Destiny

Chapter 16

By Sakura aka Michelle

30 August, 2011

Everything happened in a blur. One moment she was on the horse with Syaoran and in the next moment, she was pulled off the horse harshly and landed on the ground on her back with a loud thud, completely winded and out of breath.

Sakura coughed as and tried to breathe properly, completely dazed by impact of the fall. She felt hands on her body and turned to see Syaoran hovering over her with a worried expression. He was saying something to her but she could not hear what he was saying; the ringing in her ears was far too loud and was drowning out all the sounds.

"Will you guards stop it?" Syaoran was shouting to the numerous guards surrounding them with their weapons drawn and trained on the both of them. "Who do you think I am? Who do you think we are?"

The guards remained in their positions and nobody moved an inch. He was squatting in front of Sakura, shielding her from any further unexpected attacks. The guards continued to stare down at him while Syaoran continued his death glare. Suddenly, Syaoran was not sure if they had heard them, being deaf, or that they had simply just ignored him. Boiling anger rose within him. After all, he was a prince and one that was unaccustomed to rude treatment.

Syaoran rose to full height, ignoring the pointed tip of the sword that was aimed at him, and stared down eye to eye with the nearest guard, who happened to be the one who had dragged Sakura off the horse while he was fending off attacks from all directions. "Remove your weapon at once," Syaoran snarled. "Who do you think I am?"

The poor guard tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and swallowed the lump in his throat. Syaoran could see that he was already sweating profusely in nervousness and he took pleasure in that knowledge. "Who do you think I am?" Syaoran asked again, taking a step forward and forcing the guard to take a step backwards.

"I have no idea, sir," the guard replied hesitantly. "But we were under orders to stop any intruders from entering the castle."

"Is that so?" Syaoran hissed angrily. "And that gives you the power to use violence on people who weren't even armed? Put away all your weapons or else you will really regret it once everything is over."

When nobody made any movement, Syaoran growled and pulled the guard to his eye level by the front of his uniform. The poor guard was dangling his feet in the air since he was shorter and his face had turned white, though it was not very clear whether it was due to fright or due to a lack of air. "Remove all your weapons at once or I will make sure that all of you present here will be dismissed from all duties with my powers as the prince of the Li Kingdom."

The guard was visibly shocked and paled immediately, realizing that he had just made the blunder of attacking a member of the Royalty. Satisfied by the answer he received, Syaoran threw the guard aside and hurried back to Sakura. The crowd of guards had dispersed a little and did not seem as hostile as before. She was already sitting up and groaning in pain, trying to rub the soreness out of her shoulder blades, which had most probably bear the most impact of the fall.

"Are you all right?" Syaoran asked, anxiously looking over her body for any sign of broken bones. "Sakura?"

"I'm okay," Sakura replied and leaned heavily onto Syaoran as he helped her to stand, trying to minimize the pressure put on her sprained ankle. "Stop blaming the poor man; he was just doing his duty."

Sakura turned and was astonished to see that the guard was kneeling on the ground, face on the ground, and begging for forgiveness. It took her several moments to react. Pushing away from Syaoran, Sakura hurriedly rushed to the kneeling guard, ignoring the protest that shot up from her sprained ankle. "Please don't do this," Sakura pleaded as she reached out a hand to touch the guard's shoulder.

The guard jerked upon the touch but did not dare to lift up his head, fearing the wrath of the prince from the foreign land. Her touch was gentle as she spoke. "Everything will be fine," Sakura soothed but the guard still refused to look at her.

Sakura paused to look at an approaching figure clad in a white uniform. The bespectacled young man had a kind smile on his face as he greeted her. She felt Syaoran moved closer to her and she tilted her head from her position to look up at him; he was reaching down to pull her up. In the next moment, she was hauled up beside him with him supporting her by his hold on her waist.

"Physician Tsukishiro," Syaoran acknowledged the man's presence but his expression remained unreadable.

"We have been expecting the both of you," Yukito said, smiling warmly at them but frowned when he noticed Sakura's slight limp. "I believe we shall have to adjourn the meeting until I see to that ankle. Shall we proceed to the physician room?"

"It is just a normal sprain," Yukito announced after examining Sakura's ankle and bandaged it properly. He offered her an encouraging smile. "It should be fine after one week or so. Meanwhile, do take note not to put too much pressure on that ankle or it will just delay the healing process."

"Thank you," Sakura murmured, a little unnerved by the gentleness the young physician had shown her. She made use of the time to appraise the room while Yukito was tending to her ankle. The room was not big and it smelled faintly of fresh herbs. There were three beds that were lined up against one side of the wall while on the other side stood majestic cupboards as tall as the ceiling and comprises of drawers of many different sizes.

