous. I want more of my people to understand your people, who make up almost a third of the population of Tomoeda."
Pausing a moment to sigh in frustration as she found herself dancing around the issue at hand, she straightened in her chair and began again. "What I mean to say is, I would like, and I ask, for you and the other Elders to become official Royal Counselors. I think I have a great deal left to learn from your shared wisdom and I would love to be able to continue to learn after my duties demand that I leave the Li lands."
Elder Long watched the young girl through her entire monologue. Despite the purposeful misconception that he looked down on her, the old man was astounded and awed by Sakura, such a small creature in such a large and wearying world. She was so young and had so many burdens placed upon her, yet she took it all in stride, smiling the whole way. The truth was as much as anyone, he adored his young queen and would go a long way to please her. Just as he would for Xiao Lang.
Sakura was beginning to get nervous under his calm and silent stare. The man was loud and abrupt causing her to expect an instantaneous answer, positive or negative. At last, much to her relief, he spoke.
"Though I can not speak in full of all the Elders until I discuss this with them, I, we, would be honoured." Rising, he bowed respectfully to her, the first time since the day she had been proclaimed queen and the seconds since she had arrived.
Sakura let out a deep sigh of relief then grinned widely before flinging herself at the poor aged man who had not been expecting such a reaction.
"Thank you!" she cried as she nearly hugged the last bit of life out of his ancient bones. "I'm so glad! Oh, I have to tell Syaoran!"
The poor startled man watched as the girl flew from the room in a flurry of skirts as he struggled to regain his composure. With a small smile, he exited the room with twenty times more composure and grace than the previous occupant. He had to go tell the others the good news. All of them had been fervently hoping that something of this order would occur. In fact, Sheng now owed Quen Yuan a few gold pieces if he remembered rightly.
Laughing merrily, Sakura skipped away from a discomfited Syaoran. He watched her until she made a turn some ways down the corridor then turned with a sigh. It was fate apparently. He would never be free of the Elders, for any small period of time. Not that they were particularly horrible or menacing to him, now, despite what they had done to him in his younger years. Really to him they represented a lack of freedom and the burden placed upon him.
But if having them near would make Sakura happy, he'd have tea with them thrice daily. Resigned, the young future leader of the Li can approached the training room, making to pass by it, until he espied Daidouji and Lui standing in the doorway, eyes fixed inside.
Shrugging, he approached them, startling the two mildly when he asked what they were staring at. Instead of replying verbally, Daidouji pointed, drawing his gaze to the far side of the room where his cousin and Rae were fighting, again.
Zhi Ye panted heavily as he looked at the girl grinning at him. It was obvious to him as well as her that he would be the loser of their battle. Again. No longer was it an insult to his pride to be beaten by this amazing woman, not when he had fought her as many times as he had. Nor as he knew that the only two in the country to have beaten her were the leaders of said country.
Making one last attempt to catch hold of her and bring her into submission, Zhi Ye launched forward towards the beautiful girl and just as easily watched as she turned his attack against him. Swiftly she knocked him from his feet and pinned him to the floor, her hands braced against his forearms and her shins positioned over his thighs in such a way to prevent their movement, effectively closing out any attacks he could launch.
As he looked up at her grinning face, an idea came into his brain. Whether it was from their position, which taken out of context would seem lover like with her face positioned so closely to his own, or from an already suppressed inclination, Zhi Ye decided to take a leaf from Li's book. Quicker than lightening, he pulled himself up and brought his head close to Meiling's and kissed her. Immediately, she let go and scrambled off of him. For a moment she stared at him, her fingers pressed to her lips, before rushing out of the room as quickly as he'd ever seen her run.
With a grin he got to his feet, cataloguing that away as one proven method of wining a fight and a very pleasant one at that. Turning around his grin immediately faltered as he caught sight of three figures standing in the far doorway, obviously having been there for some time. Tomoyo and Xi Wang didn't worry him. Li did. Li with a rather murderous look on his face at what he obviously took to be indecent behavior towards one he considered as close as a sister.
