Author's note:This story is a figment of my (er dark) imagination. Similarities to any situation is absolutely coincidental. Please Follow and Review! Thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, Clamp does. I do not own the song Ever After, Bonnie Bailey does. Oh, and if you noticed, I also borrowed some of my favorite characters from a few Chinese novels that I've fallen in love with. So yea, I own no characters here. Zilch.
Thank you everyone for the likes and follows!
/(T o T)/ Ganbaremasu!!! (๑T o T๑)/ Fighting!!!
Chapter 35: Been Waiting For You (Part 2)
When Sakura arrived at the Ritz, four of Syaoran's men accompanied her as they went to the outdoor cafe at the mezzanine floor. Her bodyguards are all around 186 cm tall and were wearing uniformed black suits with an earpiece inserted in one of their ears, making them conspicuous to the people around them.
Flanked by four tower-like men, Sakura did not appear uncomfortable at all but instead, she walked as she normally does, brisk yet gracefully, her big doe-like eyes that appear misty with water looking straight ahead as if nothing else in the world matter except the business she has to do right now.
A strong yet petite lady, emitting a powerful aura and yet appears as gentle as a flower, fierce and yet elegant.
Some men even did a double take when she passed by them but how could they see her back with all those bodyguards around her are set on limiting the public's view of their young madame.
Looking down from one of the upper floors, one man was leaning on the metal railings. His attention was caught by a lady wearing a long flowing mint green dress and a low brimmed beige hat with an emerald green ribbon.
Like the other people inside the hotel, he watched as she gracefully walked towards the entrance of the hotel's famous cafe. Suddenly the lady looked up towards the upper part of the wall and pointed at one of the classic paintings displayed. One of the bodyguards nodded at her and swiftly walked towards the reception hall.
At exactly that moment, the lady's exquisite small face is seen by the man from two floors above her.
"Ehhh…." the man tapped his finger on his chin as he seemed to be in deep thought.
Suddenly, one of Sakura's bodyguards looked up at him and their eyes met for a few seconds. The man from the upper floor then pulled out his mobile to make a call as he directed his sight on the lush garden outside the glass wall of the chic hotel.
"Hello." a raspy man's voice answered after three rings.
"I think I found her."
"Good. Confirm first if that is her before we decide on it."
"En."
As the man flipped his mobile over and over in his hand, a faint arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Like a smile, but not a smile.
If someone who knew him appears, this kind of smile will definitely give chills to the other person.
"Ano, excuse me master Yue Ze, the old lady has been looking for you." a timid voice interrupted the man's musings.
He frowned and checked his other mobile. It did not have any messages or missed calls.
"Grandma? Why did you not call me immediately?"
Bowing down her head as if it could almost penetrate her chest, the young woman replied in a frightened voice. "The old lady forced me to immediately leave the office and search for you."
Without speaking any further, Yue Ze walked towards the private elevator. The secretary jogged to catch up with him, daring not to reach his side but not falling too far behind him either. When the door opened, he saw that the hotel's private elevator is already occupied by two people.
It was the same lady he saw from the mezzanine and one of her bodyguards. The same guy who caught him staring at the lady from back then. Obviously recognizing him, the bodyguard did not hide his vigilance towards the newcomer.
"Miss, this elevator is only for the VIP guests and company's board members. May I know which office are you headed? My secretary can accompany you." Yue Ze tried to appear gracious to the woman in front of him.
Startled that the man spoke to her, Sakura raised her head up and looked straight into the man's unusual dark blue eyes. Seeing the man's facial feature, she thought that this man could pass as an International hottest actor or maybe a top male model.
Too bad though, with Syaoran as her fiance, she is totally immune to even the most handsome men in the planet.
Sakura smirked in her head. Oh, she is just too obsessed with her man!
Anyway, Sakura gave the man in front of her a small smile. "Hello. A few moments ago, I bumped with an old madam and she dropped her things so I helped her pick them all up. But since she was in a hurry, she gave me this pass," she showed him a smaller than a credit card, gold plated card, with the word YUE ROU XI embossed at the bottom. "She told me to come up immediately at the 70th floor and show this pass to anyone I'll meet there and they'll bring me to her."
She added shyly, "Even if I told her I am here to meet with someone, she wouldn't accept my refusal so I just did what she told me to. Anyway, my friend hasn't arrived yet so I can spare a couple of minutes for the grandma."
Yue Ze gave her a curt nod. "Don't worry, I am very much familiar with that old lady's personality. I'm headed to where she is anyway so I can accompany you."
