---- She Will Be Loved
----- Written by Iris Dreamer
------DISCLAIMER: Card Captor Sakura belongs solely to Clamp. However, the plot is mine and I would like to remain it that way. Thank you.
----- AUTHOR'S NOTE: School has started. School wise, everything has been fine. Though on another angle, things have been a total mess. A family member of mine has passed away a few days ago just when I started classes, and I've probably made a fool with my red nose and eyes when I knew about it. Now, I'm just some in denial dummy who's walking around and staring into space often. I'd like to thank my best friend who's stuck with me all this time and I love her more than I'd ever be able to express. I'm still am an idiot and feeling antisocial, but I'm so glad that she's been around me even if we don't say anything. My deepest apologies if this chapter gets more and more depressing towards the end. I had this chapter about 3/4th done when I learnt of the news.
Other hand, noticed a review earlier, alerting to my attention that Ryoko is indeed a GIRL'S name. Oh dear. And here I thought it was a guy's name! Deepest apologies to all of you, especially those who get annoyed knowing that it's a girl's name! Totchi, I thank you for telling me about my mistake. However, as of this story, I don't think I'm going to change his name since I'm so used to my dear Ryoko being male (and I don't want to cause any confusions if I do change his name)! Haha. So forgive me for continuing with Ryoko. For future stories, I shall use Ryo instead. THANK YOU TOTCHI!
----- BACKGROUND: He's reached his happiest moment of his life: he has an awesome job, a circle of close friends, a good reputation, and most importantly, the girl he loves is now his fiancée. But happiness is short lived and everything he once had was thrown away and there he meets a girl that totally enraptures him, but this girl is just your normal, in the bad section of the city, prostitute.
----- DEDICATION: To my best friend, with whom I could not have endured the past few days and days to come. And to the readers who are waiting for me to update. If it weren't for all of you, I don't think I would have continued this.
----- SPECIAL THANKS: Karone Richardson: I'm glad that you liked my story! As for Touya's disease, I wasn't really going to plan on giving it a name actually. Urm, me and my lack of medical knowledge. I don't want to have a certain disease because I'm not that all familiar with the symptoms and treatment methods. However, I do have sickle cell anemia as an idea floating in the back of my head if I do decide to name the disease that Touya has. If it were to be sickle cell anemia, then surgery would be a bone marrow transplant. The model show has not taken place yet. It will be addressed with further details in this chapter. I hope this answers your questions. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Red-Emerald: Meiling has to be Syaoran's cousin! No fun without the cousin relationship that they have.
Cherry Princess Sakura: Yeah, Syaoran's in for one heck of a ride. Chuckles evilly as I think about all the things I have in store for him. Anyhow, Sakura's going to be a little bit different from the innocent, happy go lucky girl that she's usually portrayed as, though bits of her real self peak out throughout the story.
Cursedmind: I'm glad that you like Sakura being nice with an edge. Hehe. There's more of that in this chapter!
Light in the Darkness: Oops, if you wanted something light that's not going to happen in this chapter. Oh dear, this story is just getting more and more depressing. Sorry about that. Um, but things will take a happy turn in the near future. After all, I do believe in happily ever after stories!
chibiNeko192: Kudos to you for being the first person to notice my mistakes. Sigh, it's so hard to catch my own mistakes when my brain automatically fills in whatever's right for me. Hehe. Thanks for pointing out and the mistake has been changed immediately. Hopefully there's nothing wrong with this chapter! As for age, an approximate outline will be drawn at the bottom of this chapter.
Hououza: Have I mentioned how much I like receiving your reviews? Probably for like the hundredth time by now. Hehe. I'm actually really interested in how everything's proceeding. I mean, I have my own intentions of the direction of the story, but somehow, I just keep thinking of new ideas and the story takes on a whole different spin! Thanks for your advice and your encouragement. I do look forward in your signed copy:)
Wackywang: Hopefully by the time I have posted this online, you haven't started school yet! Haha, unfortunately for me, I have started school. As much as I'd love to dedicate my time writing stories, it's currently almost impossible to do that, especially with me becoming a second year at college and having the pressure of declaring a major. However, and you can hold me by my words, I will never stop writing a story unless it's because of extreme matters. And if that does occur, rest assured that it will be announced beforehand.
The cherry tree: I'm really sorry that I mistakenly wrote Meiling's name in place of Tomoyo's. For that inconvenience, I'm really sorry about it! However, I'm glad that you liked everything else in this story! Hopefully there won't be any stupid mistakes in this chapter!
