SORRY for the delay of this chapter. Been too sickly lately. Reviews in any kind are very much welcome.

DISCLAIMER: me don't own CCS. If I did, you would be watching this by now.

6 Desperate Measures

Eli looked haggard and worn out.

His paperwork was everywhere, all ready piling up, but he just sat there behind his desk, staring into nothingness.

He held her through the night, until he was sure that her grief receded a bit for a while. They were lying down on the couch in a spoon position, Madison in his arms. She talked about her dreams and heartaches with their toy company, about how the problem materialized and so forth. He just listened to her while stroking her arms with his hand and she held on to his other hand.

Still he listened, even when slumber took toll of her being. He took in the silence in their surrounding hearing only the ticking of the clock and the even breathing of Madison. He inhaled her unique scent that invaded his senses during her absence.

Eli released a deep breath that sent her hair brushing her white cheek. He buried his face in her hair at the junction of her shoulder and neck and inhaled deeply once more.

Madison would be a married woman before the week ended.

Never in the last fifteen years of their acquaintance did the thought of losing each other for somebody else cross his mind. Commitments frightened him, so he never really thought about what the future might bring. He had thought that it would be always him and Madison; that they would stay the best friends forever.

Wasn't he the one who suggested she treated him like the brother she never had?

He was a fool to believe that it would only be a platonic, or maybe filial, relationship between them. As the years went by, Madison had become more than what he expected. She became the constant being in his life.

He had never been so scared of losing someone.

So he held her until the sun rose. Sleep took him lightly that when she stirred, he woke. Much to his annoyance, she had to leave and he had to work something out to get Madison out of this mess. Marrying another man who she barely knew was one thing, but seeing loneliness reflecting in her eyes instead of her usual vitality was making him furious.

Beep, beep. Beep, beep.

Eli was snapped out of his reverie with the sound of the intercom. He reached out and answered his secretary.

"Yes?"

"Sir, the paperwork you requested is here and you have a meeting in one hour with the board of directors," the lady said in the other line.

"Thank you. Bring the paperwork in."

He browsed through the pile that his secretary had brought in. Those were the list of his assets. One by one he was perusing every detail. Then he closed the folder and sat back. He looked at the grandfather clock at the far end of his office.

Seconds were ticking by. He only got less than twenty four hours. Desperate measures should be taken immediately but he was rooted to his chair just staring at the passing time.

He felt unsure. And nervous.

"What the hell," he muttered under his breath as he stood up and grabbed his great coat. He wanted someone to talk, to clear his head, and probably his conscience.

Fifteen minutes later, he was standing in front of the door. The snow had begun to fall, and so had his courage. He lifted his hand to knock but never made the contact to the door. He did not know what to say. He was about to leave when the door opened.

"Eli, what brings you here?"

Eli was surprised. How come he did not sense someone coming to the door? "Mmm, can I talk to you for a while… Mr. Avalon?"

The two incarnate of Clow Reed was sitting at the dining room, facing each other over the counter table. Mr. Avalon had prepared tea for them while Eli rolled up his sleeves and loosened his tie.

Eli wrapped both hands at his cup savoring the heat. "To tell you frankly, Mr. Avalon, you are the last person I would sit with and have a talk."

"I surmised as much," he answered in his usual smiling face. Mr. Avalon did look a little bit older with splashes of white hair visible and laughing wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. "But I am glad you are here nonetheless."

"And, I was quite surprised when I did not feel your presence when you answered the door."

Mr. Avalon laughed. "We probably got the same 'presence,' as you put it and probably because you were, shall we say, preoccupied."

Eli took a long sip of his tea.

"It usually is hard to open up to someone you barely know," Mr. Avalon said helpfully. Eli looked haggard and he felt that something was killing him inside.

Eli nodded and crossed his arms on top of the counter. "Mr. Avalon, I—ah…"

"Yes?"

Eli released a deep breath. "How did you know that it was your wife you were destined to be with?"

Mr. Avalon shrugged. "I just did. My heart beat for her."

