Disc: Not mine.
AN: And it's finally done. Or, uh, I wish I could say that, but I don't have the willpower to end things. So there'll probably end up being a sequel. If there's one thing I learnt from writing this, it's that Tomoyo will automatically abduct any fic she's in. Thank god a lot of the characters weren't in it. If there's another thing I learnt it's that sometimes it's really really hard to know whether you're explaining something too much or not enough. I think I was going to say something else, too, but now I can't remember. Uh, enjoy!

MY SACRIFICE
3: WHEN YOU ARE WITH ME

Rolling over and yawning, Eriol awoke to discover he was being stepped over by the busy-bee ghost of Nadeshiko. He smiled at her, blinking and adjusting his glasses and trying to forget his dreams- strange, veiled things about emotions he couldn't quite place. "Good morning, Nadeshiko-san. How are you today?"

The woman smiled back at him. "Actually, I'm great. Sometimes I wish I could go out shopping, you know... But it really can't be helped." She folded the messy covers on the bed back into place. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very much so." replied Eriol, getting up off the floor and stretching. "Where's Li-kun?"

She sighed. "Gone already, of course."

"Right," Eriol responded a bit distractedly, walking downstairs as she floated after him. "I suppose he would be. Not all that smart to think otherwise..." He heaved a sigh. "I almost got through to him yesterday, but... this just isn't working, Nadeshiko-san."

She nodded slowly. "Maybe you're not going at it the right way, then." she replied. "I have faith in your detective skills, at least. Maybe you need to look for a catalyst."

"Hm? You think there was one?"

"Don't I know my own daughter?" asked Nadeshiko, laughing quietly. "She doesn't do things without a reason, and she usually doesn't understand things until they're made clear. You just have to find some sort of trigger."

Eriol thought for a moment. "Nadeshiko-san!" he exclaimed. "I didn't think you were that intelligent. That's actually very good advice."

Nadeshiko smirked and hit him over the head. "Well, that's not very nice. Maybe I should just keep my good advice to myself, hm?"

Fujitaka, carrying a laundry basket, greeted her with a hug. "Morning, Eriol-kun. Darling, could you hang these up outside? I'm doing the breakfast dishes."

"Of course." she responded happily. "Anything to help my darling husband. Eriol-kun, have a nice day!"

Eriol smiled. "You too," he replied, walking into the living room and sitting down in front of the empty fireplace. He had to wonder what had happened to his chair. It was probably in a dump somewhere by now- it was just the age to be junk and not an antique. It had been a good chair. Spinel had sat on the bookshelf, and Nakuru had just lounged on the floor. They'd been almost like family.

Maybe he should send for them to come to Tomoeda. They both liked it here well enough, and it would be a nice change from the constant rain in London. Of course they didn't know yet that Sakura was gone-

He sighed. Sakura again. Whatever train of thought he chose to follow, it seemed he couldn't really avoid the topic at hand. Nadeshiko said she'd needed a catalyst, and that was true enough... But how was he supposed to think of one? The only people who would know anything about it would be Sakura and Syaoran.

Still, something was bothering him. Something Tomoyo had said when he'd first arrived here day before yesterday- something about Sakura? He shrugged, sighed, headed up off the floor and to the door. Might as well look for Syaoran as sit around and think.

It wasn't all that hard to find him, now that he knew where to look. The Chinese boy lay in the same secluded part of the part, looking up at the sky and letting the leaves cover his face. Eriol smiled and sat down beside him. "Hello again, Li-kun. Nice day, isn't it?"

"Mm." he replied sleepily. Brain making the connection, he jumped up as though stung by a wasp- no longer angry, really, only scared. "What are you doing here?"

Eriol smiled indulgently. "Looking for you, of course, yet again. Maybe you should start thinking about a more interesting opening line, Li-kun. You're on repeat."

Not allowing himself the smile that was almost on his lips, Syaoran frowned and turned away again. "I wouldn't have to say it so much if you'd leave me alone." he muttered.

"Leave you alone?" asked Eriol in mock horror. "Perish the thought. How could I possibly leave anyone as sweet and delicate as you alone in the big cruel world?" He carefully avoided looking at the sword- it would probably make him fall over laughing. "I would never."

