After 9 long years since I started writing Destiny, today I present to you the final chapter of my longest fanfiction ever (currently). I would like to thank you readers for the lovely 25.5K hits (as of today), 250 reviews, 88 favourites and 97 alerts. I know the statistics may not be high to some of you but it really meant a lot to me. Many sincere apologies for making you wait for many years to finish one stories. A million thanks for your patience and encouragements that brought me here to where I am today. Really. Thank you!

Hope you enjoy the final chapter of Destiny!

Destiny

Epilogue

By Sakura aka Michelle

Sakura could not believe her eyes! Tons of people stood in the sunny courtyard while training their eyes on the small window she was currently standing by beside Fujitaka. It was a high possibility that the chef she was talking to earlier had went to spread the news. Unconsciously, her hands had lifted to her gaping mouth to cover her shock. The resounding cheer that rang throughout the courtyard had erupted the moment she stepped into their sight and startled her.

She caught her father's easy smile as he waved back to his people and the cheer went even louder than before. Sakura's heart warmed at the scene and she felt the prick of tears behind her eyes. Everything was still the same as before and it seemed that nothing has changed except for her own disappearance and Ayumi's subsequent appearance in the castle. The people were as she has remembered – kind and cheerful.

Most of them were servants and knights from the castle from the uniform they were wearing. Sucking in a huge breath in an attempt to calm herself, Sakura also waved back at the people who were welcoming her return back to the castle. The smiles on their faces were something that Sakura could never ever forget in her whole life. She was finally home!

"KINOMOTO SAKURA! HOW DARE YOU DISAPPEAR ON ME!" Came a familiar feminine shout from down below the courtyard. Sakura blinked in surprise as she tried to find out who and where the person was shouting from. The crowd had gone quiet too and was also shooting glances around them. Apparently, they were a better judge of where the shout came from since they were on ground level. Sakura, on the other hand, was still struggling to find out but had followed the direction at which the crowd of looking at and it was to the left of the courtyard from where she was standing.

"Tomo-chan?" Sakura gasped. Even from the distance, she could still see the disapproving frown on her cousin's angelic face. Eriol stood beside her, holding onto her waist as if preventing his wife from rushing into the castle and wringing Sakura's neck in anger. Wincing inwardly, Sakura belatedly remembered that she had run away from the Hiiragizawa castle back here without letting her hosts know. She was so going to get it from Tomoyo for her disastrous act. "She's really angry," Sakura remarked to her father with a grimace and she turned to Syaoran with wide eyes. "And your mother is with them."

"What? She told me she was feeling a little unwell and told me not to bother her today," Syaoran said as he came over to the window to take a look for himself. He pulled Sakura against him as he peered out and did a double take when he saw her mother standing beside his cousin and his lovely wife. Well, he wouldn't call her lovely now; she was clearing spitting fire at them. "And I took her words for real and didn't think much when she didn't come down for breakfast just now."

"What is she doing with them?" Sakura asked, craning her neck to look at him.

"I'm not sure but we are about to find out. Let's go greet them," he said and pulled Sakura out to the grand entranceway of the castle and waited for them to enter.

"What would your mother think?" Sakura suddenly asked, a little anxious about facing Yelan knowing she had kept the queen in the dark regarding her parentage. "Would she think badly of me?"

Syaoran squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and offered her a warm smile that melted her into a dreamy sigh. "My mother has been taking care of you for almost ten years, she will surely know your character. After all, she did treat you as one of her daughters, didn't she?"

Sakura nodded and could only look hopeful, praying hard that Yelan did not blame her for the lie that she had spread since the first day they had met. A footman at the door announced their arrival and the majestic door swung open slowly. Tomoyo came flying into the entranceway in a blur of figure and tackled Sakura to the ground before Syaoran could react.

"Tomo-chan!" Sakura gasped in pain. She had landed painfully on her rear and Tomoyo's weight on her did not help to alleviate the problem.

"You made me so worried!" her cousin exclaimed and squeezed her in a tight hug. "At least tell me in person before you leave! My heart literally stopped when my stableboy came with your farewell note!"

