"... And that's all from me today. Thanks for tuning in!"

A song started playing on the radio and Eriol turned it off, now that his favorite presenter had signed off.

"Why the long face?" Nakuru asked as she poked her head into the living room. She looked at the silent radio. "Oh, she's done, huh?"

Eriol didn't respond.

"Anyway, dinner's ready. Whenever you want to join me." Nakuru went on, wasn't bothered at all by Eriol's lack of response. "You know, we've been here for two weeks now. Don't you think it's time for you to go out and, I don't know, get some sunshine or something? You haven't left the house once ever since we got here. I thought you wanted to see her? No?"

No response.

"Fine. Brood away then." Nakuru said and disappeared.

Eriol closed his eyes. Nakuru was right, he wanted to see her, but at the same time, he didn't want to, afraid of what it'd do to him, to see her now.

After he had helped her transform all of her cards, he hadn't stuck around for much longer and had gone back to England, having fulfilled his duty.

At first, they still talked over the phone and wrote letters and emails, but after a while, the communication lessened. The last time he heard from her was a year ago, when she sent him a picture of her graduation day. She had graduated with a diploma in communication and she was going to be a radio presenter.

In that picture, she looked so happy as she posed in her graduation gown and cap, holding a big bouquet of flowers in her arms, with her boyfriend smiling beside her in his own graduation garbs.

Eriol sighed. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't jealous of his descendant. He wished he were the one who'd stayed with her, who'd made her smile and laugh, who'd loved her, and he did. He did love her, which was why he wanted her to be happy and he knew that his descendant would make her happy. So he left and went back to his old, lonely life.

But he couldn't forget her. Well, obviously, he wouldn't forget about her, but he couldn't forget her. Each and everyday for the past ten years or so, he thought of her. Sometimes, he'd take a peek at her using his magic circle portal. He told himself he was just checking on her, on her magic, but he knew he was lying to himself.

Eight months ago, she started working at a radio station and he started listening to her broadcast. Everyday, he tuned in to the radio station online just to listen to her voice. He knew it was probably a bad idea, but he couldn't help himself. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and flew here to Japan.

If only he could catch a glimpse of her...

But he was too cowardly to do that.


"You know you're being a coward, right?" Nakuru said over dinner. "We're here and all you've done so far is lock yourself in the house, brooding."

"And how does that make me a coward?" Just because she was right, didn't mean he would admit it.

"Oh, come on! We all came here because you wanted to see her!" Nakuru waved her chopsticks at him. "And now that we're here, you don't even want to see her!"

"Still doesn't make me a coward." Eriol said stubbornly.

"Do you really want me to spell it out for you?" Nakuru asked.

"Nakuru!" Spinel said warningly.

"What?!" Nakuru turned her attention to the blue cat. "You know I'm right! He's been brooding for years and ever since she started broadcasting, it's been getting worse. He said..." She paused and turned to Eriol. "You said you wanted to check on her, to see how she's doing. And it's been two weeks and you haven't even attempted to step out of the house. Why are we even here then?"

"I'm just waiting for the right moment." Eriol said as an explanation.

Nakuru actually snorted at that. "Yeah, right..."

"That's quite enough." Eriol finally said firmly. He was already in a bad mood and he didn't need his guardians to judge him. "Instead of complaining, you should use your time wisely. Read some books, learn something new."

"That's Suppi's job." Nakuru said.

"Who are you calling Suppi?!" Spinel immediately protested.

"The one who responds to 'Suppi'." Nakuru smirked in triumph as Spinel spluttered.

The two continued to argue as Eriol sat there and ate. He wasn't lying. He was waiting for the right moment. He came here on impulse, wanting to see her after only hearing her voice for months. But now that he was here, he didn't know how to approach her. He supposed he could just go to her house and say hi, but that sounded so... lame. They hadn't seen each other for ten years. He was afraid of her reaction, although he didn't know exactly what he was afraid of.

As it turned out, the right moment came three days later...


"Firey!" Sakura cast her card.

The giant tree creature screeched and some of its branches fell off, but they regrew.

"Wait, what?!" Kero was surprised. "But fire is supposed to work against wood! It's basic elemental law, whatever!"

"Apparently it doesn't." Yue said.

"Thunder!" Sakura cast.

That too, didn't work.

"What do we do now?" Sakura asked. She had tried several cards, but the tree just regrew. Now it was swinging its branches around, trying to hit Sakura and her guardians.

