GoodGurl: Hi, sorry for making u guys wait! ^^; I decided to put off writing for a while, because I needed to take a break anyway. So, the last we heard of our dear Eriol and Tomoyo, was that they were reunited! Yeay! But don't celebrate yet, because they were separated...AGAIN! Eriol, along with Kaho are off to Kaho's apartment, knowing that Kei/Jiro would be der. And another surprising revalation is... Kei actually was willing for his Uncle to take over his body, because he would kill off his wife if he didn't. Eep! x_x Tomoyo is back at his mansion, waiting for his return and a little worried...So, what's next for our lovebirds? Read and find out! ^^ Oh yeah! Two or three chapters left! Almost done! ^^;



Chapter 8 -The World and Nothing Else



It was too dark.

Too quiet.

They walked down the hallway, glancing once and a while from right to left, getting ready for an ambush of some kind. Kaho led the way. Though it was just an apartment, the long hallway was spacey and seemed comfortable, but Eriol didn't feel comfortable at this moment. There was an aura of eerie silence in the air. Jiro could just be waiting around the corner.

Suddenly, they heard muffled sounds in the corner. Eriol and Kaho got their magic ready. The brown haired woman glanced over her shoulder at the taller man and when he confirmed that he was ready, Kaho swiftly turned around the corner, aiming her magic bell right towards another door.

Eriol stepped in behind her. "What's in there?" he whispered. He heard more muffled voices in there... very familiar voices.

"It's the guest room." She stepped forward, cautiously placing a hand on the knob and twisted it as slowly as she could. Eriol, close beside her, stepped in at the same time as the woman. The moment the door opened in front of them, the two twisted their bodies towards the direction where an attacker might ambush them from, but found nothing but a bed. Eriol looked up towards the direction and found two sets of feet behind the bed. He recognized the pink shoes of Sakura Kinomoto and the black boots of Syaoran Li.

"It's Sakura and Syaoran!" Eriol yelled. He ran forward, despite Kaho's warnings and approached his two friends quickly. He was relieved to find them unharmed. They were both tied side by side by a thick brown rope around each other's waist. At the sound of his footsteps, Syaoran was the first one to look up.

"Hiragizawa!" Syaoran said, shocked beyond words. His eyes widened at his sight and the brown haired boy was trying to wiggle his way out of the tight ropes.

"Eriol-kun!" Sakura spoke.

Eriol placed a finger on his lips and shook his head. "Don't speak too loud. Jiro might hear us. We have to get you out of here."

"We?" Syaoran asked, lifting up an eyebrow curiously.

Ignoring his curiosity however, Eriol quickly untied the ropes from around them, magically releasing the two from the tight bond, which Syaoran was never able to do, which of course made him angrier than usual for not being able to untie it. Syaoran stood up quickly, then helped Sakura on her feet.

"Eriol..." a voice called. Syaoran and Sakura turned their heads at the source of the voice and familiar brown haired woman. Eriol turned his head towards the woman. "Get them out of here, Eriol and I'm going to go the bedroom. I'm sure Kei will be waiting for me there."

"No, I'm not leaving without you, Kaho. It's too dangerous for you to go alone and-" He paused when Kaho lifted up a hand to shut him up.

"Eriol, I am asking you this as a friend. If Jiro knows you are here and I know that he does, you need all the magic you can get to defend yourself from him. Sakura may be strong, but she still needs to learn many more from her cards and her and Syaoran are no match for Jiro's powers." Kaho nodded her head towards the window behind them. Eriol, Sakura and Syaoran turned their heads to that direction. "You can get out of that window. I can sense no magic from there."

Eriol nodded, agreeing. Indeed, he could sense no magic forcing them away from that window. "Probably, Jiro has not thought of keeping this one closed."

"Then, you must flee from here. I'll take care of Jiro myself." She turned and started to leave, but Sakura's pleading voice stopped her by the doorway. "Mizuki-sensei!" Kaho turned around and stared back at her.

