D'Amour
By Bex Drake
Temptation
Sakura
She smiled gratefully at Syaoran as he placed the jacket around her shoulders, she really could kill Tomoyo for this but she was angrier with herself for missing the look in Tomoyo's eyes- the look that always told her when her best friend was up to something involving her. She could have kicked herself for being so stupid and falling into the trap, which Tomoyo had carefully set, as she had done millions of times before. Each and every time Sakura had fallen for it, she only realised afterwards what she had done. It infuriated her that Tomoyo knew her so well but, a part of her was amused by the whole thing- only a microscopic part, though she would never tell Tomoyo this. "We can't have you freezing to death." Syaoran said retrieving her from her thoughts, she smiled at him and let him guide her into the warmth of the hospital.
The hospital was eerily quite when they stepped into it. The few times that Sakura had been in it before it had always seemed brim full of people and noisy. There were young children running about, getting under everyone's feet, followed by harassed looking elder siblings who were following the orders of the parents and retrieving said child. There were babies crying, demanding to be fed, as well as injured children or ones who weren't getting enough attention. There was loud music blaring out of peoples Walkman's as they tried to relax and either ignore the pain and/ or wait for a friend. As well as the sound of people talking to one another and of them shifting in the hard chairs. There was none of that now, just deafening silence. Sakura glanced at Syaoran somewhat perturbed, it was like a warning that something wasn't quite right, but Syaoran didn't look bothered in fact it looked like he was used to this eerie silence. Sakura shivered unconsciously, maybe then it was a warning to her that something odd was going to happen, that or Syaoran was ignoring the feeling, which she had to admit to herself, was possible.
They walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts and neither wanting to disturb the other when they did surface from them thinking that the other was busy. Sakura felt herself unconsciously going back to the very first time that she could remember going into hospital, when she was five… realising where her train of thoughts were leading her she tried vainly to think of something else but she realised she couldn't do it unless she talked to Syaoran. The question was what to talk to him about, what did they have in common? Then it hit her, maybe it wasn't the most appropriate question and maybe he wouldn't answer but it was a starting point. "Did you always know that your family were connected to the Wolves?" She asked softly, watching him for any reaction.
Syaoran stopped walking and turned to look at her, noting absently the child-like look she had in the over sized jacket with the clothes she was wearing underneath. She looked 'lost but she wasn't scared because her parents would find her soon', which, if he had been in to that kind of thing, Syaoran knew he would have found endearing- in fact he did find it endearing and that worried him. Was he loosing it? "Why?" He replied not bothering to answer the question, unless you count answering a question with a question as answering.
Sakura looked away from him, her gaze drifted to the floor and she swallowed. She bit her lip and returned her gaze to his face, her emerald orbs burning with unshed tears. Long ago she had thought that she had stopped crying for Ayame, apparently she never would stop crying for her elder sister who had died before life could get better. "I…" She began her gaze drifting away, if she was going to tell him she didn't want to see the pity in his eyes- she didn't deserve anyone's pity. If she had stayed with her sister then Ayame wouldn't be dead now; it was all her fault that Ayame had been killed. She licked her lips and looked down at the floor. "I was just curious." She said, deciding at the last moment that she didn't want to tell him. She didn't want his pity, it wasn't like he felt anything for her and she… she didn't know how she felt.
Syaoran looked at her doubtfully, he could feel that there was something more to it than that and that she had been about to tell him but something had stopped her. Before she had looked like a lost child, now she looked like a child locked in a glass room longing to escape from it. Her emerald eyes held a sadness within their depths that he hadn't seen or maybe he hadn't noticed it before. Maybe the sadness always had been in the depths of the emerald pools but it had been disguised by her outward appearance of happiness. He of all people should have known that appearances could be deceiving.
