Ohayou minna-san ! I'm here to annoy you my endless chatter again !!!! To my reviewers : I think I currently AM developing a serious case of narcissism... It's going to be sooo terrible... as I truthfully don't have a thing to be proud of !!!!!! I actually have to pray I won't fail you !!! :) Thank you for all the courage and confidence you gave me !!!!!!!!!

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Thanks

Feathers1 - Thank you so much for sticking to my story !!!!!! It seems that my last chapter was too boring for my other three first reviewers... I'm really glad my tip concerning formatting was useful to you, and that the time I passed formatting my own story wasn't wasted... I didn't know if the formatting also showed on other computers or not, I never knew how this site functions before writing my fanfic '-';... Me, a mentor ?????!!!!!! Wow, I think you are overestimating me... I am not that great :' )
P.-S. Don't ever say " I wish I could write like that" again, please. Your style is different from mine, but that's only normal ! We are all unique and special in our own way !!! My specialities are impulsive writing ( due to my weird mind ), and floral language ( sorry if I am sounding boastful ) So, if you really like my story, please promise me one thing : don't try to imitate others just because you think they are great. You are a good author too, and you must try to succeed by improving your own style, not imitating others. I must sound a little bossy, but this is a just a friendly advice, as I like to express freely my thoughts, prefer telling the truth about them. Good luck and update soon !!

sakura-star2 - Thanks, thanks, thanks, and yes, you did flatter me a LOT :' ) Good luck for your fanfic ( even more luck if it is on hiatus ! ) and your future best-selling novel !!!!! ; ) You know, launching directly into the story might be done on purpose, that's a style of writing I use sometimes... But only when the following paragraphs explain fully the situation ! That's why I didn't use it for "The colour of cheerfulness", I wasn't sure if I would be able to update fast enough... I didn't want readers puzzled and ignoring the continuation of my fic just because I didn't write enough explanations : ) I am not talented enough to have many readers sticking to my story, so I couldn't afford that risk. I read the first two chapters of Wish-Chan's fic. You are right to say it is really well written, but my writing really can't compare to that !!!!! I don't even use English fluently ( two years of lessons in a French school ) !!!!!!! I will have to work very hard in order to reach a level somewhat near to hers !!

Animekid9 - Thanks a great deal for the praising, and for the update, I hope that was fast enough ! But don't ever say " I wish I could write like you" again, please. I read your CCS story, and so far I found it wonderful ! Much luck, and update soon !!!!

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Anyways here comes the second chapter !!!! If you didn't like the previous one, I seriously doubt you will prefer this one '- Focus on Tomoyo, inner point of view !

Disclaimer : Card Captor Sakura belongs to Clamp, Kodansha. I don't have any right over the original creation.

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Symbols used in order of appearance

Plants

- salvia ( flowers : purple, blue ) - I think of you
- hydrangea ( flowers : depending on the acidity of the ground, may be purple, blue, pink or white ) - thank you for understanding
- iris ( flowers : purplish blue, yellow, white ) - good news
- purple hyacinth ( flowers : -hyacinth in general- purple, blue, pink, yellow or white ) - sorrow
- heather ( flowers : lavender, white ) - loneliness
- anemone ( flowers : mauve, dark fuchsia, white ) - desertion, sadness
- sweet pea ( flowers : mauve, pink ) - goodbye, departure, thank you for a lovely time
- wisteria ( flowers : pale violet ) - complete trust
- forget-me-not ( flowers : purple, blue ) - don't forget me
- delphinium ( flowers : blue, purple, pink or white ) - nostalgic love
- periwinkle ( flowers : purple, blue ) - modesty, fidelity in friendship
- dandelion ( flowers : golden yellow ; seeds : transported by the wind, brown with a feathery whit egret ) - wishes come true

Note. I read a lot of fanfiction based on CCS. In most of them, some adjectives keep coming back, for example concerning the characters eye-colour ( amber, emerald, amethyst and sapphire ). I didn't like that. Don't get me wrong if you use them frequently : those terms are indeed poetic and well chosen, but as more and more fics use them, I think they are becoming a sort of CCS fic clichés... So, when I started writing this fanfiction, I promised myself that I won't use these words, and if I have to, it will be as rarely as possible. As Tomoyo's gemstone and colour, I will keep the amethyst, but I will use its other name : the oriental sapphire. I think it suits her well ( sorry if you don't feel the same )... September's birthstone ( Tomoyo's ) is sapphire, but all colours in sapphire : that includes blue, purple, aqua, white and even pink. It symbolizes peace of mind. Amethyst's meaning is sincerity.

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I will always like the heights of summer. Perhaps because it is the season of vacations. Every year, at the beginning of July, mother would be less busy with her work and have some time to keep me company. Summer... The time when hydrangea shrubs start to bloom, when late hyacinths and heather start to wither... To me, the season of heartfelt happiness, portended by irises, bringers of happy news.

July passes quickly, always too quickly, and soon comes August with its anemones of porphyry, though it still is summer, mother's work can't wait anymore. The morning she has to leave me alone with my bodyguards again, I would always wake up early and, as she still lays in Morpheus' embrace, put on her nightstand a bouquet of fragrant flowers : sweet peas, wisterias, and forget-me-nots... That's how I told her what I wouldn't be able to say without crying : "Good bye, thank you for that marvellous time, I trust you to not forget me..."

