Last chapter…
"All right!" she cried, closing her eyes. "All right! Yes, I'll marry you! After college!" She hesitantly opened her eyes and saw the Eriol in front of her smiling. Smiling the smile she had always loved to see. That soft smile that makes her feel special.
"I'll take your word for it…" he said softly. He then turned to the wide-eyed and open-mouthed Eriol a few feet away from them. Tomoyo paled at the sight of him. "She's all yours, partner!" And with that, he disappeared into smoke.
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS… If I owned CCS, then Tomoyo and Eriol would be a canon pairing, Kaho would be wiped off the face of the planet and I'd be rich.
Author's blabbering: I talk too much, that's what my brothers tell me always… Anyway, this is the last chapter! Yes! Yes! Yes! I know you can't get enough of it but… we have to start after a few reminders from the sponsors… (I just came home from Japan and still have jetlag… pardonnez moi…)
OMG! Who is that cute guy from Angel Links? I mean, those cute guys! There are two: the one with a ponytail and wears a blue Chinese uniform, and the other is the tanned guy who's as suave and cool as Eriol! Yay, I wish I were Meifon Li! I'm getting hyper again… I should list their names on Danix's Bishie List.
Wind witch: I've sent the picture… you really didn't have to beg and all… And besides, we're just two girls who share the same obsession! OMG! Neji-kuuuuuunnnnn!
Cristal-shian: I've been wondering if you are a true blue Noypi as well… coz of that "contra" word… Yes, unfortunately, there's gonna be a lot of revelations here… Eriol-kun's not entirely honest with Tomoyo-chan…
Story-weaver1: thanks for reviewing!
Arika-chan: Let Tomoyo whack him? … Nah, I'd probably make Syaoran-kun whack him for doing that!
Akizuki Sai: Wala ka bang telepono sa bahay nyo? Ay, juice ko! Pero pupunta ako sa 12 at 13! Asahan mo yan! Ako'y naka-beige na pants and puro tali tpos white na peasant blouse… Naka-half-pigtails ako… Basta, ung girl na nakaputi na may glasses na maliit, ako un!
Ari: Eloquence? OMG! Hear that, onii-chan! Somebody praised my grammar and English! (Hn!)
Tsubame7: Yes, I promised I'd continue it… And here I am, continuing it! Taa-daa! … You know, I know a doctor, he's a psychiatrist and he helped me a lot with my disorder… maybe he can help you too… XD just kidding, of course!
Foxy fire: You really have a hot name… Yeah, I've been having trouble with this last chap… I'm not really good with endings…
Elvirna: I love cliffies! Makes me want to bash my computer at the wall.
Momo-chan: Tsk, tsk, tsk! You didn't review last chapter? I mean, the chapter before the last? Tsk, tsk, tsk!
And now that we've almost reached the end, I want to thank the panel for this award—Oops! Wrong line!—Anyway, I want to thank everyone who supported me with this story! (Hey, princess, you should put that at the end of the story itself!) Oh! Sorry, Your Highness! I didn't know!
CHAPTER 4: PROMISES, PROMISES, PROMISES
"What… did you say?" Eriol said weakly as Tomoyo stared at the spot where the clone Eriol was once standing. She was still frozen by the question, her answer and the sudden disappearance of the other Eriol.
"Eriol-kun…" Sakura started but Syaoran held her back, shaking his head.
The young raven-haired girl raised her astonished expression at Eriol who stared back at her. "What does this all mean, Eriol?" she asked faintly.
The blue-eyed sorcerer stopped. Never has he heard Tomoyo call him like that… Eriol… It was different from the usual 'Hiiragizawa-kun'. But then, as he gazed at her pools of lilac, he could see the pain in her eyes as if he had betrayed her or anything. It was the same pained expression she had years ago whenever he would open up the topic about Sakura.
"Daidouji-san…"
"What did he mean, Eriol?" she asked again. "What did he mean by that question?"
