A/N: Do you guys actually read this?? Hmmm.. I wonder if you do.sometimes I
can't really be bothered.*sigh* nothing much to say.just decided to add
another chapter so that they'd be two then you guys could get a real taste
of what the story is and not Flame me straight away..okay enough of me!! On
to the story!!! And to your answer..I guess Eriol's always dumped coz it's
a lot easier to write..I'll try to stop all the ums too.Thanks for your
reviews!!!
Learning To Love
~* by Snow Flower*~
Chapter Two:
Eriol sat in front of the fire, burning low as he sipped at his wine. He sighed heavily, how many nights back at home in England had been like this? And to think Nakuru had sent him to Japan to change.. to get over her. But no matter how many times he blocked his mind of her, no matter how many times he tried not to think of her, his thoughts would always drift back to her. Why? Why was it that even after one year, he couldn't forget her? He heard shuffling by the door and looked over to see Tomoyo standing there.
She was breathtaking. Her soft raven hair lay on her shoulders gently, sliding down her back. "Konbannwa.." She said as she came in and threw some newspaper onto the fire, as she sat down, wood in hand, in attempts to rekindle it.
Eriol watched as the fire licked the newspaper, devouring it rapidly, as Tomoyo fed it more before putting the log in. She sat on the floor, gracefully in her creamy nightdress, drawing her knees close to her chest. She looked up at him, then at the half empty wine-glass. Gently, she pried it out of his fingers smiling. "Nakuru said there was to be no more of this," she smiled putting it on the table a few metres away.
They sat in silence, as the flames overcame the wood, sending out harsh cracks. Tomoyo added more wood now and then, sometimes pausing to look up at him, examining his face.
"What is it?" he finally asked, after she looked at him for the umpteenth time.
"Nothing..I didn't mean to stare, Gomen ne," she replied quickly looking at the fire.
"Well, it must be something if you keep on looking at me like that. So what is it?"
"Well..It's just that well..you seem..so ..normal..." she blurted out, now wishing she had held her tongue.
"And I wasn't normal in the first place?" he asked slyly.
"Well...no..not really...It's just that after all that Nakuru told me...I guess I expected you to be..I don't know..different..more..sad?"
"Then it shows how much you know." He said finishing the conversation.
Tomoyo leaned back thinking deeply for a while until she finally decided to ask. "Hiiragizawa-kun...what ever happened between you and ..Mizuki-sensei?"
"Kaho?...Why do you want to know?.." he asked back.
"I don't know...I guess I was just wondering...well since the two of you seemed so 'right' for each other...I guess I'm just wondering what went wrong.." She began, " And well..I had a long-term relationship, but it ended abruptly and I thought that maybe that there was something wrong with me...I just...I just want to hear it from another persons point of view."
Eriol looked at her shocked. Never had he seen a Tomoyo like this, "If you tell me about your relationship...I'll tell you about mine," he said slyly, trying to find out more.
Tomoyo stared at the ground for a while, debating whether to tell him. Finally she took a deep breath and looked into the fire again, its reflection dancing in her eyes. "Well..I guess you could say it started with Sakura-chan." she began, " Sakura-chan meant a lot to me and I cared about her a lot, but I knew for a long time that Li-kun was in love with her. I knew that Sakura-chan could never be as happy with me as she was with him, and it was two people's happiness instead of mine. It was worth it. Sakura-chan and Li-kun still came around to see me, but when Li-kun was called back to Hong Kong, Sakura- chan followed," she took another deep breath before continuing, " I remember I had to do all the pushing and prodding in that relationship...In fact, I was the one who suggested Sakura-chan to go with him. I don't know why I did it, she just meant a lot to me and seemed so happy when I suggested that maybe she go with him. Anyway...for a long time, I cried myself to sleep, wishing for Sakura-chan to come back. She wrote, but..after a while, letters grew scarce. The last time I saw her was for her wedding, and that was two years ago. Since then there have been no letters, no phone calls, no visits. I understand that she has a life as well, but I'd like to know that she is okay. It's funny how your best friend can just forget that you exist." She said in a light voice as she wiped away a tear.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to bring this up...I didn't know." Eriol said, shocked.
"Daijoubu.you want to know so I'll continue..." she said silencing him, "The man you saw in the photo, that was an old friend, Asano Masatake. He was there when Sakura was gone, he was always there for me, and I grew to love him. There may have been an age difference but..I loved him all the same. We were happy for two years, until about a year ago when I was twenty- one, he suddenly broke it off.I asked him why so many times, I called him so many times, but he never gave me a reason..I always thought it was my fault, for maybe pushing him away, or not loving him enough. I never knew why he left. About two months after our split, he left for Hong Kong and I haven't him from his since." She stopped and looked up at Eriol, her eyes wet. "I always thought I did something wrong, you know, that made him go away, I loved him so much...yet never once did he say he loved me..sometimes I wondered why I was still with him, but I always told myself to think of something different when I had those thoughts...I miss him so much sometimes," she said as her tears began to fall and she made no attempt to wipe them away, "He was always there when I was lonely, always someone to talk to but...now he's gone.and..and.." she broke down, not able to talk anymore.
