1.1 --- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
     1.2 +++ b/stories/dearsakura-22.txt	Fri Feb 19 06:24:59 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,320 @@
     1.4 +Dear Sakura
     1.5 +by Amazoness Duo and G.P.
     1.6 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
     1.7 +pearsong1954@yahoo.com
     1.8 +
     1.9 +
    1.10 +	“Where the hell is she?” Syaoran scowled as he found himself at the
    1.11 +starting point of his search, his empty bedroom. He had awoken to
    1.12 +find Sakura missing, her side of the bed barely slept in. His
    1.13 +brunette wife was almost always there when he got ready for work. He
    1.14 +had thought that she had been downstairs making breakfast or waiting
    1.15 +for him, but Sakura hadn’t been there either. His concern escalating,
    1.16 +the Chinese sorcerer had made his way through the entire house,
    1.17 +twice, to no avail. Sakura was nowhere to be found. 
    1.18 +	Sighing, Syaoran once again poured over the room he and his wife
    1.19 +shared. One of her small bags was gone. It was the one Tomoyo had
    1.20 +given her as a going away present when Sakura had agreed to come back
    1.21 +to Hong Kong with him. The only reason he remembered was because the
    1.22 +sickeningly cute bag held most of Sakura’s things for her gym class,
    1.23 +so it was often next to their bed so it would be readily available
    1.24 +for her in the morning. But her school supplies lay next to the bed
    1.25 +in disarray, as if Sakura had dumped them all out before taking the
    1.26 +bag. That didn’t make any sense. What good would an empty bag do?
    1.27 +	Continuing his search, the frustrated man scoured the room for
    1.28 +anything else that might be a clue to his wife’s whereabouts. He
    1.29 +couldn’t tell if anything else was missing, but he found enough of
    1.30 +her things hurriedly tossed to the side that he could guess that
    1.31 +there were. His eyes slowly scanned the room before stopping on the
    1.32 +desk that lay against the far wall. On top of it lay his Lazan Board,
    1.33 +but there was a curious empty spot next to it. "The Sakura Book!” he
    1.34 +nearly yelled out. The familiar pink book was nowhere to be seen.
    1.35 +Sakura sometimes took it with her when she wanted to speak to the
    1.36 +Cards or when she simply wanted it nearby, but it always wound up on
    1.37 +that desk. A terrible sense of foreboding swept through the Chinese
    1.38 +sorcerer.
    1.39 +	Running down the stairs, Syaoran forced past his older sister,
    1.40 +Shiefa, brusquely. He hardly paid attention to her as he continued
    1.41 +through the house. Where had Sakura gone off to? Why would she leave
    1.42 +so suddenly? Was there some new danger? He paused for a moment in
    1.43 +front of the door to the garden. He had to relax. He had told Sakura
    1.44 +time and time again that if she cried it would keep her from getting
    1.45 +anything done. It was the same as this situation. If he panicked, he
    1.46 +wouldn’t be able to resolve the situation. Nodding to himself, he
    1.47 +tried to clear his thoughts. Sakura obviously hadn’t had time to grab
    1.48 +more than a few things, so she was obviously in a hurry. She had
    1.49 +taken the Book of Sakura with her, so it could have something to do
    1.50 +with the Cards. Hadn’t she mentioned some dream that had concerned
    1.51 +her lately? He couldn’t recall what it had been about exactly. So
    1.52 +perhaps she had rushed off to whatever this new magical emergency
    1.53 +was. But then why hadn’t she told him? He may not be as powerful as
    1.54 +she, but he had vowed to protect her.		Tomoyo had made him promise
    1.55 +that the night before their wedding. It had been an unexpected visit
    1.56 +from the dark haired girl, one he hadn’t quite understood. Why would
    1.57 +the Daidouji girl come to him rather than to Sakura the night before
    1.58 +their wedding? She was obsessed with his bride to be, after all. But
    1.59 +she had come to him that night. Her normal smile hadn’t been on her
    1.60 +face and that had immediately worried him that it might have
    1.61 +something to do with Sakura. But after he had finally allowed her
    1.62 +inside, Tomoyo had watched him carefully for what felt like an
    1.63 +eternity, studying his very soul. When she finally spoke, her soft
    1.64 +voice sounded extremely far away, as if she had traveled the world
    1.65 +over and was too exhausted to take another step. They had spoken for
    1.66 +a short time, mostly about Sakura, though Syaoran had been uneasy the
    1.67 +entire conversation. Finally, Tomoyo had walked up to him and looked
    1.68 +him straight in the eyes. For someone who had faced countless
    1.69 +hardships and numerous battles, Syaoran had thought he was prepared
    1.70 +for anything. But Tomoyo’s infinite gaze, her stormy blue eyes seeing
    1.71 +deep past all that he was... Syaoran had flinched. He had barely
    1.72 +heard her speak and it took him a moment to piece together what he
    1.73 +had heard. She wanted him to promise that he would take care of
    1.74 +Sakura, that he would make her happy. Her words had irritated him,
    1.75 +and he had grown angry with her at the time. “What are you talking
    1.76 +about? Of course I’ll take care of her,” he had said.
