SEASON OF SPRING
Part One
By: Lau-kun

Disclaimer: A/N at end. CCS©CLAMP and this fiction is ©2005 by yours truly. So if you even dare steal it or use it w/o permission, a murder of ravens will feast on your body... ALIVE. And for those who wanna sue me, I don't own CCS (along with a few copyrighted things mentioned in this fiction) coz if I do, Eriol would be off with Tomoyo by now. (Yeah... that's putting it mildly for someone with a dirty, little twisted brain box... XD)

-- Feedbacks are always welcome... even cruel ones.

Thanks to those who reviewed this fiction! Hah! Told ya you'd all make my day! And toVampirePeaches and Ari for beta reading this fic! I love you so much! You guys are apair ofprecious, precious jewels! Actually, you ALL are!

Spring

Renewal of Life, Hope and Feelings

This was one of the many occurrences in the Kinomoto Residence ever since the winter festival incident rattled the little world of Tomoeda District...

"HIIRAGIZAWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" screeched a voice that was obviously ready to pull out a deadly bolo from somewhere then commit a chopping, gory homicide. Flames were flickering in Li's eyes, and no one would even wonder if he somehow managed to set the Kinomoto residence on fire, as he was being restrained by Fujitaka, Sakura and Yukito from cutting Hiiragizawa's oxygen supply by any torturing, painful means possible.

"Calm down..." said Fujitaka, soothingly, looking like someone had stuffed him a mouthful of sour, raw plum.

Li-kun took two, deep breaths, "Calm down?" he inhaled, sharply. "Calm. DOWN?" his tone radiated an air of disbelief, resentment and annoyance towards Hiiragizawa's obnoxious smiling face. Oh, how he yearned to break the cartilage bone of his nose and cut every capillaries in his neck. One. By. One. "How can YOU calm down when that... THAT FREAK..." he snarled. "Relentlessly PLACED a... a..." he turned scarlet then shook his head to valiantly clear the thought away. Hiiragizawa was forcing a snigger out of his chest. "A... THING..." he managed, and burned even more scarlet, "in MY shopping bag?"

Yukito was preparing to transform in case the need for a barrier pops up.

Touya and Kero were amusedly looking over the on-going event, but the former was half-glaring at Hiiragizawa for gracing them again with his augustly loathsome presence. The latter, however, was just throwing in a snicker or two after imagining the other Clow reincarnate with a black eye. Not only that, he was already wondering what he would look like after being forced in a full body cast or perhaps, tie him with ribbons and ruffles, arrange his hair on a pigtail, force him to wear the THING that he sneaked in Li's shopping bag — out of his pants — then drag him out on a parade. Before he could even finish, Kero was already rolling around in mid-air with a healthy fit of giggles.

"It was just a joke..." shrugged Hiiragizawa, looking exactly like a wittle wost boy in the middle of an awgument that he started, gleefully. "And it's a woman's underwear, Li-kun."

Li fought the urge to imitate a ripe tomato.

"Don't worry Li-kun..." Tomoyo stared at an innocent-looking Hiiragizawa, severely. "I'm sure he wouldn't do it next time with a reason bent on 'It was just a joke' because he might experience something utterly different then hear an 'it was just a joke' too..." she bared a lot of her teeth. "Would you, Hiiragizawa-kun?"

"Daidouji-san," said Hiiragizawa, contriving to look hurt, "I'm utterly wounded by your cruel lack of trust."

No one believed him. But Sakura was nice enough to force a funny look that valiantly stood as a smile.

"And as cruel as it goes," Tomoyo cooed, "we're going to have a little TALK. Later. Ne?" she smiled sweetly — in a diabetic kind of way, "Hiiragizawa-kun?"

She swore she saw Touya, Kero and Li cringe. Fujitaka and Yukito prudently inched back a step. While Sakura was oozing happiness at what she was hearing.

"Tomoyo-chan," said Sakura, fighting the urge to clap her hands in delight and use the couch as a trampoline for a bouncy boost, "does that mean you're going with us next time?"

Tomoyo smiled gently at Sakura, "If that's what it takes to pacify him... of course, Sakura-chan." She turned another dangerously severe look at Hiiragizawa, "I want to know if Hiiragizawa and I understood each other so give me a call when you're going, okay?" she said, "and as for you..."

Hiiragizawa looked like a student who was half-determined to wiggle himself out of a week's detention with a pretty teacher.

And ever since he re-appeared in Tomoeda, life had never been the same again.

Needless to say, he had broadcasted — though not verbally — that he intended to get Li-kun acquainted with steam engines and how it blows up when too much pressure was forced (Spinel translated it to how Li might figure out a thousand ways to torture his almighty master after fanning the flames of passionate hatred in Li-kun too well). Everybody knew it was deliberate. But what a certain lady didn't understand was why was Hiiragizawa paying too much attention to HER?

