Authors Note: Hey guys! I hope this chapter doesn't confuse you. I hope it starts to make things clearer! Don't forget that you can always ask questions if you're feeling confused and I'll answer them as best I can without giving too much away. Just check out my journal with each update.
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. It belongs to Clamp. I am simply using their characters for entertainment purposes only. À la folie... pas du tout was written by Laetitia Colombani and Caroline Thivel and directed by Laetitia Colombani. The plot belongs to them. Thank you.
01,September 2005 : Chapter 05, Rewind
Meiling's ruby eyes sparkled as she walked happily through the florist shop, admiring the lovely roses that seemed to be everywhere. There were roses of all colors- purple, pink, white, yellow, orange... but a lovely lavender rose caught Meiling's eye above all the rest. She gingerly took it from the bunch it sat with, smiling at it's beauty and inhaling it's sweet scent. This was the rose she wanted. It was perfect.
"One rose for the lovely lady?" asked the cheerful shop attendant with a knowing smile. He took it to the counter and began to wrap it up in colored paper when Meiling handed him a small piece of paper. She shyly brought her hand up to her face, moving her long raven hair behind her ears.
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Tenchi, the florist's delivery boy hopped on his moped after putting the flowers in his basket and took off to make his first delivery of the day. It wasn't to far off so he arrived shortly after he left. His day was just starting but Syaoran Li's had already begun. His first patient was Miss Nakuru Akizuki who he expected to walk through his door at any moment. Instead a young delivery boy came in.
"Dr. Syaoran Li? I have a delivery for you." Without looking up from the charts Syaoran nodded motioning for him to place whatever he had on the desk. As soon as the boy was gone Syaoran looked up, raising his eyebrows at the lavender rose that had been placed on his desk. He took it in his hands in confusion before noticing the pastel envelope that was nestled among the baby's breath. He took it out and opened the note within, smiling at the neatly written words on the small piece of paper.
My heart is yours forever...
"Good morning, Dr. Li." said Nakuru Akizuki.
"Have a seat." he said kindly as he always did. Syaoran's day was off to a nice start. Nakuru eyed the rose and smiled giving Syaoran a raised eyebrow.
"Has someone been spoiling you, Dr. Li?"
"My wife." he smiled as he leaned onto his desk. "So, what is it today?"
"My heartbeat." She said taking off her jacket. "It hurts again and I cant sleep. Right here." she said, motioning to her chest.
"Miss Akizuki, you came last week and the week before that. I've told you already, your heartbeat is fine. It's your heart muscle." Syaoran stated the facts calmly and clearly to Nakuru once again. "Just take the pills I prescribed and get some rest. That will help a great deal." Nakuru smiled and walked over to the examining table on the other side of the office. "What are doing?"
"I want you to examine me. It makes me feel better." she said matter of factly as she began to unbutton her blouse.
"Miss Akizuki, please don't undress-" but she had already taken off her shirt and lay on the table ready to be examined. Syaoran gulped and whispered to himself. "Too late..." as he got up and walked over to the table.
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Sakura sat smiling at the nursery that was all ready for the new life she would be bringing into the world. She sat in the rocker next to the crib rubbing her already very pregnant belly. Syaoran smiled in on her as he came home from work.
"Hey there." he said and she looked up with a bright smile. They met each other in the center of the room with a light kiss before Sakura took the rose from Syaoran's hand.
"How sweet of you. Thank you." she said admiring the lavender rose. Her emerald eyes glistened with happiness as she gave him a quick kiss before fluttering off. "I'll go put this in a vase." Sakura missed Syaoran's clearly confused look as he gazed after her. His hand went to his pocket where he pulled out the note that read My heart is yours forever... Looking up from the note his eyes seemed to glaze over in confusion. Quickly he followed in his wife's footsteps and found her in the kitchen cutting of the end of the rose's stem and filling a vase with water.
Syaoran hugged her from behind when her work was done and she gave a sweet smile. He softly kissed her neck and placed his hands on her belly.
