Finally!

First of all, I'd like to apologise to all those who have waited eagerly and in great anticipation for this third chapter, and I hope you'll like this as much as you like the previous chapters.

By the way, can I just inform you that due to my lack of knowledge on the country of England, I made up a fictional town which is located somewhere near the countryside and London, and I also made up the name "Ancient Studies" (you'll understand what I mean as you read along). I know I should have researched, but I was pressed for time and you could say I was pretty impatient about putting this up.

All in all, I think this is a fairly decent chapter (for me)…I'm not satisfied with it, but I shall put it up nevertheless, until my muse returns to me and allows me to come up with a better version of this chapter.

I hope you'll enjoy it, and so…feel free to read and review at the end of the chapter! LOL. =)

Chapter 3: Getting to know you

For a moment, Eriol wondered whether his words even affected Tomoyo, as her face remained inscrutable and registered no emotion, but after a while her eyes narrowed slightly and she leaned back in her chair.

"Want you dead? I'm not surprised," she replied, as though reading his mind. "I saw the state you were in when you came in," she said grimly.

She paused, then spoke again, still in a calm and cool voice, "Is it because of your magic?"

Eriol was silently impressed by her intelligence, but he showed none of it as he answered with an amazing amount of ease, "The attack came out of nowhere, and my attacker, eloquent as he was," at this Eriol's eyes momentarily lit up with amusement, though it escaped the eyes of the usually perceptive Tomoyo, "mentioned no reasons, but he definitely recognises my affiliation with Clow Reed."

Turning his head to stare straight into her eyes, his voice immediately became solemn and his face turned serious.

"He has magical powers, Daidouji-san. Powerful, magical powers." A slight, involuntary shudder passed through Tomoyo's body, her mind disturbed by the tone in which Eriol had uttered those words, but she shook it off. She couldn't let it affect her.

"But you managed to get away…?"

"Just barely. He underestimated my power, if only for a moment, but that was enough to create a chance for me to escape."

Tomoyo nodded reverently, absorbing the information into her mind. She felt that something was not right with the picture, and then it occurred to her.

"Don't you have two guardians? Akizuki-san and Spinel Sun? Where are they now?"

Eriol simply tapped the pendent he now wore around his neck.

"They're sealed in the wand." When he saw the alarmed look on her face he continued calmly in his deep, velvety voice, "Do not be mistaken, Daidouji-san. I did not trap them. I did it for their sake, in order to protect them. It was the only way…and they knew it."

He stopped there, and Tomoyo inwardly frowned at his non-committal answers. It was as though he was deliberately shielding certain facts from her, which was obviously the case here. However, seeing as how the young man had no intentions to elucidate his sentence, she tactfully decided not to probe further. The questioning would have to be put aside for the moment; she would press him for answers eventually, and get them she would – by hook or by crook.

"Please, Daidouji-san. Do not get involved," he suddenly urged her, having noticed the slight tightening of the small, delicate jaw; a reaction he identified as made by one who had just made a firm decision. Though annoyed that he could have been employing the use of his magic to read her mind (either that, or he was simply darned perceptive), Tomoyo was more startled by the undercurrents in his tone, in his voice; the insistence was real, the concern, genuine. Was there a slight pleading to his voice too?

Tomoyo shook her head, then raised it to smile genially at her friend. "Don't even bother, Hiiragizawa-kun. It's too late."

To Eriol's great chagrin, he knew she was right. The girl was utterly stubborn.

He leaned back into the soft pillows, letting out a sigh of resignation that was audible only to him. He would have to try again to discourage her, but not now; for now, he would rest, and conserve and save the energy he was sure he would need to conduct another verbal dueling with her. She would change her mind, eventually. She had to.

"You know," Tomoyo started, ignoring the raised brow of the young man over the sudden change in her tone, "I find it hard to believe that you could be injured so badly… I mean, I always had this image of you as someone so perfect, where you can never be hurt, physically or mentally or spiritually."

She mentally chastised herself when she realized that she sounded more impressed than she wanted to, but Eriol smirked and tilted his head just slightly; an action that unconsciously annoyed her.

"So…you've noticed many things about me, Daidouji-san."

"It's hard not to comment on you, Hiiragizawa-kun. You were rather…different, from the other boys in our class," she commented with a smile that didn't quite seem to reach the ends.

"Indeed? In what way, I might ask?"

