Standard disclaimers apply. Or see Chapter 1.

We never knew writing good fanfic would take so much effort! And writers' block! So, again thanks for the nice reviews.

Tomoyo's birthday coming up. Standard S+S, Ch+Y, (SD+FK?!?), Touya+Mirror+Nakuru all rolled into one plus a waffy E+T moment! What more could you ask for? Kawaii! SibylSofiana

Across the Miles Chapter 3 Tomoyo's Birthday

M ___________

You are cordially invited to an informal dinner-dance party to be held at the Hotel Suisse on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2XXX, 7:00 pm in honor of my birthday. Your presence will be most appreciated!
Daidouji Tomoyo

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"Chiharu-chan, watashi - mmmmbzzzzzz." What it was exactly the chinky- eyed, dark-haired youth said to his best friend was lost in the translation, as her mind was elsewhere. But she gave him her standard reply anyway.

"This is not the time for your lies, Yamazaki-kun." Chiharu ignored him completely as she was preoccupied with reading the dinner-dance invitation for Tomoyo's birthday.

Yamazaki Takashi gamely cleared his throat and tried again. "But I'm not lying this time, Chiharu-chan..."

"Yes, yes, like the time you told Sakura-chan about the alien bugs, and Li- kun about the chocolate wheatfield somewhere in mainland China..."

He sighed. "Never mind." He looked at the invitation. "You know, in the old days, Chinese emperors used to send out invitations using long flattened rice paper that was so long that the scribes would take turns writing and ..."

"Whatever you say, Yamazaki."

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Hongkong

Dear Tomoyo,

Yaay! Thanks for your invitation. I really wanna go. I'm not sure about Syaoran-kun though. The Clan has been strict about his training with Touya- san lately. I'll try to convince Auntie about it. I do need a chaperon to go there after all.

Meiling

Dear Tomoyo,

Thank you for the invitation. We've been busy here lately and I honestly need the break. Besides, there is no way I'm going to miss your birthday. I also need to see how the Kaijuu is doing without me. Yukito sends his thanks. He hasn't eaten Japanese food for a while and is quite looking forward to it.

Sincerely, Cousin Touya

P.S. Don't know why you have to invite the Brat, but never mind. Unfortunately, since he'll be lacking a challenging opponent in my absence, he'll most likely come with us.

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September 3

Sonomi Daidouji tapped on the door.

"Tomoyo darling, your friends are already here. Sakura-chan is sooo kawaii!!"

Muffled noises could be heard from the room before the door opened to reveal a breathtakingly beautiful girl, her lovely dark hair loose on her shoulders but secured by a jeweled clip. Tomoyo was draped in a simple yet elegant pale purple chiffon dress which she made herself. Her full skirts billowed as she came towards her mother.

"Really? Where's my videocamera?" Tomoyo gushed.

"Now, now darling. You won't be shooting videos today," Sonomi said gently but firmly. "Don't worry about it. I have the bodyguards equipped with videocams. I'll personally tape Sakura-chan myself." Sonomi persuasively added.

"Oh alright. Just this once, though," sighed Tomoyo as she walked towards the ballroom.

"Tomoyo, darling?"

"Hai, okaasan?" Tomoyo once again turned around to face her mother.

"You look beautiful." Sonomi said with tears in her eyes.

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"Demo, Sakura-sama..."

"You're going, Mirror-san! No buts! We'll be having fun. I can't wait to see Syaoran! And Oniichan's gonna be surprised to see you! Let me see, we have to bring Song, Glow and Flower Card along too..."

No amount of pleading could sway the Card Mistress, so there she was, Mirror, standing self-consciously to one side of the ballroom. She was wearing a dress she had copied from a magazine Sakura had showed her, and it was nice and flowing, and it suited her perfectly. She craned her neck to look for the Mistress, wishing she could just join Keroberos-san and Spinel-san in the kitchens instead.

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"Hello."

Mirror glances up, then blushes as she sees who it is.

"Your hair looks so pretty." Touya smiles at her. Mirror self-consciously touches the hair ribbons he gave her a long time ago. "You look pretty, Mirror-san..."

"Arigatou, Onii-sama," she manages to say in a small voice.

"Would you like to dance?" Mirror lifts her head, surprised, then answers shyly.

"Hai." And her eyes sparkle as he leads her to the dance floor.

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"Touya-kun!" The bearer of the name inwardly cursed as he heard the gratingly familiar voice. Before he felt himself being strangled.

"Are you sure you were invited, Akizuki?", he managed to choke out.

"Muuo, you're so mean, Touya-kun. Tomoyo-chan invited all of us of course. And it's Na-ku-ru."

"So where's Kaho? And that Hiiragizawa? I still have a score to settle with that reincarnation..." Touya cracks his knuckles meaningfully. (Meanwhile, Nakuru still hangs by his neck.)

"Eriol-san let Suppi-chan and me go on an earlier flight because he was still waiting for Mizuki-san to finish her conference. But they should be here soon...Wait!" She suddenly notices the girl beside Touya and eyes her suspiciously.

"Who are you and why are you with TOUYA-kun?!?" Nakuru demanded, her voice rising several octaves higher. Touya could only smack his forehead and lower his head in aggravation.

"Anou...Ruby Moon-san..." Mirror glances at Touya then back at Nakuru.

"MIRROR-san? Is that you? KAWAII!!" Nakuru then glomps poor Mirror.

