Farsighted
SibylSofiana
Chapter Two Don't Mess With A Stressed Out Woman
" " talking out loud [ ] thoughts
Three hours later, she was on the plane headed for England together with two of her bodyguards. When she had called up her mother, Sonomi Daidouji only asked her over the phone where she was going and how long she would be away. Tomoyo could almost see her okaasan's raised eyebrow when she told her that she was needed in London.
"Okaasan, it's an emergency, I need to go right away."
"All right. I'll call ahead and have your ticket ready at the airport. Take Akiko and Rei along with you, they're due for a vacation anyway."
"Arigatou, okaasan, I'll call you once I get there."
"Take care, darling," Sonomi said goodbye, then hung up the phone.
@@@@@
Tomoyo was sandwiched between Akiko and Rei, who were quite eager to do some sightseeing in London. Despite such short notice, Daidouji's bodyguards were trained and ready for any emergency. So when Tomoyo informed them they were leaving for London immediately, they didn't even bat an eyelash.
Tomoyo brooded on the plane, wishing for a moment Sakura was with her. Sakura's smiles and optimism always cheered her up, and right now her head was pounding with all the thinking and worrying.
She then brushed the thought aside impatiently. Sakura didn't need any trouble or worries for once. She needed to enjoy this vacation time together with her whole family and Syaoran's. Tomoyo would take care of this herself and spare her sunny-smiled friend the anxiety and worry, the way she always did.
[Besides,] she thought to herself sadly, [I had better get used to not having Sakura around much in the future.] She sighed. [Best not to think about it. Right now you have other things to worry about.]
She fell back to thinking about Nakuru's phone call earlier. The moment she had heard Nakuru's voice, she knew this was the something she had been waiting for. The anxiety in Nakuru's voice was enough for her to decide quickly without Nakuru having to tell her anything.
"I'll be there as soon as possible, Nakuru," she assured an obviously distressed Moon Guardian, before quickly arranging with the maid to have her clothes packed and ready within the next half hour.
She and Nakuru had been corresponding or calling as often as she and Hiiragizawa-kun did, and they had gotten close. She could see that the Moon Guardian needed a friend - a female friend, one to talk to about clothes, boys and other stuff girls talk about.
Well, there was Mizuki-sensei. But Mizuki-sensei was quite busy with her work and therefore not at home most of the time, while Tomoyo was only a phone call away. As for Hiiragizawa, he was Master and he was male. And Spinel Sun was a cat. So, that left Tomoyo. And Nakuru was worried about Hiiragizawa-kun for some reason.
Hiiragizawa Eriol. She had finally gotten to know this reincarnation of Clow Reed through their correspondence and phone calls. They shared the same fervor and dedication for Sakura-chan, their love of teasing Li-kun. But even when she thought she knew him, she knew there were mysteries hidden in the depths of those cerulean eyes. Tomoyo's camera-trained eye could pick up nuances of certain people's feelings through facial expressions and body language, and she believed that eyes were truly the window to a person's soul.
Hiiragizawa's were too all-knowing and sad.
[What was wrong with Hiiragizawa?] Tomoyo pondered again silently, her head pounding harder than ever.
Akiko had already signaled the flight attendant, who soon came over and gave Tomoyo an aspirin and a cup of water, which Tomoyo accepted gratefully.
@@@@
In front of Eriol's bedroom door were his two guardians, keeping vigil.
[What happened, Eriol?] thought Spinel as he stood silent guard, all sleek and supple in his dark true form. It has been two days now, since Mizuki- san left. And Eriol had locked himself in his room and had not come out since then.
Desperately worried, Ruby Moon had been ready to send her ruby shards to destroy the door when Eriol-sama's cold voice warned her that if she did, he'd disown her. Upon hearing that beloved voice turn cold on her, Ruby Moon had transformed back to her false form and cried outside the door.
