DISCLAIMER:  I do not own CCS or any of its characters.  CLAMP does.  This plot is a product of my imagination.  Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.

AMETHYST EYES

By bishounen lovah

Chapter 7

No!  It can't be!

But somehow it made sense.  It was why she had those dreams.  Why she was inexplicably afraid of the dark and enclosed spaces.

My seventh.  You will bring me my first.

It was what the shadow man had said to Keiko Mori in her dream.  Seven abducted girls…

And she had been the first.

Keiko.

Ayame.

Such beautiful eyes.  But they're not the same.

Umi.

Hikaru.

I want my amethyst eyes.

Feye.

Megumi.

Give me back my amethyst eyes.

"Tomoyo-chan."

Yes.  She had been the first.  How…why…she doesn't know.  But she can feel it…the man's touch.  She could hear his voice with such clarity that he could as well be standing right next to her.

"Tomoyo-chan!"

Don't touch me.  Her skin crawled at the flashing memory of him touching her cheeks, fingers brushing her hair, and his eyes staring deeply into hers.  She could feel his hands sliding up her arms and grasping her shoulders.

"Get away from me!"

Her sudden movement caused her chair to tip over.  She would have fallen had it not been for the arms that encircled her body.  She struggled to get free but they wouldn't let go.  After a while, something else penetrated her reeling senses.  It was that deep smell she had become familiarized to.  The smell that was uniquely Eriol.

"It's okay, Tomoyo-chan.  It's me.  I'm here."

"Eriol-kun." Instantly her hands clutched his shirt and she lifted her head to his.  Amethysts met sapphires, both pairs shining with deep emotions that are difficult to fathom.  The only ones evident are the fear in the former and the worry in the latter.

"Here, sip this." A glass of amber liquid was brought to her lips.  The deep taste of brandy invaded her taste buds and scorched her throat, causing a fit of coughs.  But the liquor did manage to give her some warmth aside from the body heat radiating from Eriol.  The next thing she knew she was back on her chair but this time cradled in his arms and sitting on his lap.

She may have thought their position a bit disconcerting but made no move to protest.  She was struck by the feeling of rightness and belongingness of having her cheek feel the mesmerizing rhythm of his heart.  Of his hands rubbing her back and squeezing her hands.  She found comfort and security in them as though after so many years of traveling alone, she had finally found the place where she was meant to be.

"Daijoubu desu ka?"

She nodded her head in response.  Sounds of movements reminded her that they were not alone.  Much as she wanted to stay in Eriol's protective circle, there were too many questions that were needed to be asked to ease her confusion.

She vaguely remembers the fear.  The memories were incomplete to the point of being nil.  It feels as though they were not part of her and she was just watching them like some dark movie.  What had happened?  Why can't she remember?  Why did they keep it from her?

So many questions...but all she could utter was a tiny "why?"

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt."  All three jumped as another voice came from the door.

"Okaasan."

Tomoyo stared at Sonomi Daidouji with a slightly open mouth.  Her mother looked exactly the same when she last saw her except that worry lines and a frown marred her regal features.  Behind her a couple of bodyguards dressed in black closed the door and stood to block the inside from curious eyes.

"Tomoyo, dear."

Tomoyo stood to acknowledge her mother but didn't let go of Eriol's hand.  She did not return Sonomi's hug and kiss.  It was hard to act warm when you're confused and feeling somewhat betrayed.  Her mother knew something and yet said nothing.

Chief Hanagata produced another chair for Sonomi and afterwards perched on the edge of his desk.  Eriol pulled two chairs together and sat beside Tomoyo, never once leaving his suspicious gaze at the two older people.

"I suppose now you'll tell us the truth," he said with a calm voice although inside he was raging because of the deceit the two had obviously pulled on Tomoyo.  He watched Hanagata give the Daidouji matriarch a nod then she shot him a reluctant look.  Even now, she still wanted to uphold the lie.

"To begin with, how did you know we were here, Daidouji-san?"

Tomoyo was content in letting Eriol handle everything.  Right now he was the only person she trusts.  It seemed as though her mother turned into a stranger.  She watched in surprise as she took out a pack of expensive cigarettes.  She never knew her mother smoked.  But then she never expected that her mother would keep secrets from her either.

Secrets that were meant to be her memories.

"Tomoyo's bodyguard informed me," Sonomi let out a cloud of bluish smoke.

"Bodyguard?"  This was another surprise to Tomoyo.

"Yes.  Surely you didn't think I would let you live alone in a crowded city without protection?  She lives in the apartment above yours.  She followed you in your cross-country expedition then called me last night to inform me that you were back in Tomoeda.  To be truthful, I do not approve of this little stunt you're pulling."

"Stunt?!" came out her indignant reply.  Eriol must have felt her anger that was building up inside her because he gave her hand a squeeze of warning.  She leant back on her seat, deciding to shut up and ignore her mother as best as she could.

Eriol shot Sonomi a hard look.  The woman was rarely intimidated but there was something feral in that look that says he would protect Tomoyo even if it is from her very own mother.  She crushed her cigarette on the ashtray even though she just smoked half of it as though it displeased her and lit a new one.