Eriol got off the chair and kneeled infront of her gathering her into his arms as she cried even harder.
"Gomen Nasai, I'm ruining your shirt," she said inbetween sobs.
"Daijoubu...Just cry..you deserve a good cry." he said softly, running his had through her hair, "It's .. it's my turn to tell you now."
He took a deep breath readying himself for a recap of only a year ago, "Kaho-san and I..We were very close and I loved her dearly...I always tried to give her the best that I could give, buy her everything she asked, make her happy, to see her smile. I thought that if I gave her everything I could, we would be happy for the rest of our lives. But even though I still loved her with all my heart, I noticed that slowly she was drifting away. She never showed up for the dinners I booked at restaurants, and the times I came home early, she was never there, always out with friends, people I didn't fit in with. Sometimes, they'd ask if I was her son. She didn't like the way people saw us. After a while, she stopped returning my endearments, my favours for her suddenly made her angry, and the Kaho I had known and loved for so long began to disappear. At times I'd see her in bars and restaurants with other men, but when I confronted her when we were alone, she would deny it, she'd say I didn't trust her, and I didn't want her to think that way of me. So whenever I thought I saw her, I'd just turn away and say to myself that it wasn't her. My values were demoralized. I once believed in honesty, trust, that we would tell each other everything, but when I had turned the blind eye to Kaho and her lovers, I had rid myself of these morals. Then one day, the day I had dreaded came. I went to her apartment to surprise her with dinner and found her..with another man. I remember she sat there with him in bed, half-naked, explaining to me that she no longer loved me, that I no longer entertained her. And that was I was only someone to toy with, to see how far she could go. She explained that I'd always been too uptight. Never wanting to sleep with her until we were married. And that was how she broke it off." He finished, pain showing in his eyes.
He felt Tomoyo's arms wrap around his waist, "Gomen ne Eriol-kun...Gomen ne...I guess we are really alike," she whispered as she buried her head in the crook of his neck.
Eriol took a deep breath before hugging her tightly, "I guess we are Tomoyo- chan, I guess we are..." he said glad to become so close to her. Some one who had been hurt as deeply as him, someone who knew what he was going through.
A/N: Okay!!!!! Second chapter done!!!! What do you think?? It is good???? Hmmmm...I don't know what to think myself...*sigh* well...keep reviewing and if you like it I'll try to update as often as I can...
Oh yes, and before in my previous chapter I didn't mention it but.. I do not own CCS, the characters or anything like that...Only thing I do own is this story so if you take it and try to pass it off as your own...why I'll..OoOoOo..don't get on my nerves....but hey...I guess I won't get that angry just upset... okay that's it.. Thanks
Learning To Love
~* by Snow Flower*~
Chapter Two:
Eriol sat in front of the fire, burning low as he sipped at his wine. He sighed heavily, how many nights back at home in England had been like this? And to think Nakuru had sent him to Japan to change.. to get over her. But no matter how many times he blocked his mind of her, no matter how many times he tried not to think of her, his thoughts would always drift back to her. Why? Why was it that even after one year, he couldn't forget her? He heard shuffling by the door and looked over to see Tomoyo standing there.
She was breathtaking. Her soft raven hair lay on her shoulders gently, sliding down her back. "Konbannwa.." She said as she came in and threw some newspaper onto the fire, as she sat down, wood in hand, in attempts to rekindle it.
Eriol watched as the fire licked the newspaper, devouring it rapidly, as Tomoyo fed it more before putting the log in. She sat on the floor, gracefully in her creamy nightdress, drawing her knees close to her chest. She looked up at him, then at the half empty wine-glass. Gently, she pried it out of his fingers smiling. "Nakuru said there was to be no more of this," she smiled putting it on the table a few metres away.
They sat in silence, as the flames overcame the wood, sending out harsh cracks. Tomoyo added more wood now and then, sometimes pausing to look up at him, examining his face.
"What is it?" he finally asked, after she looked at him for the umpteenth time.
"Nothing..I didn't mean to stare, Gomen ne," she replied quickly looking at the fire.
"Well, it must be something if you keep on looking at me like that. So what is it?"
"Well..It's just that well..you seem..so ..normal..." she blurted out, now wishing she had held her tongue.
"And I wasn't normal in the first place?" he asked slyly.
"Well...no..not really...It's just that after all that Nakuru told me...I guess I expected you to be..I don't know..different..more..sad?"
"Then it shows how much you know." He said finishing the conversation.
Tomoyo leaned back thinking deeply for a while until she finally decided to ask. "Hiiragizawa-kun...what ever happened between you and ..Mizuki-sensei?"
"Kaho?...Why do you want to know?.." he asked back.
"I don't know...I guess I was just wondering...well since the two of you seemed so 'right' for each other...I guess I'm just wondering what went wrong.." She began, " And well..I had a long-term relationship, but it ended abruptly and I thought that maybe that there was something wrong with me...I just...I just want to hear it from another persons point of view."
