The Sword and The Pen
-Card Captor Sakura-
Esodane
A/N – Sorry, I'm really rushing this, I have to upload the chap8 for your convenience, Pardon me, I really have to rush, have to finish this by an hour or two!
Everything non-italic is Eriol x Saku and everything italic here is Syao x Saku
---Remember---
(Six years ago…)
Flashback
It was night, and it was silent and dark in the campus of Tomoeda University, only the street lamps eerily illuminating the whole of its area… Only a few people certainly go out or are currently out on that kind of night, only a few people surfacing and walking the gardens, or the buildings or the grounds just to talk with their friends, or have some errands to do…
However, a handsome blue haired guy in his dark blue uniform, walked the outdoor corridors, looking at the sky and was thinking,
He was Eriol Hiirigizawa, a student, but more on that, he was a popular student on the University, now, much more popular than before, for Syaoran Li was gone… But despite he now was the most popular guy in the campus, he hated Syaoran's departure… for he was his best friend, and most of all, Sakura Kinomoto was hurt…
Sakura… she was Eriol's hidden girl of his dreams. He loved everything about her, her mocha brown hair, her emerald eyes that twinkled when she was glad and happy, her smile that brought life even to the dead, her body so perfect and god-sent, and her attitude, so rare, A woman so flawless, flawless men would love to marry for… And though Eriol was close to her, Sakura never noticed Eriol's closeness to her, which made him suffer from his own feelings. She never perfectly understood Eriol's feelings toward her, even though Eriol did heartily try to, Sakura did not see his love for her…
Eriol had to admit Sakura dated and was loyal to another guy since high school, or even in seventh grade… he knew Sakura was totally engrossed with Li Syaoran… All he heard Sakura was talking about was Syaoran… Syaoran this, Syaoran that, Syaoran here, Syaoran there… and despite Eriol did sometimes get annoyed by her obsession of Syaoran, Eriol respected her voice of choosing a man for her… He didn't even made Syaoran a rival for him to fight for the sake of winning Sakura's heart… he never did…
But now Syaoran's gone again, even Syaoran's enemies feel bad for Sakura, and worse, Sakura was indeed in the sorrow zone now Syaoran was already away and and the worst thing that could happen is that he won't get back again for a very long time…
But despite the pitiful feelings now Eriol had for both Sakura and Syaoran's love, he indeed rejoiced, at least his other side… Syaoran was gone, and that meant she was available again for dates, and kisses, and… and…
He blushed… 'I should not be thinking about that, fuck me,' he thought, he hated being disrespectful to Sakura, he did not want thinking of her dirtily, and hiding his dirty thoughts from her… as he thought it was being insincere, and untrue and dishonest, and you'd be happy to know he hated being insincere and untrue and dishonest…
He continued to walk to the corridor, thinking the corridor was too long on that very night… thinking the night did not want to make him go to his dormitory immediately, it seemed the night and the evening breeze as well as the stars and the moon was calling him in a whispered shout, somewhat visible as well as somewhat invisible…
His feet lead him then off-track the paved paths of stone roofed by glass, even though the nights got darker, and mist and fog started growing… At first, only a few raindrops appeared from above, but then, the rain suddenly and fully dispersed from the clouds, and haziness located the deranged figures of Eriol and the campus, but he knew he was not alone, even though the grounds looked sorrowed and lonely, bloodied with celestial tears from the cries of the angels and saints…
Eriol walked upon the wet grass, all of his body damp as time passed, but he didn't care that night strangely, he was like getting pulled by a magnet, he knew someone was there wanting to talk to him, or at least wanting to see him…
He eyeballed every nook and cranny of the grounds he walked by with, guided only by his eyes and his instincts, and the faint whispers of an unknown voice… His footsteps were silent, muffled by the wet grass, remained only the sound of the splashing drops, as well as the puddles and mud of the silent garden…
Eriol observed the surroundings, and thought it was lonely, sad heavenly sanctuary only he and someone know about that night, by now, the land was in a thick mass of mist and fog, the yellow lights produced of the street lamps faded and instead were like faint ghosts lingering the wind…
The blue-haired student then heard a cry as he accidentally met a stone fountain; he never saw that fountain before, as long as he can remember for staying here for two years already…
He went nearer, and the whimpers became louder every step, his breath, too, excited and panicked every step… He felt and knew it has got to be his dear Sakura, and it was an opportunity sent from Heaven… He began to run, not able to contain himself anymore, his calm composition slowly deteriorating; every second of his existence…
