My Fiancée
by: Wishes of an Angel
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Author's Note: Holy moly! I finally updated the final chapter! I'm so sorry for the wait. I blame school for it. Anyways, I finally took time off from schoolwork to finish this story for all of you. I want to thank all of you for all of the wonderful reviews and favorites! I have never had so many before. Thank you so much! (Sorry I couldn't type all the names of the people who reviewed. There's too many of you!) Well, enjoy the ending! I'll talk more at the end of the story.
Chapter 7 – The Final Day
Day 5
This was it. It was the fifth day. This was the day that will change my life forever.
In a few more minutes, the party was about to start. I walked around nervously in the living room, wiping all the sweat from my forehead and fixing my bowtie from around my neck.
Was it just me or was it hot in here?
I went over the air conditioning and turned it on. Still, that didn't help the droplets from dripping down my face. I was as nervous as can be. I didn't know why I should be, though. I trained Sakura pretty well, so I shouldn't worry, right? But I knew that in the back of my head that the reason why I was so nervous was that nothing satisfied Mother. Nothing. She doesn't even think I'm handsome enough. Can you believe her? Me? Not handsome? I sighed and sat down on the sofa.
Please don't let anything bad happen.
Suddenly, something occurred to me.There was going to be over two hundred people coming to the party. If Sakura gets stiff in front of just my mother, this party wasn't going to go so well. Oh no.
A ring came from our doorbell; that could only mean one thing. The guests have started to arrive.
I stood up and quickly walked over to the front door of our house. I nervously fixed my hair and bowtie, took a deep breath, and turned the doorknob. Before I even knew it, the door swung open at me, hitting me in the head and sending me flying back and onto the ground.
"Oh, Syaoran, is that you?" a girl squealed from outside the house. I was a bit delirious from the impact, so I wasn't sure what was happening, but the next thing I knew was that a girl was on top of me, squeezing my neck with her arms.
"C-can't breathe," I choked.
"Oh, sorry," the girl said, letting go of me and lifting me up on my feet.
I was scratching my head and rubbing my eyes like I had just woken up. My vision was a bit blurry, but the girl that was standing in front of me was unmistakable.
"Um… Meilin?" I managed to say.
"Yay, Syaoran, you're alive!" She squeezed me and exclaimed, "Oh, how I longed to be in you arms!"
It was Meilin alright. Her voice and actions had Meilin written all over it. The first time I met Meilin was when I was eight. Her and her family came over for a visit and she always clang me, and I mean literally. I never really liked it when she did that.
"Hey Syaoran, how could you go and get another girl when we were engaged!" Meilin asked.
So she wasthe one that my mother had chosen for me. How come, of all girls, did Mother choose her? What did she see in her anyways? I thought for a moment and realized that it must have been me that caused Mother to choose her. If my dream was accurate, maybe it was Meilin that Mother made as my fiancée. Oh no. What have I done? Wait a minute. What about the smile…?
"Well, let's see if she's good enough for you, Syaoran sweetie!" she exclaimed. "I totally doubt it, though."
"Quiet, Meilin!" I shouted, my blood boiling up to my brain. "You don't even know her!"
She looked at me, water appearing near the corner of her eyes. Then she burst into tears. "Why did you shout at me, Syaoran!" she screamed.
The people who were standing outside the house stared at me and shook their heads.
"Uh… quiet, Meilin," I whispered. "The people outside are looking at us."
She sobbed even louder. I knew I had to do something before everyone thought I was some kind of heartless person. I sighed and hugged her loosely. "I'm sorry, Meilin."
"Really?" Her tears quickly faded away and hugged me back tightly. "Oh, you're such a sweetheart, Syaoran sweetie."
Great. Now what was I going to do if Sakura sees me with Meilin? I didn't want Sakura to get any ideas.
What am I to do?
For the whole time that I was shaking hands and greeting people in, Meilin clung to me like I was some kind of clothes hanger. After each handshake, I would turn around to check if Sakura was coming down the stairs. The whole situation was horrible!