In such cases as these there are only three courses of action. First, run like hell, which was immediately negated since Li was faster and it simply wouldn't work. The second would be to immediately commit harakiri. Sighing, he opted for the third and approached Li, praying that he would either listen and not kill him on sight or at least that he kill him quickly. Zhi Ye was fully aware of the Li Chinese Torture methods which were centuries out of practice but still taught.
As soon as he got close, he immediately bowed low to the irate Li and tried desperately to ignore the giggles emanating from Tomoyo and Xi Wang. Keeping his bowed position, he took a deep breath and began to speak.
"I apologize for my offense. It is wrong to disrespect a lady so, especially when said lady is related to you, I think. However, my intentions are honourable and I hope to one day wed your cousin."
He heard Li sigh. "Stand up you idiot. I'm not going to kill you. It'd be a little hypocritical." Zhi Ye sighed in relief and straightened. "However, let me warn you. If you ever disrespect or cause any harm or make Meiling cry, I'll make you wish you'd died before you laid eyes on her."
Gulping, Rae Zhi Ye nodded.
Li then turned on Xi Wang, who immediately stood at attention. "The same goes to you. Daidouji is as good as my sister. Remember that."
"Y-yes, sir, Li," Xi Wang stuttered while Tomoyo cried out in glee.
"Really? I'm your sister now?" she grinned, looking up at Li with her alarmingly starry amethyst eyes. "Does that mean you'll start calling me Tomoyo now?"
Li sighed. "Yes, Tomoyo. And you are obliged to call me Syaoran or Xiao Lang now," he muttered looking away.
Squealing, Tomoyo tackled the poor man, causing both observers to wince at the force of impact. "Oh my god, I have to go tell Sakura you said my name! You called me sister!" Cackling almost, she fled the room, her laughter and footsteps echoing down the long halls.
The three men stared at where she had exited before all sighing. "And you want to take her on as a wife?" Li asked.
Xi Wang shrugged. "Must be love. Anyway, does that count as a defeat Zhi Ye or a draw?"
Looking nervously at Li, he shrugged. "Probably both. I can't wait until I really do defeat her, though. It will be my most proud day of existence."
Li smirked. "When you beat your wife you can try fighting against mine sometime."
The others just stared at him, eyes wide and jaw a little slack. Fight Sakura? They were afraid to fight Li and he was suggesting they fight the woman who beat him? Quickly, Rae shook his head. "No thank you sir. I don't know where to begin."
"What do you mean?"
The two friends exchanged looks. "You may not realize it, sir, but when the two of you fight, it's not human. You two are just too fast," Liu breathed.
Li considered the two for a moment before shrugging. "Never noticed anything different. However, I guess I wouldn't. "
"Really, you are an amazing man, Li. Sakura is an amazing girl. Even if I could be in your shoes I don't know if I'd want to. I don't think I'm worthy of someone that near to perfection."
Li smirked, looking off into space, clearly not seeing anything in the room. "She's so perfect because she doesn't even realize how wonderful she is. She thinks she's normal and is fine with that. Truth is, I don't think I deserve her at all. But I'm not about to give her up either. I just pray she never realizes how unworthy I am."
Xi Wang pat him on a back, like brothers in the same old war. "You may not be worthy of her, but you are a far cry more worthy than either of us. And I don't think there are many men who would disagree with that."
"'Cept that blue haired bastard. He seemed to be giving her the eyes," Zhi Ye commented.
Li turned and looked at Zhi Ye. "I knew there was a reason I liked you. Anyway, I'm going to go hide before Sakura or D-Tomoyo can find me and make the rest of the day miserable."
"Good luck," they wished him in unison, chuckling slightly.
"Syaoran are you ready to be King?"
Blinking his amber eyes, he tried to focus on Sakura in the dark room. He had almost convinced himself that she was asleep and not really just thinking that deeply. He was so close in fact that he almost jumped out of his skin when she spoke thus making him pause a second to comprehend the question.
"Why do you ask?"
Sitting up to look down at him, she frowned slightly. "I don't know that I'm even ready to be queen. And I know you aren't really looking forward to being the leader of the Li clan. You see it as a burden, something that takes away from your freedom. I can't stop you from being the next leader, but I can keep you as consort instead of making you King. You wouldn't have that extra weight to bear."
