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rlm@2
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1 Later that evening, after Sakura returned home, the girl spent most of
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2 her time inside her room. The entire time though, she laid down on her bed
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3 staring up at the ceiling. Her sight was observing dead space with her
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4 eyes watching nothing in particular. Somewhere deep within the back of her
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5 mind, thoughts of herself and of Tomoyo were piling up: thoughts of love,
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6 thoughts of confusion and thoughts of discovery. There were moments when
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7 these thoughts would race through Sakura's mind and there were others when
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8 they would be too much for her, causing her mind to run dormant. All of
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9 the girl's questions had been answered except for one, and there was no way
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10 for her to know how to answer it. As Sakura continued laying motionless on
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11 her bed, her guardian, Kero, came out of the top desk drawer where he had
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12 been sleeping for most of the day. He looked around and found the room to
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13 be pitch black. The small guardian groaned as he flew up to turn on the
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14 nearby lamp. "Sakura, did you forget to wake me up again? I'm so hungry."
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15 Kero's attitude changed from crankiness to concern once he saw Sakura's
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16 lifeless body on the bed. "Hey Sakura, are you okay?" Kero floated to his
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17 friend's side to console her and try to help her out. "Hey is there
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18 something the matter?"
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19 > "Oh. Hey Kero," Sakura responded glancing at her friend. "I'm sorry I
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20 forgot to wake you up".
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21 > "Sakura, it appears to me that something's been bothering you since
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22 yesterday. Is it alright if I ask what's wrong?"
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23 > "Well...sure, but I don't think you'll understand."
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24 > "Hey, I'm here to help, and I'll do my best to help you out in any way
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25 that I can," Kero said in a calm, reassuring tone.
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26 > "Okay. Well, basically it's about Tomoyo. Yesterday after school, she
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27 gave me a letter that...well, she said that...her letter said..." It was
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28 hard for Sakura to talk about something she hardly understood at all.
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29 > "Take it slow and easy Sakura. You can go at your own pace."
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30 > "Okay," Sakura responded. She sat quietly for a few seconds, then took
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31 in a deep breath and spoke once again. "In her letter, Tomoyo told me
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32 that...she has feelings of love for me." Sakura stayed quiet after that as
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33 she anticipated criticism from Kero just for saying such a thing.
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34 > "Keep going, I'm listening," Kero said, sounding a little impatient but
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35 still williing to help Sakura out.
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36 > Sakura was a little bit surprised to hear Kero say that, and it was then
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37 she realized that he could understand her situation better than she could.
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38 "Well, after I read Tomoyo's letter, I was unsure of what to say to her
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39 that I just ran off."
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rlm@2
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40 > "What? Wait a second! Did you just say that you ran away from her?"
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41 > "Y,yeah, but I..."
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42 > "Sakura," Kero was upset at Sakura's description of her past misjudgment,
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43 "when someone tells you their feelings like that, you don't just run away
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44 from them and not come back to resolve the siutation! You're going to hurt
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45 someone deep inside by doing that!"
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46 > "I understand that now Kero," Sakura quickly responded. "But yeserday,
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47 it was all so sudden and shocking to me that I had no idea what to do!"
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48 > After Sakura's reaction of defense, Kero couldn't help but apologize for
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49 his harsh outburst. "I'm sorry Sakura, I just wasn't sure how well you
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50 understood the situation you're in."
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51 > "No," Sakura said as she let feeling of guilt engulf her. "Don't
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52 apologize Kero. I deserve to be yelled at for what I've done yesterday.
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53 It's all my fault that I'm in this mess."
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54 > "Don't say that. The fact that you want to resolve this problem the
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55 right way shows that you're a caring person. So try not to take it out on
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56 yourself. You'll get through this alright."
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57 > The little girl felt comforted as her friend patted her head, and her
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58 mouth formed a small smile, but it wasn't large enough to show that she was
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59 truly happy. "Anyway," Sakura continued, "I thought about the letter again
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60 today, and how Tomoyo described her feelings. As I was thinking, I began
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61 to feel something within me surface. The more I thought, I began to
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62 realize that I also had feelings of love. These feelings I have for Tomoyo
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63 are real. I guess I kinda had these feelings all along, but after reading
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64 Tomoyo's letter and understanding how she felt, I was able to discover them
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65 for the first time. But, I don't even see how all of this is possible."
