The Guiding Star

Breaking Waters: Chapter Eleven

By: Sakura

“The whole ‘mission’ is to get a bunch of moldy old rings?” thought Yu Hong scornfully. “I’m certainly glad I wasn’t chosen to go.” The Li magician had been sitting outside quietly, straining his ears to listen to the conversation inside between Xiao Lang, the Japanese princess, and the three Li Elders. The Elders had asked Xiao Lang to find five rings, their purpose still unknown. They had given him an old sword as well, saying only that it was related to the rings in some way, but that they did not know how yet. It was his job to figure out the mystery. “Yet, why do they need that star?” wondered Yu Hong, half muttering to himself. “Unless…the Elders probably know a little more than they’re letting on…but why?”

“Eavesdropping, Yu Hong?”

Yu Hong had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t even heard the other person’s approach. He quickly looked up and saw Li Shuk Yue watching him, a slight touch of amusement in his expression.

“Of course not,” answered Yu Hong coolly, standing up and purposely walking away. Shuk Yue followed him. Yu Hong left the gardens and walked on the pathway, leading into the woods. He didn’t understand why Shuk Yue was following him. A while later, after walking through the woods, he made it to a clearing where an old well stood. It was no longer used and the area around it was overgrown with grass. The roof over the well was missing shingles and badly needed to be repaired. Yu Hong sat down on the ledge of the well and leaned against the column supporting the roof. A few feet down, the gaping hole of the well was covered with wiring, making the water unreachable, but the wired landing was still far from the opening. Shuk Yue emerged from the woods moments later. He watched Yu Hong, but said nothing. Finally, exasperation in his tone, Yu Hong broke the silence. “I give up. What do you want?”

Shuk Yue studied the scowling figure in front of him before answering. “I’ve always wondered,” he said amiably, “why you and Xiao Lang hated each other so. As children, you had never been like this.”

That was perhaps somewhat true. There was never any love lost between them. Even younger, both had treated the other with cold respect. Xiao Lang did this because Yu Hong was older than he was and Yu Hong did so because Xiao Lang was the son of the Emperor. But besides that, there were never any reasons for them to grow closer. In fact, there were many events in both of their lives that drove them apart.

The first major event that had pushed them away was a girl. Who’d have thought a mere girl could cause so much damage? Xiao Lang had only been eight and Yu Hong was eleven during that time. However, Yu Hong could still remember it as if it was yesterday.

~*Flashback*~

Xiao Lang was giving him the silent treatment again, but Yu Hong didn’t care. Wing Kuen had explained to him earlier that it wasn’t Yu Hong’s fault; Xiao Lang’s mother had passed away weeks before and it affected him terribly. Although they hadn’t seemed particularly close, Xiao Lang loved her a great deal. Their lack of closeness was not because of any reason other than the fact that both mother and son lacked the characteristic of showing their emotions. To their own standards, they were very close, but to everyone else, they were very distant from one another.

They were taking a break from their training at a local village. Wing Kuen had one hand placed in a comforting manner on Xiao Lang’s shoulder, but if Xiao Lang noticed, he made no acknowledgement. Yu Hong was walking ahead of them, his mood no better than the young Prince’s. His teacher and master had been assigned a mission and had left to finish it, leaving Yu Hong behind. He was hurt that he hadn’t thought to bring him along. He didn’t even say goodbye…

As they walked through the streets, looking for a place to eat, a little girl ran up to them, carrying a basketful of flowers. She offered a red peony to Yu Hong but he ignored her completely and continued walking. The girl stared at him silently for a moment, then, undaunted, skipped over to Wing Kuen and Xiao Lang, and offered them the same. Xiao Lang blinked in surprise but accepted it silently, nonetheless. Wing Kuen took one as well and smiled at the girl. She flashed her own sweet smile in return before turning around and skipping back the way she came. The younger Prince’s eyes followed her as she left and then shifted down to the flower. “Please, wait!” Yu Hong paused in mid-step and both he and Wing Kuen turned to look at Xiao Lang. The surprise was mirrored on both of their faces. Xiao Lang had never uttered a word since his mother had died. That he would start now was surprising but that his first words in months be to a girl he didn’t even know was amazing.

