The reviewers to the first chapter are to blame for my other neglected fics and starting the second chapter to this fic.
Keep Moving on
Chapter 2
Meiling opened her eyes slowly to unfamiliar surroundings. When she felt the things she was sleeping on start to shift, she nearly screamed, but seeing the sleeping face of her true love, she sighed and relaxed, snuggling closer to him. He, in response, tightened his hold around her waist as she drifted back to her dreams and memories.
Flashback…10 years ago
"SYAO-CHAN!" came a female cry.
Syaoran and Meiling turned around, Syaoran's grim expression softening to a smile, as he caught his girlfriend when she launched herself around him.
"Ohayo, Sakura…" he murmured, kissing her on the cheek.
"Am I invisible, Kinomoto??" Meiling automatically demanded.
With a laugh, Sakura hugged the Chinese girl. "Of course I haven't! Ohayo Meiling-chan!"
Meiling hugged her back. "Now that's better." Looking behind Sakura, she gave a wave to Eriol, and Tomoyo, who grinned and waved back. She broke the hug. "Ne, Sakura…"
"Hoe?"
"Where's Kinomoto-kun?"
The two couples shot their partners identical grins. Everyone but the Chinese girl and the Cardmistress's brother noticed how much the girl idolized the older brother, and neither of them noticed the look in Touya's eyes when he looked down on the girl since his breakup with the moon guardian.
"I made him park the car cuz he called me a monster again," Sakura said with a grin.
"Sou…ka…" Meiling murmured, not noticing the shadow creeping up behind her.
"What? Missed me, brat?"
She whirled around and glared up at chocolate-brown eyes and messy ebony hair. "You wish, baka."
End flashback
It started as such a simple admiration, to a complicated crush. Too bad it would get even more complicated…
Flashback…9 years…
"KURA!!! I'm going to go gather the food and stuff for the movie! I'm going to take the shower when I'm done, I don't care if you're still in it or not!"
"LESBIAN!!" Sakura cried from the shower, but to Meiling's satisfaction, the water turned off.
Her loose, black hair trailed behind her as she jumped down the stairs towards the kitchen, and hung in front of her face as she looked over her options in the snack cupboard. Brushing her hair out of her face, annoyed, she mumbled something along the lines of "I'm gonna hack all of you off if you keep in my way…"
"I've heard of talking people talking to themselves, or to random objects, but this is the first time I've seen someone talk to their hair" came a joking voice behind her.
Meiling turned her head and glared at the older Kinomoto sibling, who stood there with that annoying smirk on his face.
"Hungry?" the smirk spread even wider as he took note on all the chips, sodas, and popcorn she held in her hands.
Meiling almost yelled a comeback, but whatever it was caught in her throat, along with her breath as she took note that Kinomoto Touya, Seijuu High heartthrob, was shamelessly before her, topless and clad only in boxers. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she turned her face back to the cupboard, hoping he hadn't noticed her blush.
"Idiot, Sakura, Tomoyo, and I are gonna watch a movie, and they invited Syaoran and Eriol-kun. This food is for all of us while we watch."
"I know…but you should realize you're giving me quite a view, standing like that."
Meiling was puzzled, then took note that due to the fact the snack cupboard was pretty low, she had bent down, her behind clad in tight black jeans were exposed for the Kinomoto jerk standing behind her. Blushing once again, she turned around and sent a glare that would've made Syaoran proud.
"WHY THANK YOU FOR AGREEING TO CARRY EVERYTHING FOR ME, TOUYA-CHAN!" she exclaimed, smirking, as she thrust everything into his arms, as he gave a cry of "Oof!" and walked upstairs. "I'm off to take a shower, and if I come back and find nothing on the table in front of the TV, I shall tell Sakura to attack you for me!" she yelled, giving a wink and blowing a kiss.
Touya grumbled and set everything on the table.
"That brat…" he stopped himself, and a genuine smile graced his lips.
