Disclaimer: All character portrayed in this fanfic are the property of CLAMP and their company people. They're not mine. Well except that is, the people that I'll be making up. :D

AN: I am VERY sorry. And I stress on the word very. o.o;; I haven't updated in...oh about two months? Lots of stuff has been going on and I didn't have time to write or update. This chapter makes Tomoyo seem kind of helpless and weak. I did that because I wanted to emphasize the impact the three deceased people had had on her life. They were very important in helping her build that tough image that was shown earlier in her personality. I wanted to show what it was like if your supports were suddenly pulled from you, so to speak. I've rambled on too much, here's the story. o_O; Enjoy! XD Please don't forget to R&R. ^^

The many months following were quiet, routine ones. Both Tomoyo and Ronan grieved their heavy losses by being distant and cold to nearly everyone, which in turn had Eriol worried a great deal. Surprisingly, the two mourners had allowed a small friendship to form based on the tragedies in their lives. Neither three however, had a good night of sleep since that agonizing week. It caused them all to be a little on edge-to say the least.

In an effort to tend to Tomoyo, Eriol had insisted that the trouble girl stay with them for a small period of time until she calmed down. After much convincing on Eriol's part, Tomoyo had reluctantly agreed. It also took much of Eriol's energy to attempt to cheer Ronan up but not to much avail, for Ronan still sulked around with his head lowered. All in all, Eriol wasn't feeling or looking much better than the two lamenters at the moment.

Eriol could barely keep his mind from drifting away as he tried to listen to one of his classmates babble away about a certain male she had a crush on. His eyes wandered about the crowds of people enjoying lunch before settling again on the red head in front of him. Briefly he prayed for someone to save him from this torture. He restrained a unruly yawn by standing up and stretching. The girl, not used to the inattentiveness, narrowed her eyes slightly and pouted up at him.

"Erio-"

She was cut off by Akiko who had selected that exact moment to gracefully interrupt. "Why hello Kara, Eriol," Akiko emphasized his name by placing a fluttering kiss on his cheek.

Eriol flashed his girlfriend a weary but appreciative smile, thanking her for saving him. She smiled sweetly, as if to say 'Not a problem.'

Akiko threw Kara a sickening sweet smile and announced, "Well Eriol and I will be off now! Have a good lunch!"

Eriol barely held his laughter in as the red head looked at them stupidly, trying to register what had just happened. "Wow my very own white knight in shining armor," Eriol said grinning as they turned away.

Akiko stopped and smiled at him, "It's the least I could do, after what you did for me yesterday."

Eriol leaned his head in to kiss her, "So I'm your knight in shining armor?"

She grinned wickedly, "No you're more like a father figure..."

A mock expression of hurt crossed his face. "I can't believe you Akiko, after all I've done for you," he wiped a fake tear away.

Akiko laughed at his charade. Quickly she kissed him on the forehead and walked toward the library, "See you later Dad."

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Tomoyo was smiling, at least something was looking up in her life. She had gotten a part in the final production of her class' play for The Nutcracker. She would play the notorious queen of the ice. For the first time since the funerals, a genuine smile graced her exhausted features. Silently, she whispered a grateful prayer to the three angels above, whom she knew was watching over her.

A tiny glimmer could be seen in Tomoyo's eyes as she stepped into the darkness of the night. The sparkle of hope had been put out when her world came crashing down around her. She hadn't allowed it to take root, fearing it's light would be put out once again by the injustice of life. Now the little twinkle seemed to have worked it's own way into the soil, rooting itself. Forcing her to take another chance at life, at hope...at happiness. She practically sprinted home in anticipation to tell someone the good news.

By the time she reached her temporary home, she was exhausted. Pushing open the front door clumsily, she found a couple of suitcases and bags sitting in the hallway of the dusty dwelling. Kicking off her shoes, a confused frown developed on her face, "Eriol? Ronan?"

Ronan popped his head out of his room and smiled gently, "Hey Tomoyo. Didn't know you were going to be home so early..." She blinked at him, he actually smiled; she had been seeing more and more of those lately. That was good.

