Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Treasures ❯ Solstice Ball: Banquet ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Heart's Treasures: Part 11
By: Starlight Rose
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com

A.N. Feel free to throw fits of hysterical disbelief since I don't quite believe it myself. This is indeed a new chapter to my story. I'm sorry things are coming out so slow, but I am really trying, but I am very busy usually and I don't always have the inclination to write. I will admit though reviews do help because they tell me people do enjoy the story and I should continue rather than give up on the story altogether. This chapter will finally end the Solstice Ball. The story is far from over though. There is still two more balls left. S please enjoy this chapter and review. Again sorry for any mistakes in the story, but I'm not perfect and I have no grammar and spellcheck either. Wordpad sucks.
Disclaimer: The original tale of Thousand Furs belongs to the Brother's Grimm (well sort of, but
I'm not getting into the messy business of explaining the history of fairytales). CCS and its
characters belong to Clamp. This story belongs to me however, so DON'T STEAL! I worked
really hard on this and I will be pissed if anyone stole my idea or my story.

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"You can call me Ying Fa." Sakura told Syaoran. She didn't know why she told him that name. She knew it was too dangerously close to her own real name, but maybe that was why. Sakura was tired of just being Thousand Furs. If for this one night she was going to be herself then she wanted to truely be herself name and all. The meaning of the names were the same even if the language they were in was different. And truth be told Sakura couldn't deny that she almost wanted to be discovered. Maybe Syaoran could help her, but she couldn't risk her identiy if he wouldn't or couldn't help her.

She pulled her arm away from his and quickly weaved through the crowd of people that were leaving the dance floor seeking refreshment. Quickly before Syaoran could catch her she rushed through the ballroom and up the stairs. With a sigh of relief she passed through the heavy rose covered oak entrances to the ballroom. The guards posted at the door bowed to her and gave her curious looks as she passed by. She slowed her pace as not to arouse the guards' suspicions. Once she rounded the corner though and saw no one about she rushed through the halls, through the gardens and back to her tiny room. Looking at the tiny clock on her table illuminated by the silvery glow of her gown, Sakura saw that she had made it back just in time to help Chihiru with the last of the banquet preparations.

Still dreaming of being in Syaoran's arms and knowing it would be one of the few memories that she could charish knowing the impossibility of being with him, Sakura sadly stripped off her gown. She looked mournfully at the gown remembering her sweet, delicate cousin that had made it for her. "Tonight was very much a night for memories," Sakura thought sadly. She then began removing all her jewelry and finally the demi-mask that covered her wistful face. Her mother's ring that she had been wearing glinted at her from the folds of the dress where she laid it. Looking at it a tear escaped her eyes and sobbed softly, "Oh mama. I miss all of you so much."

Shaking her head a bit, Sakura impatiently wiped away the lone tear that had escaped and told herseldf sternly. "Tomoyo, Touya, and Yukito, worked hard to let you escape. Someday you'll be with them again, but until then you need to stop crying. Be strong Sakura!" With that little pep talk to herself done Sakura lifted her head defiantly and then resumed her costume. She put on one of the dresses that Chihiru had given her, covered up her hands and face with soot, bound up her hair in a scrap of cloth, and finally put on her trademark coat. Then she began to put up all evidence of Princess Sakura or Ying Fa as she told Syaoran.

Kerberus watched in facination as Sakura changed out of the glowing silvery dress. He wondered why his friend would want to hide herself away and wear those duller dresses. The other was much more fun to look at, but as always he just watched over her like always. As she started putting away the pretty shiny things she had been wearing in her hair and on her fingers he noticed a shiny gold thing that she seemed to look at with more love than all the other shiny things. It seemed to cause her some pain though because looking at it caused her to cry. She started talking to herself for a bit then she picked up the dress and began to fold it up and put it away in a sweet smelling chest.

When she picked up the dress though, Kerberus noticed the gold circle she had been looking at earlier fall out of the folds of the dress and roll beneath her tiny bed. Hoping down from his perch ontop of the bed he went after the little gold ring. His bright eyes spotted the ring glinting in a corner almost immediately and he grabbed the ring with his mouth and hopped out to find Sakura to return it to her.

