Farsighted

By SibylSofiana

Chapter Five

No More Than You Are

The bright, cheery morning sun woke Tomoyo up from her peaceful slumber. *Strange.* She thought. For someone so attuned to music, she noticed it immediately even though it was the first time she heard it. Absolute silence.

It was quiet. Far too quiet. No chirping of birds greeted her as she opened her window. Nothing stirred, not even a breeze.

With a sense of foreboding and not without intuition, she hurriedly dressed and made her way to the gardens below.

She found him leaning against the willow tree, lost in his own thoughts. Unwilling to disturb his solitude, she sat down on the bench near him, hoping to quell her unease with his familiar presence.

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He was suspiciously calm. He half-expected himself to rant and rave about love found and love lost. But here he was, alone in the midst of his sanctuary. He felt numb. His eyes settled at some point across the garden, intense but unseeing. His ears heard nothing as if the world fell mute around him. No scent of the garden wafted across him.

Nothing... but magnolias.

His mind barely registered the fact that the magnolias in his garden had not yet bloomed as he turned his head towards the subtle but persistent fragrance. Instead of flowers, he saw a pale, delicate face and amethyst eyes framed by wavy, sable hair.

Tomoyo.

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"Hiiragizawa-kun?" Tomoyo's voice came tentatively. Eriol had finally noticed her presence. She didn't like the way he gazed across his garden in those first few minutes. Those sapphire eyes she had gotten so used to seeing glinting with mischief were blank. Unseeing. Lifeless.

As she continued to watch him, she sighed her relief when she saw a spark of life enter his eyes again.

"Kaho arrived to get her things this morning." Eriol said before he turned his eyes away. He couldn't bear to have her feel sorry for him.

Tomoyo bit her lip. * What was she supposed to say? * She wanted to comfort Eriol, but she knew he would probably take it as a sign of pity. She was still pondering on her thoughts when she heard Eriol take a deep breath as if bracing himself.

"Remember the last time you wrote to me? Five days ago I was planning to follow your advice and make it up to Kaho. I got home early to prepare a surprise dinner when Nakuru handed me a letter. Kaho wrote to say goodbye."

Tomoyo's breath caught at her throat. She already had an idea of what happened, but hearing Eriol talk about it somehow made it painful. He talked about it so casually, as if they were discussing the weather. She realized how much it cost him, to speak of it like that.

"Hiiragizawa-kun?"

"I should have read the signs. They were there, but I ignored them." Eriol's voice wavered, as he struggled to contain his composure, unshed tears stinging his eyes.

Tomoyo rose from the bench to walk up to him. She felt so helpless as she watched his torment, unable to do anything.

*Maybe it's because you were never meant to be Clow Reed for so long.*

He lost the struggle. Rivulets of tears coursed down his face as he let go of his pain. Tomoyo gently removed his eyeglasses. Ashamed of his lack of control, he rested his forehead on Tomoyo's shoulder as he fought his tears. Tomoyo stood still, wishing she could do more.

As she felt his pain, she realized how brave Syaoran had really been. To comfort a broken-hearted Sakura, even as his own heart broke. She wouldn't have known what to do. Syaoran had been -- and he still was -- a very brave person. And he had been rewarded with her own sweet Sakura-chan. Her heart soared to think Sakura was now with someone who loved her better than she ever could. Syaoran really deserved Sakura-chan.

Life flooded back to her senses. She took a deep breath as she listened to Eriol's muffled sobs. She didn't feel so helpless anymore. *Everything will surely be alright. *



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It was so pathetic. For the first time he felt like he couldn't handle anything at all. He was no longer the powerful Clow Reed. Without that cloak, he didn't know how to cope. "Why is it so hard to be simply Eriol Hiiragizawa?", he bitterly asked himself. He didn't realize he had spoken out loud until he heard Tomoyo's voice answer him.

"I don't see why you're so confused about who you are, Hiiragizawa-kun. Remember how you used to entertain us all with the outrageous stories you told with Yamazaki-kun? You always made me laugh by teasing Li-kun with Sakura. You forced Li-kun to admit his feelings to himself. You cheered up Sakura when she was worried. You helped her realize her true feelings. That was all you, Hiiragizawa-kun. You have always been Eriol to us." She sounded so certain and determined that he was surprisingly comforted.

Calming down a bit, Eriol raised his head from Tomoyo's shoulder and brushed his tears with the back of his fingers. Tomoyo silently handed him his eyeglasses.

"But I hate this, I feel so weak. So powerless." Eriol feebly countered.

He looked so forlorn, like a stubborn child denied of sweets that Tomoyo couldn't help herself. *Kawaii... I wish I had my V8,* she thought before she gave in to her urge and laughed.

Eriol could only look on in surprise as he felt his heart lift at the sound of her laughter. Tomoyo's hands cupped his cheeks and directed his eyes towards her own playful ones.

"Now you know how it feels. You're only human, Eriol."

Eriol's eyes widened. "Only human..." His lips had started to curve into a slow, sweet smile when he stopped, as if something had struck him.



"Say it again." He softly pleaded.

"You're only human." Tomoyo obliged.

"No. My name. You said my name."

Tomoyo felt her cheeks burn at her rude behavior.

"Gomen nasai, Hiiragizawa-kun. I didn't mean to..."

"Call me by name, Miss Tomoyo. Please." Eriol turned the full force of his charm at her.

"Eriol." Tomoyo said weakly. Eriol beamed. Tomoyo muttered something about puppy-dog eyes being made illegal.

