Disclaimer – I don't own nothing except for my ideas which are priceless.

Part III

Tomoyo tilted her head to the side as she surveyed the furnishings of the elegant ballroom of Eriol's hundred year old Victorian Mansion. Her eyes flicked from elaborate light fixture to inquiring portrait and back again before she finally turned to Sakura and whispered something in her best friend's ear.

Sakura nodded as she closed her eyes and reached into the back of her mind for a certain something that would aid her in doing Tomoyo's bidding. She smiled and whispered its name, and when she opened her eyes again it was done.

The exquisite, one of a kind, family heirloom, older than the house itself chandelier that had been hanging in the centre of the room had been erased and replaced within a blink of an eye. A sparkly disco ball and a stunning array of brightly coloured lights had taken its place helping to bring the 19th Century fossil into the 21st Century.

The paintings which, much like the chandelier, were heirlooms and very precious to the owner of the house – some of them were even originals of artists like Delaunay, Van Gogh and Monet – had also been erased. These had been replaced by band posters, movie posters and any other sort of poster that comes to mind, and a particularly large one had been replaced by a wide screen TV set to a music channel complete with song lyrics underneath just in case anyone wanted to try out some Karaoke at tonight's event.

Along with the posters, disco ball and wide screen TV they had also added a juice bar complete with Bartender and punchbowl; a buffet table spanning from one end of the room to the other and covered from top to bottom in just about every snack food known to man; only the latest and greatest sound system ever made and enough party decorations to sink a battle ship.

"What do you think?" Sakura asked twirling the two cards on her fingers.

"Erase and Create have done a great job," Tomoyo replied as her eyes scanned the room appreciatively. Sakura had done everything she had asked perfectly right down to the very last pink streamer. They both smiled and thanked the two cards who were really happy to do anything for their Mistress.

"So what do you think Eriol will have to say about our redecorating?" Sakura asked with a sly and devious smile that seemed completely unnatural on Sakura's perfect cherub face.

Tomoyo returned her smile as she looked towards the ballrooms entrance. "I don't know, but I think we're about to find out."

It was at that point that Eriol walked through the doors and into his every nightmare.

His eyes widened in shock to the point where you could be sure they were going to just pop right out of the sockets. His jaw dropped so hard it practically hit the floor and it was only by pure willpower that he remained conscious.

"What happened to my stuff?!" he asked frantically to no one in particular.

"Pictures went bye-bye," Sakura giggled at the look on his face.

Tomoyo, who had far more self-restraint than Sakura ever had, managed to control herself for Eriol's sake and spoke calmly, remaining her usual poised self. "They just weren't right for the party. We had to get rid of them," she replied in a diplomatic tone. "They were ruining the chi flow and more importantly," she added, "they clashed with the streamers."

"But, my paintings! The chandelier!" he cried out in anguish. "Do you know how long those things have been in my family?"

"Geez, Eriol. Chill," Tomoyo answered him nonchalantly as she carefully inspected her manicure to make sure that all this deviousness hadn't caused her to chip a nail. "I mean, there's no point getting your panties in a twist over a few finger paintings."

"Finger paintings?" he asked sceptically his eyes widening further in disbelief. "Finger paintings! They were works of art. They were pieces of history. They were irreplaceable!"

"Eriol, I said chill," she told him again. "You can get them back after the party. I just had Sakura erase them so this place would look a little less like some five hundred year old man was lodging here."

"Why couldn't you just say that to begin with?"

"It's called revenge, my dear sweet Eriol," she said with a slight edge to her voice. "You try explaining to every girl in the school that you don't have drug problem, you haven't been sleeping with Syaoran, and that you didn't just have George Michael's lovechild, and see how you feel about that damn vase of sunflowers?"

"Oh, I heard about that one," Sakura said in an effort to break the tension. "A girl in my Math's class started it in fifth period."

"Aw, c'mon Tomoyo," Eriol tried desperately as he took her hand in his. "If I were you, I'd feel privileged to be the mother of what will probably be George Michael's only child."

Tomoyo smiled sarcastically. "Remind me again why I have to be the bad guy in this?"

"Because I'm the one that's leaving," Eriol replied casually smiling ever so smugly in response.

