--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 18...Epilogue: The World in A Kiss
Syaoran briskly made his way down the hall, clutching the fresh bouquet of sakura blossoms at his side as he drew stares from the nurses and other wheelchair-bound patients. He glared right back at them and increased the pace at which he was walking.
There was no way in hell he ever thought he'd be walking around carrying a bouquet of flowers, but here he was. He sighed.
"You jerk, you TOLD me that you were only going to be gone for a ½ hour at the market! And THEN they find you in the rain the next morning! On the bottom of the stairs of the subway surrounded by mushrooms and popcorn with pneumonia and a broken arm!" a girl screeched in a room he passed. Curiously, Syaoran backpedaled and poked his nose into the room.
He could hardly believe it.
Ryou, the same Ryou who had so suddenly given his life up for Syaoran on Mt. Yanagihara a week ago, was sitting in a hospital bed protecting himself from getting hit with a bouquet of lilacs by a short girl with curly brown hair.
Syaoran nearly choked when he recognized her without all the black hair and fingernails.
It was Meredith.
The elderly couple that Syaoran assumed to be Ryou's parents laughed at his feeble attempts to ward off his little sister's blows.
Lilac petals flew and even in the end, Ryou himself ending up laughing so hard that Syaoran could hardly believe him to be the same cold young man who had wanted the Guardians dead so long ago.
Of course Ryou had more than broken his arm in the Battle of the End. But it seemed as if things were just naturally the way they should have been. It was as if they had been fighting in an alternate reality or something. Like it had all it had all been a freakish nightmare. And they had woken up to find their lives as it should have been. Ryou's life was apparently one where his sister had never been kidnapped and separated from him for so many years. A life in which he was still happy.
Syaoran knew better.
The tiny girl flung herself into his arms and Ryou hugged her with his good arm as his parents laughed at the two.
"I've missed you!" she wailed into his chest. His parents thought nothing of it but Syaoran saw that Ryou understood the full meaning of her words. That after many years of their separation they were finally together again.
Ryou only laughed and patted her on the head.
Syaoran smiled. Honestly, he was surprised to find that he was actually happy for the guy. Ryou was surrounded by the people who loved and cared for him. He'd finally gotten the happy ending he so greatly deserved. He'd found the sister who had been looking for him all along on the other side of the battlefield. Now they were together again.
He continued on down the hall when his realized his leg was vibrating. Grumbling to himself he dug around in his pocket and flipped open the tiny green phone Tomoyo had bought for him.
"What!" he hissed into tiny celphone, holding it awkwardly to his mouth. Damn he still wasn't used to this thing, he thought carefully skirting a bawling 6-year old and his mother. The last time he and that kid had run into each other the other day he'd gotten a hearty kick in the shin.
He listened to what the other person on the other side had to say before rolling his eyes and continuing to walk, "Nooo, I don't have time to eat scones, Eriol! (pause) I'm going to see her NOW if you'd let me get off the phone," he added pointedly and stuck his tongue out at the kid behind his mother's back.
The boy stuck gave Syaoran the finger.
Syaoran growled in his throat at the brat before he snapped into the phone, "Alright! Alright! Don't you DARE pull that crap on me now!" then he closed the phone and stepped into Room 145.
He blinked rapidly an overwhelmingly bright light filled the room and rubbed his eyes. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light he made out the dark silhouette of a young woman sitting in the wheelchair by the window and made his way over.
She heard him before he could call out to her and wheeled around to face him with a soft smile on her face when she recognize the fiery red and orange color of his aura, "Syaoran!" she greeted him.
Syaoran nodded in greeting and stood beside her silently.
"I'm so glad that you came to visit me!" when he plopped the bouquet of flowers in her lap blushing, she burst out, "Thank you, Syaoran-kun!"
"When're you getting out?" he answered gruffly.
She grinned and used her hands to feel the petals of the cherry blossoms though her eyes stared ahead, useless, "I'm getting out tomorrow."
Syaoran only grunted his pleasure, but she seemed to understand and beamed brightly.
"I know," she gushed. "Me too!"
He stared down at her leg in dismay.
After that horrifying battle, Syaoran had woken up at home in his bed. According to the other Guardians they had each done the same. Each of them had nursed their various wounds and gotten in contact with each other to learn that Sakura had been admitted into the hospital for a heart seizure and a broken leg.
As if sensing the twisting feeling of depression in his stomach Sakura patted his hand gently, "It's okay, Syaoran. It doesn't…it doesn't really hurt."
He looked at her, "What's wrong then?"
Sakura gazed unseeing out the window and didn't reply.
