A/N: Sorry for the late update! Been busy for the past five months…there has been so much going on that it's impossible for me to write fanfics as much as last year. But I'm grateful to know that some ppl are still asking when I'm gonna update…it has motivated me to try and write another chapter…so basically I'm not dead to the fanfiction world…I'm still here living and breathing! HAHHAH! I thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter…and now the long awaited chappie!
Wish Upon a Falling Star
By: maixwolfblossom
-Chapter Twenty-One-
--The Decision—
Disclaimer: I wished I owned CCS…but the sad truth is that I don't…so don't sue me…all original characters of CCS are all owned by CLAMP, so get off my case already!
Recap:
Quietly Rioka whispered fiercely, "I thought you said you weren't going to try anything?"
Her breathing slowly regained from what the kiss stole.
Ling smiled gently and whispered back almost desperately at her question while lifting her hand and molding it into his, "I didn't do anything…you did."
Rioka crinkled her eyes in confusion. Her heart beating like a million drums against her chest.
Just when she thought her heart was settled on one person, she had another problem to worry about.
End
Slowly everyone filed into the mansion and called it a night and stayed in their rooms or in the spare bedrooms since it was too late to go to their houses. As everyone turned in for the night, two people lying helplessly awake.
The image of Ling was forever engraved in Rioka's mind. Tonight had changed something within her. No matter how much she wanted to hate Ling, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She only felt guilt in trying to remove him from her heart. She knew she still harbored feelings for the man who betrayed her. She couldn't, wouldn't let him get in between her goal in marrying Syaoran. Frustrated, Rioka tossed and turned until she sat up and walked to her balcony.
Wind chimes sounded into the silent night and everything seemed to be in peace, yet it seemed it didn't hold the comfort Rioka sought after. Not even the soft cooing of her baby could bring such nirvana to her life.
On the floor below, Ling sat up in his bed to look at the stars from his guest bedroom. He wondered with a smile at the memory of the kiss he received. He just knew that with time, Rioka would be able to let go of Syaoran and figure out her real feelings. He just hoped those feelings were directed to him.
Now he knew for sure that Syaoran was in love with Sakura. He could sense it but why couldn't Rioka? Was she in denial or she really didn't know how her friend felt for her own fiancé?
As he sat and pondered, the stars twinkled like winking jewels as if it were telling someone a message that no one could ever understand.
"I wish…I wish she would look my way and smile at me. I wish she was would give me a second chance and let go of the past so I can have another chance…"
As Ling turned away, a bright star disappeared into the night.
The Next Morning
That morning, only two people seemed to have the strength to get up in the early hours of the day, for one Syaoran and Meiling. Both seemed to be in their own thoughts as they sat eating their toast. Syaoran sat on a stool and bit into his toast looking at Meiling who was drinking her fruit punch slowly, staring at him through her glass. When she slammed the glass of juice on the table, Syaoran jumped up and frowned while sittitng back down. The silent morning progressed, as it seemed inevitable that Meiling was indeed cranky from the lack of sleep she received. Usually she would have been talkative and just simply happy but today was one of those days. The days where you should never cross a woman or perhaps any Li woman since they had the worst temper on one of these days.
As if on cue, Syaoran's toast popped out of the toaster and Meiling, who was looming in her unhappiness, threw his toast across the counter, which eventually landed on his face. Now we know something like this would tick off our dear Syaoran-kun but surprisingly, he ripped the toast off his face and began to spread jelly on it. There was a reason behind this odd behavior and that was that Syaoran, after living with his ill-tempered cousin for many years, was already used to Meiling's tantrums. In the back of his mind he counted from 5 to 1 and waited…
T-minusFive…
Meiling's eyes watered silently…
Four…
Her eyes glinted strangely…
Three…
Her eyes twitched…
Two…
Meiling's lips were trembling…
One…
Take off!"What is with this silence!" Syaoran's dear cousin ranted, "Why does everyone get to be out of it and I'm the only one awake!" She banged her glass of juice on the counter and huffed out of the kitchen in a flurry. After a few minutes, Syaoran shook his head and started howling in laughter that shook the mansion to its' foundation.
