A/N: I'm sorry for this late update…I'm grieving over the loss of the chappie I wrote for this but it was erased. This chapter and the epilogue were all erased and now I have to start over from scratch…I'm so depressed and upset because both of those chapters were the best I have ever written and it was all flushed down the drain. I hope this chapter is to your liking because I've lost the will to write it over and I'm still upset… and to your delight…this chappie has four parts to it, meaning…it's like getting three chapters in one…30 pages… ¬.¬
PLUS!!! Most of ya asked that if most of the things happened in real life…let's just say…Tomoyo's situation really happened, but they didn't end in great terms…the phone calls were real except for the fanfiction reference in chapter 3 or 4…Meiling's crazy attitude is for real…though exaggerated, and Takashi's attitude is just made up.
Basically, that's why this fic is based on a true story, not accordingly to real life, but based on real life.
Thnk you for all who reviewed…for now I'm only answering questions about this chapter since the reviews are one too many!!! Not that I don't mind…teehee:
AnnieS23: They did meet last chapter, it's just a glimpse though, you know at the payphone where Syaoran was in…teehee! Thank you for your suggestion though.
Sakura onto Hitomi: -takes cookie- -munch- F'ank you(thank you)…newayz, I know it seems like a filler but it really meant something in the fic. Thank you for you review!
sakura tenshi. AnGeL oF love: You'll see if she does have a date or not in this chappie, no worries though. It's not disappointing! Thnx for the review!
…: You're actually the only one who reviewed saying that they met each other!!! YAY! You do really read between the lines!!! –tosses millions of barrels of cookies- Thank you for noticing and reviewing!
SweetBabyGurl: Well here's my update…you must be thinking…FINALLY! Right? LOL! Enjoy this chappie and thank you for reviewing!!!
FliPgurl219: As I said before, this is based on some facts in real life and I couldn't help but twist it a little…teehee Hope you like this very very long chappie, believe me…I'm wiped out trying to type this! Thank you for reviewing!!!
luna86: OMG!!! I know this is such a late chapter and all! As I mentioned in the author's note, this chappie was erased on my computer!!! T.T So I had to start again and rewrite these 30 pages…I tried calling you like a few times, but you don't answer your phone or your phone is off!!! What up?!?!! Call me and thank you for reviewing!!!
syaoran-s2-sakura04: -smiles- you'll see if E&T stick together…it's only a matter of time!
And many, many thanks to everyone else: tenshi cherry blossoms, azn-kitties, sweet-captor, Inu's Girl08, Seig1308, AniMeAzN-5-14, Jade McDohl AKA Sweet Madison, sai-chan, CherryBlossom0101, JuneFly06, Sofia, Meilin Baby 13, LiL oBs3ss3r, Carmela-chan, angel blufur, Arialle, svetlaella, Befuddled, LuminousDiamonds.
One Night, Never Forgotten
Dedicated to luna86
By: maixwolfblossom
Disclaimer: -yawn- I know ya'll tired of hearing this, but it's necessary…CLAMP owns the rights to CCS and not maixwolfblossom! I also don't own the songs in this chappie too!!!
--Chapter Five—
--One Night: The Prom—
Part I: Forgiving
Syaoran
A day later, Syaoran finally received the most wonderful thing in the world, besides his off-the-line new high-tech phone…there struck in heavenly light, encased in a plastic box, sitting on a laced pillow laid the corsage.
He was lucky to have it received in such short notice, since it was prom season.
The wristband was deep emerald green, hand-made silk peonies, lined in silver thread covered the majority of the bracelet, fluorescent dark green beads adorned the center of each flower to perceive what was supposed to be the illusion of pollen in a flower. And to top it all off, a large bunch of flowers that accentuated the wearer and bore the name as lovely as she had sounded…Sakura: cherry blossoms.
Syaoran sat back and admired the beauty that was sitting right in front of him.
Why wouldn't this corsage look beautiful, after all it is his masterpiece, that's right his. He had gotten it custom designed and if you looked closely on the inside of the wristband it said, To: Kinomoto Sakura From: Li Syaoran.
To believe that such a custom designed corsage had been made from a mind of a genius.
On the brighter note, he brought back the phone services up and running and along the way, got a new cell phone, which now included an Mp3 outlet and Gameboy games.
Ah…Technology was a man's best friend.
Smiling brilliantly, he picked up the phone and dialed Sakura's number, hoping that she hadn't been too distressed with his absences.
-Sakura-
She sat on her chair, typing away on her laptop. Prom was coming in less than a few hours (48 hrs to be exact) and what she should've been mad about, surprisingly didn't show, she was beyond rage and dwindled down to a deathly calm.
Unexpectedly, her phone rang, making her jump sky high and fall to the ground.
Rubbing her head, she picked up her phone and looked at the caller ID to see that the caller was an unknown number, but nonetheless she picked it up.
"Moshi moshi, Kinomoto Sakura desu (Hello, this is Kinomoto Sakura)."
Her bored demeanor changed instantly as soon as she realized the voice who answered her.
"Are you always like that without my presence?"
"…"
"Sakura?"
Still no response.
"So now what? No, 'Oh Syaoran, baby, I've been waiting for your call. To sweep me by my feet from boredom.' ?"
"LISTEN MISTER!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WATING AND WORRYING SICK ABOUT YOU?!?! I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU GOT THE IDEA THAT KINOMOTO SAKURA WAS USED TO BEING ALMOST STOOD UP--"
On the other side of the phone line, Syaoran's eyes widened at accusation after accusation. His head was swimming with her yelling, yet he felt oddly satisfied for rousing the bottled up anger that Sakura had in store for him.
He smirked as his gaze caught sight of the corsage that was innocently sitting beside his bedside table.
Carefully he brought the plastic case to him and placed it on his stomach and smiled softly to listen to more of the rambling woman.
"WELL GUESS WHAT?!?!? YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR TEASING TO LAST ME A LIFETIME, I DON'T WANT TO EVER SEE YOU AGAIN!"
"…uh…see?" Syaoran mouthed with narrowed eyes.
Sakura blushed and quickly recovered from her mistake, "See. Hear. Same thing!"
"Aw well that's too bad, since I just got your corsage in the mail and thought you'd like to know…"
Waiting for a reaction he counted back from 5 to 1, when Syaoran reached '1' the tension that was between them, instantly disappeared.
"Uh…—oh—I-it did? Syaoran-kun…that's-that's…g-g-great…ano ne Syaoran-kun?"
"Hai, cherry blossom?"
"Gomen Nasai…I didn't give you a chance to explain yourself. I didn't know what got into me…So…do you forgive me?"
Suppressing his chuckle, Syaoran coughed and said in a businesslike tone, "Well, Sakura-chan, I'm just going to have to think about that."
A gut feeling of guiltiness made him want to take back all the teasing he was provoking on Sakura, but he just had to hear her thoughts on his comments.
"Yeah… I guess I deserve that much…"
His heart fell when he heard her sad voice.
"No Sakura-san, I'm sorry."
"Hoe? Why are you sorry? I thought--"
"Never mind that, don't you want to know what I've been up to for those past two days you were pining after me???"
Setting aside the fact that he was teasing her once more, Sakura was reluctant to back off the subject of his unknown 'sorries', but she was eager to know where her prom date had been instead of calling her with his apologies.
"Alright then, shoot."
"Well you know Meiling. –sigh- I sent her to do a simple task to mail the phone bills a few days back and she came home with about 50 shopping bags… Need I say more?"
Sakura giggled softly, "Let me guess… Surprisingly she didn't have a boyfriend???"
Feigning an act of shock, he answered, "How did you know? Is she that transparent?"
Sakura was in a fit of laughter that she didn't answer him.
"Well yeah, that wench needs to find a job!!!"
Soon as the words left his lips, the door opened and who came through it?
That's right! Meiling!
"You rang?"
Turning his attention to his new unwelcome visitor, he answered rudely.
"AH! So the dog knows her name! Someone give her a treat…no, no, no someone give her a J-O-B!"
Meiling narrowed her eyes and muttered soundlessly, "J-O-B??? What's that?"
Syaoran fell off his bed at her words, "Sound it out Meiling, come on…come on…"
"J-ob…jo-b…j-ob…" Her pronunciation was off the charts as she said each syllable. Her eyes were still narrowed in thought to process this strange vocabulary word.
"Come on Meiling, sound it out…Job…ja-ohab…"
"Jo-b…j-ob… Job?"
At long last, she had finally got the word engraved in her thoughts that Syaoran clapped sarcastically, "Good girl!"
Even Meiling seemed impressed with herself until she realized something.
"Wait…what's a jo—Job?"
Syaoran raised a brow, trying to figure out how Meiling had gotten to her senior year if she didn't even know the simplest definitions, but Meiling was Meiling for a reason.
"You know… where people work and stuff?"
She nodded her head and half way shook her head, "Right…I still don't follow…"
"-sigh- Do I have to spell it out for you?"
Putting up a hand and shaking her head cheerfully, she put on a perky smile.
"Oh Syaoran, you're so kind but no, just tell me what it means."
Thinking hard to enunciate it in Meiling terms, Syaoran put a hand to his chin and thought for a while until it came to him.
"You know the people you shout at to give you price checks in the mall?" he paused to give time for her to nod and when she did, he continued, "Well those people are doing their jobs."
