First, Second (Meiling/Syaoran)

[storypaint]

Comm: heartbrkhotel
Words: 299
Title: First, Second
Author: rhap_chan
Pairing: Li Meiling
Fandom: Cardcaptor Sakura
Theme: 02. first love
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. This fanfic is a derivative of canon material that is not my property. I do not profit from these writings. The opinions and actions expressed in these stories are not necessarily the views and beliefs of the original author or me.

Excerpt: I guess I will have to listen to Daidouji's murmurs and take them to heart, and the words I so easily tossed into hearbroken ears long ago.

I knew I had a lot to learn about love. This was my first love, after all, and I was very young. But I was sure that things would work out. It was like the fairy tales I heard when I was that age-- the prince had rescued the damsel in distress, and now they would live happily ever after. That was Cinderella, Snow White...

But what about the legend of another Snow White and her sister, Rose Red? For being the louder one, the playful one, am I then doomed not to marry the prince but his brother? I always thought that poor Rose Red must have felt so unwanted, when I thought about it at all, but I rarely considered unhappy things in the midst of my glee.

How many other girls entered elementary school with a fiancee, someone to love them forever?

I nursed my friends through heartache, wisely comforting. The first love is not necessarily the last love, I said. I was lucky.

I wa glad they weren't here to witness this, the loss of my first love to another who claims him to be number one. What am I left with, then? He doesn't have a brother, and if he had, I wouldn't want him. I hate second-best. I was always second-best to Syaoran, and that was the only time it was okay, but most of the other times I was pushed aside. They wanted a boy. They wanted a kid with magic. They wanted someone with a stable family life. None of those things included me.

I guess I will have to listen to Daidouji's murmurs and take them to heart, and the words I so easily tossed into hearbroken ears long ago. First love isn't necessarily last love. I just wasn't lucky.