Chapter 12
Hometown
Several hours later, Syaoran led them quickly to a large building, before stopping in front of a door adorned with a small golden plaque that had a single character on it. He reached up to what seemed to be the door buzzer, but instead of pushing it, he pulled one of the screws out and slid it aside, taking a key from the confines and putting it in the door.
"Wait..." Kurogane started, but didn't get the chance to finish as the door swung open and Syaoran stepped inside, motioning for them to follow. The apartment was empty, but well-maintained, meaning someone probably lived there.
The youngest male turned to the rest of them. "This might take some time. Would you like something to drink?"
The other three all looked at each other, confused, but nodded and took seats on the couches as Syaoran motioned them to.
A few minutes later, they all sat sipping warm tea in an incredibly uncomfortable silence.
"So," Kurogane said, frustrated and brusque as usual. "I'm going to take a guess this is your home." He looked at Syaoran, who nodded.
"Yeah... I..." He sighed. "This is the apartment I used to share with my cousin... and occasionally... well... I left Tomoeda a long time ago, though. That's why I rushed you here, if anyone knew I was back, I think-"
He was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, a startled gasp, and then what sounded like grocery bags dropping. He turned to find the origin of these noises, a young woman with long black hair and red-brown eyes.
"S-S-" She stuttered, her wide eyes welling up with tears.
"Hello ma'am, sorry to intrude," Fai stated, ever the mediator, sitting near the edge of his seat as though readying himself to stand up quickly and try to defend someone.
"S- S... XIAO LANG!" She screamed, running across the floor so quickly she wouldn't have time to stop if she ran into the couch. In a flash, Syaoran was on his feet and in her path, bracing himself for impact. It was hard enough he stumbled backward and fell backward over the crouch, the sobbing girl on top of him, and landed with a hiss on his still-healing back. "Is it... am I dreaming again? Are you really here?" She pulled back and looked at him, ruddy brown eyes staring straight into his more amber colored ones.
Syaoran nodded hesitantly. "... I'm back. Sorry, Meilin... for running out like that. But-"
"I know, I know..." She sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes before grabbing him for another crushing hug. "You had something to do... but... I never thought it would take you ten years! Did... did you succeed? Is-" And Meilin paused suddenly, stiffening up. "Sakura...!"
"Wait, Meilin," Syaoran started, but she was on her feet in a flash and standing in front of Sakura.
"Sakura! Sakura you're back! Oh god, you're back. What happened? Where'd you go? I... I have to tell-"
"Meilin!" Syaoran cried, but the girl was already heading for the door. He got up as quickly as his back injury would let him. "Meilin, stop! That's not the Sakura we know!"
Sakura blinked, gasping in surprise, as Kurogane and Fai exchanged a glance, then looked from Syaoran, to Meilin, to Sakura, and back again.
"I have to go tell Tomoyo! Oh but first I better tell Toya-"
"Meilin, listen to me!"
"Toya...?" Sakura whispered.
The black haired girl had her hand on the doorknob before Syaoran caught up to her, tearing her away.
"Syaoran you idiot! What are you doing? There's so many people that want to-"
"Meilin, you have to listen to me!"
"And Kero and Yue! You have no idea how much those two have been suffering without their master... of course I don't know where they-"
"MEILING LISTEN," He finally yelled, voice overpowering hers, driving into her head and interrupting her train of thought, forcing her into silence. He'd yelled it in Chinese, but with Mokona's translation abilities, didn't think she would be able to tell the difference. "Meilin, that's not the Sakura we know... that's... look, sit down. There's... some clarification needed. For everyone."
"Everyone?" Meilin turned around and finally got a good look at Kurogane and Fai. "Who are they...?"
"I'll tell you, just please... sit down," Syaoran pleaded, that hopeless look appearing on his face again. The girl nodded and carefully maneuvered to the couches, sitting as close to all three of Syaoran's companions as she could. The young man poured her a glass of tea, and looked at them all as they watched him back, expectantly.
"I suppose... some introductions are due," he looked at Meilin, and went to stand next to Kurogane and Fai. "Meilin, this is Kurogane, and this is Fai." He looked at Sakura, and something in his expression softened. "And... this is... Princess Sakura..."
"Princess Sakura?" Meilin interrupted. "Of all the things Sakura would've been a princess is not something I can imagine her as..."
Sakura, sitting on the couch, blushed slightly.
"And... everyone... this is my cousin, Meiling... or Meilin Li," Syaoran continued. The girl nodded at them all in greeting.
"So what's going on?" Meilin and Kurogane asked at the same time. Fai, who looked like he was about to join, closed his mouth and smiled.
"I..." the young man walked over to a shelf on the far end of the room, one with several picture frames sitting on it. He picked one up, his shoulders tensing, his voice coming out shaking. "I think this would be easier to explain to everyone I've been traveling with... if you'd look at this picture." He turned back around, avoiding everyone's looks as he walked back and handed the picture frame out to Sakura.
Meilin blinked. "Syaoran... that's the picture..."
"Let her look at it, please Meilin... and find out for herself."
"You mean remember it for herself," Meilin said, pouting slightly.
Sakura reached out and hesitantly took the picture frame from Syaoran. He kept his gaze everywhere but looking into other eyes. The picture frame turned, and Sakura gasped, dropping it into her lap. "Th... this is..." She looked down, clenching her jaw.
Fai and Kurogane exchanged another look, and the magician reached out, gently removing the picture frame from the princess' lap. He picked it up and held it so both he and Kurogane could see it, and they both froze.
There was Syaoran, grinning like a love-struck fool, holding tightly to what looked like Sakura: he had her around the waist and off the ground; she had her hands on his shoulders and was smiling and blushing herself.
