No doubt about that. Daidouji Tomoyo is a lovely, gentle, sensitive girl and when he first shook her hand as she gracefully acknowledged his self-introduction, he knew that she was friend. The card mistress’ best friend – a human girl with no magical powers, but a friend to him, nonetheless.

02 She was an accomplice.

Hiiragizawa Eriol wouldn’t forget, for even one moment, how they stole knowing glances and little mischievous grins at each other when the flustered Syaoran-kun and the oblivious Sakura-chan are under one of their schemes. For those silent moments, they, albeit unknowingly, trusted each other.

03 She was a companion.

Up until now, he is yet to find a voice more fitting than hers whenever he played a song on the piano. The first time he played the instrument and she sang along, he simply knew that she was beautiful. He did not expect to have this lingering attachment to her, a girl with no magic in her, just someone he first considered an outsider in his little mission.

04 She was a reminder.

When he left, besides Sakura-chan, Daidouji-san also kept in touch. Sometimes letters, but more often than not, she gave photographs, little notes, poems, music sheets and illustrations. Sakura-chan may tell him of how his friends in Japan are doing, but Daidouji-san reminded him of the things he also enjoyed. She reminded him that he was also human. Reincarnation of the great mage or not, friends made in a mission or none, he had a penchant for different things, and that made him fond of this ‘after-the-mission’ life. She reminded him that he was human.

05 She was a supply of strength.

Kaho had been adamant, apologetic, somewhat regretful, but certain. They had differences, that was what she said. He came back to Tomoeda because he might just forget – he might learn to start over. His first real smile after the fall-out was when Daidouji-san said something witty over a cup of tea. She didn’t ask anything past what he had to say. She was still the sensitive girl he knew in primary school, the one girl who, even without magic, had been utterly powerful.

06 She was a friend, for the second time.

He could not have asked for more. Daidouji Tomoyo, even when standing alone after giving up her first love, had offered a gracious smile and a friendly talk. There was more to her ‘Konnichiwa, Eriol-kun.’ when he came for a visit that day. She wanted to accomodate him, as if he was the breath of fresh air that she was waiting for. It just happened – after that first visit from England, when he transferred to her class, he had found a renewed friend, simply hearing her sweet ‘why not?’ when he asked her to come over his house for some sweets in return of her hospitality a few days back.

Spinel Sun had noted the invitation with a raised brow. Ruby Moon had been goddamned happy to have someone over. More conversations, more little afternoons spent in his manor. Then Eriol realized that he did not know just how this young woman had so easily gained favor and fondness from both of his two guardians. Nakuru will always be easy, yes – but Spinel Sun had oh-so-bluntly put out that he wanted her for his mistress. Eriol smiled and complimented that Daidouji Tomoyo’s charm may just be as powerful as Kinimoto Sakura’s magic.

07 She was a challenge.

One thing that annoyed Li Syaoran the most was the Londoner’s witty remarks and quirky comments that seemed to make sense and drive an ordinary person insane with embarassment. He made up with a quick smile, but Syaoran would have none of that. What amazed him the most, though, was how the Daidouji heiress will always be able to reply with a comment to battle the reincarnation’s intellect. No one wins. Syaoran liked that the pompous midnight-haired mage was forced to draw a tie, but there was the fact that sometimes he felt like an outsider. Daidouji Tomoyo was a graceful young woman, and Li Syaoran was not used to seeing her responding with a smirk so all-knowing and amused it hurt. Sakura was all the more confused and, deep inside, secretly wishful. She had never seen two people who fit each other so well.

Daidouji Tomoyo was the challenge. Not just one of them – she was THE challenge, that one that he’ll never win, that one he’ll never tire of taking on. And even though at that time they weren’t past friends, he knew that she held that unique place in his circle of friends, that place that will forever hold the title of the first non-magician to ever test him. Unknowingly but graciously.

08 She was a borderline.

She defined him. Tomoyo-san was like the thin line that reminded him of which side he stood. No doubt that sometimes he had this identity crisis, because he was the half of the reincarnation that inherited the magic, the knowledge and the memories, and because he was still Hiiragizawa Eriol, an enchanted man, but a young man nonetheless, who enjoyed tea, music, botany, philosophy, art, conversation and books. She defined him in a way that he knew that he did things that Clow Reed would never have done – like kiss the new card mistress’ best friend, for example. She was the borderline between Clow Reed and Hiiragizawa Eriol. The former did not know Daidouji Tomoyo, but surely must have anticipated her – the latter knew the raven-head woman, but he would never have thought that this girl, this best friend of his, would come to mean so much more to him over time.

09 She was a puzzle.

Tomoyo was the puzzle that, with difficulty, he tried to solve. She seemed too perfect. Sometimes, she was the happiest he’d ever seen her. Sometimes, she was the picture of sadness. There were rare times when she was angry, but she wasn’t angry for herself. When she’s tired, she could get frustrated. But all of these she bore with a grace so constant he found himself bewitched. All these perfections and flaws she told him she’s never afraid to show, because she knew there was no use in hiding them. Tomoyo let Eriol sort out the little pieces that seem to be in the wrong places, and when he was done, he realized that this little puzzle is actually a piece of a bigger one. His life.

This was the reason why Eriol asked her to spend rest of it with him, because he knew exactly where she belonged, where she fit in the most.

10 She was the prize.

She was the board – which he always knew and where he’s always willing to keep on going with the game. She was the dice – unpredictable. She was the piece that he’ll keep on trying to move. She was the opponent, the challenge, as he had mentioned earlier – a contradiction and at the same time a mirror image to what the world is and what it meant to him. She was the rulebook, she set limits and opened the possibilities. And of course, she was the prize – her simple ‘yes’, graced with her happiest smile, told him that he won.

And Hiiragizawa Eriol then knew that he could keep playing forever, if that means winning this raven-haired beauty over and over again.

.fin.