    1.77 +	Tomoyo had merely stared at him, her deep eyes never losing their
    1.78 +hold on his. His anger seemed to pass through her as if she hadn’t
    1.79 +even noticed it. “I want you to promise that you will always make
    1.80 +Sakura happy. I want you to keep her safe,” she said in her gentle
    1.81 +voice, but there had been no questioning her. Despite her gentle
    1.82 +façade, her words were laced with steel. He would protect her, he
    1.83 +would make her happy, or... He didn’t even want to know the
    1.84 +consequences. He tried to laugh at the thought now, of this pale and
    1.85 +weak girl doing anything to him if he didn’t fulfil his promise, but
    1.86 +he couldn’t bring himself to find any humor in the situation. He knew
    1.87 +in his heart that Tomoyo had been dead serious that day, that there
    1.88 +was no falling short on his side of the deal. There was something
    1.89 +about the dark haired girl that had frightened him. He had agreed
    1.90 +with her demands quickly, hoping she would leave him alone. But she
    1.91 +had waited a moment longer, still staring at him. Brushing back some
    1.92 +hair, she offered him a small smile and a nod before turning around.
    1.93 +He hadn’t seen her leave and he had almost convinced himself that she
    1.94 +had merely been a ghost before he finally got a hold of himself.
    1.95 +	Finding himself in the garden, Syaoran walked out into the chilly
    1.96 +morning, holding himself as the bitter wind rushed past him. That
    1.97 +promise felt as if it had been made a lifetime ago. But still, a
    1.98 +promise is a promise. And even more than that, this was his wife. He
    1.99 +was supposed to protect her. So where had she gone to without him? If
   1.100 +it was something to do with her magic, then why wouldn’t she bring
   1.101 +him along? It didn’t make any sense. A small spring of anger welled
   1.102 +up inside him as he fought against the cold. She needed him, didn’t
   1.103 +she? Of course she did. But then why hadn’t she told him of whatever
   1.104 +this was? Why would she run off without him? He was her husband. He
   1.105 +was the one that she was supposed to come with for everything. But
   1.106 +recently, she had spent all of her time talking about that Daidouji
   1.107 +girl. He had gotten so sick of hearing ‘Tomoyo’ all around the house.
   1.108 +Even Fanren had started talking about her! He knew she was Sakura’s
   1.109 +friend, but he hated seeing the one he loved talking about another
   1.110 +all the time, even if it was just another girl. He had gotten angry
   1.111 +at her over it, but he thought that had been resolved. Besides, he
   1.112 +didn’t talk about other people all the time, so why should she? 
   1.113 +	Shaking his head, Syaoran once again tried to clear his thoughts,
   1.114 +but the jealousy and anger wouldn’t go away. Even if Sakura was the
   1.115 +most powerful magical being on the planet, why would she hurry off
   1.116 +without him? Did she think she didn’t need him for this? What if
   1.117 +something terrible happened that she needed him to save her from?
   1.118 +Tomoyo sure as hell couldn’t save her. For all Sakura had talked
   1.119 +about her recently, the pale girl could never help her with some
   1.120 +magical problem. That was why she needed him for something like this.
   1.121 +It was foolish to rush off on her own. Now he would have to find her,
   1.122 +and, most likely at the last possible instant, save her. 
   1.123 +Syaoran’s scowl grew darker as he stepped out among the flowers. He
   1.124 +was liking this less and less. What the hell could Sakura be up to?
