A/N: I promised that I would finish this fic if it killed me, and now, after three years, I have (and right on time, too! Merry Christmas everyone!). I want to tell everyone still reading this story that I am eternally grateful to you for having stuck with me for so long, and I'm extremely, extremely sorry for the wait (though there's no way I can possibly make up for it). I seriously, truly hope you enjoy this; final chapter, peeps! Merry Christmas again!
Extra note: I tried to keep this as accurate as I could to the ballet, and not the millions of movies out there -- in other words, no dramatic fight scenes or whatever else. There are a few original elements of my own to keep things interesting, so it's not one hundred percent what you would see if you actually went to the ballet, but I did my best.
Disclaimer: If I owned Card Captor Sakura and/or any of its characters, this probably would not be fanfiction. It would be canon.
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Of Princes and Nutcrackers.
Act Two.
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"Sy-Syaoran..." she gasped in disbelief, unable to stop staring with round green eyes.
Her own little wolf warrior looked up at the sound of his name. Momentarily, his gaze held hers in a look of wonder, and then suddenly, he was crouched directly in front of her, such an expression on his face that she had never seen before. Almost...reverent?
"Sakura-chan..." came the whisper.
Sakura scrambled to her feet, but could not find it in herself to back away. For perhaps the first time that night, the unnatural-ness of everything she had witnessed was finally hitting her. Giant rats and toy wars and her beloved nutcracker kneeling there, the same size as herself, with such an alien expression...and Li Xiao-Lang's face...oh dear, but it WAS Li-kun's face to the tiniest feature.
Her nutcracker had gripped her hands gently. "Shhh...don't be scared, it's just me, you know me..." he was telling her quietly, his eyes never leaving her face.
She could not keep herself from wriggling one hand out of his grasp, and reaching out curiously, she brushed the dark fringe from his eyes. The same cocoa-coloured hair, and those same golden-dark eyes that she had so been admiring only earlier this evening, should she admit such a thing to anyone...the very same, even to the tanned skin tone.
Her voice finally unstuck. "I--I do know you," she stammered out, fingers trailing down his cheeks now.
His thumb rubbed across her knuckles as he continued to watch her closely. "You saved my life," he said in an even softer tone than before, yet somehow even the voice was the same. "You do not know how much this means to me. How much I owe you."
As if from a distance, Sakura heard herself reply. "Syaoran-kun, you could never owe me a thing, of course I had to help you..." Her fingers were currently tracing a light path down his neck, to his chest, where the crystal falcon necklace was just visible before the material of his soldier uniform. That necklace...that necklace had done something, it had been required to do something...
She snapped out of her fascinated daze as her memory suddenly came back. "Of course I had to help you, you were hurt," she said urgently, now searching his figure, particularly his eyes, for any traces of pain. "Are you alright?! Does it hurt, what that...THING did to you?" She shuddered as she wrinkled her nose at the reminder of the Rat King.
Syaoran blinked at her as she began fussing over him, as if he was entirely taken aback. Honestly, she was WORRIED about him, surely that couldn't be such a staggering concept. After he had collapsed in front of her--
A quiet smile touched his face as he carefully removed her hand from where it was currently feeling his forehead. "You're very sweet, Sakura," he told her, before ducking his head so that the fringe precisely hid his eyes. "I'm quite alright, I assure you."
Sakura narrowed her eyes, very unsatisfied. Determinedly, she knelt down in the same position the former toy was in, and bent until she could fully see his face. He was blinking at her once more.
But his eyes were clear, and he hadn't flinched once at her touch. He MUST be alright.
A relieved grin, stunning in its brightness, crossed her face. Almost involuntarily, she flung her arms around him in a tight hug. "I'm so glad!" she exclaimed, never once seeing the expression that crossed her nutcracker's face as his arms closed hesitantly around her.
She pulled back nearly as quickly as she had initiated the hug, her eyes instantly drawn to the falcon claw around his neck. Daringly, she lifted it without his permission. It was glowing. She couldn't draw her eyes away.
"This saved you, did it not?" she whispered, fingering it carefully -- it looked so delicate. "How?"
His hand suddenly closed around hers. "Sakura-chan...would you like to come with me?"
"Anywhere," she answered automatically, before her face burned. "Hoe! I mean..." An amused expression crossed Syaoran's face, and she scowled as she stood up, finally escaping the circle of his arms.
An actual chuckle escaped him. Sakura tried hard to remember whether or not she had ever heard his laugh before, but came up with a blank.
"It's alright," he reassured her, standing up as well. He suddenly looked extremely, touchingly bashful. "I...would really like to show you my acquaintances. To show you my kingdom." He spoke on hurriedly. "I would never take you away from here for very long, and I will not ever allow you to get hurt..."
Sakura continued to watch him through narrowed eyes and a miffed frown, and his voice trailed off.
But he had had her intrigue from the first word.
So she finally allowed her wary look to melt into a bright beam. "Very well, then," she agreed cheerfully, giggling slightly at the hopeful look on his face.
"You will come?"
"I would love to see your kingdom and your friends," she said excitedly. "It must be so magical, just like you, Syaoran-kun!
Are you a prince?"
"You could say that," he told her with a hidden smile.
She watched the whole time as he stepped closer, took her hands, and put them around his neck, drawing her to him tightly. He instructed her to hold on very tightly, and she did so. Absentmindedly, she noted how very open his eyes were, how very gentle his smile.
But she remembered cool glares and scowls as she remembered Li Xiao-Lang.
Perhaps the two were different, after all.
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She came to her senses and immediately felt warmth, as if she were cloaked in something. Distantly, she felt very cold air.
Opening her eyes, she came to the conclusion that the second sensation actually made far more sense. They were before a forest that glistened silvery-white in the snow. Snow was all around her, reflecting the moon. But it wasn't actually snowing.
She realized that she was only so warm because Syaoran's arms were around her very tightly, so that her face was pressed into his red soldier-jacket.
He pulled back slightly upon feeling her stir, still gripping her upper arms tightly to keep her standing. "Are you alright?" he asked, and she nodded quickly, if only to ease the frantic concern so plain in his voice.
He groaned instead. "I completely forgot you were only wearing your nightgown. The material is very thin for this type of weather."
She smiled brightly, feeling very reassured despite being who knew how far away from Daidouji Manor, if only because he was so very obvious in his concern for her. "It's quite alright, Syaoran-kun," she told him. "I've always been very resilient to winter."
It was now his turn to give her the piercing, narrow-eyed look. Somehow, it seemed so unfair that he was so much better at it than she was, and she could feel herself pouting defiantly against her will.
He chuckled again, though, and quickly pulled off his soldier coat, draping it around her shoulders and pulling her arms through the sleeves. "Syaoran-kun--" she protested loudly.
He ignored her completely, even going so far as to button the coat (as if she hadn't been buttoning her own clothing since she was five). "Once we get deeper into the forest, you should be more than warm enough, but until then, this is safest."
She glared. "And what about you?"
He smiled that half-amused, half-awed smile of his at her again. "There is far less danger of me getting sick than you, trust me," he said, reaching to take her hand. He paused, however, suddenly looking very hesitant. "Umm...DO you trust me?"