Looking into her emerald pools Syaoran could feel the rest of the world begin to slip away, leaving only them behind- not that he was complaining. He reached out his hand to stroke her cheek but she drew away, something akin to longing and sadness flashing through her eyes. She began walking again, leaving Syaoran to wonder what on earth was going on and if he was loosing it. "Sakura?" He called just before she turned the corner and disappeared from sight. She stopped and turned around smiling brightly at him, as she waited for him to catch up.
What Syaoran didn't know that Sakura's own feelings were like a whirlpool or riptide, changing from one moment to the next. When he had reached out towards her she had felt the urge… the need to kiss him because he looked so lost then, yet he hadn't seemed afraid. This yearning had been consumed by a tidal wave of grief as an image of her sister filled her mind so she had pulled away. She never liked going into hospitals; they always bought the memory of that night and the sense of guilt and loss that went with it.
As they rounded the corner together, both intent on their own thoughts and confusions, they came across a small child with large sapphire blue eyes and curly golden locks cascading over her shoulders. She was wearing a large pink T-shirt, white shorts and trainers, leaning against the wall quietly sobbing. Sakura looked at the child and felt immense sadness of the child, so much so that she forgot her own feelings of sadness. Looking at her Syaoran could see that something in her softened as she made her way over to the child and crouched down by it. "Hello." She said gently, so as not to scare the girl who could have been no more than five. The girl looked up and smiled shyly at Sakura, who returned the smile. "I'm Sakura."
"I'm Sky." The girl replied appearing to relax and calm down just by Sakura's presence. "I'm here with Mummy and Daddy to see Ben." Sky explained Sakura nodded in understanding.
"What's wrong with Ben?" She asked gently.
"Mummy said that Ben isn't very well, that's why he isn't at home." Sakura looked at Sky sympathetically.
"Where is your Mummy?" Sakura questioned. Sky's eyes filled with tears.
"I… I don't know." She said tears starting to fall down her face. "I went to get some chocolate and I got lost." Sakura stood up and glanced at Syaoran, who raised an eyebrow questioningly. She smiled at him apologetically before turning back to Sky, to whom she held out her hand. Sky stood up and took it, her sapphire eyes filled with trust. Sakura smiled down at her.
"I'll help you find your Mummy." She said. Sky smiled back brightly, finally someone who looked nice had come along to help her.
"We need to go back to the café." Sky said, "I can find my way from there. I just got lost when a nasty looking man tried to talk to me and I wanted to get away from him." She said with childlike sincerity. Sakura looked at Syaoran questioningly, she had no idea where the café was and hoped that he did.
"Sky this is Syaoran." Sakura said looking at Syaoran, "Syaoran this is Sky. I don't suppose you know where the café is?" She asked her eyes pleading. A smile tugged at his lips as he looked at the scene. The girl was clinging to Sakura like she was scared that if she let go she'd get lost again. He smiled at the girl, who smiled back at him but clung tighter to Sakura.
"Of course." He replied answering Sakura's question. He walked forward with Sakura and Sky following behind deep in conversation. In a way Syaoran felt excluded, although Sakura was doing her best to try and include him. She seemed to relate easily to Sky, whom he learnt was seven. There was just something about Sakura that the lost seven year old had picked up on that he had missed. Talking to the child Sakura seemed to be shining with a golden light, she seemed more animated and relaxed.
He paused near some lifts waiting for Sakura and Sky to catch up, who were deep in conversation about something. Sky said something causing Sakura to laugh and she looked up and caught his sombre amber eyes with her laughing emerald ones. They caught and held for a couple of minutes, then Sky tugged on Sakura's arm and she looked away blushing returning her attention to the child. In that instant Syaoran thought that he had glimpsed what Sky had seen in her. What he had seen made him think about the girls he had dated, all of whom had been undeniably gorgeous but not one of them had possessed that thing, that light shining brightly in them. He doubted any of them would have gone out of their way to make the child feel at easy, even to the point of ignoring him. In fact he doubted any of them could have ignored him for fear that he might loose interest in them. Sakura on the other hand didn't seem to be going out of her way to 'hook' him; she was just acting like herself and that made her more beautiful than she already was.