When the living room was filled with people and nobody seemed to be coming in anymore, I began to walk back and forth restlessly in front of the stairs for Sakura to come down.
Where was she? What was taking her so long to get ready?
Meilin was still clinging on to me and it annoyed me very much. Within a few minutes, everybody started to clap.
Oh, no! It's Sakura!
I was just about to pull Meilin off of me when I realized who it was that was going down the stairs. It was my mother. We clapped as she walked down. I took my mother's hand when she reached the bottom of the stairs, with Melin still holding on to my other arm, and led her to the front of the living room. It got very quiet as my mother looked around the room.
She turned to me and asked, "Is Sakura ready yet? I don't see her here."
"Um…no, Mother. Sakura is not ready yet."
My mother looked displeased. "Well, then, we'll wait for a few more minutes. If she doesn't come in the next few minutes, I'll just start the evening without her."
"Y-yes, Mother." Come on, Sakura. Don't let me down now!
When the few minutes were up, I looked at my mother pleadingly to wait for Sakura, but she didn't want to wait any longer. She stood in front of the guests and the room immediately became silent. Then she began her speech.
"I'd like to welcome everyone to today's party to hear the announcement of Syaoran's, my son's, fiancée. Now, without further ado…"
Just then, I heard heels descending the stairs from behind me. I pushed Meilin aside, turned around, and looked up the stairs. My mother stopped talking and turned around as well. There stood the girl that I admired and loved the most in the world. She was wearing a beautiful pink gown, but it did not compare to her glittery green emerald eyes. Her short, light brown hair was up in curls, and she had no make up on to cover up her naturally beautiful face. And her smile. Her sweet tender smile was to die for. It can turn any frown upside down.
Sakura…she looked dazzling.
I walked up to the stairs as she descended down slowly, step by step, looking down at me. Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she tripped. I immediately ran over, up the steps, and caught her just in time. She looked up at me and smiled.
"Thanks, Syaoran," she whispered. "You saved me again."
After gazing into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity, I finally realized that everybody was staring at us.
I smiled at her. "You're welcome." I lifted her back up and led her down the stair with her hands around my arm.
When we got to the bottom of the stairs and I brought her to the front of the room, I turned to look at Mother. She was displeased. Again.
Sakura turned to face the crowd, and when she realized that everyone was looking at us, she instantly froze. All of her blood rushed down from her face and she just stood there. I had to say something so I announced, "Everybody must be hungry, correct? Let's all proceed to the dining room, then."
All the guests turned to one another and spoke all at once. Slowly and noisily, they began to gather to the dining room.
"Sakura, Sakura," I whispered, shaking her arm. "Come on. Don't freeze like thi…" but I got cut off when Meilin grabbed my other arm.
"Let's go have dinner, Syaoran sweetie," she squealed and dragged me away from Sakura and to the dining room.
Sakura snapped out of her daze and turned to see me disappear through the dining room doors.
Boy, I had to say. Meilin can sure drag you. She pulled me all the way to my seat like a sack of rice. Then she pushed a woman off the seat next to me and flopped down on the chair.
After that, Sakura flung open the door and entered the room. Even though two hundred people were staring at her, she didn't seem to notice. You probably thought it was great that she overcame her phobia, but it wasn't. The reason why she didn't care was that she was mad. Mad at me for being so close to Meilin. It wasn't my fault. Meilin was the one hanging all over me.
I quickly walked up to her so we could enter the dining room together as we planned. When I held up her hand, she just glared at me. At that moment, Meilin ran up and took hold of my other hand, so I ended up guiding two women into the room. Sakura stomp over to her seat, yanked out her chair on her own, and flopped down in the chair. I smiled nervously at everyone at the table and took my seat next to her.
A few minutes later my mother stood up at the head of the table and tapped her glass. "I'm glad that everyone could make it today. Now that we are all here, let's eat."
Immediately, Meilin stuck a piece of her steak in front of my face.