"Your big ol' party is tonight." She said putting her hands over his and turning her head to see him.
"Are you sure you don't wanna come?" Syaoran asked her sweetly. Sakura turned around and wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed with a mug of honey milk like a grandma." she laughed. Syaoran chuckled at her words and ran his fingers through her auburn hair.
"Well I love grandmas." he joked planting a soft kiss on her lips. "Didn't you know?" He kissed her again, placing his left hand on Sakura's stomach while his right hand still encircled her. "I'll miss you both." She leaned up to give him another kiss before he left for his party.
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"It got to be pretty frightening. After the operation she sent him her appendix in a jar, as a memento." Eriol stated, talking about a friend's bad experience with a patient. The four men laughed at the woman's insane attempts at a courtship.
"Something like that happened to a friend of mine a year or two ago." said one of the other men but Syaoran excused himself from the conversation to use the restroom before he went home for the evening. He walked in and there was a younger girl with piercing red eyes and long black hair standing at the mirror. She gave him a smile as he entered the bathroom stall.
Meiling quickly rooted through her purse and took out her blush for a quick touch up. She put it back and adjusted her hair just as Syaoran walked up to the sink beside her to wash his hands. He went to dry them with a paper towel but they seemed to be stuck in their dispenser. Another hand came to help him pull it out.
"Thanks." he said to the smiling girl next to him. She had given the towel a hard yank. He dried his hands but every time he looked up he saw Meiling just standing there smiling at him.
"Have we met?" he asked.
"Yea. I'm living at the Terada's place. I'm watching over everything until they get back from their trip." Meiling said enthusiastically.
"Oh, yea. I heard they were going on a trip..." he said nodding his head. Meiling continued to stare as he dried his hands so he decided to make conversation.
"Aren't you lonely in that big house all alone?" he asked politely as he balled up the towel and threw it in the garbage. She just smiled and looked down a bit. "Well, feel free to come over for a drink sometime. Not just yet because my wife is pregnant but you're welcome as soon as it's convenient." Meiling gave him a bright smile and nodded as they walked out of the bathroom together.
Syaoran went back to his colleagues to let them know he had decided it was time to go home.
"I think I'll get going. Sakura's home alone." he said thoughtfully.
"I'm sure she's asleep by now." Eriol laughed, but Syaoran just shook their hands and took his leave. Syaoran wrapped a long green scarf around his neck as he walked out to his car in the nippy night air. He started it up and adjusted his rear view mirror. In the mirror he saw the girl he had just met in the bathroom standing on the corner waiting for the public bus to come. Syaoran Li was raised to be polite and help out when he could so he put the car in reverse and backed up next to her.
"I could drive you home." he offered kindly. Meiling gave him a big smile and got in passenger seat of the car while he turned on the radio. The ride home was silent except for the radio that continuously played love songs. Occasionally one would glance at the other and smile. Finally the car pulled into the driveway of Syaoran's house where both got out. They said their goodbyes and Syaoran walked up the front path to his home. Meiling waited a moment, watching him go inside, before walking up to the Terada's home where she was staying. Right next door.
Syaoran climbed into bed after changing into a pair of sweat pants. There he found Sakura looking very peaceful. He kissed her shoulder lightly and put his arm over her, oblivious to the purple rose that stood in a vase next to the empty mug on her nightstand.
The next morning Sakura ran about the house in a sun dress packing last minute things for their Sunday in the park.
"Are we forgetting anything?" she asked Syaoran, looking around the room.
"I think we've got it all." he said picking up the cooler after he gave her a quick kiss of assurance. She was always worrying about forgetting something. They walked out the door into the beautiful sunny day outside. Every Sunday, if the weather permitted, they would have a picnic in the park with their dog Kero. Their yard wasn't very large and they wanted to give him a chance to really run around and play.
"So did you ask Eriol?" she chirped.
"About what?" Syaoran was attaching Kero's leash to his collar even though the dog would never run away. Sometimes he just got a little too excited.
