Thanks to everyone who reviewed and Black Spark for your advice as well ^-^ I'll try to check myself as I make conversations.
As you can see I've come back pretty intact, brain is in place and everything… but school is really going to be an issue for me from March – May… during which… I may just die, but that's not the issue! If I get into my no-updating habits again it might just be because something came up… but I do think the next couple months will go okay, so I might get the chance to update this or my other story, Blush, every weekend.
Who knows, right?
Disclaimer: CCS - Bwah. I want to own it. But I don't. And you can't sue me because I have about a penny in my possession.
Plot - Most of the plot is mine but many situations are based off of a movie that I had seen…
Chapter 2: A little bird
Tomoyo smiled lightly and hummed to herself as she walked into her house. She dropped her keys on her kitchen table and went to open the refrigerator. She stuck her head in looking for some ingredients to make a quick sandwich.
Empty.
The entire thing was empty except for some vegetable dip in the bottom drawer. She sighed and muttered to herself, "I knew I forgot something."
Tomoyo picked up her keys and thought, 'oh well, I guess I'll run down to Sakura-chan's restaurant.'
_ _ _ _ _ _
Sakura Li was Tomoyo's childhood friend. They had been together for longer than anyone could remember. As kids they would do everything together. But things had calmed down after a while, when Sakura met Syaoran. Her husband. While Tomoyo had practical dreams, Sakura was always looking at fantasies… maybe that's why she got such a wonderful husband.
But had it not been for Tomoyo, the two would have probably remained single. While Sakura was cheerful, she was a tad bit shy, and with Syaoran being a bit, reserved, it took the power of a Tomoyo glare to make them confess their feelings.
Tomoyo smiled and thought to herself, 'those were the days.'
Let's say the ten minutes drive to the place already passed
She drove into the parking lot, and was surprised at seeing silver BMW already parked there. She ran into the restaurant and sat in her usual spot near the kitchen counter. Sakura walked from one side of the kitchen to the other and stopped to smile and exclaim, "hey Tomoyo-chan!"
Tomoyo smiled back and just then she felt someone tug at her sleeves. She looked down and picked up a little boy about 3 years old.
She giggled and said, "And how are you today Lan?"
The boy held up a chain and said, "daddy got it aunt 'moyo."
The chain was silver yet there was a sapphire blue pendant shaped like the sun on it.
She smiled and said, "And it's very sweet."
Just then, Syaoran walked in and said, "Hello Tomoyo."
She smiled brightly and replied, "Hi Syaoran-kun. When did you get back?"
He sighed and said, "A couple hours ago. Our new driver picked me up. Actually, I think I saw you there."
She said, "oh, that's the Project M I was talking about. Hima-san's nephew, I'm supposed to find him a perfect girl."
He nodded and was about to continue asking when the bell rang and in strolled Gary Hima and Eriol Hiiragizawa. Syaoran had a light glare directed towards one of them and Tomoyo turned around to see whom and gasped.
_ _ _ _ _ _
She asked, "What're you guys doing here?"
Syaoran said, "You know him?"
She said, "Yeah Mr. Hiiragizawa's Uncle Gary's nephew." Then she asked, "Wait, you know him too?"
He said, "Unfortunately. Met him in England on one of my business trips."
Then Eriol finally answered, "As to why we're here, Uncle brought me over for lunch. Said it was a nice quaint place. And Hello to you too Mr. Li and Miss Tomoyo." Syaoran's glare intensified while the two took seats next to Tomoyo
Just then, Sakura walked out and she said, "Ohayo Hima-san! What would you like for lunch today?"
He smiled and said, "I think my nephew should try your special Sakura. And the usual for me please."
_ _ _ _ _ _
Since there were very few people at the restaurant, everyone sat down for lunch by bringing two tables together. By some chance, Eriol and Tomoyo were seated next to each other, with Sakura and Syaoran across from them. Then Tomoyo looked up and asked, "But Uncle, how did you get here? I thought your car was in the shop."
