Disclaimer: Characters/town property of CLAMP/Kodansha are used without permission and not for profit.
Dedication: Circe and those who posted help at Rewritten, then patiently waited while it looked like I forgot all about writing fic. Thanks, guys!
Notes: Eriol-tachi have moved back to Tomoeda by the time this takes place. This is not necessarily related to 'Sweet Future' though this is the fic that inspired it. This one has been sitting around in my mind for months, but SF was done in a night when the mood struck me to write something soft and slow and fluffy, and it just happens to have its root in this.
(In dreams by day is our future told.)
Dreams by Day
He recognized the music playing before he came to the large window that showed the interior of the dance school. It was a grand waltz that he remembered Clow sharing with a pretty Chinese girl he couldn't put a name to and, more recently, he'd been trying to teach it to Sakura-san. A lovely tune that some poor hack was slowly murdering on the piano so that the students could pick up the steps. He only stopped to watch because it was chilly enough that the ice cream in the grocery sack wouldn't melt before he got home, and the playing became suddenly better.
The instructors, for it couldn't have been anyone else, had stepped onto the floor to demonstrate again. They were good, Eriol judged, very good. She and her partner had locked eyes, an intensity that wasn't due to the complexity of the dance shimmering between them. He laid her nearly horizontal in the dip before pulling her back up to twirl away from him, a blissful smile on her beautiful face.
Eriol smiled as he caught a wink of gold on her hand as he brought her back in, and on his. They were a lovely couple, he mused as they danced. How long had they been married, he wondered idly. Ten years? Twenty? Still their love was so vibrant that it could be seen by anyone walking by. He was willing to bet they still held hands whenever they could.
He began humming along as he watched them. The lady reminded of that girl, little and lithe and terribly graceful. They moved so naturally together, so comfortably. Clow used to dream of dancing that way with that girl. Clow hadn't been nearly as assured in his dance as this man was; he'd barely dipped his partner at all. Of course, he'd been madly in love with her and afraid his sweaty palms would give him away whereas this instructor had undoubtedly had years of practice with his love. Eriol himself had done far better with Sakura-san, though they still hadn't moved as fluidly as these two did. One day, though, some distant day, he'd dance like that with his wife. He could see it so clearly as the instructors flowed across the floor before him.
They'd put it on the phonograph taken down at long last from the attic in Read Manor and, unmindful for a moment of the children, they'd swirl away on the music. She'd have caught his eye from the doorway of the study, just passing by. So beautiful that he'd get up and go to look down the hallway after her, and note the open door to the ballroom. He'd put the music on, and she'd come to see what he was up to, and he'd extend his hand in an invitation to dance with him, much as he had at their wedding. She'd laugh, he'd take her hand, pull her out to the middle of the floor, they'd hum along as they watched each others eyes while they simply fell into step, as they had a thousand times before. She'd blush when he dipped her at the end. He wouldn't do it as deeply as the instructor had, because while the woman before him had short hair, his wife's hair was far too long. Even pinned up, those dark curls would brush the floor if he tried to lower her that far.
The applause of the dance students startled Eriol out of his daydream. He started off down the street, finally remembering the cold and the ice cream he'd gotten for Kaho's surprise 29th birthday party. What a strange mood he was in, he thought with a smile, standing around and dreaming when he had only a little time before the party started. Daydreaming about dancing with a wife he didn't yet have, and when he hadn't even been thinking about proposing to…his mind stumbled abruptly. His wife had dark curls? Kaho's hair was straight as rain and light brown; it hadn't been her he'd been imagining. They'd been arguing lately, true enough, but that was no reason to invent someone new…. He stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk as the face he'd pictured returned. It hadn't been anyone new he'd seen in his mind's eye. It had been Daidouji Tomoyo in his arms.
He shook his head to clear it but the image stayed that of his long-time friend. He'd never, not once before this minute, thought of her in a romantic light. It was ridiculous that he should do so now, in such an involved little fantasy set so far into the future. It wasn't even a lustful fantasy, which would have at least been fitting, given her beauty and their age. That he could have understood easily enough. But to picture Daidouji-san as his wife, as the mother of his children, when he'd never even had the urge to hold her hand? It was absurd!
He came back to himself when he was jostled by someone, and murmured an apology before moving on. He really was in a hurry now. Stopping to watch the dancers had put him behind schedule. Shaking his head again over his foolishness, he narrowly made it across the street before the light changed. Himself and Daidouji-san…next he'd be naming their children!