When the girl had stopped walking, Xiao Lang ran up and joined her. “Don’t we have to pay you for this?” he asked, referring to the flower. The girl appeared thoughtful for a moment and then smiled at him.

“The only payment I want,” she said cheerfully, “is to see you smile. Because I’m sure it’s a beautiful one.” Xiao Lang was taken aback by this odd request and for a while did nothing. But afterward, with much effort, he produced a rather rusty smile, one that obviously hadn’t been used for quite some time. The girl marveled at the change in Xiao Lang’s face, brought about by only a simple smile. Leaning forward, she planted a light kiss on his cheek. “See? I told you it is beautiful.” She turned and ran off, waving goodbye to the three of them. Xiao Lang hadn’t moved a step the moment her lips touched his cheek and suddenly he flushed a deep red.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The Chinese Prince awoke with a start. Throwing back the blankets, Xiao Lang sat up from the floor, where his make shift bed laid, and lightly ironed out the wrinkles in his shirt with his hand. He couldn’t understand it. Why did he dream about her again? He hadn’t seen her for more than four years, since he was thirteen, since the time she disappeared… His brow furrowed in anger as he remembered what caused her to walk out of his life and his fists clenched into balls. Glancing over at the bed, he saw Sakura curled up, fast asleep, her eyes buttoned shut. Placing his arms on the bed and resting his hand atop his hands, he observed her silently, his expression softening. She had such an innocent air surrounding her, filled with so much naïveté. Just seeing her smile completely calmed him.

Feeling a warm breath tickle her forehead, Sakura’s eyelids opened and she found herself face-to-face with Xiao Lang. Xiao Lang moved back in surprise and tumbled over his bed, forgetting it was there. Sakura sat up quickly. “Prince Li, are you okay?”

Picking himself up and standing up, Xiao Lang nodded. “Xiao Lang, Sakura, it’s Xiao Lang,” he said with a little laugh.

The two of them were “on the run” again, however, this time they had a mission to complete. The task of finding five rings didn’t sound so difficult, but China had a great land mass and not much of it could be covered in one day. They were currently in Chongquig, the first place in their clue to finding their first ring. Of course, one thing that made their task all the much harder was the fact that both of them were being searched for by Shui Ken’s soldiers. The Elder Chinese Prince did not intend to let them go. His guards and soldiers were everywhere and they had to be extra careful to watch every step they made and cover all their tracks.

As Xiao Lang went to change, he picked up the little pouch where he kept Wing Kuen’s long braid of hair. It was much easier to get away when soldiers were looking for a man with short hair, which was a rarity and easy to sight. Even if Xiao Lang didn’t have to use the braid as part of his “disguise”, he would have kept it anyway, as a lingering reminder of what his brother had done for him. Taking the braid out of the pouch, he neatly pinned it to his hair using one of Sakura’s hair clips. Donning a farmer’s garb over his white shirt and pants, along with a straw hat used to shield the sun, Xiao Lang was ready to leave when Sakura returned. They both looked like a pair of poor farmers and presented themselves as such. With a few items wrapped and strapped to their backs, they left the inn together and mingled easily with the crowd.

If anyone had asked Sakura two years or so ago that she would be living her life like this, she might have been perplexed as to why she would and what the reason was to it. But she knew she’d rather live like this with Prince Xiao Lang, than in the comforts of the palace in the capital. To be sure, it wasn’t all that comfortable for her, anyway, never knowing what Shui Ken had in mind. She shivered involuntarily at the remembrance and, when questioned by Xiao Lang, said it was nothing. However, Sakura’s thoughts soon drifted back to her home in Japan, with the happy family party surrounding her. Even with his business as an Emperor, Emperor Kinomoto always found time to spend with Sakura. And although her brother constantly teased her, she knew deep down that he cared for her, too. There was also one other person that she loved and knew loved her in return…Yukito… But Sakura pushed her thoughts of him aside. He had disappeared during the battle that her brother had died in. To think about him opened up the wounds that she had tried her best to heal.

As they continued down the road, Xiao Lang found himself watching Sakura quite often, without meaning to at all. Just what was it about her that made him wish to keep her from harms way so much? She was most definitely not anything like Wing Kay…

“Xiao Lang, where are we going?” questioned Sakura, breaking the silence.

