A WINTER'S TALE
A fiction by moondocc
The Re-written Version of A Winter's Tale

CHAPTER NINE

Sakura looked over her shoulders and shot Syaoran a sour glance which he pretended to have never seen. She took a deep breath and gazed at the gentleman in the blue shirt in a sad way. She was an actress, and this was her biggest opportunity to web up a massive, gigantic lie that could impede Syaoran's development in the "social" industry forever! Snickering, she began her tale:

"When I was eight or nine, and Syaoran Li here was about ten or eleven, I had already fallen in love with him. I had seen his face on television shows, acting as the foolish young son or as a baseball prodigy, and I made a vow to myself—that I would one day meet the idol of my dreams even if that means I'll have to break my bones doing it. Starting from then, I had been working towards a means of becoming famous, so famous that contractors will beg me to star in a movie with him.

When I started modeling at the age seventeen on the runway, my name has already been a constant hot topic among movie producers. They were talking about me in a frantic but worried way, frantic in that they thought so many good things about me, and worried in that acting, they thought, would never be one of my strengths. But nevertheless, the kind Mr. Yamanashi Kamito gave me the chance of a lifetime: to star in the movie Breathe, which as you all know, was my breakthrough film. After mostly positive reviews, my agent, Daidouji Tomoyo, landed me in a lead role with Syaoran Li, in Paris Heights, which turned out to be a hit. I was so happy that I got to work with my favorite idol that I literally cried for days and nights out of happiness. Little did I know, he was a favorite amongst girls, and those girls, whew—I stood no chance against their breathtaking beauty.

But somehow, somehow, as the fates would have it, because of our chemistry on screen—and yes, I did enjoy that kiss, as some of you might be wondering—movie producers thought that we looked great together, and thus put us as leads in more movies. A Winter's Tale, the movie that I am filming now, is our fourth movie together You could not have possibly imagined my joy—I was working along with the person who had guided me through the most difficult times in my life.

Like all love stories, ours was magical as well. The details are unimportant, but as one thing led to another, our union was guaranteed. The date? A month ago.

For days, a feeling of triumph and happiness stirred my life with ecstasy. I was finally on the road to eternal pleasure with the idol on my wall that I've kissed over and over again, his mouth a mere spectral thing, a mere hologram that I nested upon. You know that wonderful feeling you get when you know that someone is out there, caring for you, thinking about you?

I finally do.

And you know what? Syaoran is a wonderful person, so generous and so understanding. He understands that I will be incredibly bitter if he was ever with another woman, and I pray that he will never, ever cheat on me; if he did, someone, please beat him up for me!

So, that's the man that I've chosen. I love how we both trust each other so much. When Syaoran sees me with another man, there's no jealousy. We have reached the level of understanding where we both have a great deal of faith in one another. You know, he's happy, if anything, if I ever hung out with some other guy. He is such a generous, kind, loving boyfriend! I love him!"

Concluding her speech, Sakura blew Syaoran a kiss, walked off the stage gently, and left the conference room utterly speechless. The reporter who wrote the article knew that she was making this gossip up, but Sakura's conformation of her relationship with all-star Syaoran Li was as real as the fact that humans possess DNA. The shock that pervaded the room was superfluous; every person was literally mesmerized by the compelling story that Sakura had just shared, by her strong will and determination, by her admiration of the one she's loved since chilhoodd, by her strength, courage, and bravery.

This woman is unbelievable.

Unbelievable was exactly what Syaoran had thought. How can anybody believe this, this blasphemy! Sakura had hated him the first day she's landed sight on him, without any reason! Ever since that, it wasn't "mutual understanding", it was more like "mutual hatred", if anything. He felt brain dead. What. The. Hell.

He has just been beaten at his own game.

Sakura, the mastermind behind her last-minute scheme, had completely wiped out Syaoran's social career in the movie industry. Not only can he not hang around beautiful women without being criticized as a "cheating bastard", he can't even prevent Sakura from flirting with hundreds of handsome men.

The weird thing was, he didn't feel so bad about the whole "not hanging around beautiful women" part. He felt weirder about her flirting with Daisuke and Jimmy. He felt as if…

Does it even matter?

Scene 93

Late afternoon, the bright autumn sun slanted over the yellow/orange-leafed tree and pierced through the empty crevices between the ancient-aged branches that would soon break off.

Akito Hayama was on his daily stroll of stalking Rosaline Ohiro, and stalking meant walking over to the auburn-haired girl who sat herself against the old tree, hands holding a Shakespearian play, Romeo & Juliet.

Sakura knew the play was clichéd; nevertheless, it was an attractive escape from all the stupid men and the lack of chivalry around. Akito observed the object of his affection and decided to drop next to her. He peered over her shoulders to see her choice of literature, hoping to disturb the serenity a little, but failed. Rosaline never bothered to look up.

