A.N. Man... sorry for not updating so long.. i HAD the chapter, but i just didn't find time to upload it lol. wow, fanfiction . net has changed a LOT since i last been here :P everything's all COMPLICATED now! O.O i feel like my mom first discovering the invention of computers... lmao. anyway.. here's teh 16th!
. moondocc .
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Chapter 16: A New-Found Glory"OMIGOD!" Sakura gasped loudly as she climbed off the steps of the airplane and glanced at Japan for the first time since her long-departed life. The airplane rested motionlessly at the large runway, and the redheaded princess ran towards her very own limo and screeched, sounding like a huge elephant stomping on the ground.
"Welcome to the city of Tokyo, your highness." A bald man in a black suit said half-smiling.
Sakura couldn't get more excited, grinned fully at him, and blurted, "Who the hell are you?" she meant to say "Thank you," but somehow managed to forget.
The bald man frowned, but then lighted up a reluctant smile. "My name is Koizumi, and I am prime-minister of Japan." (A.N. that is the real prime minister y0.)
"Oh." Sakura said in regret. "Sorry. But this place is so great!"
The prime minister nodded. Still smiling, he grabbed the hand of a boy standing behind him, and pulled him to the front. "Princess Kinomoto, I present you my son, Koizumi Joshua." (A.N. maybe the prime minister has a son. Haha, who cares? This is fiction!)
Sakura stared at the boy. He is no older than her, with bright blue eyes and dashing blond hair. His handsome features made him stand out in the crowd of tens of Japanese people waiting for the new addition to their country, and as he took her hand and kiss it softly with his lips, Sakura blushed.
"Japan is great, but I'm sure that my stay here will be greater." The young princess eyed Joshua and blinked. "And cuter." She added quickly.
Joshua smiled, and placed his hand in Sakura's. He led her way in the limo, where the prime minister and his crew had deserted.
"So, can I call you Josh?" Sakura asked excitedly as they both sat down together.
"That's what everyone calls me," Josh smiled generously. His eyes seemed distracted, which caused Sakura to ask him why.
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just remembering the first time I saw you. You were still a cute baby." Josh chuckled.
"When I was a baby?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"Oh yeah. You were born and my father and I went to the palace to look at you. You were wrapped in pink blankets and my father presented you to me. I was two at the time, and I find you, well, kind of… disgusting." Josh confessed.
"WHAT? What do you mean—'…disgusting'?" Sakura asked accusingly.
"You know how babies were first born and they have that extra skin on their forehead? That like, sheds later on? That's when I caught you. My father placed you in my arms and my eyes just went," Josh motioned his hand comically, and put a look of disgust on his face, "like that."
Sakura blushed for a moment. Too bad such a cute guy caught her at such a bad time. "But you said I was cute!"
"You were. But that was after the skin-shedding thingy." Josh smiled, and looked at Sakura amusingly.
"Yeah… whatever." Sakura shook her head and looked out of the dark window. They were passing by hundreds of skyscrapers that stretched themselves as high as the unlimited sky, and as Sakura shouted ambitiously at everyone, Josh smirked, and pointed them out to her.
"That one's the biggest mall in Tokyo, it sells everything; the one next to it is a foreign shoe department, the largest in Japan; the pink building is the best restaurant in Tokyo, and the building across from it is the Chinese-Japanese-Korean buffet. Personally I prefer the buffet, but the Italian restaurant in red, white and green across the street is way better." Josh explained in a playful voice.
Sakura pressed her face against the window and enlarged her eyes to the size of eyes in extremely girlish manga. Josh sat closer and closer to her every moment the limo seemed to turn, but the girl took no notice, and neither did the prime minister's son.
Finally, after half an hour of ultimate screaming, they have finally arrived at the Japanese palace. Josh got out of the limo and ran to the other side, jammed the car-door open, and offered his hand for Sakura to take. She gladly took it, happy at finding someone as good as a companion (for the rest of her life ;) she giggled at the thought) on her first hour at Japan.
The prime minister came hurrying to the other side of Sakura, making her act like the stuffing in a sandwich—she's stuck in between Prime Minister and Prime Minister, Jr. But… so what? At least she's content.
The three made their way through the long palace hallway and into the throne room, where hundreds of reporters stood. As they emerged from the sudden turn of the hallway, the same hundred reporters flashed their cameras and held their microphones to her nose. To the frenzy of it all, Josh stepped up and pushed the crowd away, much to Sakura's relief.
"Welcome to the gathering of our beloved long-lost princess, Kinomoto Sakura," a beautiful lady in a white-satin dress said gently, calming the reporters down. The bald man pushed Sakura up the stairs of the stage and placed her next to the lady, to which, he explained, was the Empress herself.
