AN: I'm really, really really sorry about the long wait (except to the person who favved the story yesterday, you barely had to wait at all). I had many delays, not the least of which was a complete hard drive failure (Luckily, I make backups so I didn't lose the story itself.)

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank dark mirth for the beta reading services he has offered. Because of his suggestions, and the unweildy number of languages present in this arc of the storyline, I have cut out the 'nihonglish' and rewritten everything to use pure english, except when a japanese person is actually speaking and theres no acceptable english translation (like Sakura useing honorrifics like san, chan, sama, etc...). The entire sotry has also been edited to break up some of those unweildy sentences that looked like paragraphs, improve the style, and I have even inserted a few scenes where events were glossed over. In otherwords, the entire story has been reedited. If you really want to you can read it all again, but the changes do not affect anything major, so if you choose not to go back it will not affect your understanding of the story.

CH11: Silence

Before the dance started, Tomoyo had been there early to set up for her act. She was not the only one who had needed to arrive early. Eriol, seemingly uninterested in the microphones and volume controls offered to give Tomoyo's music to the disc jockey. Tomoyo was alert for anything that he might do, so he waited until she had turned away before he slipped a small, indigo, square of paper under the label of the case. It had Clow's magic circle drawn on it. Now, anyone searching for a magical aura would easily notice the disc, but no one would suspect until it was too late.

"This is for Daidouji Tomoyo's performance," he said as he handed the disc to the DJ, "I am quite fond of the new song that she wrote. It is quite compelling."

"Thanks, dude." The man's brightly-died, balding Mohawk and flamboyant, tropical-print shirt were bad enough. Eriol almost shuddered at the man's attempts to sound hip, but his smile never faltered.

"I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it as well." Eriol turned to leave, chuckling at his little pun that the man would probably never understand.

Eriol glanced around. A group of boys, younger than Tomoyo, were setting up tables by the wall. Girls were laying out tablecloths and mixing up punch on the already raised tables. Eriol strode across the warehouse floor and helped a pair of boys flip a table over.

"Thanks," the smaller of the two said. He was perspiring and his face was bright red from the exertion. His light build told Eriol that he was not a person who exerted themselves often.

"There's plenty more," The boy's partner said jokingly.

"Then it will be my pleasure to help," Eriol replied as he grabbed the end of a folded table and helped to erect it. The entire wall was quickly lined with the tables. The two boys, job now done, went to lean against the wall and hang out watching the singers warm up.

Eriol did not join them. Instead, he went to offer his services to the girls who were filling bowls with punch and chips. They were more than happy to receive his help. Eriol could not help but notice that Tomoyo was watching him. He was sure that it was not out of jealousy. He winked at her. He knew that she suspected that he was up to something. She didn't realize that she was already obsessing over him, even though she claimed to hate him. The girls he was helping, however, were completely enthralled by his European wit and attractive facade. They crowded around him, giving him perfect cover for when he added an extra ingredient to a bowl of punch from a carved silver flask. The clear odorless liquid went undetected. He did the same to two other bowls of punch.

Everything was prepared now. There would be complications, but he would have to deal with those as they arose. It was getting harder to see clearly what Sakura and Syaoran would do.

The guests were arriving now. Eriol went up onto the stage and met Tomoyo behind the curtain as the DJ began to play music that was surprisingly popular. Tomoyo made no effort to acknowledge his presence, but she had given up trying to run. Things would be easier for him like this.

"There's only a few performers before you. We should dance while we have the chance." Eriol took Tomoyo's hand and kissed it as he invited her to descend into the thin crowd that had gathered. He felt her shiver at his touch. "If we don't dance, it won't count as a date." he whispered, "If you don't at least try, you'll never get rid of me."

"I suppose you won't count anything as a complete date if we're not married at the end of it," Tomoyo said sarcastically.

"Are you sure that you can't see the future?" Eriol asked with a chuckle. The look in her eyes was like that of a deer caught in the headlights. "It's a joke," he said, calming her momentarily, "That's the second date."

"Too bad you promised to leave me alone after the first." Tomoyo marched mechanically down to the dance floor with her tormentor, eager to fulfill whatever would make him consider the outing a date, just so that he would leave her alone.

