Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Treasures ❯ A Promise ( Chapter 14 )

Heart's Treasures: Part 14
By: Starlight RoseEmail: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Clamp owns all CCS characters. The Brother's Grimm owns this fairy tale and I own very little other than this story.

A.N. So...it's been a long time, huh? *looks around at angry mobs* I'm really sorry but I had a massive writer's block and just did not feel like writing. Also I've been busy with college, friends, and MMORPGs. I won't say when the next chapter will come out. I'm not even sure if I will continue writing though I will try. So this chapter has no S+S but lots of E+T. I kind of want to get that out of the way since I'm not really good with that relationship. I'm not even sure they are in character here and that was part of my writer's block. Hopefully thing will go more smoothly now and you'll see an update before another two years have passed. Well enjoy. BTW if anyone is going to AWA, I'll be there as Fukushima Kinu from the series Raimuiro Senkitan (yes, i know it's also an H-game). Look for Thao Nguyen on the badge if you wanna say hi.

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“Prince...Prince Eriol! What are you doing here? Should I announce you?” A shocked guard asked the raven-haired prince of the Magicka Kingdom.

“No need. This is only a brief visit. I won't be staying long.” Eriol replied smiling he usual mysteriously knowledgeable smile as he brushed past the guard into the throne room.

“But...but...” The guard tried to stutter to him but Eriol had already opened the throne room doors and slipped in.

The young Florian king, Touya looked up from a document he was perusing with his advisors peering annoyingly over his shoulders to see the tall figure of Prince Eriol walk into the room. He glared at the young man and asked bluntly, “Didn't your governess ever teach you that it is not polite to enter someone else's room without knocking or at least announcing yourself?”

Eriol chuckled, “She did, but I just did not listen very carefully to those lessons on etiquette. Plus this is not your private room, it's the public throne room and throne room etiquette was one part of my early education I made sure to ignore.”

“I am a very busy person Hiiragizawa especially since my father has handed over the throne to me. What did you need to see me for?” Touya growled.

“May I have a private audience with only you and Lord Tsukishiro?” Eriol asked.

Touya nodded at the courtiers and advisors surrounding him and the group gathered up their sheafs of paper and stomped out of the room glaring balefully at Eriol for not allowing them to stay to hear whatever tidbit of information he brought. Of course they all knew that he was reporting about the missing princess, but she was their princess too and they deserved to hear any reports about her as much as anyone else.

“Alright. They are all gone. What do you want Hiiragizawa?” Touya asked staring the other young man straight in the eye. Touya did not trust the boy. He knew that Hiiragazawa loved his sister as much as he did and wanted to find her as much as he did, but there was something about the boy that had always set him on edge. Looking at him, Touya decided it was the smile. It was too easy going and mysterious like a mask rather than a real smile. Touya would have a frown to Hiiragizawa's smile.

Eriol's smile dropped slightly as he stared right back at Touya, “I have just returned from Solaria.”

“And?” Touya prompted when the Magickan Prince seemed disinclined to continue.

“And the first few days I was there, my search turned up fruitless.”

Touya sighed, “So not in Solaria either then. Where could Sakura be?!?”

“Don't jump to conclusions yet, To-ya.” Yukito told his friend. “Prince Hiiragizawa had to have had a reason for telling us to dismiss everyone.”

“You mean other than to just annoy them?” Eriol asked with a smirk. “Actually I do.”

Touya could not help smiling at that since there were times he wished he could do things just to annoy his courtiers and advisors. He raised an eyebrow and asked bluntly, “Well? Are you planning on telling us anytime this century? I said before, I am a busy man.”

“I just got back from Solaria.” Eriol stated calmly.

“And?”

“There was no news initially even though I searched most of the countryside and the cities. Solaria's a big kingdom. Probably as big as Flora and Fauna combined so it took me and my men a while to search it. I was returning to the capital city to pay my respects to the king and queen of Solaria since they get really stuck on the proprieties there and would have been dreadfully offended had I not, when I ran into a courtier I had not met yet.

I decided to talk to the lady to find out about the political situation in Solaria to see if they might be receptive to an alliance. Apparently they were not since they had just had a delegation return from Fauna where they had tried to form an alliance with that kingdom and I assume that the Faunian King and King's Mother had refused their terms for an alliance and rightly so I might add. No reasonable self-respecting kingdom would agree to terms such as the Solarians propose.

The lady I talked to had been a part of that delegation though she had not been involved in the alliance negotiations, but she had attended a ball there.”

“Hiiragizawa...” Touya growled, “While your information about the Solarians is quite interesting I thought you meant to tell me about your news of the search for my baby sister! So either tell me that you found some information or leave me to my work and tell me this stuff at a later time.”

“I was getting there.” Eriol complained throwing Touya an offended look. “As I said, the lady had attended the Summer Solstice festivities in Fuana along with the rest of the Solarian delegates. Like here in Flora the Summer Solstice ball in Fuana is a masquerade ball. It was towards the middle of the ball when everyone had already arrived when a mysterious young lady appeared in the doorway. The lady I spoke too was very reluctant to admit that the mysterious arrival was extremely beautiful from what she could see of her and had made quite an entrance since even the Fuanan King who is reported to think most females are insipid and shallow approached her and asked her to dance.”