"Here, Syaoran sweetie," she chimed. "Eat up so you can grow up to be big and strong to protect me."
I shook my head, but she stuffed the piece of meat in my mouth anyways. I faked a smile at her with my mouth full and turned to look at Sakura. She was looking my way and began to turn crimson with anger. She immediately went back at her steak and chomped away, finishing the last of her steak within minutes. This left time for people to ask her questions. Great.
"So, your name is Sakura, correct?" an older boy who was sitting next to her asked. He had silver white hair with glasses on.
She turned to face him and then seemed to have…blushed? She nodded her head shyly and looked down.
"Yes."
"I bet you thought that steak was delicious. You gobbled it right up," the same boy said.
"It was al…" she started. She paused for a while to think, but what was the matter? Just say…all right? Then it dawned on me why it was taking her so long to answer. In one of her lessons, I specifically told her that all of her 'all rights' would be 'yes' from now on.
Oh, no. I didn't mean that! Just say all right!
"I-it was…y-yes," she stumbled.
I smacked my head. My mother would never let Sakura pass at this rate.
I looked around the table at everyone to discover that they were indeed staring at me.
"Uh…a fly landed on my head," I pathetically lied. They all rolled their eyes and went back to eating.
"Oh, Syaoran sweetie, you have something on your face," Meilin said. "Let me get that off for you." She had a napkin in her hand and was ready to wipe my face with it. I pushed her hand away.
"It's fine. I'll do it myself," I said, wiping my mouth.
For each of the dishes, Sakura ate them correctly. Well, more like chomping than eating. Whenever she saw Meilin cling onto me, she would get mad and munch everything down. Not only that, the silver-haired boy kept asking her questions and making her laugh. Talk about not what you planned. At least Sakura didn't splatter the food all over the dining room.
Finally, the dinner and nightmare was over. Or so I thought. Next was the ballroom dance. I was really looking forward to this, but after what had happened during dinner, I wasn't sure what to think.
My mother stood up and said, "Now, I hope everybody had a wonderful meal. If you would please head to the ballroom now, we'll all have a nice dance."
Everyone stood up, exited the dining room, and headed toward the ballroom. I spotted Sakura in the crowd stomping out and grabbed her by the arm…with Meilin clinging to my other arm. Sakura turned to face me, tears streaming down her face.
"Get away from me!" she screamed and flung her arm so I'd let go. Then she ran away quickly, dodging all the people in her way.
"No! Wait, Sakura!" I pulled Meilin's hand away viciously and raced toward Sakura. I had to tell her that it was all a misunderstanding. When I entered the ballroom, I lost track of where she was. I looked around the room for her, and when I finally found her, standing alone across the room, Meilin caught me by the arm again.
"Can we have a dance together, Syaoran?" she begged.
"No," I said flatly. I tried to run from her, but she held onto my arm tightly and stood her ground, refusing to let go. I struggled and struggled, but finally gave in when I saw Sakura walking further away from me.
"Fine," I said reluctantly. "But just one da-ance." She pulled me to the middle of the room and as we were dancing, I peered over her shoulder to check where Sakura had gone. During the dance, I saw the silver-haired boy walk up to her. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but I saw Sakura laugh. No! This boy was going to take Sakura away from me! After a while, he said something to her and Sakura nodded. He took her hand, guided her to the dance floor, and they began to dance. That was it. I couldn't stand it anymore.
I broke away from Meilin and ran over to them. I stood behind the silver-haired boy and saw Sakura's eyes grow. At that moment, I didn't care what she was thinking. I tapped the boy on the shoulder and he turned around. He smiled at me, turned back to Sakura, bowed, and walked off. I took the boy's place, trying to take hold Sakura's hand, but she tried to struggle away.
"Get away from me!" she whispered harshly, but I held onto her tightly.
"No," I said calmly. "There are three things I want to say first."
"No, I don't want to listen!"