Syaoran didn't laugh. If anything, he hunched into himself tighter. "Maybe you should. Don't you have anything better to do than bother me? I'm not worth the effort."

"Sure you are." replied Eriol cheerfully. "Everyone else thinks so."

The boy just frowned. "Leave me alone, Hiiragizawa."

Eriol- sighing, he should have known better than to think the other would call him by his first name- looked up into the sky at the clouds passing. "I told you that you didn't have to call me that. It makes me uncomfortable. How would you feel if I kept calling you Xiaolang?" He stopped looking as the last of the clouds disappeared. "What are you afraid of?"

"Nothing." said Syaoran quietly, pushing whisps of hair behind his ears. "I have nothing to be afraid of."

Brushing a leaf off his shoulder, Eriol nodded thoughtfully. "But that's only because everything you were afraid of has already happened."

Syaoran smiled bitterly. "Exactly."

"Ah, Li-kun..." sighed Eriol theatrically. "The world is an awful place to be when you're in love."

A glare, and the beginnings of another crying jag. "You're one to say that. How would you know? How could someone like you know how I feel? She was... she was everything to me, and..." Crying for real now. "God I loved her and now she's gone and I can't believe..."

Eriol left, yet again, not wanting to see the tears. This time the guilt was almost a living thing- it seemed as though he was physically being dragged back. It was Tomoeda. These things could happen. Still, the right thing to do was just to leave. What comfort could he possibly be? What could he do to make Syaoran forget?

His thoughts drifted to Kaho, somewhere in England moving on with life. Had he ever thought of her as the be-all end-all? He didn't think so. It was frankly a bit frightning to think a life could revolve around another person that entirely. But maybe, someday, he could have. In which case he might have understood her departure a bit better.

It was only after he was well out of the park that he realized he had nowhere to go. He shrugged. If this was a vacation, and it really was, he should at least be seeing the sights or some such thing.

Eriol went to the aquarium. It was amazing how little the place had changed. He swore that he could pick out the individual fish that had been there last time- could really have, with magic, but that would take away all the fun.

Watching them was calming. Fish didn't have many problems in life- very straightforward ones, at the worst. They floated around and ate fish food and sometimes each other. He wondered idly if that made them happy. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he could see someone waving at him. He turned around, looking down at the resturaunt of the aquarium.

Tomoyo sat at a table with Naoko. They were both grinning at him, laughing slightly and looking the picture perfect couple. They seemed to be trying to feed each other lunch and they were doing a good job of it. He walked downstairs to join them.

"Eriol-kun!" started Naoko cheerfully. "What a surprise. I really never would have expected to see you here today."

He shrugged, laughing. "It really is a small town. People I know seem to turn up everywhere I am. Tomoyo-san, Naoko-san, I hope you're both well?"

"As well as can be expected. I assume the same goes for you." replied Tomoyo. She stabbed a piece of pasta with her fork and giggled as Naoko ate it. "You're just looking at the fish, then, Eriol-kun? They're cute, aren't they?"

Eriol raised an eyebrow, taking a seat at the table along with them. "Cute wasn't exactly the word I would use."

Naoko started to laugh again. "Sakura-chan used to call them cute. She'd try to imitate the pufferfish all the time." Smiling wistfully, she fed Tomoyo a spoonful of soup. "She did things like that all the time, I guess."

"That's just who she was." replied Tomoyo, avoiding the other girl's eyes and throwing a half-guilty look at Eriol.

He nodded. "Sakura-chan was always adorable."

"Get something to eat!" started Naoko happily. She flagged a waiter and pointed at Eriol. "What would you like? Tomoyo-chan's treat. She has enough money as it is."

Eriol smiled at the waiter and ordered the special without bothering to ask what it was. "So. We've covered how you two are, how I am, and the fish. How's work, Tomoyo-san?"

"It's going great!" chirped the purple haired woman. "My latest line is... well, I took western dresses and ran with them." She grinned playfully. "A lot of ribbons, Eriol-kun, just because you seem to like them so much."

Naoko smiled, pushing back her glasses and giving Tomoyo another spoonful. "She's shown me the sketches. They're beautiful dresses."