"…A cute on though…"
Sakura bound down the stairs in a pink spaghetti strap top and pink pajama bottoms and screamed "TOUYA PUT ON YOUR CLOTHES NOW!!"
Meiling sniggered as she heard Sakura yell at her brother, setting him in line. Grabbing her red tank top, black pajama pants, and her personal shower utensils, she moved into the bathroom. Stripping off her garments, she settled into the shower stall, eyes closed as the hot water trailed down her body.
'Damn…I'm Meiling Li, non-magical member of the Li clan, and I'm in love with my friend's 26-year-old brother…'
Turning off the water, she dried herself off and pulled on her pajamas. Feeling too lazy to deal with her impossible waist-long hair, she simply made sure it wasn't DRIPPING wet and tied it up into a simple ponytail. She was down the stairs when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it! It's probably Tomoyo and the guys with the movie!" Meiling yelled as she walked to the front door, and made sure through the peep hole it was the expected visitors. After identifying them, she let them in. The guys were clad in normal clothes, but Tomoyo was in her lavender pajamas with a long overcoat so she didn't get so many stares at the video rentals store.
"Come on in, took you guys forever…" she grumbled, and called for the Kinomoto siblings.
Syaoran's cheeks flushed as he saw Sakura in her pajamas, and Eriol lost his cool, calm composure for a moment when Tomoyo took off her jacket. Meiling snickered and stalked off, both guys glaring at her. Meiling noticed Touya in the kitchen, pulling more stuff from the cupboard.
"Hungry?" she shot, staring at his boxer-clad cute butt, but now with a t-shirt. Touya turned around to glare, but something about the way she looked got his heart to stop for a millisecond. Soon, he was back to himself.
"Starving. Three teenaged girls, and three growing boys, we're gonna need more food"
Meiling rolled her eyes as she grabbed some of the stuff Touya was holding. "Growing? You're a freaking giant
Touya gave a cocky grin. "I'll take that as a compliment. I grew two more centimeters between the beginning of this month and yesterday."
"Technicalities…" Meiling grumbled as she brought the food to the table. On her way back, she noticed the two couples hadn't moved from the front door area. "OI! ENOUGH WITH THE PDA'S AND GET OVER HERE AND PUT IN THE MOVIES!!!"
The four discontinued their lip-locks from their respective partners. The guys glared and the girls stuck out their tongues.
"Use that somewhere else" came the same amused, cocky voice behind Meiling. Meiling snickered at the boys and Tomoyo's flushed expressions, and laughed at Sakura's "Hoe? I don't get it!"
Due to the fact it was Tomoyo that picked out the movie, the six were forced to watch some boring chick flick. Tomoyo and Sakura were totally into it, while Syaoran and Eriol used their cell phones to SMS each other, so their girlfriends wouldn't be offended by their insults of the movie. Meiling felt like she was about to fall asleep, so she stood up and mumbled something about getting fresh air and left. Touya glanced at her while she left, and silently jumped over and behind the couch he was sitting on, grabbing the blanket he covered himself in and followed her to the backyard.
Touya approached her cautiously and caught her shivering. He wrapped the blanket around her as she jumped in surprise.
"Don't want the brat catching a cold, now do we?" and moving his foot just in time as she tried to stomp on it. Touya started to laugh. Meiling stared at his face, admiring the way the moon highlighted his handsome features. Touya noticed her staring. "What? Something on my face?" he asked, moving his hand to his face.
Meiling gave a small smile. "No, it's perfect…" she murmured, cheeks turning pink as she realized what she just said. Touya froze, as his face, too, started to flush. Meiling coughed and stared up at the stars.
Touya turned his gaze towards the sky as well, glancing at Meiling every couple seconds, before he decided to tug the hair tie out of her hair, ignoring her cry of protest. "Your hair might annoy you, but it looks better down. If you cut it to about shoulder length, it'll look cuter and it won't be as much as a hassle…" he whispered, calming her down, as she fingered a lock of black hair, blushing.
