Told ya'll it would be soon… Should I change this to a Tomoyo/Eriol fic? I just love them both in this… but really the longer it goes on the more it'll be about those two getting Sakura and Syaoran together… Saku's just such a great main character person! Tomoyo's holding the spotlight now, but only till I get her emotional rollercoaster in order, promise!!!
Disclaimer: it's not mine! Oh god I wish it was…
Chapter Five- Dreams, Preliminary Lessons, and School!
The shoot finally ended with Nakuru and Sakura in killer evening dresses, Nakuru's longer and more elegant, and Sakura's more edgy but sophisticated. The girls had both laid over the railings, walked the top, and posed on them. The crew had Oo and Ah-ed them, but it was no difficult feat for the two 'magical girls'.
Tomoyo stayed late to break down the site, waving Eriol and Nakuru's offers of help aside after ordering Syaoran to walk the exhausted Sakura home. Eriol and Nakuru retired to the house to be fed by the marvelous Ryoki. Tomoyo came in later and dashed down a small meal before setting up all the work she had accomplished on her computer. She didn't actually look at any of it before she went back to the main house for sleep, making an executive decision to examine it all tomorrow.
Upon reaching his room after getting the maid Angela to show him the entire house, room by room, in a tour he hadn't had time to receive before, Eriol found himself severely affected by the jet lag. He spent about an hour and half unpacking and moving things around in his new room before he heard Tomoyo finally enter her room. He set up the laptop he had brought with him from home and then decided it would be more polite to wish his hostess good night, seeing as how Sonomi had already retired to her large suit by the time he and Nakuru finished eating. Apparently she got her sleep whenever she could afford to, what with her constant traveling between Japan and other countries for business.
He stepped over to the room he was fairly certain was Tomoyo's and leaned on the doorframe. She was seated in front of her large mirror and make-up counter, brushing out her waist-length hair. Eriol found himself momentarily mesmerized by the smooth, even motions. His hands lifted slightly in response to his absent thought about what it would be like to comb his hands through her hair, pull it away from her neck. As soon as he moved, he came back to his senses.
"Good night." He said carefully, before he lost himself again. Tomoyo's eyes found his in the mirror, and he saw her reflection smile as she paused in her brushing.
"Dream well, Eriol" she responded in English. He realized belatedly that he had, once again, slipped up and addressed her in the wrong language. He inclined his head towards her, crinkling his eyes warmly. It felt so easy to smile from his heart at all of his old friends. He hadn't remembered how often they had caused him to smile, simply because they were all so enjoyable. He hadn't just been smiling to manipulate them in order to aid Sakura. It was nice to remember what it felt like to not use his smile as a cover for another emotion. He felt cleaner.
He turned into his room, having already said his good nights to Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun, who were bunking together tonight. He hadn't felt much like conversation or reading. Nakuru could sleep through anything however; even Suppi's intellectual mutterings as he perused ancient texts in the lamplight of night.
Eriol changed slowly, going through the motions as if already asleep. He paused in front of the mirror, examining his face and hair. His hair had darkened a bit as he passed through an early puberty. It still had a blue hue, but was not as light grey-blue as it had been when he was young. His voice was a nicely set baritone. He could speak lightly, be deep and calming, or booming and angry. He knew this because Nakuru had a different imitation of him for each of his 'moods' with a special voice to match. His face was still leaner than Clow's had been. His body was not yet as tall or as broad, but getting there. He overall appeared more leanly built. While he had been taller than Syaoran when they were younger, he was now the same height almost exactly, but Syaoran had more muscle on him. Eriol's face was no longer round and smiley. He appeared more trustworthy, honest, and sharply but entertainingly intelligent, less cute and cuddly.
"Which I suppose is a very good thing." He said, sighing and pulling back the covers of the large and comfortable bed. He sank into it, giving a little groan upon feeling how comfortable the down pillows were. His last thought as he fell asleep was, 'Not that any of this helped with Kaho…'.
The next morning Eriol woke at his usual time, somewhere between 7:30 and 8. He dressed and showered quickly. He began descending the stairs just in time to see Sonomi, a small suitcase, one briefcase carrying a laptop, and two bodyguards, one holding open the door and the other standing at attention near the luggage, as they prepared to leave. He continued to make his way down slowly, nearing the bustle, through which at least tow maids were scurrying back and forth, looking busy. He was pretty sure it was Angela and Shina, although he couldn't be sure. Tomoyo entered from the kitchen and Sonomi, who had been speaking at a furious speed into her phone, said a curt goodbye in German and then hung up. She and her daughter parted, saying a short but sweet farewell.
