DM: Well, I'm back after my long vacation! Thanks so much you guys for all your reviews!
Disclaimer: Same old, same old. The song Sakura's singing is "Faith" by George Michael. Shut up. I love him.
Curses!
Finale
Part Two
Breaking the Curse
When Syaoran awoke, he didn't know where he was. The pale blue walls, the downright plain curtains—all of it looked alien to him. He shut his eyes again.
He became aware of what had woken him up: the smell of pancakes and a light singing coming from below him. Sakura.
"Before this river becomes an ocean," she sang, "Before you throw my heart back on the flo-or!" Her voice grew louder and he sat up, remembering now where he was.
He was living at Sakura's house, because they couldn't stay in Hong Kong much longer without arousing suspicion. Plus, they needed to speak with Sakura's dad, who would be arriving home soon.
Syaoran sighed as Sakura reached the chorus. They would start school for the fall semester on Monday. It was Saturday now, and he was quite hungry.
Not bothering to get dressed, he plodded down the stairs softly, not wishing to disturb her. He wore his usual night clothes: boxers and a tee shirt.
"I've got to have faith, faith, faith!" she finished with a flourish. There was the sound of a soft splatter followed by an "oops."
Syaoran smiled as he turned into the kitchen. She'd probably done a dramatic flourish and spilled stuff again.
Sure enough, when he came in she was on her knees picking up a poor little pancake off the floor. She stood up quickly as soon as she saw him.
"Good morning, Syaoran!" she said happily, her hair bouncing around her face at the sudden movement. Syaoran blinked.
Maybe it was the sunlight coming from the kitchen window to her left.
No, that wasn't it. It was her pink lacey apron.
No. Syaoran was puzzled, wondering why Sakura looked so beautiful that morning, and, more importantly, why his heart was thumping so hard.
"Syaoran?" she asked. He stared at her lips as they moved and he realized it.
I love this girl, he thought, I love her more than anything in the world.
"Syaoran! If you don't like pancakes, just freaking say so!" she huffed, turning back to her flipping. She had already accumulated a nice stack on the plate next to the stove.
"Sakura—" he began, but then stopped himself. He'd just had the biggest epiphany of his life. He took a step closer, until he was right behind her.
He moved his arms into a circle around her and was about to hug her when—
"Hey Monster, what's for breakfast? Is it edible?" came the drawl of Touya from the door.
Sakura spun around wildly, knocking Syaoran back onto the floor with her spatula.
"Big Brother, you suck! No pancakes for you!" she exclaimed. Then she looked over her left shoulder at Syaoran on the floor.
"Oh? What are you doing down there?" she asked. Syaoran winced.
Having a heart attack, he thought, but replied instead: "Nothing."
"Idiot," Touya snorted quietly.
Syaoran made sure to step on his foot as he left the room.
Meanwhile, across Tomoeda, Eriol was about to have an epiphany of his own as he inhaled deeply from his cigarette. He rarely smoked—only when he really needed to sort his thoughts out.
The sun was only just coming over the horizon, leaving a bloody stain on the clouds in its wake. He watched it, listening calmly to the birds that were already up and about.
He leaned back into his chair and blew smoke rings out of his mouth, glancing around the Daidouji veranda and noting with pleasure that he was alone. Tomoyo was not awake yet and he'd decided to do some serious thinking.
When he saw Kaho last it was at his house the day before he'd come to Japan.
"I loved you," she'd said. He had only nodded. She had then turned away and walked off.
"Kaho!" he called at her retreating back. She stopped but did not turn.
"Good luck in England!" he said. She turned and smiled at him over her shoulder.
Tapping ash in the little dish, Eriol mused over this "goodbye." What-ifs and what-have-yous aside, it brought him very little sadness. In fact, he felt rather at peace about the way things had finished with Kaho.
So why did he find it so hard to focus? What was this sense of foreboding? He sighed. It was difficult to look at his friends anymore. All of them kept secrets from the others—could it even be called friendship?
In the end, he would have to betray Syaoran and Sakura. He wondered, smiling, if Tomoyo would remain oblivious of it all. The only thing the four shared was the curse.
Eriol brought the cigarette back to his lips, only to realize that it had gone out. This was strangely shocking to him and he pulled out his lighter in dismay.
Click, click, click, but still no light. Yet the fluid was nearly full.
He stepped back inside the house and tried to turn a light on, but the switch seemed dead. Yet, down the hall, Tomoyo turned the light on quite easily in her own room.
Eriol put a hand over his heart and concentrated, trying to remember which cards Sakura had left to capture.
Oh, that's right. Those two, he thought, opening his eyes and sighing sadly.
"But if I have this one, who has the other?" he asked, addressing the air.
With a sinking feeling, he realized who it was.
"Tomoyo!" Sakura called. She and Syaoran were already waiting at the mailbox as Tomoyo and Eriol walked up.