"Jump!" Sakura jumped out of the way, closely evading the branch. She saw Kero and Yue did the same. She was so focused on evading that one branch, she didn't see another one coming from behind her.

"Sakura!" Kero yelled. He and Yue tried to reach her, but they were too far away.

Sakura turned and saw a large branch heading straight towards her. Being suspended in mid-jump, there was nothing much that she could do to get out of the way. She closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for impact.

But it never came.

Instead, Sakura felt a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her and got her out of harm's way. She opened her eyes and they widened in shock upon seeing her rescuer.

Eriol landed on the ground smoothly and put her on her feet.

"Eriol?! Is that you?!" Sakura stared at the mage. "Oh my god! It's really you!"

"Good evening, Sakura." Eriol smiled and bowed. "It's been a while."

"Can we hold off the reunion? We still have an angry giant tree to take care of." Someone said and Sakura turned to see Ruby Moon standing nearby.

"Hi, Ruby Moon!" Sakura greeted the pink haired guardian.

"Angry giant tree!" Spinel reminded them loudly.

"Oh, right!" Sakura remembered. "I tried fire, thunder, and others, but none of them seems to work. I... Oops!" She ducked as a branch almost hit her head.

"Have you tried The Arrow?" Eriol asked.

"The Arrow?" Sakura was confused. What good would an arrow be in this situation?

Eriol nodded and waved his hand and the branch that was about to hit him was burnt. "Look at the trunk. There's a small opening there. Can you see that?"

Sakura looked at the trunk and saw it. It was almost unnoticeable. "Yes, I see it."

"Inside there is the source of the power. You can use The Arrow to destroy it." Eriol told her. "I could do it, but let's see how you're doing after all these years."

"Oh, um, okay." Sakura was suddenly nervous.

Eriol smiled kindly. "There's no need to be nervous, Sakura. I'm sure you can do it."

Sakura took The Arrow out from her bag and cast it. "Arrow!"

The Arrow burst forth, ready for her command.

"Hit the small opening at the trunk!" Sakura commanded.

The Arrow took aim and shot a magical arrow.

When the arrows hit the source of the power, the tree screeched and its branches flailed around.

"Watch out!" Eriol grabbed Sakura and pushed her to the ground, covering her body with his own.

A few seconds later, the branches fell to the ground and dissolved into thin air and the tree disappeared.

"Are you alright?" Eriol asked.

"Um, yes. I'm fine. Thank you." Sakura said.

Before Eriol could ask further, they could hear Kero calling Sakura's name.

"Sakura!" The yellow lion-like creature was heading towards them, with Yue not far behind. He came to a stop near them. "Eriol?"

Eriol got up to his feet and held his hand out to Sakura to help her stand. She accepted it and got to her feet. "Hello, Cerberus, Yue."

"What are you doing here?" Kero asked suspiciously.

"I'm... visiting." Eriol said.

Kero narrowed his eyes. "Visiting? For what purpose? You don't do anything without a purpose and after what you pulled last time..."

"Kero!" Sakura chided her guardian warningly.

"That's okay, Sakura. And to answer your question, Cerbe... Kero, there's no purpose. I just want to visit and see how everyone is doing. That's all." Eriol was keenly aware that he was still holding Sakura's hand.

Kero looked at him suspiciously, clearly he didn't believe him.

"In any case..." Sakura said and turned to Eriol. "Thank you for saving me." She bowed slightly. "It's good to see you again, Eriol! Will you be staying in Tomoeda?"

Eriol mourned the loss of her hand in his when she pulled it away. "Yes. I'm staying at my old house."

"I'm glad!" Sakura smiled widely. "We have to catch up some time! I haven't seen you in forever! The last time I saw you, you weren't this tall!"

Eriol had grown much taller and his face had matured too. Right now, he resembled Clow a lot, except for his hair and the way he dressed. He kept his hair short and he wore a shirt, tie, and vest.

"He didn't look this much like Clow either back then." Kero muttered.

"Well, you got taller too, Sakura." 'And more beautiful.' Eriol added silently. "It's been more than ten years, after all."

Sakura had grown into a beautiful young woman. Her hair was longer, reaching just below her shoulders. Her green eyes shone brightly and she had a bright smile on her face that made Eriol's heart flutter.

'Get a grip, Hiiragizawa!' Eriol told himself.

"You're still very cute!" Ruby Moon had transformed back to Nakuru and hugged Sakura. "Oh, I can't wait to see Touya! How is he?!"

