Misty Dreams

Card Captor Sakura

Chapter Eleven

~starjade~

A Ball

Her shoulders shook with tears and she pounded the dusty needles with her fist and the dust flew everywhere, but all she could do was cry. Footsteps neared her and a hand came out, tentatively, to touch her shoulder.

Sakura jerked away from the unwanted touch, moving fast across the floor to the other side of the room, She wrapped her arms around her legs and let her tears out. Syaoran stood there, his eyes pained. He turned to his mother angrily.

" See!! See what that jerk Duke did?" Syaoran yelled. " Now what is Keili going to do? She's been making those shirts for so long....now this means another four months of labour and pain. How could you stand by and see this?"

Yelan looked cautiously at Keili. " I have to say, I feel some sympathy for the girl. But there is nothing I can do. We have no proof nor are we in the position to accuse him. Duke Jel Tyran is in control of our entire Li armies and we cannot do any sort of action against him without raising a rebellion in the armies."

Syaoran clenched his jaw, his eyes stormy. His fists clenched, he turned and kicked the bed angrily, letting a cry of frustration out, before storming out of the room. Yelan, with one glance to Sakura, turned and followed her son.

Sakura was left in the corner alone, sobbing, her tears falling down her cheeks, wishing she could scream out her pain. The dust of her labour was scattered across the floor and she touched it with trembling fingers and rose her face towards the window.

I'm sorry, brothers. I am so sorry..

*************

Of course, all the while Sakura was alone in sorrow, the castle was erupting with joy and cheer. A ball was to be soon held for single men and single women to unite, a tradition long held by the Li Kingdom in honour of a soon to come wedding.

The days flew by as the ladies rushed back and forth, planning, arranging, squealing and making eyes at equally excited men of the court. The kitchens were full of people making a grand feast and gossiping about the latest couples among the ladies and gentlemen in the castle.

Of course, the royal couple was the most gossiped about.

" How did they meet?"

" I heard Prince Xiao-Lang proposed to her under the stars...."

" You should hear Lady Rita talk about their times together-"

Sakura was not proud to say that this made her even more miserable. She had long come to terms that she had indeed a crush on Prince Syaoran-this much was expected, was it not? He was her saviour, he was one of the few kind people in the castle and his eyes melted her insides until she couldn't breathe...

Yes. She did have a slight crush on him. But it was nothing big!

Lady Rita helped out around the castle too, her eyes shining and the gentlemen and knights sighing after her as she passed like a fragrant bloom in the summertime.

Everyone in the castle were awed with her and servants gossiped that the castle would be the happiest and the most successful with Lady Rita as the Queen. Apparently, she had a vast quantity of knowledge as well, something very rare in women.

Sakura often found herself wishing that Lady Rita would go back to her own home-but then what would that do? Lady Rita made Syaoran happy-at least she thought so. And the thing she wanted most was to make Syaoran happy.

Sighing to herself, Sakura walked through the garden, turning her thoughts back to the shirts. Pain went through her again as she thought of her brothers, lost in the form of swans. Tears threatened to spill past her eyes as she thought of that dust-months of work, burned in a second.

How could this happen to her? Why did the Duke hate her so much? Why did it matter what sort of blood you had? She was a person too and she did not need all this pain she was going through.

At least she did have two shirts.....which was all that was left from the fire. Two shirts...for six brothers. Fighting back tears, she walked on through the garden, stopping to pluck a peach coloured flower from one of the flowerbeds.

" Hello, Lady Keili-How do you do?"

The voice startled Sakura and she whirled around. Her eyes brightened and she grinned broadly, throwing her arms around the navy eyed boy.

" I'm glad to see you too!" Eriol said laughingly.

Sakura pulled away an looked at him questioningly. Eriol's eyes darkened as he interpreted her clear question in her eyes.

" Well....it was a hard journey. I now know for a fact that Meiling had been with the Wilds - but now, I have no idea where she might be. Every village says she's dead and my men managed to catch a Wild and all we could understand was the fact that Meiling was not with them anymore. Dead, or maybe she ran away-we don't know."

Sakura's eyes lowered and her shoulders drooped. What if Meiling was dead? What if Eriol and Syaoran were holding on to false hope? All she could do was hope with them. Meiling was a strong women, enough to sneak into the army and get past the Kinomoto armies and into the Kinomoto castle for goodness sakes. She can't have died!

" So, where's Syaoran?" Eriol asked. " And-Where's Tomoyo? And Taryk?"

Sakura grinned at the excited anticipation in his face. Tomoyo-Tayrk fine, she motioned. Syaoran with woman.

Eriol's eyebrows rose. " I have no idea what you just signed to me."

Sakura huffed. At least Syaoran got it! As if commanded, Syaoran came through the doorways. His eyes lit up as he saw Eriol.