Eriol didn't rebuke her argument. He placed his left hand on her hip and grabbed her left hand with his right. The first band had finished preparing and now it started to play. Bass and electric guitars played alongside a set of drums and filled the warehouse with the sounds of a heavy metal waltz. Tomoyo had heard of this style before, but she had never bothered to listen to it.

The heavy beats and common waltz timing made the song easy to dance to. Tomoyo could barely keep up as Eriol's footsteps led her swirling through the people. He avoided everyone as he danced with practiced expertise. He even avoided her feet when she purposely tried to step on his toes. They flew across the dance floor majestically. A circle formed, watching their movements until the last beat of the song faded.

Tomoyo was breathing heavily. Her hands grasped Eriol's neck as his arm supported her back. People were clapping. She looked at Eriol. A light sheen of sweat glistened on his brow, but he did not seem to have been terribly exhausted by the exertion. Tomoyo took a second look. He seemed to be genuinely smiling. He was always smiling, but this time it did not seem like it was hiding something. The moment ended when she pulled away.

"Satisfied?" she asked flippantly. Her heart was pounding and she was having trouble catching her breath. "I need to rest." She could not perform if she did not calm down. There was only one more act before hers. They were setting up while the DJ played more music.

"I'm looking forward to it," Eriol replied. His usual smile now covered whatever emotions he may have let appear during the dance. "Do your best," he called as Tomoyo stalked away, pushing her way through the crowds towards the stage. The room was getting fairly packed now.

Eriol went in a different direction. There was work to do. He almost seemed to glide through the crowd as he found spaces to move through as soon as they appeared. He reached the end of the building and leaned against the wall next to a Caucasian boy who looked to be a year or two older than Eriol seemed to be. He was dressed in white and wore a silver crucifix on a chain around his neck. He did not even notice Eriol leaning beside him.

"They are interesting to watch aren't they," Eriol said, speaking in fluent Latin.

The boy whipped around and grasped his crucifix. "Who are you?" he asked impolitely.

"Is it not customary to give your own name first? After all, one might think it strange if I just addressed you as Michael before you told me."

In response to this, Michael touched a red orb that adorned a piercing in his right ear. It began to glow with a faint magical aura.

"If you continue along this path, you are only going to hurt someone. It would be better if you left now." Eriol warned.

"You will not hinder my duty," the boy said, "you will be the one to leave if you value your life."

"That is how it is," Eriol pondered sagely for a moment. "I suppose we will just have to hope that we do not get in each other's way then." He gave Michael a fake smile and held out his hand. "This is how you say goodbye in Europe isn't it?"

Michael looked at Eriol suspiciously for a moment, and then nodded and took Eriol's hand. The red jewel in his ear sparked and then it shattered. All that remained of it was a pool of red liquid that stained the white shoulder of Michael's suit.

Eriol chuckled, "I suppose you can't interfere now, can you?" As he had suspected, once he had flooded Michael with his aura, the jewel had rejected him. The Templar were fools. They hadn't been able to stop him five hundred years ago, and they couldn't stop him now, even if they had changed over the years.

Michael turned away from him and pushed violently through the crowd to the exit.

Eriol crouched down. A drop of the destroyed jewel had landed on the floor. Eriol touched it and it formed into a sphere. Instead of being red, it was now a deep violet. Tomoyo would love it once it was mounted. She would never guess its true purpose. He placed the jewel into his pocket and headed towards the stage. The fun would be starting soon.

Eriol passed behind the curtain and met with Tomoyo again.

"I hope that you have recovered enough," Eriol said, "there is a big crowd and they're waiting for you." The band that had been playing came behind the curtain now and collapsed onto some chairs.

Tomoyo made to stand up. Without her asking or desiring it, Eriol grabbed her hand and helped her gallantly. She wondered what his motives could possibly be. Tomoyo could always read people so easily, but he was an anomaly. She couldn't understand him at all, and that scared her almost as much as his magic.

Tomoyo shook the thoughts out of her head and walked onto the stage. The DJ announced her and then started to play her first song. Her voice was clear and beautiful, despite the disturbing feeling of having Eriol's eyes watch her from the shadows. For now, he just had to be another fan. A creepy, stalking, ass of a fan. She could deal with that.

