Last chapter folks. And school is almost starting. Just in time. Sorry I rushed it. I just wanted to finish before school. :) Wow, this is actually gonna be my first ever finished fiction. XP
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"I'm not looking to change the world... I just want to be loved by the right person."
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After cleaning up, brushing her teeth, showering, and what not, Sakura walked into a nearby café and sat down for a cup of coffee. When her cell phone rang, she lazily picked it up and answered it. "Moshi moshi."
"Sakura, have you thought about what I said?" asked Ichiro's voice.
"W-what?" Sakura blanked out.
"About that trip to Hong Kong!"
"Uhh..." Truthfully, she hadn't. But for some reason, she could care less. She got another call just then and said, "Hold on, let me put you on hold for a moment."
She pressed 'flash' and said, "Moshi moshi."
"Sakura?" came Syaoran's voice. "Look, about yesterday...you fell asleep so I had no choice but to just let you sleep here. But really, nothing happened so don't worry about it. -Pause- I know things seem impossible right now, but love is actually very simple."
"Yesterday was just a tide of rising emotions...I err, am afraid of getting seasick."
'Her humor is always so cute.' Syaoran nodded, even though she could not see him. "Well, meet me at the restaurant at 3 anyways." Sakura heard him hang up and she then hesitantly pressed the 'flash' button again. "Hello? Ichiro? You there?"
"You haven't thought about it have you...? Sakura, I won't take 'no' for an answer. Meet me at the restaurant at 3." End tone...sighing, Sakura flipped her phone shut. 'At least they asked to meet at the same place...'
She glanced at her watch. 1:36 PM. Great, she had time to visit Rika.
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As Sakura turned a corner to the waiting room of the hospital, she saw Rika holding a bundle of blankets—her baby obviously—walking over Terada. She smiled when Terada pulled out his camera phone and took pictures of them with the newborn baby. Taking pictures just reminded her of Syaoran. She sighed, wishing she had someone special like Rika did.
She watched them fret and rejoice over the baby for a few minutes. Finally, she turned around and left. Even though she wanted to congratulate Rika, she didn't want to interrupt such a precious moment of one of her best friend's life.
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She walked around the place, thinking through everything in her head. 'I thought I'd be so elated to even hear that Ichiro wanted to take me to Hong Kong. But now, I just feel distraught. Because...I don't know. But I keep thinking about Syaoran when I think about Ichiro. Grr...what was that yesterday anyways? I shouldn't have done that because I already have Ichiro! Speaking of Ichiro...'
As the thought cycle kept going through her head, she stopped hesitantly in front of the restaurant. It was only 2:30. Perhaps she could make some coffee to get her mind off all her current thoughts. At least for the moment...
Sakura unlocked the back door to the kitchen and she went straight to the coffee maker. She counted 55 beans and started her coffee making. Fortunately, it was a Sunday, so the restaurant was supposedly closed. When she finished, she sighed after taking a nice tongue-swirled swallow of her famous espresso. She sat at a table, drinking her stress away.
"Sakura." She turned at the sound of her name. From where she was sitting, she saw Chiharu looking down at her. She breathed in deeply, calming herself down from being interrupted during her stress-killing moment. "Yeah?"
"Ichiro's here to see you. Second floor. You know where."
Sakura sighed and got up. "Can you wash this mug for me? Thanks," Sakura said without waiting for a reply. Leaving her cup on the table, she walked up the stairs to the second floor of the restaurant and out onto the balcony. (A/N: Yes, there's a balcony. XP) Ichiro turned at the sound of the door to the balcony opening. He smiled when he saw Sakura close the doors and stand next to him. 'My heart's not beating as fast as it used to when I'm around him...'
Ichiro handed her a small package. Sakura stared at him curiously as she slowly took it from him. She undid the ribbons around the wrapped long box and began to silently tear the wrapping paper away at a snail's pace. She found a brand new Hello Kitty toothbrush in her hands and she found herself forcing a smile. Ichiro also smiled, not noticing how fake her smile was. "It's the newest model here in Japan. I'm sorry I couldn't find your old one, hence the new toothbrush."
