Once Upon A December
Chapter 5: Last Minute Decisions
Eriol approached a Train Attendant. "Excuse me, sir, when is there a train arriving from Paris? It would be from the route that hits capital cites only," Eriol added, remembering that many trains came in and out on a daily basis.
The brown haired man looked up, looked back down again, reached for a binder, flipped a few pages, and finally looked up again at Eriol. "Well, we have one at 5:30...," the man started.
Eriol felt his spirits lift a little. He had gone from hell and back trying to get here unnoticed—and so far it had worked. Good, it's only half an hour off. I'm gonna be here for only another half hour!
"—but, it's two hours late as far as we can tell."
Eriol felt his spirits hit rock bottom.
"Sarah? Sarah? Sarah come on—get up! Today's another big day!" Syaoran yelled to the lump under the covers. He walked over to the food he'd bought at 9 o'clock shap that morning—bread, fruit and water. "Sarah! Honest to God I'm going to have a break down—just get up, will you?"
Syaoran walked over to the bed and whipped back the covers.
Unless Sarah was an arrangement of dresses, which he highly doubted, she was gone.
Eriol leaned back in a chair. Two and a half hours—two and a half hours! He was going to sit here...for two and a half hours! Might as well get used to it—Tomoyo won't come any sooner if I dwell on it!
...two hours and twenty seven minutes to go. So much for not dwelling on it Eriol!
"Shit..," Syaoran muttered under his breath. The reality had just been fully taken in; and no longer did he see any humor in it—this was bad. Real bad.
Sarah. Was. Gone. Damn...
Think Syaoran, THINK! Where would you have gone if you were all alone? There's got to be a place that Sarah's first instinct would take her! But, WHERE?! Syaoran paced back and forth across the room, head between his hands; where did Sarah go? He needed to know now.
If I we're Sarah, and I had nothing—no clothes, no passport... Syaoran raced over to the bag where Sarah kept her passport.
It was gone.
Where would one take a passport to? Why, a train station of course!
"Shit!"
"It was quite unnecessary for you to accompany me, Miss Li," Tomoyo Daidoji tilted her head back and smiled a closed-eye smile at the young girl with jet black hair in front of her. Tomoyo's hands were folded neatly on her lap, her long blue-gray hair was neatly put up, all four of her petticoats still looked freshly starched and her matching hat was still pinned securely onto her head. She sat with perfect posture; not because she felt the need to remain proper in front of only the girl in front of her...but, with a dress this fitted to your body, it was the only way you were allowed to sit without busting a seam.
The young girl, quite opposite to the obviously well brought up air her clothes gave off, snorted, and flicked her long black hair, which had been taken down as soon as she steeped foot into the private cabin room, out of her face. "Tomoyo, you know damn—darn—well that I would have tagged along anyways! Why, I haven't seen my cousin in years! And, please explain to me, why you feel so compelled to sit so straight? And so orderly? You look as if you're about to..to...meet the queen!"
Tomoyo raised a hand to her mouth and laughed polity. Not at the fact she was made a joke of—but, the irony in the statement meet the queen. Who knew? Maybe, just maybe, she was about to meet a future queen!
"My, Miss Li! Mind your mouth! If I am too proper—than, without a doubt, you are too informal!," Tomoyo laughed her oh ho ho laugh again. Miss Li was length wise along the bench—one foot was up, without a shoe and just recently, both legs had become stocking-less; the other foot was skimming the ground and playing with it's shoe; the stiffness in her dress had worn off because of the way she had been sitting—laying—in it; two layers of dresses lay at the head of the bench along with a hat, earrings and necklace; and, finally, jet black hair had been long since been taken out.
"Shut it, Daidoji! How much longer?"
"The last time you asked me was five minutes ago!"
"Yeah. FIVE minutes ago! How much longer now?"
Tomoyo shook her head. "Just under two and a half hours."
"Do we stop again, Tomoyo?"
Tomoyo's face looked shocked. "Why, you'd have to be crazy to want to go out into the public eye like that!"
The raven haired beauty rolled her eyes; all she wanted to know was if the stop would make this horrid train ride longer! "Would I ever disgrace my family like that, Miss Daidoji?"
Tomoyo's eyes sparkled. "But, you would disgrace my mine!"
The girl rolled her eyes; Tomoyo just loved to tease her! "Aw, come on Tomoyo! You know how I hate formalities! And my family just had to be a target for all those reporters!"
Tomoyo nodded her agreement. "The Li family is very prosperous in many ways—so many reporters must be hard for a free spirit like yourself to handle."
The girl's mouth formed a knowing smile. "I'm sure all the perfection required in being a Daidoji has comes like second nature to you."
Tomoyo simply titled her head to the side with her ever famous closed-eyed smile. "Miss Meiling Li, you don't know the half of it."
Eriol walked into Wing A of Moscow's train station; to avoid suspicious looks, he had to blend in.
But, Tomoyo, that's not exactly easy to do when your train is two and half hours late!
Alright, just about two hours now.
Eriol sighed and sat down at the bar and signaled the bar tender he was read to order.
"What can I get you, sir?"
