A/N: Fall in love with this story, please, just as I did? The name City Lights, was inspired by, what else? The beautiful city of Manhattan of course.

Disclaimer: All characters, etc, are property of CLAMP and not me. (Sadly.) I just get to put them in strange situations.

To all my reviewers, this for you.

City Lights

-x-

The city lights are shining, oh so bright. She presses her face against the window and looks down, down into a sea of shining city lights. Yes she thinks, she could pretend that her life was still perfect, that he was still here. Yes she thinks, crying, her tears running down her porcelain skin, she could pretend but she couldn't make herself believe, there was definitely no way. She is standing at the highest point in the city, she is surrounded by smiling, happy people, but there is no way for her to stop. She is easily the loveliest one there and yet she is the only one alone. She stands at the highest point in the city and she looks down, the face of an angel, an angel that no one wants.

The stars are dim tonight, compared with the city lights. He looks up, at the base of the highest point in the city and all he can see are her eyes, shining with the tears that she would never cry. No he thinks, this couldn't be how the story ended, because this wasn't the ending that he wrote. No he thinks, angry at himself. It was his fault, and he knew it. He knew that the ending he wanted, was the ending that he destroyed, the one that he lost when he looked into her eyes and lied. He is standing at the base of the highest point in the city, he is surrounded by darkness and people hurrying past, people who would rather be by the warm city lights, then the cold darkness. He can never be happy like this. He is easily the loveliest one there and yet he is the only one who seems lost. He stands at the base of the highest point in the city and looks up, the face of someone who has been blinded and cannot find the light.

She peels herself away from the window, because looking down on the city lights has made her nostalgic. It has also made her sad, and it brings back the despair that she thought she had been long rid of. She fingers the necklace that she cannot take off, it is simple, a string of black satin where a little star hangs. She keeps this necklace because it reminds her of the things she cannot let go and of the feelings she will keep in her heart, behind the locked black door that I am sure everyone has. She stands in the middle of this crowd and she wonders how she can feel so alone and why her eyes seem so dead in the middle of all this life.

He pauses at the stairs, because the stairs make him remember and he is not so sure if he wants to remember. He is pushed from behind and the girl disappearing upstairs has long black curls spilling down her back and he starts, thinking it is her. But then she turns and her eyes are a bright, happy green, and are not her deep and stormy amethysts. That one taste was enough though, and he hangs on to the banister, pressing his forehead into the wall. He starts to remember the millions of things he loved about her, her quick easy smile, the way she just always knew what was wrong with him and how understanding she was. All the memories came rushing back, breaking down the carefully built wall he had placed between him and his real feelings. All of a sudden he wanted nothing more than to see her and tell her he was sorry and that he made a mistake, and that he was so sorry, and please, would she take him back?

She merely wanders the streets because she does not want to go back home, because home reminds her of him and because home is too lonely and too cold on such a day, when the city lights shine so brightly. Home is no longer home; just a house in which she currently resided because she knew that home was where happiness was. She realizes that she knows some of the people in the crowd and waves to them, plastering a smile on her face for their sakes. She doesn't know that her friends, her old classmates worry about her. They worry for this new her, so unlike the pretty, sparkling eyed beauty of their school days. That girl was always so happy, always had a real smile on her face. This one was so fake, so unreal.

He merely walks the streets because his home is too far. His home is not here; his home is where the heart is. His heart would never be here, so lonely, his heart is where she is. He realizes there are people in the crowd that he knows and he nods at them, too tired to conjure up a smile. He doesn't know that these people, the two that will know him best, his own creations, worry about him. They worry about this new him, so unlike the clever, bright eyed boy of later days. That boy was always so full of life, who would always be the one they would remember. This one was so tired, so unsure.

She tries not to think about that day, although everything around her is exactly how it was on that day – except she's missing him by her side. She, by force of habit alone, walks toward the highest point in the city – again. She pauses at the foot of the stairs and wonders – why is she here of all places? Unable to stop them, the memories all rush back. She crouches down on the ground, arms hugging herself. Unable to hold up the wall that she has tried to hold up for so long, the tears rush out. She is dressed in layers of clothes, and yet she can't seem to stop shivering, and it feels as if there are a million needles piercing her already aching heart. She leans her head back against the icy wall and through her blurred vision, stares up at the stars, drowned out by the city lights. Why tonight? She wonders. She hasn't had these feelings in a while.

He refuses to think about that day, but that does not stop him from regretting it as well. Tonight, it seems greater than usual, because everything around him reminds him of something painful – that she is not here, where she belongs. He, because he is tired, walks toward his original place, the base of the highest point in the city. He pauses in the dark, and blinks, realizing where he is and he wonders – why is he here of all places? His head starts to throb, and all the feelings he held in his heart, in a tiny black box that he cannot open, are opened by the mere memory of her. He rests his head on the wall behind him, not caring about the ice that seeps through his hair and trickles down his long neck. For the first time since that day, when he went home and cried, he feels hot tears prickling at his eyes, and soon, they make a steady pace down his cheeks. The city lights above him are blurred, and he cannot tell them apart from the stars. I wish he thinks, trying to keep his hold on loneliness. I wonder if she misses me too.

It was strange, really, for in so many ways, fate had set them up so many many times. It was strange, because it was so obvious that they were so meant to be, and yet it was because of themselves that they weren't together. But I suppose, that even the doomed ones, have one last chance, because their story is not your average fairytale – where there will be a happily ever after. They will have a choice, whether to have despair or happiness. Their story will go beyond words because perhaps, their story has no ending.

She sighed, getting up, and shook her hair out of her eyes. But then a sudden vibration in her pocket drew her attention to her cellphone. Noticing that the caller was 'unknown', she clicked it on warily.

"Tomoyo?"

"…yeah?"

"The city lights are beautiful here in England."

"Really? The city lights are beautiful here in Japan too, Eriol."

And just like that, it was okay again, and everything fell into place. And just like that, those who were lost were found, just as easily.