VictorianPearl: Aloha, I'm so sorry that I haven't written in four weeks.

Syaoran: It's about time; I've been waiting what seems like forever for my party to finally start.

Sakura: Me too!

VictorianPearl: I'm glad to see you guys too. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. I tried to put more creative and likeable ideas into it. Tell me if I did that properly.

Living Metonymy

Chapter 7 Welcome Party

Sakura was shaking on her bed. She was hugging a pillow to her, waiting for Syaoran to open the door to her bedroom and run in. She almost wished that Kero hadn't moved the equipment to the basement. Now she was left to wait alone.

A memory of the creature floated through her mind. She had been so defenseless, anything could have happened. But nothing did happen. That thought was not entirely true though. Those memories happened, and the creature had had the advantage over her.

The window started to rattle violently. Sakura jumped up, reaching for her star necklace. She looked up to the window; what she saw there almost made her cry. Syaoran was sitting on a tree branch, trying to open the window. Sakura ran to the window, unlocked it, and threw it open.

Syaoran slipped in through the window and immediately took Sakura into his arms. She was shaking hard and gripping his shirt tightly. Syaoran reached back and closed the window. He then picked Sakura up and went to sit down on her bed.

Syaoran gently stroked Sakura's hair, keeping her tight in his arms. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" He asked.

Sakura took in a shuddering breath. "What happened is…" she told him all that had happened.

Syaoran didn't like the message he was supposed to receive. He liked the fact that Sakura had been in immediate danger even less. The creature may have not hurt her this time, but that wouldn't stop it from hurting her in the future.

"What do you think it means? Sakura asked.

Syaoran shook his head and looked down into her eyes. "I don't know."

"I don't get it." Sakura said. "The vision I saw was of ancient China. You couldn't have done anything to the creature."

Syaoran inhaled the scent of Sakura's hair. "We'll figure it out eventually. We'll just have to be on our guard until we do."

Sakura stayed safe in Syaoran's arms for quite a while longer. It wasn't until Syaoran looked up at the clock that he noticed how late it was. He started to get up, but Sakura grabbed his hands.

"Please don't go." Sakura pleaded.

Syaoran didn't want to, but it was getting late. "I'm sorry, but it's very late…"

"Stay, I don't want you to leave me." She hung her head. "I now nothing will happen. I just…I'm afraid of being alone after what happened."

There was no way that Syaoran could have resisted her, even if he had wanted to. "I'll stay." He smiled.

"Thank you." Sakura said, giving a small smile.

Syaoran went and turned off the lights. He climbed into Sakura's bed, wrapping his arms around her. She slept peacefully that night, not ever feeling so safe before.

OOO

One week passed by, the creature did not show itself in that time. Sakura was both suspicious and relieved at the same time. She just hoped that nothing bad would happen at the party, which was later that day.

Sakura had spent all day decorating the house and fixing herself up. She was now in her green sparkly, dress, waiting for people to arrive. Fuijitaka had promised Sakura he would be gone all day and out of her way…but not without leaving Touya behind.

Ding Dong

Sakura excitedly raced to open the door. When she did, there was a large group of friends standing there. With that, the party began.

Syaoran and Meiling arrived behind the first group. Sakura immediately took them and introduced them to new friends and reunited them with old ones. She managed this while also answering doors, setting the music, and serving the food. She was the best, and in Syaoran's opinion, cutest, host there could be.

Currently, standing in a circle chatting happily, was Chiharu, Tomoyo, Meiling, and another boy. Chiharu was giving Tomoyo a complimentary eye.

"I think you outdid yourself this time Daidoji." Chiharu said.

Tomoyo had made a very strapped, blood red dress. It almost seemed out of character for sweet little Tomoyo.

"Why thank you Chiharu, you look lovely yourself. But moving onto more important matters…" She nudged the boy next to her. "Raiden-kun, you're a nice, shy, boy. I think it's time we found you a nice girlfriend.

