Chapter Text
Sakura stared at the book on the table and concentrated.
"What are you doing?" Eriol asked as he entered the living room. "Staring at it won't move it. You're a magician. Use your magic." He sat down on the sofa and turned on Netflix. There were four profiles set up in the account, Eriol, Sakura, Kero, and Spinel (Currently read Spinny – courtesy of Kero). Eriol chose his profile and browsed through the movie selection.
Sakura ignored him and continued to stare. A few seconds later, she sighed. "Maybe I'm not cut for this."
"Of course you are. You're just trying too hard." Eriol said, but his eyes were on the screen. "Just let it happen."
"Let what happen? Nothing is happening!" Sakura huffed in frustration.
He turned his attention to her. "Maybe it's time for a break?"
"It's been almost two weeks and the book hasn't moved, not even an inch. Maybe I should start with something lighter, like a feather." She stared at the book forlornly.
"It's not about the object. You have to relax. Let your magic do the work." He then waved his hand and the book slid across the coffee table.
"When you do it, you make it look so easy…" Sakura complained.
"You'll get there." He encouraged and turned his attention back to the screen. Eriol had some shows that he liked to watch on Netflix. Unsurprisingly, most of them were documentary series, about animals, the planet, history, science, etc.
Sakura decided that it was enough magic for tonight. She got up from her place on the floor to join him on the sofa. "You know, I've been thinking. I want to learn how to drive. If I could drive, it'd be easier for me to get around, especially during rainy weather. Also if I want to go somewhere that's not accessible by public transport, I don't have to take a taxi or wait for you. What do you think?"
"Sure." He agreed. "It'll be much more convenient for you."
"I've done some reading about which driving school would suit me the best. I'll go and register on Monday." Sakura informed him.
"Okay. That's good." He said absently, his eyes on the screen.
"Are we going to Japan this year?"
Eriol nodded. "Yes, we can go to Japan in early December if you want to. I'd still have to work remotely, but nothing that I can't handle."
"There's literally nothing that you can't handle." Sakura pointed out. "Oh, speaking of which, I talked to Tomoyo and they're planning a high school reunion in December. Do you think we can go?"
"I don't see why not. What's the date?" Eriol asked. He abandoned Netflix and turned to her to give her his full attention.
"It will be a three days, two nights trip. We'll have to pay for food, transport and accommodation. Tomoyo said they want to recreate the class trips. She asked if we wanted to join, but also told me that the accommodation would be pretty much like a class trip, when we'd be divided into groups and obviously the men and the women would be separated." Sakura told him. "They want to cut cost as well as to make the experience as authentic as possible."
"That sounds interesting. If you want to go, then I'm okay with it." Eriol said. "If it's held in December then we should be able to make it."
Sakura nodded. "I'll check with her again about the dates and where we'll be going. It would be fun though, now that we're all older. And we'll get to see the old gang again. I haven't seen any of them since our wedding." Sakura said, excited at the idea. "This might sound weird, but I somehow miss Naoko's obligatory horror story during class trips."
Eriol chuckled. "You're just going to scare yourself."
"I know. But a class trip wouldn't be complete without it." Sakura remembered how scared she was of these stories. "Naoko is officially a writer now, so we can expect good stories from her. I'm so excited!"
"When you get scared, don't come looking for me in the boys room." He smirked.
"And when you miss me, don't come looking for me in the girls room!" Sakura glared at him.
And then they both burst out laughing.
"Feels like old time, right?" Sakura asked as she and Eriol walked along the sidewalk towards their old high school. Everyone would gather there first before leaving by buses. "Can't remember the last time we walked to school together. I think it was before you even asked me to marry you."
"Yes, I left before the winter term started." Eriol said. He had a backpack with him and Sakura had her own bag since they would be sleeping separately.
"Hm…" Sakura slipped her hand in his. "I had to walk alone to school. The first day, I was so sad. When I got to the intersection and you weren't there, waiting for me, I almost cried." Sakura told him.
