1.1 --- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
     1.2 +++ b/stories/CCSReprise.txt	Fri Feb 19 06:24:59 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
     1.4 +By Stirling Twilight
     1.5 +stirling_9@hotmail.com
     1.6 +
     1.7 +
     1.8 +
     1.9 +Reprise 
    1.10 +
    1.11 +Sakura flopped onto her back across the bed, clutching the Key around her neck.  Why was this so
    1.12 +hard, she wondered again?  Tomoyo had told her that she loved her, had been as sincere and
    1.13 +honest as a girl could be, and yet… 
    1.14 +Rolling onto her side Sakura pulled the pillow over her head, hiding from the unknown.  In her
    1.15 +head music played, over and over.  Sakura tried to listen; tried to draw meaning from the words,
    1.16 +but it was a confusion of sound that had no logic.  She sighed, flipped the pillow off and sat
    1.17 +up.  Across the room Kero-chan watched an old movie on the TV, occasionally calling her
    1.18 +attention to something he had forgotten since the last time he had watched this movie.  Sakura
    1.19 +smiled, stretched, and moved towards the door. 
    1.20 +"I'm taking a walk," she announced, not waiting for an answer, and was gone before Kero-chan
    1.21 +noticed. 
    1.22 +She padded softly though the house, knowing she was alone but for the Seal Beast, but enjoying
    1.23 +the stillness.  Outside the night air was pleasantly cool, the sort of air that made you breathe
    1.24 +deeply because the temperature was so comfortable.  Smiling to herself Sakura buckled on her
    1.25 +roller blades and headed for the park. 
    1.26 +As she glided along the internal music resumed.  It had been gone for just a moment, but now
    1.27 +that it was back Sakura realized why she had missed it, and she smiled.  Picking up her pace she
    1.28 +hurried to the King Penguin, hoping she would be alone for what she wanted to do.  Luck was with
    1.29 +her as she slowed to a stop just outside of the halo of streetlights.  Her hand was in the place
    1.30 +she had become accustomed to finding it in…nearly clutching for the Key around her neck.  She
    1.31 +reached into her shirt and with one fluid motion brought the Key into the night air. 
    1.32 +"Release!" she yelled, feeling the warm evening air swirl around her.  With another equally as
    1.33 +practiced motion a Clow Card was in her hand and then spinning before her face.  With unhidden
    1.34 +joy she brought the Key wand down on the Song Card, and commanded the Card to sing Tomoyo's song
    1.35 +for her. 
    1.36 +Light and sound surged around her and at the first tentative strains of the song Sakura felt
    1.37 +herself relax.  Here was Tomoyo, singing for her.  Singing for her, to please her, and no one
    1.38 +else.  Sakura leaned back against a tree and let the sound carry her away.  She saw in her
    1.39 +mind's eye the small group of friends on the rooftop that night, the Clow Card glowing before
    1.40 +Tomoyo, and the two of them singing the sweet duet.  Almost it seemed she could hear the
    1.41 +counter-part in the song, softly, very softly. 
    1.42 +Closing her eyes she painted for herself an image of silky charcoal grey hair, soft grey eyes,
    1.43 +and delicate, graceful hands clasped at her breast.  Tomoyo's hands suddenly arrested Sakura's
    1.44 +attention.  Why hadn't she noticed them before? The recognition of that touch made her sit down
    1.45 +heavily, as the song continued around her. The smallest whimper escaped her lips.  She suddenly
    1.46 +felt a warm wave of the softest caresses wash over and in her. Her heart swelled in her chest as
    1.47 +she breathed deeply, remembering. How many times had Tomoyo's hand slipped easily into her own?
    1.48 +Had always been there when her own fears had caused her to unconsciously groped for something to
    1.49 +hold onto?  There suddenly seemed to be no place Tomoyo hadn't touched.  She was an invisible
    1.50 +lifeline in a chaotic world that Sakura could share with no one.  Almost she could feel those
    1.51 +hands on her, softly, very softly. 
    1.52 +The final notes of Tomoyo's song faded away like a splash of cold water on her face causing
    1.53 +Sakura to scramble upright, grasping for the Key, desperate for the song to continue.  As if in
    1.54 +response to her mad rush the Song Card began again, and Sakura sat back again with a sigh. 
    1.55 +"Keep singing please, I'll tell you when I want you to stop," she whispered dreamily. 
    1.56 +Lying back again, in a sleepy haze, she saw Tomoyo before her, wearing a long dress Sakura had
    1.57 +never seen before.  The pure whiteness of it made it glow in the soft light thrown off by Song,
    1.58 +surrounding Tomoyo in a soft halo.  A perfect angel Sakura thought smiling.  Tomoyo's hair was
    1.59 +swept up onto the top of her head in a mass of curls, white ribbons, and cherry blossom
    1.60 +flowers.  Tomoyo's hands came together at her chest and her eyes closed as she joined her voice
    1.61 +to that of Song, singing the fairy duet once again.  Entranced Sakura found herself watching the
    1.62 +apparition's mouth.  The lips, as pink as the cherry blossoms in her hair, looked moist and
    1.63 +soft, with a promise of heavenly sweetness about them Sakura wanted to taste.  She longed to
    1.64 +touch the Tomoyo before her but feared breaking the spell.  Her lungs suddenly ached in her
    1.65 +chest from a lack of air and she drew in a deep breath.  Sakura realized her whole being was
    1.66 +wound tight, almost to the point of panting.  The spectral Tomoyo glided closer as the song
    1.67 +reaching its simple climax and slowly she bent over the straining Sakura.  The scent of Tomoyo
    1.68 +embraced Sakura and she sucked in breath, her eyes growing wide in surprise.  Lowering herself
    1.69 +to her knees Tomoyo leaned into Sakura, who, unnerved, locked her eyes on the petal like lips
    1.70 +before her.  For a fleeting moment she was afraid she would speak, but desire won her over and
    1.71 +closing her eyes Sakura lifted her face towards the angel who knelt over her.  Tomoyo's soft
    1.72 +breath caressed Sakura's face with the final words to the song, their lips less than an inch
    1.73 +apart, and then, as soft as snowflakes, Tomoyo's mouth came down on Sakura's.  For an eternity
    1.74 +Sakura fought an urge to stiffen, but the warmth of the angel pressed against her turned her
    1.75 +muscles to jelly and her whole body relaxed.  Encouraged, Tomoyo gently applied more pressure,
    1.76 +and Sakura gave herself over to the sensation, her whole body ringing like the clearest chime. 
    1.77 +Her arms, moving on their own, came up and wound around the tiny waist, encountering white silk
    1.78 +and even softer escaped curls.  Sakura pulled her friend in closer, longing to drown in the
    1.79 +feelings she was experiencing.  And the Song Card sang on.