Summary: AU-She was kind and too forgiving. Everyone picked on her, beat her. She never seemed to hear them, but it was a heavy burden. What happens when she meets Syaoran, a seemingly ordinary bully? Will she forget the past, and move on? S/S
AN: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I apologize for this late late chapter, I mean…it's been like 4 months? AGAIN? Really, I didn't mean for it to wait that long. My life's been hectic lately, and I've hardly had time to sleep! I won't be able to promise any updates. To xsuppixchanx…I thought it was a little cliché too…but, I only realized after I finished the whole chapter…and I was just….ugh…at least he didn't catch her by the waist, right? Ooh, and about the question mark…I don't know what happened with that, really, since it has one on the word document I typed
I realized I haven't written POVs in a while…so this will be in Syaoran's POV, in case anyone was wondering, um, flashbacks aren't done in POV, sorry if I just totally lost you there. Okie dokie! Let's get started! Again, I don't know dollar to yen conversion, therefore, all money is just in dollars.
"talking"
'thinking'
written/typed
flashback
Crystal Dropplets
By Dream4luv
Chapter 14-Ghosts
Monday morning…already? Wow. Why does the weekend always manage to pass like a blur?
I wonder how Saihara is…after what happened last night. She might be a little ticked off. Even though when I think of her selfish, angry face, I can't help but grin.
She's hopeless.
"Oh! Syaoran!I had such a wonderful time tonight! You are such a gentleman!" Saihara sighed dreamily as she clutched Syaoran's arm tightly. "Thanks for walking me all the way home!"
"Uh…It's not a problem." Syaoran mumbled. 'PLEASE! Just let her go in!'
He was desperate.
The girl smiled secretively and let go of his hand. She leaned forward to kiss him. Syaoran panicked and jerked his head backward and knocked slightly into the wall behind him. The girl was shocked. She had never been so embarrassed in her life!
Syaoran fumbled to recover as he pulled his head back and tried to not look…too awkward.
"Uh…Saihara, you know, I really like you," he lied, "But don't you think a kiss would be more special if we got to know each other better?"
"Syaoran! I know what's going on here! You just jerked your head back! Am I so disgusting to kiss that you would rather smash your head on a brick wall than have your lips contact mine?"
"Uh…No! It's not like that at all!" Syaoran lied again…but he couldn't think of anything to say after that.
Saihara huffed. "Syaoran, you're such a jerk!" She turned the knob to her door quickly and slammed the door in his face.
"Bitch."
I sigh. Maybe Saihara will be too humiliated from last night to even come to school? I hope that's the case.
"Syaoran!" a happy voice calls from behind me.
I turn around. It's Sakura.
"Uh…hey."
"How was your date last night? Saihara seems like a very sweet girl! I hope everything went well!" the girl chirps, smiling.
"Oo…Oh! Uh…yeah, it went extremely well! I can't even put how well it went into words!" I let out a fake chuckle. Why am I lying about my date to her?
"Well! That's great, Li-kun! I'm so happy for you!" I stumble and stiffen as she gives me a friendly hug.
I must have looked extremely uncomfortable because she blushes and her smile strains. "Oh, I'm sorry, Li-kun! I really…didn't mean to just suddenly…"
"Uh, no, that's ok." I mumble quietly, even though my cheeks are burning. No one may know it, but I'm extremely afraid of people touching me. I have my personal space. No one gets to violate that comfort zone. Why did I dance with her than? Maybe I was just too worried about what others thought that time…I probably just didn't notice.
I brush off the thought. Whatever. That was then, this is now.
"Where's Meiling? I haven't seen her today!"
"Oh, I dunno…she's around, somewhere…" I say. Who really cares?
"Oh…" Sakura says slowly. "Oh well! I'm sure I'll see her at lunch. I hope she isn't mad at me, you know, with what happened yesterday."
"Nah…I don't think so."
"Ok. I don't want to be on bad terms with her before we even get to know each other!"
