My reviews were rather funny, no offense to you guys, I love you all! Everyone was like 'Finally! Syaoran and Sakura meet each other!' I would've said the same thing if I were reading this story. I'm really sorry for holding it out so long, but technically, Syaoran already met Sakura, in a way. He saw her and knows about her. But I guess it's not the same. Kisses to all of you who reviewed, and so quickly too! Love you guys!
I'm so proud of myself tear, I updated so quickly this time (well, actually I had most of this chapter done, so…hehe, yeah). But anyway, you guys didn't need to know that!!
On with the story! Enjoy!
The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games
By: Sakuratenshi89
Chapter Nine
The Gladiatorial Institute of Rome, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D.
'Those eyes are so cold, yet so warm and passionate at the same time,' Sakura thought dazedly. 'They're like nothing I've ever seen before. Amber, nobody I knew had amber eyes. They're so beautiful, like jewels.'
Syaoran too, was unable to move, he gazed into her emerald orbs. 'Her eyes are so beautiful, no wonder everyone falls in love with her. They all drown in her eyes, sort of like I am right now.'
"Sakura are you all right?" Paul asked worriedly as he finally reached his fiancée's side, obliviously breaking the spell that had been placed upon Sakura and her rescuer.
"Be careful next time," muttered Syaoran lowly so no one but Sakura could hear.
Sakura nodded almost imperceptibly.
Syaoran immediately released Sakura from his arms when Paul arrived, letting the prince take care of his own fiancée.
The girl stood up shakily with Paul's help after the amber-eyed man (in her point of view) had released her into Paul's arms. "I'm fine honestly. There's really no need to worry Paul."
She turned to Syaoran who had been watching silently. "Thank you…uh…"
"This is Syaoran Li," introduced Gaius proudly, "He is my newest recruit, you know Paul, the one I was just speaking of. He came all the way from China. He has not even been here a full week yet and he has already beaten over half of my students. And let me tell you something, my students do not lose easily. It takes great skill to beat any single one of my students. Very talented too, speaks many languages, I got him for a good price."
"I'm very impressed," Paul said genuinely as he stood up and held his hand out. "From China huh?"
Syaoran nodded.
"Were you one of those captives?" blurted Sakura in Chinese.
"Forgive my fiancée, she tends to just speak her mind," laughed Paul, also speaking in Chinese, hoping Sakura didn't offend the gladiator-in-training in some sort of way, for he was interested in this man and his talents.
"It's fine, Your Majesty," replied Syaoran in Latin quietly, but with no emotion. "And to answer your question, yes, I was one of those captives."
'His voice is so rich, not at all sounding like a slave's voice. He knows Latin too, he's very educated. He must have been from a rich family. I wonder if they miss him at all? What am I thinking? Of course they'd have to miss him, he's a member of their family, probably the heir,' thought Sakura as she looked him over. 'He carries himself very well, with pride and nobility, not at all like the slouching stance of a slave or a lower class citizen. He sort of has that air of royalty around him, with those looks he could pass off as a god.' She blushed faintly at her thoughts. No one noticed, no one save Gaius, but he pretended not to have seen anything, and Sakura hadn't seen him staring.
"There's this ball that is to be held in Sakura's honor," Paul was saying as Sakura's head cleared from those thoughts of the gladiator in front of her, "Gaius, you're invited and we would like you to bring a few of your best students with you."
"Thank you," said Gaius, bowing. "I'm looking forward to it."
Sakura and Paul smiled and soon left.
Syaoran stood there, gazing at the spot where Sakura had been standing.
"She's a beauty isn't she? An exquisite flower, cherry blossom, if I'm not mistaken," commented Gaius, smiling knowingly at the entranced gladiator.
"And way out of my reach,' muttered Syaoran lowly, but loud enough for the wise old man to hear.
"Everything will work itself out in the end. You'll see."
Syaoran stared at Gaius in surprise. 'What in the world is he talking about? What does he mean, everything will work out in the end? What will work out?'
"Just be patient and wait," Gaius smiled mysteriously and left the room.
The Streets of Rome, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it princess?" teased Paul as they got into the carriage waiting for them outside the main entrance to the Institute.
"No, it was okay," said Sakura quietly. Her mind remained on the quiet, mysterious gladiator-in-training she had met a few minutes ago rather than on the visit. No matter how hard she tried, her mind remained centered on that amber-eyed gladiator (little did she know that he was also thinking of her at the time).
