The Guiding Star

Blossoming Love…: Chapter Twenty

By: Sakura_Kinomoto

“Nii…sama…” Sakura whispered, her entire form beginning to tremble. Touya only smiled faintly and said nothing. She turned to look back at “San Kong” as he placed his own mask on the table. “Yukito…san…” she said again, feeling her knees go weak now. The former was none other than Kinomoto Touya, her older brother that supposedly had died during the last major battle in Japan’s capital. The latter was Tsukishiro Yukito, the tall grey-haired man who was her brother’s best friend and the one she had loved for so many years. That both of them were before her right now…

The images Sakura saw were beginning to blur before her eyes and she tipped over, falling to the ground. “Sakura!” they cried, both leaping forward to catch her. Yukito reached her side first and caught the girl before she fell while Touya, still confined to his bed, couldn’t get to her at all. Lightly touching her cheek, Yukito said, “She just fainted, that’s all. I guess it was a bit too much for her.”

“Geez, you monster,” Touya muttered in a tone of utter annoyance, trying to hide the disgust he felt for himself in his current useless position. But Yukito could also hear the relief in his tone nonetheless and smiled. Touya may be good at hiding his feelings for Sakura from everyone else, however he could never fool his best friend. “At least she’s safe here with us,” Touya said, the tenderness apparent in his voice as he gently petted her head.

Yukito was unable to resist the urge of poking fun at his friend. “Sister complex,” he remarked offhandedly, trying to smother a laugh with a cough but failing completely. Touya shot him a dirty look and Yukito only responded with an innocent smile.

~*Flashback*~

It was late morning when Kinomoto Fujitaka hurried toward his daughter’s room. On most days, eight-year-old Sakura would be up bright and early, and come bounding into his room with unrivalled energy to wake up her father, usually tackling him awake with a big hug. However, today, after waiting a long while with Sakura never appearing, he decided to go see what was the matter. Upon reaching her room, he was startled by the appearance of his sixteen-year-old son, Touya. They both relaxed and smiled at each other, knowing full well why they both found themselves right outside Sakura’s door.

Little Sakura heard their approaching footsteps, which only caused her to bury down further in her blankets. She hadn’t been feeling well and was rather vexed that she might have caught a cold the last time she was playing with Chiharu and Takashi by the stream. She had accidentally fallen into the waters then and had thought nothing of the incident. Still, she didn’t want her father to worry about her. After all, with his duties as emperor, he had more than enough on his plate. It’s just that she couldn’t muster up the strength at that moment to act as if everything was just fine.

Before entering his daughter’s room, Fujitaka remembered a bit of news that he had been meaning to share with his son. “Touya,” he spoke hurriedly, anxious to see his daughter as it was, “my friend Li Yuan Zen will be arriving here with his sons in the next day or two. I’ll leave it up to you to see that his sons are comfortable and at ease here.”

“Li Yuan Zen?” Touya asked in surprise. “Who is he? I’ve never heard of him.”

“He’s only the Emperor of China,” Fujitaka answered with a wry smile. “We haven’t met often because of this great distance between us.”

“Don’t worry about a thing,” Touya reassured him with a smile. “I’ll take care of it.” Fujitaka smiled back, not worried at all. He always knew he could count on his one and only son. Touya suddenly motioned his father over conspiratorially.

“Let me go in first and see what’s keeping the little girl,” he said in a whisper and a wink. Fujitaka agreed a little reluctantly, but allowed Touya to enter the room first.

Opening the door to his kid sister’s room and quietly entering, Touya surveyed the room he was in, looking for his sister. He immediately spotted her watching him from her bed and she quickly pulled the covers up to hide her face. “Something wrong, monster?” he asked her teasingly as he strode over to her bedside.

“I’m not a monster,” mumbled Sakura defiantly, yet half-heartedly. Taken aback by her feeble response, Touya reached out with one hand and placed it on her forehead.

“Sakura, you’re really burning up!” he exclaimed. The little girl immediately pushed his hand away.

“I’m fine so just leave me alone!” she cried in a hoarse voice, the beginnings of a sore throat showing. Touya wanted to argue back, but thought better of it. At that moment, their father entered her room.