The bell rings.
"Well, I guess it's class time." I comment half-heartedly.
The girl nods her head cheerily.
She's different….Somehow. She's a lot happier today than usual. Maybe just because of all the stuff that's happened recently…Does she realize that she won't have to sit by herself at lunch anymore?
"How can you be so excited to go to class?"
"You know, a lot of children don't even get the chance to have an education past the elementary school level. I saw a picture before…it was of a bunch of children, they were so skinny, and they were sitting against the wall of a building surrounded by sand. Their hands were in the dirt, and they were practicing math. I just felt so lucky that I get to go to school, have a desk to sit in, books to read from…You know? Math isn't my favorite subject, but I want to try my hardest because I have the opportunity to do that."
"Well, I guess if you put it that way…" I say slowly. I feel a little guilty that I hate school, but to tell you the truth. I'm a little annoyed with Sakura too…why does she always see the best in things? Is there not a time that she's just a little spiteful?
"Come on, Li-kun! Let's hurry! We'll be late if we don't!" the girl makes a mad dash for the doors. "Li-kun!"
"Coming." I grumble just loud enough so she can hear me.
"Class. I'm afraid there's a bit of bad news." The teacher drawls apathetically. Gee…I really can tell how bad she feels…not. "The local volunteer spaces that were open for you have too many volunteers. No one can get enough community service hours. Apparently, the opportunities need to be offered to students of other schools too, especially university students. So from now on, all your sites have requested that each team only go in once a every two weeks."
Yay.
Students murmur in suppressed glee. No one really liked taking a part of their day to accompany other people and actually HELP them.
"However…" the teacher continues. "You will all need to make up your grades somehow. So…I have provided you with ANOTHER project opportunity. These…" she holds up a huge packet of paper. "Are stories from all over the world. You and your partner will be randomly assigned a story to investigate. The stories are only around 10 pages each, so the rest of your packets are research report rubrics, guidelines, and questions concerning your particular story. Any questions?"
A student raises her hand. "When are these due?"
"This assignment is due in two weeks! You better get to work. I'll give you one Friday to work on these. The rest of the time is set between you and your partner. I do hope none of you will procrastinate and do this at the last minute. But, because this has nothing to do with our previous project, this grade will determine 20 percent of your literature grade for the semester. So work hard. You cannot afford to fail this one."
Disappointed groans float from the students as they all look at their partners.
"No complaining." The teacher says loudly as she clears her throat. "Now. When I call the two members of your group, I want both of you to come up and take your packets."
Finally…I think Sakura and me are the last group to be called. Great…I hate literature…really, what is the point of reading if it has nothing to do with self defense? Or at LEAST something relevant to the real world.
Sakura squirms as she takes the packet in her hands. I see her eyes repeatedly staring and rereading the title of the story. "The Wailing Woman"? I frown. What's so strange about a wailing woman? Women wail all the time.
The girl stiffens as she returns to her seat. I see her shudder briefly.
"Ok, class. I will give you TEN minutes to decide your schedule of when to do this. Get to work!"
"So when do you want to do this?" I ask.
"Um…could we do it after school sometime?"
"Well…I don't know. We wouldn't have a lot of time since dinner's always just a few hours after. And this packet looks really long. How about after dinner?"
"Umm…" she says nervously, her fingers twiddling.
"What? You have plans?" I ask, getting a little annoyed. Why can't she just say what she wants?
"I-I…umm…" she looks away for a moment, but looks back at me with a nervous smile on her face, "Never mind, we can do it after dinner."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." She nods a little too cheerily.
"Who's house?"
"Maybe mine, I'm not sure Meiling would like me going to your house."
I chuckle a little, which seems to make her less nervous. "Okay."
After school. Finally! I thought the day would NEVER end. I head to my locker and then go directly to the library.
"Syaoran!"
I turn my head…oh…Meiling. "Hey, Meiling."
"Are you going to the library again? When are you gonna start coming home to do homework?"
