STUFFED ANIMAL

by Adri Mars

EPILOGUE

Card Captor Sakura © CLAMP/Kodansha. The only thing I own here is this fanfic's plot and whatever original characters I may create here.

An Excerpt from THE BOOK OF KEROBEROS:

How to Build a Tomoeda Stuffed Animal Guaranteed for Love

For the young, for the old, and those in between.

Your hands await for a special TOMOEDA STUFFED ANIMAL to be born!

Very simple, but the more time it takes, the more precious your stuffed animal will be!

Gather your best fabrics. A simple satiny fabric for the covering would be nice!

Cotton from the Tomoeda fields, all grown and raised with love, for the filling.

The favorite color of the one you love, as many as you can!

Eyes that can sparkle and say "I love you."

An animal you carefully choose because it reminds you of that special someone.

And if the other makes the same animal as you, you know what that means!

Place your name at the cute little animal's bottom, for it is the most important.

Pray with all your heart that your one true love makes the same animal as yours

As you recite these words:

"Dear sweet stuffed animal, soft and fluffy,

Let (that true love's name) wholeheartedly choose me."

If you not know that special someone's name, recite these instead:

"Dear sweet stuffed animal, soft and fluffy,

Let him/her find his/her path to light and find me."

With a little patience, a little time, subconsciously he or she will hear your call

The rest is up to your stuffed animal's fate.

#

Long Flight from Narita Airport to Sendai Airport

(Spring, 21 years later…)

A slightly elderly retired archaeologist turned private psychologist and full-time writer, Dr. Fujitaka Kinomoto, rested against the back of his seat inside the economy section of ANA Airlines with two enthusiastic-looking teenagers, a boy and a girl, at age fourteen. The boy looked like a teenage version of himself, with caramel hair, fair skin, green eyes, tall and lanky build, and thick black specs. The girl is a simple yet leveled average girl with shoulder-length caramel hair, green eyes, and with a sky blue ribbon that gives her half-ponytail a frilly, girly look. Her complexion reminded Fujitaka so much of his daughter, Sakura, except this girl seemed to be a bit more soft spoken and timid.

The three have had a very long travel, about thirteen hours to be exact, from London, England, to Tokyo. Then from Tokyo, the three had to change planes for yet another flight from Narita Airport to Sendai. They were to be picked up via a limousine provided by a party whom Fujitaka had yet to reveal to the two twin siblings.

"Alright, you two. For now, let's just leave it there," Fujitaka said in slightly accented English, closing his hands together and began to twiddle his thumbs. "Let's save the rest when we finally touch down."

The twin siblings applauded with enthusiasm in their eyes, with the bespectacled boy answering him in English.

"What a wonderful story, Grandfather," the boy said in his British-accented English. I can't believe that something that seems so… enchanting… could be so real!"

"If only you believe with all your heart, Aiden," Fujitaka grinned, "everything enchanting can become a reality."

"I wonder," the girl answered in a soft voice, also speaking with her natural British accent, while gazing at a sky blue and white stuffed animal tucked in one arm. "Could something like this happen to another destined pair in your hometown, Grandfather?"

"Like I said, Airi," Fujitaka answered again, "if you believe in these things wholeheartedly, it can happen to anyone."

Airi turned to her brother. "Hoe… To think that things like this happen in Japan… I mean, if this were being told back in England, we'll definitely the be biggest laughingstock in the entire town!"

Fujitaka gave a slight giggle after hearing that one little word coming from Airi's mouth. "My my, you really are a replica of your Aunt Sakura, aren't you, Airi?"

"It's not my fault, Grandfather… Dad always compared me to Aunt Sakura!"

Aiden shook his head. "Well, Aunt Sakura is now Sakura Li, meaning Sakura Kinomoto is now long gone. Maybe you're the reincarnation of Sakura Kinomoto!"

"That's a rather stupid statement, Aiden!"

The two siblings broke in to laughter, while Fujitaka grinned while hushing at his two grandchildren.

"Looks like I've done my job cheering you two up a little."

The twins nodded in agreement. "You have, Grandfather," Aiden answered. "We have to admit that Airi and I were so reluctant in to moving to Japan with you at first because of things that's been happening back home and that this entire move would be such a culture shock for us."

"Despite that the two of you were born and raised in England, the Japanese will always see you as Japanese," Fujitaka answered. "Except of course, you don't normally speak the language, let alone knowing it.

"In fact," Aiden continued, "Airi had been dead scared of the language barrier even before we arrived here."

"Aiden speaks better Japanese than I do, Grandfather," Airi bit her bottom lip. "I meant to say… I'm alright with the language… but speaking it naturally is quite difficult for me."

"Well, you won't learn the language more effectively if you don't use it with someone else, Airi," Fujitaka advised. "How often does your mother and father speak to you in Japanese back home?"

"With Mum, not so much, since she understands my language barrier struggles. Dad, on the other hand… when he gets angry," Airi sighed deeply.

"Sounds like your father, alright," Fujitaka shook his head.

"And Aiden, on the other hand, he was more enthusiastic with our Japanese heritage than myself. Aron, a little bit. Now I regret not listening to Dad's stories about Japan and his Japanese pride or even try to communicate with Dad in Japanese."

"Well, speaking of Aron, how has he been?" Fujitaka asked curiously, changing his subject.

"He's doing well, Grandfather," Aiden answered with a nod. "He's been quite busy finishing his spring semester at Cambridge University before his official transfer here in September. I can't believe he's the first of our generation to follow your footsteps, just like Aunt Sakura did. He'll be specializing in East Asian Studies, whic his why he opted to apply for a two-year program at CRU. I'm still unsure what I want to do after I graduate secondary school myself."

"You two are only fourteen, Aiden. You still got plenty of time to think about those things."

"Aron sends his best wishes to you, Grandfather," Airi smiled happily. "He was truly excited to start his next two years at Clow Reed University starting this fall after he was accepted as a foreign-exchange student. Maybe the name really helped him, don't you think?"

Fujitaka laughed. "You know, connections with the alumni and the professors emeritus are very important in Japanese universities, so that may have helped."

"Kinomoto must be a very familiar name in that university, I think," Aiden stated his comment.

"I wish I was still working at the university, but I'm very much a happy and retired man right now doing something else aside from traveling around the world digging up things from our long stretch of history. I would've love to have Aron as my student," Fujitaka nodded. "I've seen his latest photos from your mother's email. I can't believe that he's resembling so much of your late grandmother, even though he's male. I bet your father must have been fuming because none of his offspring even resemble him."

The two twins laughed. Aiden pointed towards his face. "Mum said that I looked like you when you were my age."

"I can't say I don't agree with your mother, Aiden. But your father was a very handsome young man when he was your ages, so at least I'm proud of that."

"And Mum also said that I look like Aunt Sakura when she was my age!" Airi gave a chuckle.

"Very much so, Airi," Fujitaka grinned. "Absolutely beautiful, green eyes and all."

Right then, they heard the announcements from the cockpit that they were about to land at Sendai. Aiden was already gazing through the window to see the closer view of Sendai, with his twenty-minute younger sister peered over his shoulder to have a gaze at the view as well.

"Place your seatbelts on," Fujitaka translated the announcements for the twins. "We're almost near home!"

#

Once the three got their luggages from the luggage conveyor belt, they reached for the booths to have their luggages check their content. Fujitaka handed over their three passports: one Japanese and two British, as the guard gazed at the teenage twin siblings.

"All three of you are Kinomoto, eh?" the guard noted the surname. He gazed at the names of the twins on their British passports: Aiden Mizuki Kinomoto and Airi Mizuki Kinomoto.

"They're my grandkids," Fujitaka answered in Japanese with his usual humble smile. "Born in the UK to my eldest son and his lovely wife. Please do go easy on them, especially with this lovely young lady here. This is the first time she's ever landed in Japan."

"Well then, welcome to Japan, both of you," the guard greeted the two in accented English.

"Thank you very much. We're happy to be here." Aiden immediately answered in non-accented Japanese, with Airi simply nodding as her reply.

"Well, looks like there aren't anything illegal in your luggages… you're through."

"Thank you and have a good day!"

When they arrived at the lobby, dragging their luggage using its built-in rollers, there were plenty of guests waiting for the arrival of their loved ones and their own important individuals. Fujitaka, due to his aging form, slightly ran out of breath and decided to sit down at one of the waiting chairs. The Kinomoto Twins sat down along with him.

As they rested, Aiden turned to his phone and began to play its mini-games to kill some time. At that point, Airi immediately embraced her grandfather to her, relaxing herself against him.

"Grandfather… thank you so much for staying with us for six months."

Fujitaka gave a chuckle. "You know that's how I've been doing every single year as a full-time writer and a neighborhood psychologist having my own practice now, ne?"

"I know, but still… I can't believe you came at the time when our family has been in dire straits."

"Knowing that our family is running out of grandparents to look after your parents and of course, you kids, I just had this inkling feeling that I had to be in Dover to comfort you and the family through this very difficult time… and you know… be a grandfather."

When Sakura and Syaoran finally tied the knot in a very lavish but heavenly seaside wedding celebration with a mix of Chinese and Japanese themes in their hometown of Tomoeda, Fujitaka finally saw the sign that it was time for him to retire from his ongoing world travels, discovering ancient finds and lecturing about them in numerous universities and writing books about his findings. When Touya and Kaho bore their first son, now twenty-one-year-old Aron Kinomoto, that was when Fujitaka had the idea of spending the first six months of the year in England to take care of their first-born while the two were out at work and the next six months back in Tomoeda with the Li Family. Just six months after Sakura and Syaoran got married, as well as Sakura's sixth month of her pregnancy to Xiaotian, tragedy immediately struck the family when Xiaojin Li, the smart and witty but already ailing and paralyzed leader of the all-powerful Li Family Clan of China, passed away due to a second— and fatal- stroke. Despite the tragedy, those who knew him well knew that he passed away a happy man. He had seen his goals come to reality and have seen his only son succeed in taking over the clan, and of course, marry his one true love in front of hundreds of guests: all members of the current Li Clan who traveled all the way from Hong Kong, and of course, the residents of Tomoeda. Most of all, Xiaojin already knew the gender of their first child, a fine and healthy boy, which is an automatic guarantee that the new son will become the next heir to the Li Clan leadership seat after Syaoran. Some of the close friends Syaoran made during his showbiz days from other idols to the behind the scenes crew also attended. Apparently, before the two stuffed animal sweethearts got married, his sisters, including Fanren, also tied the knot with their respective boyfriends.

