CHAPTER EIGHT: BIRTHDAY

The days wear on, and it is two days before Sakura's birthday (which for my convenience is June 15) when Syaoran is awakened by a sharp rap at the door.

Has he slept late? He glances at the clock. It reads 6:30 a. m.

Who would beat on his door at 6:30 in the morning?

"Coming!" he calls out, still puzzled. He pulls on some clothes and goes to the door.

Tomoyo is standing there, beaming. Kero sits on her shoulder, asleep. She pokes Kero so he wakes up.

"Huh? Wha--?" Kero stutters.

"Kero-chan, wake up! It's impolite to sleep when visiting someone," Tomoyo admonishes.

"What's going on, Tomoyo?" Syaoran asks, and yawns.

"We're going shopping!" Tomoyo says cheerfully.

"At 6:30?"

"Most stores don't open until 7, you're right... Well, you'll have time for breakfast then!" She steps in.

"Hold on a minute, Tomoyo-chan. Shopping? For what?"

"Sakura's birthday, silly boy! Surely you haven't forgotten!"

"Of course I haven't! I was going to go shopping tomorrow-- at a more reasonable hour."

"If you want to find the perfect gift, then you have to have plenty of time to look," Tomoyo says. "The first rule of shopping.

Syaoran groans. Tomoyo made shopping her favorite hobby, and she was good at it.

He easts breakfast and does his morning routine. Then Tomoyo herds him and Kero to the car. She has a normal one today, a blue van.

She gives him directions to the first store they'll visit and pulls out her cell phone to leave a message for Sakura.

"Hi, Sakura-chan! Tomoyo here. I've borrowed your boyfriend for the day so we can go birthday-present shopping! Bai!"

Syaoran sighs as he listens to Tomoyo. It would be a long day...

They wander into yet another store. Kero, safely hidden in Tomoyo's purse, complains loudly, "I'm hungry!"

"Me, too," Syaoran whispers to him. This is the twelfth store they've visited and Tomoyo isn't satisfied with any of his choices. She hasn't picked anything out herself, claiming that she's already purchased her present.

"Don't give a woman jewelry unless you're positive she'll like it," Tomoyo is saying. "The fifty-third rule of shopping.

The first and only rule for shopping for men... Don't bring a shopping guru along... Ever.... Syaoran thinks.

"Why are you constantly pulling me to the jewelry, then?" Syaoran demands unhappily.

"Because I want you to look at the rings," Tomoyo says calmly.

Syaoran sighs. Tomoyo, unsatisfied with his return, is constantly trying to get me to ask Sakura to marry me, he thinks. And Kero-chan is egging her on... sort of.

"Pick something so we can go home!" Kero says so that only Syaoran and Tomoyo can hear. "Tomoyo has pudding in her fridge! I can hear it calling to me, 'Eat me, Keroberos, eat me!'"

"Quiet, Kero-chan," Tomoyo hisses. "There's something perfect here... I can sense it."

Syaoran groans. Tomoyo senses good buys. Go figure.

"Here!" she says, and pulls him over to look at something. He looks down, thinking that it's probably another bust, but...

Tomoyo is pointing to two teddy bears hugging each other, one green and one pink. Around the pink bear's neck is a locket meant for a human to wear.

"Perfect!" Tomoyo says fervently. Syaoran agrees.

They go down to the food court to wait (guess whose idea that is... ^_^";;) for the locket to be engraved.

Tomoyo buys Kero something to eat and slips it into her purse. He finally closes his mouth and stops his incessant yapping.

"Final rule of shopping," Tomoyo announces happily. "Get a good engraving. What did you tell them to put?"

"You find out when Sakura-chan does," Syaoran says.

"Come on! Tell me now!"

"Tomoyo-chan, this is your punishment for making me shop for six hours. I got a better work-out than when I was training!"

They laugh. Kero-chan finishes his meal. They pick up Syaoran's gift and return home.

Skip ahead a day to Sakura's birthday. It's not that the day inbetween was dull, it just isn't relative to this tale.

The day dawns clear and bright. Sakura awakens late, as is her custom. (The others know not to call her before ten-thirty. ^_^";)

She jumps into the shower still yawning. The party is scheduled for 2 p. m., so she has four hours.

She scrubs herself squeaky-clean and then, after careful deliberation, selects a dress from the closet. It's gauzy but not transparent. The off-the-shoulder-straps dress is the color of grass.

"I can't wait!" She smiles to herself, then touches two fingers to her lips, remembering....

"Life is good."

Syaoran as been up for some hours.

Right now he's trying to wrap Sakura's present. Syaoran just can't seem to get it right...

Finally, he is done. He stands back and surveys it... Maybe he would ask Tomoyo to re-wrap it for him... But otherwise, he thinks... This is a wonderful day.