Sakura instantly woke from her peaceful sleep to hear a familiar chuckle ring around the entire household. She quickly slipped on her robe and bunny slippers and rushed down the spiraling stairway to where the sound was emitting from the kitchen. Cautiously, Sakura grabbed a vase just incase it was a very serious matter that needed to be dealt with but suddenly, she bumped into Tomoyo who was giving a inquiring brow at the scene in front of her. Sakura took a peek to see a very flustered Meiling strangling a very humored Syaoran. Apparently Meiling had not totally left the room and heard the laughter that Syaoran was 'trying' to suppress. So Tomoyo and the confused Sakura just stood there in a daze watching Meiling suffocate Syaoran to oblivion.
At that same moment, Yelan walked in to see her niece strangle the only heir to the Li Clan. She took a long appraising look at her son and his cousin and waited. As if they just noticed her presence, Syaoran and Meiling both stared at her with expectation and when her mouth opened, they knew that they were in for it. Instead Yelan just yawned and stepped over them.
All four people watched with awe as the once strict woman was losing her touch. Sensing their stares, Yelan turned around and raised her brow inquiringly at all of them.
"Are you not going to join me for breakfast?" She beckoned for them to follow her into the dining room where the serving maids were setting the table with scrumptious food that made even Tomoyo, the most graceful lady, drool. They all sat, all except the reluctant Syaoran.
Syaoran grumbled something about not being hungry and having to go to an interview for a famous magazine. Unfortunately Yelan heard his complaints, which made her serene expression turn into a dark one and made Syaoran smile nervously.
He awkwardly sat down and decided he could be a little late to please his mother. And only when he did, did Yelan smile warmly.
She stood and greeted everyone a good morning to announce something very important.
"Well, you might be wondering why I asked you all to gather her this morning," They all gave her a blank look, "Okay…I did not ask you to come here but you get my point."
Yelan put her hand down on the table, but when she did her look of calm disappeared, which was replaced with disgust along silence from everyone else. She lifted her hand to see that syrup was from her pancakes were oozing from her palm. Quickly she grabbed a wet towel in the hands of her maid and wiped her hands hastily. She sighed and began her speech once again.
"Okay, now that I have everyone's attention…I have an announcme-" As soon as she was about to finish her sentence, Rioka and Ling walked in getting suspicious glances from Tomoyo and Meiling.
Yelan, on the other hand, sighed greatly, "When am I ever going to get a word in? When oh when?"
A bright light hit our dear mistress of the mansion as she realized that this announcement included the "fiancée" of Xiao Lang.
Yelan smiled distastefully and invited for them to sit so they can join in on this very grave announcement.
"Since we're all here…well sort of, " She glanced at Syaoran who was grumbling once again, "I have an important notice to deliver to Seshumi-san."
Rioka looked up with dull eyes, this shocked Yelan since it seemed the young girl didn't get any sleep last night. What shocked her even more was the fact that Ling, the wedding planner, had the same expression Rioka held. Sakura thought she had seen some kind of revelation held in the depths of Yelan's eyes like there was something she knew had happened that she had foresaw in a dream, but she hid that feeling from everyone else.
Sakura shook her head and tuned in as Yelan continued to talk.
"As I was saying, today is D-day and I do not mean 'demolition day' what I mean is today, for Rioka, is the decision day. We all know that approximately two weeks ago there was a compromise about the arranged marriage…the agreements were as follows. Rioka-san, our deal was that you decide whether or not to marry my son. Tonight the decision has to be made. Then your engagement will be announced nationwide in a few months time." Yelan grimly stated the next few lines, "You were not to go near Xiao Lang alone during these past two weeks, and neither were you supposed to talk or interfere in his daily life during these past two weeks. Well…we had sources report back stating that you have gone near him alone, but it has yet to be proven."
At this point Yelan had already sat down as the motionless people stayed pre-occupied with thoughts and Eriol 'strutted' in the dining room with a smug look upon his face. He smirked thinking that his presence awed the household.
Meiling was the first to notice this and howled at Eriol, "Wipe that smirk off your face, you doofus."
Syaoran, who seemed to regain his composure grinned evilly and progressed on the Eriol bashing, "Don't mind him, Meiling he just had some sweet time with his precious Tomoyo poster board."
Eriol blushed beet red, knowing full well that he had indeed done exactly what Syaoran claimed.
