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

Pairings: Syaoran x Sakura, Eriol x Tomoyo

Again, a BIG BIG BIG BIGGGGGG thank you for all the reviews you guys left me! I REALLY appreciate them.

As for this chapter, the title says it all so this will be a doozy. I hope you still enjoy it though!

We're nearing the end to this story... just chapter 20 + the epilogue chapter left. Eep!

Chapter Nineteen

"Revelations"

"Chiharu-sensei!"

Chiharu wiped her hands on the apron around her waist before taking a peak down the narrow hallway in time to see two small children running into the house while excitedly pointing at behind their backs.

"Don't run or you'll hurt yourselves," she reminded them. "What's wrong?"

"There's a man outside asking about who lives here. He says he's looking for someone."

"Okay, I'll take care of it. You two go out back. Naoko-sensei just started gathering up the others."

"Hai!" they chorused before heading towards the entrance to the backyard of the house.

Chiharu then took off her apron to hang it over one of the dining room chairs before making her way out to the already open front door and was immediately met with a tall man with sunglasses.

The clothes he was wearing weren't anything out of place, just a plain forest green shirt underneath a dark gray coat, a pair of well fitted jeans and a pair of sneakers. But somehow, he still looked out of place. He didn't look like he lived anywhere near here. He looked more suited for the pages of a fashion magazine regardless of how average his clothes were styled.

"Uhmm… May I help you?"

"Good afternoon, may I know who the proprietor of this house is?"

"May I know whose asking?" Chiharu inquired. The guy himself didn't look suspicious but it was better to be safe just in case. After all, the house was currently full of children with only three adults, all of whom were women and two of whom were in their 20s.

The man pushed his shades up to settle on his messy chocolate brown hair.

"My name is Li Xiao Lang," he introduced with a smile.

Chiharu could swear she felt her heart skip a beat. He looked even more gorgeous with his entire face in full view.

"A-Ahh… Uhmm…" she stuttered and looking dumbstruck for a moment before thoughts of reason returned to her brain. "W-Wait, eh? Li? Uhmm… A-Are you in any way related to Ms. Li Sakura-san?"

Syaoran didn't know if she liked hearing his wife referred to as "Ms." but he nodded all the same.

"Sakura's my wife."

"Wife!" Chiharu exclaimed in shock before clamping her hand over her mouth. "I-I'm sorry. It's just I didn't know Sakura-san was even married," she admitted. "Are you look-"

"Make way! Make way!"

Syaoran and Chiharu immediately stepped aside as a group of three children ran past.

"Oi! Don't run! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Sorry sensei!" they shouted without looking back and laughed happily.

Chiharu sighed and was about to talk again when the front gate squeaked. A small girl was standing there on the steps, a hand on the gate as she tried to keep herself steady while trying to catch her breath.

"I… I… lost," she said in a small voice amidst her panting. Then she noticed Syaoran.

To both adults, the stars that appeared in her large eyes was almost apparent.

"A-A prince!" she exclaimed excitedly and sounding even more breathless.

Chiharu gave a tiny cough at this. Truly, it was much easier being a child for she had just voiced Chiharu's exact thoughts when her own eyes landed on Syaoran seconds earlier.

This sound seemed to snap the little girl back to reality though and she immediately made an effort to stand up properly. "Good afternoon! Prince... I-I mean, Mr… Mr…"

"Syaoran," Syaoran supplied with a smile.

"Good afternoon Mr. Syaoran," she greeted again and with a bow this time. "My name is Maekawa, Sakura. I am six years old!"

"Good afternoon Ms. Sakura," he greeted back just as politely. He had to keep the irony from showing in his tone as he said this. The fates are seriously bent on making this experience as painful for him as possible.

But he held his smile though. It was only appropriate to do so after all.

Sakura smiled up at him before turning to Chiharu. "Is Mr. Syaoran a new sensei? Or is Mr. Syaoran someone's daddy?"

"Ah, no, he-" but Chiharu cut off again as children came filing out of the front door in a line.

"Chiharu? What're you- Oh, hello?"

This time it was a woman with short hair and glasses who had appeared.

