Sakura: The Last Flower

Chapter Three

A life-changing Voyage: Enter Tomoyo

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. If only…

Hello everyone I know it's been a while but I just couldn't do this any sooner. I know how much I hate waiting for updates but due to my computers history of crashing nothing could be done. You owe this story's recovery to a friend of mine who saved the chapters I sent to her to beta read for me.

I told her how I had lost my work and she sent me what she had. Yay. So now you will be getting a chapter a week. Hopefully. BTW this is a new computer I'm using. My old one has been put to rest.

Anyways here's the chapter

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Sakura looked out the window and saw the same thing she had seen the last time she'd looked out.

Nothing.

Nothing but the endless sea she'd been staring at for the last five hours. She thought back over all that happened to her after she accepted the offer.

Flashback

"I'll do it. I'll sell myself and go with you… I'll go into the Li Empire with you. I'll do anything to save my family from living in poverty and misery. But you have to promise they'll get the proper payment." Sakura told them feeling a ball of nausea and discomfort in the pit of her stomach.

She didn't know how but she knew she was going to have to go through with all of this for the sake of her family.

"Of course your family will get their payment because we are an honest lot of men." The man I'd been speaking to gestured for one of his men.

Taking a large a large bag from the basket the man carried he held it down so that I may look inside of it. Inside was more money than I'd ever seen in my life. There wasn't acka in there either. It was gold. At least a hundred pieces of gold.

There was enough in there to last my family a few years in comfort.

"Is this enough to suit you?" he asked with a smirk.

I simply nodded dumbly. I was still tongue tied over such a large bounty.

"Good, Raishakeem!" he called to another man who apparently spoke our tongue. "Go and deliver this to the little one's home. See that her family receives all of it." The man nodded and left.

After that the man took me by my arm and, after briefly telling his companions to load up and follow, lead me to the dock and had me escorted onto a ship.

On the ship was something unexpected.

Girls, lots and lots of girls. Many of them my age and some of them younger. They looked to be from other parts of the continent.

Were they here for the same reason as I was? That I could not know.

I did not even know why I was here.

What were they planning on doing with us?

Why the hell hadn't I thought of asking that before I agreed?

Well it couldn't be too bad seeing as very few of them seemed to be to upset by our predicament.

We were all placed below the main level into a large room with mats for sleeping. The room was a little packed but things could have been worse.

Still I don't think I will enjoy this voyage to the Empire too much seeing as we will be rocking around a lot.

How this will turn out I am unsure.

NormalSakura's POV
That was about four hours earlier in the time since I have heard a lot of movement above. We have long since been within seeing range of my homeland. Or land for that matter.

They brought us lunch a little while ago. It wasn't too bad some oats and bread. We were also given a generous amount of water so really I cannot complain.

I did after all sell myself. This is better than how I had expected to be treated.

But then again who knows what the future will bring?

They could always…. "HEY HOW YA DOING?"

"Hoooooooooeeee."

Nomal POV

A girl with long black hair and blue violet eyes was standing over Sakura.

She had a huge grin on her face.

Offering a hand to help up Sakura who had fallen over in distress she said "Hello there. My names Tomoyo. Sorry about startling you. What's your name?"

"Uuum it's Sakura and don't worry about it I space out from time to time." Sakura smiled brightly "Anyways its nice to meet you Tomoyo. I haven't really had the chance to speak to anyone else."

Tomoyo looked over Sakura thoroughly before energetically saying, " You have the perfect shape. I would love for you to model for me some time. You'd be perfect for my next collection." She said gesturing at Sakura all the while.

Sweat dropped down the back of Sakura's head.

"Eh heh are you serious?" she asked.

"Of course I'm serious why wouldn't I be. You know I happen to be very dedicated when it comes to my work." Tomoyo said while wagging her finger at Sakura.

"Your work?" She inquired tilting her head in puzzlement.

"Yeah my work. Sorry I forgot to tell you I'm the daughter of a very famous seamstress and it would seem that a lot of my mother's love and passion for making clothes passed on to me." She said.

"But that's a story for another time. So Sakura how did you end up here?"

Sakura was about to answer when she heard an unfamiliar voice call out.

"Tomoyo there you are. Are you pestering some one again." Said a girl with shoulder length reddish brown hair.

"Of course she is she is Tomoyo after all." This came from another girl of similar age with her hair in two curly ponytails.

"We apologize for our friend. She gets a little carried away sometimes." A girl with dark brown hair and a quieter nature stepped up beside her friends.

"Oh no. She wasn't bothering me at all. Actually I'm really grateful for the company. I haven't actually had the chance to meet anyone here yet." Sakura replied with a beautiful smile that reached her emerald green eyes.

