Disclaimer: you know it, I know it, the owners of ccs know, it. That all rights belong to them, not me. Just borrowing the character, nothing else.

Wow, sorry. I've been swamped with work and didn't realize I had not posted in so long. Hmmmm. Oh well, I'll try to be better about it, but now that the holidays are over, I just don't have the time on my hands much. But I will make a genuine effort.

What She Needs- A care giver

Eriol opened the driver side door of Tomoyo's black E class and took her by the hand, helping her into the car. It was an interesting experience for Tomoyo.

"Well, thank you again for the evening."

Eriol continued to hold the door open as he spoke, "Not at all, drive safely."

Tomoyo smiled and drew her other leg into the car. "I will. So I'll see you later."

Eriol nodded and closed the door for her. "Goodnight."

He turned and retreated into the hotel doors and Tomoyo watched him enter before driving off. It had certainly been an interesting evening, although she couldn't quite put her finger of why. It had been like any dinner she had ever had with Syaoron when Sakura was away.

They spoke about casual things like work and a bit about the past, just enough for both of them to be comfortable. Yet Tomoyo still found herself enjoying the company of another person more than usual and certainly in a different way.

Tomoyo sat up in a cold sweat. She threw off the thin sheet that covered her sleeping form and went to the window to open it. A cool breeze whipped past her, making her moist skin chill for a second.

She took a few deep breaths of the cool air before a sick feeling in her stomach overcame her and she desperately needed to be face to face with a toilet.

Tomoyo wiped her mouth with a damp towel as she exited the bathroom. That had been a fowl experience, especially since she was conscious enough to actually have to experience it. She gingerly lied down on her bed with the towel still resting on her mouth. She looked to her side at her clock, it was nearly 5 am. She let her head fall to the pillow, but it didn't stay there long until she was up and running to the bathroom once again.

Tomoyo stared blankly at the plate of food before her that her housekeeper had made. It went cold long ago and was still untouched. She knew the one bite would make her sick, and send her running. She pushed her plate to the other end of the table, clearing a space before her to rest her head. She had not slept since that first wave of sickness overcame her. Now her eyes were heavy with exhaustions and a deep yawn escaped past her lips. Thankfully the vomiting feeling had subdued and perhaps now she could get some sleep.

The door bell chimed.

Tomoyo groaned and wish she hadn't sent the housekeeper home early. But she had not really seen any reason for her to be around since the house was tidy and she wouldn't be eating for the rest of the day.

She slowly drug herself up, bracing the table as she did. During her slow shuffle to the door she cursed whomever it was for disturbing what might have been the only sleep she would get today. She looked through the door monitor and felt racked with guilt. She looked at the clock and realized what time it was and opened the door with an apology.

"Gomen Eriol, I forgot about our lunch." She spoke quickly.

He shook his head with a smile. "No worry. Your secretary informed me when I arrived at your office that you called in sick."

She opened the door wider and offered that he come in. Doing so, he presented her with a paper bag. "Kihone filled me in a bit on how you were feeling, so I brought some clear broth that Kaho used to make for me when I was ill. I don't think she realized that my powers back then healed me faster than any soup could, but it did well enough to ease any symptoms that were not worth exhausting my powers."

Tomoyo gratefully accepted it, although she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to hold it down either, especially with the mention of Eriol's lover Kaho. Frankly, she found it disturbing that Mizuki sensei and Eriol had a romantic relationship when he was still in elementary school. Slightly pedophilic if anyone had asked her, but no one did, so she kept it to herself. Perhaps now it was more acceptable, since he was older; but she must be older as well, and Tomoyo couldn't help but wonder if she still enticed Eriol in her aging years.

"I wasn't aware that Mizuki-sensei had come with you to Japan, how is it I have yet to see her?" Tomoyo walked along side him to the living room where they sat together on the plush couch.

"She didn't accompany me here. The soup is actually just her recipe, Nakaru and I brewed it up." He took the bag from her and found is way to the kitchen where he allowed himself to rummage through her cabinets looking for a bowl. "Actually Kaho is living in Australia with her fiancée of two years now. She left us all her recipes so that we wouldn't starve. She was quite the cook and was giving Nakaru lessons before she decided to leave."

He returned with a bowl filled with the broth and held it out to her. Tomoyo waved her hand and refused the soup. "I haven't been able to keep anything down."

