Litanya: Okay, here's the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who reads this fic, I really appreciate it. I don't own CCS and nor do I claim to… as you can see. This chapter may be a little weird because I haven't had much sleep and that often makes me go weird… and yes Steph, I heard that groan!

Cursed Love

Chapter 4: Impossible

"Okay, I guess that we can hold off the visit to the doctors if you promise me one thing…" she said slowly, suddenly getting an idea.

"And what is that?" he was a little wary of what her plan would be. He knew that she could be devious if she wanted to be.

"If you promise me that you will come with me to Sakura's wedding in two months time, I will let you off the hook," she could not believe what she had just said. It was true that Sakura had told Tomoyo the night before that she would need a date to go to the wedding with, but why had she chosen Eriol? Her illusion almost crumbled at that point, before she managed to construct it again. She watched Eriol closely for a reaction, but none came. He was just staring at a point that seemed extremely far away, "Eriol, are you okay?" This made him come back to Earth.

"I-I can't make that promise Tomoyo-san," he hadn't meant to call her by her first name, but it had slipped out by mistake. He avoided looking at her and instead took an interest in the roof above him. He wanted to tell her that he would go with her, but he could not lie to her. He knew that by the time Sakura's wedding came about, he would be dead.

"It's okay Eriol-kun, it just means that you have to go to the doctors now," she replied as cheerfully as possible, a few seconds after he had spoken. It had shocked her when he had said no. Her hopes had been shattered, but what confused her the most was that she was extremely hurt. It did not make sense. She felt as though he had taken her heart out and stomped on it, but she did not know why.

"There's no point in going to see the doctor," he felt that the time had come to tell her the truth, "The illness that I have can never be cured, at least not yet anyway." He could not say straight out that he was dying, but she got the message anyway.

"W-Why can't it be cured?" she was shaking. She could not believe what he had just told her. It just could not be true.

"I was placed under a curse ten months ago. It's not one of those curses that are in fairytales where the problem is solved by a kiss and everyone lives happily ever after. I was cursed by the twins… they use their magic to run an assassination business. They told me that they needed my help, but I refused. They managed to put this curse on me. I will die twelve months after the curse was put on me. They told me that I would get sick two months before I would die. It's been ten months. The only way that I will live longer is if I join the twins and help them kill someone. I can't do that and so in effect there is no cure," his eyes remained fixed on the roof, and he could feel his heart cracking under the pressure of the truth. He was not going to see Tomoyo again after less than two months.

"Why can't you just pretend that you're helping them, you know, conjure up the illusion that you are doing what they tell you?" she was desperately trying to find a way that he could stay alive. She needed him to live, she… what was she thinking? Why did she need him to live? Her mind was in chaos as she tried to sort through her thoughts.

"I can't do that. They know my magical aura. It would tell them easily that I was lying to them, and I can't do that. They have the power to increase and decrease the time period of the curse. They will not decrease the time I have left because they are still hoping that I will help. They won't increase it either, because they know that I will not be scared of them if they do, and it is my fear that they need if they want me to help them. I have already accepted that I am going to die. It is impossible for me to get out of it. It is my fate if you want me to put it that way," he was feeling tired again and he felt his eyes closing. He tried to force them to stay open but they closed against his will.

"But you can't die yet! I only just realised…" she stopped herself mid-sentence and fled from the room, tears flooding her eyes. Eriol forced his eyes open, ignoring their pleas to close. What had she been about to say? She had just realised… what? His heart began beating faster and faster as he thought about it. She had been upset, that had been expected, but she had sounded so… heartbroken. Had he broken her heart? He tried to sit up so that he could at least try to phone her, but at that moment his chest began to burn so much that he fell unconscious immediately. The pain, both physical and mental, was taking its toll.

