The aftermath of the call was a huge blur for him. He managed to tell his guardians what Kaho had informed him and they experienced the relatively similar pendulum swing of emotions. Shock, disbelief, anger, realisation then regret.

"It's not fair!" Nakuru cried, "Not when Eriol-sama has just found Tomoyo-chan!"

"I'm sorry Ruby Moon." Eriol said softly, as he looked at his creations. They were presently huddled beside the fireplace in the living room and he saw reflected in their eyes, his own grief and distress. "Are you two afraid to die?"

"No." Spinel answered shortly.

Nakuru shook her head, "Not afraid Eriol-sama, because if you leave, Spinel and I would not see the need in surviving."

Eriol bit his lip, "If I could, if I could keep you two alive, I would." He looked over at Nakuru, "You Ruby Moon, you're so happy now, I can feel it. It energises me in the morning, your wish to live its day to the fullest." He turned to Spinel, "And you Spinel, I know you enjoy learning more about the world and keeping Ruby Moon in check." At this he smiled wryly. "Unfortunately though, one cannot always have their way, especially if they're mere creations of another being."

The 3 figures hunched together in an awkward sort of hug as they attempted to calm one of their member down.

"What's going to happen now Eriol-sama? Are we going to tell Sakura-chan and Tomoyo-chan?" Nakuru questioned when her tears ran dry.

"No Ruby Moon, Tomoyo mustn't know. And if Sakura found out, she would undoubtedly want to transfer her powers over to me, which as we all know, would likely have devastating consequences."

"Does this mean we have to leave Japan?" Spinel asked, squashed in a hug between Eriol and Nakuru.

"I'm afraid so." Eriol replied.

He knew though he would not be able to leave any time soon and his guardians understood as well. Eriol couldn't bring himself to leave, not when he just discovered the girl who had been haunting his dreams for so long. He would stay for as long as he could, without arousing suspicion from Sakura and Syaoran and for once, thank the powers that be that they were rather slow on the uptake.

XXX

The rest of the class watched with interest as Tomoyo and Eriol struggled their way through school. Not in the same way they would, oh no, their grades were still the highest in class, their homework always done and they always had perfect answers for the sensei's question. However, both of them were obviously struggling with their feelings for each other, and their relationship had turned from its usual friendly banter, to one of forced politeness and careful avoidance. Sakura, in particular watched anxiously as Tomoyo and Eriol bumped into each other again then awkwardly picked up their books, bowing slightly and making sure to keep a careful distance as they walked to their seats.

"Syaoran!" Sakura wailed, obviously distraught, "What's happened to them?"

Now Syaoran would never allow his Sakura to feel any sort of pain or discomfort or sadness, so he made up his mind to find out what was wrong, even if it meant solving it would see his dearest friend Tomoyo in a potentially crazy relationship with the most eccentric person he knew.

He caught up with Tomoyo after school that day. Sakura had cheer practice so he offered to walk her home, noting with a little annoyance that Hiiragizawa had not done so for a few days now.

"Something is up with you." Syaoran was never one for subtlety.

Tomoyo looked up from the pavement, as she and Syaoran took the familiar walk back home and laughed, "Nothing is up with me silly Syaoran."

Syaoran observed her forced laughter, "If Hiiragizawa has anything to do with this…" His fist clenched threateningly.

Tomoyo looked up sharply again and warned, "Syaoran, this has nothing to do with Eriol-kun."

Syaoran knew better.

Tomoyo sighed, "Fine, it has something to do with Eriol-kun, but it's not Eriol-kun's fault."

"You're in love with him," Syaoran stated although it pained him to say so.

Tomoyo smiled a little sadly, "I think so Syaoran-kun, except that he loves Mizuki-sensei, and I can never hope to compete with her."

"Rubbish," Syaoran said, "If Hiiragizawa doesn't see how special and beautiful you are, then he isn't worth your time."

Tomoyo blushed, "That's very nice of you to say so Syaoran-kun but I don't dare to hope for anything else other than his friendship now."

"I'm a guy too Tomoyo, and I can tell he doesn't see Mizuki-sensei how everyone thinks he does," Syaoran admitted grudgingly, "I think he may be in love with you too."

Tomoyo shook her head, "I'm afraid you're wrong about that Syaoran-kun. Mizuki-sensei called him when I was at his place that day, and he had wanted to tell me something before that, I suspect he was trying to confide in me about being still in love with her."

"Mizuki-sensei called him?" Syaoran frowned, that did seem pretty suspicious. "And he became all shifty after that I suppose?"

