Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, Clamp does. But I do own this story.

Pairings: Syaoran x Sakura, Eriol x Tomoyo

Chapter Sixteen

"Perfectly Imperfect"

"Nervous?"

Syaoran stole a glance at Eriol to see if he was serious. "More excited than nervous," he admitted.

"I can't believe you're actually getting married."

"It's about to happen. Surely it's not that unbelievable at this point."

"Let me rephrase. I can't believe you're getting married before me," Eriol emphasized which made Syaoran roll his eyes.

"When Tomoyo catches the bouquet later, make sure to ask for her hand then," Syaoran suggested.

Eriol snickered. "I just might do that."

A light breeze blew, rustling the blooming cherry blossom trees above head and causing a slight ripple in the lake before them.

They were in one of the many parks in Tokyo which was popular for its cherry blossom viewing. Syaoran had rented the entire place for the day just for their wedding ceremony which will take place at the opposite edge of the lake they were currently standing next to. A podium had already been set up underneath the largest cherry blossom tree which could be seen from where they were, as well as the rows of chairs, the grand piano, flower fixtures, and other decorations. There were a couple of tents erected for them to prepare including a larger one where Sakura would make her entrance before she would walk down the aisle.

Everything was perfect, from the weather down to the details of the ceremony which will be starting in a couple of minutes.

'Should I say it? No? Yes?' Eriol deliberated in his head.

As much as he wanted to tell Syaoran of what he found out, this wasn't the time to do so. The man was getting married in less than half an hour for crying out loud. As important as he thought this issue was, the wedding itself was just as or even more important. He didn't want to rain on Syaoran's happiness.

Then again, he wasn't even 100% sure of what he found out. Personally, it all didn't make much sense to him and that's the reason why he spent the last two days trying to figure it out instead of telling Syaoran the moment Akiyama gave him the information. He was hoping to understand the situation more but found that he couldn't. So maybe it didn't really matter? Maybe he can tell Syaoran without it really affecting their impending wedding?

"Is me getting married before you really bothering you that much?" Syaoran inquired with a raised brow. He had just turned, intending to start making his way to the actual venue where he could see people already taking their seats when he saw the odd look on Eriol's face.

"Eh?" the darker haired man replied absently. "Well, no. I was just thinking."

"About?"

They started their slow walk by following the edge of the lake.

"You love Sakura," Eriol said this as a statement, not a question.

"I love Sakura," Syaoran agreed with conviction.

"No matter what happens, you'll stick by her."

"I'll stick by her."

"For richer, for poorer, in sickness, in health-"

"You better not have some crazy plan like replacing the priest as a sick joke or something," Syaoran cut in with a warning gleam in his eye.

Eriol couldn't help but laugh out loud at this. "I wish."

"Do that and I'll push you into the lake." It wasn't said in a threatening manner but Eriol was sure that Syaoran wouldn't hesitate to do just that if he attempted something like it.

"My point," Eriol continued as his hilarity subsided. "Whatever happens, you'll stick by her."

"Of course."

"What if she betrays you?" he suggested mildly.

Syaoran stopped walking to look at him. He had known Eriol for years and as much of a jokester he was, he wasn't the type to say something without purpose or reason… especially not at a time like this.

"Do you have a reason to think that way?"

Eriol shrugged.

"Now would be the time to tell me if you know something that I don't Eriol."

"I'm not entirely sure either. And I surely don't wanna ruin your wedding day." The brunet looked ready to argue but Eriol persisted before he could. "All I can say is that I can see how sincere Sakura's feelings are for you and that I have no doubt in my mind that she loves you."

"Then why ask what you did just now?"

"It's not a question of feelings," he reassured and resumed walking again. "I found out something about her past. Before you two dated, I mean."

"Does it have to do anything with me?" Syaoran asked, curious.

"Not exactly… I think. Or quite frankly, I'm not sure."

"You're not making any sense."

Eriol scratched the back of his head. "If what I found out made sense, then I assure you I'd make sense when I tell you."

Silence fell between them once again.

"If it's something about Sakura's past," Syaoran suddenly said. "It doesn't matter."

"Are you sure?"