The group was meeting at two o'clock for a tour around Tomoeda, starting with some tea with the girls' old school friends, who were meeting them at the café. The cherry trees had long since turned their summer green. Sakura eyed them wistfully; she'd missed the best part of a Japanese spring.
"Hello, Sakura," Tomoyo replied, "Hello Li."
Sakura never asked but always felt a little strange hearing Tomoyo address Syaoran as "Li." Everyone said their greetings and the three of them began walking, but she lagged behind a little, staring at Eriol.
Everything about him aroused more suspicion in her, but what bothered her most was that Tomoyo called him by his first name. She couldn't see a reason for that since the two seemed to hate each other.
"Something wrong?" Syaoran asked, his voice snapping her out of her musings.
Eriol and Tomoyo had stopped too, looking at her curiously. Syaoran's hand was on her shoulder and for a minute it was the warmest place on her body.
"Yea, I'm fine," she replied, grinning at him. She turned away quickly and missed the blush that had spread across his nose. Tomoyo and Eriol caught it; however, and shared a smile.
"Hey Sakura!" a voice called. Sakura looked up to see Chiharu, her hair in her customary pigtails, standing and waving at them, dressed in a pale orange sundress. Seated on a large table on the terrace were Rika, Naoko and Yamazaki.
"Hey guys!" she replied, feeling cheerful and energetic at the sight of her friends. She was glad she had worn her pink polo shirt and white skirt, because Rika was also wearing a dress (a light green one) and Naoko was in a denim skirt and a tank top.
Tomoyo, who was impeccably dressed as usual in her yellow skirt and white tank, scanned her video camera over the group happily. Yamazaki smiled and waved at the familiar lens, dressed in his typical shorts and tee shirt. Eriol and Syaoran had chosen jeans and polo shirts, putting them clearly out of place, she noted sadly.
"This is Li Syaoran," she said, gesturing to her left, "And that's Hiiragizawa Eriol. They're exchange students from China!"
"I'm Chiharu, and this is Takashi—don't believe anything he says!" Chiharu told the two newcomers. Sakura and Tomoyo laughed. The boy in question, who had small eyes and short, dark hair, only shrugged.
"That's Naoko," Tomoyo continued, pointing at the shorthaired girl with glasses, "And that's Rika."
Rika stood up and shook their hands; she was always very mature and polite. She had short, dark hair that curled around her face delicately and both Eriol and Syaoran blushed at the sight of her. Tomoyo felt her eyebrow twitch for no reason.
The group sat down and ordered some tea and ice cream. Sakura got strawberry, and Syaoran got chocolate. Why does that matter? Well, Sakura also liked chocolate.
"Hey, Syaoran, let me have some of your ice cream," Sakura said, already reaching with her spoon.
"What the—no! No, no, no!" he said in reply, pulling the bowl away from her, "My choco is mine!"
Syaoran was being childish. However, Sakura is easily baited.
"But Syaoran, it's just a bite—please?" she asked, making puppy eyes. He turned away.
"No! I love chocolate more than anything!" he said without thinking. Suddenly he felt that dropping feeling in his stomach that meant he'd told a lie.
He fell into a daze, realizing that everything had taken on a new meaning since that morning's mind-blowing discovery. He gently returned the bowl to its position just as Sakura was making a furious swipe with her spoon.
Needless to say, she aimed poorly and hit the edge of the bowl, flipping it sideways and effectively drenching herself in a sticky, chocolate, lactic mess.
"Syaoran! Look what you made me do!" she cried angrily. She'd been wearing a cute pink sundress that now had a huge brown splotch on the chest. Her hands balled into fists in anger.
"I'm sorry!" Syaoran yelped, grabbing some napkins and attempting to wipe it off, only to aggravate her more. The feeling of his hand on her chest was giving her uncomfortable butterflies. She swatted his hand away.
"Ugh, forget it," she said. She was still feeling angry, but she decided to let it drop. Syaoran frowned and went back to eating.
The rest of the group was laughing quite hysterically at the situation, much to his dismay.
It wasn't long until the gathering was over (small talk can only last so long) and everyone got ready to leave.
The tour was cancelled due to the fact that Sakura had to change clothes. It would have to wait until the next day. She and Syaoran hadn't said a word to one another for the duration of the tea, and Sakura sighed out of sudden loneliness.
As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, Tomoyo hopped ahead.
"That was great, you two!" she exclaimed. Our heroes shot her a puzzled look.
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked. Tomoyo sighed.
"You guys got mad and switched bodies, but nobody realized it! You were very good at being the other—it looked like a continuous conversation!" she said, her eyes going a little dream-like.
"Yea, actually, that was pretty good," Eriol added. Sakura and Syaoran stared at them blankly.
"We didn't," Syaoran said softly.
"What's that?" Eriol asked, leaning toward him.
