Yeah, I take a while to update, don't I?? Oops. Sorry! Anyway, here with the next installment.

~*~

"Tomoyo!" Sakura called out. Sakura had a huge stack of pancakes in front of her.

"Ohayo, Sakura," Tomoyo said. "Where's Syaoran?"
"Oh, up and about. A letter's come from Eriol!!"

Tomoyo delicately arched one eyebrow.

"Well, don't you want to know what it said?" Sakura said impatiently.

"Not particularly."
"Tomoyo-chan!"
"Okay, okay, tell me," Tomoyo said reluctantly. It was invitation enough for Sakura.

"He said you were a knockout!" squealed Sakura. Tomoyo's expression didn't change. Just like all the others, she thought. All they care about is appearance. Sakura continued, oblivious to Tomoyo.

"And he's coming in two days!!"

Tomoyo groaned silently. Her freedom was at an end.

"He's best man for the wedding!! You'll be together!" said Sakura, bouncing.

Tomoyo resisted the urge to roll her eyes and gag.

Instead, she started to think. Two days…she would have fun.

"How does he know I'm a knockout?" Tomoyo asked curiously.

"Oh, he has a scrying mirror. He can look in on Syaoran anytime, but since he doesn't know you, he can only see you when you're close to Syaoran- like at dinnertime," Sakura said.

          Armed with this piece of information, Tomoyo went to her chambers- she needed practice, something to clear her mind. She got an idea. Going to her closet, she brought out another costume, not her servant attire. This one was beige leggings, and a plain linen shirt, menswear. She took out linen bandage, and bound her chest tight. Then she donned the menswear, and piled her hair on her head. Keeping it there, she wrapped cloth around it, until it looked like turbans court men wore sometimes. She roughened her lips, and darkened her fair skin with makeup and dirt. Finally, she took out a sheathed sword.

          She never had money to buy a sword, until she came to the palace. Then she went to buy one, disguised as a man. She went to Griffin Armor, the best armory in the Li Kingdom. There, she found her sword. It was made of the finest steel, and the hilt was hardened ebony, like her dagger. There was a single amethyst on the cross-hilt, and there were designs engraved on it. Beautiful, but deadly.

          Buckling the sword on, she peeked out her door. Silently praising the gods for letting her have a room in a seldom-used hallway, she walked to the practice courts. There was a small line waiting for the fights.

          The challenger stood, attacking the defender. If the challenger won, he would defend his title until he lost, and so it went all day.

When Tomoyo's turn came, she won easily. She had been practicing for years, and was a natural. Sword fighting drove everything out of her mind, and she needed that. As she blocked each blow, and gave her own parries, she concentrated at the task at hand. After three fights, she purposely lost so the people wouldn't get suspicious. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she went back, weary but pleased.

          For the rest of the day, she did her usual work. She finished embroidering the tiny cherry blossoms on Sakura's dress, and added some ribbons to the flower girl's dress. Stretching, she went to ask Sakura if she wanted to look at all the dresses but hers, to see if they were adequate. Smiling, she walked down the hall. She knew they were; she just wanted the praise from Sakura-chan.

          A servant told her that Sakura and Syaoran were in the library with two visitors. Puzzled, Tomoyo went into the library.

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura cried out. "This is Yamazaki and this is Touya."
          Two men looked at her; one dark and tall, the other chipper and short.

"Touya is the Lord of Decatir. He took over after Reth died this summer in an attack. Yamazaki is the lord of Oleirin, in the Eastlands."

"Oh," Tomoyo said, interested. "It's very nice to meet you. I come from the Eastlands."
"You do? What part?"

"Oh, a small town named Imprest."
"I've heard of that," Yamazaki said eagerly. "There's a town near there that's legend. People say it's been haunted for centuries."

Sakura and Syaoran looked on wide-eyed, but Chiharu was glaring at Yamazaki, clearly not believing his tale.

"So," Tomoyo ahem-ed. "Were you the son of Reth?" she asked Touya.

"Oh, no," he said quietly. "I was actually a mere soldier, a peasant." There was a rough edge to his voice, as if he had learned to speak properly just a while ago.

"Oh? How did that happen?" Sakura asked, intrigued. Syaoran glared, not pleased to see his soon-to-be-wife hailing a new Lord with such attention.

"Well, I left Mehmin as a mere peasant from the Slums. After a three years, my troops were ordered to Decatir. I befriended Reth by sheer chance. Then when the Battle of Stony Creek came, he named me successor as he had no relations."
"Oh, really? I come from the Slums of Mehmin too, as does Sakura," Tomoyo said, intrigued. "Where did you live?"
"Oh, in a small flat above a barbershop on Nulan Street."

Sakura gasped. "Really? That's where I lived until I was eight! I lived with Menima-san, until she passed away." She looked sad.

Touya simply stared. Syaoran, misreading the stare, glared at him. "Menima? So…you're…you're Sakura Kinomoto? Sakura?"

Sakura stared back, stricken by a thought of dark eyes over her, and hug from strong arms. They looked very much like Touya's. "On—Onii-chan?" she whispered, tears in her eyes. She flew into his arms. Syaoran's glare had been replaced by a look of amazement. Tomoyo smiled, wiping tears from her eyes.

"This is just like a story of a princess and a lord I heard about in the Eastlands!" Yamazaki exclaimed, clapping his hands. Tomoyo let out a teary laugh, as Chiharu dragged him away from the happy reunion.

~*~

          The euphoria lasted, at least for Tomoyo, until the next morning. She pleasantly awoke, until it hit her like a ton of bricks that Eriol was coming today. She dressed quickly, and then scurried to her workroom, where she privately planned to stay the whole day. She sewed her bridesmaid dress until noon, when the persistent grumbling of her stomach reminded her that she had skipped breakfast. Poking her head out of her door, she cautiously walked to the kitchen. She decided to take a less public way, and finally came to the grand staircase. The stair rail had just been polished, and it gleamed temptingly. She ran her hand along the shining oak, and then took the plunge. Seating herself on the rail, she pushed off.

          The air on her face soothed her, and the ride went by far too fast. Looking down at her destination, she gasped. There were suitcases, and a man with his back turned to her. She was going to smash right into the poor man…she flew off the stair rail and closed her eyes as she smashed into the man's back. The impact was short, but she lied there for a second recovering from the shock. Then regaining her senses, she scrambled off the man.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry- it was awfully thoughtless of me," she said hurriedly, helping the man up. She stared into cerulean blue eyes.

"I'm okay," his voice said lightly. "It wasn't that bad, and I'm sure your stair rail flight was wonderful." He grinned flawlessly. She found herself smiling back.

"Oh," he said, a tone of surprise in his voice, "You're Tomoyo?"

"Huh?" she asked. "How do you know my name?" she found herself immediately on guard.

"Oh, I'm Eriol," he said casually, bowing slightly. Tomoyo's eyes went cold.

"Nice to meet you," she said stiffly, and turned to leave. "I'll see you around."

          She ran off, leaving a confused Eriol behind. Shrugging, he turned around, rubbing his sore back. He would charm her later.

~*~

I'm sorry you had to wait so long! And a lot of people (okay, TWO) said I shouldn't have started a new story (The Twilight Hotel) without updating this one, which was right. But I didn't want anyone to steal the plotline of the Twilight Hotel, so I had to type it up sooner. Sorry for the long updates… : ( I'll try to make them quicker. REVIEW!