Author's Note: Gutengag! Thank you to the reviewer who told me. Thanks to all of you guys! You are all so kind. ^^ Oh yeah, and Eriol will be included in later chapters. ^^

I Choose Sakura

By: Wings of Jade

Chapter 5: Pressure

After talking to King Li for a couple of hours, Sakura finally persuaded him to let her outside. She was going to see Tomoyo again!

As she left, she heard someone cry, "Oh—Sakura!" Sakura turned. King Li was waiting for her again. "Just remember, don't tell anyone that you are going to marry Syaoran. We don't want people to know yet—the bride-to-be is supposed to be a secret."

"Okay!" chirped Sakura. King Li smiled.

"Run along now," he chortled. When she left, he sighed to himself. Ah, to be young again.

~*~

"Tomoyo!" Tomoyo kept on chatting with her friends, unaware of the voice that called her was the one she had been waiting for for days.

"Tomoyo!"

"Tomoyo," said one of her friends. "I think someone's calling you." Tomoyo turned around. She shrieked.

"Sakura!" she cried. Sakura was running towards her, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, the sun no match for her smile.

"Tomoyo," Sakura called back. They ran into each other's arms, squealing in delight.

"Aw, Sakura, I've missed you so much," said Tomoyo, hugging Sakura tightly.

"Me too, Tomoyo, me too," replied Sakura. Tomoyo broke away and lightly touched her cheek.

"Still the same as always," she told her softly. "Still beautiful." Sakura looked away. Tomoyo laughed. "I guess Prince Syaoran didn't do anything to you, huh?" Sakura laughed with her.

"Hey, Tomoyo," interrupted an olive-haired girl, one of Tomoyo's friends. "You still haven't introduced her to us."

"Right," said Tomoyo. She turned to the group.

"While you were gone, Sakura," Tomoyo began, "I guess I got lonely. Some girls offered to keep me company, so now I hang out with them. But don't worry, Sakura; you'll always be my number one best friend." A girl stiffened slightly.

"Okay. This is Kiku," Tomoyo continued, pointing to the olive-haired girl. Her lip curled.

"Nice to meet you, Kiku," Sakura greeted. Kiku said nothing. I said introduce her to us, not us to her, thought Kiku. Tomoyo pointed to a raven-haired girl.

"This is Tadako." Tadako's lips tightened. Sakura's smile flickered a little. Tomoyo took no notice and gestured to a girl with blazing green eyes.

"Her name is Sachiko." Sachiko blinked her fierce eyes but did nothing more. Sakura was beginning to feel uneasy now.

Tomoyo pointed to the last of the group, a blue-haired maiden. "Last, but not least, Midori." Midori alone did not seem to be unfriendly and cold. She returned Sakura's smile, and Sakura, relieved, told her, "Nice to meet you".

"Nice to meet you, too, Sakura," replied Midori.

"So," said Kiku loudly, "You were saying, Tomoyo?" Tomoyo blinked several times.

"There's no need to be so loud, Kiku. As I was saying, I think that we should be able to persuade King Li to hold the annual Autumn Festival at his palace…"

"Of course," stated Sachiko, also loud. Her eyes were on Sakura, unblinking and full of distrust. "We should be able to." Sakura was feeling quite small…

"So, Sakura," Midori said, sensing that no one was paying attention to her, "Where were you all this time? Tomoyo told us that you were at the palace for something, but she never told us what. She said something about your reason being there a secret. Could you tell us?" The other three new girls shut up at once. Tomoyo bit her lip.

"Well, it is a secret," replied Sakura. Tadako narrowed her eyes.

"Come on," purred Sachiko, "You can count on us not to tell." Sakura's eyes were filled with guilt. They were finally being nice to her, but King Li's words came back to her: The bride-to-be is supposed to be a secret. Seeing her hesitate, Sachiko quickly added, "And we're your new friends, right? Friends tell each other secrets." Midori was a little suspicious of her friends. What are they doing?

"Sakura," Tadako warned her, wagging a finger, "Does this mean you don't trust us? Tomoyo just introduced us to you, after all. That means we are friends, right? Just like what Sachiko said."

"Yeah," Kiku chimed in. "You can count on us to zip it."

"Sakura," Tadako persisted.

"Saku," Kiku pouted.

"Tell us," begged Sachiko.

"Friend," Tadako added.

"Best friend," corrected Kiku.

"Our best friend," Tadako said, nodding.

