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1 As soon as the final petal had reached the ground, the wind took up all
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2 of the petals and gathered them into a cluster. The petals continued
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3 flowing with the breeze while remaining in the same area above ground.
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4 Tomoyo stared at the pink mass with a curious look in her eyes, wondering
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5 what would happen next. Suddenly, the petals began to inch their way
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6 toward a section of the park with trees surrounding the entire area.
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7 Tomoyo quickly reacted by picking up the elephant and following the cheery
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8 blossom petals toward their destination. The wind picked up speed and
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9 carried the petals faster, making the girl run in order to try and catch
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10 up. Once the petals reached the trees, they escaped from Tomoyo's sight.
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11 After Tomoyo reached the first row of trees, she began to walk past them
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12 wondering where she would find the assortment of petals. The girl wandered
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13 around searching for her destination, but she had no idea where that was.
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14 As she pasted more of the trees, she started to get lost in her search,
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15 noticing that each new tree looked exactly like the one she just past. She
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16 was beginning to wonder if she would ever find the petals at all. But
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17 suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Tomoyo spotted them, almost missing
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18 them completely. The petals had formed a circle around one of the trees as
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19 they began to orbit around it in a clockwise motion. Tomoyo smiled again
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20 once she had finally found where she needed to be. She was happy not only
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21 because she had found the petals, but also because she was in anticipation
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22 of what would happen next. As she crept forward toward the tree, the
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23 circumference of the petals began to increase in size as they spread out
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24 away from the tree. Tomoyo stopped in her advancement toward the tree as
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25 the petals broke its formation; brushing past the girls chest and
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26 connecting again behind her. The girl glanced at the pink circle and
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27 watched its movement until it stopped a couple feet away from her. When
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28 Tomoyo realized that the petals would refrain from moving, she turned her
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29 head towards the tree again as she awaited the next event to unfold. With
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30 only a few seconds of waiting, the young girl's hopes would be fulfilled in
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31 a manner that she thought she could only imagine. Revealing herself from
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32 behind the tree, with her right hand holding something behind her back and
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33 her left resting the Clow staff on her shoulder, Sakura gave Tomoyo a very
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34 pleasant smile. Tomoyo knew that Sakura would be waiting at the end of her
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35 search, but seeing the brown haired girl again put a vast amount of joy
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36 into her heart. "Sakura!" Tomoyo shouted in ecstatic jubilation as she
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37 ran toward the other girl and gently wrapped her arms around her neck.
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38 Sakura placed her left hand on Tomoyo's back while still holding onto the
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39 staff. She then turned the staff back into its key form, letting the chain
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40 attached to it dangle in between the spaces in her fingers. Her left hand
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41 was now free to give Tomoyo her soft, comforting touch.
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42 >> "I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to see you again," Tomoyo said, her
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43 voice showing that she was close to breaking into tears.
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44 >> "I know, and I'm very sorry that I did that to you," Sakura explained,
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45 having regret in her voice but still indicating that she was happy things
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46 had come around for the two. "I would never intend to hurt you like I did,
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47 but, well I wasn't sure if how the way you felt for me...and now the way I
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48 feel for you, was even possible. But I've thought about it and now I
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49 realize I was just being foolish." Sakura removed her hand from Tomoyo's
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50 back and placed it on her shoulder, as she looked into her eyes. "It makes
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51 more sense to me than ever. And now that I realize that what we share is
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52 beautiful, I want to make sure it lasts as long as possible." The brown
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53 haired girl leaned in toward the other girl and whispered in her ear with a
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54 voice that made Tomoyo feel cool and with the words she had been hoping to
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55 hear. "I love you more than anything else in this world and I want to hold
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56 on to that feeling forever." After hearing those words, Tomoyo's face lit
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57 up as she knew that everything would be alright, even better than she had
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58 hoped. Once Sakura brought her attention back to the girl she loved, the
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59 two spent the time gazing at each other's beauty. Then, without any
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60 warning from either of the two, as the situation presented them with the
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61 same idea, Sakura and Tomoyo leaned toward each other for a kiss. As their
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62 lips meet, the kiss was light and tender, but the meaning within it was
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63 very passionate. After the two broke off their physical sign of love, they
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64 smiled and continued to look into each others' eyes, feeling content that
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65 they werte together. Then a thought suddenly came to Tomoyo's mind.
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66 >> "Oh, I just realized. I haven't given you your gift yet." Tomoyo
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67 exclaimed, almost forgetting she was holding on to the elephant this whole
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68 time. She then presented the elephant to Sakura with outstretched hands.
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69 "I hope you still want it."
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70 >> Sakura took the elephant in her left hand, examined it, and clutched it
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71 to her chest. "Thank you Tomoyo. Your gift really means a lot to me."