Eriol remained where he was, paused since Tomoyo entered, a silent observer. Tomoyo watched, smiling and waving from the door, as her mother departed. As soon as the front gate began closing, Tomoyo said, turning towards the kitchen, "Eriol, would you care to join me for breakfast?" She disappeared as he reached the front foyer, now very suddenly empty, and entered the kitchen through the same door Tomoyo had used.
Breakfast was relatively uneventful. Tomoyo informed him that she had to spend the entire day going over the photos; editing them, choosing the best ones, preparing a select few to present to the people who ran the magazine. She did inform him that although Sakura was a counselor for a half day summer camp held at Tomoeda Elementary during Summer Break, she would be off in time to get lunch with Eriol. She also told him where Syaoran lived, since the Li had nothing he did until the afternoon. Apparently he had already tried out for and made the boy's Varsity soccer team, which had been practicing the entire first week of school and continued through the weekend.
"Yes, they're the only team in school that begins this early. Our team almost made it to Tokyo for the National Semifinals last year. With Syaoran on it now we should be a shoe-in. Oh, and Chiharu and Syaoran apparently convinced Takashi's parents to let him back on the team." She said off-handedly "And, sorry about this, but don't forget all of us have school again beginning tomorrow. It's our second week. Not much happened so I didn't have too much work to do this weekend, but we are assigned more and more as the year progresses. So be sure to plan Li and Sakura's lessons around school and keep the homework in mind." Eriol winced at how motherly she sounded.
"Wait, what about Takashi? Were his grades falling? He never mentioned it… All I knew was that he wasn't doing it last year, he made it sound as if being President of your grade interfered." Eriol inquired curiously.
"Oh no," she answered, "he's up near the top of our class with Chiharu, as usual, "his arents are just extremely strict. Well, what can you expect? He and Chiharu are in an arranged marriage, after all, so we should have guessed they'd go at least that far to be sure he focuses on grades first. I know people at school who have parents worse than his. Takashi's so easy-going and slippery to catch in anything that he handles them pretty well. Of course, Chiharu's parents aren't that bad at all, since she lives here with her Aunt and her parents stay working in the City year-round. Her Aunt's actually pretty lenient so long as she stays up at the top of our class and her test scores continue to improve. And Chiharu's got such a forceful personality… did you know she does hip-hop dancing? The American style? Apparently she's great… I didn't even know until the end of this summer." Tomoyo continued as she put her dishes in the dishwasher. Her hands stalled as she frowned to herself over the disappointment of not knowing about Chiharu's dancing, but she kept moving, forcing her mind to return to the topic of her day. "I'm actually going to start working now. I'll be in my workroom if you need me. The staff knows where it is. The only people here are Ryoki and Angela. The others arrive a little later, maybe in an hour or two? Nakuru and Suppi-chan have at least two or three hours before they'll be disturbed if they'd like to sleep in." She left the room pretty abruptly, through a different door, and Eriol was left alone.
He left soon after, content to pace Tomoeda on foot, dressed in a blank dark blue t-shirt and pale jeans with comfortable tennis shoes. His feet took him first past his old house, which wasn't far from Tomoyo's mansion, and then towards a neighborhood full of shrines, temples, parks, and apartment complexes. His focus was not on his path, however. Instead, he contemplated Sakura's words to him yesterday and Tomoyo. The Tomoyo from yesterday and the one he had seen this morning, much more reserved and reciting only the most basic of polite information in order to keep him out of her hair. Not even willing to look him in the eye or laugh with him. It didn't seem as though she was mad… more as though she had, due to the early time, reverted to what she was usually like from day to day. How she was accustomed to acting, not after he had been careful to cheer her up.
'Hmm… because she spends so much time living at home with only a staff? I suppose she can't treat them entirely like family, although she seems fond of them all…" he mused.
It was only just now occurring to the young man what a joyful day yesterday must have been for Tomoyo, despite the stress. It was the day of her first professional photo shoot, dressing up her favorite subject, Sakura! It was also a day of fun with three old friends AND one of the days her mother was in town. Not to mention the fact that Syaoran was recently returned. Life must have seemed pretty good. Then along comes the early morning with the prospect of a week's worth of work in a single day, the last one of summer break. She suddenly doesn't have the time to see anyone, her Mother leaves for Germany first-thing, and it wouldn't matter if she was busy because with Sakura busy in the morning and Syaoran in the afternoon she can't even try and matchmake them.
