A/N: First CCS fic, so mind you, be nice. I got it from a Korean drama called 'Glass Shoes'.
Disclaimer: Anything Card Captor Sakura-related is totally not mine. NOT...MINE. Nor is 'Glass Shoes' mine.
CinderSakura
By: Lotus Dreams
Prologue
A woman lying on the hospital bed was writhing and moaning in pain. The doctor, with a mask over his face, ordered, "Quickly, there is no time to deliver the baby, we must rescue Mrs. Kinomoto!"
The doctor's assistants nodded, and proceeded towards their tools, but then Mrs. Kinomoto raised a hand and gasped, "No...please...please save...my baby." Not being able to resist the pain any longer, she let the blackness over take her.
Fujitaka stumbled across the hill, trying to resist the wind. He clutched his scarf tightly around his throat, but it was no use; the wind lashed and bit at his face. He almost collapsed, but one thought kept him going: Nadeshiko.
When he arrived at the hospital, he was greeted by his young son in the waiting room. "Touya," he said. Touya, a young boy, said, "Father!"
The doctors came out of the operation room just then. Fujitaka hurried towards them, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Doctor..." The doctor smiled and handed him the bundle of blankets in his arms. Fujitaka removed the blankets to find an adorable little baby with his or her eyes squeezed shut and crying gently.
"It's a girl," the doctor informed him. Fujitaka smiled with joy.
"A daughter..." he repeated. "And...my wife?"
"Your...wife?" The doctor looked uneasily at his comrades.
"Your wife...didn't make it. She died giving birth to your daughter."
It was possibly the worst news they could ever have said.
Ten years later
"Dad!" cried Touya, waving frantically. "Come ON, the kaijuu's part is almost here!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," cried Fujitaka. "And don't call your sister a monster. Her name is Sakura."
"Okay, okay. Camera?"
"Check."
"Film?"
"Check."
"Battery?"
"Check."
"Okay," said Touya, and they hurried into the school.
They were ushered into a cramped auditorium, where kids 9 to 10 years of age were performing.
"This slipper does not fit anyone," said a little boy in a blue suit. "Are you sure that there aren't any other girls in the house?"
"Yes," replied one of three girls standing in front of him. "We are sure." Then, footsteps could be heard from far away.
"Dad, it's the kaijuu--I mean, Sakura's part," whispered Touya.
Sakura Kinomoto appeared on the stage dressed in a plain white dress and a white rag tied onto her head.
The boy in the blue suit bent down immediately. "Miss, could you please try on the glass slipper?" A small glass shoe sparkled in the dim auditorium lights.
"No!" said Sakura. "No, I don't want to!"
A teacher backstage slapped her head and gestured frantically at the slipper. "Try it on," she mouthed.
"No!" said Sakura. "It's hard and uncomfortable and I don't want to try it on!"
The blue-suited boy began to panic. "What do we do, teacher, she doesn't want to play Cinderella!" he bawled.
The audience burst into laughter and applause.
Later, Fujitaka, Touya, and Sakura were in a small restaurant. Sakura was tucking into a bowl of noodles noisily. Touya looked disgusted.
"You know, you're more like a kaijuu than I thought."
"Daddy!"
"Touya! Be nice to your sister!"
"Frankly, I don't even know why we're celebrating Sakura's play, since she didn't even follow the lines properly, and plus, she ruined the whole storyline by NOT TRYING ON THE GLASS SLIPPER. What were you thinking, kaijuu? You're supposed to put on the slipper and live happily ever after with the prince. What's the matter, afraid boys have cooties?"
"No," said Sakura. "It's just that the slipper is hard and heavy and I hate it! It rubs against your foot and makes you hurt! So I have a reason, right, dad?" Fujitaka smiled fondly at his little daughter.
"That's right, Sakura-chan."
Touya snorted. Sakura looked at the menu again. "Mm...I want some dumplings to go with the noodles now!" Fujitaka laughed.
"Dumplings it is!"
Touya was bewildered. "What are you wasting money on dumplings for? We haven't paid the landlord for two months, and you're spending money on dumplings? Come ON!"
"Just this once," pleaded Sakura. Fujitaka agreed, and ordered dumplings. Touya was disgusted.
"Please. Stop." He rose from the table. "I'm going to the bathroom." Sakura ate her dumplings quickly.
"I want to go to the bathroom too," she announced, and departed.
Once in the bathroom, Sakura dabbed at her mouth and washed her hands. Then she heard voices outside.
"What do you mean you don't have money? Give it, now!" snarled a voice.
The response was a whimper.
"Come on, beat him with the stick now!" shouted another voice. Then she heard sounds of wood hitting bones, and a cry of help. Curious, she opened the backdoor of the bathroom and saw a couple of 'bad kids' beating up another boy.
"STOP!" she yelled. "Stop hurting that boy!" The kids saw her. They were at least six feet tall, and about sixteen years of age.
"Aw, it's a little brat," taunted one of them. "We can take her down easily, can't we?"
"Go away!" shouted Sakura. "Only bad kids and cowards hurt other people for money!"
"Oh?" said the one who said he could take her down. "And who said that?"
"My brother!" cried Sakura angrily.
"Right," the kid said again, rolling his eyes. "And who's your brother?"
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Touya suddenly came charging out, fists raised. "Leave my sister alone!" He knocked out one of kids with one blow, and kicked another in the shins.
"Touya!" yelled Sakura. "Don't fight--I don't want you to get hurt--"
"Don't worry," called Touya over the sounds of punching. "I'm okay--"
And that's when someone punched him in the mouth. Touya staggered backwards. Sakura screamed. Without thinking, she ran forward to the one who punched her brother and sank her teeth into his shoulder.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH--"
"Forget it." A more mature voice rang through the air. "Six against two is not fair." He smirked and walked to the boy they were beating up earlier. "See you tomorrow, wimp." Then he and his comrades left.