Her smile was still intact and perky until the words processed her mind and made her smile turn into an ugly frown.
"Oh!—hey…you want me to get a-a job???"
"That's right, retard."
Syaoran moved towards the exit and looked at her expectedly for three minutes until she spoke again.
"Who're you calling 'retard', retard?"
"Uh…you and your new boyfriend."
As Syaoran opened his bedroom door, Meiling screamed in frustration and walked out of it.
"URGH!!!! You are so annoying!"
He leaned on the frame of his door and smirked.
"SO? That's my job! Look, I don't have time for this… Go and get your latest boyfriend!"
"So what? So you could scam on him, like you did with Takashi the other day, hmmm?"
He blushed heavily at the hideous thought of what happened a few days ago and glared at Meiling.
"GET OUT!"
With that, he shut the door in Meiling's face and noticed that he still had his cell phone glued to his hand.
"Hoe?"
"Ummm…not you Sakura-chan, that was for Meiling…eh heh heh…gomen?"
A slight pause lengthened and she coughed, "um…sure?"
"Oh yeah…about the matching pins for the males. You know that the corsage has to go with the flower that's on the male's pin…now do we?
"Uh huh…I was going to buy it today but I didn't know what flower you had in mind so I waited but you know…the telephone lines and yeah."
Syaoran chuckled softly, "I know it's a challenge but our date was a thing of chance…I want this to be a surprise. So I can't give you a clue to what you want to know about your soon to be corsage. You'll have to choose these things based on the many phone conversations we've had."
He smiled, as he knew a small pout was among her lips.
"You're no fun, Syaoran-kun."
"I know…anyways…how are we getting to prom? I heard that it's held at that haunted ship on the coast of the Japan Sea? Is that correct?"
Syaoran could've sworn he heard a squeak emerge from the other end, but dismissed it.
"Sakura-chan?"
"Y-Yes?"
That's when he knew that she was afraid of what was to be found in that ship.
"Are we scared of ghosts?" he said in a baby voice.
"eh heh heh…no?"
-Tomoyo, Rika, Naoko, Nakuru, & Chiharu-
Tomoyo was propped against Rika who was smoothening her hair out of her face and combed it gently between her fingers.
Naoko was sitting under their favorite tree and read her latest favorite book, while Chiharu was currently bashing Nakuru on the head for reciting her interests, which were all based on the same things Eriol liked, making Tomoyo whimper sadly.
"This is what you get for being insensitive! –bam- This is what you get for reminding Tomoyo that day Sakura and you were supposed to comfort her instead of eating that candy bar! –bam-," Chiharu nodded violently when Nakuru gave a questioning look before covering herself from the bruising blows, "That's right! Sakura-chan told us what you did!"
Nakuru whispered silently, "Traitor…"
"What was that?!"
"Nothing, nothing, nothing…" but she didn't sound convincing.
"If Sakura heard you right now, she'd probably do worse!"
But Nakuru could only imagine how far Sakura could go she still felt the pain in her stomach that day since Sakura chased her halfway around the town.
Where is Sakura, you ask?
Well Little Miss Unprepared called a few hours ago to say she wasn't coming to school because she had a few errands to run…-ahem- meaning she needed to get last minute touches on her accessories.
Rika and Naoko assured Tomoyo that she wasn't the only one who was without a date.
Rika couldn't be with the one she loved because it was illegal and frowned upon by the school district and Naoko was just too shy to accept some of the invites that were bestowed upon her.
On the other hand, Chiharu and Takashi…
"Did you know what I found in his wallet the other day?!?!?"
Whispers of 'what?' and 'it can't get any worse' were heard among them until they quieted down.
"I found him with pictures of that amber eyed goddess that he mumbles about in his sleep while we're in class! That hooch thinks she could get my Takashi's fancy?" Chiharu wiped a tear off her cheek, "Does he think I'm too fat??? Are my legs too stubby??? Cause that girl had the most extraordinary legs I've ever seen! Hairless and all!"
Tomoyo patted Chiharu comfortingly on the back, "All men are pigs…no, no, no let me rephrase that…All men are mud, bug-infested Eriol PIGS!!! And no, Chiharu-chan…you're not fat, you're just fine."
The lunch bell was about to ring in a few minutes when Naoko noticed something missing in their plans for prom.
"Uh…girls?"
They all chanted back in unison, "Ummmhmmm?"
"How are we exactly supposed to go to prom, if we didn't figure out transportation?"
Most of the girls eyes' showed concern, all the prom buses were booked and full, while all the limo services probably had a busy schedule for there were many other proms taking place at the same time that Seijou was having theirs.
Rika silently giggled but no one took notice since their minds were currently set on transportation ideas and what seemed like a lost hope, they sat down and sighed miserably as once more Rika raised her giggle a little more noticeable, but still no one listened.
Nakuru sat between Naoko and Chiharu looking into space and said, "What are we going to do?"
Again with the echoes of 'I don't know' were sounded.
Until Rika couldn't take it anymore, "I said, 'TEE-HEE'!!!'"
The other four looked at her with widened eyes and motioned for her to continue.
"Terada-sensei will take us…remember he rented a limo for a seating of twelve two weeks ago?"
"Oh yeAaAaAaAAAaaAAaAh!!!"
The bell rang and Chiharu, Naoko, Nakuru, Rika, and Tomoyo threw away their scraps of their lunch and laughed all the way to their classes.
-Sakura-
Sakura was outside of the accessory store when she realized that she didn't have two of her most vital essential needs for prom…Tooth floss and kleenex…
She doubled-checked and looked over her purchases to make sure she was wrong.
She had her glitter hair spray, a new pale rose pink hand purse, glossy light pink eye shadow, sheer pink lipstick, extra hairpins, a cherry blossom necklace, Syaoran's supposedly matching corsage pin (it was a peonies entwined with cherry blossoms ;D), and pale pink nail polish, but she had no kleenex and no tooth floss.
Sighing, she retreated to the accessory store known as (and this is real) Claire's and opened the door.
With a silent prayer she asked, 'Onegai, Kami-sama, let me get through this shop without buying unnecessary things'
It wasn't that fact that she hated shopping for all the kawaii objects she needed, it was the fact she couldn't control herself in a cute shop like this one!
Walking carefully and keeping her gaze straight to one goal, Sakura walked to the counter and got the two missing items she didn't possess, but oddly, a flash of shining pink and silver light caught her eyes.
Turning her gaze away from the other stuff, Sakura dropped her items as she caught sight of the luminous material.
It was a perfect match to the new cherry blossom necklace she just had bought a few minutes ago, a pair of dangling chimed cherry blossom-ended earrings and a pair of cherry blossom hairpins.
Sakura looked up to the store ceiling in prayer, "Just this once I'm going to break a promise! Kami-sama wants me to buy these!"
To make sure she wasn't dreaming, Sakura rubbed her eyes and blinked twice before looking again and what she saw made her frown.
Her cherry blossom dream had ended when she opened her eyes to reveal them gone and in the hands of a little girl who plucked it right out of her grasps.
Sighing, Sakura looked around, trying to find the source of where the other of those items were and saw the sign that it was on demand but won't come in for another day or two.
So she did the best thing she could've done, follow the little miscreant.
Sakura lurked and kept close to the girl who had her basket half full by the next five minutes, until her back was turned.
Thinking it was time to confront the seven year-old girl, Sakura tapped her on the back.
"Hey you," Sakura whispered and looked around cautiously as the other girl looked at her with an annoyed expression, "Can I see those cherry blossom earrings and pins for a moment?"
"Get your own, you old hag!"
Sakura was taken aback by the little girl's rudeness and tried to keep her cool as she asked again nicely and smiled sweetly.
"Why don't I give you…5 dollars and you can treat yourself to anything you want. Just give me those please?"
Once again the girl narrowed her eyes and pouted sourly, "Didn't you hear me? Get your o-w-n!"
"I know I heard you--this is ridiculous, "Sakura took the objects she wanted from the girl's basket with a 'yoink' and shoved her 5 dollars in exchange, "I tried to be nice but at least I gave you something in return. Go and find other things to buy!"
"I don't want your stinking money, when I've got my OWN!" The girl opened her wallet and stuffed Sakura's 5 dollars into it and opened it wide enough to count that she had ten 20 dollar bills in her purse, which made Sakura gape.
The brat took advantage of Sakura's shocked state and took the cherry blossom jewelry back but kept Sakura's money.
"I wouldn't think of messing with me right now. My father is the 15th richest man in Japan and…" she smirked and raised a brow at her next words, "…if you don't watch out…you're gonna get it."
Sakura recovered from her state of surprise and glared at the evil girl.
"Is that a threat?"
All of a sudden, a draft of hot, sweltering desert heat surrounded the two. And cowboy showdown music started to play out of nowhere.
Smiling at her tactics, the gaki (brat) paused for a while before answering, "Only if you want it to be."
The music intensified as the two kept their eyes on each other and every so often to the earrings and pins. Only they were dimly aware that music was playing in the background.
So this went on for about twenty minutes until they both started breaking sweat, and annoyed that the music had stayed the same for a very, very long time.
Taking her gaze away from the little girl, Sakura yelled at the storekeeper.
"TURN THAT DAMN MUSIC OFF!"
The store clerk quickly switched it off as Sakura's sharply turned her face back to her adversary.
