Chapter 1 – Red Roses

Familiar faces. Grey faces. Black gowns. Like colour television had not yet been invented. It's like Eriol is watching an old drama in which his favourite actors play the leading parts. However, he cannot express his amusement.

She would have looked ravishing, Kaho would. Her unimaginable long, red hair put up neatly which made her perfectly shaped ears visible. They wear the beloved crystal earrings Eriol gave her once. There she is. Wearing her black dress, dazzling in all her glory by just being there. When she walks, with her small but quick steps, her feet keep hidden underneath her whirling dress. Like she's floating. Eriol's gaze follows the short nodding of her head, the swift movements of her arms and shoulders. Her attracting, bare neck pulls his longing eyes towards her. They stray off to the spaghetti straps around her shoulders, which are so temptingly easy to untie. She turns her head. Her beautiful, fiery eyes, that can look so gentle anyway, fix themselves upon him. He parts his lips slowly and tends to lift up his arm.

"Eriol."

Nakuru's hand brushed his softly. It made him feel like her touch startled him in a way that made him tremble on his skinny legs. But in reality, he didn't move a muscle. She was gone. She was gone… He stared at the empty spot next to the gigantic tree that had lost his leaves early last year. Nevertheless, it seemed like she was still there, secretly, as no one set foot on that particular spot when they walked to the shrine. In his mind he smiled, comforting himself.

--

The wind lay down. The rain was restrained. But the sky was ever so grey, ever so sober. The leaves rustle over the ground outside the Tsukimine shrine. Sakura clasped her hand in Syaoran's and weakly leaned to him. There were rings under her eyes: she hadn't been able to sleep due to her worrying. A young lady her age came towards her in a quick pace. Her wavy, dark hairs were twined into a braid that bounced onto her back when she walked. She wore a black skirt with a neat, dark grey blouse and short heels.

"Sakura-chan!"

She grabbed her hands together and looked at her worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Sakura pulled up the corners of her mouth. "I'm fine. It's good to see you, Tomoyo-chan."

"I didn't receive any replies from you… Li-kun wouldn't let me talk to you on the phone," she said disappointed, glancing at Syaoran, who sighed.

"I understand your worries, Daidouji-san, but Sakura really needed her rest," he said, while laying his hand onto his girlfriend's shoulder.

Sakura shook her head. Her light brown hairs followed her movements. "I gladly would have spoken to you, Tomoyo-chan. I'm sorry, you shouldn't have worried so much." She pinched her best friend's hands gently.

Tomoyo smiled back with difficulty.

--

"Kaho-san… To me, Kaho-san was… a role model. I think."

Nakuru tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and giggled nervously. "She was the most beautiful woman in our lives. Our lives, yes. She was what made us complete. She was that mysterious chemical addition to the strange blend called us." As her eyes softened and she stayed silent for a few seconds, she glanced at Spinel, sitting on Eriol's lap, supposed to play a stuffed animal serving as a mascot. The group of people looked at her in expectation. "I remember the first time Kaho-san would came to visit our mansion in England. We had agreed on meeting her at 3 o'clock sharp, but in the end, she arrived at 6 o'clock, after Eriol went looking for her. She got lost because she forgot the street name." Nakuru laughed and the people laughed with her. "We chose Tsukimine… Because this was her home. Even if she has spent a big part of her life in Engeland with us, Japan is her place of birth. She grew up here, she went to school here, she fell in love for the first time here…"

Touya stared at his lap. His head was empty, thoughtless.

"This is where she swept the pavement as a miko," Nakuru smiled. "Kaho-san… I'll never forget you, Kaho-san. Everything you have done for me… I will cherish it." She lightly tapped her chest and took a bow.

The ceremony passed peacefully: After Nakuru's speech, there were a few words from some Mizuki family members and to end it off, a self written piano composition by Eriol himself, which moved everyone to the most. While his slender fingers hit the keys, Tomoyo sighed. On her left side, Sakura was holding a pink handkerchief pressed to her mouth, withholding her sobs.

The sound was drowning. Eriol caressed the grand piano without even thinking about what he was doing. The heavens moaned and the rain poured down heavily once again. The water filled the shrine, it took the guests away. They were cleared away. Eriol hit the last pair of keys and looked up. One last chair had remained standing. Two slender legs, crossed over each other. Familiar light pink painted nails. Clasped hands covered the knees. Ka-

No, she was underneath green sodding now. Her chest deep inside of the earth. The hole was being covered up now. Amethyst eyes instead of amber ones. Tomoyo faintly smiled at him. He immediately turned his head and accidentally bit his lip, something he usually never did. Nakuru spoke to the invited ones where after everyone got from their seats and moved house, Nakuru leading them. Spinel jumped, unseen, from her shoulder and touched down onto the grand piano in front of Eriol.