"Mizuki-sensei! You mustn't do this alone! I can help you! I-" Sakura stopped in mid-sentence, when Syaoran's hand shut up.

Kaho nodded at the shorter boy and smiled. "Thank you Syaoran." She glanced at her former student. "Sakura, there are just many things you have to understand. I may not be able to save Kei from Jiro, but I know at least that many of you will be coming home safely..." She turned her head towards Eriol. "I know you must be eager to return to Tomoyo, Eriol, that is why I am letting you go with Sakura and Syaoran. This is what fate has decided on me and I must go..." She stared hard into Eriol's eyes, telling him something, until he heard her voice inside his head.

I already know this is my fate, Eriol... Even if I die, at least I will die with my husband in my arms.

Without another glance, she turned once again and walked out of the room.

Sakura looked at Eriol. "Aren't you going to stop her, Eriol-kun?"

Eriol hesitated. He wanted to help her- wanted to stop fate of her impending doom. Kaho must have known already that she was going to die. She knew that all along that something like this was going to happen. The dark haired man took a step towards the door, wanting to stop her...but he stopped. "No, Sakura. We have to get out of here. We do as Kaho says."

"What?" The dark haired man could hear the surprise in Sakura's voice.

"So, you're just going to let her die? What kind of Magician are you? I thought that you can defeat, Jiro? This is your fight too, Eriol-kun!"

Eriol looked at Sakura and frowned. It was HIS fight, but Kaho... Kaho decided this on her own. Even if he tries to stop her, Kaho will continue her quest... her quest to die so she can be with her husband. She knew that Kei will never be able to come back to her as normal as before...ever again. "She made this choice, Sakura. I can't stop her anymore." He turned his attention towards his cute ancestor and nodded. "Syaoran, Kerberos is still locked up inside that bathroom. Would you quickly get him for me?" Eriol went to the window and carefully unlocked it, then turned to Sakura. "I want you to get out now while we still can."

Sakura hesitated for a moment, then took one quick glance towards Syaoran, who was stepping inside the bathroom. He came out a moment later, rather red faced, with Keroberos' sharp teeth gnawing at the boy's right hand. "Keroberos!" Sakura spoke, ignoring the thought that her boyfriend was being eaten.

Keroberos let go of the boy's hand and ran to Sakura's side. "Sakura-sama!" The magical creature yelled, in his true form.

Sakura smiled.

"Keroberos, you must flee. Take Sakura with you and go through this window first," Eriol commanded.

The lion-like creature turned his head at Sakura, curiously. The brown haired girl smiled and nodded, her eyes twinkling in trust. Keroberos nodded as well and spread his wings farther as Sakura jumped on his large back. She wrapped his arms around his neck, then got ready for Keroberos to start flying. The creature flapped his wings a couple of time, before jumping on the window sill. Keroberos dove head first through the opened window and towards the ground, gliding safely back to the soft earth. Eriol glanced at Syaoran. "All right, you're next."

Syaoran eyed him suspiciously, then, to Eriol's surprise, lifted up a hand towards him. He blushed when he noticed the older boy's reaction to his gesture. The brown haired boy quickly turned away, embarrassed. "This is just a way of saying, thank you..."

"For what?" Eriol asked, curiously.

"Just shake it, all right, Hiragizawa?" Syaoran spoke, getting impatient.

Without asking anymore, the taller teen shook the shorter boy's hand and watched as Syaoran jumped out of the window, landing safely on a whirlwind that Sakura cast to break his fall. Eriol quickly glanced behind him, back towards the door where Kaho left. Despite her protests, he DID want to help her. He couldn't let her fight alone.

"Hey, Hiragizawa! What the hell are you doing standing there? Let's go!"

Eriol looked down below at the three companions and nodded, taking another glance at the door. He took a deep breath, telling himself that no matter what he did to try to save her, Kaho knew too long already that she would eventually die and jumped out the window.