After a while, she only shrugged her shoulders and thought up a plan to make her dream jewelry her own, "Well that's too bad and I thought we could be frien—hey!" Sakura pointed to something in front of her, "Isn't that the creator of Inuyasha, right there?"
As spoiled and smart the little twit was, she just didn't know that much about distractions.
With another 'yoink' Sakura grabbed the cherry blossom earrings and pins and ran to the cashier to buy her kleenex, tooth floss, and, now, her jewelry.
When she turned to exit the shop, she heard the angry bawling of the seven year old girl which made everyone in the shop applaud Sakura for standing up to her, since as that girl had been a bitch with them from the very start.
Taking a sweeping bow, Sakura smiled and waved goodbye.
No one messed with Kinomoto Sakura the day before her prom…no one…
Part II: Preparations
-Sakura-
It was kiosk in the Kinomoto household as Sakura, Tomoyo, Rika, Nakuru, Naoko, and Chiharu bombarded the halls and yelled in frustration on a late Saturday afternoon.
Okay…maybe it was like hell.
Rika was nearly run over by Sakura as she hopped on one leg, trying to put her shoes on.
Naoko and Nakuru were both having a disagreement since they found that they were wearing the other's gown.
"I knew you were eyeing it the first day I picked out the color!"
Naoko, who was red from all the yelling, stomped her foot on Nakuru's, "Who ever said purple was your color??? It makes you look like Barney!!!"
"oOOoOoOOo" Nakuru was slightly taken aback by the outburst, "You did not just say that! You just no--"
"Oh, yes I did!" Naoko bared her sharp pearly whites at Nakuru.
Tomoyo rushed to the rescue as she broke the fight and looked at Naoko with confusion.
"Isn't that my dress?"
Nakuru scoffed, "what?!?! That's mine!"
Tomoyo took a glance at Nakuru with raised eyebrows, "I made the dresses…I should know if it's mine or not."
Naoko, who was forgotten in all of this, shook the dress top that was loosely fitted to her chest and gave a look of understanding.
"So that's why it didn't fit properly…Nakuru-chan…this is definitely Tomoyo-chan's dress," Naoko pinched the dress once more and let go, showing that it was very loose on her, "See? It has a lot of room to spare."
"Are you implying something, Yanagisiwa-san?" Nakuru asked dangerously, "Just what are you trying to say? I dare you."
Naoko took her glasses and wiped it on a cloth before fixing it to fit the bridge of her nose before speaking again, "Well…it doesn't take a genius to tell that your fla-t--"
Tomoyo laughed loudly and took Naoko by the arm to save her from Nakuru's grasp.
"What did you just say?"
"Oh silly me!" the purple haired girl said, " We're wasting valuable time just talking here…teehee…um—gotta go change!"
Giving up the house to the raging teens for that particular afternoon was not an easy thing, especially for males of the house.
"-knock knock- Come on! You've been in there for three hours! At least give a man some place for comfort!!!"
Touya was found outside leaning against the wall near the bathroom and ready to explode.
His patience had been waning for quite a while…maybe an hour and a half, but no one seemed to care for the bladder-filled male who was practically on the floor, wetting himself.
Weakly, he knocked on the door once again with all the strength he could muster, but no one answered his plea.
He croakily called, "Onegai…girls?"
With a sigh of relief, the door opened to reveal a scary sight that made Touya freeze in fear. There, stood Chiharu with half shaved legs and a razor in her hand.
"CAN'T YOU SEE, WE NEED IT MORE THAN YOU!!!"
With that, she closed the door.
Touya groaned in misery as he lay on his stomach and forced himself to breathe deeply.
A few seconds later, Fujitaka almost ran past Touya, but tripped on his foot on the way to his study.
The red-faced son who was chaperoning one of Sakura's friends (Nakuru) was lying flat on his face taking in heap amounts of oxygen from the floor.
"Touya-kun…daijoubu dayo(are you alright?)"
Slowly, but painfully, Touya turned his face towards his father's and let out a frustrated sigh.
"Otou-san…why are the girls here…couldn't Tomoyo-san take them to their mansion or something?"
Pushing his glasses back in place, Fujitaka put a hand on his forehead, "I regret it more than you do. The squealing, the fights, the agony of not being able to use your own bathroom without being walked in on, I didn't know they could be this vicious--"
Fujitaka tilted his head in wonderment as he just realized that he was talking to his son on the floor.
"What are you doing down here?"
Touya fought the urge to raise his voice, but couldn't help to slip a sarcastic reply.
"Oh…nothing…I just thought the carpet was beautiful and just had to take a sniff of our pristine, dirt infested rugs…"
Touya's father waved his hand nonchalantly and got up from the floor.
"Oh! I see…why don't you go to Kero's litter box, I'm sure there's lots of interesting smells in there. Just make sure you wash yourself after. Kero had some bad tuna today. And believe me…whoo weee…blek!"
Touya rolled his eyes as his otou-san walked off and left him to suffer for more hours to come.
Meanwhile…
The dress was perfect…Tomoyo had really outdone herself this time.
Sakura stood in front of a human sized mirror and smiled.
The dress was a pale pink with a simple 'V' neckline, the ruffled sleeves that hung to her shoulders bared her skin, which made her blush madly. Cherry blossoms were lined from the left of her waist to the bottom right of her ankle length gown where it cut off half-way and revived with white silky fabric that overlapped itself.
On her neck, hung a simple silver chain that held a crystal–trapped cherry blossom in a pendent, her earrings that she had earned yesterday afternoon dangled and clinked daintily, but the pins that came with the earrings had no place since, as of yet, she didn't have a hair-style for herself.
For some time now, Sakura had grown her hair to the length to where her mother had it when she was 16.
Eying her curling iron and glitter hair spray, Sakura pulled on the strands on her perfectly straight hair and suddenly knew what she was going to do.
She plugged in the curler and waited patiently as she packed her handbag with her most needed essentials to survive the night.
-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-
"Now you've done it!"
Sakura jumped as she heard the commotion coming from her bathroom on the other side of the hall, and heard what she knew was Tomoyo's frantic voice.
Running to the scene, she flung the door open to be greeted by white powder.
"I told you, you filled it too much, Nakuru-chan. But 'no' and look at you now, you've got yourself blown up."
Sakura coughed heavily as she fanned the irritating substance away from her face and off her dress to make her way to the others.
"What in Kami-sama's name are you guys—doing?"
She stopped midway and started laughing at the sight in front of her.
Apparently, Nakuru, being the experimental one, tried to load more powder into the make up compact and stuffed way too much into it that it dropped and turned the switch on the blow dryer and caused her to take a whole jarful of powder to the face and bump into the shower door, making that big 'boom'.
"You—gasp- look like a-gasp- circus clown!" Sakura held on to the bath railing and pulled herself up to open the medicine cabinet.
Tomoyo and Nakuru open their mouth and watched as Sakura laugh like a maniac and scramble to find something.
"Is she on medication?"
Tomoyo shook her head slowly, "Not that I know of…"
When Sakura pulled away, her two other friends looked at each other with 'She's crazy' looks and glanced at Sakura and took a double take as a flash of light filled their vision.
Sakura was taking pictures of them!
"SAKURA-CHAN!!!"
"Nani (what)? I think you guys are KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIII like that!"
Tomoyo twitched her eye and screamed but to be interrupted by another flash of the camera.
"Now you know how I feel! KAWAIIIIIIIIII!!!"
Tomoyo grabbed a towel to wipe her face and threw it after a while.
"That's it! I had enough! I'm taking you DOWN! No one but me can say that word!!!!"
Sakura gulped and backed away, knowing that she was done for…
A few hours of ranting and raving about hair and makeup, the girls were lined up with Fujitaka and Touya manning the cameras to take the photos of all of them.
With a little pushing and shoving they managed to finish a whole roll of film.
"My, my, my, my, my…kaijuu(monster) you look less…scary…"
"SAKURA IS NOT A KAIJUU!"
Sakura stomped on Touya's foot and he yelled in agony as he realized that she hit him with her heels.
She whimpered as, for the past couple of hours, she remembered what Tomoyo did to her after the powder incident.
To save herself from complete torture, Sakura exchanged her pride and dignity to suggest that Tomoyo do her hair and makeup, which really changed Tomoyo's attitude.
The make up was light and surprisingly simple. Rosy pink cheeks, brown eyeliner, a swish of pink eye shadow mixed with white, and a dash of mascara.
Her hair was now up in two buns clothed in pale pink material as two thick auburn curls flowed out of each one.
"OH, Sakura-chan…you look like Elizabeth Taylor on a winter's morning on one of those 'White Diamond' commercials…"
(A/N: You know those perfume commercials that were on television a few years back with a black haired woman dressed in white, fluffy coats, hats and boots? Well here's my rendition of my own little joke.)
Chiharu, who overheard what Tomoyo said, put a hand to her cheeks said, "White and fluffy?"
"NO! Prim and proper!"
Chiharu was about to retaliate but a 'beeping' noise caught her attention.
Rika pushed Nakuru out of her way to greet the incoming white limo that pulled up to the front of the house.
"Yoshiyuki! (a/n: Terada-sensei's real first name from the series) You're finally here! Prom starts in two hours and if we don't get moving, traffic is going to get heavy!"
Terada-sensei chuckled deeply and assured her, "Don't worry so much, Rika-chan. Remember Takashi-kun is taking the boys to the ship and Meiling-san is going with Kazuo-kun.
