Spring Sakura

Now that everything seemed to go well between the King and the Visiting Princess, nothing could ruin that perfect day… Wonder what will happen during breakfast?

Chapter 8:

A Task for the Visiting Princess Starting After Breakfast

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That wonderful morning's breakfast wasn't like any other. Surprisingly, the King and the visiting princess were sitting right next to each other, talking about their passion for music. The visiting princess's body guard sat next to the stoic archeologist who noticed the rather major changes in Kurogane's mood. The young princess and the High Priest of Clow were happy to see the King talk to the princess. It was such a wonderful sight.

Food was served on the table. Various fruits were wonderfully peeled and arranged on a silver platter. Loaves of bread were present with different kinds of jam. Hot tea was served inside cups and a servant slowly placed a cup down on the table.

Sakura loved to make something out of the food during breakfast. It looked like she was some five year-old who played with her food. Everybody resented it because of the smile the princess. It was childish and naïve yet that smile could make anybody feel better about life. That smile was worth millions to the people who see it. It was as if it had some sort of mystical power behind it. One smile could heal a broken soul. And besides, it was her simple joy so why take that away from her?

That morning, Sakura took a small loaf of bread from the bread basket. It was about five inches long and two inches high. It was semi-circular in shape and light brown in color. It was also fresh from the oven. She took a small container beside the bread basket which had reddish-brown jam called mangosteen jam. She used her bread knife to spread the jam on the top of the bread. Then, she took the small container which contained peppermint jam. She cleaned her bread knife and used it to make two little dots on the bread. After the blueberry jam, she used the strawberry jam to make a smile. She happily sighed and smiled to herself at the small accomplishment.

The stoic archeologist sat across the young princess on the table. He watched her every move with sheer curiosity. As soon as she finished it, he looked at her questioningly. 'How old is she? Five?' Then, as if she could read minds, the princess answered, "Even if I'm already sixteen, I still do this because it's been a habit of mine. Silly, isn't it?" She felt – and showed – self-pity.

Hearing this being said by his sister, the King eyed Syaoran as if he was shooting daggers at him if he made Sakura shed a tear at that moment. Syaoran felt this and said, "No, not at all. I think it's actually…" He looked for the proper word but sadly, he failed. "… cute."

Sakura beamed at him. She looked at that face of his which looks apologetic. It looked so pathetic that Sakura wanted to laugh out loud. But being a princess meant that there were certain rules of etiquette she had to obey all the time. One of the rules was to never laugh out loud in front of the dining table. She controlled her laughter and decided to make her next move. "Syaoran, I give you the honor of receiving my bread face this morning. My brother is usually disgusted with my bread face and Yukito-kun has been eating this for quite some time too." She handed him the small plate where the bread face was found.

Everybody except Kurogane looked at Syaoran. Syaoran thought of this for a moment. If he did not accept the bread because of his ego and pride, the princess would be offended and the King will have his head on the plate by lunchtime. If he did accept the bread because of all the possible effects he thought of, nothing bad would happen. Just self-degradation and a bust-up ego. He decided to take option two and accept the bread from the princess like a pauper accepting food from the rich.

When he took a good look at the bread, he suddenly realized that the face on the bread was HIS face. Brown hair, green eyes – he had all those characteristics. Then, it hit him. He knew he didn't smile that often around the palace – or anywhere else. That thought made him suddenly crack a smile.

Sakura watched his every move as he take the plate from her and slid down the bread like any commoner would. Typically, if she were offered a slice of bread on somebody's plate, she'd take the plate and place it beside her own plate. Then, she'd use her knife and fork to slowly lift it up from that plate. But she knew Syaoran didn't know that and she looked at her brother who was just about to point that out.

But before the King could make a retort, the High Priest spoke. "Tomoyo-hime, you seem to be in good terms with the King this morning. Did something happen between the both of you?" All eyes looked at the newly formed couple who was acting so sweetly to each other. The King was slicing bananas for the princess.

Tomoyo heard the question despite her attempts of stopping the King from slicing bananas. She can do that on her own after all. She shyly answered the question as the King continued on his task to slice bananas. "We compromised with each other to try out this relationship for the better." Tomoyo sighed and looked at the diligent King slicing a lot of bananas.