After everything that they went through she still wouldn't be able to see anything, he realized with a sinking heart.
"It-It's nothing!" she laughed shakily and drew a deep breath to regain her composure, probably.
"Obviously not," he snapped. "Can't you just fricking tell me?"
Sakura frowned, "What does it matter? It's stupid to wish for the impossible."
He rolled his eyes, "You're so full of shit," he muttered. "After everything that's happened you still doubt that anything can happen at any time? That I couldn't…" he stopped, horrified.
Holy crap he'd almost told her he loved her! Where the hell had THAT come from!
She wheeled around to face him. Her emerald eyes were wide with surprise, "That you couldn't…what, Syaoran-kun?"
"That I couldn't…."
Should he say it?
What would she say?
Then deep in his mind he remembered their last moments together in his previous life.
Both he Sakura were laying in the grass beside a pond underneath a tree. She laughed out loud when he rolled over to her side and poked a finger into her ribs. Then she rolled over onto her side and grabbed his hand.
"Pyro."
"Hm?" Syaoran saw himself roll on his side to give her what he saw was a fuzzy smile.
"Promise that you'll never forget me?... Promise me that no matter what happens tomorrow you won't forget me, okay?"
For a while he didn't say anything. He seemed to be stunned. The girl looked up at him to see what he might be thinking and he turned away. She whopped him on the head.
"ARGH!" he looked back at her.
"I'll beat you up, if you don't!" she threatened, holding out a tiny fist.
"Okay."
"Promise?" she asked him. Cherry blossom petals flew through the wind and he reached over to grab a petal that had gotten stuck in her hair.
"Yes, I promise to never forget you for as long as I live…"
A warm smile formed on his face.
They all knew how short life could be. How could he risk her not knowing how much he loved her after losing her over and over so many times before this?
Life, was meant to be lived to its fullest.
Sakura waited with bated breath as Syaoran dropped to one knee before her and gently seized her hands and placed them in his own large ones.
They were so warm.
"I promised to never forget you…" he whispered softly peering into emerald orbs. "I promised I wouldn't."
"I promised I'd love you forever," he finished. "And I will."
He would.
I'd do anything for you. I want to give you the world, he thought fiercely and squeezed her hands gently, his heart slamming against his ribs.
And he would.
Sakura closed her eyes. Slowly, timidly, Syaoran leaned closer and pressed his trembling lips to her own.
When she didn't pull away or slap him as he'd expected, he smiled tenderly and kissed the river of tears that wound its way down her cheeks.
She was so so precious to him.
So precious…
He trailed butterfly kisses up her cheeks. She shivered with delight when his warm breath caressed her cheeks. He planted a gentle kiss on her temple and then her forehead, wrapping his arms around her shoulders securely. She placed her hands on his shoulders, her fingers curling around the collar of his jacket.
Syaoran looked at the room around him and at the world outside in all its green splendor. Then he looked at her emerald eyes that shone with obvious love for him and closed his eyes.
She was worth it all.
Then he put all his heart and being into the kiss that he pressed to her closed eyelids.
For a few moments they sat there, his lips on her closed eyes radiating a certain warmth, and his arms around her. Then he shuddered and disengaged himself from her, breathing heavily.
Slowly Sakura opened her eyes, after their kiss. Her heart was racing with happiness.
And then she saw for the first time in years.
"Syaoran?" she shrilled and he fell back on his knees. She could see! She could see him.
His hands were clenched on his thighs and he was breathing as if he'd run a marathon. It was no wonder too.
Slowly he opened his eyes, trembling. Sakura gasped and peered into seas of dull amber.
His eyes were no longer the focused eyes of a man who could see perfectly as she now could. They were the eyes of someone who was blind.
He had given up his sight for her.
"No!" she wailed. "This wasn't what I wanted! I didn't mean…!"
He shook his head, "No. This is what I wanted. I wanted to give you the world," he said softly and smiled at her. "In a way I feel like I did. You're worth it. You're worth it all for what I see now."
"Yeah," she muttered bitterly. "Nothing."
He frowned and immediately caught both her hands and brought it to his lips. Her eyes widened. He had the oddest look of serenity on his face. She could SWEAR that he was looking right at her. His eyes searched her face.
How could he be so calm? How could he know where to reach for her hands?
"You can…?"
He laughed quietly, "I ain't totally blind if that's what you're asking. Not that I would mind being blind if you could see again," he added. He stood up and swept around the room, touching the objects around him lightly. "You haven't taken everything from me. I can just see everything in a new light. Literally."
"I don't understand," she admitted confused as she watched him spin around to face her. He was so tall. So beautiful. Syaoran had unruly chestnut hair and amber eyes that glowed with a certain fierceness that made her heart beat faster.
