Chapter 28 Yelan

Before Sakura left the hospital, she dialed Yelan's number. It started to ring. She wished that she hadn't gone on the plane yet. Tomoyo was already picked up by her body guards and Eriol offered to stay even if he would miss his rehearsals but Sakura told him to go. She knew that he would be getting into big trouble if he didn't go. As Eriol left, Ryu stayed behinf with Sakura.

Soon, Sakura's call was answered. A middle-aged woman's voice was heard from the other end. Sakura smiled and answered, "Aunt Yelan, it's me, Sakura." Sakura could sense that the woman on the other end was relieved with the call.

"Sakura, how is Shaoran? How is he doing?" Yelan quickly asked.

"He's already awake, Aunt Yelan. I've also told him that you are coming. Wei-san is with him now. I'm just going to go home before 'tou-chan and 'nii-chan get worried. I'll be telling them that you are coming. They might even come with me at the airport to meet you, Aunt Yelan." Sakura explained.

She heard Yelan gave a sigh of relief from the other end. She then told Sakura, "Thank you, my dear. My plane is leaving in an hour. I will be there at 10."

"Alright, Aunt Yelan. Have a safe flight. See you later." Sakura said before she hung up. She then looked at Ryu and smiled a little.

Ryu walked Sakura home. "You and Shaoran's mother seem really close." Ryu commented.

Sakura smiled and replied, "We are. When my mother died, Aunt Yelan is the closest to a mother I've got. She's really nice. She even called me all the way from Hong Kong to ask me if I were ok after the French embassy incident. She said that she saw it on the news. She called immediately. That's how close we are."

Ryu gave a sad smile. It seemed to him that all the pieces of the puzzle were coming together. It was a sad reality. "It must be hard for her…having her son study here." Ryu commented.

"Yes. I'm sure it is really hard for her considering that Shaoran is her only son and the youngest. But it was also a family decision to allow him to study here. Shaoran told me once that the only reason she and the Li elders agreed was for him to learn how to be strong and independent. It wasn't like he wasn't wanted or anything but it had to come to that because he, at that time, was going to be head of the family. He needed to be of strong character, wise and everything without sacrificing his humanity. This was the only way since he had lost his father at a very young age. Also, 'tou-chan and 'nii-chan are around here so more or less they could guide him. Just as Aunt Yelan is the closest to a mother that I have, 'tou-chan is the closest to a father Shaoran has. But of course it's not like they sent him here without somehow to truly look after him, Wei-san was sent to accompany and guard Shaoran upon Aunt Yelan's request."

"He's head of the family now so I guess that had helped mold him. The only reason why he stays here in Japan now is because it's his choice. He can make that decision now because he has the power to, even if Aunt Yelan might contradict of course." Sakura added.

"Is that the reason why you told him to be nice?" Ryu asked, almost smirking.

Sakura laughed a little. "No. Not really. Shaoran has a very deep respect for his mother. She could silence him just like that. I just said it because he might be too stubborn to truly listen. Like I said, it has been awhile since she last saw him and with what happened to him, it's only natural for a mother to worry and make sure that everything is going smoothly. Shaoran's the type who doesn't like being pampered. It's not like he doesn't accept acts of kindness or stuff like that but he's not used to being the 'baby', you know…it's a little hard to explain. He always keeps this strong front that it's hard for him to show his weakness."

Ryu then grinned. He then said, "Oh I doubt that very much, Sakura. I don't think it's hard for him to show his weakness. It's just a question of who." Sakura could get where Ryu was getting at. She smiled a little and shook her head. Maybe he was right.

Sakura then closed her eyes and smiled. She exasperated and said, "It would be really nice to see her again. It's been a really long time since I last saw her. She had asked me once to come down with Shaoran to Hong Kong over the summer. Actually that was last summer but Shaoran and I both had extra curricular activities, Shaoran's with kendo while I took on cheering. We both couldn't so she said some other time when our schedules were lenient enough even if it were for a week or two only."

"That's pretty cool. Spending summer or just a week at Hong Kong. Your dad doesn't mind to those kind of trips?" Ryu asked.

Sakura smiled and replied, "If it were another country, perhaps because I'm still underage. But that doesn't go with Hong Kong. Even if I'm Japanese, I practically could have been born there because I wasn't even a year old when we moved to Hong Kong because of 'tou-chan's work. We lived there for years up until 'ka-chan died and we had to move back because the university called 'tou-chan here. Plus, it's Shaoran's family we're talking about. Our families are really close so 'tou-chan doesn't have any reservations if Aunt Yelan asks me to come and visit at Hong Kong."

"You two really have known each other forever. I thought that it was just like this sort of over exaggeration of things." Ryu commented.

It made Sakura laugh a little. It's not like she hadn't heard that comment before. There were just some people who could hardly believe that they were best friends when it seemed that their personalities were complete opposites of each other. If only they knew that they weren't at all that different? But neither of them were really that interested in correcting people's thoughts about it as long as they knew the truth, everything was fine.

"You will like her when you meet her, Ryu-san. She's simply this amazing person." Sakura then commented.

Ryu grinned and said, "If you put it that way, I'm really interested in meeting her. But then who am I to meet her? I think I might be a little too embarrassed to do that." Ryu answered. Sakura started laughing again.

She then said to Ryu, "You and Shaoran are friends. Why wouldn't Aunt Yelan like to meet you?"

Ryu smiled a little. He was now sure that Sakura had never been him. Her heart could not belong to anyone else…but him…if only he wasn't that much of a fool then probably he'd noticed by now. He had to question though, did she know it herself or was she still trying to deny it, hiding behind the 'best friend' title?