Tomoyo glowered angrily and glared at him maliciously. "Just remember this moment" she told him evenly, "when Sakura accidentally loses all your stuff anime space."

"You wouldn't?" he gasped worriedly. "Would you?"

"You have no idea," she replied coolly as she grabbed her bag and left the room leaving a giggling Sakura and a very anxious looking Eriol behind to put the finishing touches on the party decorations.

She walked delicately down one of Eriol's many dark halls. Her footsteps echoed eerily through the long corridor and she made a mental note to herself that they would have to do something about it before the party. Who knows what people would get up to when given the opportunity of a secluded dark hallway and an un-chaperoned party?

She knocked lightly on a door about three-quarters down the hall and waited for the room's inhabitant to let her in.

The person within sniffed lightly as they moved towards the door. A few seconds later Nakuru opened the door. She was looking anything but her regular cheerful self, although, she seemed apparently relieved to find Tomoyo at the door.

"Oh, Tomoyo it's you," she said as she stepped back and allowed Tomoyo to enter.

The two girls moved inside and sat themselves on the bed.

"Yeah. I brought you a gift," Tomoyo offered awkwardly as she held the bag out to Nakuru who took it gratefully.

"Thank you," Nakuru said quietly as she carefully examined the bag without even opening it so she could examine the items within. For a few moments there was complete silence between the girls until Nakuru broke it with a question she wanted so desperately to know the answer to. "Why can't you and master Eriol just work things out and live happily ever after like they do in fairy tales?"

The tears began to fall from Nakuru's eyes, tears she had been holding back since Tomoyo entered the room.

At first, all Tomoyo could do was stare amazedly at the older burnet as she tried to think of a plausible answer to the question. She went over all the possible ways that Touya and Nakuru could kill Eriol when all this was over in her head and was seriously considering helping them out.

She sighed honestly as she looked into Nakuru's naïve, tearful eyes. "Life doesn't work like fairytales," she told her honestly feeling about as bad as someone who had just told a child there was no such thing as Santa Clause.

"But you love each other," Nakuru protested. She wanted Tomoyo to be able to tell her that everything would be all right in the end, and that love conquered all and that anything is possible if you believe. She wanted Tomoyo to let her know that this wasn't the end; she didn't want to let go of what hope she had left.

"Well . . . you see . . . it's complicated," she sighed looking to the ground out of disgust for herself. It was the same vague grown-up answer her parents had given her after their divorce. She had promised herself she would never say that to anyone, but here she was lying to Nakuru and trying to convince herself she was doing the right thing. As if lying to someone could be for their own good.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, me and Eriol . . . we're kind of just looking for different things," Tomoyo tried to explain. She hated lying, especially to someone as sweet as Nakuru, and she was going to make sure that Eriol never lived this down.

"Of course you are," Nakuru whispered softly not even bothering to wipe the tears that fell steadily from her eyes. "If you were looking for the same thing you wouldn't have found each other."

Tomoyo took a deep breath and made her decision. She knew it was against his precious plan, she knew that nothing was guaranteed, but she also knew that Touya and Nakuru didn't deserve what they were being put through for the sake of Eriol's cunning scheme.

"You know what Nakuru," she said softly smiling lightly, "I think that's the best thing anyone's told me all week."

Her smile broadened as a new, far more ingenious plan, began to take shape in her head. She gave the guardian a quick hug before assuring her that everything would work out for the best and running back down the hall.

"Eriol," she called sweetly to the navy-haired boy, "we're going to the mall?"

"What for?" he asked curiously. "I thought we had everything already."

"PDA," she said simply hoping he would get the hint, but sadly the clueless look on his face told her she was going to have to spell this out for him. "Hurry up Eriol or I'll have to find someone else to make up with."

"Oh," Eriol replied grinning mischievously as it all finally sunk in.

"From now on we're doing this my way and maybe if we're lucky Touya won't be so hard on you," she added as she tugged him out the door and to the mall. Boy was she going to make those girls pay, and if she played her cards right she might be able to humiliate Eriol in the process.

End of Part III

I guess I was starting to feel sorry for you guys because I've decided to catch you up on where I was up to in this story. I've actually got another completed chapter sitting here on my computer, plus one that is ¾ done so I guess while I'm on holidays I might try and complete that and finally finish one of the many stories that I started something like 4 years ago.