This only meant one thing for Fujitaka, of course. Eventually, his daughter and his current clan leader of a son-in-law would bear their own children with only one grandfather for them to be familiar with and to look up to.

Just a month after Touya and Kaho got married, Kaho already announced her pregnancy with Aron. A month after Sakura and Syaoran got married seven years later, both Sakura and Kaho announced their pregnancies at the same time. This time, Sakura became pregnant with the next heir to the Li Family Clan, Xiaotian Li. Kaho, on the other hand, bore the twins, Aiden and Airi, just two days after Xiaotian was born. Sakura gave birth to a very healthy, very strong, and no doubt handsome son. Apparently, as the Li Family traditions go, it was the elders who would provide suggested names for the next heir, but it would be the parents who would make the final decision from those suggestions. The couple chose Xiaotian out of the following names, in which the name translates as "little heaven."

Almost every year or so, Sakura bore a son after son after son in hopes that she would finally have a daughter and that would be the end of the childbearing. As of today, the Lis now have four healthy sons, with Xiaotian at age fourteen, Shun at age thirteen, and fraternal twin brothers, Kaname and Tsubasa, at age twelve. Both she and Syaoran hoped to have at least one daughter, but somehow their hopes weren't on their side as they kept bearing more sons and no daughters. Syaoran actually became concerned about Sakura's health regarding her multiple births, also keeping in mind of the possible disease that may have killed her mother when she was only three, but Sakura decided not to give up until they finally have a daughter of their own. Still, ever since Xiaotian, he had been giving himself his own paternity leave at the same time Sakura takes her maternity leave from her work. Being the CEO of Li Enterprises, he conducts his usual work at his personal office at home while at the same time being there for his pregnant wife's needs. Sure, it was easy for an elite like him to hire a nurse to care for Sakura, but because Sakura and his children had become his priority, he wanted to take the responsibility himself as a husband and a father.

Today, Sakura is seven months pregnant with their fifth child, and Fujitaka still has yet to reveal the gender identity of the future newborn to the Kinomoto Twins. Just like the previous generation of Lis, it looks like his daughter and the current clan leader are aiming to have an expanded family as well. He laughed to himself how his long-time friends, Xiaojin and Yelan Li, survived by having one son. Today, his own daughter and Syaoran can't even produce a single daughter.

Still, Fujitaka is happy and content with one granddaughter, Airi Kinomoto, the current lone female of this brand-new generation of youths. The problem with Airi was that she only met both her Aunt Sakura and Uncle Syaoran whenever they visited England to visit their best friends, married couple Tomoyo (nee Daidouji) and Eriol Hiiragizawa, and of course, Touya and Kaho and their three children. Speaking of the Hiiragizawas, they recently moved back to Japan with one son and two daughters: fourteen-year-old Erlich, thirteen-year-old Emi, and twelve-year-old Eliza. Unlike Airi and somewhat Aron, the Hiiragizawa Siblings can speak fluent Japanese along with their native British English. It wasn't really that Airi didn't know a single word of Japanese. In fact, she herself was fluent with the language in writing, reading, and understanding. Speaking the language is a whole different story for her.

Among the three Kinomoto Children, Aiden was the only one enthusiastic about Tomoeda and the Japanese culture. He picked up the Japanese language easily when his father, Touya Kinomoto, continued to converse and speak to him in as much Japanese as he can without even speaking a single word of English. Aron and Airi felt rather intimidated and belittled whenever their father speaks to them in Japanese, but luckily their mother tried to help them out with learning the language as much as they can, mostly with the reading, writing, and understanding. Aron was catching up to Aiden, but Airi still has yet to master Japanese speech. Because of the Japanese enthusiasm, the Kinomoto Brothers would often fly to Japan from England every other summer to spend with Fujitaka and the Lis. As for the Li Brothers, Xiaotian, Shun, Kaname and Tsubasa, they were only familiar with Aron and Aiden and have yet to meet their only female cousin, Airi.

Despite of all that, Airi does have a Tomoedan penpal since childhood in order for her to improve her Japanese, courtesy of her slightly overprotective, overbearing, but caring father. Fourteen-year-old Rin Tsukishiro, the younger daughter of two of Touya's best friend, Yukito Tsukishiro and his wife, Nakuru Tsukishiro (nee Akizuki), begun to write Airi some letters in handwriting at age seven. Airi even remembered Rin's first words: "Help me with English and I'll help you with Japanese and I hope that we can be the best of friends, just like our dads were when they were our age."

The Tsukishiros, along with their older daughter Jun, now a college student at age twenty-one, and Rin, also were able to visit England a few times whenever Nakuru was invited to be a guest lecture in select universities there. While Nakuru had found success as a linguistics professor at Clow Reed University, Yukito became the new owner and manager of the newly-improved Mooncastle Diner. Since the huge success of the movie Cherry Blossom, Little Wolf, Mooncastle Diner became an exclusive franchise and it now has branches all around the major cities of Japan, just like how the movie Forrest Gump inspired to have a franchise of Bubba Gump restaurants all over the world. Still, Tomoeda remains Mooncastle Diner's first and foremost home, and flocks of tourists and movie enthusiasts from all over Japan— and possibly at other counries— would arrive at the original location just to see the scenery and enjoy its authentically delicious food.

Rin Tsukishiro mentioned to Airi through letters about her other best friend, Aki Yamazaki, the younger daughter of Takashi Yamazaki and Chiharu Yamazaki (nee Mihara). She promised that upon her arrival, the three of them would get-together and become a new group of friends. She still has yet to tell her more about the kids around Tomoeda before she started school at Tomoeda Middle School, especially in regards to her all-male cousins, the famous Li Boys. This didn't just include all four Li Brothers, but also included their second cousins, Erlich Hiiragizawa, two more Li Brothers, fourteen-year-old Tai and thirteen-year-old Shin, their third cousin, fifteen-year-old Ryo Kuze, and five more male first cousins whose last names are Murase, Liu, Takeda, and Torio. The latter was already popular on his own by being the only son of the current mayor of Tomoeda.

Airi became aware of how gorgeously handsome the Li Boys were that they were the most sought-after boys among the middle school and even high school girls, thanks to Rin's letters. She even saw a few photos of them from her brothers' summer trips over there and no doubt they were that scorchingly attractive. Luckily for her she found herself immune to the oozing sex appeal of these boys, thanks to her closeness with both Aron and Aiden. She couldn't wait to see Rin again and meet her close friend over there, Aki Yamazaki. She was a bit nervous on meeting the Li Boys though, she admitted to herself.

"I know how hard it is to cope through a loss last year," Fujitaka murmured. "Your grandfather, your mom's father, recently passed away and now your grandmother, your mom's mother, was also ailing. The school that your mother and father were working for were going through a financial crisis and that your dad and a few of the people in human resources were laid off, and your mother had to quit teaching in order to take care of your ailing grandmother. They only managed to have enough funds to support Aron's university education, but because of your parents' financial troubles, they couldn't send both of you to a decent private school. That is why your dad had this idea to send both of you here to finish your middle school and high school while he's out there looking for a new job. At least, you will be fed and given good board and room and that you have family who will keep you secure from alienation."

"And Dad was so successful in the school's HR department too. He was able to find good teachers and administrators that also got him promotions from being just a recruiter to now an HR director. And then budget cuts happened and a lot were laid off including him…" Airi gave out a deep sigh. "Poor Dad…"

"I have to admit that I was sad to hear that our parents have to send us here to Japan to finish the rest of our basic education," Aiden began to confess. "Then we can go back to England for university when we do earn some money from our eventual part-time jobs, just like the way Dad had done it when he was our ages."

"You know Dad, Aiden," Airi sighed. "Always a hard-worker and a climber to success."

"But finishing the rest of our schooling here in Japan, Airi? That's a very long time," Aiden stated.

"But you would still be at home with the family, Aiden. You won't be with any strangers," Fujitaka insisted.

"You're right about that, Grandfather."

"Why did it have to be both of us though?" Airi sighed deeply. "I don't know anything about Japan, let alone Tomoeda, and it's all my fault for ignoring my dad's stories. Aiden would be a better fit to be here."

"Well then," Fujitaka laughed. "You and Aiden enjoyed my story about the Tomoeda stuffed animals since we flew out of Heathrow Airport, ne?"

"That's because you're a better storyteller than Dad is," Aiden interrupted with a soft chuckle. "I'm armed and ready with the Japanese, thanks to the Li Brothers during my summer vacations here." He then turned to his twin. "You could've come along with Aron and me then, Airi."

Airi gave out a sigh. "I didn't want to go because it's embarrassing!"

"Embarrassing?"

"I'm the only girl in the family and I would feel like an outsider if I hang out with you and the boys."

"They have some girl friends too, you know, so it wouldn't be that bad," Aiden answered. "Although I rather don't feel comfortable knowing that those who get to hang out with the Li Boys are considered the popular clique of all the Tomoedan Youth. In fact, those kids even have a name for their clique too, The Sugar Plums."

Airi broke in to laughter. "Sugar Plums?!"

"Since the Chinese character for Li is 'plum,' it only makes sense. Of course, the Lis are the real deal. Their groupies claim themselves to be a distant relative of somebody within the Li Clan to even claim themselves as being the real deal among the Troupe Plum. Otherwise the peeps just call them by Plum Groupies."

Airi rolled her eyes. "I'll just be plain Airi Kinomoto hanging out with her real friends who don't do the whole popular clique nonsense! And who in blood hell would want to hang out with a group of kids that the rest of the town know them as 'The Sugar Plums'?"

"I'll just stick with you and whoever you end up hanging out with when school begins, Sis."

"But you'd only be the only boy in our little group. I'll be hanging out with Rin and Aki Yamazaki, that's for sure."

"No one cares about that, at least they know that we're siblings and wouldn't spread any weird rumors about us," Aiden shrugged his shoulders.

"You're right about that."

"Although everyone will immediately know that we also belong to the Li Clan as well."

Airi raised an eyebrow. "How on earth are we part of the Li Clan? We don't even have an ounce of Li blood in us, Aiden."

"But the new matriarch of the Li Clan is Aunt Sakura, a Kinomoto. The entire town also knows that Grandfather only has two children: Dad and Aunt Sakura. The entire town even knows that we're the only non-Li relatives of the core family of the clan too. When they see our surname of Kinomoto, they already know that we have very close ties to the Li Boys!"