"That's because there's nothing in your stomach to work with." He held the soup bowl close to her mouth. "You need to eat or drink something. This will give you the energy to make it through the rest of the day."

She looked up at him and took the bowl, taking a big gulp of it before setting it down on the coffee table. "When did things end with Mizuki sensei, if you don't mind me asking."

He sat back on the couch next to her. "I don't mind. Not anymore. It ended shortly after Sakura transformed the cards. I think the magic was just gone and to her I wasn't Clow Reed anymore. We both felt that there wasn't really anything there romantically, but we loved each other anyhow, in a family sort of way. She stayed with me for many years, caring for me, letting me experience the childhood that I wasn't allowed to have. She'll always have a piece my heart as my mother, but only a piece."

Tomoyo openly stared at Eriol, her eyes unblinking. She had not expected such a confession from him. The Eriol Hirigazawa she knew would have been aloof about the whole topic and perhaps just turned the tables on her, but he spoke so openly to her.

Eriol, who had been deep in the thoughts of his own words drew away from his trance and smiled at her. "Enough about that." He picked up the bowl and gave it to her and she took another drink, this time finishing the bowl. "So is it just a bug?"

"Is what a bug?" Tomoyo began to get up to take the bowl to the kitchen and when Eriol took it from her hands and did so himself.

"What you have."

"Oh. Its an allergy to shellfish." Tomoyo replied.

"Must have been the clams you had last night. Did you know you were allergic?" He rinsed the bowl, giving it a quick scrub before drying it and placing it back in the cupboard where he found it.

"It must have just slipped my mind last night." She was glad his back was turned as she said it, just in case her face showed signs of embarrassment.

Eriol stayed with her for most of the afternoon, just talking about less dramatic topics. He had been making some tea when he caught sight of the pile of mail on the countertop. He pulled out one of the opened envelopes and held it out to her. "So you were invited to Madam Chatlier's ball as well?"

Tomoyo looked back at him and nodded. "She has invited me every year since I took control of Daidouji Toys. I suppose that makes me one of the elites. Besides my mother used to attend them, so by tradition, I suppose she was obligated to invite the next of kin. You know about that party?"

Eriol put the envelope down. "She invited me as well. I think word of my music traveled to her. I'm not quite sure if she wants me there as a guest or as a performer. If it is the latter, I do not plan to attend."

"Oh? Don't take performance jobs do you?" Tomoyo cocked an eyebrow. He was recording his music for a record label, why should he be so opposed to performing his music live for others?

"Not ones where I am simply a lounge player with a ridiculously large brandy glass for tips. I'd rather be appreciated by people who actually listen to my music by choice and in a respectable music hall." He took the two tea cups over to the coffee table and handed one to Tomoyo.

She took a quick sip then smiled. "I'm sure she invited you as a guest. Madam Chatlier is not forward. If she wants you to play, she would invite you and then casually mention to everyone what a talented musician you are until everyone is breathing down your back to play a piece."

Eriol laughed, a comforting sound to Tomoyo. "And what about you? Will you be attending the ball?"

Tomoyo shook her head as she drew her knees to her chest. "She doesn't really want me there. Like I said, she invites me for reputation's and title's sake. So every year I regretfully decline her offer and we are both happy."

"Oh, and why wouldn't she want you there?" Eriol cocked and eyebrow and gave her a stare that sent the blood rushing to her face.

Tomoyo was silent for long moments. She knew why she was a bad apple in the eyes of the elite, even in the eyes of people close to her. Sometimes she even thought Sakura believed the same of her, even though she tried her best to hide such things from her best friend. If she couldn't explain things to Sakura, how could she ever explain them to him?

She turned her head down, looking at her knees drawn to her chest. "I'm just not much of the socialite." She let a breath escape from her mouth after she muttered the words then looked up at him. He had been staring at her.

"I understand." He spoke quietly before rising to his feet. He looked at the grandfather clock in the room. "Its getting quite late. I shouldn't have kept you up all day, you need rest. I think I'll be going now."

Tomoyo began to rise to walk him out when he put a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing back down on the couch.

"Its alright, I can show myself out. Save you strength. Goodnight Daidouji-san."

She nodded and watched as he retreated through the door behind her.

To be continued