And she smiled happily, taking his hand herself instead. "Would I be here?" she wanted to know.
She found his grin touching...quite beautiful. It gave her the same feeling she got when Yukito-san and Mizuki-sensei smiled at her.
He led her across a wide, snowy field toward the forest. As they walked, clouds of gleaming snow swirled up around them like fairy dust. As she stared, she could almost swear that there WERE tiny fairies within the snowflakes. But she blinked and there was nothing but snow, and Syaoran did not seem to have noticed a thing, so she convinced herself it was her own imagination.
The sky was unusually bright, blazing with stars and the crescent moon. She loved the night sky at home, but even she knew it had never been this bright. She must be so far away from home.
The sky seemed to ripple as the two of them entered the forest; as though the moon and stars were designs upon a very dark cloak. But then the sky disappeared behind the thick leaves of the trees...which had somehow not fallen, despite it being midwinter.
Sakura could feel a shiver of excitement go down her spine. Magic seemed to seep into every tiny part of this place. Where was she?
Syaoran turned to her, having felt her shiver. "Are you cold?"
Sakura smiled brightly at him and waved him off with a peace sign. "Only just barely," she replied cheerfully, turning back to gaze at her surroundings.
She was suddenly pulled against a warm chest, and Syaoran's arm wrapped around her shoulders before she even considered pulling back. "Syaoran-kun, REALLY--"
"It's only a little further," he told her, sweeping them both along the snowy path.
Sakura had stuck her tongue out at him before she even realized it. Registering his surprised, and quite amused look, she pulled it back in and plunged into her tirade. "I know I may not be as used to this as you obviously are--"
He smirked faintly, and the resemblence to Xiao-Lang never hit her as much as it did in that moment. "What makes you think I'm very used to this?" he wanted to know.
"Well, look!" She pointed at him. "You're in that very thin shirt, and you haven't shivered once."
"I did tell you this would be much easier on me than you, did I not?" he asked innocently, his eyes practically dancing.
She suddenly remembered that this was only logical...for, however much he looked the part, he was not actually human.
"Geez," she muttered as they went along. She ducked under and away from Syaoran's arm, appeasing his protests by taking his hand tightly instead. They fell into silence, and snow began to fall.
She watched the nutcracker's profile as they headed deeper into the forest. That profile that was so familiar, and she finally had to ask.
"Syaoran-kun?"
"Hmm, Sakura-chan?"
A pause. "You told me earlier that you knew who I was. I-I think I know who you are...I mean, I thought I did..."
He turned to look at her, puzzled, and even a little lost. "What do you mean?"
"Syaoran-kun, why do you look like Li Xiao-Lang?"
He broke his gaze and began staring hard at a moonflower shrub, still in full bloom despite the season.
"Do you know him?" she went on quickly. "The magician's nephew -- the magician who gave you to me--"
"Oh I know him very well," Syaoran said, very lightly.
"I knew it!" cried Sakura triumphantly. "You ARE him! Oh, why didn't you TELL me, Syaoran-kun--"
He took both of her hands in his, gently, always so gently. "I'm not him," he told her quietly.
"But--"
He suddenly tugged her closer by her hands, and before she even realized it, he had already brushed a soft kiss against her cheek and pulled away. She gaped at him, stunned.
He laughed silently, tapping his finger against her jaw to push it closed, but it was the first kiss she had ever received from someone other than her father (and on the odd occasion, her brother).
He drew back further, taking her hand yet again. "It should only be a few feet further, and then we'll start seeing some of the natives."
She could barely make her feet move as he started walking again, but she soon scrambled after him and yanked back on his arm. "Syaoran-kun!" She frowned as he turned back to her. "You didn't answer my question."
He looked lost again, and even a little pained. "Is that bad?"
Sakura blinked in shock. "Wha--"
"I don't want to lie to you," he spoke urgently.
Sakura shook her head, beyond confused. "But why would you have to?"
"It would be best for you not to know right now," he said quietly. "I can't tell you."
Sakura remained silent for a minute, watching him.
"Do you still trust me?" he asked, seeming oddly frightened of the answer. "Please don't take away your trust, for I still owe you so much..."
Her face broke into a smile as she brushed her fingers through her nutcracker's fringe for the second time. "Syaoran-kun, that's ridiculous," she told him in as firm a tone as she could muster. Daddy always did it so much better. "I don't trust you because you owe me anything. Which you don't, by the way," she added obstinately, and he shook his head again as if in disbelief.
"I would trust you even if you knew you didn't owe me anything...but...Syaoran-kun, what does your name mean?"
He blinked thoughtfully. "Little Wolf; shouldn't you know that? You named me, after all."
"So your name means exactly the same as his -- wait." She stared at him. "How did you know that?"
He smiled with a shrug, squeezing her hand in his. "I told you, I knew you before. After all, I am your Little Wolf warrior."
And she had said almost the exact same thing so much earlier that evening. But they were still such nice words to hear, and she happily smiled up at him.
"Syaoran-kun---"
But she was cut off by a chorus of giggles from somewhere behind her. She jumped and whirled around quickly, wide-eyed.
"What was that?"
Syaoran was smiling very openly, however, as his gaze locked with the creatures that had appeared out of the wintery brush. "Nothing to be afraid of," he told her easily.
And it seemed quite true; there were gnome-like creatures, icy nymphs, woodland creatures such as one would find in any forest -- with one notable difference: every creature, from the gnomes to the fawns to what Sakura supposed were chipmunks -- they were all a pure-white colour, with little variation. The only ones who contrasted with this theme were the nymphs, who looked to be made of ice, and seemed as regal and cold as what they were made of.
Sakura's breath was released in an awed whisper. "Wooww..." she gasped, kneeling forward. Two of the squirrels scrambled up her arms, and she giggled.
She was completely oblivious of the rather pleased and admiring look Syaoran was giving her, until one of the ice nymphs approached his side with a raised brow. "My prince," it greeted, and Sakura glanced up. Of course, she was well aware that he was a prince, but it was still rather shocking to hear others confirm it...particularly such magical others.
Syaoran turned to the nymph with a smirk. "The Queen knows I'm traveling?" he asked knowingly.
The nymph bowed with what seemed to be an answering smirk. "The Queen knows all," it replied. "Including the news of your adorable little companion there." And it actually beamed at Sakura, whose jaw had dropped open again. Syaoran blushed crimson.
But before anything else could possibly be said, Sakura and her nutcracker were swept along in a hazy cloud of snow by the winter creatures, the ice nymphs forming a barrier around their party. They flew along the forest path, much faster than they had been going previously, Sakura was positive she had only blinked once -- yet, when she opened her eyes again, all swift movement had stopped, and they were out of the forest. She was staring up at a massive ice palace, carefully sculpted so that everything glimmered against the moon's light, and she could not see any windows. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life.
Syaoran was shifting from foot to foot, before shaking his head, which seemed to clear away the residue blush. "Are you still cold?" he asked her.
Sakura frowned, puzzled, before whipping off Syaoran's coat to stand in only her nightgown again. Truthfully, she should have been colder than ever, now, in front of such a huge ice sculpture and out of the forest, with nothing to block the wind.