Nodding, Tomoyo shot another playful grin at Naoko. "I want her to model for them. She's shy and tries to weasel out of it, but I think it would be fantastic- she has the figure for it, don't you think?"

"Oh, definately." responded Eriol, playing along. "They call that a killer body."

The girl blushed and shook her head. "You're joking. I'm not that good looking at all... Oh! Speaking of killer, have you heard? There was this college girl who bought a dress at a second hand store here a few weeks ago, and wore it to a party... And afterwards she just died!"

Eriol raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really!" Naoko nodded emphatically. "Then the police did some research... And do you know what they found? The last person who owned the dress had been buried in it. Grave robbers pawned the dress."

"Really..." replied Eriol evenly, trying not to laugh. The waiter arrived with the special- clam chowder. Seafood. He wondered for a moment if the dead fish at the aquarium got eaten.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "You tell everyone that story, Naoko-chan. I thought you were more original."

"Well, if it works..." Naoko looked at her watch and winced. "I thought so. My lunch break is over already. I have to go back to work." She smiled at Eriol and blushed as Tomoyo gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you both some other time. Don't have too much fun without me!"

"We won't," responded Eriol quietly, watching her leave. He turned to Tomoyo and the two shared a brief, bitter smile. "You should talk to her. Explain. Pretending like that... you're not going to get anywhere."

Tomoyo pulled Naoko's bowl over to her side of the table. "I think she knows already." The soup was half finished already, tomato, red like ketchup or blood. "Just because she keeps quiet doesn't mean she doesn't understand. It's not as if my feelings are a huge secret to anyone intelligent."

"Keep telling yourself that." replied Eriol. "It might even be true." She stuck her tongue out at him childishly, and he laughed. The chowder was good.

Scraping the bowl, she stood up and pushed her chair in. "Walk with me. I have something to show you."

"Alright." replied Eriol, shrugging. He too stood up as he finished the last of the soup. "Fair enough, I suppose. Give me a hint?"

"It's got to do with Syaoran, in some ways." she said, as they walked together out of the aquarium. "It's something Sakura did. I think it could turn out to be helpful. That's all you get to know until we get there."

Eriol shrugged. "Where are we going?"

His question was answered soon enough. Tomoyo led him to a bridge he had seen several times before- concrete but still almost pretty. She slipped down underneath the bridge and beckoned him to follow. Below lay several overturned crates, dirty blankets, and a bag of what looked like cat food. Tomoyo spilled the food onto the dirt and sat down on a crate.

"It takes a while for them to get here." she said, shurgging. "The food gets them, even if they're not really cats. She told me about this before she left."

Eriol raised an eyebrow. "Told you about what? I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, Tomoyo-san. Otherwise I'd swear you were going insane."

"Don't worry." Tomoyo flashed him a smile. "There's no chance of me going insane when I've got normal people like you around me, is there, Eriol-kun?"

"Of course not!" he responded, taking a seat on the unoccupied 'seat'. "What do we do while we wait?"

Tomoyo mock-thought for a moment, pulling her thick braid around her shoulder and unplaiting it. "I don't know. Maybe we could... Oh, I've got a great idea. I'll tell you a story!"

He smiled and nodded. "Please do."

"Alright then! Once apon a time..."

***

...Naoko worked at the library. She dusted shelves, catagorized things, read to the children. She was seventeen at this point, voulenteering partly for work experience and partly because the books were nice and it was a job where she was actually encouraged to tell ghost stories. Most of the others were doing it only for the work experience. The Prince was one of them- Tomoyo almost spit the word out, saying his real name was a secret.

The Prince was love at first sight for Naoko. He was handsome, gallant, laughed at her jokes and understood them. He liked horror. He liked ramen. He liked her. He swept her off her feet and into the sunset, her knight in shining armour- her very own Prince Charming. She adored him. She worshipped the ground beneath him.

Which was why she ignored the occasional insults, the anger- he always apologized, and she always forgave him. So what if he didn't want her wearing makeup? So what if he insisted she wear clothes that covered everything worth showing? He just wanted her to stay away from other men, that wasn't so bad. He was The Prince. So what if he said she was stupid, ugly, worthless? He was being honest with her. Naoko moved in with him, then, and cleaned house occasionally and got hurt occasionally.