The boy next to her blushed. "I don't think that's necessary Tomoyo-chan." Raiden said.

He had deep blue eyes and lengthy, bright blonde hair. He had transferred to Japan from America at the beginning of their junior year of high school.

"She has a point Raiden." Chiharu put in. "I don't think you get out enough."

"What does my getting 'out' have to with having a girlfriend?" The poor boy asked.

"Well, if you had a girlfriend, you'd have a reason to go out." Tomoyo said innocently.

"Leave the poor guy alone you two." Meiling said, rolling her eyes. She saw someone waving to her out of the corner of her eye. 'I'll be right back guys." With that, she walked away.

Chiharu sent a side look to Raiden. "You know, Meiling-chan is single…"

"Don't even go there." Raiden cut in.

Meiling was talking to Naoko and Lan. She was having a good time until a sudden emotion crashed down on her like a wave. She quickly excused herself and went to seek out a more private place. She climbed the stairs and went into Sakura's room, closing the door behind her. She sat on the bed and clutched her arms to herself.

OOO

It was mid-evening in Hong Kong. Meiling was getting ready for 'bed' early. What she was really planning on doing was visiting Syaoran one last time before they left for Japan. She was just making her way to her room when her mother called her.

"Meiling," her mother's hard voice called, "come here, we need to talk."

Meiling froze. This could only mean one thing. She had been preparing herself for it for a while; but, she wasn't so sure of herself now.

"I'm coming."

Meiling slowly walked down the hall and into the living room. Her parents were sitting on the couch, impatiently waiting for her arrival.

"Take a seat." Her father said stiffly, motioning to a chair near the couch.

Meiling obeyed, silently walking nearer to her parents and sitting in the chair.

"I'm going to cut strait to the point." Meiling's mother started. "We've been preparing you to marry your cousin since you've been very little. When he came back without the Clow Cards, we were disappointed, but when we found out that you released him form the engagement, we were infuriated. You let the only chance of a good future slip away to some stupid girl who claims to be the Card Mistress."

Meiling's temper flared. "Do not insult the Card Mistress."

"Don't tell your mother what to do." Her gather stepped in.

"It's one thing if she insults me, but nobody insults Sakura-chan." Meiling gritted.

"I'm ashamed of you," her mother cried, "talking to your family in such a disrespectful manner. Is that what they teach you in Japan?"

"They respected me in Japan, even when I didn't respect them." Meiling shot back. She suddenly no longer cared about respect. Her parents had been bringing her down all of her life; it was time she stepped up.

"We don't know what you do in Japan," her father started, "and we never want to know. After tomorrow, don't come back. As of now, we no longer have a daughter."

Meiling blinded, this was hurting a lot more than she thought it would. Maybe it was the fact that they didn't love her or care about her at all. She wanted them to care a little bit. That would never happen though.

"If you are so ashamed as to disown your only child, then I am better off alone and without you." Meiling didn't wait for an answer; she turned and walked to her room.

OOO

Raiden took in a deep breath as soon as he reached the top of the stairs. The girls had never been so persistent in arranging his future for him. Between Tomoyo and Chiharu, he wasn't sure which one was more serious about controlling his life. He knew their intentions were well, but couldn't they give him a chance to breathe?

Right now, more than anything, he just needed to be alone. He walked up to the first door of escape that he saw and opened it. He was very surprised to see the girl known as Meiling Li crying. She, in turn, was very surprised to see him as well.

"Oh!" Raiden said, completely shocked at what he had found. 'I-I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in here."

Meiling quickly wiped away her tears. "It's okay." She managed to mumble.

"Should I leave you?" Raiden asked. He had never been good with the subject of girls; he had no clue on how to act.

Meiling gave a weak shrug. "If you want,"

Raiden closed the door and took a seat next to Meiling on Sakura's bed. "I had to get away from the party too." He told her.

Meiling gave a small nod of notice. For some reason, Raiden really wanted to do his best to comfort the Chinese girl sitting next to him.

