Chapter 22

::: 13 years ago :::

Eriol glanced out the doors. It was dark and it was raining and there weren't a lot of people in the school anymore. Only students from sports clubs. Tired out from running drills all afternoon, Eriol changed into his school shoes and walked out of the building. The rain was pouring hard.

"Ahhhh I'm so stupid," he muttered to himself, having forgotten an umbrella.

He took one step forward.

"What are you doing!" A small voice cried.

He blinked and turned around. His classmate of 2 months, a girl he hardly spoke to, stood behind him, holding his arm. Daidouji was her last name, if he remembered correctly.

"Uh…going home?"

"It's raining! And you don't have an umbrella. Didn't you bring one?"

"I forgot."

"Then let's share," she opened her big purple umbrella and lifted it above both of their heads. "It's big enough for the both of us!"

He blinked again. What was she doing? "Uh, no," he pushed her back. "I'm fine."

"You'll get sick! And you're one of the best runners in the school. You can't afford to get sick, Hiiragizawa-kun."

Confused, he kept staring at her. Why did she care? "Daidouji, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"No." Insisting herself, she walked right beside him, making sure to cover his head with the umbrella. "You'll thank me for this, I promise." Then she smiled. "I don't mind the company anyway! Oh by the way, you can call me Tomoyo. No one ever calls me 'Daidouji.'"

She was so nice. Weird nice. But… she did make a point. If he got sick, the track and field coach would be so angry. "Uh…ok. Fine." He coughed. "Thanks. I'll hold the umbrella."

At that, she shook her head. "No it's ok, I don't mind! It was my idea."

"If I let you hold it, I'll look like a pansy." He yanked it from her hand.

She frowned, wondering what he meant, then shrugged. "Ok, you can hold it."

They walked in silence for about ten steps when Tomoyo, full of curiosity, started to probe into his life. "What's your first name?"

"Eriol."

"Can I call you Eriol?"

He threw her a look. What was up with this girl? "Why?"

"'Hiiragizawa' is too long."

No one had ever said that about his last name. Who said that about last names? "Fine."

"Ok. When's your birthday?"

He chuckled, starting to catch on. "I don't want to sound cocky, but uh… do you like me or something?"

"No," she said honestly, shamelessly, immediately. "One of my other friends does though. She's too chicken to talk to you, so I said I would. Can you tell me your birthday?" She asked, insisting.

The way she'd said it made him think she was telling the truth. A little irked, he replied, "January 3rd."

"Oh wow!"

"What?"

"That's the day before mine!"

At that, he looked back at her in surprise. "…Really?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "My birthday's January 4th! What's your favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Oh! Like your hair." She smiled sheepishly. "I like purple."

"My hair's not blue," he defended.

"Yeah it is. Or it's like…so black that it looks navy blue under the light."

He frowned. "Is it really blue?"

"Yes."

They walked down the hill, past three sets of traffic lights, and along the river. Without realizing it, they'd walked over fifteen minutes together, talking about what they liked and didn't like, what they had in common and didn't. If he wasn't going for a run, he was reading sports manga at home. She liked drawing and knitting and sewing. He was originally from Hokkaido, but his grandmother and grandfather moved to Tomoeda just a few months before. She was born and raised in Tomoeda, but her parents had put her in a private elementary school.

At the end of the road, Tomoyo said, "I live over this way."

"I live up there," he pointed to the opposite direction.

"Ok. You should probably run home," she suggested.

"I might." Then he passed her the umbrella. "Thanks."

She smiled brightly. "You're welcome! We're friends now, right Eriol-kun?"

He turned slightly red at that. "Yeah all right."

"Yay! Bye!" She waved.

He nodded slightly. "See ya."

::: Now :::

Two hours into their drive to Hokkaido, Eriol and Tomoyo were reminiscing of their memories in the past. Remembering it much too clearly, Eriol described their very first conversation. Tomoyo laughed at the details.