"Just… how important are the Li Boys to the rest of the kids in Tomoeda, anyway?"

"Well, according to the emails I receive from Aunt Sakura sometimes, very important, and as a mother, she is very worried. She wanted her boys to find some nice, decent, and wholesome girls for their girlfriends, but they seem to be dating the wrong types or… something like that. In short, the girls they get to hang out with are all beautiful, sophisticated, movie-star-like girls if you get my drift."

"Oh… I guess they have those too here in Japan."

"They exist all around the world, Sis."

"Oh…" Airi gave a low toned moan, then crossed her arms. "So they're like superstar teen idols in Tomoeda, right?"

"Not even," Aiden corrected. "All of China, let alone Hong Kong, and many parts in Japan too. All of those brothers are sons of the legendary teen actor Li Xiaolang, and it doesn't help that Xiaotian, the next in line to the clan leadership seat looks almost exactly like Uncle Syaoran… except for the green eyes!"

"You showed me the pics, Aiden," Airi shook her head. "And they've got girls who are like purebred princesses. Just me standing next to them would make me look like I'd be out of place."

"Airi, in Tomoeda, no one is out of place. The boys will make you feel at home. Just look at them as more of your brothers, even though you've already got Aron and Aiden here already," Fujitaka grinned.

"Is it true that there are more Lis in Tomoeda than the Kinomotos?"

"If you meant pure-blooded, it's only me and Sakura remaining in Tomoeda. The Kinomotos didn't have a big family. My parents died early in my life, even way before I met your late grandmother." He patted his granddaughter on the shoulder. "I felt like four decades of inside mourning has finally lifted upon me when Aron was born. It was a good thing that your parents were visiting Japan when your mother gave birth to him then. They were also visiting us also when the two of you were born."

"I've always wondered," Aiden interrupted, "why would Mum and Dad do that? Have all of us born in Tomoeda but raised the rest of our lives in Dover?"

"In that way, so your names can be recorded in to the Tomoeda Book of Records. It's for the same reason as what I've told you in our storytelling session throughout our twelve hours of flight."

"Oh…" Airi blushed lightly. "I guess… to see that we're eligible enough to marry someone in Tomoeda… ne?"

"Well yes, mainly that reason," Fujitaka laughed. "And you've already got your cute blue stuffed animal ready too."

Airi smiled and showed her stuffed toy to her grandfather. "I finished it just three days before we departed from England, Grandfather. I followed the steps from the Book of Keroberos on how to make one. It's simple, but I do like it."

"And I'm sure the lucky lad who will receive that stuffed animal would be very happy, not because your stuffed animal is adorable, but for the fact that you have chosen him to be your one and only."

She blushed again while Aiden held his tongue to refrain from laughing. "I… I hope to find him soon. Just getting a boyfriend in England is just way too hard and complicated and… too much competition."

"That's because you've only attended all-girl schools, Sis," Aiden laughed.

"Dad's idea. You know how he is, Aiden."

"That does sound like your father, alright," Fujitaka chuckled, knowing that Touya's overprotective nature over Sakura and now Airi still existed.

He then stood up from his seat and stretched his arms. "Well, I've got enough rest already. Shall we head out and wait for our ride home?" The twins nodded happily as they continued making their way to the exit of the airport.

When they got outside, they were met by three females, a certain pregnant woman and two teenage girls. The pregnant woman, still donning her chestnut short hair and splashing green eyes, waved enthusiastically at the three, while one of the two teenagers, a short and demure past shoulder length dark-haired, blue-eyed girl, also gave a wave. The other teenager looked more curious, knowing that she must be a stranger to the Kinomotos.

"Dad! Aiden-kun! Airi-chan!" Sakura called out, with one enthusiastic wave and the other hand on her already bulging belly.

Fujitaka approached Sakura and embraced his daughter. "Here we are, we made it!"

"Oh, I'm glad you three had a safe trip!" Sakura expressed her happiness. Then she turned to the two British Kinomoto siblings and then immediately switched her language. "Oh, Aiden-,kun! Airi-chan! Look at you two!"

"Hi, Auntie Sakura," Aiden greeted her, as the two embraced each other.

"It's good to see you after such a long time, Auntie," Airi greeted her right after. The two ladies embrace each other.

"Well, you two are all grown up! Now wait a minute… you look familiar now, Airi-chan… are you really real or just a figment of my mirror image?"

"Auntie!" The two ladies laughed, then Sakura turned to the two girls. "And I'm sure you remember Rin-chan. This other shy girl right here is Rin-chan's good friend, Aki Yamazaki. By the way, how's your Japanese?"

Airi sighed and shook her head, but Rin placed her arm around her and spoke to her in English. "No worries, just stick with Aki and me and you'll learn Japanese in no time. Aki knows English too! Aki, this is Airi-chan, the girl I told you about. Her dad and my dad were the bestest friends and I hope it'll be the same with all three of us!"

"I look forward to it. Welcome to Japan!" Aki immediately responded in perfect English. "I study at an eikawa after school. I love the English language, so the parents enrolled me there since I was little."

"An eikawa? That's English conversational school or something like that, right?" Airi asked to confirm.

"That's right," Aki smiled. "I'm a huge fan of British culture, just like how almost a quarter of the world have become fans of anime and manga. I prefer the historical English movies and literature than silly overreacting comics and animation."

Airi laughed. "I really do think the three of us girls would get along very well! I do hope you don't mind Aiden hang around with us!"

Aiden sneaked in with the girls and introduced himself, imitating an English gentleman. "I am no means a gentleman, but I am English!"

"Right, an Englishman in Japanese skin," Airi joked. Her twin brother and her two new friends introduced themselves and bowed along with handshakes. After the introductions, they were definitely ready to go.

Later, Sakura approached the kids while the concierge crew helped loaded the bags in to the limousine. "Well then, we'll be having lunch once we get home to Tomoeda. We've got plenty to catch up to do!"

Everyone nodded, as Airi gazed at the bulging womb at her aunt's body. She then walked closer, then placed her hand on to the unborn child growing inside. "My name is Airi Kinomoto. I can't wait to see you soon, little Li-kun!"

"'-kun'?" Sakura gave a soft chuckle. "How did you know that our future little one will be another boy?"

"I don't know," Airi smiled and faced her aunt, green eyes to green eyes. "I just had an inkling that you'll have another boy. Grandfather hasn't told us the gender yet, but I figured… Aunt Sakura will have another boy."

Sakura grinned, embracing her niece. "Tell you what. In two months, he will be arriving. When that day comes, maybe you can help me out come up with a good name for him."

"Can I? I'd love to!"

The limousine drove right in front of the entrance of the airport. At the driver's seat, a slightly familiar driver in uniform exited and headed for the back door.

"Our ride is ready, Dr. Li," the chauffeur said.

"Thank you very much, Yong!" Sakura answered with a grin.

Just as she planned twenty-one years ago, she wanted to get in to the same field with her father, which is in Archaeology. However, during her undergrad years as an anthropology student, she became fascinated with chronology rather than digging up old and buried ancient treasures like her father that she switched her concentration from archaeology to ethnohistory. As a masters student, she became an intern with her father during his Mongolia expeditions as his secretary and scribe. At that point, she too got interested in writing historical books, just as her father did. Eventually, she got her bachelor's degree in anthropology, a master of science in cultural anthropology, and a doctorate in anthropology with concentrations in cultural anthropology and linguistic anthropology. During her university days, she also studied and became fluent in English and Cantonese. The English was for Touya's British-born children and Cantonese, of course, was for her future husband Syaoran and their future half-breed children as well.

After Sakura gave birth to Xiaotian, she retired from traveling around countries and decided to become the new curator of the newly-opened Tomoeda Cultural Museum while also continued to do her chronological research and her writing, just so she can be closer to home, closer to the husband, and closer to the son, of course. Today, her assistant curator was now managing the museum due to her fourth maternity leave and had been staying home while continuing on her other projects and writing.

And just like her father, she too earned the title of "doctor." Hence, her chauffeur referred to her as Dr. Li, rather than Madam or Mistress Li. She was already married to Syaoran before she earned her doctorate, which is why she didn't share the "Dr. Kinomoto" name with her father.

"This is Yong Wang, the family guardian and confidante. He is a nephew of our former family guardian and confidante, Wei Wang, who recently retired from his position as our servant, but he is living the rest of his life in Tomoeda in a very nice and cozy beachside home, not too far from our home. Yong has been very efficient and also a very close friend to my sons." Sakura turned to Yong and spoke to him in Japanese. "These two are my older brother's children, twins Aiden and Airi. Please treat them with the same kindness and respect."

Yong, though a pureblooded Chinese, spoke to the twins in Japanese. "It's an honor to meet the both of you, Master Aiden and Miss Airi."

"Good to meet you also, Yong-san!" Aiden answered in Japanese. Once again, Airi just nodded as her response.

"Well then, let's all hop in!"

All six of them entered the limousine, making sure that Sakura had enough room so she wouldn't have to feel cramped along with her unborn child inside of her.

"Sakura, you should've just stayed home," Fujitaka said. "Your new boy would need a whole lot more rest and energy from his mom, you know."

"Dad," Sakura laughed. "I've survived three births while being a little active. This little one will be as strong and steadfast as his big brothers!"

"Let me guess. You're still not giving up with the whole daughter bit."

"My boys are having a bad influence already! I'm scared that they may be falling for the wrong types of girls, especially my Xiaotian! I even convinced Syaoran that I'm willing to adopt a girl if our fifth one turns out to be a boy again."

"Are you really going to adopt?"

Sakura gave a sinister glint and turned to Airi. "How about you become my new daughter instead, Airi?"

"Eh? Auntie!" Airi laughed.

"I don't think your brother would like the idea, Sakura," Fujitaka chuckled along.

Sakura softened her laughter. "I know. Poor Oniichan…" She gave a loud sigh.

While they were already on the road, Sakura continued on the topic on her older brother in England. "I can't believe that school isn't doing that well nowadays… poor Oniichan got laid off because of its poor status… and then Kaho-nee's mom became sick and had to resign as a teacher…"

"This is why they're bringing their kids here in Japan, back here in Tomoeda," Fujitaka said. "Both of them didn't want the kids to suffer along with their problems."

"Mou, Dad, you know at the enterprise, there have been a few internal problems also. I think Oniichan may benefit from it."