She'd gotten extremely drunk one night and told Tomoyo about some of this, at the point where she was still allowed out of his house. And Tomoyo had nodded and listened and made her promise to give her weekly updates. They met at least that, and although Naoko smiled and lied cheerfully she couldn't hide the bruises all the time. Tomoyo always managed to get the huge formless sweaters off. They went swimming a lot, or sunbathing.

One time she'd arrived at Tomoyo's house with a messily broken leg- at this point in the story, Tomoyo bit her lip hard in memory of the cast and the eternal smile- and as she babbled about how wonderful The Prince was she'd said that the next time they met would be the last. He didn't want her sneaking out of the house anymore. He wanted her safe, inside, with him.

Tomoyo had nodded and listened and told her to meet her at one of the few posh hotels in Tomoeda. She had. And Tomoyo had taken her into the suite, wined and dined her, used every trick she had ever learnt in her life. She had that talent. She could manipulate people. That was all she could do to help.

In the afterglow, she'd asked Naoko to break up with The Prince. The girl had hardly needed any convincing at all. There had been a restraining order. And they had lived ever after since.

***

Eriol blinked several times, slowly, then smiled and clapped. "That was a good story."

"Wasn't it?" replied Tomoyo, having replaited her hair and tossed it over her shoulder again. "I like the bit with the hotel, myself."

He nodded. "I think I understand now. And here I was think you were just playing with her..." He stopped as a 'meow' made its way to his ears.

And looked around to see cats. There were at least twenty, all black, crawling over the food and batting paws at one another. The biggest lounged on blankets and purred contentedly. Tomoyo smiled and reached over to pet one. "See? I told you they came when you put food out."

"Wonderful." responded Eriol, scratching another behind the ears. "I had no idea Sakura-san was so fond of strays. What do they do?"

Tomoyo stood up and smiled. "You'll see. Sakura-chan said you just have to concentrate, and it works. I don't have any magic, so the system doesn't respond to me." She waved, slightly, and headed off. "I should go. Naoko will probably be home soon, and I'd hate it if she came back to an empty house."

"Well, say hello for me." Eriol thought for a moment. "...You really do care about her, don't you?"

"I'm not going to answer that question." Tomoyo replied, still smiling but with a rather contemplative look in her eyes. "I'll see you sometime, Eriol-kun. Take care."

"I will. You too."

He thought, for a while, as she walked off. Tomoyo was a kind person, really she was, but he knew that for the most part that kindness revolved around Sakura. To be manipulating someone into something for their own good... to be changing her life that much to save them... if it wasn't love, it was something close to it. Even if she seemed not to notice.

He lifted one of the cats into his lap, watching it purr as he pet it. It was several seconds before he realized that it was the same cat he'd seen outside the resturaunt last night. Shrugging, he concentrated on the cat- the black fur, green eyes, anything.

And was surprised when his eyes stopped showing the scene in front of him and started playing a scene like a video. It was blurry at times, and a bit scratchy, but it was easy enough to tell what was going on.

[In front of CHIISANA CHUGOKU. Night. Two people. LI SYAORAN (Citizen), HIIRAGIZAWA ERIOL (Outoftowner).]

SYAORAN: Nice night.

ERIOL: Indeed it is. But it's much too late to be going home now... Say, Li-kun, we might as well find ourselves a hotel and stay there tonight! I have just enough to get us a nice room. With soundproof walls, even.

SYAORAN: [laughs.] Hiiragizawa...

ERIOL: Alright, alright. But it was worth a try. By the way, Li-kun... You don't have to call me that, if you don't want to. 'Eriol' is just fine. I'm at least used to my first name from Nakuru.

SYAORAN: [appearently thinking.] Okay. Eriol, then-

ERIOL: Hello. You're looking for food, I suppose. Can't really help you there.

SYAORAN: Funny. I've been seeing a lot of cats like that around lately... I think the first time I saw one was- [suddenly on edge]

ERIOL: Li-kun?

[LI SYAORAN runs.]