Syaoran smiled and reached his long arm out to cup her behind the neck and draw her close. "You are too observant sometimes. And, no, I do not look forward to having the burden of leadership placed on my head, but I don't know what I'd be if not a leader. I was born and raised for it and I think I'll make a good one. Besides, I don't trust your math skills enough to let you rule the country on your own."
Wrinkling her nose, Sakura hit him playfully. "I think I will leave you at consort now."
Grinning, he pulled her back into his arms. "Whatever you decide, I'm willing. But remember, even if I am king, you will still be the ruler of this country. That is the great burden. And I would prefer to be your king so that I could take some of that away from you."
Sakura smiled and leaned up to kiss him softly before settling down against his chest again. "You are too wonderful, Syaoran. I don't deserve you."
Syaoran smirked as he ran his fingers through her short hair. "I don't think so Sakura," he whispered.
Naoko didn't even give the pretense of reading as she waited for Damian to meet her. She was too excited. It would only be a week before Sakura's coronation. Then she could introduce everyone to Damian and finally stop being the single person in a world full of couples. Not that she truly minded being alone, but it was so much nicer to have someone special.
Glancing at the nearest clock, she frowned slightly, wondering why he was so late. She had pleaded again that he let her introduce him to her friends and to come have dinner. Chiharu and Rika were ecstatic at the idea of Naoko finally having someone to love and were eager to meet him. Even Yamazaki and Mr. Terada were looking forward to the meeting with high expectations.
But still Damian persisted that he didn't want to meet them just yet. He never gave any solid answer as to why, but she found it too mysterious and alluring to be too irritated by it.
Finally she saw him pass by the window and approach the shop door. Grinning as she watched him come to her, Naoko blushed when he came close and kissed her hand. "I was beginning to worry that something had happened. You've never been late before."
"My deepest apologies. I had an unexpected matter to deal with as I was leaving my door. However, I'm hear now and I have news!"
"Really? Good news?"
"I think you may think so. But I know that look in your eyes. You are dying to tell me something. What is it?"
"Oh, I'm just so excited. A week from now and one of my dearest friends will be officially crowned as the Queen of Tomoeda. And I get to talk to her more of her goings on. I'm writing a story about her, I think I mentioned. This will be a lovely chapter I think."
Damian nodded. "And only you could write it well I think."
Blushing, Naoko shook her head. "I think others could do it better justice on a historical side. But perhaps knowing her personally gives me an advantage. However, the really exciting news is that she has invited you to come and sit with the court at the ceremony. She is very excited about meeting you."
"Well, that is good news indeed. For I came to tell you that I just got news that I would be able to go. Now at last I can meet your friends and our beloved queen."
"It is a shame you were unable to join us when she visited briefly."
Nodding he sipped his tea. "When is she coming into town do you know?"
"No, not the exact date," she shook her head. "But I do know they are planning to be here a couple of days before the event. Maybe I can introduce you before hand."
"Maybe," he grinned.
(A/N: SO yeah, here's a brief run down of what you will be seeing next chapter. A) More SS moments, cuz they are fun to write B) Eriol's return C) Kaho! D) Return to the Capitol and all charries that come with that and E) All that fun pre-fight stuff. Next chapter probably won't be very long but the LAST will be pretty massive. Or longer than usual anyway. Stay tunned and REVIEW! Special bonus to people who review aka. I might stick your names into future stories or something. Anyway, Ja!)
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. I adore you!
Brief A/N: there is brief mention of a consort. Consorts are the husbands of women who are the technical rulers of a country. Like Queen Victoria was queen and her husband was a prince. In some instances when a female ruler marries her husband will always stay as her consort, a lower status, but in others she may choose to raise him into the title of king. She still has the final authority in this case but it cuts down chain of command if he wants to do something like making a law or issuing stuff etc.
Disclaimer: I dun own CCS. Enough said.
Chapter Twenty: To be Worthy
"You mean that stupid blue eyed idiot told you that you would be fighting alone? What kind of simple fool do you have to be to believe anything that he says, Sakura?"