He coughed a little and then said, "Well, I hitched a ride with our gardener. Such a nice boy." She looked a little suspicious but let it go and went back to eating.
When Sakura went in to bring out a special cake that she had baked for Syaoran's return, Eriol and Syaoran started to mildly argue. Of course, Eriol asked with a smirk of how Syaoran's business was running along. And the man answered curtly, resulting in a laugh and a little teasing of 'ickle Syao-chan'. One thing above another until Syaoran was red and mumbling curses while Tomoyo sweat dropped and closed Lan's ears.
She then asked, "You guys know each other pretty well, are you sure you met only once?"
Eriol then turned towards her, and said, "Of course not. Syaoran is somewhat of a distant cousin, and we met each other a lot when we were younger. Of course, he's always been very temperamental."
Once they were done, the all six went out to Tomoyo's car. During lunch, Tomoyo offered to drop Hiiragizawa-san and Hima-san at their house. Gary was thinking about something when suddenly he got an idea of how to keep his nephew off the bachelor list. He said, "Child, Tomoyo if you're not too busy, could you show Eriol around town?"
Tomoyo was hesitant. Mr. Hiiragizawa was scaring her. All through lunch he had stolen glances at her, and he was just so mysterious…
But then Eriol cleared his throat and said, "No need Uncle, I'll walk around and if I get lost I'll just ask someone for directions." In reality, he wanted to get to the nearest phone booth and reschedule his flight to an earlier time. His parents never said that he couldn't come home till he found love. And plus, a couple weeks of touring Japan should be enough to see all the places necessary. Unlike the four-week long vacation his father had planned.
Syaoran agreed to that as well, not liking the idea of Eriol and Tomoyo within even five feet of each other.
Reminding you of someone?
Sakura was too busy to notice any tensions and just suggested, "But I was going to ask Tomoyo-chan to keep Lan company anyways. Two baby-sitters are better than one."
Tomoyo gaped at Sakura. Did she hear correctly? Sakura, the innocent one, almost tried something that she, Tomoyo, would have used to matchmake someone. Oh no.
But Sakura was oblivious to what she had just done. Instead, she cleared the tables with Syaoran's help. Tomoyo took the pouting Lan out of his high chair and was getting ready to leave, when Eriol walked up to her and asked where they would be going in particular. She hadn't thought of things that far but as usual, Sakura popped up and said, "there is that carnival that Lan wanted to go to Tomoyo. You could just walk the half mile and show Eriol-san the marketplace on the way."
Tomoyo nodded and they set out to leave after Sakura gave the usual lecture of rules to Lan. After they'd departed, so did Uncle Gary, insisting that he had to go buy some things at a corner store.
Sakura and Syaoran sat near the counter, with him holding her hand lightly. He was worried about Tomoyo, any man would was creepy enough to be Eriol Hiiragizawa could not be trusted. Contrary to what he'd told Tomoyo, Eriol grew up with him in Hong Kong, and though he was quite the mannered relative around family, he was one of the few who'd made Syaoran's life miserable.
Sakura stared at him as he was in deep thought and asked, "What's wrong Syao-kun?"
He looked into her worried emerald eyes, feeling guilty, and asked, "Why did you send Tomoyo with Eriol?"
She looked confused and replied, "Well he needed to see town. Is there something wrong?"
He shook his head and smiled, kissing her and feeling happy that he was finally home.
_ _ _ _ _ _
Tomoyo pointed out various shops and said hello to many shopkeepers as she held Lan. It felt weird, showing another person who was almost the same age as her around. She hadn't done that for quite a while. Maybe there was hope and maybe, by some chance, she would heal. But she snapped out of her thoughts as Eriol asked, "Who's the flower-shop lady? With red hair?"
She looked to her left and stopped, saying hello to the woman commonly known as Kaho Mizuki. She introduced Eriol, who, being the perfect gentleman bent down and kissed her hand whispering, "Enchanted madam." She smiled a little awkwardly and said, "Thank you Mr. "
He replied softly and huskily, "Eriol. Just Eriol."
