Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Black Wings ❯ chapter 21 ( Chapter 21 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Black Wings

By: Aisaki Sumi

Chapter 21

She had never cried in front of anyone before, not even in front of the nurses who took care of her at the asylum nor had she ever showed her weaknesses in front of Tomoyo and her father. But strangely enough, she cried on his back, so uncontrollably and so helplessly, like a lost child.

She reached out for him, for a shoulder she could lean on - something which she would never allow herself do before because she always thought of herself as strong and independent. But during that fleeting moment, she broke down and wanted hold onto him for support.

She was tired and emotionally drained.

Perhaps he was right; perhaps she did need someone there by her side after all.

It had been weeks since the time she took him to visit her brother. She didn't know what she was thinking at the time. Maybe she was tired of bottling everything up inside and pretending to be normal just like everyone else - like someone who could fit in.

It was a tough decision to make. But she took a risk. She gambled with the friendship between them.

She wanted to see if everything he said was true and if he could keep his words after he found out about the haunted soul hidden beneath her innocent cover. And even if he turned away from her, at least she would know she didn't lose anything because she didn't give away her heart to him.

But she won the gamble.

He accepted her for who she was, as a whole—along with all the shattered pieces of what was left of her life and the past that shaped her the way she was. He didn't try to change her in any way, but rather, he accepted her and guided her to the doors of opportunities in life, and revealed to her the bright future ahead.

The past isn't important, but the future is.

His inspirational words rang in her head, producing endless echoes. Every time she closed her eyes in these days, his handsome face would flash in her mind. She could see his handsome ethereal features so well.

From the delicate tilt of the corner of his lips to the perfect curve of his bright elicited smile—and that gentle smile of his was imprinted onto her mind. Like a snapshot, a frozen frame of movement in time, because she wanted to remember it forever.

He slowly made his way to her scarred heart, frozen under layers of ice. His presence changed from irritating to comforting, and she wasn't sure how to live through the days without him by her side anymore.

She got so used to him being around that it felt strange to not have him sitting next to her babbling away about the most uninteresting things on earth, such as the parties he went to and the races he won and how he nearly broke his mother's porcelain vase from T'ang dynasty.

“Sakura-chan, you seem so lost in thoughts in these days…is there something on you mind that's troubling you?” The soft, melodic soprano voice was filled with concern, snapping out of her thoughts. Sakura sighed silently and turned to her right where her childhood friend was and shook her head in reply.

“I'm fine Tomoyo-chan, really.” She assured.

This week was Tomoyo's week off. She didn't have any meetings from student council or any chorus practices or any peer-tutor extra help sessions to attend. School activities seemed to have died down as exam week approached, marking the end of the first semester.

“Sorry I wasn't around much.” Tomoyo lowered her head, her eyes falling into her untouched bento as she murmured the quiet apology.

“It's okay, don't worry about it.” After all, because of Tomoyo's absences, she was able to get to know Syaoran better, even though at first she found him annoying. She didn't even remember why it irked her so much to see his carefree and confident grins as if the world couldn't get any better than this.

But after getting to know him a bit more, she realized that while he was everything she wasn't, their pasts were similar in certain ways. And it brought them closer together. While they occupied different ends on the spectrum, fate had its way of making two parallel lines intersect somehow.

And fate proved it by allowing Syaoran to crash into her life and to make such strong impact on it that her course of life was changed forever. Though it was unexpect, but she was glad that he entered her life. Otherwise, she would still be stuck in the same spot where she had left off, and dwell on her past.

“You know you actually started talking more and more now.” Tomoyo commented, sharing her late observations with Sakura while her eyes gazed at the vast expanse of blueness that stretched out across the space above them. “Before, the most you would say was one or two words.” She laughed quietly, a rueful smile on her face.

“But you're all better now.” The corners of her mouth lifted as she suddenly looked at Sakura. There was evident contentment and sincerity in her ornate amethyst eyes. The glint in her orbs, like black pearls, reminded her of the brilliant stars in the sky.

“Saa.” A reply full of ambiguity, offering no suggestion or opinions; Sakura leaned against the rough tree trunk, puffing white mists into the cold air.