The shade of loneliness - Chapter II : Solitary salvias

Mother has always been my only family. I don't have any memories of my father, which is quite normal since I never knew him. I don't even know his name... My time with mother is too precious to waste by asking her questions about the past, besides, having her with me is wonderful enough to make me the happiest child in the world. One would ask : why ? Because she is my mother. I can't explain that. The bond we share was even more strengthened by the absence of a father, an absence that I don't really feel : I never knew what was a father.

Our flawless joy lasted until my fifth birthday. The toy designing company mother had founded two months ago started to get bigger and bigger, a total success. I was happy for her : why wouldn't I be ? Because little by little, so slowly that neither of us noticed, mother was more and more taken by her work, having less and less precious moments to share with me. But I didn't know it at that time. When it dawned on me, all I could do was cry myself to sleep at night, when she wasn't there, because I didn't want to ruin her career by a childish behaviour. However, no matter how busy she was, she cared for me, and always managed to stop working two whole weeks per year, in July, just to stay with me. I was grateful for that, but I still missed her terribly during the whole year, going each day in the my garden, waiting impatiently for the delphiniums to bloom them wither, waiting for my mother to come back, for she was my world...

When I was eight, my life seemed to lighten again, thanks to the arrival of my cousin and soon best friend, Sakura Kinomoto. She always found the way to cheer me up with her innocent, energetic and caring nature, lifting my spirits, driving away my gloomy loneliness. The following years, I smiled wholeheartedly again. Mother was reassured that I finally met such a great friend, and could at last stop worrying permanently about me, knowing that I had Sakura-chan, Touya-niichan and Fujitaka-san to take care of me. She liked Sakura as much as I did, and I got to experience the carefree joy of living granted to young children. When she came back in July, she would bring twice as much presents, half for me and half for Sakura, exactly the same, except for the colour, mine violet and Sakura's candy pink. Those times, to me, felt utterly like a preview of heaven. When she left, it would still be sad, but she always left me something in our "secret garden", the place where I and Sakura planted a patch of periwinkles to swear eternal friendship...

But such fantastic periods were bound to end someday, and today, on my fifteen's birthday, those seven years of dreams, promises and friendship shattered like a delicate soap bubble. I was going overseas to study, whereas Sakura would stay here, the land of our childhood, that held so many of our memories, where we dreamt of a field of dandelions under a starry sky, seeds carried by a gentle zephyr, white, feathery egrets making them look like snowflakes that chose the wrong season to fall, flying away towards a distant destination, surrounded by an atmosphere of sparkling happiness...
My plane leaves tomorrow at ten in the morning, my suitcases already packed by our numerous maids. At least this time, mother stayed with us till my birthday, the third day of September, to let me enjoy as much as possible my last months in our homeland...

I wake up as sunlight shines onto my face through the crimson curtains... I feel like I just have to go to our "secret garden", like something is calling me there. Maybe I just want to see it one last time... I run through the still empty corridors, down the marble stairs, out in the fresh air of the morning, across the gardens, not even glancing at the beauty of colourful flower beds, towards our place, our favourite place, the small plot of land where we sowed the seeds of our friendship, where, each year on that fateful day, mother left me tokens of her love...
No one is there, I must have been wrong : I came here because I know I will miss this place, because I want to engrave this scenery in my mind, keep it in the a locked drawer hidden in my heart, along with the memories I cherish the most... Blue and purple flowers, all blooming, telling the story of years filled with motherly love and true friendship but also the tale of eras of solitude... As I lower my eyes, the mysterious hue of the purest oriental sapphires meets the tint of bittersweet remembrance... I gasp. Those weren't there yesterday when I came with mother and Sakura ! A lone teardrop glides its way down my cheek, pale from the long time spent studying in the library, as a golden leaf gets caught in my long obsidian coloured hair. I bend down to pick a flower from each of the two groups of newly planted flowering stalks, carefully holding them to my heart before running back to the mansion, a small but genuine smile gracing my lips...

They won't forget me...

...Each year, on that day, she would always buy a pot of sage and plant it herself in our "secret garden" behind the ginko trees, saying that it would stay with me for her during the time she would be gone. I treasured those indigo flowers more than anything, because they were a proof of my mothers love for me.
Because she always chose the salvia patens, the species that carried this special message in the morning dew on its fragile petals, those words that kept soothing me during all those years : "I think of you".

But this year, these flowers are even more precious, as I know the two persons whom I cherish the most in this world will keep thinking of me...

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Those gifts made my heart lighter as I said goodbye to this place, planning to be back soon, but I still want to cry, long to hear mother's voice and see Sakura's cheerful smile. I drift slowly to sleep as the plane takes off... To regain consciousness an hour later, after a strange dream...But something about it kept nagging me, a weird feeling, a feeling that it wasn't just a dream... It wasn't special in any way, there was just a voice speaking to me, calling me... A voice I never heard before, neither masculine nor feminine, holding the wisdom of the ancient ones, but also the innocence of a newborn child. It asked me :

"Do you believe in the existence of hope ?"

"I..."

I would have said "yes", if I didn't think of those wishes I made with Sakura, those dreams of a field where bloom golden dandelions...
What was so strange about that simple question ? The fact that I didn't know how to answer...

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Done !!!! 23:16, not too bad for once... I'm crazy, I know : ) Next chapter : Eriol !!!!! I hope you liked this chapter ! Same line again : please tell me what you thought of it ! I won't force anyone to review by refusing to update, well, I know it wouldn't affect a lot of readers '-'; but I want to decide as soon as possible if I will continue writing fanfiction after this one. Then I would be able to fully concentrate on this... This update was really the fastest I could do !

Ja ne !

Lazuline Violet