"I bet that's what's bothering her the most." Eriol laughed aloud, "The fact that they aren't together yet and she hasn't had a real chance to help it along. Hmm, so yes that all sounds about right. I'm sure I'm missing some of the extra female problems and psychological flourishes, but aside form that…" he leaned against a tree in the shade. In his mind, he felt Suppi, always a late sleeper, and Nakuru, still affected by the jet-lag between China and Japan. They had, after all, barely had time in China to recover from flying there from London. Looking around himself, he realized that he was almost to Syaoran's apartment, the last place Tomoyo had given him directions to. In a woody park that led up to the back of the complex, actually, if the images in Tomoyo's mind had been projecting were correct. And he suspected they were. Tomoyo's wind had a keen eye for detail.
Suddenly a thought occurred to him. He leapt into the tree above, slinging himself up.
"Might as well get there the fun way," he thought, a wicked light dancing through his eyes as he smiled, shrouding his aura carefully, dampening its already subtle presence and camouflaging it amongst the magical energy around him which tied to every living plant and being.
……..
Syaoran, just dressing from a shower he had taken after his usual morning workout, froze in the middle of pulling on a shirt. The subtle presence of Eriol Hiirigizawa, which had been drifting around in his mind, getting stronger slowly but surely, had vanished. Dragging a loose button-down blue pinstriped shirt on over a black t-shirt above his cargo shorts, he headed out towards the main area of his flat, exasperated but opening his senses as soon as he stopped dressing.
He automatically locked in on Sakura, Wei in the apartment three doors down, and Tomoyo. He then noticed Nakuru, Suppi, Kero, all in their powered-down stages, with muted magical signatures. He shortened his search, magnifying his concentration to detail and pulling his magical sense in so that he examined only the immediate area around his building. Li's mind flipped through a dozen different ways to sense magic, as though trying on many different tinted lenses one after the other, changing 'colors' until he found one that showed him what was hiding. Finally he located an area of- well not really anything. In any random place on Earth there would be a certain amount of magic around, coexisting with the life in the area. But the energy in this spot was shifting here and there. It was like looking at a moving person and only seeing the objects they dislodged as they moved. The disturbance occurred again on the porch of his apartment building and he flung open the back door of his flat using a single-character wind spell. The sliding door led from his room to a balcony/porch which had a view of a park and nearly touched the tree branches of the wood behind the complex. Li was back in his room before the door even finished sliding out.
Eriol stepped in, longish hair minorly ruffled and shirt untucked, but otherwise seemingly not affected by his jaunt through the treetops. He looked not even a bit out of breath, but stretched lazily upon entering Syaoran's room, as though to continue loosening his muscles. "Hm." He began, "Not bad, although I wanted you to be on the porch waiting for me. The old you would probably have had his sword on hand simply as a precaution. Actually the old you would have dressed in full Li clan regalia the moment he felt me anywhere near his apartment…"
"The old me wouldn't have known you were nearby at all." Li answered, mildly irritated to have to deal with the odd Eriol this early in the morning.
"Don't sell yourself short, cousin. A few years ago you were incredibly suspicious and paranoid of everyone, including a fine upstanding gent like myself, who had only the most honorable of intentions towards you and your young lady. Trust me when I say your intuition was so good it nearly frustrated me." Eriol smiled cheerfully as he made his way further into the apartment, under the watchful eye of Syaoran. "Of course it wasn't as impressive as Sakura's but since she doesn't really realize when her intuition and instincts are ruling her actions, the natural denseness amazed me as much as the natural talent did." Li's mouth twitched at that. How true…
"Let's add that sword to the list of items you should have at the ready whenever I decide to sneak up on you, shall we? Still, as I said before, not bad for my prelesson. I believe I might even mold you, although I have to say that I'm certain Sakura will be the one to earn the title of 'star pupil'. Oh just think of all the fun we'll have. And with Daidouji 'sneaking in' to film… there will be no escape. From the passion I'll inspire in you, my pupil, for the subject of course. I'm sure you will crave my attention and wise knowledge and advice." Li's face twisted into one of shock as Eriol's words registered and then horror as his mind began conjuring up the images of having the sadistic Eriol and the matchmaking Tomoyo scurrying around Sakura and himself, forcing them to work till they were nearly dead and then forcing them to act out a soppy love scene in which he wore a dress and Sakura brandished the Sword card. Shuddering he pulled away from his thoughts. Remembering what Eriol had mentioned about his sword, he held up a single hand.
Upon his left wrist was a something that resembled a charm bracelet woven out of cords. From it hung three amulets, and the entire thing was sporting the Li family colors. "Tell me you didn't seriously think that I'd open a door to my home unarmed." Syaoran said.
