I know everyone's eager to see Sakura and Syaoran's confrontation but I did say last chapter it would happen in a chapter or two. Well, the confrontation might be moved back one more chapter. Let me see how it works out.

VII. Tomoyo & Eriol

Paris, France

"What the hell can he do? Limit my stock options? Tell them they can go to hell." She began to walk away but stopped and walked back, still fuming. "Who are these people anyway, thinking they can buy me out?"

"Ranma Tsumori and his fiancée Sakura Kinomoto."

Chantal Bellamont was not exceedingly bright, but she was not clueless enough to know that the piece of news she just delivered to her boss was somehow catastrophic. The look on Mademoiselle Daidouji's face after Chantal told her who her potential clients were was one of utmost astonishment-her amethyst eyes grew wide, her jaw dropped, and her entire body froze in place. People were calling out her name and congratulations, but Tomoyo Daidouji was immune to them, her attention focused solely on her surprised blonde assistant.

"C-can you repeat that again, Chantal?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Ranma Tsumori…Sakura Kinomoto?" Chantal replied hesitantly, slightly alarmed by the shocked expression on her boss's face. "Do you need some water, Mademoiselle? You look faint."

"Yes Chantal," she whispered, "that would be good…"

As Chantal rushed off, Tomoyo's eyes scanned the room for a place to sit. In a daze, she managed to make her way over to a chair by the stage entrance. Breathing heavily, she sank into the chair and closed her eyes, remembering that horrible day…

She was sitting at her desk, deciding what color she wanted to make her gown. It was going to be a beautiful creation of satin and chiffon, a truly magnificent addition to the collection she was going to debut in Tokyo. Finally settling on a wine red color, she selected the appropriate colored pencil from her box and was about to begin coloring when the phone rang.

"Daidouji Tomoyo."

"Tomoyo?" A voice crackling with static shouted. Tomoyo blinked.

"Who is this?"

"It's Eriol."

Her heart fluttered. Hiiragizawa Eriol, the one man she was willing to give her whole heart to but never had a chance to do it.

I'll fix that, she thought gaily, suddenly feeling lighthearted at the prospect of admitting her love for him.

"Eriol, I-"

"Tomoyo, Sakura's been in an accident."

Her ardent declaration died on her lips. "What? Is she okay?"

"I'm afraid not. She's in a coma. The baby's dead."

She had caught a flight to Hong Kong the day after, only to be surrounded by grief and sorrow at the hospital. Through the glass window pane she watched as a haggard and disheveled Syaoran sat next to Sakura's bed, holding her lifeless hand. Eriol had been with her the entire time, but not once did the thought of telling him of her love cross her mind. How could she, when her best friend was in a coma and her husband was almost in one himself? And that was before the worst news of all…

They were walking down the familiar corridor to Sakura's room at the end of the hall. Even in such dark times it seemed so right, her and Eriol together. For the first time in a few days the thought of admitting her love crossed her mind. After all, it was Sakura who taught her to always be optimistic and no matter what, to keep on living even in the face of trying times. But their comfortable silence was broken as they neared Sakura's room and the shouts of angry voices could be heard.

"What do you mean she's gone!?" a voice she recognized as Syaoran's shouted.

"Sir, you need to calm down," a nurse's voice pleaded.

"How the hell can you tell me to calm down when my wife has disappeared!?"

"Mr. Li, I know this is extremely disconcerting but we assure you that it's nothing but a minor technicality and we'll find Mrs. Li."

"What's going on?" Eriol asked as they entered the room. Familiar as it was, she was chilled by what she saw. The bed was perfectly made, fresh sheets and pillows, no sign whatsoever that it had been previously occupied by a comatose woman. No sign of living was present, everything returned to its original state for a new patient to arrive. A young girl in a nursing uniform, her face blotchy and streaked with tears, was sitting in the corner, surrounded almost protectively by the hospital director as well as the head nurse.

"Sakura woke up and this stupid girl," Syaoran spat, "discharged her without any of the usual procedures of checking out. She just handed her the change of clothes Tomoyo keeps in the cabinet, helped collect her purse that was in the patients' vaults, and let her go!"

"I didn't know!" The girl cried, the tears coming down her face faster, a trail of inky black mascara traveling along with it. "Mrs. Li woke up and said she needed to go somewhere and she seemed in a real hurry so I just let her go and figured I would enter the data into the computer later!"

"But you're not her charge nurse!" Syaoran roared, causing the girl to cry even harder and Eriol to move closer to Syaoran in case he needed to be restrained. "Only the charge nurse is allowed to make the decision whether a patient is fit to be discharged or not!"

"Mr. Li," the hospital director said, "this is an unfortunate case of misunderstanding-"

"Unfortunate?" Syaoran snarled, "My wife vanishes and you call this unfortunate? This is a disaster! She's fresh out of a coma, we have no idea if she has amnesia or not, and your incompetent staff let her out into the city with nothing more than a couple hundred dollar bills in her wallet and the clothes on her back! She could die!" The last words came out in a strangled whisper, so emotional it was haunting.

"I assure you, Mr. Li," the head nurse said, "we will find your wife."