"This..." Fai began, but trailed off as he looked at the two teenagers. Sakura was staring at her lap, hands clenching her pants, while Syaoran stared at the ceiling, away from the princess, that desperately hopeless look back on his face.
"Don't you remember now!?" Meilin asked, desperate. "I've never seen either of you look as happy as you were then! And Syaoran! That's the longest I've ever seen him smile for!"
"But that's not..." Sakura began, her voice so soft in the large room. "That's not me. I'm not from this city..." She looked up, and her soft emerald eyes met Meilin's red-brown ones. "I'm from a kingdom, in the desert."
"You... you've gotta be kidding me! You're Sakura though, right? Sakura Kinomoto!" The dark haired young woman said, eyes welling up with more tears.
"Iam named Sakura," the princess began, her eyes watering as well as she looked at the sadness on Meilin's face. "But Kinomoto isn't my last name... I don't have a last name."
"You have to be lying! This is all a joke, right?" Meilin pleaded, looking around with a now tear-streaked face. "This is all one big funny 'we got you Meilin, we're home now, haha' right? RIGHT?! Th- there's only one Sakura I know of that looks like that! There can't be another one!"
"Actually," Fai began, and everyone jumped at his voice. He looked at Syaoran, the young man's eyes clamped shut, arms crossed, then to Sakura, looking back down at her hands clenching her legs, tears trickling down her face though she tried to fight them, finally to Meilin, the girl sobbing openly, looking confused and alone. "This is going to sound sort of strange, but I have to tell you. There are many different worlds out there, manyd ifferent worlds. You see, Syaoran and yourself are the only ones in this room that are from this world in particular. I am from a place called 'Celes', Kuro-pi here," and Kurogane's eyebrow twitched. "Is from a Japan that isn't this one. In his world, Tomoyo... you said you knew a Tomoyo right?"
Meilin nodded her head slowly.
"Girl with black hair and dark purple eyes?"
Meilin nodded again.
"Well, Tomoyo in his world is actually a princess herself. You see, in different worlds, the same people can exist, people that you might know from a different world, but they're not the same. Fundamentally, they are; they share the same soul, but otherwise they are very different; they have different memories, different perceptions of the people around them, different relationships," the magician gestured with his hand. "I'm sure the Tomoyo in this world wouldn't know Kurogane if she looked at him, but he would know her. Except, he would know the her he knows from his world. Do you understand?"
Meilin shook her head this time, violently whipping it side to side. "No! I refuse to believe it! Sakura! This is Sakura! And she's back now! Everyone can be happy again! Everyone needs to be happy again! Do you know how sick her father got after you disappeared Syaoran!? He died! He missed her so much he got sick and died after he managed to lose all hope of ever seeing either of you again. I don't know if you realized it, but unlike Toya and Kero, he actually did like you!"
Syaoran blinked, looked at Meilin, eyes wide with surprise. "... Fujitaka-san..."
Sakura stiffened.
"And Toya! Do you know what happened to HIM!? His dad's dead his sister, no one knows where she went, Yukito's gone... You thought he was bad before when she disappeared, Syao! He's a wreck, walking aroundlike a living ghost! And Tomoyo, oh Tomoyo, she had a chance at fame and fortune! She gave it up. She gave up a record deal to stay in Tomoeda and wait for Sakura to return. She hardly ever eats anymore, I think she might be going crazy with the way she talks to herself. Now her mother is now a nervous wreck, the toy company went downhill!" Meilin cut off, sobbing hard into her hands, unable to speak for a moment. "Kero... and Yue... I don't know where they went. They probably thought their master was deadand were going to seal themselves away and wait for a new master!" She cut off with a sob again, curling up on the couch and crying into her knees. "It seems like I'm the only one that managed to scrape together a decent life... but it's been so hard, Syaoran... you can't possibly know what it's like to watch everything fall around you!"
"That's not tr-" Syaoran began, his voice raised as though he was going to yell, though he caught himself, took a breath. "I know, Meilin. I do know what it's like... what I've seen on my journey..." He shook his head. "But you being the normal one does surprise me..."
"What's that supposed to mean, Syaoran?!" the girl screeched, and he winced against her tone.
He shook his head, then straightened as though something had suddenly crossed his mind. "Nevermind... look, everyone," and he let his eyes roam over everyone in the room. "Before I finish, there's something else I need to do."
"... Something else...?" Fai asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"It's something... that needs to be done now before anyone with the ability senses her presence," He looked at the princess Sakura. "And... because... I don't think... we're ever going to see our Sakura again."
"Syaoran! You shouldn't say things like that!" Meilin sobbed, looking up from her curled position. "Please, don't give up hope..."
"Meilin... you of all people should know; I never lost hope," He turned to them, smiling in a way that deeply unsettled the whole group. "I gave it up to save the world again. Remember?"
-
A/N: Now watch the world you all know and love come tumbling down around you. This isn't CCS anymore, the kids have all grown up. No more happy, lovey-dovey, light and fluffy, pink and cuteness here in Tsubasa.
Nice to see my Converting Powers are working again, Phantom. And I'm glad I could at least pull a little sympathy for the Real Syaoran... I really pity his circumstance myself, and the fact that there's just so many little references to tie him to the Syao of CCS just tickles the hell out of my muse. Between the spells, the Rashinban, the sword, and even his fighting style... not to mention the fact he takes everything so seriously and never smiles... yeah. He just hits me too hard as a reference to the little Syaoran for Timelines and Other Plotbits Not Agreeing to dissuade me. xp
Thanks for your feedback everyone! Now, the question remains- will Kinomoto ever return?