The guardians had begged and pleaded for Eriol to open the door, to talk to them, to eat the food Nakuru had made, but to no avail. So now they stood guard, waiting
Spinel could remember the last letter he had written to Keroberos a few months back:
Keroberos, Eriol-sama has been acting a little strange lately. He's always distracted and I think it has something to do with Kaho. Ever since Clow- san's memories have left him, he's been feeling adrift and confused. He doesn't know how to be Eriol - he's been Clow Reed's incarnation for so long. And the thing is, I often catch Kaho-san looking at Eriol-sama as if she didn't know him. I feel something's going to happen soon.
And he was right. When Nakuru had shown him the letter left by Kaho, he knew that it had finally come down to this. And Eriol-sama was taking it hard. What was he supposed to do?
A vein popped out of Spinel's head as he was once again interrupted from his thoughts by Nakuru's hiccups.
"Stop that, Ruby Moon. Our Master doesn't need weakness right now," he said sternly.
"I...I know that." Nakuru said in between hiccups. "That's why I would have asked Sakura-chan to come if she were at home but she wasn't, so..." Nakuru was unable to finish her sentence as Suppi turned two baleful eyes on her.
"You called the Card Mistress? What were you thinking, Ruby Moon? Do you want to see her upset? Our Master is our responsibility and we..." he wasn't able to continue as the doorbell rang and Nakuru hurriedly went downstairs to get it, delaying Spinel's reprimand.
"I'm not finished yet, Ruby Moon!" he called out but she didn't seem to hear.
Irritated with Nakuru, Spinel only flicked his tail and resumed guard. A few minutes later, Spinel spotted an exhausted-looking girl being guided by Nakuru up the stairs.
[What is she up to now? ] Spinel got irritated at the thought of Ruby Moon bringing strangers to the house. And Spinel was in his true form, no less! Their Master wouldn't like it. Spinel had half-expected the Card Mistress to appear, but now there this strange girl. Humph.
The girl was slender and had dark hair falling down in waves to her waist. She was comforting Nakuru and as she came closer, Spinel thought she looked vaguely familiar.
[Wait a minute. Could it be? ] Hope flared briefly in Spinel's aqua eyes. He had a sense for things, especially those affecting his master. Now his senses were pulsating with awareness of the girl.
[Hmm..she might be able to help after all. ]
And then he heard her soft voice addressing him.
"Good evening Spinel-san. Where is Hiiragizawa-kun?"
Wordlessly, Spinel inclined his head towards Master Eriol's door. Tomoyo came up to the door and knocked softly.
"Hiiragizawa-kun? It's me, Tomoyo. Onegai, open the door."
No answer.
Tomoyo turned to Spinel.
"Why did he lock himself up? Where is Mizuki-sensei? Shouldn't we call her?" Tomoyo inquired before adding, "I'm sure she'll be able to help us out."
Spinel was about to answer when the door to Eriol's room was thrown open forcefully, the doorknob scraping paint off the wall where it hit. Miraculously, out came the Master himself, looking thin and haggard, as he fixed his angry eyes towards Tomoyo. While everything else had failed, the mention of Kaho's name was now the only thing that had made him come out of his room.
And Eriol was angry.
"You'll do no such thing, Tomoyo-san," Eriol bit out. "Who do you think you are, coming here without invitation!? You have no right to meddle in my affairs. It's my business. Stay out of it!" He glared furiously at Spinel and Nakuru, who cringed. "And that goes for you two!"
@@@@@
After checking in at the hotel and calling home to reassure her mother, Tomoyo had insisted that they immediately go straight to Hiiragizawa Manor, amid Rei and Akiko's protests that it was already late and Tomoyo was already tired and they could go in the morning. Tomoyo had packed an overnight bag and headed straight for the door without waiting to see if the bodyguards followed. They only looked at each other and shook their heads. The legendary Amamiya stubbornness was in effect and there was nothing they could do except follow Tomoyo out the door.
The two reluctantly hired two cars to take them to the Manor, Akiko driving Tomoyo, while Rei followed them in the other. They left in the second car only after Tomoyo promised to call them as soon as she was ready to head home for Tomoeda.