There would be children in his future, of that he was certain. Eriol knew what he wanted from a 'normal' life, and they were a definite part of it. He'd have three girls, pretty and lively and impossibly impish. Little girls who'd call him Papa or Daddy and rush to smother him in hugs and kisses when he came home from work. And a son, certainly, to carry on the family name, not that he wouldn't support his daughters keeping theirs when they married. Two boys would be better, so they would stand a better chance against their three older sisters, now that he thought about it. They'd need each other, what with Ruby Moon living with them and teaching the girls everything she knew. Three girls, then, and two boys, though he didn't think he'd say 'no' to any others that came along. Daidouji-san hardly seemed the sort to have a family like that.
Although she'd have fun dressing them, and he didn't think for a moment he or the boys would escape her designs. She'd probably have them all in matching outfits for festivals, birthdays, holidays, and any other day she could make up. That would be cute, he mused with a smile. They'd look just like little dolls. He could help make the dresses for their daughters, and maybe keep them from drowning in ruffles, bows, and lace. Their poor sons would probably end up with capes no matter what he did. Well, that would be fine when they were little; they could pretend to be superheroes. A thought made him chuckle out loud – the children would no doubt end up dressed like Sakura-san and Xiao-Lang at least once.
She might want to name one Sakura…or maybe not; it was an English, not Japanese, custom to name a child after a loved one. It was also one that he wanted to honor. He wanted to give their oldest daughter his mother's name, Megan. He didn't like his father's name, nor his own, to give it to one of his sons. They might name one after Li. That would put him in fits like nothing else had. Daidouji-san would no doubt be able to convince his cute little descendant that it really was an honor, and done out of love, and he'd never know that she was laughing just as hard as Eriol himself was. Just telling Xiao-Lang that they wanted to name one of their sons after him was bound to be fun. Even if they didn't name the boy Li, they could twit him about it for years. The children would find it funny that their Uncle wouldn't want one of them named in his honor.
At least, Eriol hoped they'd call him 'Uncle.' He wanted to stay involved in Sakura-san's life, in the lives of all his friends and their families. They'd all become so dear to him, and more so while he'd lived in England before coming back to Tomoeda for good. He wanted Xiao-Lang to teach them martial arts when they visited him in Hong Kong. He wanted Kinomoto-san to teach them how to handle a million jobs all at once while never letting someone out of their sight. Kinomoto-sensei could show them how to find fossils, or how to irritate someone just by breathing – then smooth those ruffled feathers with a smile and a memory. And Daidouji-sama could show them how to get revenge without giving anything away beforehand. And he and Daidouji-san would teach them how to dance to that sweet old-fashioned melody played on the phonograph. Like the instructors, they'd dance with their little students, then come together to show them how it would look once you knew all the steps and had the one you loved best in your arms…
"There you are! You're late, Hiiragizawa-kun; Mizuki-sensei will be home soon!" Tomoyo flung open the front door as he stood on the stoop, absently searching his pockets for the keys. She grabbed the bags out of his hands while ushering him in. "Give me the groceries, you go change. Is that your new school uniform?"
"Daidouji-san?"
"Oh, those trousers are hideous." She peered into the dry-cleaning bag that held the uniform he'd just picked up that morning. They'd managed to tutor Sakura-san to the point that they'd all be together when they started high school in April. "I was hoping that they just looked bad from a distance. Li-kun! You were right about those uniforms! I'm sorry!" She nudged him towards the stairway. "Go on and change, Hiiragizawa-kun. I'll take care of the food. Was there something else you needed?" She asked in concern when he remained, staring at her.
"No, not at all. I was just thinking…something…but it's ridiculous." And it was utter nonsense, the way he'd been expecting her to kiss him, tell him she'd missed him. Foolish to be so lost in such harlequin thoughts about a friend. Stupid and crazy, when his girlfriend would be walking into a surprise party that wouldn't be ready without him. "I'll hurry."
"You'd better; Akizuki-san called five minutes ago saying that Mizuki-sensei had left the school."
"Right. I'll be ready." He jogged up the stairs, shaking all those silly daydreams out of his mind as he went. Really! He had been naming the children! What in the world was he coming to? He shut the door to the master bedroom, blocking out Daidouji-san and Li-kun's discussion about the ice cream, Sakura-san's laughter, and hummed to himself a lovely old tune as he pulled out his suit.