Tomoyo ignored his attempts to make her feel uncomfortable, and replied in a completely neutral tone, "You were intelligent, mature, musically talented, athletic, a great cook; not many boys have such a wide array of talents, you know." Eriol chuckled at the slight sarcastic tone she employed in her last line, and though she tried to hide it, he could see that she too, was amused.

On a more sober note, he replied to her statement, "Magic may course through my blood, Daidouji-san, but I am not invulnerable. 'When you cut me, do I not bleed…?' "

Before she could ask to further elaborate his vague and mysterious answer, she was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

"Come in," she answered, hiding her annoyance over her spoilt opportunity under a voice that oozed calmness. Warren promptly stepped in, passed a fleeting glance over the guest, then proceeded to address his Mistress with nary any sign of his feelings about the young man who was still lying in bed. Eriol wasn't surprised. If he was a butler, such behaviour was expected of him. Such high-ranking servants were trained to withhold their tongues and to maintain a mask at all times, sometimes to such an extent he would not be able to distinguish the impassive face of the man from the face of a marble statue.

"You have an urgent call from Miss Stone, Mistress," said the granite giant whom Eriol had noticed had been acknowledged as 'Warren'.

Tomoyo frowned. She had given strict orders not to be disturbed at her home after office hours, but if it was Sylvia calling her, Sylvia, the responsible, competent Managing Director of her company…something serious was up.

"Excuse me, Hiiragizawa-kun. I'm afraid I'll have to answer the call."

Eriol nodded his head once, a sign to show that he was alright, and she briskly walked out of the room.

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

It had been two days since she had last seen Eriol. That last time had been the day he had arrived wounded on her doorstep, the evening in which she had received that phone call from Sylvia. The phone conversation had been brief, but only because Tomoyo had rushed down to the office where Sylvia was. The matter, because of the complexity and the sheer magnitude of its importance, had taken two days to be resolved, and as a result, she had not been able to visit her friend at all, even though he was under the same roof as her. However, she checked up on him regularly through her personal physician whom she had called up to look after him, and so far, he was making steady progress towards a full recovery. Today, however, since she had cleared up the whole fiasco at the office, she had granted herself another full-day off. Save for Sylvia, she was not very keen on working with the imbeciles that ran the company in her place, especially after the incident of the past two days. She would go back to work, of course…but only after she did some proper 'staff reshuffling'.

She slipped in quietly into the guest room, and noticing that the guest in question was fast asleep, she decided not to disturb his slumber, and moved to the far end of the room.

She settled herself down on one of the plush couches in the room, and started to busy herself with the stack of papers she had brought in to work on. The only problem was, her gaze and mind kept drifting to the young man sleeping in the bed, and with increasing annoyance at herself over her fascination with her old friend, she pushed her attention back to her office work, staring hard at the letters and words that seemed to swim before her eyes. Giving a soft, frustrated silent cry when she realized her attention was nowhere focused on her work, she turned her eyes to the scenery outside. Yet, they did not stay there for long.

Unconsciously, her gaze strayed back to the person who was currently fast asleep on the bed. She took in the long, lean body, stretched languorously along the bed, looking completely at peace with the world in his unconscious state, and his skin… Such fair skin he had, and so flawless, considering the fact that he was a man. She did not think she had ever seen a man who possessed skin as beautiful and fair as his, and for a moment, she paused in her examination to ponder the reasons why. Even when they had been eleven, he had been awfully pale. Perhaps it was his mixed blood, or maybe it was just his environment. If he still lived in the type of houses, no, mansions he had lived in when he was in Tomoeda, then his skin colour was not surprising. The mansion he had lived in during his short time in Tomoeda had been very impressive, and this coming from one who was used to living in large estates with sprawling acres of land.

Very Victorian and intimidating too, she noted to herself, a small smile appearing on her face at the memory.

She emerged from her thoughts and continued on with the visual exploration of his face, taking in the rather exquisite features as she mused to herself about the long, elegant nose, and thick, dark lashes that any woman would be proud of and would die to have. His dark, blue hair fell carelessly over his face, contrasting magnificently with his fair, white skin. He was, Tomoyo concluded quite breathlessly, a rather beautiful man.

"Enjoy what you see?"

