You'll get married, have 1.5 kids, and live in a nice big brick house with red tiles…

            'Ha, ha. Very funny.' It must've been something to do with magic, because Tomoyo was now finding herself with an inner…someone…also.

            You aren't exactly the type, anyway. You'll probably elope, never have kids, and live in…well, here. A huge Victorian-like house that seems like it should be haunted. How the hell can you live here? I'd go crazy every time the floors creak.

            'It's an acquired taste, I think.'

            No kidding. It is, or will be, a nice place for a midnight rendezvous…maybe I should make that plural?

            Tomoyo blushed. 'Good god, what is the world coming to? I'm blushing at a remark my so-called conscience made. Are you supposed to be encouraging me to do …that…with Eriol, anyway?'

            No, but it's fun.

            'I have a rebel conscience. Help.'

            Hee!

            Eriol smirked at his "cute little descendant", who looked like he was going to faint any second. Sakura was walking down the aisle slowly, her eyes fixated on Syaoran and smiling a smile of utter happiness. Eriol could actually see Syaoran's Adam's apple bobbing as he gulped. 'I wonder if I'll be like that when…' His thoughts came to an abrupt halt, and he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks involuntarily.

            "Damnit," he muttered. Tomoyo, who had heard him, looked at him quizzically. Eriol just shook his head and smiled nervously. 'This is not going well,' he thought frustratedly. 'How am I going to…?' Once again, his thoughts came to a halt, but this time it was because the priest had just announced the words:

            "You may now kiss the bride." Eriol grinned, and looked at Tomoyo expectantly. She answered with a wink. Discreetly pulling out a camcorder from her purse, she held it a bit below eye level to capture the moment. Sakura and Syaoran were oblivious. Eriol hid a snort; it was obvious that Tomoyo had not, after all, abandoned her favorite pastime- videotaping.

            Suddenly the crowd burst into whoops, catcalls, and whistles. Syaoran blushed and coughed, while Sakura just giggled and dragged Syaoran down the aisle, with Eriol and Tomoyo in tow. Eriol just shook his head, amused; Tomoyo giggled and continued taping her favorite subjects. "Kawaii…" she squealed softly.

            The after-wedding party was held in Tomoyo's (and unofficially Eriol's) mansion- the great hall was decked in pastel pink and green ribbons, with magic-induced songs filling the entire room. Naturally, Sakura and Syaoran were the first out on the dance floor.

            Eriol turned to Tomoyo, and swept his body into a low bow. Then he grinned up at her, and asked in his most formal voice, "a dance, milady?"

            Tomoyo smiled her consent, but said anyway, "certainly, milord," and grabbed his hand, leading him out onto the dance floor. Eriol just laughed at her vigor.

            Soon, everyone was on the dance floor, swaying softly to the wistful tunes of various love songs. Tomoyo sighed into Eriol's shoulder, and then rested her head on it. Eriol chuckled, and brought her closer. It was like a blanket of warmth was covering her; she felt as if she was floating on air- and so she was! Tomoyo gasped as she realized that she was now floating about two inches above the ground- luckily, no one else had seen it. Eriol whispered into her ear. "This means you're happy." She grinned back.

            "Oh, so now you're telling me what I'm feeling?"

            "Of course," said Eriol, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "you're an emossion- your actions reflect your thoughts, as long as you're not controlling your actions carefully." He waggled his eyebrows. "As you seemed to be so involved in me, I suppose you're not very focused, ne?" He teased.

            Tomoyo kissed his cheek. "Nope, not at all." Eriol smiled widely. He was rubbing off on her.

            "And there's the answer to your question," he whispered huskily into her ear. Tomoyo shivered.

            "What question?"

            "About the 'Salanor incident'." Tomoyo's eyes widened and she looked up at him. Eriol repressed the urge to kiss her right there; this was important. 'Not that kissing her isn't important,' he thought.

            "How?" She repeated, expecting an answer this time.