Yet the night was as warm as a spring night.
She handed Syaoran his jacket back. "How...?" she whispered.
Syaoran said nothing, but smiled reassuringly as he accepted his coat.
"The Queen will see you now," one of the nymphs spoke up from behind Sakura. "She has been waiting in the throne room."
The woodland creatures scurried back into the forest as the nymphs marched off through the palace's courtyard in a majestic train.
Sakura reached for Syaoran's hand instinctively as they followed behind. "Syaoran-kun...is this your home?" she asked wonderingly as they entered the Great Hall of the palace. She was very sure that such beautiful artwork did not and could not exist on the world she came from.
Syaoran looked around at the brilliant but icy decor of the palace. "Oh no. This place belongs to the Snow Queen, and she knows very well that I would be driven mad within a fortnight should I actually have to live here." He paused. "If only because of who she chose to marry," he added with a scowl.
It would have made Sakura giggle, but she was remembering the tales of the Snow Queen she had been told in school by Mizuki-sensei -- a frozen monster who kidnapped children. Apprehension crossed her face.
"Syaoran-kun, is the Queen a mean person?" she asked him fearfully, and she felt his hand squeeze her arm instinctively before he gave her a smile.
"Very. I doubt that you especially would have a problem with her," he said with a slight smirk, as the royal procession of ice nymphs led them through a set of magnificent double-doors that presumably led to the throne room.
The throne room was spacious and regal, carved, as many other things in the palace were, entirely out of ice. A long silver carpet crossed the room to end before a platform upon which two sparkling thrones were set. A figure stood up from one of the thrones, and had begun approaching even before one of the nymphs had announced, "Your Majesties...Prince Syaoran!"
Sakura lost her voice, and stared round-eyed as Syaoran bowed before Daidouji Tomoyo-chan, who had maneovered her way to their side.
"Your Majesty," Syaoran greeted, a trace of amusement in his tone.
Tomoyo pulled him out of his bow before he had completed it, and threw her arms around him in a warm hug. "Prince Syaoran, travelling again?" she seemed to chastise, her voice the same as the one Sakura had known since nearly birth.
She pulled away from Syaoran and met Sakura's eyes. "Ahh...but this is a very different journey, then, is it not?" she asked politely, with an ever-knowing smile.
"Tomoyo-chan," Sakura breathed silently. It WAS her best friend, and yet it was not. The pearly-white gown of snow she wore with the ice crown and crystal-drop earrings made her seem so alien and ethereal, that it was as if she had just stepped from the pages of a fairy tale. But the violet curls were hers, no matter how elaborately they were done up, and the pale skin was so familiar, even though it seemed to blend with the snowy surroundings, and even now, those amethyst eyes twinkled with friendly warmth as they always had.
Tomoyo smiled as she held gazes with Sakura. "Oh but Syaoran, do tell me who she is!" she exclaimed.
Sakura felt a tremor of despondency at the abrupt realization that Tomoyo did not recognize her. It quickly disappeared when Syaoran gripped her hand, reassuring once more. He smiled at her as he responded to Tomoyo's question.
"This is my travelling companion, Sakura-chan." Sakura quickly curtsied, feeling rather shabby in her pink nightgown.
But then Tomoyo touched the side of her face, bringing her eyes to meet hers. The Snow Queen smiled.
"Ne, but she is VERY cute," she said cheerfully, and Sakura felt the familiar blush of embarrassment whenever Tomoyo-chan praised her that way.
Syaoran smirked at Tomoyo, before squeezing Sakura's hand again. "She's amazing," he agreed, turning to look at her almost reverently again. Sakura stood, stunned, at the intensity of that gaze.
From seemingly far away came Tomoyo's voice, sounding rather entertained. "Is she?"
"No," Sakura said quickly.
"Yes." Syaoran lowered his gaze from hers, choosing to look at their joined hands. He ran one of his fingers along her palm, and Sakura tried not to giggle at the tingly feeling it shot up her arm. "She's my saviour."
"Your...really??" Tomoyo gasped, and Syaoran met her gaze squarely as he nodded once.
The two stared at each other for a moment, before an unmistakeable look of soft joy crept into Tomoyo's expression. She touched her finger to her nose, before pressing Syaoran's as though it were a button.
But before anything further could be said, the figure on the second throne had moved with surprising speed and, as though appearing from thin air, had come up behind Tomoyo. Sakura jumped. It was Yanagisawa Eriol-kun, dressed every bit as elegantly as Tomoyo.
"Syaoran-kun...you don't say?" he asked in rather joyful tones as well. Syaoran smirked at him as well, his expression slightly colder. "I know I'm not mistaken in this," he said quietly.
In response to Syaoran's coldness, Eriol-kun only seemed to become more amused and joyful. "Madoushi will not be pleased," he said.
"No, she won't," Tomoyo seconded, turning to cup Sakura's face between her hands. Sakura tried not to shiver; even though not much else in this land was very cold, Tomoyo's hands really were like ice.
"But words cannot express how grateful we are to you," she whispered, tears actually glistening in her eyes. She then grinned through them. "Or how very lucky Syaoran is."
Sakura, through her utter confusion at the conversation between the other three, tried to make out why on Earth Tomoyo-chan was crying. "You shouldn't be grateful to me," she protested, looking at all of them in turn. "I did nothing, I couldn't even stop Syaoran-kun from getting hurt..." She felt him squeeze her hand all the more tightly as her voice broke.
She noted absently that his falcon claw was glowing once more.
Tomoyo squealed. "How very adorable you are!" she giggled.
Sakura sighed, for this sounded very familiar indeed. "Ho-hoe...Tomoyo-chan!" Then she covered her mouth in uncertainty, only now remembering that this wasn't the same Tomoyo-chan she knew.
Tomoyo blinked only briefly, before smiling at Syaoran. "And she will be so good for you -- do you know how long I've tried to get you to become that informal with me?"
Syaoran made a face at the Queen. The gesture was so child-like, and very un-Syaoran-like, that Sakura couldn't help but giggle.
Eriol looked rather superior as Syaoran turned his glare on him, but a typically kind smile soon overtook the expression.
"I shall arrange for a guard to be placed along the path of your journey," he told them quietly. "As I told you before, Madoushi will not be pleased in the least at this turn of events. It would be best for you not to be caught without protection. Our magic can protect you as far as the Sugar Plum Fairy's domain -- I assume you will be visiting her as well?"
Syaoran seemed to consider, which only looked as though it were amusing Eriol all the more. Sakura really wondered about the two of them.
"I suppose I shall," Syaoran finally answered. "Her lands are quite close to my own kingdom."
Sakura couldn't help but speak up. "Pardon my interruption...but who is Madoushi? Is she evil?"
Syaoran cringed, but did not meet her eyes. Tomoyo pursed her lips as though frustrated. "I should say so," she told Sakura indignantly. Her eyes softened with worry. "Should you ever encounter her magic, you get away as quickly as you can. She has always made Xiao-Lang suffer so."
Sakura furrowed her brow, confused all the more. "Xiao-Lang...?"