The hourglass tickled by—he passing his time by observing the fat clouds, she curling up her legs against her chest and drooling over the ancient pages of her often-consulted book.

"Rosaline," he started tranquilly, quietly upsetting the peaceful balance.

"Hmm?" Rosaline turned the wrinkled page, her eyes still trailing Romeo's words of confession.

"How much do you care for me?" He said it in a careless manner.

Rosaline's fingers stopped tailing the words and hung her thoughts in midair. "What?" she asked, suddenly confused as to how someone may bring up something like that without any pretext.

"How much do you care for me?" he repeated shamelessly.

Rosaline twisted her neck, dropped the book to her lap, and stretched her arms out in full length. "How much do you care for me?" she bit him back, avoiding a definite answer herself. He sighed sadly, his emerald eyes flooring the slightly yellow grass. He shook his head as if he knew her answer beforehand; still, he could not but feel slightly disappointed.

"Sometimes I think you don't care for me at all," he changed the subject. Rosaline muttered nothing. "But to answer your question…" here he paused for a second and clutched his hands together.

"I'm more concerned about you, rather than 'care'." He stopped here and held his chin on his arms.

"What?" She was more perplexed than ever. "Concerned? Isn't concerned where I'm taking drugs and you're trying to stop me?"

"Well…" he briefed off, trying to search for the right words. Rosaline laughed. Her giggle was the voice of an angel. "You're trying to avoid using the word 'care', aren't you, Akito?"

Akito smirked. His eyes smeared into a line. "Alright. You want to know the truth?" he looked defeated.

"I'd like to think that I do."

Akito nodded slowly, not comprehending Rosaline's words. "Alright...the truth," He took a gulp of air and breathed in. "I'll use to word 'care'."

She nodded. "Continue."

"Well, of course I care about you. What did you think, you dork?" he sneered and poked her head. She pouted, awarding him a cute face.

"In fact," he persisted, "sometimes I think I care so much about you that I put you before all my other friends, all of them, including myself," he turned around and looked her in the eye, "and that's the truth."

Rosaline stared at him for a minute before breaking out in laughter. He looked at her oddly. "What's the matter?"

"You don't care about me," she answered back shortly, "that's not care, Akito. That's... just BS. All that stuff about 'I put you before myself' is so trite."

"Well, that's the way I feel," Akito answered shortly. "If you don't believe me…then I'll prove my care for you."

"Oh?" Rosaline raised her eyebrow. "How?"

"Go out with me, and then maybe you'll know." He winked, a face of mischief surfacing his handsome features.

"I'll have to think about that," Rosaline snickered and bounded herself to her book again.

A moment passed with neither saying much. Then, Akito crawled over to where Rosaline was sitting, threw her book over his shoulders, placed his hand on her cheek, leaned in, and kissed her bravely. Rosaline would have gasped if her mouth wasn't glued to Akito's, but her widened eyes gradually shut themselves as she suddenly realized, all in a moment's time, that she had fallen in love again.

Against all odds.

It was like Noah's face suddenly disappeared as a new chapter of her life finally opened. Akito broke away after a while, her taste still lingering on his lips. His eyes bore into hers with a fiery passion, but his lips curled into a smirk.

Then, as if he had defeated an army of 20,000 Mongols, Akito jumped high in the air and screamed "Whoo-hoo! She likes me! She likes me! She liiiiiikkkkkeeeessss me!"

He looked at her for a moment, still smiling, before running away like a crazy idiot, cheeks flushing with blankets of red. Rosaline's gaze tailed her aggressor's back as she turned her attention again to Shakespeare.

"I should have sued him for violation of my lips," she said to herself.

Instead, she found, surprisingly, that every line of romantic whispers of Romeo Montague seemed to be uttered to her in the voice of Hayama Akito.

"Kinomoto," Syaoran called out from the bathroom, "come here for a second," he bid.

Sakura was in her bedroom, tying her wet hair up when she heard Syaoran's call. Annoyed, she bawled out, "Why?"

"Just…just come here," Syaoran said diffidently. His voice was tired and raspy, and he was standing on the bathroom floor, looking at the spectacle inside the bathtub.

Sakura sighed and crossed the hallway. She knocked on the bathroom door softly and answered, "What do you want, Li?"

They were back on last-name terms again, Syaoran thought bitterly. Just during the premiere she had called his first name, but now, now, right after the shock of the century, a hurt and pungent Sakura resolved to never speak to Syaoran. At least, keep out of his way like he had asked her to.

Syaoran gestured for her to come inside. "Look, I think the cockroach that we killed had babies."

Sakura narrowed her eyes and looked down at the bathtub. She instantly let out a shriek. "Ahhh!" came a scream from her. "Ahhh!" came a scream from Syaoran as he jumped back, "you scared me!"

