Something Pink
Part 7: To be a Family
Eriol gave Syaoran an all-knowing smile, while the two waited outside on the street. It was pretty early in the morning and the two were thinking about the same thing, except each had their own opinion.
"Don't you think Sakura would look lovely in her underwear for the show?" Eriol thought aloud.
The fire crept up Syaoran's face as he raised his fists up, ready to pound Eriol. Just as he strode forward a familiar voice called out to him, "Daddy!"
Syaoran turned as he scooped his daughter, Peony up in his arms, allowing the scowl on his face to vanish. Seeing the young girl's bright face with cheeks tinted pink did that to him. He tossed the healthy girl up and caught her, forgetting Eriol and his obnoxiousness for a moment. He was so used to her light weight in his careful arms since the two weeks of daughter and father bonding. He found the days with her precious and wanted more of them. However, one missing thing remained in his life. He needed Peony's mother. He needed his wife again.
Sakura walked up to them with a straight face. Where was her smile? She used to smile for him. But that died out when they split and went there separate ways. No smiles for him, but plenty for people like Eriol and Seiji. For that fact, it seemed almost impossible for him to win her back.
When he watched her, she was always staring at their daughter, her eyes hiding her deep thoughts. He could never tell her thoughts for the short minutes they spent together. Usually, she would just stare at Peony, and then look at him. Just like that, she would hand her daughter over to him for half a day or even a whole day. She never complained once over the fact that he was spoiling their daughter. Peony's room was filled with dolls and toys that she picked and he bought her. She received all she wanted and loved. Yet, still, he could not give her something they both wanted.
"I'll leave her with you, today. I have to go to work anyway, so don't feel bad for me," Sakura said to Syaoran.
Syaoran settled Peony down and she ran up to Eriol and started chatting to him like all toddlers like to do. Eriol took the girl aside and allowed her to jabber all she wanted.
"Have her home by nine. I don't think I will be there, but Seiji or Touya or even Dad might answer."
Syaoran gulped at the sound of her brother's name. He hadn't encountered Touya since the night the man hit him. Syaoran was more embarrassed than afraid of the man and Sakura knows Syaoran well enough to understand why Syaoran wanted so much to avoid her brother. Syaoran, a man from a line of one of the greatest Kung Fu masters and a master of martial arts himself, got his behind whooped by a common punk, who only fought with the wimps who tried to pursue his sister in vain. One can't show face, it would disgrace the ancestors forever!
It was almost like she heard his thoughts when she said her next sentence. "Actually, I won't have Touya answer the door. He would go into his temper tantrum all over again. I don't want the police surrounding my house in the middle of the night. Anyway, have her home by nine." She was turning around and walking away when Syaoran quickly called her back.
"You are coming with us today."
Sakura's eyebrows went up as she stared at him, saying, "I'm sorry, but I have to work. I can't risk being late again."
"Sakura, does it sound like you have a choice?"
Her eyes were wide as she gazed at him and took in the meaning of his words. "I'm demanding that you spend the day with Peony and me."
"Demanding? Well, I must remind you, you are not my boss today. My other boss needs me."
"This boss needs you, too, Darling."
"Well, I can't, so goodbye," Sakura spoke steadily, stomping her foot firmly on the ground. Then, she spun around and was about to take a step forward, but Syaoran seized her arm. She fell against him and for a few seconds her heart froze. His hard chest went up and down as he breathed normally, making her head rise up and down to the beat. She looked up at him with a blush on her face, backing away slowly. Syaoran's bewildered look for her made shivers run down her spine. After all these years, he still made her heart do strange things whenever they were close together. Then again, she made him feel calmed, making his heart melt and beat softly whenever they touched.
"Mommy's coming, too!" Peony shouted as she jumped between the parents, startling them out of there reverie.
"Yes, she is. Aren't you, Sakura?" Syaoran asked.
The uncertainty was clear in her voice, but the joy on Peony's face gave the 'yes' more mass than the 'no'. "Yes," said Sakura clearly.
"Yay!" Peony took each parent's hand and walked between them. Sakura and Syaoran looked at her, and then at each other, silently agreeing that Sakura was only going because Peony wanted her to.
It was an awkward moment for Sakura and Syaoran, sitting together amidst silence, with the exception of the quiet giggling that erupted from Peony as she gradually went higher and higher on the swing. Sakura and Syaoran sat side by side on a bench, facing the swing set of the playground, watching their daughter.
"So, why do you want a divorce?" Syaoran asked this in a casual manner.
