Title: Mature Understanding

Pairing: Rika/Eriol

Cannon: Manga


He had always had a keen interest in Sasaki Rika. It was nothing compared to his interest in Sakura, but then that was an entirely different situation. She was family. She was also, incidentally, the most powerful sorceress in many generations, if not ever. Sakura held so much glam and glaze to her, infecting everyone with her laughter and joy, her exuberance and volatility.

Quite opposite to her dear friend.

No, Sasaki-san was nothing like the girls her own age. She seemed to hold a maturity that was almost innate. Her bearing and poise was unique and ladylike. And unlike every other child her age who held such maturity and understanding, it was not hard earned and thus did not bear the marks upon her. There was no bitterness to her sweet countenance. The light in her eyes was genuine, as were each of her smiles. The understanding she showed those around her was not fallacious.

And she was in love with her fourth grade teacher.

So aside of the keen and almost scientific interest he had taken to this beautiful and special young girl, he put all else out of mind. He had done his duty to Sakura and his cute little descendant and left Tomoeda with Kaho. Kaho who loved him dearly, despite her own reasoning but who he could only feel mild emotion for. Kaho, who after three years of romantic relations with someone she still could not see as anyone but a child, graduated and returned home to the shrine she was now mistress over.

By the time he was to return to Tomoeda, the red haired girl with calm demeanor was not much more than a vague memory with a touch of curiosity painted on it. With little reason for him to think else.

"I still can't get over how different you look as a grown up, Eriol- kun," Sakura exclaimed again. "And should I be calling you Eriol-san now?"

"If you do, I shall feel offended. And it is no less of a shock to see you in a sixteen-year-old body rather than the little twelve-year-old girl I saw last," Eriol smiled.

Sakura laughed and blushed before looking at her watch almost casually. What she saw apparently disturbed her, for she stopped in her tracks. "I'm LATE! So sorry, Eriol, but I promised to meet Syaoran for dinner tonight and I'm supposed to be ready in five minutes!"

Eriol chuckled softly. "If you use magic, you might just be able to make it!"

Sakura laughed infectiously, "That's cheating! Ja ne, Eriol-kun!"

Eriol smiled as he watched his dear friend leave quickly. In some ways, she was his very own daughter and he could feel nothing but pride when he saw her. She truly was beautiful. And he could tell, even with his now severely limited power, that she was even more powerful than when he had left. She was amazing, as always.

His smile lessening to become mere enjoyment rather than amusement, he turned and continued on the path set before him. Unconsciously perhaps, Sakura had set out towards the infamous Penguin Park where so much had happened. He wondered if it was holding up well from the passage of time. Eriol strolled casually down the dirt lane, only barely noting the lamps as they lit in protest of the setting sun.

However, all casualness left his person when he finally reached the park. For there leaning against the large King Penguin was a figure lost in desolation. He could hear from his distance the racking sobs that shook her delicate figure. At first he paused, unsure as to whether to intrude on a scene so lost and alone, not wanting to be the callous stranger who interrupted the unforgiving solitude that gave solace. Until the sun glinted on the figure in it's last rays, showing off a head of beautiful red hair.

"Sasaki-san?" Eriol called out quietly.

The young girl jerked and looked up. Her face was much the same as it had been four years ago, as delicately carved and maturely set as ever. But now it held a sorrow to it, exemplified more thoroughly by the tear treks that marked her usually calm face. Still, Eriol could not help but catch his breath as he saw how the onset of a few years could turn someone so unassuming into someone so ravishing.

"W-who are y-you?" she sniffled, obviously a bit unnerved, startling Eriol out of his momentary state of shock.

"A friend. Are you okay, Sasaki-san? Are you hurt?"

She seemed to open her mouth in protest, whether of his unhelpful answer or to the delicate questions it was unsure, before shutting it tightly and shaking her head. "Please, just go."

Eriol frowned and walked nearer. "No. You are in pain, Sasaki-san," he said simply before leaning down and handing her a handkerchief. "Now, dry your eyes and tell me what happened."

Her big grey eyes looked up at him for a moment, filled with tears and questions. She seemed to hesitate for the barest of moments before doing something completely against her character. Without a second thought, she launched herself on his bent figure and they both tumbled to the ground once more. Eriol landed in surprise, holding himself up by his elbows as he stared at the young girl who clung to him, her head buried into his chest as she shed more tears.

"I loved him so much! I had always loved him! But he, he, he..." she choked on the small word with so much meaning behind it.

"He what?"

"He just stopped loving me! I don't know why! We were engaged! We had been engaged since I was ten and now he decided he doesn't love me anymore!"

"Terada-sensei broke up with you?" Eriol asked, a bit of surprise colouring his voice.

"Oh, please don't say his name! It hurts too much! I gave him my childhood and he didn't even care! He said that it was a disgrace for him to marry someone fourteen years younger than he was. That he must have been insane to let it happen in the first place." She paused, gulping compulsively as she tried to hold back the tide of tears. "He asked for his ring back! It barely even fit my fingers anymore, I don't understand why he would want it back! It would mean nothing to him."

