Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Leave a Third Chance ❯ Chapter 2: Syaoran's Story ( Chapter 2 )

Don't Leave a Third Chance

A/N: YO! I'm back and better than ever! This fanfic will probably progress VERY slowly (being a high school student is stressful, so SHUT UP!) I would like to make a few errors notable and corrected during the last fic:

Syaoran works for Little Wolf, not Enma Inc.

I might not make this a Yukito/Tomoyo pairing until very late into the story…or maybe not at all. I'm not against yaoi, so it might be a Touya+Yukito.

So, now it's 5 years later…and reminders: even though Sakura is married to Yukito, IT IS GOING TO BE AN S+S! I love that pairing too much.

Disclaimer: Do I LOOK like 4 talented female artists that rule the Japanese Anime world? I DON"T THINK SO?! Wait... WHO SAID YES??!! Wow... I'm honored, but SCREW YOU! YOU JUST WANT TO SUE ME DON"T YOU?! Well TOO BAD! CAUSE I DON"T OWN NOTHIN'! MWAHAHAHAHHA!

Chapter 2: Syaoran's Story

Everything was neat and organized now. If one of his friends entered his flat, they wouldn't be able to tell that he lived there. The kitchen was sparkling clean, the living room/dining room organized and almost Spartan, but elegantly furnished. The bedrooms had neatly made beds and closets with clothes actually hanging on the hangers and in the wardrobes. There seemed to be no sign of the mess that was there only a year before. Just as there was no signs of the way Syaoran used to be... except for a newspaper dated about 5 years back to the wedding of Sakura and Yukito, soiled and still stinking of cheap wine and hidden under a pile of neatly stacked business papers.

Syaoran had slipped into a world that was vague and dark to him. It comforted him, and dulled his pain. It didn't matter if he was doing badly at work. It didn't matter if he had lost so much weight he looked anorexic. It didn't matter that his boss was yelling about him, threatening to fire him from the company. It hurt to much to care. Why should he bother with living? The only thing that mattered in his life was already someone else's.

His apartment quickly became a pigpen. Papers were all over the floor dating back 2, 3, even 4 years. Clothes that stank of alcohol, vomit, and sweat were flung about, and bottles, both broken and whole, filled the trash buckets and overflowed. He didn't care. His life was falling apart, and a big mess just like his home was. It made sense to him not to clean up after himself. Why should he? It doesn't matter.

His family tried to get him help. His friends tried to get him help. Nothing worked. Then came the startling blow that would sink him into deep depression.

*Flashback*

He finished off his... 12th?... no 13th bottle of beer before staggering to his dining table with beer bottle still in hand. He sat himself down heavily and began thumbing through mail.

"Taxes, bills, bills, another bill... " He threw the letters against the wall, cursing in a mixture of Cantonese and Japanese. Then an envelop edged with a gold border caught his eye. He stumbled over and too the envelop and looked at the sender:

Yukito & Sakura Tsukishiro.

He felt like vomiting. Seeing Sakura's married last name brought back the waves of sharp pain that he had felt from the wedding. It was numbed somewhat by his consumption of alcohol, nevertheless, it still hurt. He debated with himself on whether to rip the envelop into pieces because of the pain it had already caused him, or if he should open it and read the contents. After all, it was from Sakura, and even thought it had her husband's (Syaoran grimaced at the thought of the word) name on it. It might even be a secvret letter from her telling him about how unhappy her marriage was and how she knew now that he was her true love. He let out a short bark of a laugh at this whimsical thought. Still, it was this thought however that nudged him to make the decision to read what was inside the pretty white envelope. He tore the letter open at the side, and took out a beautifully designed card. The first thing his eyes drew to was the large, fold name done in calligraphy:

Kazumi Tsukishiro.

His eyes went from the name to, almost fatefully, the words "Naming Ceremony." Then, he laughed.

His laugher was loud and raucous and painful to hear. He couldn't stop laughing at the irony of it all. The beer bottle that he had in his hand dropped to the floor, smashing into shards, some that flew and scratched his leg with their jagged edges. He gasped at the pain, and then laughed again, that same angry, almost mad laugh. Everything then went black. He collapsed onto the floor, his head rolling over to the side, the card that he had no longer held flitting to the floor. Syaoran had failed to notice that also on the card was Sakura's familiar handwriting, scribbling a question that needed to be answered. Would he be the godfather of Kazumi? Was Syaoran going to be the godfather of a child that should have been his and Sakura's firstborn son?

*forward, but still part of the flashback*

Large, green, baby eyes peered at the adults cooing and squealing over his crib. Kazumi was very curious with the adults who were holding their fingers in front of his face to be held onto. He smiles and giggled when they tickled his belly and pinched his cheek. But then the kind hearted people went away…

They were replaced by a sullen looking man with a tired, stern face. His brown hair was slightly messy, and his amber-brown eyes pierced into Kazumi's own. Kazumi giggled and cooed and reached his chubby little hands out to the new stranger. For a moment, those amber brown eyes softened and saddened, almost looking regretful. Then, he turned and swept away. Not used to the cold treatment, Kazumi burst into wailing sobs.

