Okay....how's everyone doing? Here's another chappie... I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!!!

I got a comment that this story is too much like the movie. As I said before, yes it was based, but I do agree it's almost the same. I will keep the "romance" the same as in the movie, and a few other things. This story will begin to stay from the story I PROMISE!! I'M SORRY if I offended anyone here!!

ENJOY!!

Once Upon A December

Chapter 2: Sponcers from Paris


"...and here is what we see as a sixteenth century- Sarah? Sarah? SARAH?!," Syaoran called out in exasperation. Why couldn't this girl ever pay attention? She needed some knowledge of her 'home land' in order to fool that Dowager Queen into thinking she really was Sakura Kinomoto.

"Oh...hoe...sorry. It's just....Syaoran! How can you want to talk about all that stupid history on a day like today! It's SO beautiful!"

"Pardon me for wanting you to know all of this!"

"What if I don't want to know all of this!"

"What if I told you that you had to know all of this!"

"I don't care!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Sarah and Syaoran turned turned their backs to one another as Eriol stood there grinning like a fool. He knew something they didn't.

"Eriol, you agree with me that this is a beautiful day, right!," Sarah asked, spinning around from her back-towards-Syaoran- position, now facing Eriol who stood to the left of Syaoran. She was trying to get Eriol on her side of this argument.

Eriol smirked. Seems you have two options, Eriol. Agree with Sarah and make Syaoran mad. Or agree with Syaoran and make Sarah mad. Which would be more my worth while? "I agree with you Sarah."

"WHAT?," Syaoran exclaimed, turning to face his friend. "You know she has to learn this stuff!"

"Syaoran, Syaoran," Eriol began, "I see right though you!" Eriol laughed and walked off. He'd make those two realize what was really happening between them!

Syaoran and Sarah just stood there, watching Eriol walk off. "He's always been like that?"

Syaoran hung his head. "Yup. And he'll never change. C'mon- let's follow him. I think he's heading towards that cafe. I'm starved! And it's about lunch time anyways."
"So, Sarah, the next train to Warsaw doesn't leave till next week. So, we'd best stay right where we are, here, in St. Petersburg. Beside, me and Syaoran still have a lot to teach you about the city," Eriol, Syaoran and Sarah sat at a cafe in St. Petersburg, discussing their future plans. "From there...we'll make our way on to Paris."

"Why are we going to Warsaw?," Sarah inquired.

"Because we'll need to transfer trains there."

"But...a direct route to Paris...isn't there one?"

Eriol pushed up his glasses. "Not exactly. We're trying to get there as fast as possible, so it means we'll be transfering more. There is no direct route to Paris. People were too lazy to build a train track around certain areas. Eventually you'd hit some water middle of Ukraine, -there are two ferry rides in the whole trip to be exact-; get on a train to take yah to Switzerland; board a train to take you over the mountain range in, and another train, uhh another train, maybe two since it's not tourist season so only one shuttle's running every two weeks to get to France, go across the river on a ferry, then from there its either take that to Paris, which is built right by the river, or get on another train to take you to a certain station. You can buy a transfer package, so you don't have to re-pay at another train station, and the ferry rides you can buy in advance and get a reduced package."

Sarah nodded her head. "So, how long would all that take?"

Eriol leaned back. "Depends on if your smart and you book a trip so that all your transfers and ferries leave soon after you arrive there...and also if its a busy season or not...and depends if the weather holds up traffic...but can you really help that if you need to go there right away? You know I'd be such a better person at managing all of these trains and ferries! And then that drabby gray interior must go! I'm thinking maybe a navy blue? Yes, and red china! Oh and there's-"

"ERIOL!," Sarah shouted; the others around them turned their head to see what was happening and, when nothing did, they looked away and carried on with their business. Syaoran simply sweat-dropped. This guy MUST be gay, Sarah decided. "I don't need the math or the design flaws- just an estimate, ok?"

Eriol briskly nodded. "2-3 weeks. Though it could be longer, but only by about 5 days. I couldn't imagine anyone making it there in a faster time slot than 2 weeks."

"But, were getting their faster right?"

Eriol shrugged. "Could be. You see, it all depends. Me and Syaoran mapped out our route so that it wouldn't take three weeks. We estimated two, at most 1-2 days over."

"So...why not just use the route that the train station offers?"