"Thank you." Sakura quietly breathed.
"I used to be afraid of missing out on the world...so my car is from Italy, my suitcase is from China, and all my shoes from America. Therefore...I really want you to come to Hong Kong with me. I know it'll make you happy. You've always wanted to go there."
Oblivious to the couple, Chiharu, Takashi, and Naoko were outside, hiding behind the wall perpendicular to the balcony, peeking and eavesdropping on Sakura and Ichiro. Chiharu whispered, "They are so going to break up!"
"I second that!" Takashi whispered. Eriol walked up from behind them, smirking. "No, they're definitely staying together."
"I'm with Eriol on that one!" Naoko spoke softly, though excited. Eriol walked back into the kitchen after that. He was only coming every once in awhile to check out if he'll win the bet or not, of course.
(A/N: Back to Sakura...)
"Yes, I have," Sakura admitted. Ichiro's face brightened. "So that means you'll come with me right? ("They are so going to break up!" Chiharu cried out as silent as possible. "No they aren't," Eriol replied, coming back out. "Yes they will!" Takashi said as Eriol walked back into the kitchen.) "I want to try it, Sakura. Just me and you."
Sakura breathed deeply. 'Try it.. Try? I totally understand what Rika was trying to tell me now...' (Chapter 2) She shook her head, thinking of Syaoran all of a sudden. "I know I'm important to you because I understand you. That's all well and good...but there's one flaw in this relationship. You don't understand me one bit. I used to be afraid of speaking up. I had no guts to really talk to you. I was too afraid to lose you. So you don't even know the real me. The real me isn't shy and not that giggly. The real me is different from anything you know about me. I just want someone who will love me for who I truly am. Not some fake façade because I'm too shy to show my true self. I've learned a lot from Eriol,—my retired boss, by the way—a relationship isn't just being with whoever happens to be around. I believe that it should mean being with the one person who you can't live without." ("See? She's going our way so far!" Chiharu whispered.)
Ichiro looked down, thinking through all that Sakura just said. He looked up at a clinking sound of metal lightly clashing together. Before meeting Sakura's eyes, he locked his gaze on the spare keys he gave Sakura. He looked ruefully and sadly at them when he saw the key on a keychain along with a second keychain, which lead to a squishy sponge red heart. (A/N: Those kinds of squishy things where you squish them and they inflate back up to the regular shape or something.) 'She loved me so much and I didn't pay any attention to her at all...and now when I do, she doesn't love me anymore...'
Sakura smiled sadly and walked away from him and back into the building, leaving Ichiro on the balcony to his thoughts. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw Chiharu and Takashi looking excited at a table with a disgruntled Eriol and Naoko. "Thank you, Sakura!" Takashi called out to her and he crumpled the money firmly in his hands. Sakura scoffed. "What is going on?"
Naoko had a look on her face as if Sakura tricked her. "I'm never betting on you again."
Sakura shrugged it off when Chiharu also thanked her and all the cooks but Eriol left. He smirked and nudged Sakura to look at the direction he was pointing at. She saw a fairly large picture of herself. "Hmm...where you naked when you took this picture? Or maybe you had shoes on?"
She laughed it off after seeing it. It took her a bit to remember where the picture came from. 'I'm going to murder Syaoran for taking that picture at such an angle! At least show just a tinsy bit of the spaghetti strap I was wearing.'
Eriol nudged her in a new direction. Sakura obeyed and turned to see Syaoran smiling. She returned the smile and slowly walked up to him as Eriol slipped quietly into the kitchen. In a few seconds, unbeknownst to Sakura and Syaoran, Chiharu, Takashi, and Naoko stealthily appeared with Eriol to peek in on them. Sakura seemed to be too lost in her own world with Syaoran to notice. It appeared to be the same for him.
"Err, I just wanted you to know that no matter what, Sakura," Syaoran started to say. "You'll always be my 'special one.'"