"See that, everyone? Not even the real Tomoyo can satisfy the need for this fashionable law student." Syaoran smiled benignly to the furious cousin of his and popped out his beloved camcorder.
The blue-haired man eyes popped out of its sockets knowing that some kind of embarrassing thing was probably in that evil contraption. A large projecting screen came out of nowhere and the lights were turned down to show what contents were hidden in the camera.
Within the Camera"More champagne, my love?" Eriol poured two glasses of his best champagne.
Syaoran quietly sat in the dark corner secretly taping Eriol's 'romantic' moment trying not to snicker.
The fire roared in the fireplace. It was half an hour before New Years.
"ah ah ahhhh Tomoyo dearest, don't get too close to the fire. We wouldn't want you to get burned, now do we?"
Syaoran couldn't take it. He let out a little whimper of laughter.
Eriol's eyes lit up, "Tomoyo dear did you just laugh! I knew one day you'd come to life! Now if only you could move………"
Syaoran decided to play along (in a girly voice), "I'm made out of friggin' paper for cheese sake!"
Syaoran turned it off for a while…and smirked, "Oops wrong one."
Eriol burned with embarrassment as Tomoyo gave a weird glance at him and Sakura giggled profusely, "You did that on purpose."
But the camera rolled again to show a different scene.
So this is love….MmMmMm …So this is love
So this is what my heart beats for…
Eriol waltz around his room with the 'Tomoyo' (the poster) and it seemed that he was having a great time.
The room was lit with red candles and blooming white roses pushed aside to fit in a romantic sunset. The shimmer of curtains swished about, inviting the wind in.
My heart has wings…MmMmm…My heart has wings
So they fly to the heavens above…
He continued to dance around in circles, occasionally hugging the poster to his frame, crushing it slightly, so it fit his arms.
So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of…
MmmM… so this is loooooooove…
Eriol dipped the poster and that's when--
Syaoran stopped the tape and smiled gratifyingly, "I'd show you the rest but I think I'll save it for the movie marathon when I have put together all the tapes to bring you…Eriol's Love."
The table was hooting with laughter, now they all knew why all that Disney movie songs were playing two nights ago when they were all downstairs chatting.
Eriol blushed and added hotly, "I shouldn't have bought you that camcorder two Christmas' ago."
"That's right. You're the fool who bought this for me." Syaoran passed a lingering finger under his chin.
Eriol stomped off to the stairs, declaring that he suddenly had a change of appetite as Tomoyo tailed after him with many unanswered questions.
Yelan shook her head at her child's mischief ways and spoke after all of them.
"Okay, we meet back here at sunset, got that? And Rioka, dearest, will you be a doll and stay for a while?" Rioka, who was about to stand, perched herself back down in her seat.
Although mostly everyone was scampered about, Ling seemed to hang around which caught Yelan's eye, "I wanted to see you…alone." This gave Ling the cue to leave.
Rioka and Yelan were sitting in silence. Yelan gave a forced smile that hid her every dislike of this girl and spoke in an indifferent tone, "Why don't you have a bit of breakfast? You look awfully pale. I hope Eriol's private late night shindigs have not caused you any discomfort."
The neon green eyed young woman sat still like a proper lady being interrogated and just stared at her half-eaten pancakes. Her face held no expression at first but as soon as Yelan offered her more toast, Rioka seemed to have lost it and laughed in a cruel manner.
"Don't you have any sympathy left for your soon-to-be-daughter, Li-san?
Yelan sat back and looked at her companion's face through the orange juice glass sitting right in front of her.
"There is not a moment where I do not sympathize you, child. It is the matter that you are making a big mistake in forcing marriage to a man who does not love you…or…a man you do not love yourself." Yelan smiled slightly as she watched Rioka lower her eyes and close them for a while. She knew with confronting the issue, Rioka would give up pursuing her son and let him go.
Yelan excused herself from the room and left the young woman to think.
Eriol grumbled insanely as he tried to avoid Tomoyo's footsteps. His face was flushed in embarrassment, but he would not show this feminine side to her. Okay, not like he hadn't already, but clothes and fashion were one thing. Obsessions were another.
