Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Return to the Labyrinth	By : Capitalist Category: +. to F > Card Captor Sakura Views: 8620 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, nor any of the characters from it, nor do I own Labyrinth. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
Chapter 18

‘question’

Yue nearly died, the night he returned to reclaim his kingdom. Such a battle on the night of a new moon sapped him of almost all his strength, and it took everything he had to stand throughout the aftermath as if nothing at all had happened. The various chess pieces had gathered in his castle and he endured them, one after another, but it was the princess and her sweet naiveté that broke him in the end. Yue had won his battle, saved the Labyrinth, and preserved its future. But the biggest gamble he’d ever played had come up short, for he’d lost the one prize he set out to win.

Weary and heartsick, Yue retreated to his tower and collapsed into bed.

He slept strangely. He dreamed, in the midst of the night, that Clow crept into his room and slipped into bed beside him. Yue had not dreamed of him in many years, but now he grasped at the comfort of his presence and held it close, let it lull him into a deeper sleep. Such an oddly realistic dream, it was.

When Yue woke, it was daylight. The glass walls of his tower bedroom had darkened in response to the bright sunshine outside, keeping his room dim and cool, but he could see the sun had already risen high in the sky. Yue’s body was fully rested, his strength returning. Far above, though it may be washed out by the sunlight, the moon had turned a slim crescent of light back onto the earth and onto Yue. He was no longer weak, no longer vulnerable.

Neither was he alone. Yue watched the face of the sleeping boy beside him and tried to understand, unsuccessfully. He’d failed, he remembered that very clearly, Touya had called his bluff and refused to be conquered, his eyes blazing with fury and rejection. For all the rest of the night, since they returned to the world, he’d kept his wary distance from Yue. So it was not possible that he slept here beside him, willingly nestled against Yue’s shoulder, yet here he was. Yue touched a disbelieving fingertip to his face, tracing the line of his jaw, and Touya stirred in response. Eventually he opened his eyes, sleepily registering the world around him, and found himself under Yue’s gaze.

“Hi,” he mumbled.

“Hello,” responded Yue in kind. His finger kept moving down, past the neck and down Touya’s chest.

“Don’t.”

“Oh? You don’t expect me to collect rent for sleeping in my bed?”

“This is why I’d hoped I’d wake up before you.” He rolled over and tried to sit up, only for Yue to grab his arm before he could get away. “Let go. I did what I came here to do.”

“And what was that?”

“None of your business.”

Yue tightened his grip. “I disagree.”

“I just wanted to see what it was like,” Touya said impatiently. “That’s all. Going to sleep beside you, waking up with you, I wanted to know how it would be. You’ve answered my question, so now I’ll go.” He ripped his arm out of Yue’s grasp and scrambled out of bed, making it as far as the stairs before he stopped short. Maybe, just like Yue, he caught a flash of déjà vu from that night five years ago.

He stopped short, and slapped his hand against the wall. “What am I doing? I don’t have to run away from you. She said I’m in control of this thing between us. I just need to stop playing defense.”

The nonsensical words were hardly out of his mouth before he was retracing his path to the bed in long, determined strides. He practically leapt on top of Yue, nearly toppling him back over onto his back, and attacked him with a kiss. A thousand fires blazed up within Yue’s newly refreshed body, hot and intense with desire. Touya, his usually shy and standoffish lover, was straddling him and kissing him with all the force of years of frustrated lust. His hands found Touya’s shirt and crumpled the material in fists, holding him close while Yue eagerly responded. They fought for dominance, which was in itself an unusual thrill, pressing against one another, blindly tearing off clothes, gasping for breath when they could before diving back in for more. Together they fell over onto the sheets, the occasional moan slipping out, or a grunt of effort in ripping off the last of those troublesome pants.

It did cross Yue’s mind that this was their first time in reality, that for all their trysts in the world of dreams, Touya’s body was still every bit a virgin. He wondered if he should proceed more carefully than usual, but Touya scattered any such thoughts when he shoved Yue back against the pillows and took his erection in his mouth. God, the boy had learned so well, and Yue could not stop himself from gasping and throwing his head back. He thrust his hips forward, delighting in each and every thing that Touya could do with his tongue, and growled low in his throat when the boy pulled away.

“I want you to continue.”

“I want you to stop talking.” Touya found a handful of Yue’s hair and yanked him forward to kiss him again, fondling with one hand Yue’s arousal until it was weeping with slick moisture. He was climbing back onto Yue’s lap, positioning himself, but Yue didn’t quite grasp what was coming until Touya bit his lip in preparation.