“Fengdu,” said Xiao Lang a little absently, his mind on other things. “The Ghost City.” Suddenly he found that Sakura was no longer by his side and turned around. At the mention of “ghost”, Sakura had stopped walking, standing rooted to the spot. “What’s wrong?” It seemed to take a while for Sakura to find her voice again.

“Did you say g-ghost?” she asked, rather fearfully.

“Why do you ask?” queried Xiao Lang, with surprise. “You’re afraid of ghosts?” He had never known. Sakura only nodded mutely, her lips pressed tight together. “It’s only a name, Sakura,” he said with a reassuring smile, “and besides, I’ll make sure none of the ghosts get you.” Sakura returned the smile wanly and rejoined him, still a little hesitant.

In no time at all, two farmers were seen on a little boat, drifting gently along the Yangtze River. Xiao Lang had rented a little boat to use until they reached Fengdu. As the current was strong, there was no need for paddling and they let the current do its work. The night sky was slowly brightening as dawn approached.

“Oh, Xiao Lang, will you look at that?” gasped Sakura. Xiao Lang’s eyes followed Sakura’s arm and saw that she was pointing at the sun slowly rising, breaking above the high peaks of the mountains. A new day was beginning. Sakura gently rested her head on the back of her hands and watched quietly with a small sigh. “Did you know that I used to see sunrises like this back in Japan? My room faced the eastern mountains and they were the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. I wish you could have seen them.”

“But I have seen them, and I agree. They’re the most beautiful I have ever seen.” Sakura turned to give the Chinese Prince a startled glance. Xiao Lang just smiled at her. “Haven’t I ever told you?” Sakura shook her head. “I’ve been to Japan once, when I was really young. I went with my father, the first son, Chi Shing, and…” Xiao Lang scratched his head in confusion for a moment. “I know another one of my brothers went with us, but I can’t remember who at the moment. Both Emperors had wanted to improve relations between the two countries so it was the reason for our visit.”

Sakura had fallen silent as Xiao Lang spoke. She only heard half of what he was saying as she was suddenly reminded of something that happened when she was nearly eight. Close to her eighth birthday, Sakura had been ill and taken out to the country. When she returned to the palace after her recovery, she heard of the visiting members from China but Sakura never met them formally. However, she had an accidental run in with one of the sons one of those nights they stayed. He had been miserable about something and the two of them had spent the night talking and after that, watching the sunrise together. The problem was, Sakura couldn’t remember how he looked at all, try as hard as she might. He had left that very day they watched dawn together. But she did remember that she considered him her first unrequited love…and it was he that had taken her first real kiss…

“I knew my father brought Chi Shing along,” Xiao Lang was saying as Sakura returned her full attention back to him, “because he was the next to be Emperor and these foreign protocols needed to be observed by him. And although he never told me, I suspected my father brought me along because it was soon after my mother’s death and he didn’t want me to be alone, only thinking about this, and dwelling in depression. He tried so hard to make me talk, since I had completely closed up after my mother died, and though he wasn’t able to succeed at it, there was one girl that regained my ability to speak with only a few kind words.” Xiao Lang smiled rather fondly at the memory.

The Japanese Princess could only stare at him with surprise. Xiao Lang…could he have been the one that she met those nine years ago? Was he her first unrequited love? Not to mention that he was still her unrequited love…

“Prince Xiao Lang?” Sakura started to say, rather quietly. Xiao Lang looked at her, still with the soft smile on his face. “Were you…? Did…did you…?” Xiao Lang watched Sakura rather curiously unsure of what she was trying to say. “Were you the one who-” A sudden gust of wind blew up, cutting her off. Xiao Lang stood up in surprise as he suddenly realized the environment the two of them had ventured into. Both of them had been so absorbed in their thoughts that neither realized the drastic change in the sky…and the waters themselves. The skies, which had been so clear and bright just moments before when they watched the sun rise, had turned black and thick with dark clouds as the heavens opened and the rain came pouring down in endless turrets. The wind continued to blow in huge fierce gales and the waters churned rapidly and violently, rocking the tiny craft and almost causing Xiao Lang to lose his balance. Dropping down to a low crouch, he saw Sakura was gripping tightly to the ledge of the boat. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him with slight terror in her eyes.