Oh, of course she had thought countless of times that it was just her imagination — heck, she was even convincing herself desperately it was just her imagination playing tricks on her — but as time went on, she realized it was different. Different, different in every aspect. It was so different; she even junked any attempts of convincing herself that it. Was. Just. Her. Imagination.

And the thought of actually finding whimsical gifts, that reminded her of Spinel's false form, Nakuru's accessories and various Eriolish things, tucked under the mountains of paper works, didn't help a trifle.

Plus, Hiiragizawa was never the kind to be bossed around, with exemptions of a sucrose-intolerant plushie and a genderless-er-female. But she really couldn't fathom the reason why was Eriol Hiiragizawa, reincarnate of Clow Reed, the former most powerful magician in the whole world, letting Tomoyo Daidouji, a simple woman who was as magical as an average mop thrown in an abandoned alleyway, tell him what he should and should not do?

In other words, why was HE letting HER boss him around?

His smirk was letting out an aura of I'm Just Being A Smart Ass So Prepare For Payback Day Daidouji-san. But his gentle eyes were speaking ahead of him in volumes. Large, colossal, HUMONGOUS volumes. Tomoyo thought that if he had expected her to believe that lousy smirk, he had another thing coming. But then, she also wished he couldn't see the gentle look in his eyes because she knew deep inside SHE had another thing coming. And this was the one time she had wished for Sakura-chan's denseness. She pleaded to kami-sama that it would gob smack her straight on the face one day, with anything HARD and SOLID until her nose bled.

And that was how Hiiragizawa had been affecting her for the past months of his stay.

And another fact to be added was the way he was making her feel. She didn't know what it was. And Daidouji Tomoyo didn't like feeling something she didn't know or understand...

It was one bright and cheery Monday morning of spring when Tomoyo found herself standing in the middle of the room. Since the weather was fine and the air smelled of fresh scents of various flowers courtesy of the Daidouji Manor's Garden of Eden, she decided that it was best to give the week a start by starting it early. After pampering herself in a lavish bubble bath, placing in different flowery scents of lavender oil and things as she usually does (unknowing also that it really had a detrimental effect upon most of the male population of her company, or even her classmates back when she was still studying), Tomoyo decided on suiting herself up with a white button up, three-fourths cut polo, a black knee-length skirt, strapped sandals and various simple accessories to tidy her get-up. She nodded at her reflection, walked towards the door and opened it, only to meet her mother's frowning and cat-eyed face.

Tomoyo blinked. Then her mother burst out like an automated gun that went haywire.

So, it was one bright and cheery Monday morning of spring — a month later after the female undies incident — when Tomoyo Daidouji found herself engaged in a verbal war against her mother. It wasn't really a Let's Shout Until We Drive Each Other Crazy kind of argument. Tomoyo was certainly determined to charm her way out — pouting like an elementary girl, giving her mother a pair of puppy eyes—while her mother... well, let's just say that she WAS trying her best not to stomp her feet around and rope her daughter to the bed post to make Tomoyo-chan agree that It Was Not Wise to go to work especially now that she has—

A sneezing sound reverberated through the room.

Daidouji Sonomi gave her daughter one scrutinizing, authoritative look that bid her ill if she doesn't listen.

"But Okaa-san," Tomoyo half-whined and pouted, "I still have to do—"

"—the papers had already been taken care of." finished Sonomi.

Tomoyo blinked, "And then I—"

"—I sent somebody else to attend the board meeting in Cologne." pushed Sonomi.

"But then there's—"

"—I told my secretary to bring them over."

She blinked at the mention of a particular somebody, "Akiyo-chan?" she somewhat recovered then shrugged, "But then—"

"—It's done—"

"—And—"

"—Other employees."

And with that, she concluded for the millionth time that her freedom of speech had been severely violated. First and foremost, by Sakura-chan and THEN by her mother. It wouldn't be too much of a big deal if it was a different person but SHE was her MOTHER. Her OWN mother. The one who gave birth to her, and the one who should be teaching her that the law shouldn't be violated, honey. Tomoyo stuck out her lower lip even more.

Sonomi smiled smugly then worriedly burrowed her brows, "Tomoyo, your temperature is over thirty-eight degrees and according to the Daidouji Company's Book of Working Ethics, anybody who's suffering from fever should take. LEAVE."

"That would apply..." She mumbled. "If we HAD one."

Her mother grinned like a seven-year-old girl, caught in the act of stealing cookies from the cupboard. "I already asked your secretary to translate it in all the languages she knew then had it published." Her grin widened. "Just now."

Tomoyo resorted to her lost puppy look.

"Oh no, you don't." Sonomi balled her eyes around then affectionately pinched her daughter's nose. "That won't work on me especially now that you're burning with fever. Get some rest!"

And somewhere along the line of "burning with fever", Tomoyo suddenly realized how tired she really was but valiantly stood her ground. There was no way in hell was she giving in to some high-temperature infection-indicating type of biological defense mechanism. "Really okaa-san..." she tried to sound lively, but miserably failed, judging from the disapproving look on her mother's concerned face, "I'm really—"

She blacked out.