"You remember all that?"

He laughed. "I really thought you were a weird girl. Nice, but weird. What were you thinking?"

"I think I was just really concerned for you. It was raining so hard! All throughout junior high and high school, you ran like, every day. Did you know, at some point, the number of girls watching you from the window…from the bleachers…probably grew to around 20."

"Oh really? I never noticed them."

"Seriously? You didn't notice the girls? But high school kids…all they think about are the opposite sex."

"I meant, I never noticed those girls," he amended.

"So you only had eyes on me the entire time," she teased, affectionately patting his cheek. "When did you even start liking me?"

"Probably that day."

"What day?"

"The day you shared your umbrella with me."

When her heart stirred, she studied his profile. "Really?"

"If you hadn't done that…where would we be now?" He playfully asked.

"Where would we be… I feel like so many things happened for us to get here. So many things that didn't involve me or you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I came back to Japan, but you weren't the main reason why. It took an unrequited first love to get me to come back. And you…had to go through what you did for us to be here now, right?"

He'd thought of telling Tomoyo about Shiori for a while now. Since she brought it up the first time, she never mentioned it again. But after mulling it over for a while now, he realized there was nothing to hide. If he was at the point of considering marrying Tomoyo, then…she had every right to know.

After a short silence, he said, "You asked me a while back about my ex."

Her head turned from the window to Eriol. "Hm?"

He met her gaze briefly. "You asked me about Shiori and I never gave you an answer. It took me a while to get comfortable with the idea of talking about it again, but you deserve to know."

She turned her body so she could face him entirely. "Then I'm all ears."

:::

Sakura stood by the railing, her knees buckling, her legs shaking. This didn't sound like a good idea when Hiro suggested it and it sounded worse when Syaoran agreed to it. But now she couldn't escape the fact that the five of them were at an outdoor ice rink. Naoko was having the time of her life, freely skating around the humongous rink. Takashi was struggling, but somehow he was able to slowly skate around with little problem. Hiro was following Naoko along, enjoying it.

And here she was. Standing at a railing. Unwilling to let go. Standing a few metres in front of her, Syaoran watched her, arms crossed, with an amused grin plastered all over his face.

"You've been standing there for ten minutes."

She waved him away. "Leave me alone."

He laughed. "Come on. I told you, I'd teach you," he offered, skating towards her.

"No. No thanks," she said, studying the ice under her skates. If she stepped forward, terrible things could happen. And as much as she trusted Syaoran, the railing was much stronger and more reliable than he was.

During the winter time in their school years, Hiro and Syaoran had exchanged their soccer practices for hockey practice. Hence the ability to ice-skate. Why Naoko was fantastic at it too irked Sakura a little. But at least she wasn't the only loser in the group. Takashi didn't seem to be enjoying himself much either.

"Can I just wait for you guys on the other side? I…I'm tired," she admitted, leaning 70% of her body on the railing. "And if you have to take care of me on the ice, I'll be a burden. So you go," she said, waving him away again, and turned around to face the view of pine trees instead of his face.

He chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist from behind. "All right you big coward. I got you. Now let go of the railing."

She squeaked. "Ahh! No, Syaoran! Let go of me!" She tightened her grip on the railing even as he began to pull her off it. "Oh I hate you, don't, don't!" He was much stronger. And eventually he managed to suck her right into the middle of the rink. At the edge of tears, she helplessly clutched onto his hands holding her waist. "Y-y-you JERK!"

Not particularly caring, he said, "You're kinda facing the wrong way Sakuchin. Why don't I move around—"

"If you let go of me, I will scream in your ear all night," she threatened viciously. "You got me into this mess and there is nooo way in hell I will let you go now."

"Relax would you? It's just ice," he mildly said. And as she began to get riled up more, he successfully turned her around so they were facing each other. Helpless, she stood with her whole body leaning totally against him. When he caught sight of those red cheeks and red nose and fiery green eyes, he grinned and gave her a quick smooch.