Fate had its crazy inventions.

He was falling now... towards the dark earth.

Eriol quickly cast wind beneath him and allowed it to whirl around. It then twirled around him and he floated back down on earth. His feet could feel the soft ground beneath him. The dark haired teen nodded his head at the three and they ran towards the direction of the forest... back to the mansion where Tomoyo was waiting for them.



*************************



"Ah, I see you're here." He smirked and turned his whole body around from the table and was his smirk widened even more when a familiar woman approached him. "If it isn't my dear wife..."

"I didn't come here for you, Jiro. I came here for my husband," Kaho replied, grasping her large bell around her palms.

Jiro frowned, shaking his head. His eyes held that type of malice of an evil man who seemed to have been born evil in the first place. Kaho knew, even Eriol that this man was the reason their lives were turned upside down. He was also the actual descendant of Clow Reed, the heir to his throne up in the heavens. He was powerful, but not in a rich and pure way. He was powerful in his own evil scheme.

The dark magic.

From the evil witch that consumed his soul.

Yet, this was not the witch she was looking at. The witch was long gone. Jiro was completely taken over the evil spirit that resided in him for these long years. Because of his greed for power and for the jealousy and hatred he held for Eriol, Jiro was no longer the kind man she knew him to be. And now...

Now, he had taken over her husband's soul.

His nephew.

"I'm afraid he's busy at the moment," Jiro spoke, after a long silence. Kaho shook away her reverie and frowned, taking a risk of stepping closer towards her arch nemesis.

"Kei... I know you're in there. Please come out, Kei. I need to talk to you."

Jiro frowned, then...

Kaho saw it. His face change from a malicious man...

To a soft expression.

"Kaho? What are you doing here?" Kaho's eyes suddenly turned to tears when she heard his REAL voice after days of not seeing him. Her husband was removing himself from the top of the table and was walking towards her, with that soft look in his eyes. His eyes gleamed in happiness when he saw her. "Kaho... what are you doing here?" he repeated.



Kaho smiled, tears falling now. "I came here to bring you home with me, Kei." She held out a hand towards him. "Why don't you come home with me."

"But... we ARE home," Kei replied.

The woman shook her head. "No, we're not home. Our real home is back in Japan, Kei. Did you forget that? We only came here for a little vacation over the summer. Please come home with me."

"NO!" Kei suddenly yelled. His eyes turned into slits. Without giving Kaho a chance to get away, the tall man rushed towards the unsuspecting woman and grasped his large hand around her neck, pushing her against the wall. "I know what you're trying to do, Kaho! You better stop that now, or I will snap your neck like a twig!"

Kaho coughed, feeling her hands weakening around her magic bell. It fell on the floor with a loud 'thud!' Ignoring that, she wrapped her hands around his single, large hand and attempted to twist it away from her neck, but to no avail. "You wouldn't hurt your own wife, would you Kei?"

"Shut up!" Jiro hissed. And in Kei's voice, the face said, "Of course I wouldn't hurt my own wife."

"Are you *cough* going to *cough* let him do that to you, Kei? Let him *cough* kill your wife with your unborn *cough cough* inside her?" Kaho stared back into the man's blank eyes. He noticed them change again.

Her husband began shaking his head and to Kaho's relief, he backed away, letting go of the woman's neck. "No... I won't let you do this to her! Stop, Uncle!" Kei began slapping his head as if in a mahor headache and continued to back up. "I thought we had a deal?"

Kaho watched, coughing and rubbed her neck gently with her small fingers. She looked up, getting her color and her breathing back from the assault.

"It's no deal if your own wife would betray you like this, Kei!" Jiro growled, taking a step towards his nephew.

"No, stop it! My own wife would never betray me!" Kei yelped, backing away from his Uncle's voice.

"She would trade your own happiness for the happiness of others! Is that what you want from your wife?" Jiro began pushing him with lies.