Not to be stating something out of exaggeration but Sonomi, after setting her daughter properly in bed, took over like a bustling, yapping and completely AGITATED mother hen. She was unmindfully barking out orders and nearly snapping off the head of the nearest house staff, and it didn't give her pleasure when she realized Tomoyo's temperature had somehow shot up from thirty-eight to forty degrees. This was the first time her daughter had ever experienced this kind of fever. Tomoyo had been sick in the past, of course, but this — THIS was the first time it reached a fearsome bloody distance.

Medical attention from a physician had been called then she was advised to keep Tomoyo in bed for several days — weeks if necessary. And she shouldn't be allowed to work too much, under all circumstances, even if her fever had somehow lowered. She frowned as she took Tomoyo's temperature again.

Well, to bloody hell it would.

Sonomi scowled threateningly at the digital thermometer. It read 41 degrees. It went a bloody degree higher.

"Should I ask someone to prepare the car now, Daidouji-sama?" asked an immensely worried bodyguard, "Or an ambulance?"

"Not until tomorrow... if she doesn't show any signs of improvement as the doctor advised." Sonomi shot her a questioning look. "Where's Akiyo-san?"

"The company's associates in Cologne were giving her a hard time explaining why the meeting was canceled." She lowered her head apologetically, "Shinokawa-san asks for your forgiveness—"

Sonomi went cat-eyed. Beads of sweat trailed down the bodyguard's head. She was actually half ready to duck-and-cover for anything hard and solid that might be flying over in an attempt to hit the imaginary faces of her boss' associates. And lucky her if it's somewhere far from where she was standing. "Ugh... those idiots. Can't they understand the words 'medical' and 'emergency' when they hear it?" another sweat drop rolled on the bodyguard's head as she witnessed her boss, swatting imaginary flies with her fists. Relief only came when Sonomi somehow calmed down with a heavy sigh. "Tell Akiyo-san it's alright." She paused at a thought, "Did you bring the papers then?"

The bodyguard nodded, "We placed it in your office, Daidouji-sama. But Shinokawa-san told us there are a few left in the office."

Her boss arced one perfectly curved eyebrow, "Why'd she do that?"

"She said it wasn't really that important so she'll bring it herself if she could make it. If not, she and Westmore-san volunteered to do it tomorrow for some help too."

Sonomi considered this for a while, then spoke, "Do they know what happened to Tomoyo?"

The bodyguard shook her head. "Iie, Daidouji-sama."

Sonomi smiled amusedly, "I could only guess what their reaction would be if they find out." Then she sighed, looking immensely burdened at the thought of coping up with this kind of problem. Tomoyo wasn't really the gist of the problem, she told herself truthfully, but her fever was entirely the matter that she wanted to choke, gag and strangle if it would only reveal its neck.

"If it wouldn't be so rude to say so, Daidouji-sama," Ms. Bodyguard smiled, "I think they're worse than a pack of adult wolves, determined to protect their young ones, especially when it concerns Ojou-sama... Only, in a more polite way."

Sonomi chuckled, not doubting a single word. "Wolves would be an understatement if you ask me." She shook her head and scooped Tomoyo's warm hands in hers then smiled worryingly, "Tomoyo-chan..."

"She's not in her office?" Eriol looked up from his book to see an oddly distressed-looking Nakuru looming on the doorway. Her eyes were fixated on her fiddling hands as if it were the most interesting thing in the world since the discovery of Spinel's reaction to sweets. "Did she leave for Germany already? I wanted to talk to her before she did..."

Nakuru shook her head, "The flight was canceled."

Eriol straightened himself and waited for further explanations. "Did you ask her secretary then?"

"Shinokawa-chan — President Daidouji's secretary — informed me that Louise-chan was on the 20th floor of the building to process a few papers for her boss." She half scowled; "I bet it's for Tomoyo-chan..." her face morphed back to its earlier distressed expression then fired like a bursting gun. "Then, Sh-Shinokawa-chan told us that her boss and Tomoyo-chan didn't go to work today, because there was some sort of medical emergency and then the bodyguard ladies came and asked for the papers and it was only then did Louise-chan appeared to give them the papers..." She breathed deeply. "But then... but then..."

Spinel and Eriol arced an eyebrow. There was something unusual with Nakuru today. And no, it wasn't the way she talked like the words would come after her and eat her alive (that was normal for Nakuru, mind you). But what they meant by unusual for Nakuru was, normally, after coming from her weekly visit to Tomoyo's office, she would bounce through the door and fling herself around Eriol's neck, disregarding the fact that her master was just about to sip on his tea and was already pouring the hot liquid content on his pants, then cuddle Spinel briskly until he ghostly paled. But then, the bottom line was that normally cheerful — Spinel preferred robustly irritating — attitude was nowhere to be found...

"Is there something bothering you Nakuru-kun?" asked Eriol, burrowing his brows a bit.

