by Ann
Dear Gods was it hot out. Syaoran sighed and leaned closer to the fan in the window. Why couldn't he have picked an apartment with air-conditioning? But he had moved to Japan in February, it just hadn't seemed important at the time. He wasn't supposed to be there long, just go in, get the Cards, be home before spring.
But all the Cards were captured now, so why was he still there? He could be
home right now.
Home, where there was air-conditioning. It was all because
of a pair of deep green eyes, and a sweet smile that he couldn't erase from his
mind. He sighed again. Sometimes he felt like such an idiot.
I ought to go out and do something, stop brooding, he thought. Maybe he ought to call Sakura, or Yamasaki, or...Sakura... He shook his head violently, trying to clear such thoughts out of his head. There was no way he was going to cool off if he kept blushing like that! But she's lived here all her life, she'd know what to do to keep cool, he tried to reason with himself. But that's not why you really want to see her, his other half argued. Argh! Why did life have to be so complicated!?
He stood up and stalked into the kitchen, there was still a little ice cream left in the freezer. That was one good thing about living alone, he reflected. At home he was lucky if he got a taste of any ice cream, his sisters usually devoured it before he even knew anyone had bought any. As he scooped out the chocolate ice cream he tried to convince himself that it was the truth. Why don't you just admit that you're lonley? Especially today.
At that moment the phone rang, Syaoran couldn't think of anyone who would be calling him. He picked up the receiver, "Moshi, moshi."
There was a muffled sound at the other end, a whispered giggle, and then, "Happy Birthday, Syaoran!" Five voices shouted in unison.
Syaoran looked at the phone in shock, "Mom? Everybody?"
"What? You didn't think we'd forget, did you? This is your first birthday away from home Little Brother! The least we could do was call!" Chiang said, grabbing hold of the phone.
"You'd have presents too, if Chiang had remembered to send them express," Xue said behind her. Syaoran couldn't help but smile at that, Chiang was always forgetting things.
"Well, at least I remembered to call!"
"Hah, we all wanted to call, not just you, silly."
"Shut up! I'm trying to talk to my brother!" Chiang yelled.
"Well, he's my brother too!" Xue and Chiang broke off into another argument as always. Syaoran never believed that he would miss the sound of his sisters arguing.
While they argued, Shu-Hua grabbed the phone away from Chiang. "Syaoran? How have you been? Have you been reading those books I gave you?"
"Yeah, the Journal came in real handy."
"I'm glad to see that my hard work hasn't gone to waste." She said with a laugh. Shu-Hua was the scholar of the family, and she loved to research the past of the family, especially Clow. "You know you really ought to call home more often, we do want to know how you're doing you know."
"Sorry, it's just that things have been really busy..." he temporized.
Another voice came on the line, "Ha!" Xue shouted, "I got the upstairs phone! Syaoran, have you been practicing those sword exercises that I showed you?"
"Yes, every morning."
"Good, you need to stay in top form! And don't forget to practice the kicks on your left side, they need the work."
Syaoran grimaced, "Thanks for the reminder," he half-growled. He was beginning to remember just why he had been so eager to go on this mission in the first place. To prove that he wasn't the family baby anymore. Besides, his sisters could drive anyone insane.
"Just a second, little brother, I'm going to give the phone to San-Xiang," Shu-Hua said.
"Hello?" San-Xiang was the oldest of his sisters. And he had been something of a second mother when he was really little, whenever his mother had been on important business. Now he could almost here her smile into the phone, "Syaoran! Happy Birthday! I wish we could be there with you. I sent your presents, they should be there next week. I guess we shouldn't leave things up to Chiang, should we?"
"I heard that!" came the muffled reply from the other end.
"Well, anyway. I made a chocolate cake for your birthday. I wish you could have been here to have a piece. Xue blew out all the candles, so you still get to make your wish. If she hasn't already used it up by now."
"A wish..." The only image that popped into his mind was one of gentle green eyes and a innocent smile.
The phone was passed around once more, he could hear his mother faintly, "Alright you four. You haven't let him get out an entire sentence! Now, I want to talk to my son, so shoo!"