Then, she stopped. She could deal with Eriol, but this was too much. Sakura was here and she was wearing one of the dresses that Tomoyo had made. She could continue singing and the crowd would love it, but it wouldn't feel right. These words weren't for her. She had something special for Sakura. Everyone else had gone silent as well. They were looking at her. Tomoyo had to give them something, and it would blow them away. Only Eriol had heard her new song in its entirety. Now it was time to show Sakura the depths of her feelings, her pain, and most of all, her vengeance.

"Okay, that's enough of the old stuff. Time for something new." Tomoyo's eyes glared straight at Sakura. "Track seven." The DJ, after a moment's hesitation at the irregularity, complied and the new song began to play. Tomoyo sang with all of her heart. Each word was filled with stinging emotions. She closed her eyes. To her, there was only one person in the entire building. It was just her and Sakura and she was expressing all the pain and hurt and love that she had felt.

She finished and the screams buffeted her like a raging storm. The room was in a state of disarray. People were fighting. Others were forcing themselves on each other. The majority were just helpless victims. One scream pierced her ears above all others. She couldn't see Sakura anywhere. She immediately deduced that it must be more of Eriol's magic.

Before she could turn and ask him, Syaoran had climbed up onto the stage. He was breathing heavily and glared angrily at her before suddenly swinging his fist at her. He struck her in the face. Tomoyo stumbled backwards, staring in shock at what was happening. She fell to the floor of the stage.

Syaoran stood menacingly over her. Tomoyo felt fear like she had only felt once before. She had once seen Syaoran gaze at her with murderous intent, but it had been a dream he had inflicted on her while he had destroyed her collection of Sakura movies. This was real and his eyes told her that he meant to kill her. She trembled in fear. Her body wouldn't respond while under his gaze. She could not even find the will to beg him to stop.

"If you had hurt her, she would have forgiven you," Syaoran's sunken features from his drug problems made him look ghastly and ghoul-like. He grasped his pendant and transformed it into a sword. "You made me hurt her. You were warned." Syaoran drew back his sword.

Eriol knew it was time to act. He removed his belt. It stiffened and elongated into a golden staff topped with a symbol of the sun. "Sword," Eriol said. The staff transformed into a silver-bladed rapier with a golden pommel and wire cross guard which was woven in the form of Clow's magic circle.

Eriol stepped forward as Tomoyo screamed. He was just in time to stop Syaoran's blade before it could strike Tomoyo.

"You should be careful with that," Eriol said playfully. He easily forced Syaoran's blade away from Tomoyo's throat. "You might hurt someone who doesn't belong to you." Eriol and Syaoran glared at each other for a brief moment before Syaoran tried to break the blade lock by punching towards Eriol's face.

Syaoran's impaired movements were too slow. His injured arm was caught and he cursed in pain as he was thrown from the stage.

"I think we should cut out early for your own safety." Eriol said gently as he helped her up. She was still trembling in fear, so Eriol pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

"I want to stay." she told him. She didn't protest the fact that he was holding her. A minute ago, she would have agreed that they needed to escape the chaos, but for some reason, his touch comforted her. She needed to feel it. This was the only way she would have the courage to fix what had happened.

She didn't know what had gone on exactly, but she knew that in some way, she was partially to blame. After a few moments, she realized what it was. She had wanted Sakura to feel like she had, to understand her pain. This wasn't exactly what she had envisioned at the time, but Tomoyo was sure that it was the manifestation of it. Her guilt only shored up her resolve to stay and help. She had been the catalyst for so many people's pain. She had to see it though, no matter how it would end for her.

Eriol allowed Tomoyo to free herself from him. The first steps of her healing had begun and now she had to work out some of her feelings on her own. There was more work to be done. Someone had called the police and they would be arriving shortly.

Eriol leapt into the crowd, landing on the head of a particularly violent boy. His date was huddled on the ground crying. Their relationship would never be repaired, but at least the boy hadn't beaten her to death. He couldn't stay and help though. Many people were about to be abused beyond any human's ability to endure.

One girl in extremely dark and provocative clothing had her boyfriend up against the wall. One arm was pressed heavily against his neck, but he did not struggle because the other held a switchblade against his stomach. There were teeth marks on his face that were bleeding. Eriol knocked the girl's knife away and moved on.

Eriol saved several more of the most unfortunate people before he returned to Tomoyo. She was playing with the DJ's equipment in a futile effort to stop the music.

"Only Sakura can stop it," Eriol told Tomoyo, "you know that don't you?"

