Chapter Seven
New Beginning
Sakura started the drive home, tired and exhausted. All she wanted to do was go home, sleep, and never wake up, but her car had a different idea in mind, and next thing she knew, she was pulling up in front of a grassy field.
She slowly got out of her car, and her feet carried herself to the nearest tree and sat down on the grass in the shade. Too tired to figure out or even care where she was, Sakura closed her eyes, and suddenly, she was ten again.
“Terada-sensei, who am I paired up with for the project?” Sakura’s wide green eyes were hopeful.
“Well, I’m afraid there’s only one other person who doesn’t have a partner. Kyoko Fujiwara was absent yesterday as well when we chose partners.” Sakura’s face fell slightly as hopes of being paired with her best friend were crushed, but regained her cheerfulness at the prospect of becoming friends with someone she didn’t know well. She walked to her new partner’s desk, a slight spring in her steps.
“Hi! My name’s Sakura. Terada-sensei said we’re partners for the project.”
“I’m...Kyoko…” Her slightly shy face looked up from her desk, and Sakura was greeted by arresting hazel eyes. Kyoko switched her gaze from Sakura’s face to the window beside her. Sakura tried to get her attention but no matter how many times she called her name, Kyoko wouldn’t answer.
“Kyoko, Kyoko?” Sakura tried to shake her shoulders in an attempt to get Kyoko to focus.
“Kyoko, where have you been? I looked all over for you!”
“I’m sorry, Mama….”
Sakura’s eyes snapped open. She was in a park, watching the back of a young mother lead her little girl away from the park. The sun was almost setting and Sakura had no idea how long she had been in the park.
Her dream had been vivid, and she remembered every single detail. Right down the hazel eyes of this Kyoko that seemed so familiar…
She drove home and sat on her couch, knees drawn up to her chin. Sakura stared at nowhere in particular; she was thinking, thinking about the fake, and how she really looked before the plastic surgery. How she had practically gone unnoticed during her fourth grade year, how she had hazel eyes, how she had this obse—
Wait. Hazel eyes? Could it be? Or was it just coincidence? Whatever it was, she decided to tell Tomoyo.
“Tomoyo, I think know the name of the fake. It’s Kyoko Fujiwara.
“I remembered in a dream.
…
“But it’s our best bet! We have nothing else to work on!
“Alright, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Tell Eriol for me, won’t you? Thanks.”
Sakura put her phone down, and sank to her knees. It was hard, watching Syaoran be with someone else. The thing, though, was that she was getting second thoughts about how well he really knew her. Sakura still loved him, that was a given, but it would take a long time for her to start trusting him again. Tired and worn out, she climbed into bed without a second thought.
“Sakura, are you there? Sakura…Sa-ku-ra! Answer me…I have some very important news…I’m not gonna hang up, Sakura…”
Sakura groaned. She was still in bed, and Tomoyo’s voice coming form the answering machine worked better than any alarm clock she ever had.
She groped around until she found the phone, and then she sat up with it in her hand.
“What, Tomoyo?”
“Oh good! You picked up! Hey, Eriol and I are coming over, is that okay? We have something major to tell you.”
“All right. Just let me sleep afterwards, okay? I do my-”
“Sleeping in on weekends, I know. We won’t take long. Hey, open your front door. We’re already here.”
Sakura groaned again. She mumbled a pointless good bye and stumbled out of bed. She barely had time to make herself decent before Tomoyo’s voice rang through the air.
“Sakura, are you there?”
Sakura grunted incoherently, obviously wanting to go back to sleep. She went to the door and let them in. Eriol was holding a manila envelope in his hands, while Tomoyo carried a bag of bagels and cream cheese.
“I took the liberty of getting you breakfast while we came over, since I knew you would probably be too grumpy to get yourself anything.”
At this, a genuine smile lit up Sakura’s features. All she had been doing lately was mope and mope even more, but she knew that Tomoyo would always stick by her, no matter what.
“Sit, please.” Once they were all seated in her living room, Sakura shook off the last of her sleepiness. “What did you wake up so early for?”
“This.” Eriol handed her the manila envelope he had been carrying. “Open it.”
Confused, Sakura slit open the sealed envelope and took out several sheets of papers. Two things caught her eye. A photo-It was an older version of the girl from her dream, and a name-Kyoko Fujiwara.
“What-” Sakura breathed. What was this? There was an address, phone number, medical history; was this even legal?
“I pulled in some favors when Tomoyo told me the name. I also got Syaoran’s info too, just in case you needed it.”
“I can’t,” Sakura stammered. “It’s just too wrong. It’s like an invasion of privacy. It is an invasion of privacy! I’d be horrified at myself if I found out something that Syaoran didn’t want me to know.” She pushed the envelope away from her.