Dancer5: Haha. I love the idea of a love line as well! And hurrah for sappy love movies and stories!
Black wolf chics: I do hope something will happen between Sakura and Syaoran as well!
Rika: Thanks!
ChryBlsms: I'm overjoyed that you like my fanfiction! I could hug you to death from being so happy! I'm glad that you like Sakura in this because I'm having a lot of fun writing. As for fried chicken with coke, I love it actually! Haha. Though, it really is bad for you, so I have it rarely ever now. Thanks for the luck in choosing my major! I'm really going to need that luck!
Eliana: Oops, if you were waiting for Syaoran to know about Meiling in this chapter, it's actually not going to happen. That will be something for another chapter, probably the next one.
Daz: Oh gosh. How I wish the word of summer! Argh, I so want summer back. It feels like I've been back at school and classes forever when in reality I've only had a week of school!
:) I'm glad you liked the story! Happy reading.
MidnightGriffen: As for Sakura's different portrayal, it's because of her family background that differs greatly from what it was in fourth grade where the real anime took place. For a brief, simple timeline look at the end of this chapter.
Juulie: Do you know how much I'm overjoyed completely when someone adds me to their favorite list? Oh gosh, thanks! I do hope I keep improving as a writer!
AnimeObessionFantasy: Actually, he did get all wet again, but let's say that his heart was considerably lighter :)
Inu-death-demon: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Ai-chan: I'm glad you've found my story and I would be more than happy to email you when I've updated my story.
Totchi: OMG, thank you for pointing out that Ryoko is a girl's name. As I mentioned in my author's note, I'm keeping it as the way it is now. For simplicity and to not cause confusion, Ryoko's going to be a guy's name in this story. I really hope you don't mind and get an image of a girl every time you read Ryoko's name!
Fluurie: I try to make my stories as original as possible, but then it's always really hard considering a lot of what we writers write about is things we've read or watched or heard somewhere. As for the gangs stories, I think it may have originated from the highly talented author Little Wolf LOVER and her story "Wild Things." Oh gosh, I simply adore her stories and talent! Thanks for your support though and about the timeline of characters, a brief simple one will be presented on the bottom of this chapter!
Sieg1308: Thanks for reading! Enjoy this story!
Black wolf chic2: Haha, I think you're going to be the happiest one of all since you just noticed I updated chapter seven and now you have chapter eight to read! Happy reading!
To everyone else who's reading this and didn't leave a review, I just want to say thank you for taking out the time to read it! It means more to me than you'll ever know! I get a HUGE kick when I realize that I've had 2070 hits on my story! You guys have made me one happy girl. :)
--iris dreamer
----- CHAPTER EIGHT: Breakdown
A blood curling scream jolted Sakura awake, causing her to bolt upright and coincidently slamming her head into Tomoyo's.
"Where's the fire?" Tomoyo said dazedly.
It took Sakura a while to remember that she was at Tomoyo's house again. She and Meiling had come for another girly sleepover with more romance movies, this time being the Korean film, My Sassy Girl, with a huge portion of silly girl talk over hot men. Tomoyo was on her way being back to her normal self quickly enough despite the fact that she now avoided Li and Hiiragizawa with great skill.
Another scream shocked Sakura out of her thoughts. She leapt up and fell off the couch in a tumbled mess, dragging Tomoyo down at the same time. The two groaned loudly and looked dazedly at the ceiling. However a third scream caused them to jump again and in their frantic process to get up off the floor, Tomoyo slipped on the blanket on the ground and landed on top of Sakura again, her elbow jabbing into her friend's hip sharply. When Sakura hissed sharply followed by a string of muttered curses, Tomoyo grinned apologetically as she helped her friend up. By the time the two had finally managed to stand up without their heads spinning, Meiling had come rushing in, wailing loudly.
"What's wrong?" Sakura mumbled sleepily as she massaged her left hip.
"The fashion show!" Meiling screamed, shaking Sakura's shoulders dramatically. "It's three days from now! With everything that was happening, I totally forgot all about it! What time is it? I have a meeting today with the all the other managers and sponsors about the whole process!"
Tomoyo was the only one calm and awake enough to tell what time it was. It was only then did Meiling let go of her death grip on her best friend, who managed her way to sit down on the sofa to prevent her head from spinning.