"I love her. She loves me. That much is clear to me. So I don't think anything else matters right now. And I don't see how my feelings for her could possibly change… I guess unless I find out that she's just using me for something like my money or whatever."

"I'm pretty sure she's not using you for your money," Eriol said with a grin as he recalled the time when he and Syaoran walked in on Tomoyo and Sakura while they were making plans on the decorations for the venue of the wedding reception. Tomoyo had apparently suggested some kind of extravagant stage but Sakura talked her down because the venue they had already booked- and paid for -was too small to accommodate it. Syaoran had told her that he'll find a larger place but Sakura just ended up lecturing him about not wasting his money unnecessarily.

"I'm pretty sure too," he agreed.

Sakura never asked anything from Syaoran. Ever. Most of the things she received from him were mostly forced on her like the collection of gowns and jewelry she now owns from attending various events with him. And even more than half of those things she's tried to force him to take back.

"So I don't think she's using me. I mean, that's the only big thing she could probably use me for after all. And I'm pretty damn sure she hasn't cheated on me. She's proven that by how bad she felt just from having dinner with an old senior. She'd probably break up with me out of guilt if she somehow ended up actually cheating on me. So unless you uncovered something like some sort of betrayal on her part, I don't think my feelings will change."

"That's honestly good to hear," Eriol admitted.

He somewhat felt reassured hearing Syaoran say those words and his guilt for trying to rat out on Sakura with his personal suspicions was abated. He had told Syaoran what he was worried about. Although Eriol didn't get into detail about the matter, he at least warned Syaoran enough to be aware that there was a problem regarding her bride-to-be. That was enough.

"It's almost time."

Tomoyo held her hands over her mouth.

"Oh Sakura," she said quite breathlessly. "You look absolutely beautiful!"

Sakura blushed pink rather prettily as her best friend looked at her closely.

"I can't stop shaking," she confessed with a nervous smile.

"Wedding jitters, completely normal," Tomoyo reassured and handed her a fresh bouquet. It had a variety of white flowers in it that were tied together by a baby pink and pale green- the wedding's color scheme -ribbon. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Not a second later, a tune had begun to play from the grand piano outside and the chattering crowd outside the tent they were currently in hushed perceptively.

A woman in a simple pastel green dress entered the tent from a side entrance and nodded at Tomoyo.

"You'll make your entrance in five…"

Tomoyo nodded at the woman and turned to Sakura.

"Four… "

She gripped Sakura's hands in hers in a reassuring manner before going to stand right behind the curtained entrance.

"Three… Two… One."

The curtains were drawn and Tomoyo walked down the white carpeted aisle slowly and gracefully in her pale pink cocktail dress.

Sakura caught a glimpse of the select guests invited to the ceremony and she could feel her pulse gaining speed.

Not long after, the piano piece that was playing switched smoothly to a much gentler but distinct melody. It meant that Tomoyo was already in place at the podium out front with Syaoran and Eriol and it was her turn now to make her entrance.

She breathed deeply and exhaled just as the wedding organizer motioned for her to step up behind the curtain.

Sakura walked up to stand in the exact spot Tomoyo had left seconds earlier, and smoothened the skirt of her immaculately white dress unnecessarily.

"You'll make your entrance in five… four… three…"

Syaoran forced his eyes open despite really not wanting to. There was in incessant buzzing from somewhere close by and it effectively interrupted his sleep.

He was about to push himself off the bed when he felt the weight on his right arm.

"Sakura," he said with a smile as the sleeping goddess who was now officially his wife stirred slightly in her sleep from his abrupt movement. Her head was resting on his arm and she had her own arm draped across his waist.

The vibrating cell phone hadn't ceased though and if he didn't want to disturb her rest, he had to stop it.

Slowly and carefully, he pulled away from her and started hunting for the annoying gadget. He was sure it was Sakura's cell since his own had been off since the previous day for very obvious reasons. There was no reason why he'd take any sort of call during his own honeymoon. But who on earth would be trying to contact Sakura at this time of day? Surely it wasn't Tomoyo. That woman would've had enough tact not to even if there was some sort of emergency.