“Toya -”

He sank down onto Yue, impaling himself, visibly wincing from the pain. His grip on Yue clamped down harder, almost enough to hurt the king, and he had to fight to take several deep breaths, but he stayed where he was. Yue kissed him, more lightly this time, cupping Touya’s jaw in his hand and holding him tenderly. After a minute to collect himself, Touya began to move again, the two of them moving together at that pace they knew so well. Yue dropped kisses down his neck, and along his collarbone, taking special care to bite and suckle the mark he’d left there five years before. Against his skin he felt Touya’s body heat, and the beat of his heart, every low and labored gasp of breath. He was in pain, Yue knew it, but those moans were not forced, and his own arousal under Yue’s ministrations was close to bursting. The sex had been so rough, and fast, not at all like Yue’s usual style, but he didn’t care; right now Yue did not care about anything but Toya and the taste of his kisses. They climaxed within moments of each other, Yue managing to hold out just a few seconds longer after Touya had shuddered and collapsed against his chest.

They remained that way for some time: still and silent, panting for air and struggling, each in his own way, to recover.

“And now?” Yue asked, when he finally could. “Have you gotten what you came for?”

“I still don’t know.” Touya pushed himself back into sitting upright, still breathing heavily, and tried to wipe some sweat off his brow. Yue saw his hand was trembling. “I don’t know… anything anymore.”

“Let me make it easier for you.” Yue leaned forward to kiss him again, but Touya intercepted his lips with a finger.

“No. You will not seduce me this time, Angel King, we already both know that you can. That isn’t what I want from you.”

“Then tell me what you want.”

“Why should I make anything easy for you?” Touya asked in disgust. Stiffly and slowly he pushed himself off Yue’s lap. “What have you ever done but test me, and do your very best to break me? Look at my body. Do you see these bruises? That’s twice now I’ve barely survived your labyrinth, while you don’t have to do anything but watch.”

He squirmed back into his clothes, tugging on his filthy and ripped shirt before casting a dark glare his way.

“So here’s how it’s going to be. We’ll finish this how we started it – with a game. You like games, don’t you, your majesty?”

“I win them,” Yue corrected, eyes narrowing just a little.

Touya smirked. “We’ll see. You’ve gotten your strength back – that’s pretty obvious – and I know you can send me and my sister home today. You have until the end of the hour to do it. In the meantime, you can try to guess a certain question. If you guess it before the clock chimes… I won’t go.”

Yue’s newly-returned heart skipped a beat. “You what?”

“You heard me; I’ll stay. But only if you can guess. If you can’t, we’re over, and this time it will be for good. Do you agree to the terms?”

“Devious and manipulative,” Yue commented, reclining back against his pillows. “I always knew you were a perfect match for me.”

“Do you agree?”

“At least tell me what the answer to the question is.”

A secretive smile tugged at Touya’s lips. “You already have it. The answer is no mystery. Whether you can figure out the question, that’s the mystery. I bet you can’t. But anyway, clock’s ticking. Do you agree to the terms?”

“I do.” Yue licked his lips with anticipation. “Now then, do you love me?”

Touya snorted quietly and shook his head. “That wasn’t it. Keep trying, though.” Rolling his eyes, he turned and walked away, and this time he did not come back.

Yue found both the Storm King and the Little Wolf at the same time. The boy was going through one of his peculiar self-taught patterns, thrusting and slashing with his sword in the imagined privacy of one of the castle’s great halls. The king watched from the gallery above, still and unnoticeable in the shadow of a pillar, eyes following every unorthodox move. Even from the opposite side of the hall Yue could see the anxious longing in them.

“He’ll always choose my princess over you,” he spoke up, startling them both. “You might as well accept it, though it will probably be amusing for me if you can’t.”

“I think that’s between me and my son,” Rai said coolly, quick as ever to hide his surprise. “And I won’t stand for any of your interfering in the matter.”

“What the- were you watching me?” demanded Li, glaring knives at his father and getting not so much as a glance in return. Rai spread his hands on the marble rail, hands no longer cuffed by Yue’s ice. His sword also, Yue noticed, had found its way back into Rai’s scabbard.

“Rai, do you really think I have to say so much as a word against you to the boy? He is perfectly capable of hating and distrusting you all on his own.”

“Even so, I’m going to take him back someday. I won’t let you stand in my way.”