Tomoyo, to say the least, didn't expect that a man of his age would go for someone who was, at the least, 15 years older than him. But to each their own…
She expressed her doubts as they bought tickets for the carnival, and he replied, "Why Miss Daidouji, do I hear a hint of jealousy?"
She smiled fakely and hissed, "I should hope not Mr. Hiiragizawa, the faster I get you married to someone, the faster I can get back to my normal life."
_ _ _ _ _ _
Tomoyo Daidouji was an interesting character. As Eriol drove her car towards his uncle's house where dinner was waiting for them, he looked over to see her asleep. To say the least, she had a tiring day. 3-year-old Lan did not warn anyone of what happened when he had sugar, and by the time they'd gotten him back to Li and Sakura, Tomoyo was just about to break. So he'd offered to drive, and as reluctant as she seemed, she agreed, sitting in the passenger seat without much protest.
His mind wandered back to the last part of their day, when he'd convinced her into joining him on the Ferris wheel.
-Flashback-
"Oh come now Ms. Daidouji, it is only a Ferris wheel," he tried to reassure her to join him.
She shook her head and replied, "I really hate heights, why don't you take Lan to keep you company and I will wait for you two here." But the boy was already asleep on her shoulder, finally tired after running around for hours.
Eriol looked skeptical and asked, "but what fun is there with no awake companion on the ride?" She smiled slightly. The man really knew how to persuade someone, probably a very useful skill in business, but she was still very against going on the one ride that could scare the wits out of her.
He finally sighed and said, "There's nothing to worry about Miss Daidouji, I will be right here, next to you. And so will Lan."
So he'd convinced her, and, though she could hardly admit it to the smug Eriol Hiiragizawa, the sight from above was beautiful. Though, she'd closed her eyes tightly and kept her hands over her face, whatever she'd managed to see by sneaking glances through the gaps between her fingers was breathtaking…
-End flashback-
So she'd sat through the ride, adding more to his curiosity with her. As far as he could decipher, Tomoyo Daidouji had almost everything, including the lines of men at her bidding, so why was she still single? Then again, he couldn't really judge her with himself being in the same position as her, but he had a feeling that there was more to her story that he knew…
_ _ _ _ _ _
A/N: ugh… I know this is boring you like crazy and it is me too… usually I would end up around there, but I haven't updated in such a long time… I'm going to add a lot more so; hopefully the chapter will get better…
-A week later-
Eriol sighed as he looked at his reflection. The coat and suit were okay, but the tie seemed a little crooked and it wouldn't budge. How he got talked into this he had no idea, one minute he was having another verbal spar with Miss Daidouji and the next, he was here, getting ready for meeting another girl that he was sure he would not like.
She sat on the bed smiling, humming and swinging her legs happily. Ever since Eriol-san had arrived, he'd agreed that his last name was quite hard to repeat time after time, he'd made her as miserable as possible. The man had more issues with 'the perfect woman' than anyone she'd ever seen. But it was amusing to watch him squirm and feel very conscious every time she'd taken him to these 'potentials' as Uncle Gary had put them. In fact, in the binder that she'd held in her hand, she had the information on all the girls Gary wanted his nephew to meet, and two of the ten had already been rejected, or rather, Eriol-san made them reject him.
It was odd, as if Eriol Hiiragizawa cared about these women, he would never express his dislike to them or their character, just make them repulsed enough by him to leave. There was something about that; she couldn't label it, but it was quite nice of him. Now if only he could learn to be nice to her.