But Syaoran, though he held her hand slightly tighter, still did not look at her. Tomoyo's smile was entirely secretive, before she turned to the others in the ballroom, Kings and Princes, humans and nymphs alike. "Very well, then. As we wait for the King's orders to be carried out...we shall dance, shall we not?"
"Dance, dance, dance, dance!" echoed the chorus of the ice-nymphs. Sakura and Syaoran were swept along with the royal procession to the ballroom.
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Later, Sakura and Syaoran were making their way down another forest path, continuing the journey to their destination.
Or rather, Sakura was twirling her way down the path as though she were still among the dancing snowflakes in the magnificent ballroom of the Ice Palace, and Syaoran was trailing behind, watching as though he were torn between amusement and...well, Sakura did not quite know how to define that other emotion in his eyes.
She waved one last time, humming the Waltz of the Snowflakes, as the Ice Palace disappeared for good around a bend in the path. "But that was soooo magical, was that not absolutely, utterly wonderful, Syaoran-kun?" she chattered, having talked his ear off in this exact same manner since they had left the palace. He had yet to do anything other than smile and nod, but she didn't care.
"And the floor was so shiny, and it reflected everything; and the music! I shall remember those tunes for the rest of my life, I swear it. And oooh, the way Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun DANCED..."
Indeed, Tomoyo and Eriol's dance had been an entirely different magic altogether to behold. The Snow Queen and her King had waltzed around their ballroom as if they had been born to do so, and it had been so elegant, graceful, and utterly beautiful. She had never seen THAT look in Tomoyo-chan's eyes before. And Eriol-kun had looked so uncharacteristically serious...
"Hanyaan!" Sakura cried, trying one more twirl in an imitation of her best friend. "That I could only be so graceful someday..."
Almost in direct spite of her words, she tripped right then, and would have fallen had Syaoran (who had been watching oh so carefully the whole time) not caught her.
"Geez," she muttered, infuriated, as she gripped Syaoran's forearms. "Well, not today." She heard him laugh, and somehow felt better.
"Well, you were doing well in the ballroom," he told her softly as he righted her.
She looked scrutinizingly into his eyes, and he blinked. "Yes?"
"Do you really think so?" she asked hopefully.
He smiled instantly. "Yes."
She giggled as she hugged him for the second time. "Syaoran-kun, you are so sweet," she said, pulling back almost as quickly as she had flung herself at him. She then wrinkled her nose. "Why are you so cold, too?"
Syaoran seemed rather affronted. "Cold?"
"Yes, Tomoyo-chan -- I mean, the Snow Queen Tomoyo-chan, told me that she's known you since you were a child, and never once have you called her anything but your Majesty. Why, if she is so close to you?"
Syaoran shrugged, and said in a rather haughty tone, "Formalities must be maintained within the royal court."
Sakura mimicked his tone. "Yes... when you're cold."
"I am not cold," Syaoran argued.
Sakura giggled as she pushed him aside. "You are too."
"I am not."
"You are--" she began, but his eyes had narrowed warily and he wasn't even looking at her anymore.
"Shhh!" he whispered urgently, keeping a tight hold on her shoulders.
Sakura sniffed. "Really, Syaoran-kun, my oniichan's been using that very same old trick since I was five--" she began, but cut herself off as she heard a sound. A WHOOOSH, closely followed by a sharp PING!
"Someone's spells are being deflected against the Snow King's barrier," Syaoran said quietly.
Sakura frowned, worried. "Madoushi's?"
"Perhaps."
They were silent for a moment, as the sounds repeated themselves.
"But Eriol-kun's barriers will hold against her magic, will it not?"
"For the moment, especially since his magic is combined with the Queen's," Syaoran explained. "However, Madoushi's is a magic that's far more powerful than almost any in this realm."
Sakura bit her lip at the cryptic statement, her hand unconsciously gripping Syaoran's sleeve. "Why?" she whispered almost silently, yet he still heard her. "Why does she want you?"
Syaoran looked down at her, clasping his own hand over hers, where it hung on his sleeve. "There isn't much more she could do to me directly," he admitted. "To be truthful, I'm far more worried about you."
"Um?" Sakura blinked, and then beamed cheerfully as she turned her palm over to grasp Syaoran's. "I'll be fine, don't worry!
I got rid of the Rat King, did I not?" She chewed her lip all the more fervently at the memory. "Not nearly quickly enough, but I did somehow."
She felt the sudden weight of his head against hers, and wasn't sure whether she was imagining things when she felt a soft kiss dropped on her hair.
For some reason, his falcon claw necklace glowed yet again.
"You did wonderfully," he said softly. "I'm okay, aren't I?"
Holding his hand tightly, she dragged him along the path, trying to drown out the sounds of the conflicting spells. "You said back at the Ice Palace that it would be a very short distance to our next destination. Therefore, we should almost be there, right?"
"Right."
She turned back to him, a bit miffed. "Well...where are we going, anyway?" she wondered aloud.
Now he smirked. "I didn't tell you because I wish for it to be a surprise. I have a feeling you'll enjoy it."
"Not even a little hint?" she wheedled.
"No," he shook his head, rather unmoved. "You'll know when we get there."
"But -- if I don't know what I'm looking for, how will I know when we get there?" Sakura argued.
Syaoran opened his mouth to reply, before he began looking at the scenery just over her head. His smile widened in amusement. "You might try turning around," he suggested casually.
Confusion crossed her face before Sakura whirled around, searching for whatever it was Syaoran had been looking at. All she could see were trees, and more trees, which wasn't much different from the constant theme in scenery since they had left the Winter Palace.
"What are you talking about?" she complained. "There are only--" But then she gasped loudly. The trees, of course. Reaching up to confirm her suspicions, she plucked something tan-coloured that one random tree had been growing. She popped it into her mouth, and then her face lit up.
Syaoran was laughing at her squeals of delight. "It's a toffee tree! All of these trees grow candy!"
And they did, too. One tree was growing candy canes, another was growing gum drops, and yet another had its leaves made entirely of jellybeans. One tree seemed to be a rather disappointingly normal apple tree, until Sakura plucked one of its fruits to discover that they were, in fact, candied apples. As they moved further into the forest, whole trees seemed to be made entirely out of candy. One was pure chocolate, bark and leaves and all. Another looked rather normal, though its leaves and bark tasted suspiciously like cake frosting. Whole, gigantic lollipops grew straight from the ground.
Sakura ran through the forest, laughing in amazement. "Syaoran-kun! I don't ever want to leave this place!" She ran back to him. "Is this your kingdom?"
He laughed, pushing her out of his path before taking her hand once again. "I frequently visit this place," he said nonchalantly.
"But I personally feel that my kingdom is better."
Sakura smiled in awe. "It must be truly amazing," she said. "I can't imagine anyplace better than this. A land made completely of candy!"
They came, once again, to the edge of the woods: a long, cobblestone pathway led across an open summer field to a building that Sakura could not quite see. She could only make out brightly coloured turrets on the horizon.
Syaoran pointed to the turrets. "That's the household of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The head of all Candyland."
"Another Queen?" Sakura asked.