Yue shrugged lightly. “Do as you like. My plans for the Little Wolf are far from finished, but what you want from him is compatible with my own goals. I will not interfere with your efforts.”

“Hey! I’m right here.”

Rai had narrowed his eyes. “Now why does that make my blood go cold?”

“So suspicious,” Yue teased.

“You have a reputation. A very well-justified one, as I’ve learned. Which reminds me, Angel King, I’m going to need your word that you will never… treat him like you did me. Ever.”

Yue almost laughed out loud. Instead he just favored Rai with a wicked smile. “What’s the matter, Rai? Didn’t you tell me you enjoyed it?”

“Wait, what?” Li asked uneasily, still ignored.

“I mean it, Yue. I swear I’ll kill you if you do.”

“Do relax, Rai. My interests lie elsewhere. And he is currently preoccupying my thoughts with a new game, so I no longer have the time to worry about you lurking somewhere in my castle. You will leave now.”

“Finally!”

“You have a servant I’d like to take home with me, the little songbird with long black hair.”

“Fine, take her, just go. And do not think to darken my doorstep ever again without invitation.”

“Understood.” Rai dropped his gaze to meet his son’s, pretending not to see the nasty glower there. “And as for you… I’ll be waiting. See you soon.”

The Little Wolf looked very much like he wanted to retort with a threat, but when he opened his mouth, no words came out. A flustered blush spread across his cheeks and, unusually enough for the young warrior, he turned and ran. He nearly tripped over his own feet in his haste to escape the hall, and fondly Rai watched him go.

“Couldn’t even bring himself to deny it. I told you, Yue, I am going to take him back. He will be my prince.”

The king in black bowed to the king in white, with just a touch of mocking air about him, and departed at his own leisurely pace. He would collect his little songbird and take flight, returning at last to his own kingdom, but it would not be the last the two kings ever saw of each other. No, far from it.

“You’re wrong, Rai,” Yue murmured. “He will be our prince.”

That minor chore dispensed with, Yue was free to return to Touya. He found him not far from the throne room, on one of the castle’s long balconies, and scowling at the scene below. Together they watched the princess bid farewell to her servant while Rai waited, both girls plainly holding back tears. Sakura backed up quickly when the king came closer, but he only scooped up his new servant in his arms and gave her a polite nod. He spoke, though neither could hear what he said, and from his back sprouted his wings. Like a whirlwind he shot into the sky, dwindling to a black speck within seconds, and Touya breathed a sigh of relief. His relief was cut short when Sakura spun around and dove into the arms of the waiting Li.

“Opportunistic little brat,” Touya growled. “How dare he put his hands on my sister like that? And I know you had something to do with it. Kero told me you were secretly plotting to set them up all along.”

“It’s an ideal arrangement. Don’t you think they suit each other?”

“If that question was supposed to be one of your guesses, then you couldn’t be more wrong.”

“Very well.” Yue closed the distance between them and took Touya’s hand, not missing how the boy was quick to catch his breath. He laced their fingers, lifted the hand to his lips and kissed it. “How about this one? Do you think we suit each other?”

Touya shook his head, tugging his hand out of Yue’s.

“Will you ever find another you love more than me?”

“You are going about this all wrong, Yue. You’re never going to win. I think I’ll go down there and get my sister.”

“No,” Yue snapped, a little more harshly than he’d meant to. “There is no need. Keroberos, go fetch me the princess and the Little Wolf, and bring them to the throne.”

A sheepish lion crept out from behind the nearest corner. “Howdja know I was here?”

“Your daytime form is better suited to picking fights than spying, something you ought to have already known. Go.”

Kero turned up his nose in a haughty pout, but obediently spread his wings and dove over the balcony rail. Yue turned back to Touya.

“Now then, where were we?”

“You were losing, and I was getting ready to go back home. I’ve already missed one day of class, and my shift at the restaurant last night.”

“Do you love that life more than me?”

“Still wrong.”

“What can I give you to make you want me?”

“No.”

“What can I do to make you want me?”

“No.”

“Do you want me at all?”

Touya shook his head. “Uh-uh.” He kept backing up, leading Yue by the hand back into his grand throne room. With another wager made, the castle’s clock had reappeared, floating above their heads and ticking inexorably toward his deadline. “Time’s going fast, Yue.”

“Do you forgive me?” Yue asked, with sudden inspiration. Touya turned a shocked stare back onto him.