"I can see various ranges of heat and cold," he declared. He held his hands up to his face. "I can see that the hottest part of my hand is the very center of my palm. I can see that you're blushing right now because your cheeks are turning red. And it's all I see. You're all I will ever see."
She was blushing.
"You're like a heat detector. A Guardian of Fire who can see only heat and lack of heat," she murmured in awe.
"I'm honored," he said dryly as he walked over to the window and stared out at the multitude of heat carriers walking on the streets below. His world was suddenly one of red, green, yellow, blue, white, and shadows.
This was definitely going to take some getting used to, he thought with wonder.
"Syaoran?" she said softly. He looked down at the girl that radiated heat in her wheelchair.
"Hm?"
She beckoned him closer. And when he came close enough she threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, laughing wearily, but joyfully at the same time. Surprised, but not unpleased, he stiffened. Then he relaxed, laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again.
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"Hey!" Eriol shouted from a table on the patio of a quaint little place called Fourth Avenue Café and waved to them. "What on earth took you both so long! I'm bloody hungry! Hurry up, will you please?"
Syaoran had known in advance that Eriol and Tomoyo had reserved a table with it's own cute umbrella ahead of time. But after what had happened between him and Sakura in the hospital things had changed. They were definitely not going to mention the long stroll that they'd taken in the park together to take in the world around them with new eyes. And he was definitely not planning to mention the fact that they had been holding each other's hands. Or the fact that he was practically bursting with happiness right now. It was none of anybody's damn business.
Yet.
He didn't think he was ready to tell Tomoyo and Eriol that he and Sakura were now together. He'd tell his friends later. He smiled inwardly but there was scowl of annoyance on his face.
Sakura knew better and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze from where she had been guiding him around. His newly crappy sense of direction would definitely take some getting used to! At least he had someone to help him through it!
Besides, he noted at the surge of heat Eriol and Tomoyo's clasped hands were creating beneath the table. They needed some time to each other once in a while. Syaoran knew that Gabriel's death had brought Eriol and Tomoyo together closer than ever. But they had all realized that after the battle on Mt. Yanagihara, they would definitely be seeing Gabriel again in the future when the couple got married as they were destined to. And eventually, Gabriel would come along once more (after Mina did anyway).
"Don't worry…" Gabriel's last words had been. "We'll…We'll…"
We'll meet again someday…Syaoran finished and chuckled. The little rat had known.
Instead he narrowed his eyes, "Shut the hell up, Eriol-pippi," he snapped back, using the honorific usually reserved for schoolgirls as he plopped himself down beside the Guardian of Sky.
Eriol gaped in mock horror as Tomoyo burst out laughing. Sakura grinned and wheeled over to the table.
So, Syaoran thought lounging in his chair and staring around at each of his friends in turn. Here he was hanging with friends laughing it up. It was definitely different from laughing it up alone like he used to. He could clearly remember being alone as a school bully before all hell had literally broken loose and he'd become a Guardian of Fire. And he actually had a girlfriend too, he added smirking like an idiot.
He liked it.
With a renewed sense of pride he plunged into the current discussion about what to order.
It was around when they started ordering that things suddenly came to a halt.
First of all the waiter was shockingly familiar.
"Welcome to Fourth Avenue Café, may I take your order," a masculine voice said out of the blue monotonously.
Syaoran recognized the dry voice immediately.
It was Skye (though the tiny nametag on his crisp black waiter uniform said his name was Sukayo).
"SKYE! What are you doing here?" Eriol cried as Tomoyo and Sakura chirped a greeting simultaneously.
"Taking your order. Now whatdya want," he replied with a blank expression. He attempted to hitch up the oversized apron, brush a rebellious lock of black hair out of his eyes, and keep a hold on the writing pad, pen and menus at the same time, but didn't really manage to pull it off. He was obviously as bored as hell and not enjoying his job as a waiter in the slightest.
Syaoran grinned and his eyes flashed wickedly, "So you're our servant? I like the sound of that! You look real kawaii in your uniform, Skye." He'd only guessed that Skye was wearing a uniform. Hopefully he was, Syaoran thought nervously. He wanted to act as normal as possible despite the changes.
Skye's blue eyes narrowed in Syaoran's direction. The Guardian of Fire didn't need perfect eyesight to figure out that he was being glared it.
"Don't you DARE start with me, Pyro!" Skye snapped irritably. For a second his hand drifted threateningly below the table where Syaoran was sure the thick metal rings of blue fire were looped around his ankles.