Syaoran considered. "I suppose she could be called such, though she has never given herself the title, and would have no real claim to it. She has simply ruled Candyland for...forever, I assume. It's just the way things have always been...just as it has always been summer here, in defiance of the winter's chill everywhere else."
"Wow!" gasped Sakura, before frowning warily. "Is she someone I know?" she demanded, trying to imagine what else could surprise her.
Syaoran smiled faintly, not looking at her. "You might recognize her."
Sakura scowled in mock fury. "And of course, you will not tell me a thing."
Syaoran was saved from replying by the audible patter of feet which came scampering down the cobblestone path. Sakura blinked in awe as a crowd of round, multicoloured creatures with little bobbing heads and tiny feet approached them in one big mass.
"They look like walking gumdrops," she whispered in shock.
"That's exactly what they are," Syaoran explained. "These are the Sugar Plum Fairy's Gumdrop messengers."
The first to reach them immediately began shouting a chant. "Prince Syaoran! Prince Syaoran, you're late, the party is nearly about to start!" The rest of the squad took up the chant as they got closer.
Sakura looked at Syaoran curiously. "A party?"
Syaoran shrugged to indicate that he didn't know much more than she did. He tried to quiet the gumdrop rabble. "What's this about a party?"
They immediately took up the chatter again. "The Sugar Plum Fairy heard of your arrival, of course. It fell on the same hour of her world-wide Christmas ball, when all the candies of the world gather to show off their talents and dancing! You and your princess are meant to be guests of the highest honour -- we have the places and the thrones set out for you and everything -- but hurry, hurry, you shall be late!"
"His...princess?" Sakura mused quietly, feeling her cheeks burn. Could she look at Syaoran now?
The gumdrops did not leave any room for hesitation. "Oh DO hurry! Here, we'll take you!"
"Hoe!" cried Sakura, as she and Syaoran were both swept off their feet and carted down the path on the shoulders of many Gumdrop messengers.
Sakura's eyes widened as the Sugar Plum Fairy's castle came into view. For it was a castle, multi-coloured and silhouetted against the setting sun. Windows decorated the towers and the base, glass so delicately spun that it seemed to be made of sugar cane (which, Sakura considered, it most likely was).
The gumdrops plowed them through the grand doors and into the entrance hall. Inside the castle, there was a flurry of activity. Servants and lords and ladies of assorted nationalities and/or candy types raced everywhere. Sakura couldn't help noticing, however, that the floors of the Entrance Hall were made entirely of gingerbread, and she giggled. "Like Hansel and Gretel," she whispered.
"My Fairy! My Fairy!" the gumdrops had begun calling at the top of their lungs.
Sakura glanced up in time to see a pink and gold streak appear at the top of the Grand Staircase and clap her hands together, fluttering her transparent wings excitedly. Her eyes went round yet again as she recognized the woman-like fairy as Mizuki Kaho-sensei. She had been very elegant at Daidouji Sonomi's Christmas party, but her appearance surpassed anything Sakura had ever seen from her. Her red hair was piled in an assortment of curls on top of her head, and her wings, though transparent, resembled those of angels.
Mizuki-sensei's eyes lit up, and she flew down the staircase. "Syaoran-kun! Oh thank goodness, you're finally here! I was beginning to worry something had happened." As she reached his side, she peered into his face scrutinizingly. "Are you quite alright?"
"Fine, Kaho-sensei," Syaoran told her, a bit impatiently, Sakura thought. "We ran into surprisingly little trouble on the way here."
Mizuki-sensei marred her perfection by biting her lip, but looked convinced all the same. "Very well, we shall count ourChristmas blessings," she smiled, turning to Sakura, who held her breath in the face of such elegance. Even Tomoyo the Snow Queen had not had this effect on her.
"All of them," Mizuki-sensei continued, placing a hand against Sakura's cheek and studying her closely. "And this is the young lady who has rescued you and broken the spell?"
Sakura blinked in confusion, but Syaoran smiled. "Yes."
"She's adorable, Syaoran," said Mizuki-sensei, before addressing Sakura directly. "I suppose the Snow Queen has already told you how deeply we all thank you?"
"Y-yes," Sakura stammered. "But...I don't understand what for."
Mizuki-sensei smoothed back her curls, quite a familiar sensation, as she had done the same many times before. "That's alright, child. Just know for now that we do. From the bottom of our hearts." The Sugar Plum Fairy then straightened and clapped her hands together once more, very briskly. "And as such, you must sit with me and your prince throughout the festivities tonight."
From seemingly out of nowhere, a royal, wine-red robe was slung around her shoulders. A glance at Syaoran revealed that he was wearing almost exactly the same thing, and her cheeks inexplicably darkened again, she could feel it. "I--I couldn't wear---"
"But of course you shall," Mizuki-sensei quickly halted her protests, as they were swept along into the Great Hall, where thousands of already-filled seats and a stage had already been set up. "Only you can sit by him, naturally. Tonight, we celebrate many things." She winked. "Tonight he is all yours."
"Geez..." murmured Sakura, sure that her entire face was burning.
The procession followed the Sugar Plum Fairy up to the balconies, where they would watch the performances. Sakura collapsed into her assigned seat between Mizuki-sensei and Syaoran-kun, wondering if she could curl up and hide.
Syaoran looked over at her in concern. "Sakura? Is everything okay?"
She stared at him, at those cocoa brown eyes that belonged to Li Xiao-Lang, but that she would always think of as Syaoran's.
('Tonight, he is all yours.')
She quickly looked toward the stage as Mizuki-sensei's echo floated through her head. "Um, yes Syaoran-kun, I'm fine."
He didn't look convinced in the slightest, but instead he placed his hand against her forehead, as though checking for a fever. Mortified, she realized that she must still be beet-red.
And his falcon-claw pendant was still glowing unnaturally bright...
Thankfully, the production began before any other trains of thought could continue further.
And what a production! It was without doubt the most entertaining performance Sakura had ever seen in her entire life. She watched in total enchantment as the steaming hot chocolate from Spain, the simmering Arabian coffee, and the bubbling tea from China swirled in a special light show of their own. The tea dancer could even jump high in the air and touch his toes! Even more incredible was the candy cane dancer who followed in a jingling costume of pink and green stripes. He could leap so high that his candy hoop swung around him twice in the air! Beautiful marzipan shepherdesses hopped delicately on their toes and played reed pipes. Sakura was especially delighted when giant Mother Ginger appeared, and tiny clowns called polichinelles darted out from under her huge skirts.
She was on the edge of her seat the entire time, quite aware that Syaoran was laughing at her excitement and awe (she could see him doing so out of the corner of her eye), but she did not care. This could only be magic at its height.
With tumultous applause, the final Marzipan dancers exited the stage. People began getting up from the chairs on the floor in front of the stage and filing out from the Great Hall. When Sakura and Syaoran followed the crowd, they realized that no one was leaving the castle, but rather, they were simply heading into the adjoined ballroom. Her eyes shone in anticipation, and Mizuki-sense soon answered her unspoken questioned when she sailed into the room.
"We have seen some of the finest dancing the world has to offer," she said simply. "Let us try some of our own."