"Alright. Thank you, I guess."
The door opened to the 70th floor and as soon as the four occupants stepped out the elevator, Sakura and her bodyguard fell two steps back from Yue Ze and his secretary.
"Madame, I've informed of the master of your whereabouts. I also sent a message to Miss Daidouji. She said she will give you a call as soon as she arrives at the cafe so you can make an excuse to leave the old lady's office."
Syaoran has an elite group of bodyguards who are named by their rank during their first ranking competition. The one with Sakura right now is called "Ni", who is ranked second of all the twenty top elite men.
"Thank you, Ni." she gave him a discreet look and he nodded in agreement.
He understood that Sakura wanted him to check on the old lady's background and who this man is with her. When they reached the grand entrance of a luxurious office, Ni-san purposefully stood right outside the door as he waited for Sakura to pass by him. When everyone else entered the office, he walked a few steps away and contacted their main headquarters to give out the Madame's instructions.
--xOxOxOxO--
As soon as Sakura entered the private room within the expansive office, she was suddenly hit with a soft impact on her chest and waist.
"Ooof! What the hell?" she cried in surprise.
"Grandma! Act like your age!" an angry voice brought Sakura back to her senses and she looked down at the tiny figure plastered at her chest.
That's when she noticed that this person and the old lady she met downstairs have similar hairstyle and are wearing the same clothes. Due to her old age, the grandmother reaches only her chin and is currently comfortably hugging her in her arms.
Sakura thought of her own grandfather so she smiled down at the lady and patted her head.
"Hello grandma, I came up like you asked me to. Although I need to leave immediately since I have a date with a friend downstairs. Maybe we can meet again some time soon?"
She coaxed the grandmother in her arms.
"Oh…" a sad reply came. "Ok, are you sure you will meet me again?
Before Sakura can answer, the grandma in her arms was taken away by the gruff man she met in the elevator. Looking at the man's darkened expression, Sakura wanted to scold him for being too strict with such a loving grandmother. But, hey, I don't even know their relationship anyway.
"Grandma! Don't be too much! She is a stranger and a guest after all!" Yue Ze tried to keep his voice down as to not anger his eccentric grandmother.
"Ya! You disobedient boy! Are you even my grandson? Why are you pulling me like this?" the old lady who previously acted soft and gentle in Sakura's arms just a few seconds ago turned into a raging tyrant when faced with the tall man, constantly hitting him with the fan she was holding.
"Grandma! Stop it! You'll kill your favorite grandson! And why do you even have a fan? The aircon is working perfectly in here anyway!"
Sakura watched in awe as the pint-sized grandmother obviously scored hundred of battle points over the towering man. She went over to one side of the office and sat on an oversized chair as she watched in amusement at the show in front of her.
Oh well, Moyo-chan hasn't arrived yet anyway.
--xoXoXoxO--
After 3 minutes of intense hitting, the old lady finally calmed down. She then remembered that she had a guest and looked around to see where Sakura has gone to.
Seeing her sitting idly at the sitting area of the office, she immediately went over to her and sat on another oversized chair directly in front of her.
Smiling at the beautiful young lady in front of her, Old Madam Yue said sheepishly,
"Young lady, I apologize for my rash actions towards you awhile ago. Don't worry, I am not dangerous nor do I have bad intentions towards you. I am not crazy either. It is just that you remind me so much of someone and I was really looking forward to see you up close. I was in a hurry when we bumped into each other downstairs that I didn't see your face clearly."
Sakura shook her head, "Don't worry too much about it, grandma. I did not take any offense anyway nor did you frighten me. Oh, I look like someone you know? Is she here too? It would be nice if we can meet each other." she told the old lady kindly.
The lady shook her head sadly. "That person isn't here right now but I'll take you to meet each other next time. Anyway, what is your name, my dear child?'
Sakura stood up and politely introduced herself. "I am Amamiya-Kinomoto Sakura, the fiance of Li Syaoran. It is my pleasure to meet you, grandma."
With surprise evident on the faces of both the Old Madam Yue and her grandson, they also stood up and formally introduced themselves.
"This old lady here is named Yue Rou Xi, and you can call me Grandma or Grandma Xi from now on. That old fart over the couch is my youngest grandson, Yue Ze. He is in charge of this hotel so unfortunately, you had the chance to meet him."
Yue Ze felt his ears heating up so he gave an abrupt bow towards Sakura and sat down, quickly opening the newspaper in front of him to cover his face.