Tomoyo is searching through her closets for the nth time.

"Miss Daidouji-san," a maid inquires mildly, "What is wrong? You have plenty of clothes to choose from, yet you can't seem to select something..."

Tomoyo waves her away. "I know, I know... I just want to look nice..."

To impress Eriol... What a day...

Eriol is unconcerned with any of his preparations. He is much more worried about Spinel and Kero.

"Be quiet!" he says, exasperated. "The neighbors are complaining!"

Spinel and Kero look up from their argument for a moment, then turn back.

"Scaredy cat!"

"You're unbearable!"

Finally, Eriol moves over and picks the guardians out of the air, holding them both apart by the scruffs of their necks.

"I am ashamed!" he admonishes. "The mighty Spinelsun and Keroberos fighting like common animals!"

The two glare at each other, but stay quiet.

"Kero-chan, I believe that it is time that you return to your mistress." Eriol sighs.

"It has been good seeing you again, but you cannot stay with me anymore, guardian of the Sakura cards."

"But, Master!" Kero says. He hugs Eriol's arm, sobbing.

"I am not disowning you, silly beast! No, I just think that your life and duties remain here, with Sakura-chan. Not in England with me."

Kero sniffs. "Master, you're right. But... you will come to visit, ne?"

"We've got the rest of the summer, Kero-chan! And when Sakura returns to Japan, I will visit."

"Master.... She's still here."

"I have foreseen her leavetaking... She'll follow my descendant anywhere he goes, even to Hong Kong," Eriol says wisely.

"But she will visit Japan, and bring you, I'm sure... I'll come back," Eriol says reassuringly, but he's really thinking of a girl with midnight-black hair and sparkling violet eyes...

"Well, then.... I'm gonna wish Sakura a happy birthday! Bye, Eriol-san! Bye, Suppi!" Kero shoots out the open window.

"I am not Suppi!" Spinel frowns.

Aiee... Eriol thinks. What a day...

They meet at a roller rink. Tomoyo, hoping that skating might spark some interest in Sakura, had scheduled the party there.

The other persons attending were few: when Sakura had been unhappy, she had withdrawn from others.

But Touya comes, with Koneko. Yukito shows up, but does not skate. Sakura's father comes also, (I don't know his Japanese name so I'm gonna call him Aiden) to watch the 'miracle change' Syaoran envokes on Sakura. Rika, Chiharu, and the others have either moved on or lost touch.

Sakura arrives last, almost late. A collective sigh of approval comes from the group, Yukito, Touya, and Aiden especially. She seems so happy, so alive....

The "children" all go out onto the floor to skate.

Eriol is a good skater, like he's good at everything else, and Tomoyo skates like she's a dancer. Syaoran, to put it bluntly, stinks. Sakura outshines them all, whipping around the rink in that dress doing leaps and turns (very hard on roller skates).

Syaoran falls down for the umpteenth time. As Sakura darts by, laughing, she catches his hand and pulls him to his feet. She tows him along behind.

"Come on, Syaoran-kun! If you're coordinated enough to handle that sword so well, then you can skate!"

She slows down and turns around, taking both of his hands. She skates backwards.

"Just like this!" She pulls him forward gently. He skates forward uncertainly.

"That's right!" She smiles again. Suddenly, he falls forward, tripping over his own feet. He lets go of Sakura's hands so she doesn't fall too.

She laughs again. "Syao-kun, perhaps you aren't as coordinated as I thought!"

"Hey!" he says goodnaturedly. He pulls her down to the floor beside him, but gently so it doesn't hurt her.

She laughs and for once he joins in. They are sitting in the middle of the floor, skates splayed out, laughing with each other. What a picture...

"Sakura-chan, you can laugh at anything," Syaoran says. "It's one of the reasons I love you so much."

She gets to hre feet and pulls him up. Awkwardly, he skates forward a few feet.

"And you, Syao-kun, never give up," she says softly. "One of the reasons I love you so much."

"Ahh, isn't that just adorable!" Koneko beams. "Them two are made for each other."

She excuses herself to the ladies room, leaving the men alone. They watch in silence for a moment as Sakura takes off, rocketing around the rink.

"Wait up!" Syaoran protests, and tries to follow. He falls down about every ten feet.

"Koneko is right," Yukito says softly. "They're perfect together." He smiles.

"My little girl's all grown up," Aiden says. "All grown up and in love...."

Touya sighs and takes a deep breath. "If she's happy with him... then I'm happy for her."

They sit in silence until Koneko returns.

What's going on with Eriol and Tomoyo, you ask? Well...

While Syaoran is trying hopelessly to catch Sakura, Eriol comes up beside Tomoyo.