"Fine," Chiang replied, "We'll just listen in on the upstairs phone, that's all."
Both Syaoran and his mother sighed in exasperation. "Sometimes I think you made the right decision in going to Japan," she said dryly, "I can only imagine what it must be like for a young boy to be stuck with the four of them."
"WE HEARD THAT!"
She laughed, "At any rate...From your last report, you've told us that all the Clow Cards have been captured. Which means no disaster, which was what you were so afraid of in the first place. I can understand why you might like living alone, you always were my little lone wolf. But still, when are you coming home Syaoran?"
"I..." Syaoran was left with nothing to say. It wasn't as if he hated being home. That he didn't miss his family at times. It wasn't as if he was never lonely. But here in Japan, he had made friends for the first time in his life. He was surrounded by people that cared about him, simply because of who he was. He had never had much contact with people outside of the family back in Hong Kong, and there was always a lingering worry, that they only loved and cared about him because he was family. No matter how many times Chiang picked on him, Xue beat him up, or Shu-Hua was dissapointed in his grades, he knew that they loved him, and he loved them, because they were family.
But Yukito, Tomoyo, Yamazaki...and most of all, Sakura didn't have to care about him. They were under no obligation to like him. But they did...It was something that mystified him. He spent most of his time pushing them away, trying to be cold, trying not to get attached. But they still cared, and he found that he did too. But how could he tell his mother that?
"I..I don't know. I like it here. I...don't want to leave my friends." He said quietly, the words being pulled out of him like teeth.
"Eeeeh!?" came the startled response from the other phone. "Wait! Wasn't the new owner of the Clow Cards a girl?" Chiang asked.
"Right." San-Xiang answered.
"Hmmm. He would have been working pretty closely with her to catch the cards." Shu-Hua mused.
Syaoran turned a brilliant red, "I-No! I mean, we're not like that! I mean!"
Five giggles answered him from the phone. "Syaoran's got a girlfriend!" Xue squealed.
"No! Sakura's not my-"
"Oh, her name is Sakura! Aww, that's so cute!"
"Will you please just shut up!" He growled. He was desperately glad that they weren't there to see him blush.
His mother laughed, a deep throaty laugh. "Well. I suppose I won't press you to come home if you really like it there. Just please remember that we're here for you. And-" her voice turned sharp, "Call your poor mother once in a while! I miss my only son!"
"I promise."
"Well, this call is running up quite a bill. I suppose I'll let you go now. Take care of yourself, my little wolf."
"I will, I love you Mother."
"Bye, Syaoran! Happy Birthday!" Came the chorus from the sisters.
"Goodbye." Syaoran hung up the phone, the trace of a smile on his lips. Sometimes you needed a reminder of the things that were important, he supposed.
He glanced over to the counter, where his ice cream had melted into a lukewarm soup in the bowl. He sighed. There wasn't any left either. That had been the last of it. And ice cream would have been so good in this sweltering weather...! Well, he thought, just because there wasn't any ice cream in the apartment wasn't any reason to give up. It was his birthday after all, if he wanted ice cream, he ought to get ice cream!
Syaoran grabbed the key to the apartment off of their hook and walked out the door. There was a Haggen Daz place not too far away. He almost smiled to himself as he rounded the corner, the day wasn't turning out as bad as he had expected. And then he stopped short as he saw...
Sakura and Yukito, walking...together, their arms full of packages. His heart lurched and he came to a standstill. All of his happiness crumpled into little bits as the joking of his sisters came back to him. No, Sakura wasn't his girlfriend. And she never would be. She was in love with Yukito, still. She openly admitted it. And he...he was smiling down at her with such gentleness in his eyes, and that soft ever-present smile.
He never smiled at Sakura, he tried never to give an indication of his feelings. He had always tried to maintain the illusion that his involvement with her was merely because of the Clow Cards. Just business.
Syaoran knew he could have done it too. If only she hadn't ever smiled at him like that, hadn't ever shown him kindness and concern. Even though he had tried to be cruel to her in the beginning, she had always treated him as a friend. But nothing more...the vicious part of his brain answered.
