See, wasn't lying about regular updates this time. Enjoy!
Administrative stuff
Summary: Li Syaoran must return to Kinomoto Kingdom with the remains of his fiancée after her tragic demise. But a marriage is still required to unite the two families, and now Syaoran has his pick of the six remaining daughters of Kinomoto Fujitaka for the sake of both their kingdoms. Romance/Mystery
Ages:
Kinomoto Touya: 27yrs
Li Syaoran: 22 yrs (almost 23)
Kinomoto Sakura: 21 yrs
Kinomoto Tomoyo: 20 yrs
Kinomoto Ayame: 18 yrs (dec)
Kinomoto Meilin: 18 yrs
Kinomoto Chiharu: 17 yrs
Kinomoto Naoko: 16 yrs
Kinomoto Rika: 15 yrs
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.
It's Only Love – Love Today: Part I
It took Syaoran only a week to fall in love with Kinomoto Sakura – probably less, but in his mind it was the cumulative effects of the week that did it, and not any single incident.
When he arrived in the Reed Kingdom, which was to some extent a subsidiary of his own, he had no idea she would be there. Truth be told he hardly knew who she was except for a vague memory from his childhood of a pretty green-eyed girl with honey blonde hair – a girl whom he had pushed into a pond because his sisters had giggled and teased him about being in love with the girl simply because he blushed when she spoke to him. He wasn't in love with her then – he was merely six for gods sakes – but clearly, given time . . .
It happened nearly a year before he eventually asked for Ayame's hand in marriage. It was sixteen months, two weeks, and two days between his first sighting of Sakura and their marriage. He remembered the date for no other reason than the fact that it honestly changed his life – he had been given a glimpse of something wonderful, and such promise could never been forgotten.
He spotted her out in the marketplace when he arrived in town. By coincidence she had come with her brother and his wife to visit the King – Touya's brother-in-law – Reed Yue, just as Syaoran had come to counsel the King on strategy and war craft. As soon as he saw her, though, all thoughts of strategy, politics, and anything else left him completely. He was struck by her beauty in an instant – she was clearly some sort of angel sent to earth, and he wondered how one so unworthy as him could be so fortunate as to be graced with the mere sight of her.
"Who is she?" he asked breathlessly aloud, an unwavering gaze watching her graceful movements. His manservant, Wei, caught the words he hadn't meant to speak aloud and grinned at Syaoran's awestruck expression before he replied.
"That is Princess Sakura of the Kinomoto Kingdom and her brother the Crown Prince Touya," he said in a stately tone that gave nothing away, pointing out the tall young monarch that Syaoran had failed to notice.
"Sakura," Syaoran uttered aloud, her name sparking a forgotten memory and nestling itself in his heart.
For a while he could do nothing but gaze upon her. He followed her around at a distance like some creepy stalker, Wei only grinning beatifically at Syaoran's strange behaviour. The manservant was not particularly surprised that the only woman to capture and sustain his master's interest was the beautiful Kinomoto Sakura – rumours were already spreading about the way she handled her suitors, and it would amuse Wei endlessly to see his shy master received the same treatment. Although he doubted he would.
But stories, they would discover, said nothing about Sakura's true nature. They said nothing of what Syaoran was about to find out and the girl he eventually fell in love with.
A small boy ran into her path, tripping into a puddle that splashed mud over the front hem of her skirt. Syaoran cringed, knowing he was about to have his beautiful illusion shattered. Sakura was a princess, after all, and he had seen noble women of lower standing blow up over less.
But Sakura's tantrum never came. Instead of screaming blue murder at the boy who had clearly not intended to do her dress damage, she knelt down to comfort him, ripping the hem off her dress when she saw he was bleeding from the fall.
Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he probably wouldn't have believed it, but in that moment . . . he fell in love with her kindness.
The two princes of the Reed Kingdom, Kero and Spinnel, greeted Syaoran respectfully when he arrived at the castle. He suspected that their older brother must have been near by (or at least have given them the hard word on things) as Kero was never that polite and Spinnel usually chillingly cordial. Syaoran didn't waste much thought on it – a greeting was a greeting and he would not hold it against Yue for insisting his brother's show a little more respect to certain visitors.
"Is Yue-san in?" Syaoran asked as his cape was taken by one of the servants.
Spinnel nodded and responded in a tight upper class tone. "He is presently occupied by some business," the darker haired brother responded, blue eyes studying Syaoran with a knowing expression that made the young king shudder. "Perhaps you would like to take some tea in the drawing room while you wait."
