A Love Before Time

Author: To mhavesheart, thanks for correcting my Japanese error. XD

Chapter II: History Repeats Itself

"To-chan?" Eriol called.

"Hai?" Tomoyo looked back.

"I think I found what we are looking for." Eriol smiled as he pointed their costumes at the corner of the room.

Tomoyo took her costume and stared at it. It was beautiful… more beautiful than she ever imagined. Rika did a good job in their costumes. It is a baby pink gown with a nice beadwork.

Eriol, on the other hand, was just looking at Tomoyo. He was beginning to think that she was really a reincarnation. She was Eris.

"Eri-kun, why don't you try yours?" Tomoyo asked as she took his costume. "Yours look good too!"

Eriol just smiled.

"Oh, well, let's go and show this to Chiharu-chan!" Tomoyo exclaimed excitedly as she took their costumes and gave them to Eri-kun.

"C'mon!"

"Fine…" he murmured.

When they showed up at their class, Chiharu exclaimed, "There you are. What took you so long?"

Tomoyo ignored her question and showed Chiharu the dress that Rika made.

"Kawaii! I never thought that you could make a costume like this, Rika!" Chiharu exclaimed as her eye glimmer in joy. Rika blushed.

"A-Actually, Sakura helped me with her dress." Rika said.

"I took some of the ideas from the costumes Tomoyo made for me." Sakura replied.

Tomoyo just smiled.

"Why don't you try it?" Naoko asked.

"C'mon, I'll help you…" Rika said as she grabbed her hand and lead her to the changing room as everybody waited for Tomoyo's arrival.

"Hi-kun, why don't you try yours too?" Chiharu asked.

"Do I have to?" Eriol asked, rather annoyed a bit.

"Yes, Prince Eriol since we have to make sure that that costume was perfectly fitted on you." Chiharu answered cheerfully.

Eriol sighed as he walked out of the room. He went to the Boy's Changing Room.

A few minutes passed and Eriol came back, wearing his prince costume.

"Wow!" everyone chorused.

"I never thought that you could be a handsome prince." Chiharu exclaimed.

Eriol just smiled.

"Ok, since they are wearing costumes, why don't we have a dress rehearsal?" Chiharu asked.

Everyone rejoiced.

A few minutes later, Tomoyo came back, wearing the elegant princess costume in baby pink silk cloth that Rika and Sakura made. It has a marvelous beadwork. Everyone's eyes were glued to her, especially the guys.

"Daidouji-san, you look beautiful." Her guy classmate commented.

"She's always beautiful…" Chiharu corrected that guy.

"Tomoyo, you are now a great princess." Sakura squealed.

"She looks like princess ever since, Sakura-chan!" Chiharu corrected again.

Yamazaki approached her and kissed her hands politely, just like an English gentleman.

Chiharu suddenly dragged him away from Tomoyo as she said, "Now. Now. Stop it!"

Everyone laughed except for Eriol who was staring at Tomoyo for a long time.

"She looks exactly like Eris…" he murmured.

"Now. Now. Everybody, please listen to me! We are now going to start our dress rehearsals, ok?" Chiharu exclaimed excitedly. This distracted Eriol from staring too much. He looked at Chiharu immediately.

That afternoon, everyone seemed to be excited for their upcoming play. Everyone watched the two destined lovers as they play their roles greatly.

------

As days passed, Tomoyo became more hysterical. She seemed to be always out of her mind or sometimes, she was just quiet in a corner of a room. The smile that once can be seen from her face faded away. Everyone noticed it but seemed they didn't knew how to bring back the smile back to her. They tried everything… Joke around her, use some simple but funny pranks but it seemed to be useless.

Even her bestfriend seemed to be so worried about her. They can't do anything but watch her.

"Syao-kun, Am I a bad bestfriend?" Sakura cried to Syaoran as she looked at her bestfriend.

"No. You are not a bad bestfriend and it is not your fault." Syaoran said as he wiped her tears away with his hand.

Eriol-kun approached Tomoyo.

"Daijoubu desu ka?" He asked.

She looked at him. Her eyes were full of fear.

"Are you sure?"

She remained silent.

"Tomoyo…" he murmured.

She stood up and left the classroom without muttering a single word.

-----

Today is the day. The day that everyone ever waited for. Everyone seemed to be excited, especially Chiharu.

Tomoyo was still silent. She always prefers to be alone. She speaks whenever it is only needed. It was not the type of Daidouji that everyone knew.

"Tomoyo, are you sure that you are ok?" Sakura asked badly. She was really worried.

Tomoyo gave her a weak smile as she said, "Daijoubu."

"Demo-"

"I'm ok, Sakura. If I'm not, I must. Everyone was counting at me." she interrupted.

Sakura sighed. She. Tried. Everything.