Syaoran- finally –found her cell amongst the many bags in the room which they left unpacked and untouched since they got there. The screen was flashing a familiar name which Syaoran hadn't seen save for that one time many months ago.

"Kentaro Hashimoto," he read out loud and when he did, the vibrating stopped.

This was a part of Sakura- his wife -which he didn't know about. Dare he answer the call if that man called again? It wasn't like he didn't have the right. Sure, he knew not to but then he was rather curious.

Syaoran waited a few seconds but the unknown man never called again. But just as he was about to return the cell, it vibrated momentarily to reveal a received text message. It was from the same man.

Now this was another story. Answering a ringing call was an entirely different thing from reading a message that wasn't meant for you.

With a sigh, Syaoran returned the cell phone inside the side pocket of Sakura's larger carry-on bag which she had brought with her on their trip. He was confident she'll tell him about Kentaro Hashimoto's identity someday if it was something he needed to know. He can't go around poking into her business like with that Naoki Morita months ago. Just like that time, this was probably nothing.

Kentaro clicked the end call button, thinking again. Wasn't it a bit tactless of him to be calling a newlywed? Sakura had just gotten married yesterday and here he was calling her the morning after her wedding night just because he received a text from Sakura the previous day.

He should just send her a simple text back. And probably arrange to send a gift after they come back from their honeymoon.

He still found it hard to believe that Sakura actually managed to get married to the Li Xiao Lang.

Sure enough when their engagement was publicized months ago, Kentaro was in a state of total shock. He never dreamed that the man Fujitaka intended to marry off his daughter to was a well-known business tycoon of Syaoran's caliber. Li's name was so well known that he didn't even consider for a second that it could be the person meant in Fujitaka's will. And another surprising thing about all this is that Sakura actually managed to meet her father's conditions. She managed to marry the tycoon himself and right before the termination date to boot. So that must mean that Syaoran was aware of the will as well.

Kentaro shook his head. The Kinomoto family was indeed full of surprises.

Sakura, don't worry, I completely understand. Don't mind it at all.

With someone like Li, it's only natural to have a very private wedding of just close friends and family.

Also, don't worry about the matter about your father's will.

Just go ahead and enjoy your honeymoon, I'll take care of the transfer procedures of his account from here together with Nao.

Again, congratulations to you both!

– Kentaro Hashimoto –

Sakura smiled, deleted the message, and shut off her cell phone before putting it back inside her bag. She was in the middle of her honeymoon. She didn't want to think of anything else except for herself, her husband, and the quality uninterrupted time that they will have.

Stretching her arms above her head, she made her way to the open sliding doors that led to the wide veranda which had an underground instilled hot tub beside the outdoor dining table which was currently being diligently worked on by three uniformed workers who were putting on a large variety of food and drinks for her and Syaoran's breakfast.

"I'm sorry ma'am," one of them apologized in English, "we'll have the table set soon."

"It's not a problem," Sakura reassured. It wasn't their fault after all. It's just that she and Syaoran woke up early. "Please take your time."

Syaoran was already up and gone when Sakura woke up. He was probably the one who called for breakfast to be set up outside so she could wake up with it all ready. Unfortunately, Sakura was used to waking up early and Tokyo was an hour ahead of Hong Kong. So here she was now, lounging in their hotel room or rather- cabin? She didn't know what to call it exactly but it was one of few houses on the island she had arrived at with Syaoran last night. After their wedding reception, they had immediately left for the airport for a flight to Hong Kong much to Sakura's surprise.

From the airport, they took a short ride by boat until they arrived at this island. Sakura could only vaguely recall being in a large hotel but from there, they were driven a short distance to where she was now. But on their way there, she did see various cabins that looked similar to this one albeit smaller in size and less grand in design.

She had only told Syaoran a few days ago about her decision to visit Tomoeda and her father's grave on a later date so they can just enjoy their honeymoon right after so she didn't expect that he had anything else this elaborately planned.

There was a light knock and Sakura looked up at the still open glass doors that led to the veranda. One of the staff was standing there.

"Everything is prepared," he announced.