When they had caught up Syaoran began walking again only to find that Sakura reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked at her questioningly; she smiled in reply her cheeks faintly pink. Then she lent forward and he thought that she was going to kiss him, the thought excited him, but instead she kissed him gently on the cheek her eyes dancing almost like she knew exactly what she was doing but something told him that she probably wasn't aware. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand; her smile widened then Sky said something and again Sakura turned away. Syaoran frowned; he was starting to find it irritating that Sky kept ruining the moment, Sakura after all was going to be his fiancée and he wanted to have at least kissed her before he got engaged to her.
They were like that, all three in a line holding hands with Sakura in the middle linking everyone together, when they finally reached the café. Syaoran wondered how on earth Sky had managed to do such a fantastic job of getting herself lost, he seriously doubted her story. "Do you want to wait here and I'll take Sky back?" Sakura asked him taking pity on him. She knew from the rumours she had heard that this wasn't his sort of thing. That he would have felt more comfortable in a club where there were no children who could ruin his image. When he just looked at her, she rolled her eyes and leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek stopping next to his ear and whispering "I didn't think you would want to come, you can if you want. Otherwise I'll meet you back here, ok?"
"Okay." He replied when she drew back, she smiled at him and turned to Sky.
"Come on, let's see if we can locate your parents." She said cheerfully allowing Sky to drag her away, just before she rounded a corner and disappeared from his view Sakura waved at him.
Syaoran
He hadn't missed the wistful look in her eyes when she had drawn back after she had kissed his cheek. Perhaps being married to her wouldn't be as bad as he had thought it could be. Maybe he could convince her to sleep with him and have girls on the side that she didn't know about. After all, as the saying goes 'what you don't know doesn't hurt you' and he would make sure that she never found out about the girls.
He glanced at the menu; nothing on it looked at all appealing. It had the same things on it that any other downmarket café would have in it- greasy burgers and fries, hot dogs, sandwiches and so on…, the drinks didn't look much more appealing. There was a choice of coffee, tea, milk and the usual selection of soft drinks. A waitress made her way over to his table. She had long strawberry blonde hair that cascaded down her back, like a golden waterfall, and large bluebell eyes surrounded by dark lashes. Her luxuriant lips were emphasised by the pink carnation lipstick she wore. She stopped directly in front of him and Syaoran found himself looking at her long tanned legs, the top of which were covered by her black mini skirt. Travelling still further up Syaoran noticed she was wearing a tight white shirt, only three of the buttons on it were done up revealing a tanned stomach and a tanned chest, with large looking breasts. The girl smiled at him a wicked grin in her eyes, indicating that she could have guessed where his thoughts were. "What would you like sir?" She purred her voice had a slight American accent to it, biting the end of her pen then licked her lips seductively. On her right bosom was a badge revealing to Syaoran that her name was Freja. He wondered idly if she knew the meaning of her name, that Freja was a Norse Goddess of Love. He doubted it, her parents probably thought that it was a pretty name.
"What do you recommend, Freja?" He asked looking at her in the eyes. She smiled coyly at him tucking her hair behind her ears.
"The cappuccino." She replied. "No where else makes it quite like it is here." She lent forward, allowing him to look down her top, as she whispered confidentially to him. "It's the only vaguely drinkable drink they have here." She straightened her bluebell eyes sparkling. Syaoran wasn't a fool, he knew that it would be relatively easy to get her to sleep with him and then to loose her. She didn't look bright enough to have graduated from high school. All he had to do was give her the right signals and then she would be like putty in his hand. What about Sakura? Part of him demanded. You know the emerald-eyed girl you came in with. The girl that's soon going to be your fiancée! What's she going to think of you if she sees you flirting with this girl? Syaoran ignored the voice and smiled at Freja. He doubted that Sakura would be back for a long time and if she did see them well he could always say that Freja was coming on to him and he didn't want to cause a scene. The girl was too innocent not to believe him; she hadn't seen enough of life to know that he was lying.