Eriol stared at her as she broke in her monologue to sob uncontrollably once more. Carefully he sat up a little and pulled her to sit between his bent knees as she clung to his chest. Gently he ran his fingers over her beautiful hair and cursed the teacher a hundred ways to hell. This sweet, sweet girl didn't deserve this. She had done nothing wrong. If he could put his hands on that Terada person, he would...

"And the worst part is he said he was engaged to someone else! That he loved her! It means he had been thinking of breaking up with me for awhile, doesn't it? That he stopped loving me a long time ago!"

The tears came harder then as Eriol's murderous thoughts escalated. The man was despicable. And to think, he had admired him all those years ago. As he looked down at this poor girl who was at last acting her own age in the most horrible of ways, something happened that he couldn't explain. Without further thought, he pulled her from his chest and leaned down to brush his lips over hers.

Instantly, Rika's sobs were silenced as she stared in shock at this strange man who seemed to be only a couple years younger than...him. This man who said he was a friend but who she was sure she had never seen before, who listened to her heart's outpourings without qualm. Then, in an action completely unlike anything she had ever done before, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

Eriol couldn't control his thoughts, nor did he particularly want to. In a rush, he could feel the suppressed interest and curious wonderings of "what if" and "if only" blow wide into his heart as this sweet girl kissed him back as passionately as he had, apparently, always wanted to kiss her. For all the world, Eriol would not let a single thought pass into his head for fear of it bringing rationality with it.

For several minutes, they let themselves be lost in the moment, oblivious to the passersby who pointed and cooed at the couple as they sat in the middle of a children's park after daylight's passage. Then reason seemed to flit down to both of them and they parted, gasping for breath.

Rika stared in horror at the man she had been kissing, her grey eyes wide. "I-I-I...oh, my god, I don't even know you! I-I-I..I can't believe-," she began before being interrupted.

"You know me," Eriol said quite abruptly. Not for a moment was he going to allow her to think her way out of this situation. He had tasted heaven for a few moments there and was determined not to give it back, especially when it so unexpectedly found him.

"Then who are you?!" she gasped, trying desperately to find that delicate balance she had always kept herself in. She teetered on the edge of sanity, trying to grasp her ubiquitous maturity and understanding.

"Hiiragizawa Eriol. We went to school together, don't you remember?"

"Eriol-san?" she gasped.

The name came as a surprise to Eriol, who had assumed she would refer to him by his last name as he had for her. They had never been particularly close during his brief stay in Tomoeda and had no understanding why she would refer to him in a way that would be almost inappropriate.

"Yes...Rika-chan."

"B-but, you are so much older! You look like you could be in your mid- twenties."

Eriol nodded, toying with the idea of telling her everything. He passed that aside as complete insanity since most likely she wouldn't believe him. Nor should he tell her so much when as like as not, she would run from him when next they met.

"Let's just say that I'm not what I seem."

Rika stared at him for a moment, her eyes once again reflecting her calm and precise understanding which had been her trademark. "The magic. You have powers like Sakura-chan does."

Eriol's sapphire eyes widened in shock. "What?"

Rika smiled a little, the sadness seeming to lessen for a moment. "You can't be Sakura-chan's friend for as long as I have and not notice something unusual about her. It was only recently that I came to understand what it was. And don't worry, I haven't told anyone, not even Chiharu-chan or Naoko-chan."

Eriol's lips twitched into a smile. "You really did understand everything didn't you? Perhaps that was why I was always drawn to you."

Rika frowned a little in confusion. "You always seemed to have eyes only for Sakura-chan."

"Not everything is as it appears, Rika-chan. For instance, why did you call me Eriol-san?"

Her grey eyes widened before she glanced down. "I had always found you fascinating. You seemed just like me. I never minded being the grown up of our group, but when you came along, I wasn't the only one anymore. There was someone else who seemed to have the same personality as I did. You comforted me."

Eriol's smile grew as he heard her. So it was mutual. They had both fascinated each other, however well concealed. "I'm glad to hear that, Rika- chan."

She looked up at him and smiled a little more genuinely. "Welcome back, Eriol-san." She grew quiet, looking around at the situation she found herself in before glancing back at him shyly. "Why are you back? How long are you staying?"

"I was just visiting. But now I think I will stay for a while longer."

Rika blushed and looked down at her hands. Smiling softly, Eriol took one of her hands and drew them both to their feet. "Come with me now, Rika- chan. We'll go get dinner and perhaps I can show you that you deserve better than that Terada-san. That you are truly special."

The beautiful, quiet girl looked up at him. Her eyes seemed to sadden once more at the mention of her ex-loves name, but at the same time, a small light of hope shone from them. The hope that she could answer the many questions she had asked herself when she was younger and more of a child. Nodding she smiled a shy smile and followed him out of the park.


A/N: Now wasn't that interesting. This story wasn't so difficult to write for the fact that the pairing was unusual. No, they actually made a weird sort of sense. It was just hard to find a situation where they could actually get together.

Two notes: 1) Eriol has a grown up form. In the manga they mention him being a child for a long, long time so it is assumed he has an adult form. I chose to use it in this fic because I felt Rika was better meant with a guy much older than her since she WAS so very mature and adult-like. 2) Rika's eye colour. In the anime they are brown. However, in the colour pictures of the manga they are grey/purple. I decided that since it was from the manga I would use the manga colours.