They came up in front of Sakura's house. She turned back and smiled at him. He smiled at her and said, "I guess it would be nice to meet the mother of Li Shaoran someday. I'm not sure this is the time but I would love to meet her once you've put it that way."

Sakura grinned and said, "She would like that very much. I can't speak for Shaoran though. You know what he's like."

Ryu smirked and replied, "Well, let's just wait and see how things turn out. Who knows, right?"

"I do. When the time comes, I'm sure it will be just right." Sakura answered him with a smile. She wished that things would simply be fine already. Everything had been very tense lately and it would definitely be a welcome relief if things became much mellower in its course. It would definitely be a welcome relief for her. Yes. Definitely for her and for Shaoran.

Ryu grinned and nodded. Sakura watched him leave. She smiled a little before heading inside. She knew that her brother and father were already home. She also knew that they were probably wondering why she was late. She took a deep breath and headed on inside.

"'tou-chan! 'nii-chan! I'm home." Sakura said when she entered the house and removed her shoes.

"'tou-chan is not home yet, Sakura. He's on his way though. Something came up at the University so it took him a little longer." Touya called out from the kitchen.

Sakura said nothing as she rounded up to the living room. She was surprised to see that Yukito was there. She hadn't noticed his shoes when she came in.

"Yukito-san! Sorry…I didn't notice that you were here." Sakura said as she went over and sat almost next to him.

Yukito smiled at her and then a concern look came to his face. Sakura's heart skipped a beat. Did Yukito notice already that something was wrong?

"Sakura…you seem a little pale…you alright?" He immediately asked which made Sakura gulp. She should have known better. Yukito would easily notice something like that…a task which was easier for Touya.

Touya's head then popped out from the kitchen. "What? What have you gotten yourself into this time, Sakura?" Touya then proceeded on to ask.

Sakura gave an exasperated breath and said, "Shaoran got into an accident, 'nii-chan, Yukito-san. Wei-san called me and told me about it so I dropped by the hospital."

Touya then came from the kitchen and sat next to Sakura. He then proceeded on to say, "Seeing Shaoran hurt doesn't usually make you all pale unless it was really bad or something else happened."

"He needed blood, 'nii-chan. The hospital was running low on supply since the accident was a little big and because of the French Ambassador's surgery. I know Shaoran and I share the same blood type so I offered…well…actually…I told the doctor to get blood from me to help save his life. Don't freak, 'nii-chan, ok?" Sakura finally said. She knew that things hadn't really settled yet after the French embassy incident.

Touya started laughing while Yukito grinned. Sakura was a little confused so she said, "Sorry but I didn't quite get the punch line…"

Touya smirked and said, "Boy, imouto-chan, you've got it bad. That's all I can say."

"Got it bad?" Sakura asked confused.

Yukito laid a hand on Sakura's shoulder. She turned to him and he said, "I'm sure you'll figure it out soon. Why don't you freshen up a bit with hot water to get some color into you? Your dad might get worried if he saw you."

Sakura nodded and stood. Before she left to freshen up, "'nii-chan. Aunt Yelan is coming. She's going to arrive at 10 and I said that I was going to meet her. You want to come?"

"Aunt Yelan is coming? Ok. Sure. I'll come. Let's tell 'tou-chan. He might want to come too. It's been years so I'm sure he would like to come along." Touya answered.

Sakura nodded and disappeared around the corner as she headed upstairs to her room to get her stuff before she took a bath.

When Sakura came back down, Fujitaka had already arrived and was told of Yelan's arrival. He went up to Sakura when she came up the room. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Sakura warmly smiled at him and nodded. She then said, "I'm fine, 'tou-chan. Please do not worry about me…really I'm fine." Fujitaka nodded and smiled.

During dinner, Fujitaka asked, "So Shaoran is already awake right?"

Sakura nodded and replied, "He woke up about an hour after the transfusion. He's a little weak but at least he's already awake. I also already have told him that his mom was coming and that he should consider himself lucky to be alive and lucky that it was only his mom coming."

"Does he know about you giving him blood?" Touya then asked.

She knew that he couldn't resist asking that question. She shook her head and then replied, "I don't want him to know. He doesn't need to know…well…maybe someday but not yet." She then gave him a look that told him you-should-know-why.

Touya smirked. He couldn't help but shake his head. For the rest of the evening, they talked about things and fixed the utensils before they headed to the airport. Sakura convinced Yukito to come along. She had told him that she had told Yelan that he was the one who had gotten her the internship at the French embassy and he was always looking after her. She told him that he shouldn't be afraid or anything. Yelan wanted to get to know the young man who had been so kind as to help her achieve part of her dream.

Sakura and the others waited patiently as the plane arrived. It would be a bitter-sweet reunion. Sakura wished that Yelan came to Japan under different circumstances.

When she did arrive, it was Fujitaka who first saw her. Yelan smiled as she made her way to them. Fujitaka and the others approached.

Sakura hugged her. "Welcome, Aunt Yelan. I'm really glad that you had a safe trip." Sakura said.

Yelan then broke from her embraced and took a step back. "Let me take a look at you Sakura. Why you have grown a lot since the last time I saw you? You look more like your mother now." She said as Sakura blushed.

Fujitaka and Touya then welcomed her and introduced Yukito. Yelan looked at Yukito with wonder and smiled.

"So you are the one Sakura had been telling me about? She had told me that you are like a big brother to her and Shaoran. Yes. She had said many wonderful things about you. It's nice that now I know have a face to go with it." Yelan said as she greeted Yukito.

Yukito bowed slightly and thanked her. He smiled at her. He told her that it was very wonderful to meet her at last.

(to be continued…)

Things have started to shift again. This is the beginning of things to come. Thanks for reading and reviewing until this chapter. I really appreciate it. Please, please do review now. It kinda helps me get into the writing mode. Thanks.

Michiko