"You're smiling!" she accused in a cheerful voice setting her things down on a nearby table. Tomoyo saw his visage tense just a bit before his shuffled back into his room. Taken aback at his response she held his bedroom door open before he could close it shut, "Ronan? What's all this?" She gestured to the clutter of clothing, CDs, papers, clothing and etc. of which resided on the floor and much of his bed.

"Uhm...I've decided to go to New York. For school. I have family there..." he trailed off shrugging as if it was no big deal.

Tomoyo looked at him, eyebrows knitted together, forgetting why she had ran home in the first place, "Isn't that a bit...uh..." her teeth caught her lower lip, "far?"

He turned away, busied himself with his packing and shrugged again, "Yeah it is, but I need to get away from here," a tired sigh escaped his lips, "Everything reminds me of her Tomoyo. Everything. I-It's hard."

"I understand..." Although her voice was shaky it told him that she indeed understand his predicament. She took a uncertain seat on his already crowded bed and picked up a wrinkled shirt smoothing it out in her lap.

He walked to his closet and forced out a laugh, "Hey it's not like I won't write." Ronan tried to lighten the mood, "I'll even send you and Eriol plane tickets there when I make enough money. Then you can mope around with me in New York," he grinned, "I promise."

If she did find his attempt at a funny humorous she didn't show it, "Eriol doesn't know does he?" she paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. When she spoke again, her voice was silky with a edge vexation, "I mean, I wasn't suppose to know either. You weren't even going to tell us were you?"

Ronan faced her with a few shirts in hand and shook his head, "I was going to tell both of you. You just found out before I could say anything..."

"Well don't you think that perhaps we have a right to know? I mean we are your friends." A thought dawned in her mind. With the look of a helpless child she whispered, "Aren't we?"

He gave her a fond smile and sat next to her, pulling her in a tight hug. "We'll always friends Tomoyo. You, Eriol, and I. We've been through a great deal this past 6 months. Our friendship is something that won't be easily forgotten."

"Me neither," Tomoyo replied softly as she calmed herself down. She watched as he returned to his chore of cleaning out his closet. She placed the now crease-freed shirt into his suit case and smiled, looking up at him, "So...when are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow night..."

Tomoyo jumped up off his bed and frowned at him, "Tomorrow night? But that's...that's...so soon!" She sat back down and pulled her legs to her small body, a sour look on her face.

He shrugged, tossed the shirts in his hand into his suitcase and ran a hand through his short brown hair, "I know. I sort of had this arranged for weeks already. I didn't plan on telling anybody 'till the day I was going to leave...but you came home earlier than I expected today."

A consuming stillness hung in the air. Ronan continued packing and Tomoyo continued to stare at nothing at all. It seemed that the two were content in just sitting in each other's presence for the time being. Minutes passed in silence and a sort of tranquillity seemed to have developed in the room. Seeing that Tomoyo wasn't going to speak up, Ronan decided to break the silence.

He cocked his head to the left and observed Tomoyo's delicate structure sitting on his bed. If not for her wide open eyes and upright position, he probably would've guessed she was asleep, for she made no noise at all. He swallowed uneasily, this was as good as time as any if he was going to help Eriol and Tomoyo's so far non-existent relationship. "You know...Eriol, he cares about you. You should let him try at least." At Tomoyo's confused frown, he corrected himself, "Try at becoming your friend again I mean."

Tomoyo didn't answer him but gave him a blank look. "Tomoyo don't try to act dumb...we all know you're a smart girl," Ronan sighed exasperated.

Ronan pushed some of his things off his bed and sat next to her, bracing himself for an emotional chat. Emotional things were not his strong point. Usually if something emotional happened to him, he'd push it away, never facing those feelings. But, he might as well do something good before he left.

His mind ran a mile a minute trying to figure out the problems between Eriol and Tomoyo. Tomoyo had lived with them for about two months, but she had showed no sign of befriending Eriol again, much to Eriol's despair. Ronan's lips curled upwards slightly and took a wild guess, "Eriol is...different than before isn't he?"

"A bit," she answered hesitantly, playing with her fingers.