Sakura shifted uncomfortably at this impulsive question. Her eyes stayed on her daughter, who was oblivious to what her parents were discussing at the moment. The question made the situation more awkward. Sakura was unsure what he had just asked and if it was what she thought he asked she couldn't think of any place to start. She cleared her voice and spoke. "Syaoran, now is not the time…"
"Just answer the damn question!" He exclaimed in a low voice, keeping his head bowed, so that his bangs hid his eyes from her. "Why did you leave like that?"
"I left because of what I saw."
"I knew it! You saw Rachel. Well, it's not what you believe, don't let your mind fool you. What you saw was not at all what you think. I had a rough day, and she tried to comfort me."
"Syaoran, she was hitting on you. I noticed that from the very beginning. Since day one, she was very fond of you, and even if you were a married man, she would go right ahead and make her move."
"Yes, but I never felt that way about her. I would never think of that woman that way."
"I know, Syaoran. I know," Sakura reassured, without looking at him.
"Then, why did you leave me and then file for a divorce?"
"That day, when I saw you and her…"
Syaoran stood up and knelt down beside her, speaking gently. "I have told you countless times that there was nothing between us. The only person I ever cared for was you. But now that Peony is around…"
"You want her," Sakura said quickly.
"So you ran away to keep me away from my daughter?" Syaoran was furious at this, straightening his back fully to reveal his blazing golden brown eyes.
"No! When I left I had no idea I carried Peony inside me," she said. She was so scared that Syaoran would take Peony away from her, she had to tell him that.
"But even after she was born, you never contacted me. I'm very disappointed," Syaoran said. Sakura could see just how stressed he was and understood why he would use that tone with her. She made the wrong decision to keep Peony away from her real father. Sakura had depraved both of them of the love they needed.
"I'm sorry."
Syaoran looked at her disdainfully. "I can't believe you, Sakura. I have never known you to be so selfish!" He shouted at her.
Peony heard and stopped pumping her tiny legs. Gradually, the swing slowed to a halt. She sat there and watched them from afar, listening.
"I ran because I could not stand living in your shadow anymore! I ran because, my first years with you were lonesome. I realized that I missed home! And the night before I saw you and Rachel, you never answered my question!" She looked at him with fury in her eyes, stopping only to take a breath. "You were so busy, and we fought so much, I thought you needed some space. I thought I was keeping you from your dreams. Once I left, I not only unshackled you, but I found a new me. No big brother to boss you around, and no overprotective friends and loved ones who either threw themselves at you to block the sunlight or stood far away from you, acting as if they didn't know you. With only Peony with me, I learned to be independent. I work now, Syaoran, all by myself. I don't need you to pay for the clothes I wear or the food I eat. That's when I found out that this is my dream. I've forgotten America and the past all together for something better. It's called freedom."
"Mommy!" Peony shouted, running up to the pair. "Don't yell at Daddy anymore. It isn't his fault!"
"I'm not yelling, Peony. I'm sorry, Love."
"Yes, Peony. We both are sorry," Syaoran said. "How about we go grab a cone to make up for it?"
Bit by bit her frown turned upside down at the idea. "Yay!" was her cheerful cry in the end.
So they spent the rest of the day together, doing whatever Peony wanted. And Sakura couldn't help noticing, how Syaoran got the young girl everything she liked. Everything. Sakura felt left out most of the time because Peony was giving her rich father more attention than her because he could afford the things that all little children liked. These were the things that a single mother, who was a waitress and part time model, could not offer her three-year-old-child.
Sakura idly trailed behind the two of them. Was it jealousy that made her so annoyed at how Peony spoke to her father with such exuberance and energy or was it exhaustion from working constantly that made her move so slow? It was the latter, she concluded, a little halfheartedly. Maybe if she just sneaked away now, no one would really notice. She dismissed that idea. Abandoning her daughter was not going to help her feel any better.
"Mommy, Daddy has something to ask you?" Sakura could feel Peony tugging at her sleeve as she spoke.
When Sakura looked down, two bright orbs looked up at her with a strange look. Sakura returned the strange look with an expression of confusion. How did she appear so suddenly beside her, without her noticing? Sakura sighed and brought her hand over the child's head. "Okay," she mumbled.
Now, Syaoran was beside her and he spoke to her. "Tomorrow I am holding a ball at an estate I purchased. I want to bring you with me."
Sakura's eyes widened. "What?!"
"Mommy, can I come, too? Please?"
"But. I can't I have to work, Syaoran. I'm sorry."
"You always have to work!" He shouted impatiently, tired of her same, old pathetic excuse.
"Now you know how it feels to put work over the things you care about!"