"I think I'll take a cappuccino then." He remarked, "Have you got a break soon?" He questioned; Freja smiled at him almost like she had been expecting him to ask that question.
"I'll just get your cappuccino, then I'll take my break." She replied walking towards the serving counter, her hips swaying seductively as she walked. Syaoran knew that she had trained herself to walk like that to attract attention from males. He made a mental note to make sure that he used a condom when he finally had sex with her- it was too risky to do it today- because he wouldn't put it past her to try and make herself fall pregnant and assume that the unfortunate guy would end up marrying her. That and he couldn't afford to create any more scandals, his mother had been less than amused the last time and he got the feeling that if he did anything now last time would seem like a gentle gale rather than the hurricane it was.
Within five minutes Freja was back with two caps of cappuccino. She sat down in the chair opposite him and crossed her legs elegantly. So she has class, he mused thoughtfully as he took a sip of the cappuccino and suppressed a shudder. God! That was the worst tasting cappuccino he had ever had the misfortune of drinking. If that was the best drink there was he shuddered to think what anything else tasted like. Freja took a sip of her drink and watched him over the edge of the cup. "So...?" She purred.
Sakura
She let Sky take her down the many corridors of the hospital as they made their way to the children's ward. Sakura learnt that Sky had run away from her parents having overheard them talking about Ben and that they were worried that he might not make it. Sakura had rubbed Sky on the head and told her the truth- she didn't know if Ben was going to die or not but that Sky shouldn't have run away and scared her parents, they had enough to worry about with Ben being so ill but she put it in a way that would be easy for Sky to understand and not upset her.
When they finally reached the children's ward Sakura smiled. On the walls, above the children's beds were pictures of Disney characters smiling. Sky led her past these beds that were mostly full. Some children looked at them curiously; Sakura smiled at them and waved a few of them smiled and waved in return before she disappeared from sight. The corridor they had turned into looked very deserted, it still had the cartoon characters on the walls indicating it was part of the children's ward but to Sakura it seemed more sad. She vaguely remembered it from when she was five, but the decoration had changed since then and was more cheerful but it didn't lessen the depressing mood. If Sky's brother was down here, in one of the private rooms it wasn't a good thing. It meant the doctors didn't think that he would survive and didn't want him interacting with other children and forming attachments with them.
Sky led her into a room where there were lots of machines surrounding a child in a bed. His sapphire blue eyes were open, but they seemed lifeless, his blonde hair was messy from tossing and turning and he looked dwarfed in the bed. Sky tugged at her hand and pulled her closer to the bed. Up close Sakura noticed that his skin was almost deathly pale and that his breathing was shallow. It didn't look at all good. "Ben?" Sky said. The boy's head turned to locate Sky's voice, he smile when he found his sister. "This is my friend Sakura." Sakura smiled at him.
"Hey Ben." She said cheerfully. "I found your sister wondering about, so I thought that I'd take her back to her parents." Ben rolled his eyes and glared at his sister, then winced.
"Thanks." He said, Sakura didn't miss the pain in his voice. "She's been doing it a lot lately, you're the first person that has bought her back." He added. "I guess she doesn't like the hospital, not that I can blame her. I don't like it either it's too cold." Sakura smiled comfortingly at him.
"I don't like it either." She agreed looking around. She caught a glimpse of a clock on the wall. "How come you're still awake and Sky's till here?" She questioned frowning. "Visiting hours must have finished hours ago." It was three o'clock in the morning- no wonder she was feeling tired.
"Sky's staying with Mum in one of the guest rooms and I couldn't sleep." Ben replied glancing at his sister who had fallen asleep on the bed. Sakura followed his gaze and smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll take her to your Mum." She promised, leaning forward and gently stroking the hair off of his face. "Close your eyes and I'll sing you a lullaby." She instructed. "You look like you need your sleep." With trust in his eyes Ben closed them, Sakura wished she could help him he looked like he was in immense pain but all she could offer him was sleep.