“Xiao Lang…” she told him quietly, “I don’t know how to swim…”

“Don’t worry,” he told her reassuringly, trying to speak over the howl of the wind and the beating rain, “we’re not going to leave this boat.” As if to go completely against what he said, both of them were thrown back as the boat struck something in the water and an abrupt sound of splintering wood reached their ears. Xiao Lang whirled around to the source of the sound and saw that their watercraft had struck a fallen boulder. Huge cracks in the wood snaked their way around the boat, fairly ripping it to pieces. The boat had reached its breaking point; the entire craft split into a million pieces and both of them fell into the waters.

Sakura hadn’t been kidding, for she really couldn’t swim and the current pulled her along. The rain was beating down relentlessly on her and the waters vamped her with its waves of endless water until she was pushed underwater. Xiao Lang forcefully swam toward her though he was swimming against the current. For some odd reason, the current was drifting two ways, as of trying to keep them apart. When Sakura went under, his heart suddenly seemed to keep still. Only when she resurfaced, coughing and gasping, did it resume its normal operations.

The waters pushed the Japanese Princess into another fallen boulder and Sakura tried her best to hang onto it, although its slippery surface made it very difficult. As she pushed her wet hair away from her eyes and coughed up the water from her lungs, she saw that Xiao Lang was heading toward her. He broke past the line where the currents changed course and allowed it to pull him toward Sakura. Sakura tried to reach him with one outstretched hand, but she lost her grip on the boulder and fell back into the water. This time, however, she felt a strong hand encircling her wrist and pulling her back up to the surface. Xiao Lang held her around the waist with one arm and tried to tread water with the other, putting him in a rather awkward position. The current continues to pull them along and the rain and winds refused to let up.

“Sakura, are you okay?” asked Xiao Lang with concern. She looked a little pale as she held onto him with one arm and attempted to tread water as he did, mimicking him. Sakura nodded silently and though Xiao Lang didn’t believe it, he decided to wait until they were out of the situation to question again. Sakura didn’t understand how a storm like this could appear out of nowhere. It was the strangest thing in the world…

No, the sudden storm was not the strangest thing…that had to go to her pendant, which had begun glowing a light pink hue. Xiao Lang looked at it in surprise, as did Sakura. They both looked at each other with eyes wide and then back at the pendant. Amidst the darkness of the rain and the blackness of the skies, the light from the pendant changed to one of a bright blue. “This could only mean…the water ring?” thought Xiao Lang.

~*Flashback*~

“Each ring can be recognized by a specific colour,” said Li Ying Yu. “The ring of the Wind is white. Wood is brown, Water is blue, Fire is red, and Earth is green. The ring you are likely to encounter first is Wind, which is fortunate for it has a gentle spirit from what I’ve heard of from the legends.”

“Spirits?” questioned Sakura.

“That’s right,” confirmed the Li Elder. “A spirit resides in each of the rings. They will always be sealed within the confines of their ring, however, if taken out of their resting place, their spirits will be unleashed unless locked by a key.”

“And just where are we supposed to find this key?” demanded Xiao Lang.

Ying Yu didn’t answer but instead, turned to face Li Jian Wei. “You’ll know when the time comes,” said the lead Elder. He picked up an old sword from his desk and placed it in Xiao Lang’s hands. Xiao Lang looked over the sword from its handle to its sheath. Both were very plain in looks. The only ornamental thing on the sword was the tiny dragon’s head that was carved into the sword handle. Its eyes seemed to be made of odd spherical objects. “You’ll definitely be needing this,” he told Xiao Lang. “Take good care of it. It once belonged to your Master for he was trying to accomplish the same mission you are about to embark before his murder.” Hearing that only made Xiao Lang tighten his grip on the sword.

~*End Flashback*~

Xiao Lang reached behind his shirt collar to lightly trace the dragon’s head on the shield’s handle with his fingers. He had the sword strapped to his back and hidden under his layers of clothing. The old sword had something to do with this mission, but the Elders never told him what. And they had said that the Wind ring was the one they were most likely to find most, yet, why was it that the Water ring was beckoning to them?