He turned to go, he didn't want to ruin their enjoyment. Besides, he wanted Sakura to be happy, and if being with Yukito made her happy...Then he would give up any hope of her ever being his. He turned to go, walking off in the other direction.
"Syaoran-kun!"
He heard the pitter patter of small feet as they ran up behind him. "Syaoran-kun! Yokkata!" Sakura's smile lit up her face, and he couldn't help but blush.
"I'm so glad I saw you! Otherwise we would have missed you, and then what would we do?"
"Missed me?"
"Of course!" She looked bewildered, "Why didn't you tell anyone it was your birthday!?"
"How-how did you know?" he asked in shock.
"Tomoyo-chan knew. She must have found out when she got your address that one time you were sick. But she had to visit relatives in Yokohama and couldn't come. So Yukito-san and I came to help celebrate your birthday." She said all in a rush.
Yukito walked up behind her, and waved at Syaoran. "So ne. And we brought cake and ice cream. You can't have a birthday without them." He said. Syaoran could now see that in his arms Yukito held a giant cake, and a few gallons of Haggen Daz chocolate ice cream.
In a daze Syaoran invited them back up to his apartment. His movements were almost mechanical as he served up the ice cream, remembering to give at least three times as much to Yukito, while Sakura put the candles on the cake.
They brought the cake out into the dining room. Sakura rummaged through her winged packpack and pulled out two packages. "I wonder which we should do first? The presents, or the cake?" she wondered aloud.
"So desu ka. Well, I always thought you ought to open the presents first." Yukito said. "That way you don't have to worry about presents while you eat."
Syaoran and Sakura both sweatdropped at that, but decided not to argue the point. Sakura passed him a flamboyantly wrapped present that was almost drowned out in pink ribbon. "This one's from Tomoyo-chan. She said to tell you to have a happy birthday, and apologizes that she couldn't be here.
There was a little card attached. It read:
O Tanjoubi Omedetto Li-kun! I hope that your day is wonderful.
Tomoyo.
P.S. You ought to tell her that you like her soon.
He blushed furiously and remained silent. He couldn't believe she had written that! What if Sakura had seen?! He opened the present, fearing the worst. Inside, on a bed of pink tissue paper lay a set of green plastic school supplies decorated with stars moons and suns. It reminded him a little bit of the back of the Clow Cards. He sighed in relief.
Yukito passed a small package to Syaoran. Inside was a package of gift certificates to a bakery not far from the school. "They really make delicious cakes," he said with a smile. "In fact that's where I got this one!" As if distracted by that thought he rummaged around in his pockets to find the matches he needed to light the candles.
Now only Sakura's present was left. She gave it to him, blushing shyly. "I don't know if you'll like it or not. But I couldn't think of what else to get. You're a hard person to shop for, Syaoran-kun."
He opened the present trying hard not to look at her, not to betray his feelings. It was a photograph in a brass frame. The frame had a little cluster of stars and a moon in one corner...but the picture...He didn't remember the picture being taken, but he had a strong suspicion that Tomoyo had had a hand in it. It was of that year's athletics day. The two of them stood together, sharing the first place trophy in the 100 meter dash. Behind them stood Yukito, Touya, Yamazaki, Chiharu, Rika...even Naoko.
"I-I just wanted you to remember all of the friends you have here," she said quietly. "I know that you might have to go back to Hong Kong soon, and if you do...well, I wanted you to have something to remember us by."
"Thank you," he said huskily, fingering the frame, "I think this is the best present that anyone has ever given me. You didn't have to go to all this trouble."
She looked surprised, "But birthdays are special, Syaoran-kun! You ought to spend them with friends and family. And if you can't be with your family now, the least you can do is be with your friends."
"I guess you're right."
"Okay! Blow out the candles and make a wish!" Yuktio said brightly.
Syaoran looked at the flickering lights thoughtfully. The day had started so miserably, so lonely. But now, he had spoken to his family, and was surrounded by friends. He couldn't think of a birthday that had ever been so special.
I wish...I wish that every year can be like this, he thought and blew out the candles. And maybe, just maybe, a future with a special green-eyed girl...
The End.