Eriol gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm never leaving you again."
Sakura smiled widely. "I know."
Five minutes later, they arrived at their old high school.
"Sakura, Hiiragizawa! Over here!" Naoko spotted them and waved excitedly.
"Hi guys!" They greeted their friends. Eriol and Yamazaki immediately got to talking. While Sakura and her girlfriends busily caught up with each other.
"Please get onto the buses. You'll know which bus you belong to by looking at the name lists." One of the organizers said with a megaphone. "The trip is going to take four hours. We'll make a stop for lunch at 11.30am before continuing our journey."
They checked the name lists posted at the bus doors.
"Oh, we're all in the same bus!" Naoko said excitedly. They got onto the bus and settled down.
"Do you need anything from your bag?" Eriol asked as he put their bags in the overhead compartment.
"No. Oh, where did you put the water bottle?" Sakura asked as she settled down in her seat. She had a smaller bag with her that had the essentials, her phone, cards, wallet and both of their earphones. She took off her jacket and handed it to him so that he could put them above, along with his own. Sakura was wearing a wool sweater and she kept her scarf with her. Eriol had put on a sweater on top of his shirt. They both wore jeans and warm winter boots.
Eriol took the water bottle from his backpack and handed it to her. He then sat down beside her.
Twenty minutes into the trip, Sakura was yawning constantly. They just got to Japan two days prior and she was still dealing with jetlag. This morning, she woke up at six and couldn't go back to sleep. She glanced around and saw that most of their friends were starting to fall asleep, so she leaned her head on Eriol's shoulder, intending to take a nap. He wrapped his arm around her and she snuggled up to him and closed her eyes. The gentle rocking of the bus, his arm around her, and the steady rhythm of his breathing quickly lulled her to sleep.
A couple of hours later, the bus came to a stop for lunch. They all alighted and made their way to the restaurant.
"Oh! Looks yummy!" Sakura said as she sat down with her friends. Since she had taken a nap earlier, Sakura was now wide awake. She sat down between Eriol and Naoko and they started eating and chatting. The girls were chatting among themselves while Eriol and Yamazaki were discussing something else.
"I can't believe we're going to another ski resort. But this one has a hot spring too. Honestly, I'm more excited about that." Naoko said.
Sakura had to agree with her. Ski wasn't her strong suit. As athletic as she was, she just couldn't seem to get this one. "I don't think I'm going to ski. I'll just enjoy the scenery and the hot spring."
"That would make the two of us." Rika said. "It's been a long time since we last went skiing, I can't really remember how to do it and I'm not going to start over just for one day. So I'll just look around and enjoy the hot spring."
"I just can't seem to get how ski works. At least you got to the intermediate level, Rika. I didn't even get past the beginner level." Sakura remembered how she and Syaoran were the only ones who were stuck in the beginner class during their last ski trip in third year of junior high.
After lunch, Sakura and her friends lined up to use the restroom. As Sakura was chatting with her friends, she didn't notice that someone was watching her from a distance.
Fifteen minutes later, they were on their way.
When they got to the resort, they were divided into small groups for their rooms. Sakura, Tomoyo, Rika, Naoko and Chiharu all got the same room. Eriol would be sharing a room with Yamazaki and two other guys.
"Alright, let's get settled. This is not high school though, so you can do whatever you want. You can rent ski gears or other winter sport gears from the reception area." The organizer told them. "Oh and dinner will be available from seven to nine in the main dining area. We're going to have a tour to the nearby village tomorrow. If you're interested in joining, please register your name with us by dinnertime today. Other than that and tomorrow evening's formal dinner, the rest is free time. Have fun, mingle, catch up with everyone."
"Are you going to ski today?" Sakura asked Eriol as they made their way towards the rooms area.
"Maybe. But if you want to walk around, I'll walk with you." He offered.
"No, that's fine. I'll just check out that hot spring. You go ahead and ski." They went their separate ways as they headed to their rooms.
