Destiny

Chapter 22

By Sakura aka Michelle

14 Jan 2012

The key to open the book dangled from Sakura's dainty hands, its golden brilliance shining brightly in the mid-air as Syaoran looked at it in awe. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry casted in gold and studded with magnificent little emerald crystals as green as Sakura's eyes. The top portion of the key resembled that of a four leaf clover and was heavy studded with emerald. Its cylindrical shaft was simply gold and its shine was unexpectedly dazzling and did not fade throughout the many years. The bit of the key was a cute little rectangular tooth that protruded out from the shaft of the key.

Overall, it was a rare piece of treasure. It would have fetched quite a big sum of money should one actually decided to sell it.

Syaoran cast a sideway glance towards the royal members of the Kinomoto family and found their gaze transfixed on the key that Sakura was holding in her hands. The smile on their faces was difficult to miss. They must have been glad that their key was not lost and it had come back safely to them through Sakura.

"If you would please pass the book to me, I will gladly show you the truth," Sakura told the shaking lady on the other side of the table, her palm raising towards her as she waited for the lady to pass the book to her.

She clutched the book to her bosom for dear life, her eyes wide and frantic. Her grip tightened even more when she saw Sakura's outstretched hand requesting for the book to be handed over to her. "It d-doesn't change the fact that I am the o-owner of this book!"

Sakura sighed. It was a little difficult to get past the lady's wall of internal defense. "If you are the real owner of the book, I'll gladly return the book back to you and the key. Could you please hand it over for a moment?"

The lady looked at Sakura warily and seemed reluctant to hand it over for inspection and subsequent unveiling of the book. "Only for a moment?" she asked hesitantly.

"Only for a moment."

Sakura heaved a sigh of relief when the book was finally in her hands after long moments of cajoling the lady to hand it over to her. She took some time to admire the book that she had lost so many years ago while escaping the castle. It was as she had remembered it – a red book with its border enclosed by a golden frame and in the middle of a book was a picture of a fierce lion wearing a golden armour. A small tear shaped emerald could be seen in the middle of its helmet.

"Before I open this book," Sakura said as she fingered the emerald on the book to feel its coolness beneath her fingertips. "I would like to tell everyone which card the princess of Kinomoto Kingdom had chosen years ago."

"Please do tell us," Nadeshiko implored, linking her fingers with Fujitaka's on the table as they waited for Sakura to continue. Even Fujitaka was smiling and nodding his head at his wife's words.

The lady slumped back onto her chair as she watched Sakura, who was brimming with confidence. Doubt began to foster itself in her mind. Did Hikaru-sensei really lie to her? A tear slid down her cheek and she knew Sakura was telling the truth even before she opened the book. No one would have been able to fake the air of confidence she exuded. It seemed to come naturally to her, as if she was born with it.

"The card I have chosen…" she started and inserted the key into the keyhole located at the side of the book and gave it a gentle twist. The lock snapped open easily with a loud resounding click and she paused. "I have chosen the Hope card. I wished for the kingdom to prosper and the people in the Kinomoto kingdom to be happy and free from worry."

Fujitaka nodded his head as he took in Sakura's words. "That is a good choice."

Sakura grinned, "I hope everyone in the kingdom would live with a smile. The smiles I see whenever I went to the village to play were encouraging and full of hope. The people are very kind. Of course, that happened when I was younger. I wonder if they are still the same now."

"Many things have happened," Fujitaka said with a grim smile. "I do hope that the people still place their faith in us."

"They will," Sakura assured as she slid the clasp free from the lock and flipped the cover of the book open and a vast array of cards was presented to her eyes. The cards were slim and slightly longer than her palm and there were different pictures, as well as inscriptions, on each card. Shuffling through the deck of cards, Sakura pulled out four cards and placed them neatly on the table in front of her. "These are the four cards the current Royal family had chosen when they were old enough to write."

The Flower card, the Shield card, the Sword card and the Hope card laid on the table for all to see.

