Once dressed in one of Touya's old shirt and jackets, Syaoran was taken to the castle library.
There was one thing he forgot to consider before doing this. Written language. While orally, the language was similar enough to his own that he could follow along, written down he couldn't figure out a single word. He was swimming all over the vast library, pulling random books off the shelves and dropping them into Sakura's arms. She laughed.
"It's almost as if you've never swam before in your life! You're all over the place!" she chuckled as he approached a bookshelf upside down and selected the book that looked the most interesting. He added the final book to the pile and positioned himself in front of her, flipping one open and running his finger across the words to mimic reading. He formed the word "read" with his lips and pointed to Sakura.
"You want me to read it to you?" she asked. He nodded, "Don't you know how to read?"
Syaoran shook his head, which was very dizzy by now.
"You certainly are strange. I wish you could tell me where you came from, how you got here, even just stuff about you!" she mused, opening the book. Heswam behind her so he could see the words as she read.
Syaoran swam low to the floor, letting his fingers trail through the soft sand. If he wanted Sakura to fall in love with him he had to get going. She was enchanted by his strange behavior, but he didn't want her amused by him. He wanted her in love with him. Swimming along, he spotted a beautiful yellow plant drifting with the gentle pull of the ocean. Whether from land or from sea, there was one thing Syaoran could count on. Girls loved flowers. He carefully picked the sea lillies, making a small bouquet. In his excitement, Syaoran swam as fast as his fins would take him back to the castle and up to Sakura's bedroom window. She was lounging on her bed reading a relatively short fairy tale about humans. She laughed at the sight of him.
"You know, you can use the door if you want to!" she said through a giggle. Without any time to waste, he handed her the flowers expecting her face to light up and smile. However, at the sight of them her face fell.
"Where did you find these?" she asked quietly, "Did you find them just outside the garden?"
Confused, Syaoran nodded. Sakura sat back down and rested her forehead in her hand.
"These flowers are for my mother's grave," she whispered sadly. Syaoran's heart felt like it would stop. In trying to make her happy, he only reminded her of the pain of losing her mother, "Please go, now." Syaoran lowered himself to her level and gave her an apologetic look as he wished he could express his sorrow verbally.
"I said go!" she cried, shoving the flowers at him. He imediately swam back out the window. This was hopeless, he would never get her to love him within a week! Not only that, he felt awful for what he had done. How could he have been so stupid? Wishing to be alone, he shoved himself in a small dark cave behind the castle. It was a tight squeeze getting in and he cut his tail on a jagged rock. Blood floated around the cavern as he rubbed his smarting fin when he felt something swim close. Something big. Syaoran cautiously looked behind him to see a shark about four times his size charging towards him. Quicker than he came in, he swam through the crevas and out into open water kicking up as much sand as he could. It was no use, the trail of blood he left was like a compass pointing toward him at all times. He wished he could call for help to let people know he was in danger, so he flapped his tail against the coral walls as he swam. Sakura looked out her window just in time to see Syaoran come flying toward her, the shark in close persuit.
"Oh my gosh!" she cried, swimming out her window. Syaoran was too busy looking behind him to notice her there and hit her body hard. They both fell to the ocean floor as the shark gained speed. With no time to gain their senses, Sakura pulled Syaoran's wrist and drug him to a narrow basement door, just small enough for them to swim through. Once they were both safely inside, she slammed and latched the door.
"Wow, that was fun!" she said with a hint of sarchasm. Syaoran lowered his head. This was twice today that he caused the princess grief.
"I was thinking of what we should call you since you can't very well tell us your name. I think after this, Yakkai fits you best, ne?" Sakura said, half-laughing. She looked at Syaoran's depressed face, "Hey, it's all right! You didn't ask that shark to come after you! It was an accident." She sat him down on the ground, "Now, you hurt yourself pretty bad. Let me help you,"
Syaoran felt her warm hands gently hold his tail as she examined the cut. Never had he expected a sea creature to feel nearly this warm. He never realized how much he could learn by blocking out his home on land. This new world had much more to discover.
"Well well, it's already been a day and our prince has gotten nowhere with his princess." observed Tomoyo, watching the two from her seeing pool, "If things keep going down at this rate, we may not have to intervene."
"That would be pleasant," added Eriol, running his finger around the circumference of his glass.
"However," continued Tomoyo, making Eriol's shoulders slump in defeat, "I think that a little push won't hurt. I believe tomorrow will be a good time. Tomorrow evening when the sun is just about to hit the horizon. Their time."
"Oh my!" cried Sakura, watching as their hideaway became darker. "It's nearly dusk and you haven't eaten all day! Probably for several days judging on how we found you this morning." She tied off the bandage she wrapped his wound in and swam to the door, opening it just a crack, "It's gone. The coast is clear."
Early the next morning Sakura decided to take Syaoran into the local market place.
"Good morning Sakura-hime," said a merchant kindly, "Would you be interested in one of our jellyfish? Sure to keep away pests! They're on sale today. Half-price!"
Having never seen a jellyfish in person before,Syaoran examined the creature closely as he reached for one of its tentacles curiously.
"Yakkai-kun! Don't touch that!" advised Sakura, but it was too late. Syaoran quickly swam behind Sakura and shook his fist at the jellyfish, glaring at it from behind her shoulders. Sakura couldn't help but laugh as she took his throbbing finger and gave it a kiss, sending warm blush up his cheeks.
"Today's suitor seems a bit skittish, don't you think?" asked the merchant. Now Sakura turned red.
"S-suitor? No he's just-- He's not going to marry me!" she laughed nervously.
At this rate I won't, Syaoran thought dismally. Once again he had acted like an idiot in front of her. She saw him as someone with unfortunate luck, no one to take seriously.
"Well take care!" Sakura parted cheerfully as she took Syaoran's hand and led him down the street. Everyone here was kind and friendly to even perfect strangers. A trait, Syaoran rarely saw on land.
"Hello there!" said an older merwoman to the young royalty, "And who's this?"
"This is... actually, we don't know who he is," explained Sakura as Syaoran bowed politely, "He can't speak or read, so he we don't know who he is or where he's from. I'm sure he has a name, but since he can't tell us, we just call him Yakkai-kun!"
"He is curious," the woman replied as Syaoran looked at her hand. Scales had begun to grow on the back of it in her old age and he ran his fingertips across them, "He certainly discovers through touch, doesn't he?"
Realizing what he was doing, Syaoran dropped the woman's hand and bowed again.
"Yes, and we learn that some things aren't so pleasant to feel. Ne, Yakkai-kun?"
Still bowing, he nodded.
