Tied By Fate
By: pnaixrose
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or the characters.
Chapter 14: Opportunity
Syaoran came to the spot where he and his friends usually ate their lunches and saw that there was no one there. Looking around as he held his lunch, he wondered where in the world they had gone.
"Syaoran-kun!"
Her voice! The amber eyed boy's heart skipped a beat. It was Sakura's voice. And she was close. He could feel her aura as a bubbly feeling crept inside his heart.
She sure was cheerful today.
"S-Sakura?" he said, still looking around. His magic was flustered by the bubbly feeling she kept emitting but finally he felt exactly where she was. God. She was the only one who got him so nervous that he isn't able to think straight. He looked up and there she was, sitting comfortably on a large branch high up in a tree with her lunch on her lap. "Hi," he said and instantly felt embarrassed. That was a stupid thing to say.
She didn't seem to think so though. Sakura laughed. "Come on up!"
He nodded and before you could count to five, he had used his martial art skills to find his way to another strong branch next to hers. He hadn't even dropped his lunch on the way.
Her emerald eyes widened. "Sugoi! That was amazing!"
He blushed in embarrassment at her compliment and he quickly looked away. "So...uh...where are the others?"
"They all said they had something to do today. Some form of club," she answered.
Syaoran groaned. He highly doubted that. There they go with their matchmaking plans again. But as usual, he had fallen into it. That damn Hiiragazawa and Daidouji surely seemed to be good at things like this. He knew for certain that they were the masters behind this whole ordeal. "Oh."
Sakura smiled as she found that she had been staring into his amber orbs. She quickly pulled her eyes away and blushed. Why had she done that? Why did she suddenly feel all uncomfortable whenever he was around?
"Flustered?" he suddenly said.
She almost jumped in surprise as the blood rushed to her face. "H-Huh?"
Syaoran laughed and Sakura immediately found that he looked incredibly cute when he smiled. Of course, she had thought that before but now that lately, whenever he smiled or laughed she found herself thinking that all over again. And what was worse was that he seemed to be even cuter than before each time he did. "Silly. Did you forget already? I...I felt it coming from you."
"Oh, yeah." What a complete idiot she was today. She couldn't believe it.
"And now you're embarrassed," Syaoran added with a grin.
Sakura frowned a bit, but obviously was still happy. "Hey! Stop it!" she said, giggling. "That's not funny."
"I haven't teased you in awhile."
"It was better that way."
They both laughed as they simply enjoyed the time they spent with each other. They were always comfortable with each other. There were almost no awkward moments and they liked it like that.
"You think your brother would be mad that we're pretty good friends now?" Syaoran asked with a grin.
Sakura thought for awhile and nodded. "Probably. But don't worry. Yukito-san will probably hold him back before he could get to you."
That name. Syaoran instantly felt his smile fade as soon as he heard that name from her lips. Tsukishrio Yukito. The man who had stolen her heart. The man who she was so deeply in love with. The man who had ruined his chance to be with her. "Yeah."
Sakura blinked. Had she said something wrong? His expression had changed so drastically from one second to the next. "Is something wrong?"
He quickly shook his head. "Of course not. Y-You just haven't mentioned him for awhile ever since the..." His voice faded and he looked away.
The girl froze. She knew what he was talking about. She hadn't mentioned Yukito's name since the cruise when he had asked her if she was in love with him...and she had answered that she did. How could she be so stupid, mentioning that again? Well she had thought that he wouldn't remember since he had been awfully sick at the time. But he had. He remembered. She felt her heart wrench. Why was she so upset that he remembered? It wasn't like she had been lying to him...right? "Oh, yeah," she said. "It's probably because I haven't seen him or onii-chan in awhile since they're in college."
"Oh," he said simply.
She felt her heart wrench again as he didn't look at her anymore and kept his head down as he ate his lunch. His smile was gone. What had she done?
Syaoran kept his eyes away from her and busied himself with his food. He was feeling that pain again. The pain of heartbreak. Then, he felt sorrow from her. Deep sorrow that he would never believe she would ever feel. He realized why exactly she was sad. "Are you sad that you haven't seen him in awhile?" he asked quietly.
Sakura was startled with the sudden question. But actually, that hadn't been the reason why she was upset. But since she didn't know why she was upset in the first place, she said, "I-I guess."