"It's..." she pursed her lips, "I-It's about... Sh-Shinokawa-chan..." she stuttered. And Nakuru-kun DOES NOT stutter, unless there's something serious bothering her. And serious meant, she didn't break a fingernail or wore the wrong color-combination of clothes.

She REALLY. STUTTERED.

Spinel and Eriol switched glances then carefully stared at Nakuru, urging her to go on.

"Today was the first time I saw her and... and..."

"And what?" asked Spinel, impatiently.

"I felt something... and then I thought... but then she looked like..." she paused and pulled herself together before throwing in the most distressing look of the century, "I think Raven is closer to Tomoyo-chan than we originally thought." And if that wasn't serious enough to hurl their bums out of the apartment, they didn't know what serious was anymore. "And I heard Shinokawa-chan was going to Tomoyo-chan's place tonight to give the papers IF she could make it."

A pause.

Then Spinel left his book and flew towards the cordless, positioned on a table near the bookshelf. "Should I dial Daidouji-san's number to check her condition?" he stared up at them, inquiringly, "Or should we alert Sakura-san first?"

Spinel's perceptual reliability was proven yet again.

"Take THIS! And THAT! And THAT! And THAT! THAT! THAT! THAT! THAT!" Kero-chan attacked the video game console mercilessly then grinned at the sight of VICTORY on the monitor, after winning a fight against an evil giant video game boss who had an uncanny resemblance with a super annoyed chopstick-wielding Garu. "Yey! I won! I won! I won! I WON!" party poppers surrounded him as he started flying around with his Victory Mambo Dance in mid-air. It was a normal occurrence every time he won a game along with the normal request for a celebration after winning the bet he made with Fujitaka-sensei about a year ago. The final score was 100,000 to 99,999 in favor of Kero but as always, the professor, being the sunny person that he was kindly obliged him every time he won. Unfortunately for him though, Sakura was an entirely different story to be told. "I wooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooon!" he performed a hip throw there, and here, and there, a little bump-n-grind there, then back again (Touya thoughtit wassomewhat disturbing, actually; he even swore he saw Yue-san turn a lighter shade of green though he doubted he'd have anything to throw up) before he spun around and saw— "Sakura-chan?" he blinked at the avid display of bright and shiny colors surrounding his mistress.

"Tomoyo-chan is sick..." her green eyes were blank and gleaming. And immediately, Kero felt like he wanted to zoom out and bury himself, with ten tons of sweets as a supply, until the large concentrations of energy fogging the air disappears.

"Oi... Sakura?" Kero stared some more and tried to poke her out of the trance. He was on the verge of reaching out his miniature paw towards her shoulder when suddenly, her aura flared around her like hot burning flame. From the force of power present in the room, Kero was forced to prudently dive on his sleeping area with a yelp. "S-Sakura..."

He had never experienced such force before even when he was still living with Clow Reed.

"But then," she said with a small smile, "If she weren't... He wouldn't get the chance to talk with her and Tomoyo-chan wouldn't be able to realize that things are beginning to change..." the smile abruptly saddened, "she would realize... but it'd still be hard for her to accept because of..." her voice faded. The small sad smile on her lips... saddened. There was no other possible word for it. Kero thought that the sadness in her face wasn't just visible; her aura was also brimming with it and it would take more than something to make his mistress... sad.

And why was Tomoyo-chan involved?

His fur was already standing on both ends as powerful magical electricity bounced around the room. The whole of him didn't want to see Sakura sad and he knew better than to stick his nose up at something that didn't really concern him, but still... "What wouldn't Tomoyo-chan accept...?" he couldn't contain his curiosity.

"But still..." she uttered clearly, "things will change... and it's starting to happen now... For the better of all..." she smiled again, happily this time, "especially for Tomoyo-chan... and—"

The door opened with a slam.

"Sakura!" chorused a worried Yue and Touya.

Kero shot them a worried look.

Sakura blinked a few times, shook her head then returned to normal. "Yue-san?" she blinked again, a bit startled at the weird faces the two were already giving her, "Onii-chan?"

Yue and Touya cocked an interrogating eyebrow.

Heavy silence followed. And when it extended, Sakura considered the thought of calling the sword card to slice away the thickness of it all. Fortunately, Yue-san eliminated the Sword Card option when he calmly moved to kneel in front of her mistress with a sort-of worried look (or if it was in fact, worry, no one could tell the difference — except Sakura — since his face was knotted up in his normal look that bordered upon smugness and no emotions at all), "Another vision, Sakura?"

Sakura smiled at him, "I'm sorry if I startled you."

"Iie..." he shook his head. "Hiiragizawa called. Then Akizuki shrieked something about your best friend being in danger. She sounded like Spinel Sun was slitting her throat with his claws." Then Yue was heard murmuring something about it's about time that Spinel snapped at her and wished he would do more than slit her throat — something more like dragging her over the oceans as shark feed.

