After Eriol resigned, they went to Japan to visit their family during the holiday. They celebrated Christmas with them and Sakura had knitted scarves for everyone this year, including for Kero and Spinel, and had put their initials at the corner. After Christmas dinner, the Hiiragizawas went home.

"Merry Christmas!" Sakura said and gave Eriol a white envelope.

"What is this?" Eriol asked curiously.

"It's your Christmas present. I figured that since you got a scarf like everyone else, I'd give you something a little more... special." Sakura said.

"Thank you." Eriol said and opened the envelope flap. He found a piece of paper inside and took it out. He unfolded the paper and read its contents. His eyes widened in shock. He read it again and then turned to her. "Is this what I think this is?"

Sakura nodded.

Eriol turned back to the paper, then to her. "You're..." He was in disbelief. "We're going to have a baby?"

Sakura nodded again. "Yes, dear. You're going to be a dad."

"A dad...?" Eriol parroted dumbly.

"Yes, a dad." Sakura confirmed.

Eriol's face broke into a huge grin. "We're going to have a baby!" He pulled her into a tight hug and planted a big kiss on her mouth. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sakura said with an equally big smile.

"Why didn't you tell me? How are you feeling? Is the baby healthy?" Eriol asked.

"Slow down, Hii..." Sakura laughed lightly. "Yes, the baby is healthy. I'm due for another check up in a few weeks' time, just after we go back to London. They're going to run some tests." She told him. "Just a standard procedure, nothing to worry about." She added when she noted his worried look.

"Unfortunately, this is not something that I'm familiar with, so I'll do some reading on pregnancy." Eriol said. "And babies too. And other related topic."

"I expected as much..." Sakura said. "I know you're excited, but we're going to take this week by week, okay?"

"Alright." Eriol easily agreed. "If you need anything, if you're feeling unwell, please let me know, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Sakura yawned. "It's been a long day. I'm going to bed. Go and meditate. Good night."

"Good night." Eriol said and Sakura went to sleep as he went to his meditation corner.

Sakura opened her eyes and found herself lying on soft grass in what appeared to be a garden. Smiling widely, she got to her feet and walked around. She hadn't been here for a long time. She looked at her surrounding. It really was a beautiful garden, with lush trees, thick and soft grass, and various beautiful flowers scattered around. It was also very quiet and peaceful. After walking for a while, she found him sitting by the lake, deep in meditation.

Sakura sat down on the grass and waited patiently.

A short while later, he opened his eyes and turned to her.

"Sorry for the wait." Clow apologized, smiling gently.

"No problem. I'm used to it by now." Sakura returned his smile. She indeed had gotten used to this particular routine. Eriol meditated every night before bed. It helped him process everything and wind down for bedtime. He told her that he usually talked to Clow during meditation. At first, Sakura wasn't sure what to do when he meditated, but over the years, she had developed her own bedtime routine, such as reading or listening to podcast.

Clow stood up and offered her his hand. She accepted it and got to her feet.

"How are you, Clow? It's been a while." Sakura asked.

"I'm well, thank you. Eriol told me you're going to be parents. Congratulations."

"Thank you." Sakura smiled widely. "Is that why you brought me here?"

"Yes, I want to personally offer my congratulations. Besides, it's been a while since we last talked." Clow said.

"Oh, that's right. The last time was... 10 years ago, I believe." Sakura recalled. "I was fourteen at that time."

Clow nodded. "And you've grown a lot since then, as a magician and as a person. How are you doing, Sakura?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. Just dealing with the nausea and tiredness, but other than those, I'm fine." Sakura said. "Do you think this baby is going to have magic? I mean, given that Eriol is the father..."

"Yes. Eriol would be able to explain it better, but given who their parents are, the baby will have magic. Unfortunately, this is new, even for us. I've talked to him and we're going to take every possible precaution, but you have to be prepared too."

Sakura nodded. "I understand, Clow. Thank you for being here with us too."

"Well, I don't have any other choice, seeing that my soul is tied to Eriol." Clow smiled in amusement. "But all jokes aside, I'm happy for you two."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you."

"You should go back and get some rest, Sakura. It's nice talking to you." Clow waved his hand in front of her face and she fell back asleep.

"I talked to Clow last night." Sakura said as they were getting ready for the day.

"I know." Eriol nodded and applied the toothpaste on his toothbrush.

"He said the baby will have magic." Sakura said.

"Yes." Eriol started brushing his teeth.

Sakura waited until he finished brushing his teeth. "How do you know for sure?"

"Magic is mostly hereditary. If one parent has it, there's a fifty percent chance that the baby would have it. And if both parents have it, the baby will definitely have it."

"Oh? Like Clow's parents?" Sakura knew a little about Clow's background.

"Yes. Clow's mother, as you know, was from the Li family. One of the most powerful families in the East. And his father was the heir of the Reed family, which was, is considered as one of the most powerful families in the West. Unfortunately, the name didn't continue, but the Reeds are still recognized among the magic community."

"Well, I mean... Clow wasn't exactly an ordinary magician." Sakura said. "Was that how he could be what he was? Is? Because his parents came from the most powerful families in both the East and the West?"

"Clow himself had a high aptitude in magic, but yes, his background helped him quite a bit in achieving what he did."

"I see." Sakura nodded. Then a thought popped up in her head. "How about me? Dad doesn't have magic, but I do. Even Touya had magic."

"Your dad doesn't have magic, but your mom did." Eriol said.

Sakura was genuinely surprised. "My mom had magic?!"

"Yes. But her magic was dormant, like Touya's magic. As for your father, well, he's a special case." Eriol explained. "Clow had to make sure that you would have magic. So he gave your dad just enough to make sure that both of your parents would have magic, but not enough for him to... practice."

