My Husband's Wedding- Chapter Nine

My Husband’s Wedding

Witch-Mistress-Animaru

Last Chapter’s Cliffhanger:

“The divorce papers are prepared. I’ll send them over, and no one need know about it. All they’ll need is your signature, and then it’s over between us. Legally.”

“We’ll see.”

“Goodbye, then.” He said, refusing to answer back.

She opened the door of the office, but he pulled her out.

“You’ll say goodbye to us properly.” He said, and quickly dropped her hand as Keira came to view. She and the staff all looked normal, so they must not have heard their ‘little scene’ back in her office.

“Syaoran-kun!” Keira greeted him as if it’s been ages since they last saw each other. She ran towards Syaoran and kissed the lips that violated her body’s ‘privacy’ just minutes ago. She felt guilty once more, and quickly looked away, not noticing that Syaoran tilted his head so that Keira’s lips touched his cheek instead. Keira looked displeased. She was about to note Syaoran’s behavior, when, for the second time that day, the door opened.

“Konichiwa, everyone!” A joyful and familiar voice floated from the door.

Sakura turned pale. It was Kioko, and beside her was…

To be continued…

9: And Nothing Remains

Sakura’s eyes widened and she suddenly felt faint as Kioko walked inside the shop, holding a harassed-looking Xiao Chen in one hand, and his little bag in the other.

Kioko, however, seemed oblivious of the shock in Sakura’s face.

“Sakura-chan, you forgot to give me the key to your place! I decided to bring him here, instead, or maybe you can give me your key so he can get some sleep at home?” Xiao Chen broke away from Kioko and ran to his mother.

“Mom! I missed you so much!” She felt herself slide down as she hugged her son. She was barely aware that she was shaking so hard.

“I-I missed you, too, Xiao Chen…” And before she could stop herself, the tears started to fall, and she broke into uncontrollable sobs.

Kioko stared at her quizzically. “Sakura, what…” And then she started to notice Syaoran who stood frozen in a corner. Her eyes widened, realization dawning in her face. She dropped the bag beside her and for a moment stood frozen there, too.

“Ohmigod, Sakura!” She exclaimed afterward, clapping her right hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry!” She stared apologetically at Sakura before glancing back at Syaoran who has managed to walk to them. Xiao Chen, noticing him for the first time, broke away from Sakura despite her silent protests.

“No, Xiao Chen!” She whispered threateningly, but to no avail. Xiao Chen has approached Syaoran, and stopped in front of him. Sakura’s employees stared curiously, some with dawning comprehension in their faces. But nobody seemed to be bothered by that, except for Keira who looked very much shocked.

“What—who is he, S-Sakura?” Keira asked faintly. Nobody bothered to turn around, or to answer her question. She stared at the boy and man who were facing each other, and choked a sob.

Amber eyes met hazel ones.

For a moment that seemed like an eternity, the two just stared at each other.

“Are you my father, sir?” Xiao Chen asked politely, breaking the silence and the mounting tension in the air. His eyes continued to stare curiously at Syaoran’s face.

Sakura’s staff gasped at this. Of course, what they see cannot be denied; Xiao Chen is the very image of his father, except for his eyes. Keira was sobbing, though there are no tears falling from her eyes. Nobody paid attention to her muffled cries.

Syaoran, who seemed to have recovered from shock, dropped on his knees and held the boy’s face softly. He, too, began shaking uncontrollably, and his eyes began to water, but he just continued to stare at what seemed to be a miniature version of his self.

“W-What is your name?” He asked in a quivering voice, as tears began to spill from his eyes.

Then, in a loud whisper, the youngest of Sakura’s workers, Zahira, said, “Of course! Xiao Chen’s full name is Li Xiao Chen! And I always wondered if Sakura-sama adopted—” She didn’t manage to finish as Kioko elbowed her in the ribs.

“Shut up!”

“Ouch, that hurt, Kioko-san!” She said, but stopped whispering altogether.