"Okay, here's the plan," Meiling directed after the three were safely in the kitchen drinking hot coffee. "I have a meeting in exactly two hours and seventeen minutes, so I'll be gone the whole day."
Meiling pointed her spoon at the fashion designer. "Tomoyo, I'll call you back immediately when I know what order they want the clothes to be presented. Then you figure out what clothes Sakura should wear. Fix and make everything you want to present absolutely perfect."
The spoon moved to the model. "And you, Sakura, get yourself into best shape. If I say no cookies, that means no cookies. Practice the catwalk and you better manage how to walk elegantly on those high heels."
"I can hop, dance, and run in high heels, Meiling," Sakura reminded her.
"I don't care what you can do in high heels!" Meiling said exasperated, throwing her hands up to the air. "I really don't care what you do as long as you're better than all the other models out there."
Tomoyo smiled and patted her Chinese friend on the back. "Hey, everything's going to be great," She told her. "Now why don't you go take and shower and freshen up? I know the best outfit that you can wear today."
They two of them finally managed to steer a nervous Meiling into the bathroom. Sakura let out a sigh of relief when she heard the sound of the water running in the shower.
"Hoe," She mumbled as she sprawled herself on the sofa.
"Everything's so overwhelming," Tomoyo echoed her friend's thoughts. "I can't believe we forgot that the fashion show's coming up."
Sakura just mutely nodded her head.
"Let's go choose what Meiling should wear," Tomoyo suggested smiling. "I have this dress that would be so kawaii on her!"
Meiling scowled at the choices she had. Dresses weren't exactly her thing and here she was, forced to choose between a red and a gray one. But the fact that the dresses were absolutely gorgeous was something she couldn't deny. Saying that she wanted to wear something of her own would deeply hurt Tomoyo, and the last thing that Tomoyo needed was another hit to her confidence.
"Think of it as a tactic to promote Tomoyo's clothing," A voice said with an amused hint to it. Meiling turned to find that her best friend had sneaked into the guest room with her.
"I don't see why you actually like wearing dresses," Meiling said sighing. "I feel so exposed!"
"You're talking to an ex-erotic dancer here," Sakura reminded her with a teasing grin. "Now I personally think the gray one. Normally I would say the red one, but I would assume that this meeting is a formal one. It's classy, but still has the serious edge to it."
"And now you're an expert too?" Meiling said wryly as she picked the gray dress from the bed.
"More than you are," Sakura offered as she turned around to let her friend have the privacy to change. When Meiling told her that she was done, Sakura turned around with a pleased grin on her face. "Go look in the mirror and tell me that I'm wrong,"
She couldn't help but smile when she saw her reflection. The gray dress was held up by two thin straps. The neckline was high and in a straight line, decorated small shiny slivery translucent beads. The rest of the dress flowed straight past her knees and stopped at mid-calf with the right side longer than the left.
"Now go out there and kick some butt," Sakura said giving her a small warm smile.
Meiling immediately recognized that look and her face softened. She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and squeezed lightly. "Hey, everything's going to be okay. And if things really don't go as we wish, I'll bail out with you."
-----
Eriol was hiding behind the trashcan again.
It had become his daily routine almost to leave the apartment, cross the park, hide behind the trashcan, and wait for Syaoran to exit Takashi's apartment. The two had become close friends and even though Syaoran wasn't friends with him anymore, it mended his guilty conscience to see his ex-best friend making new ones.
"Oniichan," a boyish voice called followed by a tug on Eriol's shirt made Eriol turn to see a small boy standing next to him.
"Yes?" Eriol asked, trying to sound as dignified as possible as one could be when caught squatting behind a trashcan.
The little boy cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows knotted into a confused frown. "Why are you hiding behind the trashcan?"
"Well, I," Eriol racked his brain to think of an idea.
"Oh! Hiiragizawa-san, there you are!" A female voice interjected. Eriol looked up into a pair of amused green eyes. "I've been searching for you for ages. I suppose you won this round."
"Kinomoto," Eriol choked out.
"Won what?" The little boy asked, now turning to the newcomer.
Sakura smiled at the boy and squatted down to his height. "Hide and seek of course!" She ruffled his black hair.
"That's my favorite game. Can we play?" He asked excitedly. "My friends tell me that I'm the best hider ever!"
"I bet you are," Sakura agreed, "probably better than Hiiragizawa oniichan here."
"I wouldn't hide behind a trashcan. It's too easy," He boasted. "I know really good hiding places!"