Ronan nodded as if agreeing with her. "Go on, tell me Tomoyo. We've grown to be pretty good friends. I promise I won't say a word to him," he urged her to continue with a patient smile.

Tomoyo's eyebrows furrowed deeply in thought and she started to speak with a faint voice, "He's different. Before when I first met him, he was mysterious, quiet and very aloof with people. Now he's the total opposite. Friendly, outgoing and open," she shook her head, dark locks moving along with her, "It's like the sun and the moon. He's changed. It's a little...bizarre for me. I'm not used to it at all..."

Ronan chuckled, "People change Tomoyo."

"I've noticed that he's changed," Tomoyo snapped. She winced at how harsh it sounded and softened her tone, "I'm just not used to this outgoing, sociable Eriol. His behavior seems off to me. I can't explain it, but he seems to be hiding something. Maybe it's because I haven't seen him in so long..." she buried her head in her knees. "I don't know, I just find it difficult to talk to him..."

"He's not like other people, you should already know that." Tomoyo's head tilted so that she could eye Ronan. It seemed like his statement was more of a secret hint for who Eriol really was, but she couldn't really be sure if he really knew. Ronan continued, "Eriol's remarkably smart. I know it seems ridiculous, but sometimes I feel as if he's been around for a very long time. Like he has the wisdom of many centuries swirling in that crazy brain of his."

A smile landed on Tomoyo's lips, whether at what he said or at his ignorance of Eriol's true self she kept hidden. Ronan was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be debating whether or not to tell Tomoyo something, she nodded gently at him to suggest that he continue his story.

"I knew him before he moved to Japan, we were best friends. When I first met him we were so similar, neither of us ever said more than what was needed, we never socialized with others, and we always liked being alone. Both of us were kind of the official 'loners' in school, so we decided to become friends. Pretty dumb I know, but hey, we were kids! " Ronan's attitude seemed to brighten when speaking about his childhood. "I don't know what happened in Japan, but when he came back to England, he was different. All happy and sociable. I mean I have to admit that I changed a bit too, but he seemed like another person to me."

Tomoyo took the information in and contemplated a reason for this change but couldn't come up with anything. She was woken from her thoughts by Ronan's laughter. "What?" she asked, raising her eyes to meet his.

"I can see the gears in your brain at work. It's almost going faster than Eriol's."

"Just because you don't think as fast as I do, doesn't mean you can make fun of me," she said wrinkling her nose in distaste. But the amused twinkle never left her eyes.

A chuckle left his mouth, "You know, I bet underneath it all Eriol's the same despite what we see," he mused. "He's just like you and me, human. Well, human more or less, he's a bit on the dark side if you ask me...but," he paused and smiled at the peculiar look she sent his way, "I bet if you talk to him you're going to feel better than you have these past few months. Hell, he's cheered me up more times in my life than I can count. He has a knack for making people feel better about themselves. At least that part I know he hasn't changed. Besides you're going to go crazy if you don't confide in someone when I leave." Ronan ruffled her hair playfully while grinning.

Tomoyo gave him a innocent smile, "I can always call you if I need someone to complain to."

Ronan put on a smug smile, "You can't call if I don't give you my number."

"How rude!" Tomoyo stuck out her tongue, mocking his haughtiness. "I'll just find a new friend to complain to then!"

The corners of his lips curved up and Tomoyo looked him strangely. She beamed up at him when he shooed her out of his room, the fact that Ronan was actually laughing earlier was a sure sign that he was beginning to heal.

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The moon was shining brightly against the ebony darkness of the night. A single brightly shining star was perched in the sky. The airport was busy as usual, with it's night time flights out of England. Girlfriends and boyfriends were saying tearful good-byes as children and their parents boarded planes to exotic places such as India and Rome.

For the three friends that stood near gate 4, it was another gloomy moment. With a brotherly hug to Eriol, and a warm embrace and whispered "Take care," for Tomoyo, the brown haired young man walked into the gate and disappeared onto the plane. Both dark haired youths stood in silence before the departing plane. Eriol managed a weak smile at Tomoyo, as he watched his life long friend go off to find his own path in the treacherous game of life.