"Kinomoto Sakura was lost on a plane crash to Tomoeda, Japan, when she was eight years old, and has received serious damage to her brain. The result of it was heavy amnesia." The Empress paused, and then took on. "Since then the princess had no memory of her former self, and thus resided in a mansion of her dear long-time friend, Daidouji Tomoyo. After ten years, however, she has gathered up information from a former friend of Princess Kinomoto's, or, hers—Syaoran Li," at this she stopped, looked over at Sakura, who looked down at her feet. "—Syaoran Li, and was brave enough to go have a DNA Error-Proof Test, which, proved, indeed, that she was, and is, the 23rd princess to the throne, proud heiress of the Kinomoto Grand Hotel, Grande Kinomoto, and I hereby admit, my third cousin in line!"
The reporters, here, broke into thunderous applause, and shouted, "Princess! Speech! Princess! Speech!"
The Empress placed her hand in Sakura's, which she kissed, and glided her gently to the center of the stage. "A few words," she whispered kindly.
Sakura gulped. She was wearing the outfit that Tomoyo had given her, which was very inappropriate for this occasion. The Empress is dressed like a bride and she, the target (or victim) of this ceremony, is dressed like a slut teenager (or to the standards of very conservative palace people).
"Um…" Sakura whispered. The reporters fell into total silence, and the only other sound she could hear was Josh's calm breathing, which, the owner of it was standing steadily behind her.
"Um…" Sakura hesitated as some of the reporters began to smell her fear. "I… I-I-I would, um, like to thank you all, fur-for, um…"
Josh stepped up in the nick of time, and handed Sakura a little piece of paper. Clueless, she opened it, and it stated, in neat handwriting, the following.
READ BELOW:
Sakura began reading as he had written.
"Dear fellow reporters, camera-men, and the entire Japanese population, thank you all fur-f-for coming to my ceremony of re-crowning my past. I am deeply sorry for the disappearance of myself—" Sakura paused, squeezing her eyes to look at the word that fell into the fold. "—for the last ten years. I had no idea who I was or who I was to become, except for a woman practicing in the field of excellence for the common good of people."
The reporters burst into applause, some shouting wildly like animals. Josh smirked at his good writing, and gave Sakura a thumbs-up.
Gathering confidence, Sakura continued. "I apologize for failing my duties as a princess to the people for the past years and worrying my good citizens. Even though it was an accident I cannot ignore it, with it being my fault. I hope the generous and giving people will forgive what I have done, and let me strive on a new beginning, where as princess, I will do good for the people, rich or poor, happy or sad, sane or bothered—where equality is what I cherish, and common health and wealth is what will be!"
Taking a deep breath at this speech, the Empress smiled charmingly as the crowd burst into cheers again. Josh stepped up next to Sakura and she offered him her hand. Hundreds of cameras clicked at this moment as he led Sakura off the stage to retire to her room for the day. Turning abruptly again at the sudden tunnel of a hallway, they ran away from noise and found peace resting in the air.
"Great job, princess!" Josh laughed, and patted Sakura cheerfully on the back.
"Thanks!" Sakura smiled, "and thanks to you, especially! I had no idea what to say to the reporters. If you weren't there to help me, who knows what might've happened?"
"That's true!" Josh teased. They laughed together and made a run toward the palace garden.
"So… how old are you, Josh?" Sakura asked.
"Nineteen-and-a-half, princess." Josh answered.
"You can call me Sakura."
"No, that's alright. I like calling you princess." Josh smirked under the bright sunlight as Sakura punched him playfully.
"So… there really is a boy, huh? Syaoran Li?" Josh asked carefully.
Sakura paused. She didn't really want to get into this right now. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer it. I was just curious." Josh assured.
"No, it's okay," said Sakura determinedly, "there is no boy. It's over. He's the biggest fucking guy ever."
Josh laughed.
"No, I mean it. He's a jerk asshole, if you know what I mean."
Josh nodded.
"Actually, I'm ready to get into a new relationship." Sakura hinted cheerfully, and leaned closer to Josh.
"Cool," Josh said in density. "Have you found someone yet?"
"You'd be surprised." Sakura smirked playfully.
A.N. okay… okay… finally the end of this chapter! Anyway, I hope you don't find Josh as a mean old brat cuz he's soooo not! He's like, this sweet person who likes to help ppl around, but can be pretty playful sometimes. Everyone is attracted to him (if he's real…) I mean, who wouldn't? he's cute, hot, smart, sensitive, helping… everything to look for in a bf. So… no complaints 'bout Josh 'k?
'k, I'm kiddin. I wanna know wut u think bout him! SO TELL ME!
btw... please review! i know a lot of you guys get alerts, but i would really like to know what you think )