As though things wouldn't get any worse for poor Eriol, Sakura tagged along and joined in the squabbling of how cute Eriol was planning all those romantic moments. For a while, Tomoyo and Sakura stayed a little quiet, whispering a lot of things that made each other giggle, which was most likely about Eriol.
After a while, Tomoyo put a thoughtful hand to her chin and said, "You know Eri-kun? It seemed so heart-warming and all, but…wouldn't it have been better if you had the real me instead? I mean, you could have just asked, Eri-poo."
It didn't seem that Eriol's cheeks wouldn't stop blushing anytime soon, so he headed in the direction of his room.
"Hey Eriol-kun, Eriol-kuuuuun! Are you going to do the same thing tonight? I wanna see, I wanna seeeeeee!" Sakura pulled him back, but instead of stopping, Eriol dragged Sakura along.
"E-e-e-riollllll-sa—a-n" It did not seem that Eriol would ever stop so Sakura let go and sighed in relief that she was no longer hanging off her best friend's boyfriend, "Okay I'm just going to leave you alone."
Sakura wobbled and bounced out of the hall and into her room to work on her homework.
Tomoyo gave a little grin, looking at her handsome son-of-a-gun. She languidly turned her blue-eyed hero around and whispered silently, "SoOoOoo…is there any other fantasies that I can join in on you?"
Eriol heard a click and a slam of a door in the direction of his room. He was about to turn his head to see where the source of the sound came from, but Tomoyo dragged him in for a drugging kiss.
When it was over, she silkily touched his face and moved away from him to open his door and slipped inside. Tomoyo opened the door once again, enough for him to see her head and wiggle her brows suggestively.
"Aren't you gonna come in? We can have our own fun too…without the poster. Why have her, when you can have me?"
Eriol's jaw dropped. His hands instantly went to his glasses and rubbed off the imaginary dirt off of them. When he saw that he was not dreaming, he strolled right in.
Inside, he frowned and glowed in embarrassment at the sight before him.
Sakura and Tomoyo were laughing hard on the carpeted floor, gasping for air.
"Tomoyo-chan! I told you that guys are easily seduced. Who knew that all those marathon all-nighters of romantic movies would someday lead to this? You owe you 600 Yen." Tomoyo paid up and smiled up at Eriol.
"Sorry, Eri-poo. But you did lose me 600 Yen. Maybe you'll make it up to me soon and maybe…we can have a little fun…" Tomoyo couldn't help but laugh and hug a very disappointed Eriol, while Sakura left the couple to be alone.
"I forgot why I even like you in the first place. You make me go crazy!" Eriol sighed exasperatedly.
Tomoyo snuggled into his arms and kissed his cheek, lovingly, "Well that's why we like each other so much…we make each other go crazy."
They both rubbed each other's noses together and smiled warmly.
That Afternoon
Wei-sensei was training Syaoran even harder this morning since the dubbing of the Li Clan leader's name was going to be announced in a few months time. Syaoran had come a long way from his training a few months ago. He was making fewer mistakes and his reflexes were excellently intact. He was becoming a strong man, which silently pleased the wise, old man. He had taught his friend's heir well and soon the name 'Li' will regain the honor it once held.
The Li-miya Company would be in good hands, indeed. Wei thought back thirty years ago to when the contracts were signed and made to make the company stable and the lost that had been when the person who held the other half of the shares was unable to produce an heir to run the company as well, so it was left all in the hands of the late Li-san and now Yelan-san.
Soon the suffering would end and the years of hard work dedicated to the Li's would come into play. He would fulfill his promise to his dear friend and master.
(A/N: We will return to this particular issue later…pay attention for more of this 'contract'.)
Syaoran moved fluidly, his form had perfected over the many years of training. His mind and body had become one and his mind was sharp to all his senses. He could feel the change within him, the peace that held him content in his own world. All he could do now was pray that Rioka would change her mind and find her own life so he could have his own.
If not, then he would abandon his life and chances of being someone who could change the world. Anything for him to be with the woman of his dreams…anything.
"Meiling, no! I didn't mean it like that. Awww come on!" Kai got on his knees and hung onto his fiancée by the shoulders.
They were in his bedroom on his bed, talking about their marriage that was still in the progress of being planned. When they slid into the conversation about children, Kai was hesitant and touchy about the subject, which made Meiling insecure.