Tomoyo smiled ruefully, "I wouldn't use the word shifty Syaoran, you make Eriol-kun seem like some sort of thief."

Syaoran snorted. He most certainly had stolen Tomoyo's heart, but he wasn't about to voice that out loud because it sounded corny even in his own mind.

Tomoyo sighed, "I suppose I just have this terrible habit of falling in love with people who just can't love me back." Saying so, she turned to give Syaoran a little smile, which for some reason crushed him because he saw the melancholy and longing behind them.

Tomoyo slowed to a stop outside her gate, "This is me Syaoran, thanks for the walk home today."

Syaoran nodded and on impulse, pulled Tomoyo into a hug, "I swear, I'll make sure you are as happy as me some day."

Tomoyo, although surprised at first, soon relaxed into his embrace and nodded fervently, wanting to believe that some day, she could be genuinely and truly as fortunate.

XXX

Eriol watched as the basketball rebounded from the hoop and groaned in frustration. His aiming had been off lately, no doubt because his mind was preoccupied with his impending fate, Clow and his stupid schemes, Tomoyo, avoiding Tomoyo, and making sure Syaoran never found him alone. Unfortunately, Eriol never believed in multi-tasking, so Syaoran did manage to find him alone, there at the basketball court in school.

"Hiiragizawa."

Eriol turned to face Syaoran, "Are we always to meet like this Syaoran? You must realise it can be rather intimidating and hardly conducive for a friendly chat when you always corner me alone in a secluded spot of school."

Syaoran stalked towards Eriol and shouted angrily, "Did you not promise me not to hurt Tomoyo?"

Eriol breathed deeply, "I have never disrespected Tomoyo in any way."

"Tell me," Syaoran growled, "Is it true that Mizuki-sensei called you and that you've been avoiding Tomoyo ever since?"

"Yes," Eriol replied honestly.

Syaoran's fist promptly collided with Eriol's stomach. "Let me repeat, Tomoyo is not to be toyed with bastard, this is low even for you."

Eriol felt the resentment that had been boiling deep inside him the past few days slowly rise to the surface, he stepped up to Syaoran and very unexpectedly (for Eriol was a gentleman) landed a punch on his jaw. "I am not toying with Tomoyo."

Syaoran was obviously livid, even more so now then Eriol had somehow managed to injure him, so he lunged at him, ignoring the fact that he was a powerful magician. Eriol reacted instinctively and the two boys rolled around on the court, exchanging kicks, punches and swear words. In the midst of the fracas, a group of first years walked to the basketball court, intending to play a game. They recognised the two seniors immediately and aware of the reputation of one of them, promptly fled the scene.

Soon, Syaoran and Eriol got tired and found themselves flat on their backs, slightly apart from each other.

"You're in love with her."

Eriol realised that Syaoran did that a lot. Making statements when he should have been asking questions. He found that it annoyed him, mostly because Syaoran was always right.

"Why don't you tell her?" Syaoran tried again, ignoring the stinging on his lower jaw.

"I can't." Eriol replied, slowly getting up, wincing as he touched an especially sore spot on his ribs, "and I won't."

As he left Syaoran lying on the court, he heard clearly Syaoran's voice mocking him, "Coward."

And he knew, Syaoran was always right.

XXX

Touya Kinomoto looked hesitantly around, then breathed a sigh of relief as he realised that no, the crazy girl was not waiting outside the shop he was part-timing at. He smiled to himself and walked out the door, a little more confidently, a slight skip in his step. The day was going well; he had received a good amount of tips and more than the usual amount of phone numbers. The slips of paper were going to be disposed of as soon as he was home though, because he wasn't that sort of guy who would call up a random girl and ask for a date. Actually, he wasn't the sort of guy that would date girls, period.

As he rounded a corner, he came face to face with crazy girl, or as others would call her, Nakuru Aizuki. He braced himself for a scream and a full on glomping but to his surprise, she looked just as startled as he was and then, just shot him a bright smile and waved. He managed a small smile, "Aizuki, what's up."

"Oh, nothing in particular!" She smiled back at him, and he realised that she looked tired, her complexion paler than normal. He frowned, "Are you sick Aiuzki?" He was careful to not sound too concerned. He had a reputation to keep up after all.

She laughed, less boisterously than she usually did and waved his question off, "Of course not! I don't get sick! But I must be losing my touch, I didn't know you were working today." She smiled again and looked him up and down. "You know, Touya, I've never really looked at you."

He snorted, "Really."