After having hidden away all traces of her activities for the past hour, Sakura rusehed out of her room and back into the kitchens where a smiling Chihiru greeted her, "There you are Thousand Furs. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come back to us."

"I'm sorry. Did I take longer than I was supposed to?" Sakura asked contritely hoping she had not caused the cook undue amounts of trouble.

"No, nothing like that. Though I was wondering, do you know any good recipes for soups?" Chihiru asked the girl.

"I know how to cook a little. I think I can make a soup if you need me to." Sakura replied carefully. She had been taught how to cook a few rudimentary things by the Florian castle's cook and by Lord Yukito.

"That's wonderful!" Chihiru exclaimed. "Would you mind terribly making the soup for tonight's banquet for me? I had wanted to catch a peek of the ball and Takeshi promised me that he would find a way for me to sneak a peek at the people in all their finery."

"I'd love to help." Sakura told her smiling softly knowing that Chihiru besides just wanting to see the ball was probably wanting to see Takeshi as well..

"Thank-you so much!" The cook said as she hugged the girl. "I'll be back in about a half hour or so. When you're making the soup be careful not to get anything in it because the nobles can be really uptight about that. If anything, even a hair, gets in it we could both get in trouble."

"I understand." Sakura replied. "Enjoy yourself." She watched with quiet mirth has her friend took off her apron and rushed out of the kitchen. Finding the kitchen mostly deserted since most of the banquet's cooking had been done and everyone else seemed to have retired for a short break before the meal was to be served, Sakura ran back to her room and dug through her things until she found the little box of herbs and spices that Lord Yukito had given to her for her birthday.

Having found the box she ran back to the kitchen barely noticing the little rabbit that was following close on her heels. She smiled down at Kerberus as she passed him the second time as she ran to the kitchen and told him gently, "Behave yourself Kerberus. I promise you a treat later."

When she reached the kitchen again Sakura looked about for the ingredients to the soup she wanted to make. She was relieved to find that everything she needed was already set out and prepared for her including chicken stock and some boiled chicken. Putting on an apron she began to get to work chopping up the chickens into smaller pieces. After that was done she chopped up some vegetables that were conviently peeled for her and dumped them into the chicken broth. After letting the vegetables cook in the broth for a while Sakura dumped in the chickens. Then noticing the time and knowing that Chihiru and likely the rest of the kitchen staff would be back soon, Sakura put some of the herbs that Lord Yukito had given her into the soup to finish it off.

Having done that she headed back to her room to put the precious herbs away. She just hoped the soup tured out well for Chihiru's sake and partly for her own because she knew Syaoran would likely be eating it. It made Sakura feel happy thinking that Syaoran would maybe enjoy eating something she cooked.

Kerberus watched in fascination as Sakura ran around the kitchen preparing the soup. He didn't know exactly what she was making but it smelled good and she had promised him a treat if he behaved himself. Curious to see what she was making he hopped onto the counter and looked into the pot. Steam rose out of the pot momentarily startling the little rabbit causing him to open his mouth in surprise, and also causing the ring to fall from his mouth into the boiling soup.

The little rabbit looked forlornly into the soup knowing that he had lost something that was precious to his friend but not knowing how to fix it he just sat there until Sakura came back. Seeing him standing next to her pot of soup, Sakura scooped up kerberus and chided him lightly, "What are you doing here Kerberus? You know you should stay away from the food and fires."

Kerberus looked at her guiltily with his large black eyes. Sakura just smiled at him assuming the guilty look was from his guilt at being found near the pot of soup. "Oh fine. How about I give a small saucer of soup? I did promise you a treat earlier." She asked. She then set him down and found an old pewter saucer and poured some soup into it. Setting it on the ground she told him, "Now behave."

Just then servants in forest green and gold livery streamed into the kitchen followed closely by Chihiru and the other rest of the kitchen staff. "Thousand Furs!" Chihiru called out to her cheerfully.

"Welcome back Chihru. Did you have fun?" Sakura asked the cook.

