CCS: Epilogue 4

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card

Epilogue Part 4

“Tomoyo…What are you doing here?” Sakura asked her best friend after the picture had been taken of she and Syaoran without warning.

“You didn’t think that I could miss the chance to record your first real date, did you?” exclaimed an overly excited Tomoyo.

“KAWAII!!” Meilin squealed and moved in to snap a closer picture of the couple. “You two make such a cute couple!” she giggled.

“HOoo…ee…” Sakura exclaimed over all of the attention and excitement. Syaoran kept her in his embrace and their noses nearly touched after they turned their faces away from their friends to look back at one another. Sakura’s cheeks brightened upon the realization that everyone was watching them.

“It looks like it’s time to go to the tea party,” Syaoran said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“h…hai..” Sakura answered quietly, disappointed that their date now seemed to be over, and upset with herself for wasting it fluttering around nervously. She really did love Syaoran, but everything felt a little awkward. They were now officially more then just friends, and she was still getting use to the adjustment.

Syaoran touched his forehead to hers, “We’ll still be spending the rest of the day together,” he told her. Suddenly she felt a quick peck against her lips and there was another flash from Meilin’s camera. The light momentarily blinded Sakura, who took a step back and blinked. As her eyes adjusted back to normal she caught Syaoran’s gaze.

Her stomach fluttered lightly as she brought a finger to her lips. They stare at each other for a moment and Syaoran waited for her reaction, only to be pounced on as she jumped back into his arms and hugged him. “I Love You!” She whispered against his ear.

Again, there was a flash of Meilin’s camera. As Syaoran and Sakura pulled out of their embrace they found themselves surrounded. Tomoyo was now a few feet away with her video camera, Meilin fluttered around them searching for different angles in which to take their picture together, and Eriol stood besides Tomoyo with his knowing smile plastered on his face.

Tomoyo let out a sudden squeak and nearly dropped her video camera. Eriol moved quickly to catch the camera. They both looked at each other with a blank expression as Eriol held her hand and the camera steady. Tomoyo thanked him with a smile and went into a frenzy to search for her phone. “I completely forgot!” She exclaimed.

A moment later, Tomoyo was ushering everyone out the door and into the limousine that was waiting outside. “I completely forgot!” she said over and over.

“Forgot what?” Sakura asked for what seemed like the millionth time before Tomoyo finally answered her.

“I completely forgot to take my picture of the two of you together when you returned from the amusement park. I was so worried about the final act of the play…” she explained breathlessly. “We need to get you two back into your costumes so that I can take that picture!”

It was all that Sakura, Syaoran, Meilin, and Eriol could do to keep from laughing.

“I did say that I wanted to take a photo when you two came back safely,” Tomoyo defended.

“Hai, hai, Tomoyo-chan. We’ll get the picture.” Sakura said with a smile.

Syaoran nodded in agreement, “As long as we get a copy.”

Once the Limousine had dropped the group off at Tomoyo’s home, Tomoyo lead Sakura and Syaoran up to her room and disappeared, leaving them alone, to retrieve the costumes that they had worn the previous night when fighting to retrieve the sealed card.

They stood a few feet from each other, and upon realizing that they had been left alone in the room, Sakura turned to face Syaoran. Her stomach fluttered again. She took a couple of steps towards him, he took both of her hands into his own, and she rested her head against his shoulder. She wanted to speak, but couldn’t find the right words. The last four months that he had been home, in Hong Kong, had been hard for her, and at that time she hadn’t even told him how she felt about him. How was it going to be now, that she had confessed her feelings.

Holding her hands between them, Syaoran rested his forehead against hers again. “Don’t worry,” he told her in a gentle voice.

“Here they are!” Came Tomoyo’s voice as she rushed back into the room with their costumes. Their position didn’t even faze Tomoyo as she walked directly up to the couple to hand them their outfits. “Please change and come down right away so that we can take your picture. I’ll go help with the finishing touches for the tea party,” Tomoyo told them and was gone again as quickly as she had come in.

The couple stare after Tomoyo blankly before looking at one another again and then burst into laughter. “Everyone is trying so hard to let us have time together,” Sakura stated after she could calm herself. Syaoran nodded in agreement.

They then changed into their costumes, Sakura going into Tomoyo’s dressing room and Syaoran staying in the main room. Afterwards they met and headed back downstairs.

“Will you dance with me?” They heard being said in Syaoran’s voice when they walked into the main room. The couple found everyone sitting in front of the TV watching the recorded version of their play.

“HOoo…ee,” Sakura exclaimed. Tomoyo’s mother had wasted no time to have the video finished.

“Here they are,” stated Eriol from where he sat. Meilin and Tomoyo were too raped into the video to notice, and watched dreamily as Sakura and Syoaran danced on the screen.

“Beautiful!” Tomoyo sighed

“It is so romantic!” exclaimed Meilin in a dreamy voice.

“Sakura-Chan!!” called the voice of Tomoyo’s mother, Daidōji, Sonomi, who jumped up from her seat and pounced on Sakura with a hug. “You are So CUTE!!” She exclaimed! “The video turned out really well. I’ve got a copy for your father,” she explained as the slightest hint of color rose into her cheeks.

