Syaoran's Birthday

It had been two months since Arya had been stopped, and things had seemed to return to normal. It was now early July, and summer break drew ever closer. Not only that, but Syaoran's birthday was days and Darrien had become somewhat friendlier over the past two months, much like the girls had suspected. Things between everyone and Kyra were still awkward at times, but for the most part, they had all continued on being friends. Sakura had finally gotten around to telling her father all about the Clow Cards, and is reaction was quite startling. He had acted as if he had known all along. Of course he hadn't known about the cards at all, but he accepted it without problem anyways. When Syaoran's birthday finally arrived, Sakura and Tomoyo surprised him with a party hosted at Darrien's house. It was a rather small party only Sakura, Meiling, Tomoyo, and of course, Darrien, we're there. They all knew Syaoran would prefer it that way. He had received gifts from Chiharu, Naoko, Rika, Kyra, Takashi, Wei, and his mother previously, so celebrating his birthday with fewer people was perfect for him. After eating dinner and having cake, which was, of course, chocolate, they decided to open the presents. The first thing he opened was from Meiling and Tomoyo. They had worked together to make him some wonderful new clothes, and they also put together a battle tape with highlights of all Syaoran's best fights. Darrien got him some books on Japanese sorcery, which Sakura didn't understand. Finally, Syaoran opened Sakura's gift. It was a picture of the two of them in matching battle costumes that was in a hand-made wooden frame. Sakura had worked for days to make the frame the perfect size and to fit the glass neatly. The frame was a dark green, and in each corner was a tiny cherry blossom. Syaoran beamed.
"Wow Sakura… did you make this?" he asked.
"Yes… I know it's nothing special… but I thought it was a good idea…" Sakura replied.
"No, it's amazing! I love it!" Syaoran said, kissing her on the cheek.
Sakura smiled at him.
"I'm glad you like it."
After the presents, everyone settled down to watch a movie. Once it started to get late, Darrien's mother came in and said that they should all head home.
"I'm gunna walk Sakura home, so you go on without me, ok Meiling?" Syaoran said as they were putting on their shoes.
"That's all right. I was going to walk Tomoyo home anyway," Meiling said, smiling at Tomoyo.
"Uh… I'm already am home… so I'll just walk myself to bed," Darrien said with a laugh.
"Ok, that was lame…" Meiling retorted, rolling her eyes.
Darrien just grinned at her. They all said goodnight and wished Syaoran a happy birthday, then they headed their separate ways. Sakura and Syaoran walked down the darkened street hand in hand. Suddenly, Syaoran stopped, turned Sakura towards him, and kissed her. When they pulled apart, Sakura gazed at him questioningly.
"What was that for?" Sakura asked.
"Do I need a reason to kiss you?" Syaoran replied.
Sakura laughed and said, "Well, no I suppose not."
Syaoran grinned, then kissed her again. After a moment, they broke the kiss and kept walking. Sakura smiled happily and gripped Syaoran's hand tightly. He grinned back at her. After a few minutes of silence, Syaoran suddenly stopped again. Sakura raised an eyebrow in question. He turned to her and gazed into her eyes.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked.
"Of course," Sakura replied.
Syaoran blushed and paused for a moment, the said, "Sakura… I love you more than I could ever love anyone or anything else in this world. You are everything to me, and I want to be with you always."
Sakura smiled at him and opened her mouth to speak, but Syaoran touched his finger to her lips to cut her off. He fumbled around in his pocket for a moment, and then pulled out a small box. When Sakura saw it, her heart leapt into her throat.
"Sakura… will…will you marry me…?" Syaoran muttered shyly.
Sakura beamed as Syaoran opened the box, revealing a silver ring with small pink stones in it, in the shape of a cherry blossom. Inside the ring was engraved writing, which said, 'I will love you forever.'
Syaoran glanced at Sakura, waiting for her answer. She gazed back at him lovingly, tears welling up into her eyes.
"Of course Syaoran! Of course I'll marry you!" she said, leaping into his arms.
Syaoran laughed, and then slid the ring onto her finger. Sakura gazed at it, then kissed Syaoran.
"I love you Syaoran," she whispered.
Syaoran grinned, and then said, "I love you too."

XXXX

The next day, Sakura called Tomoyo the second she woke up. As soon as she heard the news, Tomoyo squealed in excitement, then three-way called Meiling, who happened to already know. Apparently, Syaoran had told her the night before practically the second he got home. The three girls spent a good hour on the phone talking about wedding plans, and discussing how they should tell everyone. But by the time they arrived at school, all their friends had found out. Apparently Syaoran had told Darrien the previous night as well, and Darrien had called Kyra, who then told the rest of their friends. There were a lot of excited giggles and cheerful smiles as Sakura and Syaoran entered the classroom. All either of them could do was stand and smile. They were just thankful that word hadn't gotten to their families yet. Syaoran wasn't too concerned with telling his mother, because he knew that she loved Sakura already. And Sakura wasn't nervous about telling her father either, but they were both terrified of telling Touya. He and Syaoran had finally started getting along, at least as good as they could. They had settled on a mutual respect and didn't talk to each other at all other than the polite greetings and such. But they were afraid Touya would lapse back into hating Syaoran again. A few days later, Syaoran informed Sakura that he had told his mother, and that she was thrilled. This news gave new courage to Sakura, who then marched straight home to tell her father and Touya. When she got home, both of them were conveniently sitting around the table sipping tea, along with Yukito and Kero, who had taken to hanging around the house now that he no longer needed to hide. Sakura took a deep breath, and then joined them."I have something to tell you," she started.
All four of them stopped and stared at Sakura, waiting for her to continue. She blushed and cleared her throat.
"Well… um… Syaoran and I… we… we've decided to get married," she stuttered.
Sakura's father and Yukito instantly stood and gave Sakura hugs, congratulating her. Kero looked at hr funny.
"You're only 17 Sakura…" he said.
Sakura laughed and said, "Well we're not getting married tomorrow!"
Kero laughed then said, "Oh… ok then! Well, then congratulations."
Sakura thanked him, and then turned to Touya, who had been silent the whole time. He was staring at his hands, avoiding her gaze. Finally, he looked up and forced a smile.
"Congratulations Sakura…" he said.
Sakura knew his congratulations were sincere, despite the fake smile, and she gave him a huge hug.
"Thanks you guys!" she said happily.
By the time the next week rolled in, everyone they knew had been told of the engagement. Sakura and Syaoran had decided to hold off on the wedding though, and wait until they were done college before getting married. They had both decided to enroll in Tomoeda University, where her father worked, then they would move to Hong Kong afterwards. Syaoran wanted to take some business courses to prepare for when he had to take over the family businesses, and Sakura wanted to take general studies in order to figure out a good career for her. Tomoyo had already signed up for the design and media classes, and Meiling didn't want to be left out, so she applied at the university as well. They were all excited. All their friends were going to the same school, AND they got to live on campus. Things were going wonderfully now, and everyone was happy, especially Sakura and Syaoran, who finally got to be together without any problems. They were getting everything they could have ever hoped for and they knew that things would work out. At last, things were perfect.

THE END

Hey everyone! Sorry that this chapter is short and well, rushed, but it was only needed to lead into the sequel. yay sequel! lol Anyway, thanks everyone for reading"The Power of Hope!" I hope you enjoyed it!
-Aki