Kaho gritted her teeth. "He's lying to you, Kei! Of course your happiness means more to me than anything else."

"She's lying to you too, Kei!" Jiro continued. "Why else would she let Eriol and the others go without any of their help? She would rather die and not be with you, than be with you and live!"

"You can fight this, Kei! I know you can! Why else would I be here? I'm here to save you!" Kaho declared, clenching her fists at her sides as she watched the intense fight of the two voices in Kei's body. "I'm here to save you, so I can be with you!"

Kei shook his head violently. "It's impossible! You can't! You'll die!"

"So what? Even if I do, I'm taking you with me, Kei so we can be together for eternity!"

"SHUT UP!" Jiro roared. He jerked a single arm towards Kaho and shot up a fire. The woman dodged it quickly and the magic began to burn through the curtains behind her. No one cared however, because Jiro was too busy trying to get rid of the annoying woman standing there and Kaho was too busy trying to dodge his attacks. She quickly grabbed her bell and began shaking it to release her powers, but Jiro stopped her from doing so. Kaho yelped, feeling the sting of Jiro's fire in the back of her hands.

The fire grew bigger around the curtains, halfway burning it through, yet none of them cared.

"Why don't you hold still so I can kill you as painfully as possible!" He lifted up his arms in the air and fire began burning around his finger tips. He smirked, then fired it towards Kaho. This time, after many struggles, the fire burned through Kaho's left elbow. The woman yelped in pain, grabbing at her burnt arm with her free hand and backed away towards the wall. "There... much better!" Jiro made his way slowly towards her.

"Stop it, Uncle!" The body paused right in front of her, then changed back into it's original voice host. Kei reached down and held out his hand towards her to take. "Kaho, I'm sorry."

Kaho took his hand and stood up slowly. She felt her husband wrap his arms around her. "I've been selfish," he whispered in her ear. "All this time, I haven't tried to fight against my Uncle, because he threatened to kill you! You mean the world to me!"

The woman closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of her husband's arms around her. She leaned closer and savored in the smell of his beauty. "But what about the world? Don't you care about the people?"

The fire continued to burn and was now making its way through the walls.

"I would rather have you alive, than live here in this planet without you," Kei replied.

Kaho closed her eyes. She knew now. She knew the truth. She understood now why Kei was easily taken over by his Uncle. It wasn't the blood that resided in him. It was his own choice to have Jiro take his life away just for her sake.

So that she could live.

He would sacrifice everything... Even the whole world to be with her.

Did she really want to be with him now?

"Yes," she whispered, answering her own question. "But..." From behind her, Kaho produced a small, thin blade that she found from her own dresser drawer in the next room. It was the same blade she used to defend herself... the same blade that Eriol gave to her.

The roof was falling now. The fire had consumed half of the room.

Kaho closed her eyes as tears continued to flow down her lovely cheeks. "Kei... Please forgive me." Without hesitation, she thrust the blade through his heart. Kei gasped in surprise and attempted to back away to stare at the wound, but Kaho would not let him go. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and cried harder, burying her face in his chest. "I love you, Kei. I will always love you, no matter where we are..." She embraced him tighter, feeling Kei's blood soaking through her clothes.

Kei's eyes began to water. His eyes were now a color of shock and surprise. But he understood now. He understood why she had to do it.

It was for both of them.

For both their happiness.

And for everyone else's.

The tall man wrapped a weak arm around his wife and returned the embrace, then leaned slightly to kiss her on the forehead. With his last few breaths, Kei whispered, "I love you too," in her ear, before closing his eyes to meet death.

Kaho smiled, knowing that somewhere, Eriol and Tomoyo were in each other's embrace, just like them, though not as tragic as theirs. The world...it will be saved, she thought. "Thank you, Eriol," she whispered, before falling unconscious from the smoke that filled her lungs.

Everything else now...

Was blank.



************************



"Tomoyo?" The dark haired girl stirred, smiling at the sound of Eriol's voice calling out to her in her dream.

