Chapter 5: "Enter Eriol"
Everyone gathered inside the castle. Except for Touya and Kaho. They went upstairs to put Rin in her room. Fujitaka left to rest as well.
The room that everyone gathered in was one of the many rooms where all the important people had meetings.
"I can't believe I missed it!" Tomoyo cried out.
Sakura laughed nervously. She put her hands up, signaling her best friend to calm down.
"Don't worry Tomoyo… It wasn't THAT exciting... And I promise that I'm perfectly fine. I'm just a bit tired. That's all."
Tomoyo sighed in relief. But she was still unconvinced.
"But I missed one of the most amazing moments in your life…" She brought out a big book that was lying beside her chair the whole time.
"I wanted to sketch the whole incident in this book, which is filled with all the other sketches I made of you before!"
Everyone sweat-dropped.
Tomoyo was a gifted artist. But she only used her amazing talent to sketch important events in Sakura's life. Believe it or not, the big fat sketchbook she held up was already more than half full.
Syaoran was there too… He remained standing because he refused to sit down in any of the chairs, no matter how much Yukito and Sakura urged him. He looked around the room. He's never seen anything like it. It's probably the biggest room he's ever been in. And that's probably because he's never been inside a castle before. The room was covered in expensive marble, starting from the floor to the walls and to the ceiling. His mouth was wide open most of the time.
Sakura got up and walked towards him.
Syaoran stiffened. A few moments ago, Yukito wrapped his shoulder with bandages. So, he was curing. Keroberos said that they needed to talk with him. And that the incident that had occurred a while ago cannot be shared with anyone.
Sakura smiled friendlily at him. But Syaoran was finding it hard to look at her directly in the eyes. He knew that he would be stuck staring awkwardly at those emerald poles if he did. That would be very wrong…she's the princess, after all. And, he could get into a lot of trouble for it.
Sakura put her hand out.
"Hi, I'm Sakura! Thank you for helping us out today! Without you, we would have been in a lot of trouble!"
Syaoran twitched. He didn't know what to do. Should he shake her hand or not? If he did, he'd start blushing, for sure. But if he didn't, that would be rude. And being rude was the last thing he wanted to do.
He slowly lifted his hand towards hers. His eyes were still down at her feet, not daring to look up.
C'mon Syaoran! It's just a shake... it's not that hard!
Sakura waited patiently, the friendly smile still stretched on her beautiful face. She was probably the only one in the room who didn't notice the boy's predicament.
He finally managed to shake her hand. Her hand felt incredibly soft in his, and just like he feared, he immediately started blushing. When he heard Tomoyo giggling softly, he immediately let go of the princess' hand. He balled his fists unconsciously- his face redder than ever.
What surprised him even more was when Sakura bent down to look at him straight in the eyes.
"So… aren't you gonna tell me your's?"
Syaoran gasped and jerked backwards. Sakura blinked at him with a confused expression.
Was it something I said? She asked herself worriedly.
Get your stuff together, Syaoran! He scolded himself, breathing heavily.
The new found distance made Syaoran more comfortable. He eased up.
"My name is Syaoran… Just Syaoran!" He tried not to stutter and sound awkward. But he failed miserably.
The worried look left her face. She smiled good-heartedly again. Syaoran gulped when he looked at her face again.
"Hello there, Syaoran! I haven't seen you here before, so you must be new! Welcome to the Kinomoto Kingdom!" She spread her hands out. "And once again, thank you!"
"It was my duty!" Syaoran bowed down.
Sakura blinked her eyes twice, clueless as ever.
Tomoyo giggled once again. She was reading his mind the whole time.
Poor Sakura… if only she wasn't so dense...
She thought that Sakura would look really adorable with this boy. She found Syaoran to be a really nice person.
Yukito cleared his throat, everyone's attention.
"Would someone tell me why all the castle guards and the Royal Knights were asleep while we were fighting the Clow card?" The real question was asked.
Keroberos floated upwards. His face scrunched up, as he tried to decipher the situation.
"It's because of the evil magic that summoned the card in the first place… It put to sleep everyone who didn't have magic."
He then pointed at Yukito.
"But you! You're not part of the Royal family are you?"
Yukito shook his head, bewildered. Keroberos flew towards him and examined him. Yukito blinked, confusedly.