Well there's the thing about upsetting a woman when she's passionate about something, but you should never cross a woman's passion about something when she has those three little abbreviated words. That's right…Kai had fallen victim to the symptoms of Meiling's P.M.S. Not a good thing especially when she was very happy, turned oh so very sad as if she hit rock-bottom.
Tears flowed out of her crimson eyes as she shook her head, "Y-you d-don't w-w-want ch-children? W-hy d-d-d-didn't you sa-say so e-earlier?"
Kai said nothing and wiped her tears away. He couldn't do anything else when he had a terrible secret to tell her the reason behind his hesitance. It was something that he feared one of these days for Meiling or any other women who would be married to him ask him.
But knowing Meiling, she wouldn't let go of the subject unless it was resolved.
"Kai-kun…nande? (why?)" Every tear shed, made it even harder for Kai to suppress his deepest sorrows. He couldn't keep this in forever, but he didn't want to impose on Meiling or even lose her.
He let her go to shut the windows, close the curtains, close the doors and sat back down to a calm, but still shaken Meiling.
He sighed and touched her arms soothingly and looked deep within her eyes.
"The reason, my dearest, for my lack of enthusiasm to have children is—"
Meiling closed her eyes and interrupted, "Just say it, you don't like children, do you?"
Kai frowned and patted her hand, "No, not at all I love children, it's just that—"
"You can't have children? You're sterile, impotent?" Meiling inquired with wondering eyes.
He shook his head and cringed, "Oh, you know very well I am not…"
Meiling blushed then gasped out, "Oh no…I knew it…You're gay!"
Kai widened his eyes, "Oh dear Kami-sama! NO! I'm no—wait a minute? Why would you say that? You think I am?"
His fiancée laughed nervously as he moved closer to her face, making her fall to the bed with a thump. He moved over her and touched her face lightly, making her breath hitch a bit. He kissed her forehead and then moved painfully slow to capture her lips with his. She moaned and instantly wrapped her arms around his neck as he whispered, "I'll show you how much of a man I really am."
Sakura sat in her room doing her homework with the occasional groan or two. Can you guess what homework she was stuck on? Calculus. Now, math was not the most favorable subject of dear Sakura. She would rather stay outdoors and be athletic instead of staying indoors and doing something as boring and complicated as Calculus.
When her fourth pencil broke and her 20th paper had missed the wastebasket. Sakura just completely gave up and went on her laptop to research on some information. Looking for information on a dead person became boring to Sakura, which was kind of ironic. Her father was an archaeologist, why hadn't she taken an interest in old times, she may never know why. For a few minutes she remembered her father's face and her family. She was glad that nothing had happened to Touya, she thanked Kami-sama everyday for giving her brother the will to live.
(A/N: Two chapters back Tomoyo found out about Touya's real condition about his heart failing…Sakura does not know anything yet. This will be revisited soon!)
She went back to her math equations and thought for a long time, she worked diligently and often scratched her head. She used up a few more scratch paper and finished her math problem with delight.
Sakura flipped though her answer book and compared the book's answer to her own. She became shell-shocked, two hours and a half and she still got it wrong! Sakura slapped a hand to her forehead and crumpled the paper on her table to throw it to some random place. At the same time, her door opened and the crumpled paper hit a certain someone in the middle of his forehead.
"Itai (owww). Sakura-chan, watch where you throw that thing."
Sakura glanced over her shoulder and apologized, but the agony of not getting her answers right took a lot of energy out of her.
Syaoran made his way to her and kneeled beside her desk, he took the math book from her and took her hands in his. He smiled, kissed her palms and closed them and looked into her emerald eyes. Sakura giggled. Even when she was frustrated, he knew how to make her feel better even without words. She had never met a guy like him. He was a man of little words, but he had a rage of emotions that he had never shown to anyone but to her and that was the reason why she loved about him. She loved him and she knew it.
"Does cranky need help with her Calculus?" Syaoran teased lightly.
Sakura slap the back of his head and laughed.
Ling paced for the rest of the morning wondering what to say to Rioka. He didn't want to raise any suspicion within the Li's home so he spent whatever time he had left in the botanical gardens. He stared up to the sky in peace and smiled. His thoughts trailed to a dream of his own, a dream of having holding his child and a woman known as Rioka. Ling opened his eyes and realized that he was too deep in love with Rioka and their baby to let them go.