" Eriol!" Syaoran cried and came over, grasping Eriol's hand and clapping him on the back. He pulled back and searched Eriol's face almost desperately. " Did-did you find something-anything?"

Eriol nodded, a bit sadly and proceeded to tell him what he had just told her. Syaoran's amber eyes were shadowed and his jaw clenched tightly.

" We have to go find her," Syaoran growled.

Sakura shook her head. Wedding, you wait.

" What's she saying, Syaoran?" Eriol asked.

" The wedding..." Syaoran sighed, his voice heavy. " Lady Rita-"

Comprehension filled Eriol's eyes. " Ohhh...So Lady Rita came? She isn't-well, she isn't trying to-"

" No, not anymore. She's quite content now, knowing that there isn't any competition," Syaoran groaned and ran a hand through his hair.

" Really now.." Eriol murmured and lifted an eyebrow. Syaoran caught it and his cheeks tinted red.

" Absolutely no competition," Syaoran said, forcing his words out. A servant passed by, holding a wedding dress and Syaoran moaned. " The wedding is so soon-I can't believe my mother did this to me-"

" Well, she did play with your emotions deliberately. But she was doing what she thought was best. Te way you treated all those other woman who came-" Eriol started and stopped at Syaoran's glare.

Sakura watched the two, trying to understand the conversation. Did Syaoran want to marry Lady Rita? Or was he.....forced to?

" Well, Lady Rita is a good friend of mine," Syaoran said slowly, shoving his hands in his pockets. " I guess getting married wouldn't be so bad-"

" That's the spirit!" Eriol cried out and Syaoran turned red as Eriol whooped joyfully. Sakura felt her heart sink as Eriol cried out, "My best friend getting married! I didn't think I'd ever see the day!"

Syaoran was red as a tomato and growled, " Eriol, Taryk and Tomoyo are upstairs. Would you not like to go see them?"

Eriol sweat dropped. " Yah....yah, I would like to see them..." And he bounded away, leaving Sakura and Syaoran in an awkward silence.

" So..." Syaoran started. "You-you did a good job on my leg. Good as....new."

Sakura nodded, a bit more enthusiastically then was required and then lowered her eyes to the floor. They both glanced at each other skittishly.

" I've gotta go," Syaoran said, quickly and he turned on his heel and walked out of the garden faster then anything. Sakura watched him go, her heart bleeding. Would she still be here after he got married? Would he be too involved in Lady Rita to notice her anymore? Then the Kingdom would throw her out and she would be killed in two seconds.

Holding back any self-pity, she went inside and headed off to the main room where all the ladies were busy sewing and making new clothes and decorations for the upcoming ball. Maybe a bit of Tomoyo's chatter would cheer her up.

******************

" She needs a dress."

Queen Yelan looked at Sakura, disdain clearly not hidden in her dark eyes. " I do not see the reason why the Kinomoto should have a dress. She will be part of the servants, will she not?"

Tomoyo was clenching her teeth hard and her fury was rolling off of her like waves. Sakura sat in a chair and looked down at her hands, embarrassed that Tomoyo was making such a big deal about it. She didn't even want to go to the ball! It was just one less day she didn't have to see Syaoran and Rita smooching over each other-

" She is a special guest of Prince Xiao-Lang's and should be treated like a guest, not a common servant! In actuality, she is being treated lower than a servant and why? Because of her bloodline!"

" Lady Tomoyo, I will ask you to gather hold of yourself and realize your surroundings. You are in a Li household and you are of Li blood-" Queen Yelan said slowly, her eyes flashing.

Eriol grabbed Tomoyo's arm and hugged her tightly, whispering a few calming words in her ear. Tomoyo's shoulders slumped and she sat on the bed, holding Eriol's hands like a life line.

Eriol said quietly, " Your majesty, I think we should humour Lady Tomoyo here. Keili has done no harm, has she? Let her come to the ball, she is a special guest and we Li's should rise above Kinomotos and treat our guests with respect, despite blood lines."

Queen Yelan bit her lip and whirled around, her dress sweeping the floor. With a careless wave of her hand, she said tiredly, " Let the Kinomoto go where she wants. But the dress she will provide by herself. I will not let her come in rags, so Tomoyo, I will put you in charge of her clothing's and her-" She paused to give Sakura a dirty look that Sakura did not miss, " etiquette."

" Thank you, your majesty," Tomoyo said quietly as Queen Yelan exited the room. The tension in the room considerably lowered as Tomoyo went and picked up Taryk from the wooden cradle. Patting him on his back and slowly rocking him, she sighed and turned to Eriol.

" I just really wanted her to come. She isn't a bad person, Eriol! No one seems to believe that..." Tomoyo said softly and Eriol shushed her, running his fingers across her cheek.