Tomoyo's face turned an absolute shade of pink when she realized Eriol was wide awake and fully aware of what she had been doing. She quickly cast her eyes down to her papers, hoping dearly that he would not be able to see her expression without his glasses, which, she had noticed with a brief glance to his right, was resting on the bedside table. She bent her head down so low, she could not see him at all, but when all she heard was silence, she lifted her head up slowly…only to stare straight into Eriol's eyes.

"I think I shall see whether the kitchen has prepared anything for you." Before he could reply, she swiftly got onto her feet and left the room in a trail of lavender silk, leaving a rather bemused Eriol behind.

Eriol watched as Tomoyo hastily left the room, her usually fair cheeks tinged slightly pink, and let an amused smile creep onto his face. He had long noticed that she was staring at him, but had pretended to still be asleep. After all, why deprive her of a chance to examine his features, which - he admitted quite shamelessly - were not that bad? Besides, her reaction to his words had been quite priceless. He had managed to catch the sophisticated and elegant young lady off guard, but even when she was embarrassed, she still managed to look graceful, Eriol noted with subdued reverence and admiration. His musings brought back the memory of the two days ago, where she had first lost her controlled hold over her emotions and let free an incredible outburst. His brows knitted together, like they often did when he was deep in thought. He would have to ponder over that one.

Tomoyo came back in after a while, a tray in hand which she placed briskly but gently on Eriol's lap, but in a swift and sudden movement, Eriol caught hold of her wrist. He felt her stiffen beneath his touch, and relieved the pressure of his grip on her hand, but not enough to let her slip away, thus eventually forcing her to look at him. She did not look directly into his face though; she kept her eyes just slightly lowered, fascinated at once by those pale pink lips.

"Thank you for the spectacles."

She blinked. Was that all he had planned to say? For some reason, she had been expecting something different, and let out the breath she had unconsciously been holding. She raised her eyes to his, and noticed the elegant, gleaming rimless spectacles that rested on his long, shapely nose.

"You didn't have to make one, you know."

"And leave you traveling around half-blind?" Eriol smiled. "Besides, your old one had cracked. I thought to make a new one for you, since there was no way you could have used the old pair."

For what seemed to be the longest time, he gazed into her eyes, unspeaking, before he finally uttered in a soft whisper, "Thank you, again."

"You're welcome, Hiiragizawa-kun." Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Eriol released his grip on her hand, and Tomoyo promptly fled to the safety of the couch – which, she noted, was a good distance away from his bed – and practically buried herself into her papers.

"What are you working on? Algebra homework?" He said in between mouthfuls of delicious chocolate cake.

When he noticed no answer from her, he raised his head, and was momentarily startled by the queer, intense look she regarded him with.

"You couldn't be further from the truth, Hiiragizawa-kun," she answered softly, though her voice was curiously flat and oddly devoid of any emotion. Eriol looked sharply at her, but she lowered her eyes back to her papers.

"What do you mean, Daidouji-san?" His voice sounded like flowing honey; it was so smooth, so natural…there wasn't even a hint of curiosity in his voice - much to Tomoyo's chagrin.

"There are many things you do not know about me, and vice versa. But I don't make assumptions based merely on observation, and I hope you'll do the same."

To say that he was surprised by her words would be an understatement; he was stunned. For a moment, as Tomoyo watched Eriol, he seemed at a loss for words, but understanding soon dawned on him, and a slow, lazy smile worked its way onto his charming face.

"It seems we have started off on the wrong foot. Care to start afresh?" Those sapphire eyes seemed to twinkle at her, and she almost laughed at his charm. Almost, but fortunately, she managed to control it to a smile.

"Why don't you start with the introductions, my lady?" She had to suppress an urge to raise an eyebrow at the formal address, and nodded once to express her agreement.

"All right. My name is Daidouji Tomoyo, eighteen years old, originally from Tomoeda, Japan. I'm currently in England to oversee operations of the England branch of Daidouji Enterprises."

"A businesswoman? That explains the ire I raised a few minutes ago." She laughed as he grinned at her, and suddenly, all the tension in her body seemed to disappear. It felt good to be around someone whom she knew, even if she hadn't seen him for the past seven years. A familiar face was good enough.

"And you, monsieur Hiiragizawa?"

"Me? You haven't gone into why you're a businesswoman at eighteen."

"Ah, but that is to be saved for dinner conversation. Now stop stalling and proceed."

