moonlitnights: old/stories/tomoyofruits.txt comparison

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author	rlm
date	Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:53:12 -0500
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-:dbe144217c71
+:fc00894c1d4a
+Fruits Candy
+A Sakura and Tomoyo Story
+By G. P.
+Please send comments to treeandleaf2002@yahoo.com
+Note: All characters depicted herein are property of CLAMP. This
+work in no way is meant to infringe on those rights.
+This is story is part of a continuing series, though it can also be
+read alone. The previous stories in the series are:
+1. Love is the Crooked Thing
+2. First Date
+Gazing out the window, Sakura caught sight of the long, black
+Cadillac pulling up to the curb. With clipped, almost military
+motions, a female bodyguard dressed in a severe, slate-gray dress
+popped out and opened the back passenger door. Tomoyo emerged,
+dressed in a simple cobalt-blue dress, her gray-black hair in two
+long braids, tied at the ends with pink ribbons. Sakura felt her
+heart flutter at the sight, and blushed deeply. She was still
+adjusting to the notion of Tomoyo-chan as something more than her
+very best friend. Like a double thunderclap, Tomoyo's love for her,
+and her own love for Tomoyo, had come as explosive revelations, one
+after another.
+She still felt deafened by the shock, a bit confused and
+disoriented. In some ways, nothing had changed. Tomoyo especially
+seemed as she always had: bright, cheerful, kind, and helpful. But
+Sakura was sometimes uneasy in her presence in a way she had never
+felt before. Sometimes, sitting by her in class or at lunch, she felt
+buffeted by a strange whorl of emotions. She knew now that those
+emotions had always been there, laying unrecognized in her heart,
+waiting. When she finally saw that Tomoyo liked her- like that, her
+own feelings were at last unfettered. As the leaves fell and the
+nights grew chill with winter, Sakura had struggled with the dilemma
+of how to love her best friend.
+Tomoyo stepped lightly up to the door, carrying a canvas bag with a
+picture of a French flag on the side. Sakura sprang to the door,
+opening it as she approached.
+"Konichiwa, Tomoyo-chan!"
+"Konichiwa, Sakura-chan!" She took Sakura by the hand and smiled,
+"Thank you for inviting me to your house."
+"No, thank you for coming. My father is at a Conference for the
+weekend and won't be here, so I wanted to make a special dessert for
+oniichan tonight. You're just so much better at it than me."
+Tomoyo looked aghast, "But Sakura-chan, you make beautiful things.
+The cake you baked for your father was wonderful".
+"All the same, I'm glad you're here. Would you like some tea?"
+"Oh, yes, thank you. Shall I help?"
+Sakura smiled, nodded, and went to boil the water as Tomoyo gathered
+up the cups and napkins. It was just like her. She was helpful and
+considerate in such a natural way that you were sometimes unaware of
+what a gracious friend she was. Sakura broke the silence,
+"How is your Mother?"
+"Oh, she is very well, thank you. She was talking about you the
+other day".
+Sakura tilted her head quizzically.
+Tomoyo smiled, and continued, "I showed her the videotape of your
+race from the school festival. She watched it so many times that I
+had to make a copy for her before the tape wore out." Tomoyo
+suppressed what seemed to be a giggle,
+"She said you have great potential as a runner, but will need work
+on your technique. She said your father should teach you, but if he
+is too busy she would be happy to coach you."
+At the prospect of running like Sonomi, Sakura brightened visibly.
+Almost leaping from her chair, her eyes glistening at the prospect,
+she blurted out,
+"Really? That is so nice of her! I would love to run like that!"
+Tomoyo touched her cheek with her hand and gazed adoringly at her
+friend. In physical activity, in track and gymnastics and swimming,
+Sakura was like some beautiful, feline animal, coiled power exploding
+with easy grace. No wonder she made such an exquisite Card Captor!