"Tomoyo was seven then.  We were playing in the Penguin Park when I was called for an emergency meeting.  I left her there with her nursemaid to play until sunset.  When I came back to collect them, that idiot of a nanny lost Tomoyo while playing hide and seek.

We searched everywhere.  When we couldn't find her after an hour, I asked Hanagata-san's help.  He and a selected few cops made a hush-hush investigation.  I could not compromise my daughter's safety by involving the media."

"There were no clues," Chief Hanagata continued the explanation.  "No sign of struggle anywhere in the vicinity.  No witnesses.  No ransom notes.  It was like she vanished into thin air.  Three days later she was found in the outskirts of Tomoeda by a hiker, conscious but in shock."

"Days after that I brought her to a psychiatrist.  She refused to eat, sleep or talk.  She cringed back whenever anyone would come close.  All she ever did was stay in one corner of her room and cover her eyes."  Sonomi said.

"The psychiatrist couldn't break through her shock.  Months later, all we found out came from her dreams.  She kept on having nightmares about a man.  A man who wanted to steal her eyes."

Amethyst eyes.  I want my amethyst eyes.

Tomoyo felt her face pale anew.  The man's voice was becoming more persistent in her head.  Sonomi paused for a while to shoot a worried look at her.  "I'm fine.  Go on."

"There's nothing much to tell.  When it seemed that you wouldn't recover from the ordeal, I thought it best to have you hypnotized."

"You had her memory erased?"  Eriol almost yelled indignantly.

"Not erased, Hiiragizawa-san.  No one could deliberately erase a memory.  The psychiatrist suppressed it deep in her mind.  And it worked.  After that my daughter lived a normal life."

"Normal life?  I very much doubt if Tomoyo-chan led such.  The nightmares did not stop.  In fact, the hypnotism caused them to magnify tenfold.  I can't believe..." Eriol was not able to finish his tirade because the woman beside him suddenly spoke up.

"You knew."

Eriol, Sonomi and Hanagata could only stare at her shaking figure.  When she lifted her head, they all bit back at the magnificence of her eyes—all bright and shiny from sorrow and pain.

"When I came to you about my dreams, you knew what they were about.  You knew and yet you didn't tell me the truth," she cried out angrily at her mother.

"You were young, Tomoyo.  You would never have understood..."

"How do you know that?  All these time I though you did not believe me but instead you were hiding the truth.  Why, 'kaasan, why?"

"I told you.  I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Didn't want me to get hurt or didn't want your reputation to get hurt?"

Sonomi took in a deep breath after that blow.  "That's not fair, Tomoyo."

"Then what is fair?  Did you think it was fair that I had those dreams as a result to what you did to me?  Is it fair that you shrugged me off when I came to you?  Is it fair that I had to go through all the humiliation and pain alone?"

"I just wanted to protect you."

"But I wasn't the only one who needed to be protected!!!"  Her outburst caused her companions to flinch.  "Those other girls needed the protection just as much as I did, maybe even more.  Don't you understand, 'kaasan?  I could have helped them.  I could have stopped that mad man from hurting anyone else.  If only you had let me..."

"You were in shock.  And he was hurting you.  Just the memory of him was killing you."

"Maybe.  But I would rather have died than live with all of this guilt.  Five children are dead because of me and another one is about to die."

Tomoyo jumped up and strode to the door.  Eriol followed behind her, managing to swipe the case file from the desk.  Sonomi tried to follow them but Hanagata decided it best to leave them be.  He dropped a warning hand on Sonomi's shoulder then went to his cabinet to pour some more brandy.

~Later~

Neither of them spoke throughout the car ride to the motel.  It was evident from Tomoyo's face that a lot were going through her mind.  By the time they went in their room, Eriol was really worried.

"Tomoyo-chan..."

"I'm fine.  I…I'm just tired.  I'd like to rest even for just an hour."

"Aa."

She laid down on the bed and curled up into a fetal position.  Eriol removed her shoes and covered her with a blanket.  He then went to the window to close the blinds.  Turning on the lamp at the far side of the room, he proceeded to review her file.

She was vaguely aware of her surroundings.  Much as she wanted to say 'thank you' to Eriol, she couldn't.  She was tired.  Too tired.  Even now she could feel the deep slumber taking its toll on her weary senses.

~Dream Sequence~

She was back on the swing in Penguin Park.  Still nothing could be heard.  She stared at her feet hanging above the ground.  Surrounding them was the shadow of her body enlarged by the light cast by the full moon behind her.

And then the flickering light came, dancing beyond the massive trees in the woods.  She stood and followed it, stopping at the same clearing from her previous dream.  The man was there, his arms outstretched, welcoming her.  His voice could be heard, whispering above the soft wind...beckoning her.

Tomoyo...

My Tomoyo...

Come back to me...

I'll be waiting...

To be continued...

BISHLOV: If you still don't get it try to re-read the Tomoyo chapters.  The clues are embedded in her dreams/visions.  Please review and tell me what you think.  Did this chapter suck?

BISHLOV AGAIN: *in awful singing voice* And now...the end is near...