The play began. The scene was beautiful. From the audience, Sonomi was watching her daughter proudly as Tomoyo entered the stage. She was wearing the beautiful gown that fitted to her beautiful body figure. She was also wearing a colorful mask. Her raven hair was shining as usual.

The scene was a dance. A ball for the royal families from different kingdoms.

It was a scene for Tomoyo and Eriol only.

The scene was a romantic and beautiful garden. Tomoyo and Eriol were dancing.

"May I know your name?" Eriol asked.

"Eilonwy."

"What a beautiful name." He commented.

And the curtain closed.

Tomoyo murmured at Eriol, "Clow Reed."

He looked at her eyes. She seemed not to be fine.

"Are you ok, Tomoyo?" he asked.

But Chiharu interrupted them.

"Now. The last scene!" she exclaimed at the two.

It was the last scene. The "Suicide" scene

Tomoyo smiled weakly at them and Eriol noticed it.

The curtain opened again as Eriol went back to the backstage. He just watched Tomoyo from his position.

Tomoyo started to act.

"If we can't be together, I'd rather die than to live without you…" she said in a monotonous way as she reached for a dagger not too far from her.

Suddenly, Yamazaki hurriedly ran to Chiharu.

"Chiharu! I forgot to put the plastic dagger. Tomoyo need this for-" but he paused as soon as he saw Tomoyo, holding a dagger.

Chiharu looked at Yamazaki, then to Tomoyo.

"It means that if Yamazaki had the plastic dagger, what's that dagger that Tomoyo was holding?" she asked.

Everybody from their class realized that Tomoyo was holding a real one

From the stage, Tomoyo sat on the bed (One of their props) as she pointed the dagger to herself.

"Why do I have to live with a burden? A burden from my past life." She suddenly said. It was not on the script.

Naoko looked at the script but didn't found the line that Tomoyo said.

"Tomoyo! Stop it!" Sakura shouted as she went out from the backstage soon as she heard that Tomoyo was holding a real dagger. "Stop it!"

Tomoyo looked at her as she cried, "Now I get it Sakura… Those dreams reminded me of all my miserable past"

The audience was surprised. They hurriedly knew that something was wrong. Sonomi stood up and ran to the front.

"Sakura? Tomoyo, honey, what's going on?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, mother." Tomoyo said weakly. "But I can't take it anymore."

Sonomi was shocked.

"You can't take what?" Sonomi asked her only daughter, confused.

"Ma, I love you." She ignored her mother's question.

"Daidouji-sama, Tomoyo is holding a real knife." Chiharu emerged from the backstage.

"What?" she was surprised and fainted easily. It's a good thing that the bodyguards were just a meter away from her. They had been able to catch her immediately before she hit the ground.

"Tomoyo…" Sakura murmured as she walked a meter to Tomoyo.

"Don't come near or..." Tomoyo said in a desperate tone of voice as she clutched the knife tightly. "or I'll kill myself!"

Sakura stopped.

Everyone was worried as they were completely stunned at their positions. Syaoran and Eriol went near Sakura.

"Can't you see? I hate this damn life." Tomoyo said as tears fell from her eyes.

Sakura was about to step when Eriol stopped her.

"I'll talk to her." He said in a calm voice. He was always calm but deep inside his heart, he's afraid. His heart was beating fast. He was worried.

"Tomoyo, drop the knife." He said as he stepped a little closer to her.

"No!" she refused.

"You are not the Tomoyo I knew." He said. "I don't know you anymore."

He stepped a little closer.

"I don't even know myself." She answered. "I don't know the real me."

Closer.

"But I know the cheerful, sweet and energetic Tomoyo Daidouji." He said. "Where is she?"

Closer.

"I wanted to live peacefully. Without worries, without fears" She explained. "I don't want to remember anything from my past. I want to be free"

Her lips trembled as she clutched the knife. Tears were flowing from her eyes down to her cheeks

"Free?"

"I want to love and to be loved. And there is the only guy I always loved."

He remained silent

"You don't understand me." She shouted back at him.

"I understand you."

She was shocked. Her eyes narrowed.

"I know how you feel…" he continued.

"Stop it!" Tomoyo said as she tried to cover her two ears by her hands while trying to hold her knife. "I don't want to hear it anymore."

But she can still hear his voice. It's as if she can hear him as she listened through her heart.

"Eris!" He called her at last.

He called her not by her present name but her past name. A name that she wanted to forget. Her eyes widened as she looked at him. She put down her hands.

She felt something warm. Just like Clow, the way he said her name gave her a warm, tingling feeling.

"C-Clow Reed?"

Tomoyo suddenly noticed that Eriol was just an inch away from her. She was about to stab herself when he stopped her by holding her hands.

"You can't forget the past, Tomoyo." He murmured. "We can't"

"I can." Tomoyo said. "I can forget my past."