Sakura blushed as Syaoran continued. "I just knew after shopping for that necklace. I mean, maybe I was already starting to fall for you before, I think, but after I saw your smile when you tried on that necklace, it just hit me like a ton of bricks: I can't, and would never want to live without that smile."
Sakura was leaning closer, without noticing at all. Syaoran caressed her cheek with one hand and was about to lock his lips with hers when Sakura suddenly yelped. "Hold on. Charades."
Sakura pointed at Syaoran and made some flashy movement with her hands. Syaoran looked at her, confused. Sakura continued doing what she was trying to show him. After five tries, Syaoran shrugged, trying his last guess. "You think I'm cold? It looks like you're shivering..."
"Chicken skin!" Eriol suddenly cried out from behind the doors of the kitchen. Syaoran looked at him and turned back to Sakura. "You think I'm made of chicken skin?"
"No!" Sakura smiled. "I think you're amazing."
Syaoran smirked and drew nearer when he stopped this time. "My turn."
He made himself imaginary ears and brought the back of his wrists to his face, his hands drooping down. He made a mock bark and jerked his head to the left. Sakura stared at him funnily as Syaoran kept jerking his head to the left. When Sakura turned left, she saw a Pomeranian excitedly bounce out of the kitchen, barking piercingly. "Kero!" She bent down and picked him up. Syaoran took Kero from her and showed her the collar he put on Kero. It was the cherry blossom necklace Sakura tried on.
"Special delivery," Syaoran beamed as he unlocked the necklace from the ecstatic Pomeranian, placed Kero on the floor to bark around them, and fastened the necklace around Sakura. Her eyes widened as he did so and she looked down at the charm on the necklace. She returned a toothy grin and hugged Syaoran hard. Finally, he caught her lips as Chiharu sighed romantically from behind with Kero barking in the background.
Naoko smiled sheepishly. "Good thing I didn't bet this time."
Syaoran enveloped Sakura in his arms around her waist and she tangled her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as Eriol pulled Chiharu, Takashi, and Naoko back into the kitchen, leaving the new couple to themselves in their own little world.
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"I'd like to order the rice with duck blood, please," A man in his thirties announced, placing down his menu. He was wearing a sleek, black tuxedo and was sitting across his wife, who was wearing a long scarlet dress.
Sakura hesitated guiltily and smiled. "Um, sorry...but we don't offer that here anymore. Perhaps you'd like to try something much more exciting? Maybe...the Ice Mountain on Fire? Our finest cook Li Syaoran is demonstrating it right over there." Sakura pointed to a corner where Syaoran was lighting a small cake on fire. The customers—or audience—gasped in surprise as the fire grew larger until Syaoran urged them to blow it out. When they did, the fire was out, and the cake was just as icy as it was before. The customer with Sakura turned back to face her. "Yes, I think we will have that."
Sakura nodded happily and took the menus from the man and his wife. She caught Syaoran's eye and winked, letting him know there was yet another couple who wanted to try his trick. They went back into the kitchen, and came back out five minutes later with a small cake identical to the one earlier and placed it between the husband and wife. "Ready?" Syaoran asked them all. When they nodded, he lit it on fire as the wife squeeled, shocked to see it up so close.
"Well? Blow it out!" Syaoran ordered, and they all leaned in to put the fire out.
Sakura smiled. With Syaoran, the restaurant will definitely be successful, as will her love life. She'll have someone who understands her, someone who she'll have a great time with, someone who will cooperate with her, someone who will cook with her, someone who will laugh with her…and most importantly, someone who she can't live without.
The End.
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-Gasp- I finished a fanfiction. Lol. Isn't this story just cute? Yes, it is. :) Thanks for the reviews and everything. I appreciate it lots. I'm just thankful that some of you actually put up with my story and read it. I'm not so great at writing because good descriptions always slip my mind before I write about it. xx
Now...school will start soon. Eeeek. Haha.
Love, "Vywien is me"
