Hello, people! I'm pleased to present my second fanfic. It's CCS again, of course. The idea came from the movie "The Wedding Planner" and you may notices some similarities but it's quite different. Hope you enjoy the first chapter.
Chapter 1: Sweet Day Turned Bitter
"Okay, now put those flowers over there. The statues go over there and don't forget to put a candle and roses on each table." Sakura watched her mom, Nadeshiko, as she gave orders on what to put where. She always admired her mom's job; a wedding planner. Nadeshiko works quite hard and her husband supports her in everything. She's one of the top wedding planners in Japan after all.
Fifteen year old Sakura walked gracefully over to Eriol who was now admiring the white grand piano that was rented for the wedding. Sakura just had to laugh at her friend. She knew how badly he wanted to play on that piano and how well he could play too. Eriol was one of the best pianists she knew. It was a treat to hear him play. Unfortunately, Nadeshiko had paid a pianist to play at the wedding.
"Hey, Eriol," Sakura greeted.
Eriol finally looked up and smiled. "Hi, Sakura. Your mom has done a great job planning this wedding. It's beautiful!" and beautiful it was indeed.
With the wedding in a garden setting, it gave it a very serene look. The pews were made of retractable chairs and tables were further in the back covered with white cloths. The cloths had red roses and doves embroidered at the ends. The pulpit was clear glass. All in all, especially with the white grand piano and other decorations, it was a sight to behold.
Sakura nodded in agreement. "Yea, it is. And don't call her 'my mom'. She's your mom too now." Eriol simply nodded in reply. "I bet the music will be lovely, don't you think so, Eriol?"
Eriol looked back at the piano. "Yea, with this piano, it better be." Sakura smiled. "Don't worry; you can attack this piano after the wedding service." Eriol smiled sheepishly.
"Sakura, can you come here for a minute please," called Nadeshiko.
"Coming, mom." Sakura waved to Eriol, stated that she'd be right back and, and ran to her mom. Hugging her mom she said, "Thanks for Eriol and I to come to the wedding."
Nadeshiko smiled. "It's not me you should be thanking. The bride and groom had so graciously invited the family and since Eriol is family, of course he could come as well." Sakura nodded in agreement.
Eriol was Sakura's brother; adopted that is. They adopted him five years ago and they all see him as family. Still, he insists that he keeps his last name, Hiirigizawa. He says that it's the only thing left of his family…
"Sakura, can you do me a favor?"
Sakura snapped out of her thoughts. "Yes, what can I do for you?"
Nadeshiko sighed. "Everything is just about ready, except for the music. The pianist got sick and had to quit on me. I was wondering if you could try to convince Eriol to play."
Sakura laughed. "Trust me; there won't be any need to convince him. He'll do it."
"Thanks, sweet heart." Nadeshiko laughed as she watched Eriol start spinning Sakura around, ignoring the fact that she was wearing black high heels with a light pink dress. Seeing that she only had thirty minutes left before people would start to come, she went back to work.
The wedding was a success and now the reception was going just as well. Everyone there had a great time-all but Touya and Fujitaka. They had to leave earlier for work. Near the end of the reception, the bride and groom stood to speak for the final time. "This reception was just great wasn't it?" The crowd clapped in response to the bride.
The groom started to speak. "The wedding was lovely as well don't you think so? There is one person in particular we would like to thank especially. So as we take our seats, please welcome Kinomoto Nadeshiko."
There was a loud applause as Nadeshiko took the mike. She was wearing a black gown that glittered in the light with black, high-heeled shoes. Her lavender hair was in a neat bun except for the wisps of hair that helped to frame her face.
"Thank you all for coming. All of this work I couldn't have done by ourselves. I would like to thank all of my helpers. They've done a wonderful job."
Nadeshiko paused as the crowd clapped. "There is also someone else whom I would like to thank. Believe it or not it was not a professional musician who played for us. In fact, the one we hired got sick." Nadeshiko's emerald eyes shone as she continued. "So I brought in my own musician. None of you know him, but he played quite beautifully. I would now like to call to the mike, Hiirigizawa Eriol."
Eriol was shocked. It was already an honour to him that he was playing at a wedding, but this was too much. After some urging by Sakura though, he finally went up. Taking the mike he smiled and said, "Thank you everyone, for this opportunity. For my last song, I would like my sister, Kinomoto Sakura, to join me in a duet, as a thank you."
Now it was Sakura's turn to be shock. Slowly, she walked over to Eriol who was already sitting at the piano. The audience went silent as she reached her brother. "Eriol, I don't know 'bout this."
Eriol smiled and whispered back, "Don't worry, Saku. You know this song." Sakura turned back to the audience who was anticipating their next move. Soon a soft, sweet melody was heard on the piano behind her and she smiled. It was one of her favourite songs to sing with him. She took a deep breath and sang:
Sakura: We were strangers; starting out on a journey.
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through.
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing.
At the beginning with you.
Eriol came in with his deep, melodic voice.
Eriol: No one told me I was going to find you.
