Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ the return ❯ The Burning Letter ( Chapter 9 )

The Return

Chapter 9 - the unofficial end (or the burning letter)

'It's a good thing I kissed her when I had the chance.' Xiao Lang thought to himself solemnly, glancing shyly at the girl walking beside him. 'I'd be too nervous to take that chance now. Just like the last time.' He lowered his gaze at the last thought.

He had been in Japan for almost one year and after the night of the dance his feelings for Sakura grew, along with his desire to protect her from her fears.

They went out to the movies together, ate dinner often at his house and a couple of times Sakura had even fallen asleep in his arms after a long day of studying. They were dates, but neither considered them official dates.

The earthquakes stopped, too. Almost. There were a few tremors, nothing too noticeable, but Xiao Lang often stayed close to Sakura just in case.

'It was so easy to fall for her.' He thought.

When he had finally given up the search for his Ying Fa, the way to find her came to him instantly. He almost wanted to kick himself. That morning he went online and searched for her father's name. When he found that there was only one Kinomoto, Fujitaka he wrote down the address on a sheet of paper, noting that she had moved. When he was offline, he took out a sheet and began to write, but nothing he thought of felt right. Eventually he decided to just write down what ever came to mind and it all flowed. He only hoped that she didn't love him like Meilin always told him, because this would break her heart. He didn't want to learn that she was clinging to what could have been if he had said his feelings sooner, like he had done for so long. Now he felt free of the pain in his heart he felt the minute he stepped on the plane for Hong Kong almost seven years ago. He folded the letter once he had finished and shoved it in an envelope with the address on it and mailed it on his way to pick up Sakura. He was going to focus on his future and the project he promised to help Sakura on at the library.

~~

Sakura looked at Xiao Lang and noticed that he was lost in space. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"Uh… nowhere." She giggled as he blushed and turned away. Her feelings towards him had grown, too, and even though she wasn't as dense as before, she still had her moments.

"Well. Are you gonna help me, or stay in space?" she asked and walked to a shelf for a book.

Xiao Lang followed her, but his thoughts stayed on other things.

'I know I love her, but what will my clan say when I return with another girl? They can tell the difference between magic and non-magic. They can even tell between Clow cards and Sakura cards. They'll notice. What am I gonna do?' he worriedly asked himself. He shook his head and focused on what Sakura was asking him.

"Can you help me find the Panda section?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure." He replied and went into another row. They were on the third floor, which was mostly a balcony around the walls with a glass elevator on one side. The second floor was the same and the lobby had the check out computers and information desk in the middle.

"I've found it!" she cried. He went back to the table and watched as Sakura put two books on the table.

"I got two and I'll go get some more." She exclaimed proudly.

~~

At the exact same time, Jing and Lei were on their way to hatch another scheme to separate the two. With each step closer, their jealousy grew stronger.

~~

Xiao Lang was the first one to notice the tremor. At first it was so small, he barely paid attention to it. But as it grew, he noticed that Sakura hadn't felt it. She was so involved with one book, that she didn't sense when the bookcase beside her started to rock. She had become too interested in her own thoughts that only a sharp jerk and the sound of splintering wood and glass returned her to the present.

Xiao Lang had grabbed her waist and tugged her out of the way, seconds from certain death.

"Oh no." she cried, as she felt the power behind the quake, and hid in his embrace shutting her eyes tightly, like that night after the dance.

While everyone else escaped when they first felt the tremor, Sakura and Xiao Lang were trapped by the fallen cases.

With each second the damage got worse. The glass windows shattered, the ceiling and walls started to crack and the second floor collapsed.

As the third floor began to fall apart, the pair rushed to a corner, untouched by the disaster. Xiao Lang grabbed their bags quickly and wrapped his arms around Sakura and held her and the bags tightly.

Slowly the rumbling stopped and they shakily got to their feet. Sakura walked cautiously to where the floor suddenly ended and peered over to survey the damage. Everything was in ruins.

"Sakura! Stay away from the edge!" Xiao Lang warned and dusted himself off. He was only a few feet from Sakura but in those next few moments he felt a million miles away.

Sakura looked to him and smiled reassuringly but didn't move.

Suddenly a violent aftershock rocked the ground and sent her careening over the edge of the floor.

"NO!! SAKURA!!" Xiao Lang cried as he watched helplessly as she tumbled over the edge to the awaiting debris…