All but Yue sweat dropped.

"Y-Yue-san..." again, Sakura was nice enough to offer him a funny smile when she tried to twist her lips a trifle.

"I didn't know you were listening." said a half-agreeing Touya. He didn't like Akizuki but that kind of morbidity was too much, even if she often cuts off his oxygen supply.

"That idiot was screaming as if the other line was on a different dimension." explained a deadpanned Yue.

Touya sweat dropped again, "I guess that explains something."

Kero jumped out from where he was hiding, after recovering from his momentary power-shock. "Oi, Sakura..." he perched on her shoulder and placed a paw on her cheek. "Is Tomoyo-chan going to be alright?"

Sakura nodded, cheerfully, "Everything will be all right, Kero-chan."

Yue looked no different. Kero stared at her warily while Touya's mouth curled or twitched—whichever—at the sullen thought. She's the one who has foresight. No use arguing with her. But still he wished that he could be as confident as her sister, immensely, was. "Well," he snorted, "You better get going now, kaijuu." A vein swelled on Sakura's head (she was already reviewing number 98 of How To Step On Onii-Chan With the Big Card If He Ever Calls ME Monster Again) then "grr-ed" at Touya currently on serious mode once more, "I think there's really something wrong over at Tomoyo's place."

And that, thought Sakura, came from someone who had no more powers. She nodded at her brother anyway, "Are you coming, Onii-chan?"

"I wouldn't be too much of help," he smiled. "But I could stand guard for Tomoyo."

Sakura nodded again. "Then we'll wait... I'll call Syaoran-kun."

"Your brother already did." said Yue.

Touyaturned a few shades of red out of embarrassment.

"Ooh! Look at nii-chan!" jeered the plushie. "Now I know what Sakura meant when she said you and that brat had a lot in common!"

Sakura smiled at Kero. Yue wore an oddly smug-look which, Touya suspected, meant he was totally amused.

Touya yearned to grab the plush toy, strangle him good then grab its cotton-tipped tail to whirl him around in dizzying circles.

Tomoyo fluttered her eyes and blinked a couple of times before she got used to the light, emanating from a nearby lamp.

Even with the bedside lamp, the dimness of the room made her wonder how long had she been out. She squinted at the blurry face of the clock: it was already twelve in the morning. And twelve in the morning meant, she had been out for more than twelve hours. This was the longest sleep she'd ever had since she was an infant and what people of moral character would sleep like the dead and still feel tired? She pondered for a brief while. Well, at least, when she blacked out, her mother had replaced her business suit with a pair of comfortable pajamas.

She groaned slightly then felt like something was pounding her poor head. She also noticed how unusually freezing it was in her room, even though she was already being covered by a dozen of warm blankets. The moist in her eyes were warm; and when she breathes, she realized, the air coming out from her mouth and nose were also hot. Warm wouldn't be suitable. It WAS hot.

She touched her forehead then remembered.

She had fever.

Tomoyo tried to sit up on her bed then groped her bedside table for the thermometer. Finding it was one obstacle down and she wasn't even aware of how much energy it could take out by finding something that was already lying beside you. She was really, REALLY, seriously tired, she felt she'd collapse again if she stood up. She sighed, then proceeded to what she intended to do. Tomoyo weakly raised her hands to check her temperature then boggled at the digital numbers in the indicator.

Forty-one degrees.

Was THAT even normal?

She didn't have much time to ponder on the thought since she was already aware of how many joules it required to budge even a single cell in her body. It felt vaguely like sitting on a fifty degrees preheated frying pan and being fried to a charcoaled-crisp — well, she had a nasty feeling her brain was already being fried to a crisp; and at this height, she decided, she loathed it even more. She LOATHED being sick even more and she hated not being able to do anything about it. So having no options, she gently laid her head on her pillows and hitched her head to the other side.

She blinked then smiled at what her eyes met. It was the panda that Hiiragizawa gave her.

Tomoyo scrunched her nose at the sudden, sullen thought but then, decided that it wasn't the best time to think things through. She was aware of how stubborn she could get sometimes but stubborn only meant when she was feeling fine. And right now, she admitted, she was FAR from being fine. So, instead of beating her head with something solid as she often does whenever a thought of Hiiragizawa and other stuff crossed her brain, she let the thought through. After all, it was, somehow, giving her a feeling of lightness and comfort given the temperature that she had now. It was a feeling so familiarly unsettling it sort of scared her — and comforted her at the same time. But then, she couldn't help herself from thinking, if it's familiar why was she feeling scared?

Was it because it WAS familiar?

Or was it because she knew one person should only cause it?

...Only Sakura-chan should cause it...

She shook her head and regretted it immediately when pain rippled like a dagger's business end brushing through. She had already scolded herself that it wasn't the right time for things like that. She had a fever and a nagging headache and if she continues doing what she was doing, she would never get better. And without a single doubt, her mother would go on about and imitate a bustling mother hen again. She smiled. Of course, her mother would be worried if she didn't get any better.