As that thought left his mind, a soft step interrupted his dreamland, but his dream did not end there. There in the light of the sun was Rioka, holding their son. It was as if his dream came to life, for her to welcome him with open arms instead of ones that pushed him away. His honey brown eyes blinked up at his imagination, this would never happen. It was just wishful thinking, he sighed and looked away.
He thought that they would have passed by now, but he turned to see them staring at him.
Rioka spoke solemnly with a twinge of regret in her voice, "When my decisions made, no matter what it is, I want you to know that I'm not going to keep you away from your son. You have the right and I have no right to interfere with my son not knowing his true father even though he will bear the name of Li. Plus…I'm going to end whatever bitterness I hold against you and I'm ending whatever relationship we ever had. It ends here."
Ling just stared at her with lost eyes. His dream of family shattered and his heart seemed to break right then and there. Without any warning he got up and swiftly grabbed her chin to give in to his weakness. He stared into her eyes as if asking for consent. She didn't know if she nodded or not, but as soon as her lips were covered by Ling's she knew she had complied. Her knees turned into jelly and her insides squirmed as he took the kiss deeply.
When she opened her eyes, she did not know how she and Ling had ended up on their knees as her hands clutched his neck tightly. Her mind was a blur and she became slightly aroused as she grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him again. As soon as she stopped to take a breath, her baby's whining crashed her back to reality.
Her eyes widened in fear, she let him kiss her not only once but three more times. She blushed and her gaze snapped to his eyes where she saw tears flow down his eyes, Rioka touched her own eyes as well and found them wet. Ling reached out to her, but she quickly grabbed Rei Lang and dashed into the house.
Ling scratched his head and then brushed his hand through his hair. He didn't know what to do anymore, his emotions got the better of him and he hated falling for his weaknesses and he hated confusing Rioka any further than he needed to.
But little did Ling know, it changed everything even if things did not go the way he wanted them to go, there is always a way to make everything turn up roses.
At Sundown
Everyone, including the Li Clan Elders, sat around the solarium.
Everyone who was excluded from listening in, waited anxiously outside for the verdict. Eriol was pacing back and forth in front of the doors, checking himself out once and a while on the mirror on either side of the walls. He lifted his shirt a couple of times as if he were searching for a trace of abs, which highly annoyed Ling and made him wonder how he got Daidouji-san to be his girlfriend.
Tomoyo giggled at this display that even the tension was forgotten for a little bit. Sakura's hands felt clammy and squirmed uneasily in her seat. Her heart pounded, knowing that in a few minutes she could either freely love Syaoran or try and forget him. But she knew she wouldn't be able to forget him, ever. He was the only man for her even if he married someone else, she knew she had his heart. She knew because of the way he kissed her, touched even the deepest part of her soul and made her whole.
Her best friend took her hand and gave a reassuring squeeze, which made her smile slightly. All were hoping for a change and some even praying for their own sake.
Inside
"This meeting is one of the many final adjustments to carry out the betrothals," a member of the Elder's board announced.
Li Hynh sat in the head of the table for he was the most recent predecessor of the Li Clan. He regally sat up and began his welcome speech, "Welcome. Today we finalize any problems that are to be resolved in this arrangement. Seshumi-san had a choice to either give up the engagement to Xiao Lang Li or to continue until two months time when we announce the engagement. We shall start this ri—"
"SLURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP"
Hynh shot a glare at his brother Suh, who was slurping his daily green tea rather nosily in the silence. Yelan suppressed her smile and cleared her throat a little.
Syaoran sat rigidly in his chair and grimly watched the elder's try and ruin his love life. He certainly did not ask for this birthright and he didn't want anyone to stop him from keeping him from it. Yet, how would he be able to keep both at the same time? He still had that to figure out.
Rioka awaited for the head Elder's speech and thought critically about her arranged marriage. She still had her child to think about, but somehow she couldn't shake the breath-taking kiss from the afternoon out of her mind. She cursed her feelings, she hated to admit that she was confused and lost. She was and that made it even scarier for her to accept that she may have some feelings for Ling left.