She ran out of the mansion and down the street, ignoring the strange looks she was receiving from passers-by. Her initial intent had been to go home, but she knew that Eriol would haunt her if she went there. She would remember all of the times that they had spent working on papers for class, drinking hot chocolate, or just arguing over stupid topics. There were too many memories at her apartment. Even though she had only known Eriol for ten months, some of her most precious memories were from those times in her apartment. She shook her head slightly to try and erase the thoughts of him. She glanced down at her watch whilst wiping the tears from her eyes. It was 5pm. The night would soon be upon them. Suddenly making up her mind, she called for the nearest Taxi.

"The airport," she told the driver as she climbed into the backseat, not allowing him to speak. Although she did not have any luggage with her, she wanted to go to Hong Kong. Uni could wait. She just wanted to go home to people she loved, where she could get loved in return. And it was all because she had fallen in love with the wrong guy. She had fallen for a dying 'boy,' a 'boy' that could not return her love. She was only normal. When love was concerned, she wanted to both give and receive it. Where there is no love, one cannot survive. That was why she left.

Nakuru looked in on her master for the twelfth time, only to find him in the same position. His eyes were closed and his left arm was hanging off the couch. His breathing was hoarse and instead of looking at peace, because he was sleeping, he looked as if he was in a state of mental Hell. He was still, but there was a feeling of chaos that radiated from his being. He had been in that position for at least seven hours and his guardian was extremely worried. Something felt very wrong.

"Eriol-sama, are you awake?" there was no answer, not even a small movement. It was almost as if he had gone into his own little coma. She looked over at Spinal Sun and he shook his head. Things did not look good, especially if Spinal did not understand what was going on. Nakuru also had to wonder at where Tomoyo had gone. The raven haired beauty had been there when Nakuru had left, but she had been nowhere in sight when she had arrived back home. A novel had been left on the floor, a small bookmark inserted at a certain point, but that was the only evidence there was that Tomoyo had been there.

"Come on Nakuru, we'd better leave him alone. If he hasn't woken in a few hours, we have to talk to Tomoyo. She supposedly took him to the doctors, so maybe she will tell us what is wrong with him. He's probably just tired," but Nakuru paused as she was about to leave the room.

"But what if he really is sick Suppi-chan? We should be able to detect it, but there is something strange about the signals I'm receiving. What is going on?" she whispered. The other guardian did not reply, but just floated out of the door.

"Some questions are better left unanswered, and I have a feeling that this is one of them. Now come on Nakuru, it's late," surprisingly she followed him without a word. Something was seriously wrong with the entire household. Nothing was functioning correctly at all. If Nakuru was obeying Spinal Sun without a complaint, what had happened to turn the world upside down? It was amazing at the impact a few muttered words had had. Only a few muttered words had wrecked their lives forever.

"Tomoyo-chan, what are you doing here?" Sakura exclaimed as she greeted her best friend. Tomoyo looked like an emotional wreck. She had not been able to sleep on the flight and instead she had tortured herself with memories of the times she had spent with Eriol. She was still confused as to why those moments seemed more precious than those she had spent with Sakura, Syaoran and her mother.

"I… uh I just thought that I would surprise you guys," she laughed a little nervously as she gave Sakura a hug. Sakura gave her a sideways look as they parted from their hug. She knew that something was bothering the girl, but she had no idea what it was.

"But, you still have classes. You told me a few days ago that you really had to concentrate on studying because of your exams. You told me not to worry, that you were having a great time and that Hiiragizawa-kun was making sure that you didn't go crazy. Why did you suddenly change your mind and come here?" Sakura caught the flash of hurt in Tomoyo's eyes as she mentioned Eriol, "What happened? Did Hiiragizawa-kun do something?" Tomoyo took a step back.

"I just came around to say hi. I have to go and arrange the hotel that I'm staying at. I will come around and talk with you later," she turned to leave, but found that Syaoran was blocking her path. He had been silently watching the exchange between the two girls and he found that he could not let Tomoyo leave until she had told them what had happened.

"Daidouji-san, we are your friends. We care about you. If Hiiragizawa has done something to you, then please tell us so that we can go and give him a suitable punishment. Please Daidouji-san, we need to know what happened," she looked at him and shook her head slowly.