When Nakuru saw Tomoyo, she almost staggered in relief.
"Tomoyo-chan, you're here!" Nakuru hugged her friend, grabbed her case and ushered her inside. Tomoyo hugged her back.
"I promised I would, Nakuru. Now where's Hiiragizawa?"
Nakuru had gestured and led her up the staircase. If she wasn't so anxious about Hiiragizawa, Tomoyo would have oohed and ahhed at the beauty of the Eriol's home As it was, she hurried up the stairs, following Nakuru to the end of the corridor where Spinel waited outside a room.
She greeted Spinel, and knocked at the door, but Eriol didn't answer. If only she wasn't so tired!
"Why did he lock himself up? Where is Mizuki-sensei? Shouldn't we call her? I'm sure she'll be able to help us out... "
Before she even finished, the door suddenly slammed open and blazing blue eyes turned to face her. Eriol looked even more haggard and tired than she did that she wanted to comfort him, but he leveled those hard eyes at her and then accused her! Her, of meddling!
"Stay out of it! And that goes for you two!" Hiiragizawa had bit out.
Suddenly, all of Tomoyo's exhaustion and jet lag disappeared. She took a step towards Eriol just as he stepped backward, seeing a look he'd never seen before appear on her face. The two guardians wisely retreated as they watched the two from a safe distance.
"EXCUSE ME?!?" She was suddenly white-hot with fury and incredulity.
"I flew straight from Japan, forced myself to eat horrible plane food, disturbed my Circadian clock rhythm just to get here and spent hours worrying about you, and for what? Just so you could open that damned door and tell me off?"
The master and his guardians all stood and stared wide-eyed at her, disbelieving. Eriol's rage suddenly left him and he made a motion to speak, but Tomoyo interrupted him.
"Since I've already started my speech you might as well let me finish." Tomoyo's hands were now on her hips. She was not the daughter of a corporate magnate for nothing! And the injustice of it all! She fumed silently while pointing a finger at Eriol's chest.
"If it weren't for the feeling I got that something might happen soon, I would now be in Hongkong, WITH Sakura, ON a vacation, videotaping Sakura and Li-kun turn into human tomatoes while Touya-kun popped veins by the second --" she waved her hand for emphasis.
"Instead I'm here, exhausted and hungry and cold, all because your guardians care enough to worry about you to call ANYBODY for help! So don't you dare tell me it's none of my business!" Tomoyo grated out. She had never been this furious before, but then again she had never seen Hiiragizawa act this way before either, and it made her so mad that he was so unjust.
While Tomoyo was still fuming, Eriol looked at his guardians and quickly flashed a guilty look upon seeing Nakuru's tear-streaked face. Spinel looked relieved enough to throw him a disapproving look for his earlier behavior to Tomoyo.
Eriol cleared his throat and turned his gaze to the avenging angel in front of him.
"Gomen ne Miss Tomoyo," Eriol said softly. He felt deflated. [What had come over him?] But he knew.
At his apology, Tomoyo's anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared. She was never one to hold grudges. On impulse, Tomoyo launched herself into Eriol's arms.
"It's okay, Hiiragizawa-kun," Tomoyo looked up at him as she broke into a brilliant smile and repeated Sakura's phrase. "Everything will surely be alright."
Eriol slowly put his arms around her and hugged his friend back.
+++++++++
Ohmygosh! Thanks for the very kind reviews!
Farsighted isn't really the same genre as Across the Miles. We admittedly had a lot of fun with our first fic - we were laughing so hard at the Syaoran vs Touya chapter. As for the ExT moment, Sibyl personally made sure it was there, so we're happy you liked it. Farsighted is our attempt at a more serious tone of writing, and certainly more difficult! Hope you don't mind too much - don't worry, we'll try our best!
On a more personal note, we did not expect immediate reviews because of the new and lousy ff.net format. So, we would like to thank the following: KawaiinessPnay, Shima and Tempis, Tomoyo-chan, and Aurora Starcrystal. You definitely made our day! Yay!