" I believe it, Tomoyo. Syaoran believes it. That's all that matters," Eriol said softly and Tomoyo's eyes fluttered shut and a slight smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

Sakura smiled to herself as she watched the couple. Tomoyo always seemed to quiet down whenever Eriol touched her and they just radiated happiness. Tomoyo finally grew aware of her surroundings and turned to Sakura, smiling.

" Well, Keili, your coming!" Tomoyo said happily.

Sakura looked down with dark emerald eyes and shook her head, lifting up the woollen ragged dress she wore and Tomoyo's eyes darkened.

" Oh no you don't! Keili, don't go making excuses! You are coming and that's final! You saw how hard I worked for it!!" Tomoyo ordered, and Sakura smiled at her weakly. "I've got a dress for you to wear, anyways, come here!"

Sakura walked with Tomoyo, who looked inside her wardrobe and pulled out a beautiful dress. It was a peach colour, and the under dress was a cream colour and it looked to high and royal for Sakura to ever wear. It wasn't a fancy dress, it was quite casual but for Sakura, it was a big chance from the woollen dresses she wore most of the time.

Tomoyo grinned. " I made it after you saved Taryk. I wanted to give you something, and I was saving it for mid-winter, but the ball is when you need it! Will you wear it for me?"

Sakura looked at Tomoyo with pained eyes. She couldn't take this dress! It would look horrible on her...maybe she should give it to Lady Rita. Lady Rita would make Tomoyo's dress look gorgeous. Sakura was too scrawny and too plain to wear such a beautiful dress.

" Keili, please. I made it for you. Please wear it?" Tomoyo asked, sensing the hesitancy in Sakura. Sakura breathed out and then smiled at Tomoyo, nodding. Tomoyo let out a little squeal.

" We can go in together, can't we Eriol?" Tomoyo asked happily.

Eriol grinned. " With two beautiful ladies by my side, I'll be the envy of the court!"

Tomoyo blushed and Sakura grinned as Tomoyo began to talk about the ball and what exactly would happen.

****************


Sakura sat in silence as Lady Rita surveyed her. She had nearly been thrown into a bath and she never felt more uncomfortable in her life, wearing only a bath robe. Lady Rita had kindly offered to help Sakura get ready, even though Sakura was not so useless at getting herself ready.

" Well, you are not....glamorous, but you can pass," Lady Rita said, her voice like bells. " With just a hint of rouge and a bit of-" Here she picked up a lock of Sakura's drenched hair and wrinkled her nose prettily, " Well, some sort of hairstyle we can make out of your chopped locks."

Chopped, Sakura thought angrily. It's only short because I like it short! Chopped, indeed.

Gritting her teeth as Lady Rita began to dry her hair with a towel and began to style it, she thought ahead for the ball. She had never actually thought that she would be going, she had rather been looking forward to some time alone, not in her room, but in the other places of the castle. The castle was a beautiful place-but with so many scornful Li's around, she couldn't go anywhere without being extra careful about her safety.

Even as Sakura thought this, she knew deep down the real reason she did not want to go to the ball. She didn't want to see Syaoran bend down and kiss Lady Rita's hand and lead her onto the dance floor, both of them gazing lovingly into each other's eyes as they swept around the castle. She didn't want that feeling to arise again, the feeling that her heart was being squashed, broken into pieces....

Sakura shook her head hard and Lady Rita made a sound of frustration. " Keili, please work with me! I know you are not of decent blood, but even Kinomoto peasants should know when to sit still! Well, maybe they don't. I heard Kinomoto peasants were of the brash sort, eating raw meat and running around half-naked and cursing innocent bystanders with curses." Lady Rita laughed innocently, not realizing the effect her words were having on Sakura.

Sakura's eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched hard. More than anything, she wanted to leap up and yell at Lady Rita with as much insults as possible-yet she could do not such thing. She had not given up on her brothers just yet and would keep silent for them.

Lady Rita then noticed the expression on Sakura's face and she spoke softly, " Oh I am so sorry, I didn't mean it that way! It's just that-well, I grew up hating Kinomotos, and this is all I heard about them. You do understand, do you not? I can imagine what horrid things you might've heard about us Li's as well."

Sakura calmed down at her words. Lady Rita was right, did Sakura not think that Li's were monsters? Horrid mutations who only lusted for blood? Feeling ashamed, she lowered her head a bit as silence stretched on. Lady Rita was a kind lady who didn't mean what she had said. No wonder Syaoran loved her so much....

Lady Rita was quiet for a moment before she started to talk again, her voice a bit harder this time.

" I must admit, I have been thinking about this...bond...you and my fiancee share. It is quite talked about around the castle and I've been wondering if a bit of this Kinomoto curse might be the root of this bond?"

