This is my first Tomoyo and Eriol Fanfiction ever. In fact, it's also my first CCS (well, that's not true I tried to write one but I gave up the idea because the fic was really bad…) Anyway, hope you'll like it.
Standard Disclaimers Apply. You all know the song. Whadda whadda…
Chapter 1. Mad.
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Mad…
Yeah, that was the only possible reason: he was mad. Otherwise, how could he
explain what he was doing?
He knew better than that, now right?
He had witnessed her little ritual almost every morning, when she would sigh and open all the love confessions that had elected her shoe locker as home to read them, then breaking hearts when she would go to the rendezvous to always say the same words of polite refusal. So why was he doing it nevertheless?
Nodding to himself, he decided that he was mad, as he slid a piece of paper in her shoe locker.
Well, he thought, walking away, that was an interesting thought… The Half-Reincarnation of the famous sorcerer Clow Reed, Eriol Hiiragizawa, was mad.
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La courbe de tes yeux fait le tour de mon cœur
Un rond de danse et de douceur,
Auréole du temps, berceau nocturne et sûr,
Et si je ne sais plus du tout ce que j'ai vécu,
C'est que tes yeux ne m'ont pas toujours vu…
Tomoyo stared at
the strange message. Among her usual routines, opening and reading love
confessions was the one she hated the most. Because she knew she would have to
see the boy or girl who had summoned the courage to write a love confession and
fix a rendezvous to crush down his or hers hopes.
But, this morning, besides the usual white letters with sometimes little red
hearts drawn on them, she found an odd message, one written in black ink in a
delicate calligraphy, on what looked like a piece of parchment. The paper had
been carefully folded in four and the only paragraph was delicately written in
its middle.
A little frown touched her brow as she wondered who could have addressed her
this strange message and what this meant.
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The classroom door slid open once more and the boy, Eriol Hiiragizawa, stepped in. Smiling as always, he waved at his classmates to greet them on that cold morning of late January, his eyes slowly but surely falling on the dark-haired girl, seated in the row in front of his. As expected, she was there, engrossed in the reading of a piece of old parchment, a little frown ceasing her graceful features. Fortunately for him, she didn't notice his arrival; otherwise, she would have certainly seen the strange glint in his eyes that Eriol didn't manage to suppress in time.
Taking a small
breath, Eriol made sure his face wouldn't betray him as he walked down the
aisle to his chair, behind the girl.
She had grown up and matured so much in the last few years after his return to
Tomoeda, almost three years ago. She still wore the long hair, today loose on
her shoulders; she still had the creamy skin and the angelic voice and her
purple eyes still shone with mischief, sometimes, when they would plan pranks
on Sayoran, his cute little descendant. But, her face had lost the signs of
childhood, its perfect shape with a little pointed chin put her, even more than
when she was a child, out of the common beauty standards. In fact, she was
beyond them. Her delicate neck, thin fingers and pink lips made each cords of
his soul ached each time hers and his eyes would met.
He loved her purple eyes: deep and mysterious, they could shine with the strength of a thousands suns when she laughed. Their colors, he found out, could change with her moods, even if, one had to look at them really closely to notice it. When she was angry, her eyes would turn into a deeper shade of purple, almost black, like the color of the clouds when a storm was coming closer. But when she was feeling melancholic, her purple eyes reminded him of the sky when the sun was about to kiss the horizon… An angel, indeed, he thought, sighing lightly as he put his bag on the back of his chair. Whenever he thought about her, he would somehow think of the sky.
Smiling to himself, he realized, how easy it had been to learn how to read them and see what she tried to cancel, just by watching her. Of course, it meant a lot of watching time, but he never minded to look at her and with all the time they had spent together, it had been easy. As easily, she had learnt how to see through the smiling façade he wore all the times. He remembered how he had found her alone and miserable, when he came back, like him. The first time they had seen each other, when he was back, they both recognized instantly in each other's eyes the same pain and loneliness and they both clung on each other to get out of the black hole in which they were falling.
He had spent four years in England with Kaho but after a difficult break-up, he had decided to lick his wounds in Tomoeda, where his almost daughter and her boyfriend, his cute little descendant lived. He, of course, hadn't forgotten his almost daughter's best friend, but he hadn't thought that she would become so important for his sanity.