But they never did. The young nurse was fired, the hospital completely obliterated-testaments to Syaoran's thirst for vengeance. It pained everyone around Syaoran to see how much Sakura's disappearance affected him, but they all knew that he would search for her until his last dying breath. She just hoped he wouldn't have to wait that long.

"Mademoiselle Daidouji?"

Tomoyo looked up to see Chantal offering a cup of water to her. Taking it gratefully, she drained it in one gulp.

"Call the Hong Kong offices and tell them I accept. Get me the soonest possible flight into Tokyo."

She was going to find out for herself if this Sakura Kinomoto was the one she, and everyone else, was looking for.

Tokyo, Japan

In all the years Hiiragizawa Eriol stayed in Japan, only once had he visited Tokyo. One time, and that was it. It wasn't that he did not like metropolitan cities-after all, London was the epitome of European cosmopolitanism and he lived there. It was just that the last time he was here in the Japanese capital, it was as a college student on a field trip, along with Syaoran, Sakura, and Tomoyo. Needless to say, there wasn't much else on his mind.

Now, as the sleek black Lexus (courtesy of his new client Tsumori Ranma) cruised through the streets of downtown Tokyo, Eriol looked out the windows at the city scene. Silver-blue skyscrapers towered over him, their glass panes the only things illuminating the polluted skies. The car passed by various businesses, their signs becoming a blurry distortion of words and colors. Thousands, perhaps millions, of people crossed the streets, all nameless faces that meant nothing to him.

I left London for this?

It was the first time he was truly seeing Tokyo, and he was less than thrilled.

"We are here, Hiiragizawa-san," the chauffeur announced and stepped out of the car to open the door for his passenger. As Eriol got out and brushed off his clothes, the man continued.

"This is the Marunouchi Building. Tsumori-san's offices are located on the 56th floor."

"Thank you."

Walking through the glass doors, Eriol took the elevator up to the 56th floor where a petite woman was waiting for him. With thin square frames perched on her nose and her ink-black hair done up in a severe bun, Eriol immediately assumed her to be the woman he talked to over the phone.

"Hiiragizawa-san?" She asked in her subtlety-accented English, "I am Kara Shimizu."

He accepted her outstretched hand, allowing her to shake it briskly. "Pleased to meet you in person, Shimizu-san," he responded in Japanese. He noted the way her eyebrows arched ever so slightly.

"Oh! You speak Japanese-I was under the impression I would have to translate between you and Tsumori-san."

"That's not necessary," Eriol smiled, but Shimizu had already turned on her heel and beckoned him to follow her. They walked down the length of a busy hallway, their paths intercepted by countless employees rushing to and fro with hot tea in their hands or thick folders. Finally, they arrived at a pair of double doors, the surrounding glass windows tinted a hazy black so that no one could see in, but whoever inside could see out. Shimizu gave the door a quick double-rap before opening it.

The man must not do anything scandalous, Eriol thought, marveling at how Shimizu could give her boss a one-second alert before barging in on him. He walked in after her into a handsome office-decorated, but not garishly so.

He has taste.

"Tsumori-san, this is Hiiragizawa Eriol."

The man in the seat looked up. About Eriol's age with dark hair and eyes, Tsumori Ranma was a handsome man that radiated shrewd intelligence and cool charisma. Dressed in a simple gray business suit, he stood up to shake Eriol's hand and at once Eriol knew they were not going to have a conflict of interests.

"Pleasure to meet you, Hiiragizawa-san. My fiancée and I are so pleased that you have decided to assist us with the wedding."

"It's my pleasure, Tsumori-san."

"Please, it's Ranma. We're going to be closely acquainted anyway."

"Then it's Eriol."

The two exchanged smiles.

"Eriol it is then. I'm sure Kara has talked over the details with you?"

"Yes."

"Are they satisfactory?"

"The most generous offer I've had in all my years of doing business."

Ranma grinned. "If you're marrying the best, you have to have the best."

"She's that great, huh?"

"Wonderful. She's truly one of a kind. I'm so lucky to have met her…" He trailed off and there was a sensitivity present that contradicted the initial impression the man gave-but in a pleasantly surprising way. Snapping out of his reverie, Ranma looked at Eriol. "Are you married?"

"No."

"Have a significant other?"

"No."

Perhaps it was the flatness of Eriol's voice when he answered, because a curious look came over Ranma's face.

"Well Eriol, I guess all I can say is…enjoy your bachelorhood while you can!"

"Missing them already?"

Ranma shook his head. "Oh no, I'll never go back to those days now that I have Sakura."

Eriol blinked. "Sakura?"

"My fiancée. Her mother named her after her favorite flower."

Sakura's mother loved cherry blossoms.

He had no idea why his heart was pounding or why there was a sudden feeling of warning deep in his gut. It had to be mere coincidence-many Japanese girls were named Sakura, and how else would a parent name their daughter that if they didn't like the flower? He swallowed and managed to say slowly, "That's a pretty name…"

"And she's every bit as beautiful as it is." Ranma sighed. "But yeah, I would never go back to my bachelor days. Meeting Sakura was probably the best thing that's ever happened to me." He looked at Eriol and smiled. "I'll never give her up."

The feeling in Eriol's stomach worsened.

It's all important to the plot I swear!