"NANI!?!?!"
All the males shut their ears and backed away from Yoshiyuki as the girls rushed over to hear more of their classmate's downfall.
"I knew he couldn't resist!" Chiharu squealed.
Tomoyo gaped and whispered softly, "I knew Meiling-chan had a date from our school, but---but Kazuo-kun??? Ohhhhh…he's done for…"
While Nakuru, Rika, and Naoko grabbed their sensei's dress shirt with stars in their eyes and jumped around.
And Sakura, who was left on the side, shook her head in grieving for the poor victim they knew as Eriol's good friend.
A good naturedly smile reached Terada-sensei's lips as he clapped his hands, "Alright, we've got a prom to get ourselves to."
Touya raised his hand, "Can Nakuru and I hitch a ride?"
"The more the merrier, let's get the show on the road!"
With that, Terada-sensei turned back to let the girls in.
"Silly Touya-kun," Nakuru grabbed onto his sleeve, clingingly, "Our limo is coming, right?"
When Touya didn't say anything Nakuru glared at him, "Don't tell me, you didn't!"
"I won't then," Touya walked away to enter the limo with Nakuru following sulkily.
Eriol, Syaoran, Kazuo, Hoshi, Meiling, and Takashi
Eriol, Syaoran, Takashi, Hoshi, and Kazuo had been waiting for the 'princess' to come down for an hour now, but she hadn't shown her face around since 12 in the afternoon.
"MEILING!!! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Syaoran yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
Meiling yelled back, "IS ERIOL-KUN WITH YOU???"
"I'm here!" Eriol replied.
"Great cause then I know that Tomo--"
Finally, after 4, Meiling decided to come out and appeared the same as she usually looked, with the exception of the dress and hair, she looked…ordinary…which was shocking.
Meiling came down to the bottom of the stairs to be greeted by an unknown girl who was clinging to Eriol's arm.
"You don't look like Tomoyo…"
Hoshi's golden eyes flashed dangerously at Meiling and smiled bitterly.
"That's because she isn't Tomoyo. Meiling meet Hoshi, my date."
Eriol's hard voice brought Meiling to tear her gaze away from the unfamiliar female.
"Oh…"
Syaoran, who obviously hadn't gotten over the fact that he spent most of his time hurrying his dearly beloved cousin when she looked completely indifferent.
"You mean to tell me that you spent almost four hours, just to come out looking…normal for once?" Syaoran said with eyes of disbelief.
Meiling gracefully made her way to the door and motioned them to follow her.
Eriol gestured with his hand out as if he was expecting an answer, "Aren't you going to reply?"
Silently, under her breath she muttered, "Boys are so naïve."
"What was that?" Takashi said cupping his ear with his hand to hear better.
"I said, 'you can't rush beauty, it takes time and effort.'" Meling rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious answer in the entire universe.
Syaoran muttered a bit loudly for almost everyone to hear, "Too bad we didn't have the time…"
Eriol continued, "…and her effort…"
"…or the beauty…" Takashi added with a smirk.
Meiling shrieked and stomped her foot in rage as she left the doors of the mansion.
Kazuo was the only guy who actually followed the crimson-eyed beauty out the door as Eriol, Hoshi, Takashi and Syaoran chuckled and exited as well.
Inside the Car
Takashi's forehead was beading with sweat as he drove the car.
"Ano ne (ummm) Yamazaki-kun…daijoubu? (are you alright?)"
Eriol was in front with him, while the other three were sitting in the back.
"Hai…-gulp-"
Takashi's hands were shaking and sweating as he looked at his rear view mirror and suddenly fantasized …his amber-eyed goddess…
He took his hands off the steering wheel to rub his eyes, but soon realized that it was a mistake.
"YAMAZAKI-KUN!!! WATCH OUT!!!"
Eriol grabbed the steering wheel just in time before they hit the lamppost on the side of the road.
Takashi regained control as he looked back at the rear-view mirror to see a very surprised Syaoran who had careened into a disheveled Hoshi.
Kazuo held on to Meiling as she clung onto him and shouted, "Don' t you know to never look take your hands off the wheel while driving?!?!? You could've killed us all! Who taught you how to drive, you idiot!"
Takashi stayed silent for a few minutes to get back on the right street and answered calmly, "Your mama-sama…"
"What did you just say?!?! You just did not insult my okaa-san (mother)!!!" Kazuo growled as Meiling pulled him back.
At the stoplight, Takashi looked back and smacked the back of Kazuo's head, "Her driving school, baka! You know the one your okaa-san owns called, 'Learn to Drive from your Mama'?!?!? I took driving lessons there!"
Kazuo rubbed his head in pain, "Oh…heheh…that's right…"
Part III: The Prom
Syaoran
After his near death experience with Takashi's driving, Syaoran was grateful that he was finally out of the stuffy vehicle.
"Where are they?" Eriol looked at his watch.
Takashi gave an inquiring eye, "Why do you care? Your date is right next to you."
The navy blue haired teen opened his mouth distastefully, "You don't have to remind me since I already know that."
"Then be on your way, kind sir." Takashi gestured sarcastically to the stairway to the ship, but Eriol didn't budge.
The parking lot was half-full as a white limo pulled up front. According to Eriol, the girls were supposed to arrive in one.
The guys lined up by the entrance to greet them and straightened out their black tuxedos and ties.
Syaoran's heart started to pound against his chest, as he knew that he would finally meet the person he had been talking to for the past two weeks, the mysterious girl he can't take his mind off, the girl that made his conscious drift off in class for some strange reason…(a/n: Of course we know why! )
The limo door opened to reveal…
"—a fat toad in a pink dress!" Sakura burst into tears, "That's what I look like!"
Tomoyo hugged Sakura tightly, "Iie (no) you're not a fat toad."
Sakura stared out the window and became worried by the minute when they passed multiple exits that lead to the ship.
"Why did we miss that last exit? That was the most direct path to the prom! Or was it? We're lost! Aren't we?" Sakura started to panic as she pressed her nose on the window.
Tomoyo held on to her hand and whispered laughingly, "Sakura-chan, we're almost there. We're not lost, so no worries. And besides, prom hasn't even started yet."
Sakura shook with the jitters and pointed a shaking finger at Terada-sensei, "How do we know that he's really Terada-sensei…he could be an imposter to take us away from the happiest night of our lives…to kill us, to smother us with…SLIM FAST!!! IT'S BECAUSE I'M FAT!!! ISN'T IT?!?!?!"
Touya smirked and leaned on the side of his seat to whisper to Sakura, "Go on, I love to hear you humiliate yourself…it's so…fascinating and tru--"
Tomoyo smacked Touya on the head, "Kurusai! (Shut Up!)"
"You're not fat and Terada-sensei is taking a short-cut to the prom location. It's going to be alright." Rika said comfortingly.
"…okay…I'm calm now, I'm free of all worries…" Sakura took a deep breath and smoothened out her dress.
Nakuru leaned in near Touya's ear and whispered audibly, "And to think she was paranoid…", making Touya chuckle with glee.
"Now I know why those two are alike…" Sakura said grudgingly.
Tomoyo patted her hand and smiled mischievously, "Don't worry, you look good enough that even Li-kun will be eating off of your hand."
Touya's laughter was caught short, "That gaki is not going anywhere near my imouto-san…"
Fake tears were brimming to Sakura's eyes, "Awww…Touya…-sniff-…I never heard you say those words to me without saying--"
"…not anywhere near my kaijuu."
Sakura eyes beaded at the word, 'monster' and glared grimly.
Tomoyo had a knowing smile that was directed to her other cousin, "If I didn't know any better Touya…I'd say you only agreed to take Nakuru out to prom was to only spy on Sakura! AHA!"
"Oh! La di daaaa! So you've caught me." Touya rolled his eyes, making Nakuru shut her mouth.
Breaking the silence, Chiharu pointed out the window and squealed, "We're here! We're here!"
Their door opened to reveal…
"ARGH! That girl was huge! I mean monster huge!" Meiling guffawed as the white limo that they were in front of emptied out their passengers, "I guess that wasn't Sakura-chan, eh Syaoran?"
Meiling had spotted the hopeful look that Syaoran possessed a few minutes before the cream white limo pulled up to reveal a very tall and squat chaperon who was supervising the prom.
As Syaoran saw the lady, he gulped and smiled nervously.
Kazuo looked over Syaoran's head, obviously not recognizing the woman that emerged from the limo that was currently in front of their spot.
"They wouldn't be here yet. I just heard they left for prom like 10 minutes ago."
The group stopped what they were doing and flicked gazes to Kazuo and said, "…and how do you know that?"
"Well, Tomoyo-chan text me on my cell just now."
Eriol's grip on the railing tightened as everyone else checked his or her cell.
Meiling held hers up for everyone to see, "Ara (oh!) She text me too!"
"…and me." Takashi said holding his up.
Syaoran doubtfully checked his phone and was surprised to find, "Wow, she even text me too."
Everyone else watched as Eriol anxiously checked his inbox and instead of being happy and excited, his frown only deepened, "She didn't even bother."
Meiling nodded knowingly, "I see she's got the right mind then."
Eriol growled threateningly as another white limo pulled up, "You know, you just love to push people's pain into their faces, don't you?"