I ignored her and went on with what I wanted to say. "First of all, I do not like Meilin, the girl that has been following me around."
"Yeah, right," she said sarcastically, struggling to get away. "I bet you love the attention."
"No, I don't!" I shouted, refusing to let go of her. "I don't like it." At that moment, I believe the people around us started to turn their attention at us.
"Secondly," I continued quickly. "Do you like him?"
"Who?" she questioned, sounding almost lost.
"The boy who just danced with you."
"You mean Yukito?" She stopped struggling for a moment and tears slowly began to drip from her eyes. "Yes," she answered calmly. "Yes, I do."
I studied her carefully and looked into her watery emerald eyes. Her eyes were full of anger, confusion, and most of all, agony, but when I looked even deeper, I discovered something else that I have not noticed since she came to my mansion. She loved me. And she still did.
"No," I said slowly, my hold on her loosening. "No, you don't."
"Yes!" she screamed, tears rolling down her face. "Yes, I do!"
"No, you don't." She tried to get away from me, but I held on. Then I closed my eyes for a moment. "A girl once told me that she trusted me by looking into my eyes." I reopened them and said, "Your eyes. Right now, you're lying."
Sakura stared at me for a while. Finally, she managed to pull away from me and gave me a last glance before she ran.
"Wait!" I shouted, running after her, but Meilin took hold of my arm.
"Let go of me!" I bellowed at her and shoved her aside. I ran as fast as I could like I did when I chased Sakura at the beach, and finally caught Sakura by the hand.
"Let me go!" she screamed again, turning around with tears still streaming down from her eyes. It appeared that after all the running; we were still in the middle of the ballroom with everybody's eyes fixed on us. This didn't bother me, though.
"No!" I shouted. "I have one last thing to tell, Sakura!" I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what I was going to say. "I-I love you!"
Everything around me was silent. Dead silent. Sakura stopped struggling and looked up at me. "You…you love me?" she asked softly.
"Yes!" I shouted again. "I love you! Are you happy?" I realized how loud I was and adjusted the volume of my voice. I took both of Sakura's hands and looked her in the eyes. "Sakura, I didn't know how to love a person. I never had time for love. It was always working and school for me. But then…I found you." I held her hands tightly. "You taught me to love. You taught me that life wasn't all about what my mother wanted. You are the greatest thing that has ever happen to me and I don't want to let you go. I don't want you to leave my side. I loved you ever since I met you and I don't think my heart will change any other way." I slowly reached for the small box in my pocket that my mother gave me. "That's why I have to make this engagement official. No more playing games. No more pretending." I took out the case, knelt down on one knee, and opened it, revealing the ring that has been passed down to me. Everyone gasped around us and Sakura's hands were trembling over her mouth, tears still falling from her face.
I closed my eyes for a moment, taking everything in. This is it. I'm going to say the four words!
"Sakura, will you marry me?" I asked looking up at her flushed, but beautiful face. There was another gasp from the guests and Sakura smiled.
"You didn't say plee-ease," she teased.
I smiled back. "Will you please marry me?"
"Yes, baaaby," she emphasized and everyone around us applauded and cheered.
I stood up, took the ring out of the case, and placed it around Sakura's ring finger. There was more applause and we embraced.
"I love you, too, Syaoran," Sakura whispered in my ear. I hugged her tightly, but soon I realized that my mother was standing behind Sakura, watching us embrace. Oh no. I definitely knew that Sakura didn't pass the test. Not with her tripping down the stairs, stomping around the mansion, and eating like a pig.
I let go of Sakura and said, "May you please wait for a second, Sakura? I still have business to finish."
"Umm…okay."
I walked pass her and up to my mother. "Mother, I love Sakura very much, and after you have seen Sakura behave tonight, I know that in your eyes, Mother, she has failed to be my fiancée." I paused for a moment and continued. "But in my eyes, she had already passed to be my wife, so if you are planning on having someone else as my wife, I will have to refuse. I apologize, Mother. I hope that you'll forgive me."
