And here it is... the conclusion, finally. ^_^
Part Fourteen
“Where’s Yue?” Sakura asks, bounding into the kitchen where Yuki and I are making dinner.
“Moping in the back garden again,” Yuki answers without looking up.
Sakura skids to a halt, her eyes narrowing. “Staring at the pendant again?”
“Yup.”
She mutters something that, as her older brother, I think I’m glad I didn’t hear. I’m sure it was uncomplimentary and most likely profane. Then again, Yue was moping in the back garden when she left. In fact, I think she might have left because she was hoping when she got back, he’d be done.
Really rather silly of her. He’s been moping for about two weeks straight. He only breaks once in a while to angst instead.
Something will have to be done about this. If immortals can pine to death, he’s definitely going to do so, and I really have no desire to find out if they can. Unfortunately, the few times that we’ve tried to call to talk to Eriol, he’s usually put us off. I think he might have hung up on Yuki once, because not much upsets Yuki, but once you make him mad, he’s scary.
“You know what’s most annoying about this whole thing?” Yuki asks, taking out his irritation on the poor innocent vegetables he’s chopping.
“What?” I ask, while Sakura looks on in interest.
“I’m sure Eriol-kun is just as miserable as Yue,” Yuki says. “But for whatever reason, he’s being a stubborn little brat.”
We ponder this for a minute.
“Yup,” I finally say.
Yuki dumps the vegetables in the pan for the stir fry and then leans out the back door. “Yue, come in here and set the table!” he calls. We learned last week that calling ‘come in for dinner’ didn’t work. No matter how many times we reminded him that he couldn’t starve himself to death, he persisted on trying. However, calling him in to do chores is something that works, because he feels guilty if he doesn’t listen. And once he’s in here, we can manage to shove him into a chair and guilt trip him into eating.
Of course, he doesn’t technically need to eat. But like many people, foods that he likes will make him feel better. We’ve spent the entirety of these two weeks cooking things that we know Yue likes. We’re running out of those things, though. Eriol had better get his act together soon.
Yue wanders in, tucking the pendant under his shirt as he walks, as if we don’t all know that he’s been staring at it for the past hour. He starts to set the table without another word. Every once in a while we find him parked in front of one of the more violent video games, muttering imprecations underneath his breath. I think once I heard ‘take that, Eriol.’ Well, at least he’s taking his anger out on something.
“How are you feeling, Yue?” Sakura asks, looking at him with a concerned expression.
“Fine,” Yue mumbles.
He’s always fine. Especially when he’s not.
At this point, however, there seems to be an uneasy cease fire. We’ve stopped calling Eriol, and we’re not going to call again until he gets off his ass and does something useful.
****
Nakuru keeps giving me dirty looks. I’m not entirely sure I blame her. She also keeps trying to hug me. This is happening sporadically between glares. I’d say I don’t know what her problem is, but I do. She hates seeing me miserable, hence the hugs, but she also thinks that this is all my fault. Hence the glares.
Spinel just isn’t speaking to me.
I think I’m going to make my next guardians with less personality. At least Nakuru isn’t playing nurse, however. Not that I need it anymore, but I wouldn’t put it past her to keep trying to baby me to get me over my ‘broken heart.’ As she put it, of course. My heart is not exactly broken. Just . . . terminally sprained.
And of course Nakuru keeps demanding why I insist on moping like this. She really doesn’t understand anything. They say if you love something, let it go.
Okay, I’ve always hated that phrase, but I’ll mold to fit my new ideals. Why the hell not?
My life sucks.
I mean, I want to be with Yue, I really do. But I don’t want to just die on him. I don’t know whether or not I would come back. And he’ll get over me, given enough time. It’s just better this way. I don’t want him to be hurt anymore.
I think if Nakuru could hear my inner train of thought, she would punch me right now.
Or maybe to try to drown me. I don’t know. I’m sure she’d be quite irritated, though. She doesn’t believe in making myself miserable for Yue’s sake. Then again, she likes Yue a lot less than me.
I don’t even want to think about how she’d react if she found out that I’ve been keeping one of Yue’s shirts under my pillow. He left it here, and I found it. And I’m keeping it, God damn it, no matter how pathetic it makes me. I don’t need to defend myself.
Right. I’ll just keep telling myself that.
“Eriiiiiooooolllll . . .” Nakuru bounces into my room. I hastily shove the shirt back under the pillow. So I was hugging it. So what. “You need to eat something! Or at least get out of bed . . .”
