Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. Wow, I only got two review this time. I hope you're all still reading the story. Or else it's boring you to tears. XD Anyway, thanks to those who did read, even anonymously and those who commented. ;)

Gemini24: Your review brought me much amusement, I must say. Yes, there will be more Yue, the chapters are mostly pre-written by now and he plays a big part in the overall plot. I don't mind angsty Yue, but there's a point where he does need to come to terms with what's happened. heh You're very welcome. I've also uploaded the fic that you requested. I know it took a while, sorry about that. XD

PuppetPrince: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and what's in store. ;)

Oh and for those who like KahoxEriol, well here's your chapter. :)

Enjoy!

Kaho Mizuki stood on the rooftop of her family's shrine surveying the neighborhoods of Tomoeda. It had been such a long time since her days as a student-teacher at the middle school. Her travels throughout Europe and subsequent studies at several notable universities been an exhilarating experience, however she had missed the feel of her home town. She knew that once Touya had captured all of the cards and Eriol had fulfilled the promise of his past incarnation that the young wizard was planning to return to London. Kaho knew in her heart that she would go with him when he left. There was no place she would rather be than by Eriol's side.

She hoped that when she finally saw Touya again outside of school that he would understand how she felt. He had Yukito now of course and hadn't seemed to resent her reappearance after her swift departure years before. It just hurt slightly that the two of them had yet to become friends, despite her efforts. Although she suspected he was more than a little distracted by his quest to capture Clow's cards. She doubted that he had told anyone outside of Yukito about them and his own abilities. Kaho knew she wasn't likely to be on his list of candidates, even if he had given her hints about his psychic power back when they were still in a relationship.

The wind hitched up and she felt the shadows of the night draw closer as the moon rose higher. Then she leapt down from her perch and swiftly off the roof by its edge. She treasured Eriol as much as Touya treasured Yukito and that if he ever asked the reason why she'd left, her answer would be simple, there were other things they were meant to see apart from one another...other people they were supposed to meet.

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"Essex. It was Essex Street. I think it was this way... No, no. It was left, I remember now." Kaho murmured to herself as she peered at small tourist map.

"Excuse me Miss, are you lost?"

Kaho turned to find a petit man with deep blue hair that was almost black, starting back at her. She had always been tall, even for a woman of her heritage, so she was used to leaning down to converse with people who were her elders. This man however, seemed to be quite a bit older than she, despite his youthful appearance. There was an air about him, something she couldn't define, that made him seem older if not wiser than most she'd met. In a way he reminded her of Touya and how the hardships he'd faced as a child had shaped him and made him stronger.

"Unfortunately it seems as though I am. Would you happen to know where this address was located? I'm an exchange student from Japan and it's my first time being here in England." Kaho answered nervously.

She didn't like giving out such information, but felt it was necessary. Being foreign and confused was better than being labeled as a local woman who was careless and weak, the perfect target for black marketers. This man was still a stranger, she reasoned, but it was broad daylight and there was little chance someone of his stature could do anything to harm her or keep her from fighting back.

The man seemed to sense her fear and moved slowly away from her after reading the address she'd held out.

"I understand Miss. There's a man from the Yard down on the next block. I've never been to this address, but I'm sure he could help you find it."

Kaho bowed in gratitude and sprinted off down the street.

Maybe he isn't so bad, she thought, he tried to be as calm and courteous as possible. I'm sorry I acted so strangely around him.

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Eriol Hiiragizawa had walked away from the mystery woman with a whirl of strange thoughts going through his mind. She had been understandably frightened and uncomfortable in a foreign setting. It was likely that she'd heard about some of Europe's more dangerous aspects and was being cautious around people she didn't know. In all likelihood he would never see that woman again. He hadn't even gotten her name. Despite having no idea who she was, he'd decided he would have liked to ask her to tea.