Eriol clenched his fists. He couldn't answer those questions. No, he couldn't. It was too difficult, too much for him to answer them. Answering them would mean revealing his feelings and opening up to the world. No, Clow Reed didn't plan this and he, Eriol Hiiragizawa, reincarnation of Clow Reed, will not go against the plan he had laid.
But you already did… When you decided to return to Japan… When you decided to try to live as normally as possible… When you fell—
No! Eriol shook his head inwardly. This wasn't supposed to happen. If the spell hadn't backfired…
Then you'd be more confused than you are now… And you knew that the spell would backfire, even at the start… That's why you pursued it…
"You seem to know what's happening, Li-kun! Why don't you explain everything to me now?"
Tomoyo's voice startled his reverie. He looked up and turned to Syaoran and found him shaking his head.
"I can't, Daidouji. It will be Hiiragizawa who will explain to you everything."
"But, Syaoran-kun, we can't just leave them like this…" Sakura gazed at the two, worry in her emerald orbs.
Syaoran shook his head slightly. "Yes, we can, Sakura." Quietly, he steered his girlfriend away from the two to leave them to talk.
Tomoyo stood there, rooted on her spot wordlessly, staring at the place where Eriol was. Where Eriol's clone was. She was still very confused of what just happened. Everything was still a blur to her, but one thing lingered in her mind: the clone's question to her.
She has no idea why he had to ask her that when they all knew that that would never happen. It was a part of Eriol, so that means Eriol knew everything about this. She had to ask him why he had to do such a thing. Why his clone had to ask such a thing. And she knew she would never accept the answer "I don't know".
Eriol has to know. He created that clone. It was his other half, the embodiment of his other self. A living human he created that represented something of him.
Eriol has to know!
But as she considered all these thoughts, why then could she not ask them? Why wouldn't the words come out of her mouth as if they clung to her tongue for dear life? Why couldn't she ask him?
Was she afraid? Of what? Of what his answer might be? Of rejection? Yes, she was afraid for her feelings. For her heart. It had shattered years ago and she painfully picked up the shards, trying to put them back. And now that they've been placed back again, she was afraid they would shatter again of whatever Eriol's answer may be…
That was why she couldn't ask him… Her heart just wouldn't let her…
"Daidouji-san…"
She looked up at him, her eyes clearly showed her trepidation. His voice was always gentle, but this time, it was softer like it belonged to the boy who truly, really owned that body before Clow Reed inhabited it.
"I guess I should tell you everything…" he said. "There's no use hiding it now… I admit I haven't been entirely honest with you yesterday…"
She nodded, not trusting her mouth to speak.
"Well, you see—"
Eriol stopped and looked around, hearing footsteps and voices coming nearer. He summoned his Clow Key and a golden magic circle appeared under his feet. He then extended his hand towards Tomoyo.
"Let's go somewhere else to talk."
Tomoyo looked at his hand hesitantly, Would she trust him after all that happened? "The choir…"
He frowned at her. "Come on."
"But, Hiiragizawa—"
"I thought you wanted me to answer your questions," he said. "If you wanted answers, then we have to go. Sometimes, there are more important things than the choir."
"Like what?" she dared ask in a soft voice.
"Like you…" Eriol grabbed her hand then pulled her inside the circle. In an instant, they disappeared, leaving no trace.
Tsubasa-sensei, their music teacher, and a few other choir members stopped at the top of the stairs, looking very puzzled.
"I thought I heard Daidouji and Hiiragizawa's voices here."
Tomoyo groaned as pain shot up from her tailbone and spine. They rematerialize in Penguin Park, high above the Penguin King. Obviously, gravity had interfered with magic and pulled them back to Earth. Well, it was just her, actually, since Eriol could levitate himself in air. After all, there's Newton's Law of Gravitational Force as well as the Law of Karma: What goes up must go down, and what goes around, comes around.
But then, if it wasn't for Eriol's wind magic, which came a little late and so she still suffered a minor injury, Sakura and Syaoran would've found her a pile of blood and gore in the middle of the park.