He had broken up with Kaho because he couldn't bear anymore all the lectures and fights they would have, always on the same subject, their age gap. Sure, he once held the soul of Clow Reed and still had half of it, but what Kaho had failed to understand, what Eriol only realized when he went back to school in England, was that Clow Reed wanted more than anything was to live.
But she didn't understand, no matter how many times he tried to explain. She couldn't stand the fact that he wanted to experience all the joy of youth, because Clow Reed had been old since the day he was born. She couldn't bear when he went out with his friends from school, when he went to the movies, even if he knew the movie was going to be stupid, or when he refused to get married at the age of sixteen because he thought he was too young. That had been the "too much" for Kaho. After all, Kaho was nine years older than he was and so, with times, she started to wish for different things than running around in the snow, or have a water fight with his guardians.
So, he and his two guardians, Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun, had fled to the second home he owned, because despite all the fights and arguments, he was still in love with her. He still loved her when they both agreed on splitting up. Like he still loved her when he had wept for the first time of his life in Tomoyo's arms. But with time and her friendship, he managed to stop hurting.
Oh, he still loved Kaho, but not in the way he used to. No, his love for her was like the one he felt for his former guardians, Kerberos and Yue, he cared for the three of them. It had been a wonderful love to share, just gone but not forgotten and after all, she was his first love, a cherished memory of his life. His life as an almost normal human boy of seventeen years old.
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Who could have sent her this strange letter? And what did this paragraph mean? The text was written in the occidental alphabet but Tomoyo was sure it wasn't English. So focused on the paper, Tomoyo only felt Eriol's presence when the latter lightly put his hand on her shoulder. She stiffened in surprise and turned quickly on her seat, the solution of one of her questions so clear now that she could have slapped herself not to think about it earlier. Eriol-kun. He would know what this lines meant and in what language they were.
"Morning, Tomoyo-chan." Eriol said, smiling as her eyes met his.
"Morning, Eriol-kun." She answered, the letter still in her hand. "Ne, Eriol-kun, do you
know what this mean?" she asked, showing him the paper.
Eriol was careful to look interest and a little surprise as he took the old
piece of parchment from her hand. He studied it a little and then her eyes back
on Tomoyo, his eyebrows up in a questioning way. "I found it this morning in my
locker, among the others." She answered his unspoken question, showing with a
little shake of her head the rest of the letters still on her desk.
"It's French." He answered finally, a little smile on his lips.
Tomoyo narrowed her purple eyes: she knew what this smile meant. She had learnt
to read all his smiles, from the ironic smirk to the embarrassed smile and that
one meant something among the lines: "I know something you don't."
Eriol caught the slight movement of her muscles around her eyes and turned his eyes carefully back to the paper, as if he was studying it. If he wanted this to succeed, he'd better watch himself, and really closely. Tomoyo wasn't one of the easiest girl to fool, oh, no, quite the opposite, in fact. Eriol could almost hear Spinel snicker, while Ruby Moon would roll her eyes, both saying that it was exactly why their master was so crazy about Tomoyo.
Eriol carefully
sat in his chair, not looking up at Tomoyo, before saying. "Hum… It says: 'The
curve of your eyes toured my heart. A circle of dance and sweetness. Halo of
time, night and sure cradle. And if I know not for all that I have lived. It is
that your eyes did not always see me.' or something close. Who is it from?" He
asked, giving her the paper again, with what he hoped a genuine curiosity.
"Well, I don't know." Tomoyo answered, taking the paper back from him, looking
at the strange paragraph. "The curve of your eyes toured my heart…" She
repeated softly, a little smile turning up her lips. "It sounds like the
beginning of a song. Could you write down the meaning for me?" She inquired,
turning her eyes at him again, giving him the paper again.
Eriol nodded and he couldn't help but smile goofily as he reached in his bag for a pen and a sheet of paper. Quickly, he wrote the first part of the poem on it and handed her the two papers under her intense gaze. It looked like the first part of his plan actually worked!