Amid uproarious applause and laughter, the orchestra struck up once more in light, gay melodies. Nobles and performers and assorted candies began filling the dancing floor with elegant step-dances or waltzes, but Sakura's eyes were riveted on the Sugar Plum Fairy, as many's were. She had stepped onto the floor on the arm of a tall man swathed in a dark cloak.
Sakura could not for the life of her see the face beneath the hood; all that were visible were strands of dark midnight hair.
But how they danced! She had never seen such light, precise footwork before, not even from Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun.
A light touch of her wrist brought her back to the present, and she turned to see Syaoran gazing back at her. He gestured vaguely, almost awkwardly to the dance floor. "Would you like to?" he asked.
Sakura blinked, shocked. "You...do you want to dance with me?" she wanted to know. Even at the Winter Palace, they had not exactly danced with each other so much as joined in group dances together.
"Do you?" he asked, sounding almost challenging.
She smiled at him, and sighed before agreeing. "Very well, very well, if it shall make YOU happy."
He snickered as he easily took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. He carefully put one arm around her, not releasing her hand with his other, and she, more to steady herself than anything else, locked her free arm around his shoulders. Too late, she realized her hand was brushing against the tiny curls at the nape of his neck, and he was so, so close...
But they had only danced the first steps of a waltz before a resounding crash echoed through the ballroom -- and half of its ceiling ripped away to reveal the night air. Screams and gasps came from all directions as people ducked for cover against the falling debris. Sakura could hear the Sugar Plum Fairy and her court struggling to keep some semblance of order.
Syaoran had pushed her beneath him at the first signs of trouble, so Sakura could not see much at all. She could only listen to the sounds of reigning chaos around her...and wonder why she was slowly, slowly beginning to rise, as though being pulled by a vacuum--
"Syaoran-kun!" she suddenly cried in alarm, once her body had completely left the floor. Syaoran's eyes widened as he saw her predicament, and she instinctively grasped his wrists to prevent herself from rising further. He in turn began pulling her down from the opening in the ceiling, his grip on her never lessening once.
"What's going on?" Sakura cried, turning to look at the hole that was the source of whatever it was pulling her.
Syaoran shook his head, looking hopelessly confused himself. He tugged with all his might, and was able to pull her back down a few centimeters. "I...I don't--" he broke off abruptly, eyes narrowing coldly at the hole in the ceiling. "Madoushi."
"This is her?" Sakura cried.
Syaoran's tugs became more insistent. "It is. She's trying to take you away from me." She had never seen him look so frightened.
Sakura began doing all she could to fight the pull herself, tightening her hands in a death grip around Syaoran's. "She won't," she told him furiously. "I promised she wouldn't, didn't I?"
Something in his eyes softened, broke completely. "Madoushi rarely leaves anyone with much choice..."
Sakura fought even harder. "Well, not me."
Mizuki-sensei, having herded the injured out of the ballroom as quickly as possible, turned to them, her eyes widening at their state. Sakura saw her fly forward, her arms raised to do something--
She was stopped by the stranger in the dark cloak whom she had been dancing with earlier. "Your magic is not nearly strong enough," he told her sternly.
"But--" she began to protest, yet the cloaked stranger made a quick gesture -- Sakura barely saw him move -- and she was suddenly plummeting headlong into Syaoran, the spell broken.
"That she would really resort to such callous tricks," said the stranger furiously.
Sakura paid no further attention as she hugged Syaoran from her position. "See, I told you I'd be fine," she said triumphantly, but frowned as he didn't respond at all, his eyes closed. She brushed a hand against his cheek lightly. "Syaoran?"
The Sugar Plum Fairy was at their side in an instant, lifting Syaoran carefully from the floor. "It's okay, dear child; most likely he just hit his head when you both fell."
But Sakura, eyes wide in fear, pushed aside Syaoran's red coat suspiciously. "No..." she whispered, pointing to the dark-red stain steadily growing across his white undershirt and seeing, out of the corner of her eye, Mizuki-sensei's face become a mask of concern. "Blood."
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The cloaked stranger was up front, driving the carriage; Sakura had yet to discover his identity.
In the carriage itself, Syaoran was laid across one of the seats, his head pillowed against the Sugar Plum Fairy's lap as she tended to his wound, and the fever that had sprung up due to said injury. Sakura herself was curled up on the floor of the carriage against Mizuki-sensei's warnings, having never once let go of her nutcracker's hand.
"I don't understand why he did not just tell me," she seethed for the umpteenth time. "For hours now, we've been wandering on foot, and if the wound's been open the whole time..."
"Sakura-chan..." it was the first time the Sugar Plum Fairy had addressed her by her real name. She placed a cool cloth against Syaoran's forehead before taking Sakura's free hand in hers. "Frustrating though it may be, this is a part of Syaoran that will never change. I suspect there is even less chance of it changing when it comes to you; he has always been so insistently independant, and he would never want you to feel guilt."
Sakura leaned her own forehead against Syaoran's hand, not knowing when she had ever felt more helpless and hating it.
"But he said he felt perfectly fine...and when I checked him over after the battle, he WAS perfectly fine, how could he have hidden it so well?"
"When you healed his wounds after the battle with the Rat King, this one must have healed only partially, being so deep. Sakura, it is not your fault," she added quickly when Sakura closed her eyes. "The pendant did glow before he woke up, did it not?"
"Yes--where...?" she blinked, staring at Syaoran's chest, where the pendant was nowhere to be found.
The Sugar Plum Fairy reached into the folds of her gold skirt and pulled out the remains of the pendant. Sakura's eyes widened. "It broke when I fell on it?" she asked, devastated.
"No. When you were crying not long after you first saw the blood," Mizuki-sensei replied, setting the broken falcon's claw aside. "Don't worry, this is a good thing. He must mean so much to you already, despite the short amount of time you have known him."
Sakura said nothing, but only rubbed her thumb across Syaoran's knuckles, the way he had done to her so many times.
"I suspect he has not told you many details of his life?" Mizuki-sensei stated. "Next to nothing, if I know him."
"Yes," Sakura agreed slowly. "I didn't mind much at first, for it really wasn't my place to pry and he so seemed to enjoy surprising me...but if he can even keep things from me that cause THIS to happen..." she trailed off, before exhaling sharply.
"I want to know. Everything."
The Sugar Plum Fairy was quiet for a moment, before speaking up in a soft voice, brushing Syaoran's fringe from his face.
"Surely you've noticed the striking resemblance Syaoran bears to the nephew of the magician at Daidouji-san's party? Li Xiao-Lang?"
"Yes," said Sakura, not bothering to ask how the Sugar Plum Fairy knew about Sonomi-san or her party.
"In truth they are one and the same. Clow Reed had this long-standing feud with a witch that was his equal in nearly every possible way. Madoushi. He finally did something that infuriated her beyond all forgiveness...I shall never remember what, but she took her revenge in the most personal way she possibly could. Not by lashing out at him...but at his apprentice, his nephew, who was so very precious to him. She cast a spell that split the nephew's soul in two, and decreed that only the power of true love would ever break it. When the child found someone who loved him, and whom he could truly love himself, her power would be broken. Yet she cast the spell when the child was nine. To further complicate the situation, she captured the warm portion of his soul and imprisoned it within a nutcracker, a commonplace tool that no one would look at twice."