Imperial duties put aside for the moment, Fujitaka approached Sakura and tended to her as a father. “How are you feeling?” he asked her, voicing his concern as he placed a gentle hand on her forehead to see for himself. Sakura immediately reached out for his hand with her own and pressed his larger hand against her cheek with a quiet sigh. “And don’t tell me you’re fine, because it’s quite obvious you are anything but,” her father told her sternly.

“But I am fine,” Sakura insisted in earnest. Fujitaka took the small girl into his arms and held her close to him. Sakura, eager for his embrace, leaned against him for support. “I just have one small favour to ask of you, otousama,” she said softly, looking up at him.

“Anything, Sakura,” the Emperor replied.

“May I go stay in our home just on the outskirts of Heian-Kyo?” she asked. “I’m sure I can recover there much more quickly than here and…” Her sentence was cut off by wracking coughs that shook up her entire body.

“No,” Fujitaka answered immediately. “I don’t want you to go so far away when you’re not feeling well. I want to keep my eye on you and make sure you’re getting better.”

“Otousama,” Sakura pleaded with him tearfully, “you said I could ask anything of you.”

Fujitaka looked down at his little girl and knew immediately that she wouldn’t budge. Sakura rarely requested anything of anyone that her father usually granted whatever she asked for. However, if she was so far from home in this condition, it would only cause him greater concern.

“Otousan,” Touya said quietly to his father, “let me see if I can talk some sense into her. Could you leave us be for a few moments?” Fujitaka nodded and, releasing his daughter, stepped out of the room. However, he remained by the doorway, not wanting to go far.

“Why do you want to go there?” Touya asked Sakura as he sat down on the edge of her bed, after their father had left the room.

“Otousama has important visitors coming,” Sakura replied quietly, staring down at her hands as they fidgeted with her covers, “friends that he does not see often. If I were to stay at home sick, otousama would always be coming to tend to me. I know him and so do you. We know otousama easily gets worried when someone catches a little cold, especially after okaasan died. However, I just don’t want to get in the way of such an important reunion between friends, since I only have a little cold and nothing more.” She looked up only to see Touya shaking his head.

“Geez,” he muttered, more to himself than to her. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re really still eight. You think too much for an eight-year-old.” Sakura stuck her tongue out at him, but similar to her retort earlier, it was only a feeble gesture. She felt too tired to act with the energy she normally used. “Don’t worry,” Touya said, patting her on the head, “I’ll see if I can get otousan to let you go. You just get some sleep for now.”

“Thank you, Touya-niisama,” Sakura said sleepily, settling back into her covers. She had fallen back asleep before she placed her head on the rectangle pillow. Touya quietly stepped out of her room and gently closed the door behind him, only to find the Emperor just outside. He had heard everything.

“She’s right,” the older man admitted ruefully. “As she is now, I’d be far more concerned about her health than that of my guests. It would reflect badly on me as a host, but Sakura is my daughter. Of course I’d be worried about her.”

“Just let her do as she likes, otousan,” Touya said. “It’ll put her mind at ease.”

“And who’ll put mine?”

“Send me along with her and I’ll do just that. You can definitely rely on me,” Touya said in a low voice. “Just don’t tell her I told you to send me.”

Stifling a sigh, Fujitaka placed a firm hand on his son’s shoulder and nodded. “Just make sure to return as soon as she’s better,” he told him quietly. Touya smiled gratefully at his father and went back inside his sister’s room to see her, leaving the Emperor standing by himself in the hallway, left with his own thoughts and worries.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“As I expected,” Touya said, with a long suffering sigh, “only monsters like you can get sick. Now I’m stuck slaving away, trying to bring this monster back to life!”

“Niisama!” Sakura cried out in frustration, throwing her small pillow his way. “I’m not a monster!” Touya hid a smile as he playfully let the pillow hit him in the arm and pretended to wince in an exaggerated manner, but he didn’t curb his teasing one bit.

The two siblings had been staying in their summer home since late winter into early spring. Only a few weeks had gone by and Sakura was regaining more of her strength everyday. She was almost back to her usual energetic self, the one that Touya loved to poke fun at all the time. Sakura probably knew, deep down, that he loved her all the same; though she could hardly believe it with the way he made fun of her. It did not make this eight-year-old happy at all.

