Ch.6 : A New Perspective

Syaoran locked his gaze forward, a fire in his eyes. Here he was again, where he had been defeated so many times before. At the front of his gaze lay his adversary, perhaps one of the most formidable opponents he's faced. Countless times now he has faced this foe and yet every single time he's been met with crushing defeat. It was like the time he faced Yue in the Final Judgment and like Yue, the white expanse of his opponent was taunting him, daring him to make a move. He steeled himself and lifted his right hand, which held the tool to conquer this enemy. Slowly, he made his move as the tip of his tool inched closer and closer and closer….

"Argh!" Syaoran screamed in frustration. With a flipping motion, he threw his arms up and threw away the pencil in his hand. The action was followed up with a slam of his forehead on the desk, next to the blank piece of paper on it.

'Why is writing this so hard?!' he screamed at himself. It was a haunting question, but one he already knew the answer to. If it had been any other person this would be a piece of cake but writing to Sakura for the first time is a big deal for him. He was never really good at expressing his feelings in the first place and each time he managed to get the words on paper, he found what he had produced unsatisfactory for one reason or another and threw it in his trash bin. Syaoran looked at the bin next to his desk, which was almost overflowing with the week's failures. Before he knew it, the bin had been filled with balls of rolled up papers. The only reason there weren't more covering the floors was because he spent a long time with each piece of paper, but he knew that was only a matter of time. At this rate, he'd go through an entire tree's worth of paper before he can finish his letter. Once again, the tiredness crept in and urged him to take a break.

'NO!' he stressed in his head. 'If you keep postponing this, you'll end up not doing it at all. It has to be now!' Slowly, he felt his determination return. Determined to make a fresh start, Syaoran looked at the trash collecting in the bin again, a reminder of his lack of progress, and decided to empty it. Disposing of it would probably help and he liked to keep his room tidy anyway. He decided the best thing to do was to burn them away with magic, considering the sensitive content of the letters, and had just exited his room to do that when he ran into the last person he wanted to see right now. Two of his sisters, Fuutie and Fanren were walking on the way to their room when they ran into him holding the bin filled with papers , which immediately roused their curiosity.

"Xiao Lang, what are you doing?" asked Fuutie.

Syaoran cursed his luck. "N-nothing!" He stammered out.

Had he kept his cool, Syaoran could've avoided any more questions, but his panicked response only fanned the flames of curiosity of his sisters. Fuutie narrowed her eyes on him. "What are you up to, little brother?"

"Yeah what are yo-" Shiefa followed up but immediately stopped as her face contorted into a look of shock. "Wait a minute! A young man walks out of his room with a bin full of paper. It can't be! Fudie, you don't think he's-" Syaoran didn't catch that last word as Fanren whispered it to Fuutie's ear. Whatever it was, it shocked Fuutie upon hearing it. A second later, she bonked Fanren in the head and caused the younger girl to wince in pain.

"Of course not, you idiot! He's still too young for that! And he wouldn't be using writing paper!" she exclaimed with a light blush on her face.

"Really?! How do you know that?" Fanren replied with a look of fascination.

"I don't know! It's just the way it is!" Fuutie replied hotly.

Not knowing what they were arguing about, Syaoran took his cue nonetheless to leave the scene. His escape proved to be short-lived as he had barely managed to get a few steps away from them when Fuutie called for him. "Wait! Xiao Lang, get back here!". Syaoran started running faster as the sisters gave chase. In his haste however, a paper ball fell from the bin due to the turbulence. Cursing to himself, Syaoran turned and went back to fetch it but it was too late. Fuutie's deft hands grabbed the paper and opened it.

Syaoran stood in defeat as both of them buried their face in the letter. The two girls shared a giggle between them as they connected the dots. When they looked at him again they had a look of smugness, one which Syaoran immediately considered to be the most punchable expression in the world.

"Look, just give it back okay!" Syaoran growled.

"Alright, we understand." Fuutie said with a smile. She walked slowly to Syaoran and made to place the paper in the bin, which slightly relieved him as she wasn't making things difficult. His relief however was short-lived as Fuutie made a feint and went behind him instead. He couldn't react fast enough and was unable to counter as she quickly locked his arms and held him down, causing the bin to drop to the floor.

"Quick, Huanglian! Get the others!" Shiefa gave a mock military salute and ran to do her duty.

"What are you doing?!" Syaoran shouted angrily while struggling to break free. However, Fuutie's size advantage was too big to overcome even with his martial arts training.

"Shhh, don't want to make a commotion now do we?" Fuutie replied playfully.

"Answer me!"

"What do you think we're doing?"

"You're going to make a scene and parade those letters around! Honestly, don't you remember what Mother told us?!" he hissed, feeling furious at his sisters' childishness.

"Oh, Xiao Lang, how little do you think of us?" Fuutie replied joyfully. "We'd never do something like that to you. On the contrary, we care about you and don't want to see you troubled." What she said next brought made him recoil in horror, and he almost wished they were going to ridicule him.

"Which is why we're going to help you."

"All clear!" exclaimed Feimei after she made a sweep of the area.