"Yes. Our best friend," agreed Kiku.

"Sakura."

"Please?"

"Pretty please?"

Sachiko grew increasingly edgy and impatient with each plea Kiku and Tadako begged Sakura with. Sakura seemed determined not to tell. Midori wasn't helping at all, and Tomoyo was fidgeting with her thumbs. Just tell us and get over with it, stupid idiot!

"Look," Sachiko finally burst out. "We aren't evil. We aren't your enemies. We just want to know one itty-bitty little bit of information about your life. That's it. We want to know why you were at the palace all this time. Period—so tell us! We aren't going to betray you by telling others!"

"Exactly," agreed Kiku and Tadako enthusiastically, nodding furiously. "That's all we want, Sakura!"

Sakura was helpless. Midori looked at her, and their eyes met. Even her eyes had innocent curiosity in them, and she didn't know a thing, but she didn't try to force it out of her. Midori deserves to know but not them. Immediately, Sakura felt incredibly guilty. Come on, a voice chided her, they didn't do anything to you. Sure, they were really cold when you said 'Hi', but that was three seconds ago, you can forgive them—you're a forgiving person! They should know, too! They said it themselves; they're your new best friends!

Yeah, Sakura countered, but they seem as if they're only saying that to get the Choosing out of my mouth.

That's what you think.

That's the truth.

Tell them! They're also innocent! How do you know they're double-crossing you?

How do you know they're not?

"Tell us, tell us!" the three begged.

Tell them, tell them!

"Okay." Sakura gave in. The pressure was too much. Midori's eyes lightened up. Tomoyo shot Sakura an I-don't-think-you're-supposed-to-tell-them-you're-going-to-marry-Prince-Syaoran sort of look. Sakura tried to ignore it.

"Okay," repeated Sakura. Kiku, Tadako, Sachiko, and Midori listened intently and clung onto every word she said. They didn't dare interrupt her.

"Tomoyo told me that Prince Syaoran was going to have a Choosing—that is, he was going to choose his wife. She asked me if I cared to pretend to be a Lady and join just for fun. I said no.

"Then Lady Meilin came along, sticking her nose up in the air and acting as if she was already Queen, telling Tomoyo that Prince Syaoran would pick her—so they made a bet. Tomoyo said that Prince Syaoran would pick me as a wife, and that she would enter me in the Choosing. Meilin accepted gleefully.

"At the time of the Choosing, the girls that Prince Syaoran was to choose from lined up in a line, and he would take each girl's hand, until finally, he chose a random one. Guess who he chose? Me. So…I wound up as Prince Syaoran's wife-to-be. That's why I was at the palace all this time." Sakura was surprised that her explanation was so short, but a horrible feeling had just invaded her insides; she didn't know what it was, but whatever it was, it was unpleasant.

"Ooh," sighed Tadako. "I just love a surprise ending. That was a wicked story!"

"Yes, a very beautiful story," said Kiku slyly. Sachiko smiled. They all smiled. Sakura's stomach gave a feeble lurch. The three girls looked as if they knew exactly what to do after something 'good' had happened…Sakura didn't want to think about it.

"Er…you won't tell anyone, right?" Sakura asked them uncertainly.

"Of course I won't!" exclaimed Kiku.

"Never!" declared Tadako.

"Not on my life!" agreed Sachiko. Midori nodded.

"I won't tell a soul," she told Sakura softly. Something about Midori made Sakura trust that she would keep her promise.

Sakura turned to Tomoyo. "Should I have told them?" she asked her glumly, after the four had left. Tomoyo gave her a plain, disappointing look. "I don't think so. In fact, you just have plain shouldn't. I have a feeling that Kiku, Tadako, and Sachiko won't be able to keep their mouths shut." Sakura felt weak.

"Well, Tomoyo," she managed, "It was nice to see you again, but I have to go now. I promised King Li that I wouldn't be out for long." She flashed Tomoyo a small smile and fled.

~*~

Three days later, the whole village knew that a certain 'Kinomoto Sakura' had been Chosen by Prince Syaoran to be his bride-to-be.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! It's another evil cliffhanger…*chokes with laughter* Hehe…sorry people. I had to do that. What will happen to Sakura once King Li finds out? What will Syaoran think of Sakura? Will Sakura be banished? I'll answer these questions if you kindly REVIEW! (By the way, if you feel that I am using too many of my own characters, I beg your forgiveness. I just didn't feel like making any of the other characters of CCS into evil people.)