"Eriol-kun did not do anything. What happened is not his fault," she said softly, taking a sudden interest in the flowers around her. Syaoran and Sakura exchanged glances.

"Come on inside Tomoyo-chan. We should probably continue this discussion inside," Sakura gently took Tomoyo's hand and led her inside. Syaoran followed behind, silently offering some sort of support.

"You shouldn't be so worried, it's nothing," Tomoyo told them as they all took a seat in the living room of the mansion. After explaining to Yelan, Syaoran's mother, that everything was fine, they had almost pushed Tomoyo into the room, and they had locked the door behind them. They knew that Tomoyo was not fine, no matter what she told them.

"Tomoyo you came all the way here from England when you have exams in a few weeks, you have assignments due and classes to attend. You didn't bring any luggage with you, you look as though you haven't even brushed your hair for two days and you also seem to have been crying. Now if that is your way of telling us that nothing is wrong, you didn't do a very good job," Tomoyo looked at the ground. She had hoped that Sakura wouldn't notice. The emerald-eyed girl was often so unobservant that she sometimes did not notice little things like those she had just mentioned.

"Maybe something did upset me… but you can't do anything about it. Even Eriol-kun couldn't do anything, and supposedly he's one of the best magicians in the entire world," this caused both of the two to look at her strangely.

"What did you just say? Something about this friend of yours and magic?" Syaoran was really interested in this new development. When Sakura had first told him that Tomoyo had made friends with a 'Hiiragizawa-kun' he had thought that the name had been familiar. He had made some enquiries and had found that there was a Hiiragizawa family that had been related to his own family. If Tomoyo's friend had been one of them, he would have been Syaoran's third cousin.

"Eriol-kun has magic… he told me once that his family was distantly related to yours, Syaoran, or something like that. He also told me that his magic is extremely strong. If he couldn't fix it, then you wouldn't be able to either."

"What is wrong? If we know what is happening then at least we can help you in some way!" Sakura was becoming more than a little concerned with her friend. She was still refusing to look them in the eye to tell them why she had arrived there that morning.

"Someone…" she trailed off as she realised that she would not be able to tell them. She was confused herself as to what had happened.

"Someone…" Syaoran encouraged, trying to get the answers. Sakura said nothing; she just put her arm around Tomoyo's shoulders, silently supporting her.

"Someone used magic and now… now…" she still could not say it.

"I'm guessing that it is something to do with Hiiragizawa-kun," Sakura said gently, sensing something in Tomoyo's voice. Tomoyo nodded.

"He explained it to me, but I can't remember some of the things he said. Something about a curse and that he was going to die in two months, but other than that…" she was straining herself to keep the tears in as she said this. Sakura and Syaoran exchanged another look. It was now obvious why Tomoyo was so upset.

"So you're saying that Hiiragizawa-kun was cursed and he is going to die in two months?" Sakura repeated, to make sure she had the story right.

"Yes. Apparently the people cursed him about ten months ago. He started getting sick about… two weeks ago. It was at the stage where he was too sick to leave his house. I told him that he had to go see a doctor and he told me that he was dying," she stood and walked to the window. She wanted an excuse so that she could blink all of the tears away without them noticing.

"Do you know who cursed him?" Syaoran asked, an idea forming in his mind. He would need Tomoyo's cooperation to pull it off though.

"He said something about some twins and an assassination business… then something about the curse only being removed if he helped the twins in their evil doings or something like that. I wasn't really listening closely," she admitted, wishing that it was raining. It was easier to feel better if the weather matched your sad mood.

"Sintered and Santerado… I thought that they only operated in Africa, but obviously they have moved up in the world since I last heard of them," Sakura's voice actually sounded bitter as she said their names, which surprised Tomoyo a little. It was not like the innocent Sakura to speak that badly of someone.

"You know them?"

"I know of them. They're not very nice people. What are you planning over there Syaoran?" she could see Syaoran's amber eyes glinting evilly in the sunlight and she knew that that was a bad sign.