+Sakura caught the pale girl's look and blushed. Tomoyo was
+so....eccentric. Even knowing they were now more than best friends,
+her adoration still stirred a strange mix of feelings: embarrassment,
+shyness, and a delightful sense of being utterly loved. Sakura put
+her hand behind the back of her head and laughed in an odd voice,
+"Ha-ha-ha, um, should we begin the dessert?"
+Tomoyo nodded, all smiles, and began to open the large canvas bag.
+Sakura watched, her curiosity aflame. First out of the mysterious bag
+was....the video camera. She felt the welling of a sweat drop. Tomoyo
+laughed and said,
+" To film with, and to help you study your technique".
+Sakura groaned at the prospect of her culinary clumsiness captured
+for all eternity. She watched as Tomoyo next brought out a small
+white bag and a set of little silver cones. Handling them with
+respectful care she said,
+"This is a piping bag, and these are the nozzles. With a delicate
+finger she pointed to a cone with a slim, tapering opening, and spoke
+in a hushed, reverent tone,
+"This is a Saint Honore nozzle. Saint Honore is the Special Saint of
+Pastry Chefs. The dessert we are making was done in his honor." Then,
+she took out a small candy thermometer, a pastry mixer,  and a
+strange, wicked looking whisk, whose rounded ends had been clipped
+off. Looking at Sakura, she asked solemnly,
+"Do you have the other ingredients I asked for?"
+"Yes, ummmm", Sakura's voice trailed off as she scrambled into the
+kitchen, then rushed back in with the list, reading it breathlessly
+while Tomoyo closed her eyes and listened, "Flour, eggs, sugar,
+butter, milk, heavy cream, powdered sugar, superfine sugar, gelatin,
+cornstarch?" Tomoyo nodded, opened her eyes, and smiled,
+"Shall we begin, Sakura-chan?"
+Vigorously nodding, Sakura followed her friend into the kitchen.
+With a sinking feeling, she saw the dark-haired girl merrily setting
+up a tripod in a corner. The red light showed the camera was on,
+ready to follow her every blunder. At least it was something only
+Tomoyo would see, and, thankfully, there were no costumes. The girls
+tied on matching aprons and began, Tomoyo directing and Sakura doing
+her best to follow.
+"We'll start with the Pate Sucre", Tomoyo sang out. She set the
+pattern by showing Sakura how to do it, and then watching,
+encouraging, and helping her friend along. Sakura took pride in the
+dishes she could cook, but desserts, especially fancy ones, baffled
+her. Watching Tomoyo in the kitchen, she felt a sweet heartache.
+There was a perfect precision in her movements as she sifted and
+rolled and mixed and whisked. Like a ballerina, she whirled and
+dipped and spun her own special magic. Tomoyo had no sense for the
+magic of the Clow Cards, but here, she was the Mistress, the cooking
+tools her Cards. Lightly dusted in the fine, white pastry flour, she
+looked like an angel: calm, watchful, and glowingly beautiful.
+Sakura lightly placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, as if to
+assure herself that this was indeed her friend, and not some
+celestial visitor. Tomoyo glanced up and smiled, placing her hand on
+Sakura's own, then slowly pulling away, their fingers lightly
+interlacing for the briefest second. Sakura caught her breath and
+swallowed hard, a crimson blush tickling her neck and ears. But
+Tomoyo was back to her choux paste, mixing the egg into the crumbly
+dough. Sakura shook her head and tried to remember Tomoyo's
+directions. Peering into the oven as the round base baked to a golden
+sheen, she asked in a puzzled voice,,
+"Tomoyo-chan, how can you be sure you can make it rise?"
+Tomoyo turned with a puzzled look and answered, "I'm sorry, I don't
+understand".
+"The pastry base we made...how do we make it rise?"
+Tomoyo laughed quietly and regarded her friend with thoughtful
+eyes," We can't do anything to make it rise. It has to want to do it
+itself".
+Sakura stared back, blinking in quiet incomprehension.