"My dear sweet, mild, well-mannered descendent, why on Earth do you think I said ADD it to the LIST? I was not simply referring to the blank checklist of things I will be compiling in the future for you, but also to what you already carry. And the sword isn't on that, that particular model sports only small weapons, daggers, throwing knives, and… let's see I think that last one was for stars." Eriol answered, without taking even a single glance at the bracelet Li had held up. "Trust me you'll thank me for this one day… Maybe. Who knows, times aren't as dangerous and uncivilized as they used to be. Supposedly. Either way, next time I see you the sword will be there, pupil." Eriold finished, looking every bit the stern teacher as he gave Li a strict look over his frameless glasses. Li nodded minutely, looking resigned. Eriol smiled cheerfully, satisfied, and walked past his relative towards the front door.
"Oh." He said, turning back. "A comment, since I'm hired to teach you magic in its theory as well as refine your practice. This thought probably hasn't occurred to you yet, but I'm sure you'll be resentful of having to learn to do things you did naturally when you were younger after the first few lessons. Don't feel as though you've gotten the sore end of the deal by trading a youth's intuition for skill achieved through hard work. Although control and skill are much more difficult to attain, they're much more reliable. Your intuition, and Sakura's as well, was always good, but this way there is less hit and miss. For example, in sensing magic in other people, magic of other types and of similar types, it is better to be skilled in recognizing other magic-users. That way you and Sakura will know why you feel good when you meet people like Yukito… not that there are other people like Yukito and Yue… Nevertheless, if Sakura had known how to realize that he had moon magic she could have realized what her feelings really stemmed from. Do I make sense?" He asked, but continued before Syaoran could nod, "Your intuition and your magical talents that come as naturally as breathing will still persevere, and not be lost as you focus on your skills, especially not with a mind as stubborn and disapproving towards change as yours. It will be like my aura. My magical aura naturally has a trait to it that is conducive towards people who tell the truth. It causes the people around me to want to confide in me, as I explained yesterday. Because it's a natural thing that doesn't really act as a spell, I find it nearly impossible to turn off completely and distracting to even dampen." Eriol shrugged and then smiled cheekily. "See you tomorrow, dear pupil. I hear your second week of school is starting up. Be sure and consider how you'll ask Sakura to the homecoming dance before some other guy does it while rotating from class to class." He backed out the open door and waved as Syaoran flipped his hand as Eriol began moving, which caused the door to swing shut firmly and abruptly just as Eriol started his goodbye wave.
"Damn." Eriol's excellent hearing heard Syaoran mutter through the door. "…missed."
………..
The remainder of the day passed uneventfully. Nakuru and Suppi caught up with Eriol eventually and they slowly made their way around Tomoeda, refamiliarizing themselves with everything before stopping off in a library for a few hours. Suppi and Eriol quickly determined that it would not meet their needs and began hatching a plan to obtain, for themselves, using honest or dishonest means, something close to the library Eriol had in Britain, or at least something like the one in his former Tomoeda residence. Nakuru pointed out that they could simply have most of his library in England shipped over, but the idea was nixed, mainly because it was a boring solution, but also because Eriol had not yet determined exactly where the library was going to be put.
So, after returning to Daidouji mansion and having accomplished nothing all day, save for a brief rendezvous with Sakura and Kero at the Kinomoto residence just after Sakura's daily lunch with Syaoran, Eriol decided to search out Tomoyo and inquire as to the whereabouts of a piano. He retrieved his music from his room and wandered around until he found himself in the backyard. The yard, while impressive, was not the main focus of his attention. There was a separate building which the path through the carefully manicured lawn led to. From the smaller cottage-like building Eriol could hear strains of music. He swiftly made his way over to the cottage and- since cream cutains were pulled over each window, opened the door.
Japanese rock music blared out at him. A powerful alto voice crashed over Eriol, followed by an eerie soprano descant, emphasized by a strong and unique bass line. The main theme of the song sounded like it was being traded back and forth, echoing itself, between the main guitar and the loud alto voice. There was also a keyboard playing, aiding the soprano voice in it's task of giving the music flavor, harmony, and depth.
Tomoyo was nodding her head to the music and, from what Eriol could see when she tossed it side to side, mouthing the words. She was fiddling on a computer hooked up to some of the camera equipment from yesterday. Her back was to him, as the computer was placed on the opposite wall. The music ensured that she hadn't heard him enter.