Chapter Two Don't Mess With A Stressed Out Woman
" " talking out loud [ ] thoughts
Three hours later, she was on the plane headed for England together with two of her bodyguards. When she had called up her mother, Sonomi Daidouji only asked her over the phone where she was going and how long she would be away. Tomoyo could almost see her okaasan's raised eyebrow when she told her that she was needed in London.
"Okaasan, it's an emergency, I need to go right away."
"All right. I'll call ahead and have your ticket ready at the airport. Take Akiko and Rei along with you, they're due for a vacation anyway."
"Arigatou, okaasan, I'll call you once I get there."
"Take care, darling," Sonomi said goodbye, then hung up the phone.
@@@@@
Tomoyo was sandwiched between Akiko and Rei, who were quite eager to do some sightseeing in London. Despite such short notice, Daidouji's bodyguards were trained and ready for any emergency. So when Tomoyo informed them they were leaving for London immediately, they didn't even bat an eyelash.
Tomoyo brooded on the plane, wishing for a moment Sakura was with her. Sakura's smiles and optimism always cheered her up, and right now her head was pounding with all the thinking and worrying.
She then brushed the thought aside impatiently. Sakura didn't need any trouble or worries for once. She needed to enjoy this vacation time together with her whole family and Syaoran's. Tomoyo would take care of this herself and spare her sunny-smiled friend the anxiety and worry, the way she always did.
[Besides,] she thought to herself sadly, [I had better get used to not having Sakura around much in the future.] She sighed. [Best not to think about it. Right now you have other things to worry about.]
She fell back to thinking about Nakuru's phone call earlier. The moment she had heard Nakuru's voice, she knew this was the something she had been waiting for. The anxiety in Nakuru's voice was enough for her to decide quickly without Nakuru having to tell her anything.
"I'll be there as soon as possible, Nakuru," she assured an obviously distressed Moon Guardian, before quickly arranging with the maid to have her clothes packed and ready within the next half hour.
She and Nakuru had been corresponding or calling as often as she and Hiiragizawa-kun did, and they had gotten close. She could see that the Moon Guardian needed a friend - a female friend, one to talk to about clothes, boys and other stuff girls talk about.
Well, there was Mizuki-sensei. But Mizuki-sensei was quite busy with her work and therefore not at home most of the time, while Tomoyo was only a phone call away. As for Hiiragizawa, he was Master and he was male. And Spinel Sun was a cat. So, that left Tomoyo. And Nakuru was worried about Hiiragizawa-kun for some reason.
Hiiragizawa Eriol. She had finally gotten to know this reincarnation of Clow Reed through their correspondence and phone calls. They shared the same fervor and dedication for Sakura-chan, their love of teasing Li-kun. But even when she thought she knew him, she knew there were mysteries hidden in the depths of those cerulean eyes. Tomoyo's camera-trained eye could pick up nuances of certain people's feelings through facial expressions and body language, and she believed that eyes were truly the window to a person's soul.
Hiiragizawa's were too all-knowing and sad.
[What was wrong with Hiiragizawa?] Tomoyo pondered again silently, her head pounding harder than ever.
Akiko had already signaled the flight attendant, who soon came over and gave Tomoyo an aspirin and a cup of water, which Tomoyo accepted gratefully.
@@@@
In front of Eriol's bedroom door were his two guardians, keeping vigil.
[What happened, Eriol?] thought Spinel as he stood silent guard, all sleek and supple in his dark true form. It has been two days now, since Mizuki- san left. And Eriol had locked himself in his room and had not come out since then.
Desperately worried, Ruby Moon had been ready to send her ruby shards to destroy the door when Eriol-sama's cold voice warned her that if she did, he'd disown her. Upon hearing that beloved voice turn cold on her, Ruby Moon had transformed back to her false form and cried outside the door.