'He was handsome, like the Greek god Adonis (A/N: sorry I don't know the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Adonis, so just bear with me, you get the point anyway, Syaoran is REALLY handsome, okay?)' Sakura shivered when she remembered how warm his arms were and the way he had held her so lightly as if she were a delicate piece of glass. She blushed furiously as she thought of his muscular chest and arms and how they had felt around her. She turned even more red when she remember what he had said to her, "Be careful next time."
"Are you okay?" asked Paul. "Maybe you haven't quite recovered from that fall yet. Your cheeks are bright red."
Sakura jumped a little when his voice interrupted her rather, uh…naughty thoughts and laughed nervously. "Of course I'm okay. I'm just a bit warm, it was rather stuffy in the building." She lied through her teeth, the building had been freezing.
"Yes, I suppose it was rather warm in there," said Paul, not buying the excuse one bit, but he let it drop. He just thought that she was a bit tired from the trip.
'Stupid,' Sakura scolded herself. 'You have a great fiancé and you're thinking of another man. A man who you can't even talk to without him getting in trouble, there's no point in thinking of him, he's just a slave. Paul looks just as good as he does…but he doesn't have that mysterious aura surrounding him that makes that Syaoran Li seem so…STOP!'
Paul stared at his fiancée as she shook her head furiously and shrugged. He really didn't know what was going on in that head of hers. He asked hesitantly, "Are you sure you aren't ill Sakura?" Her face was turning even redder. He felt her forehead. "You're burning up! We better go back to the palace immediately. Driver!" Paul poked his head out of the carriage window.
Sakura sighed quietly in relief. Maybe this was good that Paul thought she was sick, then he wouldn't really suspect anything…'Not that I've done anything bad but think some rather…okay, you have to stop this Sakura!'
"What did you tell the driver?" asked Sakura softly when Paul sat back down in the carriage.
"To take us home as quickly as possible. And you missy, are not going out of your room until you have fully recovered,"
Sakura just nodded, thinking that it would probably be the best thing for her too. She could erase all those stupid images of that gladiator from her mind and just concentrate on Paul. He was so devoted to her and she was thinking of some other man. Hopefully she could knock some sense into herself by the next time she met him again.
"I think Tomoyo and Eriol should have arrived by now, I'll get Tomoyo to take care of you, otherwise I'll find one of the maids to look after you," Paul muttered.
'Maybe Tomoyo could put some sense into my head,' thought Sakura. 'She's very levelheaded, wait, no, maybe I shouldn't. She would get those starry eyes and say, "Oh Sakura, this is so perfect, how scandalous! I could write a book on it!" Only, it probably wouldn't get published, because women aren't supposed to be famous, much less have their own book published.'
"Maybe we should cancel the ball," Paul thought out loud. "It probably would be the best thing."
"No!" shouted Sakura.
Paul jumped a little at Sakura's sudden outburst.
"I mean no," said Sakura, blushing, "Everyone's invited and the preparations are already taking place, I'd hate for it to be cancel after all they've done."
"I suppose so."
"Please," begged Sakura with puppy dog eyes.
"Don't look at me like that," mumbled Paul huskily, "You know I can't resist those." He leaned towards Sakura slowly, almost hesitantly and before she knew it, his lips were upon hers.
'His lips are soft, like nothing I've ever felt before,' thought Sakura, and immediately all thoughts of the amber-eyed gladiator were wiped from her mind.
Paul broke the kiss, his gaze never leaving hers; it remained unwavering, intense. His eyes were dark, with passion and both were breathing heavily. Her lips were rather swollen and red and her cheeks were flushed. He stared into her emerald green eyes and found himself drowning in them as he once again leaned forward to kiss her.
Sakura gasped slightly as Paul's lips tore away from hers and began trailing light, butterfly kisses down her jaw and neck.
Paul smiled and whispered, "You taste of cherries and vanilla."
"Um…Thanks?" Sakura blushed.
"Hush," Paul said, silencing her with his lips. When he ended it he held her to his chest lightly. "Now I better get you back to the palace before you get even more sick. Your face is even redder and warmer than I thought. Maybe I shouldn't have done that."
"No, it was nice," Sakura said quietly.
"Really?" Paul looked quite pleased. He tilted her chin up with his finger and was about to kiss her again when the carriage stopped and the door opened.
"Your Majesty, we have arrived," the driver said.
"Thank you," said Paul a bit harshly, for he was upset at having been interrupted. He turned to Sakura and smiled gently. "Well, we better get you up to your room then." He stepped out of the carriage and offered his hand to Sakura.