"All right, all right. But before I do…" To Tomoyo's surprise, Eriol slowly got out of bed and ambled his way towards the couch she was sitting on. She was by his side in seconds, chastising him for getting out of bed unnecessarily when he swiftly took hold of her hand and laid a gentle kiss on it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady." The voice, deep and husky, seemed to cast a hypnotic spell on her mind, and for a moment, all she could register were those words as she stared at her outstretched hand. It took a connection with those striking azure blue eyes to finally shock her out of her reverie, and snapping back her hand, she blushed so badly she wished a hole would just come and swallow her up. She helped him to a couch when he insisted on sitting on one, and quickly walked backed to her seat

"You were saying, Hiiragizawa-kun?" He was sitting on another couch, near to her, but at least it wasn't the same couch. She didn't think she would have known what to do if he had suddenly decided to settle himself down next to her. His blue eyes glittered as a smile played at the corner of his lips, and he seemed to be silently amused by the whole incident that happened to her. Tomoyo had a great urge to wipe that infuriating smirk off his face, but simply smiled at him.

"Yes, as I was saying…" he drawled, watching her as she simply arched an eyebrow and smiled at him, "My name is Hiiragizawa Eriol, and eighteen too. I hail from the gloomy, rain-soaked land of Lancaster, England, and apart from a year spent in Tomoeda, Japan when I was eleven, I have very much spent my whole life here."

While one part of his mind was occupied with answering questions fielded by Tomoyo, another part was mentally studying the young lady sitting before him. When relaxed, Tomoyo was a different person. He noted her eloquence, the ease at which she spoke to him, casually talking to him as though they had been friends for ages. A seasoned conversationalist, he decided. And a good one, to boot.

"So, are you in college or university?"

"Neither."

"Excuse me?"

"I've already graduated. In fact, I obtained my Masters Degree in Ancient Studies from Cambridge just two months ago."

He stated the last sentence so matter-of-factly that Tomoyo had to blink before the words sunk in, and when they finally did sink in…

Eriol pretended not to notice as Tomoyo tried to hide her sputtering by coughing (as discreetly as possible, she hoped) into her napkin.

A Masters Degree?? I haven't even been to university!

"Why stop at Masters? Why not pursue a Doctorate?"

"It's the same. All they do is suffix a 'Dr' to the front of your name." His nonchalant response baffled her. It was as though he couldn't care less what he could do with his intelligence.

"Oh, but I do, Daidouji-san," he added, earning a glare from her for supposedly reading her mind. "And I'm not reading your mind. Your thoughts are so loud and prominent it's hard not to notice them." This brought a blush to her cheeks, which truth be told, he was beginning to find quite adorable.

"So then, since you've heard my thoughts, what do you do with your 'intelligence'?"

"Hmm…I can't very well tell you now, can I? There'll be nothing left for me to say later during dinner conversation."

"Speaking of which…" She glanced at her watch. "It's close to seven now. Would you like to have dinner now?"

He lifted his eyes to the wall clock hanging a few inches above her head.

"Why not?"

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

Dinner was an enjoyable event. Tomoyo had started the ball rolling by reminiscing to him her childhood memories of Tomoeda, and the entire dining room was soon filled with laughter as Eriol regaled her with recounts of the incidents where he made Syaoran terribly jealous by getting close to Sakura.

"He was sooo jealous! You should have seen the way he turned red with fury whenever he saw you and Sakura together!"

"Oh, but I did," Eriol said, smirking. "That descendent of mine always did have horrible control over his emotions." He sipped his wine. "But it achieved its purpose in the end, didn't it?"

Tomoyo smiled as she thought back on the couple. "It sure did, and they have you to thank for their union."

"Me? Not entirely… I remember a raven-haired girl who discreetly helped my ever-so-ignorant descendent realise his feelings for a certain green-eyed sorceress…"

Tomoyo feigned ignorance at first, but looking at the smirk on Eriol's face, she could not help but drop her act and smirk along with him. "I did help, didn't I?"

"You did a beautiful job, my lady."

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

"So…what do you do in your free time, now that you don't have to attend school?"

"Plot on how to take over the world?" He chuckled when he saw the baleful look Tomoyo shot him. "Actually, I do have a job. Not a regular one, of course." When he saw the inquisitive eyes, he continued, "I am a part-time concert pianist. My, er, other commitments tend to leave me with odd working hours." She mouthed a silent 'oh' in understanding. "Occasionally, I play at charity concerts, but usually only at the bequest of my friends."

