Cinder-kura
Part 35 The Sign of the DreamProduced by: angela
Fongling laughed as she got off the beautiful black leather seats of the sleek black limo, her daughters flowing behind her. Totomus Sumotot smiled as Fongling turned around and winked slyly. It had been a wonderful evening to Fongling, and she had to admit that it was one of the best evenings in her life. They went to the most romantic and expensive restaurant in town and had the tastiest, most extravagant meal in the restaurant, an exquisite seafood dish topped with fresh lemons, and citrus fruit dangling to taste buds delicately with the scent and flavor of fried rose petals which were sprinkled lightly over the prawns. The sauce was creamy with milk buds and fresh lettuce and radish cut like flowers stuck in the cream. Bright orange carrots were cut like little bunnies and placed in the seafood dish right beside the crabs to add another color besides the already colorful dish. The restaurant was filled romantically with the golden warmth of candlelight, and the walls were lavished with attractive pictures depicting scenes from the fifteenth or sixteenth century.
It had all been dream-like all throughout dinner and getting back home, but now, cruel reality hit her hard. She was back in the cold and dark house of the Kinomoto's. She wished to be in the warm and cozy mansion of Sumotot's where there was a hint of cinnamon in the air.
"Mother, why are they lights on?" Feiling asked after letting her mother finish her thoughts.
"What?" Fongling looked around the small living room. "Where's Cinderkura? CINDERKURA!!!!!!!"
There was no answer, except for the forlorn echo that answered her. Fongling's eyes narrowed sharply as this already ruined her already wonderful evening.
"Go find that bitch" Fongling snarled.
Meiling and Feiling looked at each other in alarm and ran off to find the girl in the hospital. They returned after five minutes with negative answers causing Fongling to boil up even more.
"WHAT!!??" Fongling eyes darted back and forth trying to think of a possible way Sakura could have gotten past the spells. Suddenly, Fongling curled up in pain, her hands holding her stomach in pain. 'What is going on? Fongling thought in pain. She knew these weren't symptoms of pregnancy...was it?
"MOTHER!!" Both of Fongling's daughters crowded around their dear mother swiftly.
"What's wrong?! Are you alright?" Feiling's face was smudged with pure shock.
Fongling looked up faintly, her pain suddenly disappeared. "I'm alright...its probably the painkillers I took earlier today"
"Oh......" Meiling and Feiling both looked relieved as they stared at each other for a moment, then looked at their mother.
"You shouldn't take so much of that stuff" Meiling muttered slightly.
"I had a really bad headache this afternoon...and I didn't want to miss dinner with Sumoto..." Fongling suddenly looked dreamy and smiled vaguely.
"Your health is more import –"
"I guess your right mother, we have to snatch up all the chances we have with that dude, his money is our dream" Feiling interrupted Meiling's statement wisely.
"You're right Feiling. What is a little medicine compared to all the riches we will have? We would be living in a mansion, instead of this dump" Fongling chuckled slyly.
Then Feiling and Fongling laughed evilly filling the whole house with that sense of evil...and Meiling standing in the dark alone. When did it come to this??
-Prince Syaoran-
Syaoran just couldn't sleep. He had already spent all day trying to figure out this problem and maybe it was common sense, but he was just stumped over this problem. He sighed and lay down on his bed not bothering to take off his garments and shoes, and then and there, he fell into a deep sleep.
He felt cold, like a hard wind was blowing right at his very body, but he could still stand. He just felt cold. Very cold. He forced his eyes open and immediately shaded his eyes from the film of dust and wind blowing at his face and eyes. He looked around and was startled to find himself on foreign land. 'What is going on?' Syaoran thought silently and observed that he was alone. 'Is this a dream?' But it couldn't be, because he felt frozen.
There was long long yellowish and green grass surrounding him, and it seemed to go on forever with a mountain in the middle of nowhere. The weather was dark and dreary with dark fluffy clouds covering the whole sky, not a patch of blue anywhere. It looked like it would start raining soon.
RAW!!
Syaoran quickly went down on the floor as a navy blue raven roared above him and circled him with flapping wings as large as a dinner plate. His hand instinctively felt its way to his side where he usually hung his sword, but found that there was nothing at his side... suddenly, the raven stopped circling him and landed on a wooden pole a couple of meters away from Syaoran. The Prince got up slowly... staring at the blue bird in awe. Abruptly, it fluttered its wings and encircled in the air above Syaoran, then flew towards the strange mountain.