"I can't. You're always distracting me." Not to mention…god, I hate seeing family sometimes. They always remind me of what happened to my dad. If that happened to someone else…
"But it's raining!" Meiling points outside.
"Not much."
"It'll be pouring soon. The streets might flood; you'll be walking ankle deep in water!"
"I'll be fine." I grunt.
"Fine. But take this." She hands me her cell phone. "In case you need to call home."
"Ok."
"Later!" she calls as she runs down the hall.
"Bye."
I check my watch. 5:30. Perfect. I can go to Wacdonald's and get some food before heading over to Sakura's.
I get out Meiling's cell phone and dial my home phone number.
"Hello?"
"It's me. I'm not going to be home for dinner. I'll probably be back late. I'm working on a project at my partner's house."
"Oh, who's your partner? Maybe we can come pick you up when you're done."
"Uh…It's fine. I'll take a cab. I still have some money." Tonight would remind him of the accident. It was raining.
"But, Syao-"
I hang up and turn off the phone.
As I get outside, it's raining. Like Meiling said. Not pouring, though. I'm not "ankle deep" in water. In fact, the water barely goes past my heels. I open the umbrella.
It's so quiet outside. There are barely any people or cars. As I round the corner. I see an ambulance. And two cars. Ones completely ruined. The man in it is screaming.
I walk by tensely. They've sealed most of the accident zone off. The Wacdonald's is just across the street. I can make it there and stop listening soon. As I'm about to push open the door, the screaming stops. All I hear are officers talking sternly to the other man. The one who lived. The one who came out perfectly fine.
"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to do a breathalyzer test. Have you been drinking tonig—"
I push the door open and run inside. The cashiers at the counter are all murmuring about it before they notice me.
"Can I help you?"
"Could I just get two hamburgers, please?"
"$1.91."
I quickly pull out the money and hand it to her. She gives me the change swiftly.
"Is this for here or to go?"
"To go."
"That poor man. I bet the guy who hit him was drunk…" the first girl mutters to her co-worker.
"Oh, yeah, definitely."
"Here's your food." She hands me a bag that I grab quickly. I look outside. The ambulance is still there. I can't go out right now. I take a seat and eat my burgers there.
6:30. I have to go. The ambulance is about to drive. Just five more minutes. They'll be gone by then. I close my eyes and put my head in my hands. Slow breaths. Just breathe in and out. It's the first time in a long time that I've felt like crying.
By the time I walk outside. It is indeed pouring. The water's almost covering my shoes. Thank the gods Sakura's house isn't too far away. Maybe 2 or 3 blocks. I quicken my pace. My eyes feel sore. It feels like I'm seeing blood everywhere.
I shake my head to clear my thoughts. It doesn't work like it does in the movies. I feel nauseous, like throwing up.
"Oh my god…" his mother breathed.
"I'm sorry we couldn't save him. There was just too much damage. Too much internal and external bleeding."
God. He hadn't seen so much blood in his life. Was it possible for one person to bleed so much? He shut his eyes and shuddered, clutching his mother's waist.
His sisters were hysterical. They were crying…no, sobbing. They looked away in fear. There was blood on the sheets. Why weren't the doctors fixing it? The stench was unbearable.
His sisters looked away in disgust. They looked away with sadness because they loved they're dad. But this wasn't him. This was a terrifying monster.
Death was.
The smell was gagging them. It was suffocating.
"Let's go." His mother was crying, trying to be strong for her children. She ushered his sisters out of the room, then took one last look at her husband.
The last thing Syaoran remembered was staring at his father's mutilated face and his lifeless body lying on the table.
Before I knew it, I was at Sakura's front door. I knock quietly.
The door opens and I see a relieved smile. "Li-kun. Thank goodness you're here. I was afraid something happened to you in the storm."
"N-no. I'm fine." I take a breath to calm my nerves.
"You must be cold. You're drenched. Didn't you have an umbrella?"