She laughed again, "Yea, I'm too busy jumping on your back to really look at you properly. Every time I try to approach you from the front, you see me and go running to the hills, screaming your head off."

"I don't scream my head off," Touya replied, a little affronted, and then realise that the proper response was to say, "And I don't run off."

"Oh Touya, I'm not daft, I know you avoid me." Most people would have said the sentence with a tang of self-pity. Nakuru, however was not most people. It actually sounded like she was amused. "Anyway, I got to go, promised Suppi I'll bake him a cake, ta!"

Touya watched her brush past him and then for some reason, instead of turning and walking away, Touya continued to watch her back. Once again, he congratulated himself for his excellent sixth sense because if he had turned and walked back home, he would have never noticed her stumble and then fall to the floor. He frowned, she was normally quite graceful and waited for her to pick herself up. She didn't. Sensing something amiss, he ran towards her and realised, with a measure of alarm, that she had fainted.

XXX

Nakuru awoke with a start, when she felt drops of water falling on her face. It was raining, and she was being carried. Odd, she clearly remembered Eriol had banned piggyback rides ever since she cracked his hipbone the last time they played. Strange, Eriol didn't smell like cinnamon buns and vanilla.

"Touya-kun?"

Her present mode of transport grunted in return.

"What are you doing?"

"You fainted."

"Oh."

The rain fell harder, "Maybe we should get a cab, I don't think I'll be able to reach your place before it starts pouring."

Nakuru clung to Touya's back a little more tightly and he felt her shake her head. Then almost in a whisper, he heard her say, "Can you carry me home Touya? I would rather we stay like that for a little while more."

She waited for his response, eyes tightly shut, trying to savour the moment for as long as she could because there was no way in hell Touya Kinomoto would agree to such a silly and impractical request.

"Fine."

Kami-sama, had the sun risen from the west this morning?

"Thanks." She managed to stutter out.

After a brief period of silence, Touya asked quite abruptly, "Is something wrong with Hiiragizawa?"

Nakuru started, "Er," She felt a little stupid.

"Yuki had a similar problem when Sakura couldn't sustain him with her powers. Guardians aren't supposed to faint like that."

Nakuru didn't answer him, because she didn't know what to say. So instead she said, "Touya, do you mind walking a little slower?"

He grumbled, but Nakuru felt the pace slow a little and she smiled into Touya's back. She was glad that at least, she had this one moment, belonging to just the both of them. She knew it would probably be the last thing she will think about when the time came. Eriol, Yukito, Clow and his twisted prophecies seemed so far away in comparison. The rain continued to fall and she was glad because she could never ever let Touya see her cry.

XXX

As Touya reached the Hiiragizawa mansion, he spied a familiar figure on the porch. He narrowed his eyes just as she turned and spotted him. He trudged tentatively up the driveway, and came face to face with Kaho Mizuki.

"Why, hello Touya."

He noticed her luggage at the front of the door, "You came to stay?"

She nodded (he thought she looked a little upset), looked over his shoulder and saw a sleeping Nakuru, "What happen to Nakuru?"

Shifting her slightly on his back, he made no comment and instead, reached for the doorbell. The door opened before he could press it, and he walked inside, realising that the hovering plushie was the one who had admitted them in.

Plushie inclined his head towards Kaho and she in turn bowed politely.

"Thank you for bringing Ruby Moon home." Plushie said, looking straight at Touya.

Touya cleared his throat, "Right, that's no problem." Saying so, he gently placed Nakuru on the couch by the fire, "You should probably dry her up."

Plushie nodded solemnly and Touya stepped back when Nakuru suddenly grabbed his sleeve and whispered, "Don't tell Sakura-chan."

Touya frowned worriedly and whispered his agreement. As Nakuru drifted off to sleep, he excused himself and turned to leave through the main door. He heard footsteps running a little clumsily after him and he knew Kaho was behind him.

"Here Touya," she offered him an umbrella, "It's raining."

He took the proffered umbrella from her outstretched hand and muttered his thanks. As he turned to leave again, she added hurriedly, "I hope you have been well."

Touya nodded and faced Kaho with a small smile, "I have. You?"

She smiled back at him, "I have been better, but it was nice seeing you again Touya."

"Yea, same here." And Touya found that he meant it.

XXX

I gathered from the reviews that the last chapter was a little bit of a shock, again I apologise for springing it on you guys like that. A little bit of TxN moments in this chapter because I'm actually quite a fan of them. (: The next few chapters to come will soon put everything in perspective I hope, I personally feel that those chapters were the better written ones in this story.

A review would be oh so nice!