"Do you mind if I ask what's wrong?" Raiden asked. Nice, you want to cheer her up, but instead, you're making her bring out the topic she's grieving over.

Meiling shook her head. "I'll tell you. I really don't' know why I'm going to though, I haven't even told Syaoran yet."

"Sometimes it's good to get things off of your chest and out into the open." Raiden said, giving a smile.

Meiling looked up at him. He was being sincere; she knew he would keep her secret. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to tell him after all.

"Before I left China," Meiling started, "my parents had a little 'talk' with me. They basically told me that I was worthless. To make matters worse, they disowned me. I feel shamed as a daughter, but I also feel shamed that I was ever apart of my family."

"Well, would you really consider the people who disowned you your parents?" Raiden asked, thinking about the situation.

"No," Meiling answered quickly. "They are simply my birth parents, the are not real parents though."

"Then I don't think you have to feel shamed toward them." Raiden said, reading Meiling's confused face. "I mean, in America, where I come from, if your parents don't want you, then you hold no ties to them. You go out and find people who love you and want to take care of you. Those people are the ones that matter the most. Leave the past and its people behind, you're better than them."

Meiling looked at him with hopeful eyes. "Do you really think I'm better than them?"

Raiden gave a smile. "I know so. You have a kind heart, that is already more than your 'parents' have…right?"

The Chinese girl gave a smile, making Raiden feel much better.

"Right,"

"Then it's settled, let's go down to the party. Our absence might be noticed." Raiden said, getting ready to stand up.

"Wait!" Meiling cried.

Raiden remained sitting, giving Meiling a questioning look.

"It's just; I told you how I got here. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind telling me how you got here." Meiling asked hopefully.

Raiden smiled. "Of course I'll tell you."

OOO

Raiden nervously tapped his fingers against the desk he was in. It was his first day in Japan. His parents were crazy about traveling to Japan. They had even taught Japanese as a second language to Raiden. This time though, they decided to stop the long trips and actually move there.

Raiden was glad and upset about it at the same time. He was glad that he was with his parents more often. Before, he hardly got to see them because of their frequent trips to Japan. He was sad though because he was leaving all of his friends and family behind in America.

The door to the classroom slid open. The first students, save him, were entering. They were two girls and one boy. The first girl was very slim with short, auburn hair and green eyes. She had a big smile on her face and was talking animatedly with her two friends.

The other girl had long dark hair and violet eyes. She was smiling as well and holding hands with the boy. The boy was smirking down at her behind his glasses. He had navy hair and was quite taller than the two girls.

The girl with the green eyes noticed him first. She walked over to him. "Ohayo gozaimus. I'm Sakura Kinomoto; you can call me Sakura though. What's your name?"

"Raiden Wilson desu. You may call me just 'Raiden' though." The quiet boy said.

"Raiden," the girl repeated, "That's very foreign. Where are you from?"

"America, I just moved here last week." Raiden replied.

"You hardly have any accent at all." The boy with the glasses commented. "By the way, I'm Eriol."

"Ohayo Eriol, the reason I don't have much of an 'American' accent is because Japanese is my second language."

"That's interesting," the other girl commented, "Americans usually don't' learn Japanese as a second language. They usually learn Spanish or French."

Raiden smiled. 'Yes, you're right. But my parents are very unusual Americans. That should explain it."

Tomoyo giggled. She held out her hand to shake. "I'm Tomoyo."

Raiden shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Tomoyo."

OOO

Meiling smiled. "Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eriol are all very nice. I'm glad that you met them first."

"It's good to see you smile." Raiden said.

A pink hue quickly passed over Meiling's face. "I want to thank you for cheering me up."

Raiden waved his hand. "Anytime…now how about we go back down to that party?"

Meiling smiled and got up. "I'm ready when you are."

OOO

VictorianPearl: And so concludes chapter 7. Hopefully chapter 8 will come up faster than this one did.