"Touya!" Fujitaka found them and hurried over. "What--?"
"It's nothing, dad," mumbled Touya, rubbing his jaw. "It was a weak punch."
"Touya," said Sakura, and hugged her brother. Touya smiled and put an arm around her.
"It's okay...I'm okay..."
The boy from before looked at the family, and wistfully wished that he had one of his own. His father and mother had died when he was very young, and he had no one to rely on but himself. The gang of kids kept harassing him for money he made from working at a small coffee shop. He was going to save it for his future. Every night, he would study by candlelight the few books he possessed.
His bike, his only vehicle, had been knocked to the side. He picked it up and walked it away.
He reached the small coffee shop. He nodded at the other worker, and wheeled his bike into the back, securely locking it. He then retreated into his tiny room, where he took out a small bottle of medicine and began applying it to his bruises. Those savages, he thought. You will never have my money. He was 11, yet he had at least thousands of dollars kept in a small box, all of which he had saved up since he was six.
He remembered the little girl who had sank her teeth to help her brother from the gang. He smiled bitterly. He thought, I wish I had a brother like that. Why do I have to be Syaoran Li?
Fujitaka closed the door to Touya and Sakura's room. They were sleeping peacefully already. Suddenly, his nose began to bleed. He hastily took a hankerchief from his pocket and it soaked up the blood. It was happening more frequently.
He put on his traveling coat, took his bike, and rode all the way to the hospital where his daughter was born. He entered the doors, and gave his name at the front counter. A nurse led him to his doctor's office, Doctor Aoki.
"Hello, Doctor Aoki," greeted Fujitaka. "How is my health?"
Doctor Aoki sighed. "Not good, I'm afraid. You're having headaches and nosebleeds more frequently, right?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Fujitaka, if you don't replace your blood soon you will die. Blood cancer can kill you, Mr. Fujitaka." Fujitaka lowered his eyes.
"I think I can live without surgery."
"Mr.--"
"Enough. Do you have any new medicine? I'm running out." Doctor Aoki sighed. He handed him a bottle.
"Here. This will stop the bleeding and headaches a little, but not enough to stop it."
"Thank you." Fujitaka paid for it, and then exited the office.
The next day...
"Dad, where are you going?"
"To visit your grandfather."
"You mean the one who hated you for marrying mom?"
"Yes, that one."
"But you said he's really mean."
"He won't be mean to me. I have already called him." Fujitaka turned to leave.
"Daddy..." Sakura rubbed her eyes. "It's only six o'clock. Where are you going?"
Touya said, "Nothing. Go back to bed, kaijuu." Sakura yawned and went back to bed.
An hour later, Fujitaka was stepping off the subway and heading towards his father's big company, Kinomoto Inc., which made cell phones.
Fujitaka showed his ID to the two ladies at the front counter and was accompanied up an elevator to his father's office.
When he reached outside his father's office, the man who had accompanied him stopped him and said, "I'll go in first." He went in. Fujitaka heard him say, "Yes, Mister Kinomoto," and he went back out.
"The boss to see you, sir." Fujitaka went in.
Sitting at his desk was his father, the famous Mister Kinomoto, the ultra-rich Mister Kinomoto. Mr. Kinomoto's eyes widened when he saw Fujitaka. Fujitaka sat in a chair. His father's eyes narrowed.
"What are you here for?" he demanded. "In seventeen years you have not come to visit me, but today you come. What? Did that woman ditch you? Do you need money because of your sorry life?"
"'That woman' already died," said Fujitaka quietly. "I'm sorry for not visiting you sooner. I was just wondering if you would do me a favour."
"What?" grunted Mr. Kinomoto.
"I have two children. One is a boy, he is in high school now. His name is Touya. The other is a girl, I named her Sakura. She is ten this year. They are both at the top of the class in their schools."
"So?"
"I was wondering if you could raise them from now on."
"No," said Mr. Kinomoto forcefully. "Absolutely not. Flesh from that woman, I will not raise." Fujitaka sighed.
"I had thought the one person who I could rely on to take care of my children would be you," he said. "But I guess I thought wrong." With that, he left.
When Fujitaka entered his home at eight o'clock, he was surprised to find Touya waiting for him.
"Where have you been, dad?" he asked urgently. "What did grandpa say?"
"Nothing," said Fujitaka. His head was spinning uncontrollably. The wind had made him dizzy again, and his eyesight was beginning to blur.
"Dad?" came Touya's voice from far away. "Dad, are you okay?"
"I'm...fine..." Then he keeled over and collapsed onto the ground.
"Dad? DAD!" shouted Touya. "Dad! Wake up! Wake up! DAD! What's wrong? What--?" He caught a glimpse of a bottle rolling out of his coat pocket.
"Wha--?" Then he read the lable.
"'Blood cancer. Lessens pain from headaches and bleeding from nose; take three times a day.'" Touya looked down at his father. "Not..." he whispered. "...Blood cancer?"
"Touya," came a sleepy voice. "What's going on?" Sakura emerged in pink chicken pajamas and clutched a teddy bear. She caught sight of Fujitaka and gasped.
"Daddy!" she cried.
"Go back to bed, Sakura," warned Touya. "It's nothing."
"DADDY!" cried Sakura.
"Go!" yelled Touya. "GO!" Sakura ran to Fujitaka.
"Daddy! Daddy!" she sobbed. "Daddy!" Touya put a shaking hand to Fujitaka's nostrils.
No air.
"Daddy's just sleeping," Touya said. "He just won't wake up. He will never wake up."
Well, there's the prologue. REVIEW!