Syoran forced a smile as he looked up at her. He couldn't stand her being sad. It just wasn't natural. "Don't worry, Sakura. When he comes back that's when you'll be able to tell him...just how much you love him." He tried so hard to make it sound like he was happy for her, that it was a good thing. And luckily, she seemed to buy it.
She nodded slowly as she let out a small grin again. "Yeah." Telling Yukito that she loved him had been her dream ever since she was young. "But I highly doubt it."
"Why?" He instantly felt embarrassment emitting from her again.
"W-Well...I'll never have the guts to." There. She said it. And now her face was covered with blush again.
Syaoran smiled a sad smile as he once again turned his face away from hers, afraid to meet her eyes. It hurt so much to be having this conversation with her. It really did. "You should tell him as soon as possible," he whispered, covering his eyes with his hair. "Before it's too late and you don't have the opportunity again..." That's what Hiiragazawa, Daidouji and Meiling all said to him. That he should tell Sakura the truth. That he loved her. But how could he? How could he when all she probably thought about was Tsukishiro-san?
"...I guess," she replied.
The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. Luckily it did or else there would've been just awkwardness in the air between them.
"I-I have to get to my next class," Syaoran said as he finished the rest of his lunch in a gulp. Then he jumped down gracefully from the branch that was rather high up in the tree.
Sakura nodded even though he couldn't see her. She had to get going too. But as she was about to climb down, something pierced her arm. A sharp short branch. She didn't even realize it as her footing slipped. She let out a short scream and shut her eyes tight.
But the hard ground never came. Instead, there was warmth. Warmth and comfort.
She gasped as she opened her eyes. Syaoran.
Syaoran lay there in utter shock. One minute he had been worried to death as he saw Sakura falling and the next...she was on top of him. He immediately blushed as she looked up to become face to face to him. Maybe that was a bad idea. Their faces were merely centimeters apart now. Her emerald eyes were wide with surprise and he immediately felt it coming from her. The shock, the embarrassment...and something else. But he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it was...confusion?
But he didn't really care. She was on top of him. Sakura's body was on top of his. His hormones seemed to be getting the best of him now. His body was going crazy and went even crazier as he felt her warm breath on him and as she uttered his name through her lips. Oh, her lips...how he just wanted to-
He felt his face inch subconsciously towards hers and didn't seem to care. He wanted to show her how much he cared for her. He would show her. Li Syaoran would never let some bastard steal her heart away from him. His mind sent out warning signals as he realized that...she was in a skirt.
A rather short skirt.
Oh no...what the hell was he thinking!
That's when he felt his magic cover slipping once again. And luckily, he realized it before he went berserk.
He jerked away from her as she too seemed to realize what had happened. "I...uh..." Where the hell had his voice gone! "S-Sorry."
Then he ran as fast as he could, not even bothering to pick up his trash from his lunch. He had to get away from there. He just had to.
Li Syaoran almost let his guard down...again.
Sakura was left there, kneeling on the ground. Her eyes were wide as her body and her heart seemed to calm down.
D-Did that just happen?
The door opened and then closed as a tired person entered. Dropping his bag on the floor clumsily, Syaoran went into his peaceful room and collapsed on his bed. He had been dreadfully tired and even though it was a beautiful day and he could've went anywhere he wished, something told him he should go home. Besides, where would he go?
Closing his amber eyes, an image of her flashed yet again. Sakura. It seemed that as the days passed, she haunted his lonely mind more and more. It wasn't that the thought of her was bad. It was the thought that she could never be his that pained him. It plagued him. Her eyes, her hair, her smile. Everything about her seemed to brighten up his day. It was so hard to hide his growing feelings towards her everyday, but he had somehow managed. He couldn't afford to let her know. Besides, it was hard enough to stop staring at her. And today had been worse since they had P.E. while the guys had been playing soccer, the girls had been doing gymnastics. And seeing that Kinomoto Sakura was on the cheerleading squad and was a terrific athlete, she had been one of the best.
Gosh...Would she ever stop impressing him?
Not only that...what had happened during lunch break was just...
No. He wouldn't even try to think about it. He wouldn't try to think about her shocked eyes, how close they had been, how his body was going crazy, how warm she felt, how much he wanted to just kiss those lips-
No. He had to stop.