When it seemed that Li Hynh had finally let go of the rude behavior of his youger brother, he tried to regain everyone's attention once again.
"Okay...we are all here to witness and signify that our future leader will have a bride. Today we confirm it with the permission of Li Seshumi Rioka. Seshumi-san, have you reached your decision?"
She lowered her eyes as expectant eyes watched her every movement.
Li Hynh continued, "Before you say anything I want you to consider that upholding the name 'Li' is the greatest challenge of all. You will have to stand by your husband's side, if you chose this lifestyle that is. Your son, Rei Lang, will be treated with utmost respect in all of China. So be wary of your decisions today it may not only change your life, but your son as well."
This was what Rioka was afraid of, the fact that she did want all these for her child. It was what she had dreamed of. A life of no poverty or disgrace, only living in luxury. Greed had blinded the poor young girl's mind, the glory of power the Li name would bring her would give her the utmost happiness...even if love would not be a part of that life...she would glady give it up for her own child.
She closed her eyes and nodded. As she did, flashes of Ling and the distant memories that they shared flashed before her eyes. She shook them away and said, "Yes, I have made my decision..."
Outside
Sakura felt a slight twinge in her heart and knew immediately that it was not a good sign. Her hands became cold as ice. Tomoyo felt it and she knew that everyone's fate had been sealed at that moment.
Yelan leaned in awaiting for the response and when it came she smiled, knowing exactly what would happen next.
Syaoran releasedhis breath that he didn't know he had been holding and fought himself from smashing the wall next to him.
Need I write more of what Rioka chose? She chose her child's happiness and her greed for power instead of common sense and now it was final. Her path had been chosen and the road she took would be one heck of a ride.
A/N: How many ppl knew that she was gonna do that? Well if you did...good for you! -throws cookies to everyone- Gomen Nasai for the late update! I'm so glad that anyone who has read this is still out there reading.
Now that the summer is approaching...I can safely say this now...
Heehhh
More Reviews-equals-Happy Authoress-equals-More Chapters-equals-Faster Updates
And I know that's wut you want! LOL! Tell next time, maixwolfblossom, checking out!
Oh before I forget, the review responses!
czakali- Have you figured Rioka's problem yet? Thank you for your review!
...- Yes, I'll see that there are more R and L moments...just u wait! Thank u for ur review!
chikichiki- Thank you for reviewing!
cherryheart- this story is rated R for a reason...it may seem more like PG-13 but trust me, it's just the beginning! Thank you for ur feedback!
czee- As I said to the one above this review, I have my reasons why this fic is rated R. Thank you for ur review!
bunny-usako- I'm glad I could help in your inspiration! -high five back- Thank you for reading and reviewing! It's much appreciated!
SilverLunarStar- You always leave a loooong review! It makes me happY! HEHEHEH! Srry for the late update and thank you for ur review!
Swt-Anime-Angel- I hope the story gets better now that the end seems to be near! Thank you for ur delightful review!
bonnie- I tried my best to update...so very srry if it took too long! Gomen Nasai! Thank you for ur encouraging words!
cindy schneider- I've tried to update as fast as I can...I guess it took 5 months? LOL I'm srry and thank you for your review!
armageddonangel- Oopz I hope I'm not too late! Srry and thank you for your review!
Rushi Star- Thank you for reviewing!
bludtherstEw0lf - No you don't sound like a teacher in your review! I'm happy that you reviewed! Thank you!
BerXerkeR- Thank you for the review! It brings me inspiration!
LilacBlu- Yes I plan to make a lemon for Sakura and Syaoran...actually it's coming real soon. Thank you for reviewing and your question!
disturbed tammi-I should make more Sakura and Syaoran make-out sessions...hmm...I'll reconsider that! Thank you for your review and feedback!
FieryPhoenix00042- Well 'hoe' is an expression that Sakura says when she is confused or embarassed. Thank you for reading and revewing!
kimmies- Finally I have updated! I'm so proud of myself! LOL! Thank you for being a loyal reader and reviewer!
babycuteboy- I hope I'm not too late in updating this...-worried glance- Thank you for the review!
jemma- Thank you for the review! It has been an inspiration to start writing once again!
See all of you next update! -muah-