And Sakura-chan too if she ever finds out...

So, deciding against logic, she reached for the stuffed animal with an effort...

Then something within her snapped.

Come...

Tomoyo's eyes became a blank pair of iolite-colored orbs.

Come with me... A chuckle followed.

Her brain was washed blank. One minute she was feeling so warm then when another passed, it felt so cold. The cold was unbearable; she was feeling as if a thousand swords had suddenly pierced her skin. But even if she was aware of the cold, she couldn't think properly. She didn't know if she wanted to scream because the only thing that penetrated through her blanked state was the voice, ordering her to do what he was saying...

Stand up, Tomoyo-san... It was a male's voice.

She immediately got out of bed and walked towards the door that led to the balcony.

Open the door...

She raised her hands to the brass handle and slid the door to the sides...

"Hello, Tomoyo-san." The hooded Clow smirked as he observed Tomoyo's possessed state from the shadows of the blooming garden. Different varieties of trees, plants, flowers and bushes were rooted on the spot so it was technically easy to hide in the shadows when the need for it comes though that wasn't really the main concern. They couldn't be easily seen by non-magical beings since they won't have any means of detecting their auras but the case of a certain group of people would be another thing.

Raven abruptly cocked her head to the side. "I think Hiiragizawa's here." she thoughtfully closed her eyes and felt for his aura, "... he's mad... determined..." a smirk crossed her lips, "Worried."

"Sakura-tachi too..." said Cyrus, grinning as he took an inch back to the shadows of the bushes and trees.

"Well..." said Clow. "I guess that was my cue to set up barriers...?" he smiled.

"Sakura-chan!" Nakuru was frantically running towards the others, looking as if she was about to announce this world's judgment day, with Spinel perching lightly on her shoulder.

"Where's Eriol-kun?" asked Sakura.

"Eriol went ahead and told us to meet you." Cut in Spinel.

"He's already in there?" asked a half-annoyed Li after recovering. Kero was perching on Touya's shoulder as he stood beside an anxious-looking Yukito.

"Daidouji manor is well protected, Sakura-chan..." said Yukito, looking up the walls thoughtfully, "We can't risk being seen."

"Got any ideas?" asked Touya.

Kero shrugged at him, "Maybe we can use something from the deck, Sakura."

Sakura thought for a while then smiled when an idea graced her brain, "I got it!" she tossed up a card. "Sleep!"

Everyone stared at her, blinking confusedly and questioningly.

"Now we don't have to worry about being seen by the guards for a while. And I'll take care of the camera later." The card mistress flapped her wings and went over the walls. "Let's go!"

"Oh Sakura-chan! You're so cool!" exclaimed Nakuru in delight then grinned healthily before transforming and following Sakura inside the Daidouji manor.

The other guardians followed.

From where she was standing, Raven could make out Tomoyo standing on the balcony's table, near the edge of the balustrade. The wind was playing with her hair and the moon had somehow added a touch of its mysterious glint towards Tomoyo's whole figure. A smile made its way upon Raven's lips and kept her eyes fixated at Tomoyo for a moment more, assessing the plans that lay ahead and other things. Then stared some more when she noticed something that shouldn't BE happening...

She remained like that for a while to verify her observations until a chord in her chest was struck hard by something solid, it rang and vibrated like an enormous gong. "Hey..." her voice had the panicking quality, "Wait a minute..." she inched a step forward, letting the moon's ray grace her head as she warily stared at Tomoyo.

"Huh?" Cyrus looked after her then noticed the same thing too. "Shouldn't Tomoyo-chan..." his words faded.

The two guardians burrowed their brows. "Master..." they chorused, somewhat warningly.

"What is it?" Clow stared at Tomoyo with a measuring look then released the spell.

Cyrus, Raven and Clow's eyes widened.

She was falling from the balcony, headfirst.

Eriol felt strong magic at work. He cautiously looked around the place then saw one of the bodyguards yawn and — he arced an eyebrow —fall asleep? He thought about this for a while then felt an aura from somewhere. He smiled. It was Sakura-san. She must've summoned the Sleep Card to go around without getting caught on one of the manor's security cameras. Eriol stood up and walked around the rose bushes, cautiously feeling for the auras that had magically disappeared after he had jumped over the walls. He had a feeling his "brother" had done something to make things interesting. He frowned and cocked his head slightly upwards.

Only to have his eyes bug out when he witnessed Tomoyo falling down the balcony...

"Tomoyo-san!" he rocketed forward, unthinkingly.

Before Cyrus and the hooded Clow could even react, a pair of black wings spread out. It was shortly followed by something black and blue, zooming forward, just before Tomoyo hit the ground with a nasty crash and — they cringed at the thought of what might have happened if one didn't had enough gram of sense in herself to live by. "Gotcha!" exclaimed Raven, slowly descending on the grass-carpeted ground with an unconscious lady lying on her arms.