"Do you think that we'd be able to talk to Hiiragizawa?" he asked Tomoyo, who shrugged a little in surprise.

"It depends. At the moment he has almost no energy. He was almost falling asleep when he was talking to me before. Nakuru would know if he was okay or not to speak to I guess. If I called her before-hand, maybe," she did not sound very certain, but she could feel a small glimmer of hope, "Why, do you have a plan?"

"You could say that… could you please call 'Nakuru' and ask her if it would be okay if we went over there to speak with Hiiragizawa?" he crossed to the phone and held it out for Tomoyo to take. She took the phone without saying anything and dialed the familiar number. She was just hoping that someone would be home to answer the call.

"Nakuru, you should get the phone," Spinal called to the guardian, who was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice that the phone had been ringing.

"Good afternoon, Nakuru speaking," she told the person on the other end of the line, her voice detached as though her mind wasn't really switched on.

"Nakuru, its Tomoyo. Is Eriol-kun awake at the moment?" Nakuru forced herself to concentrate on the call as she realised who it was.

"No, he hasn't woken since yesterday afternoon, maybe since you left here. I'm very worried; he never usually gets this sick. Did you take him to the doctors?" over in Hong Kong, Tomoyo was surprised that Nakuru did not know what was wrong with Eriol.

"Nakuru, he did tell you why he was sick… didn't he?"

"No, he never said a word about anything. He even tried to hide the fact that he was sick from me. You see, his parents were killed by a sickness when he was very young. But they died from a sickness caused by a curse. He feels as though I will get upset if he mentions that he is sick because he believes that I will get worried that he will die," there was a silence on the other end of the line, "Tomoyo-chan, what do you know that I don't?" Another small pause before Tomoyo finally answered.

"Eriol-kun is sick because of a curse. Surely he would have told you that?" Nakuru almost dropped the phone.

"He-he promised that he would tell me whenever he was sick but… he never told me that. It's no wonder that he isn't awake then, he probably won't wake up until he dies," she almost collapsed whilst she said this as she took in what was happening.

"What?"

"His parents were in coma-like states until the day they died. Curses have weird ways of working, or something like that. It could also have been that they did not want to be so sick and weak in front of Eriol. The comas may have been self-imposed or due to the curse. I don't really know," Tomoyo received this news glumly. She would never be able to speak to him again…

"Thank you for the information Nakuru. I have to go now, but I will talk to you later okay? Just fill Spinal in with what I just told you. Bye," she hung up the phone and turned to Sakura and Syaoran.

"I take it that we can't speak to him then?" Syaoran asked pointlessly after seeing the expression on her face.

"Nakuru told me that his parents also died because of a curse. She said that they both went into comas before they died. Eriol-kun hasn't woken up since I left the other day," Tomoyo slowly put the receiver back and sighed. She felt so useless. The boy she loved was dying and she could do nothing about it. It was frustrating to say the least.

"The twins run an assassination business, right?" Syaoran was slowly getting an idea of what was going on.

"Yeah, they do."

"And Hiiragizawa's parents were killed by a curse which sounds a lot like the one that Eriol died of… hang on a second, I have to ask my mother something," he disappeared out of the room before they could say another word.

"Don't worry Tomoyo-chan; if anyone can work it out, it's Syaoran-kun, especially when it comes to magic," Sakura tried to make her smile, but it did not work really well, "You really care about Hiiragizawa-kun, don't you?"

"I thought that he was too good to be true. Now I know why," she muttered, the tears coming to her eyes yet again.

"Everything will work out to be okay Tomoyo-chan. All you have to do is believe! Syaoran will think of something. We'll save Hiiragizawa-kun, I promise that we will!"

To be Continued…

End of Chapter 4

Litanya: There you are. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. It was a bit longer than the past few have been, because I got hit by an arrow of inspiration. Please review if you feel like it and have a good… whatever it is wherever you are!