Chapter 23
Finality
The lights were too bright and the background noise was too loud. In other words, it was just another birthday party at the Kingdom of Clow's castle. Overdressed nobility - most of whom the birthday girl had never met - chatted amiably amongst each other or paired off to dance on the big clear area in the center of the room, flitting their masks around, laughs muffled by the material covering their faces.
And in the midst of it all, Princess Sakura of Clow Country stood, talking with yet another suitor, being as polite as she could manage without sounding interested, something she most certainly was not. From what she could tell, he was handsome enough, with short, black hair, and what appeared to be nearly black eyes peering from the holes of his bejeweled mask. His voice rich and deep as he spoke, he made a passing joke, one that she found genuinely funny and allowed herself the luxury of a short laugh.
But it still wasn't enough to get her to like him. It never would be.
From the corner of her eye, she watched as her brother sighed, rolling his eyes, exasperated as he saw her reject yet anotherof the young men he'd invited to the party. The high priest Yukito walked over and the two men began conversing. She sent a wordless thanks to the priest as he glanced over at her, as though by chance, at one point in the conversation. The last thing she wanted was to get into another argument with her brother.
When asked what kind of ball she'd like to have for the auspicious occasion, she'd replied, after a moment of thought, with the word 'masquerade'. Toya had given her a strange, long look, shook his head, and walked away.
She could hear him muttering about how much she'd changed, and what the heck had she done to his sister as he did so.
Sakura sighed, remembering the way she'd walked back to her room following that and sat for a long time in front of her mirror. As she had, she'd heard a voice drift into her mind. "And you too, princess: Smile. You don't seem to do it nearly enough either."
She'd laughed at her reflection, smiling in a way that didn't reach her eyes. "You believed in fairy tales didn't you?" But they don't always come true. Sometimes the knight in shining armor doesn't save the princess. Sometimes, there is no knight, or no prince at all.
A messenger ran over to where Toya and Yukito were speaking, bowing low before the higher authorities. His face was flushed from the exertion of running, but it paled quickly as he relayed his news, pointing toward the doors of the castle.
Toya looked surprised, and then angry, while Yukito just smiled broadly. Sakura felt her head tilting in confusion. The high priest looked over to her, and motioned with his head for her to go and see what the messenger was talking about. She politely excused herself to the man still trying in vain to catch her attention, and slowly limped her way toward the door.
Someone walked in the door, a late comer it seemed, and she felt her heart leap into her throat. Dark green fluttered as the figure walked, a feathered cape to compliment the feathered and hook-beaked mask the newcomer wore. Her pace and heart rate picked up as she grabbed the skirt of her dress, pulling it up so she wouldn't trip. The person turned toward her, his attention caught by the parting of the crowd as she ran quickly through the people. She stumbled to a halt in front of him, and she watched his arm twitch with the instinctual urge to steady her, but she righted herself and stared up at him, peering at his amber colored eyes through the eye holes of his hook-beaked mask.
Time seemed to freeze, and the noise of the crowd, the music was drowned in the sound of Sakura's heart thundering in her ears. He paused, and then finally, the corner of his mouth twitched into his smile and he closed his eyes, sweeping his left arm out to the side and offering his right hand as he bowed. An offer to dance.
The gesture seemed practiced, and in the chaos of her thoughts, the princess vaguely wondered where he'd done it before. Slowly she reached out, slipping her hand into his, feeling the warmth that radiated through the cloth of the gloves they both wore.
Her mind screamed at her to say something, say anything to break the silence, to fill her ears with a sound other than her own pulse. She tried twice before her throat unlocked, and her voice was soft, almost hoarse. "I can't dance."
His smile widened slightly as his hand shifted, fingers twining gently with her own and he looked down, locking his eyes to hers. "I know."
She sighed shakily, and stepped forward as he diduntil they were close enough she could feel the material of his shirt brushing against the front of her dress. His hand lowered, alighting gently on her side, while she chose to forgo pantomiming the dancing maneuver, slipping her free hand up, grasping his mask and pulling it off. His expression remained, a slight smile, a warm look in his deep brown eyes even as she leaned forward, raising herself onto her toes, using his shoulder for balance, but she paused with their faces a hair's breadth apart.
His free hand moved up, cupping the side of her face, his thumb resting on her lips. "It's alright, princess. You don't have to-"
But he was cut off as she glowered suddenly, grabbing her mask and tearing it off as she shoved his hand out of the way, in one swift motion. She pressed forward, finally bringing their lips into contact, and felt him stiffen. For that moment he didn't react, her heart pounded as her mind nervously raced through thoughts that he might reject her, but finally, slowly, he relented, bending forward so she could stand flat against the ground. Relief flooded through her, and she pushed harder, gripping the hand that held hers tighter, slipping her other hand behind his head and into his hair.
The kiss deepened, and a shocked murmur ran through the suddenly silent crowd. Sakura knew what she was doing was a social faux pas in this sort of crowd, a thing of scandal, something everyone would be talking about for weeks to come. When they finally broke, someone in the crowd yelled out, "And who does he think he is?"