Tomoyo looked up at him and lifted a delicate eyebrow at his stupid smile. Eriol blinked and realized his mistake, but he managed without his smile faltering too much to point with his finger at the amount of letters behind her. "Looks like winter brings you more and more letters everyday." Tomoyo threw a glance behind her at the letters and sighed, shaking her head again. She read the translation Eriol just made and was grateful that Clow Reed bothered to learn all these languages and more that Eriol remembered them!
The curve of your eyes toured my heart,
A circle of dance and sweetness,
Halo of time, night and sure cradle,
And if I know not for all that I have lived
It is that your eyes did not always see me.
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Tomoyo folded the two papers together and put them in her bag and reached for the letters. As usual, she wrote down quickly the place and dates of all the rendezvous each of the letters proposed to her and put them away in a folder specially made for them. More and more letters. How foolish he was, in fact there two less than the usual standard which was seven.
The content of the strange letter had left her in a dreamy state, as she had found herself attracted to the words and she wondered once more who could have sent her such an enigmatic message. The writing was unfamiliar to her, almost girlish and Tomoyo half groaned. When turning down people, she found it harder when the people turned out to be females. Maybe because Tomoyo was a girl too and she too had been turned down be another girl. Well, she corrected herself, not exactly turned down. She never knew so she couldn't have turned me down. Tomoyo looked up, setting her chin in the palm of her hand, and stared out by the window. A little tap on her shoulder made her turn around on her seat, and once more she thought of trying to make him lose that habit of him.
He must have seen the lecture coming because
his eyes started laughing and his lips trembled in effort to suppress the
coming smile. "Since you know that I hate you when you call me that way, or
rather when you hit me to call me, why do you keep on doing it?" She asked,
sighing heavily.
"What do you think?" Eriol grinned back at her. Every week or so, she would
lecture him on that and he would stop for a little while but after an amount of
time that he would judge as honourable he would resume it and of course, she
would turn around.
"Because you like me best when I'm lecturing you?" She pouted, tilting her head
on her side, her dark hair cascading to her right side.
She looked so cute that Eriol didn't find his tongue for a while. "Hum… No."
"Then why?" She asked him, shaking her head a little, a little smile on her
pretty lips.
"If you hate it why do you still turn around?" He smiled back.
Touching her chin with one finger, looking up, Tomoyo pondered his question for
a while, before answering. "Well, it became a sort of reflex."
"Good." Was his only answer, and he sank back in his chair, folding his arms on
his chest.
"Whatever." And she turned back in her chair.
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As one should expect when one knew the Card Mistress, Sakura Kinomoto, she was late. But for once, she wasn't the last because her boyfriend, Sayoran Li stepped in the classroom just after her, as they arrived together. Their teacher, who was already in the class getting his lessons ready, just shook his head at Sakura's relieved expression. He gestured them to get quickly to their seats for the class to begin. The late pair quickly sat, after waving at their friends and a glare for others or rather one from Sayoran to Eriol who only widened his smile. The teacher, after calling each of their names, started his first class of the day.
But Tomoyo didn't pay attention this morning. No, she was dreaming. The song was bewitching her. Maybe it was jinxed. She thought, because unlike the other letters she couldn't get it out of her mind. Therefore, the distant look in her eyes, the repetitive sighs and her chin propped in her left hand, her elbow on her desk, she was daydreaming.
Eriol, behind her, who had been waiting for any signs started to feel his heart beat faster than its usual pace. Tomoyo sighed once more. And his heart contracted again, almost painfully. But Eriol welcomed the pain. It felt horrible and wonderful in the same time. His heart ached and beat faster, he felt like someone had put weights on his chest and he couldn't breathe anymore, he could feel his ears getting warmer and he closed his eyes, head bent, to get his emotions back in control. Tomoyo was reacting to his letter. A butterfly opened its wings and tried to get free in his chest.