“Besides,” the little girl continued grumpily, “you don’t have to stay with me if you don’t like it so much.” Touya lightly patted her head as he returned her pillow to her.

“Just doing what otousan told me to do,” he responded cheerfully. “He asked me to take care of this little monster, so that’s what I’m doing!”

“He did not say it like that!” she cried, trying to hit her brother again with her small fists. Touya chuckled at her futile attempts but before he could make any other comments, there was a knock on the door and one of the servants popped in after Touya bid them to do so.

“Ah, excuse me, oujisama,” the maid said softly, “but Tsukishiro-sama is here to see you.” The Prince’s eyes lit up for a moment.

“Tell him to wait in my room,” he told her. The maid complied with a nod and left the room.

“Tsukishiro-sama?” Sakura repeated in surprise. “Who’s that?”

“No one you know yet,” Touya answered with a grin. Ruffling her hair as he stood up, much to her protest, the last thing he said before leaving the room was, “Don’t cause any trouble, monster, because I’ll be right back.”

“I’m not a monster!” Sakura cried again, throwing the pillow after him again. However, Touya had already left, closing the door behind him, and the hard pillow tore through the paper screen. Wide-eyed, the princess immediately leapt out of bed to see the damage she had unintentionally done. Opening the door and peering outside, no one was standing guard at the moment and the maids were away. No one had seen the pillow land in the hallway. Tossing the pillow back in her room, Sakura quietly made her way to her brother’s room, a little curious about this ‘Tsukishiro-sama’. Her brother normally would have forbade her to leave the room, but her brother wasn’t there right then, was he? The little rebellious thought made the small girl smile and she stifled a giggle.

Nearing her brother’s room, Sakura crept slowly toward it. She could hear the voices of the people within the room through the thin paper screens and knew they would hear her as well if she wasn’t as silent as possible. “…are boring like always,” someone said with a small laugh. Sakura paused at hearing this unknown voice. This must be Tsukishiro-sama, I mean, Tsukishiro-san! the princess thought rather excitedly. There was a warm, bubbly feeling in her chest that surfaced just from hearing his voice. Hanyaan… she thought almost dreamily. “You’re not really missing a thing. However, our tutor is still convinced that you left not to take care of your sister but to skip out from doing your work.” Touya laughed at the notion.

“You’re probably right,” he said with a chuckle. “After all, what guy would go out of his way to take care of his sick little sister? None of us are that sappy, especially not to monsters,” he finished in a gruff tone. Sakura wanted nothing more than to go into her brother’s room and stomp on his foot for that remark, but she suddenly felt a little cold and tired…

“None of us guys are as bad at hiding our true intentions as you, Toya,” Tsukishiro Yukito stated mildly, with pointed emphasis on his nickname for his friend. Outside, the little girl could still hear their chatter, and she desperately tried to stay for just a little while longer, wanting to hear the visitor’s sweet and gentle voice… Wanting to keep this wonderful “hanyaan” feeling…

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Yuki,” Touya retorted, with equal emphasis on his friend’s nickname. Yukito had been about to argue when a maid anxiously burst into Touya’s room from the outside entrance.

“O-ojiisama!” she stuttered nervously. “I’m sorry for c-coming in like th-this, b-but himesama has disappeared! She wasn’t in h-h-her room j-just now!” Touya was instantly at his feet without a word and threw the sliding door open swiftly. He was shocked to find Sakura right outside his door, sprawled out on the ground and completely out cold.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sakura was rather vexed at herself for her small “rebellious” act. Because of it, she had completely missed her chance to meet Tsukishiro-san. The cold air in the atmosphere had only served to agitate her illness further that time and Touya kept her under his watchful gaze day and night, not wanting a repeat of what happened before. Although he never told her, he was very afraid to see her sick for this long. It reminded him too much of his mother, who had died five years previously. For so many months she lay confined to her bed and often she would tell him not to worry about her. The more Sakura told him not to worry, the more his concern for her increased.

It was only when he was confident with Sakura’s clean bill of health that he allowed her to leave her room. Touya had forbidden his father from visiting them there while his guests were still in the city, however, he knew his father was very anxious to have his children back home with him and was still as worried about Sakura as Touya.