"That would be nice," Syaoran replied tightly, knowing there was no question in Spinnel's statement.
He followed behind Spinnel, who turned quickly in the direction in of the drawing room. Kero hung back, giving him a narrowed glance as he walked beside him. "You better not get any ideas, gaki," Kero told him in a menacing tone.
"Excuse me?" Syaoran asked, not knowing where this was coming from.
"You'll do, but if I hear anything, so help me-"
"Kero," Spinnel said sharply, stopping his brother mid-sentence. His expression changed, and he melded the word into some other thought. "Perhaps you and I should fetch someone to serve our guests. Come now, brother."
Kero reluctantly left with Spinnel, and Syaoran was left to wonder whether his distant cousins had always been so strange. The Reed's were clearly some strange part of the family that no one really liked to talk about unless it was completely necessary. There was obviously a reason why they were not invited to dinner parties.
With a shake of his head, he stepped into the drawing room they had left him outside. He was shocked to see the room was already occupied, but shouldn't have been. Kero and Spinnel had dropped more than enough hints, and it was clear now what Kero's unveiled threat was referring to.
The pretty nineteen-year-old girl gasped at the sight of him, but recovered quickly. She stood, as it was polite to do when a monarch such as himself entered a room, and gave a sweet little curtsy and soft smile. She had perfect court manners, which pleased a small part of him that thought of what a wonderful wife she would be.
"Good evening, Li-heika," she said as she gave a second bow, her cheeks a healthy shade of pink.
Syaoran inwardly beamed. She knows who I am! called the excited little boy inside of him, jumping up and down with joy. "Good evening," he replied coolly, the only evidence of his thoughts being the blush that streaked across his cheeks.
She smiled at him, and for a moment he could have sworn his heart stopped. "I guess you don't remember me," she said with a playful frown. "We met when I was four and you were six."
He blinked at her, surprised she could remember something so long ago in the past. She seemed to understand his confusion, and gave him another sweet smile before elaborating. "You pushed me into a lake, Li-san," she added with the same sweet smile.
Syaoran froze and suddenly wished that he could find some rock to crawl under and die. It was just his luck that he would find himself alone with the girl of his dreams, and already have undermined the whole thing. He hadn't even met her – not properly at least – but he had already messed up the first impression.
But Sakura didn't look mad. Instead she smiled at him and giggled at his expression. "I'm glad you remember me now," she told him. "I'd hate to think that you habitually went around pushing little girls into lakes. It would be awful to be just one in a long lines of girls that received the same treatment."
Her smile was infectious, and he shared it even though he really did feel terrible about what he had done. Her teasing pulled him a little out of his shell (Syaoran had never been particularly good with girls) and he returned it with a rather brave statement, at least by Syaoran's standards. "From my memory it was a pond," he countered smoothly, surprised when his voice didn't shake or stutter from the effort. He even managed a challenging smirk that both irked and enthralled Sakura.
She gave him a sceptical look. "A pond?" she asked him, sounding unconvinced. "Perhaps it really was some other little girl," she said with a mock pout before launching into a dramatic triad about how he had betrayed the sanctity of what they had.
She was being plain cheeky now, but Syaoran was enjoying himself too much to admonish her. "I'm sure it was you, and I am sure it was a pond," he replied once she was done with her monologue. "Perhaps you only thought it was a lake because you were very small."
Sakura pouted, her height having always been a touchy subject given her brother's propensity to balance things upon her head. She fumed a little, her cheeks turning an enticing shade of red and her eyes flaring with anger. Everything about her seemed to come to life in the most beautiful way.
She began a fresh triad, stepping into a fighting stance to emphasise her point. "Perhaps, Li-san –"
"Syaoran," he said cutting her off impulsively. He blushed when she stopped, stepping back and giving him a cute, quizzical look with her head tilted to one side. "You should call me 'Syaoran'," he told her, his words heavy with embarrassment as he spoke.
"Oh," Sakura replied, a blush forming on her cheeks as the redness of anger left them. "Well only if you call me 'Sakura'," she insisted, smiling brightly at him in response. Not that he saw it, as Syaoran was too busy looking down at his feet.
"Well, Sakura-chan," he said, testing the name in his mouth. It sent a thrill of excitement through his body, and he wondered how often he could legitimately use it without looking rather creepy.
"Yes, Syaoran-kun?" she asked, doing the same.
"Sakura, I-"
"Oi, you gaki!" a voice called suddenly, halting Syaoran in whatever he had intended to say at that moment. "What are you doing in here alone with the kajuu?"