My mother looked at me seriously, and then her countenance softened. "Who said she didn't pass?" she asked. "She passed a long time ago."
Everybody around me, except for Sakura, giggled. Even Meilin and Yukito were chuckling.
"What?" I asked, extremely lost. "What are you talking about, Mother?"
"Sakura was your planned fiancée all along," she said casually.
"What?" I was astonished. "She was?" I pointed to Meilin and asked, "Then why did Meilin say that she was my fiancée?"
"She was just playing around with you. I asked her to act as if she was your planned fiancée."
"B-but, why?"
"I wanted to know how much you and Sakura loved each other." She took a look at Sakura, who was standing behind me, and looked back at me. "After what had just happened, it doesn't take a genius to know that you two love each other very much."
"W-wait. Then how come you wanted me to make her more etiquette?"
"I wanted you two to spend some time together. Besides, I'd have to make her more etiquette myself if she was to become your fiancée, and now I'm glad I gave you the job." She placed her lips near my ear and whispered, "She's very hard to teach."
"So you knew that Sakura was my planned fiancée all along?" I asked. "How come you didn't just tell me?"
"I know how much you dislike my making decisions for you, so if I told you, you would have just thrown Sakura aside and not give her a chance, correct?"
"I guess you're right. Wait, but you said that my intended fiancée was going to come here in five days. Does that mean they you already found Sakura before I did?"
"Yes, my searchers did," she said. "I was going to call her family and friends that night to meet her since they have been also searching for her, but you already found her, so what better way to reacquaint Sakura's family and friends than to host a party for her?"
Sakura looked around the room at our guests. "You mean they are my family and friends?"
"Yes, Sakura," a tall man with glasses said, stepping out from the crowd along with another boy and girl with black hair. "I'm your father. This is your brother, Touya, and that is you friend, Tomoyo, We're all glad to see you again."
Tears of joy ran down Sakura's face and she quickly ran over to her family and friend to embrace them. "I missed you all so much!" she said.
"Wow," I said, still amazed at the outcome. "Mother, I should have known you would come up with something like this."
"What did you expect? Your father didn't marry me for nothing," she said.
Suddenly, the music that Sakura and I danced to the night before began to play. Sakura grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away from my mother. "Come on, Syaoran!" she said, as cheerful as ever. "It's our song. Let's dance."
I was about to follow Sakura then I remembered something that I forgot to ask my mother. My dream. Was it my past? Was Sakura the one in my dream?
"Wait a moment, Sakura. I have a question for Mother."
I walked over to my mother and said, "Mother, I have one last question before I dance. It's about my past."
"Oh, Syaoran," she said. "Don't dwell on the past. Live your life today…like Sakura."
I looked at my mother for a moment and then smiled. "Sorry, Mother. I have a person waiting to dance with me."
"It's all right, Syaoran," she said, as a familiar man placed a hand on her shoulder. It was my father. He made it to the party. My mother placed her hand on his and looked up at him. "I have a person waiting to dance with me, too."
I smiled at them and finally followed Sakura to an empty space in the ballroom so we could dance. The lights dimmed and we slow dance as we did before.
As we dance, I just couldn't help but feel excited about what lied ahead for me in the future.
End of Chapter 7
THE END
, that's the end. For most of you, I think you are all very sad that it ended, but for me, I'm thrilled, because I was finally able to finish this story. All and all, I'm pretty satisfied with the ending that I wrote. To tell you the truth, I just wrote the ending all today, so I didn't plan it to end like it did until now. I thought this was going to be a cliche and boring story, but it's all thanks to every one of you for all the support. I would never have finished such a wonderful story if it wasn't for all of you. Seriously.
Augh, I wish I could say more, but I got a lot of schoolwork to think about, so I'll leave you all now. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!!! Wishes of an Angel, over and out! For now!
Oh yeah. And remember to what Syaoran's mother said at the end. "Don't dwell on the past. Live your life today." That's the moral of the story!