"Thank you very much. Uhmm… Would you happen to know where my b- husband is?" This would definitely take some time to get used to but she had to admit, referring to Syaoran as her husband had a nice ring to it.

"I-"

"Your husband is right here," Syaoran's voice cut in before the man himself appeared next to the staff. "Thank you, you may leave," he said with a nod.

The man bowed and took his leave in probably the same way Syaoran made his entry.

"You're up already. I was hoping you'd sleep in a little," he said as Sakura came towards him to wrap her arms around his waist. "I'm pretty sure I tired you out last night," he added in a whisper making Sakura dig her head closer against his chest in embarrassment. He had indeed successfully tire her out last night. That tended to happen after even thoroughly being made love to.

He chuckled.

"By the way, I need you to see something," with that he held Sakura by the waist and led her onto the veranda and to one of the steps that led down from it. At first Sakura thought he was leading her towards the nearby beach which was practically next to their cabin but he instead brought her down a separate path that looked like it led to a secluded garden.

"Syaoran? Where are we going?"

He didn't say anything but instead motioned for her to follow the curving path first to while he followed right behind her.

She was about to question again but they seemed to already reach the end when Sakura found herself in a circular enclosure surrounded by various types of trees, bushes and tropical flowers. This was probably some sort of place where guests would spend a romantic and secluded dinner under the stars.

At the moment, however, there was nothing except for a gigantic box that could probably fit a person inside and it had a large pink ribbon tied at the top.

"Happy Birthday, Mrs. Li," Syaoran whispered from behind and reached around to pull her face up to his for a kiss.

The time off they spent for their honeymoon went by as if it had only spanned a day instead of the actual full week.

But Syaoran was the head of his own large company. He couldn't stay away too long. During the duration of their company, his usual duties had been forwarded to his sisters to take care of in rotation to make up for his absence. Now, they were back to reality.

They had already returned to Japan three days ago but Sakura still felt like she was on cloud nine.

A giggle made her turn to look at her companion. "What's so funny?"

"You," Tomoyo said almost immediately with a grin. "You look like you left your soul back in Hong Kong."

Sakura couldn't help but grin back. "How can you tell?"

"Well, because if you were completely here, you would have freaked the moment you noticed your purse was being chewed out."

She looked at Tomoyo curiously and turned to what she was pointing at.

In the corner of the room, one of her purses was currently under torture by a white fluffy menace.

"Lan!" Sakura shouted and practically pounced on the puppy. "Bad girl, you do not chew on Chanel. This isn't your toy."

The dog merely barked up at her happily.

It was Tomoyo's day off today so Sakura had asked for her help in packing her belongings in her apartment so she can move what she wanted to take with her to Syaoran's place sooner than later. But as a last minute thing, she decided to bring along the months old white Shih Tzu whom she named Lan so Tomoyo could meet her.

"I never knew you wanted a dog though. I never even knew you liked dogs. So I'm surprised Syaoran gave you one as a birthday gift."

"I didn't either until I met his parents' dog. You know the one you saw at our wedding. I don't know, they're just terribly cute and I think its nice having a dog in the family. Don't you think?"

Tomoyo smiled fondly at Sakura as she started playing with her new charge. Besides actually and truly loving Syaoran, this was probably why she had grown so easily attached to him, because of her inner desire to build her own family ever since her father passed away. She could see why Fujitaka would put a condition as drastic as getting married now. He really just wanted his daughter to feel secure with people who will love her unconditionally.

"Lan still needs a lot of training before she'll be anything like Yin though," Sakura said as she lifted the puppy in the air. "Right Lan-lan? You're gonna be a good girl for me and Syaoran right?"

Lan gave a gleeful bark in reply.

"What's that for?" Syaoran asked in surprise as the very large bouquet of flowers was placed on the coffee table in Syaoran's office.

"It was sent here to Sakura's department sir but she's not in."

Well, she wouldn't be because Syaoran insisted she take a leave from work for another week after they got back so she can spend the time to clear her old apartment.

"So it was brought here instead," Mia added unsurely.

Mia had a worried look on her face but Syaoran waved her down, indicating it was fine.

