A/n: Reviews are always so lovely. Thanks for reviewing. Does anybody here play DDR?
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-Chapter Three-
Why Kero-chan Is Important
X.Kinomoto Castle… 2 yrs. later..ox
Quiet. The castle was quiet and peaceful… at last.
Yue grinned satisfyingly at watching Sakura sprawled on the hardwood ground, drawing something on bark paper. He had prayed for this type of silence, prayed every night for the little devil to shut her mouth and here, right now, she was drawing… without talking!
Yet, the muted room was somewhat driving him insane. He didn't ask Sakura to be quiet or anything. He just prayed within his mind and it happened. So why was she so quiet? It was time he found out, after one hour and thirty minutes of silence.
"Sakura-chan?" he asked, almost forcibly.
"Hmmm…?" She wasn't really paying any attention to him; her eyes were focused on her drawing. A tongue stuck out to the side of her mouth and an eyebrow drooped down as she concentrated on getting the lines exact and shading proper to where shadows needed to be applied.
"Why are you so quiet?"
Finally content with her drawing, she looked up into the face of Yue's surprised one. "You have to see my drawing, Yue-kun."
He sighed exasperatingly, not really wanting to see scribbles on a piece of paper. "I've seen them all, and each one looked the same."
Sakura pouted. "It's not a unicorn this time… It's an angel, I promise."
Yue sighed once more before he welcomed defeat. "Very well, bring it over here," He whispered.
Sakura beamed as she skipped her way to Yue, politely putting the paper into his view. Yue blinked at what he saw. It was a tall man with long, silver-white hair and large white wings stretching out from his back.
Yue raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Who is this man?"
Sakura climbed up onto his lap and pointed to the paper. "He's not really a man. More like a stone. You were there with it, Yue-kun, on the day of the earthquake. I was hoping you'd tell me who the sculptor was behind this stone."
His mind boggled and a frown made its way to his face as he tried to collect memories from that time. He couldn't help but found the stone looking very familiar, yet vague…
"Funny, it looks kind of like me…" he muttered.
"What does it look like?"
He quickly shook his head. "Oh nothing…" He scooped Sakura up from his lap and brought her down to the floor. Her smile had faltered from the lost of contact. "You draw pretty well, keep up with that and you might become a wonderful artist."
Sakura blushed from the comment. "Really? You think? Um, um, can I draw you, Yue-kun?"
Yue's face froze for a second. Then he replied, "No."
"What? Why not?" asked Sakura, looking up at him with hurt in her emerald eyes.
He looked down at her, feeling somewhat bad and abrupt. "I'll let you draw me someday. But for now, I don't feel like sitting still for hours on end."
"Oh come on Yue-kun," Sakura cried. "I'll make it quick… uh, ugh, five minutes top!"
Yue shook his head, almost feeling a smile form across his face, but he retained himself. He despised smiling. "An artist takes time with their work. If you take five minutes on drawing, the drawing will come out not to the best of your potential."
"But-" She was cut short by her brother.
"Kaijuu, we have visitors!" Touya yelled from outside, near the front gate of the castle. From Touya's calls, Sakura immediately jumped up happily.
"You hear that Yue-kun! Tomoyo-chan has come to visit again!" Yue sighed at that. He had remembered that little girl; almost as hyper as Sakura was. Already, he could feel a headache brewing up. Sakura quickly grabbed Kero-chan from the armchair and sped down the halls. "Come on Yue-kun, Tomoyo-chan will be glad to see you again!"
Yue looked unwilling to go, afraid to meet the girl, who had a big mouth and never seemed to stop reciting: kawaii. That week she spent at the Kinomoto castle drove him mad, but nonetheless, he followed behind Sakura as casual as he could.
He was by the door as he watched Sakura run out into the front lawn to meet the people. He looked around and the girl he most hated wasn't there. He did a double check to make sure. Nope… Nowhere in sight. So who was Sakura running up to? His silver-blue eyes flickered at seeing Sakura, still running to meet up with the group. He smiled meekly.
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Sakura was thrilled to see that Tomoyo had finally come to visit after six months of separation. She missed her best friend and Tomoyo had promised to come back soon. And she did!