Sakura saw through his actions and covered her smile with her hand. This young man is interesting, it will be nice to be good friends with him and introduce him later to Koko and the rest of the gang.
Settling back down to the chair, Old Madam Yue curiously asked Sakura, "So your fiance is that Li Syaoran, what a lucky fart." she snorted when she mentioned Syaoran's name. "Your children's looks must be extraordinarily outstanding! I hope I can live long enough to meet them even just once."
Talking about her and Syaoran's future kids, Sakura couldn't help but blush at the thought. She adorably pressed her palms on both her cheeks to cover her blush. "Grandma Xi! You're making me shy! And of course you'll get to meet them, I promise you."
"Or maybe you have a child already? Forgive your grandma, I just assumed initially that you don't have any yet since you look so tender and young." the old lady apologetically told Sakura.
"Oh no, grandma! We don't have kids yet. But don't worry, I too want to have kids as soon as we get married!" she dreamily held her hands together, her eyes shining brightly as she look at the Old Madame Yue.
"That is great, my dear child! Grandma will pray that you will be blessed with a child as soon as possible!"
"Thank you Grandma!" then Sakura felt her mobile phone vibrate, " Oh, I am sorry, Grandma, I need to take this call, excuse me for a second." she stood up and walked a few steps away.
Old Madam Yue and Yue Ze exchanged a knowing look. A mixture of confusion and worry is reflected in the old lady's light blue eyes.
"Grandma, my friend has arrived. I must say goodbye for now. Here is my card, you are free to contact me anytime you want. And maybe you can also introduce me to the person who you said I look similar with! That'd be interesting!" Sakura went over to where the old lady was sitting and gave her her special black card, indicating that the person holding her card is a VIP.
"And here is your card back, grandma. Thank you for today! I had a fun time! You too, Yue Ze. I'll see you around, I guess."
"I'll let my secretary send you down."
With a wave, Sakura walked out of the private room.
--XoXoXoxoXo--
Before Sakura even stepped out to the main hallway of the hotel, a male assistant came rushing towards Sakura and Ni. He bowed politely towards Sakura and presented her a small beautifully-wrapped package.
"Young madame, this is a present from our madame Yue Rou Xi. She forgot to give it to you a while ago due to the shortness of time she had to talk to you. She also said to wait for her call three days from now, she would set up another meeting with you." he politely relayed to Sakura the old lady's message.
"Oh, this is unexpected. Please tell grandma I said thank you for the gift. And I will clear my schedule then so that we can have a longer time to get to know each other."
With an affirmative nod, the male assistant respectfully bowed and then returned back to the office. Sakura and Ni went over the private elevator together with Yue Ze's female secretary from before and she sent them down to the cafe's entrance way.
--XoXoXoxoXo--
Inside the now solemn room, one old lady and one young man aged sixty five and twenty nine respectively, are staring at each other for quite some time now.
After taking a sip of her freshly brewed tea, Old Madam Yue sighed.
"What do you think? But they look very similar to each other. The shape of their face, that cute slightly upturned little nose, the shape of their small mouth, and even the eye shape are the same! Only the color is different! Tell, me how can they not be related?"
Yue Ze leaned back casually on the couch and placed half of his long legs on top of the center table. He massaged his temples as he felt a headache coming.
"I have no idea, grandma. Initially, I thought we've finally found her."
He took out his mobile and placed a call. When he heard the man's familiar raspy voice, he put the call on speaker mode.
"Why did you call again? Is something the matter?"
"Hey gramps, grandma and I just met up with the woman I told you about a while ago."
"How was it? Is she the one?" Excitedly, the voice from the other side of the call asked.
"Well, Grandma tricked her into answering if she has any children and she said she has none yet. Frankly speaking, I feel that she is telling the truth."
"Maybe she is just good in lying. I mean, getting rid of a child is not something you can easily tell a stranger about."
"But the child looks really honest, dear. She is like a perfect little lady if you ask me. And when I hugged her, I had the same feeling as when I am holding our baby. It must be her!" Old Madam Yue interjected.
"Well, does she really look like Xiao Bao?" (*A/N: this means "Little Treasure" in English. Sometimes, I will switch from 'Xiao Bao' to 'Little Treasure' depending on who's calling him.)
"Almost 90% yes, dear. It's amazing. I was shocked senseless the moment I saw her that I purposely dropped all my things just to make her help me pick them up and finally get a chance to invite her for a private chat."
"What's her name? I'll ask our people to check on her."