“There were a lot of rumors around about you and Li-kun.” Tomoyo suddenly took an unexpected turn in their conversation, catching Sakura off guard and her eyes widened, just very slightly. But Tomoyo didn't notice it. She shifted a little, trying to adjust her current sitting position to a better and more comfortable one.

“Were there?” Sakura inquired, sounding as nonchalant as ever, as if she was talking about someone else. But deep down inside, she wanted to know what those rumors were.

“Yah, there were. I heard it from some girls on the student council. They said you guys were really close, almost like…” Tomoyo suddenly trailed off, her already soft voice became softer and fainter, to a point that it was no louder than a bare whisper.

“Like what?” Sakura cocked her head to the right, and pressed on.

Tomoyo paused for a moment, looking contemplative, as if trying to put the right words together to form a phrase that sounded the least offensive. “Like lovers.” The term came out, so quietly, yet sounding extremely loud in the presence of an oppressive silence.

The pencil Sakura was holding a moment ago dropped onto the dry, yellowish grass, looking as dehydrated and as lifeless as ever. Her hand froze in mid air as she gawked at Tomoyo, unblinking. Lovers? The word resonated in her mind.

They couldn't be. She didn't love him and he didn't love her. He was a friend to her, and that was it. Just a friend.

But she found herself subconsciously hating that word “friend”. For some unknown reasons, she wanted something more. There was something stirring in her heart—some unidentifiable emotions she had never experienced before.

“I gotta go now.” Sakura got on her feet hastily. Her mind was sort of blank and her eyes were unfocused as she bent down to grab her bag striding away from the cherry blossom tree. Tomoyo tilted her head upward and watched her friend leave hurriedly in perplexity.

“Still need to go to the art studio to finish up my painting.” Was the only explanation she left with Tomoyo before she rushed away; she really needed some quiet time to think certain things through and deal with the bundle of emotions that explored in her heart.

......

Sakura dashed for the school building, ran up the spiraling staircases and headed straight for the art studio. It was the only place she could feel comfortable in. There was something really soul-calming about it that it made her feel like she would relax her mind and contemplate.

The heel of her shoes clicked against the marble floor of the hallway. She even forgot to change her shoes when she entered the school building. The slightly darkened corridors seemed exceptionally wide to her, and she realized that it was probably due to the lack of student masses moving around the school.

During lunchtime, the school building was always empty. Most people preferred to spend their lunchtime outdoors, even though it was already mid December and even though the wintry wind was chilly. Perchance there was something refreshing and attractive about the outside air that attracted the student despite the pervasive coldness of the season.

December, the season of death and a rebirth, she thought. When December ends a new year begins, and the snow slowly melts away under the sun, marking a hopeful new beginning. And then, spring comes; the symbol of rebirth and hope.

Within minutes, she arrived at the art studio. Just when she was about to push the door open, she heard two voices resonating in the vast, spacious room and her eyes widened with shock as she realized who those voices belonged to.

“Syaoran, do you even know what everyone's saying in these days? All the rumors about you and that Kinomoto girl—do you even know that she went to Tokyo Asylum for treatment because she was insane?!”

Sakura's throat tightened as her heart skipped a beat. How did Meiling know about it? She never told anyone about it except Syaoran… unless… Her blood ran cold and her numbed fingers curled into taut fists. She could feel her nails digging into her own flesh. But the pain kept her mind clear and rational.

“Where did you get that from?!”

“I researched it! How can you hang out with someone like that? Her mother was crazy and killed herself and Kinomoto watched it happen that's why she was taken to Tokyo Asylum. She's mad Syaoran! She's dangerous!”

“What happened to her is none of your business! You shouldn't stick your nose into other people's privacy Meiling!”

Sakura's shoulders were shaking as she listened on. She wanted to block her ears and shut the angry yells out and all those hurtful truths spewing out of Meiling's mouth about the ugly secrets she fought so hard to hide. Meiling knew it…she knew it…

All those horrendous images of her mother's death, brother's accident began to play in her mind uncontrollably, like a horror film that would never end, like a nightmare that would haunt her threadbare sanity for an eternity long, except everything she saw was bloody reality.