"The hardest part is over now, Eriol," he spoke. "You'll have to speak to your guests in a moment. Is there anything I can do for you? How about a cup of tea?"

His master didn't look at him. "Maybe rain is more suitable," he muttered. "Rain… To wash away that which isn't needed." The sky groaned at his words.

--

Yoshiyuki and Rika Terada joined Sakura and the others to exchange their condolences. Tomoyo had been very busy with her study and to her, her friends looked like they had changed dramatically. Like she hadn't seen them for years. But out all of them, Eriol was the most recognizable. Why did he still look practically the same? Of course, he looked older. His hair was slightly longer. He wore the same glasses, though. But… Oh, he's coming this way.

Eriol had stepped into the group of people. His black jacket was unbuttoned now and opened due to the adverse wind as he moved towards their direction. While he came closer, his pitch-black hair seemed to change to a shade of dark grey. Tomoyo swallowed. Maybe she hadn't looked well enough. Sakura turned around. Her little black dress whirled around her legs.

"Eriol-kun… Eriol-kun…!" Again, her tears broke free. She ran towards him and flung herself into his arms, hid her face in his shirt like she did with Syaoran two days ago, who now observed them and crossed his arms.

"I'm so… sorry! I'm… I'm so terribly sorry!" Sakura sobbed, her shoulders shaking.

Eriol put his one hand on her back and with the other one, caressed through her hairs, which were sticky because of the salty tears.

"Don't, Sakura-san. You are nothing to blame of. Only grieve her death, for I am happy my heart is still able to beat. There is no other reason for you to cry."

Sakura wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer to her, not being able to utter a single word. Eriol cupped her chin and made her look at him.

"Do you promise me that, dearest Sakura-san?"

Sakura's lower lip trembled heavily. Tears ran down her flushed cheeks from her swollen emerald eyes. "Mm…" She pressed her lips together and nodded.

He took her handkerchief and dried her face tenderly, whereupon he gave her a fatherly kiss on the forehead. Syaoran now stood next to them and pulled Sakura back to his side. He made a short bow in front of Eriol.

"You have my sympathy," he humbly spoke.

"Thank you… Syaoran-kun," Eriol answered smiling, to which his descendant nodded. "I would appreciate it if you'll dine with us tomorrow evening. In honour of Kaho. To be very honest, it was originally Ruby Moon's idea, but I happily agreed to it…"

Tomoyo watched them form a distance, her arms wrapped around herself because of the increasing cold. Sakura and Syaoran nodded and left Eriol standing, moving towards Fujitaka and Touya, whom they hadn't yet spoken to that afternoon.

"Daidouji-san. It's been a long time."

"That's for sure, Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo said, agreeing with him and not shocked of his sudden appearance in front of her. She took a deep bow for her old friend. "Please accept my sympathies. It is a great loss." She threw her braid backwards and folded her hands together. Eriol nodded gratefully and observed her shining, perfectly manicured nails. "But as you might still remember, gathering from my letters, I have little free time left due to my study. Which I very much regret." Her fingers stroked each other. Was she nervous? "I hope you understand." She smiled just as faintly as during the ceremony, which lightly annoyed Eriol.

Tomoyo found it hard to look in his eyes. They were so empty, like bottomless wells. Ocean blue puddles without any ripples. Hypnotising. His once dark hairs were now bleached with shades of gray, hanging lifeless alongside his pale face. Suddenly he grabbed both her wrists and looked interested at her hands.

"Hiiragizawa-kun?" Tomoyo blinked and tried to pull her hands back carefully, but he strengthened his grip. He turned them this way and that, stroked her palms and followed the lines that were etched in them. "…What do you see?"

Eriol looked up, his horrible empty eyes looking straight into hers. "I see… You… I see what I see. What I always have seen… I can see you… Heh." He grinned in a way that frightened her. "You can never leave me alone, can you?"

Tomoyo silenced, she was speechless. What did this do to you, Hiiragizawa-kun? Why does your soul no longer speak and why do you blindly follow that which you can see? What is it that…

"Daidouji-san," he said, getting something from his inner pocket. "I'm asking you to join me at my dinner tomorrow night. I would like to chat with you in person again, instead of writing long letters, for which we both no longer have the time. Sakura-san and Li-kun will also be there. It would please me greatly." He offered her a single red rose in bloom, one exactly like the flower he placed on an auburn chest during the ceremony, and left.

Like nothing ever changed.

--

A/N: Let me know what you think by leaving a review! (Flaming isn't appreciated.) Could be you noticed some spelling or grammar mistakes... Sorry 'bout that, English isn't my native language. I'm trying to improve as much as I can! It's all still a bit vague now, but that'll change in the later chapters.