Naoko looked at Syaoran curiously before turning to Chiharu. "I'm sorry. The kids said you were waiting by the front door and ready to go."

Chiharu threw a look at the 10 kids- now including Sakura -who were standing in a perfect line on the front lawn as they waited. They were throwing occasional glances at Syaoran's direction.

"Err… Sorry but it's my turn to take the kids out," Chiharu told Syaoran as she felt around her pockets until she produced a whistle. Then she turned to Naoko, "I'll be leaving him with you then Naoko. This is Mr. Li, Sakura-san's husband."

This wasn't exactly an adequate explanation but Chiharu settled with that before blowing into the whistle to which the kids started marching with wide grins on their faces as they made their way to the front gate in an orderly fashion.

"Chiharu is one of the instructors here," Naoko suddenly said as the last of the children disappeared from view. "Please come in then Mr. Li."

With that, she stepped inside the house.

Now Syaoran was even more confused. What just happened? And who were these people anyway? But they certainly knew Sakura so he supposed it wouldn't do him any harm to see what was going on. This was the address he got when he had his people look up her whereabouts.

"Excuse me," he finally said as he followed the woman up a set of stairs that led to the narrow landing of the second floor hallway. The house wasn't at all huge. It looked like an average house for an average household of probably three or four people.

Naoko stopped in front of one of the room doors and knocked.

Is this where Sakura is?

"Toyama-san, a Mr. Li is here," she called out.

Or not.

A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal a much older woman who was probably in her late 50s or early 60s. Why was he taken here? And who was this older woman?

The woman in question looked at Naoko before looking over at Syaoran.

"Mr. Li Xiao Lang," she greeted with a bow of her head.

"Good afternoon," he greeted back. He didn't even bother to question how she knew who he was exactly with just a single look. The continuous oddness that had happened since he arrived at this house stopped him from bothering voicing out anything.

"I'll take it from here Naoko. Thank you."

Naoko smiled at her then bowed at Syaoran before leaving.

"You caught me at a busy time but please come in Mr. Li," she said as she went back to the sofa she had been occupying.

There were several photographs scattered on the sofa next to where she sat, on the coffee table in front of her and in boxes on the ground. She had obviously been organizing things in there before his arrival. "Sakura said I should keep what I wanted and just throw out anything I didn't but I'm sure she didn't know these were in the closet."

Syaoran sat on the only available chair left which was the overly stuffed seat at the end of the coffee table the woman was working at. The room he was in was- he assumed –this woman's bedroom. There wasn't much in there though. There was a bed situation in the middle of one corner, an old piano organ set against the wall, a wooden sliding door which he assumed was the closet, the small furniture set he was currently sitting at with the woman and a glass sliding door behind her with the curtains drawn to the sides revealing a small balcony outside.

"I have heard a little about you from Sakura," she suddenly said while Syaoran did his assessment of the room. "She didn't tell me she was experiencing any sort of trouble but it was easy enough to pick up after a while."

Syaoran didn't say anything.

"Had you come to take home your wife?" she added without looking at him.

Again, he didn't say anything. It wasn't exactly this woman's business and he didn't exactly know who this woman was at any rate.

"Oh, how could I forget my manners," she suddenly said in a much lighter tone. "My name is Toyama, Nakako. I was Sakura's private tutor when she was a child. I am, however, now retired."

He was impressed that she read him but this did nothing but raise more questions in Syaoran's head.

"Sakura came to me around three weeks ago, asking me if I wanted to help her with a project she recently decided to start. I couldn't help but agree. Retirement just isn't for me yet I suppose," she said with a little laugh. "She even gave me this room to use according to my liking. This used to be Sakura's father's room you know."

"This was Sakura's home?" he asked in surprise. Well, he didn't exactly know a thing about his wife's past so of course he was surprised. He only got this address after he hired people to look for her. This was one of the few possible addresses they gave him but he didn't know what Sakura's relation was to this house.

Toyama nodded. "Sakura had lived in this house for the first twenty two years of her life. After that, her father lived here by himself until he passed last year."

"I see…"

"Oh, is that for Sakura?" she suddenly asked, pointing at the thick envelope Syaoran had been holding this entire time. "Would you like me to give it to her?"

