Tomoyo woke up and felt soft, dewey grass beneath her. Above her was a dark sky, filled with stars. Slowly, she sat up and looked around. The town was nowhere in sight; she was in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees. She had no idea where she was. Just then, she saw the figure sitting on the grass about ten feet away from her, staring out into the darkness.

Eriol.

She suddenly remembered everything that had happened. She was so ashamed for him to have found her like that. Of course the one time she couldn't keep herself together anymore had to be when she ran into him too. But... Was it really coincidence that he had been there, after all? It had seemed, almost, that he had been waiting for her... But how could he have known? Then again, that was Eriol..

She crawled across the wet grass to where he was sitting and sat down beside him. He didn't say anything, didn't acknowledge her presence at all. So they both sat there in silence. The time they sat there seemed like an eternity, neither one of them saying anything. Finally, it was Eriol who spoke, his voice breaking through what had seemed like a neverending stillness.

"You've been avoiding me."

Tomoyo started to deny it, then stopped. There was no use lying now, not when they both knew that it was the truth. There had been no anger in his voice, she realized, no sarcasm or hatred. He had been stating a fact, that was all. Then there was silence again. Tomoyo knew she should say something, but each time she tried to think of something, the words slipped away. But she was determined to tell him. It was now or never, she realized, and if she did not do something she would regret it for the rest of her life.

"Eriol..I...I...Eriol I--" she grasped desperately for words, but he stopped her. She turned to him, and as she did so her eyes met his. She saw the same look as before, felt it piercing through all of her, down to the depths of her soul. Only this time she was not troubled by it; instead, she did not want it to end. And suddenly she knew what he was saying. He did not say it with words, but his eyes said it perfectly, perhaps better than words ever could.

The tears that she had held in all her life finally came out, burning her eyes and running down her face.
Eriol pulled her close to him, comforting her as she cried shamelessly. She cried for what had to have been hours, tears of sorrow and and pain for all the hopelessness she had been through, but tears of joy, too, because she was not alone, she had found someone to trust. And finally, in a choked whisper, she found the strength to say what she had been longing so desperately to say for such a long time.

"I love you."

They sat in the grassy clearing all night. Sometimes they talked, but for the most part they just sat together in beautiful silence, enjoying being together. As the first golden rays of light shone over the horizon, Tomoyo knew she was different, and always would be. Her hopelessness and solitude had vanished along with the darkness, all because of the one who sat beside her. Who would always be beside her. For now she loved, and she was loved...

She was not lonely anymore.