Disclaimer: CCS? Surely you aren't thinking it is mine, as it certainly does not belong to me! It is CLAMP's.
Cycle 24: Coeurs S'Entrelaçants
After the battle against Koryu, things returned to normal. Or at least as normal as it could get, considering what had been revealed during that conflict. Tomoyo was unusually absent-minded during class, something her friends were quick to pick up on. Sakura was a little worried. It wasn't only today that Tomoyo was paying little to no attention at all to Onigiri-sensei. Over the past two days the Daidouji heiress had been thinking of something (or rather, someone) else that distracted her. It was Rika who asked Tomoyo about it during lunch.
"Tomoyo-chan, are you okay?"
"Hm? Oh, don't worry, Rika-chan I'm fine." Tomoyo went once more into her thoughts, and Rika and Sakura exchanged worried looks. Syaoran sighed, and Eriol, as observant as ever, was curious. Takashi was distracting Aiko and Naoko with one of his wild lies, Chiharu getting more and more annoyed with each passing second.
The raven-haired girl was thinking about a certain part of the short conversation between Aiko and Eriol during the "final" battle. About a certain navy-haired mage's feelings for her, Daidouji Tomoyo.
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"How could a simple girl with no magical powers at all make you, Hiiragizawa Eriol, reincarnation of the powerful Clow Reed, fall for her so hard?"
Tomoyo stifled a gasp; she did not want to attract Aiko's attention to her. She did not want the brunette sorceress to know she was awake. All of the girl's attention now focused on Eriol, who was silent as he thought out his answer.
"Tomoyo-san is a truly kindhearted person, and insists on helping those who need help. She comforted me, when I had realized the fate of my beloved Kaho. She might not have magical powers, but Tomoyo-san truly has a beautiful soul. Clever as well, yet she does not use her cleverness to achieve her own ends. For me, there are not enough words to describe all the reasons why I have fallen in love with her."
"So that's why."
Tomoyo remained still and silent, processing what Eriol and Aiko had said. Eriol, reincarnation of the great Clow Reed, had fallen for her? A girl who had all the magical powers of a brick? This had to be a dream. But how did she feel about him?
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Now that she had thought about, perhaps she, too, felt the same way towards him. Certainly Tomoyo had felt that they had been getting closer and closer with each passing day. The more time she spent with him, the more the space between their hearts decreased. Maybe Eriol-kun is… is he the one who is the most special to me? She recalled a piece of a conversation they had had, while he was playing the piano in accompaniment to her singing.
0-o-0-o-0-o-0
"I am sure that the one who you give your heart to will be lucky to have your love."
"I am sure," she replied just as softly, her gaze never leaving the navy-haired boy, "that you are right. But who is the one I will love, the one whose own heart I would hold dear as they treasure mine?"
"It could be someone you know," Eriol said. "It might be someone you spend a great amount of time with, without even realizing that it is he that you love more than any other. He could be far away, or closer than you think."
0-o-0-o-0-o-0
And I think he was right. The one I have come to realize that I love… he was much closer than I thought. She only now realized her feelings, but wondered how long she had felt this way for him. Tomoyo remained lost in thought all through lunch, but after school she decided to ask Aiko about whether the brunette sorceress had confessed to Koryu yet. Goodness knows how much Tomoyo wished she would. If she didn't, Eriol would most likely come up with some plan to force the confession out of her… through some magically-induced "natural" disaster. But knowing Aiko, the girl hadn't confessed to Koryu yet.
"Aiko-chan!" Tomoyo called out; Aiko turned at the sound of her name, suddenly becoming a little uneasy seeing the expectant gleam in Tomoyo's eyes.
"Y-Yes, Tomoyo-chan?"
"When will you tell him?"
"I-Ieeeh? What d-do you mean?" Tomoyo wasn't a little surprised to hear the surprised sound Aiko had made; apparently Sakura was rubbing off on her. Aiko's "Iieeh" sounded a lot like Sakura's "Hoee".
"Aiko-chan, have you told Koryu-kun that you love him?" Aiko's eyes widened in shock at that question, and the Daidouji heiress knew from this reaction that no, she hadn't. Tomoyo was a little disappointed. She wasn't too surprised when Aiko dashed off after a short answer. The raven-haired girl sighed and smiled. I hope she does tell him soon. I only wish I would be able to record it, since I missed Sakura-chan's confession to Li-kun!