He doesn't seem to have magic… But he gives me this weird feeling… I can't explain it…
Syaoran's eyes widened with realization.
So that's why Rin, I mean, the young princess, fell asleep! It wasn't because of the wind…
He looked down at his palms, examining them curiously.
So does this mean… I have magic?
Keroberos then flew towards Syaoran and examined him. His face merely centimeters away from the boy's. Syaoran eyed him quizzically.
Keroberos jerked back and shook his head violently.
"No! You definitely don't have any magic!"
Sakura's shoulders slumped. She felt really down all of a sudden for some reason.
"Huh?" Syaoran exclaimed when the Guardian Beast started doing circles around his head.
"How did you do it?" He asked Syaoran, still revolving around him, he was a hundred percent sure the boy had magic when threw that sword…
The sword!
Keroberos dived towards the sword that hung onto Syaoran's side. He examined the hilt - the red threads and the yellow diamonds. He remembered that the blade was long, thin and exceptionally shiny.
"This sword… it looks very familiar… like one I saw a long time ago..." Keroberos shook his violently. "But that can't be right…" He said to himself worriedly.
"Your suspicions are correct, Keroberos." Kaho entered the room.
Everyone turned to her.
"Sakura is the cardcaptor. And Syaoran is her partner- the person who's destined to assist the cardcaptor and protect her from all harm. Today's incident proved it."
"But he doesn't have any magic!" Keroberos argued. "Clow Reed said that he would have magic!"
Kaho smirked. "You don't need magic when you can operate a magic sword."
Keroberos felt defeated. He couldn't argue with that. He looked back at Syaoran's blade.
That isn't just an ordinary magic sword... Something's different about it... There's definitely more to it than that meets the eye…
Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other.
Partners?...
"Wait, wait, wait!" Everyone looked at Tomoyo. "So you're saying that it's not over!"
Keroberos nodded casually.
"Yeah, there's still like fifty more cards left to find... Why do you ask?"
Sakura was hit with realization.
No, no, no...
"Because I'm gonna come with Sakura and Syaoran!"
"Tomoyo are you crazy!? It's too dangerous!" Sakura's expression turned serious.
"Sakura! This is probably gonna be the most exhilarating, the most amazing, part of your life!... You always wanted to go on an adventure…" Tomoyo's expression saddened. "And I don't want to miss it…" She added the last part in a low whisper.
Sakura slapped her forehead and sighed. There was absolutely no arguing with Tomoyo.
"Fine… You can come..."
"Oh my gosh, Sakura! I love you!" Tomoyo hugged Sakura back tightly. Sakura felt defeated and hugged her back.
Syaoran looked at the exchange. No one seemed to care about what he thought...
"Alright guys!" Keroberos looked at Syaoran and Sakura. "We need to train!"
Syaoran looked cluelessly at the Guardian Beast. Sakura, although, had a determined look.
"Sure thing, Kero!"
Keroberos was about to turn around to leave when his ears perked up.
"What… What did you just call me?" Keroberos gave her an annoyed look.
"Kero! You know! It's short for 'Keroberos'!" She spat 'Keroberos' out like she hated the name.
Sakura thought that the name suited him for his adorable teddy bear-like appearance. She knew that he was bossy, and that he always tried to act tough… but she also knew that, deep down, he was a softy. And that he really cared for her. The thought made Sakura smile.
Kero sighed. No one could stand the charms of Sakura's beautiful smiles. "Fine. Call me whatever you want… I just wanna get this over with, that's all..." He started to float away.
Sakura giggled. She looked at Syaoran, who just stood there, all quiet and observant. She grabbed his hand. Syaoran stiffened again, his eyes widened.
"C'mon!" she pulled him as she ran after Kero. She laughed when he almost tripped.
"Boy, you need to lighten up!" Sakura teased.
"I get that a lot…" Syaoran said with a bent and nervous smile.
Kaho and Yukito were the only ones who were left in the room. Yukito was still bewildered, even though the story was explained to him. Kaho looked at her husband's best friend.
"I know you're in there…" Kaho told him. She was looking straight at him, but it seemed as though she was looking through him.
"What?..." Yukito asked, he had no idea what she was talking about.
Kaho smirked. "It's about time you come out… you know?"
She walked out of the room. Yukito blinked at her exiting figure.
