Tomoyo spent the rest of that week and much of the next like that first day. Sakura would call with an invitation to do something with the rest of them, and Tomoyo would politely turn it down, saying she still wasn't feeling well. Once or twice she regretted it, really wanting to see not only Eriol but Syaoran and Meilin as well.
Once, she got a call from Meilin, asking if she was alright and if there was anything they could do to help. Tomoyo answered her the same way she answered Sakura's invitations, she was just feeling a little sick, and then added that no there was nothing any of them could do. Then she returned to sewing.
Then one day, about a week before Syaoran and Meilin were leaving, Tomoyo got another call from Sakura. This time they were going to a fair that was taking place that night. Tomoyo was about to politely refuse when Sakura said,
"Oh, by the way, Eriol isn't coming this time." Tomoyo froze. Could it be that they had all figured it out? She felt her heart going out of control again, but at the same time she was paralyzed with fear.
"Did he say why?" she asked, forcing her voice to sound calm.
"He didn't." Sakura answered, "I don't think he's leaving quite yet, but he said he had other plans tonight...Oh Tomoyo please come! We miss you so much! It's just not the same without you! Although if you are feeling sick, I guess you should stay home" she added disappointedly.
Tomoyo thought. Sakura said Eriol wasn't going to be there, and she did want to see Meilin and Syaoran again, and she was somewhat sick of being in the house all the time...
"No, it's okay. I'll go, I feel somewhat better today. I'll meet you around five, I guess." Tomoyo answered, and they hung up. A few hours later, Tomoyo left for the fair, not forgetting to pack her camcorder and extra batteries in a bag to take with her.
Tomoyo met Sakura, Meilin, and Syaoran at the park, just like they had said, and from there they went to the fair. Sakura was right, Eriol wasn't there. She didn't see a trace of him all night, even though half the rest of the town was there. She wondered if he had finished what he came for and gone back to England. The thought brought relief and disappointment at the same time. But...she realized that for the first time in a while, she was actually having fun. She had forgotten how nice it was to be with her friends, to just forget all her problems for a little while.
By the time they decided to leave, it was late at night, and most of the other people were gone. They said their goodbyes and headed off in their different directions. Now that she was alone, there was nothing to distract Tomoyo from her thoughts, and once again they turned to Eriol...
Why? Why did he have to come, why did she have to love him? She had been content with being lonely, until he came along. He had confused her emotions beyond all measure, turned her entire world upside down. And somewhere in there, he had given her the hope that she so desperately needed, but was scared to have. She wanted to be free from the pain of her solitude, but not if it meant having her heart broken again!
She ran through the nearly deserted streets, wanting nothing more to get home, to get away, although she knew there was no place she could truly hide. She just didn't know where else to go. She stopped paying attention to where she was going. She felt herself knock something over, but she didn't stop to look what it was. Somewhere she dropped the bag with her camcorder, but still she kept running. Finally, she ran into something that didn't move out of her way. She fell back, pain coursing through her. She felt herself falling, any minute she expected to hit the ground. But she never did. Someone had caught her.
She cringed, already knowing who it was. She could tell just from the way he picked her up, the way he said her name, all of it.
"Eriol," she whispered, all she could say. Only then did she realize how tired and exhausted she was. Unable to stay awake any longer, she collapsed into his arms.
