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     1.4 +Hello everyone! ^-^ This is our first Card Captor Sakura and its also our first 
     1.5 +real depressing story, but please stick it out till the end. ^^; We really hope you 
     1.6 +enjoy this. ^^ We’d love to know what you think so please e-mail us at:
     1.7 + amazonessduo@hotmail.com 
     1.8 +We’d like to write more CCS stories (we’re working on a more lighthearted one
     1.9 +already) so hopefully we’ll actually get around to them sometime soon. ^^; 
    1.10 +Tomoyo and Sakura are just so cute together. ^=^ 
    1.11 +
    1.12 +
    1.13 +Fallen Horses
    1.14 +
    1.15 +By Amazoness Duo
    1.16 +
    1.17 +
    1.18 +Tomoyo clutched the blade tightly in her hand. She was happy for Sakura. She 
    1.19 +was always happy for Sakura. No matter what. She loved her, but what did 
    1.20 +that matter? If Sakura was in love with someone else, then she'd be happy 
    1.21 +for Sakura. How could she be selfish? She'd never been selfish about Sakura 
    1.22 +before. Why start now?
    1.23 +
    1.24 +Sakura meant everything to Tomoyo. She was her life. What else did 
    1.25 +she have now? She knew she'd end up like her mother, losing the one person 
    1.26 +she truly loved. She'd grow older alone, maybe having a daughter and 
    1.27 +continuing the cycle that had begun with her mother.  
    1.28 +
    1.29 +Tomoyo looked around her dark room again. The curtains were drawn tightly, 
    1.30 +leaving the room heavily shadowed. She saw her video camera lying on her 
    1.31 +dresser. How many times had she used that to record her love? How many times 
    1.32 +had she watched Sakura over and over from the tapes she'd recorded?
    1.33 +The dark haired girl sighed sadly and switched off the TV that had been 
    1.34 +playing the flickering images of the one she loved. Making the costumes Sakura 
    1.35 +had worn and videotaping her wearing them had been some of the happiest 
    1.36 +times in her life. Happy times she knew she'd no longer have.
    1.37 +
    1.38 +She had seen Sakura kiss him. That had hurt her more than any physical 
    1.39 +thing ever could. It cut deeply into her soul. She'd tried not to let it get 
    1.40 +to her too badly, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. He had won. He had 
    1.41 +gotten Sakura. She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter. She loved 
    1.42 +Sakura and she'd be happy as long as Sakura was happy. And Sakura was 
    1.43 +definitely happy. Tomoyo couldn't handle it anymore. She loved the other 
    1.44 +girl so much. It felt like her life was over now that Sakura had fallen in 
    1.45 +love with someone else.
    1.46 +
    1.47 +Tomoyo had told Sakura that she was in love with her before. But Sakura 
    1.48 +thought she was talking about the love of a friend. That had hurt to some 
    1.49 +extent, too. She had intended to tell Sakura when she thought the brown haired 
    1.50 +girl was mature enough to understand, but now it seemed she was too late.  
    1.51 +Would it have changed anything had she explained to Sakura earlier? Would 
    1.52 +things have still turned out this way? What would Sakura think if she knew 
    1.53 +Tomoyo was in love with her? It could destroy the only thing still important to 
    1.54 +Tomoyo, their friendship.
    1.55 +
    1.56 +Tomoyo was left with a difficult decision to make. She paced nervously as 
    1.57 +she held the blade. She could try to tell Sakura so the other girl would at 
    1.58 +least know. Or she could end things now before she destroyed their 
    1.59 +friendship. 
    1.60 +
    1.61 +Tomoyo looked at the picture of Sakura she kept on her nightstand. She was the 
    1.62 +most beautiful thing Tomoyo had ever seen. She winced as she felt 
    1.63 +the biting edge of the knife pressed against her wrist. Tears ran down her 
    1.64 +cheeks as she slumped to her knees, unsure of what to do, her mind filled 
    1.65 +with conflicting thoughts. What about everyone else? Could she really leave 
    1.66 +them all behind? What would they think if she was gone? But it hurt so much. 