Eriol grinned. "You see, that's the beauty of it. We are in a season where we just don't know what the weather's like. Since it's winter up here, there's more of a chance of a blockage and a delay. The ferries still run, but ice warnings can make them run behind too. We planned it all out so we lose time not taking a ferry, but gain by transferring more often- it's like taking shortcuts." And...not to boast, but I did plan it out so all out transfers were within 1-3 hours or each other. Except for one, which is overnight- though, you'd usually have to wait 2 days for that one! HA! I got a transfer there with only a 16 hour wait! And a cabin with synthetic carpets!"

Syaoran shook his head as Sarah smiled nervously. Eriol was quite passionate about this part of the trip.

Syaoran cleared his throat. "So, we're going to probably stay back over at the palace for the next week. And, I'd still like to take you for a trip around the city, just to get you familiar with the sights," he paused for a moment, not wanting his next question to offended her- even if she was a pain-in-the-ass-kid. "And... uh...Sarah...?"

Sarah titled her head. Did Syaoran sound uncomfortable? "Yes?"

"I, uh, well I...I was making-gathering-the information required for our passports. I don't suppose your registered under a family name for travel are you?," Syaoran asked his voice hushed at the end. Not only did he not want her to know that he was using fake passports to get them to Paris- not that they looked fake after all the years he'd spent learning how to make them- but he didn't want to get her all mad at him and refuse to go to Paris just because he'd asked about her last name.

Sarah's eyes widened. She'd never thought about it. Every person had a birth certificate, which in enabled them to receive the appropriate papers needed for travel passports, id, licenses', etc. Did she ever receive one? I don't know my last name...and Head Mistress gets us working licenses' from that social worker from that government building. Maybe...I could get a passport from there? "I don't believe I am, Syaoran," Sakura said, sounding ashamed. "But...I have a working license."

Eriol gave her a funny look. "How'd you get that? You need a last name for that."

Sarah shrugged. "Back at the orphan edge, a social worker from some government agency got Head Mistress some whenever someone turned 17 and could no longer stay there. When they left to go make a life for themselves. Here," Sarah said, passing her license to Eriol.

Eriol nodded, passing it back to Sarah. "I've heard of these. Back when I worked-" Eriol paused, a sad looked passed across his face. It quickly passed as he straighted out again. "They're for people without a proper -or no- birth certificate registered. And only those people. When your born, you automatically get registered with all the information found on a birth certificate. And you get it in paper, too, to show that you've been registered. When your not recorded at birth, you technically don't exist and belong to that specific country according to the government. You could claim you were from, say, England, but a check would go through and it would prove that you weren't from that country."

"Hold up," Syaoran said, holding his arms up. "We don't need to scare her, Eriol. I can work without her last name. I'll just...uh...make one up."

"So...you're saying that if I'm not registered I don't exist...anywhere?," Sarah asked in a small voice.

"Only technically," Eriol restated. Syaoran glared at Eriol. Doesn't he know he's messing this up for us? Eriol you asshole! You're going to scare her away! Just shut up about this! I'll forge her a last name!

Syaoran took a deep breath. "You can't get out of St. Petersburg without travel papers; can't get those without a birth certificate, can't get that without being registered," Syaoran stated. "We need to find out first if your registered. Then, take things from there." He glanced at Eriol. "Worst comes to worst- we get you sponcered out of the country. Besides," he gave Sarah a small smile, "it's all worth it if you're Sakura Kinomoto, right?"

Sarah gave him a smile. "Right. So, where can we find out if I'm registered? Eriol?"

Eriol smirked. "I think I might still have a few connections..."



"She's registered for a working license, but not much more. Unfortunately, she wasn't registered at birth like all the other orphans."

Eriol's eyes clouded with confusion "Pardon?" He was inside the custom's building, while Syaoran and Sakura waited outside. Good thing this new lady didn't realize his pass into the records was old. Must be a NEW newbie. Why, even if she didn't know my pass was old, help me search through records? Not that he was complaing- saved him a lot of time. The records had been long sience re-organized.

The blond haired lady looked up. "When baby orphans-"

"She was orphaned at about seven. Complete loss of memory."

