Series: The Equilibrium of Power
Title: The One Thing to Avoid
Author: Yami no Kaiba
Fandom: Cardcaptor Sakura
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Pre-Eriol/Syaoran, one-sided Syaoran/Sakura

Summary: When services are rendered, the matter of the cost must be discussed.
Disclaimers: I do not own the characters or the concepts of Cardcaptor Sakura. CLAMP owns them.
Note: Place somewhere in Episode 70. First in The Equilibrium of Power series.

*---*---*---*---*

Syaoran kicked harshly at the dirt, sending his swing backwards once more. The dinner not twelve hours before had brought much revelation into all that had happened since after Sakura had been recognized as the official Mistress of the Cards, and yet...

There was something rather upsetting about the whole situation. Unfortunately, he knew what it was that upset him so much.

Minus his feelings, that is.

"Ah, my cute descendant. Whatever did the earth do to you for you to treat it so?"

Sharp amber eyes flickered to the new person that dared to interrupt him before returning to look at the ground. "Unless you want to volunteer to take its place, I suggest you shut up," he growled, and kicked harshly at the dirt again.

"Hmmm. So then, what did *I* do to deserve such anger?"

Syaoran scowled and glared as the blue-haired mage sat down in the swing beside him. "You know very well what you did."

"I've done many things," Eriol said cheerfully, swinging gently. "I'm afraid you'll have to refresh my memory--"

Standing swiftly, Syaoran whirled about to bring the full force of his anger on the boy beside him. "You used me," Syaoran cut in viciously.

Eriol merely raised an eyebrow. "Come now. True, I did control your movements for a bit, but that one incident hardly rates--"

"No!" Syaoran shouted, leaping forward and tackling Eriol to the ground, hands clutching just below the neckline of Eriol's shirt and jerking the reincarnation's face up, closer to his own. "You *used* me! From the very beginning, you *used* me!"

Eriol raised one elegant brow in mild surprise as he smiled smugly at the restrained ball of anger above him. "So you realized?" he asked, voice deepening, causing a shiver to run down Syaoran's frame from the feel of power laced in the words.

Syaoran studied Eriol's face, then snorted in disgust and shoved the boy hard to the ground as he got off the other. "It was rather hard to miss, what with *only* receiving Cards under Yue's guard," he replied sarcastically.

Eriol hummed, not bothering to get up. "Yes. I suppose it is. Terribly conspicuous of Clow, wasn't it?"

Syaoran huffed and crossed his arms as he fell back into a swing's seat once more. Ignoring the question, he asked one of his own. "Why?"

Eriol sighed, stretching his arms above his head before lacing his fingers together and peering at the moon through the latticework his hands provided. "Sakura's power has always been that of her own star. And while a star is nothing more than a distant sun, and therefore similar enough to our sun that all the Cards under Keroberos' guard were naturally attracted to her, its light does not reflect strongly off of our moon."

Syaoran frowned, eyes thoughtful. "But she managed to capture the three strongest Cards under Yue."

Eriol tucked his hands under his head to cushion his skull against the ground. "The Dark follows The Light, no matter what. The Windy has always been gentle, and Sakura managed to capture The Watery through guile before you appeared here in Tomoeda." Eriol raised his head to look at Syaoran. "Her powers still reflect off the moon. However, since they do not do so strongly, the Cards under the moon, unless naturally peaceful, were more taciturn in her presence. Because they knew she could not use them to their full potential as she and they were.

"And with the meager powers of the moon that she *did* have, she could not control them all. Which brings us, of course, to you," Eriol flashed Syaoran a sardonic smile. "The blood of Clow in your veins, strong in the magics of the moon, yet weak in the powers of the sun. *You* could support the Cards of the moon, until the time Sakura was strong enough in the powers of the moon to temporarily support all the Cards before changing them to draw mainly upon the power of her own star."

"A brilliant plan," Syaoran deadpanned, and kicked hard at the ground to send the swing backwards and dirt to spatter the still supine mage. "I always heard that Clow was a twisted bastard, but I hadn't really believed it until now."

Eriol tilted his head in amusement as he moved to clean his glasses. "Hmmm?"

"To use his own relative as a pawn," Syaoran hissed, amber eyes glaring. "Toying with my emotions like this... I have no respect for him or you anymore."

"Ah, yes, I see. While I do not fault you for hating him, Li-kun, I do wish you would not group me with him. I *am* only his reincarnation, after all!" Eriol replied cheerily, sitting up.

Syaoran scowled, kicking more dirt at Eriol. "Maybe, but you *are* knowingly carrying on his work," Syaoran replied in disgust. "And if you didn't, I never would have had to feel this way."

Eriol merely smiled at the childish attack. "Ah... Now here you'll have to enlighten me, Syaoran. Feel which way? This feeling of having been unknowingly used, the loss of the power of the Clow Cards that were in your possession, or... Feelings about a certain someone we both know?" Eriol asked slyly, tilting his head just enough to have the moonlight reflect off his glasses.

Syaoran could feel the fast burn of a blush racing up his neck and across his cheeks. Ducking his head down in a vain hope to hide the reaction from Eriol, he muttered, "I... I don't want to love her if she loves someone else as her number one."

Eriol stood up, patting dirt and dust off his clothes. "Very well. Then I hope, Li-kun, that you don't mind being used one more time?"

Syaoran's head snapped up. "What?"

"You see, Clow foresaw this, too." Eriol smiled gently at him. "You are waiting for Sakura's answer, are you not?"

Instantly suspicious, Syaoran nodded.

"A little reward Clow concocted to apologize for using you without your permission, Syaoran. When the time comes that Sakura is ready to tell you her answer, that answer will be tested. If she truly feels for you the way she says... Well, then you don't have anything to worry about, do you?"

"If not?" Syaoran asked, not amused by the silly smile on Eriol's face.

Dark blue eyes narrowed. "Why, exactly what you want, Syaoran. Your love for her will be erased."

Syaoran's eyes widened in alarm.

Eriol turned about and started walking away. "Nothing is coincidence, my cute descendant. And if there's one thing Clow has always viewed as a disaster to be avoided at all costs, it is a broken heart."

--Fin.

A/N: The Sequel, There is No Hope, is currently being worked on.