Sakura laughed. "Yeah, hiding behind the trashcan isn't really the best hiding place huh?" The little boy shook his head in a furious no.
Eriol tried to manage a grin at the little boy who had immediately joined Sakura's side of the game "let's tease Eriol".
"Where's your mommy, sweetie?"
"She's buying breakfast for me!" He declared proudly. "I'm going to have an egg sandwich with orange juice!"
"Sounds really yummy," Sakura said. "Shouldn't you be a big boy and go help your mommy?"
"Mama says I'm her best helper!" He said in agreement.
"I bet you are," She agreed with a soft smile. "Look, I think she's waiting for you," Sakura said, pointing at a motherly figure smiling towards their direction. "I'm Sakura. We can play next time okay?"
"I'm Ichiro. Pinky promise?" He asked, giving her an adorable look. Sakura smiled.
"Of course!" She linked pinkies with him and chanted the little rhyme with him. "Until next time okay Ichiro?"
"Okay! Ja, Sakura oneesan!" He gave her a bright grin and a quick hug before dashing off towards his mother. The mother looked up and gave Sakura a nod before leaving.
"That was adorable," Eriol said, smiling. "You have a way with kids."
Instead of making her embarrassed as he was aiming for, Sakura had a wicked grin on her face and her arms were crossed smugly.
"So tell me, Hiiragizawa-san, why are you hiding behind the trashcan?"
"You'll never," He started but quickly paused. Reaching up, he yanked hard on Sakura's hand. She yelped in surprise before falling on her butt in a surprised fashion. "Shh," Eriol muttered as he peered behind the trashcan.
"What are you," her voice faded when she saw Syaoran exit from a building across the street from the park. When Syaoran turned the corner and was out of sight, Eriol sighed and stood up to face Sakura's sly grin.
"So stalker, give me a good reason why I shouldn't report you to the police," She asked, clearly amused at how the situation was going.
"And I wonder where that nice demeanor just went," Eriol muttered.
Sakura shrugged. "I have a soft spot for kids."
"You're really much more attractive with the smiley nice personality," Eriol told her, as he tried to shift the control of the conversation towards himself as subtly as possible.
"Nice try," Sakura said. "So why are you stalking Li?"
"What's it to you what happens to Syaoran anyways?" He shot back.
"Nothing," She said coolly. "But I know someone who will be horrified if I told that someone that you might just be gay."
It was Eriol who looked at her horrified. "But I'm not!"
"Denial is one of the first steps," Sakura quipped.
He sighed. "The situation probably would be better if I were gay,"
"Than falling for you best friend's ex-fiancée," she filled in for him.
"Don't tell Tomoyo!" He warned.
"I'm not a matchmaker and I don't intend on starting," Sakura replied, waving her hand at the thought. "So if you're not gay, what's with this stalker appearance?"
Eriol sighed. "I suppose you heard about our fight?"
"Loud enough for the whole world to hear,"
"Well, I didn't really mean most of what I said. Syaoran's one of the best guys out there and I suppose I'm the one at fault for falling in love with the same girl as him."
"I've always heard that Li is the quiet one."
"He is," Eriol answered. "He's always been a bit shyer around people. But I don't blame him considering the kind of family background he has."
"I think you're the quieter one," Sakura said softly, not even looking at him. "Li knows he's quiet and he has that cold demeanor around him. You, however, are much more outgoing and talkative on the outside. But when it comes to really saying what you mean, you often sugar coat it with something else."
Eriol stayed quiet.
He kicked the dirt with his shoe, making a small dust cloud form around their feet as they walked through the park.
"I have to go back to work," Sakura said after they reached the park's exit. "I was just out buying some material Tomoyo needs for the fashion show." She paused and studied the man next to her. "She expects you to come."
Eriol ran his hand through his azure hair. "I know that," he replied softly.
She shrugged. "It's none of my business." Sakura walked a few steps. "Oh, and Hiiragizawa?"
Eriol turned.
"If you're going to see how Li is, you should just go up and talk to him."
"I didn't think you cared," He replied with a sly grin, more feeling like his usual self.
"I don't," Sakura answered calmly. "But frankly, this whole messed up relationship between the three of you is driving me insane."
"Forgive us for being so troublesome,"
Sakura snorted inelegantly. "If you see Li, perhaps when hiding behind the trashcan, tell him that he owes me money."
"Money?"