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Sonomi looked at the scene through the videocam in satisfaction. The party was perfect. They had gotten through dinner successfully, although there had been this gray-haired guy with glasses who was eating the food off the table. She remembered him as her nephew's best friend - although she wasn't dense, she could see something going on between him and Touya. And then there had been this commotion in the kitchens, something about Sakura- chan's golden-haired plushie in a fruit tart, and a black cat that appeared drunk. Other than that, the party was perfect.

And now the dance was starting. She immediately zoomed in on Sakura-chan, who was dancing with the nice Chinese boy Sonomi had met some years ago when Tomoyo got sick and temporarily lost her voice. (Sakura suddenly sees the camera and sweat-drops. Hoeeeee!)

Then there were Tomoyo's other school friends, a girl with glasses talking animatedly to other guests about ghosts in old hotels, while a gentle- looking girl was sipping her fruit juice and chatting with another girl in a red cheongsam. Another girl was dancing with a chinky-eyed boy, beside Tomoyo and Tsukishiro-kun.

The lighting, the flowers, and the music were just perfect. Sakura had asked to help, and Sonomi wondered how her niece could have come up with just the right mix.

She was scanning around the room with the V8, frequently zooming in on a hapless Sakura and then Tomoyo, before she caught sight of Kinomoto-sensei smiling and talking to the air beside him. She knew something was not right about Kinomoto, but surely he wasn't a lunatic?!

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Nadeshiko smiled at her husband and happily snuggled as close to him as possible.

"Sonomi-chan is so good at organizing parties! This is a nice party. Oh, my Sakura-chan's so pretty, Fujitaka. And Touya-kun's grown up."

"Hai, Nadeshiko-san. They're both grown-up." Fujitaka was gazing quite fondly at his ghostly wife, that he didn't notice somebody heading for his table, until Nadeshiko pointed it out.

"Fujitaka, Sonomi's coming this way. Now, behave..." his wife admonished him.

"Who are you talking to, Kinomoto-sensei?" Sonomi looked at him suspiciously.

"Ah, nobody, Sonomi-san. Just talking to myself..."

"Invite her to dance, Fujitaka..." He looks at his wife, who looks back at him naughtily. He caught himself from rolling his eyes at her at another suspicious look from Sonomi.

"Would you like to dance, Sonomi-san?" he asked his wife's cousin politely. Sonomi, surprised, could only look at him as he gently removed the V8 from her grasp and handed it to a passing bodyguard. He almost dragged an unprotesting Sonomi to the dancefloor, to the delight of one ecstatic ghost.

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"What is this, Yamazaki-kun?" Chiharu looked suspiciously at the letter he cheerfully handed to her as they sat down on the bench in the hotel garden. The party was just starting to break up, and then Yamazaki invited her outside for some fresh air.

"Nothing dangerous, Chiharu-chan. Why don't you read it?"

-----

To my stubborn Chiharu-chan,

I seem to have trouble whenever I try to tell people the truth - they don't believe me! And I don't lie... well, not all the time. I just exaggerate - and people generally know I do, anyway (excepting Kinomoto Sakura and Li Syaoran of course). I've been trying to tell you something the whole week, but my usual charm doesn't seem to work.

So instead of saying it to you, I'm writing it down.

I. LOVE. YOU. And that's the whole truth.

Takashi

------

"Yamazaki-kun?" she says in a sweet, syrupy voice.

"Yes, Chiharu-chan?"

She throttles him.

"What took you so long?!?"

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The party ended quite late and everybody was already quite tired but happy. Sakura was a little disappointed that Eriol hadn't shown up, but Syaoran was relieved. Yukito, Touya and a giggling Nakuru went to retrieve a drunk Spinel-Sun and a snoring Keroberos before heading for the mansion to drop off Spinel and Nakuru, who surprisingly wasn't worried about Eriol ("Oh, Eriol-sama will just show up sooner or later...") Syaoran went home with Meiling to Sakura's house where they were staying for the weekend before heading back to Hongkong with Yukito and Touya. Fujitaka had invited Sonomi for a cup of coffee in the cafe inside the hotel (surprise, surprise) so Tomoyo found herself heading back to the ballroom alone just to get her small handbag before heading home.

It was then she heard the music. It was a sweet melody, lilting at some points, at other measures, grave and restrained but still pure and tender. Tomoyo tried to hum along as she came inside the ballroom.

Someone was playing the piano. She couldn't see who it was as the face of the person was obscured by a vase full of lovely magnolias - her favorite flowers. (Aside from cherry blossoms, of course). She still hummed as she came closer, then gave a gasp of surprise as she saw who it was.

"Hiiragizawa-san!"

Eriol looked up and smiled. He was dressed in a black formal jacket over a dark blue turtleneck sweater and slacks, and his fingers were running gracefully over the keys of the piano.

"Sorry I'm late, Miss Tomoyo. Happy Birthday! I wasn't able to buy you a suitable present, so I hope this music and the flowers are sufficient?"

"Oh, they're perfect, Hiiragizawa-san!" Tomoyo pulled a blossom and inhaled the perfume. "Just perfect! But..." she paused. "Where is Mizuki-sensei? Nakuru-chan told me you were coming together."

He shook his head and replied lightly, "The conference took longer than we anticipated, so she told me to go ahead instead. But it seems I also missed the party." Before she could ask anything else, he lifted a hand toward her.

"May I have this dance, Miss Tomoyo?" he asked formally.

"Certainly, Hiiragizawa-san. But there will be no more music if you stop playing," she replied. But as he stood up, the music continued playing.

"Well, I do have some magic left, Daidouji-san. Shall we?"