VictorianPearl: I know, I know, I haven't updated in forever. You don't have to say anything.

Li: I'll hold you to that.

VictorianPearl: It's just that I've been so busy with school and…

Li: coughboyscough

VictorianPearl: What?

Li: Nothing.

Rating: PG-13

Type: Drama

Title: Cruise Along Compassion

It is amazing how everything and any situation, no matter how bad, can get worse. She thought that she had been through everything that the evil this world could give, but it never seemed to cease.

Right now, she just needed to find a place where she could be alone. She needed a few minutes to have some space and just think without another human face.

As she was walking to find such a place, she saw something glittery within her peripheral vision. She turned slightly to see a small stand. She was going to keep walking when a concessionaire called to her.

"Hello miss, would you like to take a look at our sea jewelry?" The concessionaire asked politely.

She paused, considering the option. It was funny that a stand would be outside on a cruise ship. For a moment, her thoughts stopped and all that was there was the warm night sky. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to look.

She walked over to the stand to look at the items. They were indeed very beautiful.

"Might I ask you name?" The concessionaire asked.

She looked at the concessionaire, really seeing her for the first time. She was a small young woman with short auburn hair and green eyes. She smiled sweetly, waiting for an answer.

"My name is Tomoyo."

"What a lovely name." The concessionaire commented. "If I may comment, this is the best piece of jewelry for you." She pointed to a choker made of one strand of pearls; in the middle of it was a silver starfish.

"I like that one." Tomoyo said, eyeing the piece.

The concessionaire smiled. "I thought that you might. Would you like to try it on?"

Tomoyo simply nodded, moving around the counter and into the booth. The concessionaire hooked the choker around Tomoyo's neck and let her see how she looked in the full bodied mirror.

Tomoyo wearily gazed at herself. She had her long hair tied back into a pony tail, adorned with a white, fluffy bow. She was wearing a light blue and white striped t-shirt. She had a navy blue skirt on, showing off her creamy legs. On her feet was a simple pair of white sandals. Despite her desire to be alone, she couldn't help but admire the pearl choker.

"How much is it?" Tomoyo asked, tracing her fingers along the pearls.

"Thirty-two dollars," the concessionaire replied.

"I'll take it." Tomoyo said, opening her small, white, purse.

Tomoyo paid for the accessory and started to leave.

"Have a nice night." The concessionaire called.

Tomoyo looked over her shoulder and nodded at the young woman. She then continued to walk along to the side of the ship. There was an empty walkway. There were rooms on the right and the railing on the left. It was completely deserted, just how Tomoyo wanted it.

She walked a few feat before deciding to lean against the railing. The air was warm but the wind was crisp. She stared down into the deep blue watery depths. It was amazing; so much happened underneath the surface, she couldn't even begin to fathom any of it. It was almost impossible to see what was going on below the surface by simply looking at it. This was also very true with herself.

Tomoyo sighted and leaned into the railing. So much bad had happened. Although this trip was supposed to make her forget all of that, as her mother had said, it was not quite working.

She blinked the tears back. She would not cry over this again; she was better than that.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked.

Tomoyo startled. She gripped the railing and looked up at who was speaking to her. It was one of the mates of the ship. He had navy blue hair under his sailor hat that matched his navy blue and white uniform. He had sea blue eyes behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses.

"I'm fine; you just startled me is all." Tomoyo said, looking at the man with wide eyes. Where did he come from? It was so quiet that I should have noticed him.

"I'm sorry about that." The man said, smiling. "You just looked so sad right now."

Tomoyo bowed her head. "I was just thinking about why I'm even here in the first place."

The man nodded his heard. "You know, I'm studying to be a psychiatrist, I could help by listening to your story if you want. By the way, the name's Eriol." He outstretched a gloved hand. Tomoyo took it.

"My name's Tomoyo. My tale…" Did she really want to tell a total stranger a history that she wouldn't even wholly tell her own mother?

You need to bring out the problem into the open space. Her mother's voice re-echoed in her head. She might as well. For one thing, she wouldn't have to see or deal with him after the trip was over. She could finally get her problems off of her chest and not have to worry about what the listener was thinking.

"I won't tell a soul anything you've said." Eriol said, startling Tomoyo out of her stupor. "What you say is your own business, it's completely confidential."

Tomoyo nodded. Yes, she supposed it was finally time to reveal her burden to another soul. If she did not, she might be crushed under its weight.

"It all started two years ago, my senior year of high school. I had finally started to date, you know how that goes." Tomoyo looked up at Eriol. He nodded to show that he understood.

"Everything went wonderfully; we hit it off right away and had a great relationship. Senior year breezed by and it was soon time to go to college."

"Let me guess." Eriol said, a sympathetic smile on his face. "That was where your problems began."

Tomoyo nodded at him before returning her gaze to the ocean. "We wanted to go to separate colleges. IT didn't seem like a problem at the time, the college he was to attend was only in the next town. We had our schedules set up to see each other every weekend, it seemed full proof.

"It turns out though that he had a history." Tomoyo sighed with the memory. "This is where this tale of mine turns ill. You see, he had been involved in some organization when he was very young. Because he joined the organization, and simply by that, it was ipso facto."

"Was that all that made him a criminal." Eriol asked, leaning with his hip against the railing, studying Tomoyo.