Fujitaka blinked curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

Sakura then turned to Aiden and Airi and switched to English again. "Your Uncle Syaoran fired so many people because of mismanagement including the corrupted ones at the enterprise's HR department including the enterprise's CHRO."

"CHRO? What's that?" Airi asked curiously.

"Chief Human Resources Officer," Sakura said. "You know that your dad and myself almost talk everyday on Skype about everyday life when we can. His rapid growth within the human resources field was expanding really fast and he had climbed up the ranks, right up to becoming a director of the school's human resources department. I don't keep secrets from your Uncle Syaoran, so I told him about your parents' current struggles. Eventually, your father showed me his resume so I can give him feedback. I didn't tell him that I also showed his resume to Syaoran in hopes that maybe he would help your father out in networking and finding connections and tap in the hidden job market over there in England.

"It turns out that your uncle was very impressed with his qualifications, skills, and accomplishments in his resume that he had found him very fit to fill in the currently vacant CHRO position for Li Enterprises. We're not just talking about a subsidiary company here and there, we're talking about the entire conglomerate."

"Wow… CHRO… that would mean that Dad wold be an executive officer and he would be one of the big bosses in the hierarchy of Li Enterprises!" Aiden exclaimed.

"He's currently looking for new people to work at the Sendai main headquarters to replace the ones he got rid of, but he's prioritizing the HR department first. I think your father should consider coming back here."

Aiden's eyes widened in surprise. "A job opportunity for Dad— and a very huge opportunity at that— at Li Enterprises?! This sounds really exciting, Aunt Sakura!"

"Isn't Li Enterprises like… the biggest conglomerate in the entire world now?" Airi asked curiously. "I remember the girls in my school were talking about it during our social science class. Although they talked more about the boys than the clan leader himself, to see Dad working for Uncle Syaoran and for the Li Clan… it would be a great honor for the entire family, at least in my opinion."

"The only thing is, Dad has way too much pride," Aiden sighed deeply. "Well, at least now he and Uncle Syaoran are cool with each other compared to how they were according to Grandfather's stuffed animal stories."

"It's becoming really difficult to find a job nowadays in England. I also do think that maybe it's better if Dad and Mum move back to Japan. I don't mind a sudden change," Airi added.

"For all we know, maybe that's another reason why Dad and Mum sent us back here to Japan so we can adapt to cultural and social change in their home country before they decide if they're going to move back here or not, Airi."

"Well," Sakura interrupted, "Syaoran and I will be talking with your father together so we can… tone down his pride, so to speak." She gave a wink, giving the twins a soft chuckle.

"Dad can be so stubborn," Airi giggled, "but somehow he gets powerless whenever Mum or even you would intervene! I remembered when I was still little that Dad used to rant about Uncle Syaoran a lot, calling him a brat and all that. Nowadays, he doesn't anymore."

"That's only because one of our sons actually turned out to resemble him," Sakura shook her head. "You know one of the two fraternal twins, Kaname-kun, ne?" She reached out for her phone, flipped the photos in store, then showed the photo of the fraternal twins, Kaname and Tsubasa Li. Though the two were not identical to one another, both have dark brown, almost black, clean-cut hair. Kaname did look like a young Touya with dark brown eyes and Tsubasa looked like a dark-haired Syaoran with amber eyes.

"Wow!" Airi gasped. "Kaname-kun does look like a younger version of Dad!"

"And when we first sent photos of the twins at age five to you guys, your father started bragging already, saying things like 'Yeah. You see that Li kid right there? Yeah, he's the son of the Li Clan leader, third in line to the leadership seat… and yeah, he looks like me because he's my nephew.'"

The twins broke in to laughter, with Aiden shaking his head. "Oh, Dad. Dad can be really silly at times. He rants one thing and then claims that one thing as his later on."

"He was so upset that neither of you three resemble him a little bit, not even the eyes or the nose, that he thought that he was being cursed by the Book of Keroberos for being so mean to me and Syaoran when we were little. And then the twin boys were born… and things have changed for him."

"He really is a strange one, Dad that is," Airi laughed.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Fujitaka exclaimed, changing the subject. "On the way home, can we stop by the museum really quick? I need to grab a few of my textbooks in your office, Sakura."

"Ah, that's right!" Sakura laughed. "I'm done with those books anyway. Thanks for letting me borrow them."

"Anything for my little historian daughter." Fujitaka planted a kiss on her forehead.

"And while we're there," Sakura said, "I'd like to show Aiden and Airi something very special in there."

"Ooh!" Airi cheered happily. "What is it, Auntie?"

"You'll see… you'll see…"

#

When they arrived at the Tomoeda Cultural Museum, Fujitaka went ahead in to the museum office to find his textbooks. Sakura and the Kinomoto Twins followed from behind, along with Airi's new friends, Rin Tsukishiro and Aki Yamazaki. When they entered, they found many different displays of local Tomoedan culture from its local arts and crafts to even donated artifacts and antiques. As they went deeper through the exhibits, they suddenly stumbled upon one small section of the first floor of the museum. The sign up above is read in Japanese: "The Tomoeda Stuffed Animal: Collections of True Love's Destiny."

"Whoa! So many Tomoeda stuffed animals!" Airi cheered happily, with Rin and Aki giggling from the side.

Sakura turned to the teenagers. "I was told by your grandfather that he told you the entire story— almost— of my crazy love life with your Uncle Syaoran, ne?"

"Oh I don't know about the almost part," Aiden laughed. "The way he told us your story sounded mightily heavily detailed to me."

"So, are Chiirou and Ying Fa real?" Airi asked curiously while clinging on to her own Tomoeda stuffed animal.

"Right this way!"

Sakura lead the kids through different displays of stuffed animals, all in pairs and were donated by couples who found true love with each other through these stuffed toys. Slightly towering the rest of the display, they finally found the particular pair they were looking for.

"Aww… how adorable!" Airi gasped in excitement as she gazed at Chiirou and Ying Fa bears sitting together inside a glass display. At the surface was a caption that was written in Japaense and English:

Chiirou and Ying Fa

CREATORS: Sakura Kinomoto (Chiirou) and Li Xiaolang (Ying Fa)

"Seven years of being apart and true love helped them found each other again…"

Airi read the date that these stuffed animals were donated to the museum. "You donated these stuffed animals around twenty years ago? You weren't married yet!"

"We were already engaged to marry," Sakura smiled. "Before this museum became open to the public, the sponsors were asking the entire town to donate a special antique or an artifact that would truly represent Tomoeda and the culture of Tomoeda. So many of the townsfolk donated a lot of their old things. When your Uncle Syaoran finally proposed marriage to me with a real engagement ring to boot, he also suggested that we should finally let go of Chiirou and Ying Fa. What a better way to give them to a safer place than this museum!"

"That's a wonderful idea, Dr. Li," Rin Tsukishiro spoke with a prideful smile. "I really do wish the powers of the Tomoeda stuffed animal would activate already…" She led out a sigh and lowered her head. "I don't even know when he would ever wake up and finally remembered that we exchanged stuffed animals when we were little…"

"Aww, Rin-chan…" Sakura reached out for Rin and gave her an embrace. "Give him time, ne? Airi will finally straighten him out!"

Airi gave a curious look. "Hoe? What's Rin's childhood true love got to do with me?"

"Oh… nothing! Nothing!" Sakura chuckled nervously, with Rin placing a hand on her mouth.

"Just like Grandfather had described these bears," Aiden murmured, placing a hand on to the glass, immediately interrupting them and changing the subject. "They were exactly the way Grandfather described them… Ying Fa and those wings…"

"You both donated Chiirou and Ying Fa here at the cultural museum," Airi murmured her words. "This is for everyone to see… and it's not just Chiirou and Ying Fa… all these other stuffed animals did their purpose for two destined lovers in this small town! Grandfather was definitely not exaggerating!"

"Your grandpa exaggerating?" Sakura laughed. "We are talking about the great Dr. Fujitaka Kinomoto, Ph.D here, respected retired archaeologist, historian, and award-winning author here. He does not exaggerate when he lectures and when he tells his stories!"

Airi gave a soft giggle. "I'm sorry, Auntie Sakura. I didn't mean any offense."

Her aunt gently embraced her. "I know you didn't mean it, Airi."

When the two withdrew from each other, Sakura continued on with the subject. "Say, did you finally recite the magic words right after you're finished with your stuffed animal, Airi?"

"Magic words?" Airi asked curiously. "In Japanese, right?"

"The stuffed animal's magical powers won't work if you don't recite these words."

"I… I must have missed them when I read Grandfather's British English version of The Visitor's Guide to the Book of Keroberos."

"Well then! I'll assume that you haven't found the right boy whom you want to give that stuffed animal to." Airi shook her head. "Well then, yes, you have to recite it in Japanese, but you can always follow after me."

"Okay, Auntie."

"What you do is hold your stuffed animal tight to your heart and recite these words…" She then changed her language to Japanese and recited those words: "'Dear sweet stuffed animal, soft and fluffy, let him find his path to light and find me.'"

Airi cleared her throat and recited those same words, holding her stuffed animal tight to her heart. "'Dear sweet stuffed animal, soft and fluffy, let him find his path to light and find me.'"

"Well now, your Japanese diction is pretty good!" From behind, Aki Yamazaki spoke her view after hearing Airi's voice actually speaking in their native language.

"Yeah! You sound really fluent!" Rin nodded in agreement. "Like I said before, Airi-chan, just stick with Aki and me and you'll be fluent in Japanese in no time!"

"Thanks, guys," Airi laughed.

Right then, Fujitaka arrived with the two textbooks, along with another female curator wearing a white lab coat walking next to him. Sakura turned to see who was walking with her father and then gave a huge wave.

"Dr. Li!" The young lab coat curator with the thick black glasses showed a surprise to see Sakura present. "What are you doing here? You should be back at home resting!"

"Good to see you too— Dr. Li!" Sakura giggled, referring to the lab coat woman.

"Hoe?" Airi blinked curiously. "She's Dr. Li too?"

"That's right," said the lab coat curator, whom we also refer to as Dr. Li as well. "But I'm Japanese, actually. Like your Auntie Sakura here, I too am married to a very handsome Chinese man."

"Well then," Aiden approached the other Dr. Li. "We had no idea that there are two Dr. Lis within the Li Clan! So, you're the curator?"

"No," Dr. Li laughed. "I'm only the associate curator, but I'm running things around here while the real curator, my boss and partner Dr. Sakura Li here, is on maternity leave. I really can't believe that all these years that we're still working together even if our concentrations of study were different from each other. I think when the time of retirement comes, I believe we'll even retire together."

