Disclaimer: If I owned any of these characters do you think I'd be doing this? Exactly …. P
A/N: To tell the truth I'm not entirely happy with this, but there's just no way about it. It's just a little drabble thing that I needed to write. Anyway, any criticisms are greatly appreciated! Ta!
It was a dark night as a lone figure slowly, yet expertly, navigated through the thick branches of the trees. The moon was hiding behind the clouds tonight as if conspiring to make him lose his way - but he never did. This was a path he had trod countless times and never did he lose his way – not even on the darkest of nights.
Soon, the leaves that obscured his vision began to fade and the distant lights came into view. And there perched on the edge of the cliff, was the shape of a young woman. She was there every night, always on the same spot, never speaking a word. She must have been no more than 22, he guessed, because of the clothes she wore, the way she held herself, and from the glimpses of her face when the wind had whipped her hair around.
Knowing that she knew he was there, he slowly walked to his tree and jumped up onto the first branch – settling in comfortably as he did every other night. He rested his head on the trunk of the tree and closed his eyes, allowing the world to dissolve around him as his thoughts claimed him. In this place, no one could disturb him – in this place he was allowed to be himself, allowed to escape the despair of his hopeless situation.
"What's your name?"
He was taken aback by the sudden sound of her voice. He had spent many nights here with her, with neither acknowledging the other, content to allow the other to dwell on their own thoughts, and suddenly she had spoken to him. He opened his eyes and looked at her, wondering whether he should answer.
"Li Syaoran," he answered after a moments' hesitation.
"Oh," was her reply
Silence consumed them again. It didn't bother him – it gave him time to think about her voice. He thought he could detect sadness in her gentle voice. He wondered what it was that could make her come to this lonely clearing night after night – where were her friends? Her family? What was it that made her want to hide - to escape - from the world as he did?
"How old are you, Li Syaoran?"
"23 years old"
"Oh"
Silence once more. Again he wondered how her voice could sound so melancholy. And why had she suddenly broken their unspoken agreement of silence?
"Why are you sad, Li Syaoran?"
He thought for a moment. Was he really going to tell this girl, this stranger, what he could not share with his closest friends?
"The woman I love doesn't return my love – she's happy with another man"
"Oh"
Another moment of silence; and he pondered what on earth had possessed him to tell a stranger the deepest hurts of his heart – perhaps it was her unassuming nature or her gentle voice, but whatever it was, he knew he could trust her with his secret. He thought that perhaps she was embarrassed because of what he told her, but then he heard her soft voice float over once again.
"Don't be sad, Li Syaoran. Like my oniichan once told me – one day you'll find your number one and you'll be her number one too."
Again, a silence surrounded them as he pondered at her words. He knew she was right, he would have to move on one day, but it was difficult. He had loved her for so long and she had never seen him as anything more than a friend. He had done everything he could think of to rid his mind of her and that was why he came to the clearing each night. Here he could forget his heartache and enjoy the tranquillity that the surroundings offered him.
He suddenly realised that he knew nothing about her. Why did she come here? What was it that pained her? He wondered if he should ask. Or if she would reply.
"What's your name?" he ventured
She seemed to ponder his question for a moment
"Kinomoto, Sakura"
"How old are you, Kinomoto Sakura?"
"22 years old"
He wondered whether he should ask her the next question. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke.
"Why are you sad, Kinomoto Sakura?"
In the dim light provided by the still hiding moon, he could see her cock her head to one side. Slowly she held up her wrists and examined them. Her reply was soft and would have been lost had not the wind carried it to him.
"I have no family. My mother died when I was three. My father and brother died six months ago."
"Oh" was his reply, and before he could say more, she continued.
"It - it was my fault - they were coming to my graduation and had an accident."
He could hear the guilt, the hurt and the unshed tears in her voice. He wanted to tell her something to ease her pain as she had done for him, but was at a loss. So, in silence they sat. Pondering her situation, he remembered something his mother had told him when his father had died.
"Don't be sad, Kinomoto Sakura. My mother once told me that even though people die, they are still with us as long we remember them. And even if you think you caused their deaths, they loved you so they would want you to stop blaming yourself and be happy."
Once again he saw her cock her head in his direction, as if listening intently to what he was saying. She looked at her wrists again and as she did so, her outline began to glow. Stunned, he watched at her body floated above the ground and wings began to sprout from her back.
Slowly, she turned around to face him for the first time. He noticed that her hair was a dark auburn, something he could never tell in the night lighting. Her eyes were a soulful green and filled with unshed tears. He followed her gaze as she looked down at her wrists for the third time that night. He was shocked to see that they were heavily cut. She smiled a strange smile that could only be described as wry and looking back at him she spoke again in her gentle voice.
"Thank you Li Syaoran. You released me from my guilt that I could not escape even in death, but now I can join my family in the beautiful place in the sky."
Before he could recover, she had faded into the night sky, leaving him alone in the clearing. He stood here for several moments before smiling gently. After several more minutes, he quickly whispered something only the wind could catch, before leaving the clearing, one final time.
"Thank you, Kinomoto Sakura"