"That's because you deserve it," a cold voice emerged from the limo.
All attention was diverted to the source of the voice and as soon as everyone glanced at whom it was…
Meiling gasped.
Takashi gaped.
Kazuo sighed, "wow…"
Hoshi dropped her purse.
Syaoran elbowed Eriol in the stomach, laughing, "You dropped your gorgeous, sexy girlfriend for ordinary and overly dramatic Hoshi? Tsk tsk young Eriol…You've got lots to learn."
Eriol whispered for Syaoran to shut up as he sorely stared at the beauty before him.
Her hair was down in loose-ended curls, her make-up emphasizing her natural beauty without overdoing it. A silver chain adorned her neck making her milky white skin shine like alabaster in the moonlight, and finally the one short-sleeved lavender dress which stressed the appearance of her curves.
Tomoyo thanked Terada-sensei for opening the door and made her way to Meiling and Kazuo without a second glance at Eriol.
He watched as she gave a kiss on the cheek to Kazuo and laughed at what Takashi said to her and seemed to not notice him.
Finally Syaoran brushed past him and greeted Tomoyo with warmth to get on Eriol's nerves.
He observed Tomoyo's reaction carefully as he finally tuned in to what they were saying.
"OhhHhHhH! So you're Sakura-chan's date. I'm impressed Meiling-chan, you've got a handsome guy of a cousin," This statement made Syaoran chuckle, "Are you sure you don't have another one of him running around?"
Everyone, except Eriol, laughed.
Meiling hugged Tomoyo and looked around, "Where's Sakura-chan? I've been meaning to have a little chat with her."
"What? She hasn't come out yet? My kawaii creation has abandoned me?" Tomoyo rushed to the limo to pull out the rest of the gang.
Syaoran apprehensively fumbled with the corsage box as Tomoyo grabbed a girl out of the limo.
With a heavy sigh, Syaoran looked down in excitement and when he looked up he watched as three other girls followed along with a dark haired man who was dragged out by a ruby haired girl.
After that, no one trailed after them and the limo drove away and he looked on with confusion.
He ran his fingers through his hair and turned around to bump into someone.
"Oh Gomen Nasai (I'm very sorry)." A sweet voice greeted his ears and it suddenly perked into recognition.
Syaoran opened his eyes to meet innocent-looking emerald orbs blinking back at him as he automatically whispered her name, "…Sakura-chan?"
"Hoe? Do I know you?" Sakura inquired suspiciously.
But before he could answer, Tomoyo yelled, "Sakura-chan! Hayaku (hurry)!"
With an apologetic nod, she departed from him.
Syaoran went after her and tugged on her arm, smiling warmly.
Sakura hissed menacingly, "Nan desu ka, Tomoyo-chan? (What is it, Tomoyo?)"
"Uh…I'm not Tomoyo…"
Sakura stopped mid-step and swerved to her side to be greeted by sparkling amber eyes.
"Sumimasen, demo…ano ne…Onmae wa nan desu ka? (Excuse me, but…um…What is your name?)"
He smiled grew broad as he responded to her question, "I don't have to tell you. You know my name deep within your heart, just close your eyes and listen to my voice and you'll know."
Confused by the answer she received, Sakura followed his instructions and listened to him talk.
"Okay…this is a really cheesy thing to do, but here it goes. You know me as the person I speak to the most, the one who knows your afraid of ghost, up until this day we've waited two weeks, to meet and see if we give each other the creeps, but now that it's all said and done…finally we're here and I know you're the one. The lady I know who is accompanying me to this prom."
Sakura gasped as she placed the voice and the words he spoke from the heart into hers and opened her eyes just in time to see him walk away from her.
"Chotto matte yo, Syaoran-kun! (Wait a minute, Syaoran)"
He turned back to gave her a dazzling smile.
"So you finally figured it out?"
Her lips twitched until she couldn't help but smile, wiping away the image of the emerging fat, squat toad of a date that she so long thought he was. For a blind date, Syaoran was definitely not a disappointment.
Holding out his hand for her, she took it and was pulled into his embrace and as soon as she landed against his chest she felt as if she knew him all her life, like she was greeting a long lost old friend. And as they separated, the feeling remained to only spread to the tips of her very sore toes.
As he took out the plastic box, she took a sharp intake of breath at the beauty that had been revealed to her, he carefully opened the box for her to see the inscriptions and slipped it onto her left wrist.
After a few minutes reveling in it, she took the pin out of her purse and placed on his tux and commented that they both got the same colors and flowers.
Syaoran offered his right arm for her to take and smiled warmly, "Shall we?"
"We shall." Sakura giggled only to be interrupted by a red flashing light, "TOMOYO!!!"
"Sakura-chan! Smile like a fool again! It's so KAWAIIIIIIIII DESU!!!!"
Sakura only sweat-dropped and sailed past the camera crazed friend.
-Rock ya body mic check 1,2
Cuz it ain't a party
Til the crew run through-
"Alright Rika! Shake that booty!"
-Shake your body
Show me what you can do-
A crowd formed around Rika and Naoko as they exotically danced against each other.
-Like Ohh Ohh -Rika swayed her hips in a dip and winked at the crowd as Naoko did the same.
-Rock your body, mic check 1, 2
DJ spin the needle, rock into the groove-
No one could actually believe that two of the most 'goody' girls of Seijou High School were actually not showing any sign of embarrassment as they shamelessly danced the night away.
- Bump it louder so the crowd wanna move
Like Ohhh, Ohhh -
-&-
It was already three hours into prom as the students and classmates were dancing wildly, commenting about their dresses, or taking their prom pictures at the deserted room in the back of the ballroom.
Meanwhile, Sakura and Syaoran were fooling around, dancing silly and giggling like crazy.
"Ow, you stepped on my toe!" He grabbed his foot in pain.
Sakura gasped and apologized until she noticed a little smile splayed on his lips.
"You liar," she whispered somewhat seductively, making Syaoran's cheeks burn for an unknown reason.
She backed away, smiling, "Well if you're not going to admit it, I'll just find another person to talk to all night," but when she was not even a foot away from him, a boy accidentally pushed Sakura, only to have her fall into Syaoran's arms.
She slowly looked up to see concerned eyes burning into her emerald ones and blushed furiously in embarrassment.
Syaoran pulled Sakura back upright and immediately his concerned demeanor turned into a sneaky smirk as he stuck his tongue out at her teasingly.
"My, aren't we clumsy?"
Sakura slapped Syaoran on the arm playfully, "Shut up."
"Make me." He tilted his head slightly and chuckled.
She looked shyly at his lips for a millisecond and searched his eyes intently, "Maybe I will…"
"Meiling, look at them flirt! You're a total matchmaker." Nakuru squealed, shaking Touya's arm.
Touya glared at the idea of the Chinese gaki taking care of his sister for the night. He watched like a hawk for three hours and funnily enough, the gaki hadn't made a move on his kaijuu except flirt like a lovesick teenager.
"At least he's staying at arm's length with her…" He said grimly which made Nakuru looked at him with an opened mouth, "not that I care that is…" Touya coughed and looked away.
Meiling took one glance at Sakura's onii-chan and sniggered, "Kinomoto-san, you have such a sister-complex …"
But Touya chose to ignore her and stayed a stony silence.
Tomoyo sat bored, as she watched the couples dance and enjoy themselves.
This event was really not for her, especially when she couldn't spend it with the one she loved.
Her sigh only became more frustrated as she remembered how tenderly Eriol held Hoshi. It made her so jealous, yet she didn't want to show her weakness.
She was even so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the figure who was hidden in the shadows, observing her every move and features, sadly from afar.
His gaze affectionately rested on her sitting form, his heart was heavy with so much pain in his heart for putting her through this pain.
it was Eriol who was watching her.
How he longed for her to be by his side and be the one to sway with him in a slow dance, not Hoshi…He wanted Tomoyo and as far as he knew, he probably wouldn't get another chance with her.
Sakura, who was still talking animatedly to Syaoran, suddenly noticed the sad frown that was displayed on her best friend's face. The laughter that was evident on her face was replaced with a look of shame.
She hadn't paid much attention to Tomoyo since they entered the ship three hours ago.
The lights glinted off the ceiling and landed on a glary object, making Sakura's eyes blind to the surprising light that emerged from the ceiling onto the ground.
Her gaze finally settled to the source of the glary glass and found that it had landed on Eriol's glasses and when she saw Eriol, she smirked evilly.
'So Eriol-kun…you've finally realized your mistake? Well too bad…maybe a little jealousy is what you need to encourage yourself to confront Tomoyo-chan…hmmm.'
She was vaguely aware that Syaoran noticed her evil smile or the glint that told him that a plan was formulating in her mind.
"I'll help you, Sakura-chan…"
She shook her head and looked up at him curiously, "Nani?"
"You want to get Eriol jealous, right?" Syaoran said gleefully.
Sakura eyes widened and she nodded wanting to hear his plan.
"I'll get Daidouji-chan and you'll know the rest…" Syaoran moved slowly towards to Tomoyo, "…when I come back…"
Syaoran smiled when he came up to Tomoyo, "Daidouji-chan, you're so lonely being all alone in this corner…you don't want to be one of those people called…what was it? 'Wallflowers'?"
Tomoyo giggled, "What's your point, Li-kun?"
"It's no use stalling… want to dance?"