"Ha ha ha, maybe," Sakura winked. "Anyway, my nephew Aiden and my niece Airi will be staying here in Tomoeda for the time being until things are settled down with their family back in England."

"Oh?" Dr. Li winced. "Is it really that bad? I mean I've heard about it but… that's… well…"

"Well, unless Dad decides to ditch his pride and take the job offer of CHRO at Li Enterprises, then we might even move here permanently," Aiden grinned happily. "Man, I hope Uncle Syaoran would be able to convince Dad."

"Oh he will," Sakura answered with pride. "I'm sure you've gotten to know Li Xiaolang through Grandpa's stories here, how his mind works and everything. If he can tame a fame-hungry teen idol actress those twenty-something years ago, he can tame your father's pride."

"Well then," Fujitaka interrupted. "I really do wish you could join us." He turned to Dr. Li, who was just adjusting her glasses.

"Maybe during dinner when I see the boys," Dr. Li grinned.

"Say, Dr. Li?" Aiden asked curiously. "You have children?"

"Yup. Two tall, healthy, and handsome boys the same age as Xiaotian-kun and Shun-kun. Ne, Dr. Li?"

Sakura laughed. "Oh yes, definitely tall, healthy, and handsome… and they always hang around with my boys too!"

"Well, they are cousins after all."

"Right." The two Dr. Lis nodded with grins and winks, then Sakura finally ended the conversation.

"Next time during your lunch period, you should stop by so we can have lunch together. You know, visit me!"

"Will do, definitely."

The two Dr. Lis embraced each other as they said their byes. The guests along with Sakura also did the same.

When they headed back to the family limousine, Aiden still couldn't help but to stare at the other Dr. Li who was already waving at them at the entrance of the museum. He and Airi then turned their eyes towards Sakura as they drove off from the parking lot.

"Aunt Sakura?"

"What is it, Aiden-kun?"

"About that other Dr. Li…"

"Hm? What about?"

"What's her first name?"

Sakura grinned. "First name? Hm… I wonder…"

"Aw, come on, Auntie!" Airi giggled. "I know that look on your face! She's someone important to you and to Uncle Syaoran and the family, ne?"

"Well… you could say that…"

"And she said she has two sons, also Lis, who always hang out with your sons, right?" Aiden asked another question.

"That's right. You'll eventually meet her sons soon also."

"But you won't tell us her first name… or even her maiden name even…" Aiden crossed her arms.

"We just want to know if she was ever involved in your love story as Grandfather told us back in England and our flight here."

Sakura's grin grew wide. "Looks like Grandfather here didn't tell you about the summer sports camp yet, ne?"

"No, I haven't gotten to that part yet, Sakura," Fujitaka chuckled.

"When we get home and we find the right time to do so, I'll tell you kids the story about the summer camp that truly sparked the Tomoeda-Nijibe rivalry to other sports and events and not just with soccer. Not even the boys know about this story as well."

"Hoe? But why you haven't told the boys yet?" Airi asked curiously.

"Well… let's just say… the right time hasn't come yet, Airi. Besides, I'd love to tell this portion of the story to all of you kids one day, but as for the two of you, to prepare for attending Tomoeda Middle School and eventually, Tomoeda High School. I know both of you are soccer players yourselves and are part of your boys and girls' soccer teams in your schools."

"Of course, Aunt!" Aiden gave a thumbs up. "The three of us, Aron include, live for the beautiful game! Football out there equates to life itself!"

"Then I guess the two of you are prepared then should you plan to try out for our schools' soccer teams—"

"You should try out, Airi-chan!" Rin exclaimed. "Aki and I are in the girls' soccer team too! We could make a triple threat together against those Nijibe girls!"

"Yeah?" Airi exclaimed. "I can't wait to try out and join!"

Aiden blinked his eyes in curiosity. "I thought… I thought there weren't any girls' football teams because of budget cuts or something?"

"That was then," Sakura grinned. "But the girls' soccer team was brought back in to our schools twenty-eight years ago, the year right after that summer sports camp."

"Wow, amazing!" Aiden exclaimed in surprise.

"We all owe it to Dr. Sakura Li here," Aki spoke with a huge grin on her face. "I'm not gonna spoil anything until your aunt and even your grandpa tell you the summer sports camp story, but… Dr. Sakura is a true hero to all of us girls here in Tomoeda! We owe it all to her that our girls here can finally do anything they want while enjoying their school years. Never will they get stuck to simply cheerleading, softball, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and swimming anymore. In fact, we even got martial arts teams too: judo, karate, kendo, and… kung fu!"

"Hoe? Kung fu?!" Airi shrieked in surprise, which made the rest in the limo broke in to laughter.

"A lot of things have changed since that summer," Sakura said, facing forward with a smile on her face. "A lot…"

"I bet that summer camp must be one hell of a camp then, I must add," Aiden said with a nod.

"Like I said. The boys still don't know the story about the summer camp yet. Let's just say… I would like to wait until summer when all of you kids are together now!"

"You mean you're waiting until Aron arrives here in Japan too?" Airi asked.

"Absolutely. It's the first week of April now. I believe Aron's spring term ends at the end of May to early June. You would still be in school by the time Aron arrives here. It's perfect timing!" Sakura cheered.

"Wow…" Aiden muttered to himself. "So we have to wait until summer just to hear the story about the summer camp…"

"It's only a few months, Aiden. Good things come to those who wait!" Sakura winked.

The passengers then began to talk about other things, more of like breaking the ice period. Despite that Aiden and Airi are male and female twins, they have a lot of things in common. Both of them were soccer players, thanks to their father Touya's influence. Both twins are also topnotch students in their schools, thanks to Kaho being their at-home teacher, even though the two went to separate schools, with Aiden attending the school that both Touya and Kaho worked for since they settled down there, and with Airi attending an all-girls' school. When Sakura and all the others in the limousine heard of this fact, Sakura already blamed Touya for passing on his sister complex from her to his own daughter. At least for now, Airi is temporarily free from her father's usual antics by being thousands of miles away from each other.

In addition to soccer, both also love to read. The twins, along with Aron, would have their own little book club session at home, discussing the latest book they were currently reading. They would check out the same books from the library, read them together, and simply discuss. Their reading and comprehension would help them concentrate more on their studies and earn their top marks, according to Kaho's own philosophy.

Then again, what kind of Kinomoto would that person be without showing any little talent in music? Like their father and their aunt, all three siblings are well-versed with music. Kaho was an accomplished pianist herself and taught all three how to play the piano, but eventually, the three branched out to learn other instruments. Aron learned how to play the saxophone and acoustic guitar, Aiden with the drums, and Airi with any form of guitar she could lay her hands on. Aron and Aiden also learned how to write and compose their own songs, in which Airi still has yet to learn and master that skill just yet. One more hobby to add that also differentiates the twins is that Aiden has found his own passion for photography. Even though Touya found photography as a hobby for sissies, he couldn't deny his own son's wishes and bought him a starter DSLR camera set, complete with two interchangeable lenses and other starter necessities. Ever since then, Aiden have been taking photographs of everything he found interesting from scenery and landscape to random things to random people. Of course, he also loved taking photos of his family as well. Maybe he could try photography as his way of life, taking lifelong portraits of people and place and open up his own gallery exhibit for people to see and get inspired.

It was Sakura's turn to talk about her four sons. She was delighted to learn also that she and Touya had a common accomplishment in raising their own families, which was that they were able to have twins who did not look identical with each other. At least in that way, their twins would not get away with any mischievous acts behind their parents' backs should they even try it. Touya had a boy and a girl set of twins while Sakura had a pair of two twin boys who also did not look like each other. It was only fitting to name her two boys with names that did not even resemble each other and be able to teach them how to be more individual so that people would be able to tell them apart so easily.

Xiaotian learned to admire the things that Syaoran did when he was younger. What he didn't like, he admitted to them at one point, was the fact that he entered showbiz just for him to regain his memories. To Xiaotian, that sounded like he was selling himself to the public in exchange for the return of his past identity. He thanked his mother for appearing back in his life again and make him fall in love with her all over again, which led him to quitting the idol business and proceed on to take on his new role as the new leader of the highly-esteemed Li Clan. Xiaotian too also inherited a few qualities from his mother as well. Aside from being a very fast and tactical forward in soccer and a master in the Li Family style kung fu, he was an accomplished musician and a singer, and sometimes he would use his sultry, alluring singing skills to make any girl melt under him. Apparently, his perfect blend of Li and Kinomoto in him also made him irresistible to the female race and that sometimes that fact can get in to his head. That was one disappointment that Sakura had to endure, but that did not just end with her oldest. But despite of all that, Xiaotian is the more reserved and somewhat sullen that also made him intimidating to majority of the boys his age. Oh, he's the son of the great Li Xiaolang, alright.

The second son, Shun, is almost identical to Xiaotian when it came to hobbies and interests. The only difference is that he became interested in the showbiz industry, so much that he begged both his parents to let him become a showbiz idol at a young age. Luckily that Japan's biggest talent agency today, Sunbow Entertainment, is also a conglomerate subsidiary of Li Enterprises, with his look-alike uncle, Shulai Li, as the current CEO and president. Syaoran permitted Shun to be enrolled in different acting, singing, and dancing lessons as long as he's able to keep his grades up in school. So far, Shun had accomplished that and today, he is an up and coming new fresh face of the Japanese teen showbiz scene.

The Li Twins, Kaname and Tsubasa, were only fifteen minutes apart, with the former being older. Despite their teen idol status in Tomoeda like their brothers Xiaotian and Shun, both were living as normal local Tomoeda boys. Aside from the same hobbies as the two older brothers, they were both in to other sports aside from soccer. Kaname is an accomplished baseball player and a marathon runner, while Tsubasa is a highly-skilled basketball player and a swimmer. In addition to their family style's kung fu, they also entered in to Japanese martial arts, with Kaname in Aikido and Tsubasa in Judo. Another hobby that the twins don't share with the rest of the family is that Kaname is considered the "nerd," teaching himself computer programming and building software and applications for his enjoyment and also for classes, while Tsubasa is the "bohemian," whose love for art and illustration soothes him whenever he's stressed. Tsubasa is a self-proclaimed otaku as well for his love for videogames, anime, and manga, and that he also hoped to become the very first member of the Li Clan to be a recognized mangaka in the Japanese manga industry one day.