"I'm sorry…" Sakura apologized and patted Tomoyo's back. She glanced up to see Yelan towering over her with a stern look and gulped instantly, fearing what she would tell her.

"Don't make everyone worry about you," she said and her face broke into a motherly smile as she knelt down beside her to pat her head. Her gesture almost brought tears to her eyes. "I'm so glad you are safe. I had wanted to bring you over personally upon reflecting the way Syaoran was always hovering over you and thinking to break off the engagement to Princess Kinomoto…"

"Mother…" Syaoran started but the lump in his throat stopped him from saying anything more.

"If I had known you are Princess Kinomoto," Yelan continued and her smile wavered a little as she got teary. "I would have insisted that the marriage take place ten years ago when we first met."

Yelan opened her arms wide and Sakura jumped into her embrace without hesitation, sobbing hard while she did so. It was so unbelievable that Yelan was being understanding and did not even put any blame on Sakura or even called her a liar. Even Syaoran had knelt down to envelope the two ladies he loved in his arms. It was a rare show of affection for the Lis.

"Now that's what I call a happy ending," Eriol announced with a smirk at his wife and she smacked him in return. He looked a little annoyed at being contrasted but all was forgotten when his sweet wife snuggled against his side and wrapping her slim hands around her waist in a hug.

"Not yet, there's still one more mission for them to pass through first," she had said.

"Shall we bring forward the wedding then?" Nadeshiko asked as she took in the scene before her. Yelan stood up immediately and went to hug her friends. Nadeshiko giggled in return and hugged back. "So I guess that it is an agreement then?"

"Though it saddened me immensely to see our little girl leaving us again so soon… her happiness is my priority," Fujitaka announced and he nodded his head at Sakura, who was currently staring at him. He had noticed that she was holding onto Syaoran's hands and their fingers were intertwined tightly in as much the same way as he often did with Nadeshiko. He smiled slightly at that. Syaoran would make a good choice for her daughter's husband. "If there is no violent objection, the wedding will take place tomorrow, in Kinomoto castle."

"W-wedding?" Sakura exclaimed, shooting a surprised glance at her father then at Syaoran. He was grinning from ear to ear at the announcement and it did not take much to know that he was pleased with the news.

"Yes, wedding," Syaoran affirmed, pressing a kiss on the top of Sakura's hand and causing her face to turn a deep shade of pink as she blushed madly at the open show of affections in front of so many people she knew. Even Yelan was looking at them with a twinkle in her eyes. "You'll be my wife tomorrow, my princess."

A delightful tingle shot through her body and made her feel weightless. She had to grip onto Syaoran's strong arm to steady herself in case she fainted from sheer happiness from the turn of events. She finally had her family back and she was going to be Syaoran's bride, could anyone be so lucky?

A loud cough sounded behind them and Touya forcefully stepped in between them, shooting his glares at Syaoran and trying to put more distance between him and his sister. No matter what, it still felt weird to be seeing one's sister with some other guys. It did not feel good.

"You do know that she's going to be my wife tomorrow," Syaoran warned, crossing his arms in front of him and trying to suppress his exasperation at this over-protective brother who just could not let his sister out of his sight or stand beside any guy besides him. "She'll be well taken care of, I promise."

"I don't care what your promise is," Touya retorted stubbornly. "As long as she is still my sister, you don't get a chance to be near standing near her."

"Touya 'nii-sama!"

Syaoran sighed and ran a hand through his hair in a show of impatience in the situation. "I'll not take her away from you, if that's what you are worrying about," he finally said and that got Touya's attention for he stopped trying to push Sakura behind his back. "At least for a few months after the wedding; I suppose mother will permit us to stay in Kinomoto castle for some time before going back to our own kingdom."

Yelan nodded in approval at her son's decision. "It's the least we can do for hogging onto Sakura for so long. At least she can spend some time with her family before coming back to live with us again."

"Thank you," Sakura sobbed openly, the tears rushing down like a bursting dam. Syaoran chuckled and pressed her face into the front of his shirt to shield her unglam face from her family, knowing she would feel aghast later on when she had fully recovered from her emotional outburst.