"Maybe I will…" she whispered back, still playing with that lock of hair. Touya removed it from her fingers and stared into her ruby-red eyes. Meiling looked up into his chocolate-brown ones and fidgeted under their gaze and unreadable expression. Before she knew what was happening, he leaned in and lightly brushed his lips against hers. Meiling was shocked, as such a simple kiss brought shivers down her spine, and her whole body started to tingle. As he pulled away, Meiling surprised him by pulling him back to her, fingers now buried into his hair and pulling gently. Touya smiled into the kiss and wrapped his hands around her slim waist and pulled her closer. After a few minutes, they broke apart, panting.
"I love you, Li Meiling…"
Meiling was shocked, but smiling. "I love you too, Kinomoto Touya…" she murmured before pulling him to her again
End Flashback
Meiling sighed in content as she turned to stare at his sleeping face, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. She frowned, feeling how much bonier than usual he was, and mumbled about his hair being too long, and how he wasn't taking good care of himself.
"Baka…" she whispered sadly, thinking about how it was her fault.
Flashback...7 years…
Meiling tripped on her way to the coffee shop she was supposed to meet Tomoyo, Eriol, Sakura, Syaoran, and Touya. She almost cried out and closed her eyes, waiting for impact, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she gazed into the laughing brown eyes of her boyfriend for two years, Touya. She grinned as she let himself be pulled up and he kissed her on the nose. Giggling, Meiling hugged him and kissed his cheek. He grinned and fingered her now shoulder-length hair.
"Hey…" he whispered into her hair.
"Hey!" she said with a grin. "Let's go, we're late for meeting with the others!" she cried, dragging him inside to find only Eriol and Tomoyo.
"Where're the Kaijuu and the Gaki?" Touya asked in confusion, earning a swat on the chest from Meiling.
Eriol shrugged. "If it was just Sakura-san, I wouldn't be surprised, she's always late…but Syaoran's always punctual…"
Tomoyo leaned against Eriol and closed her eyes. "I'm just wondering what was so important they wanted to tell us about…"
"Well wonder no more!" came a cheery voice.
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo and Meiling cried, hugging her. "So what's the big news?" Tomoyo demanded, looking at Sakura and Syaoran, who looked the happiest they ever have.
"Well…" Sakura started with a grin, pulling Syaoran's hand into her own and smiling at him.
Syaoran grinned back, eyes showing nothing but adoration, as he looked at the rest of the group.
"We…" he continued, pulling her into his arms.
"WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!" screeched Sakura, flashing the huge diamond ring on her left hand. Tomoyo and Meiling gasped and squealed, jumping up and down, grabbing Sakura into a giant screaming hug. Eriol stood up and clapped Syaoran on the back.
"Congratulations! You finally did it!" he yelled with a beaming smile.
Syaoran looked a little embarrassed. "Well yeah, I had to make sure it was perfect, so I had to look through my old journal entries to find out which day I set eyes on her…" he mumbled.
"KAWAII!!!!" screamed Tomoyo, with dreamy eyes.
Touya wore a small smile and faced Syaoran, expression unreadable. Meiling became alert.
"TOUYA, if you ruin this day for Syaoran and Sakura, I'm breaking up with you!" Meiling yelled, giving a warning glare.
Touya ignored her and just lifted his hand. Syaoran expected the worst, and closed his eyes, but felt a hand placed on his shoulder. Confused, he opened his eyes to look at Touya, who grinned.
"Welcome to the family, Gaki! You're gonna hate it…" he congratulated with a wink.
Sakura sighed in relief, noticing she hadn't breathed since Touya approached her fiancée. With a cry, she launched herself onto her brother, who laughed and swung her around.
Meiling grinned and hugged Touya when he released his sister to the man she loved.
"You've matured, Kinomoto Touya…" she whispered to him.
He shot her a grin. "Were you really going to breakup with me if I protested?"
Meiling paused to think about it.
"Nope, I love you too much!" she declared, stood on tiptoes and kissed his nose.