"Honestly, Syaoran, he has been very helpful to me since we met all that while ago. I really wish that you two could get along better. And I have no reason to think that he's lying anyway. My dreams are proof enough."
Syaoran stared at her in frustration before turning away and resuming his pacing. Since they had woken hours before dawn, fully rested from almost a fully day's rest, he had been interrogating her over her dreams and what else she knew that was making her feel so down. Sakura didn't know that he would react so unreasonably to Eriol's words, despite the fact that she herself wasn't very comfortable, but she didn't account for his jealous dislike of the blue eyed sourcerer.
"Anyway, despite all this, you don't need to work yourself to death, Sakura. Whatever happens, we WILL be there to help you through it all. You don't need to hide your fear or worry from us either. We want to help you in anyway we can so please, don't hide from us, me, anymore. Promise me."
Sakura stared up at him for a minute, noting how tired he looked and genuinely worried about her, and nodded. "I promise, Syaoran. Now, stop yelling at me. Please?" she pleaded, reproaching him with her puppy dog eyes.
He sighed. "Fine. It's almost time for breakfast so why don't we head on there?"
"Sounds good. I'm so hungry."
"That's probably because you haven't eaten since lunch yesterday. I've never known you to voluntarily miss a meal when there was plenty of food to be had. Glutton."
"Syaoran!" she growled playfully, as he grinned at her. Briefly he winked before racing out of the door quickly followed by a laughing Sakura.
They couldn't help but feel like everyone in the room was trying their hardest to suppress a grin. When they entered the room together, laughing at the other's antics, everyone in the room paused in their conversation and looked at them in unison. It was a really eerie sight, even more so than usual since it was obvious they were about to skewer the two alive.
"I'll distract them while you run," Syaoran whispered quietly to Sakura as she looked increasingly nervous.
But it was already too late. They were not about to let their prey escape so easily as they quickly realized when Tomoyo bounded out of her chair in a completely unladylike fashion and took Sakura and Syaoran's arms in a vice-like grip.
"Sit down, sit down. I'm sure BOTH of you must be hungry."
"After all you were in that room ALL DAY yesterday," Meiling chimed in with a sly grin.
"All day TOGETHER you mean," Zhi Ye commented.
Sakura and Syaoran exchanged glances. "I don't think we'll be escaping anytime soon. Might as well enjoy our last meal while we can," Sakura sighed. Silently, the two took their regular seats, trying not to sweat nervously at the attentive stares everyone turned on them. The pokes and innuendo were not going to be the worst of it, they knew, but nor did they know what the worst would be. That is until something neither of them expected happened.
Yelan joined in.
"I realize the two of you are engaged but I wasn't quite aware this entailed spending the night in the other's room, Xiao Lang," she observed with a small smile.
"Uh, mother she was ill and I wanted to make sure she recovered."
"This requires locking the door?"
Sweat really beginning to build up, he looked around nervously. "I didn't want that stuffed animal in there disturbing her.
Yelan looked at him for a long moment before nodding silently. Syaoran exhaled in relief, glad that his mother accepted that and wasn't digging further.
"Still, I'm not quite sure that the two of you sleeping on top of each other is quite proper," she added with a sly grin, taking a sip of her tea.
Syaoran paled. He was done for, dead. Never would he live this down for as long as he lived. He had no clue how his mother found out about them sleeping together since she had never noticed it before, but he knew this was definitely not something she was going to let go. Nor, judging from the other looks pointed at him and Sakura, were any of the rest of them.
Sakura at this point was roughly the colour of a tomato and getting redder. She knew that Syaoran had locked the door, having had to unlock it when he left to change his clothes earlier. However, she had no doubt that they had seen the two of them in bed together. Looking at Tomoyo through the corner of her eyes, she found her best friend staring at her like the cat who got away with the cream. Never would she let this go as long as Sakura lived.
She had to put a stop to this ridicule and there were only two ways to do so. Glancing at Syaoran who looked decidedly nervous and speechless in a way she had never seen him before, she opted for the second way.
"Uh," she started, instantly gaining any attention that had been focused on Syaoran. Taking a deep breath, she fortified her nerves and started again. "I never heard that it was against any particular rules for two people to sleep in the same bed," she announced with a slightly shaky voice.