"Eriol..." she mumbled. She saw herself in the field of flowers and ahead of her, she noticed him standing there, with his arms wide open. Tomoyo ran to him... to his arms and before she could embrace him, something black hovered above them and a very unpleasant looking face appeared behind Eriol. Tomoyo opened her mouth to call out to him, to warn him that Jiro was there, ready to kill him! But it was too late, Jiro had taken advantage of that and stabbed a dagger into his heart. Eriol's eyes widened in surprise and he fell on his knees in disbelief. "ERIOL!" she screamed, running towards him.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol yelled back, but not in the dream anymore. Tomoyo suddenly found herself covered in darkness. She looked around frantically for him, but he was nowhere to be found. "Tomoyo," a voice spoke. Tomoyo recognized Eriol's voice.

"Eriol! Where are you?"

"Tomoyo!"



"Eriol?"

"Tomoyo!"

Tomoyo gasped when a sudden blinding light flashed in front of her. She blocked her eyes with her arms and looked ahead. Eriol was there again, his back towards her, but he wasn't alone. Jiro was standing there in Kei's body, smirking and laughing. "You can't do anything anymore, Eriol! You're going to die!"

"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" Tomoyo yelled.

"Tomoyo! Please! Wake up!"

The black haired girl opened her eyes. She was back where she was. Back to the living room where she was resting. She blinked a couple of times, adjusting her eyes to the darkness around her and looked up. She gasped when she noticed who was sitting there beside her. "Eriol? ERIOL!" Tomoyo sat up quickly and wrapped her arms around his neck. Tears flowed down her eyes in happiness. Was she dreaming? Was he really here? Alive? "I... I dreamt that you died Eriol... I thought you..." She bit her lip, trying to bite back her cries.

Eriol closed his eyes and returned her embrace. He rubbed her back gently and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "Sssshhh, it's okay now, Tomoyo. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere," he whispered.

Tomoyo leaned back to stare into his eyes. She put a hand on his face to see whether he was real and she smiled when she noticed that indeed he was! With that realization, she embraced him again with so much happiness in her heart. Then she remembered. She pulled back again and looked at him curiously. "Where is Sakura, Syaoran and Keroberos?"

The dark haired male smiled and moved over to the side so she could see from behind him. Standing by the kitchen doorway, was Sakura and Syaoran. Keroberos was nowhere to be seen, probably arguing with Spinel about the cake he consumed yesterday. "Hi, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura greeted.

Tomoyo stood up, with Eriol's help and approached her two best friends slowly. She wrapped her arms around the two of them and smiled. "I'm glad you're both okay!"

Sakura smiled, returning her embrace, while Syaoran stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. No other girl hugged him, other than Sakura. Then again, Tomoyo was at least an exception. "Of course we're okay!"

A few seconds later, after a moment of silence, they broke from their embrace. As if on cue, Yue, Nakuru stepped through the kitchen to join the others in the living room. Jason was not far behind and the only thing that Tomoyo was worried about was the reaction the two of her favorite men towards each other. Her thoughts suddenly jumped towards Kaho... who was the only person missing. She thought Eriol went with her? Tomoyo glanced at Eriol and furrowed her eyebrows suspiciously. "Where is Mizuki-san, Eriol?"

Eriol, Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other. Tomoyo waited patiently, until one of the three, which was Sakura answered. "She's... she's with Kei now."

"But what about Jiro? You defeated him, didn't you, Eriol?"

Eriol nodded, glad that he could tell somethin truthful to his beloved for once. "Yeah, he's gone now, so there's nothing for you to worry about." He looked up when Jason suddenly appeared by Tomoyo's side. Smiling, he held out a gentle hand towards the other man. "I'm sorry, we haven't really been properly introduced. My name is Eriol Hiragizawa."

Jason shook his hand, nodding. "Yes, I know." He glanced at Tomoyo. "Tomoyo has told me a lot about you. My name is Jason Dunstan."