Touya, Sakura, and their handful of servants and caretakers arrived back home late in the night though they had alerted no one of their arrival. Touya had immediately sent his sister off to her room, which she did dutifully. However, the moment she entered her room, she did not immediately dive under the bedcovers. Rather, she dragged the bed sheets from the bed, wrapped herself up in them and sat by the window, watching the wind rustle through the trees and the flowers outside. As it had been weeks since she left home, her friends crept up in her thoughts and she wondered how they were. There was Takashi and his love of telling stories; cheerful Chiharu, the only one that could keep Takashi in line; and Naoko with all her dreams and fancies. She could see and play with them all soon now that she was pretty much recovered. Her mind drifted again briefly to the boy who gave her that “hanyaan” feeling during his visit at their summer home before turning her full attention back to the scenery outdoors. Sakura hadn’t watched for more than a few minutes when she suddenly stood up, the bed sheets falling to the ground, and nimbly climbed over the windowsill. The little princess didn’t want to be trapped inside at that moment, not when there were beautiful flowers to see. She was tired of staying in a room with nothing to look at but plain white walls and doors.

It was in this way that she scampered outside, still in her bed clothes, bareheaded with her still short hair just touching her shoulders. She gave none of that a single thought. Instead, she fairly skipped to one of the gardens, drinking in the beauty all around her, hardly noticing that the ground still felt cold and moist under her bare feet. Pausing for a moment under a row of cherry blossom trees, Sakura placed her cheek against its trunk with a happy sigh. She always loved to see the sakura trees in bloom. Nothing was more beautiful to her than those five-petal flowers. When a sudden gust of wind blew up, it weaved its way through the trees and the flowers began to rain in a pink shower of petals. With a soft giggle escaping her lips, Sakura danced happily among the falling petals, reaching up from time to time to catch a blossom or two, enjoying her moment alone.

The sudden snap of a branch breaking in two brought the princess out of her reverie and she froze. Slowly, she turned around, looking for the source of the sound. She hadn’t been alone. There was a young boy that stood huddled miserably against a tree and he had been watching her. Sakura’s cheeks instantly turned scarlet as she realized he had seen her dance and acting silly. What could he have possibly thought of the Emperor’s daughter for doing such a thing? The negative thoughts were immediately dismissed from her mind and she quickly ambled over to him instead. For some reason unknown to her, she felt that she really wanted to meet this boy.

“Hajimemashite,” she greeted him, a demure smile on her lips.

“Ha-hajimemashite,” was his stammered reply. Sakura tilted her head in surprise. It sounded as if he spoke the words with a foreign tongue.

“Hoe?” she murmured. “So Japanese isn’t your first language? Are you from China?” The boy nodded without saying another word. “I can speak Chinese, too,” Sakura added as she began to speak in his language almost flawlessly. “Otousama and niisama taught me.” The boy was shuffling rather nervously by the tree and she impulsively took his hand and drew him away from the base of the tree toward the open field. Never before had she met such a shy boy but he intrigued her. He wasn’t that much taller than she was, though Sakura was certain he was older than her. His facial features were kept reserved and Sakura might have thought nothing of it if it weren’t for his amber eyes. Everything was expressed openly through them. Also, she had never seen anyone with eyes that shade before…

“What’s your name? What are you from?” Sakura continued, in her attempt to bring this boy out of his shell. Her tone was kept light hearted and an amiable smile lit up her face. “I’m Kinomoto Sakura, the daughter of Emperor Kinomoto.”

“I’m…” the boy began hesitantly. He suddenly faltered and sputtered, “I-I’m just a prince from China.” Sakura nodded understandingly and decided not to push him. He was decidedly shy and would probably open up only when he felt comfortable enough to.

“So that means you’re one of our guests,” she said cheerfully as they reached a small bridge. She stopped for a moment to look down at the fish in the pond, then settled down on the railing and lightly swung her legs back and forth, enjoying the cool morning air. She had been cooped up inside for far too long. The Chinese prince had fallen silent again and although she wasn’t facing him, Sakura had the feeling that he was watching her, and a tiny blush crept onto her cheeks. “I’m sorry that neither niisama nor I were there to greet you all when you arrived,” she said hurriedly, trying to hide her nervousness. “I recently took ill and otousama sent me to a quiet place away to recover and he had niisama accompany me.” The memory of her brother and his endless teasing about her getting sick suddenly arose in her mind and she clenched her fists and banged them against the railing. The boy had been startled by this abrupt action.