"Then you'd better call me Tomoyo. Not counting that ridiculous pet name you gave me."

Eriol's eyes twinkled. In response to her feigned protest, he only raised her hand to his lips. Then, in a more serious tone he addressed her.

"Thank you, Tomoyo-san. I feel better now."

Tomoyo didn't need to ask what he was talking about.

"What are friends for, Eriol-san?"

"Indeed. What would I do without you?" Eriol replied as they made their way towards the house, neither noticing that Eriol still held her hand.

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Neither of them noticed two pairs of eyes watching them from the shadows of the garden. Magenta eyes worriedly followed his creator's form. He didn't know his master harbored such pain.

"Master..." a sigh escaped from his lips.

Alongside him stood a sleek panther with turquoise butterfly wings. Unlike his brother, this guardian worried not for their master. His eyes followed the smaller form beside his master, taking note of his master's unconscious gesture. A singular smile graced his lips, made more rare by the triumphant gleam in his eyes. He murmured so softly, not even his companion could hear.

"Mistress..."

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Eriol and Tomoyo made their way to the kitchen.

"We'd better start making breakfast, Nakuru and Spinel will be up soon," said Tomoyo.

"Yes, I'll start with the tea." Eriol said without moving from his spot.

"Uhm.. Eriol?" Tomoyo looked at him impishly.

"Yes?"

"You need both hands to do that." Tomoyo goodnaturedly explained.

"I know that. Why would you..." Eriol halted his speech as he glanced to where his hands were. Blood slowly crept into his cheeks as he saw one of his hands holding Tomoyo's. He swiftly but reluctantly let go.

"I'm sorry, Tomoyo-san!" Eriol apologized profusely.

"It's alright, Eriol-san." Tomoyo giggled at seeing him so embarrassed. "Let's make breakfast, ne?"

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They worked silently for a few minutes before they both realized that the guardians had not yet showed up.

"Where could they be?" Tomoyo thought out loud.

They were about to look for them when the two guardians emerged from the hallway, one looking cheerful while the other looked somber. It would have seemed normal had it not been for the fact that one was used to seeing the expression on the other.

"Ohayo Nakuru-chan, Spinel-san," Tomoyo greeted them as she fixed the table settings.

"Ohayo." They both replied. Spinel Sun seemed back to his normal self. Nakuru, on the other hand, sat limp on her chair, not even bothering to glomp Eriol as was her usual greeting.

They began to eat their breakfast. Spinel sat next to Tomoyo and offered to serve the food, seemingly more solicitous than usual. Nakuru, who usually chattered about her latest crushes, kept silent. Tomoyo's eyes widened in alarm as she looked at them.

* Did Sakura's Change Card escape? What's wrong with these two?* Tomoyo glanced at Eriol to see what he thought of this abrupt change.

Eriol didn't seem to notice anything unusual. He just kept on eating, methodically buttering his toast before he put it in his mouth. He put an apple tart on his plate and cut a slice, nonchalantly picking it up with his fingers. He glanced at Nakuru whom he just seemed to have noticed.

"Nakuru?"

"Yes, Master?" Nakuru replied without glancing at him.

"You forgot your medicine." Eriol gently admonished her. Nakuru opened her mouth to correct him.

Before Tomoyo could ask why Nakuru would need medicine, Eriol crammed the apple tart in his hand into Nakuru's mouth.

All hell broke loose.

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Spinel didn't know what to do. First he laughed, then stopped himself to smirk. Then he burst out laughing again, only to stop and smirk again and repeat the cycle.

Eriol looked on a choking and gasping Nakuru, grinning as he ignored Tomoyo rant and rave at him.

Nakuru recovered enough to glomp her master in his seat.

"You're so MEAN, Master!!!" Eriol and Spinel only laughed harder. Nakuru looked at Tomoyo who finally calmed down.

"Look at what I have to put up with, Tomoyo-chan!" Nakuru whined. Tomoyo merely smiled at her.

"I'm glad you're back, Nakuru-chan."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Nakuru asked Tomoyo. It was Eriol, who was underneath her, who answered.

"You seemed to have your sugar levels low, my dear Ruby Moon. Abstinence from sweets isn't good for you."

"You mean I was like Suppi-chan?" Nakuru's eyes widened in horror. Then she embraced Eriol tightly.

"You're so KIND, Master! You don't want me to be like Suppi-chan do you?" Eriol just laughed.

Spinel snorted.

"I'm sure your master loves you just the way you both are," Tomoyo smoothly interjected.

She leaned against her chair as she gazed at them. It was obvious they treated each other like family. * What an unlikely trio, * she mused.

Strangely enough, she felt right at home with them.

~o~

Author's Notes:

Sofiana: Oooh, KAWAII! Sibyl-chan, you've definitely outdone yourself – I LOVE YOUUUUU!!!!

Sibyl (smirks): I know.

Just a small explanation about Ruby Moon/Nakuru – he/she/it doesn't really have an exact gender, but we've decided to make Ruby Moon male, while Nakuru's gender depends on whose perspective you're using. We like HER female, though!

To June and not applicable, hope we've made you happy with the heavy ExT scenes! To Aurora Starcrystal, nice "garden scene", neh? More coming soon!



If you enjoyed this chapter, please read the prequel "Across the Miles" to find out where it all started (shameless plugging ;p) We're still working on "My Little Wolf" – it's basically about Syaoran from Li Yelan's point of view, but we're putting in Clow's background, as well. It'll be done soon, we hope.

Thanks for the reviews!