The young princess and the High Priest just smiled and laughed in a controlled manner at the sweet gesture. The King finally looked at them with questioning eyes. "What is the matter with all of you? Is it not normal for me to slice up a banana or two?"

This time, manners were set aside. Laughter suddenly filled the room. Sakura looked like she was about to cry from the fits of laughter she was having. Yukito was laughing but caught himself so that he can point out, "Your majesty, I hate to say this but so far, you already sliced around five to six bananas."

The King wasn't aware of the number of the banana peels beside his plate and the amount of small banana slices on the Tomoyo's plate. He decided to do it like it was a task he needed to finish as soon as possible. All that came out of the King was, "Oh."

The visiting princess backed him up. "Don't worry, Touya-sama. We can always share this right and…" Tomoyo picked up her fork and got a piece of the sliced banana stuck in it. She slowly raised it and said, "This is how I am going to repay your kindness for slicing the bananas. We are sharing the pile and I'm going to feed your share to you." She smiled sweetly and motioned the King to open his mouth.

Touya didn't want to put on such a show that morning, especially not in front of his best friend and his sister. But the look on Tomoyo's face – a pleading look mixed with shame and something that said 'eat this or I'll never forgive you' type of face – was rather irresistible. He opened his mouth and ate a banana slice.

Sakura wished that someone would do what Tomoyo was doing to her brother – be sweet and lovey-dovey to her. She glanced at the boy in front of her who was suppressing his laughter. Syaoran wanted to laugh along with the others because it was indeed a funny sight. But he stopped because he knew it was rude.

Then, she couldn't help but glance at the tall, dark man sitting beside Syaoran. He looked like he was carrying the world on his shoulders. Sadness was evident in his eyes. A frown – or more of like a scowl – was present in his face. Surely, watching over a princess wasn't that hard so why did that man have such a sad yet scary face?

The laughter and romance died a few minutes later. Everybody went back to eating. But then, Yukito started another topic. "Tomoyo-hime, I am not sure if this is a tradition in your country but, as the soon-to-be queen of Clow, you have to organize your engagement party which will be held two months from now."

Tomoyo looked at Yukito inquisitively. "An engagement party?" She was one of the priestesses that kept the shield of Nihon intact. If she, the powerful priestess who protected Nihon with all of her life, were to leave her post – as she did right now, they'd need to find at least ten priestesses to replace her. Because of this, she rarely left the prayer room, even during occasions. It was hard to find ten more priestesses just to replace her so that she can please herself with the glitz and glamour of parties and social events. Her sister was the one who went to those parties. She was the one who stayed at home.

There were few times when she attended drinking parties. During those moments, somebody got killed or eaten by some monster from the other side of the barrier.

"I'm sorry, Yukito-san, I can't organize the engagement ball…" She looked down before answering. "… because I have no experience in doing so." She twiddled with her index fingers shyly. She was a princess who didn't know how to arrange a party. Most princesses knew how.

"Don't worry." Sakura piped up. "I can help you with the preparations. And…" She eyed at her brother who eyed her back. "Surely, my brother will be happier to help you with it."

Tomoyo's face brightened up and smiled at them. "Thank you very much. I'll do my best in order to make this party a success." She told them this with so much energy that also made the King enthusiastic. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead, followed by her nose, and her lips. "I'm happy to hear that, my princess. This is our engagement party." He placed an arm around her. All she did was smile.

The King secretly looked at the other man sitting beside Syaoran. The man looked like he's going to kill a thousand men just because of his jealousy, disgust, and anger. Touya was entertained by all this drama and he made sure that he added more to that. His facial expression and gestures gave him a message: 'She's mine now and no one, not even you, can steal her away from me.'

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Author's Notes: See? I told you I wrote the breakfast part. I finished it a few hours after I posted the last chapter. My story's on the process and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Isn't it just cute? Touya's slicing bananas for Tomoyo. It was a random thought and well, it came out pretty well, in my opinion.

Please do review. I'd love to hear from my readers.

Do look forward to the next chapter called The Preparations with a Hint of Forbidden Romance. See you then!

Disclaimer: CLAMP owns Tsubasa Chronicles. Thank you.

-angelraine-