"Than…Paul, what on earth are you doing?"
"Carrying you," Paul said, amused as he stared down at the furiously blushing girl he was holding in his arms. "Isn't is obvious?"
"Put me down! I can walk you know!" demanded Sakura.
"You shouldn't do anything when you're sick princess."
Sakura sighed, there really was no point in arguing with Paul, she smiled wryly to herself. 'Whatever he wants, he gets.'
Paul carried her easily to her bedroom and placed her on the bed, pulling the covers over her. He kissed her on the forehead affectionately, "Get some rest okay? I'll go check and see if Tomoyo and her fiancé have arrived."
"Okay," said Sakura in a small voice.
The Gladiatorial Institute of Rome, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D.
'She's the god damn princess!' Syaoran scolded himself for thinking about her again. 'You're just a slave now, you can't fall in love with her!'
He was lying down on a cot in the room to which he was assigned. He couldn't stop thinking about her.
'Oh yeah?' his mind argued. 'Maybe if you started a secret…'
'NO WAY, that is out of the question,' Syaoran scowled. 'I can't do that, she's engaged. Not possible, besides would she really pay attention to someone like me, a lowly slave?'
'Gladiator.'
'Whatever.'
"Great, now I'm talking to the voice inside my head," he muttered, standing up. "I need to clear my head. I think I'm going crazy."
"Knock knock!" came a cheerful voice from the doorway of Syaoran's room.
Syaoran turned from the window and saw Kanto and sighed, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm on my lunch break (A/N: hehe, I don't know if they give servants lunch breaks, they probably do, but shrugs I dunno. Just pretend). I was bought by the emperor," said Kanto. "Well, not the emperor himself, but a representative. So now I work for the emperor. It's pretty nice actually."
Syaoran remained silent, knowing that Kanto had much more to say.
"So…this is the life of a gladiator," said Kanto, entering the room and walking around curiously, though there wasn't much to see. In the room, there were only the necessities, a cot to sleep on, a chest for clothes and other belongings, a mirror (for the vain people), and a pitcher of water. There was also a shelf on which the person could place their sword, shield, and other weaponry. "Kind of dull."
"I'm just a beginner, I haven't actually won any games yet, so this is the room I get. Once I start getting paid, I can afford a much better room, or I could just redecorate," explained Syaoran. "But I don't mind this room, as long as I have everything I need, I'm good."
"You're a very conservative person aren't you?"
"I suppose, I don't really see why royalty needs all the things they have as long as they can survive."
"Were you raised like this?"
"No, I came from a wealthy family," said Syaoran hesitantly. 'That's an understatement.' He hated lying, but when it was needed, he was awfully good at it.
"Lucky you."
"I wouldn't exactly say that if I were you. Well, you might because you've never been rich you're entire life, no offense. But you've never grown up knowing your whole future. You don't know who you'll marry when you grow up, who you'll be friends with, what you'll do for a living, all of that is planned for me. And I hated it."
"I never really thought about that," mused Kanto out loud. "I just really like the idea of never having to work a single day for you whole life and still have lots of money."
"We're all different," shrugged Syaoran.
"True," said Kanto. "So, buddy, you want to go explore the streets of Rome?"
"With you?" asked Syaoran. A day with Kanto actually didn't seem that bad, at least he wouldn't be alone and he'd have someone to talk to, or more like listen to.
"Course, who else?" said Kanto cheerfully, too cheerfully.
"Okay, as long as you don't try anything funny," said Syaoran, who was rather suspicious of his friend.
"Let's go then!"
"I have a feeling that I'm going to regret this," said Syaoran as they stepped out of his room and he locked his door.
"Nonsense! You're going to enjoy this! It's going to be…"
Syaoran slowly inched away from Kanto as he rambled on about all the places he wanted to see, but Kanto caught him in time.
"Ah-ah-ah, you're coming with me Li Syaoran," Kanto said, grabbing his arm with surprising strength and began dragging him down the hallway.
"Is your lunch break really this long?" Syaoran asked innocently. "I'm sure that we won't be able to see all the spots today."
Kanto's grip on Syaoran's arm loosened slowly, "You're right…"
Syaoran began pulling his arm carefully from Kanto's grip when all of a sudden it tightened even tighter than it had been before making Syaoran yelp in surprise.
"Oh well!" shrugged Kanto as he continued pulling Syaoran. "We'll just continue tomorrow."
Syaoran groaned as he let himself be dragged down the hall and out of the institute.