Meiling grinned with what she assumed was her friends naiveté. "Are you sure all you did was sleep with my dear cousin?"
Zhi Ye and Xi Wang, no longer able to control themselves anymore, broke off into coughing fits into their napkins while the husbands began laughing openly at the wide eyed look on Syaoran's face that betrayed some measure of guilt. It was obvious to everyone present where HIS thoughts were.
Blushing even redder, if possible, Sakura took a deep breath before beginning again. "Yes, all we do is sleep."
"Do?" Xiefa chimed in.
"That's present tense," Feimei giggled.
"Does that mean that you 'do' this often?" Fuutie asked with a grin, winked at Fanren who was giggling too hard to actually give the couple a hard time.
Sakura's eyes widened at her slip up. Glancing quickly at Syaoran who looked even worse now than he had moments before, she promised to apologize to him later. She really wasn't helping matters but she was determined to persevere so she could eat something before her stomach leapt out of her and beat her into submission.
Closing her eyes, she strained for control, pleading for her cheeks to lessen their reddened state and her heartbeat to become less erratic. When she finally got a hold of herself her emerald eyes flashed open with a glare of battle in them, surprising those of at the table who hadn't yet seen the girl truly angry, which was everyone excepting Syaoran and Tomoyo.
"We aren't doing anything dirty or that we aren't supposed to. Now stop teasing us and let me eat before I go find a way to make it a LAW for no one to ever talk about this subject again. And trust me, I CAN do it."
Everyone at the table immediately silenced and started at their queen in awe. It wasn't often that this slip of a girl threatened to use any of the power she had so readily at her fingertips, politically or magically. As if on a well practiced cue, everyone nodded once in acknowledgement before looking down at their plates, desperately trying to grasp a new conversational gambit.
Syaoran, looking at his honey haired beauty even more lovingly than ever before, leaned over and whispered almost inaudibly in her ear. "You could have just told them the truth."
"No, I think that wouldn't have shut them up for days."
"I think you scared everyone," he observed with a smirk.
"I didn't want to," she sighed with a frown. "But, it was the only way."
"Nah, they deserved it."
"So, when will we be heading to the Capitol?" Jin finally asked, giving direction the conversation once more to everyone's relief.
"How many Cards are there left that you don't feel totally confident in?" Elder Quen Yuan asked looking at the tired and panting girl standing to one side of him.
"I think I have all of them down really. Except for two, that is."
"I'm guessing you mean The Light and The Dark?" he asked.
"And I'm not particularly handy with The Return but that isn't something I think I'm going to need in the heat of battle, nor do I like how it feels when I use it. It makes me so tired."
The Elder nodded. "You are doing exceptionally well with your Cards. You are also doing very well with the ofuda as well. Really, there isn't much left to teach you that is useful at the moment. More than anything you need to work on refining and controlling your Power. It is very strong, so much that you get overwhelmed with it at times I can tell. You need to work so that this doesn't happen or else you may end up falling into unconsciousness in the midst of battle."
Sakura nodded, wiping the sweat from her brow. "It is rather tiring doing this everyday. I got a long lecture from Syaoran earlier about being careful with my magic so I don't over extend myself."
"He was right to. Your life is very precious to all of us. Not only are you the legendary Card Mistress, stronger in the Power than anyone, but you are also the Queen of Tomoeda. You need to looking to protecting your own life as well as those you love."
She nodded, letting his words settle into her mind before bowing and making her way to Elder Sheng for meditation. These were the only two training sessions she kept to everyday, not having the time to sit through the other three despite her wishes to the opposite. Still, Elder Long took the time to come sit with her a few times a week and advise her. She frequently toyed with the idea of making the five Elders official Advisors but she was afraid to ask, fearing they may take it as an insult to their pride in their heritage.
After classes she brought the matter up with Syaoran, but he wasn't of much use. Fully admitting reluctance to speak with the Elders at all when necessity didn't demand, he was actually a little baffled to see why she'd want to talk to them on a semi-daily basis. After pointing out that she already talk with them on a DAILY basis, he merely shrugged and muttered something about that being bad for a person's life span.