And yes, he was certainly right, behind that stoned sculpture of a fountain designed as a weeping brown haired maiden, was a young woman kneeling, and her tears crawling down her face… along with the drops of the rain… Eriol' sight of it, became a pity for that woman, and that woman was Sakura Kinomoto… For the first time in his life, he felt bad for Sakura, and did not felt bad for his own self. His sight of her crying lead to the questions mainly why did Sakura even fell in love with Syaoran… and was it a mistake to love the Syaoran guy? Was he really fated to Sakura? He never knew still, even if those questions remained in his mind for a very, very, very, long time…
He never knew the answer or perhaps he did not know how to the answer the question,
He knelt behind silently, and Sakura was unaware of Eriol's presence in the vicinity. Eriol heard the woman weep so innocently, almost like a little girl abandoned by her parents… Oh how did he wish he could hug her, and kiss her, and caress her hair and face, taking a glimpse on her mesmerizing emerald eyes… He wanted to give her what she needs now, what she wants, and what she likes… He then realized he wanted to comfort Sakura, and Sakura wanted to be comforted by him, even though Sakura did not know he was there, just right behind her… wanting to hug her…
"Sakura?" Eriol whispered at the back of her ear, almost sultry but he sent his trail, wishing Sakura would be comforted by it…
Sakura did not dare or move dare to answer Eriol in response, all she did was to continue crying and do nothing but to freely flow her tears upon the dark, rainy night, her hands trying to find her support for her not to fall down and lay on the wet, soiled floor, and her feet, crisscrossed…
"Sakura," Eriol whispered again at the back of her ear though now, more loudly…
She still ignored his call, like she did not even hear his voice…
Eriol remained there, still, how could she ignore him? He did everything to help her, no; she could not be like this… she should not be like this… Eriol wanted to bring back the energetic Sakura, who would smile even to her most hated nemeses… not the Sakura he saw that night, crying from regret and the past times, and mistakes on an unknown corner…
He had enough. Yes. He had enough…
"Sakura!" Eriol yelled gently, and touched her in an intimate manner; it was the first time Eriol touched her, getting to touch Sakura's body, and more, wet, was probably too much for him, but he was confident not to get detached with her, he felt Sakura needed him for the first time, she was calling him indirectly, bringing him to her like the storming wind… Oh… (A/N – I do now know why did I even add 'Oh' hehe)
Sakura then shivered, as if getting rid from the heaviness of some unknown object… Eriol felt her skin, so smooth, and smoother from the slippery texture of being wet, and her body was so soft, Eriol could have touched it for an eternity… At Eriol's gladness, Sakura looked at him, and he looked back at her,
He was shocked, as her face was twisted and deranged, like she was seeing an illusion of a kind… Eriol did not know, if she was in a good dream, or in a nightmare… Her hair stuck on her face, and her eyes half-opened, and despite her weak face, shattered with emotional agony, depression and sadness, a thin smile was plastered on her face, even though the tears, shining clearly, there was still that smile, making her face a work of art from confusion…
"Eriol," Sakura whispered back, too muffled, but it was heard by Eriol, for there was only a hairbreadth distance from their faces, from afar you could see they were about to kiss,
"Sakura, Sakura," Eriol repeated her name again, and he smiled too, like he was in glory and in a true victory, but…
"Erio—" she was cut, slowly, her eyes closed, her body shutting down bit by bit. After that, she could only see a blurred imagery of Eriol, and his troubled voice repeating her name, as if he was an anxious broken recorder… his voice trailed in her mind, spinning in circles as she could not see anything, and slowly, his voice too, trailed off her mind, seemingly got outside thru her ear, and then all of her shut down, fell to a pit,
Dead End…
-------
'What is this?' Sakura spoke to herself in her mind, but mysteriously, she still could not see anything… 'Where am I?' she thought again. She was in anxious doubt; she felt somewhere, something, sticking on her body was cold…
"Sakura, Sakura?" an anxious voice popped out of nowhere, she began to erase the temporary blindness she had, and she started to open her eyes… She saw a shadow-like figure looking above her, panicked, with terror-stricken eyes, and a shouting mouth… Sakura observed the almost-like silhouette,
Her vision then became clearer; the shadow was a blue-haired person, tall, his face concerned, Sakura knew the person, 'Eriol, where am I?' she thought again, she cannot open her mouth… she was so tired, so exhausted, somehow she cannot regain still her perfect conscience and consciousness… "Eriol? Is that you…?" she asked weakly, her voice almost fading away just because of the sound of the electric fan somewhere near the bed Sakura was lying at,
"Sakura, Sakura, are you okay?" he asked again with a worried voice, and she felt Eriol was getting nearer her… As a gentle warmth also went nearer her… Sakura imagined Eriol was like the sun of her dreams… just like Syaoran was… The sun that always made her feel comfortable with, that always made her secure and made her feel alive, even though she was cold, lying damp on a quilted bed, somehow, Eriol's presence made her adjust to the cold feelings, to a warmer state…