“Keep them.” Eriol picked up the “classified” info and gently placed it in Sakura’s arms. “Maybe you’ll change your mind one day. Besides, you can still sell it to the paparazzi; he’s still one of Asia’s hottest and richest bachelors. They’ll want all the dirt they can get.”
Sakura smiled half-heartedly, knowing that if she kept her promise, Syaoran would no longer be a bachelor, and very soon. At this point, Tomoyo decided it was time for an intervention.
“There’s this festival coming up. It’s pretty big; almost all of Tomoeda is going.” Seeing Sakura’s reluctant face, she added, “All our old friends will be there too. They’re flying in just for this gathering.”
All traces of gloominess vanished from Sakura’s face at the prospect of seeing her old friends…and teacher, Sakura silently reminded herself. Rika and Terada-sensei would have gotten married by now.
“It’s a costume festival, so can I make your outfit? Please? It’ll be just like the old days!” Tomoyo pleaded, practically jumping up and down in her eagerness.
Sakura giggled slightly.
“Why do you even ask, Tomoyo? You know I’ll do anything if it makes you happy. Unless it’s really ridiculous.”
Tomoyo sat down next to Sakura.
“I want you to be happy too. You’ll always be my best friend no matter what.”
Sakura’s eyes welled up with tears and she threw herself into Tomoyo’s arms sobbing into her shoulders. Eriol, sensing an imminent heart to heart talk, tactfully left the room and locked himself into the bathroom until all the tears stopped flowing.
“Wow! There’s so many people here!” Sakura gazed around her in amazement at all the masked people and stalls selling souvenirs and such.
“Yes, there is. Come on, let’s go find Eriol. I said we’d meet him at the fountain.” Tomoyo gently tugged Sakura’s hand, and they walked towards the fountain, Tomoyo bent on reaching Eriol and Sakura marveling at all the bright lights and colorful costumes.
“Ow!” A person dressed in medieval clothing bumped into Sakura hard, knocking her head with his chin and made her lose her grip on Tomoyo’s hand.
“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
Sakura rubbed her head, and said, “No, it’s fine. You didn’t hit me that hard.” The man apologized once more, and walked away. At this point, Sakura looked around and realized that she had lost Tomoyo.
Where did she say they were meeting? Darn it, I can’t remember! I must have hit my head harder than I thought…
After she failed to reach Tomoyo by phone, Sakura walked around aimlessly, peering into each stall, sighing when she saw the prices. When she finally saw a simple butterfly hairpin that she liked, and the price was reasonable, she reached for it, only to have someone touch it at the same time.
“I’m sorry.” They apologized at the same time, and Sakura flinched as she recognized Syaoran’s voice, although his face was masked.
“N-no, it’s fine. Are you getting it for your…girlfriend?”
“Ah…yes, I am actually. But you can have it, I’ll look for something else.”
He wasn’t this kind-hearted back when we were younger. Love must have changed him…
“No, really. Take it, I insist. I would just buy it and then leave it lying around my house.” This was not true, but if Sakura had to lie to make Syaoran happy, then so be it.
“Well, if you’re sure about it…” Syaoran paid for the trinket, then offered to walk her to where she was going. “It’s the least I can do since you let me have the hairpin.”
Sakura blushed sheepishly. “Actually, I have no idea where I’m going. I was supposed to meet up with my friend, but I have no idea where. I think she said something about a fountain?...”
“Well, there’s only one fountain around here, so let’s go check it out!”
That was another thing about Syaoran. He was more cheerful, more relaxed. He wasn’t the serious Syaoran that Sakura knew, and this knowledge pierced her through her heart.
“By the way, what’s your name? Mine’s Syaoran.”
Her name? She obviously couldn’t give her real name. That might tip Syaoran off if he didn’t chalk it up to coincidence. She threw out the first name that came to mind. “My name is…Sonomi!”
“Nice to meet you, Sonomi.”
They walked on, talking about this and that, mainly about the festival. When they reached the fountain, they turned towards each other.
“Maybe I’ll see you around.” Sakura smiled tentatively.
“Yeah, maybe.” Syaoran looked like he was going to say something else, but before he could, someone called Sakura’s name.
“Sakura! Over here!” Out of reflex, Sakura’s head turned in the general direction of the voice, and saw Tomoyo waving at her.
“Tomoyo?” Sakura’s head snapped back to Syaoran’s face. His face was puzzled, and became even more so when he realized what had happened. He glanced down at Sakura’s face. “I thought you said your name was Sonomi?”
Uh-oh.
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