Xiao Chen’s tears had started to fall, too, but he answered Syaoran’s question.

“Xiao Chen, sir,” He said in a strong voice. “Li Xiao Chen.” He had dropped the bomb.

At this point, Keira seemed to have recovered completely from shock, and stopped the fake sobbing altogether.

“Li? What do you mean, boy?” She asked Xiao Chen hysterically, but actually staring at no one in particular. “Is this your idea of a joke, Sakura? Is it some kind of a mean joke?” Then, before anyone knew what she was about to do, she approached Xiao Chen and grabbed the scruff in his neck. She began shaking him hard. “Well? Answer me, boy!”

Sakura’s eyes flashed at this, and she saw red.

“Will you stop manhandling my son, Keira?” She shouted angrily, and Keira seemed to cower from the anger in her voice. She backed away, and Sakura took the opportunity to whisk her stunned son from the crazed Keira.

“Son?” Keira said in a bare whisper, looking very much scandalized. “What, you have a son, Sakura? So I was right, after all!” She added dramatically, and quite triumphantly. “This is your ironclad reason for not returning to our home in Tomoeda!”

“You’re wrong, Keira,” She said in a tight-lipped manner, refusing to reveal anything else. She had stopped crying, but her eyes were beginning to burn again.

“Ha! And you even have the nerve to give him Syaoran’s surname! Li, huh? Why, you ambitious little sneak!” Keira ranted on, and for that moment, Sakura saw once more the real Keira, the Keira that she abhorred with such passion. The spiteful, envious and black-hearted bitch who always detested her. Keira’s face didn’t look pretty at all; on the contrary, the way her face was contorted made her look ugly…monstrous. “Is that what you’ve been feeding this little boy? That Syaoran is his father? Why, this has to be the biggest lie you made yet! You intend to destroy my life to the end, don’t you, Sakura?”

Sakura refused to retort bitterly, though she was tempted to do so. All she said was, “Shut up, Keira.” Venom laced her voice, though it was a bare whisper. She stared at her terrified son, whose face looked puzzled, and tears streaming down his face. She hugged Xiao Chen tightly, soothing him, telling him it’ll be alright.

“Well, boy, tell the truth!” Keira said harshly, her cold black eyes stared at Xiao Chen with such anger, as if she wanted nothing else but wring his neck and kill him. Xiao Chen shuddered, and Sakura, who let go of him lightly, placed a protective arm in front of him. She stared at Keira, her eyes daring the latter to come any closer. Keira did not, but she continued to speak vehemently. “What has your liar mother been telling you?”

At these words, Xiao Chen’s eyes flashed in anger. The fury in his face resembled Syaoran’s face so much when he is angry, that Keira looked taken aback, and backed a step away from the boy and Sakura, as if he might hurt her.

Xiao Chen broke away from his mother, ignoring the warning look in her eyes, and proceeded to his tiny knapsack beside Kioko, who was carrying it earlier. He began rummaging through it, as if looking for something. His face lightened up after a while, and he took what seemed to be a thick piece of savaged paper. Then he went to face Keira.

“Mom is not a liar, Miss-Whoever-You-Are!” He said angrily, and even in his small voice, the words kinda sound impressive. “She didn’t tell me who my Father was! But I found out for myself, because I saw this!” He said and pointed at the piece of paper in his hands. Sakura paled when she saw what it was. Xiao Chen held a picture.

“Xiao Chen, where did you get that?” She asked, although she already knew the answer.

It was her only other picture of Syaoran besides the one she saw Xiao Chen hugging just a month or so ago. But he is not alone in the photo; Sakura was with him, and they both looked happy in it. It was taken in a photo shop, immediately after they wedded. She was not dressed properly in their quick secret wedding, but the shop luckily had a white gown and a wedding veil kept in their stash; and just for fun, she wore them, while Syaoran remained in his business suit. Then he carried her bridal style. She laughed at the last moment before the camera flashed, because she knew they looked silly. It was a perfect portrait of their happiness; but it was viciously ripped to pieces, and there was a small detail, the top-right corner of the picture that was missing. It was roughly held together by Scotch Tape, obviously done by Xiao Chen.