He was speechless, now. She always made him feel so guilty, especially when she brought up the past and how he treated her. It was true. If only he had known that his dream of being greater would take away his most precious thing, he would have thrown it away. He had not expected a few quarrels and a secretary to devastate his life.
"You can bring Peony, but I'm not going," she said quietly.
Syaoran shook his head and blurted out the first thing on his mind to convince her. "Abandoning your daughter over work like me? I never expected it. You are like me!"
The hair on her head jumped. "I would never abandon, Peony!"
"Then, come, Mommy." Peony whispered before either adult could say anything else.
Sakura looked at her daughter. "Come with me. And then you can prove Daddy wrong."
The doorbell was ringing, Peony was sleeping, and Sakura was in the shower. Without drying herself she threw on a t-shirt and shorts. She dashed down the stairs and pulled the door open, already out of breath before work! Syaoran looked at her, shocked. Soon a frown replaced the shock on his face, though his eyes gleamed amusedly. It was then that Sakura realized that her nearly transparent t-shirt was clinging to her soaked skin, leaving nothing new to the imagination.
"Hoeeeee!" She slammed the door in his face and ran up the stairs to change again.
Syaoran could hear her shouting "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" while he allowed himself into the house. He laughed, until Peony showed up, rubbing the listlessness out of her eyes. "What's going on?" She asked.
"Nothing, Honey. Go back to bed."
Peony willingly obliged.
Minutes later, Sakura walked down the steps, her skin red from rubbing herself dry harshly. Syaoran smiled at her and handed her a bouquet. "Nothing to be embarrassed about. There wasn't anything, I haven't already seen," he teased.
Sakura snatched the roses from him, but didn't do a good job, hiding the blush on her already red skin.
"Next week is Peony's birthday. I thought we should plan something special for her. Don't you?"
"Of course. Should I hire a caterer and a decorator?" Syaoran suggested.
"It's a birthday party. Not a wedding. What I mean is you being here will mean a lot. After all, it would be her first birthday with her father, too." Sakura said this with a steady voice.
"I would never miss my only daughter's birthday party for the world or some silly business."
"You have changed," Sakura said.
"Well, someone has to."
Sakura rolled her eyes. She was walking out and saying, "I'm going to work. You let Peony sleep for a while longer. When she's awake you can bring her to school."
"You're always in a hurry. You never have time for family now, do you?"
"Hey, I do the best I can."
"I think you need to rest," Syaoran said, walking up to her. He gently traced the sensitive skin under her eyes. They were baggy from lack of sleep. "It's not healthy."
"Can't, society wouldn't allow it. Anyway, I'm getting off early."
"So that you can get ready for tonight?"
Sakura nodded stiffly. "I said I was going."
TONIGHT
Peony, tugged at her yellow dress, in annoyance. "Mommy, do I have to wear this?"
"Would you prefer the fluffy pink one, Love?" Sakura asked sharply as she brushed the child's hair and tied them up into pigtails with two yellow, daisy elastics.
Peony scrunched her nose in distaste. "Watcha going to wear?"
Sakura took out a box from under her bed. "Your Aunt Tomoyo made me a dress. She mailed it all the way from the United States."
Sakura opened it and sighed at the sight of it. She fingered the soft lavender silk and the little diamonds embroidered on the bodice and the center of her front. The skirt was like a purple waterfall, sprinkled with sparkling mist. Looking at the dress, she thought about Tomoyo back in America. She missed her. They were best friends and Sakura had never been apart from her for so long. When she was still with Syaoran, she still found weekends to spend time with her. But now, she's an ocean away.
"Mommy, the doorbell's ringing! You better get ready!" Peony shrieked as she ran down the stairs to answer the door.
Syaoran smiled when he saw his cute daughter in the doorway. "You look so beautiful, Peony. Where's your mother?"
"She's still getting ready. She's almost done."
"I'm ready," Sakura said, gracefully descending the stairs. Syaoran's jaw fell as he gazed at her and her flawless beauty. She stopped in front of him, allowing him to examine her, but she kept her eyes away from his as he did so.
"It's definitely Tomoyo's work," he quietly commented.
"How do you know?" Sakura asked in wonder.
"Only she would make something that fits you so well. And only she, other than me, has some fashion sense. You wouldn't be capable of picking a dress for this occasion even if your life depended on it."
"Hey!"
"It's the truth."
"You sound like you're an expert," she said sarcastically
"I know you better than any other man ever will. I have memorized you over the years. I could never forget," Syaoran said seriously.