"I already released the order, Gramps. But don't get your hopes up in deeper digging about her background. Would you believe, of all people, the lady we've been looking for a year now is the top treasure of old General Masaki. His granddaughter, Amamiya-Kinomoto Sakura."
A short silence followed and they could only hear the quickened breathing of the old man on the other side of the line.
"So is Xiao Bao the child of an Amamiya and a Li?" the old man whispered softly, as if fearing that someone besides Yue Ze and Old Madame Yue might hear him.
The old lady clutched her chest as she felt afraid for the young child they've brought up for the past year. Meeting Sakura up close, she is willing to bet her life that she is Xiao Bao's lost mother. And believing in this, she is very clear of the danger surrounding the identity of her adopted grandchild.
Yue Ze pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a loud groan. With a steely glint in his blue eyes, he told his grandparents what he thinks of the situation.
"I am not even sure how that could be, Gramps, but I know for sure that the lady Amamiya is telling the truth. But I also firmly believe that she is the biological mother of Xiao Bao. The similarities are uncanny. Something insidious must've happened to the mother and child that they had no idea of the existence of one another. It will be one of the toughest tasks we'll have, but I promise you both that I will try to know more about their case."
Old Madam Yue smiled gratefully at her grandson. Standing up, she reached out and rubbed his now unruly hair. "Filial child, grandma is very pleased with you. You go and do what you can to help your little brother and I will also think of ways to get closer to Sakura-chan."
Yue Ze smiled fondly at his grandmother. "Of course I will, Grandma. I know how lonely it is to grow up not knowing your parents. I don't want Xiao Bao to experience the same."
Old Madam Yue wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and felt the familiar heartache whenever she remembers how her son and his wife died in an ambush in Europe when Yue Ze was still eight years old. Her poor grandchild… how lonely he must've been all these years.
"Alright, Ah Ze (A/N: Adding an "Ah" before a name is an endearing way of calling a person.), we'll talk about it more tonight. Make sure you go home to the main house later."
"En. I will Gramps. Tell Xiao Bao I'll see him tonight for dinner."
--xOxOxOxo--
After finishing their afternoon tea, Sakura and Tomoyo went to different luxury brand shops. It has been three years since they last went shopping together so they purchased everything they liked and so in just one hour, all of Sakura's four bodyguards have carts filled with posh boxes with either clothes, shoes, or bag inside.
Anyway, Syaoran gave his black card to San (A/N: Meaning '3') and called Sakura up and told her that she isn't allowed to use her own money for this shopping trip. It is San's specific job to handle her purchases and if she won't obey Syaoran, the he doesn't have any choice but to remove San from his position as Sakura's bodyguard.
Sighing at the overbearing man, Sakura had no choice but to follow Syaoran's orders.
Anyway, it's not that I can empty his account just by shopping today. I mean his money is mine too once we get married so I better not spend over the top.
As if reading her thoughts, Syaoran added, "If you don't spend at least 10 million yen today, then I'll force the mall to stay open until we return from our dinner tonight. I will accompany you to shop more and then by that time, I can't promise you how much I will be spending on you."
"No need for that! I'll buy a lot now, okay. 10 million it is. Don't give me too much! Your money will be mine once we get married so I need to spend wisely, you know."
"Don't worry about it, baby. You won't be able to exhaust my finances."
Sakura rolled her eyes at the phone and quickly bid him farewell and walked over back to where Tomoyo is waiting for her.
"Done flirting?"
"Haha. you know, I think Eriol had such a bad influence on you."
"Oh darling, if you only knew. My love is my source of life, I couldn't imagine living without him. So I don't give a damn if he has made me turn into such a perverted person."
Sakura and Tomoyo laughed and after hooking up their arms, Tomoyo suggested that they visit one of her stores in the Azenith Mall since she had some clothes shipped there this afternoon just for Sakura.
After trying on fifteen new dresses with their matching shoes and purses, Sakura and Tomoyo left her shop with all the presents she personally designed just for Sakura alone.
Tomoyo was holding her mini video camera that is almost just the same size as her palm. She's been happily recording Sakura from the moment they entered her store until now.
"Ne, Moyo-chan, do you really think that Syaoran would like this dress for our date tonight?" She asked her as she nervously tucked a loose strand of hair that fell on her face at the back of her ear. "And I think you've gone a bit overboard, sweetie. Why did you had the stylist put my hair up like this and even put makeup on me! Syaoran's not that fond of my wearing makeup when I'm not at work or at a party, you know."
