Ohayou minna-san ! Tadaimaaaaaaaa !!!!!! Gomen nasai, perdon, lo siento, dui bu qi, pardon, ignoscas quaeso : in a word : SORRY !!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, I've started school two weeks ago now... But I just can't seem to find enough time to write !!!!! And I am still that repetitive and unstoppable chatterbox ! Phew, it was hard to stay a whole month without reading or writing fanfiction... And my father only lent me his computer a few minutes to check my e-mails sometimes... Bah, anyway, I'm back and I started typing out this chapter as soon as I finished unpacking. I kept writing ( I used up a LOT of paper and ink ) but I still have to type the chapters out and use some spell-check programs... Sorry for the long wait and thank you for reading - !!!!

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Thanks

Feathers1 - Thank you, thank you and thank you !!!!!! And don't even know how to put it now... But I really am happy to see that you liked my story so far. Thanks for reviewing and thanks for your e-mail. I did enjoy my vacations a lot and hope it was the same for you : ) Err, in fact, French isn't my mother tongue either : it's Chinese. But somehow, as I am in a French establishment and home-schooled by a tutor for concerning Chinese, I ended up using French more fluently than Chinese... Well it doesn't show orally, but I write and read French more easily than Chinese ( or English... ). I am a bit ashamed of that :'p Wahh, sorry for babbling again... Anyways THANKS A LOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :' )

OrchidBlossom - I'm so sorry to have disturbed you !!!!! Really, you didn't have to review : I said I didn't want to bother people if they can't stand my writing... My apologies. Thanks for reading even if you didn't like it ! You asked me why I wanted your advice, well I ask anyone who deigns giving me theirs because I want to improve my style. I liked yours, mostly concerning the knowledge concerning antique Roman culture, so I asked what you would think of my "work". I am waiting impatiently to read another chapter of your story !! : )

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About this chapter : I didn't write whole chapters during my stay in France, I mostly scribbled notes and gather documents. Documents for my drawings : I needed photographs of the plants I mentioned to draw them precisely. I bought a French book in which I found high-quality colour photographs ( "1000 plantes de A a Z" by Anita and Anne Pereire ), so a part of the pictures will be drawn according to these images. I precise this in case someone accuses me of plagiarism, which isn't very likely since I will draw manga from photographs. But I don't want to take any risk. On with the story !

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

- dahlia ( flowers : orange, white, dark red, yellow, purple ) - novelty
- yew ( foliage : evergreen, crimson berries ) - sadness
- cinquefoil ( flowers : white with very pale green, coral, red or golden yellow ) -beloved daughter
- syringa ( - a variety of lilac - flowers : white, violet ) - fraternal regard
- salvia ( flowers : purple, blue ) - I think of you
- autumn heleniums ( flowers : deep crimson ) - tears

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So this is the place I will be for now. It is known to be very hard to get in and very expensive, but a lot of people try to, because it is also the best one here. I don't know if I will be able to make it ; but I have to. High gates of gilt metal opened, a white sand path leading to a castle-like building with ogive shaped windows. Magnificent gardens surround the construction. I hope I will pass the entering examinations... Somehow, as I step pass this portal, onto the white-sanded pathway, they will close after me, locking out the memories of my life till now... This is the place that will allow me to make my dreams come true and maybe free myself from the shadow hanging over my heart and my soul, rekindle the small sparkle that once shone bright as the sun in rainbow coloured memories, far, far away in my now lost childhood... But everything that is worth acquiring has an equal price, and mine will be to stay caged in this prison of gold and crystal, far from everything I knew, and start a new life, my ancient one being the one I will breathe into my wishes... I still can't completely admit that, since my arrival here has been decided so suddenly, but I will have to get used to this idea...

A step, a single step to cross this threshold, and this will be my pact and my price, for a chance to accomplish what I've always wanted...

The tint of hope - Chapter V : Twilight dahlias

'You called for me, Elders.' The voice was emotionless, but not as cold as those used to reply.

'Yes, Xiao Lang. It is time for you to complete the last part of your training.'

'The last part of my training ?' The tone seemed somewhat surprised.

'We didn't tell you about it until now. We made sure you learnt everything we could teach you, but there is something you need to learn by yourself. '

'We subscribed you at the Constellation Academy. It is a boarding school, so you will be coming back here only on holidays. Your cousin Meiling goes there, so you can ask her if there are things you aren't familiar with there.'

'You may go.' Before he could show his surprise, the sentence fell, sharp as a knife, cutting off all possible questions or protests.

'...Yes, Elders.' Mind filled with perplexity, he left the room, closed the door, and his light footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, slowly fading away. He didn't suspect the least that a worry-filled discussion started in the room he just exited from, as soon as his steps took him far enough...

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'TOMOYO-chaaaaan !!!!!!!!!!' Filled with emergency, the voice cried out, coming closer as a running figure approached.

'I'm here !' Standing up as she heard her cousin's call, she stopped her contemplation of a young yew shrub that sprouted in the garden a few months ago.