+The pale girl joined her at the window of the oven, "It's just like
+flowers, or paintings, or sewing. You can't make it do anything. You
+can only be there for it, to help it be what is wants to be." She
+tilted her head, and smiled.
+Sakura looked at her friend in slow realization of what she meant.
+Tomoyo was so gentle, she would never force anything, be it pastry or
+painting or costume. Or even, she thought with a start, her love.
+Tomoyo had loved her for so long and never spoken, lest Sakura be
+burdened or troubled. She had never tried to control their friendship
+to her advantage, even going so far as to encourage Sakura's crush on
+Yukito-san, and her tentative feelings for Li-kun. Tomoyo had been
+ready to sacrifice her own happiness to ensure Sakura's own. The
+auburn-haired girl felt a shiver as she blinked back the tears.
+Tomoyo gazed at the shimmering emerald eyes and felt her own heart
+racing. Sakura lunged at her, staggering her back, hugging her
+tightly. Tomoyo closed her eyes, feeling the trembling form in her
+arms. Had all her hopes and dreams and prayers come true it could not
+have brought a sweeter moment than this. Sakura's love washed over
+her like an ocean wave, knocking her off her feet, swirling and
+eddying in every corner of her being. She smoothed the red-auburn
+hair, straightening a ribbon with nimble fingers.
+Sakura drew back slowly, smiling, blushing, looking dazed and
+slightly embarrassed. Tomoyo smiled at the white flour that now
+powdered the girl's cheek. She reached out her hand, tenderly wiping
+away the flour and the tears. She rested her palm on Sakura's cheek,
+and then lightly caressed the soft skin with her fingertips.
+"I love you, Sakura-chan".
+Sakura gently enfolded the hand in her own and squeezed tightly. "I
+love you too, Tomoyo".
+Hands clasped, both girls stood transfixed until Tomoyo wrinkled her
+nose and exclaimed, "The pastry base!"
+As if choreographed, the two twirled about and saw gray smoke
+billowing from the oven. Quickly donning silver oven mitts, Tomoyo
+opened the door and removed the baking sheet. Coughing in the smoke,
+Sakura stared at the blackened circle.
+With a disconsolate look, Tomoyo murmured, "I ruined it".
+Sakura looked sadly at her friend, then suddenly brightened.
+"We didn't ruin it. It wanted to burn!"
+Tomoyo looked up, smiled, and suddenly began to laugh. Sakura looked
+on in surprise, and then started laughing, too. Neither had laughed
+so hard in a very long time. Gasping for air in the still-smoky
+kitchen, Sakura blurted out,
+"We...we better..hee...start another one, hee hee...before oniichan
+gets back...hee..."
+Tomoyo, still giggling, nodded, and the two began again.
+After the surprisingly delicious noodle dinner, Touya watched Sakura
+and Tomoyo disappear into the kitchen. The two had seemed inseparable
+of late, and he was glad. He liked the pale, dark-haired girl,
+sensing her intense devotion to his sister. He thought to call out
+and ask if Tomoyo had actually cooked the meal, since it was so good,
+but he smiled to himself and kept quiet. After several minutes the
+two girls returned, each carrying one side of a large serving plate.
+They placed the magnificent Saint Honore Pastry on the table before
+him and shouted, "Happy Birthday!"
+From his job at the bistro he knew it was a complex dessert that
+only the boldest chefs would attempt. The carmel-dipped buns ringed a
+lake of layered, criss-crossed Cr�me Chibouste, deftly executed to
+look like ripples on the water. In place of the normal spun sugar
+ball on top sat two delicate pastry swans, gracefully arching necks
+entwined like lovers. Enclosing them was a sparkling, bowl-shaped
+cage of golden carmel. Amazed that they could create such a work, he
+glanced up at them. Like two swans, the girls nestled together, hand
+in hand, expectantly awaiting his reaction. He smiled, and understood.
+"It's beautiful."
+And it was.

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comparison old/stories/tomoyofruits.txt @ 2:fc00894c1d4a moonlitnights