Syaoran went forward and snatched the picture out of Xiao Chen’s hands; he stared at it for a while before returning it to the boy, looking livid. If it was because Xiao Chen brought the photo or because of the picture’s pathetic state, Sakura didn’t know; she just assumed the former reason. He must be thinking she intentionally did this to destroy his relationship with Keira. (A/N: Here we go again, the bad exercise: Jumping to conclusions) She wanted to deny that, but he was not even looking at her; before she could speak up, however, Xiao Chen started talking again.

“I found it in your drawer, Mom…I taped it back, but I didn’t do well…There was a lost piece, and I couldn’t find it...” He explained guiltily, not looking at her at all.

Everyone turned questioning eyes on her. Some looked on the picture in Xiao Chen’s hands, and then turned their eyes back to her. She couldn’t look at any of them.

Nobody in the shop knew about her life in Tomoeda before she appeared in Okinawa six years ago. She tried so hard to protect her new world from her past, but she could feel the walls she built around herself and Xiao Chen crash before her very eyes.

Keira snatched the picture from Xiao Chen with shaking hands, and let out a frustrated groan. She dropped the photograph before backing away, shocked, from Sakura and the rest. Then she broke to a run towards the door and outside the shop, now a real sob coming from her. Sakura could not raise her head. She remained in a bow, feeling her heart thudding madly.

She didn’t expect this. She hadn’t expected this. It’s utterly impossible!

Obviously not, a voice said from the back of her racing mind, it’s already happening, isn’t it?

“What does this mean, Sakura?” Syaoran spoke softly, and Sakura unwillingly looked up to meet his eyes. His voice was of false calm; his eyes that glittered dangerously gave him away, telling Sakura a different story.

Syaoran isn’t mad, no, he is furious. She knows him too well not to recognize that look in his face. His habits haven’t changed a bit; he’s still the old temperamental Syaoran she left six years ago. And for the first time, she felt fear…fear of Syaoran, and what he could do.

She bowed her head again, refusing to meet his eyes; she feared what she saw in them. Her fingers clutched Xiao Chen tightly in the shoulders, although she did not notice it.

When Sakura still refused to answer him, Syaoran seemed to lose all control he had. Fury broke from his burning amber eyes, and when he spoke, his voice was quivering with anger and emotions Sakura can’t…or refused... to recognize.

“Answer me, damn it!” He shouted, forgetting where they were. “We have a son and you didn’t even tell me? You refused to let me know about him, when you could have…But no! You kept him from me for — what? — five, six years? How could you?” His tears began to fall at this, while everyone gasped.

For a moment, Sakura cowered, biting her lower lip and refusing to answer back, but she, too, lost all control as memories of Syaoran rushed back at her. Her head straightened up, and her eyes were burning green fire.

“Will you shut up? Don’t shout at me!” She shouted, seeing only Syaoran and no one else with her burning emerald eyes. “Y-you have no right to do this…no right to reprimand me like this!” Her tears started falling again, and her voice was filled with so much pain, that for a moment, Syaoran’s face softened. “N-not after we went on our separate lives, not after what you did!”

Syaoran wasn’t angry anymore; his face looked soft, and he stared Sakura with pained eyes. It seems that the sight of Sakura in tears caused him to recover his sanity. But it isn’t just the tears; it was what Sakura last said that caused him to calm down.

“What do you mean, ‘not after what I did,’ Sakura? Why did you leave me that day? Why didn’t you tell me about your pregnancy?” He asked softly, wanting to cross the distance between them, to comfort Sakura and tell her to start over again, with him, with their son. He wanted to tell her how much he wanted to be with her again; but instead, he stood his ground, even though it was killing him.

At this, Sakura snorted, as if what he said was incredulous.