"Face it, Tomoyo!" Eriol said as he suddenly took the dagger out of her hands. "We can't"

"I-I can't?" she asked.

"You can't…" he murmured

She cried louder as she laid her head at his chest.

"Tomoyo…" he whispered as he hugged her closer to him. He doesn't matter if the curse was true or not. "We can't forget the past but we can escape from it."

Tomoyo continued crying.

"We're not Eris and Clow Reed anymore." He continued. "We're Tomoyo and Eriol."

Tomoyo still continued to cry.

"Look at me." He murmured as he cupped her chin. Their eyes finally met. Amethyst and Cerulean.

"Whatever happened to the past." He smiled. "Those are bad dreams, Tomoyo."

Syaoran and Sakura watched the two silently.

"What about the curse?" Syaoran remembered the curse thingy.

"Curse?" Sakura asked. Basically, she doesn't know anything about the curse.

Yue suddenly appeared at the back of Sakura.

"The curse isn't true." Yue said in a calm voice. "Duke Goodwillcourt just made it up so both Clow-sama and Lady Eris would think that they can't be together."

"But Eriol thinks that it is true." Syaoran looked at Yue.

"Gomenasai, Well, I thought that it wouldn't matter anymore." Yue said. "I didn't told him the truth when I first saw him as Eriol since it never occurred in my mind that Eris will have a reincarnation too."

"You see, Tomoyo, I like you the way you are." Eriol whispered at her as he caressed her long silky hair.

"Eriol…" she muttered. Her entire energy was drained. Tomoyo fainted.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura and Syaoran shouted after they saw that Tomoyo fainted.

The audience was shocked and stunned.

Eriol carried her to the backstage so she can rest peacefully while Chiharu went to the stage and grabbed the microphone.

"Well, it was not what we expected…" Chiharu sighed. "I guess, thank you for watching our play.

Chiharu thought that their play wasn't successful.

The audience clapped so hard. It was successful after all. They all thought that it was a part of the play and of course, they just answered that it was all part of the play.

After a few weeks, everything went back to normal.

Everyone was fine especially the cheerful Tomoyo.

Tomoyo never had one of those horrible dreams again and she was always smiling. The two bestfriends were at the kitchen of Tomoyo's house.

"Oh! Come on, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo squealed. "This is a beautiful necklace."

"That's my Christmas present for you, Tomoyo." Sakura smiled.

"You shouldn't have." She exclaimed as she wore the necklace. "Here is mine."

Tomoyo gave a wrapped Christmas present.

"Open it later at your house, ok?" Tomoyo added. "And this is for Kero-chan."

She put a slice of cake at a Tupperware and gave to Sakura.

"Anyway, come to our Christmas party later, ok?"

"Hai!" she answered. "Oh, got to go, I've got more presents to deliver."

Sakura stood up and bid farewell.

Later on, Eriol came at Tomoyo's house with a wrapped box with holes in it. He placed it at the top of the counter.

He noticed that Tomoyo was holding a bowl and mixing something.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Common sense, Eri-kun. I'm baking." She laughed.

"I know. I know." Eriol smiled. "What are you baking?"

"Cake."

"Oh. I'll help you." Eriol volunteered as he hugged her tight.

"You are not helping, Eriol." Tomoyo frowned. "Seriously, I need some help."

"I love you." He murmured.

"I love you too, Eriol." Tomoyo sighed. "Now, will you help me?"

"Sure." he answered.

The Christmas party was held at Daidouji Mansion. Everyone from the class was invited, whether they have dates or not.

Tomoyo was busy entertaining everyone when suddenly Eriol excused her for a while.

"Why?" she asked.

"I've got something to show you." Eriol said as he led her to the balcony where the box he brought earlier was there. "Come on, open it."

Tomoyo just smiled and opened the box. She was surprised to see a male white dog. She took the puppy and hugged Eriol.

"You are so sweet…" she murmured.

Eriol just smiled as she looked at her.

"Aishiteru." She murmured as she kissed him on his lips.

-----

If the sky opened up for me,
And the mountains disappeared,
If the seas run dry, turned to dust
And the sun refused to rise
I would still find my way,
By the light I see in your eyes.
The world I know fades away
But you stay.

As the earth reclaims its due,
And the cycle starts anew,
We'll stay, always
In the love that we have
Shared before time.

If the years take away
Every memory that I have
I would still know the way
That would lead me back to your side.
The North star may die
But the light that I see in your eyes
Will burn there always
By the love we have
Shared before time.

When the forest turns to jade,
And the stories that we've made
Dissolve away
One shining light will still remain.

When we shed our earthly skin,
When our real life begins,
There'll be no shame
Just the love that we have made before time.

Constructive Criticisms are welcome. Please read and review. Thanks!