Rolling her eyes at her cousin, Tomoyo zoomed the camera lens to her face. "I assure you he will love it! It's just a light makeup after all! Look," she showed Sakura the stills of her recent shot."It's exactly like the popular no-makeup look! It just enhanced your features more, sweetie. Don't worry about Syaoran not liking it! I'm the fashion guru, remember?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder to emphasize her confidence.
"And that dress looks amazing on you, Saku! Remember when I told you when we were teens that white suits you much better than pink? Look at you now! Ooooh if only I can see Syaoran's face the moment he sees you tonight! He'll be totally swept off his feet, I tell you!"
"Hontou (really)?" Sakura stopped and looked at her reflection in a shop's glass window.
Tomoyo especially designed for her a white lightweight silk embroidered dress that hugs the curves of her body perfectly and then gradually turns into a an A-line skirt and ends two inches right above her kneecap. Paired with the white 4-inch swarovski crystals-studded stiletto heels, she looked like she just walked straight off a fashion show.
Sakura fell in love with the intricate beadwork and lace embroidery of the top of her dress. Since it has just a simple jewel neckline, Tomoyo gave the dress its exquisiteness through the hand sewn design and high cost materials. When one looks closer, one can see that there are actually different materials used in the artistic design of the dress: from the simple swarovski crystals to the precious south sea pearls and diamonds.
"Moyo-chan, this dress must've cost you millions! I didn't even notice from before that you've used good quality diamonds to outline my waist!! And three rows of it! Are you crazy?"
Tomoyo just shrugged her shoulders. "Doesn't matter. Your extremely talented cousin is earning big buckets now. Have you forgotten how my shop expanded to the whole of Europe? Take this dress as my engagement gift for you, ho ho!"
Sakura hugged her cousin before they continued to walk back to the driveway where their cars are waiting to pick them up.
"I'll see you two days from now alright? Let's have lunch and dinner at the manor!"
"Sure! I'll call you tomorrow! Have fun with your date, my dear Saku!" Tomoyo gave her one last hug before letting Sakura enter the silver Rolls Royce Phantom that Syaoran sent for her this time.
Upon entering the car, Sakura's mobile rang. Surprised at the caller's id flashing at the screen, she immediately answered the call.
"Jii-chan? Is anything wrong? I saw just now that I have three missed calls from home. Are you alright?"
She tried to keep the panic from her voice.
"Oh, my dear child, I am fine. I've been trying to reach you since this afternoon to tell you to come here for dinner tonight. Both your father and brother are finally here at the same time."
"Oh!" Sakura looked at her reflection from the car's window and smiled ruefully. "Sure, Jii-chan! I'll just tell Xiao Lang that we'll be having dinner at the manor. I was supposed to meet him at a restaurant tonight."
"Don't worry about him. I just called Natsume that brat and he said that he and Xiao Lang are still in a meeting as of 15 minutes ago. And he told me it doesn't look like it's going to end soon. Why don't you call Xiao Lang and ask him? Just tell him to go straight to the manor right after his work and you'll be waiting for him there."
"I'll do as you say, Jii-chan! Anyway, since it's still early, I'll drop by my place first to change my clothes. I'm wearing a bit too much for a family dinner at home."
"No need! Go straight here, I want to see you the soonest! You haven't visited your old grandfather this week! Plus, your father bought you a closet-full of clothes, just change into one from those to at least cheer him up a little."
"Alright, alright. I'll tell the driver to go to the manor directly. I'll see you in an hour, Jii-chan! I love you!"
After the call, she dialled Syaoran's number and confirmed that he and Natsume are still in a meeting until now.
"I am really sorry, baby. We were supposed to end it thirty minutes ago but some trouble came up from one of our international branch. With the time difference, we couldn't postpone it."
"Don't worry about it, honey. At least, Dad and Nii-san is at home! Since I get to spend tonight with them, then I won't feel too sad that our date got postponed. We can reschedule our date tomorrow!" she tried to cover her disappointment with a cheerful voice.
Syaoran's low chuckle made Sakura's mood lighten up. "I'll go to the manor as soon as this is finished. I'll have my dinner there no matter what time it is and you must accompany me even if all you'll be having is dessert. Alright?"
"En! I'll wait for you tonight! Try to end your meeting as soon as possible!"
"I will. I love you Sakura. I miss you."
With faint blush creeping up her face, she muttered an I love you back and ended the call.
That Syaoran! He is in a meeting after all! What if someone heard him!
—-XoXoxoXo—-