"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura squealed, as her arms went around the person who was a bit taller than her. Hmm… Did Tomoyo get a growth spurt? She hadn't realized that the girl she hugged was, in fact, not Tomoyo and she happened to be a boy.
"Ehhh- gross… let go of me…" The boy growled rudely. "I am not Tomoyo-chan! My name is Li Syaoran, stupid!"
Sakura's eyes snapped opened and she looked up at a hot-headed boy underneath a mop of messy chestnut hair. "Where's Tomoyo-chan then?"
"How the hell am I suppose to know, you stupid girl." He rolled his eyes as he pushed Sakura off him. "Don't ever touch me again! I don't want freaking cooties from a dirty girl like you!"
An embarrass blush made its way to Sakura's cheeks. "I thought you were Tomoyo-chan! Jeez, sorry!"
Syaoran crossed his arms and held his head high up to the sky like an egoistical brat. "I will not accept your apology."
"Xiao Lang!" Yelen scolded. "What did I tell you earlier? Apologize to Fujitaka-san's daughter or you will be prohibited from martial art training."
Syaoran's mouth nearly dropped open and landed to the ground. His mother can't do that! Martial art training was his hobby, his passion! "But m-mom, she started hugging me like some crazy, weird freak!"
"XIAO LANG!"
"I'msorryKinomotosan."
"What?" Sakura asked, almost grinning on end. "Can you say that a little slower?"
"I SAID I WAS SORRY KINOMOTO-SAN!"
"Why, thank you Xiao Lang."
"Do not call me Xiao Lang. You're not Chinese, so don't act like you are. I can't help it that Chinese people are way better than Japanese people." Syaoran rolled his eyes, treading away from the people to wander off into the front yard garden.
"Then how come you can speak Japanese?" Sakura yelled out to him.
From afar, Syaoran yelled back his answer, "Like I said, we are way better, meaning smarter!"
Yelen and Fujitaka sighed.
"Kids, play nice while Fujitaka and I attend a meeting," Yelen shouted, taking one glance back for precaution before she entered the castle along with Fujitaka and her assistants behind her. She stopped by the door at seeing Yue standing there, doing nothing. "Who is this man, Fujitaka-san?" Her eyes glimmered with curiosity like the rest of them.
Fujitaka chuckled. "This here is Yue-san; he's been living with us for more than one month now."
"A servant?"
"Oh no, he's more of like family to me. Isn't that right Yue-kun?"
Yue nodded as a blush emerged from his cheeks. His starlight blue eyes closed down halfway as he bowed to the Queen of China. Strange how his eye color was always different depending on time of day. His eye color had changed to these colors before, such as silver, ice-blue, violet, silver-blue and now it was starlight blue.
Yue rose from his bow. Through a courteous gesture, he smiled. "Konban wa… Queen Yelen-sama," he whispered.
"Hmm… he doesn't look Japanese. He looks more Chinese, and Yue means moon in Cantonese," Yelen murmured and then asked Yue, "Where are you from Yue-san?"
Yue's blush grew thicker. Fujitaka, noticing the petrified look displayed on Yue's face, tried to change the subject. "Yue, aren't you suppose to be watching Sakura and the rest of the kids?" Yue nodded stiffly. "Go watch the kids while Yelan and I discuss some matters, alright?"
"Hai Fujitaka-sama." Yue nodded eagerly and bowed as he advanced out into the front yard but stopped. Being under the hot sun was what he dreaded right from the beginning to have leisure by the doorway. He wanted to avoid the afternoon sun as much as possible because his skin was very sensitive to its heavy rays.
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The kids were bickering again. Touya sighed loudly. "Kaijuu, will you leave the Chinese gaki alone."
"Yeah kaijuu listen to your brother and leave- EHHH, I am not a gaki!" Syaoran shouted as he shot a deadly glare to the older teen.
"Yes you are. Feh, brat," Touya muttered.
"I am not a brat! I am practically your age… thirteen to be exact," Syaoran retorted and crossed his arms tightly. "You Japanese people are crazy and annoying! I wonder why my mother had to drag me here and not my four sisters. If only my four sisters were here, then they'll attack both of you with their ways!"