"For being a shrink for hire against my will," She snapped. "And if you don't vanish before my eyes in a flash, I'm going to charge you money too, starting price of 300 dollars." Sakura glared.
"I was thinking of a discount," Eriol said, grinning.
"Don't be silly," Sakura said waspishly.
She was about to enter the taxi she had hailed down when Eriol called out. Sakura paused, halfway in the taxi with a crossed expression.
"Tell Tomoyo that I'm sorry,"
Her eyes darkened. "You really are an idiot. You have a mouth. Tell her that herself for heaven's sake," she growled and slammed the taxi door behind her.
Eriol chuckled as he watched the taxi speed away.
"She's quite adorable when she tries to hide her blushes."
-----
Meiling glanced at her watch surreptitiously. The second hand had shifted thirty three small spaces since the last time she checked. One minute still had twenty seven seconds to go. Until the hour hand made its way back in a complete circle, it still needed forty one minutes and twenty seven seconds. How much longer it was until the meeting was over was out of comprehension. According to the snail pace they were treading through, Meiling figured that she wouldn't be surprised if she had to sit here for another five hundred decades.
One hundred bottles of beer on the wall. One hundred bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety nine bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, ninety eight bottles of beer. Ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety eight bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, ninety seven bottles of beer on the wall.
She figured that perhaps by the time she reached zero, she could get into the negatives. But then again, there was always the never ending song and counting sheep. Oh wait, counting sheep is for insomniac people. Meiling grinned wryly. She would have no problems falling asleep right now. Actually, now that she thought of it, it was starting to sound extremely appealing.
Seven eight bottles of beer—
Someone walked in, and immediately stopped her in mid-song. Familiar spiked black hair caught her immediate attention. Her heart caught in her throat when she saw Ryoko, in his uniform, entered in the front door and bent down to talk to the main spokesperson. No matter how many times she saw him, he could always manage to make her heart flutter and blush like a schoolgirl once again.
The lady paused, listened shortly before nodding her head. "Rae, the police officer would like to have a word with you in the hallway. Please hurry with it."
Meiling blinked in surprise, trying to catch Ryoko's eyes, but he never met them. Getting up from her seat, she quickly followed him outside and closed the door behind them. It wasn't when they were a distance away from the meeting room that Meiling spoke up.
"Ryoko! I'm surprised. What did you come here for?" She asked, smiling.
Instead of the usual cheerful smile that was never lost from his face, a serious stern frown was in its place. "Why didn't you tell me that you worked at a phone sex line?" He asked in a furious whisper.
"You did a background check of me," Meiling said quietly.
"For the fashion show," He answered, running a hand through his hair. Ryoko turned and glared at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Meiling shot him an angry look. "Let's see, um, because you're a cop?" She retorted.
"I trusted you," He accused.
"Look, I'm sorry," Meiling said defensively. "I'm sorry you had to know me. I'm sorry that you had to know about the truth. I'm sorry about every goddamn thing." She said, trying not to shout.
She took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was almost inaudible. "And I'm sorry that I fell in love with you." Meiling looked at her feet.
"You know that's not going to change anything," Ryoko finally said, his eyes averting hers as well.
"I know," She said quietly. "You're here to report back on my background right? I'm assuming that I'm disqualified from the fashion show? I know that people like me aren't welcomed anywhere." Her voice cracked bitterly.
"Look, here's the thing. If you get someone of importance, like one of the sponsors or a head director of this fashion show, to sign a warrant, then you can still be qualified for the show." He explained. "Just hand this form to whoever you think would help you and give it back to me."
Meiling took it, looked at the forms wearily. "I'm assuming everyone already knows of my background?"
The police officer nodded. "I just notified them. They're probably talking about it right now,"
"There's no fucking way anyone would want to vouch for a phone sex operator," She said crossly.
"Then why did you become one?"
"That's none of your business!" Meiling shot back angrily, looking at him as if he had slapped her hard in the face.
"It is!" Ryoko insisted. "I don't care if you're a phone sex operator. What I cared about was that you didn't tell me about it."
Meiling laughed harshly. "Did you get that out from some corny romance movie or something? Because that's the craziest bullshit that I've heard in my whole life. If you didn't care, you wouldn't have that look on your face. I know what you're thinking, thoughts like 'Oh god, how many people did she actually have phone sex with?' Or 'she's probably done with who knows how many guys.' I know all about it."
"Shut up!" This was the first time she had ever seen Ryoko truly angered. His voice was cold and demanding. The piercing, shuddering brown eyes were painted an icy black.