"I'm Sakura and it's nice to meet you all."

"See guys I wasn't bothering her at all. I was just being my naturally friendly and welcoming self." Tomoyo said defending herself to her friends.

Tomoyo turned towards Sakura and said " Sakura these are my friends Rika," she said gesturing to the first girl to approach them, " Chiharu," she gestured to the second girl, "and last but not least Naoko." She finished introducing the quieter girl of the group.

The girls all bowed their heads in greeting and said "Nice to meet you Sakura."

"Good now that we are all familiar with each other lets have a nice little chat. Is that all right with you Saks?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura was eager for the company and she needed a distraction from all of her troubles. "Of course its all right."

Soon they were engrossed in tales of each other's lives. They exchanged stories of their families and their homes.

Sakura's POV

I was slightly surprised by how easy it was to talk to them. It was like I'd known them for my whole life and we were simply old friends trying to catch up on the years we missed and make up for lost time.

Out of all the girls though, Tomo, as I had quickly taken to calling her, was the easiest to talk and relate to.

She had such a cheerful and energetic nature I found myself trying to draw from her strength and positive attitude.

Tomo I found out was from the upper northern parts of Turkey.

She had lived with her mom in a quiet village famous for her mom's designs and skills with dress and decoration making.

Sadly around the same time my father disappeared there had been a huge commotion in their village and strange men took her mother, claiming she was much to talented to work in an unknown and disgusting hovel such as the one they lived in.

Tomoyo still seethed at the insult. She felt it necessary to point out their home had been one of the most beautiful villages in all of Turkey.

She had made it a point to tell her mother's captors just so right before she was knocked unconscious.

The next thing she knew she was alone.

She hadn't heard from or seen her mother since.

Tomoyo is so brave and resourceful she had made it on her own these past few years selling her own clothing and the last of her mother's stock save for a few of the more precious pieces.

It wasn't until recently that Tomo had begun hearing rumors of a famous designer in the heart of the Li Empire that stirred her hope.

After hearing wonderful tales of this designer that Tomoyo made up her mind to go to the Li Empire and search for her mother.

They way Tomo saw it luck had shined upon her the day these men on this ship had taken an interest in her and decided to offer her passage on board this ship to the empire.

She felt the arrangement was perfect because they also gave her a small sum of money as payment.

That she felt was icing on the cake.

Rika's story was that she had run away from the orphanage she'd been forced to live in after the war took her parent's lives.

Her older sister Ruby had been taken as a spoil of war.

When she'd heard of the sea travelers promising a better life and passage to the Li Empire she and a few other girls had jumped at the chance and quickly gained admittance on board.

She too had been given a reward.

Next came Chiharu's story, she had a story similar to mine. When the war came around her mother had gotten a fever from some of the sick soldiers she'd been tending to.

She soon grew terribly ill ad passed away. Her mother's death had been eased by the presences of her grandfather and her grandmother. Chiharu now saw her mom as a hero who died trying to save the lives of others.

That thought along with her grandparents had made the loss more bearable.

But lately times had been hard and when the ship had docked in the port of her city Chiharu had decided that it would be best if she went to work in the richer parts of the country and would soon send for her grandparents once she was situated.

She had left most of the money she'd received for her journey with her grandparents and set off with them in mind.

Last was Naoko, and she was going into the Li Empire because that was where she thought her brother was last seen. He had joined the Li forces and gone to war. He'd left her in the care of a family friend and that had been where she had lived up until now.

When she had gotten wind of a rumor from a local merchant that he may have seen her brother Naoko had she had to follow the lead and look for him.

She thought herself lucky to have been able to gain passage on this ship.

Not only was she able to journey to the Li Empire but she had also been able to give half of her payment to the family that had sheltered her for the past few years.

After thanking the gracefully Naoko boarded.

So one thing lead to another and here we all were. Shipmates on a voyage to a strange new world.

We may not have been together for the beginning of our lives but here in the confines of this ship cabin we shared a bond.

We were all on our way into an uncertain future.

I'm grateful that I am no longer alone. Now I have friends to share my troubles with and relate too.

I thank God for them too. For although things were looking a little brighter now we still have no idea what's to come.

We would have to stay strong and hope for the best.

I hope I can…….

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Well there you have it. The end to my silence. I worked hard on remaking this chapter for you all. Honestly I think its better than the original chapter. It's definitely longer.

Thank you to all of you who have patiently waited.

I'll update as soon as I can.

Give me at least 8 reviews and I may post the next restored chapter a little sooner.

Oh and they reach the empire soon. Maybe they will see a few of the fellas there. Who knows? Review please!

I Lub you all.

Goldenskyblue