Sakura processed this information. "Okay... So, essentially, they both had magic, and that's why both Touya and I have magic too? Because we inherited it from them?"

"Correct." Eriol nodded.

"So, for example, like Syaoran and Meiling, if they have two kids, both kids could have magic, or neither of them would?"

"Or one kid could have magic while the other doesn't." Eriol said.

"I see." Sakura nodded. "And since we both have it..."

"No matter how many kids we'd have, all of them will have magic." Eriol confirmed.

"Is that how magic spread? Is it possible to have magic when neither one of your parents has it?" Sakura asked curiously. "Like, Jess... She said that her grandmother had it, but neither of her parents has magic."

"It is possible, although the possibility is fairly small. That's why in the past, magicians only married each other to keep the line of magic going, to ensure the survival of magic in the world, so to speak. In the case of Ms. Blake and the other new magic users, they're quite different. Technically, they themselves do not have any magic. But they have the 'potential' that allows them to use the artifact."

"That's quite complicated." Sakura said.

"In today's world, many magicians married non-mages and not all of their children have magic. Then those children married others who might or might not have magic, and so on and so forth. In a way, magic is like genes. It's being passed down from one generation to the next. But some people just don't inherit it, or different people might have it at different forms and intensities, like you and Touya."

"So, as long as any of your ancestors had magic, there's a potential for you to have it?" Sakura asked.

"That is the simplest way of putting it, yes." Eriol confirmed and left to get dressed. "Let's have breakfast. We can talk about this again later."

Sakura got dressed and they went downstairs to eat breakfast.

"Do you want to tell the others?" Eriol asked.

"Let's wait until the second trimester. Not that I don't want to. It's just, it's still pretty early and I just want to make sure that everything is okay, you know..." Sakura said.

"I agree." Eriol said. "Besides, I want to enjoy this for ourselves for now."

Sakura smiled. "Our own little secret."

"Exactly." Eriol nodded. "Are you sure your obi isn't too tight?"

"Yes, it's fine. Any looser and it would slide off." Sakura said.

Today was New Year's Day and they were getting ready to go to the temple to pray. Sakura wore a traditional kimono and Eriol was dressed in suit and tie.

"Do you want to move back here? Now that I'm not working, we can definitely move back here." Eriol asked.

"Hm, maybe not? Didn't you tell John that you'd still be available for consultation?"

"Well, yes, but that could be done remotely." Eriol said.

"And aren't we going to travel?" Sakura asked.

"You're pregnant, Sakura. We're going to have to put a hold on that."

"Pregnant women travel all the time. I don't see any reason not to. You promised me Paris." Sakura reminded him.

"That was before I knew we're going to have a baby."

"We still have about seven months before we have a baby." Sakura said. "Come on, Hii... I really want to go to Paris."

"Let's talk to your doctor first, okay?" Eriol finally said.

"Fine." Sakura agreed.

After they were ready, they left to go to the temple. When they arrived there, they met up with their family and stood in line to pray. Once they reached the front, they prayed together. They prayed for a good year ahead, for Sakura and the baby's health, and for a smooth pregnancy.

After they prayed, they went to the Kinomoto's house to eat New Year's feast.

"These are your stuff, from your old room." Touya gestured at the boxes. "We didn't throw anything out. I can help you take them back to your place."

Since Touya and Yukito lived here now, Sakura's old room had been converted into Touya's new study.

They hung out there until dinner and after dinner, they loaded up the boxes into Touya's car and he drove them home.

Sakura and Eriol spent the next day sorting through her things. Some of them would be kept, others would either be thrown away or donated.

"Oh, I forgot I still have this!" Sakura said and took out a bear with one ear.

"Why did you keep that?" Eriol asked.

"I don't know, actually. I guess it's just a reminder of what happened. This is a very special bear after all." Sakura smiled. "Alright, let's put you in the display cabinet."

Eriol gave her a look. "Why do you want to keep it now?"

"I told you, it's special." Sakura said and put the bear aside. "You know, while we're cleaning, we might want to clean the bedroom as well. I swear I saw your old school uniforms in the drawers."

"They're my keepsakes." Eriol said.

"Then why are you putting my old uniforms in the 'Donate' box? They're my keepsakes!" Sakura said and took out her old uniforms from the box and put them in the pile of things that she was keeping. She then moved on to another box.

"Don't lift that!" He took the box from Sakura. "You're not supposed to lift heavy things."

Sakura sighed. "Lately it's been Sakura, don't do this... Sakura, don't do that. I can still do stuff. For centuries, no, for millennia, women have been dealing with pregnancy and a lot of them are doing it alone. I'm grateful to have you with me, but please don't treat me like I'm incapable of doing anything, ok?"

"I'm sorry." Eriol quickly apologized. "It's not that I don't think you can do things. I just want to take care of you and our baby."

Sakura smiled. "I know. Thank you."

Eriol returned her smile. "Just please don't push yourself."

"I won't." Sakura said. "Let's continue."

Five minutes later, Sakura took out a framed picture. "Oh! Look at this! This is our old class photo from Elementary! You were so cute!"

"I was not." Eriol said and took a peek over her shoulder. "You were though. Still are." He kissed her cheek.

"Flattery will get you nowhere..." Sakura said, but turned and kissed him.

"Looks like flattery got me a kiss." Eriol grinned after their kiss.

Sakura rolled her eyes and added the picture to the pile.

A couple of hours later. Eriol put the last of the boxes downstairs. The junk would be disposed and the donation would be taken to the goodwill organization.

A few days later, they went back to London.