"Sorry," the young magician apologized sheepishly as he pulled her to her feet.
"Has someone ever told you not to defy the laws of physics even with magic?" she snapped, massaging the painful spot on her back. "I can't believe you let us materialize in mid-air."
"Sorry… I forgot you're not a magic user…"
"Thanks for the late warning."
Eriol just smiled at her and helped her to the swings. He couldn't blame her reaction and the tone of her voice. She did, after all, experience how to be a freely falling body. It was just normal.
They both sat down on the swings and silence impregnated them. Eriol swung himself gently, pushing the ground beneath him, his gaze on his lap.
He didn't know what to say again. Earlier, he had everything in his mind, how he would explain, how he would say it, what he would say. Then, his great teacher had to come and force them to leave the place, although in fairness, she didn't really mean it, interrupting their conversation. She didn't even know that they were there, talking about something important. Still, her wrong timing ruined everything for him.
"I can't believe you let me fall like that…" Her soft voice startle him. "I was hurt badly, you know…"
"I did catch you at the last second." His reply was quiet as well.
She didn't responded and Eriol didn't know why. He glanced at her and found her smiling ruefully, her lilac gaze directed towards her folded hands.
"Maybe you should start explaining now," she started, smiling at him. "I'm getting really curious here."
"I told you that there's a spell that could erase anything, right?" he asked her and she nodded. "It was such a powerful and ancient spell that could erase anything in just an incantation but at a price. I had to sacrifice my feelings for the person most special to me. I was trying to erase the fear of rejection in me. I wanted to be strong to face whatever that girl would tell me after I tell her my feelings."
"But then, I realized that, even though I had erased that fear in me, there would be no use for it anymore since I had forgotten about her already. And so, I forced the spell to backfire on me, creating another being."
Tomoyo looked at him, puzzled. "But why…?"
"I thought that he could do it for me," he said quietly. "Telling that girl that I love her… In that way, I do not need face rejection. But then, he is my other half. He knew what I was going to do. He had read my mind… So he planned something that would make me confess myself."
"But I knew he knew about my plan thus I tried to lock him up in the house." He smiled slightly at her. "However, I hadn't anticipated him. He did have a share of my power as well, and so I was caught off-guard. Instead of locking him in, he locked me in my own house. Sakura-san and my descendant found me there."
"But then… the plan… what…?"
Eriol was now looking once more at his lap, his eyes hidden behind his dark hair. "He asked you that question, didn't he? And then, after you had answered, he suddenly disappeared, leaving me hanging in the air. He knew his spell would end soon and he chose that critical moment to ask you that question."
"So you mean…"
"Yeah, he left me to finish what he had started and so I was back to phase one: how to tell that girl that I love her."
"Hiiragizawa-kun…"
"I was going to ask you that question in the future, after I have sorted everything out… Don't worry, it's okay if you say you'd take your word back. I did force you to answer it so—"
"Do you really want to marry me?"
He stared at her then laughed softly. "Do you want me to answer that or is that a trick question?"
"Just answer the question, Hiiragizawa!"
"Well, of course! I mean, I wouldn't have asked that question if I didn't want to… I mean, that would be blindly leading you, right?"
She smiled slightly then raised her gaze upward to the blue sky. "Well, then, you'll just have to wait for a few more years."
"What?"
"You really are dense, Hiiragizawa-kun. Li-kun was right in telling me that."
"But I thought…" He frowned at her. "Aren't you going to take your word back? I did force you, you know…"
"Do you want me to?" she dared him and he quickly shook his head. She grinned. "I'm a woman of my word. I'm not going to back out now. Not tomorrow. Not ever."
"Does that mean…?"
Tomoyo pouted at him, annoyed. She could not believe that this slow-on-the-pick-up-department guy is Clow Reed's reincarnation. "Earth to Hiiragizawa! Isn't it still obvious after what I had told you?"
"Well—"
She leaned over to him and kissed his cheek lightly. "Of course, after all that you've done to me, you'll have to pay for it," she whispered in his ear. "You have to take me out on Friday, okay?"