She wriggled her ankle after Yukito had finished his job and was surprised that it did not hurt as much. The bandage was holding the cooling salve Yukito had prepared to heal her ankle but it had a weird smell. Sakura dare not complain about it as it was necessary and she did not wish to make Syaoran worry about her further.

Yukito stood up and turned to face Syaoran, wiping his hands on a clean cloth. "Now that this is done, I believe it is time you make your way to the throne room. The princess has been expecting your presence for quite a while. I won't be surprised if she is already throwing a tantrum at the moment. She has been very fidgety ever since Prince Touya came back and has been trying to see him."

Sakura gasped upon the mention of her brother and gripped the sides of the chair that she was currently sitting on. Her hands trembled violently at the recollection of what happened before she fell from the high ledge and then the darkness of the forest had left a vivid memory in her mind and at the thought that she would no doubt be killed by some unknown.

"Your brother is fine," Yukito spoke, as if he knew what her question was. "He is currently resting in his room and guards were posted outside to prevent anyone from entering under strict orders. Please rest assured that his injuries are not serious."

Sakura was not sure if she was more surprised by the fact that Yukito knew her identity or that he knew what her thoughts were. Nevertheless, she was relieved that Touya was fine and could not stop the tears that flow down her cheeks. She tried to hide them by quickly wiping the offending liquid away but it still did not escape Syaoran, who was watching her intently.

"I'll be waiting outside," Yukito excused himself to let the two of them had some privacy to which Syaoran was grateful for.

"Hey," Syaoran called out gently while he knelt down so that Sakura could see him. He reached out to clasp Sakura's small hands in his and waited until she lifted her tearful eyes to his. He felt his heart wrench upon seeing the tears on her face. "There's no need to cry now," Syaoran soothed and brushed her tears away with his thumb.

"It's just that…" Sakura paused to hiccup in the midst of her tears. "It's just that I am really glad that Touya 'nii-sama is alive! He was injured because of me and I can't forgive myself if he died because of me. If only I can take his place…"

Sakura was startled when Syaoran suddenly crushed her into his tight embrace. "Stop," Syaoran whispered brokenly. "If you were injuried, I will not forgive myself. So please, don't say it."

"Syao…ran…?" Sakura gasped when she realized that she had been thinking only about herself and her feelings but neglected about Syaoran's. I'm so selfish… Sakura thought bitterly. Fresh tears started rolling down again and she sobbed "I'm sorry" over and over again.

It took a while for Sakura to calm down. She was still hanging onto Syaoran's neck and he was still holding her. Embarrassed, Sakura was at a loss of what to do but at the same time, she was a little shy as well. She had seldom express her emotions very freely and yet this time she had bawled her eyes out in front of Syaoran like a little kid without any reservation.

Syaoran noticed the slight change in Sakura's composure almost immediately and he teased, " I didn't know that you are such a crybaby."

Pushing away from Syaoran, Sakura began protesting and waving her hands about wildly. "I am not a crybaby! I don't always cry."

"But you did cry for such a long time. Doesn't that make you a crybaby?"

Sakura pouted and looked away angrily, crossing her arms in front of her. Yukito chose the right moment to knock on the door before opening it slightly to speak to Syaoran. "Sorry to interrupt. I believe we have to go now; the princess has summoned for you again and this time, she has expressly said that she don't wish to be delayed further."

"Understood," Syaoran replied before turning back to Sakura. "Stay here and do not, under any circumstances, leave this room. No one would dare to enter the Physician's room without permission."

Sakura nodded her head reluctantly and watched with mixed feelings as Syaoran left with Yukito. What would that princess do to Syaoran? What if she forces him to marry her? What if… What if… Sakura messed up her hair in frustration, almost pulling off her hair in the process.

"I trust Syaoran!" Sakura declared out of a sudden, smacking her own cheeks loudly to get rid of all the unnecessary thoughts. "I trust him."

Minutes ticked by and there were no signs of Syaoran's return. Sakura was bored in the physician room, having nothing to do except to stare into space and daydream. "They are slow," Sakura complained while looking around the room for something to keep her occupied. "Do they really have a lot of things to talk about? I really want to know what they are discussing…"

"Maybe I can eavesdrop on them!" Sakura thought aloud cheerfully with a clap and then she was out of the room.

Ooooo... She's going to eavesdrop on them! How fascinating! What to know what she is going to hear? Read the next chapter to find out! ^_^

Do comment! Thanks!