"It's something I have to give to her in person. Anyway, Mrs. Toyama," he started, thinking of something else to talk about, "I didn't know Sakura had a private tutor when she was young. Did she have trouble with her school work or something?"

Syaoran was trying to keep things light between them, and most of all he wanted to steer away the topic from the landmine he was holding in his hands. That was something he definitely didn't want to discuss with anyone but Sakura.

Toyama gave him an odd look, as if Syaoran had grown an extra head.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. It's just that I didn't realize that you didn't know that much about your wife," she said rather ruefully.

It wasn't like he could help it. Sakura refused to talk about her past anyway. Not that he tried very hard to find out. He knew that with a little digging on his part, it would have been easy to uncover his wife's secrets but that wouldn't exactly be right either which is why he never did anything of the sort. Of course now he regretted it seeing as his ignorance of her past was what was causing the trouble.

"Did you know, Mr. Li, that Sakura's family had been poor for the most part of her childhood?"

He nodded at this. Eriol had told him just the other day that Sakura grew up with only her father and had lived in poverty. Also that she wasn't able to go to school at some point because of this and had also been bullied rather badly.

"But you don't know why?"

"No, I don't."

Toyama smiled sadly and started looking for something amongst the photos. It took a while but she finally found what she was looking for and handed it to Syaoran.

The photo was of a young Fujitaka Kinomoto, a young beautiful woman whom he could only guess was Sakura's mother and a tiny baby bundled up in blanket in her arms.

"Sakura's mother, Nadeshiko, passed away before Sakura turned two. I never met her but Sakura's father talked about her often enough for me to feel like I actually knew her. She was lovely and kind, much like Sakura is now but she was ill. Very ill. She had a disease in its final stages but Fujitaka, the kind of man that he was, did his utmost to help her. This was how the Kinomoto family got themselves into financial trouble. Nadeshiko spent more than a year in the hospital before she finally passed, and there was no way a regular household like the Kinomotos who only had Fujitaka as their means of income could pay the hospital fees. So Fujitaka borrowed money with promises to give them back, which of course he did in due time. But the debts were too plentiful and he only worked as a professor's assistant back then and that was hardly enough."

Syaoran listened with rapt attention. He clearly wasn't aware of any of these things she was talking about. Even Eriol didn't know any details. Sure he told him about a few of what Sakura had gone through before she moved to Tokyo but it was hardly anything informative. He should still be grateful though, because if it weren't for the things he had said, he wouldn't have bothered to make the effort to come here in person in the first place. He had originally planned for his lawyer to deliver the envelope he had brought.

"When Sakura turned eight years old, she had to quit school. Her father couldn't afford it. All the money he had was enough to pay for food on their table, a roof over their heads, and to maintain the steady payments he was making for all the loans he made. That was when the teasing and bullying came about. Neighborhood children mocked Sakura for her inability to read or write properly. She wasn't altogether illiterate since Fujitaka did his utmost in his rare free time to home-school her. But considering their situation, Fujitaka had to work small odd jobs to help pay their debts so he hardly had time to actually invest on teaching Sakura anything. So in the end she still lacked the appropriate level of education for kids her age. And with this, kids- being as they are -made fun of her without regard for her feelings. This lasted for roughly a year until Fujitaka took notice that his daughter had gotten gloomier and more miserable. It was also around that time that I met him. I heard about his family and the pain they went through. Tomoeda isn't a big town so talk spreads fast and easy. I provided my services then. On my free time, I came over to tutor Sakura. But by then, the damage had already been done. Sakura had already withdrawn a considerable degree from having suffered so much. She was only a child after all, the trauma must have been deep and I was hardly qualified to give proper counsel. But I was patient, I came regularly and did what I can to coax her into trusting me and letting me help her. This took a while, and when she finally did, I started teaching her little by little and slowly. Time passed and Fujitaka finally got his big break, the professor at the college he worked at invited him along for an expedition and it was a success. With that, he not only paid off what was left of his remaining debts, but he had enough to enroll Sakura into school again."

Toyama then smiled rather fondly. As if a pleasant memory had crossed her mind and Syaoran can only imagine it must have been a ten year old or so Sakura's face brimming with happiness.

