Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Through A Looking Glass ƽ°²¾©¤Î™ÑÎïÕZ ❯ Secret rendezvous, outside the trappings of time ( Chapter 9 )

Through A Looking Glass

By: Aisaki Sumi

 

o

 

o

 

o

 

Chapter Nine

Secret rendezvous, outside the trappings of time

 

The meaningless plungings of water and the wind,
Theatrical distances, bronze shadows heaped

 

o

 

o

 

o

 

Heian Jidai (Heian Period), 1179, mid-winter, Heian-Kyou

 

 

Stunned for a moment there as if time was placed on pause, and as if all the motions in the world were frozen in place like a still water color painting, Syaoran stared down at the beautiful hand resting on the callused surface of his palm. His lips parted slightly.

 

Sharp, cat-like amber eyes traced the contours of those delicate long fingers from their polished tips their other end. He flickered up a glance at her, aligning their visions. He saw confusion and surprise flash briefly in her eyes - so briefly that his eyes barely caught it.

 

In the depths of her emerald orbs, like an endless and boundless sea of green, Syaoran found the same pride and fierce indignation he saw in the “boy's” eyes. Even with the heavy make up and distractive thick eyeliner in place, he still saw the resemblance in their ethereal features.

 

So she was that “boy” - that mysterious, exceptionally beautiful boy with a captivating, unwavering smile regardless of the predicament “he” was in. Feeling a small smile blooming on his lips, Syaoran let go of her hand and gave her a lingering look before turning away to take the lead.

 

This was getting interesting, and his gut instincts were proven to be right once again. She wasn't whom she appeared to be, but so wasn't he. Having an obedient wife who would do anything as he asked would be boring. This way was somewhat better. It adds more excitement to life, in a sense. Besides, as long as she didn't do anything too overboard, he didn't see the problem of sticking his nose into the things she does during her own time.

 

Once Sakura saw him turning his back on her, she felt suddenly it was easier to breath again. She didn't like his aura. It was too oppressive and cryptic. She didn't like it when she didn't know much about him. The guessing game was fun, but only to a certain extent. Passing that point it would become frustrating.

 

She wasn't very fond of his eyes either. There was just something about them that simply irked her to no end. Like Infinite amber glistening with a hint of mischief and iciness -- such beautiful contradicting elements clashing into one - it spelled out danger.

 

Specially that smile of his, although she saw it more as a faint smirk, as if he was snickering about a joke that only he knew about, and most likely, the joke would be on her. But more importantly, under his intensive and penetrating gaze, she always felt like her façade would crack and fall apart.

 

……

 

“Princess Meiling what are you doing?!”

 

The tip of the brush came into a messy, faltering stop, while the ink continued to bleed an ugly splotch on the mesmerizing watercolor painting, and it was right in the center of it too. Meiling looked up from her ruined painting, which was actually a portrait of the young man with ethereal beauty - the one that captured her heart with a warm smile and a pair of brilliant emerald green eyes.

 

Startled and greatly annoyed by what she would call a rude interruption, she narrowed her fire-like eyes into slits and cast up a glance at the old-aged man in front of her. He held onto his long silver stranded beard for a brief moment as if he was contemplating over a very sophisticated philosophical theory, and ran his fingers through it slowly.

 

Meiling knew this gesture very well, unfortunately. She stifled an impatient sigh, “what is it this time? Did I do something horrifically wrong that disgraced the royal family or did I fail again as the last princess of the Tang dynasty??” She challenged, struggling hard to keep her voice from rising with anger.

 

“Princess Meiling,” he sighed, sounding tired, the shadows that cast upon his aged face masked his eyes and made his expression almost unreadable. “The Tang dynasty fell when you were just a baby.

 

While the entire loyal family was massacred by the rebels, the Empress, your mother, asked me to fled the country and raised you as my own daughter until the you are old enough to understand the responsibility that lies on your shoulders.” A hiatus, as he recalled those unforgettable events.

 

”You are the last princess of Tang Dynasty—and the only one that can revive it again. China right now is in the midst of the greatest chaos that have ever embraced this ancient country, and it will be your duty to gather the pieces together again, and fulfill your destiny as the ruler of the revived Tang!”

 

Snorting at the last comment which she had heard at least a hundred times already ever since she found out about her true identity, Meiling furrowed her eyebrows. “I'm not meant for this job. I can't run a country, and look at the current state China is in right now, how on earth am I going to revive what's already been destroyed into pieces?”

 

Meiling exhaled, slow and controlled. It was becoming hard to keep her voice level.

 

“I will assist you in fulfilling your destiny, as I have sworn to the Empress; we are safe in Japan at this moment, and I've been gathering men and sending off well-trained spies back to China to be updated on what is happening in China.” He explained, like he had done so many times before.

 

Tang fell apart; the royal family was exterminated; they've been hiding in Japan ever since she was a baby and running this stupid Chinese-styled tavern to collect funds for their ultimate plan. Like it was ever going to work. Meiling laughed bitterly in her mind.