"Just leave it there for now then. Arrange for people to have it sent to my place though."

"Understood," and with that she quietly left his office.

Somehow, it was a little late to still be receiving gifts and this made Syaoran curious as to who sent them. And why was it sent to Sakura's office instead of directly to their now-shared place?

His curiosity getting the best of him, he pushed away from his desk and went ahead to check the card resting on the flowers.

To Mr. & Mrs. Li Xiao Lang,

Congratulations!

We wish you all the happiness in the world.

– Kentaro Hashimoto & the Morita Family –

Syaoran's brows shot up. Two familiar names again. He already knew the identity of the Moritas from Sakura and what he himself dug up but he still didn't know who this Kentaro Hashimoto was. Probably still an old friend of her father's? They did send the bouquet together.

Without a second's consideration, he returned to his seat and started typing onto the keyboard of his computer. He already decided to trust Sakura and not repeat what he did with what happened with Naoki Morita. Besides, he didn't think he could stand the guilt of having another background search done of someone Sakura knew behind her back when it was nothing.

"Hashimoto, Kentaro," Syaoran muttered under his breath as he typed the name onto the search bar. The moment he entered it, however, brought up a lot of links to a lot of people. Both names were fairly common.

He redid the search but this time with "Tomoeda" typed next to the name. If the man knew the Morita family and sent a gift alongside them, chances are they came from the same town, right?

The results this time were much narrowed down and Syaoran knew he got the right person because the first few links that came up were related.

"Lawyer?"

But just then,an oh-so-familiar (and annoying as hell) knock came from his door.

"Go away," Syaoran said in a loud voice and the oh-so-familiar voice outside chuckled audibly before entering the premises.

"This is the first time I see you since you left on your honeymoon and this is what I get?"

"I'm busy."

"I'm not," Eriol said as if that settled the matter before closing the door behind him.

"Go visit Tomoyo then."

"Well that was what I planned but your wife stole her away from me," he accused and sighed. "It's her day off and I even cleared my day before hand so I can spend the whole day with her. But she told me we'll just meet in the afternoon instead because your wife asked for her help."

Syaoran smirked. He liked the sound of it whenever Eriol said "your wife" and he said it with much emphasis too.

And Eriol knew exactly what he was thinking for he rolled his eyes before settling himself on the couch as he usually did.

"Woah, that's one big bouquet. Admirer? I have to remind you that you're a married man now. It wouldn't do you any good to cheat on your wife when you only just got back from your honeymoon," he teased as he absently took the already open card Syaoran abandoned next to the bouquet to read.

Before Syaoran could retort, however, Eriol spoke again.

"Oh, Sakura's father's lawyer sent these?"

Syaoran looked over at him in surprise.

"And the Morita family too, that's nice of them," he added offhandedly.

"Why the hell do you know who her dad's lawyer is?"

Eriol looked up, startled. "I told you on the day of your wedding. I found out a bit about Sakura's past."

"But why her father's lawyer?"

"Because he was involved."

"Was Sakura in some sort of trouble to be involved with him?"

"Nothing like that," Eriol reassured. "I don't know the exact details where he's concerned but it was just some business regarding her father, that's all."

What Eriol was saying didn't exactly reassure Syaoran. Sure he told Eriol that he was confident with his relationship with Sakura during their talk on his wedding day but he would be lying if he said that Eriol's actions then didn't concern him.

"I have Mr. Hashimoto's contact number if you want to give him a call to thank him for the flowers."

Author's Note:

Lan - means "Orchid" in Chinese (actually it's Lan Hua).

Oh, and Yin- Syaoran's parents' dog -means "Silver." I couldn't think of anything else and it sounds cute, so there.

Syaoran's family is Chinese so that explains the names. Though to be honest, I don't even know if these are appropriate names for dogs. Gah.

Also, I'm not Chinese. I did learn how to speak/write the language (compulsory class back in my elementary through high school years though I forgot most of it by now, not to mention I kinda took the subject lightly back then :p)... but I'm not too sure how to write it with actual letters from the English alphabet. So it came out as "Ts" instead of "Z"/"J" like you guys said. Please bear with me. *cries*

Raeny