“Say what?”

“Do you forgive me? For all that I’ve done, all my efforts to capture and keep you. Will you forgive me?”

Touya looked so amazed, Yue could not help but be fired with hope. The feel of his hand brushing lightly down the side of Yue’s face sent thrills through his bloodstream.

“I can’t believe you asked that. I’d have never thought…” He collected himself and shook his head again. “But that wasn’t it. That wasn’t the question.”

Yue would have snarled with exasperation, if he was not a master at keeping his emotions hidden from the world.

“Hey Yue,” Kero announced, strutting through the doors. “I’ve brought the -”

Yue held up a hand for silence. “Will you not be lonely without me?”

“Maybe. That wasn’t it either.”

“Who will bring you happiness, if I can’t?”

“Getting colder.”

“What’s going on?” Yue heard Sakura whisper, not very quietly.

“They’re playing some kind of game,” Kero muttered out of the side of his mouth.

“Game?” Li echoed. “What are the stakes?”

“Dunno. But you better not interrupt.”

“Quiet,” Yue ordered tersely. “Do I bring you happiness at all?”

Touya had to swallow a little. “I won’t answer that. And it wasn’t the question.”

Yue took his chin and held it, examining Touya’s face carefully. “You want to lose. Don’t you?”

“Not if you can’t do this,” Touya answered, not missing a beat. “Not if you can’t even come up with one simple question, the one question you should have asked me a long time ago. If you can’t figure it out, then I really want nothing to do with you.”

He tried to step away, only for Yue to cup his neck and close the distance between them.

“Who does your heart belong to?” he murmured, ever so softly, into Touya’s ear.

“No.”

“Who does my heart belong to?”

“No!” Touya twisted out of his grasp and backed away, starting to look as frustrated as Yue felt. “Looks like I was right; you’ll never get this. Sakura, you ready to go home?”

The princess was quick to clutch more tightly at Li’s hand. “Oh, Onii-chan, can’t we just -”

“You’re missing school,” Touya said impatiently. “Right now, missing your second day of it, and Dad could come home anytime. We have to go, you know that.”

“I know, it’s just that -”

“Your highness,” Yue interrupted, his voice even and calm as if he couldn’t even hear that infernal clock. “Step forward.”

Reluctantly she let go of Li’s hand and obeyed, small and pale with sadness.

“You are the princess of the Labyrinth, Sakura, and someday its queen. Your future is here, but for now you belong in your home world. You are a child still; you are not ready to come here just yet.”

She nodded. “Yes, your majesty.”

“But you are still my heir, and Rai is not the only king with ambitions on his mind. It will not do to send you back to your home without some protection. I am tasking my brother Keroberos to go with you, therefore, so that he may guard you and keep you safe.”

“Oh.” Her eyes lit up some, and so did Kero’s. “Your majesty, that’s -”

“Better than the Ripariat!” crowed Kero, tail whipping back and forth with delight. “Yahoo, I get to go to the other world!”

“But, even Keroberos is not enough of a bodyguard at nights. Also, he’s easily distracted.”

“Hey!”

“So I am also sending the Little Wolf. The two of them together should, I think, be able to protect you well enough.”

Because Yue loved pleasing the princess more than anyone, it was truly a delight to watch the way her eyes widened with joyful comprehension. In contrast, Touya’s mouth fell open in horrified disbelief.

“You son of a -”

Sakura shrieked, and flew back across the distance to throw herself in the equally-stunned Li’s arms. “You’re coming too! You can come home with me, to my world, we’ll still be together! Isn’t that great?”

Dazed, Li could only nod.

“You’ll love it so much, I’ll show you everything! Oh Yue, thank you thank you thank you! Onii-chan, did you hear? Syaoran gets to come home with us, isn’t it great?” She either ignored or didn’t see the sick dismay on her brother’s face. “We can probably fix up a futon for him in the attic, I think. Oh, do you think Dad will be okay with it? We’ll have to tell him everything about the Labyrinth now, I suppose, but he’ll let Syaoran stay, right? Oh, this is so exciting!”

Arms wrapped tightly around Li, she jumped up and down a few times. Touya gaped, and turned a vicious glare back on Yue.

“Did you do that just to get back at me?”

“Don’t be so full of yourself, Toya. I’d always planned this. A prince must be with his princess.”

“Well now I have to go home, because I can’t let the two of them be alone together.”

“Do you care more about your sister than you do me?”