 

Shang Guan Yun stared down at the rebellious teen, and shook his head slightly. She used to be bright and obedient, until the time he told her the truth about her identity. It was then she became defiant, bitter, distant, cold, silent, and full of resentment.

 

He knew it was hard for her to take up this responsibility, but she was their only hope. The Empress, his younger sister sacrificed so much to take her only child to me when Tang faced its fateful down fall. No matter how much he hated pushing her like this, he had to do it and keep it up.

 

“Princess Meiling, I have heard from trustworthy sources that Taira no Syaoran's wife is deeply ill and probably won't be able to live long. This is your chance to sneak into the powerful Taira family as a maid and bewitch Lord Syaoran and gain a higher status as his wife. Then you can use this status to visit China and carry out our plans from there.” Shang Guan Yun announced his plan, and Meiling knew she do nothing but accept it. However, Li Meiling never accept anything without a fight.

 

Biting her lower lip until she tasted blood, Meiling slammed her fist against the red-wood table and jumped off her seat. Her eyes were like blazing fire, and if glares could murder anyone, Shang Guan Yun would've been burned to ashes already.

 

And suddenly it hit her. I could use this chance and run away… I could fake a death of some sort when I get into the Taira house and I would be free from this entire load of crap. The thought trailed down her mind, and it undeniably brightened up her mood and made it turn an entire 180 degrees.

 

“Whatever, I'll do it.” She sat back down, slumping into her seat with annoyance flashing in her eyes and smirked inwardly when she saw the satisfied look on Shang Guan Yun's wrinkled face.

 

“The Taira family has been orderly dinner from our tavern almost everyday in the recent week, and the order will come again later on today…and you will be the one delivering it this time.” He clapped his hands together, and stared straight into Meiling's eyes. “Failure is not an option, remember that Princess.”

 

……

 

Syaoran meandered down the zigzagging stone-laiden path idly, breathing in (almost greedily) the soul-calming scent plum blossom that pervaded the lung-freezing wintry air. Halting into a stop, he titled his head slightly upward to watch the almost fragile branches of the plum blossoms sway back and forth.

 

Feeling a sudden invasion of vacuity in his heart, Syaoran reminisced with a lingering look of nostalgia in his eyes. He promised Tomoyo that he would build her a garden full of plum blossoms and let it be their sanctuary - no one except them could set foot into such a heavenly place. And in that secret garden of theirs, he would propose to her and marry her.

 

He let out a bitter laugh, full of self-mockery. Life really had a twisted and nasty sense of humour. It enjoys prompting people into having unrealistic dreams, and just when their hope was at its highest peak, life crushes it and snickers as it watches one fall apart in despair.

 

He always thought Tomoyo was a part of him - someone he couldn't live without. But he was wrong, time proved him wrong. Without her, he was still standing, making through the days. Life was like this, when you think you've bumped into a dead end, or your world just fell apart. In actuality, however, there was no dead end, and nor had your world fall apart.

 

Everything is just a state of mind, and nothing is ever absolute.

 

Like he had told himself so many times before, from now on, Tomoyo will be a memory that he would treasure in the deepest part of his heart - a dream from the distant past that he would never forget - and nothing more than that.

 

But he still unconsciously wandered to this place. Every now and then, he would come here -- to the place where most of these memorized where buried under - where he would indulge himself and take off his masque, and let his true feelings show, even if it was only temporary.

 

Shaking his head slightly to drive away the trains of thoughts that were rushing into his mind, Syaoran turned to gaze at the plum blossoms again. His eyes softened as he remembered the first time he showed her this place and how she danced through the falling petals in joy…

 

For a moment there, he almost thought he saw her again. Standing in the rain of plum blossom petals, elegantly poised as always, but she looked different somehow. She wasn't the same Tomoyo from his most treasured memories.

 

Suddenly, his eyes widened with shock and disbelief. Could it be…could it be her?

 

Tomoyo brushed aside the stand of hair that fell into her eyes, and smiled, her eyes twinkling. “Syaoran-sama. How have you been?”

 

……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a/n: just one thing to clear up. There is a huge difference between Asian guys and guys of other colors. Some Asian guys are very feminine, and pretty. Yes, I've used the word pretty, which is why sometimes it is hard to tell if it's a girl or a guy when that person is beautiful enough. Take Jim JaeJoong (Hero, from DBSK, or Tohoshinki) as an example for a pretty boy. There are lots of guys like that in Japan, China and Korean. And in recent years, there are a lot of girls cross-dressing as guys, and you can't even tell they are girls. That's the weird thing about the Asian culture. Thus, Sakura cross-dressing and other people not knowing about it is very, very possible. Just make JaeJoong a dress (which he did, in one of DBSK mini dramas, those of you who are interested can go check it out on YouTube), and you won't be able to tell that it's a guy cross-dressing. This interesting trait is often seen in Japanese anime too, some well-known extremely feminine anime pretty boys are: Fuji Syuusuke from Prince of Tennis, Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter, and…many more. (Haven't been in the fandom for many, many years…excuse my horrible memory)