I would just like to take this moment and explain how hard this chapter was to write. REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY HARD!!!!!!!! I rewrote this chapter more times then you can count because I couldn't get it just right...had to call in the experts I was driving myself so insane...Aeriol, only the insane can keep others' sanity. NO seriously.
Well, we all know that Eriol and Tomoyo end up together, so I feel no shame in putting this BEFORE the chapter. The original version had Eriol just confessing to Tomoyo, sweet...but...ummm...relatively uneventful. The second had Tomoyo moving to America...but Eriol pitched a royal fit saying that if Tomoyo went to America he would never speak to me again, and Tomoyo quietly said that where as she enjoyed the States her love for Eriol would keep her close by. So thus that version was scraped and I started to lose my mind. It ended with this version, please enjoy...you'd better...
Chapter 15: Pokey-pokey—Eriol
How dare she say such things! How dare she challenge me! And then I laughed. When had Tomoyo not challenged me? Her very nature demanded a confrontation and both of us loved the thrill, our blood like molten lava, emotions over the edge.
No wonder Kaho got on my nerves so much lately. Her plainness and simplicity bothered me, and how could I argue with those traits? I laughed louder, if Tomoyo played Rosaline, then refused to play the part of Romeo. If only Kaho weren't pregnant.
But then, Tomoyo had answered that problem too. She simply said Kaho wasn't. Her arguments sounded good, but then, did she really know what she was talking about? Only one way to find out.
"Umm, Kaho," I said after entering the house. "I hope the pregnancy hasn't given you any trouble at school."
"Oh, no, none at all." She smiled and poked her head out of the Kitchen. "How is Sakura doing?"
"Just fine. She had gone to visit Tomoyo and they were talking about the baby."
"Oh," the color drained from her face. "What did they say?"
I took off my jacket slowly and removed my shoes before answering. It helped to draw out the tension in my shoulders. "Tell me Kaho, are you really pregnant?"
Her long hesitation practically answered the question for her. "You have to understand Eriol, I needed your help. I had no where else to go, no one to turn to."
Why, oh why, couldn't she just say it? Her dancing around the question irritated me. "Just spit it out Kaho."
"Alright, you know that boy I was seeing after you? Well, his parents found out and decided to press charges." She looked down at the ground.
"You're wanted for child molestation." I rubbed my forehead, trying to stave off the head I could already feel.
"Please Eriol, don't tell anyone! I'll be ruined here too!" She begged.
"Don't worry about that Kaho. But honestly, you should go for a guy your own age." I walked up the stairs, unable to cope with one more thing. Sleep sounded really good, maybe after that I could figure out what to do next.
"You bastard! Lazy ass! Stupid Jerk!"
I jumped up, completely awake and in a state of total confusion. "Whaaaa?" The words fell clumsily from my mouth.
A pair of rough hands shoved me against the head bard. "I'm going to kill you now Hiiragizawa." Syaoran growled angrily.
"Wait! Wait!" I shimmed away from him.
If this is because I chose Kaho—"
"Oh, we're beyond that now." Syaoran grinned. "Oh no, I'm here to extract retribution for what you've done to Tomoyo." Something in that grin distinctly reminded me of myself in a bad way. "Now, any last words?"
"Is there anyway I can fix what I've done?"
Syaoran backed away. "You have no idea what you're done, do you?"
"I've got an educated guess." I sat up.
"Then tell me, how can you fix it?" He snarled.
"Beg her pardon a thousand times and then a thousand times again. I made a mistake, one that hurt her. I can only hope she'll forgive me."
Laughter echoed around the room. "You have no idea what you've done!" He leaned in close, his nose nearly touching mine. "What you did can not be undone. It cannot be made right by a simple 'I'm sorry, I promise never to do it again.' What you did has nothing to do with Kaho or even hurting Tomoyo. But it has everything to do with loving her! Asshole!"
"How can my loving Tomoyo hurt her?"
Syaoran blinked. "Tomoyo's leaving; she's going to America for college, Eriol. And that's not all—"
He carried on, but I couldn't move passed that fact. How could Tomoyo move away when I needed her? But then, she did have the right to make her own decisions, just as I had already done.
"I have to stop her!" I threw off the blanket and Syaoran gave me a strange look.
"What?"
"I have to stop her from leaving
I dashed for the door, but Syaoran stopped me. "Oh no, you don't! Eriol, you don't deserve her and she can do so much better then you!"
"What do you mean?"
"First you set out to make her life miserable and then you made her love, left her and chose Kaho—I'm sorry Eriol, you're stuck and I'm going to kill you for hurting her."
I fell back onto the bed. He was right, I didn't deserve her, but that didn't change the fact that I needed her. Through Tomoyo I had found things that made life good, things that I no longer wanted to live without. "What have I done?"