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72 >> "I'm glad that you still like it."
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73 >> "Do you know the reason why I really like it?" the brown haired girl
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74 calmly asked.
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75 >> "It's because you said it was cute, isn't that right?" Tomoyo said with
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76 a slight hint of confusion in her voice.
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77 >> "I did say that," Sakura responded as she loosened the grip on the plush
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78 figure and gently held it at her side, "and I still think it's cute, but
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79 there is a different reason as to why I like it now. I like it because it
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80 came from you. The fact that you gave it to me really means something. If
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81 anyone else had given it to me, it would just be another stuffed animal to
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82 add to my collection. But I can tell that you gave this to me because you
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83 love me. You put so much thought into giving this to me. It holds all of
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84 your feelings and that's why I like it. And besides, the elephant is cute,
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85 but it could never replace your natural beauty."
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86 >> The final set of words that Sakura said connected with the dark haired
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87 girl effectively as she began to blush. "Th-thank you," she said. "And
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88 thank you for understanding my intentions. I had hoped that you would."
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89 >> "Oh, and there's something else I wanted to say," Sakura began as she
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90 moved her right hand from behind to reveal what she had been hiding. "As
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91 far as putting thought and emotion into one's gift, that's what I had done,
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92 when I made these for you." The gift Sakura held out to Tomoyo, in a
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93 slightly proud, but still cheerful manner, was a pair of fresh roses from
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94 the Flower Card.
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95 >> Tomoyo smiled once she saw her gift. She took the two pieces of floral
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96 beauty and smelled them to find they emitted a heavenly aroma. "They're
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97 very beautiful. Thank you Sakkura."
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98 >> "And each of those roses both symbolize something."
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99 >> "Really?" Tomoyo asked as she looked up to Sakura. "What do they mean?"
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100 >> "Hm, one represents all the feelings I have for the girl I love, and the
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101 other is for the hope that the two of us will always be together."
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102 >> A warm feeling went through Tomoyo as she embraced the other girl again,
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103 and a gentle sigh escaped through her lips before she spoke. "I would
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104 really like to see that hope realzed." As the unnoticed minutes drifted
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105 by, the thoughts and desires of the two girls for each other went through
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106 their minds, while the comfort of the two close together physically
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107 acknowledged all of them. A cool gust of wind went by as Sakura and Tomoyo
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108 found themselves looking into each other's eyes again.
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109 >> "Well," Sakura began as she flashed a joyful smile, "I think now that
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110 we've found our way into each others hearts, we should probably celebrate
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111 our union. Is there anything that you want to do?"
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112 >> The dark haired girl gave the other girl a light kiss as well as her
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113 answer. "Just being here with you is fine with me. It doesn't really
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114 matter what we do."
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115 >> "Alright then." As Tomoyo took Sakura's arm, the two of them led each
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116 other toward one of the trees. They sat next to one another at the base of
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117 the tree while a feeling of calmness and serenity found its way into both
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118 of them. Tomoyo rest her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, and Sakura
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119 returned the gesture of affection by placing her hand on her girlfriend's
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120 head. Nothing felt out of place as the cherry blossom petals were freed
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121 from their dormant position above ground and were carried by the wind as a
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122 sign to anyone who saw them that two people had fallen in love.
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123 >>
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124 >> After another school day had come and gone, Tomoyo stood by the entrance
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125 waithing for Sakura to meet with her. The two girls had decided to buy a
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126 snack after school and share it with each other. To keep herself occupied,
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127 she took scenery shots of the school grounds with her camcorder. She only
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128 got a few minutes worth of footage before Sakura came out and greeted her.
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129 >> "Sorry to keep you waiting," Sakura said a little bit embarrassed.
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130 >> "Oh it's no trouble at all. I'm just glad you came, and I knew you
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131 would be here," Tomoyo answered while recording Sakura on film. Since the
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132 two were closer than ever, Sakura no longer felt shy or embarrassed about
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133 being in front of Tomoyo's camcorder, especially now that she knew why she
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134 was he dark haired girl's favorite thing to record.
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135 >> "So, do you still like the gift that I gave you?" Sakura said as she
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136 struck a pose for the machine's lens.
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137 >> Tomoyo responded with a smile as she took the camera away from her face
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138 to look at her girlfriend with her own eyes. "Being with you has always
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139 been a gift, and I will always enjoy that."
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140 >>
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141 >>
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rlm@2
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142 >>So what did you think? Did you like it? Dislike it? Or are you just
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143 indifferent? Anyway, please tell me what you think. I will take comments
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144 and criticism of any kind. Just send it to me at mebrown@dubuque.net, I
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145 would really appreciate it. Thanks a bunch.
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