   1.125 +He was her husband. He had a right to know, even if this didn’t have
   1.126 +anything to do with the Cards. They were married and he was the one
   1.127 +she should be going to with her problems so he could fix them. But
   1.128 +instead, she always turned to Tomoyo, crying out her problems in
   1.129 +letters and telephone conversations that cost a big chunk of Sakura’s
   1.130 +paycheck because she wouldn’t get off the phone until it was pitch
   1.131 +black outside. But could Tomoyo ever fix her problems? No. She was
   1.132 +merely a shoulder to cry on. But somehow, Sakura always felt better
   1.133 +about everything. And that made Syaoran even more jealous about the
   1.134 +attention that someone else was receiving from his wife. Sakura would
   1.135 +crawl back into bed after writing a long letter or after she had been
   1.136 +on the phone with Tomoyo for entirely too long and she would smile
   1.137 +happily, as if she were completely refreshed and wrap her arms around
   1.138 +him before falling asleep. He was glad to see Sakura happier, even if
   1.139 +it puzzled him, but he was angry that it was through someone else. He
   1.140 +knew that he didn’t think Sakura needed to talk about everything and
   1.141 +that he didn’t always feel like listening after a hard day at work,
   1.142 +but he was still frustrated that he wasn’t the one making her feel
   1.143 +better.
   1.144 +Tomoyo’s visit had proven even worse for the Chinese sorcerer. She
   1.145 +had managed to captivate the hearts of his family, in particular his
   1.146 +older sister, Fanren. Even his mother seemed to take favor with the
   1.147 +pale beauty! How could she get Ieran-sama’s attention when even he
   1.148 +failed under her scrutiny? That had infuriated him. His wife had been
   1.149 +so obliviously happy during the Japanese girl’s stay, spending every
   1.150 +conceivable moment with her. The thing that had gotten to him the
   1.151 +most was that Sakura had looked happier during Tomoyo’s brief stay
   1.152 +than he could ever remember her, even during the honeymoon. He hadn’t
   1.153 +been able to wait for Tomoyo to leave so things could get back to
   1.154 +normal again. But they hadn’t been able to. Sakura had seemed even
   1.155 +more distant lately, her conversations invariably leading back to the
   1.156 +dark haired girl. He had lost his temper several times and though he
   1.157 +regretted it now, he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He just didn’t
   1.158 +want to hear about her anymore in his house. Sakura was his wife,
   1.159 +damn it! No one else’s. No one else had claim to her. He was the one
   1.160 +she should always come to for help. He was the one who should always
   1.161 +make her happy. He should be the one she was always talking about! 
   1.162 +So wrapped up in his burning jealousy was Syaoran that he barely
   1.163 +noticed the rustle of leaves in a tree above and the sound of
   1.164 +branches shifting as someone leapt out. He felt the wind whip past
   1.165 +his face as he narrowly dodged the leaping form. His eyes quickly
   1.166 +focused on his attacker, his body shifting to a fighting stance.
   1.167 +“Meiling?!” he blurted out in surprise. His beautiful cousin stood
   1.168 +before him in a short, blue Chinese dress that barely fell past her
   1.169 +thighs. Intricate lavender flowers lay entwined across the deep blue.
   1.170 +Her amber eyes met his with an anger that sent ripples through him.
   1.171 +In a fluid movement that looked more like a dance than an attack, her
   1.172 +fist lunged for him. Syaoran ducked it easily. “What the hell are you
   1.173 +doing?” he shouted at her, blocking a kick. He tried to sense any
   1.174 +magic coming from her to see if she had been enchanted, but he could
   1.175 +feel nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. All he had to do was glance
   1.176 +at those burning amber eyes to see the fury that held her. 
   1.177 +Meiling kicked again, driving Syaoran back with her strong legs.
   1.178 +This man had once been her fiance, the man that she had loved with
   1.179 +all of her heart. The man that she still loved. Which is why she was
   1.180 +still so angry with him. How he could have left her for some Japanese
   1.181 +girl was completely beyond her. Had he simply been infatuated with
   1.182 +Sakura’s magic? That was part of why he fell for the white haired
   1.183 +boy, so it was reasonable. And as Sakura had grown in magical power,
   1.184 +so had Syaoran’s feelings for her, as if the two ideas were linked
   1.185 +firmly together. Whatever the reason, he had spurned his cousin’s
   1.186 +affections and instead married the Cardmistress. To say that Meiling
   1.187 +had been distraught was an understatement. Dreams of marrying her
   1.188 +beloved Syaoran had been with her since childhood. The bitter taste
   1.189 +of defeat, of having the once she loved so callously toss her aside
   1.190 +had been maddening. How he could dare do that to her when she had
   1.191 +given him everything had picked at her heart the same way a
   1.192 +thoughtless person pulls away a butterflies wings. Her wings had been
   1.193 +stolen from her and she could no longer soar. All because some hussy
   1.194 +had come along and stolen the attention of the only one she had ever
   1.195 +loved. She would never forgive Sakura for taking away her Syaoran.