"Lullaby and goodnight,
In the sky stars are bright.
Round your head, flowers gay
Sent your slumbers till day.
May you wake when the day
Chases darkness away.
Lullaby and goodnight,
Let angels of light
Spread wings round your bed
And guard you from dread.
Slumber gently and deep
In the dreamland of sleep,
Slumber gently and deep
In the dreamland of sleep." (*)
She sang softly, watching as his breathing evened as he drifted off into sleep. She stood there for a couple of minutes watching his sleeping form as tears silently fell down his cheeks. Something told her that he didn't have long to live. She turned around and came face to face with a blonde haired woman in her early thirties; tears were flooding down the woman's face. "How long have you been standing there?" Sakura asked, knowing instantly that she was Sky and Ben's mother.
The woman stepped forward, brushing away the tears with a handkerchief. "Not long after you arrived, I think." The woman replied. "Thank you for brining Sky back here." Sakura smiled at her.
"There's no need to thank me." She replied. "I couldn't have left her wondering about on her own." She swallowed. "If you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with Ben?" The woman walked over to where Ben lay sleeping and gently stroked his hair.
"He's got cancer." She replied. "It was diagnosed too late for any treatment. Today the doctors told Mark and I that he, our baby, was probably only going to live for a week at most." After saying this the woman broke down, without a word Sakura went over to the woman and hugged her gently. Soon the woman was silently sobbing on her shoulder. It looked like it was going to take longer than she had thought she hoped that Syaoran could amuse himself.
Meiling
She stared at Lars and Eriol in disbelief. They couldn't have said what she had just thought that they had said- could they? Absently she noted that Tomoyo was wearing a similar look to her own, meaning that Eriol's girl was just as surprised. "So what you're saying is that this week Sakura joined your gang and became… sorry, she will become engaged to Syaoran to link the Panthers and the Wolves together?" Tomoyo shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me." She glared at Lars. "Did you ever once consider Sakura's feelings in this? Life hasn't exactly been nice to her recently has it? What with the Ayame incident and all." Meiling looked at Eriol confused, he shrugged apparently he was as confused as she was.
"That was five years ago, Tomoyo." Lars replied with an edge to his voice.
"She still lives with the guilt." Tomoyo hissed. "She may put up a front and seem as happy as she always was but I can still see the grief hidden in her eyes. She blames herself. She thinks she should have stayed with Ayame rather than gone to fetch Nariko." Lars sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Tomoyo…" He began. "I didn't want to do it, none of us not Nariko, Fujitaka or I want to do this, but we don't have a choice."
"Kinomoto Fujitaka?" Meiling gasped before she could stop herself, Lars nodded in annoyance. Kinomoto Fujitaka was the most influential single person in the country; he held even more sway than the Li clan did. She wondered if Syaoran knew that Sakura was related to him.
"Fujitaka and I, for years have been trying to find a way to join one another and Sakura provided us with this perfect opportunity, as we are both her Uncles and related to her by blood through her we are linked." Tomoyo glared at him.
"Why couldn't Touya marry into, or join your gang?" Tomoyo demanded. Lars sighed patiently.
"It doesn't work that way. The only way it could work would be if I had a daughter, which I don't. Sakura's my closest living relative now, apart from Uta but I haven't heard from her in years." Lars ran his hand through his hair again tiredly. "Sakura's the only way that we can link that clans and that Fujitaka can join the clan without having to take an initiation test, which we cannot afford to do. We all wish there was another way, but there isn't." He finished frankly.
"What's Sakura like?" Meiling questioned, wondering what the girl that everyone seemed to care about was like. It looked like even Eriol liked her, and that had to say something about her. Eriol and Tomoyo traded a look; it was almost like Eriol was silently telling Tomoyo to answer the question.
