And so we come to the end. Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading this, reviewing this, favouriting this, and alerting this. I'm glad you've enjoyed the story and we'll see if it goes any further than this.
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:
Li Syaoran: 23 yrs
Kinomoto Sakura: 21 yrs
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.
It's Only Love – Epilogue: Full Circle
"'Nii-chan!" Sakura cried out as her big brother fell into her line of vision. "'Nii-chan, that boy pushed me into the lake."
Touya was quickly by her side, the question 'what lake' overruled by a more pertinent question. "Which boy?" he asked darkly, letting Sakura distract him from his own concerns.
Sakura immediately clamped up at his tone. Whatever it was that had inspired her to tell Touya of the incident, it was certainly not vengeance. She looked almost aghast from the implication embedded in the words.
"No!" she said quickly. "You can't hurt him!"
"Why not?" Touya asked suspiciously, waiting for a flurry of convoluted explanations about how it was bad to hurt people from his four year old (almost five year old) little sister. Instead she blushed, silently refusing to meet his eye.
"You can't, 'Nii-chan," responded Tomoyo (who had only recently turned four) for her. "Onee-chan loves him."
"Moyo!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to clamp her hands over her sister's mouth even though it was already too late.
"It's true," protested Tomoyo, talking around Sakura's hand. "You said he was pwetty."
Touya shook his head bemusedly. It was just like Sakura to 'fall in love' with a boy who attacked her. "Boys aren't 'pretty', Sakura," he told her in a wizened twelve year old manner. "They're handsome. And you shouldn't like someone because they're handsome. You should like them because they're nice."
"But he is nice!" Sakura insisted. "He saved my Nadeshiko dolly and gave me a cookie and he even helped me out of the lake after he pushed me in."
Touya looked slightly impressed. He doubted he would have managed to be quite so pleasant to a girl he liked at the same age. "I think I need to talk to this boy," he mused, watching Sakura's expression turn wide-eyed and frightened once again. "Don't worry, kaiju, I won't hurt him."
"Sakura not a kaiju!" she cried as Tomoyo pointed out a chestnut haired boy slightly older than Sakura sitting sullenly by the pond. This clearly constituted a lake for Sakura who was rather small for her age.
Touya stalked over quickly with Sakura and Tomoyo trailing behind him at a safe distance. Once he was close enough, he called out to get the kids attention. "Oi, brat! What's your name?"
The kid jumped up and turned to face Touya, raising his fists when he noted the rather dangerous expression on the tall twelve-year-olds face.
"Li Syaoran," he replied confidently. "You better not mess with me," he added malevolently, "I know kung fu and I'm gonna be king, so you better not mess with me."
"Me too," Touya shrugged in response. "It's not really a big deal around here. In fact, this is my kingdom so if anything you shouldn't mess with me.
"I heard what you did to my sister," Touya said, taking a threatening step towards Syaoran and towering over the six year old.
"Is that your sister?" Syaoran asked, straining around the older boy to see Sakura and Tomoyo hanging back by a small tree of her namesake. "Do you know her name?" he asked, flushing when he realized the stupidity of his own question. "I-I . . . uh . . . mean. C-can you . . . uh . . . please um . . . t-tell me her . . . n-name?"
Gone was the boy who had moments before stood up to a boy nearly twice his age and what remained was a bashful six year old who couldn't even talk about girls without turning the colour of cherry blossoms.
"Her name is Sakura," Touya replied drolly. "NOT that you have permission to use it. She is 'Kinomoto-hime' to the likes of you."
Syaoran seemed to ignore this, testing the name silently on his lips. "Could you please tell her I'm sorry I pushed her?" he asked, suddenly looking up at Touya imploringly. "A-and that I didn't mean to ruin her dress."
"Anything else?" Touya asked sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Um . . ." Syaoran began thoughtfully, Touya's sarcasm going completely over his head. "C-could you tell her she has . . . uh really . . . um really pretty eyes?" he asked shyly. "They're . . . uh . . . my favourite colour."
Touya just glared. "I'm not your messenger boy.
"Stay away from my sister, gaki!" he called over his shoulder as he walked back to Sakura and Tomoyo.
The two girls immediately wanted to know what had happened and Touya told them nothing except, "he said his favourite colour is green."
Several months later: November
Syaoran stared blankly at the wall of the carriage as it was drawn through the gates of the Kinomoto castle, his emotions written all over his face. He almost didn't want to believe it was true, but it had to be, he didn't know what he would do if it all turned out to be a lie.
"Syaoran, say something," Sakura insisted, worried by her husband's frozen expression. He'd been like that since she told him and she wondered if maybe it hadn't been such a good idea telling him at this particular moment.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he said finally, his words edged with emotion.
"Well I didn't know how you'd react," Sakura replied in a small voice, looking down at her hands. "I thought it might be better to tell you now."
"You thought you'd tell me minutes before we have to go meet your family?" Syaoran question obstinately. "How do you think I'm going to react, Sakura?"