"Syaoran-!" She cried again, slapping his back with one hand. "I'll punch you!"

He laughed, holding her tightly and keeping them both balanced. "Doesn't this feel nice though?"

"Which part?" She barked.

"You're so scared, Sakuchin. It's just ice," he reminded again, pulling some strands away from her face. "If you fall, you just get back up again. That's all."

"But it hurts to fall. And I don't want to get bruises all over me thank you very much."

"That's why I'm here though," he said lightly, his amber eyes twinkling. "So you don't fall too often."

"I thought you would say you'd break my falls."

"Hmmm, I'm not that much of a gentleman. Anyway, we should start skating around. Everybody's looking at us."

She gasped, realizing the situation. Her face turned red. "Oh this is so embarrassing." She bumped her forehead on his shoulder multiple times. "How exactly do you plan on skating around with me? I can't even keep my balance."

"Easy. Just hold onto me."

Holding onto her, he began to skate forward, in slow strokes. When he managed to join the people circling the big rink, Sakura opened her eyes. They were definitely slow, but he managed to hold them both up. He was smiling, or smirking, down at her.

"How are you doing this?" She asked, gripping his waist.

"I told you to trust me."

"I'm just dragging you down," she muttered. "I wish I could skate beside you, not in front of you…depending entirely on you."

"I don't know, I kinda prefer this."

After a few more minutes, he skated them to the edge of the rink so they were out of people's way. He quickly maneuvered his way so he rested back against the railing and she couldn't get away from him. Meeting her gaze and holding her contentedly, he brushed back her bangs.

"Were you scared?"

"What do you think."

"Get a room!"

"You guys are all over each other!"

Syaoran glanced over Sakura's shoulder and caught Hiro and Naoko laughing, calling out other things to them. He shook his head at them, then focused back on Sakura. She groaned, trying to get out of his grasp. He refused, keeping her where she was, having to depend on him to stay up. He studied her face, her eyes, her cheeks, the way she was frowning. Her lips. Slightly pouting right now.

"Sho, why do you keep-"

"I love you."

Her eyes shot up to his. Oh her heart. At those words, it began pounding. He wasn't joking. Those amber eyes were staring right into hers, unwavering.

"Really?" The word left her mouth before she could filter it. When that smile she loved appeared on his face, she said, "Are you sure?"

He bent down and kissed her cheek. "I've always loved you as a friend. You know that," he pulled away again to look at her pretty eyes. "And then I fell for you. And I realized it's different. How I loved you before and how I love you now."

Something like a ball of tears was stuck in her throat. It was hard to swallow. How long had she hoped…and hoped…and hoped? This was a dream. She reached over and pinched his cheek.

"Hm, not exactly the response I was looking for."

"Sorry. Just checking."

He took her fingers in his and held her hand. "How 'bout you? Do you love me?"

"I've loved you all my life, Sho." The words left her mouth easily, having hung at the edge of her tongue all these years.

When his heart stirred, a strong ache spreading all over his chest, he pulled her against him, burying his face on her shoulder. "Thanks for not giving up on me."

She never knew this kind of happiness could exist in this life. Stroking the hair on the back of his head, she said, "I couldn't, even when I tried."

:::

"I know you!" Eriol's grandmother greeted happily as soon she caught sight of his navy blue hair peeking in from the door. Though she was turning 81 in a few months, she still managed to glide across the living room to greet them at the entrance door. "Oh it's so good to see you sweetie!" She was almost in tears when Eriol swept her in a tight hug.

"Hi Oba-chan, I missed you," he said as he breathed in her familiar, lavender scent. "How've you been?"

"Doing all right. Still kicking! Come on in, it's cold out there. Oh who is this pretty girl?"

Too nervous, all Tomoyo could do was smile and stand awkwardly behind them. "Hello, sorry to barge in your house so late like this."