"Hey!!" Prince Syaoran yelled as he ran towards the raven following its direction. He had a faint feeling it wanted him to follow. Every once in a while, the bird landed on the wooden poles so Syaoran had a chance to follow.
Finally, they reached the mountain. 'What is this?' Syaoran thought as he lifted his hand to feel the hard and cold stone that built this short, but vast mountain. 'Why did it lead me here...there's nothing here' He stared at the raven who had landed on a random stone to rest, and walked a little around the rock glancing at the black bird for a clue or indication, but found none. All he heard was the faint sound of running water.
"Why did you lead me here?" Syaoran inquired, but immediately felt stupid for talking to a bird – something that will not answer him at all.
Unexpectedly, the dark bird lifted itself off of the rock majestically as if tired of Syaoran's annoying disturbance from its tranquil rest. It flew a little ways down east of where they were and suddenly, it turned around a sharp corner disappeared from view.
'What is going on?' Syaoran asked himself in thought but nevertheless followed and went around the corner.
Gasp.
Inside the crevice was a way into a cave. Syaoran didn't know if he could fit into the crack, but nevertheless, he tried. He fit miraculously and stared at the strange raven and knew that it wouldn't go with him. He walked through the tunnel leading into a strange light and the sound of running water once again. He could never forget the beautiful sight that he reached. The chamber of the cave was filled with wildflowers growing on the walls with amazing pastel colors of pink and sunlight yellow and early morning blue. There were patches of grass on the floor of the rock. It was strange because there were fruit trees growing in the cave. There were apples, and pears, with grapes and grapefruits hanging on strong branches with delicate leaves the color of deep forests hanging over them. The most extraordinary thing was that sunlight came through a crack in the cave. 'Its not sunny outside' Syaoran thought. 'What IS this place?'
What was more interesting was the six feet waterfall that poured with renewed strength down the to the rocks below, the water flowed down light streams that flowed away from the source down somewhere.
"Ahhhhh" A quiet and mysterious echo floated down the rock walls into Syaoran's ears. He swerved his head around the mystifying voice but found no one, but was drawn quite strongly to continue down the cave. He walked through as if in a dream and turned around the corner to suddenly meet the strangest and brightest radiance he had ever seen in his life. Syaoran's arms automatically moved to shade his eyes from the radiant light.
"Come in," A cool echo-like voice resonated throughout the cave. The shadow of water shone on the dull walls of the cave, it was the light reflecting off the water that made Prince Syaoran squint from the darkness before. The light dimmed to reveal a pretty woman with lengthy auburn hair that stretched below the waist. She was wearing a shiny sleek turquoise gown built with scales that parted into two ends just like the fins of a fish. She looked like a clumsy but wise person and Syaoran wondered if it was possible. She was sitting on a flat rock above the mysterious pool of water. Her smile shone at him making him feel very light-headed and relieved...just like special person in his life did.
"Who... are you?" Syaoran whispered in his shock. She resembled his cherry blossom.
"Who do you think I am?" The mystifying woman inquired playfully.
"You look like..."
"Someone..."
"That I... love." Syaoran whispered in pure happiness that he had admitted this to someone else. He was unafraid now of being shy, around the other females in the kingdom. The point was... HE LOVED HER. It was all that matters.
"If you love her... FIND her," Neshiko stated staring him straight in the eye.
"I already tried, you don't know what I've gone through trying to find her" Syaoran argued.
"Then maybe its not enough" Neshiko burned angrily standing up and walking down the crooked stone steps down to the Prince's level. "What you've gone through is not even considered enough for how much she's worth."
Prince Syaoran sighed and leaned his head down and scratched his dusty hair.
"You're right, it's not enough," Syaoran whispered. "She seemed really troubled by something, something, but... I truly can't find her."
"Have you looked at EVERY SINGLE girl in the kingdom?"
"Yes," He whispered. Suddenly, his head shot up. "Wait! That girl..."
He faded off. He suddenly had a flashback of that dirty-faced girl that brought in his tea. Her hair was covering her face. Was that a mask to hide her self from him?
