This is only my second Eriol + Tomoyo fanfiction ever, so please be nice. Well, as
you can probably guess from the title, if there was a movie that this fanfic would
be most similar to, it would be the Disney movie 'Beauty and the Beast'. But don't
be fooled -- it's definetly not what you think. Hope you enjoy! ^_~


Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura! Believe me, if I did, Eriol and Tomoyo
would be in love at first sight. *sighs* I'm a hopeless fanatic, aren't I?
^^* I don't own the song "Beauty and the Beast", by Celine Dion.









TALE AS OLD AS TIME
















~PROLOGUE~






******Flashback******








"Sakura-chan, watch out!" cried Tomoyo in horror. She closed her eyes tight, not
bearing to look.

A few seconds later, she reopened them to see that Syaoran had saved her best
friend from the blast. She placed a hand on her chest, sighing in relief; nothing
less from Li Syaoran. He would never be able to live with himself if Sakura had gotten
hurt.

"Thanks, Syaoran-kun." Gratitude.
"It was nothing. But you've got to be more careful -- I told you you should've
stayed in bed." Reproachful concern.
"I'm perfectly fine!" Insistence.
"Passing out in class is perfectly fine?" Sarcasm

Yes, the typical conversation for a typical night in Tomoeda with the particular
quartet. Fighting a usually-perfectly-innocent object that had suddenly gone wild
without explanation. Kinomoto Sakura was about to transform another Clow Card.

Tomoyo taped eagerly, squealing faintly about how utterly kawaii her Sakura-chan
was as the cinnamon-haired girl recited her chant and changed the Earthy card.
Then she taped again as Sakura fell back -- Syaoran caught her, etc., etc. She
sighed, feeling the slightest twinge of her heart as she watched Syaoran's never-
ending concern over Sakura. Sakura...

I'll approach them later, she decided, shutting off her videocamera and wandering
off deeper into the forest behind King Penguin Park. Right now, she just wanted to
take a quick walk to clear her head. She did that a lot; the others were used to it.

However, her walks definetly weren't prone to ending like hers did.

I know she loves him, Tomoyo thought numbly, the thought reverberating in her
mind. She just needs to figure it out for herself -- and that'll probably happen soon.
Unless Sakura-chan's even denser than anyone takes her for.

Tomoyo had even considered telling Syaoran as much -- God knew he'd be very
happy to hear it. But she couldn't betray her friend like that.

Happiness. Something she wanted for everyone around her...except herself that
was. Because, of course, her happiness would come when her best friend was happy.

Having been lost in her thoughts as such, the violet-haired girl never noticed just
how far into the woods she had wandered. Sakura was probably awake by now; she,
Syaoran, and Kero-chan were most likely looking for her.

Besides, all her childhood she had heard tales about the evil terror that lurked in the
darkness. So why hadn't she listened this time?

But by the time she stumbled upon THEM, it was too late.

Tomoyo paused in midstep, only pulled out of the fog in her mind when she heard
voices just up ahead. Looking around, she noticed just how far away she had gone --
she wasn't even sure if she recognized this part of the woods. She was about to
turn back when she suddenly got a better idea -- maybe the people up ahead could
direct her back, so she wouldn't get lost.

She turned around and was about to walk into the clearing when she suddenly
stopped again. Finally paying attention to the conversation they were having. Of
course, one thing had made her stop -- they had mentioned her best friend.

"Sakura-san has certainly gotten stronger. If you're not careful Master, she might
even surpass you."
A faint laugh. "Yes, that WOULD be a problem, now, wouldn't it?"

Tomoyo blinked in confusion, then peeked through the foliage of the trees. There
were three figures cloaked in darkness, talking amongst themselves. One of them was
animal; he looked remarkably like Cerberus, except a dark navy colour.

Realization dawned on her as her eyes drifted to the tallest figure, who seemed to
be a replica of Sakura's own guardian, Yue. Meaning...

It was them. They were the ones causing all this to happen in Tomoeda. They were
the ones forcing Sakura to change her cards, and run her energy extremely low.

And as if that wasn't a big enough shock, she finally found out exactly who the third
figure was as he turned around. Her purple eyes went huge in shock, and yes, fear.

It was the new kid in class, Hiiragizawa Eriol. Tomoyo blinked and rubbed her eyes,
expecting the image to shift and reveal the TRUE master behind all this. It couldn't
possibly be Hiiragizawa-kun. He was one of Sakura's closest friends, and true, one of
hers as well. And he loved Sakura. Tomoyo had never seen a bigger flirt in her life.