The room itself was the craziest and most amazing part. For one thing, it was wired with speakers all over it, in every corner near the ceiling, so that it achieved the surround-sound affect. The entire cottage was one room, as far as Eriol could tell, excluding two doorways, one of which led to what seemed to be a bathroom and the other a large walk-in closet. Massive, actually. The door to the closet was wide open and the lights had been left on. The entire left half of the cottage was filled with sewing machines, a table or two, comfy chairs, busts of all different sizes, scraps of cloth, and bolts of cloth hanging on the walls. Scissors, open sewing kits, open drawers of beads, you name it Tomoyo had it. The right side of the room was obviously for photography and filming, filled with equipment and miles of shelving packed with videos, portfolios, and disks. On the far wall, to the right of both doorways, was the computer and, past that, a large flat-screen television with a single large and cushy-looking navy couch.
The ambience of the room was distinctly Tomoyo, specifically her work self. Eriol felt as though he had stepped inside her and gone to where her mind went when she was creating crazy clothes or buckling down to meet a deadline. It was organized, but messy and creative. While the room itself had things strewn around it, equipment that Tomoyo probably used often left out on tables, and scraps of the half-finished designs draped over busts lying scattered across the floor, it was apparent that everything had a place and could be easily accessed and just as easily put away. The room was obviously not built for lots of people to come sit in. Aside from the couch, there were a few chairs here and there, most the rolling kind. There was a large wooden worktable near the busts with sewing equipment on it, and another by the wall the front door was placed in. It was right under one of the cream-draped windows, and had a comfy stool by it and a sewing machine on it with an incomplete denim thing still laying there. The navy piece of furniture was the only one that more than one person could occupy comfortably.
Eriol walked towards Tomoyo, resisting the urge to lie down on the carpeted floor and let the awesome music wash over him. He waited behind her until he could startle her without disturbing her work. She paused as the song changed and raised her palms to her temples… He leaned forward, bracing one hand on the back of her chair.
"So, are you working on the pictures for your magazine spread, still?" he inquired, his head right next to her face as he gazed over her shoulder at the computer. He smiled amiably directly into her face when she gasped and leaned away, shocked.
"Oh God!" She said, nearly drowned out by the music as the next selection roared to life. Clicking furiously with the mouse, she soon lowered the volume dramatically. And returned to the most off-putting thing in the room, "Eriol you scared me. I had forgotten anyone was… how long have you been here? Did the maids show you where the workroom was? Usually they'd have taken you all the way to the room and gotten my attention…" Eriol shrugged after straightening and she dismissed the question in favor for staring up at him and smiling like a good hostess.
"Do you need something from me?"
"Actually, yes." He began, "I was looking for your music room. Or the closest one, if you have several." Tomoyo turned off the music altogether.
"Oh." She answered, and he held up his Piano music. Her extraordinary blue-amethyst eyes blinked widely.
"Yes, oh." He replied lightly with humor, "I could also take a look at your piece, the one I'll be accompanying you on."
"Great!" she said enthusiastically, lighting up at the thought of her song. "Could you do me a favor and tell me if you think it's too easy? I was also looking at a Handel from the Messiah, but all of those are so overdone. It's from near the end, so most people actually don't know it and I really love it. But if it's too cliche… and I'm sure it would be tricky to accompany." She explained, turning back to her screen.
"Absolutely. You could give me both if you'd like and I could skim over the other one after looking at your Dvorak. The Handel sounds intruiging." He answered.
"Wonderful." She said as she clicked out of programs. "And yes, I was working on the photos. I wasn't sure which to choose at first, it was really difficult. Now I'm just experimenting with the ones I'm not using, altering the pictures to check out the outfits in different colors, or seeing how weird I can make them to get some inspiration for later or for different styles of photography when I'm shooting models and clothes. I was also designing some new things today. I had a sudden burst of inspiration, like a supernova." She said as she stood. "Sorry about this place. The workroom's a total mess over in that area, the fashion one to our left there. I left all of the sketches scattered on the floor and main table when I dragged myself away from the new stuff." She finished sheepishly as she led him towards the bathroom.
"What was the music?" Eriol asked curiously. Tomoyo paused, in the middle of opening the bathroom door completely. She looked at him, faintly surprised, and then smiled with a bit of a laugh.
"Oh that's right! You've been in England. It's Clover. The band Ora and Sue are in. I thought you knew of them?" she said as they moved through the bathroom, which, he could now see, had a door at the opposite end which probably led to another room.
"Well the hype was huge when I left. They were about to release their first English single. Apparently Ora is bilingual and Sue is… what trilingual, I think? Chinese, Japanese, and English?" He said, and continued as Tomoyo nodded, "but I never got around the checking them out in Japanese and the single was released the day after I left."