Sometimes in a moment of leisure, he would think on the life of his former incarnation Clow Reed and the memories he'd inherited from him. Clow had found the acceptance of his peers a difficult achievement at times and romantic entanglement a rocky road that had at times led to emotional ruin. Eriol didn't want to get caught up in past mistakes of his predecessor. On the contrary, what he wanted more than anything was for someone to accept him on his own merits and appeal. His house, his knowledge, his position, they were all things he'd acquired from Clow. He wanted someone who would accept him personally, not the shadow of a person long dead that stood over him like a ghost in shackles, invading almost every aspect of his being.

Seeing that woman had made him think that such a person might actually exist. He just had to find a way to locate her.

"You know you could start with the local colleges, they are recipients of some of your donations" Ruby Moon said perching on a nearby gate. She jumped off and slowly transformed into her human form, dubbed Nakuru Akizuki, by her master.

"I could, but I don't want to seem like I'm doing anything unsettling" Eriol answered as he looked up at her. "I'd rather we met by chance. She's be less suspicious that way."

Nakuru rolled her eyes.

"You'd have to explain your age anyway, eventually" she said. "Why don't you just use magic to find her and then ask her out. You'll start growing again after we're done in Japan anyway. Right?"

Eriol nodded. He wouldn't stay in this youthful body forever. That woman had already seemed to realize the truth of his age, which was one of the reasons he needed to find her. There was a possibility that she could be of help to him when he returned to Tomoeda. He needed to test Clow's would-be successor and ensure that Yue, Kero, and the cards were in good hands.

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As it turned out, Kaho was the one to find him first. She was apparently the recipient of some of Eriol's misplaced mail. Though he had a sneaking suspicion that Ruby Moon and Suppy had something to do with this, he played along for Kaho's benefit.

The afternoon ended with Kaho cheerfully joining Eriol for tea. Something that soon became a weekly occurrence. Eriol found that he slowly becoming accustomed to her presence, as Kaho treated him like an adult, despite his appearance. She always brought with her stories about her various adventures throughout London as she had a tendency to get lost easily. It was fortunate, she said, that public transportation was able to get here where she needed to go. The gap between the English and Japanese languages made it difficult to translate some street names, though she improving.

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"I'm not actually the age my appearance shows me to be" Eriol told Kaho months later.

"I know" she answered with a small smile. "I also know that you have magic in you. There were people where I came from who had it too, though not to this extent. There was a boy I knew back home who could sense things without being able to see them and the future at times. There were also rumors of a witch with a shop that grants wishes somewhere near Tokyo."

"Ah, that would be Yuko" Eriol replied thoughtfully. "She was a friend of my past incarnation, Clow Reed. A good friend to have."

"You used to be someone else" Kaho said. It was a statement, not a question. "That explains why you resemble the man in that picture in the hall so closely."

"That is Clow Reed, he was once an accomplished wizard of both English and Japanese parentage who lived almost two hundred years ago." Eriol acknowledged. "I am at least one of his reincarnations. He created several magical objects including a deck of cards, which he sealed away at the end of his life. The cards were accompanied by two guardians, Kero and Yue."

"Where are you from exactly?"

"I'm from London and Clow was from Tomoeda, though he resided in many places in Japan during his lifetime." Eriol explained. "I appeared here in London almost forty years ago. I have no parents or other relations, in fact I was raised by an old woman who was distantly related to Clow through prior arrangement in his will. She died nearly twenty years ago."

"You've been alone all this time?" Kaho wondered aloud.

"Except for Ruby Moon and Suppy, my new guardians. Yes." He answered with a sad smile. "It's easier to hide that way. You were one of the few who are different. You've never viewed me as a child, Kaho." Eriol disclosed.

"You're far from a child, Eriol."

"I wanted someone who would see me. Not Clow. Not a child. Me. That person is you, Kaho. You're the only one who has without my explaining it."

"I just knew the first time I saw you. That's why I saw so nervous. I didn't realize you'd intentionally stopped aging." Kaho admitted. "I thought you were simply a much shorter man."

Eriol chuckled.