   1.196 +But at the same time, she couldn’t forgive Syaoran either. ‘But I
   1.197 +gave you everything,’ she had whispered when she had learned of the
   1.198 +wedding. Syaoran had tried to explain it to her, but she ran off. She
   1.199 +hadn’t let him see her tears. But as soon as she was alone, they came
   1.200 +bitterly and with a vengeance. ‘I loved you and I gave you
   1.201 +everything. I gave you my heart. Why couldn’t you accept it? Is there
   1.202 +something wrong with it? Is it not good enough?’ she had asked
   1.203 +herself in the midst of her tears. But no answers had ever come to
   1.204 +her, from her own heart or from Syaoran. 
   1.205 +Though the marriage had only been half a year ago at the most,
   1.206 +Meiling could have sworn it had been an eternity. Forced to watch her
   1.207 +beloved cousin and his blushing bride had driven her near the
   1.208 +breaking point. To see the man she loved with another woman, to know
   1.209 +that her lonely heart would never receive his attention was too
   1.210 +sickeningly cruel. How Tomoyo dealt with it, she couldn’t begin to
   1.211 +fathom. All she knew was the pain. It was her constant companion, a
   1.212 +travel guide to life that she had been unlucky enough to come across.
   1.213 +And all the while, Syaoran had never once shown any sympathy, any
   1.214 +remorse for breaking her heart. How thoughtless! How cruel! How dare
   1.215 +he!?! Meiling renewed her assault with further vigor, her rage
   1.216 +fueling her near dance-like attacks.
   1.217 +	Syaoran kept on the defensive, but he was beginning to tire.
   1.218 +Meiling had gone crazy. That was the only explanation. Why else would
   1.219 +she fight him like this? It made no sense. He decided that the only
   1.220 +way to finish this battle would be to take her out. She seemed in no
   1.221 +mood to give up. With a sigh, he lunged forward. He felt bad for what
   1.222 +he had to do, but it had to be done. He and Meiling had sparred often
   1.223 +enough in the past and he nearly always won. So he would have to
   1.224 +defeat her here and find out just what was going on. He waited
   1.225 +patiently for her to collapse, but to his surprise, his fist missed
   1.226 +her entirely. His eyes widened as he saw her leg dart out. A painful
   1.227 +realization hit him seconds before her leg did. She was a whole lot
   1.228 +faster than he had ever imagined. This fight had been hers from the
   1.229 +beginning. Pain blossomed through him like a sudden and unexpected
   1.230 +supernova. The wind rushed out of him in a frenzied path to escape
   1.231 +his burning lungs. His stomach called out in agony as he first
   1.232 +hunched over and then collapsed to the ground altogether. “How..?” he
   1.233 +got out weakly.
   1.234 +	Meiling crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowing as she
   1.235 +watched the man lying in pain on the grass below her. “Didn’t think I
   1.236 +could beat you, huh? You thought I’d always settle for second place
   1.237 +with you, is that it? I always got second and you always got first as
   1.238 +children. You always came in ahead of me.” Brushing a dark pigtail
   1.239 +over her shoulder, she knelt next to her prone cousin. “I let you
   1.240 +win. I loved you, so I was happy to let you win as long as I could be
   1.241 +the one to finish next to you. I loved how happy it made you, how
   1.242 +exhilarated you always were when you succeeded. You always had this
   1.243 +thirst for victory, for winning. And I was pleased to let you drink
   1.244 +its nectar from my hands.” She shrugged absently as she stood up,
   1.245 +stretching. “And let’s face it, Syaoran. Martial Arts was never your
   1.246 +thing. You were always better at magic anyway.”
   1.247 +	Trying to catch his breath, Syaoran struggled with what she was
   1.248 +telling him. So all those times that he had beaten her as a child,
   1.249 +every sparring match he had won, they were because she had let him?
   1.250 +This girl who had been there for almost all of the life he could
   1.251 +remember, who had always trailed just behind him, had allowed him to
   1.252 +pull ahead simply because of her feelings for him? Memories came back
   1.253 +in a flood, of her making careless mistakes when they were sparring
   1.254 +or slowing just enough when they were sprinting to allow him to pass.
   1.255 +He sighed painfully. It seemed that not only his stomach would
   1.256 +bruise, but his ego as well. “What were you thinking?” he asked
   1.257 +angrily, forcing himself up on his hands. He turned his firey gaze on
   1.258 +her, but she didn’t look like she was in a mood for it. Her own
   1.259 +smoldering eyes made his feel like simmering coal in comparison.