"Oh dear. Well, I'll just take you to get some soon and until then you can borrow one of my CD's or, if you have an ipod, you can download mine." She said generously, ushering him into the room adjacent to the bathroom. All thoughts of thanks fled Eriol's mind as he took in the room beyond.
"Oh, wicked." he said softly, but enthusiastically, in English. The room had a high tilted roof. It was done all in hardwood and was devoid entirely of furniture, aside from a Grand Piano in excellent condition, a music stand, and piano bench in the far left corner of the room. A mirror covered the back wall of the room and, actually, the entire cottage. The ceiling sloped up away from the top of the mirror-wall, slanting higher in the direction of the doorway where Tomoyo and Eriol stood. The ceiling had four long sun-roofs which made the room feel as though it opened up into the sky. Eriol could see curtains which, presumably, could be drawn over the skylights. They were light and thin, cream and made of a fabric that didn't appear to suck up much sound. At the moment they hung straight down from hooks.
Tomoyo, noticing the direction of his stare, said, "Oh we have long hooked poles we use to draw those from their hanging positions over the skylights. The trick is to get the loops of cloth at the bottom and then pull it over the metal attachments at the other end of the ceiling windows, see? Otherwise, the room bakes on sunny days. You should be alright, since the sun's nearly gone now." There was a single, bright, and modern chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling that lit the entire room well.
Eriol's gaze drifted over to the right of the room next, expecting to see emptiness or maybe a bookshelf full of music. Piled high in overflowing heaps and stacks in each of the remaining two corners of the room was music, several miniature paper and book-towers per corner. Together all of the stacks in each corner were curved or gathered around an empty space, as though someone invisible sat at the center, sorting through them. He turned at looked at Tomoyo incredulously. The tops of her cheekbones began slowly to pink, and the color only spread as she began to explain them defensively, "Mother offered to get me shelves, but it's so much more fun to sit in the center of a pile of music and look through it all to determine what I want to sing. The few pieces I need access to, like the Dvorak and the other solo pieces I'm learning or brushing up on are all in the piano bench or my room. The real music library's inside, actually. This stuffs only the things I want to keep around… old music that is fun in one corner, new and tricky things that randomly caught my attention in the other. I grab more from the music library every so often and put a few back… There's a baby grand in there as well, if you'd prefer…" She trailed off, looking at him, and he began to recover from the idea that these maybe hundreds of pieces were only the ones she was temporarily interested in.
"No!" He objected quickly and firmly, seeing the guilty look still on her face. "This is the most perfect and uncomplicated practice space I've ever seen. It's marvelous, completely devoted to music and only music. I'm touched you offered its use to me." He said truthfully, because he could tell the room was hers, to help her focus and keep her music separated from all the creative things in the other room. He walked over to the fantastic piano and skimmed the keys with the pads of his fingers.
"My piece is already on the piano from earlier. Oh and the other one is in the piano bench, on top. It's called "If God be for Us". That version was adapted from the original to sort of support a piano accompaniment, but I don't know how well it's been altered, because the voice part is identical to the one in the Messiah. I don't play piano at all or I'd have a better idea for you. I really just know enough to get by learning my part in a new piece. So. Go ahead and play to your heart's content." She finished graciously, stepping out of the room. He noticed, however, that she had left both the bathroom doors open and kept her music off.
He hummed to himself thoughtfully. 'It helps if I'm extremely forward and really put myself out there, invade her space more than I would need to with someone as open as Sakura. I see what the poor girl meant… it's not that she's not polite or amiable or gracious, or even kind. She just isn't connecting all the way… very reserved. Maybe she gets emotional towards Sakura, I suppose, but you can't have only one friend… Being overly affectionate seems to work for me, shocking her out of her politeness... This is fun.' He smiled wickedly, "I wonder when she'll catch on?"
'Soon, I'm sure.' Eriol smiled and continued humming as he retrieved the other piece and began working his way through her two options.
……
The maid Tomoyo called Nao brought them both a large tray of food about two hours later. They picked through the meal, discussing first Tomoyo's musical selections. Eriol had quickly decided that the second piece was gorgeous, not one of the over-used solo's in the Messiah, and much more flashy and therefore perfect for the audition. Tomoyo had agreed easily, although she mentioned it was a little flashier than what she usually did for these kinds of things. She admitted that the end made her nervous because she had written in an extra a capella run after a pause in the music and she liked it, but it could easily be frowned upon as taking too much license with the music. Nevertheless they passed on to other topics pretty soon after, discussing Eriol's piece and then their favorite composers. After Shina had come in to retrieve the dishes, Tomoyo looked at Eriol.