Syaoran grinned and raised an eyebrow as the napkin placement closest to Skye burst into flames suddenly.
"Bring it on, Tin Man!"
Skye growled in his throat, blew out Eriol's withering napkin and flung the Menu in Syaoran's direction. Syaoran's hand shot up when he saw the object was flying at him and missed. He was strongly tempted to react, Sakura noticed, when the goth boy's hand went down the place where his metal rings were hidden, "You lose me this job, Li, and I swear I'm coming after you. I KNOW where you sleep at night! Emma's gonna have my ass on a platter if I screw this up," he snarled. "Now you orderin somethin' or what?"
Everyone laughed as they placed their order. Eriol and Tomoyo stared in shock as Sakura happily read her choices from the menu and then was even more shocked when Syaoran gruffly admitted he couldn't read the menu anymore and would have a hamburger with fries. If the TriArch goth knew something was up he didn't let it show.
The questions would come later, the Guardian of Fire thought languidly stretching his arms over his head.
Especially when he asked, "So tell us. Why's Emma gonna have your ass on a platter if you get fired. I'm curious."
Skye's good mood immediately evaporated and he stared at the table on the other side of the terrace, "Because she's taken a liking to the stupid manager. He's just her type," Skye mutteredly darkly.
The 4 Guardians craned around to look at "Emma's type". Everyone but Syaoran's jaws dropped in utter disbelief. (He was completely annoyed that he could only distinguish where Emma was and nothing about the man next to her. As far as Syaoran could see the guy's cheeks were heated and he was skinny. Big freakin whoop!). Sakura whispered in his ear what was going on.
The goth girl giggled in her extremely tight and skimpy black outfit and boots as she fed another slice of what looked like banana cream pie to a blushing, skinny and extremely nerdy looking young with large glasses and overly large business suit. She was obviously very infatuated with him. A few dirty middle-aged men shot the nerdy manager looks of envy and disgust. The contrast between the couple was absolutely mind-blowing.
Syaoran snorted.
Who knew Emma had such interesting taste in guys?
"What about Meredith?" Tomoyo asked. Syaoran suddenly became very interested with what looked to be a snail hitching a ride off some sort of rodent on the gate beside him. He couldn't quite tell what kind of rodent it was by the shape alone.
Skye shrugged, "She's happy. Did I tell you she was reunited with her brother? The guy's a creep," he shuddered. He doesn't mean that, Syaoran realized while Skye took off for the kitchens. Skye was sincerely happy for Meredith.
Syaoran burst out laughing and the rest of the Guardians looked on with smiles on their faces.
A lotta good and bad shit had gone down, he admitted to himself.
What had happened to them was definitely something that would continue to bother them for all eternity. Gabriel's death had affected them all, and Syaoran was slowly but steadily getting used to life without the constant nagging of the 4 tiny sprites. But for now, it seemed that pushing back Chaos once more had eased a weight on their shoulders. Hell, things seemed to have actually turned out for the best.
Syaoran had learned a lot. He had come to discover that nothing was clearly what it seemed. Emma wasn't the person that he'd thought she was. Sure that was how she'd meant for things to be, but each member of the TriArch wasn't as dark and cynical as he'd thought they'd been (well, maybe Skye was to some degree). The TriArch had come out of nowhere. Gabriel had traveled back into the past just to die, and had discovered the light in a young man who was practically made of darkness.
Friends were not as wimpy as he'd thought they'd been. And he definitely needed them. They made life interesting, he saw. And life, was fricking short. Life was definitely meant to be cherished for every breath, every laugh, every kiss. Every second. You never knew when it was over and never could expect everything. Life was a party. It was precious in every way. It all depended on the people you spend it with, he thought giving Sakura's hand a squeeze.
He had friends, he had a girlfriend that he'd given and would continue to give his world for, and he was honestly looking forward to kicking Chaos' ass again in his next life (whenever that might be). But with Eriol, Tomoyo, the Triarch, and Sakura (he took her hand in his again) behind him he would be ready for anything.
Bring it.
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I can't believe it! Ladies, gents, vampires, and witches everywhere! I'm finally finished! (jumps around and people cheer and throw confetti) This is officially the last chapter of Hidden Power. I can't believe I FINISHED it! XD this is my longest story yet and I couldn't be more prouder! I really want to thank all you reviewers who have stood behind me the whole way.
I wanna thank ALL the reviewers, a HUGE thank you to my sister Poni, Gail for her input on my first few chapters, as well as to Kaede for her help on things.
You really gave me the encouragement I needed to finish this fic and go at it till the end. You guys were totally my inspiration. I hope this story was fun for you and I hope you'll continue to review. Til then PEACE