However it was not the end to Sakura's explanation. She continued when no one had said anything. "The Flower card was chosen by the Queen and it showed her gentle nature and love for her surroundings. The Shield card was chosen by the King to protect everyone in the Kingdom. The Sword card was chosen by the Prince and shows his inclination to protect his Kingdom and I have chosen the Hope card, to bring hope to everyone's mind," she said almost in one breath and then looked up at the resigned imposter. Sakura slowly flipped over the cards for her inspection and true enough, their respective names were scrawled behind the cards in the correct order.

"I still can't believe it," the lady whispered as more tears leaked from her eyes to trail down her cheeks. Sakura felt a pang of pity towards her. She must have felt betrayed by the person closest to her, who had been lying to her throughout her whole life. "I can't believe Hikaru-sensei lied to me all these while, saying that I was born a princess and that I actually belonged here."

Fujitaka sighed, sympathizing with the lady's plight. "To tell you the truth, I have known that you are not my daughter the moment Hikaru-sensei presented you to me about a month ago. Even though you may have looked very similar to Sakura-san," he paused to look at his daughter and smiled warmly at her. She had smiled back at him as she leaned against Syaoran's strong body. They seemed perfectly at ease with each other. "There are still some slight differences between the two of you. However, I did not say anything then because I wanted to know Hikaru-sensei's true motive behind his plot. Why did he bring you here? And why he chose to bring you to the castle a month ago and not years ago?"

"Y-you knew?" the lady gasped.

"Yes," Fujitaka replied. "I found out the truth a week after you came here and I confronted him at night about a month ago. He panicked immediately when I questioned him and there was a small fight in which I accidentally fell down the steps. Of course, Hikaru-sensei fled the scene but I sent some Royal guards to capture him back and had put him in one of our dungeon cells. That's why you are not able to see him. I'm sorry for lying to you, little one. He has not gone home but is imprisoned. He would be put on trial within a week's time and his punishment was to be exiled from Kinomoto kingdom."

"I-If I am not the princess… then who am I?"

Nadeshiko pushed her chair back and stood up. Everyone was startled by her actions but said nothing as she walked towards the imposter and enfolded her in a tight hug. Nadeshiko patted the lady's hair when she started to tremble and cry.

"Who am I?" she asked again brokenly.

"You are Hikaru Ayumi, Hikaru-sensei's daughter," Nadeshiko replied truthfully and the truth stung Ayumi's whole being. "Fujitaka-san has confided the truth to me yesterday night… I'm so sorry, Ayumi-chan…"

Ayumi froze in Nadeshiko's arms as the truth was revealed to her, her eyes widened as the information sank in. "I am… Hikaru-sensei's… daughter?"

Even Sakura gasped in surprise at Nadeshiko's announcement. "Hikaru-sensei's daughter?" Sakura breathed out and felt Syaoran's hand tightened on her waist.

"He had this in mind when he saw you with us before we left here for Hong Kong?" Syaoran asked, feeling disgusted by the lies that the physician had sowed and had subsequently hurt so many people and especially his own daughter.

"My own blood father lied to me?" Ayumi choked on her tears as she fought for control. "He lied to me all these while! And there I was thinking that my parents had abandoned me and left me all alone and yet he was my father all along!"

Even Nadeshiko's eyes went teary as she tried her best to console Ayumi as the lady went distraught and was devastated by what she had heard. "We're so sorry…" Nadeshiko kept on apologizing to Ayumi. During the short one month period, the two of them had become very close to each other. Nadeshiko had really thought that it was her Sakura who had come back to them and Fujitaka had not even once told her about his suspicions and the truth after he had confronted Hikaru-sensei. Not until yesterday night when Sakura and Syaoran had suddenly appeared in their room.