"Sakura is not a kajuu!" Sakura yelled huffily, forgetting all about Syaoran for the moment as she stormed over and slammed the heel of her shoe into the bridge of her brother's foot.
Touya was howling in pain, and Sakura was beaming with triumph. And there she was lighting up again, like a vision of fury. And there was Syaoran, falling in love – of all things – with her temper.
Touya glared at him all through Yue's introductions and dinner (and the aperitifs now that he thought about it) . . . and dessert . . . and coffee . . . and quiet conversation . . . and finally through a game of charades. Afterwards Syaoran couldn't help but wonder if maybe Touya's face was fashioned into a permanent scowl.
Although, Syaoran couldn't blame Touya for looking sulky all throughout the charades; it was, without a doubt, the worst game in existence. Syaoran had never been fond of word games, but charades took his disdain to a whole new level.
'What is in horse but not in course?' Syaoran thought blandly to himself. 'How about what is in 'fire truck off', but not it 'tier'?' Perhaps a bit of a harsh thought, but surely you'd feel the same if you had been playing the game for an hour with a tall, dark-haired man glaring daggers at you the whole time.
Just a glance around the table showed him that his sentiment was like shared by all but one of his companions around the table. Spinnel had excused himself early, claiming he had some reading he needed to catch up on. Kero had tried to withstand it as long as he could, but gave up almost 30 minutes in, unable to stand any more of the tedium. Yue and Touya diligently continued because Nakuru seemed to be the only person on the planet who actually found the game enjoyable and both seemed to love her enough to withstand the torture for her benefit alone.
And why, you might ask, was Syaoran continuing to play the least fun game in all of history? Because Sakura was playing, of course.
She was terrible at it, there was no denying that, but she tried her best to get into the spirit of things and had happily engaged Syaoran and Yue in some smack talk to try and liven things up. It was highly inappropriate talk for a lady of her status, but Sakura hardly seemed to mind. She was simply herself, and took no heed of the fact that she had just told one of the kings at the table that he had the intelligence of mildly conscious mung bean for failing to understand why the letter 's' was the only possible answer to the clue 'What is in sponge cake but not in scream?' to which he responded, that she was a good deal lucky she had her looks to fall back on, as by her logic the answer could only be eggs, sugar, flour and milk. The clue really should have said 'what is left in scream that is not in sponge cake', but even then it was difficult to phrase the question in such a way as to meet the rules of charades and make sense.
For a moment she looked mildly offended, and Syaoran really did think he had done it that time. He'd been so caught up in the spirit of their mini insult war that he had forgotten that he was trading insults with a girl (and more importantly, the girl) of noble blood and with a rather intimidating older brother who wouldn't hesitate to injure him if she asked it. But then she burst forth into a beautiful laugh, tears stinging the corners of her eyes as she tried to control herself.
"Oh, Syaoran-kun," she said cheerfully, earning Syaoran another glare from Touya who did not like the fact that her sister was on a first name basis with any male that wasn't already a eunuch. "I haven't laughed that hard in such a long time. Who knew charades could be so fun?
"Well, I'm off to bed," she said, jumping up from her seat. "Good night," she said as she kissed both her brother and sister-in-law on the cheek, and gave Yue a quick hug (mostly because she knew how much he didn't like it). She paused at Syaoran before deciding that he too could have a hug, wrapping her arms around him and briefly burying her head in his chest.
For Syaoran, nothing else had ever felt so right. The way she fit into his arms was like perfection; like finding the last piece of a puzzle when he'd been missing it all his life. He'd never felt so complete or at ease or anything else among a plethora of emotions that hit him at that point.
She lingered in his arms just a moment longer than was appropriate, but Syaoran certainly wasn't complaining. Of all the things to love about her in that moment, it was her inner-strength and conviction that really stood out. Sakura was not afraid to be herself, and didn't lose who she was to the conventions of their society. He both envied and loved that about her, and hoped that with a little time, some of her 'Sakura-ness' might rub off on him.
~ to be continued ~
Much better length this time. My favourite line in the story is the one about Touya and eunuchs.
Next chapter: Part two.
Note: Charades, not as we commonly know it, is a word game from the 17th or 18th Century, which uses verbal clues in the form of riddles to find words. A proper example would be the following:
The first is me, and is not you;
The second is round, and may be hurled.
Together these things, I have but two,
Help me see all wonders within this world.
It's an Eye-ball (the first being a hominem and the second a definition). Charades might also take the form of revealing the letters by elimination as it did above.