"What?" Meiling snapped back, even though she knew she was pushing his limit here, she had gone too far to return. "It's nasty hearing those thoughts out loud, doesn't it? Being the recipient?"
A pair of strong hands grabbed her upper arms and slammed her into the wall. Meiling tried not to wince at the pain as she tried to stare back into his eyes. Eyes that she had grown to fall in love with; eyes that lit up whenever he laughed; eyes that were now the total opposite of what she had known.
It showed the destruction she caused to those around her.
"Just leave," Ryoko gritted out, tearing his gaze away from hers. "I never want to see you again." His firm grip loosened and fell by his sides in an almost helpless way.
Meiling had to bit back the shiver that coursed through her body. She stumbled a few paces away from him. Ryoko didn't even move from his position from the wall and never turned around to look at her.
"I'm sorry," She whispered, tossing those two words that absolutely would not make up for what she had done, yet contained every bit of deepest regret. She quickly turned and dashed for the nearest escape.
She had promised she would never cry again.
She promised herself.
Meiling bit on her lip to keep the tears from escaping.
But what was the point? When she had broken all the promises she had made to those around her, to her family, to Ryoko, to Tomoyo, and most of all to Sakura. If she couldn't keep the promises of those she cared most, then what was the point of keeping promises to herself, when she was clearly so much unworthy?
There was no point.
And one by one, tears started to roll, and once it began, it seemed there would never be an end. She slid down to the floor of the cold bathroom tiles and bawled out loud for everything that was and everything that could have been.
-----
When the second brokenhearted soul stumbled back to Tomoyo's apartment that day, Sakura felt her own heart break again when she saw the total mess her best friend was in. Her arms immediately went around Meiling's as she whispered soothing sounds as Meiling completely cried her heart out.
It had been more than five years since she last saw Meiling cry.
When Meiling had called back, hiccupping as she tried to control her tears, Sakura was not the least bit surprised. She had gotten used to the disgusted looks and fierce rejection. Tomoyo, on the other hand, was shocked. She had known that Sakura was once an erotic dancer, but she had no idea of Meiling's previous profession. But once she had gotten over that, Tomoyo was angry at the treatment Meiling had been given and quickly defended for her. In that, Sakura was grateful upon Meiling's behalf. Tomoyo's way of deepest understanding was something she greatly admired.
However, she knew that while Tomoyo stood up for Meiling, Sakura knew that flash of betrayal and dreams being shattered when she learnt that they were disqualified from the fashion show. This was her ultimate dream, and now it had slipped out of her grasp, just a few days before it became reality.
Once Meiling had calmed down and managed to fall asleep on Tomoyo's lap, Sakura stood up. Tomoyo looked up from where she was brushing Meiling's stray hairs from her face.
"Good luck," Tomoyo told her, with an understanding smile.
She would never figure out how Tomoyo knew everything, but she wasn't going to question that. Instead, Sakura gave her a slight nod and walked out of the door. Hailing a taxi and directing it to a nice restaurant near Tomoyo's house, Sakura took a deep breath before heading inside.
"Thank you for coming," She said politely as she took the seat across from him.
He smiled. "You look nice," he told her in response. Sakura looked down at her simple black dress pants and wine red blouse that she had borrowed from Tomoyo. "You said there was something you had to talk to me about?"
"You said I could come to you whenever I had a problem," Sakura started. Her voice sounded as if she was accusing him for being the one who offered.
"I do recall saying that," He replied smiling in the same nice manner.
Sakura let her breath out loudly. "Then this would be no surprise to you then." She took some papers out of her purse and slid them over the table.
He made no motion to take the papers. "Just when are you going to tell me the truth, Sakura Kinomoto? I said I would help you, but I want to know what I'm helping here. I was informed today that Meiling Rae, the Meiling Rae that I knew was your best friend since you were little kids, was in fact a phone sex operator and that her team was being disqualified. I want to know what happened before I can even consider signing the documents you have placed before me."
Sakura sighed. "Meiling has reasons with which I cannot answer, because that is something that belongs to herself."
"I was referring to you." He replied. "I looked at your past history as well. You took on a whole load full of jobs even in high school that you almost weren't able to graduate. And your jobs after high school were not much better. What happened to your dream of going to college and becoming an elementary teacher?"
"It's none of your business Tsukishiro-san," Sakura answered calmly. "Situations change and you learn to adapt."
