Disclaimer: CCS belongs to CLAMP. I do not own their characters (in this case Eriol, Tomoyo, Sakura, Syaoran, et al) or the plot from the series which said characters came from (a.k.a CCS and Tsubasa too I guess LOL). Nor do I own anything else that they have copyrighted (just to be on the safe side). I am simply a hopeless romantic, who, inspired by the Ladies of C's works, is creating my own world and my only profit – if I do it right – is adding to the collection of many stories that have to do with the relationship between Eriol Hiiragizawa and Tomoyo Daidouji.
Prologue
Blood.
There was so much blood. They have done quite the number on her, she thought wearily. She could feel the lashes as each strike of the whip came down mercilessly on her back, the sting of an unknown hand as it backhanded her across the face, the taste of her blood on her lips.
'I will not die like this.'
Tomoyo Daidouji kept repeating the same line in her head like a mantra, a prayer, as she fought against her captors with everything she had. And then, there was an unseen blow to her torso, the unbearable pain as two, three of her ribs broke, feeling every single one of them as they fractured, so excruciatingly painful that she almost lost consciousness. She wanted to sob, to cry out, but she would not give them that satisfaction and so she just held on, glaring at those who were torturing her, cowards in cloaks hiding their faces. She did not want to die this way, but the choice was being torn viciously from her hands. Then there it was, finally, there was that blessed call of unconsciousness as her body started to give way under the pain that it was being put through, a siren's call that spoke to her, 'Let go.' It whispered seductively, 'Let go. You do not need to fight this anymore.' At last, a respite from the pain, and it was in that moment that she really wanted to let it all go, slip from this world, into the next where she was certain she would not be hurting so much.
"No."
A voice Tomoyo has heard before came through the hazy fog in her mind. She recalled it ringing through her mind like a song.
Beautiful.
Soothing.
Sakura.
"Sakura."
Tomoyo smiled a little.
Her cousin.
Sister.
Best friend.
Sakura Kinomoto was a woman of warmth, laughter, love and magic. If she could choose anyone to be with her in her last moments, Sakura would be the one. At least she would not die alone.
"No, Tomoyo. You won't go. Please don't."
"Sakura. I'm sorry. I'm so tired. I want to sleep."
"Tomoyo!" She could hear the tears in her cousin's voice, the rising panic as Sakura began to realize that Tomoyo was truly slipping away from her and there was nothing that she could do to hold her to this world, she was too far away to help. Tomoyo wanted to reach out to comfort her, but she felt her remaining energy being drained away from her body leaving her unable to sooth Sakura as she wept, knew that she cried for her. Her heart broke for her friend as she felt herself fading away. She wanted to fade away, to fade away from the pain, from the suffering, from the entire world.
"Tomoyo."
Another voice.
Clear, masculine, achingly beautiful. How was it that she was hearing all these voices in her head? It was probably her becoming delirious from the pain, already so far gone that she was conjuring up voices.
"Don't you dare give up so easily."
"You."
" Yes, darling, me. You will make it through this night, because I will not let you die, do you understand me?"
Arrogant and annoyingly confident.
She was certain she could not conjure up a voice with that much arrogance even if she was delirious.
Eriol. No other.
"I'm not your darling, now be quiet for a moment and let me sleep."
Even on the verge of death, even if his voice was just something that she was imagining he manages to bring out enough fight in her to argue with him.
The infuriating Eriol Hiiragizawa.
She could see him, his image strangely clear in her mind, almost as if he was standing there before her. Tall, powerful, sinfully handsome, obsidian black hair, and mysterious eyes of blue. A mix of British and Japanese arrogance. A man that possessed a power that no one could fathom. He was both sorcerer and warrior, the last in his line. The man who has haunted her dreams, of late.
"If you have enough strength to argue with me, darling, you will hold on to me and fight for your life."
"You're so bossy."
Even in her mind, her voice sounded barely a whisper, a testimony of how bad her condition was. But something in her always responded to Eriol. Needed to respond to him, even if it was only to criticize him. As if he sensed her energy draining away even more, he spoke gently.
"We can discuss my charming traits when you're not bleeding to death, little one. Stay with me. Take what I am giving you and wait for me."
Oh, how she wanted to retaliate to that last "endearment" of his. And she would too, when she wasn't bleeding to death.
She felt the familiar power of Eriol reach out to her. It was warm, comforting, unshakable. She reached out and grabbed onto it with whatever that was left in her, away from the temptation of eternal rest, as the warm light of Eriol's magic embraced her, wrapping her in a warm cocoon. She could no longer tell what was real and what was not, what was actually happening and what she was making up because her mind had been pushed to the breaking point. Yet something in her urged her to cling to the power that Eriol was giving her. It was a thin barrier between this world and oblivion, but it was Eriol's power and it would keep her here until someone could heal her completely. His voice came through the fog in her mind once more.
"I have you, darling, go on and sleep. You're safe."
Her eyes began to drift close, she gave herself up to the drowsiness overtaking her, how and why he could communicate with her telepathically no longer crossed her mind. She heard something explode somewhere in the vicinity of the room that she was held prisoner in, felt the heat of flames, heard the fear and panic the filled the room, the screams and curses, but she didn't care. Eriol said she could sleep, and so she was going to sleep.
tsuzuku
Author's Note:
This story was meant to be the re-write of This Time Around. However, if you are all familiar with the way a messed up imagination works, what one plans is not usually what one ends up with at the end. As I started to re-write the characters and brainstorm the plot, I got into a lot of arguments with myself (I am beginning to think that you have to become half insane to take up creative writing, or must already be otherwise) and what has come out of it is a story that is a little bit darker, a little more visually graphic, a little more paranormal, and perhaps a little hotter. If the prologue should happen to confuse you, don't worry, it will become clearer as the story progresses and it won't take three or four years this time. But please understand that this has become an extreme rewrite, I am only taking the outline of the original story but adding different substance. Please forgive me if I take away the aspect of my two mains having a child together, that one is still up in the air and I know that it alters the story dramatically and probably takes a good chunk of the length away (but hopefully not the quality of the story). But I'm not taking away the possibility completely. Perhaps it is only a few steps away from becoming a different tale altogether, but this story was borne from This Time Around
If this is your second time going through my insane writing, first off – bless your soul for such patience, and second – please try not to compare with the original, my writing style has done a loop-de-loop and will definitely be different, but you guys are intelligent, I know that you will understand. So, again, my humble thanks to you.
I want to thank all of you for your support, your comments, your encouragement, your advice, and yes, even the occasional insult here and there – which I rightfully deserved, mind you. Thank you for not beating me over with a stick with rusted nails protruding from it when I said I was going to take this 3 year work and starting it over again, and I pray that you don't if you find that this story was not what you expected (cheeky of me, I know, but I don't want rabbis.)
Lastly, because the style and the plot have changed, I no longer think that the original title is appropriate and decided to re-name it. And so to all of you, welcome to my story, Radiance. May we all have a wonderful journey together.
Yours, Shine