His amber eyes narrowed.
He looked to the left. Then right. Then left again.
All clear, he thought.
"My, my dear cousin. Didn't know you would go that far to escape from a ball held for your birthday." A voice spoke from behind him, causing the poor Prince to jump up a few meters in surprise."
When he restarted his heart again, Syaoran turned to look at the cause of his near death experience. "How the hell do you always manage to find me Hiiragizawa?!"
Eriol grinned, shaking his head, "Language your highness. You should at least try to be more diplomatic towards your elders."
Syaoran looked at him innocently, "Why, my dear, cousin whom might I mention I love with all my heart" Syaoran said sarcasm dripping with every word he uttered, "The only thing I asked was how you found me? How can you insult me? Your own flesh and blood!"
Eriol rolled his eyes at his younger cousin's pretense. "Come on. You have some ladies to impress, dear cousin."
At the mention of what he had to do, Syaoran's glare returned. "Do I have to?!" he asked stiffly, trying not to whine.
"Of course you do." his cousin replied. "I want fifteen nieces, heir to the Li kingdom, do you hear me? So you better start sometime while you're still young."
Syaoran snorted, his cold mask slipping slightly. "Right."
* * *
As he entered the hall, the music was already drifting around the huge space, and Syaoran glared at it all with a passion. This isn't having the best time of your life. It's pure hell!
The young sixteen year old looked around the hall, not even bothering to hold any interest in what was happening. Another year had passed, yet he still felt isolated. Sure there was always his cousins and sisters, but they too had a life to live. And now that he was in a marrying age, his parents expected and encouraged him to find himsef a bride as soon as possible so he wouldn't have to be in an arranged marriage.
It was different for him. If he hadn't been the heir to this kingdom, then Syaoran could have married whenever he pleased, but that wasn't the case.
Which is exactly why he was so cold and distant to every noble, or high born person that enter the palace. His true nature only showed when he was out in the village with the people that treated him like their own son, instead of the formal way everybody in this god forsaken castle treated him.
A young toddler suddenly ran past him, giggling while she went. It seemed as though someone was chasing her.
But before he could take another step, a girl with auburn hair about his age ran past him, desperately trying to keep up with the toddler but miserably failing.
What the hell? he thought, as the girl missed his foot by only a few inches.
Shaking his head in disbelief, he tried to look for Eriol, instead of admitting to himself he was trying to look for any opened door to escape from.
But a familiar patch of dark blue hair caught his attention, and he walked quickly to the area where his blue- eyed cousin was standing beside a raven haired beauty. When Syaoran reached them, the young lady with raven coloured hair spotted him and grinned, her amethyst eyes twinkling brightly.
"Trying to find a way out of this I presume Syaoran?" she asked in her lovely sing song voice that calmed anyone and everyone.
The young prince cringed and looked at her as though he was in great pain. "Tomoyo, help me please!" he groaned, "Your useless husband is only making matters worse for me. I can't stand looking at his face any longer!"
Tomoyo laughed, while Eriol looked at his cousin in a smug way, "Don't be afraid to admit you wish you had some of my good-looks dear cousin."
Syaoran looked at Tomoyo in sympathy, "I admire you. How the hell do you even out up with him? If it were me, I would kick him out of the house five seconds straight. And that's actually if he's lucky."
"Sometimes I wonder how I put up with him too." The twenty year old sighed, ignoring her husband's dignified look.
But before he could reply, the same toddler who Syaoran had seen earlier ran to him and grabbed his leg tightly. She looked up at him and grinned. Eriol and Tomoyo were laughing loudly at his confused and surprised expression.
"Oh man," a female voice whined, "Come on Asuka! D'you want your dad to win the bet? Why can't you just help your Aunt out in here?"
The questions were soon followed by an auburn haired girl with amazing bright green eyes and a slender body with the right curves. To say she was beautiful would have been an understatement.
She bent down prying the toddler's hands off Syaoran's leg and straightened up. She was of average height, but since the prince was quiet tall for his age, she had to look up to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry about that." the girl apologized.
Syaoran's cold expression returned when he got over the shock, but he shook his head in a forgiving manner because this was the only girl who had talked to him without flirting. Apart from Tomoyo and his sisters and cousins.