The guardians had begged and pleaded for Eriol to open the door, to talk to them, to eat the food Nakuru had made, but to no avail. So now they stood guard, waiting
Spinel could remember the last letter he had written to Keroberos a few months back:
Keroberos, Eriol-sama has been acting a little strange lately. He's always distracted and I think it has something to do with Kaho. Ever since Clow- san's memories have left him, he's been feeling adrift and confused. He doesn't know how to be Eriol - he's been Clow Reed's incarnation for so long. And the thing is, I often catch Kaho-san looking at Eriol-sama as if she didn't know him. I feel something's going to happen soon.
And he was right. When Nakuru had shown him the letter left by Kaho, he knew that it had finally come down to this. And Eriol-sama was taking it hard. What was he supposed to do?
A vein popped out of Spinel's head as he was once again interrupted from his thoughts by Nakuru's hiccups.
"Stop that, Ruby Moon. Our Master doesn't need weakness right now," he said sternly.
"I...I know that." Nakuru said in between hiccups. "That's why I would have asked Sakura-chan to come if she were at home but she wasn't, so..." Nakuru was unable to finish her sentence as Suppi turned two baleful eyes on her.
"You called the Card Mistress? What were you thinking, Ruby Moon? Do you want to see her upset? Our Master is our responsibility and we..." he wasn't able to continue as the doorbell rang and Nakuru hurriedly went downstairs to get it, delaying Spinel's reprimand.
"I'm not finished yet, Ruby Moon!" he called out but she didn't seem to hear.
Irritated with Nakuru, Spinel only flicked his tail and resumed guard. A few minutes later, Spinel spotted an exhausted-looking girl being guided by Nakuru up the stairs.
[What is she up to now? ] Spinel got irritated at the thought of Ruby Moon bringing strangers to the house. And Spinel was in his true form, no less! Their Master wouldn't like it. Spinel had half-expected the Card Mistress to appear, but now there this strange girl. Humph.
The girl was slender and had dark hair falling down in waves to her waist. She was comforting Nakuru and as she came closer, Spinel thought she looked vaguely familiar.
[Wait a minute. Could it be? ] Hope flared briefly in Spinel's aqua eyes. He had a sense for things, especially those affecting his master. Now his senses were pulsating with awareness of the girl.
[Hmm..she might be able to help after all. ]
And then he heard her soft voice addressing him.
"Good evening Spinel-san. Where is Hiiragizawa-kun?"
Wordlessly, Spinel inclined his head towards Master Eriol's door. Tomoyo came up to the door and knocked softly.
"Hiiragizawa-kun? It's me, Tomoyo. Onegai, open the door."
No answer.
Tomoyo turned to Spinel.
"Why did he lock himself up? Where is Mizuki-sensei? Shouldn't we call her?" Tomoyo inquired before adding, "I'm sure she'll be able to help us out."
Spinel was about to answer when the door to Eriol's room was thrown open forcefully, the doorknob scraping paint off the wall where it hit. Miraculously, out came the Master himself, looking thin and haggard, as he fixed his angry eyes towards Tomoyo. While everything else had failed, the mention of Kaho's name was now the only thing that had made him come out of his room.
And Eriol was angry.
"You'll do no such thing, Tomoyo-san," Eriol bit out. "Who do you think you are, coming here without invitation!? You have no right to meddle in my affairs. It's my business. Stay out of it!" He glared furiously at Spinel and Nakuru, who cringed. "And that goes for you two!"
@@@@@
After checking in at the hotel and calling home to reassure her mother, Tomoyo had insisted that they immediately go straight to Hiiragizawa Manor, amid Rei and Akiko's protests that it was already late and Tomoyo was already tired and they could go in the morning. Tomoyo had packed an overnight bag and headed straight for the door without waiting to see if the bodyguards followed. They only looked at each other and shook their heads. The legendary Amamiya stubbornness was in effect and there was nothing they could do except follow Tomoyo out the door.
The two reluctantly hired two cars to take them to the Manor, Akiko driving Tomoyo, while Rei followed them in the other. They left in the second car only after Tomoyo promised to call them as soon as she was ready to head home for Tomoeda.