"Tsubasa-kun already made manga-style versions of yourselves, you know," Sakura gave a soft laugh. "He only had your recent photos as his reference, so his illustrations of you are based on those photos."

"Oh my!" Airi giggled. "So, I get to see an anime-manga version of myself in my old school uniform?"

"Well, you'll see once we arrive. I'm sure you'll love it."

"I think Tsubasa-kun would be my favorite cousin!" Airi laughed.

"You still have yet to get to know the other three, you know," Sakura reminded her. "I'm sure you'll become fond of all four of them in any way."

"You're right about that, Auntie."

#

"Dr. Li, we're here now."

Airi's eyes widened in surprise when she realized that they had been talking all this time without even seeing and observing the town itself through the tinted windows. Sakura gave a soft chuckle when the doors were opened for them.

"Here we are. Welcome to the new Li Residence!" Sakura announced. Fujitaka let the others exit the limousine first before Sakura. After the pregnant Sakura walked out, Fujitaka was the last to exit.

Airi's eyes became at awe once more when the surroundings were completely blocked with tall bamboo trees and all sorts of trees from oak to pine. Sure enough, they had just drove through the dense forest that Tomoeda was known for.

"Where's the house?" Airi gasped. "We just… drove through the forest!"

Rin placed an arm around her own. "Well, Dr. Li did say that this is the new Li Residence!"

"But I thought the Li Residence is only next door to the Kinomoto Residence here… right?"

"Well yes," Fujitaka joined in, "but that's Xiaojin and Yelan's home. This is where your Aunt Sakura and your Uncle Syaoran lives."

"Hoe? In the forest?!"

"This way, everyone!" From behind, Sakura waved at them when Airi spotted a strong pair of iron and wooden dense gates behind her.

The teens gathered around her, with Airi being in front. Sakura began to explain. "Behind these gates is a narrow roadway towards the entrance of the house. It's a bit hilly so you'll have to bare. This is only the entrance. Getting out of this area takes another secret shortcut back to the main road, but I'll explain that later."

Airi blinked curiously and turned to Aiden. Her twin explained to her why the entrances and exits to the Li Residence deep within the woods were rather extraordinary. "To avoid the media, of course! It's pretty much heavily guarded, but very discrete. Plumspark Security, the geniuses behind this very sophisticated security system installed in this area, made sure that there were no uninvited guests to be able to have access to the grounds. In fact they even have a database of the people who are allowed to visit without restrictions."

"Wow…" Airi gasped. "And Plumspark Security is…?"

"You guessed it, Sis. Plumspark Security is another conglomerate subsidiary of Li Enterprises."

"I knew it…" Airi spoke dryly.

"These trees here? Sure, they're just forest trees, but many of them have cameras and other devices installed, so twenty-four-seven, the entire grounds are monitored very carefully."

"My goodness… this is like… a maximum security prison!"

"On the outside, it is," Sakura grinned. "But inside… well… you'll see."

"So, Auntie, are we going to walk from here?"

"Walking is a lot more relaxing and less… bumpy… than driving through these gates. We're now on foot because we'll be walking our day down. You can go ahead and carry what you want to carry along. All the heavy luggages will be taken care of Yong."

"But Auntie, wouldn't you feel tired? I mean… the baby and all…" Airi spoke with concern in her eyes.

"Psh, having a good walk while being pregnant is what I enjoy the most, you know? Well then, shall we go?"

The twins grabbed their backpacks, deciding that they can carry those, knowing their most prized possessions are inside. The rest of their luggage including Airi's guitar remained in the limousine.

"You ladies go ahead," Fujitaka said. "Aiden and I will catch up to you."

"Alright then." The females waved to the males as they proceeded to another hidden gated trail lead by Sakura.

The four females found the walking trail leading downward, still going through the vast thick forest, giving the natural sounds as Mother Nature intended it. With a smartphone on her hand, Airi began taking photos of her surroundings. She had hiked through these types of trails before, but not the tropical scenery such as this one.

Sakura continued to be their tour guide as they slowly made their way downward to their destination. What kind of a house do the Lis have, Airi wondered to herself. She heard about stories and saw a few photos from her brothers during their summer trips here, but never really saw the entire estate as a whole. As she was descending down the trail, she knew she would be in for another big surprise.

"There's nothing for you to be afraid of in this neck of the woods," Sakura announced. "When the leadership seat and all of the Li Clan assets were finally transferred to Syaoran when he turned twenty-one, the first thing he did was to purchase this piece of land using the money he earned from being a teen idol. He paid so much money from the producers of Cherry Blossom, Little Wolf, even though he rejected the payment and said that he was glad to play his final role as a teen actor for free. When the producers convinced him to accept their payment anyway, he decided to save the money to buy some land in Tomoeda. Of course, I didn't know what type of land he was aiming for and what he was going to do with it until several years later when he officially proposed to marry him. He made sure that the area he purchased was safe for any human to hike through while not harming any wildlife living here."

Sakura turned her head towards Airi with a grin. "In short, today, this entire grove we're walking through right now is officially Li property. Your cousins know the way around this area with their eyes closed, so if you do ever get yourself lost here, one of them will eventually find you."

"Wow, that's crazy! Maybe I can get familiar with this neck of the woods too!" Airi exclaimed. "I'm still unfamiliar with the grounds of Tomoeda, but why this particular strip of land, Auntie?"

"Hmm…" Sakura grinned once more. "You'll see why, once we get there!"

"Can't wait!"

As they continued to walk down, Airi decided to get herself lost for a bit by halting at her trail and to experience the sights and sounds of this piece of land that her powerful uncle purchased intended for his new home and with his new life with her aunt. She closed her eyes tightly, losing herself from the real world while hugging her own stuffed animal tightly to her. She just wanted to take a listen, have a light feel, wanting to find out for herself the real reason why her uncle Syaoran chose this piece of land.

She could hear chirping birds echoing through the air. She could also feel the light breeze slowly blowing through her face and hair. But what struck her the most from these nature sounds was the sound of the clashing ocean nearby.

Ocean! I can hear the ocean! That means… this is coastal Tomoeda!

And reminiscing her grandfather's stuffed animal young love story of Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li, they always hung out at a particular place in coastal Tomoeda that was only referred to as the super secret spot. Now that her mind thought of it, whatever did happen to their super secret spot?

Just as she was about to open her eyes and proceed down the trail, rather than meeting her way ahead, she instead met the ground when she felt a strong force that pushed her down to the ground, dropping her Tomoeda stuffed animal. Luckily for her she did not hit her head, as the backpack she was wearing protected her from getting injuries.

"Ah, sorry! I didn't see you there!" A youthful yet slightly deep and rich male voice exclaimed.

"Hoe?"

Airi felt a rather strong and warm body right over her. In fact, she found herself in a rather awkward situation when she noticed that she and this mysterious male in a rather awkward position, with him right on top of her, only stopped by slightly toned arms stretching against the ground to prevent himself from burying her.

"Watch where you're going!" Airi exclaimed in English, only to realize that she was no longer in her home country, but in the home country of her parents, Japan.

When she turned her head towards the face, the first thing her emerald eyes caught were deep and rich amber red eyes gazing right directly at her. She waited for the sun to give her some sunlight to identify this mysterious boy's face. Once the sun gave her what she requested, she almost gave a soft gasp when she finally had a clearer look on his face.

Deep and rich amber eyes… not the future clan leader, Xiaotian. But he looks so much like Uncle Syaoran when he was younger… and tousled, wolf-like hair… ian't be Shun or Tsubasa either since those are the only two boys that have amber eyes but their hair is pretty clean cut. Kaname looks like Dad, brown eyes and the hair… then… if he's not one of the Li Brothers, then… who is he?

"I… I'm sorry…" Airi murmured in her basic Japanese. The boy slowly stood up from her, as he offered his hand to help her stand up. "Oh, thank you!"

When she got up, wiping herself off of the dirt, the boy bent down to pick up the stuffed animal that she dropped. The boy, definitely a head taller than she was and perfectly physically fit with his plain striped white and red t-shirt and knee-length dark red shorts, stood up right when he picked up what was dropped, revealed two identical stuffed animals with him.

"Hoe? Two stuffed animals?!" Airi exclaimed, still speaking in her most basic Japanese that she can come up with, although her English accent completely disappeared when she spoke the language.

"Oh! You're right!" The boy laughed. Somehow, the way he smiled and the way he chuckled made her heart skip a beat. This was wrong, she thought, knowing that the heavily attractive Li males are her relatives even if she had no single trace of Li blood in her. She couldn't have a Li make her heart skip a beat like that. What was going on here?

"Well, one of them is yours and the other is mine." Right then, without thinking a second thought, he handed one of them to her.

Airi, who could not tell if this stuffed animal was hers or not at the first look, simply took it from him. "Why do you have that other stuffed animal?"

The boy gave a wolfish grin. "I suppose you've crossed the Li Family territory by strolling down the main trail, but anyway. Us Lis and our friends have this game where we run around the woods and hide. Us boys hide while the girls come and look for us. Today is my turn to be the main target of the game, thus I'm carrying the stuffed animal with me."

"Oh… I see… sounds fun!" Airi naively answered.

"But this is a secret game, okay? This is like… a hookup game, so to speak. Since you're a stranger in these woods, I trust you that you keep this little game a secret."

"S-sure! N-no problem!"

At this point, her inner voice suddenly began to murmur in her mind. What is this boy's name? Why is he in the Li Territory thinking that I'm the one trespassing? I don't even know him… I've never even seen him… maybe I'm just seeing things because a boy as handsome and dangerously attractive as he cannot exist in the real world!

"Oi! What the hell are you doing there? We're still in the middle of the game! This is no time for flirting, yo!"

They heard another male voice calling out at their direction. Both Airi and the mysterious amber-eyed boy turned downward at the trees to find another teenage boy around their ages with dark black hair and deep purple eyes calling his friend. Right then, the amber-eyed boy turned to Airi and then smiled at her.

"Well, the game isn't over yet, but don't forget what we talked about."

"Sure thing. Not a problem!" Airi gave a timid grin.

"Before I go, what's your name?"

"My name? Ah… Kinomoto. Airi, Kinomoto."

"Kinomoto, huh? That explains why you're in Li territory. Well then, I'll see you again!"

And just like that, the two teenage boys disappeared like dashing wolves in to the deep woods. Right then, she found herself blushing while cursing herself for not being able to ask for that boy's name. Then again, at least he already knows her name and how she looked like. She proceeded right down the trail.