“I’m just tired,” I snap, and pull the covers up over my head.
She yanks them right back off. “You still need to eat,” she says firmly. I have this idea that she’s going to pick me up, swing me over her shoulder, and carry me down to the kitchen in a minute. That would be beyond humiliating, so maybe I’ll just get up. “This moping is ridiculous.”
“I’m rather enjoying my moping,” I say stiffly. “Especially when I’m moping by myself.”
“You are not enjoying yourself,” Nakuru replies. “You’re wasting away, and it’s quite silly.”
Right. Only Nakuru could reduce teenage angst and heartbreak to ‘quite silly.’ Maybe I’ll take a vacation, somewhere far, far away from all of this.
Antarctica, maybe.
But I suppose I’ll have lunch first.
****
That’s it! That’s it! I’m so irritated that my eyes are crossing! He was sleeping! With one of Yue’s shirts!! All cuddled up in his arms! This is absolutely totally completely and in all other ways, RIDICULOUS!!
“SUPPI!!”
“Stupid, isn’t he,” Suppi comments, for once not commenting on the nickname. “What are we going to do about it?”
“I’m calling Touya-kun right now!” Ooh, I’m ranting. I’m mad. Eriol’s gonna get it for this. “And I’m going to have him come here, grab Eriol by the hair, and drag him back to Japan, before he makes himself sick or drives me crazy!”
“Not far to go,” Suppi comments, and floats off down the hall before I can hit him.
Phone. Going to kill him. Dial the Kinomotos.
“Kinomoto desu.”
“He’s sleeping with one of Yue’s shirts!”
There’s a brief pause. “Akizuki?”
“Of course it’s me!” I’m too mad to even be thrilled about the fact that I’m speaking to Touya-kun on the phone. Damn Eriol anyway. He ruins my fun. “You have to come get Eriol! Now!”
“Umm . . . I don’t really think that’s possible. I mean, plane tickets and all.”
“I’ll buy you the plane tickets!” I declare. “I have pocket money. And I can’t just drag him to the airport because he’d order me to stop and I really can’t disobey a direct order like that. But you can, because you don’t care, and he likes you so he wouldn’t do anything nasty to you. He’s going to mope himself into oblivion, and I’m betting that Yue isn’t doing any better. Because he’s like the reigning king of angst compared to Eriol.”
“You have a point,” Touya-kun admits.
“So you’ll come get him?” I perk up. I didn’t think he’d actually agree.
There’s a brief pause and a muffled conversation. I think he’s talking to Tsukishirou-kun. Good. Maybe they’ll both come.
“Aa, we’ll come,” Touya-kun finally replies. “We weren’t going to because we thought if Eriol wasn’t going to come around, he didn’t deserve Yue, but this is stupid. Just get two tickets for a weekend. If we miss one day of school, it won’t kill us.”
“Thaaaaaank yooouuuuu Touya-kuuuuuun!” I’m cheering. “I’ll hug you next time I see you!”
“How about you thank me by not hugging me?” Touya-kun suggests.
I blink. Can’t see why he’d want that, but since he’s doing me a favor . . . “Yeah, okay. I’ll have the tickets sent to you!!! Jaaaa neeeeee!”
I hang up the phone and bounce back into the living room, where Suppi has settled with a book. “You look more gleeful than can possibly be good for Eriol,” he remarks.
“Ohhhhh yes I do.” I giggle. “And on Saturday you’ll see why.”
****
“Yue?” He’s moping in the garden again. Of course. With the pendant. Of course. Thank God this will all be settled by tomorrow. “To-ya and I are . . . uh . . . going away for the weekend.” I smile and blush suitably so he’ll come to the incorrect conclusions.
He glances up and manages a smile. “Okay. Have fun.”
I sit down next to him. “Are you going to be okay for a couple days? Sakura-chan will still be here.”
He nods. “I’m fine.”
Of course he is. I give him a hug anyway. “Then come on in. It’s time for dinner. To-ya and I are leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”
Thus far, no one knows our real plans. Everyone has been told that we’re ‘going away for the weekend.’ Sakura-chan turned the reddest red I’ve ever seen upon receiving this news. It was very cute in a younger-sister sort of way. No one else seemed to particularly care, though from the look Tomoyo-chan gave me . . . I don’t know. That girl’s awfully sharp, especially in matters of the heart. If anyone knows where we’re going, it would be her.