"I admire your skill," he says pleasantly. "Tomoyo-chan." His voice moves upward at the last, almost turning it into a question.

Tomoyo smiles. "You called me Tomoyo-chan!"

A slow song comes on over the loudspeakers.

"Three couples here today!" the man says. "Couples skate!"

Touya and Koneko come out onto the floor. They are both about average skaters.

Sakura lets Syaoran catch up to her and skates slowly beside him. They are hand in hand.

Tomoyo and Eriol look down at the floor with reddened cheeks.

"He thinks we're a couple!" Tomoyo whispers for Eriol's hearing only.

Eriol shrugs. "Is that a bad thing? Come on, skate with me!" Feeling rather daring, he takes her hand and pulls her along.

And so they skate together.

After they wear themselves out skating, they all gather at a table so Sakura can open her presents.

Aiden gives her a locket that once belonged to Nadeshiko. Touya and Koneko give her a wall phone, so that she doesn't have to use the cell at home. Yukito gives her a charm bracelet. Much to Sakura's delight, Eriol gives her a new pair of roller skates.

And finally she comes to Syaoran's gift.

"Tomoyo-chan, what did you get her?" Eriol asks, surprised.

Syaoran notes with satisfaction that Eriol has taken his advice to call her Tomoyo-chan.

"I can't give it to her yet," Tomoyo says mysteriously. "Sorry, Sakura-chan."

Sakura shrugs. "That's okay..." She opens Syaoran's gift.

"Oh, Syaoran, it's perfect!" Her eyes gleam with happy tears.

"Sakura-chan, don't cry..." he says gently. "Read the inscription on the locket."

She does. Then she begins to cry in earnest and throws her arms around him.

Touya, Aiden, and Yukito exchange significant glances. Sakura has not run to her father, or her brother, or her friend. She cries upon Syaoran's shoulder.

And in that one moment they let her go in their hearts. Sakura is free to love another... Syaoran would be her comforter and protector from now on.

Meanwhile, Tomoyo picks up the locket and curiously reads the engraving. Eriol looks over her shoulder.

'From Syaoran to Sakura,' it reads. 'I'm never far away if you keep me in your heart.'

"How sweet!" Tomoyo whispers. And she accepts this: that Sakura is moving on to a new life with Syaoran, and won't have as much time with her...

She does not realize that she has spoken this aloud until Eriol whispers, "That's true. Tomoyo-chan.... are you ready for another important truth today?" His eyes search hers.

"I suppose..." She smiles slightly. "Rock my world, Eriol-kun."

"Tomoyo... I love you."

An eternity passes as Eriol waits for a response. He prays to any god listening that she loves him back...

Tomyo is shocked at first. Her dream has come true!

She recovers the use of her senses and turns so that she and Eriol are mere inches apart.

"Eriol... I love you too." They embrace happily.

The other four people at this party have no idea what has just happened. What in the world had caused Sakura to bawl her eyes out and the other pair to embrace?!?

"Love is in the air," Koneko says, for once serious.

"It is," the others agree. What else is there to say?

(Don't worry, I've still got stuff to say, even if they don't...^_^)

And so the day goes. And the rest of summer goes by quickly. Every day they spend together, sometimes both couples together, sometimes apart. There is only one thing to note of these days, a conversation Eriol has with Tomoyo in early August....

They are sitting on a bench in the park. They had been out with Sakura and Syaoran, but those two had left to talk at Sakura's place.

Tomoyo is sitting there staring at the sky.

"Penny for your thoughts," Eriol offers.

"Eriol-kun... I need you to answer a very important question. Even if it's hard to do," Tomoyo replies, still gazing up at the cloudless blue.

"I shall try my best, Tomoyo-chan," Eriol says, confused. What did she want of him?

Tomoyo turns away from the sky and watches him for a few moments.

"Eriol, what happened to Miss Kaho?"

At the mention of the name Eriol's expression darkens a bit. He recovers himself to answer her.

"Yes, Miss Kaho.... Well, this might seem a strange way to start, but I visited America a couple of years ago."

He pauses a moment to collect his thoughts.

"There, I met an engaged couple They were both 17 then. Their names are Emalie and Johnathan.

"We began to talk, and Emalie-san mentioned a fact that I found strange: that her mother disapproved of her early engagement.

"So I told them about Miss Kaho and me. They were shocked. They said something simple yet unforgettable.

"In America, people of a close age marry because of love. Not duty, not prearranged...."

He stops here for a second to take a deep breath.

"I thought it over for a long while. As you know, Miss Kaho and I aren't exactly close in age... And she loves me more like a little brother than a fiance. So when I returned to England I broke our engagement."

"You did what you should have," Tomoyo says reassuringly.

Eriol smiles. "Obviously.... If I'd married Miss Kaho I never would have come back here, would I?"