Finally, Sakura got up the nerves to stop just thinking about the issue and to actually do something later when Elder Long came to visit as usual. Sometime passed in silence before the slip of a girl took a deep breath to brace herself before she spoke to a dragon of a man.
"Elder Long, I have something I wish to speak with you about."
Looking up expectantly, he sighed at her slight hesitation to continue. "Out with it, girl. I won't eat you. High Treason."
Smiling, Sakura nodded. "These past few weeks I have learned a great deal from you and the other Elders. It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to come to understand your people, which, sadly, before now I knew very little about. It's because of my own ignorance that I have been thinking more and more lately about stopping the general ignorance of the populous. I want more of my people to understand your people, who make up almost a third of the population of Tomoeda."
Pausing a moment to sigh in frustration as she found herself dancing around the issue at hand, she straightened in her chair and began again. "What I mean to say is, I would like, and I ask, for you and the other Elders to become official Royal Counselors. I think I have a great deal left to learn from your shared wisdom and I would love to be able to continue to learn after my duties demand that I leave the Li lands."
Elder Long watched the young girl through her entire monologue. Despite the purposeful misconception that he looked down on her, the old man was astounded and awed by Sakura, such a small creature in such a large and wearying world. She was so young and had so many burdens placed upon her, yet she took it all in stride, smiling the whole way. The truth was as much as anyone, he adored his young queen and would go a long way to please her. Just as he would for Xiao Lang.
Sakura was beginning to get nervous under his calm and silent stare. The man was loud and abrupt causing her to expect an instantaneous answer, positive or negative. At last, much to her relief, he spoke.
"Though I can not speak in full of all the Elders until I discuss this with them, I, we, would be honoured." Rising, he bowed respectfully to her, the first time since the day she had been proclaimed queen and the seconds since she had arrived.
Sakura let out a deep sigh of relief then grinned widely before flinging herself at the poor aged man who had not been expecting such a reaction.
"Thank you!" she cried as she nearly hugged the last bit of life out of his ancient bones. "I'm so glad! Oh, I have to tell Syaoran!"
The poor startled man watched as the girl flew from the room in a flurry of skirts as he struggled to regain his composure. With a small smile, he exited the room with twenty times more composure and grace than the previous occupant. He had to go tell the others the good news. All of them had been fervently hoping that something of this order would occur. In fact, Sheng now owed Quen Yuan a few gold pieces if he remembered rightly.
Laughing merrily, Sakura skipped away from a discomfited Syaoran. He watched her until she made a turn some ways down the corridor then turned with a sigh. It was fate apparently. He would never be free of the Elders, for any small period of time. Not that they were particularly horrible or menacing to him, now, despite what they had done to him in his younger years. Really to him they represented a lack of freedom and the burden placed upon him.
But if having them near would make Sakura happy, he'd have tea with them thrice daily. Resigned, the young future leader of the Li can approached the training room, making to pass by it, until he espied Daidouji and Lui standing in the doorway, eyes fixed inside.
Shrugging, he approached them, startling the two mildly when he asked what they were staring at. Instead of replying verbally, Daidouji pointed, drawing his gaze to the far side of the room where his cousin and Rae were fighting, again.
Zhi Ye panted heavily as he looked at the girl grinning at him. It was obvious to him as well as her that he would be the loser of their battle. Again. No longer was it an insult to his pride to be beaten by this amazing woman, not when he had fought her as many times as he had. Nor as he knew that the only two in the country to have beaten her were the leaders of said country.
Making one last attempt to catch hold of her and bring her into submission, Zhi Ye launched forward towards the beautiful girl and just as easily watched as she turned his attack against him. Swiftly she knocked him from his feet and pinned him to the floor, her hands braced against his forearms and her shins positioned over his thighs in such a way to prevent their movement, effectively closing out any attacks he could launch.
As he looked up at her grinning face, an idea came into his brain. Whether it was from their position, which taken out of context would seem lover like with her face positioned so closely to his own, or from an already suppressed inclination, Zhi Ye decided to take a leaf from Li's book. Quicker than lightening, he pulled himself up and brought his head close to Meiling's and kissed her. Immediately, she let go and scrambled off of him. For a moment she stared at him, her fingers pressed to her lips, before rushing out of the room as quickly as he'd ever seen her run.