“Of course. And that wasn’t the question either.”

“Don’t you trust me to see to her welfare?”

“I don’t trust you for just about anything,” Touya said flatly. “And still wrong.” Deliberately he glanced at the clock floating above.

“This is the path where she belongs, with the Little Wolf. You belong with me. Don’t you understand that?”

Touya shook his head. Yue exhaled, trying to quiet a growing nervousness. The minutes were slipping away.

“Don’t you know how much I love you?”

Touya started a little, to hear his voice in his head, and a pained look crossed his face. “I do know. I’ve known that for a long time, but it isn’t enough. Just love is not enough, Yue.” Aware of their riveted audience, Touya stepped closer and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’m not your servant, I’m not your pawn, I’m not your royal heir. But I could be your partner, your equal, if you would just learn to see me that way. If you would just…” He tipped his forehead gently against Yue’s, and there was no way Yue could miss the quiet shudder of his breath. “Just figure it out already. Please.”

“I want to.”

“If you were really trying, you would have gotten it by now. But you’ve never cared about me as much as you cared about controlling me.”

Yue felt cold, when Touya stepped away this time, deprived of his nearness and his warmth. Like a tangible chill, the truth of his words wrapped around Yue and made him shudder.

“Time to send us home, Yue.”

“I still have three minutes.”

“You won’t get it. We both know that.”

“Nothing is what it seems in the Labyrinth,” Yue countered.

Touya uttered something like a laugh, from the back of his throat. “Fine. Surprise me.”

But Yue had nothing left. The more frantically his brain tried to solve this riddle, the faster his thoughts scattered and left him with nothing but growing panic. For the third and final time, his Toya was going to beat him. Yue was wrong, earlier; the boy he’d chosen was not just a match for him, he was more than a match for him. He always had been. Yue had lost the moment he first laid eyes on him.

Only a minute left. Dully he turned his gaze on the nearest set of doors, raised his hand towards them, and exerted his magic. They opened up to his beckoning, revealing the siblings’ home in their world.

“It’s our living room!” Sakura gasped.

“Alright!” cheered Kero, and immediately started for the exit without so much as a glance backward. Sakura took a step, then hesitated and looked back at Yue. The ache of sympathy was all too clear in her eyes.

“Sakura, what are you doing? Come on.” Li tugged at her wrist, plainly eager to escape to her world.

“But, Yue -”

“No, you can’t help. Nobody can.”

How very true. Yue looked once more at Touya, standing quite still and not even looking at his precious home, his expression wretched and miserable.

“Shouldn’t you be going?”

“I’ll wait until the clock chimes. You never did less for me.”

Yue nodded. “If… we had met in another way, in some other life, without the tricks and games, do you think we could have been happy together?”

Were those black eyes filling with tears? Touya was quick to blink them back, if indeed they had ever been there. “That wasn’t the question. But yes, I think so.”

“Then I suppose I shall have to comfort myself with that.” Rich musical chimes filled the room around them as the clock sounded the hour, and Touya finally turned toward the exit.

“Wait,” Yue said impulsively, and Touya froze mid-stride. “Just, wait.” The chimes were still ringing, making so much noise, but he could hear that Touya was holding his breath. He’d promised to stay if Yue would only ask the right question.

“Will you stay with me?”

Touya did not move, either to step forward or look back, the clock still counting the hours.

“Will you stay with me?” Yue repeated, more loudly. “No blackmail, no manipulation, no threats. I will not own you; I do not demand you stay forever. I am simply asking you, as I should have done in the beginning… will you stay with me?”

At last the clock finished, and silence descended upon all of them. Everyone was staring at Touya, but Yue was the only one that could not see his face.

“Sakura,” he said quietly, and his sister blinked. “Come here.”

The princess exchanged a bewildered look with Li, but let go of his hand and approached her brother. He dropped a hand on the top of her head, as if he were about to ruffle her hair but then couldn’t quite make himself do it.

“I- I need you to do something for me. When Dad comes home, I need you to tell him that I had to leave, and won’t be living there anymore.”

“What? But -”

“Shh. Don’t make this harder for me, okay? I know it’s a lot to ask of you, and you’re going to have to do so much explaining, but if you tell him that I have to be somewhere else, with someone that really needs me, I think he’ll understand. I love you so much…” He pulled his sister close, into a tight hug. “And if you ever need me, I will be right there for you, but right now I have to be with Yue. I love him too.”