"She's my best friend." Tomoyo began, "She's the sweetest person you could ever hope to meet and she seems to be able to get on with everyone…"
Sakura
Sakura smiled looking at the woman curled around her seven-year-old daughter, both of them were fast asleep. Silently she shut the door and made her way along the hall to Ben's room. She glanced inside and saw that he was asleep. "I hope you get well." She whispered before drawing away and making her way back through the maze of corridors that Sky had led her through, occasionally stopping and asking staff for directions.
When she finally rounded the corner Sakura came across Li and Freja, whom by this time were practically sitting in each others laps. She frowned and crept forward wanting to hear their conversation, trying to find out if it was just that they were good friends. But part of her was telling her not to be a fool that close friends don't sit like that. That they don't look at one another like they want to devour the other. Sakura swallowed and stopped when she was just close enough to hear the conversation.
"So are you going to give me your phone number?" Syaoran asked, as Freja wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Of course." She purred breaking the kiss. "When are you going to call me?" She asked.
"Soon." He answered leaning in and kissing her. Sakura's emerald eyes blazed with anger. So Syaoran thought that he could have a piece on the side and she wouldn't know about. She stepped forward and opened her mouth to say something but then a better idea entered her head. Oh she was going to make Syaoran pay for thinking she was a fool, in more ways than one. She giggled as she rounded the corner and disappeared from sight not bothered if anyone heard her or not.
Tomoyo
Tomoyo wasn't totally sure what to make of Li Meiling. She seemed like a nice enough girl but there was also a dangerous edge about her. To top it all of she wasn't sure what to think about all she had learned- that Sakura was in a gang (that just didn't sound like her friend), that she was going to marry Syaoran whom was renowned for his quick succession through the female population. Then there was the fact that Eriol was also a member of a gang, albeit a different one from Sakura, but the thing was he hadn't told her and it made her wonder if and when he was going to tell her if Lars hadn't said anything. She glanced over at Eriol who was talking to Meiling and Lars, something to do with gangs she assumed because it was obvious that they didn't want her to participate on the conversation as they made their way along the pavement to the hospital entrance.
Tomoyo crossed her arms and decided to ignore them, if they were going to ignore her, and think about the new dress she wanted to design for Sakura. Almost as if by accident she glanced into a cab that drove by and stopped dead. The passenger looked like it was Sakura, but it couldn't have been. Sakura was in the hospital waiting for them with her soon to be fiancé Syaoran. "Tomoyo?" Meiling called walking back towards her, leaving the guys to their conversation. "Is anything the matter?" Tomoyo shook her head.
"No." She replied. "I just thought I saw Sakura, I must be imagining things." She shook her head. "I guess it only makes sense considering I was thinking of the new dress I was going to make her."
"You design dresses?" Meiling questioned, surprised that a member of the Daidouji family actually did anything for themselves. Tomoyo's lips quirked, almost as if she had read Meiling's thoughts.
"I design and make them." She replied. "I mainly design them for my friends, it's something to do as I'm not expected to do anything with my life but marry a rich bachelor and have children." Meiling was surprised that Tomoyo's eyes sparkled with amusement, she knew that if she was in Tomoyo's position she wouldn't be taking it so well.
They walked into the hospital and headed to the café, because both Tomoyo and Meiling had wanted to have something to eat, Eriol and Lars were deep in conversation and bringing up the rear as Meiling and Tomoyo talked about Syaoran and Sakura each trying to find out information on the one they didn't know. The rounded the corner still deep in conversation but Tomoyo happened to look up. She stopped dead. "What's wrong?" Meiling asked as Eriol and Lars reached them. Eriol frowned and looked in the direction that his girlfriend was, there was his cousin making out with a blonde haired girl in full view of everyone. From experience he knew how protective of Sakura Tomoyo was and right now he could see murder in her eyes, so he placed a firm hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him questioningly and he shook his head telling her not to do anything foolish.
"Syaoran is living up to his name." Eriol replied, Meiling raised an eyebrow and looked over to where Syaoran was. She grinned mischievously.