            Eriol looked tenderly at her, and Tomoyo was surprised how his expression made her heart feel like it was exploding. Her breath shortened. "You love me." It wasn't a question; it was a statement. Tomoyo's cheeks became pink, but affirmed it.

            "Yes." Suddenly, this conversation seemed a lot more important to Eriol than it previously was. Her answer to the statement made Eriol's mind flicker like a light, on and off, off and on- even though he knew already.

            "You were willing to die for me…" Eriol's voice cracked a bit, and Tomoyo nodded, her eyes shining. Eriol suddenly felt so big- yet, still, so small. "…And-" Eriol choked a bit. "You did, in a way."

            Tomoyo just waited with labored breaths.

            "You do remember how your- your-" Eriol made various gestures, and Tomoyo completed the sentence.

            "How my heart felt like it was being ripped in half, and replaced?"

            "Yes. You, well, gave part of your soul to me, and…" Eriol thought a bit. "But it's not like part of it's missing. You know the saying, 'the more love you give, the more you have?'"

            Tomoyo's eyes were now like deer's eyes caught in headlights. "Well, now…" Eriol placed Tomoyo's right hand over his heart. "Some of you, is in me…" He paused. "Th-that's okay, right? I mean, I didn't control it, and I suppose neither did you, but you see-" Eriolw was babbling, but he stopped at the sound of Tomoyo laughter.

            "Of course it's okay!" She gasped. Then she smiled at him with the same amount of tenderness he had at her. "It's more then okay." Eriol could feel his eyes burning, but made no effort to stop it.

            "Your love," Eriol's voice cracked again, "for me, was so strong- the emotion was so strong- that it, well, technically, brought me back to life. You gave me a part of your soul- but it isn't missing from you, it's…" Eriol struggled to find the right word. "Shared with me." Eriol smiled. "And- if you want to, that is- I'll give you a part of my soul, too. You know, just to be fair." Tomoyo laughed.

            "I would like that very much." Suddenly, Eriol eyes shut tightly, and Tomoyo felt like her heart was being lifted, lightened. She sighed; it was a wonderful feeling. Being melded into one.

            A sigh escaped Eriol's lips also; apparently he felt it too. Then his eyes opened.

            "It's done."

            A thought occurred to Tomoyo. "I thought I could only do that," she said, confused. "Or, only emossions could. So how did you…" Eriol coughed, apparently embarrassed.

            "Well, I kind of manipulated your powers," he said. "Since I hold a part of you, I can slightly do that- though it takes a lot of effort; like pulling out and tweaking something that very hard to find." Tomoyo smiled as a silence came over them; they were still swaying to the music. (No one else had noticed; they were too involved in their partners.)

            "So," she said, breaking the quiet, "I guess we're soul mates now, ne?" She said this with a light smile on her face, joking a bit.

            "Yes, we are- now," Eriol replied seriously. "Soul mates in the truest sense possible." Abruptly, they were aware of the stop of the music, and Sakura's father clearing his throat.

            "No that we have everyone's attention," he said with a grin, "I'd like to present the best man, Hiriigizawa Eriol! Speech!!" Eriol grinned in anticipation, and made his way through the crowd to the front on the hall, where a make- shift podium stood. Once there, he dramatically cleared his throat and began.

            "Y'know, I think the first time I ever saw Li-kun, it was a sunny day…there was a slight breeze blowing…I smiled at him, and what did he do?" Eriol paused and grinned. "He glared at me. The patented Li Clan glare." The crowd laughed, including Syaoran. "Of course, it was all because he was jealous- jealous that Sakura-san here had smiled at me earlier on in the day. Oh, and about that, Li- don't worry; I seriously doubt you have competition now. I'm a bit busy with someone else." Eriol threw a look at Tomoyo, which everyone caught. Most were surprised; they had never heard that Eriol and Tomoyo were a couple. Tomoyo blushed a bit and ducked her head, smiling. Sakura giggled, and Syaoran mock-glared at Eriol. "See? There it is again!" The crowd burst into laughter yet again.