Tomoyo's eyes lit up as she looked beyond to where Sakura stood and saw her raise her two thumbs.
Taking Syaoran's hand, Tomoyo got up and made her way with Syaoran to Sakura.
Sakura gave Tomoyo a high five and grabbed her hand and danced around her.
"Girl, you look too good to be sitting alone, not showing everyone what you're made of!" Sakura grabbed Syaoran and Tomoyo and provoked them to dance as she danced with Kazuo, while Syaoran put his hands on Tomoyo's waist from behind dancing closely (a/n: friendly close, not physically or sexually close…just to make that clear…)
Eriol, who left his spot to be with Hoshi, looked once more at the spot where he last saw Tomoyo, and found her gone.
His eyes searched almost frantically until they landed on Syaoran who was dancing dangerously close to a girl…a girl that wasn't Sakura that is…
He gaped for a few minutes before his anger surfaced as he realized it was Tomoyo who was dancing with his cousin until switched and was replaced by Sakura.
Her musical laughter filled the noisy room, as it was evident that she was having fun. His main jealousy was the fact that she was enjoying herself in another man's arms.
Tomoyo started dancing with Takashi, who was taken by surprised and dismissed it after a while as Chiharu hooted, cheering them on.
"Something wrong, Eriol-kun?" Hoshi asked stupidly as she watched Tomoyo move against Takashi.
Eriol kept his gaze on the two of them, his blood already boiling, "Iie (no)…" and with that he walked away from the confused Hoshi.
-&-
Tomoyo giggled as she squirmed against Takashi, putting her hands on her thighs, she slowly moved her way down and back up to be grabbed by the arm and stare into dark azure flames.
Eriol's anger was evident as his eyes burned with jealousy and greed. His possessiveness of Tomoyo overwhelmed his mind and took control of his body as he moved his hands to her waist and started to dance with her and where he swore that he would never let go of her again.
Sakura and Syaoran moved in tune to the music that they were too busy concentrating on their moves to notice that a crowd was forming around them.
Sakura moved her hand to Syaoran's messy chestnut brown hair and tilted her neck to expose her skin, where he cradled his chin.
He smelled her sweet scent of cherry blossoms and honey emerging from the crook of her neck and couldn't help but lightly outline her neck with his lips, making her shudder and turn around to place her hand on his chest with curiosity brewing in her mind.
"Syao—Syaoran-kun?"
He stared intently into her eyes and then her luscious pink lips that begged to be tasted by his.
He didn't know how it happened, all he knew was that after closing his eyes for a few precious moments he felt that his lips were a breath away from Sakura's.
Syaoran noticed that Sakura was waiting for the kiss to come…until--
"I wouldn't get too cozy there…gaki (brat)"
The voice brought warning bells to Syaoran's conscious as he recognized the intruder's voice to be the overprotective onii-chan that Sakura had always had talked about.
He eventually pulled away from Sakura and found himself in a glaring contest.
Sakura's eyes flew open as she felt the warmth of Syaoran's breath leave her face to be replaced with cold wind.
She blinked a couple of times to see her 'beloved' brother and date glaring like there was no tomorrow.
"Touya! How many times do I have to tell you to stop stalking me! I'm not a little girl anymore!" she stomped her foot on his dress shoes, which made him yelp in agony.
After his display of hopping around on one foot, Touya folded his arms in front of his chest and said in a stern voice, "What do you think you were doing? What if you get rabies?"
Syaoran growled dangerously, making Touya point at him, "See? The frothing mouth says it all. For all you know, he could've swallowed your tongue in that almost kissy moment. I'm saving you from a worser fate."
Suddenly Takashi popped up from behind Syaoran.
"Did you know that Touya's lack of understanding is caused by a tumor in the brain which reacts with the way he thinks?"
Unfortunately, Chiharu was one of the people in the crowd who were listening to his prediction and had a heavy handbag on her wrist and said, "Uso (lie)"
"Uso ja nai (It's not a lie)." But Chiharu had already dragged poor defenseless Yamazaki by the ear and led him away to a private place where no one could hear their argument.
Eriol, who was on the sidelines with Tomoyo in his arms, smirked evilly at Touya and said almost seriously, "So ne wa hontou no hanashi yo (That's a true story, you know)"
"Dame (stop)" Tomoyo whispered, hitting him on the side of the head.
"Nande? (Why?)" Eriol smirked.
Tomoyo glanced at the lone figure of Hoshi and frowned, "Just because you left the 'home wrecker' doesn't mean I forgive you. You know that this pain of your betrayal to me is not going to go away that easily, right?"
His head hung low as he listened to her speak, "Hai (yeah) demo (but)…you're not going to use that against me forever, are you?"
" Mou (geez) Eriol-kun…kesshite(never)…I'm not that kind of a person."
Eriol caressed her hand in his and said softly, "Toki doki watashi wa baka (sometimes I am an idiot) …for not treating you right…"
She smiled teasingly, "Hontou ni? (Really?)"
"Hey! You're supposed to say 'no, Eriol-kun…it's not you fault' and then you kiss me," Eriol pouted as she stuck her tongue out.
"Masaka (impossible)…you'd never hear or see those actions from me in a million years. But I'll tell you what you'll be seeing. Actually…you'll be getting…if you don't disappoint me, that is…"
And with that, she gave him a sweet kiss.
The moment seemed to last like forever, dancing and conversing with friends.
But time was slipping like sand in an hourglass and it was almost time to move on from the night and to go on to better things.
The group of 14 made their way to the other end of the ship to take a group prom picture.
It was remarkably dark as they made their way quietly to the photo room.
Rumors were going around the ship that said that if you listened quietly, a little girl's giggle could be heard in one of the rooms of the ship where she had drowned and died a horrible death.
Sakura, being the one who heard of all the myths, clung on to Syaoran like glue and whimpered as they were approaching the entryway to the room where the girl could be heard.
"Syaoran-kun…" Sakura shivered slightly. She mumbled incoherent words to herself, which sounded much like a prayer.
He patted her back comfortingly, yet his teeth were bared as she dug her pointed nail into his skin.
"It's alright…calm down…now breathe…" She breathed deeply as they passed the door and a cold breeze passed through her.
She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly, shaking him hysterically, "SYAORAN-KUN!!! SHE'S COME TO GET ME CUZ I'VE BEEN A BAD LITTLE GIRL!!! IT'S BECAUSE I DIDN'T EAT MY BROCCOLLI WHEN I WAS FOUR, WASN'T IT?!?!?!"
Touya scratched his head knowingly, "Ah…so that's why my plate was always full…"
Syaoran's eyes softened and he stroked her hair lovingly, "It's nothing, but lonely spirits that can't find their way to heaven."
Sakura's eyes only widened, "THAT'S NOT HELPING ME!!!"
"ShhhHhHhhHh…I told you it's going to be okay."
For a moment her mind thought of panicking some more, but as she heard his soft-spoken words, she felt an unknown calm that cast away her fears to be filled with comfort and tenderness.
"Alright, I believe you."
"KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!" Tomoyo pointed her camera in the direction of the two couples, taping the sarcastically smiling duo.
They finally reached the room and sighed in relief, as the photographer was just finishing up a group of other people.
As they waited for the photographer to set up, Takashi took his time explaining how he came into this world…specially made…¬.¬…
"I'm special…"
Chiharu raised a brow inquiringly, "In what way, exactly?"
When he lifted his pointing finger and smiled goofily, she knew what was coming.
"I'm a limited edition prize found in a Cheerios box. My mother and father couldn't bear any children so they mailed ordered me from the cereal factory and three weeks later, I arrived by an express stork that left me naked with only a cloth on. Before the stork went, it rang the doorbell and whispered encouraging words to me. 'Sleep, #060186. Be a good boy for your new owners—I mean parents.' And then it flew away stamping me with an approval mark that said, U.S.D.A approved…meaning: United Storks Delivery Associations. Me mama and papa were so proud of me and gave me the birthday June 6, 1986."
Takashi wiped his eyes with his sleeves and said happily, "And that's how I came into this world!"
Meiling sniggered as she realized that the 'U.S.D.A approved' thing rung a bell, thinking of meat commercials that she once saw.
Syaoran and Sakura stared at each other and said to Takashi, "Poor Takashi-kun/Takashi! We never knew that test tube babies existed. You are living proof that there is hope for people who are barren."
Syaoran patted Takashi on the back and Sakura hugged him and cried on his shirt.
"USO!!! (LIE)" Chiharu held a large pan that was behind her back, waving it around making everyone around her back away.
Takashi held up his hands, "Uso janai, uso janai (it's not a lie, it's not a lie)."
"Then what are these!" She threw pictures on the table that were faced down.
He turned them up to reveal his mother in a hospital room with a baby in her arms and his father on the floor, fainted.
"Eh…" Takashi looked around to buy some time and thought of a good cover up, "My parents altered photos on the computer to make it look like I was their biological child."
Rika whispered to Naoko, "That could be possible, you know."
"Which would explain my needy behavior…" He folded his arms as if the case were closed.
"URGH!!!" Chiharu grabbed her hair in frustration, but was interrupted by the photographer.
"Um…the setting is ready, come now girls and guys, I'd like to be young when I leave this haunted ship."
Syaoran, Sakura, Takashi, a fuming Chiharu, Rika, Naoko, Nakuru, Touya, Terada-sensei, Hoshi, Kazuo, Tomoyo, and Eriol settled into backdrop and took their places.