Sakura, hearing her baby cry pitifully, turned from the current people wishing her the best and praising her baby, and went over to comfort her child. Upon being in his mother's warm embrace, Kazumi stopped crying, cooed, and gurgled. His mind had already forgotten the mean man with the brown hair, but his subconscious unknowingly tucked away the image of those sad amber eyes.

Why did I even bother to come? Syaoran asked himself as he leaned against the wall of the room, looking at Sakura holding Kazumi. He was thin, and his hair slightly messy, but he was well dressed in a dress shirt and khakis. His appearance was well groomed despite the fact that his hair refused to be combed into neatness. Being a mother had softened Sakura's looks somehow, making her look more maturely beautiful, instead of the vivacious prettiness that she had even to her wedding day. She was still as beautiful as ever, and had the radiance of a new mother. And she still made Syaoran's heart beat at a fast and painful rate. He stared at her with a pained longing expression on his face that no one but a certain mauve-haired woman noticed.

Syaoran scowled slightly when a lavender cashmere sweater blocked his view of Sakura, but that went by swiftly as he heard the sweet, melodic voice of an old time friend said, "So, Li-kun, you came too."

Tomoyo had spotted Syaoran from across the room watching Sakura. She knew that, from the look on his face, his heart was shattering into pieces just by watching Kazumi and Sakura, because her heart was shattering too. Tomoyo had always loved Sakura, more than a best friend should. And she found out just how much she loved her and reproached her for marrying someone else at a fateful meeting at the mall, when Sakura and Yukito were shopping for baby things and maternity clothes at the mall. Sakura looked so radiantly happy, and Tomoyo wanted to feel happy for her too, but a hidden part of her was wrenching, pounding pain into her heart, her soul. She felt ashamed and so remorseful, it took all of her self control not to scream. It was after that that she started burying herself into her work: her mother's toy/technology company, her own designer company, her little movie studio, her singing, anything to stop thinking about Sakura, about her pain, about her guilt. She lost weight, had bags under her eyes, and was now so bony she looked frailer than ever. When she saw Syaoran and how he looked, she knew that she had found a soul mate, a companion to share her feelings with, because she knew that Syaoran had, in a different way, been through what she had. This was just as well, seeing as he was the godfather, and she was the godmother, of the child of the woman that they both love.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Tomoyo said softly as she leaned against the wall besides Syaoran. She smoothed her indigo skirt and looked at Sakura, then Syaoran. Syaoran turned from his observation of Sakura to Tomoyo.

"You look very sad, Daidouji-san. And you lost weight. Are you okay? Has something been bothering you?" Syaoran said with the concern that he had had ever since he was a child.

"I know I look sad, Li-kun. I know I look gaunt, pained, unhappy, remorseful, and all those things. I know you can tell too, and I thank you for your concern. Memorize the look on my face, Li-kun, and here." Tomoyo swiftly took out her compact mirror and placed it directly in front of Syaoran.

Syaoran looked, and saw his own face... except that it wasn't his face. It was Tomoyo's... or at least had every bit of the same expression on his face as Tomoyo had on hers just a few seconds ago. And he knew. He knew that she knew his pain, and that she was suffering as well. His eyes locked with Tomoyo's amethyst gaze...

He remembered little of the naming ceremony or the blessing that he gave to Kazumi, which was brief and somehow brittle. He remembered little anything on that day except for the notice under the knocker of his flat that he was to be evicted from his apartment for not paying 4 months of rent. And then he remembered going over to the Daidouji mansion and getting drunk with Tomoyo while pouring out all his feelings and listening her do the same thing, and finding that, in his haze of drunkenness, their versions sound very similar to each other. He also remembered the next morning when he woke up naked besides a sleeping Tomoyo in her room...

*flashforward to the present*

That had been 4 years ago. Syaoran moved into the Daidouji Mansion with Sonomi's approval. Tomoyo managed to pull a few strings to let Syaoran's boss have him take a month's vacation time. They spent that month's time relaxing and just being together in Hawaii, exploring their feelings for Sakura, for both of them knew that their one night stand and the vacation was for themselves and their love for Sakura rather than love for each other. Neither of them felt that they were being taken advantage of, for they knew that they were dependent on each other in this time of need. Tomoyo discovered Syaoran's alcoholic problem, and Syaoran discovered Tomoyo's obsessive compulsive disorder, and both got each other help. Slowly, things improved. Syaoran got back on track and was soon doing as well at work as he had been before Sakura got married, maybe even better. Tomoyo wasn't overly obsessive about her businesses, and learned how to relax by signing up for a yoga class. They never fully stopped loving Sakura, but their bond with each other, even though not love, has helped them get over Sakura. Syaoran eventually got his flat back, and Tomoyo, deciding that she had to go out on her own, but was a little afraid of being by herself, and so she decided to move in with Syaoran this month, after talking to her mother first.

Syaoran stepped out of the elevator and walked down the corridor leading to his apartment. He turned the corner to see a woman with shoulder length auburn hair carrying a small boy on one hip and holding another toddler by the hand. His breath caught in his throat and his heart started to race up. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as he walked to that woman who was in front of his apartment.

Startled, red rimmed, green eyes met scared amber ones, as Syaoran met with the woman whom he had tried to forget for the last 5 years.