            "And, now, Sakura-san here." Eriol continued. "No offense, my dear, but you were a bit slow on the uptake." Sakura giggled and blushed lightly. "You see, Li-kun was turning tomato red every time he even saw Sakura-san. Usually he ran away- which, as most of you out there know, is pretty fast running. Though probably not a fast as me," Eriol added as a teasing afterthought. Syaoran just rolled his eyes.

            "Somehow, the two got together, even though they were quite far away from one another. As I recall, it had something to do with teddy bears. You still have them?" Eriol threw the question over to the newlyweds, who nodded happily. "Of course. How stupid of me to even consider that they didn't have them.

            "Well, I do wish these two lovebirds many happy years ahead- oh, and Syaoaran? Please don't tire Sakura out too much tonight; I'm sure Tomoyo will want to call her tomorrow morning." Eriol grinned wickedly as he said this, and Syaoaran's face grew bright red- so did Sakura's, at that. Eriol chuckled. "Excellent! You're still doing that!" For the billionth time that night, the guests laughed, and Yamazaki started telling a story- at which Chiharu promptly put a stop to.

            "Now- for the throwing of the bouquet!" All the girls who weren't married (or engaged) yet crowded the floor at Sakura stepped up to the little platform. An unnatural gleam came into her eyes as Syaoaran whispered something into her ear, and she flung it directly at Tomoyo- who caught it with wide eyes and an immediate blush, trying not to look at Eriol. He just smiled, contented with something only he knew.

            Eriol spoke up again, as nearly everyone was looking at him with knowing grins. "Did I mention that you two are absolutely horrible matchmakers?" Then he paused. "Still…"

            And Eriol reached down to pull up Tomoyo onto the platform. She was blushing, and seemed to know what was to happen next. As Eriol towered over her, she looked up at him- to find that he was slowly going down to one knee. She gasped- now it was certain. Eriol was…

            "Proposing," Eriol stated, as if if were giving a lecture, "if a very delicate business- not that you two would know," he said, nodding to Sakura and Syaoran, whose mouth were gaping. People would've laughed, if they weren't into mild shock.

            Eril looked at Tomoyo once more, and smiled tenderly at her. She was blushing, and her eyes wide open… "I've never seen you more beautiful than now," he said softly to her, "except when I saw your face, two weeks ago- before our first kiss." Tomoyo touched her lips unconsciously.

            "I've only known you for eleven years," he continued, "but it seems like forever. We know each other, through and through- and don't you even try to deny it!" Eriol grinned at her. Tomoyo responded simply,

            "I would never deny it." And grinned back.

            "So…" Eriol paused to breathe, for some odd reason it was becoming quite hard to. He just hoped he'd live to hear her answer. "Will you, Tomoyo? Will you stay with me forever?"

            Tomoyo looked at him, and without a moment of hesitation, kissed him. Hard. She pulled him from his knees and to her, every single part of their bodies touching. As they broke, Tomoyo whispered against his lips, "of course, Eriol. Did you ever have any doubt?" Eriol's eyes widened, and he brought her into another passionate kiss as the crowd got over their shock and started cheering, Sakura and Syaoran the loudest.

            Once the second kiss ended, Eriol whispered into her ear, "I did it Tomoyo. I knew, and I did- again.

            "I'm not afraid of the unknown…"

Tomoyo then responded quietly; also a whisper in his ear.

            "Neither am I, Eriol. Neither am I."

            FIN.

AN: I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this fanfiction. lease don't forget to review, and…thank you, once again, especially Kasumi-san (AKA Kasumi Izukawa) for your support and whatnot. (Literally- what not did you give?) Please, read her Of Love and Hate- it a wonderful fanfiction, E/T of course.

A final thought: "a kiss, when all is said, what is it? A rosy dot placed on the "I" in loving; 'tis a secret told to the mouth instead of to the ear." – Edmond Rostand.

--hazelwand