"Okay, come here!" replied Shiefa, who was already with the other two girls and Syaoran. Satisfied that there was no one else, the sisters were excited to start. Syaoran in the meantime, was less enthused about this whole thing.

"I told you already, I don't need help." Syaoran uttered in irritation.

"Your graveyard of letters says otherwise." Shiefa replied teasingly.

"Well, that doesn't mean I want help, especially yours!"

"How mean!" Feimei pouted in mock offense. "And after we offered it so freely!" The other three nodded in similar feigned sadness.

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Whatever." he grunted. "It's none of your business, anyway. I'd rather be doing this myself in my room rather than with all of you here."

"Oh, don't worry Xiao Lang! With Mother gone, this room is practically unoccupied." Fanren replied merrily. Said room being the library, which was a large room in the center of the mansion's interior. It was filled with an assortment of books on various subjects such as history, science, and of course, magic among others. A large table with chairs was provided was in the center of room for leisurely reading. The books were Yelan's private collection, so it was not rare to find Yelan here reading up on various books during the day. Today, it saw use as the sisters' conference about their brother's relationship. "And we may not always look it, but we're your older sisters, Xiao Lang. We're always here to help, and you definitely need it, especially since it's taken you almost a week."

Syaoran made to reply when his sister's words rang an alarm within him. "Wait a second, how did you know that?"

"Meiling told us." Fanren replied casually. "Well, not exactly. We were prying her for info on Sakura and she accidentally let it slip you were having trouble. Speaking of which, I can't believe you're asking her for relationship advice. You know how weird that is right?"

Syaoran gulped at the question. Fanren had put him on the spot with that one. "Yeah, well, she's always asking about it and volunteering advice. It's not like I asked for it or anything…" he trailed off. It was the truth but he couldn't help feel guilty nonetheless. The only reason Meilin's so involved is because he's so clueless about relationships.

"You can't keep relying on her, you know. Who knows how hard it must be on her." Fuutie reprimanded. For once, she had a serious face which was shared amongst the others. Her words earned nods from the other three and Syaoran could only stare downwards in shame. It wasn't until he felt a hand on his shoulder that he looked up again. Fuutie was looking at him with a smile once more. "Cheer up, little brother! We know you're inexperienced with these things. That's what we're here for, to give you some help."

Syaoran looked at the smiling figures in front of him. What they said had made sense and they would probably have more insight than Meiling in terms of experience. Besides, looking at their determined looks told him they would not let him leave. With a tired sigh, he resigned himself to his fate. "Fine, I'll see what you have to say."

The girls gave a unified "Yay!" at his response and immediately set to work. "So what are you having problems with?" Fuutie asked like a doctor diagnosing a patient. The rest of the sisters leaned closer in anticipation.

'No point being guarded now.' Syaoran thought. "Well, I don't know what to say to her. I've never written a letter to anyone before in the first place, let alone someone that… you know."

"Well, what do you want to say to her?" Fuutie asked.

Syaoran considered the question. If he were to be honest, there was a lot he wanted to say to her, but it was how he should say it which troubled him. "Well, I guess I'd like to know how she's doing now, but I'm afraid of saying too much and becoming too pushy. I don't want to make a mistake and say something that would trouble her." He finished with a huff. Despite the circumstances, it did feel good to share his worries with someone. Syaoran looked at his sisters, anticipating their input on the situation.

"Oh, don't worry about that, little brother. Just write how you feel about her!" Fanren suggested.

"Idiot, it's not that simple!" Shiefa interjected. "He doesn't know if she likes him back. If he comes on too strong it could scare her."

"I'm just trying to help." Fanren pouted in indignation. "Besides, it couldn't hurt for him to be a little more assertive."

"This is the first letter he's writing to her, so he should just take it slow first then work up later." Shiefa insisted.

"Hmph, I don't see what makes you the expert. You haven't even dated yet."

"You, that has nothing to do with this!" Shiefa yelled, angered at the personal comment. Fanren replied by sticking out his tongue, which started a verbal showdown. The two of them continued arguing back and forth, listing of each other's shameful secrets with Feimei and Fuutie joining in to break them up. Syaoran could only sigh tiredly as the sisters were lost in their own business. He had expected this much from them to be honest.

Finally, Fuutie decided she had enough. "Will you two knock it off!" Fuutie scolded. "You're both being a nuisance!"

That brought them back to focus. "Sorry." They said in unison while bowing slightly at their eldest sister. With that settled, they went back to the matter at hand. Feimei spoke up. "Xiao Lang, didn't you say back then that she already accepted your feelings? That should make things easier, shouldn't it?"

"Yeah, how do you know that anyway?" Shiefa asked.

