Going Home (Eriol gen)

[storypaint]

Comm: 10hugs
words: 587
Title: Going Home
Series: Cardcaptor Sakura
Character/Pairing: Hiiragizawa Eriol gen
Set: #2
Theme: #5, mission accomplished
Rating: G
Word Count: 587
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP.

Summary: Eriol's mission is over. He gets to go home now. But where is home, really? Is it where you can be real, or where you belong?

Their mission was accomplished. It was time to go back to England. Nakuru was bouncing around "packing," Suppi was speed-reading through several books he hadn't had time to read, and Kaho was packing his closet.

Eriol was brooding in his Throne O' Ultimate Evil, looking through the window at the well-kept lawn and the cherry blossom tree that stood there as a reminder. Well, for the moment, anyway. He knew that they were going to tear the place down once he left, and the idea was a little bit unsettling. That would be the final breaking of ties to this place.

It had been a long year trying to keep his secret among children who should have recognized who he was. Wasn't it the ultimate test to blend in among children when he had been a "child" for so many years? He had accomplished the mission, and now it was time to rest. His family assumed that for him a rest meant England.

The cherry blossoms had all fallen to the ground, littering the grass with color. He looked away back into the cavernous room. He had to leave the chair here, the tree, and his friends.

The hardest thing was leaving them, he admitted to himself. He'd grown attached to the Cardmistress-- what a young soul she had, how different than he had expected, knowing Clow as he had. But the wise magician hadn't wanted a clone of himself to wield the Cards. For many of the Cards and Yue, a similar master would have been like a slap in the face. Every little detail that would have been different-- for differences would have existed-- would have reminded them that he was dead and this was his replacement.

Eriol had enjoyed being a child. That was harder to admit than admitting he would miss his friends. His whole life had been consumed by Clow. He couldn't remember anything resembling a normal childhood, or a normal family. He couldn't remember how old he was when he created Ruby Moon and Spinelsun, or what it was like to be younger than twelve. Pretending to be a child--

It might have been pretend, but it was wonderful to tease his heir with Yamazaki and go on field trips and do homework. He had fun flirting with Sakura and poking fun at Syaoran and discussing math class with Tomoyo and the million other things that children do.

Perhaps that was Clow's gift to him, those few short months when he could be a real boy, before he had to go back to being special.

"Eriol, I need you in here," Kaho called to him. He squeezed the chair arms and rose. For a moment someone with the Sight would have seen another man overlaid on the boy's small form, a much older man with the same contented smile and long blue hair. But no one was there but Eriol, and though he felt consumed by the older man's ghost, it was not news to him.

Kaho knew who he was, and Nakuru, and Spinel, and they would make allowances for it. Perhaps he could get used to that again. Thoughtfully, he stroked the arm of the chair, and then walked off to find his girlfriend.

His mission was accomplished and it was time to go home. And why wouldn't he feel conflicted, since Clow had always thought of Japan as home?

It was the place I died, after all.

Eriol supposed it was time to go to England and live.