Touya beamed and pulled her in for a proper kiss. "I wouldn't let you breakup with me. I'd keep begging until you took me back…" he murmured against her lips.
Meiling smiled into the kiss, broke it, and hugged him tighter, if possible.
Later that Night
Meiling returned to her empty apartment right when the phone rang.
"Moshi moshi, Meiling desu."
"Meiling."
Her head shot up in alarm. "Auntie…" she murmured, "what's the occasion?"
"I'm aware Xiaolang proposed to the Cardmistress, yes?"
Meiling sat down, ready to defend Sakura and Syaoran's relationship.
"Yes, and never in my 21 years have I seen Syaoran so happy."
Yelan laughed on the other line. "I understand that, I'm very happy with my son's choice, so no need to be all defensive, Meiling."
Meiling automatically relaxed and laughed. "Good,"
Yelan then frowned. "But now the elders have a problem…"
Half an Hour later
Touya moved out of the old Kinomoto house several months ago and now owned a small apartment walking distance from Meiling's. Walking out of the shower, with only a towel around his waist, he heard a knock from the front door. Puzzled, he glanced at the clock. 1:30 am. "Who could that be…" he grumbled, making a note to himself to put up a peephole, and opened the door.
His heart stopped when he saw the love of his life standing there, drenched from the rain, tears running down her cheeks, eyes red and puffy from crying, and panting from running all the way there.
"Mei…what…" he asked, concerned.
"Shut up…" she whispered, throwing herself into his bare chest. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her shivering form as she cried into his chest.
Touya frowned, and closed the door. He lifted her up and carried her to the couch, seating her in his lap, as he rocked her back and forth, rubbing her back, trying to soothe her sobs. When she was finally calm, they sat in comfortable silence.
"Syaoran's mom called me when I got home…" she whispered, voice hoarse. Touya said nothing, but his body language showed he was concerned what his sister's future mother-in-law would have to say about their engagement.
"She's happy Syaoran's settling down, and with someone he loves…" she continued, getting sadder. Touya pulled her closer, confused.
'She's saying that like she doesn't have someone she loves…'
"But the elders aren't happy…" she murmured, more tears rolling down her cheeks.
Touya glanced down, noticing more tears. He turned her face towards him, making sure she saw the concern in his eyes, but that only made her cry even more. The next sentence she said made his heart stop and his blood turn cold.
"Since the marriage between me and him went down the drain, they want me to marry someone else of magic so the Li Clan remains of magical blood." She cried even harder, hugging him closer to her, as if clinging onto him would change the elders' decision.
Touya sat there in a daze, unsure of what to do. His body was numb, and he didn't know what to say. The couple sat in the sound of Meiling's sobs and the ticks of the clock.
"Please…Touya…say something…" she cried, breath brushing across his neck.
She felt something warm drop onto her bare shoulder. Turning her head, she noticed Touya was crying. Her eyes pricked with fresh new tears as she wrapped her arms around his bare torso.
"Please say something…"
"What can I say?" he asked back, sadly, and choking on tears. "I love you, and there's no way I'm gonna let you go without a fight…"
"No…" she whispered, "You're gonna have to…"
The pair just sat there in each others company, tears mingling with each others.
"Touya…" she whispered.
"Hmm…" he responded.
"I don't want to live the rest of my life knowing I gave myself to a man I didn't love…"
Touya was alert, looking into her eyes.
"…Please…" she whispered, kissing him on the neck.
NO LEMON, THIS WILL BE STRICTLY PG-13!!!
A while later…
Meiling relaxed in Touya's arms, both covered by his bedsheets. She sighed in content and snuggled closer to him, pressing her body against his. His arms tightened around her form and kissed her on the forehead.
"No regrets?"
Meiling smiled into his eyes. "No, of course not…" and fell asleep.
Touya held her close, and a single tear fell from his eye.
'Why am I not meant for love? First it was Kaho…then Yuki…now Meiling? Why…'
End Flashback
TBC
I do believe this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Sad, isn't it. REVIEW PLEASE