"Then learn to adapt to the situation right now. Situations are changing now, you no longer have to go back to your previous life if you so choose to now."
"Are you threatening me with that?" She replied coolly. When she looked up into Yukito's eyes and saw that they held not the slightest bit of pity or judgment, Sakura felt her walls crumbling again. In her mind, she could only think of Touya's wishes of her making new friends, starting with the man in front of her.
"Sorry," Sakura mumbled, picking at her napkin.
Yukito smiled. "It's not your fault, so don't worry about it. So how's Touya?"
"He's good. I gave him the letters. He was really happy about receiving them," She answered honestly.
"And?" Yukito asked.
"And what," Sakura said.
"You know what I mean," He replied.
Sakura looked away from him. Sighed. "Touya didn't forget you, if that was what you're wondering about," She finally said quietly. "He never forgets those that are precious to him. In that, I should thank you for being Touya's best friend. It's been such a long time since I've seen him so overjoyed."
"What's wrong with Touya?" Yukito asked gently.
Sakura forced a laugh. "What are you talking about? Touya's fine."
Yukito frowned for the first time that night. "Sakura, I hope you won't mind me calling you that, but it's a fact that your parents died many years ago."
Sakura stiffened. "I do know that," she answered coldly. "If I remember, my okaasan died when I was three. My otouson died when I was fifteen. But I'm sure you already know. After all, it did reach the newspaper."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you and Touya,"
She flinched. "Stop saying those words. I don't want to hear them."
"I left to work in England and when I had come back, I learnt of your otousan's death and by then, you and Touya had moved and I had no way of knowing where you had moved to." Yukito continued without heeding her. "It must be horrible for the both of yourselves to live on the incomes you make."
"We do fine," She replied tersely.
"Sakura,"
"Don't call me that!"
Yukito paused and reached over. Sakura visibly flinched again even though it was obvious that she had tried to stop herself. Instead of holding her hand or offering her comfort, Yukito reached for the papers.
"I wasn't going to sign the papers until you had talked to me honestly," Yukito said casually as he read over the documents. "However, since you don't want to, I'm not going to force you." He looked up and smiled. "I want to earn back your trust again Sakura-chan."
With that, he smiled again and signed his name on the dotted line. He returned it to her, still having the same smile that would never fade from his face. Sakura felt her defenses falling apart slowly. Part of her wanted to go back when she was small, to when she was an innocent girl where she had the silliest crush on her older brother's best friend.
The other part of her knew better.
"Arigato, Tsukishiro-san," Sakura answered formally. "This means a lot to me and everyone else. On their behalf as well as mine, I thank you." She bowed slightly.
"I told you I would help you," Yukito replied, his eyes sincere. "Good luck on the fashion show."
-----
They needed more than good luck. What they needed was a real miracle, where things could be what they wished for, and end happily ever after. They wished for a place where they could be recognized for their talents and not what their past actions. They yearned to be truly free of the stigmas that they carried on their backs with invisible signs that everyone could see.
But that wasn't going to happen. It wasn't that miracles didn't exist. In fact, miracles did exist. It happened everywhere and all the time.
It just doesn't happen when you want them to.
-----
Alright. That's the end of this chapter, and it's much longer than I intended it to be, since it came out to be a total of 20 pages single spaced in Word. So let's see. I promised a short brief timeline of ages and important events, presented from Sakura's point of view since it's mainly from her perspective.
Age 3: Nadeshiko passes away.
Age 5: Meets Meiling and her mom.
Age 17: Fujitaka passes away.
Age 18: Graduated from high school. Yukito goes to England to work.
Age 19: Touya, age 26, diagnosed with illness and is in and out of the hospital for next few years.
Age 22: Touya's illness worsens and stays permanently in the hospital.
Sakura's current age is 22. Touya is 30. Meiling is also 22. Syaoran and Eriol are both 25. Tomoyo is 23, and is a fourth year in college, studying to be a fashion designer.
Hopefully I have that timeline right. I had it scribbled on my notebook, and hopefully that actually makes sense! Haha.
So about my current life right now, it's getting slowly back on track and I can't say thank you enough to the people around me who have pulled me through. And to the readers of this story, who have patiently waited for my return. In that, I can't say how much that means to me. It'll take time adjusting to having someone you've used to be around you all the time to suddenly be not there, but I suppose being away from home at college helps though.
Anyhow, please review so I can know what I need to improve on! Thanks:)
--iris dreamer