She looked up as he cleared his throat, frowning at her cheerful appearance. She was ready to go, and simply waiting for him to get ready. The last time he'd snuck out of his bedroom when she'd waited downstairs and she'd learned from her mistake this time around. She got up as he walked up to her grumbling about how horrible the idea was, and all she did was smile and pat his shoulder. She said happily, "Now now Eriol-san, we have to be a proper gentleman don't we?" And saying so she straightened his tie, willing herself to not look anywhere else. She had to admit, if anything, Eriol H. was quite the charmer. Whomever he would marry would have to have a lot of patience though…
_ _ _ _ _ _
As Tomoyo and Eriol walked into the restaurant, she prayed hard that Eriol would not make this meeting a disaster as well. It wasn't hard to get the girl to come, but then again, it seemed like she was too eager.
They approached Table 13, something Tomoyo did not plan, as he'd picked out the locations, and approached a girl with bright blue eyes and short black hair. She had on a short midnight blue dress and looked quite cute in appearance. She stood as they neared her table and Tomoyo took the initiative by saying, "Raven?" The girl nodded enthusiastically and extended her hand.
Tomoyo shook it lightly and the girl pointed to Eriol and said, "You must be Eriol!"
He nodded with a strained smile and said, "Well, shall we sit?"
_ _ _ _ _ _
Dinner had been going along quite nicely, with Eriol keeping himself from throwing up at the obnoxious yet oblivious nature of the girl, when suddenly she looked up and squeaked. It was an improvement to her ranting, that, Tomoyo was making sure he was listening to; of course, any girl with high heels had to be pleased or one would face immense pain. But as the girl started to cower and slide down her chair, Tomoyo caught her arm and asked her what was wrong, and the girl nervously replied that she would have to be excused for a minute and ducked under the table.
Tomoyo and Eriol shared a glance, and both, looked under the table, with Tomoyo trying to squeeze down there as well, not knowing how else to try and confront the girl. She started crying, and Eriol handed her a handkerchief that she blew into, quite unlady like, and handed to Tomoyo.
She took the cloth with a little disgust and put it aside quickly, asking Raven what was the matter. The girl hiccupped and whispered quietly, "That guy over there in the blue suit was and is my only true love. I thought I could get over him, but I can't! Oh the only reason I agreed to this stupid proposal was because he left saying that *hiccup* that he could find many girls like me."
Eriol, though relieved that the girl didn't really want to get married, accidentally mumbled out loud that many girls like Raven could be found, earning a painful jab from his matchmaker. Honestly, he didn't understand why she had to be so nice…
Tomoyo tried to placate the girl by saying that it wasn't true, to which Eriol quickly confirmed, but it only ended in the girl saying that she wanted to leave. So Tomoyo and Eriol formulated a quick plan, and Tomoyo quietly went and asked the boy if the seat in front of him was empty. Though she was wearing a particularly fake grin, she chided herself quickly as he smiled and asked her to sit. 'Turn on your charm Tomoyo.'
So she started chatting about anything, acting quite dumb at the same time. On the other hand, at the table Eriol and Raven sat laughing merrily and talking as if they were good friends. Of course, the ex got jealous very soon, and somehow, it had become a war as to who had more fun over dinner. And he, not being the ignorant fool that he was, realized that indeed Raven was one of a kind, and that he would lose her if he hadn't done something fast.
As planned, Eriol and Tomoyo left for the washroom at the same time, leaving the boyfriend, whose name we learned as Tommy, to go to Raven, apologize and win her back with a little style.
Eriol let go of a breath that he held as he walked towards the car that he'd finally gotten to renting. He loosened his tie and waited up for Miss Daidouji, who insisted on giving a proper goodbye to the couple.
_ _ _ _ _ _
As he drove back to drop Miss Daidouji off, he noticed things that he hadn't thought about before. Like at the restaurant, as she talked to Tommy, her eyes were not basking in the same happiness that her smile radiated. Sure they twinkled, but he could still notice the darkness that hid deep inside her. And those eyes… he prayed that he never looked at them again. Such deep amethyst eyes that he could get lost in if caught unguarded.