To-ya and I are all packed, so we’re able to catch the plane early the next morning. We’re only missing a half-day of school. The plan is to go to England, grab Eriol by the hair, and haul him back to Japan, will he or nil he. It’ll be fun.
Surprisingly, Akizuki-san obeys To-ya’s request to not be glomped. So she glomps me instead. Oh well. It’s rather amusing to see her this glad to see us, and To-ya is able to pry her off after a few minutes of effort.
“He’s upstairs,” she says. “Sleeping. Again. I’ve already packed our bags! Mizuki-sensei is going to stay here and do things like . . . sell the house. And stuff. I dunno, she said she’d take care of it.” She shrugs. “I have no plans on letting him move back here, though,” she adds with a wicked grin.
Of course she doesn’t. Well, at least Clow’s house in Japan is still empty. They can just move back in there.
“Let’s go get him!” she declares gleefully.
“We’ll go,” To-ya says, a bit of an evil smile on his face.
“Oooookaaaay!” Akizuki-san giggles and scampers off.
We go up to Eriol’s bedroom. He’s asleep, and he looks awful. And miserable. And he is, indeed, sleeping with one of Yue’s shirts. He’s sort of snuggled up to it. It’s hard to not feel sorry for him. Even To-ya looks a little less ready to commit acts of torture.
“Good morning!” I say cheerfully.
Eriol sits bolt upright. He’s somehow gotten thinner over the course of a mere two weeks, and it looks like he hasn’t been sleeping. He stares at us for a minute, then sighs. “I knew Nakuru was up to something. Why are you two here?”
“Get dressed and you’ll see,” To-ya says.
Eriol gives us a suspicious glance. “I’m not getting dressed until you tell me where I’m going.”
“Okay.” To-ya walks over to the bed. “In that case, you can come in your pajamas.”
Eriol gives To-ya a speculative look. “I’ll get dressed.”
“I thought you’d see it my way.” To-ya flashes a cheery grin which is terribly frightening, and leaves the room.
Eriol takes the chance to appeal to my more gentle sensibilities. “Yukito-san, where are we going?”
“It’s all for your own good,” I assure him, and turn to leave.
Behind me, I hear him mutter, “That’s what I’m worried about.”
****
We are literally dragging Eriol through the airport. He’s protesting. Fortunately, not volubly enough to attract the attention of any security guards. Yuki and I are on either side of him. I’ve got an arm around his shoulders. Yuki is firmly holding one of his arms. He is not escaping us. Akizuki is bopping cheerfully behind us, carrying a bag for herself and one for Eriol.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Eriol hisses at us.
“We can’t believe you ditched Yue,” Yuki replies brightly. “And we can’t believe you tried to starve yourself to death. So now we’re even!”
Eriol mutters something that implies ill for Yuki’s near future, but I don’t believe him for a second. I think deep down he’s glad we’re dragging him off to see Yue; this way he doesn’t have to take responsibility for it.
We managed to get him onto the plane with no mishaps. He’s giving Akizuki a very betrayed look. She’s avoiding eye contact with him at all costs. Leave it to her to feel guilty about what she’s done. Now I know why she called Yuki and I; by herself she never would’ve gotten out the front door.
Fortunately for all of us, Eriol falls asleep on the plane ride. He really hasn’t been sleeping well, apparently. Still, it’s very cute to see him leaning on Akizuki like that. Not that Akizuki is cute in the slightest. Don’t get me wrong.
****
I hate everyone. Really. I hate Nakuru for getting Touya and Yukito to come get me. I hate them for coming. I even hate Sakura-san for hugging me when I came through the door. I’m one big ball of hatred right now. And God, Yue is gorgeous.
No, wrong thing to be thinking. Think hatred. Damn it. This just isn’t working. My hatred isn’t immune to his puppy dog eyes. Or the totally shocked look on his face. Must . . . run . . . away . . .
“Eriol.”
That’s all he says, and yet somehow it turns my legs into jelly so I can’t run away. Oh dear.
Yukito smiles benevolently at both of us. “Well, I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about,” he says cheerfully, then gives me such a firm shove that I crash into Yue and we both go toppling out the back door, in the garden. At which point Yukito closes and locks the door. I’m back to hatred.
“Why are you here?” Yue asks in a small voice. He’s not even bothering to get up. He’s just sort of sitting on the ground, staring at me. Have I ever mentioned that he’s got beautiful eyes? Right, I’m sure I have.