She shrugged meekly, her eyes still on her hands. "Please don't be mad, Syaoran. I never –"
"Sakura," he said gently, taking her hands in his own so suddenly it forced her to look up. "Why on earth would I be mad about this?"
"I don't know," she shrugged, realizing how irrational she was being about this. "It's just . . . well, I mean . . . you were expecting one child . . . and now there's two. I don't want to be a burden, Syaoran," she finished sadly, bowing her head once again.
He tsked under his breath, shaking his head at her silliness. "What did I tell you, Sakura?" he asked, taking her head in his hands. "You are never a bother, especially to me," he told her, pressing a light kiss to the crown of her head.
"And I am so happy, Sakura," he added with a kiss to her forehead. "We weren't even trying and to get twins . . . Sakura, you've made me the happiest man alive," he concluded, finishing with a deep kiss to her lips.
She snuggled against his chest after he released her, a contented smile on her lips. "You make me happy too, Syaoran," she murmured softly, closing her eyes as she made herself comfortable. "Wake me when lunch is ready."
"Oh no," Syaoran protested, jarring her awake with a quick shake. "No way are you sleeping, Sakura," he told her. "There's no way I'm running into your brother on my own, especially not in this state. He'll kill me once he realizes."
"That's just silly, Syaoran," she muttered, rolling her eyes and scowling at him for preventing her from sleeping. "We're married. Married people have babies. It's all completely natural."
"Right," Syaoran agreed. "And that's exactly what you'll tell your brother when he comes at me with a sword."
Sakura rolled her eyes once again, not lifting herself from the rather comfortable position she occupied on Syaoran's chest. "Onii-chan doesn't have a sword. He uses his zia, which is technically a truncheon," she helpfully corrected. "And they're ceremonial so he'd have to be pretty mad to wreck them with your nasty blood, anata."
"That's encouraging," Syaoran muttered. "Thanks for being so supportive, Sakura-koi."
"That would definitely do it," Sakura surmised. "You keep talking like, Syao-kun, and you'll have 'nii-chan's whole arsenal stuck in you."
Syaoran just shook his head at her teasing, the overwhelming fear of Sakura's big brother not really putting him in the mood for their usual rapport. "You know, it's times like this I wonder how I could be so in love with you," he sighed aloud. "You should be nicer to me, Sakura-koi."
"I'm plenty nice to you, Syaoran," Sakura argued back. "How else do you think I got pregnant?"
He grinned at that and Sakura swatted him playfully as she guessed where his mind was going. "Now please, Syaoran, get your mind out of the gutter and stop worrying about what Onii-chan's going to do when he finds out," she demanded, giving him a stern look as she sat up. "We're here now and there's no backing out."
"No," Syaoran agreed. "You ready?" he asked his wife, giving her a gentle look.
Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "You?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," he sighed, lifting the dark-haired baby into his arms.
"Right then," Sakura nodded determinedly. She smiled at the little girl, taking a moment to ruffle her curly, ashen locks. "Time for you to meet the rest of the family."
Kinomoto Fujitaka grinned as he held his two-week-old grandson gently in his arms. He was filled with such pride that he hardly knew what to do with himself – here in his arms was his first grandson, the future ruler of Kita, and such a handsome little boy. His grin widened as the boy opened his sleepy brown eyes, and Fujitaka was taken back nearly thirty years to the first time he held his own son in his arms.
Said son, a man now, was looking increasing sulkier as the minutes passed. He had been unhappily deprived of his child for the last hour or so as his father and sisters mooned over the newborn baby. It was only when Nakuru forced the cheerful Yumiko into his arms that he was pulled out of his mood; his expression immediately changed to a soft smile as he engaged his eldest in a brief staring match that she had no conception of.
"He looks just like you, Touya," Fujitaka said softly, hardly wanting to raise his voice louder for fear that it might ruin the moment. "He's so . . . I only wish that Nadeshiko could see him. He's just so . . ."
Touya nodded, seeming to understand what his father was trying to say.
The baby began to squirm a little as he became more aware of his surroundings, and a moment later began to cry loudly for his mother. Nakuru quickly swooped in, uttering low, soothing words until he was settled once again. There was just something about being in your mother's arms that could not be substituted.
Sakura smiled as she took in the scene, quickly gesturing to the courtiers that she was quite capable of announcing herself. Which she did, stepping into the room with a cheerful, "don't tell me you started without me?"
"Sakura!" her five sisters cheered as they rushed to her side, each taking turns to hug their sister.
"I think marriage suits you, Sakura-chan," Nakuru smiled as she too took her turn to greet the recently crowned queen. "You look so lovely. You're practically glowing."
Sakura flushed at Nakuru's knowing look, giving a quick nod that no one else would notice to the silent question.
Tomoyo too noticed a change in her sister. "Have you been eating right, Sakura-chan?" she grinned as she spoke lowly to her sister. "I think you've put on a little weight in Minami," she said knowingly. "I even think your chest has gotten bigger."