"Oba-chan, this is Tomoyo, my girlfriend," Eriol introduced, pulling her forward. "Tomo, Oba-chan."

"Oh you are a beautiful girl indeed!" Oba-chan commended, squeezing her hand lightly.

The warmth in Oba-chan's eyes took care of the little butterflies in Tomoyo's stomach. "Thank you for letting me stay here with you on such short notice. I've been wanting to meet you for a while. Eriol talks about you all the time."

Oba-chan beamed. "You're welcome anytime, Tomoyo. I've been wanting to meet you as well. Whenever I call him up, he just talks about how much he loves you."

Eriol laughed in embarrassment, then ushered them into the living room. "We'll just put our bags upstairs, all right?"

"Ok you show her around the house. Make sure she sees your old bedroom! It's a bit of a mess now, but the old photo albums are still there."

Tomoyo's brows rose with excitement. "Ooh photo albums?" She whispered.

Eriol grinned, shaking his head. He grabbed his and Tomoyo's bags on the floor. "Come on."

:::

After ice-skating, the group had split up for the night. The three went off to watch a movie, while the couple went to a café in their neighborhood. Syaoran sat in front of the window, watching as people passed the coffee shop. The snow was falling like a perfect winter night. As he sipped his hot drink, Sakura came and sat on the seat in front of him.

"My whole body's sore," Sakura said with a frown. She'd fallen a few times after Syaoran went off to skate around the rink for a couple rounds.

"That'll go away in a few days don't worry."

She threw him a look. "Easy for you to say, Gretzky."

He laughed.

Holding the mug in her hands, she glanced around and caught sight of couples, students, people on their own, absorbed in their books and conversations. It was nice to just stop and look at the rest of the world sometimes. Feeling Syaoran's eyes on her, she looked back at him. A smile appeared on her lips at the way his pretty amber eyes was admiring her.

"Hm?"

"I was just thinking, I'm never gonna get tired of looking at you. I've been looking at you for a long time and you just get prettier every day. Good thing you're mine."

At that, she reached over and muffled his hair. Whenever she was too happy because of him, that was her immediate reaction. "You're such a flirt."

He laughed. "It's true. Nice genes, Kinomoto."

"Well thank you. You're not too bad yourself, Li."

He kept studying her face, memorizing the way her hair naturally rested in waves around her face. She wasn't wearing much makeup, which he liked especially. Her green eyes were bright and pretty, her cheeks were slightly pink from the cold.

Unable to help it, he reached over and pinched her cheeks. "You're so cute."

"Ow!"

:::

Sitting on the couch, Eriol and Tomoyo watched a variety show being broadcasted on TV while Grandma Hiiragizawa slept soundly in her own room. Resting her head on Eriol's shoulder, Tomoyo could feel nothing but contentment at that very moment.

"Thanks for this," she said softly.

Half-focused on the show, he replied absently, "What?"

"Introducing me to your grandma… telling me stories of your childhood… everything."

He chuckled. "It's me who should thank you for wanting to come all this way with me. Oba-chan was happy to meet you."

Tomoyo straightened up. "Really?"

He nodded.

"Do you think your grandpa would've approved of me too?"

"You might be asking the wrong guy here, but yeah I'd say so." Studying the way she was looking down at the pillow in her hands, he said, "It really matters to you doesn't it? Getting their approval."

At that, she met his gaze with a small smile. "For a long time I wondered if there was something wrong with me… why every relationship I'd ever been in ended in a breakup. I thought I was just really bad at being a girlfriend. Then…" she glanced around the old, cozy house.

"Then what?" He prompted, taking her hand.

She shook her head, filled with too much gratitude for this man in front of her. "I'm just lucky to have you."

He touched her cheek, leaned forward, and kissed her.

A/N: Hi guys, sorry I've been a little MIA! This story's reaching its end actually =) Thanks so much for reading up to now. I'll update again soon!