Syaoran and Sakura lined the front, Syaoran holding on to Sakura's waist.
Tomoyo and Eriol did the same and positioned themselves next to Sakura and Syaoran.
Takashi and the reluctant Chiharu followed and went to the second row, held each other's hands and turned their heads to the camera.
Hoshi who was lost in all this, already saw Eriol with Tomoyo and looked to the ground sadly until her hands were held in Kazuo's grasp, pulling her to be back-to-back with Chiharu. She looked up in time to see, Kazuo wink at her.
Meiling grabbed Nakuru and Touya next to her on the third row and embraced them close to her in a hug that made Touya squirm uneasily.
And the back row, Rika and Naoko standing on boosters and Terada-sensei in the middle, the girls leaned an elbow on Terada-sensei and smiled brightly.
"Okay, are we ready?" the photographer said behind the lens as they nodded, "Alright, on the count of three…1…2…--"
"WAIT!," Takashi help up a hand and took out his sunglasses, "I need these, so I can be like the Terminator and look buff and handsome."
Chiharu sighed and rolled her eyes as she took his sunglasses away, "No it makes you look blind! Photographer, let's get on with this."
"Okay…1…2…--"
Takashi held up his hand again, but Chiharu slapped it down and smiled quickly just in time to have her picture taken.
"That's a wrap, people!"
All of them moved away from their positions and scattered themselves to the snack table that was located within the photo room.
When Eriol departed from Tomoyo to get a cookie, Tomoyo waited for ten minutes but he didn't come back.
She poked her head through the crowd and frowned when her gaze stopped on Eriol who was flirtatiously talking to a group of girls in the middle of the crowded room.
Finding herself vengeful once again, she spotted one of the most attractive guys on campus, and greeted him with a friendly smile.
"Why, hello Takumi-kun. Oh! Are you taking pictures? Do you mind if I join you?" Takumi shook his head vigorously at his luck to be talking to Tomoyo. He pulled her to his group and posed with her in many pictures.
Sakura watched and gaped at her best friend's bold move and laughed as a furious Eriol made his way back to see his girlfriend flirt with the jocks. The one's he knew were Tomoyo's past crushes.
She took many poses with them that she almost forgot about Eriol.
One of the photos had her arms around Takumi's neck, another where she kissed his cheek and made him blush, and another one where she hugged all his friends (all guys) and smiled wondrously.
Syaoran whispered mockingly trying to get a rise out of Eriol, "I guess your girlfriend found love in another man's arms when she saw you with those sorry excuse for girls."
"You're pushing your luck, Xiao Lang." Eriol growled under his voice.
Syaoran rocked back and forth on his heels and chuckled, "Oh, am I? Instead of paying attention to your fan club, I would be putting attention on Tomoyo. She's a sensitive girl that doesn't deserve to be ignored and manipulated by the likes of you. You make her feel insecure about your loyalty to her when you got another date within three hours of when she said that she couldn't go. How would you feel if she did the same? Put yourself in her shoes and you'll see clearer."
He walked away to leave give Eriol space and thought.
He stared at Tomoyo and thought about the horrible things he did to her.
Get a date before consulting her, scaring off Kazuo so he wouldn't take Tomoyo out to prom, make her heart bleed to death for the past two weeks, and make her wait for him for a such a long to make her feel neglected.
He suddenly felt unworthy of her because she deserved to be happy as she made him happy, but how was he to make up for those past two weeks he hung around and deserted her for Hoshi at lunch times?
Eriol's eyes focused on the ceiling and sighed thoughtfully, "I wish I could make the pain go away."
"And why is that?" Tomoyo chilled voice made his soul freeze, but he refused to look into her eyes and see the hatred etched in them.
There was a long pause as Eriol tried to sort through the problems in his relationship.
"Gomen Nasai, Tomoyo-chan. I didn't mean to hurt you for the last two weeks, but you've got to understand
. I thought your mom knew about our relationship and would allow you to go to prom, but I guess I was wrong." Only then would he allow his gaze to center on Tomoyo's, "Am I a shame to be brought upon your mother's blessings? What is it about me that you're not satisfied with?"
Tomoyo closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them.
"Eriol-kun …you're not the disappointment and neither am I. Don't you see how our relationship works? It's like a bridge in troubled water, it's stable but it might fall on you any second. Our love is only hanging on by a string and it's because we love each other so much…it only hurts us in the end. It's our jealously that pulls us apart."
Eriol furrowed his eyebrows, trying to comprehend her words, "What are you trying to say, Tomoyo-chan."
"What I'm saying is…maybe we're not meant for each other." Tomoyo looked away when he cursed silently.
"I know that it's for the best, just know that. Maybe we'll grow to be trusting in time," With that, she gave him one last peck on the cheek, but when she tried to pull away he held her firmly in his arms and moved her lips to his, giving a kiss filled with love and tenderness.
He pulled away only to say, "I won't give up on you, not that easily. I love you and if it means spending my whole life trying to prove that to you, I'll just take that chance."
Tomoyo's eyes slowly filled with tears as she put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him once more.
Ten Minutes Later
Syaoran, who was standing near the punch bowls, fell over Takashi who was cleaning up the mess on the beverage table and tripped him.
The janitor's closet opened for Syaoran to fall in and Takashi, who realized who fell over him, ran after him too see if he was alright, but he stood frozen after he turned on the lights.
Instead of a shorthaired handsome amber eyed man. There sat in a heap, a chestnut haired girl in an elegant gown of green and amber eyes stood before him.
"I-It's you!" Takashi said, breathing heavily.
For some unknown reason, the janitor like to keep a collection of wigs, a wardrobe of fancy dresses and yes…you guessed it, it so happened that a chestnut haired wig appeared on Syaoran's head. Sadly to say…the janitor was a drag queen…
"Oh course it's me, you dumb---" Syaoran said, struggling to get up.
Takashi faintly whispered, "You came back…you're my amber eyed goddess…"
"What are you talking about, Takashi?" Syaoran replied as he put his hands on his hips.
Tears of joy spurted through Yamazaki's eyes as he neared the 'female' Syaoran, "You're here…"
Syaoran backed up into a mirror and stared at the stranger in front of him. He lifted his finger to his hair and the girl did the same. He smiled, and the girl smiled too… Then he realized that it was him, and not a girl in the reflection.
He put Takashi's strange behavior and the reflection together, only to find the horrible truth…HE WAS A FEMALE ONCE AGAIN!!!!
"ARGH!!!!" Syaoran ran off, not bothering to take off the wig and dress.
Yamazaki floated out of the closet and followed Syaoran, loyally, with his hands on his heart, "Come back, Sugar Plum."
Sakura looked up to see a chestnut haired girl speed past her and Takashi holding his heart, fondly.
Syaoran threw countless chairs to the strangely floating boy who sailed past them as if he were a ghost.
Passing through a couple of tables, Chiharu recognized the girl who had her Yamazaki in a trancelike state and gripped her plastic cup in her fist.
"Chi-chan?" Nakuru squeaked, seeing the cup suffer in Chiharu's deathly grip.
"WHAT!?!?"
Nakuru put her hands up in surrender as she stuttered, "N-nothing!"
But Chiharu didn't hear Nakuru's response as she thought, 'That amber eyed girl did not just come to my prom….to steal my squinty-eyed, bubble butt, liar of a boyfriend…he's mine!!!'
She snapped out of her reverie and started to feel threatened for that woman had far better legs than she did, though she recalled, that the girl was wearing pants under her dress.
'Wait! Why is that woman wearing pants???'
But a new and horrifying thought crossed her mind, ' What if Yamazaki-kun is going to ditch me to go off with that bimbo of a woman!!! –gasp- Oh no! I can imagine it now!' Chiharu gasped in revulsion as she pictured it in her mind. 'He's gonna have a picnic under the stars and lay in the grass with her!!!! TT.TT –sob- GRASPING HER AND TOUCHING HER LEGS!!! OOOOOoOooh NO! MY PRECIOUS BUBBLE-BUTT!!! I CANNOT LOSE HIM! I WILL NOT LOSE HIM!!!'
She paced for a few seconds, until an answer reached her troubled mind, "AHA! –whisper- Seducing the mindless…I've read it in a book one time…what did they say?"
Chiharu squinted her eyes as a memory emerged, "Step one…sashay over to him like you're somebody…"
She looked around to see where Yamazaki was located but only to find him chasing the 'homewrecker', who was yelling her head off.
'Kuso (damn) they didn't say anything about running after him. Okay, okay…skip to step two…'
"Step Two…caress his cheek."
She opened her mouth in protest, 'How can I do that when he's still running?'
"…Step 20…hold his hand…"
Chiharu rolled her eyes and dismissed the other steps "Forget this! I'll just run over to him and kiss him senseless…it seems to work that way in the end!"
So stormed off, leaving a memory behind."…Step 42…kiss him senseless…"
The D.J. announced on the speakers, "Aiite peepz, diz be the last slow dance 'o da year, ya hurd! Enjoy it as a gift from yo' boi, DJ Re-fLeCkz, fo' da class of '04."
-It's undeniable that we should be together
It's unbelievable how I used to say that I'd fall never-
The slow dance had just begun as couples united on the dance floor and shared the last dance of the school year.