Sakura looked at Syaoran in disbelief. "I scared you? I am the one who's scared. How dare you show me this, this…" she paused in mid-sentence, trying to think of an adjective to describe the situation in front of her, "this…swarm of tiny ugly white eggs crawling around?"

Syaoran gulped. "Weren't you the one that just took a shower?"

"Yes, shower, not bath. There's a major difference, dorkhead." Sakura sighed dramatically and crossed her arms. "Well, you didn't notice this 'swarm' of cockroach babies in the tub?"

"No," Sakura answered irresolutely, "I didn't look in the tub."

"Hmm." Syaoran placed his hand on his chin. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean what are we going to do? You're the one who found it. Finders keepers. Let me get back to my beauty sleep," she said tiredly and walked away. Syaoran grabbed her arm and dragged her back.

"No, don't be such a baby. We are going to do something." Syaoran said determinedly, thinking up a million schemes.

Sakura scoffed. "Why don't we just agree that your apartment sucks and it obviously needs more maintenance than given?"

Syaoran shot her a death glare. "I'm the one who's letting you stay in here for free."

"Well, I didn't ask for it."

"But you're the one who's been in love with me since you were eight or nine," Syaoran smirked mischievously. Sakura gasped and put her hand to her mouth. "How can you bring that up, you treacherous, deceitful bastard!"

"How can I not…when you're so in luuurrrvveeee with me?" Syaoran sneered and pressed closer to Sakura. Their faces were barely inches away.

"In your dreams, Li Syaoran. How could I be in luuurrvveee with you when you don't even know the first thing about love?" Sakura shot back. The tension in the air was blatantly eerie as a dark force sucked in their breaths. His amber eyes locked in hers for a second before turning away and looking down at his warped hands.

His face was nondescript. His eyebrows narrowed for a second and he cleared his throat, but that was all that was done. He nodded at Sakura, "I'll get maintenance to clean the cockroach baby nest tomorrow," and with that, Syaoran left the bathroom without another glance.

Sakura stood in her place, stunned. A moment ago they were screaming, fighting, and now, he walks away from her and leaves her in cold, utter disbelief? Where did she go wrong? What words had she articulated that broke his spirit so much?

Sakura shook her head and looked at the cockroach babies. Then, going into the kitchen and grabbing a mop, she began scrubbing the bathtub. She looked at the white squirmy crawly things and crushed them, one by one, to the hell that awaits them.

What was it about Syaoran's temper that drove her mad as well?

"I can't wait to go to Harbin! The snow there is going to be absolutely amazing," Tomoyo chirped excitedly as Sakura laughed with her. The two best friends made up after the conference when Sakura apologized for her horrible behavior. Tomoyo understood. She knew that when Syaoran was irritated, Sakura would become irritated as well. She couldn't understand why, but she reasoned it was some sort of weird chain reaction voodoo possessed by roommates.

"Yes, I agree," Touya smiled as he stretched his arms backward, "wish I could go with you guys." He sighed, pretending to look mildly bored but secretly staring at Tomoyo from the corner of his eye.

Eriol chimed in, "Why don't you come with us?"

"I have work, Eriol. I'm a businessman. I can't just leave my job and go on a 3-week vacation with you actors and actresses."

"Yes you can, Touya," Sakura clapped her hands, "I'd rather you not go though."

"Kaijuu! How can you talk like that to your brother?" Touya joked as Sakura stuck out her tongue. "Tomoyo, do you think I should go? I mean, Harbin. Winter. Harbin. Ice Skating. Business. Money." Touya rolled his fingers and counted the pros and cons.

"Well, you surely wouldn't want to miss your job," Tomoyo said carefully; Touya tried to hide his disappointment, "but I'd like you to come," she smiled and blushed. Sakura wanted to scream out "LOVERS!" but thought that that would be an inappropriate statement and Tomoyo will certainly hunt her down later on.

"What do you think, Syaoran?" Tomoyo asked the man sitting serenely in front of her.

"Syaoran?"

Syaoran was certainly sitting serenely in front of actors and actresses, but his mind was focused on somewhere else. He was rejected by Tanako Hiroma this morning, after she had heard his recent "serious relationship" with Sakura Kinomoto. He's been getting rejected a lot lately, and it's all because of what Sakura said in that stupid conference.

"Syaoran?" Sakura waved her hands in front of his unfocused eyes. "SYAORAN!"

"Huh?" Syaoran twisted his head around and saw four people staring at him in a weird way. "Umm…42?" he offered weakly.

Eriol sighed. "This isn't mathematics class, Syaoran…don't you ever listen?"

Syaoran pressed his hands against his forehead. "I'm sorry. I'm not exactly in the mood right now," he said bitterly and stood up. "I'm going to go on the porch for a while. Clear my mind of a few things first."