Sakura glared at her sister, warning her not to say anymore before the others caught on.
"Kaiju, come see your nephew," Touya said by way of greeting, his eyes not leaving the little boy that now resided in his arms. Sakura decided to let the 'pet name' go just this once seeing as taking her wrath out on Touya might inadvertently injure his son. He'd certainly be in for it next time, of that she was certain.
"This is Toshiro," Touya said with unusual gentleness, looking up briefly to see her approval.
Sakura smiled, suddenly feeling as though she were on the verge of tears. "He's beautiful," she said softly, her hand moving unconsciously to rest upon her stomach.
"Thanks again for letting Syaoran and I know," she uttered sarcastically, knocking him in the shin. "If Yue-san hadn't asked us to send his regards we'd have had no idea."
"Touya," Nakuru admonished. "You told me you had told everyone."
"Must have slipped my mind," Touya shrugged. "You and the gaki weren't exactly foremost in my mind," he told his sister in a tone that was almost placating, or at least it might have be if he didn't insist on referring to Syaoran as a brat.
Sakura scowled. "Stop calling him that," she demanded. "Syaoran is my husband, Onii-chan, and so you should address him properly."
Touya scoffed, covering his surprise at her passionate defence. "Sounds the perfect match. A kaiju and a gaki, ne?" He laughed as his little sister tightened her fists in an attempt to restrain himself. He didn't know how lucky he was to be holding Toshiro in that moment.
"Where is Syaoran-kun?" Fujitaka cut in before things escalated. "You didn't come alone, did you, Sakura-chan?"
"No, 'tou-san," Sakura replied, turning to her father with a sweet smile. "He's somewhere," she waved vaguely. "It would be just like him to get lost."
"I'm here," Syaoran called, arriving just as she said the words. "And I did not get lost," he added, looking pointedly at his wife who just smiled sweetly. "I had to stop to settle Nadee-chan."
"Likely story," Sakura countered, moving to greet him with a quick kiss to the cheek even though they had been parted for less than five minutes.
"Sakura-chan, who's this?" Fujitaka asked as his eyes settled on the little girl in Syaoran's arms.
"This is Li Nadeshiko," Sakura replied easily, seemingly oblivious to the uneasy looks her family were giving the little girl. She noted that Tomoyo's gaze was not as troubled as the others, and realized that if Eriol had known about Ayame's indiscretions, then Tomoyo probably did too.
"Is she yours?" Fujitaka asked, frowning as he failed to keep the question to herself.
Sakura nodded. "Syaoran and I adopted her," she replied brightly.
Fujitaka couldn't help but feel relieved at this, although only mildly so. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Sakura-chan?" he cautioned. "What with Genso-"
"Syaoran was worried too, at first," Sakura cut in, knowing what had put her father so ill-at-ease, "but I assured him that Nadeshiko wasn't the only new addition to our household."
Several pairs of eyes flicked between the two – between the broadly grinning Sakura and the lightly blushing Syaoran – watching as Syaoran gently took her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. It was a perfectly peaceful moment, but Touya was quick to ruin it.
"Oi, Gaki!" Touya yelled. "What the hell did you do to my sister!"
Syaoran shook his head at the not unexpected reaction of his brother-in-law. "I told you so," he muttered to Sakura.
"Touya, you're being ridiculous," Sakura cried back at her brother. "Syaoran and I have been married for more than four months now, and it is perfectly naturally for married couples to produce children. So quit being such an ogre or I swear I'll be happy to answer that question of yours in great detail."
Touya paled at the threat. There were some things that a brother just did not want to know about his sister.
"Sakura-chan, I'm so happy for you!" Nakuru cheered, breaking the cool silence that rested after Touya's outburst. "I'll tell you everything I know and what foods to eat and how to make Syaoran-kun run out in the middle of the night to get you Minami strawberries even though it's well out of season and no one in their right mind would sell them him.
"Being pregnant is so fun," she sighed happily at the reminiscence. Touya groaned painfully in remembrance of his own Minami strawberry runs - Nakuru didn't even like strawberries! Pregnancy was most definitely NOT fun, and a part of him even sympathized a little with Syaoran almost in spite of him being a useless gaki and having touched his sister indecently.
But as the family came together, all that was put aside. Despite himself, Touya couldn't find fault in Syaoran. His sister looked beyond content - beyond happy - and he supposed that he could live with Syaoran - to a degree - if it meant seeing her smiling.
"Are you happy, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked later when all the excitement had died down and it was just the two of them.
Sakura nodded, a gentle smile on her lips. "Very.
"Are you, Tomoyo?"
Tomoyo shrugged. "I'm happy if the ones I love are happy," she replied vaguely.
"Are they?" Sakura couldn't help but ask, a certain blue-haired king in mind.
"Mostly."
"Tomoyo . . ." Sakura began consoling, but her sister waved off her sympathy.
"It's only love, Sakura," she replied, a forced smile on her lips.
"It's only love."