"But it wasn't so simple," she continued and a tear escaped her eye. "Yes I had tutored Sakura a few things but it was hardly enough to suit a child her age. She had turned eleven by then but her educational level was still that of a nine year old. When Fujitaka had her resume school, she only managed to get enrolled into the fourth grade so she was a year older than her classmates. This as well as her history amongst the kids in Tomoeda was enough to cause the bullying to start again. Don't get me wrong though, not everyone bullied her, but those who didn't just avoided her completely. There was hardly anything the teachers could do to help and Sakura refused to stop school for that reason either. She wanted to learn, that much was clear. But she got held back a year in the end and with that came another reason for the kids to make fun of her."

It was an unconscious act. Syaoran didn't know his fists were balled so tight in anger until he felt the pain of his nails digging into his palms.

What the hell? How in the world could anyone do such a thing to a child? Sure the ones bullying her and making her miserable were also children, but still… if he had been around, he'd probably hit those kids where it hurts most. And their parents as well for not instilling proper discipline on them! No matter how hurt or angry he felt at Sakura after what she did to him, he still thought even she didn't deserve a childhood like that.

"Sakura persisted after that. She tried her best and although she got promoted to the sixth grade, by then she had become a loner and refused to interact with anyone except for myself, her father, and a select few of her father's old friends. This also resulted in her diligence. Even during summer breaks, she worked hard to learn as fast as she could as much as she could. So by the start of her high school years, through her own hard work and grit she managed to get herself promoted from taking a proficiency exam. She got back the two years wasted and was enrolled into a class with those her age. Then she graduated, though still alone, friendless, and with her history and trauma still hanging over her head. This continued even well into college. Like I said, this town is rather small. Everyone practically knows everyone so it's hard to escape from anything, even your own shadow. I had only tutored Sakura until high school because I moved for a short period after that. When I came back, I met Fujitaka and he told me that Sakura had graduated from college with top marks and had since moved to Tokyo. Around that time, he told me that Sakura hadn't come back once to Tomoeda in two years."

Silence fell between them as Syaoran let all the information sink in and Toyama tried to get her emotions under control though it looked like another tear was threatening to escape.

He really didn't know any of this. Sakura had gone through this much and he didn't know a single thing about it. And now that he did, all the little things that didn't make sense about Sakura started to become understandable.

From the beginning, he had always been impressed at how accomplished she was for her age. When he read her profile before he hired her as his secretary, he had always wondered how she managed to be involved in all sorts of organizations and classes that were listed on it. Then that was because of her self-motivation. And she didn't have friends back then so that meant she didn't waste her time on the usual things friends do in their spare time. Her spare time was probably spent with constant studying and participating on extra lessons.

When he first went to Sakura's apartment, he had also been curious as to why the things she owned were simply practical. Her furniture was simple and usable. She hardly had anything decorative in her home that would usually be otherwise useless. Then that was because she didn't bother wasting money on things that she deemed unnecessary.

Her present sense of style and her extensive collection of fashion-related goods, were also- quite obviously now -a result of her childhood trauma. She had been bullied and made fun of because she had been poor and couldn't afford the things she can now. So she's been spending her money on such things that she can show off, to prove to the world of how much she had grown, how much better she was now, and how they now didn't have the right to make fun of her.

The fact that she doesn't have a single friend except Tomoyo and the fact that she hadn't dated anyone except himself… these too were byproducts of her wretched past. If it weren't for Tomoyo's personality and the fact that they were forced to work side by side and see each other at work constantly, he doubted she could've become so close with Sakura. He couldn't even imagine just how long it took for Tomoyo to win Sakura's friendship and along with it, her trust. It was also no wonder that Tomoyo cherished Sakura in a more than usual manner for being just girl friends.

As for him, if it weren't for Fujitaka's will, he doubted he would ever have experienced any of the things- good and bad –with Sakura. It was, after all, her persistence that made Syaoran consider getting close to her and that was all because she was pushed to do so to fulfill her father's conditions. It wouldn't have been surprising if she ended up old and gray and completely alone if not for the existence of the will.