"We didn't switch!" Syaoran repeated, note of panic in his voice.
"What?" Eriol asked, "That's absurd." Sakura shot him a suspicious look and he decided to keep quiet. Any more and he'd give himself away.
"You must have done something to break the curse!" Tomoyo said happily. Eriol smiled and nodded.
"Hm. I wonder what…" Syaoran said, rubbing his chin and trying to remember what had changed that day.
Oh God, he thought. He knew what it was. But he'd be damned if he said it now.
"Eriol, can I speak with you a minute?" Sakura asked. Eriol nodded, bracing himself, and the two walked a small distance away, leaving Syaoran and Tomoyo alone.
"I think I know what broke the curse," Tomoyo said, a teasing note more than a little apparent in her voice. Syaoran gulped.
"Maybe you do," he said, trying to keep calm. They were both staring at Sakura.
"Tell her soon, ok?" Tomoyo said, "She seems stressed out lately and I think it'd make her happy."
If Syaoran had known the pain it caused Tomoyo to say that, he wouldn't have said, "She won't feel the same way." But he did.
And then got elbowed in the stomach.
"Just give it a shot," she said in a flat tone, her expression of irritation frightening Syaoran into submission. He'd always thought she was nice and had never seen her like this.
A few yards away, Eriol was thinking the same thing about Sakura, who was glaring at him with animosity she usually saved for Syaoran.
"You know something about the curse that we don't know," she said softly. He shook his head. Sakura sighed in irritation.
"Then why is it absurd that the curse got broken?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Eriol shrugged.
"I thought you guys would have to, like, say you loved each other or something," he said, "That would be funny."
Sakura was slightly relieved by this answer, but only slightly. She was still almost sure that he was Clow's descendant and decided to try and provoke him a little bit.
"How do you know we haven't?" she asked, smirking. Eriol paled.
"I know who you are," Sakura said flatly. Eriol swallowed loudly.
"And I know who you are," he replied, smiling feebly, "Kinomoto Sakura!" Sakura was not amused.
"Anyway," he said, walking back towards Tomoyo and Syaoran, "Any reason why your friends didn't tell us their last names?"
Sakura realized that the conversation was now over and sighed. But now she was sure. Eriol knew everything.
It was in a state of unease that everyone returned to their homes that afternoon.
Sakura, now that she could be certain of Eriol's true identity, struggled to formulate a plan to get him to answer all her questions. Why had he been so secretive? Why hadn't he helped them with the Clow Cards? Or had he been helping them all along? What was wrong with the curse?
Then she hit upon a question Eriol could not answer. Did she and Syaoran love each other?
She slapped herself a little and shook her head. She wasn't sure about her own feelings, but Syaoran definitely felt nothing for her like that.
However, she was quite wrong and failed to notice that Syaoran had been staring at her for a while now. They'd broken away from Tomoyo and Eriol and were almost at the Kinomoto residence. He knew what he had to do, now that he was sure of how he felt.
But how? He asked himself, sighing at the hopelessness of his situation.
When they reached the house, Sakura was shocked to find not Touya but her father answering the door.
"Dad!" she said happily, jumping into his outstretched arms.
As father and daughter hugged, Syaoran examined the man who'd befriended his father. Tall with auburn hair and brown eyes, he wore glasses and a big smile as he took Syaoran's hand.
"I'm Fujitaka, nice to meet you," he said, shaking Syaoran's hand enthusiastically, "Please come inside—we have so much to talk about."
Eriol and Tomoyo had walked back to her house in complete silence. Tomoyo was still fuming over Syaoran's indecisiveness, and Eriol was wondering desperately how to get Sakura off his trail.
I need to buy more time, he thought, frantic.
He didn't even notice when they got home and Tomoyo said she was going to take a shower. After a few moments, he walked into her room and opened up her video cabinet.
The water started running when he at last found the video he wanted.
"Parent's day, Year five," he read aloud. Without hesitation, he popped it into the VCR.
The first thing he saw was Sakura, waving, then Tomoyo's mom (whom he'd charmed easily). Then the camera landed on a tall man with auburn hair and glasses. His arm was around Sakura and he was talking with Tomoyo's mother (who didn't seem pleased).
"That's him," he whispered, enthralled.
He didn't hear the sound of the water fade, he was too entranced by the way Fujitaka spoke—his other half.
"Eriol? What are you doing in here?" he heard from over his shoulder. He hesitated a moment before turning.
There, standing on the carpet, was Tomoyo, wrapped in a towel and thoroughly wet. She took his breath away and he watched, with as much interest as he'd previously given the video, water drip down the ringlets of her hair onto her arms and back.
He felt his mouth twitch, as if to form words, but had no idea what those would be.
DM: Cliffhangers all around! Yay! Please review guys—it means so much to me! Anyway, to answer the question of which two cards are left, it's the next chapter's title!
Next chapter: Light and Dark.