Eriol looked at her shocked. Never had he seen a Tomoyo like this, "If you tell me about your relationship...I'll tell you about mine," he said slyly, trying to find out more.
Tomoyo stared at the ground for a while, debating whether to tell him. Finally she took a deep breath and looked into the fire again, its reflection dancing in her eyes. "Well..I guess you could say it started with Sakura-chan." she began, " Sakura-chan meant a lot to me and I cared about her a lot, but I knew for a long time that Li-kun was in love with her. I knew that Sakura-chan could never be as happy with me as she was with him, and it was two people's happiness instead of mine. It was worth it. Sakura-chan and Li-kun still came around to see me, but when Li-kun was called back to Hong Kong, Sakura- chan followed," she took another deep breath before continuing, " I remember I had to do all the pushing and prodding in that relationship...In fact, I was the one who suggested Sakura-chan to go with him. I don't know why I did it, she just meant a lot to me and seemed so happy when I suggested that maybe she go with him. Anyway...for a long time, I cried myself to sleep, wishing for Sakura-chan to come back. She wrote, but..after a while, letters grew scarce. The last time I saw her was for her wedding, and that was two years ago. Since then there have been no letters, no phone calls, no visits. I understand that she has a life as well, but I'd like to know that she is okay. It's funny how your best friend can just forget that you exist." She said in a light voice as she wiped away a tear.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to bring this up...I didn't know." Eriol said, shocked.
"Daijoubu.you want to know so I'll continue..." she said silencing him, "The man you saw in the photo, that was an old friend, Asano Masatake. He was there when Sakura was gone, he was always there for me, and I grew to love him. There may have been an age difference but..I loved him all the same. We were happy for two years, until about a year ago when I was twenty- one, he suddenly broke it off.I asked him why so many times, I called him so many times, but he never gave me a reason..I always thought it was my fault, for maybe pushing him away, or not loving him enough. I never knew why he left. About two months after our split, he left for Hong Kong and I haven't him from his since." She stopped and looked up at Eriol, her eyes wet. "I always thought I did something wrong, you know, that made him go away, I loved him so much...yet never once did he say he loved me..sometimes I wondered why I was still with him, but I always told myself to think of something different when I had those thoughts...I miss him so much sometimes," she said as her tears began to fall and she made no attempt to wipe them away, "He was always there when I was lonely, always someone to talk to but...now he's gone.and..and.." she broke down, not able to talk anymore.
Eriol got off the chair and kneeled infront of her gathering her into his arms as she cried even harder.
"Gomen Nasai, I'm ruining your shirt," she said inbetween sobs.
"Daijoubu...Just cry..you deserve a good cry." he said softly, running his had through her hair, "It's .. it's my turn to tell you now."
He took a deep breath readying himself for a recap of only a year ago, "Kaho-san and I..We were very close and I loved her dearly...I always tried to give her the best that I could give, buy her everything she asked, make her happy, to see her smile. I thought that if I gave her everything I could, we would be happy for the rest of our lives. But even though I still loved her with all my heart, I noticed that slowly she was drifting away. She never showed up for the dinners I booked at restaurants, and the times I came home early, she was never there, always out with friends, people I didn't fit in with. Sometimes, they'd ask if I was her son. She didn't like the way people saw us. After a while, she stopped returning my endearments, my favours for her suddenly made her angry, and the Kaho I had known and loved for so long began to disappear. At times I'd see her in bars and restaurants with other men, but when I confronted her when we were alone, she would deny it, she'd say I didn't trust her, and I didn't want her to think that way of me. So whenever I thought I saw her, I'd just turn away and say to myself that it wasn't her. My values were demoralized. I once believed in honesty, trust, that we would tell each other everything, but when I had turned the blind eye to Kaho and her lovers, I had rid myself of these morals. Then one day, the day I had dreaded came. I went to her apartment to surprise her with dinner and found her..with another man. I remember she sat there with him in bed, half-naked, explaining to me that she no longer loved me, that I no longer entertained her. And that was I was only someone to toy with, to see how far she could go. She explained that I'd always been too uptight. Never wanting to sleep with her until we were married. And that was how she broke it off." He finished, pain showing in his eyes.
He felt Tomoyo's arms wrap around his waist, "Gomen ne Eriol-kun...Gomen ne...I guess we are really alike," she whispered as she buried her head in the crook of his neck.
Eriol took a deep breath before hugging her tightly, "I guess we are Tomoyo- chan, I guess we are..." he said glad to become so close to her. Some one who had been hurt as deeply as him, someone who knew what he was going through.
A/N: Okay!!!!! Second chapter done!!!! What do you think?? It is good???? Hmmmm...I don't know what to think myself...*sigh* well...keep reviewing and if you like it I'll try to update as often as I can...
Oh yes, and before in my previous chapter I didn't mention it but.. I do not own CCS, the characters or anything like that...Only thing I do own is this story so if you take it and try to pass it off as your own...why I'll..OoOoOo..don't get on my nerves....but hey...I guess I won't get that angry just upset... okay that's it.. Thanks