A few minutes later, she caught up with Sakura, Rin, and Aki, with more confusion in her face. Sakura already knew that she wandered off a bit but was glad that she found her way back.

"You look like you've seen a ghost there, Airi-chan!" Sakura chuckled.

"Auntie Sakura… I'm very well aware of how all four of your sons look like, but can I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing! We're almost there, by the way. Can't you hear the sound of the ocean getting louder?"

Airi nodded, along with the other two girls with her. "Auntie Sakura, do you know any kid around my age who looks so much like a younger version of Uncle Syaoran?"

"A boy your age who looks like a younger version of… ah!" Sakura gave a happy grin. "Of course I do! Must be my nephew, Tai-kun."

"Hoe? Tai-kun?"

"You must be referring to Tai Li," Rin suddenly joined in with a smile. "How'd you know about him?"

"He… he bumped in to me earlier while I was at a trail… said something about a hide and seek game and… he also had an identical stuffed animal like mine…"

"I suggest you stay away from him, Airi," Aki suddenly gave her a warning.

"Hoe? But why?"

Sakura gave a loud sigh. "I'm afraid Aki-chan's right, Airi-chan. Tai may be my nephew, but keep in mind that you and he are not related by blood at all. You're not a Li and he is not a Kinomoto."

"That still doesn't explain…"

"Xiaotian and Shun are notorious heartbreakers— fate knows how on earth they turned out to be such a bunch of casanovas knowing your uncle and I never raised them that way… In fact, majority of the Li Boys— my sons included and even the cousins— are all heartbreakers. Tai is the worst one…"

"When you say heartbreakers, do you mean…"

"A player, Airi," Aki continued on. "But what pisses Rin and me off is why so many of the girls here in Tomoeda and in Nijibe would wanna get their hands on the Li Boys. I think all of them think us girls are just a bunch of toys to play with!"

"Oh! Oh my…" Airi shook her head. Sakura placed an arm around Aki.

"And this is why I desired so much to have daughters… at least, girls in the new generation of Lis… because of that… and they're so uncontrollable… sometimes it makes me think if this was some kind of a curse that's bestowed upon Syaoran and me… for meddling and breaking the rules."

"Rules? What rules?"

"Rules… as in regulations and traditions of the Li Family Clan… it wasn't very easy to win the favor of the entire Li Clan to have me as your uncle's wife… it was a major struggle. There was so much internal conflicts and conflicts of interests going on and the clan was a total mess right after Uncle Xiaojin's first stroke that gave him the inability to speak. Knowing that Xiaojin was already close to the end of his life, everyone back in Hong Kong and even a few here in Tomoeda have been having competitions with each other to see which one of them will be the acting clan leader until Syaoran was ready to lead the clan at age twenty. Of course, your Grandaunt Yelan was the one who became the acting clan leader for a few years, but still…"

"I can imagine the struggle, Auntie Sakura… I mean, a Japanese being married to the heir of the leadership seat is definitely breaking tradition that would not suit well with the elders."

"When Syaoran and I got married, that's when he… took revenge, so to speak. He made a lot of changes within the family clan system, such as marriage and all of that. He made the elders become second class and made himself and me as the permanent heads of the entire clan. Rather than him being the sole leader, when we got married, he included me in the leadership seat and that both of us now have full authority on anything related to the Li Clan. He got rid of all these crazy traditions, such as the whole Pei-Pei-Nai-Nai bit and the whole clan leader training stages and things like that. He also changed so many rules as well regarding the hierarchy. Instead of by age or by thicker or thinner blood, he would choose the inheritance line to the leadership seat as he sees fit. He even banished and cut off some of the family members who attempted to take over the leadership seat themselves and tried to get rid of Syaoran while he was still at his tender young ages.

"I have never seen Syaoran so angry and vengeful before in my life when that happened. He explained to me that he was doing this in honor of his father, which many of the members, including osme of the elders, took advantage of just because a car accident left him paralyzed for life and a stroke that rid of his speech abilities… today, the elders can't look down on Syaoran anymore. Instead, everything that they have decided had to have Syaoran's consent before they execute those decisions. If Syaoran wasn't available, then I have the authority. Still… I'm still not used to being the joint leader of the clan, Airi-chan. Me just being his loving wife and mother to his children is more than enough for me."

Airi hooked her arm around hers, resting her head on her shoulder. "Oh Auntie, no matter what, you're still the same Auntie Sakura we know and love… and you and Uncle Syaoran have visited us back in Dover many times. I really couldn't picture Uncle Syaoran as being the fearless, intimidating clan leader whenever he's at our presence. He presented himself as a loving husband to you and a loyal younger brother-in-law to Dad and a cool uncle to Aron, Aiden, and me."

"At home, you'll see your Uncle Syaoran as… well… your uncle. When he's at the main office at Sendai, well… you don't want to see him over there."

"But he's at home now, right?"

"He had to attend an important executive meeting in person at the Sendai office today, which is why I came along to pick you guys up from the airport. He wouldn't let me out of the house even just because he's worried about me and the baby."

"Aww… you'll have to forgive him, Auntie. He's just being a worried husband and father, you know?"

"I know… and that's why I'm lucky to have him in m life right now…"

The four females shared their laughs and cheers as they finally walked the last few paces to the main house.

#

Airi thought she died in heaven when she finally gazed upon the main house of this new Li Residence. Words alone couldn't even describe the majestic splendor of the modern-style Li Mansion with hints of Chinese and Japanese architecture influences accented in to them. She though that she just stepped in to a palatial heaven and were about to meet the gods. The colors of deep crimson red and white truly blended the colors of nature including the clean blue ocean right at the background of the house grounds.

Sakura was greeted by the many servants when she first entered and introduced Airi to them. At this point, she invited the girls to make themselves feel at home as they waited for Aiden and Fujitaka to arrive along with Yong and the family limousine. Rin and Aki decided to go to the restroom first, while Airi asked permission from Sakura if she can head to the backyard, where the white sandy beach awaited for her presence. She proceeded there when Sakura simply advised her that she didn't need any type of permission just to explore the home.

When she got to the backyard and down the stairs towards the beach, there were no other words she could think of describing the entire Li grounds but paradise in heaven. With her smartphone, she began to take more photos and planned to post them in her social networking accounts. She remembered that her grandfather said that there were no internet or mobile signals in this area, but with the rapid advancing of technology in Japan, that was completely changed. She can now catch strong mobile signals and can upload all of her favorite photos on her accounts.

As she went slightly further down the beach, she saw something rather unusual at the sand area. She ran directly there to have a closer look. Once she reached there, she found two sections of carved writings in Japanese in Chinese on one of the nearby tree trunks. Being well-versed in the Japanese writing system, she read what was written there:

KEEP OUT! NO TRESPASSERS ALLOWED! This Super Secret Special Spot is SK & SL Territory. Leave now or you'll be sorry!

"Hoe? Where did I… wait… these words… could this place be—"

"Welcome to the super secret special spot!"

"Hoe!" She was startled to hear a familiar deep male voice and quickly turned to see who it was.

"Uncle Syaoran!" Airi exclaimed happily as she and her uncle embraced tightly to each other.

"I hope I didn't scare you, Airi-chan."

"No, not at all. I was just startled, that's all. I had no idea that you're already home."

Syaoran Li, to the public he was still known as Li Xiaolang, stood in his simple calico-patterned polo shirt and dark blue jeans, still looking fresh, young, and deadly attractive even for his age. They released from each other, with Airi smiling timidly.

"Looks like you have found the legendary super secret spot that Sakura and I would run and hide and spend our time here together. Good detective work there!"

Airi quickly shook her head. "I was a bit suspicious because Grandfather had just told us about…"

"Well, it's not really that of a super secret spot, you know."

He took a seat next to that tree trunk, inviting his niece to sit next to her. "What do you mean? I think this really is a very special place for you and Auntie Sakura… and you have your new home built here. I can't believe this is the strip of land you bought using the money you earned from the Cherry Blossom, Little Wolf movie! Now I'm beginning to connect the dots!"

"You know, your instincts is like that of an archaeologist. Very Kinomoto-like."

"Hehe…" Airi humored herself by the compliment. "I thought Auntie Sakura said you're in Sendai?"

"I was fifteen minutes ago. I ended the meeting early knowing that you and Aiden and Dad… I mean your grandfather… would be arriving here from England. You all could've contacted me so I could've sent out a private jet for you to ride."

"Dad suggested that but Grandfather was too proud and decided to just buy the plane tickets for the three of us."

"Then again, your grandfather is a wealthy man at his own right. Even though he's retired now, he's still making a lot of money from the books he's written."

"Ah, I see. So then… what happened to your old neighborhood with Dad and Uncle Sakura and the Hiiragizawas and such?"

"It's still there," Syaoran laughed. "The Li Residence over there belongs to my parents, not mine. My mother— your grandaunt— insisted that I inherit the house also, but she and my father— your late granduncle— had that house built for themselves. I didn't want anything inherited from the family assets, so I decided to purchase this piece of land, formerly known as the 'super secret special spot,' and have our new home built here. I've made a long list of promises that I've made to your aunt. I think I've accomplished most of them but one."

"What was that?"

"Having a daughter… another epic failure from my part when we both learned that we'll be having another boy soon." He then turned to her and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I'm glad that you have arrived with Aiden, Airi. I was beginning to worry that you'd refuse to come after what your parents are going through now… unemployment, your grandfather's recent passing, your grandmother falling ill… I know how it feels like to have these types of struggles, so I can understand why they decided to do this for you and Aiden."

"Well, it's about time that I would eventually meet the entire family back here in Tomoeda. After hearing stories from Aron and Aiden and Dad of their summer vacations here, I felt a bit of jealousy in a way. I was also feeling really left out… and I can't even speak Japanese as fluent if I wanted to…"

"You'll be fine, as long as you stick with the right people while you attend school here."

"I'll be hanging out with Rin and Aki, so I think I'm in good hands."

"Oh good to hear. I'm glad you're able to meet them. They're daughters of two of my best friends since we were kids, you know…"

Airi nodded. "I know about their dads. Yukito Tsukishiro and Takashi Yamazaki, right?"

"Yup, especially Rin-chan. Her father and your father were like blood brothers, you know."

"I hope we can carry on the tradition with me and Rin being blood sisters, just like Dad and Mr Tsukishiro were and even up to now."