"Yes it was wonderful! Takeshi told me I missed seeing a beautiful lady come in. He told me she was wearing the prettiest dress and she was so mysterious. She was only there for one dance and then she disappeared. The king was really put out by that. For once a lady managed to catch his attention and then she just vanished. The guards had no idea where she went and the guards at the entrance didn't remember seeing anyone with her description come in either. The entire ballroom is buzzing with speculations on who she could be. You were gone when she was there, did you see her?" Chihiru babbled excitedly.

"I don't think I saw her." Sakura replied truthfully, for she hadn't seen the mysterious lady. If the lady was herself then, she couldn't see her own arrival and if the lady had been someone else then Sakura had been too interested in dancing with Syaoran to notice anyone else.

"Oh that is strange. Her entrance caused quite a stir, but of course the ballroom was crowded so it might have been easy to miss her especially with all those other ladies there." Chihiru said a bit disappointed because she had wanted to hear more about the lady that danced with Fauna's recitant king. Almost everyone else was afraid of the king, but Chihiru knew better than to be afraid of him. She knew the king was just a lonely young man with too much responsibility on his shoulders and too few true friends and joys in life. She knew this because of all the things Takeshi had told her from his serving the young king personally.

Thinking about that she glanced at Sakura. The king reminded her of her shy friend. They both seemed so lonely. Too bad Sakura was only a scullery maid and the two could never meet and if they did, their stations would keep them from being friends. Chihiru had a feeling that Sakura could ease the young king's loneliness as he could ease hers. Unfortunately she couldn't dwell on that for long because the banquet was starting up and the food needed to be served and the first thing served is usually the soup.

"Is the soup ready yet?" Chihiru asked worriedly.

"Yes it is. Would you like to taste it before it's served?" SAkura replied wondering what Chihiru had been thinking about before since the older girl seemed to have had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"That would be nice. It smells wonderful!" Chihiru replied as see walked over to the large pot of soup and scooped a bit into a tasting dish. She sipped the soup slowly aware of how hot it was and her eyes widened in surprise. The soup was absolutely delicious. She had never tasted soup like that before. She didn't know what it was, but something in the soup made it much more savory than normal soups. Sakura had truly made a soup fit for a king.

"Is it alright?" Sakura asked tenatively.

"Thousand Furs, this is delicious. However did you manage to make this? There is something in here that gives it a very distinct taste that I can't even identify." Chihiru told the girl. But before Sakura could tell her, she told the girl, "Don't worry about telling me. By the look on your face I can tell it's something precious to you."

Sakura was relieved Chihiru had said that because although she wanted to tell her friend how to make the soup it required special herbs that Sakura knew she could not find in Fauna. The only person she knew of that had easy access to the herbs because he grew them himself was Lord Yukito.

"Enough of standing around though. Why don't you go take a breather while we start getting everything ready to be served. Once It's all served we can all rest." Chihiru told Sakura. Sakura complied and thankfully retired to her room as Chihiru began ordering everyone about and the staff began pouring her soup into elegant bowls to be served to the nobles and guests at the banquet.

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Syaoran sank into his seat next to his family with relief. The ball was finally over and if he could survive the banquet without his mother bringing up the topic of marriage then he was set for the evening. He could retire to his bed once the formalities of the evening were over with and enjoy a nice relaxing bath or anything that would loosen up the tension the night had built up in him.

He felt he deserved it after Ying Fa, if that was the mysterious girl's real name and he doubted that it actually was, disappeared. She was the one bright spot of the entire evening although her disappearance left Syaoran worse off than he was before. He had managed to hide behind his mask and in the shadows fairly efficiently before she had arrived, but she pulled him out of hiding so that the ldies of court could lay siege to him. But Syaoran could not bring himself to resent her for that for in her he found the first person other than Sakura that he could truly talk to. There was definitely potential for him to develop deeper feelings for the girl, which he hoped he would if he could ever find her again, because Syaoran knew no matter how much he fought his mother over the issue, he did need to find a bride.