Right. I’m going to tell him that Touya and Yukito showed up and dragged me bodily onto the plane. I’m going to say that they made me, and that I’d rather not be here at all, and that I’ll be leaving as soon as I browbeat Nakuru into submission. “Because I wanted to see you.”
Oh damn. How the hell did that fall out of my mouth? That wasn’t what I intended at all.
“Really?” he asks. Now his voice is trembling. Damn it, I just can’t say no. I have no backbone whatsoever.
“Yeah,” I say, staring at the ground. “I missed you.”
He hugs me. We fall over again. Okay then. I think I’ll just hug back.
“What about . . . being reincarnated and all that?” he asks hesitantly.
“Well,” I finally say, “we’ll just have to figure something out, now won’t we.”
Yue sits up and looks at me. “You mean . . . you’ll stay?”
As if the others would let me go. “Yeah.” I manage a reassuring smile for him. “I don’t want you to be alone anymore.”
“Good,” Yue says, and hugs me again. “Wait,” he suddenly says, pulling away and frowning. “I think I’m forgetting something . . .”
I give him a blank look. “What?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Ow. He hit me. Hard, too! He out and out punched me in the face!
...Good for him. I totally deserved that.
“Don’t you ever be a jerk like that to me again,” he lectures. “Or I’ll sic Yukito on you, and he’s vicious when he’s angry.”
“I noticed.” I rub my jaw. Damn that hurts. “Who taught you how to throw a punch?” I ask.
“Touya,” Yue says with a small grin.
Ah, that would explain it. I recall something about a black belt. But my jaw hurts too much to think.
“I’m sorry,” Yue finally says. “I guess I shouldn’t have -- ”
“Yes, you should have. I completely deserved it.”
“Oh.” He ponders this. “Okay.”
I sure hope no one inside is watching us. “Have you ever been kissed, Yue?”
“Not precisely,” Yue says, turning slightly pink. “But I know what it’s like. From while I was sharing with Yukito . . . I mean, I didn’t pay attention when they did other stuff, but . . .”
He’s babbling. The traditional cure for that is a kiss, and who am I to argue with tradition?
And he’s got so much hair for me to run my hands through . . .
Either two minutes or two hours later, when we finally break apart, Yue is rather breathless. Way to go, me. “That’s not . . . what I thought it was like,” he admits, blushing fiercely.
“Is that good or bad?” I ask. I don’t want to hear that Touya’s a better kiss than me.
“I think it loses something second-hand,” Yue says.
Oh. That’s okay then. He’s got a big silly grin on his face, and I love it. “Well, just to get you used to it, we’d better do it again. For . . . oh, I’d say, the rest of the evening.”
****
“Look, they’re kissing!” Akizuki-san declares. Immediately, everyone in the house crowds over to see. Including me and To-ya. And wow, are they ever going at it. I think they’re actually trying to swap tonsils or something.
To-ya covers Sakura-chan’s eyes, which is pretty funny given that she’s seventeen now. So she punches him in the stomach. He deserved it.
“We shouldn’t be watching,” Tomoyo-chan points out.
“No, we really shouldn’t,” I admit, as all of us continue to stare.
****
“They’re watching us,” Eriol murmurs into my ear.
“They are?” I turn bright red and glance over at the window. Immediately, five faces drop out of view. The only one remaining in the window is Akizuki. She waves back cheerfully. As we watch, a hand comes up and yanks her down.
My family, ladies and gentlemen.
“Do you care?” Eriol asks. “Because don’t think that I’m going to only kiss you when no one else is around.”
“Well . . . er . . . no, I don’t mind, but . . . they’re spying!”
Eriol laughs. “We can get them for it later.” He takes his chin between my fingers and turns my face so we’re looking at each other. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know.” If I don’t stop grinning soon, my face is going to fall off. “I love you too.”
“Then let’s go inside and sit on the couch and kiss there, where they can stare in peace.”
He stands up and offers his hand to me.
“Okay,” I say, and accept it.
****
He’s been gone for twenty years now. Of course I thought he would come back at first. We were all so sure that he would. But twenty years alone is quite a long time. Though I’m not precisely alone; I can’t make it through a day without Akizuki calling me to pester me. She keeps telling me to eat. What is with everyone and eating? I don’t need to eat! Just because I’ve been doing so doesn’t make it necessary!
And Sakura is still here, of course. She kept Kerberos and I with her, and created a new set of guardians to give to the cards. I thought that was very kind of her, though I never quite managed to tell her that. She’s on her second time around. She came back. Why didn’t he?
