Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, Clamp does. But I do own this story.
Hey…I finally updated! I would also like to thank those people who reviewed even though I update so slow for this story. Other than that…do read on!
Chapter Six
"Marriages"
"Hey…it is Sakura!" Touya shouted from his seat as he smiled happily seeing his sister.
The Tomoyo had called in Sakura's father and brother and her own mother along with Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, Takashi and of course Eriol the next day.
They had watched the tape taken from the Daidouji surveillance cameras and still couldn't believe it.
Tomoyo had been smiling more since the day before when she found out that Sakura really wasn't dead but she still wasn't fully rejoicing yet…the question which lies within everyone now is: why didn't she come back to them? And why was she called Cherry?
"Eriol, did you call Syaoran?"
Eriol shook his head.
"I can't, I couldn't get through the lines…again" he said with an irritated sigh.
"Yuan! Yelan!" an elderly female voice said in a happy tone as she went over to give Yelan a hug and shake to Yuan.
"Hua Lien!" Yelan said as she pulled back from the hug. "I'm glad to see you again, where's your husband?" she asked as she only saw another girl, only younger, behind her.
"Shen couldn't make it, she had an urgent call from the company and had to take care of things" Hua Lien explained as she held her daughter's shoulder and pulled her in front of the Li's. "You remember my daughter? Chyou?"
"Good morning King and Queen Li, it is a pleasure to finally meet you" Chyou, a 20 year old lady with deep dark eyes, long, straight, silky, black hair and creamy white skin greeted as she bowed in front of them.
"Good morning to you too young lady" replied Yuan as he and his wife bowed back. "Hua Lien, come, let's settle in the lounge…Xiao Lang will be joining us there shortly"
Hua Lien nodded and followed the couple down the long, large entrance hall of their mansion.
"Now that we know that she's actually alive, how do we get her back?" Eriol asked. "I mean, Rika and the others wasn't able to get the plate number of the car and they don't know what type of car it was"
"Hey, we were busy processing the fact that Sakura was alive" Chiharu said defensively.
Eriol rolled his eyes but smiled all the same.
"How about we show the tape to the police and tell them we saw her?" suggested Naoko. "They could do a search for us"
"If they found out that you guys were able to find Sakura but that she didn't come with you guys, they won't bother trying" Touya sighed. "How about you Tomoyo, can't you send some guards to find her or something like that?"
Tomoyo considered this. It was the next best plan. She looked over at her mother.
Sonomi nodded and Tomoyo smiled happily.
"Okay then, I'll have the guards have an all out search over Tomoeda to see where she is" Tomoyo said happily, running to the phone.
"Cherry" Yasuki said as he stepped into her room.
Sakura was currently sitting in front of her mirror, staring at the necklace around her neck and the rings on her fingers, looking sad. When she saw Yasuki, she put on a fake happy smile.
"Oh hey Yuki" she greeted as she turned on her seat to face him.
"Umm…I have a question" he said nervously.
"What is it?"
"You wanna go out with me?"
Sakura was shocked. Somewhere in her head is telling her not to allow herself to say yes, but some parts where also telling her that there was nothing wrong with going out with him. I mean, it wasn't like she's going out with someone else, right?
"So, the marriage will be on then?" Hua Lien asked happily, looking over at her daughter and at Syaoran.
Syaoran had barely said anything through out the gathering. His face was serious as can be like how it was before he went to Japan. He hardly reacted and never smiled.
Hua Lien and Chyou noticed this but didn't mind at all. After all, they can't boss him around to do anything; he's the bloody prince of China for Christ's sake.
Yelan looked at his son, seeing that he wasn't planning on saying anything soon, she spoke instead.
"My son is happy with this arrangement Hua Lien. I shall be announcing when the wedding shall take place, but just keep in mind it will be pretty soon" Yelan laughed.
"Nothing!" Tomoyo said irately as she slammed the thick folder filled with papers are on the table and dropped herself on the couch, beside Eriol. "They have been searching for 3 weeks now, and nothing!"
"But, that's impossible, unless she's not living in Tomoeda. And if she isn't, she'll be ever harder to find" Fujitaka spoke up as he went over to the rack and took out a map of Japan. He ran his fingers and stopped at the label of Tomoeda "Let's see, the river is here and the current is going south or north?" He looked up at everyone.
"South" Takashi said.
Fujitaka nodded and followed the river trail with his finger down south. "There's a small town that the river passes, the town's called…" he narrowed his eyes to see the small label "Shimi"
"Shimi, there's actually a town called Shimi?" asked Rika looking up at the others. "I never heard of that before"
"Nor did I" everyone else said, except…
"I did" Eriol spoke up.
Everyone looked at him.
"That town is an hour's drive from Tomoeda"
"Do you know anyone who lives there?"