   1.260 +	“I won. I refuse to live in your shadow anymore, Syaoran. I refuse
   1.261 +to let you continue hurting me like this. I won't lie down and let
   1.262 +you force your damned marriage in my face.” Meiling began to walk
   1.263 +away from him, the wind playing idly with her hair. “So I’m finished.
   1.264 +I’m not going to let myself stick around and wait for things to work
   1.265 +out. I’m leaving, Syaoran. My life is my own. I just took it back
   1.266 +from you. I gave you my heart and if it’s not good enough for you,
   1.267 +then I might as well leave.” Tears sparkled in her eyes as she turned
   1.268 +to face him one last time. “I love you, Syaoran. And I always will.
   1.269 +But I won’t let you hurt me anymore. Goodbye.” And with that, she
   1.270 +leapt into the trees.
   1.271 +	“Meiling! Meiling!!” Syaoran cried out after her. But it was too
   1.272 +late. She was already gone. “Damn it!” Struggling to his knees, the
   1.273 +Chinese sorcerer winced as pain shot through his belly. “What else
   1.274 +could go wrong today?” he muttered to himself, walking back towards
   1.275 +the house. Just what was he supposed to tell his mother, the
   1.276 +matriarch of the Li family? He dreaded the thought. She would not be
   1.277 +pleased about Meiling’s sudden decision. ‘Probably like she wasn’t
   1.278 +pleased with my decision to marry Sakura-chan instead of Meiling,” he
   1.279 +thought disparately. 
   1.280 +	“Sakura-chan’s gone!!” 
   1.281 +	“Ack!!” Syaoran reeled back, getting ready to attack the demon that
   1.282 +had leapt out at him. His heart finally slowed as the Seal Beast came
   1.283 +into view, concern etched all over it’s small yellow head. Syaoran
   1.284 +pushed past him, not in the mood to deal with Kero’s antics at the
   1.285 +moment.
   1.286 +	“Hey, brat, I said ‘Sa-ku-ra-chan-is-gone’. What, you don’t speak
   1.287 +Japanese all of a sudden?” Kero asked irritably. He never did much
   1.288 +like the Chinese sorcerer and Sakura’s marriage to him hadn’t changed
   1.289 +the situation. Syaoran wouldn’t even let him sleep in the same room
   1.290 +as Sakura like he used to! 
   1.291 +	“I know that! I’ve been looking for her all morning,” Syaoran
   1.292 +replied angrily, wishing that the stuffed animal could be busy doing
   1.293 +anything besides pestering him at the moment. “I’ve looked
   1.294 +everywhere.” He sighed resignedly.
   1.295 +	“Everywhere, huh?” The Seal Beast smirked proudly, crossing his
   1.296 +arms. “I guess you need to get glasses, boy, because you missed
   1.297 +something.” Producing a letter out of nowhere, Kero grinned
   1.298 +triumphantly. He was always happy to outwit people he didn’t like and
   1.299 +Syaoran ranked very highly on his list. 
   1.300 +	Syaoran snatched the letter away from the flying teddy bear
   1.301 +instantly, skimming through it. He knew that style too well. He had
   1.302 +seen Sakura reading these when he had been drifting off to sleep. It
   1.303 +had to be from Tomoyo. And sure enough, it was. The letter was polite
   1.304 +and explained to Sakura that she had to say goodbye, that she would
   1.305 +be going away. “Crap!” Syaoran tossed the letter, hurrying upstairs,
   1.306 +Kero in hot pursuit.
   1.307 +	“So what is it? Do you know where she is?” Kero asked impatiently.
   1.308 +He didn’t know what the letter meant, only that it was important. The
   1.309 +fact that it said that Tomoyo was leaving and that it had been found
   1.310 +near where Sakura kept her keys worried him.
   1.311 +	“Sakura-chan’s gone back to Japan. She’s trying to stop Daidouji-
   1.312 +san,” Syaoran said over his shoulder, cramming clothes into a
   1.313 +suitcase. It all made sense now. Why Sakura had been so hellbent on
   1.314 +Tomoyo for the past few weeks, why she had been so happy to see
   1.315 +Tomoyo during her visit, why she had needed the dark haired girl so
   1.316 +much. And he wasn’t about to let some rich girl steal his wife away
   1.317 +from him. Sakura was his and he was going to make sure it stayed that
   1.318 +way, no matter what happened. Slamming the clasps on his suitcase, he
   1.319 +stood up and scanned the room one last time for anything he might
   1.320 +need.
   1.321 +	“So we’re going back to Japan to find Sakura-chan? Oh yeah!!” Kero
   1.322 +exclaimed, bringing his small arm down in an excited gesture. “Let’s
   1.323 +get goin’, kid!!”