“Wah, but niisama’s so mean!” she cried. “He kept saying only monsters like me could get sick like that!” At that moment, she fell backward with a gasp, forgetting that her hands had been balancing her while she sat on the railing. With eyes shut tight, she prepared to feel the impact of the wooden floor under her back. Seconds rolled by and Sakura realized she had been stopped in mid-air. The Chinese boy had caught her before she fell. With gazes locked, Sakura found herself staring into these boy’s amber eyes. There seemed to be an infinite sadness buried within its depths. They were also slightly red, as if he had been crying recently. He helped her stand up and this time she turned to face him. His eyes seemed more interested in staring at his feet and they remained intently on the ground. With her head tilted slightly again, she was carefully observing him when she asked, “Are you okay? Did…” There was a slight hesitation in her voice as she wondered if she was going to far, asking him too much. “Did something happen? You seem… so sad…”

His gaze was pulled from the ground and he looked into her soft green eyes in surprise. Disgust passed through his eyes, but Sakura knew it wasn’t directed at her. He bit his lip for a moment before speaking out. “My older brother,” he said, as if choking on his words, “has just passed away.” Tears were welling up within him again and before they could fall, Sakura instantly flung her arms around him in a hug. She looked up at him with her own shimmering eyes, filled with sympathy and understanding.

“It hurts now, doesn’t it?” she whispered softly. He spoke not a word in response and instead, slipped his arms around her tiny frame, seeking comfort in the embrace and finding it. The droplets of water that she felt falling on her shoulder only succeeded in her tightening her arms around him and she wisely said nothing about it. “Although it may hurt now,” Sakura whispered into his ear, “eventually, the pain will go away. So the current pain we feel doesn’t eat us up entirely, we must let go of it, and remember our loved ones and all the happy times we’ve had together.” She had a feeling that she was just rambling on at this point. Despite that, she still continued. “And don’t forget: our loved ones cannot fully die unless we forget them. For while we live, they will continue to live in out hearts, as long as we cherish their memory.” The prince pulled away from her at that moment to really take a good look at her for the first time and to not shyly avert his eyes as he usually did around girls.

His eyes never left her face as he mulled over her words in his mind. Also, though Sakura was unaccustomed for any boy – and a stranger at that – to be watching her as he did, she found that she didn’t mind at all. She rather liked this shy timid boy. And when they watched the sun rise together and he stole her first kiss in that one instant before running away himself, her heart felt warm and she wished deep down that she could meet him again, no matter the circumstances. Just to see him once more…

However, it wasn’t only her chest that felt unusually warm, but her cheeks did, too, she realized as she placed a cool hand against her face. Just why was she so overcome with dizziness again, the images before her eyes blurring? Oh, why wouldn’t those trees just keep still and stop spinning? No longer did she have time to contemplate it as her knees buckled beneath her and she fell forward, unconscious.

“Himesama!” the maid shrieked as she saw her mistress crumble to the ground in a dead faint. She hurried to the child’s side as quickly as she could, but another person reached her before she did and caught her before she hit the ground. The expression on his face was an extremely gentle one as he pushed a loose tendril of hair away from her face. “Tsukishiro-sama,” the maid said softly as she reached his side, not wanting to disturb him for some reason. Yukito turned to her with a faint smile on his lips.

“Where is himesama’s room?” he queried as he swept his arms around her, carrying her lithe form with ease. The maid hurriedly showed the way as Yukito took her back to her room. Perhaps it was because she was sick or perhaps the sound of that person’s voice had driven every other thought out of her unconscious mind. Either way, the small princess remembered next to nothing from that day and the small part that she did remember - of the flashing amber eyes and the prince that granted her a kiss - was not to be thought of for years to come.