But little did Eriol know about the amber-eyed boy watching him from his right. Sayoran narrowed his eyes at his ancestor odd behavior and naturally, his eyes flickered to the dark-haired girl in front of the source of almost all his troubles. She was the only being alive he knew who could attempt to control him. But Sayoran found Tomoyo deep in thoughts and he shivered. Dear God, he thought, remembering the time when Tomoyo and Eriol did get together to pull a prank on him. She had been in deep thoughts that day too, she had been busy planning the last details but… Sayoran's eyes flickered back to Eriol. Eriol, who was staring at the back of Tomoyo's head now, had a pensive look on his face. Sayoran frowned. Maybe, for once, I'm not concerned in whatever he's planning, but I don't think I'd like to let place to Tomoyo.
Sayoran would never know how to thank Tomoyo enough for all she did for him. Pushing him gently in the right direction, helping him to sort out his feelings for Sakura. And, as usual when he thought about her, he turned his eyes in her direction. "Sayoran Li!" Suddenly snapped him out of his reverie to find his teacher glaring daggers at him.
"Yes, sensei?" he swallowed. Damn, caught
daydreaming!
"Please, Li, do tell the class what's so interesting in Kinomoto's hair!"
"I'm sorry, sensei." Sayoran bent his head, in shame, as it wasn't the first
time that he had been caught daydreaming and staring at the back of Sakura's
head. Sayoran heard his teacher take a deep and indignant breath.
"Anyway, back on the lesson." He started. "And please, Li, do pay attention and
keep your staring for when the two of you are alone." He finished, turning his
attention back to the black board. Sayoran sighed, blushing at the remark. He
needn't to see his beloved's face to know it was as deep red as his. He saw
Tomoyo hide her giggling behind her hand and sighed again but then, he
definitely heard a snicker coming from his left. He looked up and found Eriol
looking at him, his eyes dancing with suppressed laughter. If looks could burn
holes, Eriol Hiiragizawa would have been the first and probably the only, human
being killed by a burning hole in the face.
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Finally, the long morning came to an end and with it, the lunch break began. The students quickly emptied the classroom to enjoy their lunches elsewhere. Tomoyo and Sakura walked together out of the room, Tomoyo telling Sakura about the song that had been sent to her. The girls went out first, as Tomoyo whispered and showed Sakura the strange message. Sakura giggled and the auburn head bent closer to the dark-haired one. With a look of resignation from Sayoran and a cheerful one from Eriol, the boys decided, without talking to give the girls a bit of privacy. Not, without saying of course, that they didn't want to hear Sakura going "Hannyan!!!" on the letter.
Eriol was following her with his steady gaze and when Tomoyo and Sakura disappeared from his sight, he allowed a small and sad smile crossed his thin lips. When a hand slammed on his desk.
Eriol looked up at the owner of the hand and smiled at his descendant. The rare students still present in the room just shook their heads, walking away, knowing full well these two would always be 'playing' as Eriol put it while Sayoran had a much more colored word for it.
"Yes, young but cute descendant?" Sayoran
cringed at the hated nicknamed and forced himself to breath out when Eriol
spoke again. "You know, you really do have a vein popping out of your forehead,
I've never noticed it before." Eriol jumped out of Sayoran's reach, laughing
and the latter closed his fists in anger, launching a punch in Eriol's face.
Punch that Eriol avoided easily.
"What did you do to Daidouji?" He asked bluntly, aiming a kick to Eriol's
midsection.
Eriol laughed and jumped again out of reach, putting some desks between him and
Sayoran. Sayoran never really tried to beat him up but better be safe than
sorry. "Why do you ask?" Eriol smiled at Sayoran once more, he couldn't help
but taunt his descendant and stopped jumping around to wait for Sayoran.
"Because you look damn too cocky today and she's not herself this morning!"
Sayoran answered, yelling almost, trying to break Eriol's nose with one of his
fist. "What have you done to her?" Eriol blocked Sayoran's fist with one hand
and pushed Sayoran roughly with the other on the chest, making him lose his
balance. Sayoran fell on his butt but immediately stood up, glaring again at
Eriol, who was wondering how powerful Sayoran could really become if he
actually managed to control his temper.
He was turning perceptive and he was clever, none to say powerful too, in a magical way. But, then when his buttons were pushed, he lost control and usually blew off everything. Eriol nearly sighed. Maybe he should try, as he already did, he reminded himself, to teach the boy how to keep his temper in check, it would help him to grow up. But where would be the fun? And besides, he didn't want Sayoran to be mature, yet. Sometimes, Eriol thought of Sayoran like a little, favorite nephew an uncle had to tease. Yes, he cared for the Chinese boy, as he had once cared for the Li Clan. As he still does, he thought.
