Cool. Here's the next part. Ah, Eriol, how I love thee, but not as much as I love Clow. Funny how that works out.

The Call

'Eriol Hiiragizawa.'

There was a moment's pause on the other end. 'Yue. I never thought I'd hear from you again. Especially not in this way.'

'I….. I am sorry…..'

'Whatever for?'

'You did tell us you were going….. and that you would be coming back…..'

Again, there was silence on the other end of the line. Then, 'This is not the way to discuss this.' Eriol hesitated. 'But I can come if you need me.'

Yue nodded, not seeming to care that, since it was a telephone call, Eriol would not be able to tell.

'Alright, Yue, I'm on my way.' There was a hastened click and the call ended. Yue stood for many minutes after that, simply listening to the dial tone. He wasn't sure what made him think that he had to call Eriol….. all he needed to do, though, was summon Yukito's knowledge of telephones. It still seemed a little awkward.

'Who are you talking to?' Came Sakura's soft voice from behind him. Yue quickly hung up the phone, but did not reply. 'Yue?'

The doorbell rang. Sakura shook her head sadly and went to answer it. She just about passed out at the sight before her.

'Umm….. Yue told me to come, and so I came.'

'So you…..! He was just talking to you?'

Eriol nodded.

'But how is that-!'

Eriol shook his head slightly. 'Yours is not to reason why. There are some things you must simply accept. Such is the way of things. Where is Yue?'

'In the living room.' Suddenly, there was a startled cry from behind Eriol. Calmly, he turned to look. Sakura did the same, but not quite so calmly. 'Syaoran! I wasn't expecting you at all!'

Syaoran pointed accusingly at Eriol as though he were a witness in a murder trial. 'What's he doing here!' Eriol looked strangely at Syaoran, his eyebrows raised, and he edged into the house. Syaoran took chase but only for a few steps. He realized how childish it must have seemed and he stopped at the door. He shook his head. 'You invited him?'

'No,' Sakura said. 'Yue did. You see, I- well, why don't you come in? I can explain much better if we're all settled in, and I think Eriol would be able to as well.'

'Eriol?' Syaoran asked skeptically. 'What does he have to explain that couldn't be said over the phone? I still don't trust him, although he did explain everything after the test, but I still don't trust him.' Syaoran turned up his nose at the thought of Eriol and strode into the house with Sakura following. The sight that met their eyes was a shocking one.

Yue and Eriol were both sitting on the couch in the living room, but it was Yue's present stature that came as a shock to everyone except Eriol.

Yue was lying in Eriol's lap, a deeply pained expression on his face, and unfallen tears in his eyes. Eriol was gently stroking Yue's hair with a sad smile. Upon sight of Sakura and Syaoran, Yue sat bolt upright and his expression went to the indifferent one he usually had, but the unfallen tears were still in his eyes. Sakura noted that Eriol was holding the letter in one hand. When Yue had suddenly sat up, Eriol seemed somewhat upset, and he looked like he was about to protest, but he said nothing.

'Yue?'

Silence.

'Yue, I think we have some things to talk about, and it's a good thing Eriol's here, too. I'm sure he can put in a few words too.' Sakura said softly. She and Syaoran sat on the other couch, both looking at Yue. Yue looked out a window, and Eriol looked at the floor.

'A few things I'd like to say first,' Eriol said in a small voice. Eriol's tone alarmed Sakura. He had never used such a tone before, and it, as well as his expression pained Sakura's heart. 'I witnessed the Final Judgment.'

Yue looked startled to Eriol.

'I was there, yes. I forbade Ruby and Spinel from coming with me, and I didn't tell them where I had gone. I wanted to see how you would do.' He looked to Yue as he said this. 'I already knew how Sakura was going to do anyway. I wanted to see you, Yue. And also how all of you would get along. That was what worried me the most, was that there would be some clashing of emotions, and someone would be hurt. I also saw some of the other incidents before the Judgment, like your encounter..… in Hong Kong, also alone. I just went to watch, nothing more. I….. I shouldn't have….. It took some time to get myself together so I could test you, Sakura.'

Eriol fell silent and stared at the floor. There was silence for some time after that, and Eriol willed himself to speak again. He looked at the letter. 'I never thought that this would be found. I didn't even remember where I had put it. Clow. Where Clow had put it.' He shook his head a little harshly and made a sound of dissent. 'Why can't I get myself around the fact that I am not him?'

'Don't.' Yue said.

Eriol looked up at him. 'What?'

'Don't. Just be him. Just….. be him. It makes no difference. You have his memories, his magic, his….. soul….. so just be him.'

