AGAIN, I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THE IDEA OF THE STORY LINE. THE CHARACTERS ARE BEYOND MY REACH AND OWNERSHIP T_T
THIS IS ANOTHER UPDATED VERSION OF A PREVIOUS STORY THOUGH IT MAY STILL NEED SOME WORK. REVIEWS ARE WELCOMED. BUT DON'T GET UPSET AT ANY KAHO BASHINGS, BECAUSE IF YOU DO...GET OVER IT. I DON'T LIKE KAHO THAT MUCH. SORRY
Tomoyo sat on Sakura's bed as she showed Sakura some of her drawings for the wedding dress. Li-kun had finally asked Sakura to marry him. They had been dating for eight years and Kero had recently been threatening to go over to Li's house and give him a lecture about doing something permanent. The wedding was still a few weeks away but Tomoyo wanted to make this dress perfect and that would take some time.
"I am sorry Sakura-chan, what were you saying?" Tomoyo had just noticed that she had been talking.
"I said that you should start looking for a date. It shouldn't be too hard. There are so many guys that would kill to get a date with you."
Sakura sat down and handed Tomoyo the design she had finally chosen. Tomoyo examined it and grinned, it was her favorite and she had been hoping that Sakura would pick this one.
"Hello, are you still not listening to me?" Tomoyo looked up and smiled at how irritated Sakura was.
"Sorry, I know there are lots of guys but they will just use me to get popular. I want someone who loves me for who I am."
The only one who came close to that was Eriol, and she loved him not the other way around. Besides, he was taken and still in England, last she heard. He had written to her, until suddenly the letters just stopped. That was last year and she had really missed them. She sighed as she remembered his and her last letter. She had missed him so much. And his letters. She even missed his two guardians,
"Hey, are you ok? You're thinking about him aren't you? I am sorry." Sakura walked to her and gave her a hug.
Tomoyo shook herself after the hug and gave Sakura the best smile she could muster.
"Thanks, Sakura, but let's not talk about that, let's talk about this design. How do you feel about the length of the trail?"
Eriol watched as the clouds rolled underneath the airplane, remembering. He remembered Sakura's card capturing days and how he used to get a kick out of annoying his cute little descendant. He unconsciously stroked Spinal Sun who was sleeping in his lap in his false form; Nakuru was sleeping in the seat next to him probably dreaming about Yukito. The two had begun to date after Yukito had stayed at the mansion for college. The thought of that brought back memories of Kaho the love of his life.
He had thought they would last forever but those dreams were dashed by a simple letter saying she had truly loved Touya Kinomoto and goodbye. He had withdrawn into himself; he stopped doing anything and everything. That fact made him remember Tomoyo. He had been writing to her, had enjoyed hearing her thoughts. She had been his advisor and best friend, always there for him. That is until Kaho left and he had stopped writing. She had finally stopped writing but not before she told him what she thought. That last letter was one of two letters that broke him out of his shell of darkness. The other was the invitation to the wedding of Sakura Kinomoto and Syaorun Li. He had immediately packed and made flight plans. Though he was happy for the both of them he couldn't help but feel envious that they had found love. Suddenly, he felt a pang of sadness.
His eyes widened, 'Tomoyo! What is she sad about?'
He, being the half reincarnation of Clow Reed, had always been able to sense the feelings and emotions of others, especially Tomoyo. He suddenly couldn't wait to get off the plane to see Tomoyo.
When it finally did land that was the first thing on his list. He went to her house after, literally, dropping his stuff in his room but, to his disappointment, he was informed that she had left without a trace.
She had walked into the apartment she had just moved into. She had begun to work for her mother's company to get her through college until she graduated and started a job in fashion. Until then she had decided to live alone instead of relying on her mother. She left with out telling her mother, who wasn't there anyway, or the staff.
The only ones who knew were Sakura and Li-kun. She needed to do this. She was trying not to thinking about Eriol but it didn't work, making her cry as she had done so many nights before.
'Eriol, I miss you so much. What happened for you to stop writing to me? Was it me?'
She fell face forward onto her mattress fighting tears.
She finally sat up and sighed still fighting. She looked down at her nightstand, however, the tears began to fall. There were two pictures on it; one was a picture of all of her friends from school. The other was the one that she picked up, the one of her sitting under the Sakura tree they had in the elementary school courtyard that everyone use to sit at during lunch. Eriol was there.
He had snuck in behind her, putting his hands on her shoulder. That was the day before they found out that he was leaving to go back to England with Mizuki-sensei and the day before her heart broke. She had realized she loved him that day under the tree but he left. She seemed to have no luck in the love department of her life and she had long decided she would end up a spinster. She got up and decided to go for a walk hoping that it would calm her down.
She walked to her old elementary school, remembering again all that had taken place there. She kept walking but her mind dwelled on the memories. She stopped beside the bench and gasped. She was at Penguin park; her feet carried her to the penguin shaped slide and climbed up it to look out at the view of the setting sun. She loved this time of the day and the slide provided the greatest view. It didn't help at all, it actually made her cry even more. This was the place that she and Eriol often went to talk about anything that was everything. This was the place that he had told her that he was leaving with Mizuki-sensei. They had watched many a sunset go down here.
Eriol stood on the sidewalk watching the beautiful woman that stood on the slide.
He had been on his way to her apartment from Sakura's house when he saw her and felt again all her sadness but he felt something else coursing through her. When he realized what it was he gasped. It was love. He stood in awe for a moment before he suddenly felt anger course through him.
'Who is this great love that was causing my Tomoyo such grief? I will knock him out if-'
He stopped in surprise.
When did he start calling Tomoyo his? Another memory flashed through his head but this time it was from him and Tomoyo. It was the picture from elementary school under the cherry tree. He had the same picture at home and had put it next to his nightstand after her last letter. Then it hit him. He was the one that had made her so sad but that meant… Tomoyo was in love…with him?
But he didn't love her, did he? Eriol began to watch Tomoyo again and thought about this. She had always been there for him, they understood each other, and she was his confidant, the one he ran too usually. He continued this as he watched her watching the sun sink down on the horizon. Her hair fluttered in the sudden breeze and seemed to wake her from her daze. She slid down the slide and began to walk in his direction. Knowing she hadn't seen him yet he took the little time to think again. He hadn't reached a decision when he heard her soft gasp and her voice say his name,
"Hirigizawa-san?"
Hearing her voice and seeing her again gave him the answer to his problem. He couldn't believe it. He loved her. He guessed that this had happened a long time ago, probably when he had received her last letter which had ultimately saved him from himself. They began to walk to her apartment and talked the whole time.
"I am sorry that Kaho did that to you, you deserve better then that. Would you like to come in for tea?"
He smiled, nodding, and followed her in.
"I need to ask you something. Do you have a date for Sakura's wedding?"
She stared at him in amazement. The man she loved just asked her the question she had wanted to hear.
"N-no, why?"
"Because you will be attending it with me. Um…There is something else, Tomoyo."
She looked up at him with her inquisitive look. "Really? What?" Eriol took a deep breathe and said it,
"I think love you. I just realized it but it really started when you wrote that last letter."
He looked down thinking that she was going to say no.
"I love you too. Forever and always."