Meiling had left a few weeks before, causing the whole atmosphere of his apartment to seem quiet. She had kept in touch though, calling him and writing letters. It had seemed that the Clan was doing fine even though more and more work came in everyday from their different businesses. Most of it had some complaints of why the Lis' head chairman wasn't there. Syaoran didn't care. His sisters seemed to be doing a fine job covering for him anyway.
It seems that Meiling had also been keeping in touch with the others too. Hopefully, she didn't mention anything to Sakura about his feelings. But Syaoran didn't think she'd do that. Of course, she didn't fail to mention to him to confess to Sakura at least ten times in each of her letters.
Confess? How in the world could he do that? She loved someone else.
He sighed aloud, breaking the silence of his room.
Then, he fell into a deep sleep, the event of what happened during lunch recess still on his mind.
"Kero-chan," Sakura said with a smile as she entered her room. "I'm home. And guess what I brought?"
The guardian looked up from the magazine he had been reading on her bed as she placed her books and her bag on her desk. "Welcome home! What did you bring me?" His eyes lit up. "Pudding?"
His mistress laughed. "No, but I think it's better than that. Tomoyo-chan and Eriol-kun are here. They're downstairs."
Kero poked his head down at the magazine again, losing his interest.
"Tomoyo-chan brought cake she bought on the way."
She felt a rush of air and suddenly her guardian was gone from the room. "Kero-chan, you'll never change." She quickly changed into some sweatpants and a shirt before heading back down to join her friends.
"Yum! That was good!" Kero said in satisfaction as he lay on the coffee table and patted his stomach.
They were all in Sakura's living room just finishing up the cake that Tomoyo had brought in.
Sakura nodded in agreement. "It sure was. Arigato Tomoyo-chan!" She gave her best friend a smile which Tomoyo returned.
Eriol took the last piece of the delicious cake. "Hey, does anyone know where Syaoran is?"
"I think he's in his apartment," Tomoyo said with a shrug. "I was going to tell him about meeting here after school but I couldn't find him. I don't know. He looked pretty tired in class though."
"Ah. So that's why he isn't answering his phone. He's probably taking a nap."
The raven haired girl giggled. "I wonder if you and Yamazaki-kun went too far today in gym class, Eriol," she said. "I don't think Li-kun appreciates being a target for soccer balls."
The boy's azure eyes glinted evilly. "We were just having some fun. Besides, Syaoran didn't get hurt."
"I would've hurt him," Kero remarked with a proud grin. "I would've showed that gaki my soccer skills."
Tomoyo looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know. Li-kun's pretty good at soccer." She added a laugh. "Besides, I think the ball would squish you first, Kero-chan."
While Kero frowned and muttered, Eriol grinned. "But of course, he cannot possibly be any better than I, right Angel?"
She giggled. "Hmm..." she said, pretending to think hard. "I don't know..." she teased. "Maybe Li-kun could beat you in soccer, Eriol."
His smile dropped as he let out a mock gasp. "That was cruel, Angel. That was really cruel."
As she and Eriol continued to flirt and tease each other that it eventually led Eriol to tickle the poor girl in her sides, Kero noticed someone who had been incredibly quiet throughout the whole conversation. His mistress. She was just staring at her empty plate that had held cake before she had eaten it all. She looked like she was in a daze but it was sort of a sad and confused daze. Was something wrong?
"Hey Sakura," he said as he landed on her shoulder. He could almost feel her jump in surprise. "You okay?"
She seemed to snap out of it and smiled at her little friend. "Of course! Why wouldn't I be okay?" Sakura quickly stood and picked up some of the plates on the table. "I'll be back. I'm going to wash these plates," she said as she headed for the kitchen in a rush.
What was wrong with her? As soon as she had heard his name, she had suddenly blanked out. The only thought in her head was him. Li Syaoran. She couldn't understand it. How did she feel about him? He was close...even closer than a friend. But could she possibly...love him?
No. That was impossible. She was in love with Yukito-san. She would always be in love with him. Just his smile, his charms, his kindness seemed to weaken her knees.
But then again...that's what she felt for Syaoran too.
