Missing your song

Chapter 2: Awakening

"H-hello?" Eriol said uncertainly, and mentally chided himself for letting a stammer into his voice. There was a slight pause, and Eriol strained to hear what was going on at the other end.

"Daidouji residence, how may I be of service?" The crisp, female voice on the other end was not one that Eriol recognized, and he assumed it was a housekeeper of sorts.

"May I speak to Daidouji Tomoyo-san?" He asked a bit nervously, feeling the lump from before resurface in his throat.

"And may I ask why?" The note of suspicion was evident in the woman's voice. As Eriol's mind fumbled to come up with an explanation, he heard a dim argument in the background; the sound seemed muffled, as if someone had placed their hand or a cloth over the receiver. Eriol sighed, and murmured a few words. Instantly, the sound became amplified, and he could stop straining his ears to pick up the conversation.

"You're home early! Would you like me to prepare you a snack?" This voice belonged to the housekeeper if he was not mistaken… the other voice belonged to…

"Un, that sounds good … Saika-san! How many times have I told you not to pick up that phone!" Yes, his suspicions were correct. The light, almost lyrical voice could belong to no one other than Tomoyo Daidouji herself.

"Daidouji-sama, how many times have I told you? Your mother told you to stop answering calls, because of all those besotted boys calling for you." Eriol chuckled at this remark, though he was not surprised.

"This is a private line! Its sole purpose is so that I can answer the phone and talk to my friends!"

"But the voice belonged to male!!! And don't you tell me that was Sakura's boyfriend because I have two children of my own…"

Hearing that the argument was just going back and forth between the women on the phone, he cradled the receiver with his shoulder and began to sift through the contents of the box. Not long after, he had unearthed a dusty picture frame, and as he carefully blew the dust off, the radiance of Tomoyo's beauty, even as a child, was revealed.

"Saika-san! Give me that phone!" Eriol was shaken out of his trance when he heard the tell-tale sounds of a struggle over the phone. He shook his head, wondering if he should call back later, when an out of breath Tomoyo said,

"Hello? This is Tomoyo speaking! How may I help you?" In the background, Eriol could hear a pounding sound on an object, most likely a door.

"Hello Tomoyo, it's me Eriol." He heard her gasp. "I'm coming back to Tomoeda, and haven't had the chance to hire someone to clean my mansion yet, so I was wondering…"

"If you could stay at my place for a bit?" Tomoyo's voice seemed a bit funny…

"Tomoyo, are you alright? You sound a bit… I don't know… It seems your nose might be stuffed, but I'm not trying to be rude!" To Eriol's horror, Tomoyo started to cry.

"Yeah, my nose is stuffed, because that's what happens when I cry! Alright? I thought we were friends Eriol!"

"We are! Why would you think otherwise?" Eriol felt slightly offended, but he kept his voice gentle.

"Hmm…maybe that fact that you spent 5 years without calling a single time, and only sending a letter about twice a year, and they always had the really formal: "I hope you'll have a good :

-Birthday

-Christmas and/or

-New Year message!" Her voice sounded very distressed, and Eriol was beginnning to feel flustered.

"Well, I-I didn't want to seem like I was intruding on your life and…well, I hope you can forgive me Tomoyo." There was silence on the other side of the line, save for some sniffles. "Tomoyo? I really am sorry."

"Really?" She asked, her voice seeming more cheerful.

"Yeah." He said softly.

"Ok, than I guess I should let you off the hook." She giggled, and Eriol was relieved, but puzzled.

"Let me off the hook?"

"Yeah, I wasn't really crying, I just wanted to see what kind of reaction I would get…Though I guess it would have worked better if I had waited until you were back in Tomoeda. Then I could have seen the look on your face." Tomoyo let out another tinkling bout of giggles. Eriol felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. After all, being the gentleman that he was, having the guilt of making a lady cry on your conscience isn't that great. He'd get her back after he got back to Tomoeda.

"So…can I stay?" He asked tentatively, holding his breath as he waited for her answer.

"Of course! Let's just work out the details of when you're coming. Oh! And how should I decorate your room?" Eriol could almost imagine the twinkle in her eyes as she spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we've started to remodel some of the rooms in our house, so my mom let me be the official designer!"

"This sounds like it'll be a long conversation." Eriol said ruefully.

"Of course! We have so much catching up to!" Tomoyo sounded as perky as if she were chatting with Sakura.

"Well then, we'd best get started, shouldn't we?" Eriol leaned back against the wall, and unbeknownst to him, a wide smile had spread across his face.


-End of Chapter Two-

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Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I've been busy, so writing fanfics had to be put second behind the rest of my life. --

I'll try to change that, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Feel free to offer kind of constructive criticisms if you think it will improve the story! (e.g. Maybe is I should change my writing style, etc.)

Enjoy the summer!

Aryka : )