Then, something flashed in his mind and he knew how to turn the conversation on safer grounds.
Eriol shook his
head, waving a hand at Sayoran. "Tssk, tssk. Little descendant, shame on you
for such thoughts: I didn't do anything that you think about to Tomoyo." Eriol
started snickering. "I'm not as forward as you are, Descendant."
"What are you talking about?" Sayoran yelled, his face turning red again.
"Well, I did notice you did arrive with Sakura-chan this morning and your
apartment is not on Sakura's way to school, in fact it's quite far away from
it. And you are never late!"
"I don't know what you mean! We just met-" Sayoran yelled again but he was cut
by Eriol.
"Tssk! Descendant, try to prepare your lies a little longer before giving them
because I happened to know that Touya-kun lives with Yukito-kun. Did you sneak
in Sakura-chan's bedroom last night? That's why you two were together and
almost late this morning?"
This time, Sayoran ran after Eriol yelling for his blood. But Eriol's answer was to run away, laughing his head off. Unfortunately for Sayoran, Eriol knew the Chinese boy was clumsy, despite all the martial trainings, when his emotions got the best of him and so Eriol managed to put enough distance between him and Sayoran to prevent Sayoran to catch him.
They ran down the hall, Eriol still laughing, dodging the students, ignoring the teachers' yells to make them stop running, Sayoran yelling curses in Chinese after Eriol but Eriol paid no attention to him, as his salvation was coming nearer, in the presence of Sakura and Tomoyo. Almost in a Nakuru fashion, Eriol glomped the girls and using Tomoyo as a shield from Sayoran, he waited for him to reach them.
"Eriol-kun!" Tomoyo gasped, looking above
her shoulder at Eriol.
Sakura put her fists on her hips and exclaimed. "Eriol-kun! Don't tell me you
started 'playing' again with Sayoran-kun?"
"Now, come on, Sakura-chan, can't I-" but he never got to finish his sentence
as a very red but walking Sayoran reached them.
The Chinese boy
slowed down and stopped, still muttering curses in his native tongue, making
Eriol snicker again.
"There, there, little Descendant. You should know by now that what you're
suggesting is humanly impossible, even for me."
Sakura turned to
her boyfriend, a look in her emerald eyes, while Tomoyo only raised an eyebrow
at him. Sayoran blushed, turning his red face even redder and he knew he was
doomed when Sakura leaned forward and said in the sweet voice she usually
reserved to Kero-chan when the latter was in deep trouble.
"Ne, Sayoran-kun, do you remember the conversation Tomoyo-chan, Eriol-kun, you
and I had about 'playing' and humanly impossible Chinese curses?"
Sayoran swallowed hard and Eriol's smile got erased by itself when Tomoyo, standing next her best friend, turned her eyes on him and both men shivered. Yes, they did remember the 'talk' they had and they both got the hint. Without consorting among themselves, the boys walked the girls to a place where they could eat, carrying the lunches they retrieved quickly from their lockers, placing the girls' ones on theirs. The day ended rather quietly as none of the two males tried to bite each other's head, because they knew something worse was in store for both of them if one dared just to glare at the other.
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The following morning, Tomoyo could hardly suppress her growing excitement and the expectant smile as she walked to school. She was almost out of breath when she reached her locker because she had been walking much faster than usual. Collecting the fan mail, she looked through the six letters for an old piece of parchment but there was none.
Walking
reluctantly to class, head bent and sighing: that was how Eriol found her this
morning. He was going to step in the classroom when he looked up and saw her
coming towards him.
"Tomoyo-chan? What's wrong?" the worried tone in his voice made her look up.
For a blink of the eye, Tomoyo considered about lying, but it was Eriol, and
she discarded the idea. She sighed heavily again and answered him. "I must
confess that the song touched me more than anything else that had been sent to
me. I… was hoping for the rest of the song this morning, but…"
"There was nothing?" He completed her sentence gently and Tomoyo sighed again.