I realize that I must've forgotten to use it after going to Wacdonald's. There was too much going on, and all I was trying to do was run from it. My hair is dripping onto her floor. Not to mention my clothes.
"Sorry."
"Oh, no. You don't have to apologize. Actually, I'll get you some clothes. You must feel awful. Just wait here." Sakura says as she hurries up the stairs. She returns in only a few minutes and hands me a new pair of pants and a t-shirt, that's a little too big for me. She smiles apologetically, "They're my brother's. The bathroom's right down the hall, so just change and leave your clothes there. I'll put them in the drier. Oh! Do you want me to turn the heat on? I usually don't have visitors, so I don't turn it on, just wear layers, you know? But it's a little chilly, I'll go turn it on…You just go on and change. And there are towels in the bathroom, so you can dry your hair up."
She leaves again.
Why is she so nice to me? Worrying and giving me dry clothes. Turning on her heater for me. I'm sure she doesn't usually use it because of her financial predicament. But then again, she's nice to everyone.
It doesn't take me long to find the bathroom. I look in the mirror. I look like a wreck. If I had seen myself standing in the doorway, I probably would've shut the door.
"Sakura…" I say, trying her name for the first time. Her name feels so natural when I say it.
"What?" I hear on the other side of the door.
"Uh, nothing." I murmur, embarrassed.
By the time I come out, I'm nice and dry. I feel a lot better. More stable. I take a breath and walk back to the living room.
I see Sakura sitting at the table. A bowl of hot soup sitting in front of an empty chair.
"I thought you only knew how to make noodles?"
"And soup." She smiles a little. "I thought you might need it."
"Well, thanks," I smile. This time it's genuine. I take a seat at the table.
"So, um, I was wondering, since…well, I think that we can call each other friends now, right?"
I look up, "Yeah, I guess we can."
"So, I just thought, that, um…maybe, I can start calling you Syaoran-kun? I mean, well, that is, if you want to…" She looks down at the table cloth, obviously flustered.
"I think you could," I say, a little flustered myself, I stare off somewhere, anywhere but at her, "Only if I can call you Sakura."
"Really?" she looks up smiling. She laughs.
"So let's get to work, shall we?"
"Ok." She sighs a little.
"What?"
"Nothing…"
"Okay…so how do you want to read this story, by ourselves, each reading a paragraph, or what?" I ask, flipping through my packet.
"Why don't we each read a paragraph?" her hands shake violently as she turns to the first page.
"Ok."
"You can start."
"This is a story that the old ones have been telling to children for hundreds of years. It is a sad tale, but it lives strong in the memories of the people, and there are many who swear that it is true."
"Long years ago in a humble little village there lived a fine looking girl named Maria Some say she was the most beautiful girl in the world! And because she was so beautiful, Maria thought she was better than everyone else. As Maria grew older, her beauty increased, and her pride in her beauty grew too When she was a young woman, she would not even look at the young men from her village. 'When I marry,' Maria would say, 'I will marry the most handsome man in the world.'" As Sakura read, she seemed to ease up a little. Breathing more smoothly and even managing a smile every now and then.
"And then one day, into Maria's village rode a man who seemed to be just the one she had been talking about. He was a dashing young ranchero, the son of a wealthy rancher. If he owned a horse, and it grew tame, he would give it away and go rope a wild horse from the plains. He thought it wasn't manly to ride a horse if it wasn't half wild. He was handsome! And he could play the guitar and sing beautifully. Maria made up her mind-that was, the man for her! She knew just the tricks to win his attention."
"And so everything turned out as Maria planned. Before long, she and the ranchero became engaged and soon they were married. At first, things were fine. They had two children and they seemed to be a happy family together. But after a few years, the ranchero went back to the wild life. He would leave town and be gone for months at a time. And when he returned home, it was only to visit his children. He seemed to care nothing for the beautiful Maria. He even talked of marrying a woman of his own wealthy class."
