The Waking State
Eriol sat up in bed, hearing the light tap at the door again. The first thing he was aware of was that this was a dream. The second was--Syaoran was on the other side of that door.
He walked over and opened the door curiously. "Can I he--" The words froze in his mouth.
Syaoran was standing there, beet red, staring at the floor. He was wearing only a bright green bow, tied around his middle. It was large enough to cover essentials, but it was also clear that that's all he was wearing.
"Hello Eriol," he said, eyes still glued to the floor. "Can I come in? Please? The hallway is cold, and I don't want anyone else seeing me."
Eriol stood aside, motioning the young man into his bedroom. Even for a dream, this was...
"Did I miss something? Is it my birthday?" He hoped it wasn't. He really hoped it wasn't. Because, if his birthday was yet to come, he'd have something more to look forward to later.
"Yes. It is your birthday. You forgot?"
And, in the way of dreams, it suddenly made sense. Of course it was his birthday...and Syaoran was his present.
"Well then, for my birthday I'd like to give you a gift," Eriol said with a smile.
"A-a...a gift? W-what kind of gift?" Syaoran stuttered, suddenly staring at Eriol with wide eyes.
"Come closer and I'll show you," he said softly in reply. When Syaoran complied, Eriol kneeled down and began to slowly pull the bow apart. As the soft green ribbon began to fall away, Eriol leaned closer, closer....
Syaoran sat up in bed, clutching the sheets and gasping for air.
Where the hell had that come from?
"Syaoran! Breakfast in fifteen!" Ruby Moon's voice carried through the door and hit him like a glass of ice water.
"Thank you," he called out distractedly, jumping from bed to get himself presentable.
He could already tell it was going to be a very, very long day.
Eriol looked up from his breakfast, brow creased in confusion. Lessons had been going a lot better in the last few weeks, and Syaoran had started acting less guarded, more friendly as time went on...but this morning the young apprentice was tense and strangely silent. "Syaoran, are you okay?"
He glanced up quickly, cheeks red and eyes wide and slightly dilated. He looked immediately back down at his food. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You look flushed." Eriol stood, walking over beside Syaoran's seat. "Are you sure you're not running a fever?" He gently placed his wrist against Syaoran's forehead.
Syaoran jumped. "I said I'm fine!"
But, the apprentice was warm to the touch, and Eriol was immediately solicitous. "Maybe you should rest today, just in case. Lay down, and if you need anything I'll ask Kaho or Ruby Moon to assist you."
Syaoran tried to protest again, but Eriol wouldn't hear of it. He turned to his apprentice with the LOOK, and for once it worked. Of course, this was proof enough that something was seriously wrong. "Go. Take the day off. I don't want to see you until tomorrow morning at breakfast."
Within his brown eyes there was a mix of gratitude and...disappointment? Ah, well, maybe Syaoran had been looking forward to today's lesson, but that could always wait for tomorrow. Magic was not a thing to be "dabbled" with when you were even slightly under the weather. New spells could easily backfire if someone was out of sorts, so apprentices were watched most carefully. Once a spell was more engrained within the mind, it could be cast under any circumstance, but this stage could be dangerous for apprentices.
Syaoran stood slowly, looking at Eriol hesitantly. "This really isn't necessary," he said slowly.
"Nonsense. I've been pushing you rather hard the last few days. You've earned your rest. Would you like me to help you upstairs or--?"
Syaoran was suddenly a brighter red, and he almost ran up the stairs. It was only then that Eriol reassessed his theory about his apprentice being ill. He stood, staring after Syaoran, his hand resting on the back of the chair the young man had been sitting on, musing. Was it possible that he hadn't been flushed with fever, but maybe blushing? No, of course not. That would be too much like wishful thinking...something Eriol thought he was long past, with all the years of experience he had available to him.
"Eriol?" Kaho's voice called him back to the present.
"Sorry, just thinking."
"Your food is getting cold."
"I'm finished. I...I'll be in the library. If anyone needs me."
He didn't move. He was still staring off toward the stairs, sinking back into his reverie almost immediately.
She walked over to him, but he wasn't aware of that until he felt her hand resting on his shoulder. "He's been looking at you differently. Today it's just more apparent."
Eriol blinked. "What?"
She nodded. "I've just been noticing a change," she said. "If he's ill, it's been a long time in coming. It's an illness of the heart."
"No." His voice was firm, despite the doubt he knew her words had implanted. "He loves Sakura. I would never dream of interfering with that."
A small smile pulled ever so slightly at her lips, and he knew she was either up to something, or was aware of something he could not discern. "Of course, Eriol."
He sat down in Syaoran's chair, slumping slightly. "He has no interest in me. You should have seen it when I--" He stopped, startled when he realized what he's been about to say.
"You can't stop there. What happened?" Kaho took a seat next to him, looking for all the world like a teenaged girl in her enthusiasm.
He shook his head with a sigh. "It was a few weeks ago, when everything was just starting and I was trying to get through to him. I was pointing out consequences, trying to be firm, and I found myself setting the consequence for his actions as a kiss. I don't know what possessed me--"
She was laughing at him.