Eriol's mouth fell slightly as he stared wordlessly at Yue. He nodded, and at length, spoke again. 'I honestly didn't think it would ever be found. It would just sit wherever I had left it, and no one would ever see it, no one would ever know….. but here it is. I never imagined that dealing with this could be so hard. Writing it was so hard….. I didn't think there would be anything harder, but now I know.'

Sakura felt it would be good if she said a few things to draw the awkwardness away from Eriol and Yue. 'Something like that would never be easy to write, but the fact that you did….. is amazing. There are plenty of people who would never have even bothered. They would just have left their family with nothing. Final words are so sad, but they are….. well, final. In my opinion, it gives a sort of closure that wouldn't otherwise be there.'

Eriol nodded.

'I have a question for you, Eriol.'

Eriol looked up at Sakura.

She took the Cards from her pocket and, after a moment of consideration, handed them to Eriol with a smile. 'Would you finish what you started? It seems a waste to have done all that, and reincarnate yourself only to stop. You should finish it.'

Eriol looked carefully at Sakura and the Cards, then stood. 'I….. I have to think about this.' He went from the room and went outside.

The others exchanged several looks, and Sakura followed Eriol outside. He was walking briskly down the street. Sakura called to him, and when he didn't stop, she ran after him. She came out right in front of him to stop him. She gasped when he broke down in front of her without warning. She stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

'I can't do this, now,' He said with a shaky voice.

'Hey, this should be happy. Everyone's okay, right? Some one got your letter. Someone you wanted to see it saw it. So why are you so sad?'

'Because it all happened!' He cried. 'All of what I saw….. because they didn't see it, all of what I predicted happened! Father….. he died no more than a year after I did. Tian was lost to the shadows, Ketrianna left and the others were unprotected, and Achenar didn't know to look for me, Yue never did move on, and since his thoughts lingered on me for so long, I know it's impossible for him to now, and Kero….. he's wandering into a life he couldn't possibly know about and the events have already been set in motion! The events that….. that…..'

Sakura held him tightly, letting him know that she would be there for as long as he needed her. Eriol slid to his knees, and Sakura went with him, and there he stayed, kneeling on the sidewalk, crying into Sakura's shoulder. Eriol composed himself after a long few minutes, and stood.

'I'm….. I'm sorry, you shouldn't have seen that.'

'Well, who should have?' Sakura asked. 'And don't say no one. Having no one for support when you need it most is the worst situation to be in. Come on, let's go back to the house.' Sakura led him by the hand, as though he were a small child, back to her house. He didn't seem to mind, and, truthfully, Sakura didn't either.

They got back to the house, and Sakura let Eriol go. The others looked questioningly at them as they came in and Sakura only shook her head, not wanting them to ask. Syaoran now had the letter. He didn't have any idea what was going on, so he thought that reading the letter would fill him in. Fill him in it did do, but it also left him feeling empty. There was so much sadness behind the words, and he saw what effect they had on both Eriol and Yue. He decided to let Eriol get off for a while. He didn't like him very much at all in the beginning, but events had slowly changed that view, and now his defense against Eriol was more to hide the fact that he didn't hate him at all, especially with what he just saw outside….. He had seen Eriol break down, though he would never say anything about it to anyone.

Eriol silently took his seat next to Yue.

'So…..' Syaoran began. 'That's why you made the Cards.'

Eriol stiffened. That was the last thing he expected anyone to say.

Sakura saw that Syaoran was making an effort to lighten the mood, and so she contributed. 'What's the rest of the story?'

Eriol stiffened further.

'I'm just wanting to know what led up to your decision to make the Cards. You know, like about Clow's life and family.'

This time, Eriol looked questioningly at Sakura. 'You want to know that?'

Sakura nodded, smiling. She looked at Syaoran, and after a moment's hesitation, he too nodded.

'Oh.' Eriol said, furrowing his brow.

'Is there something wrong with that?' Sakura asked. With this turn in the topic, Eriol's mood seemed to lighten. Obviously, not all of his life was sad, and thinking about this must have made him feel a little better.

Eriol shook his head. 'No, nothing wrong with that, I just….. have never thought about telling anyone anything like that. But, come to think of it, there probably are a number of people who would like to know the whole story. I'll need a few things, because there are a few things I have forgotten. Anyone you think would be interested in knowing I would be happy to tell.'

With that, Sakura went to the phone and Syaoran went home. There were a few people that he felt he should call who would be interested in knowing the story of Clow's life. Eriol went off in search of the things he would need, and he even looked through Sakura's father's library for some books that might have been found with the Clow Book.

Sakura thought about how this might end up. This would be very interesting, and likely fun. She could hardly wait.