"She became very angry with the ranchero. She also began to feel anger toward her children, because he paid attention to them, but just ignored her. One evening, as Maria was strolling with her two children on the shady pathway near the river, the ranchero came by in a carriage. An elegant lady sat on the seat beside him. He stopped and spoke to his children, but he didn't even look at Maria. When she saw that, a terrible rage filled Maria, and it all turned against her children. And although it is sad to tell, the story says that in her anger Maria seized her two children and threw them into the river! But as they disappeared down the stream, she realized what she had done! She ran down the bank of the river, reaching out her arms to them. But they were long gone. She continued running until she tripped on a rock and cracked her skull open."
Sakura gasps as she hears the story. "How can a mother do such an awful thing to her children!"
"I don't know…It's folklore." I reply.
"It was only a few days afterwards that La Llorona appeared. At the exact spot where Maria had drowned her children, when it was a dark and silent night, a voice carried thinly on the wind. It was cold and wavering, choked with tears, calling out 'My children, my children!' In her madness and with the passage of time, Maria had completely forgotten what her children looked like, so she called out for all children. Whenever she found a child alone in the dark, near the water, she took it." Sakura shudders. Her face is pale and she looks terrified.
"Once, a small boy playing along the Rio Grande with two friends encountered her. It got to be late in the afternoon, and then the sun was suddenly gone and the moon started coming up. The two friends were afraid of La Llorona and talked of how she would be out and about on a night like this. They decided to go home, but their friend just scoffed at their fear, claiming it was a story parents told to make children obedient."
"As heavy clouds covered the stars, and everything was still and quiet, a small hole slowly opened up in the clouds to let a hazy, silver moon shine through. The boy stood dumb struck, as he saw a ghostly white form rise up out of the water. Then, he heard the sound. It was a terrible crying sound. 'My children!' He wanted to run, but his legs would not obey, and he felt a harsh coldness slowly move up his backbone. All the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. His mind screamed for him to run, but his legs would not move. He stood rooted to the ground, as a tall woman with a long, thin, pale face that was white as chalk with large, deep empty eyes reached out a withered hand and moaned in a pitiful voice, 'My children!'"
I see Sakura shuddering more. She looks so terrified.
"You know, we don't have to keep reading if you're scared." I say.
"No…this is for school. I can't. I can't be scared…" She replies in a shaky voice. The thunder claps. She yelps and almost jumps out of her seat. We can both hear the rain pounding hard on the ground outside.
"Here. Why don't I just read the rest?"
"Okay." She takes a breath. "It's not much more…"
"The hand took hold of his arm and wrapped long, bony, cold fingers around his wrist. The fingers began to squeeze tighter and tighter. Although his fear was intense, he could not move. The boy felt the woman tugging him step by step toward the water, and he was powerless to fight back. 'My children,' she wailed, and her mouth was as dark and cavernous as the night sky. She pulled him toward the water, drawing him closer and closer to her.
"At that moment a church bell rang. By the time that first tone had wavered off into the night, the boy felt that the icy grip on his wrist was growing looser. The bell rang again and again, and it was as if her fingers were melting away. By the last peal, he was free.
"The boy ran home. When he got home, his mother was very angry, until she saw the whiteness of his face. She demanded to know what had happened, but the boy could no longer speak. He drew pictures to tell what had happened, and there were the terrible red marks on his wrist where the bony fingers had touched him and held him too tightly."
"Oh god…" Sakura whimpers. She claps her hands around her ears and shuts her eyes as the thunder goes off again.
I put my hands on her shoulders. "Hey, are you okay?"
How scared is she of ghost stories? Why didn't she tell me?
She nods and speaks in a muted voice, "I'm fine."
It's already dark out. I look at the clock…8:50. "Look, are you sure, you're okay? I have to go…"
"No…please." She nearly knocks me over as she clutches my arm, "I'm sorry…it's just, I hate ghost stories. Just stay until my brother gets back, please!"
"When will he be back?"