“What are you getting at? Who was the girl?” Touya asked his eyes narrowing as he finally caught the point of Hiiragizawa's story.

“No one knows. She danced one dance with the king then fled the ballroom and no one could find a trace of her. There were rumors that she might be some ghost going about but that is fairly ridiculous. The description I got of her from the lady and various other people I decided to talk to after I heard the story said she had long silky auburn hair and green eyes. She was wearing a silvery dress that glowed with the soft ethereal light of the moon. It was dark midnight blue with silver moons embroidered all over it and the cloth it was made from added to its glow.” Eriol said looking intently at Touya waiting for him to draw his conclusions.

“Sakura...it has to be Sakura with a description like that. There are so few people with green eyes and that dress she was wearing. It must be one of the ones Tomoyo gave her on her birthday.”

Eriol nodded, “I thought so too, but now there is still the problem of where is she and how is she remaining hidden. If the mysterious stranger was Sakura then she is either in Fauna or Solaria though I am leaning towards Fauna. Solaria is rather far away and I find it hard to believe Sakura managed to get all the way there without being discovered.”

“I agree though I'll send some of my people to check around Solaria as well. I will make a personal visit to Fauna to search for Sakura myself.” Touya stated standing up, preparing to issue orders that would allow him to go search for his beloved baby sister.

“With all due respect your majesty, that is not a good idea.” Eriol told him.

Touya glared at the young prince, “Why ever not, your highness?”

“Your men do not have permission from the Solarians to conduct a search within that kingdom's borders and you and I both know how difficult the Solarians can be and how easy they are to take offense. Getting the permission needed to search within their borders will take a few months. Months which I think you would rather not wait. My men do however have the resources and capacity to search within Solaria and if there is any information on Sakura in Solaria they will find it. I have already dispatched some of my best information gatherers to Solaria.”

“Prince Hiiragizawa has a point To-ya.” Yukito interjected to any of his friend's objections.

“What about the search in Fauna?” Touya asked finally sitting back down on his throne.

“Even more ” Eriol replied promptly. “The young Faunian King is turning seventeen and there will be a big celebration in his honor. You would just be wasting your time trying to dig up information on Sakura during the preparation and festivities especially within the castle itself. I have already search Fauna but apparently not nearly carefully enough. This time I will check everything that I am allowed to check. Though of course the line is drawn at the royal family's private quarters.”

“Why can I not go search for my baby sister myself?” Touya asked.

“Our kingdom and the Faunians have never been on good terms with one another. Although we were never at war or hostile with one another no friendship or alliance has ever been promoted.” Yukito answered.

“Though promoting an alliance between the two kingdoms might be advisable. Although my kingdom is not formally allied with the Faunians our kingdoms have always been on a bit friendlier terms thanks in part to having shared bloodlines.”

“Other than making searching for Sakura easier what would an alliance achieve?”

Eriol smiled sadly, “Having allies is always useful, but I have had some disturbing reports from my spies that the Draconians and the Noctrus Kingdoms are contemplating an alliance. If those two kingdoms unite our kingdoms stand no chance of winning against them without another kingdom's help and I believe the Faunians are the ideal candidates. The Solarians are protected by their geography and a very strong army as well as navy. They apparently have no wish to form any equal alliances.”

“Do you have spies in every kingdom?” Touya asked exasperated.

“Only in the ones I don't trust.”

“I’ll refrain from asking if you have spies here.”

“Very wise, your majesty. Now if you will excuse me I have a young lady waiting to hear my news on her best friend.” Eriol said before bowing and leaving the room.

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Touya sighed as the Magickan prince left the room. "I wish they were all still those mischief makers that followed us around. Why do they have to grow up Yukito? Things were so much simpler back then."

"You're talking like an old man To-ya." Yukito replied looking at him worriedly.

"I feel like an old man. You notice it too don't you?"

"Yes..."

"Does it worry you? Hiiragazawa and Sakura are basically officially engaged as soon as Sakura is found."

"Things will work themselves out somehow. Tomoyo is like a sister to me too, I would not see her hurt, and for all his eccentricities Prince Eriol has a good heart."

"A good heart that seems to be falling for Tomoyo and while I can't say it wouldn't be a good match, there is still the engagement. I want my little sister back, but I worry about those two."

"We'll find Sakura and things will work themselves out. Tomoyo deserves to be loved and Sakura deserves a husband that will love her most."

"I hope you're right Yuki."

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Eriol walked into the Florain gardens in search of a certain lavender haired lady. The gardens had miraculously survived most of the depredations of the war and were now in full summer bloom. Roses proliferated throughout the gardens splashing the landscape with a myriad of colors. The gardens were a beautiful sight indeed.

He found her sitting below the shade of an apple tree overlooking a particularly pretty patch of flowers. Walking up to her he noticed her eyes were closed peacefully in repose. Eriol's breath caught in his throat as he looked at her perfect features. Trying not to wake her he sat down next to her and watched her sleeping face. A strong desire to touch her pale skin overwhelmed him and he reached out a hand gently caressing her cheek and traced his fingers to her tempting lips surprised she hadn't woken up yet.