She looked away to conceal her flushed face. Syaoran offered his arm to her. She took it, without protesting or anything, which was something Syaoran was very surprised about. She was just full of surprises whenever Peony was with them!
At Syaoran's estate, Syaoran had personally given his family a tour through the manor, revealing dim-lit, marble hallways and rooms with red draperies and plush carpets.
"What are you going to do with this place?" Sakura asked. "I doubt you plan on living in such a creepy, lonely place."
Syaoran shrugged. "I think I'm going to make it a school for children."
"But, you don't make profits out of building schools," Sakura said, not believing her ears.
"I'm not all about money, you know."
"That's something new."
"You know I'm not."
"Hey, what's this room?" Peony asked, looking into a dark room up ahead.
"Peony, stop snooping around," her mother chided.
Syaoran answered the girl, "It was a room where the owner of the mansion was murdered in. It was said that she still haunts this room. And since there are rooms similar to this one in other parts of the manor, we cover the things up with black curtains, so not to get the rooms mixed up."
Peony's eyes gleaned with interest, even though the thought of someone being murdered was a bit haunting. She was so like her father in this aspect. She was fearless!
Sakura, on the other hand, slammed into Syaoran in her flight to get away.
Syaoran laughed and finally said, "I was only kidding. I wouldn't build a school on haunted grounds, Sakura. What would people say? Would people go at all?" He asked her, trying to reassure her, while gently embracing her trembling body.
Sakura slowly moved away and stood still, staring at the door.
"Mommy!"
Sakura looked up and saw Syaoran and Peony way up ahead.
"We're going to the ballroom. Are you going to join us?" Syaoran asked.
"Hey, wait up!" Sakura picked up her skirt and ran as fast as she could on her heals to catch up with them.
Syaoran and Sakura walked together and Peony walked up ahead, stopping once in a while to ask her father which way was right.
"She's just like you in everyway," Sakura said to Syaoran, dreamily.
"Funny, she reminds me of you a lot," Syaoran retorted.
"She has your eyes," Sakura said.
"She has your smile," Syaoran shot back.
"She has your hands."
"She has your nose."
"She still looks a lot like you," Sakura grumbled.
"Is that why you never gave her away? Because she reminded you of me?"
Sakura shook her head. "I love her. I would never even think about giving her away to anybody."
"Not even me?"
"Would you want her?"
"You know I would."
Sakura kept quiet the rest of the way. Syaoran, being the gentleman that he was, gave her that peace. Even when they were in the room, he dissolved around the many guests, leaving her all alone amongst the strangers, who were enjoying themselves. Sakura looked around her, soon realizing that her daughter was missing.
She started looking around, bumping into people and calling out her name. She stopped when she saw at a distance, how Syaoran was standing in the middle of a circle of well-dressed young women. On his shoulders he carried Peony, who was messing up his hair with her little hands trying to hold on. He had a tight grip on her and she seemed so safe and cheerful on him. Both of them were laughing, and the ladies were commenting on how lovely and adorable his daughter was. However, they never asked anything about the mother, who stood afar, watching them. The ladies were enamored by the charms and hospitality of their host, who they thought was a single parent. Sakura felt her heart plummet down from deep within her, seeing them and the joy on the faces of Syaoran and Peony. She felt even more isolated than she did yesterday, when they had their day out as a family. And Syaoran looked like he was enjoying the women's company.
Sakura went off on her own, disorientated and unsure of the feeling in her heart. If anyone could name it, it was called jealousy. She was jealous and wanted to get away from everything and everyone immediately to extinguish the evil feeling, but it was hopeless.
She was squirming through the throngs of people. The further she tried to get away, the closer the people came. They were moving in on her and she was frozen stiff, not sure where to go. She had no idea that she was standing in the middle of the room and that the people around her were moving gracefully around her in a dance. The strings were playing. The tempo slow and steady, making her nerves rattle. She was about to move again, but a couple waltzing by, stopped her breath and movement completely. Without looking around her, she closed her eyes and spoke to herself quietly. "I wish I were somewhere else, but here."
Two arms came around her in a warm hug. A warm breath tickled her ears as she heard it say, "Now, why would you wish that?"
Sakura wriggled away and spun around so fast she almost bumped into someone.
"You're the last person I want to see right now," Sakura said angrily, once again trying to get away, but was stopped again by a couple who almost danced right on top of her. Didn't anybody see her? She was right there?!
In frustration she turned around and demanded of Syaoran to get her out of there.
Syaoran smiled and his eyes twinkled as he answered her, "You're not going anywhere until you dance with me."
"I don't know how to dance."