The reality did not sink in, for Yue. He saw the tears dripping down Sakura’s cheeks, and the stunned expressions both Kero and Li wore, but he still did not let himself think he’d won. Sakura was sniffling as she stepped away from Touya.

“Are you hurt?”

“No! Not at all. I’ll miss you, Onii-chan, but I’m so so happy for you both. And I’ll see you again. I am the princess of the Labyrinth, after all.”

“That’s right.” Touya kissed his fingertips, then pressed them gently against her forehead. “Go on.”

She wiped away some tears, but she was smiling as she waved goodbye to Yue. At last, she joined Li and Kero on the other side of the doors, and Yue commanded them to close. They slammed shut with a note of finality, leaving the two of them alone, and still Yue could not make himself believe.

“Am I dreaming?” he asked softly. Touya turned around, and this time there was no mistaking the tears in his eyes. But he was also smiling.

“I’ve been asking myself that for five years, and I still don’t know. Who cares?”

He closed the distance between them in long strides, and kissed him. And finally, Yue knew his heart was complete.

If this was a dream, they would dream on forever.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - THE END - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At last…

(join me for the discussion below)

Capitalist: And there it is. Sure took me long enough, didn’t it?

Touya: Six weeks and change. That’s a really long time to leave people on the emotional cliffhanger of me crawling into bed next to Yue.

Capitalist: But such a delicious image to enjoy, don’t you think?

Yue: Scrumptious, even.

Capitalist: I won’t pretend to make excuses to my readers. I thought I had this thing totally wrapped up by the time I started posting, and I did promise you guys there would be no long waits this time around. I mean, I only had three chapters left to write when the readers were still back on five!

Li: As in, when I was getting hit in the back by lightning? Fun.

Capitalist: It only took a couple bouts of bad writers’ block, the holidays, and an unexpected job or two to screw up all that lead time. So, I’m really really sorry. I never meant for this to happen, and if I could have done anything about it, I would have. But I needed to work, I was so close to being evicted and becoming homeless. From the readers’ perspective, it was really bad timing; from my perspective, it was a very narrow save indeed.

Li: Enough whining! Let’s just get this over with. Let me guess – we need our pocket Constitutions?

Capitalist: All in due time, cutie. Let us instead go back to the very beginning…

Li: Oh god.

Capitalist: Five years ago…

Touya: She really means it.

Capitalist: When I wrote the first of the Labyrinth fics (Scorpinac has sensibly nicknamed them L1 and L2, so henceforth I shall refer to them as such.) It was an unusual project, for me, taking the plot of one movie and fusing it with the characters of CCS, but it seemed to work well and I had a lot of fun doing it.

Yue: Not as much fun as I had doing Toya.

Touya: (glares)

Capitalist: Heh, heh. Ahem. Now, normally I am not the type to ever even think about sequels, so it seems absurd that the one fic I actually picked to carry on is the one fic I couldn’t even really call my own. Sure, I adapted the script to fit the characters, and sure I tweaked lots of things, but it wasn’t ‘mine’.

Tomoyo: I sense an ‘and yet’ coming.

Capitalist: And yet… I suppose that is why I couldn’t resist doing a sequel. Working within the parameters of the movie script made things easy for me, but it also created some frustrating boundaries. For example, the ending. The story left us on a frustratingly ambiguous note, and it was not fun to follow suit in my own story. I gather from the reviews that it was not fun for you guys to read it, either.

Sakura: That explains the angry signs and picket lines.

Touya: Fangirls are scary.

Capitalist: Touya and Yue’s story was not over, I knew it in my heart. I also knew that Li and Sakura’s story had not yet begun. Before I had even typed the words ‘The End’ for L1, I had a vision forming in my head. I saw Sakura walking home from school, getting attacked by ‘something’ (I had no idea what), and Li coming to save her. He knelt before her and called her the princess, and that was where the vision ended. I did not know who the enemy was or why they’d attacked her, but it was a start.

Sakura: A very romantic start.

Capitalist: But I was in the middle of Wildflower, and had other things occupying my muse. And shortly before that ended, I began posting Pleasure Slave, and we all know how long that took me. It wasn’t until last year, when I posted L1 here at aff.net, and got such a positive response, that I began to revisit that intriguing scene. I had a strong feeling that if I just concentrated a little, I’d be able to see more of the story hiding behind it.

Li: Squinting at your laptop screen again, Capitalist?

Capitalist: As a matter of fact, it all came together because of you.