"Am I right in guessing that that isn't Sakura?" She questioned, Lars nodded in agreement that blonde was not Sakura. She chuckled and Eriol rolled his eyes.
"He's going to kill you if you do that." Eriol remarked. Tomoyo looked at him questioningly. "You'll see." He whispered wrapping his arms around her, knowing that Meiling wouldn't be put off.
"He has to catch me first." Meiling replied sticking her tongue out at her cousin's back. Then without warning Meiling starting running towards Syaoran. "Syaoran!" She squealed stopping just in front of him and the girl. Syaoran broke the kiss and looked at his cousin. "Don't you two look such a kawaii couple." As if just noticing his discomfort, as Eriol, Tomoyo, and Lars drew closer behind him, she eyed him curiously. "This is Kinomoto Sakura, you're soon to be fiancée- right?" With grim amusement she noticed the shocked look in the girls eyes. Syaoran glared at her, as the girl hastily got up and made her way back to the counter where she worked. Casually Meiling sat in an empty chair.
"Meiling!" Syaoran hissed in annoyance, before noticing Tomoyo, Eriol and Lars had also sat down at the table. Silently he cringed- so much for not getting caught, it looked like the only person who hadn't seen him was Sakura and speaking of her where was she? "Hello." He said in greeting, not missing the amusement in Eriol's eyes letting him know that they had all witnessed him kissing the waitress- wonderful.
"Where's Sakura?" Tomoyo asked, her eyes glinting with… anger? Malice? Annoyance? Or perhaps, distaste she was after all a close friend of Sakura's or rather she deemed Sakura to be a close friend. Syaoran shrugged, and Tomoyo's eyes narrowed.
"She was taking a girl back to her parents." He replied casually. Tomoyo smiled at him, a cold calculating smile.
"I'm sure you could have gone with her." She said cheerfully. "How long ago did she go?" Syaoran didn't miss the frost in her gaze, although he had to admit that it was quite well hidden but then she had probably been trained to act like that. He glanced at his watch and his eyes widened in surprise it was nearly half three and there was no sign of her, she should have been back by now. He was tempted just to get up and start looking for her but the only problem was that he didn't know exactly where Sky had taken her.
Sakura
Sakura lent back in the taxi; her eyes partially closed as it sped through the streets towards her house. Perhaps I should have told him I was nipping home, she mused, but then again he was 'busy'. She chuckled and a tear crept down her face. From that little show she realised that Syaoran just thought of her as an inconvenience, the phrase 'When the cats away, the mice will play' sprung into her head and she decided that that described the situation as far as he was concerned. She knew she needed to talk to Nariko and Lars to decide what to do next, because she sure as hell wasn't going to give Syaoran an easy life.
The cab pulled up outside her house and Sakura paid the driver and got out of the cab and walked to her house, well her front door. As she reached the front door it opened revealing her Uncle Fujitaka- when had he got into town? "Sakura?" He said, apparently confused as to why she was there. "What are you doing back here?" She smiled at him and walked past him into the light. "What the heck have you done to your hair?" He demanded as she walked by Nariko heading for the stairs.
"I dyed it." She replied. "I don't suppose you can give me a lift back to the hospital? I need to get changed and wash my hair first." Without waiting for an answer Sakura disappeared up the stairs. Fujitaka and Nariko traded worried looks, the look on Sakura's normally cheerful face when she had entered the house had been a cross between sorrow and anger- both of them knew that this wasn't a good thing.