And what made it worse was what happened at lunch at school. She had fallen on top of him and suddenly it was as if she couldn't move. It was what happened before on the last day of the cruise when she had hugged him. She just completely froze over and her heart seemed to skip every other beat. But this time, it felt different. It was as if...her body was reacting to him. Like it didn't want to move away.
Besides...he was comfy...and warm. And his lips were so close that all she had to do was just move a couple of centimeters to–
She shook her head to get the thought away. She shouldn't think about things like that.
What baffled her the most was the fleeting feeling she had gotten from him. It was a weird feeling and she couldn't describe it well. But it was as if he felt...greatly entranced by something. As if he had a great desire for something...but he couldn't have it. It was hard to explain, but she had gotten a similar feeling whenever she...looks at Syaoran.
Nah, she was probably just thinking too hard. Besides, the strange emotion from Syaoran hadn't lasted long until something blocked it up again. It was probably the shield he used to hide his emotions from her.
She snapped out of her reverie as Kero spoke to her again.
"Why not just use the Bubble Card," Kero asked.
She laughed in reply. "Kero-chan, I'm not that lazy."
When she had gone, the small guardian noticed that the other two who had been laughing endlessly suddenly stopped and had been listening to the whole thing. He turned to see their faces and saw that they both had knowing looks. "What's the matter?" Kero asked in confusion.
Eriol adjusted his glasses and turned to the 'stuffed animal'. "Sakura. I just noticed that she had been totally quiet while we were talking about Syaoran."
"I wonder..." Tomoyo added slyly.
"Wonder what?" Kero asked looking at the two strangely. What the hell was going on?
Eriol shook his head, a smile on his lips. "Never mind. Well I'm going to help her wash those dishes," he concluded as he picked up the rest of the empty plates and utensils.
Tomoyo and Kero both nodded. "I'm coming!" the raven haired girl said.
"Me too!"
Silence covered the whole apartment as the sunlight streamed in, creating a rather heavenly look. Li Syaoran was sleeping peacefully on his bed, dreaming of a certain someone who just wouldn't stay out of his head. But he didn't mind. No. He didn't mind at all.
Then a sharp ringing was heard, disturbing the peace. And Syaoran being a rather light sleeper immediately woke up in an angry frenzy. "What the hell?" he mumbled as he fumbled around trying to locate his cell phone. He found it in his pocket and answered sharply. "What!"
Only sniffles were heard from the other end.
He started to get infuriated when no one replied. "Who the hell is this?"
"... Xiao Lang?" a familiar voice said. Wow. He hadn't heard that voice in such a long time.
"Shiefa?"
"Yes. Hello, little brother," his sister answered. But her voice was watery and sniffles were still heard. She didn't seem to be very happy.
"Shiefa? What's wrong? Did something happen to the company?"
Silence. She didn't answer and Syaoran felt something deep inside him that didn't seem right. Something was wrong here. Something terribly wrong.
"Shiefa! Answer me!"
A deep, sad sigh was heard as she tried to compose herself. " Xiao Lang...c-come home...please."
He scrunched his nose up in confusion. "What?"
Suddenly he no longer heard her sniffling and instead, it sounded like the phone was being moved. "Syaoran!" another voice said. Meiling. But her teasing voice had change to a nervous one.
"Meiling? What's wrong? Why is Sheifa crying? Are all my sisters crying? Did something happen?"
There was a pause. "It's your mother, Syaoran. She...had a heart attack."
Syaoran's mind stopped as he zoned out when Meiling started explaining what happened. That was impossible. His mother? The Li Yelan? The one who's always been the strong and mighty one in their family? The one who has always scolded him? That can't be true!
He heard the phone move again and another feminine voice was heard. "Xiao Lang! Please come home! We need you..."
"Feimei..." They sounded so upset that he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.
"Xiao Lang, we need you," Feimei repeated. "The whole clan is becoming disorganized and running around with lots of work in their hands. Especially now that Mother is in the hospital. Please, come home. We need you. Your clan needs you. Mother needs you..."
Anger grew in his chest for some reason. He didn't want to go back. He was happy here even though the one he loved didn't love him back. It was good to just be around Sakura after all. But, no. His clan and his family expected too much of him. Now they want him to return when he's been the happiest he has ever been? Now when he actually has friends instead of business partners and advisers? Now when he didn't have to worry about running the whole damn business? No. He wouldn't go back. He won't. They can't make him.