Li: Me?

Touya: Him?

Capitalist: That’s right. I’d gotten as far as the idea of a new king invading the Labyrinth, hunting Sakura, thus requiring Li to act as her bodyguard. But it was last March, at about eleven o’clock at night (which is usually when the muse visits, right when I’m trying to go to sleep), that it suddenly hit me (like a bolt of lightning, so to speak) that this new king was Li’s father. Holy George Lucas! And it all fell into place. I started writing the next day.

Rai: And so I came to be.

Li: Oh, joy.

Capitalist: Maybe you don’t like him very much, Li, but I love him. Though perhaps not as much as Tomoyo.

Tomoyo: Don’t I deserve to be happy for finally getting my own love interest? It’s nice to finally get some instead of playing Sakura’s voyeur.

Capitalist: I’ve played around with the hole Clamp left us, regarding Li’s father, many times, and come up with various alternatives, but so far Rai is my favorite. Though his personality and character is completely mine, I sketched his looks based on Princess Tutu’s Fakir. (Here’s a couple pics, so you can see: http://www.freewebs.com/fakirshrine2/fakirmask.jpg and http://www.freewebs.com/fakirshrine2/fakir_v4.jpg) Isn’t he hot?

Li: Gross!

Yue: Mmm…

Tomoyo: Absolutely!

Capitalist: I’m bummed that most people didn’t like him as much as I did, leaving aside the fact that he was the villain and all, but I’m sure you’ll come around. When you think about it, he’s really just a big bundle of abandonment issues, underneath all the lightning and stuff. His father went crazy and tried to kill him, then Yue dumped him, then Yelan ran away from him, kidnapping his firstborn son in the process… and then, fifteen years later, when he finally finds his son again, the son says he doesn’t want anything to do with him. Can you blame him for getting a teeny bit upset?

Rai: If you do not stop trying to analyze me, I will kill you, worthless peasant.

Capitalist: Eep, scary! Now tell us the truth: were you seme or uke with Yue in bed?

Li: (claps hands over ears) lalalalalalala….

Rai: (removes glove, prepares to kill author with lightning)

Tomoyo: Darling, we talked about this. No killing the author, she created you.

Rai: (mutters dark curses)

Tomoyo: Maybe now would be a good time to change the subject?

Li: Yes, please!

Capitalist: Okay, let’s talk about how Sakura got to rescue Li.

Li: Damn!

Sakura: That was scary, but fun.

Capitalist: I’m glad you think so. The truth is, I’ve always been a little bothered about how, in nearly all my fanfics, Li winds up rescuing Sakura in the end. Sakura is the heroine of CCS, and though she may have needed backup on plenty of occasions, Clamp never made her a damsel in distress. I respect that, but I’m an action writer. I like Li pulling off dashing heroic rescue scenes, and he can’t do that unless he’s got someone to rescue. I decided a long time ago that someday, when the right chance came along, I would turn the tables and let Sakura rescue Syaoran (as Vix put it, ‘be his princess in a shining dress’ LOL). This story seemed like the right place to do it.

Li: It was humiliating.

Capitalist: Li, where’s your sense of Equal Opportunity? Women’s Rights? Feminism?

Li: Where’s YOUR sense of abstaining from sadistic whip fetishes?

Touya: Hey yeah, he’s got a point about that. Have you ever written a fic in which one of us does not get stripped and whipped?

Yue: Mmm…

Capitalist: Mmm…

Touya and Li: Cut it out! And stop drooling!

Tomoyo: Maybe now would –

Capitalist: Be a good time to change the subject, I know. What have we not talked about?

Eriol: Fate? Destiny? How about the disturbingly positive reaction to turning my girlfriend into a peacock?

Capitalist: Yeah, I was kinda surprised how well that went over. I mean, it was pretty weird, but the readers ate it up. I’m not sure how many people got this, but the Eriol/Kaho bit was an elaboration of a scene in the movie (and no, not at all based off TSR Yuuko). Remember that old guy with a talking bird on his head, who charged Sarah for her ring in exchange for answering a question? Yeah, that scene. Only Eriol’s young and hot and pompous, and the bird got to be a peacock.

Kaho: I don’t mind. The role did suit me surprisingly well after all, and as usual, I was the only character that could completely neutralize Touya’s emotional hang-ups. It’s a gift.

Capitalist: There was a whole story behind that couple, that Kaho was really an exiled queen from another kingdom, turned into a peacock by a jealous rival. Too bad I couldn’t fit it in.