"Oh, that explains it a little. You see, at birth orphans are registered with a different kind of birth certificate. On it is the name given to them, their birth date, where they were born and which hospital. Their last name was simply added on when their parents adopted them, so it isn't a big deal to leave blank. The different birth certificate shows right away that they were orphaned and a regular certificate, when they're adopted, is issued. But here's our problem: in this case, she was never registered. The outskirt orphan edges never go though the trouble to proparly register their orphans."

Eriol nodded. So, because she wasn't registered, she doesn't have a birth certificate. Syaoran, I hope your birth certificate skills are in tip-top shape.Because if I can't get one... "Can you register Sarah or not?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure how to go about this," she admitted. "I suppose that Sarah would need to go through customs and of course the adoption system, but she's too old, right?"

"Seventeen."

"Well then in that case, she'd have to take on a last name somehow-"

"She can take my last name," Eriol interrupted. "Well, not my last name as if she's my kid or anything -I'm not much older so it wouldn't be right- but I mean, to use you know?"

The blond lady shook her head. "There needs to be a relation. And even with that, does she know what hospital she was born at? Or even her birth date?"

"The doctor guessed it was in St. Petersburg; February 18, 1909. About 7 years old. And on top of that there's only one birthing hospital here. So, I have all the facts. All I need is a social security number and a last name for her."

"We still need a relation for that."

"Sponcering? If someone sponcered her out on Russia into say- maybe- France? England?"

The lady nodded. "Yes, that would work. She could take on the last name because a relation would be created. You could maybe get a birth certificate in about 6 weeks-"

"I don't have 6 weeks. Why so long?"

"The goverment has to go through this long system to make the last name legal-"

"If you can make up the papers I can get you a legal last name within half an hour. Just lead me towards the long distance phone and hook me up with Paris."


"I can't believe you got me one, Eriol," Sarah said laughing.

Eriol smirked as Syaoran read SArah's new birth certificate.

"Well, Eriol, Syaoran, what's my last name?"

Eriol smiled. "Well Sarah Daidoji, that's a matter of if you really wanted to know which family we just got to sponcer you."

"Daidoji's? Who are they? I'm sponcered?"

Syaoran shook his head. "They're a family who lives in France. Quite a small family, though. They are related to the Kinomoto's...well, actually, to Sakura's mother, who only became a Kinomoto late on. Sonomi Daidoji is her cousin and her daughter, Tomoyo, is a second cousin to Sakura. And, yes, you technically are sponcered until your in France. Then, once your there, as soon as your in France you can techinally drop the name. But, I wouldn't. It's legal, so might as well keep ot for as long as you need, right?"

"So...I'm in sponcered under the name Daidoji? For as long as I want? Even once I'm in France?"

"Until we can prove you really are Sakura. Why would you want a different last name over your true one?," Eriol reminded her.

"So, how'd did you get the Daidoji's to sponcer me?"

Eriol turned red."Uhhh..."

Syaoran eyed his friend, knowing why he was all red and embarrassed. He simply shrugged, sending Eriol a 'you owe me' glance. And, techinally, he wasn't going to make up a lie. He did know Tomoyo and had a vaild reason for why she'd want to help out."Tomoyo's an old friend of mine and still owed me a favor from way back, so, she got her Mom to take you into her family- under a sponcer program. So, Tomoyo's Mom pulled a few strings, as did Eriol, and got you sponcered- even though she didn't have all the information required to get you into it. Her Mom wants to meet you, too, mind you. She trusts whoever Eriol and I think is Sakura to really be her."

Sarah nodded. It was better than using a fake last name to get into the country. "And it's ok if I'm traveling like this?"

"Yup, Sonomi is your care giver as of an hour ago, but she also, uh, made me and Syaoran temporary ones so that you could cross borders without trouble."

Sarah nodded. "So, I do have a birth certificate...right?"

Eriol held them up. "The birth certificate. Tommrow we'll have a passport."

"What happens next, guys," Sarah asked.

Eriol smiled. "The quest to make you a princess begins."

"With my know-how on everything a royal princess would have to know about herself, others, and everything that she would have learned in lessons," Syaoran answered.

"And my knowledge on how to act the part and talk the talk," Eriol added.

"And my superior ultra quick ability to learn all of this stuff," Sarah added in, giggling.

"We'll make a fine team," Eriol said. Even you two. He smiled as he watched Syaoran, who was back to his old self, holding the birth certificate out or reach from a name calling Sarah.

He sighed. Even you two.