Eriol rubbed his forehead and ordered one of strongest drinks he could think of. "Scotch. Straight."
Well, okay. Not nearly the strongest. But, hey, he was a cheap drunk—especially when he was this stressed. But, to keep his sanity and patience steady, a strong scotch would do the trick.
"What type of—"
"Whatever's strongest."
"Coming right up."
Eriol leaned back into his chair. Most people in his situation would think he was stressing about getting caught, never finding Syaoran or Sarah again or that Syaoran or Sarah would get caught—but, no. Eriol had a good head on his shoulders, or so his cousin, Nakuru Akizuki, told him many times over—he didn't lose his cool in tough situations like those just mentioned.
But, as Nakuru also pointed out, there was one thing that Eriol would always lose his cool over.
Tomoyo Daidoji.
Syaoran stuck a toque over his head of messy brown hair, threw on the cleanest outfit he could find, grabbed all of their belongings and ran blindly towards the small train station. It was a cold day, and he didn't stop to think about putting mitts of a scarf on at all; the numb feeling in him cheeks and hands were a constant reminder of his stupidity.
Faster, Syaoran! The first trains in small towns leave at nine!
8:50
Syaoran grunted. He wasn't going to make it. No, no! I HAVE to make it! I just have to! Sarah doesn't know what she's doing! Damn Eriol for pre-paying all the trains to Paris in advance!
8:52
Sarah leaned against the window looking out towards the train tracks. What the hell was she thinking, leaving Syaoran like that? Running away? What made her think that she stood a chance in making it to Paris? And what would she do now—Syaoran and Eriol were the only two people she knew that could get her an audience with the Dowager Empress! This wasn't good...
Tears stung her eyes; this wasn't the first time she felt alone in life—but, it was the first she felt as if she was never going to feel better again. With Syaoran and Eriol, she felt so safe—even when it was just Syaoran, it felt a whole lot safer than this...
What if she went to Paris and couldn't talk to the Dowager Empress? How would she support her self then? What if she really was this Sakura Kinomoto and never found out?
What if she never saw Syaoran or Eriol again?
NO, no! I have to be strong; I can take care of myself! I don't need anyone...
...do I?
The train rolled in. Sarah glanced towards the open gate as she slowly made her way towards it. She was next in line!. Once she crossed into it, there was no going back. She would have to get on the train and go to Paris and live in Paris and stay in Paris and—
"...SARAH!"
Syaoran ran faster and faster; he had to make it. He just had too.
Faster....faster...faster...
Almost there...
He heard the train rolling in and only hoped to God Sarah didn't get on it yet. He pushed through the crowd of people and spotted a young girl about to show her passport to the guard.
There was no doubt about it. She was Sarah.
"SARAH!"
Sarah spun around as the guard was looking at her passport and papers.
"SARAH!"
Did...did she just hear Syaoran? She looked around and her eyes stopped on a chocolate haired man making his way towards her.
"...Syaoran?," she breathed.
The security guard cleared his throat to get her attention. "Here's you passport ma'am. Please move along now, move along." The guard tried to push her through.
Sarah threw off his hands. "Syaoran? What are—"
The guard caught her off guard and finished pushing her out the gate.
Sarah came up to the fence which separate the two areas, meeting Syaoran there.
"Sarah...ran away...I'm sorry....didn't mean to—"
Sarah shook her head. She had already came to a decision right then and there. "No, Syaoran, I'm sorry. I can't go on with this little adventure anymore. I'm no princess, Syaoran. Thank you, though, for sticking with me through this. Tell Eriol bye for me, alright?," Sarah began to walk away, but Syaoran caught her arm.
"Sarah! You are the first girl I have ever known to be the princess. I can't explain why, or how, but I have a feeling that you are Sakura Kinomoto. I know this might sound crazy, but you act just like her! You gave me a pendant that said three words: strength, endurance, hope. I have that now, Sarah, because of you. But I also have faith that you are her. And trust me, when I say I have faith, so do a lot of other people. Like Eriol, the Daidoji's...there all counting on seeing you in Paris. Please, Sarah? You gave me faith, so can you let me give you some, now, too?"
Sarah looked at the train as the conductor yelled "all aboard". She glanced at Syaoran's pleading eyes, back at the train, then finally back at Syaoran.
"Syaoran, I need this think this over."
"You have no time!"
Sarah smiled gently. "Yes, I do. This train makes a detour stop in Moscow. Can you meet me there?"
Syaoran nodded mutely as Sarah scurried towards the train and got on. His heart felt like it was going to crash for some unknown reason. Yet, he understood. He understood what it meant like to have no family. Nobody in the world. And then, all of a sudden, your life changes around.
He felt the exact same way when he met up again with Tomoyo, Yamazacki and Eriol.
All those years of cutting himself off from his family and friends—only to met up again and start building trust. Must be hard for Sarah, especially since in her whole life the only person she could depend on was herself—no friends.
No. That's not true. She could depend on him. And, he was almost certain, Eriol—even Tomoyo—would say the same thing.
The train immediately started to move away as Sarah leaned out and waved.
Syaoran kept a steady gaze on her face until he could see no more.
