Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Somehow
The foursome was having lunch again, under the tree. "Well, someone looks happy today," Eriol commented. Sakura and Syaoran glanced up to look at Tomoyo.
Tomoyo turned to look at him. "Is it that obvious?" She asked, her eyes sparkling.
"You're practically skipping going to school this morning. Anything special for today?"
"Nope, none at all. I am just happy it's Friday," she answered.
"I didn't know you hate school that much Tomoyo," he teased.
"Of course not. If you must know, Mother promised me to spend the whole weekend with me."
"Is it this weekend? I'm so excited for you!" Sakura thrilled.
"That's nice," Syaoran said. Eriol smiled at her.
They all knew that Tomoyo misses her Mother whom most of the time busy running their Company.
"I've scheduled it months before so that her secretary won't plan anything for this weekend," Tomoyo said proudly. "And we would stay at our rest house the whole weekend. Just the two of us,' she continued.
"Just the two of you?" Syaoran said, skeptical.
"Of course, we will be bringing a couple of bodyguards, but other than that, I can finally spend some time with Mother. We'll be alone, with no telephone, cell phones, fax machines, no communication at all to the outside world," Tomoyo shot him a look.
"What if there's an emergency?" Eriol piped in. He grinned at Syaoran who grinned back.
"Okay, I'll have one of the bodyguards bring a cell phone so I can use it in case we're being chased by an axe murderer," Tomoyo said, rolling her eyes.
"What if…"Syaoran began.
"Stop annoying Tomoyo, you two," Sakura said pointedly to the two boys. She turned to Tomoyo, "I know you've been really looking forward to this weekend. Have fun." She smiled at her friend.
"You missed cheerleading practice," Tomoyo looked up to see Eriol standing in front of her.
"I know," Tomoyo said as Eriol sat at the swing beside her.
Somehow, she wasn't surprised that Eriol was there. He was always there. Somehow, he knew where to find her. Somehow, he knew that's something's wrong.
Somehow, it made perfect sense that Eriol was the one there for her and not Sakura.
Eriol just sat there in the swing. Waiting for her to say something. Not asking any questions. Just ready to listen.
"Whenever I'm lonely, I always go here at the park and sit at the swing," Tomoyo started.
"Mother cancelled our weekend plans. The plant in Korea was having problems and she needs to go there, her flight will be later tonight. I don't want to go home and see her leave. Without me," Tomoyo said bitterly.
"I guessed as much," Eriol said.
"She wasn't always like this. We used to spend a lot of time together. When I was younger, Father always took us to picnics here every Sunday. Mother would always make her blueberry pie every week because she knew how much I love them."
"Suddenly, all of that changed. I remember Father going to one of his business trips. It's going to be for two weeks so we will miss our traditional Sunday picnic. To make up for that, he promised me to give me a pet cat. I've always asked them for a cat but they thought that I'm too young to take care of my own pet."
"I looked forward to the day that Father will arrive. The morning of his arrival, I woke up early and ran to my parents' room to wake up Mother. I couldn't forget that morning. I remember every single detail. She's already up but still in her white nightdress. She's clutching the phone on her right hand. Her left hand was covering her mouth, as if preventing a scream. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. When she saw me at the doorway, she put the phone down and sat at the bed. She opened her arms and I rushed to them. Even to my young mind, I know something was terribly wrong. She just held me for a long time and cried. When she couldn't cry anymore, she told me, as calmly as she could, that Father would not come back to us anymore. That was the first and only time I saw my Mother cry."
"Later, I learned that Father died in an airplane crash. After that, Mother became different. You see, the toy company was Father's dream. Mother made it hers. In respect to my Father's memory, she worked day and night to make the toy company what it is today."
"But in the process, she became too busy to spend time with me. Would you believe that I have to make an appointment to see my own mother during the day?" She laughed at the absurdity of this.
"I'm sure your mother loves you," Eriol said. He got up and stood in front of Tomoyo. He held Tomoyo's hands and pulled her up. "How could she not? She's very lucky to have a daughter like you. Beautiful, intelligent, smart, sweet," he said looking directly in her eyes.
"But why she's never there? I'm always surrounded by bodyguards and servants. Sometimes, I feel like that when that plane crashed, not only my father was in it, but my mother also. Sometimes, it feels like I lost not only my father, but both of my parents," then she let go. Like she never let go as before. She cried for the years of longing for her own mother and her father. She cried, as her mother cried that day. She cried with Eriol's arms around her. She cried until Eriol's shirt was soaked with her tears. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore.
Somehow, she knew, that if Eriol could do anything to take away her pain, he would. Somehow, that makes everything seem all right. For now.
"Tomoyo, I.." Eriol began.
"Eriol, I feel so tired," Tomoyo said. Then everything went black.
Sonomi couldn't forgive herself if anything happened to Tomoyo. She knew that she upset her daughter when she cancelled their weekend plans. But what can she do? She just couldn't abandon her responsibilities for her employees. But when she got a call in the office saying that Tomoyo fainted and her classmate brought her in, she cancelled all business meetings she have. She couldn't abandon her only daughter
"How's Tomoyo, Doctor?" Sonomi asked the Daidouji's family doctor who just went out of Tomoyo's room.
"She's fine, President Daidouji. Just stressed. Let her sleep for a while," the doctor answered.
After murmuring her thanks, she went immediately to her daughter's room to look how she is.
She wasn't totally prepared to what she saw. A strange boy, a handsome but still a stranger, was leaning to her daughter, giving her a tender kiss in the forehead. Sonomi was ready to scream bloody murder to the boy who dared touch her daughter but she saw his expression as he pushed the hair out of Tomoyo's face, she need not worry.
"You're in love with my daughter," she stated matter-of-factly.
Let me know what you think! Thanks for the 78 reviews I got so far!