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66 > "What do you mean by that?" Kero asked.
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67 > "It, it just doesn't sound right. I don't understand how any of this can
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68 be normal. Tomoyo and I are both girls and we both share a desire of love
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69 for each other, but when I think about it, it just sounds weird. I never
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70 even knew that I could fall in love with another girl. Being in this
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71 situation scares me a lot. That's the reason why I ran away from Tomoyo."
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72 Sakura's tone of voice showed that she was starting to act hysterical. "I
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73 don't even understand how the love between two girls can be real! This is
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74 something that's been on my mind for an entire day and I feel like I'm
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75 going crazy! It sounds unnatural and uncommon! Kero, I love Tomoyo, but
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76 can this really be called love?"
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77 > After hearing everything that his friend had to say, Kero thought long
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78 and hard to come up with a solution for Sakura's perplexing problem. He
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79 delivered his reply once he believed he found the right choice of words.
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80 "I can understand that at your age, you would find all of this to be really
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81 confusing. Okay Sakura, I think I know of a way to explain this. Now you
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82 know that your father loves you, right?"
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83 > "Well, yeah." Sakura was very curious as to what Kero would say in order
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84 to help her out.
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85 > "And your father also loves your brother, even though they're both the
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86 same gender. As you know, that type of love is not considered romantic."
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87 > "Right."
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88 > "Now, keep in mind the relationship between your father and your brother
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89 as I continue. The love that your parents shared with each other was the
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90 romantic type of love. The love between yourself and Tomoyo is also
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91 romantic. If you think about it, there are different types of
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92 relationships between the two genders. Many of them, even the one you have
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93 with Tomoyo, are considered by a lot of people to be real love. I hope you
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94 no longer think of your situation being strange, because I certainly don't
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95 see a problem with it."
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96 > Sakura listened to every word that was told to her, and it took a while
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97 for her to understand. She kept the relationship of her father and her
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98 brother in her mind the whole time. At one point, she came across the fact
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99 that since they were family, they cared about each other and it didn't
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100 mater that they were both male. As soon as Sakura realized this, she
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101 compared it to her relationship with Tomoyo. Her realization was that even
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102 though they were both girls, her emotions of love mattered the most between
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103 them. Sakura discovered that gender was not an important factor when the
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104 feelings between two people were true. Soon, a smile came across Sakura's
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105 face. It finally made perfect sense to her. "I...I understand. I actually
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106 understand it now. Incredible. But, the whole thing sounds so simple now
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107 that I've had it explained to me. I can't believe that I was just worrying
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108 over nothing the whole time."
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109 > "It's okay Sakura. A lot of people have problems with this sort of
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110 thing, but you've found the answer to this situation. I think you should
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111 be proud with yourself."
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112 > "Yeah. I am proud, and I'm happy about it too. I didn't really think
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113 I'd be able to...oh! I still haven't said a thing to Tomoyo since
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114 yesterday. She's probably so heart broken, or mad that she doesn't want to
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115 speak to me. Now what am I suppose to do?"
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116 > "Well first of all, I think you should call Tomoyo on the phone."
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117 > "Huh?"
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118 > "Sure. Arrange to meet with her sometime tomorrow so you can fully
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119 discuss your feelings with her."
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120 > "Do...you think she will agree to do so?"
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121 > "If you ask in an appropriate manner, she will forgive you."
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122 > "Should I call her right now?"
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123 > "Uh...not yet. There's something more important that you need to take
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124 care of first."
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125 > "What? Something more important?"
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126 > "Yeah. I still haven't been feed in a while. Could you please do that
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127 first?"
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128 > "Oh! Hm. You bet Kero. Wait right here."
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129 > "Thanks Sakura," Kero said as he watched his friend leave the room in a
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130 joyful mood. "Sakura and Tomoyo huh? Well, who would have guessed? Then
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131 again love and life hardly turn out the way we expect it to. I think those
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132 two girls are going to be just fine together."
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133
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134
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135
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