"Well Chinese gaki, tough luck, they aren't. Now what are you going to do about it?"
"Even if they're not, I can easily take the both of you. After all, my martial art training wasn't for nothing."
A loud, high-pitched voice entered the clearing, and surprised the three. "Hey Toyo-kun, you want to go fishing with me?" a boy with rimless glasses shouted, popping his head out from behind the bushes.
Touya turned his head around to see Yukito with a fishing pole hanging over his shoulders. "Um sure!" he shouted and then whispered harshly to Syaoran, "I'll deal with you later Chinese gaki." He and Yukito left the clearing leaving only Sakura and Syaoran, glaring evilly at each other.
Sakura clenched her fist. "I bet Kero-chan can beat you up you baka!"
"Really," Syaoran spat. "You think so?" Syaoran walked up to her, making her back away nervously. His amber eyes flashed cruelly as he plucked the yellow doll from Sakura's hands.
Sakura's mouth fell open. "HEY," she cried. "Give that back!"
Syaoran smirked. "This yellow doll can beat me up," he laughed, "with its soft yellow claws; it can punch and scratch me? With its soft fuzzy head, it can head butt me?" Syaoran teased, his voice very bland, laughing all over again. "You really are stupid."
"Give that back," Sakura squeaked. "Please."
"I can't believe you still play with dolls," He snorted. "Princess of Japan... likes strange yellow teddy bears!"
"Please Prince Syaoran!"
He snickered. "Why should I? I hate you."
"Give it back!" Sakura yelled more forcibly. She took after him, only to have him running away from her. She was so close to him, practically one foot behind him. She reached out her arms as far as she could, actually grabbing him by the tip of his large green hood that floated out behind him as he ran.
He stopped abruptly and started choking. "H-Hey, stop that, y-you're suffocating me." He turned around and grabbed her by the arms, trying to release her death grip from the hood she was twisting. When her hands were free from any contact with him, he pushed her to the ground and got on top of her. "Hah, I'm stronger than you. Neither you nor this ugly doll can beat me!"
"Say you!" screamed Sakura. She tried pushing Syaoran off her as she got on top of him. His amber eyes gleamed angrily at Sakura. "Give me back Kero-chan!" she shrieked.
"Damn," he cursed through hard breathes. "You really are obsessed with it." She tried snatching the doll from his hand but he was waving it everywhere. "You want to marry it, don't you?" he mocked.
She pounded at his chest. "Give it back Syaoran!"
Syaoran coughed. "Stop it, you dumb girl!" he gasped, as her knees dug into his ribs. "You want it, here!" He threw the stuffed animal into the forest, letting it roll down the dirt path and fall into the river.
Immediately, Sakura got off the boy and tried with all her might to grab the doll but it flowed down the river. "K-Kero-chan…" she whimpered. Tears began streaming down her face. She looked into the shocked expression of Syaoran who actually looked regretful. "What have you done?" she whispered sadly, trying to choke back her sobs.
"I'm-I'm sorry," he had said but she was gone from his sight.
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She was running, running back into the castle when a hand caught her arm. She nearly jumped out of her skin from the unexpected contact. "LET ME GO!" she cried wildly, putting her hand over the large hand.
"Sakura-chan?" asked the velvety tone. "What's wrong?"
Sakura's eyes snapped opened at acknowledging the soft tone. "Yue-kun! This really, really mean boy! L-Li Sy-Syaoran… And K-Kero-chan… He's mean… Kero-chan is g-gone!" She cried incoherently, running up to her bedroom and slamming the door.
Yue heaved a sigh of regret. He should have been outside just like Fujitaka had ordered, but he didn't want to go out under the intense sun. Instead, he spent his time walking around the castle some more, finally making up his mind to go outside to watch Sakura, she ended up coming back in, looking very forlorn and full of melancholy before she came out.
Her eyes looked so frightened and her face had paled as tears escaped from the corner of her eyes. His face became cold and somewhat angry as he looked outside and saw a young boy, about the same age as Sakura, standing there with his arms poised down to his side. Yue would not tolerate anyone hurting Sakura. It was strange how he and Sakura shared an unknown bond, like he felt the same pain that she felt. And he didn't like feeling pain.