She gazed back at his face, and made her vision of him denser and concentrated in one mind and one soul, though she was still weak, there was power inside her that made her to do it, she aimed her sight to the blue-haired man… She felt a hand, and a warm cloth go surfaced her forehead… she remained looking at Eriol, then, something felt strange as she did, "Eriol?" she said his name, and his face went down to face her,
"What," his voice was low, she barely heard it, and her sight became blurry again, darker again, darker than the already dim lightened room Eriol had… She noticed Eriol's blue hair turned to a mystical brown, and his eyes, smaller, his skin darker, everything on his face twisted slightly, to take form of… of… Syaoran's…
"Sakura, hey, Sakura," Syaoran waved at me friendlily, as if he wanted to talk to me with a nice chat, but I knew there was something up on his sleeve, and I think he was going to reveal it after moments. He was sitting comfortably under a tree, hmm… it looked like a cherry blossom tree, what a nice tree… and he looks gorgeous with the school uniform, I never knew he was so totally cute… a few years back then he was a mean rascal… Oh damn, I think I'm blushing, nice and easy… Sakura, oh stupid Sakura, just keep your cool, and treasure the word calm… breath… inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…
"What? Oh there you are, Syaoran, you said you want to meet me here?" I asked innocently, trying to be unaware of what he was going to say to me later on, and trying to focus his face rather indirectly, I walked towards him slowly, though not too slow for him to get irritated at me,
"Yeah," he winked at me… OH… MY… GOD… he winked at me! "Come on, don't just stand there like a ninny," he said again, patting the green grassed ground that looked decent to be seated at,
Ninny? Am I a ninny? Probably Touya would say yes, but hey, all the others know I am certainly not a ninny… Oh well, I guess it's better if I just ignore about the ninny,
I sat then again, and smiled at him with his gentlemanly attitude towards me, "Thank you," I said again cheerfully, and I blushed, and I could not stop it, shame on me,
"You're welcome," he replied, surprisingly, he lay down on the grass, and stared above the blue sky… as I too sat, and leaned back as support to the very large and hard bark the tree had as if it was a wooden plank… It was strange, I was all alone with someone I am close to, however was not really that close, but now I was attracted to… Wait? Was I even attracted to Syaoran… The boy with a brown hairYes, I am, well, at least I KNOW I am attracted to him, how could I don't know when I am describing my own feelings? This is getting freaky…
"Hello… Sa-kuuuu-ra" he called out, looking at me from his right,
And the very fact that we are the only people here, when it was supposed to be break-time, and usually a lot of students hang out here makes this event or moment stange…, hmm… I think there's something fishy, my instincts as a card mistress do so…
"Hello, hello, Sakura, still there?" Syaoran repeated, raising an eyebrow…
Ooops, I forgot Syaoran and I were having a chat, and I was talking to myself all along, clumsy me, hardy har har… "Oh sorry, I think I was at lala land again," I excused nervously, and reasoned it with a laugh… Syaoran looked at me weirdly, and all I replied with that weird stare was a weird stare again, and he looked again at to the high skies,
"I guess you really don't care about me, huh?" he said sadly, and by that, I was about to spring erect, and choke him by his throat, and pull his tongue, and poke his eyeballs until they go out from his ear canals, grrr! How dare him say that…
"NO! Of course not, I DO care about you," I said with such dignity even the Everest could probably bow before me, standing so quickly, Syaoran was a little startled by my quick repulse, "How dare you even state that, I'm your friend," I said again, quite hurt, not realizing he was only kidding… from high school, from a stubborn timid jerk, he finally got to become a happy-go-lucky funny guy who had a strange, wicked, sarcastic humor toppled with wit…
Syaoran chuckled like a lunatic, and looked at me with sparkling eyes, with the sight of them, he was certainly glad that I have said something that probably meant a lot to him, hmmm…
I stared at him clueless, what the heck is the point of chuckling, I did not even say anything funny, what a twisted guy Syaoran is, but he really is definitely a good person, judging from everything he has and he contains,
"You think so?" he said with a far manner, I thought he was referring to someone but not m, at first I even thought he was referring to a faraway princess who lives in a magical kingdom… Hey, maybe I am the faraway princess?
"Huh?" I replied, not getting his farfetched question, I followed his gaze, but all he was staring at was the blue skies and the fluffy white clouds… I wondered what is so interesting about they sky, "What is so beautiful of the sky anyway, I noticed you like gazing at it," I said again curiously,
He looked at me and smirked, "you mean you don't know what the sky is for?"