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     1.2 +++ b/stories/ccs-lovebest.txt	Fri Feb 19 06:24:59 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
     1.4 +I've been dabbling at this little thing for a while now, but only 
     1.5 +today did I get the inspiration to finish it, in part from Spheeris's 
     1.6 +wish list.  So I guess you could say this is a bit of a birthday 
     1.7 +present. :)  Hope it stands well on its own.
     1.8 +
     1.9 +                       The One You Love Best
    1.10 +                   a Tale of Card Captor Sakura
    1.11 +                      by Star Knight Abraxis
    1.12 +			abraxis@goldengate.net
    1.13 +
    1.14 +Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me, but I'll put them back 
    1.15 +when I'm done with them, okay?
    1.16 +
    1.17 +      She'd set up a camera, hidden away in one corner of the room, to 
    1.18 +tape all this.  She couldn't trust her hands not to start shaking at 
    1.19 +a moment like this... but she wanted this recorded.  For closure, if 
    1.20 +nothing else.
    1.21 +       "Thanks for having me over, Tomoyo-chan!  I still wanted to 
    1.22 +talk to you about what to do for Shaoran-kun now that he's leaving. 
    1.23 +I'm a little nervous..."
    1.24 +       'You're not the only one, Sakura-chan,' she thought.  "Can we 
    1.25 +talk about that a little later?  There's... there's something I 
    1.26 +wanted to tell you first."
    1.27 +      "Oh?"  Sakura plopped down on Tomoyo's bed, clutching a stuffed 
    1.28 +animal to her in a manner so cute as to set Tomoyo's pulse racing. 
    1.29 +"What is it?"
    1.30 +      Tomoyo took a deep breath, steadying herself.  She knew she 
    1.31 +shouldn't be doing this; it was so horribly selfish... but she had to 
    1.32 +tell Sakura.  Just once, before Sakura went off to Shaoran forever. 
    1.33 +"Sakura-chan...  I love you."
    1.34 +      Sakura smiled brilliantly.  "I know that, Tomoyo-chan!  I love you too!"
    1.35 +      "No!"  Tomoyo cut her off, a bit more sharply than she intended. 
    1.36 +"I... don't mean just like that.  I'm in love with you, Sakura-chan. 
    1.37 +Passionately.  Romantically.  With all my heart."
    1.38 +      Sakura nodded, looking a little confused.  "I know.  Like I 
    1.39 +said, I love you too."
    1.40 +      Tomoyo blinked.  Her mouth went dry.  "Y-you... know?"
    1.41 +      "Well, sure.  I mean, why else would we have been dating for so long?"
    1.42 +      Tomoyo sat down heavily on the bed.  She couldn't quite feel her 
    1.43 +legs anymore.  "D...dating?"
    1.44 +      Now Sakura was looking a little worried.  "All those things 
    1.45 +we've done together, just the two of us, like going to movies or the 
    1.46 +shrine festivals, even catching Clow Cards sometimes.  Well, 
    1.47 +Kero-chan was there too, but he's sort of a chaperone, I guess."  She 
    1.48 +looked at Tomoyo with concern.  "Didn't you think they were romantic 
    1.49 +enough?"
    1.50 +      She had, oh how she had, but she had been sure that was all in 
    1.51 +her own mind.  But for Sakura to feel the same way?
    1.52 +      No.  It was impossible.   "What about Shaoran-kun?"
    1.53 +      Sakura blinked.  "What about him?  I wanted some advice on 
    1.54 +whether I should get him a going-away present or something, but that 
    1.55 +can wait.  Whatever you're worried about is more important."
    1.56 +      "No, it's just... I thought you, well... had a crush on him?"
    1.57 +      "Hoe?"  Sakura shook her head.  "The only person other than you 
    1.58 +I've ever had a crush on was Yukito-san, and that turned out to be 
    1.59 +just because he was Yue and I was attracted to the magic."  She 
    1.60 +blushed a little.  "I don't think I ever thanked you enough for 
    1.61 +putting up with me through all that.  I mean, some of the time, it 
    1.62 +must have seemed like I'd dumped you for him.  But... it wasn't like 
    1.63 +that.  It was just... I think the magic dazzled me, and I couldn't 
    1.64 +think of anything else whenever I saw him."  She looked down, a 
    1.65 +little ashamed.  "I don't know why you didn't just abandon me when I 
    1.66 +did that.  I must have seemed so heartless, and you could do so much 
    1.67 +better than me..."
