Chapter Twenty Three

Misty Dreams

Card Captor Sakura

starjade

A Revealing

Everything was lost.

She had failed her family. Her mother. Herself..

She had failed everyone.

And here she was, living out a fantasy of being wrapped in Syaoran's arms but she did not care. She had almost been burned to death. She hadn't saved her brothers and she never could because she had spoken to save Syaoran's life...

Her sobs had quieted to little whimpers as she clung to Syaoran as if he was a lifeline. Darkness crept into her mind in little tendrils, stroking her sanity and slowly drawing her away from reality. Syaoran stroked her head, his own head laying on hers, his eyes squeezed tight.

" It'll be okay," She realized he was saying and she almost froze in shock. He was never open with his feelings but for some reason now, in front of his family and his kingdom...
Then his arms tightened around her painfully.

" Don't you dare touch her," He growled through clenched teeth. " Step any closer and I will slit your throats."

" You'll slit our throats?" A voice yelped and Sakura felt all the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

That voice...

It was so...

So...

Familiar...

She started to move away from the safe haven of Syaoran's arms as she turned to face the speaker.

" We have every right to come near her. She is our sister."

Sister..

Sister..

SISTER..

Her head swirled and she turned around, slowly, her eyes widening in shock, her heart pounding hard and painfully against her chest. It can't be, it can't be, please let it be, it can't be...she whispered to herself as she turned around.

And then it seemed as if the world had stopped and everything had gone absolutely still as Sakura laid eyes on the six men in front of her.

Her brothers.

All of them.

Touya...

Kosumo..

Eden and Hiro..

Yukito..

Yamazaki..

Ragged and with short clothing, their hair unnaturally long and beards adorning their usually clean shaven jaws, they looked as if they had been through hell but she knew deep in her heart, who they were.

Then she let out a cry filled with shock, joy and pain as she wrenched away from Syaoran and ran to her brothers, tears pouring out of her eyes as she slammed into Touya's body and all her brothers crowded her, holding onto her, crying as they let their pain finally come out.

" You did it, Sakura...you did it!" Hiro cried, his eyes shining with pride.

" You doubted it?" Kosumo grinned. " She's OUR sister. She's our sister..."

Sakura could hardly speak. She was hugging them tightly and her body felt alive.

She had done it.

She had done it. She was free.

" What the hell were you thinking!" Touya yelled, his eyes filled with frustrated tears " You could've gotten killed!" He held her closely. " You could've gotten killed..." He whispered and she buried her head into his shoulders, hardly breathing.

Her dreams...they had finally come true.

Finally...

Then Sakura realized where they were. In a crowd of angry villagers who just a few seconds ago were chanting for her death. Her head rose from Kosumo's chest and looked through the protective huddle of her brothers at the villagers. They were, shockingly, all silent. They just stared, rather fearfully at Sakura and her brothers.

Then, they were attacked. Not by the villagers or the noblemen, but by Kinomoto and Li soldiers, who came at them with long, double edged swords. Her brothers sprung into action, each of them using the Kinomoto style of fighting to knock their swords from the soldier's grips and began to use these weapons against them. Syaoran, with one hand gripping onto his wound helped out as well, as Sakura yelped in surprise and bewilderment, desperately trying to take stock of what just happened.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Duke. He was looking rather crazy, his blood red eyes focused on them with an almost fearful expression but the hatred was clear. Sakura's eyes met his and his eyes widened until they were almost saucers and he quickly turned away, walking fast in the opposite direction.

Sakura didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she started to run after him. She heard Syaoran and her brother's confused shouts after her, but she didn't care. She ran as hard as possible and the Duke looked over his shoulder and he yelled in shock, but he was too late because Sakura had already jumped at him, wrestling him to the ground.

" You...you...bastard!" Was all she could rasp out in her underused voice as she pounded at him with a strength she didn't know she had until she was wrenched off of the Duke by strong arms. Through bleary eyes, she saw Syaoran grab the Duke and began to beat him lifeless.

" Prince XIAO-LANG! Please STOP this MADNESS!" A shout came from the castle.

Everyone froze. The chaos ended and Sakura looked up and realized the strong arms was her brother, Yamazaki. Then she realized that one of his arms...wasn't an arm.

Rather, it was a wing.
A swan's wing.

She looked up at him, absolutely shocked but he just looked at her, sadly. It was true then. Since she had not finished the sleeve in time...instead of a sleeve, he had a swan's wing.

The Duke had run off by the time they had turned around and Syaoran swore, lowly.

" Mother, do not tell me that you still believe that man to be a good man! WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?" He exploded.

The Queen of the Li Kingdom stood there, regally as the crowd began to disperse and the soldiers disappearing as soon as the Duke had run off.