Another squeal of excitement came from across the room, and Tomoyo jumped up to rush over to Sakura and Syaoran. “You both look great! Come on, let’s get that picture!” She exclaimed and pulled the couple off to the garden where the picture would be taken. Once there, Tomoyo fussed around until she found the perfect background. She then played around with the position in which she wished for them to pose. In the end, she finally decided that Syaoran should be behind Sakura, holding her, and that Sakura should be holding up the HOPE card.

“How did you get the cards here?” Sakura questioned after the picture was taken. She hadn’t brought them with her when she left with Syaoran for the aquarium that morning.

“Oh, I called Kero and promised him lots of treats if he would bring the cards,” Tomoyo replied with a smile.

Sakura looked over her shoulder at Syaoran, who continued to hold her. “If he can be bribed so easily with treats, should I be leaving the cards with him?” she laughed.

“The Tea is ready!” Tomoyo’s mother called from the door. “Let’s eat in the garden, it’s a beautiful day!” she concluded. Everyone sat at the patio table and Tomoyo and her mother served the tea and sweets. About mid-way through, Sonomi’s cell phone rang. After a brief discussion away from the table, she came to announce that she had to leave and that everyone should enjoy the evening. “You’re staying the night, Sakura-Chan,” she insisted. “I’ll call your father and let him know.”

Sakura didn’t argue. She welcomed having the extra hours to spend with Syaoran before he would be leaving in the morning. With that thought, her mind wandered and she again began to wonder when she might see him again and how she would make it through the months that she might not be able to see him.

“What should we do tonight?” Meilin questioned. “It’s still early enough that we could go see a movie.” she suggested.

The group agreed and together, Tomoyo, Eriol, Meilin, Sakura and Syaoran piled into Tomoyo’s family limousine and headed to the movie theater in town. They all decided on seeing Escaflowne, the Movie, a new release at the theater. The movie was good heart therapy for Sakura, especially the ending song “You’re Not Alone.” The lyrics, “We will seek together destiny, Troubles have an end, We will carry on hand in hand, We won't forget we have each other,” remained stuck in her head as they returned to Tomoyo’s after grabbing dinner at the Chinese restaurant next to the movie theater.

When they arrived, Eriol covered a yawn and excused himself to retire to the room he would be sharing with Syaoran. Tomoyo, picking up on the hint that Eriol had purposely dropping, grabbed Meilin’s hand and pulled her with up the stairs to her room, “Meilin-chan, I’d like to show you something.” She explained on the way up, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Once again, Sakura and Syaoran found themselves to suddenly be alone. They stood a few feet from one another and stare into each others eyes. Sakura’s heart pounded against her chest and her stomach started to turn summersaults when he bridged the gap between them with two steps. “S…syaoran…” his name passes across her lips, as she raised a hand to her heart. She feared that it might pound out of her chest at any moment.

Syaoran swallowed hard. The mood had changed so suddenly, causing his palms to sweat as he placed his hands on her shoulders to pull her into an embrace. Don’t think about it…just do it…he thought to himself with his heart pounding in his ear.

Nervously, Sakura averted her eyes and rested her forehead against his collarbone. She tried as hard as she could to control her breathing with the hope to calm her heart. Syaoran ran one hand down to the small of her back and lifted her chin with the other, forcing eye contact. Sakura felt as though it were boiling as the blood pulsed through her body when Syaoran brought his lips to hers.

Sakura swooned as her legs became weak under her own weight. When Syaoran withdrew from the kiss, she fell weakly against him, feeling dizzy as the blood rushed to her head. Guiding her to the couch, he pulled he gently down onto his lap in a cuddling embrace. Neither spoke, enjoying the moment as Sakura rested her head against his shoulder and Syaoran cradled her in his arms. They remained in that position for a long while until Sakura drifted peacefully to sleep in his arms.

Early the next morning, just before dawn, Sakura stirred awake and found herself in Tomoyo’s bed, with Tomoyo and Meilin sleeping soundly beside her. Quietly she stood to go to the bathroom. After washing her face, her mind too preoccupied to go back to sleep, she quietly left the room and drifted through the house and out into the garden. She sat on the bench under a cherry tree as her thoughts wondered from the events of last night to the realization that today was the day that Syaoran was returning to Hong Kong. Though the air was warm, she hugged herself as if she were chilled. How was she going to make it, when she returned to class tomorrow and faced the empty seat behind hers. She brought her fingers to her lips, remembering their kiss and her heart fluttered. On the edge of tears, she watched as a pink shimmer of light approached her and settled onto her lap. It was the HOPE card. “Were you worried about me?” she said and picked the card up to hold against her chest.

“Everything will be all right,” the voice of a young girl said as the card continued to glow against her chest.

“Arigato” sniffed Sakura as tears began to pool in her eyes.

Comforting hands on her shoulders suddenly pulled her up and she found herself in Syaoran’s arms. Overwhelmed by her feelings her tears began to fall. As one landed on the HOPE card that she now held between them a magic circle appeared beneath their feet and the couple was sounded in a radiant light.

From the balcony, Eriol watched the occurrence and smiled knowingly.

~*~To Be Continued~*~