~*~*~*~*~*~

When Sakura finally opened her eyes, she was greeted by a fair-skinned youth with light-grey hair and twinkling brown eyes. “It looks like our sleeping beauty has awaken,” he said, the ends of his mouth curved up in a mischievous smile. Surprised at his appearance, the girl found herself reddening under his gaze, though she had a distinct feeling that he had been by her side the entire time she was asleep. “Do you know who I am?” he asked her, the smile still on his lips. She had never seen him before, but she nodded mutely. She knew that voice, after all. And that sudden bubbly feeling in her chest couldn’t be denied. He was Tsukishiro-san.

“You’re still getting over your cold right now,” he told her gently, “so you shouldn’t be playing outside this early in the morning when there’s a slight chill in the air.” He patted her hand lightly. “If you want to dance among the blossoms, you can always wait until early aft to do so.” Her cheeks went crimson when she heard this and immediately avoided his gaze. He had seen her when she had been acting utterly childish…whatever did he think of her! Turning her hand over, he pressed a few of the freshly plucked pink flowers in her hand and closed her fingers over them with the other. “And since you won’t be able to go out again for a while, I’ve brought them here to keep you company.” She looked up at him and met his eyes. They were quite serious and she realized he meant everything he said. It wasn’t just some mean joke he was playing on her. Tsukishiro-san was a very kind person…

“T-thank you very much, Tsukishiro-san,” she stammered shyly, looking away again, still blushing under his gaze. His hand was still covering hers and she could feel his warmth. It felt so comforting to her.

“Call me Yukito, himesama,” Yukito told her with a smile. “And may I call you Sakura?” The princess nodded vigorously again, some of her shyness slipping away. She never loved hearing someone say her name before. He made her name sound so beautiful when it was spoken through his sweet and gentle voice.

While fidgeting with her sheets, she softly said, “It’s very nice to meet you, Tsuki-” she caught herself in time, “Yukito…san.” Just then, she couldn’t not tack on the honourific. It was too early. Looking up, she smiled brightly at him, her shyness completely melting away. “Please take care of me!”

Yukito returned the smile with a cheerful one of his own. “Please take care me,” he echoed. In the few moments that passed, the two of them were firm friends.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ever since she met Tsukishiro Yukito, like her keepsake name, Sakura blossomed into a beautiful flower. She had always been a happy child, but there was a different light in her eyes. They shone as one often does for a girl in love. As a child, she worshiped her Yukito-san and thrilled at every meeting they had. She was not normally a shy person – rather, she was very outgoing – though around Yukito, an unaccustomed shyness would spring forward. However, he always melted the ice easily with his calm smile. And yet her heart continued to beat wildly whenever she was in his presence. Sakura could hardly recall life before she met Yukito and nothing before that time mattered to her anymore, not even that chance meeting with a boy whose face she couldn’t remember and whom she would most likely never meet again. Her present, future, and everything was for her to give to Yukito.

As for her meeting with that prince from a distant land, Yukito had never mentioned it to her when he told her about the time he saw her carefree dance among the trees. If he had said nothing, it could be no reason other than he simply didn’t know, having been distracted by one of the servants asking if he had known about the little princess’ whereabouts. Perhaps no one ever knew about that fleeting moment in the garden for Sakura could hardly remember it. Only for one person did the scene burn angrily into his memories. Touya, going in to see his sister and not finding her in her room, had only gone outside to witness the moment but was too late to interfere with it. This was something Touya would never ever tell her, even if she did ask him about it. He just never trusted that boy.

To Yukito, Sakura had just been his best friend’s little sister, the girl he gave candy to whenever they parted, the one he told stories to and occasionally took care of. He loved her smiles and tried to invoke them as often as possible. Her laughter was always sweet and clear, and he always found himself doing anything he could to hear it. He had also known that the little girl had a small crush on him. At that moment, he had dismissed it as a momentary thing and thought she would eventually get over it. She was just like the younger sister he never had, the one he could dote and spoil while her other brother would spend most of his time pretending he didn’t care about her at all and would tease her constantly. As time passed, he was surprised to find himself hoping that she didn’t have a crush on him. No, he wished that she could love him, as he now loved her. Now she was no longer a small child to spoil and pat lightly on the head. Her personality matured yet she still retained her childlike innocence; like a little caterpillar that has grown and become a beautiful butterfly. Yukito wanted to protect her and always keep her safe.