A/N: Bathrooms, uh, well, I don't think the Roman's had bathrooms, I know they had public baths though. Just pretend that they have bathrooms, okay? I really don't know. I know that none of you asked about it, but I just wanted to clarify that. I think they probably used a bowl or something (don't ask, please). They had a sewer system I think. But it doesn't really matter though, because it's not like I'm going to write a part where Syaoran or someone has to go use the bathroom. smile
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Omg, I just thought of something, my character Kanto sort of reminds me of Sirius from Harry Potter. giggle That's really funny, but, doesn't he? He's cheerful and talkative like Sirius, and strange.
And I know what all of you are thinking, OH MY GOD!!!!! Sakura actually kissed Paul, but please listen, they're not going to be together in the end. I REPEAT, THEY WON'T BE TOGETHER IN THE END. REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A SS FICTION. IT'S CALLED THE AMBER EYED GLADIATOR: FORBIDDEN GAMES, I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. SO I'LL JUST BE QUIET NOW. And please, no mean reviews. I know all of you hate Paul. I swear, cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, that Syaoran and Sakura will end up together. This is just temporary.
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!! Thanks to all these people:
SS43v3r
pinky
anon
Heather-Hezzer-and-Honaluki
Lil Cherry Blossom Angel
Viky
Sang H
The Crystally Water
isa
AnimeObsessionFantasy
Avelyn Lauren
Final Fantasy Princess
Emerald-Tenshi
Shinhwa-GurL89
Yaua
Kelly
MeNtOmUnChKiN
mycherrywolf
ziaoMe0W
kittyfaerie3000
Qleo-chan
AnonymousT
SakuraAngel
hellfier
Lanturn
Piccoleia Star
sunny smiles
lyhto
Angelic Night Goddess
Cherry Jade
Mecha-Griever
jbg
myREEN n' RAAYneer
Sakura Moon
dreamschemer
A Thousand Paper Cranes
enigma-spirit
Riley S
REbellious-Cherry
earthy876
Kawaii Bunnii
Rumpleteasza
Time Warp
Ice Jayden
SibylSofiana
Sorry, to all those people, who I missed or didn't get, but I love all of you guys!!!! (Don't worry, I'm not leaving yet.) It's nice knowing that people actually read my stupid notes. I just ramble on and on, like I'm doing now.
Personal Notes to the Readers: (All those that I received from chapter 8, if I didn't get yours, I'm really sorry, I'll put it in my next chapter)
SS43v3r: Thanks! I think it's a good chapter too, not trying to brag, but yeah, eight chapters until they first meet? I kinda did drag it out, but I did it with good reason! (That you guys would keep on reading, hehe, I'm evil)
Pinky: Sorry that I made a cliffhanger, hehe, I didn't think that people liked my story that much. It really makes me happy knowing that I have such a devoted reader! You're review was probably the longest I've ever received, actually it is the longest.
Anon: Shifty?! Hehe, that's actually funny, no offense. I guess I can see how you got shifty. Whatever you think, it doesn't matter though I guess, cause everyone knows that Sakura and Syaoran are gonna be together, and that's a fact. Right?
Heather-Hezzer-and-Honaluki: Thanks for that really encouraging comment (not being sarcastic), it's really nice to know that some people find my story good, I just hope that more people will actually review. sigh but it doesn't matter.
Viky: Thanks for the correction, I'll change it as soon as I possibly can.
Sang H: You can count on me for keep on updating!!!!!! I'm not quitting on this story (unlike all my other ones) I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with this one.
The Crystally Water: No way! The story is definitely NOT going to be Paul and Sakura, I couldn't let that happen. Syaoran and Sakura are soulmates, besides, Syaoran is WAYYYYY hotter than Paul ever could be grins.
Isa: What can I say? I updated!!
AnimeObsessionFantasy: That's exactly what everyone else thought, and how I would've felt if I were a reader smile.
Avelyn Lauren: No, Sakura is not going to be the card mistress. I couldn't really fit magic into my plot, well I guess I could, but…I'm kind of lazy, hehe.
Final Fantasy Princess: Thanks, it's just that a lot of stories I read were like, "And emerald met amber." Plus I sort of wanted a cliffhanger (Don't kill me, I know, I'm torturing you guys, but admit it, most authors love doing it, I'm not an exception). Thanks, really, it's nice knowing that my ending isn't too cliché.
NEXT CHAPTER!: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN Sakura AND Syaoran MEET AGAIN???????