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1 Welcome fellow Sakura/Tomoyo fans, or non fans if you're reading this for
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2 the hell of it. Thanks for coming to read my story, but first, yep, I've
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3 got notes. Here we go. All characters copyright CLAMP, Kodansha,
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4 TOKYOPOP, Mad House, Nelvana and Pioneer. Did I miss any? Other than
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5 that, the only thing that I think really needs to be mentioned, is that
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6 there are two terms at the beginning that you probably never heard of.
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7 Both refer to carnival games that you may have seen in certain anime. The
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8 first is kingyo-sukui, which is basically the goldfish catching game. The
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9 second is shateki. In this game, people use a pop gun filled with little
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10 corks and fire it at a couple of shelves with different prizes on them. If
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11 the person firing knocks down a prize, it's theirs. Alright, enough of the
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12 notes, it's time for the story. I hope you enjoy it.
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13 >
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14 >
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15 >Discovering Beauty
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16 >
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17 >By: James Brown
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18 mebrown@dubuque.net
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19
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20 > The sun had just begun to set over Tomoeda's horizon as music filled the
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21 air and the ears of the festival crowd. One of the city's shrine festivals
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22 was fully underway as the people began enjoying the activities of the late
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23 afternoon: talking in a friendly conversation, playig a game at one of the
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24 festival booths, or, as Sakura Kinomoto was doing, taking a casual stroll.
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25 Sakura was walking by herself as she observed the sights around her. She
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26 decided to stop at a kingyo-sukui booth to see if anyone had caught any
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27 gold fish. The brown haired girl was at the booth earlier, but she had
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28 come up empty handed in her attempts to catch anything. Right now, she was
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29 more content with seeing if anyone else had better luck. Once she finished
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30 watching, Sakura decided to walk a little more, but it wasn't long until
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31 she noticed her best friend Tomoyo coming towards her.
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32 > "Hey Tomoyo!" Sakura called out.
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33 > "Oh, hello Sakura," Tomoyo said once Sakura ran up to her. "I didn't
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34 know you were here as well. Are you here by yourself?"
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35 > "No. Actually, I was with my brother and my dad earlier, but we decided
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36 to separate for now." It wasn't until this moment that Sakura noticed
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37 Tomoyo holding an orange stuffed elephant in front of her. As soon as she
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38 saw it, the topic of conversation quickly changed. "Hey Tomoyo, where did
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39 you get that cute little elephant?"
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40 > "Do-o you like it?" Tomoyo asked as she began to blush.
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41 > "I think it's adorable."
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42 > "I won it a couple of minutes ago at the shateki booth."
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43 > "Wow, really? Isn't that kind of hard?"
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44 > "Not really. All a person really needs is some patience and a little
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45 concentration. To tell you the truth, I'm going to give this to someone as
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46 a gift."
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47 > "Are you giving it to someone I know?"
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48 > "Well, yes. I think you've meet this person."
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49 > "Say, I hope whoever you give it to likes it," Sakura commented with a
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50 bright smile.
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51 > "I'm sure of it. Hey, you want to go get something to eat?"
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52 > "Sure." As the two girls went in search for food, Sakura couldn't help
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53 but think about Tomoyo and who she would give the gift to. "Tomoyo sure is
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54 happy about all this, but, I wonder who is making her smile so much?"
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55 >
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56 > That evening, after Tomoyo returned home from the festival, the girl
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57 entered her room while she held the stuffed elephant close to her. The
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58 dark haired girl laid down on her bed, holding the elephant up in front of
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59 her as a small laugh emitted from her closed mouth. "Hmm. Once Sakura
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60 realizes that this elephant is really for her, she's going to be so
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61 thrilled. I just know it, I just know it." The elephant was more that
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62 just a simple gift between best friends, to Tomoyo, it represented a
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63 confession, a confession of love. Tomoyo held the stuffed animal close to
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64 her chest as she began to think about presenting it to Sakura. Her smile
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65 began to enlarge as the thoughts flooded her mind. But suddenly, a thought
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66 of a different kind came into her mind. "Wait a minute, what if she
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67 doesn't understand? What if she doesn't get it right away?" Tomoyo began
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68 to think about what she could include with the elephant in order to get her
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69 message across. Once the idea came to her, Tomoyo went through the house
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70 to get paper, a pencil and an envelope. When the needed supplies were
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71 gathered, the young girl returned to her room. She sat down on her bed and
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72 began to write a letter. In it, she began to inscribe her true feelings.
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73 All of the emotions in her heart were being put on to paper. Tomoyo's
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74 hopes and dreams counted on what she wrote in the letter. Her true hope
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75 was that Sakura understood how much she meant to her, and her greatest
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76 dream was that somehow, Sakura felt the exact same way about her. As soon
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77 as the letter was finished, Tomoyo placed it inside the envelope and took
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78 it along with the elephant to her book bag. After she packed the items
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79 inside, she went back to her room with a cheerful smile on her face.
