Disclaimer: Bite me.

Notes: I know this is short and horribly late but I had my holidays and I went away and I also had my appendix out. So I have my reasons but I am awful sorry. Hope I haven't ya know…made enemies of you all because quite frankly, I'm not in the mood to be flogged. So, read on, leave a review and continue on with your day. Thanks to all those who have left their lovely reviews so far! I adore each and every one of you. If you're reading this and not leaving a review, shame on you. It only takes a minute. Don't just do it for me, do it for every author who's stories you read because it does it for them, trust me. ;D

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Chapter Four:  Rivers

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Sakura nervously tugged at her kimono. It was not the one she described to Yen-Jing, how could it be? The dress had shown itself to be more of a challenge and would have taken far too long. The one she wore now, though plainer, was still certainly beautiful. Yen-Jing had had called a kimono maker in, the best and the quickest. She had never realized that the Kimono could be so complicated. She had to have the maker teach Yen Jing how to tie everything up. The kimono she was wearing was dark red, a Li Clan colour, with a splattering of cherry blossoms creeping up the sides and sleeves, creating a garden look. The obi was decorated also, a black and brown design.

She wore sandals with white socks, as was the custom. In a large bag, she carried several deep red opaque like scarves. She nervously twisted around in her seat, trying to find a comfortable place in the hard seats of the carriage. The ride had been short, about twenty miles from the centre of the city. The home was set in the hillside with a northern wall facing the city and the rest of the home surrounded by dense forest.

She was helped from the carriage by a servant and took in the beautiful front of the home. It was grand and incredibly expansive, the grounds alone being at least fifteen acres or more. It was a large, brick-like structure with many chimneys, quite western in it's styling but with many Asian influences. She was led through a creaking door, and the blindfold was taken off her. She took a deep breath, the house, was amazing. It was completely dark wood with dark green wallpapers. Glass boxes on tall pedestals housed strange things, a sword, a shield and a book. The book was beautiful, but a book seemed to be a bit out of place. A tall man looked her up and down and his mouth twitched, Sakura was immediately apprehensive.

The events which had led to her escape from the tree and over the garden wall were blurry but a man cutting into her ankle were a sharp reminder that it wasn't a dream. She still had a bandage covering the wound, expertly done by Wu Chan and this house was built around her tree, she could feel it pounding through much of the stair way. Sakura wood, she laughed inwardly, was rather rare and several of the larger branches had been cut to make banisters. Sakura was led through several more doorways until they reached a small, dank room with laughter and the sound of clinking utensils and scrapes could be heard through the thick walls, muffled though.

The man nodded to Yen-Jing and said in a hard, cool voice towards Sakura, "Prepare yourself, you are in a room next to the dining hall. If dramatic entrances are needed, plan carefully. The music sheets were sent to us by Yen-Jing, you have five minutes."

He nodded once more to Yen Jing and looked me up and down, then left through a dark door leading into the dining hall. I turned to Yen Jing fearfully, "This family . . . are they good to mages like me?"

Yen Jing turned her head and looked through the wall, "Sakura, I am one the very few who knows this and I trust you with this. Do not reveal it at all to even one kind stranger, it is private."

Sakura nodded, and Yen Jing snapped her head back and her gaze penetrated through Sakura, "Good girl. They are all magicians themselves, three people in that hall have no magic but were raised around it, and know it well. Sakura, how can they judge you? They'd just be judging themselves."

Sakura nodded slowly and began pulling out my fans and scarves, preparing them around herself so they'd float on invisible unfelt breezes. The man came in, a deep dislike spreading through Sakura as he sneered, "I shall announce you now, come out when you hear clapping."

Sakura nodded and steadied herself as she heard his voice, changed and joyous sounding, "We have tonight, Ladies and Gentleman, entertainment of a different kind. This young woman, by the name of Sakura, is a new one in the ranks of Yen-Jing's army of seductresses, I present to you, a rare Japanese flower doing a dance, entitled 'The Dance of Elements."

Applause started up as Sakura walked out, her scarves billowing behind her. Whispers were heard around Sakura, but she tuned them out, and began precise simple movements in time to the drum beat. Slowly, the beat itself became more complicated and Sakura became faster twirling scarves in the most frightening of ways, a gust of wind came from seemingly no where and billowed her dress, creating a dramatic picture. Another whisper wave came washing through the hall, obviously someone had sent for someone to close a door. She smiled inwardly, changing to a slower pace and allowing peaceful movements to flow through her body. Earth began to fly around her, creating mystical patterns.

Understanding flowed through the hall and Sakura began to look around, soaking in the details and people. Her movements became fierce, powerful and deadly, she spun and a tornado of fire encased her body, licking at her kimono but never once setting her alight. Sakura spun then, the fire coming down with her, towards the ground and she traced a circle around herself and jumped up, twisting her hands in intricate patterns. Water sprung up, doing the same as the earth, twisting around her in small little rivers, allowing her body to be seen through a wildly twisting pattern of water.

The scarves themselves began to glow brightly, turning into larger patterns of water. Sakura threw up her hands, her movements a blur now and twirled, going down to the floor, the crowd, so used to magic it seemed, didn't flinch when she clapped, and two things happened. The drums created one sharp end, and the water fell and went out into waves, almost hitting the table, then evaporating a foot away from Sakura. She stood up and pulled her hands together and bowed.

The hall clapped loudly as a woman stood, then hushed them and spoke in a clear, concise voice towards Sakura, "I, Yelen, congratulate you on a wonderful performance. Come take a place next to my niece, Meiling."

Apparently, judging from some of the looks, this was an unusual practice. The woman pointed to where she was to sit.

The girl, Meiling waved kindly. But Sakura noticed the male sitting next to Meiling, who looked the same age as Sakura when she had been cursed, seventeen. His position was ridged and unrelaxed, his arms crossed and his chocolate brown hair falling into his eyes. He was attractive, his skin was tan and he looked to be of a strong build. His clothing was a man's ceremonial garb and was dark green with white and lighter green embroidery.

Meiling had two black buns with hair coming out of them; she was pretty in her own way. Her skin was also tan and she was wearing a deep red qiapo with golden embroidery and golden buttons. Sakura bowed again to the woman and walked daintily and respectfully towards her chair, keeping her head low. She could feel Meiling's eyes on her.

She hungrily looked at the food around her and Meiling leaned over, and smiled kindly, "Sakura was it? Eat away; it's yours as well as ours."

The young man, had been looking out of the corner of his eye, and shook his head slightly, then loudly proclaimed "Now Meiling, it's not nice to treat our guests that way. You of all people should know that she is not allowed to eat our food, unless she is served it by one of us."

His voice, Sakura thought to herself, sounded like chocolate as well. It was deep, rich and slightly comforting. Meiling pulled on a fake smile and turned to Syaoran and Sakura heard her hiss, "Shut up Xiao-Lang! I was trying to get the whore to embarrass herself, it's always fun, you should also know that."

Sakura heard a thump and a whispered ow and a few curses. Sakura smiled to herself again, keeping very quiet because she alone knew what had happened. Xiao-Lang had kicked Meiling, and they were now trading places. Sakura smiled gratefully at him and leaned in, whispering, "Thankyou very much, that was very nice of you."

A slight red stained his cheeks as he lightly shrugged.

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Oooh YEAH! FOUR CHAPTERS!