Fujitaka: (coughs politely)

Capitalist: Speaking of things I couldn’t fit in, I did lie a little bit when I said every character from L1 would show up in L2. In the end I couldn’t squeeze in Fujitaka, though I did make sure other characters at least talked about him. I also wound up not using Yukito, though whether he actually counts as a character is something to be debated. On the whole, I thought I did a pretty good job of including everyone.

Yue: Ahem.

Capitalist: Don’t think of it as a small role, Yue. Think of it as ‘pivotal’, like Private Ryan in Saving Private Ryan.

Yue: Tell it to the fangirls.

Capitalist: Eep, scary! I mean, hiding Yue for most of the plot was the best way to create suspense, not to mention give Touya a purpose in the story, but it was a decision that deprived us of lemon-flavored candy. I’m not saying it was fun for me either.

Yue: (sighs)

Capitalist: Or him. Sorry about that. But in a way, the entire story really was about Yue and Touya, we just didn’t find that out until chapter fifteen. Plus I gave them a happy ending. Hopefully that made up for it.

Eriol: Ah, but was it the ending?

Capitalist: Uh-oh. (hides)

Eriol: You can’t hide from your own muse, Capitalist, you ought to know that well enough by now.

Li: What’s the freak talking about?

Rai: Isn’t it obvious, son? She completely left things wide open concerning our future; clearly she’s going to write a third installment for the series.

Capitalist: I didn’t say –

Rai: Which is the only reason why I haven’t incinerated her.

Capitalist: Well, when you put it like that…

Li: Are you kidding? You really didn’t get enough of torturing me this time around?

Meilin: Would I get to be in this one?

Capitalist: Everyone just hang on! Sheesh. I’m not promising anything; all I know is that random visions of L3 have been playing in my head for weeks now. Yes, it would involve Li traveling to his father’s kingdom and meeting his family, and yes, Scorpinac, it would mean a large role for Meilin at last. The problem is that it really wouldn’t have much to do with the Labyrinth at all, or Yue and Touya, who didn’t even get much screen time in L2 and were sorta the whole reason the series got started in the first place (remember?).

Touya: If that means not getting strung up and whipped, or nearly raped, then I’m on board.

Capitalist: It would also mean Li and Sakura’s ‘coming of age’, if you know what I mean.

Sakura: Huh?

Touya: NO!

Li: I’m warming up to this idea.

Capitalist: The upshot is that I’m leaving it to the readers. If they’re fine with reading a third story that doesn’t have much of Yue and Touya, and is much more concentrated on Li and Sakura and Rai, then speak up and say so. If people aren’t that interested, I won’t write it. God knows I’ve got enough plot bunnies peeking over the windowsill as it is.

Rai: Think about how much fun a trilogy will be! We’ll go fishing, son, and talk about the birds and the bees.

Li: Get away from me!

Capitalist: Also, since the plot would involve Li’s possible succession to the crown, it would most likely draw on a lot more of my politics. L2 was somewhat on the light side, mostly pertaining to the issue of Touya’s independence and voluntary association with Yue – as opposed to enslavement. But there was also that stuff about Li’s desire to live in a constitutional republic where your leaders don’t even know you exist, unlike living under the heel of kings that happily own your existence and use you as a pawn.

Yue: (cough)

Capitalist: It’s a great thing to be ignored by your government, kids. Ask the people who lived (or didn’t, so to speak) under Mao if you still need convincing.

Tomoyo: You’re not taking the inauguration well, are you?

Capitalist: I’ve had better weeks, it’s true. But that’s why I write fiction – to get the hell away from that kind of crap. If I thought wishing myself away to a magical kingdom to be owned by a sexy king would work, I’d do that too.

Touya: Doesn’t that kind of contradict your so-called libertarianism?

Capitalist: Deep down, I’m just a fangirl too.

Touya: Scary.

Capitalist: So this is where it ends, again, dear readers. I’m so so happy that you liked the first story enough to give the sequel a chance, and I’m so glad you liked the sequel too. I do it all for you, and your kind reviews make it worthwhile. I may sweat and bleed and lose sleep over it, but in the end I wouldn’t trade my hobby for anything. You’re the best, and I love you. Friend me at livejournal (http://peacewish.livejournal.com/) if you want to keep in touch; otherwise, it will be until next time. Au revoir.

(blows kiss)
- 17
- 18
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Return to the Labyrinth