An hour and a half later Sakura eventually came down the stairs, followed by Nariko who had gong up there to hurry her up. Fujitaka had called Lars to let him know his niece's whereabouts, Lars had found it a huge joke explaining that the heir to the Li clan was at that very moment attempting to explain to Tomoyo just where Sakura was. Sakura stood with her arms folded and her usually full of life eyes were somewhat dampened. She had used thick black eye liner and black mascara to extenuate her emerald pools; her lips were covered in a dark purple lipstick and twisted in a wry smile. Around her neck she wore a studded dog collar. That was only the beginning of her outfit. She wore a black vest top that finished three maybe four inches beneath her bust, which was covered by a thin pink gauze shirt that flared at the arms and finished in the 'right' place much to Fujitaka's relief. She also wore a tight black mini skirt, that Fujitaka was tempted to call a belt, with black fishnet tights and on her feet she worse knee-high four inch black leather boots to complete the ensemble. She smiled at Fujitaka. "Can we go now?" She questioned. Fujitaka opened his mouth to ask her what the hell she was wearing but Nariko shook her head and mouthed 'it's not a good idea to ask' at him. With a defeated sigh Fujitaka nodded, the only good thing was that Sakura's hair was now mainly back to her naturally auburn colour. Fujitaka knew the significance of her outfit, Sakura only wore it when she was annoyed with someone and she wanted to make a point or when she wanted to be someone different. She only tended to dress gothically of a couple of days before getting bored and reverting to her normal clothes.
"Are you going to come?" He asked Nariko but she shook her head.
"I think it would be best if it was just family there." She replied.
"Nariko, you are family." Sakura said smiling at her. "You may not be blood but you were the one to bring me up. You were the one there when Ayame died. You have always been there for me. So, will you please come one more time?" Nariko hugged her.
"Seeing as you asked so nicely, I don't see why not." She replied.
Authors Note: Well this is a longer chapter than I planned, and I didn't get through some of the stuff I wanted to- like I wanted it to finally be the next day but that looks like it will be next chapter *sighs* I thought that here was a good place to leave it so that you didn't have too many words to read- I could have kept going for another 6k but I thought I might end up going OT.
(*) The lullaby that Sakura sings, is actually one of my favourite lullabies. It's called "Brahm's Lullaby" after the guy who composed the music, I believe. I thought… think that it was a very fitting lullaby.
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to read the last chapter- I have 37 reviews, the most I have ever got on a fanfic so thankies!!!
JaMiE LoVeR: Thankies for the review and the description of Jamie, he sounds very hot!
strawberry_miow: hey jen, yep it sounds like you're going all continental- that's my job! (jk). Well I got another chappie out, quicker than it could have been as well. Noo!! There's no need to send me to THAT hell dimension, I'll be good *nods*
Sakurapetalsntears: I'm glad you like the tale so far! n.n
tortured soul246: Isn't everyone a bit thick to begin with when they 'fall' in love? Syaoran didn't know what his fiancée looked like, at the restaurant was the first time he had seen Sakura so it was probably a bit of a shock for him to discover she was his fiancée. Eriol and Tomoyo's plans will be revealed in later chapters *smiles evilly*
ChibiKit: I'm glad that you liked it, and the majority of people have commented on its similarities to LWL's fics which wasn't my intention because I really like her fics and I have no intention of trying to copy them.
Salor Earth: Thankies!
RuByMoOn17: Thankies!!
EcuaGirl: I think the Sakura/ Syaoran situation is amusing neither of them want to admit their feelings even to themselves.
AmericanGirl1114: I have to say that Lar's chickened out of telling Meiling, and left it to Eriol. I left the scene out of this chapter because I want to use it as a flash back in a later chappie so you've still got it to look forward to!
Kawaii-CherryWolf: *laughs* There will be more S+S in later chapters, there should be some in the next chapter I was planning to put some in this chapter but with the whole Freja thing I didn't think it would work. So I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit longer for some! *looks apologetic*
gamegirl546: Yeah S+S is a really kawaii coupling!
I just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!! Or SAMHAIN, if you're pagan/wiccan. Sorry that there hasn't been any real S+S yet, there should be SOME in the next chapter! Please don't forget to review, even if it's just a quick 'good chappie'. All reviews and comments are adored, treasured, loved, kept, and replied to. Bex
Word Count (according to MS Word): 6869 - wow O.O; the most words I have written in a chappie!!