The image stayed the same -- it was still Eriol in the large, dark hat and dark robes.
Syaoran always had said that he didn't trust the new kid...but she never would've
figured that the reason was because of THIS.

It can't be Hiiragizawa-kun. It can't.

It was. Because then, she got the third, and most important shock of the night.
"It seems we have a guest. Good evening, Daidouji-san." It was definetly Eriol's
voice, only she had never heard it sound so cold before. So...evil.

She jumped as he said her name; he hadn't even turned around, how had he managed
to know she was there? Tomoyo began backing away slowly, even as the other two
figures turned to look in her direction. But then she bumped into something behind
her. She jumped again, whirled around, and backed away in the opposite direction
as she came nearly face to face with Hiiragizawa.

They remained facing each other for a moment, Tomoyo's expression of guarded fear
against Eriol's impassive, cold smirk. Then he spoke again.

"So nice of you to join us," he remarked casually.
Tomoyo took another step back. "How did you know I was here?" Strange, how out
of all the questions she had in her mind, that was the one that managed to come out
first.

"Oh, I know many things, Daidouji-san," Eriol told her, still keeping his dark sapphire
eyes fixed on her.
"I can imagine," Tomoyo murmured, looking down, not being able to meet his gaze.
All other thoughts had fled from her mind except getting away here and now.

"What are you doing here?" Eriol demanded coldly.
She set her jaw and looked up, slightly defiant. "It's not against the law to take a
walk in the park, Hiiragizawa-kun," she told him quietly. "I think a better question
would be to ask exactly what are YOU doing."

His eyes darkened momentarily, and then developed a stonelike expression. "That,
Daidouji-san, is none of your concern."
"But it is the concern of Sakura-chan. And she needs to know about this." With that
said, Tomoyo tried to step around him to leave. He shot out an arm, blocking her
way.

"But she won't find out," he said matter-of-factly. Tomoyo looked at him in suspicious
fear. "Why won't she find out?" she asked slowly, quietly.
He smirked. "Because no one will tell her," he informed her.
Tomoyo kept the tone of her voice even. "I don't keep things from my best friend,
Hiiragizawa-kun." A frosty edge had managed to slip out there. "Please let me pass
by."

He held his end. "I figured as much. And that's why you can't be allowed to leave."
She was momentarily shocked, although somehow, in the back of her mind, she had
been expecting this. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to remain calm.

"Just what I said, Daidouji-san. You can't leave. Nobody can know about this. So
you are to remain with me."

Tomoyo just looked at him for a moment in incredulity and more dread. "What are you
saying?"
He frowned. "Oh, you're a smart girl, Daidouji-san. Don't ask stupid questions."

By now, the other two creatures had come up -- they certainly weren't human. At
least to her knowledge. They were watching Hiiragizawa in trepidation -- Tomoyo
guessed that he was their master.

"Eriol-sama, why don't you just put a memory-erasing spell on her?" asked the Yue-
like one. It was a female-sounding voice, urging and slightly frantic. The Cerberus
counterpart nodded in agreement to her suggestion from next to her.

Eriol gave the Yue counterpart a sharp look. "You know as well as I do that wouldn't
be a good idea," he said in a voice that commanded authority. Tomoyo didn't know
why this surprised her, she should have been expecting absolutely anything by now.

Hiiragizawa turned his gaze back on her, the evening sapphire piercing through her
own amethyst eyes. "You'll come with me," he said in a softer voice, but just as
commanding. "You know I can't let you leave."

He was going to kidnap her. This Tomoyo had been sure of from the beginning, nearly
as soon as the moment they had found her there. But she hadn't actually believed
that he would actually attempt to pull it off. How on earth was he planning to get
away with this.

"I won't go anywhere with you, Hiiragizawa-kun," she said coldly, taking another step
back from him. "I won't leave my friends and family."
Eriol came closer and took her wrist, holding it in a firm, yet un-painful grip. "I'm sorry,
my dear. You haven't got a choice."

Then he placed a finger to her forehead. She saw a flash of blue...and then everything
went dark.









To Be Continued............











A/N: So how's that for a prologue? Don't worry, the next chapter'll be up soon,
I won't leave you hanging. Please email me at [email protected]
with comments, reviews, heck, even flames, although they'll just be deleted.
I LOVE getting feedback!

And if you're reading this at Fanfiction.Net, please be a responsible reader
and _review_. Thanks, all! ^_^


One more note -- you see, technically Eriol IS 'the Beast'. Not in looks, of
course (Yeah right! *drools* *_*). But his personality -- you get the idea.





~Starchick