"I must go!" The Prince turned on his heels eager to find his cherry blossom now. He turned around at the doorway. "Thanks." Then he ran hastily back out the cave. He couldn't wait; his heart was pounding like thunder against thunder. 'What am I going to say to her when I see her? Will she... remember me? Or has she... forgotten me?' The sudden thought stabbed him with fear. What if she had really forgotten him? If she didn't, then why didn't he at least give him a sign? He had missed her completely. Prince Syaoran ran out into the cold and damp atmosphere of the prairies where only the caw of crows was heard.
"Wait..." Syaoran mumbled in shock. If he didn't know how he came here, how would he know how to get back? He started running randomly back to where he faintly remembered where he landed. Suddenly, his body felt weak and his step slowed. All he saw was the ground coming nearer and nearer to his face. He felt no pain, but darkness plagued him throughout. 'He..lp'...
A familiar light flooded his eyes as he opened them slowly. A rustling sound was heard and the faint smell of lavender perfume filled his nose. He turned away from the smell and closed his eyes searching for the dream that left him seconds ago but was slapped with a cold voice that sounded oh so familiar.
"Syaoran! Get up!" A stern voice snapped and his covers were suddenly pulled off leaving him cold in his pajamas.
He moaned and tried to find the covers and pull it over himself again with eyes closed, but was unsuccessful.
"What time is it?! It is nearly ten, wake up, I have something to say to you!"
'Who's the idiot waking me up like this? Does he even know who I am?' Syaoran thought. Suddenly, he shot up from his sleeping position obediently. His eyes cleared to reveal his mother, Empress Yelan above him with searing hot eyes. From the corner of his eye, a flicker of light from the glass-covered clock gave him a hint of what time it was.
"What have I done to deserve this," The Queen muttered under her breath, then turned to her son. "The advisors say that if you do not find a suitable young woman to wed by the end of the next month, they will choose for you."
"WHAT??!!" Syaoran got to his feet in a second. "They can't do that, there rushing me, how am I supposed to find a right queen?!"
"They do not expect you to, they just want you to marry, and the time between now and the end of the next month is for you to find someone 'suitable'," The Empress emphasized with a twinkle in her eye. Syaoran knew what to do.
"Yes... it is..." Syaoran whispered and watched his mother leave the room and the quiet that surrounded him after she left gave the feeling that she was never really there before.
His mind suddenly sprung back onto the dream he had. 'Was it really a dream?' He pulled his fingers through his hair in annoyance. This was so hard. Suddenly, he felt something in his hands and quickly pulled it towards his view.
He gasped.
A long dried yellowish green grass lay in his hands... just like....
Syaoran pulled open his closet and took out a random shirt and flung it over his head taking care of the cherry blossom slipper and ran out of the castle with it. He wasn't coming back without his cherry blossom.
-Sakura-
Sakura woke up to the early dawn of the new morning, still drowsy from the drug of sleep, but mentally, she was awake as strong as a burning fire with the smell of smoke everywhere. There was no way she could forget this.
"Sakura, your breakfast" Misaki walked into the tiny hospital bedroom with a bright smile on her face, in her hands lay an orange tray with a bowl of cereal and a cup of milk sat beside it, cold and ready to be poured over the cereal.
Sakura got up slowly from being by her fathers side. Without knowing it, she had fallen asleep and she felt the urge to punch herself for doing that, but instead, she rubbed her eyes mildly and smiled glancing at the silent form of her father making sure he hadn't moved, or his blankets weren't off of him.
"Thanks" The sleepy Sakura muttered covering her eyes from the slant of sunlight that crossed her eyes.
"No problem. So...how's your dad today?" Misaki chirped happily.
Sakura sighed.
"No change"
"Well, I guess it's a good thing that there's no change right? I mean, we don't want him to get worse" Misaki tried to change the situation to the better.
"I-I guess"
"Eat your breakfast, I'll be back" Misaki ordered. She had seen people like this, too sad or heartbroken to eat, and THEY end up here at the hospital. It was like a mad cycle that would continue if she weren't there to stop them.
Sakura picked up the heavy metal spoon and forced herself to eat. 'Dad wouldn't want to see me frail and weak when he wakes up' Sakura thought to herself. She had absolute hope that her dad will wake up... later if not now.
HEHE. I'm done. Yes, I know, that took a long time, but please read and review!