"Yes, no parchment this morning. I was so excited about it that I could barely
close an eye last night and now…"
"Hum, I see." Eriol smiled gently at her.
"I've been looking through my music sheets all evening but nothing was my song.
I even asked my music teacher in the choir practice, last night, but she didn't
know it." Eriol seemed to ponder the new information for a while before saying.
"I have quite a collection of occidental songs, if you want, you can come to my
house this afternoon, after school, and we'll look through them with a cup of
tea."
Tomoyo's face brightened as if dawn just shone on her. "I was hoping you to
propose me that! Thank you so much!" She said excitedly, laughing a little.
Tomoyo then did something that surprised him greatly: she hugged him briefly.
For less than a couple of seconds, she enveloped him in his arms, sending him her warmth and when she stepped back, smiling brightly, he felt shivers running up and down his spine.
Man, if only he could remember that spell that could froze the time: he would use it again and again so that she would never leave his arms.
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The day went by without any other surprises. It was just another normal school day for them all. Sakura, almost late, running into class, while Sayoran shook his head. The four of them eating either at the library or in the canteen as they were in January, Sakura and Tomoyo laughing while Sayoran muttered curses under his breath because Eriol and Takashi pulled on his leg again. But something was a little different today, though. It would have taken someone really close to them to notice it: two of the four were somehow a little happier than usual. One could think that the two were the auburn-haired pair, but in fact and unexpectedly it was for once the dark-haired pair. Maybe they both had learnt something good earlier.
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Tomoyo ran her hand quickly in her hair before ringing the bell.
After school, she went back home to tell them she would be over his house tonight and she took the opportunity to change from her school uniform. She was now wearing a long cream dress, under her long black winter mantle. Her long purple hair were tied in a loose ponytail with a cream-colored ribbon and she was holding a little bag full of cookies, her mother had insisted for her to take with her. The Daidouji Mansion inhabitants were quite used to either have Eriol within their walls or see Tomoyo go at his house. Sometimes she even slept over.
The only time, he slept over her place was the day he had been sick. Tomoyo had gone over his house to see how he was feeling but he was so weak and sick that she insisted on staying at his place to take care of him. Eriol had refused to let her stay in this house where everybody was sick, even Nakuru and Spinel. Tomoyo had cast him her sunnier smile and told him that since he didn't want her to stay in his place where she could catch their illness, they should come to her place. Of course, Eriol had protested, but that was when Tomoyo had used her stronger card on him: she had called her mother.
Sonomi Daidouji was aware of the Clow Cards, the Guardians and the strange relationship between Eriol, Sakura and her father, for a little less than a year when it happened. So, when her daughter called her to ask her that since nice Eriol-kun was sick to death and that he didn't want her, Tomoyo, to take care of him in his house, could she take care of them in their house, in the Daidouji Mansion. Sonomi had roared in the phone at Eriol. Yelling at how stupid he was and she had landed in his mansion, with the force of a thousands bulldozer and basically dragged him and his two guardians in the Daidouji Mansion where she had fussed over him while Tomoyo took care of his guardians.
Since then, Eriol, Nakuru and Spinel had been referring almost reverently to Tomoyo's mother as Daidouji-sama. Nakuru had confessed to Tomoyo that she and Spinel could only get sick when their master was very weak and that they all could have died if not for Tomoyo and her mother. Eriol, himself, had then taken a great liking on Daidouji-sama. He had whispered this secret to Tomoyo, the morning after, when he laid on the bed of the guestroom, while her mother, exhausted, had been fast asleep, her head resting on her folded arms. He had told her, a small smile on his lips, he now understood why Sakura's parents loved her so much. Tomoyo had thought that maybe, surely, it was because Eriol didn't have the chance of growing up like the other children…
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So, there she was, waiting under the porch of the Reed Mansion for Eriol or Nakuru to open the door. Usually, it was Nakuru and Tomoyo hadn't even finished ringing that the door was already open and Nakuru jumping on her.
Odd… she thought as she rang another time. This time, the door opened.
Eriol was standing in the doorway: with his Sun Guardian, in his small form, comfortably sitting on his head, his tail circling his head for support, while his Moon Guardian, in her false form too, hanging on his left leg. And Tomoyo stared.