Panting, Sakura Kinomoto asked between sharp intakes of breath : 'Is it true ? Are you really going to "Aetheris artes" ?'

'...Yes'

A silence, not longer than one or two seconds, a moment of pure astonishment, soon hidden behind a fake smile and exuberant joy.

'I'm so happy for you ! Sonomi-san said that the school agreed to let you try entering. It is said that only the elite can have that possibility ! You're going to the best fine arts school of Europe !'

She knew there was indeed a part of happiness, but she saw right away the overwhelming grief in her best friend's eyes : her eyes always betrayed her white lies. She still pretended she didn't notice it, as she also knew she didn't want her to, and smiled, too. Unlike her, Sakura, was so innocent that she always believed what was told to her.

But as they hugged each other their masks fell ; and unknown to the other, their eyes became shinier than usual and glassy tears fell down to the damp soil, disappearing...

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'Eriol. Have you chosen yet ?'

Seated on the armchair, he was reading all the suggestion letters from different schools, set in a neat pile on the coffee table before him.

'Sorry, Akizuki-san. But I can't make up my mind...'

'First, you don't have to be sorry. Second, if you can't choose, then I'll choose for you : anyway, you've got letters from the best of the best in whole Europe. Third, I told you to call me NA-KU-RU !!!!!!!!!'

'Ah... I'm sorry.'

'DON'T BE SORRY ALL THE TIME !!!!!!!!!!'

'I'm...' He didn't continue : he was going to apologise again. She burst out laughing.

'Bah, I'll decide for you ! If you can't choose by thinking, then don't !' With that, she closed her eyes and picked a letter from the pile, making the rest of the pile fall on the ground in the process. 'Oops.'

She then opened her eyes and whistled.

'I didn't know you also got one from "Aetheris" ! There's no reason to not try there, with your talent, you will surely be accepted. And it isn't very from Aylesbury, so you can come back here easily for week-ends and vacations ! It's settled then ! We're going there by the first train tomorrow ! I'll go book the tickets !" She was skipping away filled with energy.

'Oi, A- Nakuru-neesan, the classes start in two months..."

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'You didn't have to pack so quickly, you still some time.'

'Daijoubu desu. Being me, I would surely remember something I forgot five minutes before leaving.' That implied being the one she used to be. With a forced smile, she closed her suitcase.

'Don't work too hard, remember to send your bills here, don't only eat instant noodles, phone when you have time to...'

'...Don't forget to lock your door, don't forget the laundry... It's the twenty-third time in a week, otou-san, I know. Thanks for caring so much.' The first genuine smile in a month graced her features. During this month, she'd become paler, thinner, etiolated. 'Ah, what did I say about forgetting something' She rushed up the stairs.

'I'm sorry, Sakura...' He murmured, watching her running, thinking she couldn't hear. Regretfully spoken, sincerely meant.

She came back down a few minutes later, with a book. He raised an eyebrow, surprised since she'd already read that book at least thirty times, but didn't question her on it. A car honk. 'Sonomi-san ! Domo arigatou for taking me to the airport.' She had opened the window to greet the newcomer.

'Iie, it's nothing. Can we go ?'

'Yes, I'll take my things out.'

As she opened the door to go, she turned round a last time to look at all she was leaving behind her. 'Otou-san ?'

'Yes ?'

'You don't have to be.' Regretfully spoken, sincerely meant. She ran to the car.

As he closed the door when the car couldn't¡¯t be seen anymore, he noticed something on the floor, fallen from his daughter's book, and tears came in his weary eyes. He took it carefully and went away in the house, with a lump in his throat.

In his hand, a few dried petals of pale cinquefoil, fluffy syringa and purplish salvias...

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Are ? There is someone else trying to get in today ? I thought they only accepted one audition per day... It must be a very talented person, which I am not, but looking really stressed, which I must do myself... So, silently, I wish for luck for myself as well as for that other person... Ah, I have to go for the examinations...

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I can't sleep... Something, something is calling me out there... What is it ? No sound, no light, just a lingering feeling... Warmth ? I get up and put on a jacket ; it must be cold outside. My steps are silent when I walk in the empty passages, enlightened only by the moonlight... I don't know where I am going, but I somehow do, my pace isn't hesitant. Doors, corridors, stairs... I hear something. Music ? At this hour of the night ? Dolce, adagio, pianissimo... A light, soft melody, the colour of autumn heleniums...

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In the now silent room, the conversation restarted. Or rather, one of them spoke.

'As the Card Mistress will also be one of the messengers of hope, she should never lose this feeling. Among the four of them, she will be the one who relies the most on it to live, so she will also be the one who suffers the most when she is about to renounce. When she does, the Cards will feel it ; and if she loses it, they will break free, because her hope is what keeps the equilibrium between their spirits. Only another messenger can remedy that, but they may not succeed, as there will be a time when all four candles are about to die out... It ends the same way as the one he formulated for the Cards : I hope that time never comes...'

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Gomen, gomen... I really don't have the time to type more and I don't want to wait till next week to publish this chapter. Same line again : please tell me what you thought of it !

Ja ne !

Lazuline Violet