Now, for Fujitaka Kinomoto's money… Syaoran finally understood. If Sakura and her family did go through that kind of past together, if her father managed to get that amount of money saved up, Syaoran could only assume that Fujitaka Kinomoto was just like her daughter. After experiencing a life of poverty and hardship, he developed a manner of only ever spending on necessities. How else could he manage to reach such an amount after all? So that's probably why Sakura wanted that money very much. It wasn't because of the large amount, it was because of its hidden value which she herself knows and understands firsthand. Her father worked hard to get that, of course she wouldn't want it to be given away.

"Mrs. Toyama, do you know about Fujitaka's will?"

The older woman looked at him questioningly at first then shook her head.

Some things still didn't make sense to him. If all his thoughts and assumptions were true and Sakura truly was the kindhearted person that she was, then why couldn't she just let the money go to all those organizations listed in Fujitaka's will? Sure, it wouldn't be kept within the family but the money would still go to a good cause regardless and that's not exactly anything bad. What would she do with the money anyway if she kept it for herself?

Syaoran knew it was only one tiny negative detail out of many positive ones. It was probably his own bitterness at the fact that she only approached him to get her father's money that he wanted to keep at least one fault on Sakura. Otherwise, what he had done to her and what he was about to do to her, would just backfire on him and make him feel like the biggest idiot and jerk on the planet.

"I don't know anything about Fujitaka's will but then money would surely be involved, correct? I mean, Fujitaka's accomplishments over the years must mean he had gotten quite a bit of money," she said looking even more thoughtful. "Then that must be why Sakura had been giving so much lately."

"Giving?" Syaoran echoed.

Toyama nodded.

"Sakura came here a few weeks ago and had since donated large sums of money to different sorts of institutions. Mostly to hospitals, local clinics, the orphanage, schools, and also even to smaller groups and organizations. That isn't limited to Tomoeda though, but also to neighboring towns. She's been donating so much it's a wonder she still has any left."

Syaoran frowned. "Why?" He felt almost stupid for asking. Somehow he already knew the answer. Just that he needed someone to voice it out for him.

"Because that's who Sakura is," she answered quite simply with another fond smile on her face. "After what she went through, I doubt she'd want others to experience it too. She actually turned this house into a free learning center for the local kids whose families are low on funds. That's the reason why there were a couple of them here just now. Chiharu-san and Naoko-san were hired by Sakura along with me as instructors. We have regular activities indoors and out, the kids get snacks, and it's all free. Sakura pays for our salaries as well as everything else we need."

If Sakura ended up using her father's money this way or donating for a just cause exactly as her father originally planned on doing if she didn't end up marrying him, then why bother trying to get the money in the first place?!

His head was pounding. Although he had gotten the answers to almost all his questions and curiosities about Sakura, he didn't feel any better. If anything, he felt worse. He needed to reconfirm the contents of that will. Something definitely wasn't right. If he knew Sakura (and he liked to think that he did), she would definitely have willingly given up the money if she knew where it was going to... right?

"Excuse me. I need to step out for a while."

"Come in," Nao called out after the knocking.

"Morita-san, a call for you." It was his secretary and she as talking in a low voice and looking quite happy.

"Who is it?"

"It's Mr. Li!" she announced. This was officially the second time the big shot businessman called their office and it obviously pleased the staff. Nothing exciting ever does happen in this place.

"Connect him immediately!" he said to which his secretary darted back outside. This was only appropriate. The first time he called he had darted to his secretary's telephone outside unthinkingly out of surprise at his sudden call.

The telephone on his desk didn't even complete a full ring when he answered it.

"Mr. Li!" he greeted. "Good afternoon!"

"Mr. Morita, good afternoon."

"How may I help you?"

"I'd like to make an inquiry about Sakura's father's will you had faxed to me some weeks ago."

"Yes, of course. What about the will?"

"I'd like to know if Sakura knew of its full contents. That is to say, was she aware where her father's money was going if she didn't inherit it?"

"Ah," Nao replied in understanding. "No, no. The second part of the will was completely confidential between Fujitaka and myself. Those were instructions that he had personally given me in the event that Sakura doesn't marry you before the set date. He told me I can only tell Sakura of its contents after the deadline was over. However, to this day, Sakura still doesn't know about it. She hasn't come to see me so I never got the chance to tell her."