" What happened to Sakura?" Touya growled. " What did they do to her? She looks malnourished, dirty and was she not BURNING to death when we turned back into humans?" His eyes were wild and feral and he grabbed Syaoran around the neck, since he was the only one who seemed to know what was going on and shook him.

" TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!" Touya bellowed as Sakura gasped and Hiro and Kosumo began to shout at Touya to let the Li prince go. Syaoran gripped onto Touya's arms and wrenched Touya's hands off of him.

Yamazaki said softly, " Touya, he cannot understand you. You forget that the Kinomoto language is not known to the Li peoples."

Touya let out a growl of frustration. " THEN TRANSLATE!" He yelled.

Yamazaki quickly translated Touya's words and Syaoran's eyes grew steadily darker. " I was away, trying to save my cousin Meiling. I did not...I was not aware of the events taking place. But be assured if I did, I would've done everything in my power to stop it. Keili is my wife and I would not let anything happen to her."

His voice was fierce and protective and Sakura looked up at Syaoran, shocked.

But her brother's reactions were even more startled. Yamazaki and Yukito looked stunned and quickly translated what Syaoran said. Silence seemed to echo around them as the Kinomoto brothers exchanged glances and Sakura felt her fists clench.

Please don't be mad, she thought at them silently. Please...

Then, her brothers exploded.

" That LI Prince cannot be our sister's husband!"

" That is impossible!"

" She would NEVER in her LIFE marry a LI MAN!"

" He is a liar! A liar!"

" Our sister is of royal Kinomoto blood and she would not filthy her blood in a bond with a Li man!"

Sakura flinched as they yelled among themselves and Queen Yelan, with her eyes smouldering, shouted, " ENOUGH!"

The chaos halted and the queen glared. " I am aware that I have been mislead by the Duke into thinking Keili had...preformed adultery, but I beg a thousand apologies. I am sorry and I plead for you and your brothers to come inside until this mess has been handled."

" I will never step inside a Li household!" Eidan growled as soon as Yukito translated the words.

" We have no where else to go, Eidan. Be practical," Yukito said, softly.

In all the madness, Syaoran and Meiling had disappeared as Sakura and her brothers were led inside. Sakura took one last look to the extinguished sand bale where she had nearly died and the dispersed crowd, the same ones who were shouting in glee for her death. Heart heavy, she followed her brothers inside, with her last thought of Syaoran...and his bold words...

She is my wife...and I would not let anything happen to her...

Sakura looked up and a smile broke out on her face. She had cleaned up, and Tomoyo had wrapped her burnt feet in gauge and bandages. She was even given a very clean and nice dress, a lot better then the woollen and cotton dresses she was used to wearing.

It had been a day since the burning. Her brothers walked into the room, and it was pretty shocking the change in their looks. They almost looked like they used to. They still had long hair from the time spent in swan form and they still looked starved and malnourished, but they didn't look like savages anymore. After settling into the room, Touya started to talk.

" You haven't told them that you're royalty yet, have you," Touya said, straight to the point.

Sakura tensed and looked away from his probing eyes. " No," she answered back. She relished the sound of her voice and looked up, straight into his eyes. " It would've been dangerous to do so. And besides...how could I tell them? I couldn't talk."

Touya looked at her and then nodded shortly. Yukito touched his arm lightly, stern eyes preventing Touya from saying anything more.

Kosumo ran a hand through his hair. " We have to get back."

Eidan growled, low in his throat. His hand clenched the knife at his belt, where he had gotten that from, Sakura had no idea. " That Oribia bitch is going down," Eidan threatened. " Her neck is mine. I will make her bleed for the pain she has put us through."

Yamaki said softly, from the shadows," Our Kingdom is in danger."

Sakura felt a pang of guilt as she saw him shift and hide his wing behind his body. It was her fault she wasn't able to finish his shirt...and now he was going to live in both worlds, caught in between, never one or the other...

All because of her.

" Xiao-Lang!"
They had hardly noticed her, but the Queen was standing at the door. Her eyes were staring straight at the main door and the Kinomoto family swivelled around to look at the main doorway. Syaoran was standing there, drenched with rain, his chestnut hair slicked against his forehead and was panting hard. Meiling was behind him as well, and both of them were gasping for breath.

" He's...he's in the wagon. Unconscious," Syaoran was finally able to growl out. His eyes narrowed and he spit, " He won't be moving for another few days. That damned son of a bitch."

Queen Yelan looked astonished and then with a few sharp commands, sent servants racing out the doors.

Eidan leapt to his feet. " We have to leave," He announced, his cold eyes glaring straight at the startled Meiling and Syaoran. " Don't stop us, because our country is prepared to wage war on you. We are leaving tonight."