But that was not all. As she said a quick goodbye and walked towards her house, Eriol noticed how her long tresses still managed to look so tempting in such dim light. He drove out quickly; wary of the thoughts of her that were plaguing his mind. He had a very good idea as to why as well…
_ _ _ _ _ _
She didn't remember what time it was, nor how she'd gotten here, to the top of a moss-ridden rock in only a summer dress. She would start to shiver soon, she'd forgotten to bring a jacket, but it didn't matter. She had come here to think, thinking upon the events of the previous week.
Eriol Hiiragizawa was, to say the least, a very good story weaver. The way he had gotten out of the first two proposals was enough proof, and she'd hoped greatly that the third time would be the charm. But it was not. And as she looked at the waves that softly hit the rocks, she smiled a little, finding it humorous that they'd managed to get the girl back together with her boyfriend. What luck for a―
"Why hello Miss Daidouji," a voice spoke calmly. She didn't jump, nor turn around. One week had been enough time for her to remember his voice well.
He sat down beside her, just as another nightly wind blew, making her shiver lightly. He'd taken off his jacket and put it around her, as she realized that it seemed so big compared to her smaller stature. They stared at the ocean, quietly, immersed in their thoughts, when she finally spoke saying, "Why is sleep evading you Eriol-san?"
He smirked and replied, "My impending doom. How many more tales must I spin before I accidentally tell the truth?"
She smiled and said, "I would never think of that possible."
He looked away from her, and back at the black ocean with only the moonlight's reflection on it and asked, "Why are you here?" She sighed and looked up at the sky quietly before saying, "I think I must head back now. It is very late." He nodded but offered to walk her back. She wanted to refuse but knew that he could present an argument that would allow him to join her in any case so she agreed.
As they walked back, she realized that she hadn't answered his question and said quietly, "It is so futile to try and fight the ways of Fate and Destiny Eriol-san. Whatever is meant to happen will happen." He looked at her trying to absorb more of the enigma next to him. But he differed from her. While she thought of the ideas that were there to blame when one had problems, he kept a firm grip on his life, taking the next step just as easily as his last.
He replied, "I'm not a believer in Fate and Destiny Miss Daidouji. Why do so when you are taught that you have the power to change the world as a child?" She stopped, her eyes turning darker as he looked at her. She was fighting an inner battle that she still couldn't win. And her heart clenched painfully as a flood of emotions washed over her. But they washed over, they did not remain, and a minute later, she started walking again, insisting to the confused Eriol that she was fine.
As they neared her home she turned to him and said, "Thank you Eriol-san. I will be fine from here." And she walked quite far away when he exclaimed, "Wait!"
He had to do this now. Sorting out his feelings could wait later. He jogged up to her and said, "I want to be your friend."
Her eyes widened a little in surprise but she let him continue, "I know we have gotten off on the wrong foot Miss Daidouji but we need to cut the formalities. Don't you think?"
She nodded slowly and he smiled putting his hand out saying, "Hi. My name is Eriol Hiiragizawa."
She smiled and played along saying, "Hello Eriol. My name's Tomoyo. Tomoyo Daidouji." She shook his hand, realizing that his would be her first full friendship after many months.
And there, between land and water, on wet sand, a bond was born that would lead to a wonderful tale…
_ _ _ _ _ _
Aww… don't be mad at me. It was a very long chapter. Pretty uneventful for the most part, but, I tried to piece my story back together. I had such a perfect plan! No K+E in this story! Don't worry! And the S+S will be just here and there, since they make some situations all the more interesting.
There are a few side notes that go along with this chapter, seeing to the fact that my brain decided not to follow the original plan, I'll be making things up as I go along. So, that may mean more yawn-able parts as we go along.
I know this chapter skipped over a whole week! But time had to speed up, for my sake and yours, because I don't think this will be as long as I intended. Hehe… and if I write long chapters like this one every time, chances are I may end up with a very short story.
Oh well, I'm done with my ranting, and back on track for the… 18th day of the New Year.
Review!
And criticize… seeing to the fact that I don't have someone proof it with a fine-toothed comb every time, you may find more of the hidden errors…
~*Spectraangel*~