She truly wished she could erase everything that happened in her life up to this point.

She wished her past was really an illusion that never happened. But it happened; everything Meiling said happened.

“Syaoran, listen to me, you and her would never work out. Auntie won't let some mentally insane person into the Li household! It would bring shame to the Li name! And even if she did let her in, the elders would never approve that! You're the future leader of the Li Clan; you are not just any ordinary person!”

“I don't give a DAMN about being the leader of Li Clan! I never wanted it in the first place! It's not my dream it's mother's, it's those stupid elders'!”

“If auntie finds out about this, she'll--”

“I don't care!”

“Why are you throwing everything away Syaoran?! Are you doing this because of her? Because of that crazy girl?!”

“I would do anything for her.”

Sakura's breath hitched, her ears ringing, and her heart thudding wildly in her chest like an untamed beast; it was thumping with raw anticipation.

“Syao…ran…” She could hear Meiling choking on her own words.

“Because I love her.”

Sakura's bag and sketchbook slipped from arms and dropped onto the floor, producing a loud thwack that shattered the ghastly silence which filled the hallway moments ago. The door slowly opened up and both Meiling and Syaoran's surprised and shocked gaze fell upon her.

When Sakura's vision aligned with Syaoran's, she felt it hard to breath. His amber eyes, no longer gentle and soothing, were burning with burning passions and promises of a brighter future. She saw a surge of emotions and feelings that she had never seen before in his eyes.

Like a tidal wave, his love came out as powerful as it was destructive.

It was all too sudden.

Sakura broke their intense eye contact and scampered away as quickly as possible without thinking, ignoring Syaoran's callings and Meiling's furious yells. Their voices sounded so distant and faint to her, blending into the background with such ease.

At this moment, the only thing she could hear was the uneven beating of her heart.

Ba-bum, Ba-bum.

But she was forced into a stop suddenly as she crashed into someone. Ignoring the pain from her now throbbing nose, her eyes traveled up from the hard chest of the person to his face, and there, she saw Kaitou and his smugly smirk.

“Ah, Kinomoto Sakura, it's a pleasure to finally have some lone time with you.” He sneered.

Horror flashed in the depths of beautiful green and hints of blue, but before she could scream out for help, she felt a sharp pain shooting up from her neck and fell unconscious.

Total darkness devoured her as she fell onto the floor.

a/n: umm, instead of the super duper long final chapter, I've divided it into two so I can update more quickly for those who are dying to see this baka story end lolz. Something came up this week and I'm not going to be around on the weekend, thus, I won't have any time to write that super long final chapter. But I still wanna give you guys something to read this week, so here it ish.

Remember to review, and I swear to god, the next chapter will be the last one.

Since this story is nearing the end, I should, might as well, give you guys the summary for Black Wing's sequel.

Title: Fading into the Facades

Summary: Happiness was ephemeral; Sakura and Syaoran both died in a fatal accident before their marriage. But life was fair and they were given a second chance to fall in love again, but this time, in the 1176, Heian-Kyo of Japan.

Sakura and Syaoran were reborn into the new world with no memories of their present life together. Sakura's sister escaped from an unwanted arranged marriage with the powerful Heike family, leaving the Kinomotos in distress. Unable to watch her father being troubled, Sakura stepped forward. “I'll be Heike no Syaoran's new bride.”

Hehe, sounds familiar everyone? Yes, it's the plot of Fading into the Facades combined with Fading Footprints and parts of Black Wings to form the sequel of Black Wings! Buwahaha, three stories into one! Man, aren't I smart! That means I'll only have to write ONE story only. -Sighs happily- It's not my fault that I'm lazy!

There will be a lot more romance in the sequel, and more action (ahem, as in war) and history. You gotta love those three in a blend. It'll be awesome! Hehe! And hopefully you guys will like it!

I didn't really wanna follow the overused plot of Syaoran losing his memories and then they re-fall in love again, or the parents against them being together blah blah sequeal thing. So there's my strange follow-up to this fic, don't worry, they'll connect somehow.

Or you can just pretend this story ended happily ever after in the next chapter and there's no sequel what so ever. XP it works.