"My nutcracker is NOT commonplace," Sakura objected heatedly, but Mizuki-sensei only shook her head with a smile.
"Well, of course you don't think so, but how many people would honestly agree? How many children find their true loves at the age of nine? Furthermore, Madoushi imprisoned all of Xiao-Lang that was capable of, and attractive to love. Xiao-Lang, intelligent and dear as he may be, is but an empty shell of the bright young child he used to be."
"That's not true," Sakura said slowly, shaking her head. "Li-kun smiles, he is kind-hearted. He is cold, but I know there is a good person in there."
"He has kept that lost piece of himself with him all these years...he has been in possession of the nutcracker. But it has not been an actual part of him for so long now. Clow Reed-san tried everything he could to counter Madoushi's magic, but all he could do was keep that piece of Xiao-Lang alive. Syaoran has a kingdom of loving subjects, he is surrounded by loving friends. Meanwhile, the subjects of the Rat King, sent by Madoushi, lie in wait on the outskirts of all the kingdom borders...the constant conflicts of magic between Clow-san and Madoushi have created this realm, an unpredictable realm just as susceptible to Clow Reed's magic as it is to Madoushi's. For example, surely you noticed that it was the middle of the night when you left the Winter Palace, yet the sun was only just setting when you arrived in Candyland? I was made here as a figurehead of this world, in order to watch over Syaoran. Clow-san gave Syaoran that falcon claw to both protect him and guide him...guide him so that he would know his true love when he met them, and protect him from Madoushi's attempts to lead him astray with her own spell. She has tried so many times before. And it might have stayed this way, forever...and then you came."
Sakura stared hard at hers and Syaoran's joined hands.
"Lucky for us all, Madoushi, being so cold herself, never considered all the different types of pure, true love that people can have for each other. Never considered that love can, in fact, transcend all ages and boundaries."
Sakura felt a caress on her cheek, and looked up at the Sugar Plum Fairy. "You made him so happy before he even knew who you were. I can only imagine what he has experienced tonight."
Sakura fought to keep her blush down, holding Syaoran's hand as though there were no tomorrow. Perhaps there wasn't, in this world.
"But Madoushi is still after him," she whispered.
The Sugar Plum Fairy beamed, looking fully triumphant. "I would not concern myself with her any longer. What you have seen were her last-ditch attempts at keeping her evil spell alive."
"But Syaoran and I are already...umm..." The blush was not staying down.
"The pendant had to fully break for you to know you truly love him, for one thing," Mizuki-sensei patiently explained. "And even that is a great weakness...for do you really think Syaoran would consider his life worth anything without yours? What else could destroy him more completely than that? She was after you, not him."
Sakura shivered, her hold on Syaoran's hand tightening impossibly. The Fairy smiled once more.
"But she is gone now. Her spell has at long last been broken, and his kingdom will be so very grateful to you once we arrive there. It should only be a few minutes more. Enjoy the time; he is now truly yours."
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She had wanted to stay by his side until he woke up, but after the equivalent of nearly twelve hours normal time, the prince's subjects decided that enough was enough, and she had literally been picked up by a baby doll, and carted off to bed on the back of a rocking horse.
For Syaoran's kingdom was Toyland, which she should really have guessed, now that she considered it. Sakura remembered the way all the toys underneath the Daidouji Christmas tree had risen to Syaoran's aid during the battle with the Rat King and his subjects. It seemed ages ago, really. She really hoped she would never forget the memory of stepping out of the carriage with Mizuki-sensei to the sight of hundreds of millions of toys bowing before her and the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Syaoran had not been kidding when he said this was better than candy.
Or, it should have been, if he would only stop being stubborn and awaken.
Sakura couldn't remember having gone to sleep, but she was currently on the edge of a foreign bed, staring out the nearest window at a grey sky. Mizuki-sensei had departed back to Candyland earlier the night before. In a moment, she would go back in to Syaoran's room and try once more to wake him up, but she wished for now that she could pretend he was fine, and would be back any second...and that the sensation in her hair were his fingers trailing through the curls--
Sakura jumped up with a strangled cry and whirled, brushing whatever had landed on her head off. She froze as she was met with Syaoran's rather miffed expression. "Sakura," he said, all formality dropped from her name. "I was only trying to put on your crown..."
Sakura gaped, shocked and outraged to the point of speechlessness. "You--" she struggled, before giving up and flying at him. She had every intention of railing at him for hours, or something to that effect, but instead found herself in hysterical tears with her arms flung around his neck. She felt his arms come up around her, heard a soothing whisper in her ear attempting to hush her, telling her he was fine...
"How could you?" she wailed.
"I didn't want you to worry," he protested, but he was smiling as his hand ran up and down her back. "I certainly didn't want you to blame yourself--"
"Because I didn't do enough of that when you collapsed!" she retorted sarcastically.
"I swear that I'm fine now," he told her sincerely, and she momentarily relented, noting that the grey from the window outside seemed to be seeping into the room now.
"When did you wake up?" she asked him, pulling back and registering that he was dressed differently than anything she had ever seen him in...green wizard robes. Gone was the soldier uniform, and through his hair was entwined a silver crown studded with sapphire. He had never looked more like a prince.
"A few hours ago," he told her gently, arranging the bow that held her curls back. "I heard you were asleep and gave the order not to wake you up. I heard what you did, Sakura," he plunged on quickly to stop her protesting. "A twelve-hour vigil? Is that not bordering on crazy?"
"No less crazy than sporting a deep wound for hours just to appear brave," Sakura flung back.
Syaoran sighed in defeat. "Okay. I apologize deeply and hope you will forgive me," he said hopefully.
"I won't," Sakura told him primly, "but I still...er..." Love you anyways, she finished silently, yet could not say the words.
Syaoran's eyes softened to a gentle golden colour, before he looked away momentarily and knelt to pick up what she had flung off her head earlier. It was another crown, nearly identical to Syaoran's, but encrusted with emeralds instead.
Sakura gazed from it, to Syaoran, and back, and then back again.
"For you...Princess of all Toyland," he told her with an amused smile as the room was suddenly bathed in grey light. He began threading it through her hair. "My princess," he continued, dropping a soft kiss on her forehead and continuing his task. "And all will know it. All will know that I love you...more than anything." He removed his hands from her hair, but took both of her hands instead, and she had never seen him look so happy, and had never been so happy herself.
"And I you," she whispered, before her vision was nearly obscured by the grey light, and she could barely see anymore.
"Syaoran? Where are you?"
She felt a brief kiss against her lips and her eyes went huge. "You set me free...and I won't ever, ever forget it, regardless of what form I am in," came his voice from the grey, but she couldn't SEE him.
"But Syaoran, what does that mean?" she cried, but then she could no longer feel his hands in hers. "Syaoran?"
Yet it was not Syaoran who answered, but rather the cloaked stranger who had been with the Sugar Plum Fairy at the ball last night. He came through the light, pushing back his hood, and she recognized the kind smile and twinkling eyes of the magician Clow Reed-sama.
"Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you. Oh child, wake up now...wake up..."
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Light...lots of bright light....