Sakura was fifteen when she first voiced her feelings to Yukito. It didn’t matter to her that Yukito was more than seven years older than her. It didn’t matter that he might never see her as something more than a kid sister. She just wanted him to know how she felt about him, the feelings she had had since the moment they had met. Nothing meant more to her than to hear Yukito earnestly telling her he felt the same way and that she was the only woman (woman, Sakura thought with satisfaction, and not child or girl) he could ever love. The first kiss she shared with him was both sweet and full of promise. A promise that they would both forever go hand in hand into the future.

The Emperor thoroughly approved of the match and Touya was very pleased. He couldn’t have picked anyone better for his own sister. As for the two in love, nothing meant more than the other’s feelings and knowing it. Marriage wasn’t on the horizon, however, as everyone involved knew that Sakura was still too young. Whatever the future held was still around the bend. For now, living and drinking in every moment of the present was everything to Sakura. She treasured every moment she had with her beloved Yukito-san as did he for her. Her childhood was filled with happy times and memories with her friends, her brother, and her love.

But even happy days couldn’t possibly last forever…especially not when there was war approaching them… A war that would affect everyone and change their laughter to tears…

Author’s Note: When I first began this fic, I never expected to write at least twenty chapters at all. Yay me, I made the big 2-0! XD

This was a more past-oriented chapter. I had wanted to do this one for a while, elaborating a bit on Sakura’s life and love in Japan. Also, there was more to it than I expected and will take two chapters to conclude than just the original one. We’ll return you to the “present” time in chapter twenty-two, so stay tuned!

To be honest, I’ve never really been a Yukito/Sakura fan, so trying to think up scenes and write about them was so very difficult. ~_~ Especially when a brown-haired, amber-eyed boy kept popping into the picture. =P Must be fate. ^_^

Many had said that they were surprised to find out Tan Shi Kuang and Yiu San Kong turned out to be Touya and Yukito in surprise. However, which was more surprising? This or finding out that Shui Ken (instead of Xiao Lang) was the boy from Sakura’s memories?

If you haven’t done it already, go visit TGS’ very own website! Address can be found in my profile. =) Comments, fan art, drabbles…pretty much all are accepted. =) Sometimes the site experiences a bit of a downtime so simply try again later. ^_^

Author’s Note to FuyuSarah: Just out of curiosity, what made you think that the two “unknown” guys would turn out to be Touya and Yukito? =)

Author’s Note to SparklingAura: You’ve been added to the mailing list. ^_^ Just wondering, but what parts did you find seemed “obvious” about it? *loves to hear feedback*

Author’s Note to Kaji: I don’t know where my ideas come from. ^_^* I can get inspirations anywhere, usually when I’m about to fall asleep, too. =P The problem with the latter is that if I don’t make myself get up and write it down, I’m 97% likely to not remember it in the morning. And that’s such a huge problem. ~_~ Sakura’s too forgetful for her own good. -_-*

Author’s Note to Hanna: Yeah, I really do need a beta-reader. Don’t know where to look for one, though, nor do I know anyone with the time to do it. As for grammar mistakes, well…to tell you the truth, I never proofread this chapter before posting it. ^_^**

Author’s Note to S*I*T*A*295: Wow, thanks for that lengthy review! ^___^ It really made my day. *laughs* Even kaasan said it was rare to see my so hyper/happy. XD About the whole Touya/Yukito thing, I was trying to be as subtle as possible about, but it still looks like people caught on, despite my attempt. And I’m glad you like this little baby of a fic of mine so far. ^_^ Just out of curiosity, though, how did you find this fic? =)

And thank you to Umiko Morimoto, HyEcHaN, Final Fantasy Princess, sweet-strawberry692003, brat2princess, tsumaki-chan, meinien, sally, triva, QTKawaii25, MoshiMoshiQueen, cherrixwolf, kmpnay, SakuraAyanami, BabyWolfGurl, Red-Emerald, Yuki-Rabbit, s jus me, SaKuRa Kinomoto-Li1, White Blossoms, crimson_angel, Ronnie, Luna, Yukimi Yuki Takiro, crazy azn angel, Little Wolf LOVER, and favian for all your reviews~!

*Sakura
~The Animé Archives