    1.68 +      Tomoyo jolted slightly at that.  "But there's no one better than 
    1.69 +you, Sakura-chan!"  The words almost came by reflex, so overwhelmed 
    1.70 +was she by the revelation after revelation, but they were of course 
    1.71 +truer than anything she knew.
    1.72 +      Sakura smiled, blushing.  "Thank you, Tomoyo-chan.  That's one 
    1.73 +of the reasons I love you so much.  Because you can always see the 
    1.74 +best in me, even when I can't."
    1.75 +      Now Tomoyo could feel herself blushing, her cheeks warm with 
    1.76 +embarrassment.  'Reasons she loves me.  She loves me.  Sakura-chan 
    1.77 +loves me.'  The words were spinning dizzily around her brain, not 
    1.78 +actually completely sinking in yet.  But oh, how beautiful they 
    1.79 +were...
    1.80 +      "I know I haven't always been the perfect girlfriend, but I hope 
    1.81 +I can always make you happy.  And I want to always be there for you. 
    1.82 +Because you've always been the best part of my life.  You always make 
    1.83 +me feel special. 
    1.84 +      "And because I love you."
    1.85 +      Sakura took Tomoyo's hands in her own, gently.  "Is that what 
    1.86 +you were worried about?  You were thinking I might be falling for 
    1.87 +Shaoran-kun?"
    1.88 +      "Well... maybe a little," Tomoyo breathed dazedly.  'Her skin is 
    1.89 +so soft...'
    1.90 +      Sakura smiled.  "Well, don't worry.  I don't love him.  He's a 
    1.91 +good friend, but he's a boy... and he's not you.  I want to grow up 
    1.92 +with you.  I want to give my first kiss to you, some special night. 
    1.93 +I even want to marry you, if we could, someday.  And someday, when 
    1.94 +we're both old ladies, I want to sit with you watching your tapes of 
    1.95 +us as little kids and laugh at how silly we used to be, and sigh at 
    1.96 +how in love we were even then.  Even now.
    1.97 +      "I want to be with you forever."
    1.98 +      All Tomoyo could see was Sakura's beautiful green eyes, staring 
    1.99 +into hers, full of love.  How had she not seen it before?
   1.100 +      She heard, distantly, her mother's voice shouting from 
   1.101 +downstairs.  "Sakura-chan, your brother's on the phone.  He wants to 
   1.102 +talk to you."
   1.103 +      "Mou..."  Sakura groaned exasperatedly.  "He sure can pick the 
   1.104 +wrong moment.  I'll be right back, Tomoyo-chan."  Sakura drew her 
   1.105 +girlfriend into a quick but close hug, then stood to race out the 
   1.106 +door.
   1.107 +      Slowly, Tomoyo looked around the room.  Her eyes fell on the 
   1.108 +camera, still hidden in the corner, still recording the stunned look 
   1.109 +on her face.
   1.110 +      And to think she'd wanted to see *Sakura's* expression!
   1.111 +      And with that thought, the disbelief left her all in a rush, 
   1.112 +leaving only giddy happiness.  Sakura-chan loved her.  The same way 
   1.113 +Tomoyo loved her back.  She'd loved her for the longest time.  And 
   1.114 +Tomoyo had missed every single hint.
   1.115 +      She flopped back onto the bed, smiling dreamily.  "Hanyaaaan," 
   1.116 +she sighed happily.
   1.117 +      And she'd thought *Sakura* was the clueless one.
   1.118 +
   1.119 +Author's Notes:
   1.120 +      I've read a few Tomoyo/Sakura fanfics recently, and while many 
   1.121 +of them were quite good, I also noticed a bit of a sameness to a lot 
   1.122 +of them.  Either Tomoyo and Sakura were already a couple, with the 
   1.123 +briefest of explanations, or Sakura found out how Tomoyo felt (often 
   1.124 +through magic), and after a bit of soul-searching, came to 
   1.125 +reciprocate.  Being as perverse by nature as I am, I wondered if 
   1.126 +there wasn't a different way to approach it.  This is the result.
   1.127 +      I won't claim this fits perfectly, or even well, with CCS canon. 
   1.128 +I haven't even seen the whole series or read all the manga at this 
   1.129 +point.  But isn't it a fun idea? :)
   1.130 +      I also have a more serious CCS work in progress, dealing with a 
   1.131 +secret admirer of Tomoyo (and I'm actually drawing her from canon), 
   1.132 +but it's taking a bit longer than this.  Hopefully it'll get done 
   1.133 +sometime in this geological epoch.
   1.134 +