Kinomoto Sakura's eyes snapped open, before immediately closing in aggravation at the bright sunlight that streamed in through the unclothed windows. Morning, it was Christmas morning.
She shot up from her curled position on the armchair, staring around frantically as she remembered the events of last night.
Rats and nutcrackers and toys and princes...and how could it have all been a dream?
But the Christmas tree was back to its normal size, the presents were all piled neatly underneath the tree, and if anything resembling a battle had taken place in the living room of Daidouji Manor, there was no trace of it.
Sakura sunk back into the soft cushions of the armchair, her eyes wide with disbelief as she recognized the perfectly ordinary, if elaborate decor of the living room. A dream...
Loud footsteps thudded somewhere upstairs, before they came thundering down the stairs. She could hear two voices.
"Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan, where are you?!"
"Christmas morning, it's Christmas morning! Everyone wake up!"
Touya-niichan and Tomoyo-chan (as Sakura had always known her) came stampeding into the living room in their dressing gowns. Tomoyo let out an audible release of breath as Touya smirked at the sight of her in front of the tree. "Trying to
catch Santa Claus yet again, were you?" he teased. "Did you get him this time? Has he told you you've been very naughty?"
Sakura shook her head as if in a daze, her hand coming into contact with something hard and wooden on the chair. She had to blink back tears as she pulled her nutcracker from beneath the cushions...a wooden toy once more.
Tomoyo came closer, her face a mask of worry. "Sakura-chan, are you okay? It's Christmas morning."
"I'm okay, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura immediately replied cheerfully, pushing aside the nutcracker for now. "You're right, it is Christmas. Let's see what Santa Claus gave us, shall we? I'm only sorry I missed him yet again!"
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Later that morning, after Christmas presents had been torn open and delighted screams still echoed throughout the Daidouji Manor, Sakura crept outside into Sonomi-san's garden, clutching the wooden nutcracker to her chest. She had received so many thoughtful gifts that Christmas, and yet this one was still her favourite, would always be her favourite.
And now what? Had it really all been a dream? How could a dream have been that vivid, that detailed? She could remember everything...from the smallest fairy in one of the Snow Queen's dances, to the gentle touch of Syaoran's hand against her cheek.
Pulling her cloak around her more tightly, she sat down on a rock overlooking the garden that Clow Reed-sama and Li-kun had been talking in just the evening before. It felt as though it had been a lifetime ago.
She studied her nutcracker, wondering for the thirteenth time where his falcon claw pendant had gone. She had searched every inch of the living room, particularly beneath the Christmas tree and the chair she had been sleeping on, but she had not found a thing. Nor had anyone else. Which only confused matters further...if everything had only been a dream, then his pendant should still be fine, should still be in one piece and not shattered.
"Kinomoto-san?"
Her entire body stiffened at the familiar voice and the formal tone, before she turned to stare, round-eyed, at Li Xiao-Lang, who was coming up the garden path from the house. That face...and those mannerisms...
It ached. It hurt so much that two halves of the same soul could look so similar and be so different...and that was assuming Syaoran the Prince had ever existed in the first place. After all, as far as she knew, this was the real world and Li Xiao-Lang was, and had always been one person.
And in her opinion, he was a very nice person, despite his cold, brusque exterior, and she gave him a smile as he hesitated briefly before sitting down on the rock next to her. But he wasn't the same.
"The same" was nothing but a dream, was he not?
"I was under the impression that you and your family had not stayed at the Daidouji Manor last night?" she inquired politely, calling on every singe lesson of etiquette she had ever learned. She could not forget that this same boy had practically told her she was rude only the night before.
"We didn't," he responded easily, staring over the few winter flowers that were in bloom. "My uncle decided to bring us over for Christmas day. He enjoys this place so much, Meiling-chan and I feel that we might be staying much longer than he told us we would be."
Sakura could not help but feel a bit more hopeful. "That's lovely," she said, meaning every word. She paused momentarily. "Er, well...is it lovely?" she asked him. "Do you like this place?"
She felt and heard him inhale softly, but she had not really LOOKED at him since he had sat down. She didn't know if she should.
"I wasn't sure yesterday," he admitted quietly. "But now...I--I think I might."
Sakura smiled softly, trying to imagine 'what if'...
Li-kun cleared his throat. "I, uh, I have a present for you, from my uncle and I," he spoke up. "I meant to give it to you yesterday, but Clow Reed-sama sort of stole the attention, and then with one thing and another..." he trailed off and cleared his throat again. "So, um...here." He pulled a small package out of his cloak pocket and pushed it into her hands.
"Thank you, Li-kun," she gasped, staring down at the package in what she had to admit was utter curiousity. Certainly more curiousity than she'd had all day, and that included when opening her other Christmas gifts.
"Don't open it until I leave, okay?" Li-kun suggested, getting up as though he were preparing to do just that.
Sakura looked up at him in surprise. "Why? Will it blow up?"
Li-kun looked as though he did not know exactly how to reply, but then he smirked, and that was very familiar, too.
"Perhaps. You'll never know with my uncle." Sakura giggled, and he looked away, but not before she saw the traces of a real smile. She knew Li-kun was really a warm person underneath.
"So...have your manners improved yet?"
"Geez!" she exclaimed, throwing a handful of snow at him and freezing momentarily as he actually laughed, quietly but genuinely. "I'll have you know that my manners are perfectly intact, thank you very much, now goodbye!"
He was still laughing, and though he was nearly as aggravating as her brother in this moment, she was laughing as well.
"I'm quite sure they are," he muttered, turning to head back to the house, his cloak billowing in the cold air. "I'll see you later on, Kinomoto-san."
"Goodbye for now, Li-kun," she replied amiably, turning back to look at the package in her hands.
She had barely registered the presence by her side again, before he had brushed a lightning-quick kiss against her cheek.
"Thank you," she heard him whisper, that whisper so completely familiar that her eyes went large once more.
But he was gone in a flash, almost before she had even had the chance to whirl around and watch him go.
She shook her head briefly, wondering if she had imagined the whole thing. Impatiently, she tore into the package, sure that Li-kun was gone by now.
A falcon's claw pendant fell onto the white snow. For a long moment, it lay there, as Sakura was far too shocked to pick it up.
With hesitant fingers, she finally did so, and it was oddly warm to the touch. Yet it was completely whole, looking as though it had never shattered before...but what did that mean? Clow Reed-sama had repaired her nutcracker the exact same way yesterday.
And it was big enough to fit around her neck. Slipping it over her head, she picked up the nutcracker which still lay tucked underneath her arm. The pendant was far too large to fit him anymore...and yet...
Excitement and hope bubbled up inside the cinnamon-haired girl as she looked back at the house with a wide grin.
Maybe, just maybe...it hadn't been a dream.
And even if it had, did it really matter?
Hopping up from the rock with a much lighter heart than the one she had first sat down with, she pulled her cloak around her before beginning the trek back to the house.
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A/N: It's choppy, it's corny, there's probably a zillion and one plotholes, but it's done, it's done, it's done, and I'm free! Omg, I can't tell you how great that is, and how thankful I am to everyone who stuck with this fic so long! Thank-you!
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