Eriol nodded as well, taking the greeting and glanced back at Tomoyo. "Do you want him to keep his memories, Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo's eyes suddenly went wide, confused. "What?"

The tall teen glanced at Jason and frowned. "I'm afraid we can't allow an outsider to know everything about this. It can be your choice, sir or Tomoyo's since you've been close to her."

Jason and Tomoyo blushed a beet red. So, Eriol knew all along, he thought. Of course he knew! He was a Magician after all. The older man nodded. "I understand."

"You don't have to do this, Jason if you don't want to," Tomoyo spoke.

Jason smiled at the pretty Japanese girl and shook his head. "Well, I don't really want to, but this whole thing is giving me a headache." He looked at Eriol. "Will this hurt me?"

"For a while it will, but it will disappear in mere seconds," Eriol replied.

"All right, go ahead."

Eriol glanced at Tomoyo, who was getting worried for this older man now, but he wasn't jealous at all. He knew that Tomoyo and this man... were just friends. "One thing though, Jason. This type of magic, Memory Erase has not been done on a non magic person before. It could just erase everything from the time you met Tomoyo."

Jason frowned, glancing at Tomoyo. His eyes kept on her for a few minutes, making the girl nervous, but he just turned back towards the taller and younger teen and nodded. "Well, I'm just glad I got to meet your wonderful girl, Eriol. At least you wouldn't have me to bother you anymore."

The tall teen blinked in surprise.

The older man laughed. "I think it is better off." He looked back at Tomoyo. "I know that someone out there will be waiting for me to love!" Jason then jerked his head back at Eriol, now in a serious expression. "I will have an oath though... if you by any way hurt Tomoyo, I will personally hunt you down!"

A large drop of sweat fell at the back of Eriol's head nervously. "Of course," he replied.

"Well, then... go ahead, Hiragizawa. Erase my memories now." Jason sat down on one of the dining room chairs and faced the taller man.

Eriol nodded. He approached him and placed a hand on his head, then closed his eyes. "Jason Dunstan, with my powers I shall erase everything you saw about magic. You will continue living with your life and you will now move on, without the knowledge of everything you witnessed yesterday."

Light flashed in Tomoyo's eyes, which surrounded both men in the dining room. The next thing she knew was that she was standing there, with Eriol backing away from the older man and Jason standing up. His eyes were now totally blank, then it started to blink. Jason looked around nervously. "Wh-where am I?" Nakuru and Yue changed into their false forms and watched Jason eyeing the young man standing in front of him. "Who are you?"

"You must have gone to the wrong party, sir," Eriol replied in his nice, sunny voice.

"Oh... is that what happened? Hm... well, I better go now." He turned towards the door, but stopped when he noticed Tomoyo standing there. A wave of familiarity formed in Jason's eyes. "Do I...know you?"

Tomoyo shook her head. "I don't think so. I haven't met you before."

Jason nodded. "Oh... I see. Sorry for the intrusion then. I'll go now. Ciao!" With that said, he turned and left. Tomoyo somewhat felt relieved that he wouldn't remember anything, but part of her felt sad to leave behind her first best friend ever since she came to England.

"Tomoyo?"

The dark haired girl looked up and noticed Eriol standing there. "Eriol..." she replied, approaching him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head against his chest. "Is it over now?"

Eriol nodded, wrapping his own arms around her small body, closing his eyes. "Yes. It's all over now. No one will be able to open the Black Book anymore. Sakura, Syaoran, Keroberos, Spinel-sun, Nakuru, Yue and I have put a very powerful field around it so no one will be able to take it from this mansion."

Tomoyo smiled at that thought and sighed.

She was happy.

Everyone was happy.

And it was all over now.



GoodGurl: Stay tuned for the next chapter: Victoria Converse makes another appearance at Eriol's mansion and it's not looking too pretty when she brings a....warrant? What's this? x_x