Sakura's fingers curled into fists and her fingernails dug into her palms as she fought to stay calm. What was Lady Rita saying??

" Of course you can't answer me, I am quite silly. I do not know the truth of these allegations so I cannot go accusing you, can I? I am quite sorry, please accept my apology. I'm just hoping that this bond will not go any farther than being a special guest."

Sakura froze and she turned around to face Lady Rita, who fixed her cerulean blue eyes on her. " Don't get me wrong, Keili. It's not everyday that the cold and mighty Prince Xiao-Lang brings home a peasant with the bloodline of the people he hates more than anything. It's not everyday that he sticks up for a scrawny girl with strange hobbies like making shirts out of starwort-yes, it's not everyday. I know that the way you stare at my fiancee isn't platonic. Now this is just a warning, I like you Keili, you are quite different from what I imagined Kinomotos to be-" She raised her hand to hold Sakura's but Sakura backed away.

Shaking her head slowly, her eyes afire, Sakura turned around and grabbed the dress which was laying on the bed and stormed out of the room. She ignored Lady Rita's calls after her and ran down the stairs, the ribbons in her hair streaming behind her as she ran as far as she could from Lady Rita's hurtful words and the dreadful feeling that maybe beautiful, stunning Lay Rita was....right.

**********

Tomoyo burst into Sakura's room as the first sounds of the ball drifted through the castle. Laughter could be heard as Tomoyo opened the door, as well as the delightful chatter of the royal family, expensive wine and food were given freely.

" Keili-well, well, well!" Tomoyo said, smiling.

Sakura looked down at her dress. It was too nice of a dress for her to wear, fitting over her curves nicely, flowing down to the ground and whirling around her feet elegantly. Sakura had not a thing to put with the dress and could not do anything with her hair either, except to tie half of her hair in one of the ribbons that Lady Rita had put in her hair.

" You look so pretty, Keili!" Tomoyo exclaimed. Sakura flushed and then rose her gown. Her bare feet were revealed and she made a face to Tomoyo. Tomoyo laughed and produced a pair of satin slippers.

" Wear these. I came prepared!" Tomoyo said grinning. " This ball is going to be a lot of fun! It was three years ago at this very ball that I met Eriol....he was quite the mysterious charmer. I didn't like him at first-but I guess one thing lead to another..."

Sakura grinned and Tomoyo laughed. Tomoyo hooked arms with Sakura after Sakura put on the slippers and they walked out of the room and down the hallways. Sakura felt people stop in the hallways, taking double looks at the scrawny Kinomoto and Sakura kept her burning face to the floor. She wasn't beautiful in this dress or anything, the dress was a work dress for most of the royal people around here, but compared to what she looked like most of the time-yes, she would admit, it was quite a change.

As they neared the entrance of the castle ballroom, a couple swept in and Sakura gasped. It was Syaoran and Lady Rita! Lady Rita was dressed in a breath taking gown, pure white with sparkling sequins and even a tiara on her head. She looked like a goddess but Sakura's eyes slid to the man beside her and she felt her face burning again. He was dressed in a red coat and black pants, but he still looked so handsome-

Sakura then realized that he was staring at her and their eyes locked. Tomoyo giggled softly beside her as Lady Rita tugged on Syaoran's arm, trying to get him to go into the ballroom, but it was like they were frozen in place, just watching each other.

Then Syaoran coughed and he said in a rather croaky voice, " You....You look nice, K-Keili."

Sakura gripped the edges of her skirt tightly and then her eyes widened as Lady Rita went on her tip toes and kissed Syaoran's cheek. Lady Rita smiled, a bit defiantly at Sakura and smiled widely.

" Yes, the Kinomoto peasant brushed up quite nicely! The party is waiting for us, Prince Xiao-Lang. Are you ready, my beloved fiancee?"

Sakura watched them enter the ballroom and her heart felt like it was being crushed to pieces, almost near the emotion she felt when the shirts were burned to a crisp in her room.

Tomorrow, she would get more starwort and finish those shirts. Then she would leave forever-and not have to feel like this everyday, watching Lady Rita take away the only person she had ever felt like this for.

a/n: Yes, sorry I had to end it here! The ball is sort of a ritual thing before weddings, where the ladies and the gentleman of the court meet each other and they have sort of a courting thing. The wedding is coming up soon and the Duke is coming back soon! And will Sakura finish the shirts on time, now that the Duke burned half of what she had made??

Aight, ppl review! I make a llllooot of mistakes in this story, sometimes people call her Sakura, I think once Sakura made a sound, like she giggled or something, so I'm really sorry! lol, it's hard to show Sakura having emotion while being silent! lol, but if ya still like this story despite all my bad writing, please review and tell me, alright! And cheers to the people who caught those mistakes! lol, see ya latez,

'nuff luv,

~starjade~