Tomoyo's gaze at the water went cold. "No, he got back into it all, started to do bad things. As he fell back into it, his grades started to drop. That's when I found out. He had always gotten good grades in high school, anything lower than a B was uncharacteristic for him. But that wasn't all, it got worse." She began to choke up a little.

Eriol's gaze was melancholy and concerned. "He didn't hurt you did he?" He asked, putting his hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a friendly gesture.

Tomoyo breathed in deeply, trying to gain control over her emotions. Through all of her sadness, she was glad that she was finally getting rid of all this pain. It was like cleaning out a dirty wound. It hurt, but it had to be done.

"He did hurt me, physically." Tomoyo said as tears dropped from her eyes into the ocean. "When I saw that he was not trying to get out of all the troubles, I tried to break our relationship off. He tried to keep me with him. He hurt me, trying to break my spirit so that I would loose hope.

"Eventually, after he hurt me, I called the authorities. We went to trial and he was accused guilty for his crimes and sent to jail."

"You don't feel guilty for what happened, do you?" Eriol asked.

Tomoyo shook her head. "It was his own fault for what he did. He was the one making the bad decisions, not I."

Eriol sighed. "I'm glad to hear that. A lot of people take the blame for another's actions. I'm relieved to hear that that is not the case with you."

Tomoyo nodded. Her tears had stopped falling and she felt strangely relieved. Who would have thought that mother was right to tell her to go on this trip?

"Look," Eriol started. "I know that I shouldn't get involved with 'clients' and I don't know how you'll feel about this, but…"

Tomoyo looked at him expectantly.

"Would you like to accompany me to the dinner tomorrow night?"

Tomoyo felt her heart speed up. Originally, she wasn't planning on going, but now…

"I'll understand if you don't want to but-"

"Yes,"

Now it was Eriol's turn to have his heart speed up. "Could I pick you up at seven o'clock?"

"That would be lovely."

A silence formed between them. The only sounds were the lapping of the water against the boat and the cool, gentle breeze blowing Tomoyo's hair.

Eriol was the one to speak first. "Would you mind if I walked you back to your room?"

"Not at all," Tomoyo replied, smiling.

A little shiver went through her as she went to take his arm. It was time to forget what had happened in the past and start anew.

And with that, Tomoyo took her first steps toward a new life.

OOO

It was nearing seven o'clock as Tomoyo took one final glance at herself in the mirror. She had on a silky, black dress which came right above her knees. She wore her hair down her back with the choker she had bought the day before to adorn her nick.

There was a gentle tapping sound on her door. Tomoyo quickly walked over to the door and opened it. There stood Eriol, clad in a navy suit with a navy blue tie to match. His mouth opened slightly at the sight of Tomoyo.

Tomoyo cast her head down a little, blushing furiously. Eriol shook his head to regain what sense he had lost.

"Is the sea maiden ready to attend the dance?" Eriol asked, extending his arm.

Tomoyo smiled and took his arm. "She is."

With that, Eriol lead Tomoyo to a littering dance hall. Tomoyo breathed in at the sight of it. It was an aquamarine color, sparkling like water. The string instruments were sweetly playing and everyone was dancing a dance upon the sea.

"It's beautiful." Tomoyo whispered, her hands clasping at her chest.

"I know." Eriol whispered, gazing down at her.

It took Tomoyo a minute to realize that Eriol was speaking about herself. She met his gaze and gave him a shy smile.

"Let's find a table." Eriol said, leading Tomoyo to a table near the edge of the dance floor. He held a chair out for her and she gracefully sat down. "I'll be back in a moment." And with that, he disappeared into the dancing water of people.

Tomoyo sat for a moment, watching the dancing figures. All of the ladies' dresses were glittering like the ocean in the sunlight. Across the dance hall, Tomoyo saw Eriol making his way to the middle of the gleaming stage. Tomoyo wondered what in the world he was doing.

Eriol picked up one of the microphones. The musicians stopped playing for a moment, letting the navy haired man speak.

"Hello," Eriol said into the microphone. "I would like to dedicate the next song to a lovely maiden that I only just met last night."

The whole dance hall was quiet, listening to Eriol.

"I was also wondering if the maiden should like to join me in dance." Eriol said, his eyes on Tomoyo.

Tomoyo, who was very surprised, only nodded. She watched Eriol smile, set down the microphone, and make his way off of the stage.

Tomoyo stood up, searching for him in the crowd. Her heart was pounding with anticipation. Her heart rate doubled when she saw him walking through the crowd. Could it be possible that she had fallen in love in only twenty-four hours?

As soon as Eriol's hand grabbed hers, it became as if Tomoyo was dancing in a dream. The way they glided across the floor, it couldn't have been humanly…could it?

"Tomoyo," Eriol said, pulling Tomoyo close to himself. Tomoyo stepped closer as well. "I know that we've barley known each other for a day, but I can't tell you how much better I want to get to know you."

Tomoyo's violet eyes were glued to Eriol's sea blue ones. "I want to get to know you better too Eriol. I don't want to walk away from this cruise and never see you again."

"I'm so glad." Eriol murmured, wrapping is arms tightly around Tomoyo. "I'm so glad."

The moon in the sky was bright and full as the ship glided through the water to another lifetime.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Was it worth the wait? Okay, it was an extremely long wait, but I hope you liked it anyway.