ERIOL: [tired and angry] Damn it. I guess you don't know what's going on here, hm.

[END]

And then Eriol's eyes refocused, and he stared at the kitten for a long time. "Sakura-san," he said, softly and with a hint of awe, "I have underestimated you." Tomoyo had said something about Sakura keeping an eye on Tomoeda. Nadeshiko had said to look for a catalyst.

It wasn't hard to find the oldest cat- it was the biggest, the fattest, and the one hogging the most of the blankets. He picked it up and concentrated again.

[TOMOEDA PARK. Day. Fairground. Two people. MISTRESS, LI SYAORAN (Citizen).]

[MISTRESS walks back towards LI SYAORAN, after talking to someone near a photo booth.]

MISTRESS: I got the pictures, Li-kun!

SYAORAN: Great.

MISTRESS: [happy] So what do you want to do now? We could go on the ferris wheel! Or the bumper cars! Or... what's wrong?

SYAORAN: Nothing. I'm fine.

MISTRESS: ...Are you sure?

SYAORAN: Don't worry. I just don't like crowds that much.

[MISTRESS and LI SYAORAN start walking. MISTRESS is humming.]

SYAORAN: Uh... Sakura?

MISTRESS: Yes?

SYAORAN: Who was that you were talking to...?

MISTRESS: Oh? He's an old friend of mine, I guess. He went to school with us for a little while. Why do you ask?

SYAORAN: No, nevermind. It's okay.

[MISTRESS and LI SYAORAN continue walking.]

SYAORAN: It's just... you know I love you, right?

MISTRESS: I know. I love you, too.

SYAORAN: [shy] I mean... I worship you, even...

[MISTRESS looks worried.]

[END]

He later wondered why it took him the few seconds it did for everything to fall into place. Once it started (catalyst realization departure parallel prince god sacrifice) it was like a puzzle coming together in fast forward.

Eriol walked out from under the bridge and noted the sun. It was setting into the west, beautifully, and the first few stars were coming out. He cracked his knuckles, took a deep breath and smiled. It was a decidedly unpleasant smile. He knew exactly what he had to do.

Syaoran was, surprisingly enough, home when he got back. The Chinese boy lay on the floor. He looked at him and scrambled up when Eriol entered the room. "What're you doing here?"

"Li-kun!" Eriol exclaimed cheerfully. "Back so early?" He sat down on the bed, smiling.

The other seemed to ignore the decidedly fake cheer and glare at him. "Do you have any problems with that?"

He kept smiling. "No, actually. I wanted to talk to you." This was the hardest part- just seconds before anything actually happened, and he was starting to wonder if he shouldn't just let the matter go. After all, he really didn't care what happened to Syaoran.

And then the aforementioned cute relation blinked and got out a small 'so talk' and he knew he had to go through with it. He wasn't cruel enough to be kind.

There was surprisingly little resistance as Eriol leaned forward and kissed him- a sort of blush, a bit of a squirm. He broke the kiss for a moment to mutter something about it being okay and Syaoran was too shocked to really say anything. He shrugged, inwardly. The last thing he noticed before pulling them both down onto the bed was the cat in the window.

***

Eriol lay in bed, one arm around Syaoran's shoulder, and watched the other sleep. Syaoran's breathing was even. It was comforting.

He was rather unsurprised when a cat crawled up onto his chest and started staring him down.

[DORM ROOM. One person. MISTRESS.]

MISTRESS: Hello, Eriol-kun! It's good to see you again. Miko-chan's been watching you for me, and it's been very interesting. America is nice. I'm learning a lot of english, and everyone's very helpful.

[MISTRESS' happy look fades.]

MISTRESS: Eriol-kun, thank you. Thank you very much. You've been such help. You know what's been going on now, right? Li-kun... he's such a good person. He loved me too much... he deserved more than that. That fear, I mean. Leaving was all I could do.

[MISTRESS is starting to cry.]

MISTRESS: Anyway, thank you. I hope we can k-keep in touch... I'm s-sorry... Miko-chan... stop recording, please...

END

When you are with me
I'm free
I'm careless
I believe
Above all the others
We'll fly
Which brings tears to my eyes
My sacrifice