Sakura looked up slowly to find Syaoran but he was nowhere to be found.
-The basis is need to know, if you don't know just how I feel
Then let me show you now that I'm for real-
She surveyed the premises to spot Takashi chasing a girl she knew who wasn't Chiharu, but looked oddly familiar, Tomoyo and Eriol were hugging and swaying to the music, and Nakuru who was dragging her Touya to share the last dance.
-If all things in time, time will reveal-
Her gazed wavered, remembering that the end of her four years in high school were almost up and she had no one to share her last dance with. Syaoran was gone and it seemed like everyone had his or her somebody while she seemed to always be left out on."
-One, you're like a dream come true
Two, just wanna be with you-
Suddenly, she was grabbed into a surprising warm embrace that only she knew who it was by the beating of her heart as it did somersaults.
A few minutes earlier, Syaoran frantically threw off his wig and shoved the dress off of his body.
He couldn't take the crazy things that Takashi was saying to him.
Words like, "Oh baby, you know you turn me on…-seductive growl-"
Or the, "Just shoot me baby, cuz you know you looking foine."
And especially when Takashi fluttered his eyes innocently and said, "Ouch! Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
Syaoran sweated just thinking about the countless minutes he wasted running from Takashi.
He looked behind him to see a disappointed Takashi sobbing by the abandoned wig and dress.
"WHY?!??!!?" Mock tears fell down to the ground as he grabbed to wig and started to sob into it, "WHY?!?!?!?"
Syaoran beadily stared at Takashi's shaking form and sweatdropped.
Takashi pointed dramatically at Syaoran, "And you! Mhff--"
-Three, girl it's plain to see
That you're the only one for me-
Chiharu silenced his ranting and gave him a lingering kiss, passionate enough to make a ranting man go breathless.
Syaoran took this chance to get away.
He found Sakura holding her arms, as if she were cold.
-And four, repeat steps one through three
Five, make you fall in love with me-
She looked so vulnerable, so weak, and yet alone without anyone to protect her from the happy dancing couples.
Silently, he came from behind her and embraced her.
She turned around slowly.
-If ever I believe my work is doneThen I'll start back at one-
When she did, the sadness lurked away, revealing eyes that lit up to reflect emerald gems.
Her smile only made her more beautiful, making Syaoran go speechless.
-So incredible, the way things work themselves out
all emotional once you know what it's all about-
When he regained his ability to speak, he held out his right hand and bowed like a gentleman.
"May I have the last dance?"
A slight blush crept to Sakura's face and a smile threatened to come but she held back, "No…"
-And undesirable for us to be apart
I never would have made it very far-
He dropped his hand to the side, his eyes showed confusion to her answer until he heard the next words that she spoke.
"…HAHAHAHAHHAAH!!! Of course silly! I've been waiting for you to ask!" Her arms flung around his neck in a heart felt hug.
Chiharu and Takashi were near by, dancing silently as he had a look of longing in his eyes for, at that time, when he looked at Syaoran, he knew that underneath all that manly clothes, looks, and tux, was all woman.
Chiharu had a look of content on her face and saw the look of longing that was shot at her (she thought he gave her that 'look') and cradled her head on his chest, smiling good-naturedly for the first time this evening.
-Cause you know you've got the keys to my heart-
Everyone was happy as the prom came to an end as the music faded into the night.
Part IV: In the End of The Night
Tomoyo & Eriol
It was thirty-to-midnight when Terada-sensei dropped Tomoyo and Eriol at the Daidouji Mansion. They laughed crazily at how these past two weeks of bickering, made their relationship grow stronger than it would've been.
-One, you're like a dream come true-
A thought crossed Tomoyo's mind, "Oh hey…what happened to Hoshi?"
"You don't want to know…" Eriol smirked, knowingly.
She giggled and looked into his eyes and they made their way to the mansion doorsteps, "Oh yes I do."
-Two, just wanna be with you-
"If you must…" Eriol sighed and chuckled, "Kazuo-kun and Hoshi-chan really hit it off at prom. So he took her home."
Tomoyo gave an inquiring brow, "And how do we know that they hit it off?"
He shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, "Simple…I caught them making out in the van."
Tomoyo's eyes widened, "Wow…I never knew he had it in him."
-Three, girl it's plain to see-
Eriol shivered at the thought, "Me neither."
"What happened with Meiling, then?" Tomoyo said worriedly.
Eriol rolled his eyes and suppressed a laugh, "Well she was pleasantly surprised since he was the first to ditch her. Actually she was relieved…that he did what he did since she was tired with all the dating around and her not finding Mr. Right. Let's just say that, she'll live."
They reached the door and let go of their linked hands.
-That you're the only one for me-
"Well. Tomoyo-chan, it has been a great evening with you."
-And four, repeat steps one through three-
Tomoyo smiled and dragged her finger from his chest, down to his stomach, "How are you going home, then?"
"I'll manage."
She mock pouted and said slyly, "And here I thought you'd sneak through my window from that tree and stay up all night with me."
He pinned her against the mansion doors and watch her eyes twinkle like the stars, "You tempt me, but I have to resist."
She whispered as his face closed up on her, "Oh well, just a thought…" and he took her lips with his.
Out of the blue, the door opened, making the two fall through the doors to see Sonomi staring beadily at them.
-Five, make you fall in love with me-Eriol picked himself up, helped Tomoyo on her feet, brushed himself off and swept into a formal bow.
"It's a pleasure to meet such a wonderful lady like yourself, Daidouji-san," He gave Tomoyo a quick wink as he saw the horror that was evident in her eyes and gave a look of disbelief, "And this might be your sister, right Tomoyo-chan?"
Sonomi blushed when he took her hand and kissed her knuckles and suddenly took a liking to this blue haired boy.
-If ever I believe my work is done..-
"Onmae wa desu ka? (What is your name?)"
Eriol smiled charmingly and replied politely, "Watashi wa Hiiragizawa Eriol desu."
"And who are you to my daughter?"
He smirked in Tomoyo's direction before answering, "Hopefully her lifetime partner in life."
Sonomi shrugged as if it were nothing and motioned him to go to the dining room for some midnight snacks.
When Eriol was out of earshot, Sonomi whispered to Tomoyo, "He's a great catch…keep him."
-then I started back at one-
Tomoyo's face was dumbfounded as she vaguely made her way to the dining room, her cheeks burning like flames.
Tonight was definitely one night she wouldn't forget for a long time.
Syaoran and Sakura
"Syaoran-kun, your garden is so beautiful." Sakura danced along the pathway, which was covered with cherry blossoms from the Sakura trees that were in full bloom.
-Say farewell to the dark of night
I see the coming of the sun-
He walked along the path with her, his eyes only trained on her.
Throughout the night, he had watched as every kind of emotion, twinkle, and smile passed her face. He felt by watching her, that he knew her in every single way, yet he was surprised at times where he least expected.
He would think he had her figured out and in spite of it all she somehow proved him wrong. She was a special person, beautiful inside and out.
He knew every sparkle in her eyes, the curves on her face, the warmth that her hug brought within his lonely heart, and the feeling of great emotion that he never felt before.
-I feel like a little child
Whose life has just begun-
Sakura bent down to smell one of many flowers in the garden and sighed blissfully as of the scent made her in peace with the world.
-You threw out the lifeline just in the nick of time-
And as she did that, she was not aware that with every second and every emotion that flew into the open, Syaoran was falling deeper into a love he never knew existed, making him change for the better.
-One, you're like a dream come true
Two, just wanna be with you-
To the eyes of those who knew him, they noticed that he became more affectionate and less cold to the people around him ever since he started sharing his feelings and interests with Sakura to confide in phone calls and know that she would be there.
-Three, girl it's plain to see
That you're the only one for me-
The moon reflected on the garden, making Sakura glow innocently to the light.
He made his way slowly to Sakura and bent down next to her.
A rustle in the grass made her pause from touching the soft petals of each flower.
Gently, Syaoran tilted Sakura's chin to his face level and whispered to her softly as if it were a secret only she can know.
-And four, repeat steps one through threeFive, make you fall in love with me-
"Sakura, you have changed my mind that love can stay alive in a person's heart even when they thought that it couldn't found in this world. Thank you for all showing me how to live again. Thank you for teaching me how to worry, enjoy life, giving me a chance to grow on you. But most of all, I thank you for showing the love of friendship you have bestowed upon me."
-If ever I believe my work is done-
Sakura's eyes sparkled with flattery and tears as he slowly closed in for a kiss, skimming her lips softly, he plundered her pink lips with his soft lips.
They pulled away and stared at each other's eyes, searching for some kind of protest, but found none and once again kissed under the stars and the moonlight.
-Then I'll start back at one ...-
Prom Gown- $425
Tuxedo- $350
Prom Tickets- $127
Corsage- $78
Professional Prom pictures-$45
Cell Phone Bill w/ Mobile-to-Mobile calling- $32
A pack of 8 rolls of film: $18
A pack of gum- $1
Falling in Love and also through Doors- Priceless
A/N: Was this worth the wait?! I mean, 30 friggin' pages!!! That says some thing right??? Tell me how ya feel about the ending and then I'll post the epilogue… coming in prolly…iono…soon. REVIEW if ya care about this fic!!!
-Baiz,
maixwolfblossom
V Clickie the purple button V (make sure it says 'Submit Review') tehee