I suppose he just didn’t want to. Eighty years is an awfully long time to spend with somebody. He probably just got tired of me, and then realized that spending eternity with me would get a little boring. So he used dying as a convenient excuse. Or maybe he did come back, and then just didn’t come find me. Maybe he found somebody new. You know, that’s less angsty and more fun to be with and not so insecure.
Listen to me. I sound like . . . me.
Any minute now, Akizuki is going to show up and yell at me. She always says I’m being morbid just because I spend large chunks of my day at Eriol’s grave. Morbid maybe, but I really can’t help it. It’s the only way I can be with him anymore. I miss him too much to just let him go. Even after twenty years, sometimes when I lie awake at night I can still feel his arms around me.
If I just close my eyes, I can imagine that he’s here with me. He would just walk right up and make some crack about how I’m being morbid and stupid. Then he’d probably tell me to eat.
If he had come back, do you think he would have looked the same? Clow and Eriol looked similar, but by no means the same. Maybe he won’t have glasses this time. I know he didn’t want them. I’d still love him even if he was ugly, though. But apparently he didn’t love me enough to come back for me.
“What, no flowers?”
My eyes open. And I stand up. Nearly fall over. And stare. He looks . . . just like he did. Except for one thing. “Where are your glasses?” Wonderful, Yue. He’s been dead and I’ve been angsting for twenty years, and the only thing I can think of is ‘where are your glasses.’
“I got contacts,” he says, with a faintly put out look. He’s only about seventeen. I guess being reincarnated takes more time than we figured it did. “Sorry it took me so long,” he says casually. “I didn’t get my memory back until I was ten, and even then it seemed rather silly to come find you until I had hit puberty.”
“Didn’t stop you last time,” I hear myself say. Where are these quips coming from? Certainly not my frozen brain.
“Last time I wasn’t in love with you until I was eighteen.” He pauses. “Er, well, until I looked eighteen. And -- oof.”
Oof. Because I just suddenly threw myself at him. Interesting. Wasn’t quite aware that I was going to do that. Right. I think I’ll cling to him for, oh, the next ten years or so.
Eriol sits. In front of his own gravestone, no less. Pulling me onto his lap. I give him a funny look.
“What?” he asks. “It’d be rude to sit on someone else’s grave.”
I just blink at him.
He sort of sighs. “You didn’t think I wasn’t coming back, did you?”
“Of course not,” I reply immediately.
I must sound too defensive, because he laughs. “Liar.”
I look away. “I was just . . . nervous. I mean, Sakura didn’t take that long. And, well . . . I’m an insecure brat. Now shut up.”
“You’re adorable is what you are,” he says.
Right. I’m sitting with Eriol in front of his gravestone. My life is so bizarre. “I missed you.”
He kisses my forehead. “I know. I missed you too.”
“Am I going to have to wait twenty years every time?”
“Probably,” he says with a shrug. “Don’t worry. Another eighty years with me and you’ll be begging for a break.” He pokes me in the ribs. He’s probably right. It doesn’t feel right at the moment, but Eriol’s always right.
“Well, come on,” I say, standing up. “Akizuki’s waiting for you too, you know. Along with all the others.”
“I haven’t had a kiss yet,” Eriol complains.
“Oh, that’s right, I have something for you.”
“Is it a kiss?”
I ignore him and pull a necklace over my head. There’s a ring on the chain, identical to the one on my left hand. “I kept this for you,” I mutter, blushing a brilliant shade of crimson and looking away.
“Ah, I hoped you would.” Eriol accepts this like it’s the most normal thing in the world to be accepting your former self’s wedding ring from your former self’s husband. Right. He slides it onto his finger.
“Are we getting married again or renewing vows?” I ask curiously. “Is your name the same?”
“No, but I don’t expect any of you to call me anything but Eriol, and I’m perfectly fine with that. And as for getting remarried, I don’t really think that’s necessary.”
“You’ll have to take it up with Akizuki and Sakura,” I remind him. “They’re still miffed that they didn’t get to plan us a big ceremony last time.”
“We’ll escape their evil clutches,” Eriol says, handing the necklace back to me.
“Sakura may be sneaky now, but she’ll never manage evil.”
“Are you going to kiss me or not?”
“Oh, right. I forgot all about it,” I tease.
“See if I get reincarnated for you again,” Eriol teases back, and he pulls me in for a kiss.
****
::dramatic pose:: Ta da!! ::falls over:: Um, right. Let us know what you thought? Please? ^__^
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