It took a while before her companions finally realized they were holding their breaths. Then, Clow moved forward, "Is she alright?" The tone of his voice was screaming worry in a deafening measurement of decibels.

Raven nodded. Then their heads shot out towards the direction where the sound of footsteps was coming from. And judging from the interval of its tapping sound, that person was dashing as fast as he could.

"He's here, Clow. I suggest you do what we came here for today..." Cyrus warned, stepping forward to nudge Tomoyo's hand in an oddly affectionate way. His eyes widened, "Hey, she's burning! She's burning! Why's she burning hot?" one had never used the word "panic" in an accurately exaggerated way as Cyrus had. He was shaking his head in a dizzying frenzy as he took alternating glances between his master and Raven for some sort of explanation.

Raven stared at Tomoyo's face then creased her brow, "Fever..." She looked up to her master, worryingly. "It's frighteningly high... Forty-one or so if I'm not mistaken..."

"WHAT?" Cyrus' tone radiated an air of horrified disbelief. "Why DIDN'T you TELL us?"

"I didn't know!" she snapped. Cyrus inched a step back with a pair of globular eyes. He had NEVER seen Raven so seriously enraged by guilt before, it scared the holy cow out of him, "She didn't go to work today and I was only aware of some medical emergency! I didn't think..." she set her jaws tightly, "I didn't think that she WAS the emergency." One could tell by the look on her face that she was ready to bang her head on something hard for doing something... well, something she didn't like. Guilt was already pouring over her like melted glaciers, slowly freezing her skin; deliberately piercing every inch of her body with something solid that was invisible even to the eyes of someone with great magic.

"Raven..." Clow rested a hand on her shoulder then smiled, "I understand..." he turned his head slightly, revealing a pair of glasses glimmering under the pale moonlight, "Eriol-kun, Sakura-san and the others are coming. We must hurry if we want to avoid contact." And with that, he removed his burnoose and handed it over to Raven, "Use this to cover her for the mean time." he smiled gently at Tomoyo then spoke, "I would do anything to accomplish the goal that had been set out for me... but under your expense, I cannot." His voice sounded apologetic. "You're an indispensable treasure, Tomoyo-san." He rested his hand on her forehead, "Forgive me... we didn't know."

"Won't you rid her of her illness?" asked Raven.

Clow smiled mysteriously, "Some things are meant to be Raven... even illnesses."

Raven looked like a little girl, waiting for punishment as Clow patted her gently on the head. She took one guilty look at Tomoyo and laid her near the tree before Cyrus pulled Clow's burnoose over her shivering body.

"Rest well, Tomoyo-chan..." said Cyrus, nudging her gently. "Eriol-kun's coming."

"I'll see you later," Raven cleared the strands out of her face before getting up on her feet then softly smiled, "Tomoyo-sama..."

Eriol was half-expecting a scene that he wouldn't like.

He kept on praying to Kami-sama that by some miracle, Tomoyo would survive that fall. He knew it was impossible; and knowing that the impossible weighted less than the possible made his chest hurt. It was hurting so much he realized that he didn't want to think about it. It was something similar to being pounded by a hammer on the chest and you wanted it to stop badly but you couldn't because you didn't know where it was coming from or why it was there. He didn't know why the thought of Daidouji-san not being near him or just knowing that he wouldn't see Daidouji-san, diligently working in her office anymore brought so much pain. Eriol felt — KNEW something in him would break if Daidouji-san... he shook his head and ran faster until he reached the place...

His heart leapt. She wasn't where she was supposed to be lying.

He craned his neck around the grounds and saw her lying near a tree. "Daidouji-san!" he felt like he had just been splashed by a bucket of cold water when relief came. He could still feel traces of their auras but then, he realized, he couldn't care. When he looked at Tomoyo's face — alive and breathing — he couldn't care anymore. For Eriol, at that brief moment, he felt like the only thing that really mattered to him was Tomoyo. She was safe. She wasn't hurt. She was alive. And he would still continue seeing her with her threats and blackmails if ever he does something mean to Li-kun again.

Eriol felt a smile tugging on his lips as he moved a hand over her face. Then suddenly froze when he felt how weak her aura was. "You have fever..." he said then inspected the burnoose that covered her body. It was emitting traces of strangely familiar magical vibes and somehow, as he looked at it closer, the black burnoose with a silver chain suspended between two sapphire orbs on the neckline was incredibly, unsettlingly familiar. He had seen it somewhere before. "This..." he burrowed his brows and scavenged his brain for something until it hit him.

This was the hood that covered Clow's head.

"Eriol-kun!" Sakura landed and dashed towards him. "The barrier was strong. We couldn't find you until now... What happened?"

Eriol turned a look at Sakura. "I'm not sure..." he said then turned towards the burnoose, wrapped around Tomoyo's body. "But I think they didn't do anything to Daidouji-san."

"Is she alright?" Touya jumped out of Spinel's back; Li did the same, from Cerberus.