“Xiao Lang, the star keeps getting brighter.” The Chinese Prince let go of the sword and turned to face Sakura and the pendant again. It was like a beacon in the darkness. But then, it started to die down… Sakura, still with her emerald eyes wide, asked, “Does this mean we’ve passed it?” The current had suddenly slackened as well in their part of the river, but further down, where they had just been, the waters continued to shift violently. Xiao Lang half-guided, half-pulled Sakura to the shore and under an overhanging ledge, where she sat shivering in the cold, her robes clinging to her.

“Wait here, okay?” asked Xiao Lang. “I’m going to go look for it. I think it’s in the river.” He turned to leave but Sakura took hold of his sleeve before he left.

“Be careful, Xiao Lang,” she said softly. Xiao Lang nodded reassuringly and waded back into the water. He dove underwater and soon disappeared from sight. Sakura clutched the star pendant in her hands and waited for his return.

As Xiao Lang descended into the murky depths of the river, he realized that, although the current was still against him, the waters were relatively calm underneath, without the crashing waves and the heavy rain from above the surface. Adjusting his eyes to the darkness, something glowing lightly flickered in the distance and Xiao Lang knew immediately he had found what he was looking for. He quickly swam toward the soft light and reached down to pick up the ring. It wasn’t a very large ring, with a diameter of only four centimeters, and only a centimeter thick. The minute his fingers closed over the ring, whirlpools formed in the water, surrounding him. They circled around him quickly until they became one giant whirlpool. The wall of waters reached to the surface and opened up to the dark sky above. His nostrils were able to breathe fresh air again as he stood within a circling pool of water, the rain coming down upon him. He had a feeling that the waters intended to trap him there until he released his hold on the ring.

Without knowing what would happen, Xiao Lang placed the ring into his pouch and plunged one hand into the water wall. In an instant, the waters repulsed him and shot jets of water at him until he fell back into the center of the ring. The water was hard and slit parts of his clothes, cutting his skin. His thoughts immediately flew to his sword and he reached behind and wretched the sword loose from where he had tied it to his back. Unsheathing it, he approached the water again and this time stabbed it deep. He had expected it to go right through for water was usually liquid, but the water shifted it and avoided it, again shooting jets of water at him. Xiao Lang brought his sword back and reflected every single shot. The shots bounced off his sword as if they were solid and plopped back into the water several meters away. The Prince realized that the sword gave him a strong defense and, using it, forced his way through the waters and swam quickly. The giant whirlpool broke up and returned to being little whirlpools, which followed him at his heels but drew back every time he struck at them with his sword. He clambered up the shore, out of breath and the waters fell back as he stabbed his sword into the earth before it. For some reason, the sword struck a chord of fear to the waters.

Sakura ran from the shelter of the overhanging and met up with Xiao Lang. As she neared him, she noticed that her pendant had begun to glow a bright blue again and kept getting stronger the closer she got to him. Xiao Lang reached for his pouch and withdrew the blue ring, its colour shining the same light as Sakura’s pendant. Sakura gasped. “You found it, Xiao Lang,” she said, with a soft smile. Xiao Lang nodded.

“Yes, but if only we knew how to seal it,” he said, gesturing to the threatening wall of water behind him, held back only by the presence of his sword. As if to answer his question, the star pendant suddenly floated upward and a flash of light followed. Tiny white wings sprouted and a golden key emerged from it, the gold star revolving quickly. The ring floated toward it as well and a tiny keyhole opened in the side of the ring. Sakura took the key, easily fitted it into the keyhole in the ring and turned it. The glow from the ring disappeared as its spirit was locked back into the ring. The waters subsided back into the river, the wind ceased its gales and the clouds disappeared into nothingness as the sun burst out again and continued to shine as if nothing had happened. The key and the wings vanished as the ring fell back into Xiao Lang’s outstretched palm. Both Prince and Princess sighed in obvious relief. Meeting each other’s eyes, they could only smile at each other and collapse onto the grassy bank in exhaustion.