Sakura found her room and entered. The rest of her friends were already there. "It's just going to be like in school!" Chiharu said excitedly. "But better because we don't have to worry about any teacher."
"This is going to be fun! What are you going to do?" Sakura asked as she put her bag at the designated area.
"We're taking the ski classes." Chiharu said. "How about you, Sakura?"
"I'm just going to take a walk and check out the hot spring." Sakura told them.
"Let's go together then, Sakura." Rika said and Sakura agreed. "Oh, but aren't you going with Hiiragizawa?"
"He's going skiing." Sakura said. "It's just you and me then, Rika."
When they stepped out of the front door ten minutes later, Sakura saw Eriol was getting ready to go. He had rented the ski equipment form the resort. "Ah, go ahead, Rika. I'll catch up." Sakura said and Rika nodded.
Sakura went to her husband. "That looks different." She observed that he had a different type of board. He was dressed in ski jacket and ski pants and had put on a pair of gloves and ski goggle. Sakura could see that he had changed his inner layer too from the opening of his jacket.
"I thought I'd try snowboarding." Eriol said as he showed her the board. "I saw the video at the reception. Looks pretty fun."
"Only you…" Sakura muttered as she reached to pull at the zip of his jacket all the way up to keep him warm. "Just be careful, okay? Don't pull any crazy stunt before you master it." Knowing him, he'd probably master the snowboarding by the end of the day. "Maybe tomorrow."
"You know me. I'm always careful." He grinned at her.
"I know you'll prioritize fun over caution." Sakura pointed out. "I'm going to take a walk with Rika. I'll see you later."
"I'll be careful. Don't worry." Eriol assured her and then walked off with his board.
Sakura started walking, trying to find Rika, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.
"Kinomoto!" Someone called her name, well, her maiden name.
Sakura turned around to see a guy approaching her. For the life of her, Sakura couldn't remember him, but he seemed to know her. "Hi!" She greeted him politely, not wanting to be rude.
"Hi!" The guy smiled at her. "Remember me? Matsuda from gym class."
Sakura thought about it. "I'm so sorry." She said, embarrassed that she couldn't remember him.
"That's okay." He smiled reassuringly. "We were not in the same class. I was in 3-2. I transferred from Osaka in third year. We had gym class together."
It took her a few seconds, but Sakura finally remembered. "Oh! Yes, I remember now. I'm so sorry!" She apologized again. "How are you, Matsuda?"
Matsuda smiled at her widely. "I'm good. How are you?"
"I'm well, thanks." Sakura said. "You're not going to ski?" She asked.
"No, I've never been good at sport, ski included. So I'm just going to take a walk. How about yourself?" He asked, noting her lack of ski gears. "Not going to ski? I remember you're so good at sports."
"Thank you, but I can't ski very well, so no ski for me." Sakura told him with a smile.
"Sakura!" They heard someone calling her and turned to see Rika waving at her.
"Ah, sorry. I should go. See you around!" Sakura said as she started walking away, waving at him.
"Who's that?" Rika asked when Sakura had reached her.
"Matsuda, from 3-2. We had gym class together. He transferred during the last year." Sakura told her.
"Oh." Rika said. "Anyway, let's check out the hot spring…"
An hour later, Sakura and Rika were back to the main building after taking a walk around the area. They were both excited about the hot spring and would definitely try it.
They sat down for tea and cookies. The lounge was quite empty. Other than the two of them, there were only four more people in the lounge.
"When it's like this, it feels so peaceful, don't you think so, Sakura?" Rika commented as she sipped her tea. They spent the next couple of hours catching up. Rika told Sakura about her students and Sakura listened to her attentively. Rika was just like Yukito. They both genuinely loved their jobs and their students. Even though Rika was still a trainee teacher, it was clear that she had developed strong attachment to her students.
"Oh, I'm just going to go to the restroom for a bit." She got up from her seat and went to the restroom.
When Sakura stepped out five minutes later, she spotted Eriol at the reception area. He was returning the snowboard. So she made her way to the lobby. "Eriol!"