"About being the baby's godfather when he's born." Sakura gave one of her sweet smiles. She truly didn't seem like the lawyer type but on a case she was a totally different person.
"No, not yet. I'll do it right away though." Syaoran replied not noticing the green scarf that fell out of his wife's large bag. She had brought it, despite the Summer sun, just incase the weather got chilly or rainy. It was the first gift she had ever given Syaoran so she always remembered it.
"That's good. I thought maybe Touya if Eriol doesn't want to, but he'll already be an uncle. He'll have a new little 'monster' to tease either way." she laughed as she opened the back door for Kero to jump in. Shutting it behind him, he barked happily as she got in the passenger side and Syaoran in the driver side.
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Sakura lay happily on a picnic blanket, propped up on her elbows. She watched as Syaoran ran about with Kero. She used to play with them but now she was getting to big to be doing such things. Syaoran had the energy to play with Kero for hours but even he needed a break sometime. He left the dog who was happily chasing birds about the park, knowing he wouldn't go to far. Plopping down on the nearest bench for a few moments rest he heard the soft rustling of papers. At his side was a stack of papers, weighted down by a rock.
Syaoran lifted the rock and picked up the artwork, examining it closely. His eyebrows knit together as sketch after sketch depicted… him. He got up an looked around wondering who had been watching him but he saw nobody that looked like they could have been. Everyone was engaged in some other activity. Syaoran looked over to where Kero had been a dropped the papers. The dog was gone.
"Kero!" he called running down to where the dog had been playing, towards Sakura. "Kero!" he sighed in relief when he saw the dog laying with to Sakura on the blanket. She had her head resting on his furry side, as if her were a pillow. Running to them he began to gather their things together. "We're going home."
"What? Why?" Sakura asked in confusion as Syaoran helped her up and picked up the blanket and their things.
"We've been here long enough." he said rushing to get everything together. His tone sounded urgent. Sakura just took Kero's leash and led him away from the park to the car as Syaoran shoved everything into the trunk and got in.
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"Any messages, Chiharu.?" he asked his secretary, still feeling a bit stressed from the day before. Her pigtails bounced as she looked up and smiled.
"Well, Dr. Li- You're book pretty solid for the day. Mr. Yokasha called and filled in the last opening. Oh, and you have to call the hospital about one of your patients postponing his operation..."
Syaoran stopped in his tracks and Chiharu's words didn't reach his ears. There on his wall above the exam table was a giant paining. Of him. A very god-like looking him wearing a suit and his green scarf...
"What is that?" Once again he was feeling confused. Chiharu smiled.
"Oh, that's a birthday gift from your friend. I hung it up right away. Isn't it nice? She called to see if you got it but you were with a patient in the other examining room." Chiharu chattered on but Syaoran was lost.
"A friend...? I don't get it." he said looking at her.
"Your friend. That's all she said." Chiharu shrugged and walked back out to her desk, running her fingers through her pigtails. "Oh and she said she'd see you tonight." she called back into the office before returning to the paperwork she needed to get organized. Syaoran walked out and stood in front of her desk feeling quite frustrated.
"Did she leave a number? Anything? I don't understand."
"No, but she seemed as if she knew you well." she shrugged again not knowing what else to say.
"Chiharu, I told you to always get people's numbers!" Syaoran broke from his normally calm character.
"I'm sorry, I just thought that-" she was cut off quickly.
"Well stop thinking and do your job the way you were trained." he growled before walking back into his main office and slamming the door behind him. He walked up to the painting and examined it as closely as he could. There was no signature. no sign of who could have done it. He lifted it off the wall to see if there was anything there and it was then that he saw a familiar looking pastel envelope taped to the back of the canvas.
Syaoran hastily opened up the envelope and read the note within.
Thanks for the gift you gave me.
I breathe you, I feel you, I hold you tight...
I wear it as a memento of the day you declared your love.
Thanks to JovianShe-Wolf, Kenny's grounded all the time, and platinumwish for reviewing He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not! I really appreciate it :) I have responses for each of you!
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