"I really should get back to the computer." She said apologetically, returning to her swivel chair, but still facing the boy, who was now standing. "Technically I've done all that I absolutely had to finish today, but with school this week I just want to get ahead."
"I understand." He answered, smiling reassuringly and disarmingly. He motioned generously to her waiting screen and noted that her desktop was Sakura, Syaoran, Kero, and Herself posing around the Penguin slide. "Work is work. Especially when it's something you're passionate about."
She turned away from him, satisfied with his answer and confident that he was on his way back to the house. Eriol paced by her, and headed instead for the navy couch. Rather than going around to the front he relined backwards over the top and settled fluidly into a relaxed position, arms and legs sprawled, t-shirt floated to a little above his pants line and twisted a bit. Tomoyo's hand paused on her mouse and her head turned curiously. There was a pause and then…
"Eriol-kun?" Her voice sounded odd and small in the sudden dead silence encompassing the room. His eyes were closed, but the tone of her voice gave him the impression that she found it almost painful to have to disturb him.
"Mm…" he responded comfortably, upbeat but sounding relaxed, "Am I disturbing you? I was only waiting for the music to come on again. I really don't listen to music for fun much, or haven't lately, and so I don't really have any to go back to my room and turn on, you see." He breathed and exhaled calmly, waiting for her answer, but not moving an inch from his position on the cushions.
"Ah, hai, I see. Ok, then. I'm just going to put my itunes music library on shuffle." He heard a mellow song start up as she continued working. It was 'Hey There, Delilah'.
"Oh, older but still good. I like how they rereleased this one." He commented softly, readjusting his arms in order to pillow his head upon them. He began to sing along quietly. "Oh, it's what you do to me, oh it's what you do to me…" and then trailed off quickly so as not to be a large disturbance.
"I didn't know you could sing." Tomoyo said, still half absorbed in her computer.
"Not much. Not like you, certainly. I know about music, I can carry a tune, and my voice doesn't sound poor, that's all it is." He said modestly. He continued to relax as the next few songs passed and the two sat in quiet. A louder song came on, the theme to some show on TV and he opened his eyes. Tomoyo's attention was fixed on on the computer, deep in concentration. His eyes wandered over her face for a few minutes as he considered her. Seeing her lips moving and head and knee bobbing, he realized that the song had just changed to Amy Winehouse's 'Go to (Rehab)'. He sat up, interested and driven by the manipulative impulse in him that knew when he could push people and when he couldn't.
"Sing it?" he said inquiringly, tapping his fingers on the edge of the couch and looking at her encouragingly. She smiled, startled from her focus, and complied agreeably. She sang a harmony to the chorus that rose above the melody, stopping after a few measures. "Hah, I knew it! You have a great jazz voice. One of these days we'll have to drag each other to an open mic night." He said, a little smugly, but kindly, lounging comfortably once again.
"A what?" she said, looking surprised, humble, and slightly embarrassed.
"Don't you have them here? In England, a pub or something will have a night when anyone can go up and perform. Oh, well maybe we'll just do Karaoke or something and embarrass Syaoran, maybe even let Nakuru and Kero get wasted on sugar and alcohol and wail for a little bit." He said. Her look of confusion changed to a fond one, and he could tell she was imagining the scene, the chaos, the massive catastrophe of Kero, Suppi, and Nakuru all in the same place with alcohol. As they sat there, Tomoyo off in space and eyes beginning to sparkle, the song changed again to a girly rock song. "Oooh!" She said eagerly upon hearing it.
"What's this now?" he said, because this song too was in English.
"Catch Your Wave". She answered in English, "by The Click Five." Head bobbing, she went back to work. The song played once and then Tomoyo, because it was obviously a favorite, started it over again. Eriol, having caught most of the words and simple melody the first time, began mock-singing the chorus on it's first time around. He rose from his den of comfort and, as Tomoyo again paused in her work, this time leaving it as though she had almost expected to be interrupted again, he took her hands. She was pulled lightly from her seat and he began to dance around the room, throwing his British-ResurrectedSorcerer-Mature beyond my age façade out the window. Tomoyo cracked up at the sight of him doing motions to go along with the words. She soon joined in and was punching the air and adapting his moves, adding flourishes and extra symbols. Near the end she began turning and spinning furiously, arms folded above her head and, once she stopped, dancing a funny little jig with her shoulders and hands mainly, yelling the many words Eriol was leaving out of his loud singing, due to the fact that he didn't yet know the song. He stopped and leaned against a piece of furniture, watching her spin and spin uncontrollably once again as the song ended.