"A few friends of mine"
"Then, call them up and ask them!" Touya said, wanting to get back his sister. They may be older now but he's still very protective. He's been sulking since the accident and only got back his hopes when he found out she's alive.
Syaoran walked down the hall with Chyou. Her mother and his parents agreed to let her stay in the mansion for a couple of days so that they'll get to know each other more to avoid awkwardness when they get married.
He had to admit, she was a very pretty lady, but looks aren't everything. Compared to Sakura, she was too silent. Sakura always lit up a dim room with her jolly attitude and giggly self. Thinking about her made him smile, which is something he hadn't done since he talked with Eriol weeks before.
"Something the matter?" Chyou asked softly, seeing him smile.
Syaoran looked at her and his face turned serious again.
"Nothing" he said as they continued to walk down the hall in silence.
'Why can't he smile most of the times like what he just did now? He's always so serious, I can't stand it. I've stayed in this mansion for a week now and everything between the two of us is still awkward'
'Oh my God, Oh my Go, Oh my God' Sakura repeated to herself as she tried to look casual when she entered her room. After closing the door she grinned widely.
Their first date was kinda weird but that was when they both became a couple. Yasuki asked her to be his girlfriend then but now, he brought her to meet his friends, but most of all, Yasuki proposed! He had asked her to be his! She was hesitant at first, she didn't know if it was right to agree to get married after only going out for 3 weeks, but still…she agreed. Sakura was smiling madly at the thought. She was engaged and she couldn't believe it.
She was still smiling and headed over to the chair in front of her mirror. As she sat down, her smile faltered after seeing the necklace around her neck. She took it into her hands and turned it around. It was only that night when they were in there car ride home, after he proposed and she agreed that she noticed that something was engraved at the back and it kinda disturbed her and got her thinking.
"Mr. and Mrs. Li" she read in a whisper and noticed that there was a drawing of a crown under it. She didn't get it at all. If she was wearing this, does that mean she was married? If she was, why wasn't she wearing a wedding band for a ring instead of an engagement ring? 'But who's Li?' she asked herself. She looked at her other hand where Yasuki slipped in their engagement ring since Sakura didn't want to remove the other two, and she never did. He understood and allowed her to wear his ring on the other hand instead. Sakura glanced at her wrist again like she usually did for some unknown reason before moving towards her bed in hope of a peaceful sleep.
"Hey Aki, are you with Mika?" Eriol asked through the phone as the others listened.
"Eriol! Glad to hear from you! Yeah, I'm with Mika at his house, why?" a male voice said through the phone and Eriol could hear another voice say "Hey" behind the 1st voice.
"Hey Aki, do you and Mika know anyone who drives a black car in your town?"
"Black? Yeah…a lot of people here drive black cars. Why? Can you at least tell me the type of car so it'll scratch off the options?"
"That's the problem, we don't know what type of car it is" Eriol said in a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.
"That's too bad man"
"Anyway, did you ever see a new girl there?"
"New girl? There are a lot of new girls here. This may be a small town but we've got a lot of babes too, you know?"
Eriol smiled and shook his head.
"But you know, every time they come, they get a lot prettier. I mean, one of my friends just brought in this green-eyed chick and man was she hot a-"
"Stop! Wait, what? What green-eyed chick?" Eriol repeated.
"One of my friends just got a girlfriend. She was a beauty…green eyes, great figure, long hair, luscious lips-"
"Hold on, don't go to every detail…what's the color of her hair?"
There was a pause and Eriol heard Aki talk to someone on the other line, probably Mika.
"Mika said it was a light brown shade kinda like honey. Why? What's the deal?" Aki asked.
"Nothing, just curious…anyways, when did you see her?"
"A while ago, she and my friend were going out and we met her. Actually, I only saw her in this town today. She must be one of the new ones"
"Thanks a lot Aki"
"Hey no prob."
Eriol sighed as he closed his cell phone and pocketed it. He walked back in the room where everyone was. As he did, everyone looked at him in silence.
"Found her"
Everyone was still silent then the girls screamed as the guys along with Sonomi sighed in relief.
"Eriol, you better call Syaoran before he does anything drastic. He should know about this" Tomoyo said when everything calmed down.
"He won't do anything drastic, he's probably just sulking at this very moment"
Just at that moment, Touya turned on the TV to keep his mind on some other things and avoid getting too excited about getting his sister back.
"Umm…define drastic?" he said from his seat in front of the TV set.
Everyone looked at him then at the TV.
"Now, news on other countries…we have just received news that the Prince of China, Prince Xiao Lang Li, is getting married! He will be wedded with Ms. Chyou Jin, the daughter of one of the richest families from China. The wedding is official but the date isn't recognized as of yet. Now, this reporter says, congratulations to you your highness!" the newscaster said with a wide smile after they showed a picture of Syaoran and the lady he was marrying on the screen.