    1.67 +She loved Sakura so much. She would always love her. She didn't want to go 
    1.68 +on if she knew Sakura would never love her. She'd tried to be happy for
    1.69 +Sakura, but that didn't keep the emptiness from filling her. There was a void 
    1.70 +inside her that seemed to grow everyday. She'd tried to talk to her mom, but 
    1.71 +her heart had sunk further when she'd heard of her mother's own tragic love for 
    1.72 +Nadeshiko. She could try to tell Sakura, but what good could it do now? Wasn't 
    1.73 +it too late? How could she compete? Sakura loved him, didn't she?
    1.74 +
    1.75 +Tomoyo gasped as the knife pushed deeper against her pale skin. 
    1.76 +"Sakura-chan," she said, her voice cracking. "I love you, Sakura-chan."
    1.77 +
    1.78 +********
    1.79 +
    1.80 +Sakura weeped over the grave of her best friend. Her shaking hand set down 
    1.81 +some flowers on the cold, damp ground. 'If only I'd told you earlier,' Sakura 
    1.82 +thought to herself. 'Would you still be here now if I'd told you how I 
    1.83 +felt?' The girl was wracked by sobs as she stared at the tombstone. This was 
    1.84 +unfair. She was the Card Mistress. Things weren't supposed to end up like 
    1.85 +this. She'd do anything to bring the dark haired girl back. Hot tears fell from 
    1.86 +her chin to the cold dirt below. "Tomoyo," she cried sadly.
    1.87 +
    1.88 +****** 
    1.89 +
    1.90 +Sakura woke up drenched in sweat, her sheets tangled around her. Her heart was 
    1.91 +beating heavily in her chest, as if trying to escape. She gasped for breath, trying 
    1.92 +to think, trying to get rid of the horrid images still invading her mind. ‘It was 
    1.93 +just a dream,’ she told herself over and over. Tomoyo was just a phone call 
    1.94 +away. She’d see her the next day at school. Everything was fine. She sat 
    1.95 +uncomfortably in bed, kicking the sheets off of her. Was everything really fine? 
    1.96 +
    1.97 +When she’d finally found out how Tomoyo felt about her, she’d acted scared, 
    1.98 +uncertain. Tomoyo had just smiled and told her that she was glad to get to tell 
    1.99 +her, but the smile hadn’t reached her eyes. They had lost the sparkle they’d held 
   1.100 +moments before. They seemed empty, sad. Had she acted too harshly? She 
   1.101 +hadn’t meant to, but she’d been so shocked. She had no idea her best friend was 
   1.102 +in love with her. What was she supposed to do? What could she say? Tomoyo 
   1.103 +had left, but she hadn’t gone after her. She’d just sat there as the dark haired girl 
   1.104 +walked away. When she’d worked up the courage later, she tried to call 
   1.105 +Tomoyo, but her mother said she wouldn’t answer. 
   1.106 +
   1.107 +Sakura realized Tomoyo must have been scared to tell her. The dark haired girl 
   1.108 +had no idea how Sakura would react if she knew. Yet she’d told her anyway. 
   1.109 +Tomoyo must have been scared of what would happen next but she had told her. 
   1.110 +And Sakura had hurt her friend with her reaction. She had hurt her friend badly.
   1.111 +
   1.112 +As she stared straight ahead in the darkness, she remembered how Tomoyo had 
   1.113 +told her before, when they were younger. And how she hadn’t understood what 
   1.114 +the dark haired girl had meant. Tomoyo said she’d tell Sakura when they were 
   1.115 +older and she did. In retrospect Sakura wondered how she could have been so 
   1.116 +blind to Tomoyo’s affections. So much made since now that she knew. It was 
   1.117 +like a fog had been lifted. 
   1.118 +
   1.119 +Why had she acted the way she did when Tomoyo had told her? Because she 
   1.120 +was scared, she told herself. She was scared because she didn’t understand. How 
   1.121 +could she be in love with her? They were both girls. They’re mothers were 
   1.122 +cousins. They were best friends. Because she just was afraid. She was afraid of 
   1.123 +what might happen. They’d been best friends ever since Sakura had given 
   1.124 +Tomoyo an eraser in class. They had been best friends for so long. What would 
   1.125 +happen now? Would that change between them if Tomoyo loved her? No, she’d 
   1.126 +felt that way for a long time so the only thing that would change would be 
   1.127 +Sakura. Would things change if they were in love? Perhaps that thought had 
   1.128 +frightened Sakura the most. The thought that maybe she echoed Tomoyo’s 
   1.129 +feelings. After some soul searching over the past few days, she knew how she 
   1.130 +felt. She was in love with Tomoyo as well. 