"Not quite. I do hope my adult appearance differs slightly from Clow's however. Otherwise I would find it rather difficult to hide our connection from the rest his peers in the wizarding world." He said. "We'll need to be careful about that when I return to Tomoeda to test Clow's successor."

Kaho nodded.

"I'll go back with you in a few years" she said. "By then I'll have built up enough credits to put my studies on hold. I can return to being a teacher and help you keep up your disguise. I'd also very much like to check in on a friend and get to meet his little sister."

"I'd be happy for your company, my dear" Eriol said smiling. "I look forward to seeing what how much Tomoeda has changed from the one in Clow's memories."

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"It's been two hundred years since I last saw you Keroberos and here I find you stuffing your face" Yue scolded. "You haven't changed much."

"Yue! When did you get here? And you have no right to get on my case about eating when you don't know how good this cake is!" his brother exclaimed, highly affronted. "The master said I could have some."

Touya snorted as he entered the kitchen.

"You're just lucky my Dad's out" the Cardmaster commented lightly. "And I said you could have two pieces, not five. He keeps raiding the fridge so I don't know what we have left, but help yourself Yue."

"I don't require human food in order to survive" Yue said. "I only need to feed on the magic you give me through our connection."

"I see" the teen said with a nod "but is there anything you like to eat anyway?"

"I don't mind bread or soup, some sour tasting deserts" Yue replied after thinking it over. "Clow let us try a myriad of different foods during his travels."

"We might have some lemon meringue pie left from a few days ago."

"That will do just fine" the guardian said with a small smile. "It's been more than a century since I've tasted good food."

"What was that about not stuffing my face?"

"Shut it plushie" Touya told the cat guardian. "At least he waited to be invited first, unlike a certain someone who decimated our kitchen on their first night."

"Grrr...come to think of it, where did you even come from Yue? You weren't there when this guy set the cards loose." Kero asked curiously.

"He's sort of Yukito. And Yukito is him." Touya tried to explain as he searched for the leftover pie.

"So he took on a false form and became someone else" Kero said. "Did Clow set this up?"

"Yes. We think he wanted Yue in Tomoeda so that he could be close to Sakura when the time came." The Cardmaster said. "During that time he changed from Yue to Yukito. Only they ended up becoming completely separate people within the same body."

"We're two sides of the same whole, more or less" Yue said. "Although we are completely different, I assure you. I am me and he is himself."

"That's really strange, I wonder why Clow would do such a thing?" The cat guardian speculated. "Then again, there are a lot of strange things around here that Clow didn't tell us anything about."

"Maybe he didn't know everything" Touya put in as he cut a slice of pie and handed it to Yue with a plate and fork. "A lot's changed since the time when Clow was still alive. He couldn't predict everything that happened in between."

"I'm sure he tried, even though he still left us behind in the end" Yue said solemnly.

The guardian insisted on eating his cake in silence after that. The lemon pie was later finished off by a hungry Yukito after the guardian reverted to his alternate form.

"I guess we should start studying, ne To-ya?" Yukito suggested after he'd finished his desert.

"So much for the weekend" Touya grumbled. "I guess it could've been worse. I just don't want to deal with Akizuki tomorrow. She keeps trying to cling to me."

"I'm sure that's only because she's the friendly type" Yukito said. "some of the other girls are like that too."

"Yeah but not that friendly" his friend insisted.

"She could just be excited about starting over at a new school and is trying to make friends."

"I get this feeling every time she comes too close, like she's after something" Touya said. "I can't explain it. She isn't a Clow Card as far as I can tell and she isn't wizard, but I can almost sense magic around her sometimes."

"Do you think she has something to do with Clow?" Yukito asked. "Maybe we should be careful around her then."

"We are anyway, there isn't really anything we can do unless we find out whether or not she's working with Clow. Right now Kaho is our best lead."

"I haven't really noticed her doing anything out of the ordinary" Yukito added.

"I know" Touya said with some foreboding. "That's what bothers me the most."