Oh, she was quite used to the sight of Spinel sitting on Eriol's shoulder, or Spinel in his true form sitting on his master, or Nakuru in her true form on Eriol's back. But, that was new. And so Tomoyo stared.
"Don't worry, Tomoyo-chan." Eriol sighed. "Nakuru is just trying to convince me to dress up as a geisha. Please, come in."
"Ah." Was all she could say, as she stepped in.
"Mou! Tomoyo-chan," Nakuru whined from Eriol's leg, "don't you think Master would make a wonderful geisha?"
Eriol closed the door behind her and started to walk, with rather some difficulty for the added weight on his left leg towards the living-room. "Mind if I ask where the idea of getting Eriol-kun dressed up as a geisha come from?" inquired politely Tomoyo.
"Tomoyo-sama," began Spinel, with a long and suffering sigh, from his perch on Eriol's head, "you and I both know I am the only normal rational being in this house and believe me when I tell you don't want to find out when, how and why Master started talking about geisha and why Moron decided Master would make a beautiful geisha." Spinel ended, shivering like a madman. Tomoyo blinked and shivered too, following Eriol.
"At least, I'm developing the muscle of my leg. Nakuru, would you please, every ten minutes or so, shift on the other leg for an equal repartition of the work." Said Eriol, rather seriously.
"Yes, Master!" came the thrilled answer.
Tomoyo stared. And Spinel sighed.
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They've been looking through Eriol's music room for hours now. Eriol's music room was one of Tomoyo favorite places: the huge cathedral-like doors, which were giving on Eriol's garden, would let the light come in to lightly caress the grand black piano, resting on the heavy dark red carpet. Even though it wasn't necessary, Eriol had Nakuru lit up the fire before the Guardian could leave because after maybe half an hour, Nakuru got bored and declared she will probably die from boredom if she stayed a minute more. So Eriol gave her the permission to run away. Which she did, after lighting the fire, screaming that she would be at Touya's and Yuki's to play with them.
They've been looking through his entire collection of music sheets, from France or Vienna, from Italy or London but none matched. The night had already covered the earth and the stars found Eriol and Tomoyo, music sheets spilled around them, laying on their stomachs, leaning on their elbows, facing the fireplace, a mug of hot chocolate for Eriol, one of tea for Tomoyo. Spinel had curled his tail around his little form and was sleeping blissfully on Eriol's head.
"Why does that song intrigue you that much?" He asked quietly, as the silence between them had grown comfortable. She reached for the plate in front of him and took a chocolate chip cookie, nibbling on it before answering, thoughtfully.
"I really don't know. But, it feels like the one who wrote that really love the woman he was talking about."
"It could be a woman to a man. Or a man to a man, or a woman to a woman…"
Tomoyo shot him a quick glare from under her lashes but he was staring stubbornly at the fire, playing in front of them. Eriol knew all of her little secrets, all those dirty little thoughts one doesn't even think to put down on paper. And, if she had ever learnt something by being around him was that he never said anything without a purpose.
"It could be." She answered, prudently. "But, I highly doubt of it." She shook her black head.
Eriol blinked at her and asked her, puzzled. "How come?"
"I… It's a feeling." Tomoyo admitted, sighing. "It's a male who sent this to me." She turned to him, her eyes steady, then a slow smile spread on her lips. "Besides, a woman would have written the whole song."
At her Cheshire Cat expression, Eriol laughed, waking Spinel up, who only grumbled before getting back to sleep. "Now, that's an interesting thought." He smiled, his dark blue eyes glinting.
Raising her little creamy nose, with a fake haughty voice, Tomoyo stated. "A female would never be that cruel to a fellow female."
Eriol chuckled at her voice and asked. "Why cruel?"
"Only a man would lead a woman like that." Tomoyo nodded.
Eriol laughed once more and Tomoyo's giggles accompanied him. But when his laughter died, he told her, almost on a whisper. "I thought women were the cunning ones and men blind when love was involved."
"Love…" Tomoyo stared at Eriol. "It's different. Men are dense. Women just take what they want." She smiled again.