   1.131 +
   1.132 +But now what could she do? Tomoyo wouldn’t even talk to her. What if she did 
   1.133 +go as far as in the dream? Now, when Sakura realized how she felt about the 
   1.134 +dark haired girl, the reality that Tomoyo could be stripped from her so easily 
   1.135 +chilled her to the bones. She tried to think of what Tomoyo was doing at this 
   1.136 +instant, but none of the thoughts eased her mind. She was filled with dread as 
   1.137 +she remembered some of the premonitions she’d had in dreams before. Could 
   1.138 +this be one of them? She couldn’t lose Tomoyo now. She just couldn’t. 
   1.139 +
   1.140 +Sakura stood up in bed, the soft sheets rustling against her bare feet. She 
   1.141 +climbed off onto the carpet and looked around for her staff. She clutched it 
   1.142 +tightly and headed for the window. Cold air blew into her room as she opened 
   1.143 +the window. Her sweat drenched pajamas clung to her. She shivered and 
   1.144 +climbed outside. She knew what she had to do. She had to see Tomoyo. She had 
   1.145 +to know she was all right. She had to tell her how she felt before it was too late. 
   1.146 +
   1.147 +“Fly!” She yelled as she invoked the power of the Clow Cards. Two angel wings 
   1.148 +appeared on her back. Hopping into the air, she flew as fast as she could towards 
   1.149 +Tomoyo’s house. She willed herself to go faster, hoping she wasn’t too late, 
   1.150 +praying it was just a dream. The landscape beneath her blurred from the speed 
   1.151 +she was going and her own tears. She blinked them back, trying to concentrate. 
   1.152 +Her pajamas rustled against the biting wind. 
   1.153 +
   1.154 +She almost missed the luxurious house Tomoyo and her mother shared because 
   1.155 +of her frantic hurry. She flew closer to the house, trying desperately to spot 
   1.156 +Tomoyo’s window. She made a silent prayer that the light would be on, that the 
   1.157 +dark haired girl was still awake watching a video or sewing a costume. 
   1.158 +Something, anything. She finally spotted Tomoyo’s window. The light was off 
   1.159 +and her blinds were closed. The pit in Sakura’s stomach doubled in size. Her 
   1.160 +heart thundered as she reached out to the window. She rapped on it heavily, 
   1.161 +trying to wake the dark haired girl up, hoping she could wake up. The wind blew 
   1.162 +past her again as she waited for some response. Even Tomoyo being angry with 
   1.163 +her would be better than this…silence. She prepared to knock again, louder this 
   1.164 +time, when the window opened. 
   1.165 +
   1.166 +Tomoyo groggily rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She pulled her blanket tighter 
   1.167 +around herself as the wind blew inside. “Sakura-chan?” she asked sleepily.
   1.168 +
   1.169 +“Tomoyo-chan!” Sakura practically bolted into the room. Her arms went around 
   1.170 +the unprepared dark haired girl and dragged her close. “Oh, Tomoyo,” she 
   1.171 +sobbed.
   1.172 +
   1.173 +Tomoyo abruptly got worried at the sound of Sakura’s voice. She felt the other 
   1.174 +girl’s warm tears on her bare shoulder. “Sakura? What’s wrong?” Sakura 
   1.175 +shuddered against her, relief flooding into her. “Please don’t cry, Sakura-chan. 
   1.176 +It’s okay. Please tell me.”
   1.177 +
   1.178 +The comforting tone in Tomoyo’s soft voice carried through Sakura. The tears 
   1.179 +slowly trickled to a stop. “Tomoyo, I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried.” 
   1.180 +Her voice wavered as she spoke.
   1.181 +
   1.182 +“Me?” Tomoyo asked surprised. “Sakura, I’m fine.”