He smiled, yawned, and stretched as she breathed deep, calming breaths. "Well that felt crazy and fun." English, again. Dammit why did he always forget? It really wasn't that hard to remember to use the right language. Switching back to Japanese, "Since you were done with today's work ages ago, I suggest we go back to the Main house. Who knows how stressful tomorrow will be, what with school continuing." His hand went out invitingly. Tomoyo, hair disheveled but the childish glee that had played over her face recently now missing from the picture, took it. She had a secretive smile on her face that went straight from her mouth into the depths of her eyes as though she was savoring a special experience that she knew wasn't going to be taken away. Eriol shifted his grip to her arm and led her to the door, gallantly holding it and waving her through.
…..
That night Eriol was thinking of Tomoyo as he fell asleep. A British rock song he had heard during his last night in England was stuck in his head. "Be My… Be My… Be my little Rock and Roll Queee-eeen." Was running through his head, and he kept picturing Tomoyo spinning and punching the air and laughing. Also the way her shirt had twisted and pulled while she turned and danced, jumped and tossed her hair…
….
Tomoyo had been feeling completely without cares or worries since going insane with Eriol. She couldn't believe he had done that! Proper, British, scholarly and mature Eriol! The person who, supposedly, had frozen his body at a young age so that he wouldn't be too old when Sakura came along, but hadn't been able to stop his mind from maturing. 'Incidentally, how old was he really supposed to be, and why does he not look the age he actually would be if he hadn't paused the natural growth of his body?' Her thoughts were side-tracked momentarily before this question was dismissed in light of her incredulity towards her moment of no control.
Hell she hadn't even believed that thoughts of how dumb she would look didn't stop her wild… celebration, should she call it? Impromptu dance party? Much more fitting title.
Tomoyo fell asleep still feeling as though she glowed, as though she was laying light as a feather on her pillow. She had an images stuck in her head, ones of the jeans and tops she had been designing for him… images of Eriol, laying on the couch, his shirt riding up his chest…
"I wonder how he stays in such good physical condition?"
………..
Tomoyo opened her eyes to find herself next to Eriol. They sat, looking at each other. Eriol lay on his left side, Tomoyo lying with him under sheets on her right side. She felt them both breathing evenly, in unison, and tugged her pillow closer. She, slowly and evenly, slid out a hand, the one not wrapped in her pillow, and held it in the air between their faces. He was still gazing at her, directly in the eyes, dark blue stuck on amethyst-grey. He brought up his own hand and held it against her palm, not entwining their fingers.
She closed her hand and he folded his fingers around it before she could pull it back, still looking at her square in the eyes. Hers flicked back and forth between his face and their hands. Her eyes wandered over him for the first time. The white and gold sheets came almost to his shoulders, but she could tell he was sleeping without a shirt. For some reason, she still felt calm, no blushing. His eyes brushed over her, a light glance, warm and appreciative. She smiled and her eyes blinked tiredly as her sense of being protected and cared for magnified. She closed her eyes, feeling safe and comfortable enough to allow sleep to successfully tug her away, her fisted hand still surrounded by Eriol's.
…….
When she woke up she was sprawled comfortably across her bed. A soft and deep voice was echoing 'You'll stay safe' in her mind, as though she was just remembering someone saying those words to her. She shook it off as part of a dream she couldn't remember.
"Odd." She murmured to herself as she stretched comfortably in the sunlight, "I always wake up curled in a tight ball. Everything feels so loose this morning." She sighed happily and slid out of bed. Her dream of Eriol and herself slowly came back to her, unfolding in her mind as she pulled up the sheets and chose an outfit for the day. It had felt simple and comfortingly private.
"What a nice dream." She said happily. "So pleasant." She entered the bathroom for her shower. "I feel very Sakura-like… very bright, cheery, and fluffy, but maybe not quite as genki as her."
….
Eriol stirred in his room and drifted out of sleep. He smiled, with an edge. "Oh my. I wonder… are we that compatible?" He made a face of disbelief and added, "Wouldn't that make things easier." He sighed and got a wistful look on his face as he climbed out of his bed, shaking out his limbs. His body felt very well-rested. He himself felt surprisingly ready to get on with his day and his usual business of messing with as many people's minds as possible without getting blamed for the mayhem his victims would surely cause. A smile crept across his face and his eyes glinted expectantly.