"I don't know Eriol, but I know this, if you ever hurt her again," Syaoran pointed his sword at me, the tip pricking my neck. "You'll have a lot more to worry about then my sword in your gut." He gave one last scathing glare and left.
The door also glared at me in that strange way that inanimate objects could. It won the staring contest. It wasn't Syaoran's threat that kept me from running after Tomoyo, but rather myself. All the pain she had gone through already was my fault. I didn't treat her right when I had her the first time; I would probably just take more advantage of her as time went by. She needed someone who could treat her with the utmost kindness and care, or in other words someone not at all like me.
Sleep did not come easily, not that night or the next several. But as a plus, Kaho stopped pretending to be with child and started looking for her own apartment. A part of me regretted not having a woman in the house anymore. But then, if I couldn't have Tomoyo, then I wouldn't have anyone.
Friday dawned bright, the sunlight gently kissed each cloud good morning and rose gracefully from her slumber. I should know, I was awake to see it. At exactly 5:27 something poked me, not some gentle, average poke either. Something took its magic and rammed it right into me. If raw magic could leave bruises, that blow would have left me paralyzed, for months…if not years.
Syaoran didn't have the power to waste on such petty, malicious, but stupid torment. Motive, yes. Power, no. Sakura would not be so cruel no matter how I angered her. She would be more likely to spend a few days gathering her courage while avoiding me and then come for a little "chat". That left a very narrow and unlikely list of possibilities. Upon enrolling, I had, of course, scoped out all those with potential to be a magician and unless someone new enrolled or an old student gained new powers, no one could do that.
Well into second period, after I had eliminated all possibilities, another large poke came. This one far more powerful then the first; I actually fell out of my seat. But this time, I recognized a part of the magic.
Did I drink any alcohol last night? Because the magic most definitely had my mark in it. Did I manipulate someone else into tormenting me? For the magic held the scent of Tomoyo. Had I finally lost my mind?
These thoughts continued to plague me all the way to English where they disappeared, replaced by something ten times more painful. Tomoyo leaned over her desk, talking to the teacher, her cheeks a rosy color, hair abounding in curls. The teacher nodded curtly and Tomoyo let out her breath, releasing a tension I hadn't noticed.
I took my seat all my thoughts tuned to Tomoyo. Her eyes and their tired ragged look, bouncy hair that must have taken hours to do, pale skin that practically screamed a lack of sleep, all of it captivated me. And then my mind began to run through various scenarios to get her back, most of them involving the two of us, an empty room, very few words and even less clothes.
POKE!
The magic came from Tomoyo! Or actually, to be more specific, her stomach.
Jumping up, I exclaimed, "So you're the one who's been doing that!"
She looked at me with sweet innocent eyes as tranquil as still water.
With a closer look of the inner eye, I saw a tiny entity, separate but still connected to Tomoyo. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"
Now those charming eyes narrowed in anger. "How could I? You're banging Kaho!" A collective gasp ran through the class. "You didn't freeze time!"
"No, I didn't freeze time. I was a little preoccupied with you being pregnant!"
"Well freeze it now!" We were shouting, frightening the other students and teacher.
"Fine!" I snapped my fingers and everyone else froze. "Happy now?"
"You'll have to take care of the memory." Tomoyo stood in order to sit on her desk rather then in it.
"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" I repeated.
"Well, if memory serves me correctly, you were dating Kaho and I didn't want to compete with her for attention. Don't you want to know who the father is?" She dug around in her purse for a nail file.
"There are only three choices really for the father and I think we can safely eliminate Sakura. That'd be just a little difficult. And I think Syaoran's a bit preoccupied with the previous candidate, so he's out as well. That leaves me."
Poke. More gentle this time.
"Would you please tell her to stop poking me?" I yelled and an unheard giggle echoed.
Tomoyo dropped the file and stared. "Is it a girl? Are we going to have a little girl?"
We. A little girl.
"Yes, Tomoyo, we are. And she's been poking me all day, the little monster." I sat on the desk next to her. "Well, now what?"
"Now? I don't know." She snuggled under my arm.
I looked down at her and smiled. It was a little to soon to call the feeling love, but no one else would get the opportunity to hurt her, not while I could protect her. "I've decided something." She purred and I continued speaking. "You don't get to play Juliet."
"What?"
"I don't know what the future holds for us, but I know one thing. Fate is too damn annoying andI sure as hell don't want to play Romeo."
Did you like the Syaoran threatens Eriol scene? I myself like the pokes...gotta get that random little kid in there...it's either an old fart and random little kid...
See, I told you I'd do something different with Romeo and Juliet!! Well, what do you think? Good ending? Bad? Horrible? Needs a squeal? Don't ever write something like that again? Tell me!