I've heard a couple of complaints about killing off Syaoran's grandfather. Well if you look at the genre, you will see that the top one is tragedy, not romance. Please do not stop reading just because I killed him off.
CCS belongs to CLAMP. Enjoy!
A shrine had been constructed in honor of Syaoran's grandfather. There were plenty of flowers on his grave, one of them being the cherry blossom that Sakura had donated herself. Every morning, Syaoran and Sakura went to pray for the old man's good fortune in his next life.
Syaoran was not as sure of himself now. His grandfather, annoying as he was, was his closest relative, even closer than his mother. He couldn't bear the fact that he was gone. Sakura mostly left him alone. At times, when he didn't know she was watching, she often caught him crying noiselessly. However, Syaoran had his pride. He never cried conciously in front of Sakura.
Sakura couldn't understand why the old man had died. He was such a good person. He had saved her from the wolf when she was alone and cold in the woods. She remembered the face of the wolf that slew him and knew it was the same one. The one eye was a giveaway.
One morning, two weeks later, Sakura was staring at her heart shaped stone that her brother had given her. She would never see her family again if she stayed here with Syaoran. Also, she couldn't stay here. There were too many memories. She had made a decision.
She would leave the following morning.
"You can't be serious?"
Syaoran wasn't happy about Sakura leaving. If she did, he would be alone.
Sakura nodded sadly. "Thank you for your hospitality. But..." She paused. "I have to leave. I have to find my family. At the very least, I have to find out why they didn't come home when they were supposed to."
"I understand, but..." Syaoran stopped. He couldn't force her to stay. She had a will of her own. However...
"I can't let you go alone. I'll come with you."
Sakura shook her head. "No, Syaoran. This is my quest."
"You don't understand," Syaoran insisted. "I HAVE to go with you. I can't stay here. This was my grandfather's cabin, but it was only a summer home for me." He stopped. "I'd like to help you...if I can. And I don't want to tell my family that Ji-san died."
"I can't take you with me, Syaoran!" Sakura yelled. It broke her heart to do it, but she had to leave him behind.
Syaoran hung his head. There was no stopping her. "Why can't I come with you, Sakura?"
Sakura gasped. He sounded hurt. "It's not that...I..." Her whole body shook. "I'm afraid of what I'll find when I look for my family." She hung her head, hating to do this to him.
"I still want to come with you, but I know that it will do no good to try and change your mind." He hung his head.
Sakura stepped forward and took something out of her pocket. She squeezed it tight before taking Syaoran's hand and giving it to him.
It was her heart stone.
"Sakura, I can't take this!" Syaoran protested.
The girl shook her head. "Put it on your grandfather's shrine. I want you to have it." She turned away slowly and said, "Goodbye, Syaoran."
Then she was gone. Syaoran stood alone at the foot of a hill.
He couldn't stand it. Why did she have to go?
Sakura walked through the woods slowly, as if in a dream. "I'm sorry, Syaoran," she muttered. She couldn't take him with her. Everywhere she went, there was disaster. The wolf must have followed her. But instead of killing her, it killed Syaoran's grandfather.
"But," she thought. "Why was the wolf after me in the first place?"
A twig snapped in the bushes. Sakura stopped and swirled around. There was nothing there.
A growl sounded from her left. "No...It can't be..."
It was the wolf.
Syaoran pummeled his wall with his fists in anger. This proved to be a mistake because it only made him angrier and now his fists hurt. He sunk to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Damn it..." he whispered. "Don't cry, you idiot...Only makes it worse..."
A tear dropped onto the heart stone that Sakura had given him. Slowly, the stone began to glow. Syaoran looked up from the ground and saw the gem begin to spin and flash light. A figure appeared.
The figure was very tall with long white hair. He could have been mistaken for a woman with his long hair and eyelashes, but he was strongly built. Another feature that jumped out at Syaoran was that the figure had wings. He emanated a powerful aura that made Syaoran think of a dark night with a full moon.
"What..." Syaoran stopped. He was about to say, "What are you?" but that would have been rude. "Who are you?"
The figure bowed his head slightly. "My name is Yue," he said softly.
Syaoran gaped. "Why were you in the heart stone?"
Yue frowned slightly. "The question is who are you? Why is it not the girl that is standing here before me?"
Syaoran was struck with awe. "S-Sakura gave me her heart stone..." He stopped. It hurt to think about her.
"I was in the stone because the girl's brother asked me a favor," Yue began again. "He said that if she cried with the stone in her hand, I was to come out and comfort her." He turned his head to one side. "Unfortunately, I could only tell that a tear fell on the stone. I thought it was the girl."
"How do you know her brother?" Syaoran demanded. "Sakura is really worried that something's happened to her family!"
Yue hung his head, long hair flowing. "Something HAS happened to them...It's worse then she could imagine." He stared at the dumbstruck boy. "I met her brother a week after they left on their trip. He told me that he gave her a pink stone shaped like a heart and asked me to put myself into it. He told me to tell her what happened." Yue looked very concerned now. "Where is she? Lead me to her! We need to tell her what has happened to her family!"
Sakura stumbled. There were now three wolves closing in on her. Two of them looked very familiar, but she couldn't understand why.
"Syaoran..." she wailed. "Father, Touya somebody!"
Alright, that's the fourth part! I'll need at least seven reviews before I put the next chapter up. Thank you all for reading!