"But wasn't Clow Reed was not destined to be with---"

"Eli," Mr. Avalon began, looking more serious than before. "We both know that we are the incarnate of Clow Reed. But bear in mind that we are not Clow Reed nor we would ever be. We share his powers but that's all it is. We are not here to live his life all over for him. We are living this life for us.

We never have fully met, haven't we? And there are years apart for us. If not for my daughter awakening the cards, we would never have set eyes on each other."

Eli nodded. He passed his fingers through his hair and removed his glasses. "I live a life knowing that I have to follow what Clow Reed had lived before. I thought that Ms. McKenzie would be my betrothed simply because she was the incarnate of Clow's girl or something. I found that to be disturbing because of the age gap. Then I knew about you and I thought that she could probably yours."

Mr. Avalon laughed again. "I don't know, Eli. But surely you did not feel anything at all for her, do you?"

"Not in that sense, no. What I felt for her was respect."

"And have you fallen in love?"

"I don't know how love felt."

"Easily said. But I doubt it."

Eli eyed him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"The symptoms are there," Mr. Avalon said simply. "And might I remind you that I've been there and I've done that?

"Well, my boy, you just have to follow your heart. She is not just a friend."

Eli snapped up his head as Mr. Avalon mentioned about friends.

"I could see that she is your life. We are not certain who she was an incarnate of or whether she had been a part of Clow's past life but… you are definitely sure she is a part of your life."

"Wh-what…? I-uh-never said anything about…" Eli was speechless.

"I am still perceptive, part of my power. And I know how you have grown fond of my niece in the course of, how long was it, fifteen years? I did hope that you would've dropped the ball sooner or later."

"I wasn't aware…" Eli felt he sounded like a lunatic with his stutters and stammers and hanging sentences but he was really taken aback by that man.

"Yours is not a case of unrequited love. It's just that, you haven't opened your eyes wide enough to see what right under your nose."

"Would that be betraying her trust, if I suddenly tell her the truth?"

"Then you'll learn how to be a human, how to accept the consequences."

Eli drank the rest of his tea.

"Would you like some more?"

"No, thank you."

Mr. Avalon stood up nonetheless and head for the hallway. When he got back, he placed a frame in front of Eli which made his eyes wide.

"That, my dear boy, is my wife."

"B-but—"

"That's what you call love."

"She looks like…"

"Madison? Coincidence? Well, what do you know, we are, after all, from the same mold."

Eli looked intently at the photograph. Then he raised his questioning gaze at the man beyond. Mr. Avalon had lost the one he loved because she died.

Would the same fate be shared by him? Would he lose Madison also, either by another man or worse, by death?

He found it difficult to breath.

"Eli, you are not me nor Madison is like my wife. Only the looks are the same but I assure you that they are like night and day. I did not show you this picture to remind you that you would lose Madison also, not in the near future anyway, but to let you see that she was nothing like what Clow had ever been with.

I love her but I lost her. But I am glad I told her and I showed her how much she means to me."

Eli's looked again at the photograph and took a deep breath. He was glad he came, at least, somehow, he was able to face his fear. As the silence lengthen between them, the ticking of the clock penetrated his senses which reminded him of the present.

He stood up suddenly and grabbed his great coat and started wearing it. "Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Avalon. You are such a big help," he said as he neared the door.

"You're welcome, Eli. Anytime you want to have tea with me, just drop by."

Eli smiled at him as he went out the door.

The snow was falling. The streets were deserted. He stepped into his car and drove back to his office. He had a meeting in fifteen minutes.

He did not want to be late for the proposal he wanted to present to the board.

***

Thank you, guys for the reviews.

Dana Daidouji, not applicable and KyteAura– thank you for always dropping in a kind review

Sammy-chan, June 6 and alejandra – UNLESS… this chapter meets your approval, I would have to end it right away

If you look at the each chapter's titles, I have spelled out FRIEND all ready and this fic is entitled FRIENDS. Is it the end for the next one?