Tomoyo felt faint looking at the screen and processing the news in her head. She held onto Eriol for support as she tried to keep her head straight. Then Eriol's cell rang.
"Hai?" Eriol answered.
"Oh hey Eriol, this is Mika"
"Hey Mika, what is it?"
"Aki forget to tell you"
"Tell me what?"
"You know that girl you were asking us about? The green-eyed one?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, we forgot to tell you that she's already engaged. She's marrying my friend here anytime soon. I just thought you should know, since well, you seemed really interested but she's already taken, and you can't- Eriol? Eriol?" Mika repeated.
"Hold on, Sakura's getting married!" Eriol screamed into the phone.
Just then, the weight on Eriol's side was gone. He turned around to look behind him and saw Tomoyo unconscious on the couch, being fanned by the other girls.
"Wait, Mika…you can't be serious"
"I am…and who's this Sakura girl? Her name isn't Sakura, its Cherry"
"Right, I'll talk to you later. Thanks for the info. Ja" Eriol pocketed his cell phone and sat down on the couch behind him, beside Tomoyo.
The morning light hit Tomoyo's face and by this she sat bolt right up. She turned around and saw Eriol by her bedside, sleeping, head on his folded arms. She would've stayed there all day and watch until he wakes up if that was any normal day, but it isn't.
Tomoyo moved over close to him and started to shake him. He instantly sat up on the chair he was on. He was a really light sleeper.
"Eriol, we have to go to Sakura and Syaoran! We can't let them marry the wrong people! It's just wrong! They were made for each other, we have to do something!"
Eriol reached for his glasses on the nightstand and wore them while yawning.
"Exactly. What time is it? I arranged for you, me, Touya, Rika, Naoko, Chiharu and Takashi to head over to Shimi and take Sakura"
"Oh you're the greatest!" Tomoyo exclaimed as she hugged him and kissed him passionately. When they pulled back, Tomoyo glanced at her wall clock. "It's 8:42 by the way"
"Good, we'll have a few minutes to fix ourselves up. I told the others to come here at 9:00 so we'll all go there together. After all, I'm the only one who knows the way"
"This is their house?" Tomoyo asked as she opened the car window.
"Yup, this is it…this is the Sumiya Residence" Aki said.
They had just come from Mika's house where they asked directions from him and Aki. They seemed to be hooked on Rika and Naoko so they decided to come along.
After parking the car, they all went out and headed towards the gate. Aki and Mika both went in directly.
"Are you sure it's alright to go in without ringing the doorbell?" Naoko asked.
"Yeah, Mrs. Airi won't mind just as long as she knows us"
They came to the porch and Aki and Mika stepped forward to the door and knocked. No later a girl came up and opened it.
"Oh, hey Aki, hey Mika…Onii-chan isn't here, he went out…hey! I saw you before!" she said looking at Rika, Naoko, Chiharu and Takashi".
The four smiled at her.
"Hey Emi, we wanna talk to your mother and Cherry today"
Emi looked at the two guys before nodding and letting them in.
"Cherry! Mother! Visitors here to see you!"
Sakura heard Emi calling her. She took one last glance at herself on the mirror before heading outside her room.
She wasn't going anywhere today so she wore a simple white sun dress that had Cherry Blossom flowers printed on it. Yasuki was going out today to visit their aunt again and suggested that Sakura wouldn't come along and that she should stay with Emi.
She went outside and down the stairs. As she entered the living room, she saw Airi and Emi talking with a lot of people, but when they noticed her arrival, all eyes were on her.
"S-Sakura!" the lady with amethyst eyes said as she started crying and holding on to the guy next to her who had midnight blue hair.
"Cherry, come sit with us" Airi said rather sadly.
Sakura went over to sit beside her and Emi, in front of the group.
"What's happening?" Sakura asked the elderly woman.
"Aki, Mika, what are you doing here? Yasuki hasn't arrived yet…in fact, he just left" she said with a smile.
"No, we're here to see you Cherry" Aki said.
"Oh, why is that? Who are all these people?"
At this, Tomoyo, Eriol, Touya, Rika, Naoko, Chiharu and Takashi looked up at her. What was she talking about?
"S-Sakura, what are you saying? It's us! It's me! Tomoyo, your best friend since we were kids!" Tomoyo said confused and in tears.
"I had a best friend?" Sakura asked Airi.
Airi looked sad and faced the group.
"I'm sorry" she said.
"What's wrong with her? How come she doesn't know us?" Touya demanded.
"She doesn't know you" Airi started to explain.
"How the hell can't she know us? I'm her brother! Been her brother since the day she was born! I took care of her when our mother died when she was 3 years old. I-" Touya shouted.
"She has amnesia!" Airi said, overpowering Touya's voice, making everyone go quiet.
"W-What?" Eriol asked.