"Hikaru-sensei is too much!" Sakura exclaimed and her hands were fisted in her anger. The back of her eyes were burning as tears threatened to form in her eyes as she thought about what everyone had went through because of one deception. As if sensing her frustration, Syaoran turned her so that she was facing him and gave her a tight hug as he tried to sooth her. "How dare he hurt his own daughter?"

"Shh…" Syaoran soothed as he clasped Sakura to him. "He must have his own reasons. Who wouldn't want his own daughter to call him father?"

"What reason could he have?"

"He wanted to give his daughter the best of everything, which he couldn't fulfill with what he had," Fujitaka explained patiently. "He saw his chance when he sent you away together with the Lis. From that day onwards, he had been treating Ayumi-san as if she was a princess of the kingdom, hiding her away in his own home until he saw the opportunity to put her in the castle. He brought her here the moment he found out about Sakura-san's engagement with Prince Li of the Li Kingdom."

"What am I supposed to do now?" Ayumi asked as she looked wildly around the dining room. "My real father is imprisoned and would be exiled from the kingdom… I… I have nowhere to go…"

"I suppose we could send you back to your own home," Fujitaka answered, looking at Nadeshiko and she stared back at him with pleading eyes. This was difficult as he did not know what else he could do.

Sakura tried to put herself in Ayumi's shoes. She had just been told the cruel truth and the horrible deception her father had planted and had led her here in Kinomoto castle. With her father imprisoned, it was almost impossible for her to return to her own house and continued living there as if nothing has ever happened. Her neighbours were bound to be talking behind her back and condemning her for what she believed was the truth all along. After her father was exiled, she would have been left all alone in their home.

"What can we do?" Sakura murmured to herself as she closed her eyes and thought hard for an ideal solution. After all, it was partly her fault that had created the mess. True, it may have been Hikaru-sensei who started everything but if she had returned earlier, she could have saved Ayumi from her current torture. If only she had come back earlier. "What can we do?"

"How about giving her some position within the castle?" Syaoran supplied.

Sakura blinked at the suggestion and it crystallized within her mind. Her eyes lit up upon Syaoran's prompt and she knew what she could do to help Ayumi, as some form of penance. "You are a life savior!" Sakura exclaimed happily and stood on tip toe, clutching his arms for support, to press quick kiss to his cheek. He blushed in response at her actions. She then rushed to her father's side and whispered something secretive into his ear behind her cupped hands.

Sakura grinned as she stepped back from her father's side to look at Ayumi. She was so excited about her idea and was even happier when Fujitaka seemed receptive of it. He coughed a little to clear his throat as the rest in the dining room looked at him with curious eyes.

"I hope it isn't something unrealistic," Touya commented dryly. "To think that monster can contribute to something this serious…"

Sakura crossed her arm defiantly at Touya's statement and resisted the temptation to kick at her brother for his snide comment. No, she did not want to ruin the happy moment with such a crude action. Fujitaka chuckled at the siblings' banter as he pushed himself to stand up too.

"I believe Physician Tsukishiro is having some problems working as the sole physician within the castle," Fujitaka started to say and Nadeshiko caught it immediately. He nodded with a gentle smile directed at Ayumi. "Yes, I believe you are a perfect candidate to be his assistant."

"I can continue to stay in the castle?" Ayumi asked in stunned, brushing her tears away. "But my father did such terrible things to everyone… and he even harmed the King…"

"Silly girl!" Nadeshiko exclaimed. "You are not your father! And I already considered you to be part of our family!"

Ayumi was stunned beyond words. Their kindness was infuriating that she burst into tears again and this time, it was tears of happiness.

"Now that everything is settled, shall we go and greet our people?" Fujitaka asked as he strode to the nearest window to peek at the courtyard. "They are already waiting for us."

Surprise~ Another fic update for the week. Hehe... I'm procrastinating and refused to study this weekend and here I am!

The next chapter would most likely be the final one. Are you feeling sad that the story is ending already? I am!

I've changed the release schedule at my website. Do check it out if you are interested to know what I am updating next.

Until next time!