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80 >
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81 > The following Friday morning, school began at Tomoeda Elementary and
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82 Tomoyo had all the necessary items to make her gift to Sakura complete.
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83 Tomoyo decided to wait until all the day's classes were done until she
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84 presented the gift. After school had ended and the afternoon finally
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85 arrived, Sakura and Tomoyo walked home together. The entire time they
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86 walked, Tomoyo kept thinking about when would be the perfect moment to
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87 unveil her surprise. Once the two were a block away from Sakura's home,
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88 Tomoyo decided to speak up.
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89 > "Hey Sakura. Can we stop for a moment?"
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90 > "Why? Is something the matter?"
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91 > "No, I'm okay. I just have something that I want to show you." As
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92 Tomoyo took her book bag off, Sakura became extremely curious as to what
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93 she was going to see. As Tomoyo opened her bag, Sakura's eyes began to
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94 widen once she saw a familiar orange color. As soon as she recognized the
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95 elephant's shape, her entire face lit up.
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96 > "Hey, isn't...isn't that the elephant from last night?"
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97 > "Yes."
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98 > "But you still have it with you. I thought...wait. Do you mean that the
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99 friend you're giving it to is me?"
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100 > "That's right Sakura. This gift belongs to you."
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101 > "Oh thank you Tomoyo! Thank you so much!"
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102 > "I decided to wait until today to give it to you so I could surprise you."
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103 > "I understand, and thanks again." As Sakura accepted the gift and held
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104 it close to her, Tomoyo smiled as she watched her friend spin in a
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105 delightful mood. The moment was uplifting to her, and she knew now, as
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106 Sakura began to ask her a question, it was time for her to present the
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107 letter. "But, why are you giving this to me? Is it because I did
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108 something recently?"
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109 > "Well, I think this well help to answer your question." Sakura was
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110 puzzled as Tomoyo reached into her bag a second time and pulled out the
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111 letter. When the letter was handed to her, she put down the elephant and
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112 examined the envelope. After finding nothing to read on the envelope
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113 itself, Sakura opened it and began to read the letter out loud.
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114 > "Sakura, we have been good friends for a long time now, and as friends,
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115 we have been through a lot of incredible situations together. And through
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116 the time we've known each other, I consider you to be my greatest friend.
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117 Whenever I see your smile, it makes me feel happy even if I am already in a
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118 good mood. When I am with you, I know I can tell you any of my secrets
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119 without the fear of having anyone else knowing. But the secret I want to
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120 tell you now is much different than any I've told and it concerns you as
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121 well." At this point, Sakura's interest in what she was reading grew in a
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122 vast amount. "My secret is one that I have carried with me for a while
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123 now. I hope that you understand how I feel and that perhaps, you feel the
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124 same way as well. What I want to tell you is that I..." Sakura continued
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125 reading the letter, but found the news to be a total shock for her. So
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126 much so that she was unable to find a voice to read the letter out loud.
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127 When Sakura had finished reading the letter, she looked up to Tomoyo with
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128 an expression on her face, to which Tomoyo acted surprised and concerned.
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129 Sakura's expression was almost one of fear and confusion. She then
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130 realized she didn't finish reading the letter out loud. As she continued
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131 reading where she left off, her tone of voice changed. From anticipation,
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132 to a tone that was more dreary. "I love you. In all honesty and with all
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133 of my heart, I love you. My feelings are more than just what common
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134 friends share. They are very much in the romantic sense. You mean
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135 everything to me and I hope you will stay with me for a long time." Sakura
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136 didn't feel any different after reading Tomoyo's confession. She didn't
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137 know what to say. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to
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138 do. Tomoyo finally decided to break the silence with her voice.
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139 > "Sakura, w-what's the matter?"
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140 > Sakura tried to say something right away, but found it difficult with all
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141 the thoughts in her head. "I...I...I..." Everything about this situation
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142 was just making her nervous. "I...have to go." Sakura ran toward her
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143 house and didn't look back. The letter slowly drifted out of her hands and
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144 landed in front of Tomoyo. Tomoyo was shaken by what had happened. She
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145 never considered this as the result of her actions.
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146 > "Sakura? Wait! Why are you running?" She reached out to the distant
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147 girl but found it to be of little help. Alone and heartbrokne, the girl
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148 stood there as bitter sadness flooded her senses. Everything she hoped for
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149 collapsed in front of her. Tomoyo looked at the items that represented her
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150 gift as her eyes began to tear up. "But...but why?"
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151
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152
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153
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154 |