Sakura would have been his ideal choice but he wasn't sure whether he felt for him that way. And if she did it, then that was for the worse because the match would have been impossible. Sakura as sweet and lovely as she was, was still only a scullery maid and he had to marry someone of his own station. Or did he? Afterall he was king, couldn't he just promote her to the rank of a lady and marry her? But that hinged on his mother allowing the match and even Syaoran knew that even had he his mother's backing, once Sakura became his queen she would still be looked down upon by the court, and Syaoran could not stand the thought of the gentle girl being mistreated. Because Syaoran had a hunch that the hurt Sakura would recieve would be a mental and emotional one rather than physical, and that type would be the lasting type.

For Syaoran it was a no win situation. He couldn't have Sakura, but maybe he could have Ying Fa who was so much like Sakura it was scary. But Ying Fa had disappeared without a trace like some phantom. Had so many people not seen her and had she not felt so alive in his arms, Syaoran would have sworn she was a phantom or merely a dream.

He sighed tiredly and looked down at the bowl of soup that had been placed in front of him by one of the green clad servants. The smells eminating from it were heavenly. It was defintely not the normal type of soup he knew the cook was prone to make. The smell relaxed and refreshed him a bit and he felt that possibly he could survive the evening. He dipped into the bowl with a silver spoon and tasted the soup. It tasted as wonderful as it smeeled and he wondered vaguely what was in it. Before he knew it he reached the bottom of his bowl and to his surprise saw a small gold ring resting at the bottom of it.

Carefully removing the small ring he placed it on his napkin and cleaned it off. Picking the ring up, Syaoran examined it. There was something familiar about the ring, but he couldn't think of where he had seen it before. Suddenly a memory from earlier in the evening flashed through his mind. Syaoran was bending down to kiss the hand of the mysterious angel that had appeared at the ball. The ring was the same one that Ying Fa was wearing. Syaoran was sure of it. The ring seemed to valuable and unique to be something that was easily come by. hOw in the world did the ring get into his soup he wondered. No one had noticed Syaoran's activites as they were all caught up into talking with various people.

Turning to his mother, Syaoran asked her softly, "May I be excused for a few minutes. I need a breather from all this activity."

Yulan looked at her son suspiciously but nodded her head. She watched as he quietly exited the room seemingly clutching something to his chest. She idly wondered what it was, but her son had been acting very reserved since the one girl he had asked to dance with had mysteriously disappeared. Yulan wondered who the girl was. There was something very familiar about her, but Yulan could not place where she had seen her before. She had held so much hope for her son when the girl appeared, but her hopes seemed not ready to come to fruitation. She would question the guards herself tomorrow. Tonight there were too many guests including the Solarian delegates for her to excuse herself to do so.

In the hall, Syaoran found a servant and instructed him to go to the kitchen and bring the cook to him. The servant quickly complied, seeing the brooding look on his king's face. Running into the kitchen, the serving man found Chihiru and started yelling at her, "Cook! Cook! Cook!"

"What is it?" Chihiru asked crossly. She didn't like being yelled at by her title like that.

"The king wishes to see you immediately." The servant replied.

"What about? Is something wrong with the food?" Chihiru asked worriedly.

"I don't know. He just asked to see you immediately though nothing but the soup has been served."

"Alright, take me to him then." Chihiru said. The soup, it was the soup Thousand Furs had made. Had something dropped into the soup and the king found it. Maybe a hair or something like that. Chihiru hoped that there would not be too much trouble over it. Whatever the case was she knew she had to try to protect Thousand Furs from the consequences of it. Although the girl was the one that cooked the soup, Chihiru was the one that asked her to and the one that approved it for serving.

"Who made the soup?" Syaoran demanded to know as soon as he saw Chihiru running up. He tried not to seem to menacing since he knew Chihiru was Sakura's friend and Takeshi's girlfriend. Though seeing the way the girl winced he didn't think he did a good job of it.

Syaoran's mind was churning with so much confusion and questions he wanted answers to. Who was Ying Fa? What was she doing at the ball? Why did she disappear so suddenly and how did her ring get into his soup. There was something going on that Syaoran knew nothing of and he didn't like it.