"Stop lying Sakura Kinomoto Li. I taught you before."
"I'm not a Li anymore. It's Kinomoto now."
"As far as I remember, you are lawfully my wife," he taunted, feigning a thoughtful look.
Sakura was silent as she stared at his tall form. He slowly offered his hand to her and bowed slightly, speaking only to say, "Dance with me. I haven't danced with you in a long time."
She didn't know what committed her to place her hand in his palm, but she did anyway. She danced with the man she didn't want to fall in love with again. As each day passed it became harder and harder not to fall for him up to this day. But he was a rogue now because she would not accept him.
"Where's Peony? I hope she isn't with your friends?" Sakura bit out the word friends as if it stung her tongue.
He looked at her, his eyes searching hers for something. Then, he smiled and said, "She is. But is that a problem?"
"As a matter of fact it is. I don't want her learning any bad habits and speech from prissy young ladies. She's fussy enough. I don't need her…"
"Growing more affectionate over women I might have interest in."
Sakura turned paler and was about to pull away when Syaoran suddenly tightened his hold around her waist. "You said it Syaoran, not me, so why don't you go ask one of them to dance and stop wasting this precious night away," she murmured in dismay.
"Because the only person I see is you," Syaoran muttered urgently, staring deeply into her eyes. The intensity of his eyes burned through her like a fire. "I'm not blind. You disappointed me again by not walking up to us when I was talking to them. Peony saw you, too, and did you know what she asked me? She asked me, 'Why aren't you with Mommy?' Do you know how hard it is to tell her that Mommy wanted to be left alone?"
"Did you tell her that?"
"Of course not," he said through clenched teeth. "I wouldn't want her to see you as someone less than who you really are."
"I'm not trying to run away. She must understand that. I am not afraid of you," she said in alarm.
"You have to clarify that to our daughter."
Sakura relaxed as she released a sigh that shook her entire body.
Syaoran continued to speak. "I can hear your thoughts as loud as Peony's cry when she needs me. I know how you feel about me. I see you, Sakura. Everything you do, I see."
She blushed at the seriousness of his voice.
"I had detectives out looking for you all these years. And I am glad they did not find you. I am glad that, instead, I have and I'm not leaving you or Peony anytime soon."
Sakura stepped out of his embrace and he dropped his arms willingly.
"I'm suddenly really tired," Sakura said, "take us home."
Syaoran noticed that, in fact, her eyes were drooping. He looked out across the room, over to a corner where Peony slept. She was sleeping on the lap of a man Syaoran had trusted to take care of her. Eriol seeing Syaoran watching him gave him a thumb up. He woke the girl up and told her to go over to her parents.
When she reached them, Syaoran hoisted her up and left while Sakura walked up beside him, not once taking the notice of Eriol, still hiding in the corner. Eriol smiled to himself and whispered, "Maybe there's hope for him after all."
Sakura blinked her eyes open when she felt herself being settled down on something soft. She jolted and almost punched Syaoran in the face if he hadn't ducked so quickly.
"Where am…"
Syaoran threw a hand over her mouth and placed a finger to his lips. Slowly he removed his hand from her mouth and pointed up the stairs. "Peony's sleeping. Keep your voice down," he whispered.
"Where are we? I demand to go home!" Sakura glanced around her nervously, looking at the plain white walls of the living room he had set her in.
"You are at the place I'm staying at."
"Why?"
"You and Peony fell fast asleep in the car. And since I was tired, too, I thought, hey, since my place is so close to the manor, why don't I just drive us all there? And here we are. I brought Peony up stairs to my bedroom. And I carried you into the living room. Now stop fussing and get some rest."
"No! You can at least let me sleep with my daughter. I don't want to sleep alone in your home."
"Fine, come with me."
Sakura scrambled off the couch and quickly blurted, "I don't want to ruin Tomoyo's new dress. I need to change. How about you drive Peony and me home, so that I can change into something to sleep in."
Syaoran stretched and said, "No can do. I can go out any minute now. You can wear my shirt and shorts if you want." He tossed those to her.
"Did you wash them? How would I know if you washed them or not? I don't see a housekeeper here with you."
"I'm a grown man, Sakura. I can toss my clothes in a washing machine and use detergent."
"I can't sleep without my pillow," she whined.
"Nice try," Syaoran said.
She was left with no choice, then. If she weren't so tired, herself, she would have put on a better fight. But she could scream at him when she's charged up in the morning. It would be so easy in the morning.
She fell asleep on one side of Peony and Syaoran slept on the other side. And within seconds, the last two pairs of eyes closed.
TBC