"A concert performer? That seems to fit into the type of job I would have seen you in."

"Indeed? Should I ask why?"

The champagne glass stopped midway in its ascent and she tilted her head towards him, an elegant, black brow arched questioningly. "Don't you know the reason why?"

He returned a leveled gaze, speaking calmly and coolly, though his eyes glittered like a cat, "Could I presume it's because of my irresistible charm and drop-dead gorgeous looks?"

"Dream on, my friend," Tomoyo replied laughingly.

"What about you, Daidouji?"

Tomoyo stopped laughing. "What about me?" she asked warily.

"You have yet to explain how you landed in England, as a businesswoman."

The tension left her body, but she suddenly found herself facing the unexpected difficulty of explaining her current situation to Eriol.

"I…" Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to mention her mother's death. The wound was still fresh and raw, and besides, familiar as he may be, but Eriol was still a stranger. He wouldn't know of her mother's death of course. Sonomi had requested for a simple and low-key funeral ceremony, and though people knew she was the head of the company, many failed to realise that the woman was too, the brains behind the entire company and its tremendous success. It was her mother who turned her father's mediocre business into an international brand.

He didn't know Sonomi. He had never been around to understand the type of woman her mother was. He had not been here to see and understand the strong, passionate, caring woman that used to exist in her life…

How could she talk to someone about her mother when the person never knew her at all?

"Never mind, Daidouji-san."

A startled Tomoyo raised her eyes to the young man sitting opposite her, violet orbs large and confused.

"You can tell me another time, when you're more comfortable talking about it with me. And you will tell me eventually, won't you?" A kindly smile graced his features, and his dark eyes, tender and kind, comforted her with unspoken words.

For a moment, Tomoyo was at a loss for words, so moved was she by Eriol's gesture and understanding, but she quickly gathered her wits about her. However, try as she might, she only managed to get two words out.

"T-Thank…you."

Silence descended upon the pair like a heavy blanket for the next couple of minutes, and it wasn't long before Tomoyo began to find the silence uncomfortable and unbearable. She set her cutlery neatly down on her empty plate, and looked up to the grandfather clock on her left.

"Would you like to join me in the den? I need to catch my nightly dose of the news."

She smiled genially at Eriol, but the smiling face her amethyst eyes had latched onto gave her no clue as to what was going on in that head of his – and that made her uneasy. Her eyes were swiftly diverted away to the large doors of the dining room, and signalled to the waiter to open them. She rose from her seat and within a few short, quick steps, she was situated behind Eriol and pushed him (ignoring his protests that he could walk just fine) out of the room and into a richly furnished and elegantly decorated room.

The television flickered to life, and Tomoyo aided the still-injured Eriol in settling down onto the plush rum couch.

"And in Lancaster, residents living along 29th Graham Street were shocked when a sudden, powerful explosion ripped through the area and clouds of smoke began to rise from one of the mansions located along the street…"

"29th Graham Street? That's not far from here," commented Tomoyo, who sat down beside Eriol, her attention riveted on the news broadcast.

"…Police arrived shortly after the explosion, and firefighting teams were immediately called in to put out the raging fire that blazed in the mansion, which took three hours to extinguish. As of yet, police have still been unable to identify the cause of the explosion. We are now at the scene of the explosion, where behind me is what's left; the entire mansion was razed to the ground..."

So engrossed was Tomoyo in the news bulletin that she failed to notice the actions of her companion; his fingers tightened around the fragile stem of the wine glass, and slightly, just slightly…the glass began to release a blue glow, growing brighter by the minute, until…

The brilliant sound of glass shattering snapped Tomoyo's attention back to her companion, and her eyes widened with horror when she saw blood slowly stream down the hand, a broken wineglass in the place of the glass that previously contained white wine.

"Eriol!" She rushed up and grabbed the nearest clean piece of cloth she could find. She took the broken wineglass out of Eriol's bleeding hand, and frantically wrapped it with the cloth, but Eriol remained oblivious to her action, his eyes fixated on the television screen.

"Eriol, what's wrong?"

"That, Daidouji-san," he said in total grimness, his jaws set in hardness while his eyes, not once leaving the screen, blazed a brilliant azure, "is, no, was my home."

To be continued…

Please read and review!