"I'm sure that's not impossible, Airi." The two laughed when they were interrupted by the lady of the house.

"Ah, so there you are, Airi!" Sakura exclaimed happily. "And Chiirou, how long have you been here? I thought you were still in Sendai?"

Syaoran stood up, took his wife in to his arms, and planted a very tender kiss on her lips. "I ended the meeting early. I've been out here just having a nice walk and forgetting about work, knowing the house will be filled with more people soon. Sorry I didn't announce my arrival immediately, Ying Fa."

"Mou…" Sakura laughed and returned that same tender kiss. "I'm glad you're able to see Airi here!"

Airi stood up and answered. "I found your territorial claim on that tree trunk! The entire stuffed animal story Grandfather told us… Chiirou and Ying Fa stuffed animal… now the super secret spot… everything is true!"

"Of course it is!" Sakura laughed, pulling her niece to her. "Anyway, lunch is almost ready. I had Yong call out for the boys now."

"Oh good. I'm starving!" Syaoran grinned. "But before, we go in…" He then reached in to his pocket to reveal a Swiss knife that has his initials on. He took out its strongest knife, then handed it to his niece.

"There's new carvings underneath those words now. Take a look."

Airi approached the tree, then skimming through those territorial claim words were names right underneath them. Thanks to her fluency in reading and writing Japanese, she recognized the new carvings as the names of the new generation of Lis. Much to her surprise, she also found the names of her family being carved by them personally. Obviously, her name was the only one missing in there.

"Ah!" Airi gasped. "This Swiss knife was for me to carve my name on the tree, ne?"

"That's right," Sakura smiled.

Following suit from everyone else who carved their names in Chinese and Japanese, she began to carve her name in Kanji as well. She wrote Kinomoto Airi with the "ai" resembling an unusual kanji for "beautiful" and "ri" for "jasmine."

This was the first time both Sakura and Syaoran have seen Airi's name written in Kanji, and indeed, Touya and Kaho gave her name with unusual Kanji that most Japanese never thought of using for their names.

"This is read as 'airi'?" Sakura questioned her Kanji.

"It's translated as 'beautiful jasmine,' Sakura," Syaoran explained to her. "They're common characters in the Chinese writing system, so it was easy for me to read."

"So… Oniichan followed suit with the naming of the Kinomoto girls," Sakura smiled. "Nadeshiko… Sakura… Airi…"

"Named after flowers, I know," Airi smiled. "But there's no jasmine flowers in England…"

"Which is why you're in Japan now," Sakura winked. "We have a huge flower garden in the grounds too. Later after lunch, you can check it out and you'll see the jasmine flowers in full bloom along with the sakura trees there!"

"Can't wait!"

Airi handed the Swiss knife to Syaoran. "Alright then. Let's talk over lunch. We need to catch up and of course, you need to meet your cousins."

"Yes, Sir!" Airi enthusiastically exclaimed.

As the three walked back down the shore and to the stairs, Airi began to ask a string of questions related to their love story:

"Do we really have to wait for Aron to arrive here just for you to tell us about the soccer game at the summer sports camp those years ago?"

"Patience, dear Airi. It's only fair to have all the kids present before we tell you the summer camp story, ne?"

"Alright. Then… Auntie Sakura, about that letter from Pei-Pei Nai Nai? What did it really say?"

"You know, I was curious about that too," Syaoran joined in. "In fact I didn't even know you went through that whole Pei-Pei Nai Nai nonsense back then… just to see how eligible you are to be my wife?"

"It was Meiling's idea, Chiirou!" Sakura defended herself. "I didn't even know you had that kind of tradition in the first place!"

"Well, we won't have that anymore. That woman has been dead for ten years now and choosing a bride based on their legs and butts is just disgusting!"

"Oh, and now that I remembered this," Airi continued, "you mentioned earlier at the limo that Uncle Shulai is also married with kids and he's no longer that notorious player and gigolo anymore. If he has two sons now, who did he marry?"

"You'll find out when we tell you about the summer camp story…"

"Aw man… okay then, then what happened to Mio Kuroda then? Wasn't she one of your closest friends?"

"Ah, Mio-chan is doing really well. In fact, you already met her."

"I have?" Sakura simply grinned. "Aww, I guess I'll have to wait for that summer camp story for me to get my answers, huh…"

"Any more questions, Airi?" Syaoran asked curiously.

"You still haven't told us the first name of that other Dr. Li that we met at the museum earlier!"

"You didn't tell her, Ying Fa?" Syaoran wondered curiously. "Why?"

"Summer camp story! Wait for it!"

"Mou, Auntie Sakura, you're always full of surprises!"

"It's one thing that Oniichan gets annoyed so easily about me!" Sakura cheered. "Any other questions?"

"Is the whole golden elixir bit real?"

Right then, Syaoran found himself coughing, with both Sakura and Airi gently rubbing and patting his back. Once he recovered, he cleared his throat again.

"Please, let's not discuss about that…" Syaoran pleaded.

"Aw, but Airi is already fourteen. She's old enough to know these—"

"In the Li Clan, girls have wait until they're twenty to know those things—"

"But I'm not a Li, Uncle Syaoran!"

"Damn… I mean… darnit… well… that can wait till later…"

"Oh, alright then…" Airi sighed.

Right then, they entered the home, where they found Aiden and Fujitaka already arrived, and like with Airi earlier, they greeted one another with open arms.

THE END(…?)

A/N: Well well... that's all folks! Thank you for reading Stuffed Animal! I hope you enjoyed it (despite the grammatical mistkaes and typos and all of that ^^) as much as I've enjoyed written it. Parting is such sweet sorrow, but as you can see, there is a "...?" at the end of "THE END." That should already give you a clue as to why I had that. Mainly it's because...

/drumroll/ … a SEQUEL will come! :D

So, I've read your reviews and your requests and I know some of you would be sad and upset that this is finally the end, but after re-reading some of what I've written so far, you know how hard it is for me to part with this story as well. I remembered writing "Study Buddy" and "Fall Play," the first two CCS fanfics I've written 12 years ago (2001) under a different pen name of "Daidouji Tomoyo" and then drafting out Stuffed Animal in script format too, but that didn't work out and well... waited several years until my interest in CCS returned to me again, and now I've rewritten and completed my third (and longest) CCS fic I've ever written. I give myself a pat on the back for that. ^_^

Here's a curious question though to all your readers. Have any of you read any SxS lemon fics? If so, what'd you think of them? I've read a few here and there at FFnet and other places, but I'm left disappointed, simply because a lot of these lemon fics (not all, alright?) had our favorite couple written completely out of character. I've hoped for a deeply intimate and romantic type of lemon scene... as in... two lovers completely in love with each other and making love to each other for love and not for any other reason. And no, I don't find both couples being experienced with sex by being with others first before they start doing it with each other romantic either. So in short, I avoid them for the fear of the whole OOC and all that crap. I guess you can say, I love to read and write deep and sweet romantic love stories, not smut. Right? If some of you are curious, I did experimented by writing a SxS lemon fic at one point a long time ago, but I never really got to it. In fact, I never even passed the kissing part. How embarrassing is that? LOL. Anyway, moving on!

In terms of the sequel, well, I want to give you guys a chance to write your reviews and let me know what you'd like to see in the sequel. For sure, I can see that many of you want to read about the summer camp/soccer game vs. Nijibe, more Mio and Shulai scenes (I admit I've grown to like the two as well), and yeah, that's about the feedback that I got LOL. But I want to read more of what you guys say, most especially regarding the sequel starring a brand-new generation of Tomoeda teens. What do you think of them and... please, just let me know. ^_^

As for Astral Towers, well, if you prefer me to continue that instead of starting with the sequel, I can do that too. Unfortunately I can't do both of them at the same time because I really suck at doing that as an author. /feels all ashamed XD/

Awrighty, shoutouts to all the new followers and those who just added "Stuffed Animal" to their favorites. Thank you very much! Last, but not least, my replies to you reviewers! ^_^

littlepuppylost – I've always loved ending my fics with a slightly comical scene. Poor Syaoran indeed LOL. But you know, I'm not gonna go away yet LOL. ^_~

Rachel'RR – Well, lemme know what you want in the sequel first before I start. XD

Just a reader – thank you for joining in this nutty journey with me in "Stuffed Animal," I really appreciate it! But like I said, please review again regarding this epilogue so I'll know what type of sequel that I'm facing with LOL.

300th reviewer – LOL congrats on being my 300th reviewer! ^_^ "Almost," huh? Well, that's better than not and I'm glad I was able to engage you with this fic. Hope I'd do the same with the sequel as well. ^_^;;

Laury rose – Don't forget to review regarding the epilogue so I'll know what to write in the sequel ^^

dragongarcia – Thanks for reading, really appreciate it as always. And you're always welcome. Hope you read more of my future fics when I get to them. ^_^

I'm just a person now read 66 – XD Please leave me a review about the epilogue first, then we'll discuss Shulai and Mio later LOL XD

Narqissa – SEQUEL! SEQUEL! XDDDD Glad you're able to read the latest update. Sometimes FFnet's like that. I don't even get those auto-emails sometimes even from my fave authors. But yes, more Mio and Shulai. Gotcha LOL.

Hwangminmi – I did mention that it is an AU fic in the summary ^^ Thanks for reading and I'm glad you've enjoyed it! ^^

Reader277 – Awwww... thank you. ^_^ I like doing the whole "magical realism" thing (dunno if that's even the correct term to describe Stuffed Animal) where there's something magical about the story that doesn't involve any magic... or something... right? LOL.

Anyway, if you all would like to get in touch with me, you can contact me through various means. Just click on my FFnet profile and you'll see my blog, portfolio, Twitter, Facebook, and all that. Or simply you can just send me a PM there. I still have yet to build that CCS fanfics blog that I mentioned about the other day, so please stay tuned. In fact, you all should PM me your email addresses so I can create a mailing list and send everyone email updates regarding the fanfics blog. It'd be so much fun that we'd have our own little community or something like that LOL.

I also encourage any one of you writers out there to write your own fics based on Stuffed Animal too if you like (as long as you give me credit for the plot and all that XD). I've got plenty of original characters that I just made up along the way that I just don't know what to do with them LOL. But I'm really happy that you guys really like the original characters of Shulai and Mio. There's definitely something between them, they just don't know it yet. ^_~

This is Adri Mars, again, thank you, and see you all when I see you. Don't forget to PM me your email addresses. ^_^