"How is she?" asked Li, inspecting Tomoyo and arching an eyebrow at the burnoose. He certainly had no trouble recognizing it.

It was Ruby Moon who first realized how weak Tomoyo's aura was. Then as she closely inspected her face under the light of the moon, she noticed how her breathing was heavy and ragged — almost panting as if she had been running for miles and miles without stopping then suddenly collapsed on her way back. She stepped forward and touched Tomoyo's forehead. "She's burning..." she looked up at Eriol with the dead-worried expression once more, "I think this was the reason why they cancelled the board meeting in Germany, Eriol." She pushed a few strands of hair away from her forehead then smiled, "Good decision too. Else she would've felt like she was trapped inside a literal country-size ice-box." Well, it WAS undeniably close to that.

Spinel suddenly made a sniffing sound then cocked his head slightly towards the shadows, "I think one of them is still around..."

"It's her..." said Yue darting piercing looks at the same place where Spinel was staring.

"Oh dear..." Ruby Moon closed her eyes as the sudden rush of aura stung her, "Her presence..." her brows burrowed, confusedly, "It's fading..." when the aura completely vanished she turned her head towards Eriol. "Did you feel it? Clow must've covered her but I'm quite sure it was TOO strong for any comfort, Eriol."

Heavy silence hung above them.

Well, at least they were spared from any more at this rate. They weren't certain what it meant but at least, they gave this day a rest for a change. The reason was unclear but somehow, Eriol had a nagging thought at the back of his head that Tomoyo's sickness had something to do with their abrupt disappearance. It was certainly uncalled for but he couldn't help himself but think of their "touching" consideration. He stared at Tomoyo thoughtfully and recalled the horrible view of her, unconsciously falling from the balcony. He pondered for a while and decided that it was a definite yes. They HAD something to do about that too, and also about breaking Tomoyo's nasty fall at the same time.

Cerberus broke the flowing silence when he took a step forward then nudged Tomoyo's hand. "I think we should clean this mess up right now, Sakura-chan." He smiled up at his mistress. "We have a long day ahead and Tomoyo-chan needs some rest."

Everyone agreed.

"One question..." Touya interrupted, earning a bunch of questioning looks, "What about those things?" he nodded at a camouflaged camera, sticking up from one of the tree branches.

Talk about horse senses.

Sakura smiled at him. "I already summoned the Sleep Card's powers so I'm SURE no one saw us." She turned towards Eriol. "We better put her to bed now Eriol-kun... she's looking ghostly pale." And upon that mark, she shuddered herself. There was something to say about people who were given colossal amounts of magical powers pulsing through their veins yet still carried the habit of freaking out by the mere thought of ghosts. It was surprising she'd somehow gotten used to seeing her mother almost everyday in their house but then again, Nadeshiko was never a normal ghost. And the thought of an actual angel gracing the Kinomoto Household had somehow brought Sakura comfort.

Well, a little at least.

"What if it's in record mode?" asked Touya, half-sarcastically.

"Onii-chan..." His sister half-whined, "I TOLD you I already thought about it! Now, wait here and we'll put Tomoyo-chan to bed!"

"Why does HE have to do it?" complained Touya, imitating Sonomi's cat-eyed glare towards a smiling Eriol.

"Because it would be an inconvenience to TRANSFER Tomoyo-chan to somebody else! And besides, Eriol-kun can use his magic to fly up towards the balcony!" snapped Sakura with a childish pout. "Come on, Eriol-kun."

And after setting and making sure that Tomoyo-chan was comfortable in her bed, Sakura-tachi went out of the Daidouji manor's walls and decided that all was a wrap. Though there was one thing the Card Mistress had to take care off before fully leaving the sidewalk with her companions.

"Remove the scenes recorded after we had jumped over the wall!" she tossed a card high up in the air...

"ERASE!"

All it took was a single flicker of light and everything was taken care of.

Tsuzuku...

Author's Notes:

Eh... Updating time... Slow... I know. Gomenasai for those who waited (if there are any of course... hah. C3).

Garu is a small round-headed cartoon with a weird grin on his face. Mostly. And his love interest is Pucca. I don't know. I'm not really fond of his face but I DO think Pucca is cute. Eheh... just search the net for their faces if you're interested. And no, they don't have a TV series if ever you're wondering. C3

Clow's cloak issue... well... I haven't revealed the face under the cloak so be content in seeing his lips in your minds. Ehehe... And originally, I was considering Raven's trench coat but I guess that'd be too much attention drawn to the OC's already. At least Clow Reed properly belongs to CCS. XD hahaha... And if ever you're wondering why I didn't describe his face... you'd be surprised to know somewhere in the ending. I'm evil... kakakaka!

Vampy, I hope you're having a good time out there in the Caribbean! I'm missing your emails! Haha! But I wanna take this opportunity to thank Ari too for reading this chappie in advance. Hehe... sorry if it took so long! Love you guys so much!