“What, Syaoran? Trying to redeem your self? I guess it’s too late, Syaoran…too late, for it’s all over and done for…all over and done for…” She said weakly, and she dropped on the floor, nearly hysterical.

Once more, he wanted to embrace her, to imprison her in his arms, to take away her pains…But he knows just how proud Sakura is. He contented himself with a sigh.

“No, you’re wrong, Sakura…This isn’t over yet. When you are ready and okay, we’ll talk again. We owe each other an explanation.” He said softly as Sakura’s muffled sobs pierced the silence. “And you’ll tell me just what you mean by what you said.”

“No! Why don’t you just go away and leave us alone? You’re going to have a new family…And I won’t allow you to take Xiao Chen away! Never…never!” She said viciously, and he only looked at her with eyes that pierced her very soul.

“You really think I’d do that?” He looked hurt and as if he wanted to say something else, then he stopped on his tracks. His face became passive, and then he walked up to Xiao Chen, who was cowering in a corner, crying silently from shock. Syaoran’s face filled with compassion, and love.

“H-hey, son…” He said, and wanted to kick his self for stuttering. His eyes burned with unshed tears. “I-I’m sorry we met this way…and only now, after so long…I-I…I d-didn’t k-know...” His voice broke, and once more that fateful day, Li Syaoran cried like he never did before.

“We’ll talk some other time, huh? I…I m-might come over your house… Would you like to meet your grandparents? They’d love to meet you…T-They’d love you, son…” He said after a few moments. Then he hugged Xiao Chen who flung his self to his father’s arms. They stayed like that for a few moments, and then broke apart. Then he ruffled Xiao Chen’s already unruly chestnut brown hair lovingly.

“Goodbye for now, Xiao Chen, and I’m sorry...” He said then turned to Sakura. “We’ll talk again and settle this for once and for all…” He told Sakura as he turned to the door.

“…My wife.” He added softly, and walked out of the place.

Syaoran’s last words rang like the soft sound of the wind chimes as he left.

Sakura felt so weak…so weak…

She gathered her son who was looking wistfully at the door in her arms and hugged him lightly.

“Sakura?” Kioko said silently after a while, almost cautiously. “Listen, I-I didn’t know…I’m sorry, God knows…”

“It is okay, Kioko-chan,” She said with a sigh, “I knew this could happen…And it really will happen one way or another, I just didn’t know when…”

“I don’t know, but one thing’s certain: I won’t give Xiao Chen to him. Never.”

“What he said, was it true? Are you really his—?”

“Wife,” Sakura finished for her, “Yes, I married Li Syaoran when I was 19, a fresh graduate of Tokyo University. And Xiao Chen was born when I was 20, when I moved here.”

“How long did the marriage last? I mean…”

“It’s okay; I know you want to know. It lasted three months; I was a month pregnant when I left him, and he didn’t know it. But if you’re asking legally, he’s still my…husband…”

“But what about your stepsister, Keira?” Kioko asked, looking completely bewildered.

“He came here today to ask for a divorce. Then this happened…” She said without any bitterness at all. She felt numb again. But she’s certain that when she sees him again, the wounds that never really healed would feel painful again. “And I honestly, honestly don’t know what will happen…”

“But nobody knows of Li Syaoran’s marriage! It should have been big news, what with a celebrity like him!” Zahira said loudly, not being able to contain her curiosity anymore.

“Yes,” She said with a small, sarcastic laugh. “Only, it was in secret…Besides, I stopped using his surname when I left. For all I knew when we separated, it was officially over between us…”

“Can you tell us what really happened?” Kioko said, and the rest of the staff nodded in agreement.

She stared at the wall opposite her, not really seeing it. She has not even heard of Kioko’s last remark, for she was lost…

She was lost in memories, and her eyes grew misty as her past, her past with Syaoran, began to flow freely from her subconscious…Like a river that flowed forever…

And before anyone can do anything, before anyone can catch her, Sakura fell to the floor, unconscious. She was stressed more than anything…

…And lost in her dreams…dreams that involve her mysterious past with Li Syaoran.