Sighing softly, he removed his hand from her face and placed them on her shoulders shaking her gently awake. He hated waking her up and disturbing the brief time he had to just watch her, but he knew she would want to hear the news directly from him and his time in Flora was short. "Tomoyo..." he called out softly. No title, just Tomoyo, his Tomoyo.

Tomoyo felt someone shaking her gently and calling her name in a gentle affectionate tone. Opening her eyes she met midnight blue orbs overflowing with emotions she wasn't sure she could handle. "Eriol..." she instinctively whispered. The color in his eyes darkened in response to her calling him by his name. Not able to look into his eyes and see all those feeling he was directing at her any longer, Tomoyo turned away. "Prince Eriol," this time said more clearly as if reestablishing their relationship, "What are you doing here?"

Eriol drew away from the girl a bit and barely managed to keep himself from wincing at her formal tone. His face became a smiling mask once more. "I came to tell you I have news of Sakura or we think it's Sakura."

"You know where she is? Please tell me!" Tomoyo replied turning quickly back around to face Eriol and colliding into his chest in the process.

Eriol's arms automatically went up around her to keep her from rebounding off him. But instead of releasing her he tightened his hold on her instead. "We need to talk about something else first, Tomoyo." Eriol stated firmly.

"But..." Tomoyo tried to say but was silenced as Eriol quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I promise I will tell you the news but we need to talk first. You know I care about you...a lot actually. I'm rather surprised by how much I like you and I think you feel the same way so don't you think it's about time we stop this farce?"

"It's not so simple Prince Eriol and you know it. You're engaged to Sakura."

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that. King Fujitaka has released me from the engagement if I wish. He wants the both of us to be happy. He loves you like a daughter Tomoyo. I told him I would consider it but to not cancel the engagement yet."

"Why?"

"If the engagement is canceled it will appear as if we have given up on finding Sakura. I told him to wait a year. I promise you that I WILL find Sakura, no matter what it takes, even if I have to turn all of the six kingdoms inside-out, I will bring Sakura back to you."

"Thank you." Tomoyo uttered stunned by his ferocity.

"I ask you to promise me something in return. Either after Sakura is found or after the year I asked King Fujitaka to wait, whichever comes first we will discuss these feelings. No more pretending and hiding. Also stop calling me Prince Eriol. Sakura always called me Eriol, and you can do the same. I'm not going to stop calling you Tomoyo anymore."

Tomoyo took a deep breath trying to clear her head. The feel of his solid chest against her and his warm arms around her was not making thinking easier. She knew that she was falling for the enigmatic prince over the past few months and tried to stop herself but couldn't. But so much more was involved in all this than just her feelings. "What about the alliance?" She finally asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong you are part of the royal family so should we get married and that is what I am hoping will come of our discussion, then the terms would be fulfilled. Besides our countries' alliance is a very strong one based on mutual trust and friendship. This is just a formality. No one will stand in-between a love-match and any that dare will deal with me and I can be very persuasive." Eriol responded dangerously.

Sighing in defeat Tomoyo nodded her head. "I agree. You can let go of me now I won't run."

"But I enjoy holding you." Eriol responded innocently.

"Prince Eriol! Let me go!" Tomoyo commanded regally.

"See you already have that air of command that a future queen needs."

"Eriol..." Tomoyo said sweetly her hands moving up his chest. She lifted her face at him smiling seductively, "Aren't you going to kiss me to seal our deal?"

"Gladly." the prince murmured lowering his face to hers a bit suspicious of her suddenly sweet tone, but ignoring it for a chance to kiss her. As his lips were about to contact hers he suddenly felt the violet-eyed girl pull coil in his arms and her hands gave a hard shove to his chest knocking him backwards and tumbling in surprise.

Dusting herself up Tomoyo stood up and smiled sweetly at him. "Are you okay Prince Eriol?"

"You're doing that just to annoy me aren't you?"

"Doing what?"

"Calling me Prince Eriol."

"It's only proper. Why would I ever want to annoy you? Now are you going to tell me about Sakura?"

"You're not as sweet as you look. How about a trade? I tell you about Sakura if you give me that kiss that you were asking for."

"I'll go ask Touya." Tomoyo replied ready to storm off though she was trying hard to suppress a smile.

"How mean." Eriol complained standing up. "Fine I'll tell you about Sakura now. Just don't leave. I only have this afternoon in Flora and I'd rather spend it with you here than in the throne room with King Touya glaring at me."

Tomoyo turned back around to face him smiling brightly at her victory. She held her hand out to him as a peace offering. Eriol took her hand and pulled her to him. With an evil smile his head swooped down and kissed her softly before pulling back.

The gardens were really lovely that afternoon.

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So that's my pitiful attempt at E+T. I'll be going back to familiar ground with Sakura and Syaoran in the next chapter. Please leave your comments b/c if not for them this project would be completely abandoned.