However, neither of them noticed a lone figure watching them from a distance on a cliffside. His hands were clenched into tight fists but relaxed soon afterward. There wasn’t a single doubt about it in his mind. He would get the ring back. After all, nothing ever escaped from Chen Chi Yuen without his getting them back later. Chi Yuen had found the ring of Water, forcing through the place it inhabited, but he couldn’t control it. Nor could he understand why he hadn’t been able to. He was one of the most - if not the most - powerful magicians in all of China. After he had lost control of the ring, the spirit had escaped and caused fierce storms everywhere it went. Recapturing it shouldn’t have been difficult for him and yet a lowly Li magician had been able to defeat it with a plain little sword while he had completely failed.

“No matter,” whispered Chi Yuen softly, “I’ll let you take care of it for me, but you must return it when I come back for it.” His gaze left the Chinese Prince and shifted to the girl beside him, eyeing her thoughtfully. She didn’t look like much in terms of power, that was for certain. And yet, even though the Li had defeated the spirit, it had been the girl that sealed it and locked it back inside. There might actually be more to her than she seems. “It’s until next time, I suppose…” he thought to himself, before he left and vanished from the cliff.

Xiao Lang finally got up to retrieve his sword and sheathed it, then rejoining Sakura as he sat down beside her. Sakura was still lying on her back, gazing up at the bright morning sky. But when she turned to look over at the Chinese Prince, for the first time, she noticed that droplets of blood were slowly rolling down his arm. She abruptly sat up. “Xiao Lang, you’re hurt,” she said, pointing at the blood.

“Eh?” Xiao Lang looked at his arm. He hadn’t even noticed that he had been wounded. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing,” he said, nonchalantly wiping the blood away with his sleeve. But Sakura was already rolling up his sleeve and gently cleaning the wound and wiping away the blood with a washcloth she had taken from their pack. He watched her with a rather tender expression on his face and said nothing. The Japanese Princess deftly finished her work and, with another washcloth, tied it around the wound to stop the bleeding. They both smiled at each other again and Sakura found herself colouring lightly under his gaze. “Come on,” said Xiao Lang finally, getting up and hoisting their two packs over his shoulders. “We definitely can’t get to Fengdu by water anymore so we’ll have to take the land route.” With the Water ring stored safely in Xiao Lang’s drawstring pouch, the two of them were on the road again. It was then that Xiao Lang realized that their earlier conversation had been interrupted.

“Sakura,” he began, “what were you trying to ask me earlier before we were attacked?” It all came back to Sakura then…the question of whether or not Xiao Lang had been her unrequited love of so many years ago. But how to ask him, oh, just how? She had no idea…

“Prince Xiao Lang,” said Sakura, in a voice that didn’t really feel like her own, “do you still remember exactly everything that happened when you went to Japan?” Xiao Lang appeared thoughtful for a moment.

“It’s been nearly nine years,” he admitted, “and yet, I still remember everything perfectly.”

Was it just her or was Sakura’s heart beating faster? She wished it would slow down for it was beginning to make her feel a little dizzy. “Do you remember watching the sun rise over the mountains with someone on your last day at the palace in Japan?” Xiao Lang nodded again, though rather hesitantly this time, his expression softening at the memory. Sakura’s eyes suddenly began to shimmer. So it was him. Her first love…first unrequited love and current…had been Xiao Lang all along… “It was you, wasn’t it?” she asked him softly. At the perplexity in Xiao Lang’s eyes, the explanation spilled out of Sakura’s mouth in a rush…that he was the boy she had met…saddened about his life…watching the sunrise…and giving her her first kiss… As Sakura told him this, the look in Xiao Lang’s eyes changed from one of confusion to understanding.

When the Princess had finished, her eyes were downcast waiting for his response. The Prince did not fail to respond as he reached over to her and lightly lifted her chin up to face him and placing both hands on her shoulders. “Sakura…” he started slowly. He took a deep breath. “That wasn’t me. It couldn’t possibly be me.” If there was ever a time that Sakura wanted to avoid Xiao Lang’s amber eyes, now was that time. But she stood completely frozen, not able to budge an inch. “Throughout the duration of my visit,” he explained, “I stayed in my room, never venturing out until our time of departure. I couldn’t have met you before. I never once spoke a word when I was in Japan. When I said I watched the sunrise with someone…” He turned and looked away for a moment. “You might think it’s silly,” said Xiao Lang, “but I could feel my mother’s presence so strongly then that I was certain she was there with me, watching with me.” Facing Sakura again, he granted her a faint smile. “It may not have been me, but I’m sure you’ll meet that boy again. He must be something special or you wouldn’t have remembered him all these years, right?”