There was a long pause then.

"I see…"

"Is there some problem I can help you with?" Nao offered. He had read and had seen the news lately and he had heard of Sakura's disappearance or estrangement, or whatever it was that was really going on between her and Syaoran.

"No, that's all I wanted to know. Thank you for telling me."

"But I did get a quick call from Sakura though!" he added hastily. Something wrong was definitely going on between these two and although he didn't know what, he couldn't just feign ignorance of everything after all.

"When was this?"

Nao couldn't help but smile at the interested tone in Syaoran's voice.

"Just a few days ago. She called in to ask about the deed for Fujitaka's property in England. I can't be too sure but by the sound of it, I think she plans on selling it."

"Did she give any hint as to why?"

"She didn't give any details but she was saying something about donating money for some organization or two," he said before he took a more serious tone. "I'm not sure what Sakura is doing exactly Mr. Li but you are her husband so I thought you might like to know. We've been getting frequent calls from various people and organizations about checks being issued to them with large sums of money from your wife."

Silence.

"Now I know it has nothing to do with me but she is still the daughter of an old friend of mine. And although this activity is from her personal bank account and doesn't exactly directly involve your own finances, I just thought it'd be something you should be aware of. True her father had originally arranged his money to go the same way but there was at least a little left for her own personal use to support her. It worries me that she's spending almost everything in its entirety. I know she's not exactly wasting money since the organizations and companies she had donated to are quite reputable and its all for a good cause, but the fact that she's draining so much of her account and so quickly is something- I think –worth looking into."

"Yes, it is. Again, thank you Mr. Morita. You've been a big help."

"You're welcome. Oh, and I hope you two will make up soon." He just couldn't help himself.

"I…"

Syaoran fell silent at the old man's words for a while.

"Hmm?"

"I hope so too. Again, thank you." And with that, he ended the call and pocketed his cell.

He ran a frustrated hand through his unruly hair. It was his mistake. Sure, Sakura wasn't altogether innocent in this whole ordeal but it was his fault that it had gotten this out of hand. If he had only stopped to try and see reason instead of going ahead and sending her that damned 300 million yen check, if only he had given her the chance to explain herself…

"Damn," Syaoran cursed and banged his fist on the wall next to him.

"Mr. Li?"

He turned to the front door which had then opened to reveal Toyama and she was holding on the envelope he had brought with him. That had been his primary objective for coming all the way out here but he completely forgot about it.

"I thought you had left. You left this upstairs."

"I'm sorry, I need to go. Please throw that away for me," he said with a smile and a bow at the woman. "Thank you for today, for everything you told me. I really appreciate it."

Then he turned to leave.

Toyama watched as he walked in quick steps out the gate, down the short steps, and around the corner onto the street.

"Oh? He left?" Naoko asked as she came up behind the older woman. "What did he come here for Toyama-san?"

But she didn't answer right away. She was looking at the front page of the documents she was holding. Naoko intended to take a peek but Toyama had already pushed the contents back inside the envelope it came from.

"To recover something he thought he lost," the older woman finally said with a smile.

"He lost something?" Naoko asked, confused.

"No, he didn't. He thought he did but he realized that it had never left him from the start," she answered with a little titter. "By the way Naoko, do we have a paper shredder?"

"Yes. It's fairly old though. I think you can only shred three pages at a time at most."

"Ah, that's fine."

"What do you need to shred?"

"It's nothing, just some useless papers," Toyama said offhandedly.

"I see."

"Useless divorce papers," she corrected in a happier tone though in barely a whisper that even Naoko couldn't hear.

Author's Note:

So much infoooooo.! I know.

As much as I didn't want all the stuff I wrote in this chapter to end in long paragraphs, it couldn't be helped. This chapter holds all the hidden stuff from Sakura's past so I had to lay it all down like that.

This chapter is titled "Revelations" for a reason and yes, all the little stuff from earlier/older chapters were written as it was for a reason. Hazaaahh! That refreshing feeling of tying loose ends. I can die happy now.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Tell me what you all think?

'Til the next update!

Raeny