"You can take care of it," he replied coldly.
"But Xiao Lang-"
"I'm happy here! I don't want to return to that fucking hellhole!"
Without even waiting for a reply, he pressed the button that would make the call end and buried his head in his hands. Why was it so hard? Why was it so hard to just be happy?
Gritting his teeth, he threw the phone against the wall and started muttering curses in fury. He wouldn't go back! To hell with the clan! They never cared about him. They never cared that he didn't want to have all that responsibility. So why should he care about them?
Why should he care about the woman who allowed them to make him into this? Li Yelan...all she ever did was make him work the hardest out of everyone. He still remembers the pain. Sure she has softened up now. She probably realized her mistake in trying to shape him to be the best. But it was too late. He had those memories where his mother let him do nothing but work. He had those memories where his mother had so willingly allowed the Elders to be cruelly whipped to 'perfection'.
And he had those memories where he could see in her eyes the longing she had to see his father again.
The father that he hadn't been strong enough to protect.
But he did care about her. She was his mother after all. And it hurt him to know that she was suffering in a hospital.
The last time she had gone to the hospital was when his father died. It must be terrible for her.
He was torn. Should he stay here and be happy? Or should he go back to the place he hated so much to comfort the mother who had made him to loathe it in the first place?
Dammit. Choices were hard decisions.
And what made it worse...he had to keep his guard up. He couldn't let anyone know, especially Sakura. He had to keep his magic shield strong so she won't have a clue that he's thinking this way again. He just had to.
But it was so hard...
Sakura felt a slight chill run up her spine and shivered. It was weird. She didn't even feel cold. It was as if something bad had happened, yet she didn't know what.
"Sakura-san?" Eriol asked as he switched from channel to channel on the television. "Are you cold?"
"Yeah. You just twitched out of nowhere," Tomoyo added with a giggle.
The three teens were watching TV in Sakura's living room. They were feeling lazy and Eriol and Tomoyo didn't feel like going home just yet. Besides, they didn't have school tomorrow and even though they weren't exactly doing anything, they were having fun laughing and teasing each other. Well actually it was only really Eriol and Tomoyo teasing Sakura. Touya and Yukito had called before and had told her that they were coming for dinner since they supposedly had big news. And as you would guess, Sakura had turned bright red when she had found out Yukito was coming.
"No I'm fine," Sakura replied, shaking the scary feeling away. "Thanks though."
They nodded as Eriol finally settled on a channel: the news. As they watched a weather report that explained that it was going to be pouring tomorrow night, the backdoor opened and in came the expected arrivals.
"Hey kids..." Touya said as he walked in. He turned to Sakura and smirked. "...and kaijuu."
Sakura got red in the face and frowned. But she forgot all about it as a certain silver haired man entered with a bright smile on his face. She immediately got a light feeling in her chest as he said hello. "Y-Yukito-san! I haven't seen you in such a long time!" she exclaimed happily. It was weird feeling that emotion again. But it was as if it was now...false. She shook the idea away. Besides, the feeling was still there and she was delighted to see her crush.
He smiled. "Haven't seen you in awhile either. How have you been, Sakura-chan?"
"Just f-fine," she answered shyly. That was when she noticed that her brother was looking around the house with an angry look on his face. He was acting weird...as usual. "Hoe? Onii-chan? What's wrong?"
He frowned. "Nothing. Just making sure that the gaki isn't here," he said.
"Syaoran-kun? Oh...he couldn't make it," his little sister replied sadly. She really wanted him to be here. But I guess you don't always get what you want. Besides, she didn't think she could face him after what had happened during lunch. Just thinking about it made her blush. "We tried calling him but no one picked up."
Touya smiled triumphantly and stopped scanning the area. "Good. So where's otou-san?"
"He's out at the university working on some overnight project he had to do."
The older brother frowned. "Oh, well I'll just have to tell him the news later."
"What exactly is the big news you were talking about on the phone, Kinomoto-kun?" Tomoyo asked curiously.
Yukito smiled brightly. "We'll tell you after dinner."
"No, tell it now!" Sakura exclaimed brightly. "You sounded really excited on the phone."
"Well, Sakura-chan," Yukito started, "We signed up for the transfer student program a couple of months ago and they selected us to go to London for a semester."