Eriol's face lit up with a smile. "I presume this is the Amemiya women motto?" He rose an eyebrow at her.
"Of course!" Tomoyo said, a huge smile on her cherry lips. "How do you think Sakura-chan's mother got away with Kinomoto-san?"
Eriol blinked at her for a second, then looked up thoughtfully before nodding. Then the two of them burst in laughter. Tomoyo rolled on her back: her head was touching his shoulder and Eriol wondered if she could hear his heart beating faster. He took a look at her face: she had her eyes closed, a contented smile on her lips and she was humming under her breath. She was beautiful. Not only in a physical way, but her wit and independence, her charm and her cunning ways… All that bounded him further to her. His eyes drifted prudently elsewhere than her cherry lips, pushed together while she hummed and they fell on the music sheets around them. His music room was a mess.
"All afternoon, we've been looking at these music sheets." He suddenly said, cutting her humming. "Have you noticed?" He asked.
Tomoyo looked up at him, not understanding. "Noticed what?" She wondered aloud.
Eriol turned his head back to her. "A very few of them doesn't talk of love." He explained, watching her carefully.
Tomoyo rolled on her stomach again. "Hum. I guess so." She nodded, her hands falling on the various piece of papers around her, till they found the one she had been staring at an hour ago. "I like this one."
"What is it?" He inquired, leaning closer to her to take a look.
"It's about the soul mates story." She said, turning to him, giving him the paper. "How the Ancient Gods, jealous, tore them apart and sent them on different places and since then, the poor souls have to look for one another." He replaced the paper on the floor as she asked him, curious. "Do you believe in soul mates?"
Eriol looked up to find that she had tilted her head, making a pool of black hair resting on her right shoulder. How he wished he was allowed to run a hand in those hair.
"No." He answered, still staring at her hair, while the firelight played upon it. "I think Love is something you obtain by working hard. I want to believe it's something that we do." He looked up and searched her gaze which he locked in his when he asked. "What about you?" That was the question he dreaded, that was the reason he had led her in his music room.
Tomoyo turned her head away, losing herself again in the contemplation of the fire. "I've never really thought about it." She admitted. "I've always thought that the ultimate expression of love and happiness is to make sure my loved one is happy, whatever it may cost me."
"Why?" His voice held back with great effort the pain he was feeling inside. Oh, Tomoyo why? Why do you shut the others away? Why? When it's so easy for hundreds to take?
Tomoyo turned her head sharply back at him, puzzled and stared, before answering, uncertain. "Well, isn't it what we all wish for our loved ones? For them to be happy?"
Eriol shook his head sadly, refusing to meet her gaze. It would give him away. "I don't believe I'd be happy if I knew someone sacrificed everything for me. What about you?"
"I don't understand." Tomoyo said truthfully.
Eriol bent his head and asked her, his voice low. "Would you be happy if someone else, whoever it is, make his or her life a living hell for you to be happy?"
An awkward fell between them. It had been long since an awkward silence had settled between them. "Happiness lies in my loved one's." Tomoyo said, sounded more like she was trying to convince herself rather than believing in it.
He understood the desperation underneath and no longer wished to push her, so he said almost jokingly, as if nothing had happened. "But have to say that the idea of soul mates is extremely romantic." His merry voice brought her to raise her eyes to him: he was looking up, a stupid smile on his lips. On the top of his head, Spinel suddenly snorted, remembering the two youths they weren't alone.
"If Master ever had a soul mate," Spinel said, dryly . 'The world would come to an end."
Tomoyo stifled her goggles at Eriol's sudden crestfallen face, then, he asked Tomoyo, almost cheerfully. "Do you want to play Nakuru's favorite game?" Tomoyo thought she heard a strangled noise coming from the top of Eriol's head, as the latter kept on. "It's called 'Spin the Spinel!'" He concluded, while a black shot went from the top of his head to the safety of Tomoyo's hair.
"Tomoyo-sama," whined the small guardian, "Can I come and live at your place?" Both teens burst in laughter and everything was well again.
Or so she thought.
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Hum, here's the first part, guys. Be nice and review, please. Hugs and kisses, see you next time.
mikim