With a grin he got to his feet, cataloguing that away as one proven method of wining a fight and a very pleasant one at that. Turning around his grin immediately faltered as he caught sight of three figures standing in the far doorway, obviously having been there for some time. Tomoyo and Xi Wang didn't worry him. Li did. Li with a rather murderous look on his face at what he obviously took to be indecent behavior towards one he considered as close as a sister.
In such cases as these there are only three courses of action. First, run like hell, which was immediately negated since Li was faster and it simply wouldn't work. The second would be to immediately commit harakiri. Sighing, he opted for the third and approached Li, praying that he would either listen and not kill him on sight or at least that he kill him quickly. Zhi Ye was fully aware of the Li Chinese Torture methods which were centuries out of practice but still taught.
As soon as he got close, he immediately bowed low to the irate Li and tried desperately to ignore the giggles emanating from Tomoyo and Xi Wang. Keeping his bowed position, he took a deep breath and began to speak.
"I apologize for my offense. It is wrong to disrespect a lady so, especially when said lady is related to you, I think. However, my intentions are honourable and I hope to one day wed your cousin."
He heard Li sigh. "Stand up you idiot. I'm not going to kill you. It'd be a little hypocritical." Zhi Ye sighed in relief and straightened. "However, let me warn you. If you ever disrespect or cause any harm or make Meiling cry, I'll make you wish you'd died before you laid eyes on her."
Gulping, Rae Zhi Ye nodded.
Li then turned on Xi Wang, who immediately stood at attention. "The same goes to you. Daidouji is as good as my sister. Remember that."
"Y-yes, sir, Li," Xi Wang stuttered while Tomoyo cried out in glee.
"Really? I'm your sister now?" she grinned, looking up at Li with her alarmingly starry amethyst eyes. "Does that mean you'll start calling me Tomoyo now?"
Li sighed. "Yes, Tomoyo. And you are obliged to call me Syaoran or Xiao Lang now," he muttered looking away.
Squealing, Tomoyo tackled the poor man, causing both observers to wince at the force of impact. "Oh my god, I have to go tell Sakura you said my name! You called me sister!" Cackling almost, she fled the room, her laughter and footsteps echoing down the long halls.
The three men stared at where she had exited before all sighing. "And you want to take her on as a wife?" Li asked.
Xi Wang shrugged. "Must be love. Anyway, does that count as a defeat Zhi Ye or a draw?"
Looking nervously at Li, he shrugged. "Probably both. I can't wait until I really do defeat her, though. It will be my most proud day of existence."
Li smirked. "When you beat your wife you can try fighting against mine sometime."
The others just stared at him, eyes wide and jaw a little slack. Fight Sakura? They were afraid to fight Li and he was suggesting they fight the woman who beat him? Quickly, Rae shook his head. "No thank you sir. I don't know where to begin."
"What do you mean?"
The two friends exchanged looks. "You may not realize it, sir, but when the two of you fight, it's not human. You two are just too fast," Liu breathed.
Li considered the two for a moment before shrugging. "Never noticed anything different. However, I guess I wouldn't. "
"Really, you are an amazing man, Li. Sakura is an amazing girl. Even if I could be in your shoes I don't know if I'd want to. I don't think I'm worthy of someone that near to perfection."
Li smirked, looking off into space, clearly not seeing anything in the room. "She's so perfect because she doesn't even realize how wonderful she is. She thinks she's normal and is fine with that. Truth is, I don't think I deserve her at all. But I'm not about to give her up either. I just pray she never realizes how unworthy I am."
Xi Wang pat him on a back, like brothers in the same old war. "You may not be worthy of her, but you are a far cry more worthy than either of us. And I don't think there are many men who would disagree with that."
"'Cept that blue haired bastard. He seemed to be giving her the eyes," Zhi Ye commented.
Li turned and looked at Zhi Ye. "I knew there was a reason I liked you. Anyway, I'm going to go hide before Sakura or D-Tomoyo can find me and make the rest of the day miserable."