"This has to stop," Tomoyo slammed her fists into the equipment, both as an expression of her feelings and as an attempt to prove Eriol's words wrong.

Eriol grabbed Tomoyo. He pulled her away just in time to save her from Syaoran's sword which shattered the table that the equipment had been on. He held her tightly and she screamed in fear. Eriol did not bother moving again.

An enraged Meiling came from behind Syaoran and struck him in the back of his head, instantly knocking him out. Meiling hit him over and over again, even though he was defenseless and unconscious.

Sakura just wanted all the screams to stop. She had never been good with horror movies, or anything else that was scary. This was like a living nightmare for her. She took out the silent card and screamed.

"Everyone be QUIET!"

Even when Sakura transformed the silent card and broke the spell, Meiling continued to hit Syaoran.

"Stop it!" Tomoyo stepped in between Meiling and Syaoran. "Enough people have been hurt tonight, so please..."

"Sorry..." Meiling said without a hint of remorse. She turned and headed towards the exit.

"Meiling!" Ryuuten pushed his way through the crowd to where Syaoran was laying unconscious. Meiling ignored him and continued on her way.

"It's time to go." Eriol whispered authoritatively to Tomoyo. She didn't get a chance to protest as she was pulled into the crowd.

Moments later, Sakura pushed through the people from the same direction Ryuuten had come from.

"Syaoran!" She exclaimed when she saw him on the ground. Blood was pooling from his nose. Sakura tore a strip of fabric from her dress and used it to staunch the bleeding. His nose twisted unnaturally under the pressure.

Sirens blared. A stream of cops rushed into the warehouse. They got to their task efficiently. One by one, people were led away. Peoples names and phone numbers were taken and the injured were transported to hospitals.

Luckily, Syaoran's nose wasn't broken. The cartilage had been torn and was the cause of his increased nasal mobility. Sakura had told the hospital staff not to give him any opiates and to use restraints on him. She didn't know how he would act when he woke up.

The doctors left a cup with some paracetamol pills that he could take. They explained to Sakura that it was not derived from opium like methadone or morphine, but was the chemical para-acetylaminophenol, commonly known to most people as acetaminophen or Tylenol.

When Syaoran awoke, he wasted no time in swallowing the pills. The pain from his injuries dulled, but the pain in his shoulder remained. He tried asking the doctors for more effective medication, but they could not safely give him a higher dose. They offered him prescription NSAIDs instead, refusing to give him any opiates.

He was angry at first, but could do nothing but shout out his frustrations because of the restraints. Because Syaoran was having so much trouble acting civilly, Sakura did her best to ignore him and watch television.

"A riot occurred during an innocent teen dance at a warehouse downtown," a news anchor on the television was saying, "Police were called to the scene when many of the people attending the event became delirious. Many of them exhibited violent symptoms. Early reports suggest that someone spiked the punch with tropane alkaloids, possibly from the plant known as deadly nightshade."

Sakura knew this was a lie. Syaoran had been affected and they hadn't had any punch at the party.

"It was the guy who was with Tomoyo," Syaoran said angrily, "he did everything."

"Who was it?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know," Syaoran said irritably, "but his magic was stronger than mine."

Eriol refused to leave Tomoyo's room until she calmed down. He had, of course, politely explained to her how upset he was that their date had been interrupted, but Tomoyo would hear none of it. She wouldn't even look at him.

The experience had been too terrifying for her. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she lay on her bed, trying to hide her tears in her pillow. Eriol was gently stroking her hair. Every time he touched her, she wanted to scream at him and tell him it was all his fault.

"You shouldn't be afraid of him. He's not as strong as Sakura," Eriol said.

Tomoyo didn't answer.

Eriol stopped stroking her hair. Tomoyo felt the gentle tugs of a braid being created. Laishi used to braid her hair when she was upset. The repetition of the weaving was soothing. By the time the braid was finished, she had stopped crying. She turned to say something, but he was gone. The only sign that he had been there at all was an indigo ribbon that had been woven into her hair. The trailing end of the ribbon had a magic circle drawn on it and was fastened to the end of the braid with a small purple bead on a silver string. Tomoyo tugged at the ornament. It didn't come out. 'Just perfect,' she thought. It was exactly what she had needed to complete her outfit and it was only a few hours too late.