Eriol turned to greet her. "Hello, dear." He thanked the receptionist and then went to meet Sakura halfway.
"We have tea and cookies in the lounge." Sakura said. "Get cleaned up. I'll meet you there, ok?"
Sakura went back to the lounge and checked the drink options. Her eyes lit up when she saw some instant hot chocolate and they have different types too.
"How was snowboarding? Did you have fun?" Sakura asked when Eriol joined them a few minutes later. He had changed back to shirt and sweater and a pair of jeans. Sakura had made him a cup of hot chocolate, the one with extra marshmallows, and he was eating a cookie.
"It was fun. It's quite different from skiing, but still just as fun." He looked happy. "How was your walk?"
"We went to check out the hot spring. Also I've registered myself for the tour to the village tomorrow. I didn't register you because I'm not sure if you want to go there or go skiing. You can still register with the organizer if you want to join. But I think you'll have more fun here." Sakura told him.
"I'm actually planning to go snowboarding again tomorrow." Eriol said as he sipped his hot chocolate. "We also have that dinner tomorrow evening."
"It's actually Naoko's idea." Rika said. "She mentioned something about a dance party in America and how high schoolers there had it before they graduate. Since it's already too late for us, so this is the next best thing. She suggested it to Tomoyo and then the organizers thought it was a good idea."
"I saw it in movies too. I think they call it a prom." Sakura said.
"I heard about that too." Rika nodded. "I heard there will be music and all. It seems a little strange to hold it here though."
"As long as there are food and music, I don't think people would care that much. As long as everyone is having fun." Sakura said.
"Sounds pretty fun, actually. But we'll see how it goes tomorrow." Rika smiled. They continued to chat and not long after, their friends joined them. At 7pm, they went to the dining room to eat dinner.
After dinner, the group hung out in the lounge.
"You all know what time it is…" Naoko said mysteriously. "Time for the horror story!" Naoko announced even though the rest of the group have known the answer.
"Some things will never change." Tomoyo said with a smile.
"Okay, I have to ask, does anyone have any story?" Naoko asked, looking around. "Nobody? Really? Not even you, Hiiragizawa?" She sounded disappointed.
"No, sorry." Eriol smiled. "You're a writer now. You should tell the story."
"Hm, fine then." Naoko huffed, but they all knew she was happy to tell the story.
As Naoko told them the story, Sakura scooted closer to Eriol and by the time the story was over, she was hiding behind him, peeking at Naoko from behind Eriol's shoulder, but he didn't say anything, knowing that as scared as she was, Sakura wouldn't miss this for the world.
After story time, they all agreed to go to the hot spring to take a bath.
"Good night!" They bid each other good night, knowing that after their bath, they'd go back to their respective rooms.
The ladies went into the women bath and Eriol and Yamazaki went to the men bath.
"That's so relaxing!" Rika said after they got back to their room. "I've missed this, hanging out with you all."
"Yeah, it's been too long, hasn't it? We're all in different places now. Sakura is not even in Japan anymore." Chiharu said as they sat around.
"We've pretty much lost contact with each other. That's a shame. We should make more effort to keep in touch." Naoko said.
"We should do this regularly." Tomoyo suggested. "We have to make the effort, like Naoko said. If we stop making an effort, the next thing we know, we'd all have kids and never see each other again."
"Hey Chiharu, when are you and Yamazaki going to tie the knot?" naoko asked and everyone looked at Chiharu eagerly.
Chiharu blushed slightly. "How should I know? We haven't even talked about that. We're both busy right now."
"Well, you're still young. There's no rush." Sakura said.
"Says the one wearing a wedding ring on her finger." Tomoyo pointed out with a grin. The rest of the girls laughed.
"I'm actually surprised that you're here with us. I thought you and Hiiragizawa would be in a private room." Naoko said and the rest nodded.
"Where's the fun in that? We're here to catch up with everyone else, not each other." Sakura said.
The girls chatted late into the night. A couple of hours later, they decided to call it a night and went to sleep.