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"Li Syaoran," he called out angrily. He had marched out only to confront this Chinese brat who hurt Sakura. His roaring call didn't make the boy flinch a bit or turn around to acknowledge his presence. "Li Syaoran, I called your name prince!"
Syaoran turned around with a hollow look to his boyish features. "Who are you?"
"They call me Yue."
"You're Chinese? That's a Chinese word for moon. Why are you with the Japanese?"
"Never mind that! What happened?"
Syaoran sighed inwardly. "I didn't mean to hurt her. I never intended to, really." Syaoran said.
"But you did Prince Syaoran."
"I'm sorry. T-Tell her I'm sorry. I didn't mean for her to cry," Syaoran whispered.
Yue closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. His silver bangs had fallen over his closed lids. "Where is Kero-chan then?"
"I, ugh, I think I threw it over there."
Yue walked up passed the rock and looked into the clearing of the forest. He heard Syaoran's foot hit the ground as the kid began to take off, but Yue didn't care. He wanted to find Kero to wipe the tears off Sakura's usually happy features.
He didn't like it when she was upset. He walked down, passed many trees, until he saw a dirt-smudged yellow creature stuck between two rocks. "Ah-hah." He suppressed the urge to smile. He was actually proud that he found it so quickly. All he needed to do was to wash the mud from the doll's fur.
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Sakura had her face pushed into her pillow as she cried her heart out. "K-Kero-chan," she moaned into her pillow. "Stupid Prince Syaoran. I didn't even do anything to him!" she shrieked.
She pounded her fists against her pillow as she continued sobbing. When she heard gentle knocks on her door, she froze. She snapped her head up and furiously wiped away her salty tears. "W-Who is it?" she asked hoarsely.
"Yue," the voice on the other side said.
Her head landed back on her pink pillow. She thought it was going to be the Prince of China, knocking on her bedroom door and calling her a crybaby for crying, but to her luck, it was only Yue.
"I hope you're not crying," Yue whispered, loud enough so that she heard, but soft enough to soothe. "Remember that crying doesn't solve anything."
"You're always saying that. But you know… doing nothing will solve nothing. So, I might as well pour my eyes out," Sakura said, burying her head deep into the pillow so that only auburn hair stuck out.
The door opened as Yue came inside. "That's true… doing nothing will solve nothing. That's why I did something to solve your problem."
"Wuat do you meeen?" a muffled cry escaped from the girl's mouth, with her head still buried into the pillow. 'Maybe Yue beat the crap out of Syaoran?' Sakura suggested.
"This is what I mean," he said firmly.
She had quickly stopped sobbing when she felt something fuzzy placed over her fingertips. Her hand started roaming on its fuzzy surface until she felt two curves… for ears! She got up quickly and saw Kero-chan placed within her hand. She smiled and hugged the stuffed animal tightly. She was surprised; Kero-chan looked better than before!
Her eyes shone happily as she jumped onto Yue's lap and hugged him tightly. "Yue-kun! How? You found him!" She was overjoyed.
Yue blushed as he tried releasing the girl's affectionate hug. "Yeah, I found him at the bottom of the river between two rocks. He was dirty, so I washed him for you."
"Oh thank you, thank you! You didn't have to do all that though. I' would've been fine with a dirty Kero-chan!"
An eyebrow rose. "Don't say that, I knew Kero-chan was important to you but I never knew the reason why."
"You really want to know?"
Yes, he really did want to know. He was curious and out of all the dolls in the world, Sakura had to choose this cheap, yellow one. "Yes, you're going to tell me or what?" He had sounded impatient because Sakura was holding back.
"Okay… I'll tell you," and she started explaining. "I don't really have any memories left of my late-mother but I still missed her very much because I still remember the love she given me. Kero-chan was the only gift she made me before she died. Kero-chan was what kept my mother alive through all these years. It's like Kero-chan is my mother and I just have to have him right there with me always so that I know that my mother is right by my side also."
Yue smiled empathetically. Somehow, he knew what it was like to lose a loved one.
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A/n: Yeah, I know Syaoran was mean, but he did apologize. :-D