But knowing her luck so far at getting such important moments on video, she wouldn't get a chance. Shrugging a little, Tomoyo continued towards the school gates, meeting Eriol there as usual. He was still staying at her mansion with Nakuru and Suppie. What was most curious to her, or maybe not so surprising, was that he hadn't gone back to England yet. The crisis was over, but…
"Is everything alright, Tomoyo-san?" he asked politely, sounding sincere. He did indeed wonder why her thoughts seemed to be elsewhere these days, but he had a suspicion. If she was awake when I told Hanenendo-san what I did…
"There is nothing wrong, Eriol-kun," the Daidouji heiress replied politely, giving him a small smile. "But thank you for your concern."
"I saw Hanenendo-san just a minute ago, running as fast as she could. Her face was an extreme shade of red. Tell me, Tomoyo-san, what did you ask her?"
"I simply asked if she had told Koryu-kun about how she feels for him. Apparently, Aiko-chan still hasn't yet."
"Hmmm, maybe I should help the poor girl out…"
"Eriol-kun, don't." Tomoyo didn't like the gleam that came into his eyes, showing he was planning something. "We don't need another magical crisis so soon, do we?"
"I suppose not," Eriol replied, his usual Cheshire Cat smile on his face. Their walk to the Daidouji estate was a silent one, each delving into their own thoughts. Clow's reincarnation was having some serious thoughts about telling Tomoyo his feelings for her himself. He was presuming that she had indeed been awake when he had given his reasons for why he had fallen for her to Aiko during the battle, but it would be better to tell her directly.
Tomoyo was also thinking of talking to Eriol, except she was a bit unsure about telling him of her feelings. She had only recently discovered them after all. For awhile I suspected it, but never really thought it would be possible. Should I?
At the gates they were greeted by Nakuru, who was on her way out to meet up with Tsukito somewhere. But before leaving, she had one question she just had to ask Eriol. "Master, have you told Tomoyo-chan that you love her yet?"
Judging by how his face (surprisingly) turned a deep shade of red, and Tomoyo looked a little surprised (but not very), he hadn't. "Oops, well, now you know, Tomoyo-chan!" Nakuru chirped cheerfully. "Byes!"
The navy-haired mage was feeling both annoyed and grateful towards his Moon Guardian; annoyed that she had revealed it so casually and grateful that he didn't have to go through the nerve-wracking process of confession. He turned to face Tomoyo, his blush fading. "Well, it seems the cat is out of the bag now, Tomoyo-san."
She was silent, and Eriol was beginning to think it was a bad sign when Tomoyo spoke up. "Eriol-kun… what she said is true, isn't it?"
"Yes, Tomoyo-san."
She continued talking, her face turning redder and redder as she did. "I had never thought that the person who I would fall in love with, the one dearest to me, would be so close. I had never imagined it would be possible, as we are so different. But over time, I realized how similar we were. But I never imagined he would love me too, not after losing his first love."
Eriol was beginning to make sense of what Tomoyo was trying to say to him, the words she was hesitating to say. "Tomoyo-san… do you…?"
"Yes, Eriol-kun… I do." She was smiling gently at him; his smile became a genuinely happy one as well. It wasn't the Cheshire Cat smile that Syaoran so despised. They slowly closed the distance between them, until…
"Wait, Eriol-kun." Tomoyo held up a hand, looking at a bush that was suspiciously out of place. "I'm sorry, but…"
Eriol looked in the direction she was looking, and suddenly knew what she knew. "Is that…?"
"I don't want my bodyguard to cause you any bodily harm," Tomoyo said, taking Eriol by the hand. "Come. We have plenty of homework to finish, don't we?"
"Indeed, Tomoyo-san." But he was pleasantly surprised when she gave him a swift kiss on the cheek, and they continued on into the mansion, smiling joyously.
Within the bush, Tomoyo's only male bodyguard, Kurogane, was attempting to control his temper. Relax, relax, the boy won't do anything to harm her… I shall not hurt him… well, maybe a little…
Nearby and unnoticed, a small little black cat shut off the video camera he had been using. "Is that what she wanted me to record? Well, I hope she'll remember our deal and not force-feed me sweets for a week…"
Author's Notes: Yes, Suppie-chan (the black cat) was talking about Nakuru. Oh, and Coeurs S'Entrelaçants means "Intertwining Hearts." I couldn't think of a different title for this chapter! Well, hopefully I can get the next chappie up soon. It will most likely be about either REFLECTION and MIRROR or Tsukit/Lunarus and Nakuru/Ruby Moon. I'm saving Sakura and Syaoran for last! -does the robot- Stay tuned, everyone!