The three teens were surprised. "Wow! London!" Tomoyo exclaimed, her eyes brightening. "My mother said it's a really nice place there when she went for a fashion convention in London."
"We're leaving the day after tomorrow. But we'll be spending the night here," Touya added.
His little sister frowned at the sudden news. "The day after tomorrow!"
Yukito nodded with a smile on his face. "We just found out today too. But we decided to go even though it's short notice. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."
"Yes, it is. London is a magnificent place. I'm sure you'll like it," Eriol added. After all, he did live in London just a few years ago. "I wouldn't mind visiting for a couple of days actually."
"Feel free to once we get over there," Touya suggested, "Well, is dinner ready? I'm starving."
Sakura nodded. "It's all ready. Just set the table, onii-chan."
He nodded and made his way towards the kitchen as Yukito smiled down at Sakura. "We'll miss you and everyone here, Sakura-chan. We'll be worried about all of you too," he said sadly.
She blushed. "B-But I'm sure it'll be fun there! Don't worry about us. It's just sad that you have to leave so soon." Then an idea formulated in her head and she blushed at the thought of it. But she had nothing to lose and besides, her brother and Yukito would be leaving soon. Anyway, didn't Syaoran-kun tell her to tell her feelings to Yukito? Didn't he say that she would lose her chance if she didn't tell him soon? "Um, Yukito-san?" she asked shyly.
"Yes?"
"You know those free coupons you gave me for my birthday? The ones for the restaurant? Well I didn't use them yet and I was wondering if y-you would join me for dinner tomorrow?" she asked, her entire face bright red. "B-Because I didn't try the food there yet and I wanted to go soon..." she added, trying to make it seem like it wasn't serious.
Yukito was surprised. "You're inviting me? Are you sure?"
She nodded and looked away sheepishly. "That is...if you want to go."
He smiled and patted her shoulder. "I'd love to. Now let's get going to the kitchen before Touya eats all the food for himself."
Her eyes lit up. Did she just hear that right? Did Yukito just say yes? That was impossible! Oh wow, this was unbelievable! "O-Okay!"
As the two headed towards the kitchen, Eriol and Tomoyo looked at each other in worry. They had been listening to the whole conversation, pretending that they were watching the news on TV. They were both thinking the same thing: What about Syaoran?
"Eriol," Tomoyo said, her expression deep with confusion and sadness. "I-I thought she...I mean...I had a feeling that she-"
"-was starting to have feelings for Syaoran?" Eriol finished sadly. "I did too. I don't know what's going on..." He sighed, feeling bad for his close friend. He knew how much Syaoran loved her but if he was to find out that she was going out on a date with Yukito...he'd be crushed.
"E-Eriol, I don't get it!" the raven haired girl said in frustration. "I really thought they loved each other. I really thought that Sakura didn't like Yukito anymore." She stopped, biting her bottom lip in worry. "We can't let Li-kun know, okay?"
Her friend nodded. "I was thinking the same thing."
Then they heard Sakura's voice calling to them, saying that dinner was ready. They took one more worried glance at each other and hurried to the kitchen where everything was set.
If they had stayed one more minute in the living room, they would have heard a very important report on the news...
'In other business news, the Li family, who have always led one of the top corporations in the world, have been having some rather difficult times. Ever since the young Li Syaoran, the chief executive of the whole corporation, has deserted his position and has disappeared from the country, more work and complaints have been coming in for the ones who were left in charge. On top of that, his mother, Li Yelan who is another prominent person in their corporation, had a heart attack today at approximately two fifteen this afternoon. With no one in charge, everything seems to be going wrong. Will their young leader return to fix everything up? More details will be given in a later time...'
Syaoran awoke once more from his nap as he felt a tingling feeling flow up his spine. He had forced himself to sleep after the phone call from Hong Kong and yet he woke up again! Trying to get rid of the aching headache that had suddenly hit him, he realized that the happy emotion that had woken him up couldn't possibly be his.
"What is it now, Sakura?" he mumbled.
Concentrating hard, Syaoran closed his eyes and tried to find the reason for her happiness. An image of someone appeared and his eyes opened in a flash. A deep pain started in the pit of his stomach.
The image was of a tall man with silvery hair, kind grey eyes and glasses. Tsukishiro Yukito.
She was...thinking of him again...?