"A... Akizuki..." Sakura sweat-dropped slightly as Yue glared at Nakuru.

"It's late. We should go home." Yue said. "I'm sure your dad is worried, Sakura."

"But Dad is..." Sakura was about to say that Fujitaka was away on a dig site.

"Yue is right. You should go home. We can catch up another day." Eriol said. Meeting her tonight was unexpected and he needed to take a step back to compose himself before he did something stupid. "We'll be here for a while. I'm sure we'll have some time to catch up."

Sakura nodded. "Okay then, Eriol. I'll see you around, ok?"

"Good night, Sakura." Eriol bid her good night as she walked away with her guardians.

"Well, that was unexpected." Nakuru said. "Who would've thought that we'd run into them like this. But at least, you finally get to see her. Are you going to get out of the house more now?"

Instead of replying, Eriol started walking away.

"Hey, Eriol! Are you ignoring me?!" Nakuru chased after her master.

Eriol ignored her.


"Good night, Yukito!" Sakura said as they parted ways in front of her house.

"Night, Sakura." Yukito said before leaving.

Sakura got into her house and locked the door behind her. "We're home!" She announced to the empty house. She opened her bag to let Kero out.

"I can't believe he's here. You have to be careful, Sakura! Who knows what he's planning to do this time." Kero said immediately.

"He said he's just visiting, Kero." Sakura reminded him.

"Well, last time he said he was just a transfer student and look at what happened."

They headed upstairs. "Well, last time, the cards were dying and so was Yue." Sakura frowned. "Do you think that's why he's here? Are the cards in danger again?"

"I guess there's no way to know that unless he tells you. I don't think there's something wrong with the cards though. What does your magic tell you?"

"Nothing." Sakura took out her cards. "They look and feel fine to me. And if something is wrong with Yue, he'd tell me, right?"

"He should, if he knows." Kero floated to the desk. "The thing is, with Clow, and now Eriol too, there's no way of knowing. Who knows what he's thinking, or doing, or why. As you know, he's not the most straight forward person."

Sakura looked thoughtful. "I don't think there's anything wrong with the cards, or Yue."

"Now that you know who he is, maybe you should ask him. But don't expect a direct answer. Honestly, back in the day, neither Yue nor I knew what he was doing half of the time." Kero sat down and folded his arms in front of his chest.

"Maybe he's just visiting." Sakura said. "Nothing more."

"It's been ten years, Sakura. He doesn't just visit out of the blue after ten years. He wants something, we just don't know what it is. Just be careful and don't let your guard down, okay?" Kero said worriedly.

"Yeah, okay." Sakura yawned. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long night and I have work tomorrow." She picked up her pajamas and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She returned fifteen minutes later and climbed into bed. "Good night, Kero."

Kero, who was still sitting on the desk, looking at the cards replied, "Night, Sakura."


"... Alright everyone, thanks for tuning in!"

Sakura put on a song and took off her headset.

"That's another good session, Kinomoto!" Masami said. It was her turn next and she was just waiting for Sakura to close.

"Thank you, Masami." Sakura got up from her seat. "The floor is yours."

Masami put her water nearby and got into position. "Leave it to me, Kinomoto!"

Sakura bid her goodbye, grabbed her stuff and left. On the way out, she also bid her other coworkers goodbye. "See you tomorrow!"

"Thank you for your hard work today, Kinomoto!"

Sakura stepped out of the building and walked to the station. She loved her job. She got to interact with different listeners throughout the day.

Her phone dinged and she took a look at it. It was Tomoyo, asking if Sakura was free that weekend to go shopping.

'I have work on Saturday, but I'm free on Sunday.' Sakura replied.

After a short train ride, Sakura arrived at her station and got out of the station. She looked at her watch and seeing that it was still quite early, she decided to go visit her old friend. After her talk with Kero last night, Sakura couldn't help but worry about her cards. She wanted to make sure that they were okay and that Eriol was here just for a visit, nothing more.


"You have a guest." Nakuru told Eriol, who was sitting behind his desk in his study. "But of course, you've already known that."

"I'll be right there, Nakuru." Eriol dismissed her.

Nakuru left and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Eriol went to the living room and found Sakura waiting for him there. "Good afternoon, Sakura." He greeted her.

"Good afternoon, Eriol." Sakura stood up and greeted him. "I'm so sorry for intruding like this, but... Erm, there's something that I want to check with you."

"No problem at all." Eriol assured her. "Please take a seat. Would you like anything to drink? I think we have some juice or iced tea."