When Nakuru saw Tomoyo, she almost staggered in relief.
"Tomoyo-chan, you're here!" Nakuru hugged her friend, grabbed her case and ushered her inside. Tomoyo hugged her back.
"I promised I would, Nakuru. Now where's Hiiragizawa?"
Nakuru had gestured and led her up the staircase. If she wasn't so anxious about Hiiragizawa, Tomoyo would have oohed and ahhed at the beauty of the Eriol's home As it was, she hurried up the stairs, following Nakuru to the end of the corridor where Spinel waited outside a room.
She greeted Spinel, and knocked at the door, but Eriol didn't answer. If only she wasn't so tired!
"Why did he lock himself up? Where is Mizuki-sensei? Shouldn't we call her? I'm sure she'll be able to help us out... "
Before she even finished, the door suddenly slammed open and blazing blue eyes turned to face her. Eriol looked even more haggard and tired than she did that she wanted to comfort him, but he leveled those hard eyes at her and then accused her! Her, of meddling!
"Stay out of it! And that goes for you two!" Hiiragizawa had bit out.
Suddenly, all of Tomoyo's exhaustion and jet lag disappeared. She took a step towards Eriol just as he stepped backward, seeing a look he'd never seen before appear on her face. The two guardians wisely retreated as they watched the two from a safe distance.
"EXCUSE ME?!?" She was suddenly white-hot with fury and incredulity.
"I flew straight from Japan, forced myself to eat horrible plane food, disturbed my Circadian clock rhythm just to get here and spent hours worrying about you, and for what? Just so you could open that damned door and tell me off?"
The master and his guardians all stood and stared wide-eyed at her, disbelieving. Eriol's rage suddenly left him and he made a motion to speak, but Tomoyo interrupted him.
"Since I've already started my speech you might as well let me finish." Tomoyo's hands were now on her hips. She was not the daughter of a corporate magnate for nothing! And the injustice of it all! She fumed silently while pointing a finger at Eriol's chest.
"If it weren't for the feeling I got that something might happen soon, I would now be in Hongkong, WITH Sakura, ON a vacation, videotaping Sakura and Li-kun turn into human tomatoes while Touya-kun popped veins by the second --" she waved her hand for emphasis.
"Instead I'm here, exhausted and hungry and cold, all because your guardians care enough to worry about you to call ANYBODY for help! So don't you dare tell me it's none of my business!" Tomoyo grated out. She had never been this furious before, but then again she had never seen Hiiragizawa act this way before either, and it made her so mad that he was so unjust.
While Tomoyo was still fuming, Eriol looked at his guardians and quickly flashed a guilty look upon seeing Nakuru's tear-streaked face. Spinel looked relieved enough to throw him a disapproving look for his earlier behavior to Tomoyo.
Eriol cleared his throat and turned his gaze to the avenging angel in front of him.
"Gomen ne Miss Tomoyo," Eriol said softly. He felt deflated. [What had come over him?] But he knew.
At his apology, Tomoyo's anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared. She was never one to hold grudges. On impulse, Tomoyo launched herself into Eriol's arms.
"It's okay, Hiiragizawa-kun," Tomoyo looked up at him as she broke into a brilliant smile and repeated Sakura's phrase. "Everything will surely be alright."
Eriol slowly put his arms around her and hugged his friend back.
+++++++++
Ohmygosh! Thanks for the very kind reviews!
Farsighted isn't really the same genre as Across the Miles. We admittedly had a lot of fun with our first fic - we were laughing so hard at the Syaoran vs Touya chapter. As for the ExT moment, Sibyl personally made sure it was there, so we're happy you liked it. Farsighted is our attempt at a more serious tone of writing, and certainly more difficult! Hope you don't mind too much - don't worry, we'll try our best!
On a more personal note, we did not expect immediate reviews because of the new and lousy ff.net format. So, we would like to thank the following: KawaiinessPnay, Shima and Tempis, Tomoyo-chan, and Aurora Starcrystal. You definitely made our day! Yay!