Tomoyo and Eriol's laughter had died down. Tomoyo looked amused at the girl who seemed to be confused at the prince's coldness.
"So Sakura," Tomoyo said, "What bet did you make with Touya this time?"
The girl, Sakura, looked at the couple an smiled sheepishly, "Well, he said I take care of his daughter, let alone go to a ball, so I made a bet with him saying I can do both, and kick his butt. So you see, I am trying to get back at my stupid older brother for doubting not only me, but also my intelligence."
Tomoyo giggled, while Eriol just smirked.
Syaoran digested this information unconsciously. So, this girl's name was Sakura, eh? That meant cherry blossoms. And by the looks of it she had an older over-protective brother who like teasing her and the two made quiet a lot of bets with each other it seemed. And this toddler looking at him right now with love-sick eyes was Sakura's brother's daughter.
"Sakura, this cold looking boy over here, who just happens to be my favourite cousin in the world, is Syaoran Li. Dear cousin, this is Tomoyo's lovey younger cousin who is not only the same age as you, but shares your birthday as well. Her name is Sakura Kinomoto. Daughter of Lord Fujitaka Kinomoto."
Sakura smiled brightly at him and curtsied, "Pleased to meet you, your highness."
Syaoran let a bit of his mask slip while he said in an emotionless voice, "Likewise Lady Kinomoto."
Sakura made a face at the formal name he called her by, "I never liked being called a 'Lady'. It makes me sound as old as Eriol and Tomoyo."
"Hey!" the two protested.
Grinning a tiny bit, Syaoran could tell that he had finally found an ally now when it came to teasing the two.
But his good mood was taken and ripped into pieces when his mother announced that the prince needs to now dance with someone. Looking pleadingly at Tomoyo, he received goose bumps all over when some women from a variety of ages looked at him seductively.
Tomoyo sighed and nodded, "Eriol can dance with Sakura. But you need to give you niece to your brother Sakura. Or you won't be able to dance."
Sakura nodded, and along with Eriol she went to hand over Asuka to Touya and his wife Kaho.
While they were dancing, Tomoyo looked at Syaoran with a smirk, "She's different from the rest isn't she?"
"I guess," he admitted, "But she's so cheerful! How does she manage it?"
"That's Sakura." Tomoyo said shrugging.
Meanwhile, Sakura was laughing at something Eriol had said about their friend Takashi Yamazaki, and his hopelessness around women.
"He would be perfect for Chiharu!" she exclaimed. "I can't wait to introduce them to each other."
They laughed together, enjoying as the soft music was played. Somehow they had managed to be dancing next to Tomoyo and Syaoran.
Sakura's eyes wandered around the hall, and came to a stop at the door. Suddenly she froze. Eriol looked at her questioningly, and followed her gaze, tensing at what he saw as well.
They had stopped dancing now, and Tomoyo, guessing at what happened gasped aloud in horror.
"What's wrong?" Syaoran asked puzzled and scared the same time.
At that moment Sakura and Eriol reached them, with Eriol supporting the formers weight.
"He's here. He's here. Damn it, why did he come?" she kept repeating to herself.
"Who?" Syaoran asked Tomoyo. Her only response was a shake of a head.
"There is this man. He... he... he has been after Sakura since she turned fifteen last year. He's a absolute maniac if you ask me." she growled after a while.
Syaoran raised his eyebrows.
"I can't refuse him if he asks to dance with Sakura if she dances with me. You know the rules, if someone has a consort and is dancing with a single woman, they can not say no to a single man who asks to dance with them." Eriol said defeated. "But if she doesn't dance at all, he's going to keep pestering her about it, and might actually take her outside by force when no one is looking. So where the heck are we going to get a single guy?!"
Syaoran looked at Sakura who was shaking visibly. Wow, this guy must be pretty dangerous if Eriol's at the verge of swearing.
Making up his mind, he spoke out loud, "I'm a single guy aren't I?"
hope you people like it!
well, i introduced Sakura but i cant tell you who that girl in the beginning of the story is. all i can say, is that the woman telling the story, was her great grandmother's cousin and her great grandparents have recently passed away.
see ya!!