"He should be back a little after 9:00."
"Let's watch some TV to take our minds off the story, okay?"
She nods.
I turn on the TV. The news at 9:00…what perfect timing.
"Power is going out all over the city. We advise everyone to stay in your homes. The cab service right now is closed as well as the buses. There is a flash flood warning at this time in the area of Tomoeda. All schools will be cancelled for tomorrow until further notice…"
I feel Sakura leave the couch as she heads for the phone. I hear her dialing a few numbers. "Excuse me, may I please speak to Kinomoto, Touya, please? What? Oh…they've all been moved to the Motel? Do you know when he'll be back home? Oh…they're closing the roads? So he won't be back tonight? I understand…thank you."
She sighs as her eyes close. She sits back down on the couch. "He's not coming home tonight…"
"Can I use your phone?"
"Sure."
I dial home again.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Meiling?"
"Syaoran, where are you? We've been so worried! We can't pick you up, the roads are being closed down. Syaoran, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm at a…friend's house."
"Will you be okay?"
"Um, hang on." My hand covers the phone as I call out, "Um, is it ok if I stay over tonight?"
"Yeah, actually, that would be really good if you could…"
I uncover the receiver, "Yeah, I'm staying over. Don't worry, I'll get home tomorrow when they open up the streets."
"Ok, bye, then." I hear Meiling say.
"Bye."
We must've sat on the couch watching sitcoms for around an hour. She seems to be a lot calmer now. The story must've freaked her out.
Suddenly, a piercing whistle sounded through the house. It sounded exactly like a woman wailing. I look over at Sakura. She stiffens.
"Look, I'll go check it out, okay?"
She shakes her head. Maybe she doesn't want to be left alone.
"Can I come with you?"
"Sure." She stands up and runs over to me, grasping my hand tightly. It actually feels nice. She follows tentatively.
We walk through her house; the sound gets louder as we near it. I push open a door upstairs. It turns out to be just an open window. We both sigh in relief and laugh a little. I go over and pull it shut.
"It'd probably be best if we went to bed." I say.
She nods. "Let me show you your room."
We walk out of the current room. She leads me to a smaller room. It must be her brother's.
"Are you sure your brother won't mind?"
She shakes her head. "He'll understand. I don't have any pajamas though…"
"It's fine, I'll just sleep in this."
"Ok, goodnight, then…Syaoran-kun."
"'night, Sakura."
She smiles a little as she leaves the room and closes the door behind her. I can hear her sigh. Her shadow is still in front of my door. I open the door. She has her back to me and jumps a little in surprise and embarrassment.
"You want me to walk you to your room?"
She nods shyly. We walk side by side as I flick the switch in her room on. I can understand why she's scared. It's dark in the house. And in the dark, humans face the unknown…we face our greatest fears because we are the most vulnerable in the dark, we cannot see what's practical and instead, we see illusions and monsters are imaginations create.
"Thank you." She takes a deep breath. "I really appreciate you staying the night, Syaoran-kun."
"Thanks for letting me stay." I say, grinning a little as I pull her door shut. Thanks for taking care of me. I make my way slowly towards the light of my room and close my door.
Something wakes me up in the middle of the night. It's Sakura…shaking me gently.
"Something wrong?" I murmur groggily.
"I-I'm really sorry…um, to wake you up. I couldn't sleep…I was wondering if you would mind if I climbed in with you? I keep seeing her everywhere."
She puts her hands to her head. A fretful gesture. "Sure."
She gives a sigh of relief and climbs in on the opposite side of the bed, turns the opposite way so we're back to back but our bodies still far from touching. I hear her yawn and soon her breathing slows and steadies.
She could be as helpless as a child sometimes. But she's the kind of person that makes you stronger because you want to protect her.
AN: YAY! Finally finished! Sorry for the wait! I hope it was worth your while and not too sappy, or needy…I grew up knowing that ghost story, and reading it today still gives me the goosebumps. Please read and review!