"But it's cold as hell out there, it's 26 degrees!" Touya argued. Syaoran ignored his protest and disappeared around the corner. Sakura watched after him in concern and stood up as well, "I'm going to go see what's wrong."

The group nodded as Sakura followed Syaoran silently. She saw him on the porch, indeed, hands on the rail, back towards her. She never realized that Syaoran's back was such a sad sight to behold. He was wearing a white turtleneck sweater, and his hair, although disheveled by the howling wind, still managed to present itself in an orderly way.

"Are you okay, Syaoran?" Sakura asked carefully. Syaoran twitched at the recognition of a voice, but continued to ignore her.

Sakura leveled herself up with Syaoran and put her chin on the railing, her arms stretched forward, as if reaching for some nonexistent winter flower.

"You know, when I was sad, my mother would always tell me to think happy thoughts," she turned around to her companion; Syaoran looked down at his hands, but she could tell that he was listening.

"What thoughts make you the happiest?" Sakura asked curiously. "You can tell me."

Syaoran continued to ignore her. "Puppies, flowers, clothes—"

"I'm not a girl." He interrupted as he shot her a stern glance. His amber eyes were cold with ice, his lips stern and tight, his hands a ready fist.

"Alright," Sakura smiled nevertheless, "what about…winning a lead role in a mega-movie?"

She was responded with silence and the occasional whisper of the wind. "Is this about the cockroaches?"

Syaoran sighed and put his hands on his hair. "Not everything is about you, Kinomoto."

"Oh." Sakura answered shortly, "because if it is, I'm sor—"

"Is this your idea of a small-talk?" he interrupted her rudely, his eyes looking directly at hers. Not in all years of her career did she see this side of Syaoran Li, this dark, cold, almost mean Syaoran Li that didn't give a shit about the world and those around him.

Sakura paused in her sentence. Her face sketched an expression of defeat. As she turned away from the railing, Syaoran spoke in a clear voice, "Why do we keep pretending?"

"What?" stirred, Sakura turned around and faced her partner. "What do you mean?"

"I meant, why do we keep pretending that we're dating when in reality, we hate each other? Why do you keep torturing me?"

"What?"

"I can't ask girls out because they think I'm in love with you, which I can assure you that I'm not; while you flirt with multiple guys at once and have your little innocent sleepovers?" He raised his usual calm voice. His eyes let her know that he was serious.

Sakura remained silent.

"I can't stand this anymore. I can't pretend to do something that I don't want to do. I can't pretend that I like you when I don't give a damn about you. I can't pretend to kiss you when I don't want to kiss you. I can't pretend to hold you like I'm in love with you when I'm repulsed by you. I can't pretend to talk to you when I just want to walk away from you."

Sakura wanted to move, but her feet…her feet wouldn't work. They were getting feebler and feebler as she held back the tears that were forming in the back of her eyes. She never knew the power of words until today.

"You tell me I don't know anything about love. Maybe you're right, maybe I don't. I never had to chance to love someone completely, utterly, hopelessly. But you know what? I don't think you know what love is either. I mean, how can someone know what love is by flirting with multiple guys at once? Is that your idea of a happily ever after?"

"Stop it." Sakura whispered. Her lips were trembling.

Syaoran continued. "Maybe, maybe, we both need to just 'chill out', take a break from one another. It's not like we can stand each other anyway, right? I mean, since you obviously don't have any morals or any sympathy upon me, why live with one another, eh? Why pretend to do something that we both know that we don't want to do?"

"Stop it." Sakura said louder this time.

"So you know what? I can date as many women as I want at a time. I mean, it's only fair right? At least I'm a virgin and I don't have little innocent sleepovers. At least I don't cheat on one girl with another and then keep them both interested so that I'll at least have some options," Syaoran spat harshly. He could feel the power of his words, yet he kept going, "at least I'm not cheap."

He could see her eyes trembling at his words, her emerald eyes trying so hard to keep its fluids from pouring out. Then, like a heart attack, Sakura slapped him. Hard. Across the face.

"I hate you, Syaoran Li."

Then she walked away bitterly, swallowing her tears.

But secretly, secretly, what hurt the most weren't his words, but the truth behind them

To be continued…

a/n: I'm sorry I have to leave it at this! I'm really sorry for the late update as well. I don't know what I'm doing in this chapter. This is definitely not how I planned for it to go but it's late at night and I can't think! Please review if you actually read through this story. It would mean a lot of me!

Also, please read my one-shot story Saisho Kara Ima Made. I think, by far, it is the most beautiful, most analytical and most structural story I've ever written. But seriously… read it. Hahah, not just shameless advertising. But, still… :D

Please review!

Thank you!

And thanks to my reviewers from last chapter! You guys are all stars in my sky! xD