"Kaho, is it too much to ask for a little sympathy once in a while?" he asked in a long-suffering tone.
"In this case? Yes. You are the master of so many powerful forces, a student of the supernatural for two lifetimes, one of which was extremely lengthened, and you still think you can lie to yourself?"
This brought him short. Was he?
Yes.
Eriol's guilt had led him to try to hide from the truth of his feelings. So, it had bubbled forth in a spontaneous admission, and even then he'd suppressed it almost violently. He'd asked for a kiss, and at Syaoran's look of shock and horror he'd immediately jumped to deny his secret wishes.
"You've made your point. You are all too aware of my greatest weakness, Kaho."
She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "You are not the only mage who cannot discern clearly the matters of the heart. It takes a rare gift to understand love in its fullest, especially for men."
"Isn't that a little bit sexist?"
"Maybe," she said. "However, how long did it take you to realize you'd fallen for me?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but she beat him to it.
"And! How many years did it take for you to realize we'd both fallen out of love?"
He closed his mouth with a snap. She had a point there.
"Take a chance, Eriol. You might be surprised by what your heart is trying to tell you."
"I'm not sick," Syaoran grumbled for the millionth time since he had run upstairs to his room. Then he thought again of Eriol's cool touch on his brow and the pleasant tingle that raced through him at that contact. He blushed again and fell back heavily onto his bed. "Okay, maybe I am sick. Or at least, disturbed. This can't be happening."
A moment later though, he flung his arm over his eyes and moaned. "But I'm not sick!"
"Glad to hear it," came a bright and cheerful voice from the door, and Syaoran shot out of bed like a rocket. "Of course, I didn't buy your act for a moment. Tsk, tsk, you bad boy. Trying to play hooky from your lessons."
"Oh, it's just you," he glared at Ruby Moon. "Maybe if I ignore it, it will go away." He prepared to turn his back on the butterfly girl.
"Not so fast, Syaoran! I brought lunch, since you're confined to your room and all."
"Oh, this is so stupid! I'm not sick!"
"Well then, if you're not sick what are you? You were acting strange enough at breakfast to fool Eriol after all."
His hands balled into fists as he watched Ruby Moon set a tray of sandwiches and a bowl of soup down on his desk. A tall glass of milk was set down next to the tray, and Syaoran wondered for a moment where that had come from. The guardian's hands had been full with the food...come to think of it, how had she opened the door?
"I just...I had a strange dream this morning. That's all. I couldn't get it out of my head."
"What kind of dream?" Ruby Moon teased.
"A nightmare. The worst kind of nightmare."
"The kind of nightmare that makes you blush bright red? I didn't know people called those kinds of dreams nightmares...I thought those kinds of dreams were called w--"
"I know what they're called!" His blush somehow got brighter. "And trust me, even if it was...was...one of those kinds of dreams, it was a nightmare!"
"Poor Syaoran. You had a dream about someone you didn't expect? Someone you think you couldn't have in real life, so you have to settle for--"
"OUT! Get OUT! Shut up, never talk about that again and just GO!"
Syaoran really didn't like the triumphant grin the guardian wore as she skipped out of the room.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
"Well, what did he have to say for himself?"
"Oh, about what we expected. Complete screaming denial."
"At least Eriol is more rational, for the most part." Kaho grinned. "I didn't get yelled at, he just can't seem to entertain the vaguest possibility that Syaoran might like someone other than Sakura. He seemed to be getting it when I started spelling out the details, but there's a good chance he's up in his study right now, telling himself that he's got a snowball's chance in hell that I'm right about this. And, Syaoran doesn't help things with his shyness and hostility."
Ruby Moon placed a perfectly manicured fingernail against her painted red lips, contemplating the situation for a moment. A slow grin grew and her eyes twinkled at the train of thoughts she found herself on. "Does this mean we can resort to drastic measures now?"
Kaho smiled in return, nodding. "Yes. Now it's appropriate."
The moon guardian squealed in delight, clapping her hands and jumping happily. "Which one first? Which one first?"
"We'll start tonight. Candlelight dinner. The two of them alone. And if that doesn't work, we'll use your idea."
"All of it?" Her eyes grew wide.
"Every detail, plus a few extras."
"Extras? What extras?"
"Chocolate sauce and that silk rope that's been collecting dust in the top of Eriol's closet."
"I do love the way your mind works," Ruby Moon purred.
"I just took a good idea and ran with it."
"Shall we go shopping for it while those two enjoy their dinner?"
"Perfect!"
Author's Note: I'd like to thank the usual suspects. All my fellow E/Sy authors that I love and want to glomp utterly...Emily-chan, Izzy Girl, and Six-chan in specific. All my awesome reviewers...WOW! This is my current most popular fic. Third chapter and already at 55 reviews! ~boggles~
So...what *is* the devious plan Ruby Moon came up with??? Why do I have the feeling we'll be seeing soon? Is anybody else as scared as I am? Review! Let me know how much you want to know what comes next!