Maybe all the pressure from today has gotten into her...
His stomach growled.
Boy, am I hungry…
Kinomoto Castle Garden
"Your posture- you need to perfect it!" Kero showed her his different battle stances.
Sakura sweat-dropped.
You can't be serious…
"Yeah, but what does this have to do with anything?..."
"Everything Sakura! You need to remember that you're a hero!" Kero was inches away from her face with a very deadly expression. "And this the only way you can do it…"
Sakura gulped and nodded nervously. She gripped her staff tightly.
Kero moved forward and stood on the ground with his small yellow teddy-bear legs. He was holding an imaginary staff on his hand. He buffed his chest up and looked behind if Sakura was following his steps. She was. Reluctantly. But she was. He held his imaginary wand in the air.
"Release!"
"RELEASE!"
Syaoran watched from the distance as the two trained. He was polishing the blade of his sword. He held up to the sun and watched the long silver blade shine. He smiled proudly.
Beauty…
He turned around when he heard a rustle in the bushes behind him. He looked back at it carefully. Definitely wasn't a person. It was making a lot of noise and he could tell it was big. Syaoran moved towards the bush stealthily with his sword, ready to attack whatever it was whenever it showed itself.
When he was just a few inches away from the bush, two heads popped out.
Syaoran yelled and jerked backwards,
"You!" he pointed an accusatory finger at the creature, angrily. It was the same dragon-like four-legged two-headed creature that had attacked Rin.
Before Syaoran could react, one of the heads of the beast licked Syaoran's face with its tongue. His face was all wet. Syaoran wiped his face with his arm.
Ugh… Disgusting…
He let his guard down and before he knew it, the dragon had already wrestled him to the ground. It was licking his face ferociously, this time with both of its tongues.
"Ugh! Cut it out! Get off me!" Syaoran tried pushing the heads away with his hands. It started to tickle and he couldn't control his laughter.
He looked for his sword with no avail. It must've fallen from his hand when he reached to wipe his face.
"Stop it already! That tickles!" Syaoran continued to laugh, all the while trying to shove the creature off him.
It finally stopped. Syaoran sat up and tried to regain his composure. He was breathing heavily. He looked up at the creature, which was now staring at his face intently.
Oh no… Don't tell me…
He stood up, dusted his shirt and glared at the dragon. Then he turned around to walk away, all the while looking back at it. He stopped when he noticed that it was following him.
Syaoran slapped his forehead, frustratedly, and moved his palm downwards along his face.
Just great… this is just what I needed…
He head jerked up when he heard footsteps.
"Syaoran! Are you there?" It was a feminine voice.
"Quick! Hide!" He dashed towards the dragon and tried to push it back towards the bushes.
"Syaoran… Were you yelling?" Sakura asked worriedly when she found him.
She gasped when she saw that he was sitting on a large, scale-clad, lump that was sticking out from the bushes.
Syaoran scratched his messy brown hair unmindfully and blew on the wet bangs that were over his eyes.
"I can explain…" He grinned sheepishly.
Daidouji Kingdom
Tomoyo was helped down from her carriage.
The Daidouji Kingdom wasn't very far from the Kinomoto Kingdom. They were neighboring kingdoms actually. Although, this kingdom wasn't as big as the former.
"Princess Tomoyo, you have a visitor." One of the castle guards spoke up.
"Oh really? Who is it?" She asked curiously. "I wasn't expecting anyone this evening…"
"Your highness, he… uhm… told us not to tell you. He wants it to be a surprise… He is waiting for you inside the castle."
Tomoyo blinked her eyes, confused.
Once she was inside her castle, she noticed that there was a young man sitting in one of the couches. His back was turned to her and she couldn't see his face.
Don't tell me it's another suitor… she sighed, frustrated.
She stopped when she was a few feet away from him. The man had blue hair. She cleared her throat. He got up from his seat and turned around.
Tomoyo's eyes widened. He was a tall young man, probably her age. He had piercing blue eyes behind his spectacles and he looked very handsome.
The man walked up towards her, took her hand and kissed it.
Tomoyo blushed.
The man looked up at her eyes and smiled good-heartedly. Tomoyo found the smile absolutely breath-taking.
"Greetings, Princess Tomoyo… I am Prince Hiragizawa… Eriol Hiragizawa."