Unexpected what you did to my heart.
When I lost hope, you were there to remind me
Sakura and Eriol: This is the start.
They sang in perfect harmony. Sakura looked at Eriol, smiled, and turned back to the audience.
Sakura and Eriol: Life is a road and I wanna keep going.
Love is a river I wanna keep flowing.
Life is a road now and forever; wonderful journey.
I'll be there when the world stops turning.
I'll be there when the storm is through.
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you.
Sakura: We were strangers on a crazy adventure.
Eriol: Never dreaming how our dreams would come true.
Sakura and Eriol: Now here we stand unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you.
Life is a road I wanna keep going.
Love is a river I wanna keep flowing.
Life is a road now and forever; wonderful journey.
I'll be there when the world stops turning.
I'll be there when the storm is through.
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you.
A light breeze started to blow. Sakura's auburn hair swayed in the breeze. Eriol played louder and the melody started to stand out more.
Sakura and Eriol: I knew there was somebody somewhere.
Like me alone in the dark.
Now I know my dream will live on.
I've been waiting so long.
Nothing's gonna tear us apart.
Life is a road I wanna keep going.
Life is a road now and forever; wonderful journey.
I'll be there when the world stops turning.
I'll be there when the storm is through.
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you.
They worked along with each other so well that if Eriol hadn't have said "my sister" from the start, the audience would've mistaken them as the perfect couple or duet.
Sakura and Eriol: Life is a road I wanna keep going.
Love is a river I wanna keep going on.
Starting out on a journey.
Life is a road I wanna keep going.
Love is a river I wanna keep flowing.
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning.
With you.
The music slowly faded and loud applause was heard from the audience. Nadeshiko was proud of both of them. It was the perfect way to end the day. If only it did end that way.
Everybody had left except for the bride and groom who were talking to Nadeshiko. Eriol was still on the piano playing and Sakura was singing with him. When everything was packed away and the bride and groom had left for their honeymoon, Nadeshiko went to both Eriol and Sakura and gave them both a hug.
"Thank you for playing for us, Eriol. You and Sakura sounded great." Eriol and Sakura beamed with pride.
"Anything for you, Mom." Nadeshiko and Sakura felt joy in hearing Eriol call Nadeshiko "Mom". It wasn't often that he did say it.
Smiling, Nadeshiko said, "Come on, it's late. It's about time we go home now."
When Sakura and Eriol went to the car, Nadeshiko's phone rang. "Hello, Kinomoto Nadeshiko speaking."
A bone-chilling voice was heard through the phone. "Tell me, what's alive and will die real soon? You, that's what. You'll die and my revenge shall be fulfilled."
Nadeshiko gasped. How did he get her cell phone number? "What do you want?"
The voice laughed. "What I want is your life and what I want, I always get." And with that, he hung up.
Fearing for her family's safety, she dashed into the car and quickly started to drive for home. Eriol and Sakura noticed this and wondered if something was bothering her. She hid her emotions once she realized she might scare them both. Smiling she said, "Eriol, Sakura, remember that I'll always love you both."
"So will we," they said simultaneously.
The drive was quiet for a while and when they were halfway home, a couple on a motorbike drove by. Nadeshiko just happened to look in their direction when they passed and her eyes grew wide with fear. The guy in front took out a gun and shot Nadeshiko. The last thing she saw was his ice blue eyes and she died.
The gunshot had startled Eriol and Sakura who were sitting in the back. They noticed a motorbike continued to drive on, but Sakura saw ice blue eyes glare at her. Cold eyes that seemed to bore right through her. When they looked back in the front, they noticed Nadeshiko dead. Not only that but no one was controlling the wheel. The car drove off the highway they were on and crashed into another car, causing them both to black out.
Sakura woke up with a start and realized she wasn't in her own bed, but a hospital bed. She was confused as she looked at the needle in her arm. Remembering everything that had happened that looked around frantically for Eriol. "Eriol! Eriol!"
"It's ok, I'm right over here." Sakura looked to her right relieved to see Eriol; even if he was wounded right now.
The door opened and Fujitaka and Touya flew in. Seeing Sakura, her dad hugged her tightly. "Thank you Kami-sama. You've spared my children's' life." Touya grasped Eriol's hand. "I hope you're doing better." Sakura looked at her dad. "Where's Mom? What are we doing here?" Hearing the question, Fujitaka started crying and Touya's eyes filled with tears.
Eriol and Sakura became worried. "What happened," asked Eriol.
Touya looked down. "She's dead. Mom was…shot and killed."
"What?" Sakura could hardly believe her ears. Fujitaka looked at her with his now red-rimmed eyes.
"Yes, Nadeshiko is…gone."
Sakura looked at Eriol but couldn't even see his eyes anymore due to his hair covering them. But she did notice a tear on his face. Sakura put her hands on her face and sobbed. Why did everything that had seemed to be going so right just had to go so wrong?
A/N: That's the end of the first chapter. So tell me what do you think so far? I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll update as soon as possible. In the meanwhile, please review.