"It's all right," Syaoran assured her family when they looked alarmed. "She'll be fine after she is done. She can be a crybaby at times like this."

He felt a light punch on his back and chuckled when Sakura protested in the midst of her tears. "I'm not a crybaby!"

"All right, you're not. You're not," he placated teasingly and prompted everyone to laugh at their silly banter.

"To think that I was in the way of your relationship with Prince Li," Ayumi commented as she worked diligently on Sakura's bridal dress together with Tomoyo, who had designed in the moment she saw Sakura at the Hiiragizawa castle. The whole dress was sewn in less than half a day and it was a satisfying task for Tomoyo. "I'm so ashamed of myself."

"Don't blame yourself; you were under the impression that you are engaged to Syaoran and it can't be helped what you were feeling at that point in time. Also, I don't blame you so please do stop trying to make yourself suffer for something that is not your fault," Sakura replied hastily and waving her hands around wildly.

"Stop moving around, Sakura-chan! Or you'll risk poking yourself with one of my pins," Tomoyo admonished. "Keep still so that I can put on my special creation on you! I just have to make these final adjustments to make it perfect. STOP MOVING!"

"Tomo-chan is scary when she's angry," Sakura mocked cried and induced laughters from Ayumi. "Scary right?"

"You haven't seen the worst of me yet," Tomoyo replied dryly and pursed her lips when Sakura was not still enough in her own opinion. "Just a tiny stitch and it'll be done… Yes! Perfect!"

Sakura twirled around in the traditional wedding dress that Tomoyo had made for her. It was a beautiful piece of Kimono in her favourite colour. The elaborate cherry blossom design on the Kimono made her smile as she fingered them gently. Her face lit up in a bright smile when a knock sounded on her door and Syaoran stepped in. Sakura sucked in a breath her handsome husband-to-be dressed in similarly designed yukata and obviously the handiwork of Tomoyo. She blushed prettily as Syaoran continued to gawk at her, as if he had never seen such a beautiful lady before, not that she was the boasting kind of lady. But still, he made her feel pretty.

"Stop drooling over her and get in already!" Eriol said behind him and shoved Syaoran into the room. The latter stumbled and righted himself almost immediately, though his eyes never left Sakura. Eriol made a disgusted sound at his cousin before striding over to where his wife was. He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, mindful of the audience, and whispered something into her ears that made her blush. Ayumi did not want to know what he had just said to her. The two couples made her roll her eyes at their infatuations with their other half and she excused herself from the little party, saying that Yukito might need her help at the physician's room.

"Come, my dear wife," Syaoran urged and grinned when Sakura came to him, putting her hand shyly into his as he led her out of the room to the throne room where everybody was waiting for them. "It's a miracle to call you my wife, Sakura."

"It's the same for me," Sakura murmured and kept her eyes downcast, too shy to meet her husband's heated gaze. "So… After all those years that we've been living together, we are finally going to be married. It seems unreal to me…"

Without warning, Syaoran stopped the both of them and pressed a hard kiss on her lips. Sakura's mind whirled at the intensity of the kiss and was left breathless when Syaoran finally separated from her with a smirk. "You call this unreal? I'll be glad to remind you the reality every time you think otherwise."

"You are teasing me!" Sakura protested with a pout and Syaoran chuckled.

Syaoran suddenly turned serious as he looked at Sakura, tipping her chin up so that she would look into his eyes when she looked away. "This is our destiny, Sakura. We belong together."

Sakura could feel her cheeks getting warmer under his gaze and she nodded in reply, a smile slowly appearing on her face. "Forever?"

"Forever," Syaoran promised. "Come, let's go declare to the world that you will be my wife!"

Sakura laughed delightfully as Syaoran led her to the throne room, where their family and friends unite to hear their solemn vows of love to each other and teased them mercilessly about their future together as husband and wife.

~* The End *~

This is really the end for Destiny. Again, thanks for reading it and following me for sooooooo long!

I'll be glad if you could leave a review for me as it'll really help me to improve on my writing skills! Don't feel bad about leaving negative comments, it's a learning experience for me. ^_^

Thanks for the 9 years of writing. Had lots of fun!

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