Syaoran, Meiling and the Queen looked at him confusedly. Yukito softly translated and Syaoran jerked. Then he straightened his shoulders, decisively and walked into the room, keeping his gaze level with her brothers.

" I need to speak with my wife," He said, confidently, his brown eyes blazing with determination.

Yukito snapped, " She is not your wife."

Syaoran's eyes narrowed. " She is my wife, legally and in the eyes of God. I must have a word with Keili."

Yukito stared at him. " Keili...Keili is the name you've given her, correct?" Syaoran stared at him and nodded, curtly. " Were you hoping to change her? Were you hoping that giving her a Chinese name would somehow turn her into one of you?"

Syaoran stared at him, in utter bewilderment. " What are you-"

" Yukito, please!" Sakura cried out. She thought Yukito would understand, when he had come that night in the darkness, she had thought he DID understand. But now, he was bringing Syaoran down, sharply and cuttingly.

Syaoran looked at her in slight surprise and then looked up at Yukito again, who gazed back at Syaoran determinedly.

" She will never be Chinese. She will remain Japanese, because she is a Kinomoto by birth, by home, by culture, by being. Her name is Sakura." Yukito announced.

Sakura felt dread come over her. " No, Yukito, not yet, he doesn't know, he doesn't need to know!" She interjected, desperately.

Syaoran looked at her strangely. " What's going on?"

Then Meiling walked in behind Syaoran and smiled at Sakura, softly. " I understand." She said, softly. Then she curtsied, low, bowing her head to Sakura. Sakura shook her head, tears filling her eyes as Meiling rose up.

Yukito walked up to Syaoran and faced him, eye to eye. " She is Princess Sakura Kinomoto of the Kinomoto Kingdom. And you will refer to her as such."

Silence echoed in the room. You could hear a pin drop and Sakura felt her shoulders slump and her eyes grazed up to Syaoran's, almost pleadingly, desperately...understand, please...she thought. Understand..

But he looked absolutely shocked. His deep brown eyes had gotten so wide, they were saucers. He took a step back and choked, " Keili-Sakura...she's a...she's a what?"

" A princess, Syaoran. A princess. You've been treating Kinomoto royalty like dirt. She's been here, for months, almost a year, being treated as a criminal. Almost killed, molested, burned...she's gone through hell and back and yet you married her, told her she'd be protected and then left her to be eaten by the wolves. You do not deserve to have a word with her. We are leaving and we are taking our sister along with us. There is nothing you can do to stop us."

Touya was yelling at Yukito to translate and he hurriedly did so for the rest of Sakura's brothers. They nodded emphatically, but Sakura's eyes were trained solely on Syaoran. His jaw worked and he opened his mouth and closed it, shaking his head.

Then he whirled on Sakura and gasped, " You're...you're a princess. Princess...Princess Sakura."

Sakura stared at him, sadness welling up deep inside her. He felt deceived, no doubt. She got up to her feet and curtsied, looking low to the ground, keeping her eyes to the floor. " Prince Li Xiao-Lang.." She breathed out, clenching her fists tightly. Eyes burning with unshed tears, she looked up at him and whispered, " Pleased to meet your acquaintance."

Syaoran gaped at her, water still dripping down the sides of his face, and off his clothes. Then Syaoran seemed to make up his mind. " Princess or no," He said slowly. " You're my wife. Your still...my...wife."

Grabbing her wrist, he tugged her outside into the pouring rain, pulling her along with him as her brothers yelped and shouted. Then he shut the door behind them and stared at her.

" Princess," He said, quietly. " When were you planning on telling me that little bit of information?"

" I-I couldn't. It would've been...dangerous," She choked out, hoping he would comprehend her reasons.

He nodded slowly, his eyes studying her. She could hear Meiling yelling at her brothers inside, to give Syaoran and her some time and she took a deep breath.

" I...I always imagined what your first words to me would be like," She heard Syaoran speak, his voice soft and quiet. " I never thought it would be words that would save my life." He looked at her and his eyes crinkled as he smiled, softly. " Thank you."

Sakura felt her heart break, softly. She wanted to hold him, hug him, kiss him, just-but all that came out of her mouth was, " I need to go. I need to go back. You promised me...you promised me that when you found Meiling, I could go back. I need to go back to my Kingdom."

And she watched the sadness seep into his brown eyes and she felt the rain pour down on her, hard and fast.

Why was life...so confusing.

a/n: Yupppp yup yup yup. A lot of u will be confused that is this the ending or no? Nope there are a few more chapters left, but yes it will be coming to a close soon! awww...imma miss misty dreams. Lol, but at least you readers liked it, no? Thank you all for reviewing, really, ur the bestest.

aighty, imma see you later but please tell me wut u think of this chapter and any suggestions for future chapters. i'm always open.