"Ah, iced tea would be nice. Thank you." Sakura said.

"I'll be right back." Eriol told her and left to get some drinks. He came back a few minutes later with a tray. There were two glasses of iced tea and a plate of cookies on the tray. He put the tray down on the coffee table and sat down in his red armchair. "What can I do for you, Sakura?"

Sakura looked unsure, but she had to make sure. "I'm glad to see you again. It's been too long and we haven't really talked lately. But, er... I know you said you're just visiting, but... I'm just wondering if there's anything that I need to look out for, like with the cards, or Yue..."

"No, there's nothing wrong. Your cards are fine, as far as I could tell. And Yue looks well too." Eriol said reassuringly. "I, well, actually I'm not here just for a visit. I haven't been feeling well lately and I thought coming here would do me some good. But I assure you, it has nothing to do with your cards, or Yue."

Sakura looked relieved, then worried. "Are you okay?" Then she realized that it was probably none of her business. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

"Don't worry about it, Sakura. I'm okay. It's more of a... psychological problem. I just need a change of scenery, that's all." Eriol smiled at her. "But enough about me. How about you? What are you doing now? You're a radio presenter, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes. I've been one for almost a year now. It's for W radio."

"I know." Eriol didn't want to lie to her. "I listen to your broadcast sometimes." At least, not too many lies.

"Oh?" Sakura actually looked surprised, then she blushed slightly. "Thanks for listening. What do you think of it?"

"I like it. You're a very good radio presenter, Sakura." He told her honestly.

Sakura blushed even more. "Thank you. I'm glad."

"How's your family?" Eriol asked politely.

"They're fine. Dad is busy as ever and Touya is the same. He's working as a financial advisor now. Yukito is a teacher at Tomoeda Elementary. Tomoyo has just opened her new design house and I'm a radio presenter, as you know."

Eriol noted that she didn't say anything about his descendant. He debated briefly with himself, but his curiosity got the better of him. "How about Syaoran?"

Sakura's smile disappeared and Eriol wanted to kick himself. Something happened between them and now he probably had done something that hurt her.

"I don't know, actually." Sakura said. "We're not together anymore."

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean to be rude." Eriol quickly apologized.

"No, it's okay. We broke up months ago, shortly after graduation. He went back to Hong Kong, so I don't know what he's doing now. But if I have to guess, he's probably training to be the next leader of his family."

"I see." As curious as he was, Eriol didn't want to hurt her or cause her any pain.

"How about Ms. Mizuki?" Sakura asked. "I haven't heard from her for years... How is she doing?"

"I haven't heard from her for years either, actually." Eriol said. "So I'm afraid I don't know how she's doing these days."

"Oh? I thought, well, I thought you two are keeping in touch."

"That's the intention, but life happens. The last thing I heard, she was getting engaged. But that was like, five or six years ago." Eriol told her.

Sakura nodded. "Life happens, indeed. Even for us, we haven't talked for a while."

"Yes, that's right." Eriol said. "I hope that going forward, we can do better in keeping in touch with each other."

"Well, you'd be here for a while, right? We have to hangout together." Sakura said.

"I'm looking forward to it." Eriol offered her a smile, which she returned.

"It's getting late. I better go home since I have to cook dinner too. Thanks for talking to me, Eriol." Sakura said.

"Yes, of course. And it's no problem, Sakura. I'm glad that we have the chance to talk."

They got up and he walked her to the door.

"Let's hang out soon. You haven't been here for years. There are some changes in town. If you want, I can show you around." Sakura said as she changed back into her shoes.

"That sounds like a good plan." Eriol said with a smile.

"Bye, Eriol!" Sakura said.

"Please be careful on your way home." Eriol waved at her. He stood there until she disappeared from view.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" Nakuru asked from behind him.

Eriol turned. "No, of course not. Is dinner ready?"

Nakuru was taken aback. "Yes." She managed to say.

"Let's eat then." Eriol walked towards the kitchen, leaving Nakuru standing there. "Are you going to stand there all night?" He asked his guardian.

"What happened?!" Nakuru asked curiously. "You haven't... You haven't been like this for a long time."

"What are you talking about?" Eriol asked.

"If I knew you'd be like this after talking to her, I'd have dragged you back here years ago!" Nakuru said as she followed him to the kitchen.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Eriol insisted, but the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile. He couldn't believe it himself. Just a short conversation with Sakura had done this to him.

They had dinner and afterwards, he retired to his study. He had a lot of thinking to do.