Where the children will finally settle and what custody arrangements the couple will come to remain unclear. "I don't think there's going to be much to fight about," says Fields, their attorney. "They both care for the children and they will do what's best for them." One thing they are unlikely to squabble over is money: Cruise's fortune has been reported at upwards of $225 million, while Kidman's is pegged at roughly half that. They will also have to divvy up real estate that, in addition to their homes in L.A. and Sydney, includes a mountain home in Telluride.

Calm after the announcement

For now, though, it's business as usual -- for Cruise at least. On the day the split was announced, the actor reported dutifully to the Los Angeles set of Vanilla Sky, a $75 million romantic thriller directed by Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire) and costarring Penelope Cruz. "He's been very professional," says one crew member. "He hasn't missed any lines, but you can tell this is very personal and deep, and he is keeping to himself." Kidman, on the other hand, recently dropped out of the drama The Panic Room after several weeks of shooting, citing a knee injury she suffered while making the period piece Moulin Rouge in Australia. As news of the split broke, Kidman canceled a photo shoot for IN STYLE magazine that day and hunkered down at the couple's L.A. home with the kids. Eventually "Nicole will probably live in Sydney," says her friend, who describes relations between Cruise and Kidman as "30 percent friendly. They are being adult about it, for the children."

Traumatic as their breakup may be, it seems unlikely to affect their careers -- the very elements of their lives that may have brought their marriage to a close. "They are both stars, and I think they both have a future as stars for a long time," says Hollywood producer Martha De Laurentiis (Hannibal). "She is elegant and beautiful. He is still our Tom Cruise." What they won't have, as they soar to ever higher box office grosses, is the marital support they once received from each other and cherished. "All I can say is that I hope we are together when we are 80," Kidman told Talk just last year. "I can't say we will be, but I will be so devastated if we are not." Let the healing begin.

-- ALEX TRESNIOWSKI -- MEG GRANT, MARK DAGOSTINO, ELIZABETH LEONARD, CYNTHIA WANG, MICHAEL FLEEMAN, MICHELLE CARUSO, JULIE JORDAN and FRANK SWERTLOW in Los Angeles; PETE NORMAN in London; JANE WALKER in Madrid; SANDRA LEE, DENNIS PASSA, PENELOPE GREEN in Sydney and FANNIE WEINSTEIN in New York City