"Good luck," they wished him in unison, chuckling slightly.
"Syaoran are you ready to be King?"
Blinking his amber eyes, he tried to focus on Sakura in the dark room. He had almost convinced himself that she was asleep and not really just thinking that deeply. He was so close in fact that he almost jumped out of his skin when she spoke thus making him pause a second to comprehend the question.
"Why do you ask?"
Sitting up to look down at him, she frowned slightly. "I don't know that I'm even ready to be queen. And I know you aren't really looking forward to being the leader of the Li clan. You see it as a burden, something that takes away from your freedom. I can't stop you from being the next leader, but I can keep you as consort instead of making you King. You wouldn't have that extra weight to bear."
Syaoran smiled and reached his long arm out to cup her behind the neck and draw her close. "You are too observant sometimes. And, no, I do not look forward to having the burden of leadership placed on my head, but I don't know what I'd be if not a leader. I was born and raised for it and I think I'll make a good one. Besides, I don't trust your math skills enough to let you rule the country on your own."
Wrinkling her nose, Sakura hit him playfully. "I think I will leave you at consort now."
Grinning, he pulled her back into his arms. "Whatever you decide, I'm willing. But remember, even if I am king, you will still be the ruler of this country. That is the great burden. And I would prefer to be your king so that I could take some of that away from you."
Sakura smiled and leaned up to kiss him softly before settling down against his chest again. "You are too wonderful, Syaoran. I don't deserve you."
Syaoran smirked as he ran his fingers through her short hair. "I don't think so Sakura," he whispered.
Naoko didn't even give the pretense of reading as she waited for Damian to meet her. She was too excited. It would only be a week before Sakura's coronation. Then she could introduce everyone to Damian and finally stop being the single person in a world full of couples. Not that she truly minded being alone, but it was so much nicer to have someone special.
Glancing at the nearest clock, she frowned slightly, wondering why he was so late. She had pleaded again that he let her introduce him to her friends and to come have dinner. Chiharu and Rika were ecstatic at the idea of Naoko finally having someone to love and were eager to meet him. Even Yamazaki and Mr. Terada were looking forward to the meeting with high expectations.
But still Damian persisted that he didn't want to meet them just yet. He never gave any solid answer as to why, but she found it too mysterious and alluring to be too irritated by it.
Finally she saw him pass by the window and approach the shop door. Grinning as she watched him come to her, Naoko blushed when he came close and kissed her hand. "I was beginning to worry that something had happened. You've never been late before."
"My deepest apologies. I had an unexpected matter to deal with as I was leaving my door. However, I'm hear now and I have news!"
"Really? Good news?"
"I think you may think so. But I know that look in your eyes. You are dying to tell me something. What is it?"
"Oh, I'm just so excited. A week from now and one of my dearest friends will be officially crowned as the Queen of Tomoeda. And I get to talk to her more of her goings on. I'm writing a story about her, I think I mentioned. This will be a lovely chapter I think."
Damian nodded. "And only you could write it well I think."
Blushing, Naoko shook her head. "I think others could do it better justice on a historical side. But perhaps knowing her personally gives me an advantage. However, the really exciting news is that she has invited you to come and sit with the court at the ceremony. She is very excited about meeting you."
"Well, that is good news indeed. For I came to tell you that I just got news that I would be able to go. Now at last I can meet your friends and our beloved queen."
"It is a shame you were unable to join us when she visited briefly."
Nodding he sipped his tea. "When is she coming into town do you know?"
"No, not the exact date," she shook her head. "But I do know they are planning to be here a couple of days before the event. Maybe I can introduce you before hand."
"Maybe," he grinned.
(A/N: SO yeah, here's a brief run down of what you will be seeing next chapter. A) More SS moments, cuz they are fun to write B) Eriol's return C) Kaho! D) Return to the Capitol and all charries that come with that and E) All that fun pre-fight stuff. Next chapter probably won't be very long but the LAST will be pretty massive. Or longer than usual anyway. Stay tunned and REVIEW! Special bonus to people who review aka. I might stick your names into future stories or something. Anyway, Ja!)