He grinned. "Now that's an easy punishment!"
They sat there for a few more minutes until the street lights went on and the sun had gone down the horizon. Tomoyo was pushing her feet on the ground, swinging herself.
"You know…" she started again.
"What?"
"You forgot to do something…" She turned to him and flashed a mischievous grin. He scowled at her. "You forgot to tell that girl you love her!"
"Do I have to?" he wheedled in a whiny voice.
The raven-haired Daidouji heiress suddenly stopped her motion and glared at him sharply. Eriol then realized he was dealing with an Amamiya-Daidouji woman. Rule number one for men: Never try to provoke an Amamiya-Daidouji woman. Their temper are quite fiery and could result into multiple cases of severed and injured limbs.
"All right…" He stood up and walked over to her, leaning down for a kiss…
"I wonder what happened now!" Li muttered as they retraced their footsteps back to the Hiiragizawa manor. Again, Eriol had disturbed them in the middle of the night, telling them to come over the next day. "I hope it's not one of those I-made-a-clone-of-myself days!"
Tomoyo laughed uneasily. The Li Clan Head was still obviously against their relationship. "Well, you know Eriol-kun…"
"I hope nothing bad happened this time," Sakura said worriedly.
"Hiiragizawa's the bad thing that happened to us!" Syaoran said darkly.
When they arrived at the manor, Nakuru brightly let them in but not without a bone-crushing bear hug for each of them. Except Syaoran, of course. The young Head had threatened her to slice off her arms when she tried to hug him.
"Where is Eriol-kun?" Tomoyo asked Nakuru.
"Master Eriol! Mistress Tomoyo and the others are here!" the moon guardian bellowed, making the glass chandelier quiver a little. Syaoran took a step back warily.
Suddenly, ten chibi Eriols came down the staircase, a fluttering Spinel flying overhead. The three teenagers' jaws dropped again at the sight.
"I think I'm having a repeated déjà vu inside my head!" Li muttered as he stared at the little Eriols surrounding them.
"Aww, aren't they cute?" Sakura cooed one of them, taking him in her arms. Syaoran instinctively grabbed them away. "Syaoran-kun, don't be so mean to them!"
"I'm not being mean," he said calmly. "I'm just trying to protect you from their evil vibes."
Tomoyo was still playing with two of the little Eriols when the real one, the older one, came down, a sly grin on his face. She smiled at him back.
"Hiiragizawa! What the hell have you done this time!" Syaoran bellowed, trying to pry of an Eriol who was clinging to his shirt. Sakura wasn't helping him but instead, was making baby faces to him. The little Eriol, not Syaoran.
"I was… experimenting…" the young mage replied simply.
"Ahahaha! Master Eriol was trying to make babies!" Nakuru said loudly and brightly that there was no way they didn't hear it.
Eriol saw Tomoyo's face darken at him as she placed down the Eriol she was carrying. "I-I can explain—You see, it's quite—It's really an experiment—I—"
"Hiiragizawa Eriol, I demand an explanation for what Nakuru-chan had said!"
Syaoran snickered as Eriol stammered to explain what was happening to his steaming girlfriend. It was really nice to see him in trouble like that. It made him feel superior. Maybe he should often conspire with Tomoyo…
"Syaoran-kun…"
"Hmm?"
"Yelan-sama called me last night… She was asking me something…"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"She was wondering when we'd give her grandchildren…"
Syaoran's face darkened as well. He really has to talk to his mother as soon as possible.
YAHOO! I've finally finished it! Yes, I know, the ending was sucky… And it was crappy and silly and ridiculous. And I was insane while I was doing this so pardon me…
Thanks to everyone who supported me throughout this fic! I really, really love you all!
If it was so crappy, tell me so I could edit it and change the ending, okay?
So, that's that! This is Neptunian Queen, signing off in this fic! I'll just see you in the others! Don't forget to read my other fics, The Testament and Mistaken Identity. (Nag-advertise talaga!)