"I made it." Chihiru tried to claim.

Syaoran glared at her, "Please don't lie to me Chihiru. I know I seem like an ogre right now, but I want some straight answers. This has not been an easy evening for me and I'm sure Takeshi has told you all about it since I saw him with you earlier." Chihiru blushed at that. Syaoran gentled his look and tone. Sakura had done wonders in teaching him to be able to do that. "Don't worry. Whoever you are trying to protect, I just want to ask that person a few questions. The soup was delicious and no offense to you nothing like what you usually make. Your soups are wonderful but this one was unique in it's small and flavor."

"Thousand Furs made the soup." Chihiru finally admitted noticing the change in the king's demeanor.

"Thousand Furs?" Syaoran asked amazed. Sakura had made the soup? The night just got more mysterious. Knowing that brought up more questions than it answered. "Could you bring her to me please and quickly since I need to go back in ther soon." Syaoran asked motioning towards the banquet hall. "Also don't tell her the kIng wants to see her. Just say Lord Li wants to see her. I don't want to scare her more than I have to."

Chihiru nodded and complied though she felt that the king was hiding something. Why did he seem so surprised about Thousand Furs having made the soup. Did he know the girl? How could he? Then Chihiru remembered how Takeshi said that it was the king that had found her and suggested they take her in. It was amazing that he still remembered the girl, but Thousand Furs seemed to have that effect on people.

Entering the kitchen, Chihiru found Thousand Furs sweeping the floors. "Leave off of that for now, Thousand Furs. Lord Li wishes to see you about the soup, I think."

"Lord Li?" Sakura asked timidly. "Who is he?"

"A very high standing lord. Don't worry. Everything will be alright. He just wants to ask you some questions. Maybe he wants to know how you made the soup." Chihiru tried to reassure the girl, since she didn't know herself what the king wanted to know.

"Alright." Sakura replied putting down the broom. She hoped that she hadn't gotten Chihiru into trouble because of the soup. She couldn't think of why she was being summoned by a lord. The servant that had led Chihiru to Syaoran also led Sakura there.

Seeing Syaoran waiting for her, startled Sakura a bit. He looked as handsome as he always had. "You wished to see me, my lord?" Sakura asked keeping her face down while curtying politely.

"Yes. I found this ring in my soup. You were the one who made the soup, so maybe you know how it got there." Syaoran said gently not wanting to frighten his only true friend.

Sakura looked at the ring Syaoran was holding in his hand and had to bite her lip from yelling out in surprise. It was her mother's ring. How did it get into the soup? She could have sworn it was tucked away safely with her dress in her room. Not daring to look at him for fear he could see the longing for the ring in her eyes Sakura replied, "I don't know how that got there, sire."

"I see." Syaoran answered. He heard the confusion in Sakura's voice and knew she wasn't lying, but he felt like she was still hiding something from him. Suddenly in frustration he voiced his thoughts, "Who are you Thousand Furs? What are you really doing here?"

He immediately regretted his words as Sakura looked up at him with eyes begging him not to ask her anymore and answered him, "I am but a poor orphan without home or family."

Syaoran wanted to kick himself for the how insensitive he had been. Though more questions had appeared than had been answered, he let the girl go back. He couldn't bring himself to cause pain to Sakura and his question had reminded himself and Sakura of the sad events that had brought her there in the first place. He probably should have told her her kingdom was safe and offered to help her go back there to find out the fate of her friends and family, but he didn't want to lose her. He reasoned that if they were dead then, it would hurt her more to know for certain.

With a sigh, Syaoran returned to the banquet hoping that nothing else odd would hapen that night. He had more mysteries than he cared for. Once all the meetings with the Solarian delegates were finished he would try to apologize to Sakura for how he had behaved earlier. He hoped that the week before that would give time for the hurt the memories he had accidentally brought up to heal slightly.

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Review! Please review. I won't know what you think otherwise and I have low self-confidence when it comes to my writing. If you don't tell me you want me to continue then, I'll assume you don't like it and I won't continue. I like nice detailed reviews too.