For some reason, all of Xiao Lang’s words caused the bottom to fall out of Sakura’s world, though she didn’t fully understand why.

Author’s Note: So even though Xiao Lang says he wasn’t Sakura’s first unrequited love, could he actually be him? Or could it be someone else entirely? If it was him, how come he doesn’t remember it at all? So many questions, ne? Oh, and this little first love thing for Sakura should be discovered by the next chapter. =)

*laughs nervously* Do you know I just realized that two of my characters had the same first part of their name? Wing Kuen and Wing Kay. o_O But, since I’ve already subtly introduced Wing Kay in the last chapter, the name is stuck. *sighs* I’m such an idiot sometimes. -_-*

Did you like this chapter? Oh, do tell! I just live off of reviews, you know? ^_~

I dedicate this chapter to Manda/Amako-chan, Mel-san, and Kawaii-san for all those wonderful pics they’ve drawn related to this fic! When I get the chance, I’ll post them on my site so everyone can see their wonderful work!! =)

Researching for a fic does pay off sometimes, ne? ^_^ I accidentally came across the thing about Fengdu also being called “The Ghost City” and an idea came to mind for the next ring-focus chapter. =) I find it rather curious that I didn’t come across this point when I was researching stuff on the Yangtze River for my other fic, “The New Cards”. *laughs* I don’t know what’s with me and using this river. ^_^

Author’s Note to sailordream3008: “the king of china picks his fav. son, so he can become king.” Not necessarily, actually. It can be the eldest son out of all his concubines. It can also be the son of the Emperor’s first concubine, etc. In the case of this story, it’s the Emperor’s very first son.

Author’s Note to butterfly_grl4: “Is Li and Sakura going to admit that they both love each other?” Who knows? Perhaps they’ll never get a chance to… *evil look in her eyes*

Author’s Note to hanna_grace: I read the sequel and I absolutely love it!! ^_^ You’re a much better writer than I’ll ever be! *sighs* I can only wish to be as good… Are you going to write a sequel to your sequel now? ^_~ It’s just so good, and sweet, and it can’t just end like that… And see, I promised I’d post this chapter during Easter weekend and I did. =)

Author’s Note to sakura-li: As for how the star is supposed to look, you can find it here. =) As for my Japanese exam…I didn’t do as well as I could’ve done and I am very angry at myself. If it weren’t for those silly mistakes, I could have gotten at least over 90%. *furious at herself*

Author’s Note to nadeshiko707: *laughs* That’s okay. I was a little confused at first, I’ll admit. ^_^

Author’s Note to chunsa1004: Do I remember you? Of course I do! ^_^ And I gave you my permission. =) Of course, it was a while ago, and I thought you forgot about it. o_O I’d love to see your pic when it’s finished. =)

Author’s Note to Chiharu Mihara: Of course I recognize you, Princess Chiharu-san. =) I remembered you once mentioned what your FF.N account was. ^_^

Author’s Note to Kitty Meow: Oh, wow, I never thought anyone could like it that much… Cha, you forgot the author? Little ole’ me? *sniffles* I’m crushed… =( … *smiles* Kidding, kidding. =) I hope it didn’t cause you too much trouble trying to find this fic.

Author’s Note to Sakura Starr: Hai, I will be continuing to write more chapters to this fic. =) I won’t stop writing until it’s finished either!

To be honest, I wasn’t really feeling motivated to write this chapter, but all my other fics had huge writer’s blocks that would take some time to overcome. o_O I’m rather unsure why I lost most of my motivation…

Oh, and out of curiosity, who (out of all my original characters, and them only) do you like the most? The least? Is there any character you’d like to learn more about? Let me know! (I might take one or two chapters out to focus on a few of my original characters and I’m trying to decide which ones. I’ve already thought of something for one character, but I won’t say what or whom it’s about yet.)

*Sakura
~The Animé Archives Team