The Lost Princess
Chapter 10
"Hey, you seem to be deep in thought." Chiharu's quiet voice managed to penetrate Sakura's jumbled thoughts. She had been staring at the flowing river, deep in thought, since she had sat down on a huge boulder after their training master had unexpectedly announced a short break.
Sakura looked at the newcomer with a sheepish smile. The newcomer climbed and sat beside her. There was silence except for the soft hiss of the river, the quiet whisper of the wind and the musical chirp of the birds.
"Uh… Saku?" Chiharu began in hesitation, gaze fixed on the shimmering surface of the clear river.
"Yeah?" Sakura prompted, glancing at Chiharu. She noticed Chiharu's creased brows and confused expression.
"I just noticed something a while ago…" she started quietly.
"What?" Sakura inquired, transferring her gaze from Chiharu's face to the clear river, pulling her knees to her chest, embracing them with her arms and placing her chin on her joined knees, never taking her gaze off the river.
"It seems as if…Syao liked you in a different sense." Chiharu continued after a slight pause.
Upon hearing Chiharu's statement, Sakura's heart beat doubled, feeling uneasy.
"Different? How?" Sakura tried to make her voice calm and even, though panic had crept into her. Chiharu had noticed what she, herself, had noticed! Along with the panic, another emotion surfaced…it was pure annoyance. This annoyance was directed at herself because of her reaction to the knowledge that Syaoran might like her --- not only in a friendly sense! And she hated the feeling that it evoked from her.
She was so wrapped up in fighting her emotions that she didn't hear Chiharu's quiet sigh.
"This was only a suspicion, Saku…but what had happened a while ago was all the confirmation I needed…" Chiharu stopped then looked at Sakura. She waited until Sakura met her unwavering gaze. She saw fear in Sakura's emerald eyes but she couldn't seem to keep to herself what she had just learned.
"Syaoran is in love with you, Saku…" and as expected, her statement intensified the fear in Sakura's eyes that she looked away 'cause it was too much to bear.
"No!" there was underlying anger in Sakura's denial and her hands had clenched tightly.
Chiharu looked at her again and saw the battle in her emerald eyes before it was surprisingly shut. That was the first time that she couldn't read any of Sakura's feelings. Sakura had always been honest with it but at that moment, she knew that Sakura wouldn't share it. And at Sakura's reaction, Chiharu couldn't help but think. She had seen fear in Sakura's eyes before, but why? Why was she so scared when she learned of Syaoran's feelings? She couldn't understand Sakura's reaction, unless…
She looked at Sakura again and studied her guarded expression.
"Why are you so scared, Saku?" Chiharu whispered quietly. No answer but she could sense that her body had tensed and her emerald eyes had turned menacing.
"Is it because you're also in love with him?" Chiharu finished and this gained a deadly glare from Sakura.
"Shut up!" Sakura hissed.
This confirmed Chiharu's suspicion regarding Sakura's feelings.
"Why are you so scared of your feelings for Syao?" Chiharu inquired quietly.
"I'm not!" she snapped.
Chiharu shook her head at Sakura's response, "Don't lie, Saku. I know you."
"You don't!" Sakura bit out, her frustration and anger making her response sharp and deadly.
"Saku…" but Sakura interrupted before Chiharu could finish it.
"I'm not in love with him! I don't even know how to love! And for goodness' sake, he's my best friend! I refuse to fall into the cliché of falling in love with her own best friend!" her tone was full of quiet outrage.
That's just it, Saku. It's easy for you to fall in love with him because he's your best friend. You're the type of girl who doesn't fall for just anyone or any stranger for that matter. You're the type who falls for a friend…someone who knows the real you." Chiharu explained at her confused friend, "And as for you not knowing how to love, that's not true."
"No, Chi. I don't know how to love. How can I know what love is when I don't have an example for it? My parents don't love me… I don't even like myself, much more love myself. How can I possibly claim that I love someone when I, myself, don't love me…" came Sakura's redundant answer.
"Saku…"
"I'm an incomplete person, Chi…Syaoran is better off loving someone else. He's too perfect to be tied up with somebody who has too much excess baggage in her body." Sakura finished quietly.
"And you said you don't know how to love. What do you think you're doing now, Saku? For me, that's love…sacrificing your own happiness for your precious person but if I were you, I won't give up Syaoran that easily and besides, no matter how much you push him away, he'll still follow you and you know that. He's that kind of person." Chiharu stated.
"No…" her voice was firm, "He deserves someone better…"
XXX
"Hey, Syao." Takashi interrupted Syaoran's concentration as he tried to target the apple hanging from the branch of the oak tree with a cross bow.
"Yeah?" Syaoran answered his friend, squinting his eyes to measure the distance of the fruit.
"What was with the look you gave Saku a while ago?" Takashi continued after a hesitant pause.
"What look?" Syaoran inquired, not looking at Takashi but at his target.
"The look which showed that you're in love with the girl." Takashi stated blandly.
"Really? Is that the kind of look I gave her?" Syaoran's nonchalant answer made Takashi frown.
"Yes." Takashi gritted his teeth.
"So…are you?" he added.
"Am I what?" Syaoran asked, preparing to release the arrow.
"In love with Saku…" Takashi stated, trying to stretch his patience.
"Maybe…Maybe not." Syaoran answered vaguely, releasing the arrow. It hit the swinging apple deadly at the center, cutting it into half smoothly.
"What?!" Takashi's outrage was short lived because of Syaoran's neat performance. And before he could grill the guy more, he was already crossing the practice courts toward the stables.
"Damn! When am I going to get a decent answer from that guy?" he muttered in annoyance.
