Author's notes:

Happy Birthday! Angie, this one's for you! From me H and Elle!

Disclaimer: The Author owns nothing but the plot!

Promises

"Daaarling!" Sue cooed as she forcefully hugged Eric in the middle of the field.

It was almost a month after the Aliea Academy incident, and Sue, Tori, Shawn, Darren and Harley were visiting the Raimon Eleven. A lovely and jovial reunion ensued, and they had spent the whole morning sharing stories on both sides. And predictably, Mark soon suggested that they should have a match for fun.

Well, they were just finishing, when Sue realized that she was yet to glomp Eric...

"Sue! Please!" Eric begged exasperatedly, but she continued with her excessive and awkward cuddling.

"Wow... Sue must have really missed him!" Celia said sweatdropping.

"Indeed." Camilla said, and Nelly nodded with her, both of them with the same expression.

But Nelly noticed that a certain green-haired girl wasn't joining in with them like she usually did.

Sylvia was seemingly rearranging the towels for the team to use, away from the other managers, which was quite unlikely of her.

"Sylvia?" Nelly called gently as she approached.

"Yes?" She asked, looking up.

"Is something bothering you?" Nelly asked her softly.

"No, of course not..." She said with a smile, as though to prove that nothing was wrong. But Nelly knew better, she was certainly not a thick spoiled brat like most rich kids, and she could empathize with Sylvia.

"Hey, Sylvia," Nelly started, "Have you ever heard the story "Cinderella"?" she asked her with shining eyes.

"Yeah, why?" She replied, really confused at where it was suddenly coming from.

"No, reason. I was just saying that I always loved how the prince ended up with Cinderella even though her step-sister was hanging on his arm..." Nelly said casually (but suggestively.).

Sylvia grinned in spite of herself.

The sun was slowly sinking into the horizon, and everyone was returning home in the bright orange afternoon light, their shadows becoming longer and longer as the sun set.

Sylvia was returning to her house, but something drew her to the Tower...

Maybe she wanted to watch Mark train? Mark reminded her of him, so naturally, it was Mark she would go to when she felt she needed his company but couldn't bear to come near him.

She walked towards the Tower pensively and her mind still contemplated Nelly's words.

Well, it was not like she was losing to Sue... Eric wasn't really interested, right?

But... It still bothered her whenever Sue draped herself over him...

And it didn't really help that Eric won't outright say anything on the lines of "I'm not interested..."

She sighed, but straightened up instantly as she heard the familiar yells and grunts Mark associated with training.

She broke into a sprint to see how he was faring, but stopped in her tracks as she climbed the stairs. It was Eric, not Mark. He was the one practicing with the tires, but instead of stopping it with his hands, he kicked it with all his might.

"Eric?" Sylvia asked as she approached the brunette.

"Oh, hey Sylvia!" He said turning to her, after another kick that sent the tire swinging high up, "Mark let me use his training place for today, he wanted to show Darren around town."

He gave a wide grin, and Sylvia returned it with her own small smile.

"Look ou-!" She warned Eric suddenly as the tire swung back, but she was too late and Eric got hit from behind and crashed into Sylvia.

They both fell down to the ground, and Sylvia instantly felt her heartbeats go off the charts.

"Urgh..." Eric groaned as he got up on all fours and asked Sylvia, "Are you alright?"

But she could only nod, her whole body was paralyzed with embarrassment and something else...

"Co-could you get off of me?" She asked right after she got her voice back.

Eric yelped a bit in embarrassment and promptly flung himself a few feet back. "Sorry! Sorry!" He said in a flustered voice as he blushed heavily.

"it's okay..." Sylvia whispered as she got to her feet and brushed the dirt off of her dress.

It took a bit of time to get a hold of themselves after that awkward moment, but soon they were talking normally again, leaning against the railings of the hill that overlooked Inazuma Town.

"So you're not staying..." Sylvia stated after Eric told him that he and Bobby were planning to go back to America soon.

"Yeah..." He replied dreamily, not looking away from the sunset.

"You could stay here... There's really no need to go back there..." Sylvia said carefully, trying not to sound too emotional.

"Yes I do." He said firmly, and he looked at Sylvia with his chestnut eyes that shone in the faint reddish glow of the setting sun.

"I have to keep a promise I made to myself before the Football Frontier. I have to keep it, no matter what."

Sylvia was a bit shocked and also curious... Despite her common sense telling her not to, she still asked, "May I ask you what that promise was?"

Eric closed his eyes for a bit, and returned his gaze to the setting sun, which was almost two-thirds into the horizon.

"I promised that I'll play as hard as I possibly can and win every and any match I face." He started, "For you..."

Sylvia's gaze snapped to him at the last part, and her heart lurched a bit in shock, "M-me? Why? I never asked you..." her voice trailed away as Eric looked into her eyes.

"You stopped playing soccer after my accident..." He said sadly, "And you never played again... It was because of me you couldn't keep our promise, we couldn't play soccer together again."

"But it doesn't matter now! You're back, you're alive!" She said loudly. She couldn't stand it, the injustice of it all. After so long, she was able to be together with Eric again, only to be torn apart by a promise!

"It does matter to me! Mrs. Woods told me everything! You didn't even look at a soccer ball again for a year after the accident! You weren't yourself for so long!" Eric told her defiantly.

"Of course I couldn't look at a soccer ball! I couldn't imagine myself playing without you! Of course I wasn't myself! I lost one of the most important people in my life! I could only recover after I met Mark! And only because he reminded me of you!" She nearly yelled, and teared up at once, sobbing.

She threw herself on him, no bothering about what people may think and sobbed into his chest, "I don't want to lose you again! Only once was more than enough."

"Silly girl..." Eric said softly, slowly patting her on the head. "But what's done is done... I don't break my promises, remember?"

Sylvia just sobbed harder, but Eric pulled her to arms length and held her face in both his hands.

"That's why I promise you again, I you won't ever lose me again... Even if anything happens to me, I will keep coming back like the phoenix!"

Sylvia looked into his kind and soft eyes again, and knew instantly that he was telling the truth...

She won't lose him, never again...

END

This will be a three-shot, the second chapter will be post-episode 127.

Now excuse me, I'll go skulk in the emo corner for giving being a cheapskate...