Syaoran's face reddened considerably and he averted his gaze to the side. "Well, I made something for her back then. It was a teddy bear. Supposedly, if you give a handmade bear to someone you would stay together forever. Before I left, she asked for the bear and I gave it to her."Syaoran felt his face heat up from embarrassment. He was never the type to buy into superstitions and yet he had bought that teddy bear on impulse, even if he hadn't fully understood why back then. Even now, it surprised him how uncharacteristic his actions were, and it understandably surprised his sisters too. Their surprise quickly turned to adoration. "That's so cute!" came their trademark collective cry. Awws and remarks were shared between them, which made Syaoran blush even harder. As he averted his gaze again in embarassment, he noticed Fuutie wasn't joining in with them. Instead she was quiet and looked deep in thought. She stayed that way for a while before her face suddenly brightened up, as if she was struck by lightning.

"That's it!" she yelled in excitement.

"That's what?" Syaoran asked.

"I know how you can write to her!"

"Really?!" the sisters said in unison, this time joined by Syaoran, who was curious what idea his sister had.

"Yeah, just ask her about the bear!" Fuutie replied. She prided herself for her brilliant idea. However, the others did not seem to share her train of thought and displayed their confusion. "Well, think about it. You gave her that bear which was supposed to represent your feelings, so asking her about it gives you a way to show her your feelings without being too direct. It's the perfect solution."

Syaoran reacted in astonishment. The minute she explained it to him, it clicked. This was the break he'd been looking for. He hadn't seen it that way before but her reasoning made sense and it gave him something to start with. Even the others were already sharing their agreement with the idea. "Yeah, I guess that could work." Fuutie replied with a triumphant smile.

After that, the rest of the letter flowed relatively smoothly. He found himself more at ease in writing and his sisters didn't need to help much, so it didn't take long for him to finish. He reread at the final draft again. It was concise but delivered what he wanted to say, and he was content with that.

"You're not gonna tell her about the Clan stuff?" Fuutie asked.

Syaoran shook his head. "That can wait. For now, I just want to let her know I'm doing okay."

"Wow, I can't believe we did it!" Fanren said happily. "See? There's no harm in asking us for advice, little brother." she prodded teasingly.

"Well, don't get used to it." Syaoran replied bluntly. "This doesn't change the fact that you all forced me into this. This is my private matter and I won't have you nosing about my business." The sisters frowned at his sudden cold attitude. "But, if I ever need some help, I guess I can ask any of you." The sisters looked at him again in surprise. "Thank you." he added finally.

"You're welcome!" they replied in unison.

Syaoran looked at the letter again. For once, he had to give credit where it's due; they definitely helped him this time. He couldn't help but imagine Sakura receiving the letter and reading it. The thought sent a smile to him.

"She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" Feimei asked.

The question broke him out of his trance and he realized he had been daydreaming in front of his sisters. They were all looking at him with smiles on their faces, not out of teasing but out of genuine happiness. "Yeah, she does." he replied firmly. There was no embarrassment in his statement. It was something that he felt sure about more than anything.

Feimei smiled cheerily at him. "You know, you never used to be this open with us. In fact, we didn't really know how to approach you since you always kept to yourself." The others nodded in agreement, remembering how he had kept himself so isolated from them or anyone else. Every day he would only train and study and rarely interacted with anyone else. The only person he would talk to was Wei or their mother while reporting about his duties. Reflecting upon himself, Syaoran had to admit he found his sisters troublesome and avoided talking to them unless it was necessary. Now, he realized that they had been trying to reach out to him yet he had shot then down everytime, and while he still found them to be incurably noisy and nosy, today had shown him his sisters were much more than he thought them to be. It made him feel incredibly guilty for the way he treated them in the past. A gentle touch on his shoulder broke him out the thought, and he looked up to see Feimei smiling at him.

"Don't worry about that. We're just glad that you found someone to be happy with. If she brings out the best in you, then we'll support you every step of the way." she promised. "That's what a family does." The rest of them nodded, signifying their commitment to that promise.

"Thank you." Syaoran said with utmost sincerity. It was all he could say. They had touched him beyond words and in this moment, there were no words needed. Feimei hugged him tightly and the rest of the sisters followed. This time however, he felt no discomfort and hugged back all of them as best he could.

They stayed that way for a while in a huddle of warmth before Fuutie broke the hug, signaling the rest to follow. "Well, no sense in keeping you here. You've got mail to deliver after all." She winked playfully to him. Syaoran sighed in exasperation, but smiled at her and allowed the slight teasing at his expense this time. All of them exited the library and was heading their own separate ways when they ran into Wei talking seriously on the phone.

"Yes, very well. I shall see you soon. Goodbye." Wei ended the call and put down the phone. He had a troubled look on his face which surprised all of them. It was rare to see him with anything but a gentle smile on his face. It didn't take long for him to sense he was being watched and he turned to see the children looking at him with concern.

"Ah, it's you." Wei said with the smile plastered back on his face. "That was your mother. She said she'll be home by the evening." With that, he took his leave and left as composed as usual. When he did, they shared looks of worry. The feeling of warmth from their moment in the library was now replaced with concern over their mother.

"What do you think happened?" Fanren asked.

"I don't know, but no sense worrying about it now. We'll wait until she gets home." Fuutie said. But even as the words left her mouth, she knew the cloud still hung over their heads, especially Syaoran's. It was already late afternoon, but it would be a long wait for their mother to come home.