Syaoran stood straight, looking out beyond the princess' head at the crowd of nobles, wrapping his arms around her middle as she gripped his shoulders and pressed herself against him. It would be awkward introducing himself with the princess clinging on to him, but he doubt it would be easy to get her to let go. So he cleared his throat, and spoke calmly. "I am Li Xiao Lang of the Li Clan from Hong Kong." There was a silent pause as the words sunk in. And then he decided to add something, just for the shock value. "Descendant of the Sorcerer Clow Reed."
A gasp and murmur raced through the crowd, and he felt the princess begin shaking in his arms, heard her laughing softly against his chest. She backed up enough to look into his face, the smile still spread across her face. "Now there's going to be rumors of you being my long lost brother or something."
He made a face. "Eugh, I don't need to be related to another Toya."
She looked at him, one eyebrow arching delicately. "Then why'd you say it?"
He grinned back, a true, almost wry grin. "I almost forgot he was your brother in this world as well. Oh well, let the rumors fly."
She nodded. "Yeah. They won't last long. It's too wrong to be true."
Syaoran sighed and looked down at her, speaking softly. "This is wrong."He motioned to the space between them.
Sakura looked back at him, and frowned before leaning forward and burying her face against the side of his neck. "I'm tired of being right, Syaoran-kun. Am I... no, are we not allowed to do something unforgivable... at least once?"
He blinked, surprised, and then relaxed down, releasing her hand to wrap both arms around her waist and press his nose into the side of her head. "That's how villains are made."
"I think the only person this is going to antagonize is my brother," she sighed.
"Speaking of which here comes King Toya now," Syaoran replied, straightening his stature, forcing Sakura to all but dangle from around his neck.
"And what do you think you're doing to my sister, brat?" The king asked, though not nearly as irritated as Syaoran had imagined he would be.
"Not being given any other choice," he replied, letting his hold on Sakura loosen until it was obvious she was clinging on to him.
Toya looked at his sister, and she turned back to look at him. His gaze shifted to Syaoran, and he studied the young man carefully before speaking. "This isn't the same kid-"
"I know, Toya. I know perfectly well who he isn't," Sakura interrupted, turning farther to face her brother, releasing her hold on Syaoran's neck but still leaning into him. "And I also know perfectly well who he is."
The young king nodded, still studying the two standing before him, before finally regaining eye contact with Syaoran. "You're not even from this world - why are you here... and why did you come so late after she came back?"
Syaoran watched him back carefully. "I had some things to take care of in my world. I continued back here because..." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a short moment. "I made a promise to someone... no, to a lot of people."
Toya studied the young man for a moment, then seemed to accept his answer - at least as well as Toya could, turning around and stalking back to where Yukito waited with a careful smile.
The crowd's attention turned from the retreating king back to the two teenagers standing on the floor. Sakura frowned, and grabbed Syaoran's hand. "I need to talk to you... out of the spotlight."
He nodded and allowed her to lead him out of the ballroom, and through the spacious castle until they reached the gardens. It was a strangely familiar route, but nothing he'd seen while locked away under Fei Wong Reed's power could prepare him for actually walking into the gardens himself. The smells, the sounds, everything he couldn't really experience just seeing from the Clone's blind eye hit him full force and he was forced to pause in awe and look around at the spacious expanse of floral life. He finally let his eyes settle on the princess, who seemed to be staring at her reflection in a crystal clear pool, and the question he'd forced to the back of his mind earlier resurfaced.
"Why did you kiss me?"
She stiffened, and took on a decidedly uncomfortable countenance. She waited a moment, thinking over how to word her reply. "Do you think... we'll ever really be able to be in love with each other?"
Syaoran frowned at her not-quite answer, and seized by a courage he hadn't felt in years, stepped forward, walking up until he was close behind her yet not quite touching, and looked down into the surface of the pool, watching their reflections together. "I think... we need to stop trying to hope the other is something they're not... something that will never be again. I think it needs to start there."
"The hard part will be trying to convince ourselves of that when it looks like that other person is staring right at you, right?" Sakura responded, tilting her head a bit until she heard Syaoran's breathing catch. A slight smile spread on her face and she turned to actually face him. "I think we've got our work cut out for us. But I'm willing to try if you are."
He looked back at her, face neutral as he tried to hide his slip-up, and nodded. "I'll give it my best, pri-"
"Sakura," She interrupted, and watched with a mild satisfaction as he stumbled over the rest of the word he originally tried to speak. "Step one: let's drop the titles, alright Syaoran? You don't need to call me 'princess'. At least not unless my brother is around."
He looked somewhat surprised, but nodded anyway. "So what's step two?"
She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure. I think we need to wait for time to tell us that. But... we've got plenty of it now, don't we?"
Syaoran nodded in response, and Sakura turned as though to leave, but held her hand out midway. He let the corners of his mouth turn up as he reached forward and took it, letting her lead him on a walk through the garden.
Once upon a time, there was no 'happily ever after'. But maybe... someday... there will be.
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A/N: And so it ends! Well, actually this is the rewritten ending, made to be a bit more Tsubasa-verse centered. The other one... well. Here's a question to all y'all readers (it's also that surprise I promised last chapter): Who wants to see the original ending to this? It's quite different, I assure you. Not happier, just... different. Lemme know what'cha want, and I'll supply!