   1.183 +
   1.184 +“Are you?” Sakura asked quietly. The dark haired girl looked away. She tried to 
   1.185 +say something, but nothing came out when she tried. She didn’t know what to 
   1.186 +say to Sakura. “Tomoyo, look at me. Please?” Sakura’s pleading voice broke in 
   1.187 +through Tomoyo’s thoughts. She slowly turned back to face the other girl. “I 
   1.188 +was so scared. I’d thought…. I thought you were gone. I thought I’d never see 
   1.189 +you again. That scared me more than anything ever has.”
   1.190 +
   1.191 +“You mean… No, Sakura-chan, I wouldn’t do anything like that,” Tomoyo 
   1.192 +smiled reassuringly. Sakura’s gaze went to a knife on Tomoyo’s nightstand. The 
   1.193 +dark haired girl laughed nervously. “That’s for cutting some threads on your 
   1.194 +outfits I’m making.”
   1.195 +
   1.196 +“Tomoyo, I don’t want to live without you,” Sakura said sadly. “I couldn’t live 
   1.197 +with myself if anything ever happened to you. Please don’t leave me like that. I 
   1.198 +know I hurt you, but I’m sorry.” Tears started to fill her eyes again as she looked 
   1.199 +directly at Tomoyo. 
   1.200 +
   1.201 +Tomoyo couldn’t meet Sakura’s gaze. “Sakura…” she said weakly. She loved 
   1.202 +the other girl more than her own life. She’d been heartbroken when Sakura had 
   1.203 +reacted frightened to her confession of love. She just wanted Sakura to know, to 
   1.204 +understand how she felt. Sakura’s fingers on her chin brought her eyes up to 
   1.205 +meet Sakura’s. “Sakura, I…”
   1.206 +
   1.207 +“I love you,” Sakura said before the dark haired girl got the chance. She leaned 
   1.208 +in and kissed Tomoyo softly on the lips. She felt a warmth in her heart as they 
   1.209 +kissed. The dark haired girl’s lips were heaven.
   1.210 +
   1.211 +Tomoyo’s eyes went wide and her hands fell to her sides. She was completely 
   1.212 +caught off guard by Sakura’s sudden words. Her spirits soared as the realization 
   1.213 +of Sakura’s words hit her. Her eyes closed halfway and tears slowly slid down 
   1.214 +her cheeks. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to do. 
   1.215 +Tomoyo kissed Sakura back, a dream she’d long held fulfilled in the space of 
   1.216 +one blissful moment. 
   1.217 +
   1.218 +Blushing after they pulled apart, Sakura looked deeply into Tomoyo’s eyes. 
   1.219 +“Tomoyo-chan, I love you,” she said again. She waited nervously for the other 
   1.220 +girl’s reply. What if Tomoyo was still mad at her for earlier? What if she 
   1.221 +decided she didn’t need Sakura? What would happen to the two of them? Sakura 
   1.222 +banished the thoughts from her mind. She was scared about what might happen 
   1.223 +now that she’d admitted how she felt, but she pushed those feelings back. She 
   1.224 +wasn’t going to let it control her. Love was more important than fear. She 
   1.225 +couldn’t let it stop her.
   1.226 +
   1.227 +“Sakura-chan!” Tomoyo’s arms wrapped around the other girl. She’d dreamed 
   1.228 +of hearing those words over and over for years in her dreams, practicing what 
   1.229 +she’d say in her mind when she was awake. She just wanted to hold Sakura, to 
   1.230 +be in her arms forever. “Sakura, I love you so much.”
   1.231 +
   1.232 +Sakura smiled. Things would be fine. She and Tomoyo had gotten through so 
   1.233 +much since they were little kids. They’d always been there for each other. They 
   1.234 +could make it through this, too. They would together. “Tomoyo-chan, just 
   1.235 +promise me. Promise me you’ll never leave me,” she said, trying to shake the 
   1.236 +last images from her dream.
   1.237 +
   1.238 +Tomoyo’s heart ached at the serious look on Sakura’s face. She had never 
   1.239 +wanted to make her sad. “I promise. I love you, Sakura. Forever.”
   1.240 +
   1.241 +“Forever,” Sakura repeated, a smile spreading on her lips. She leaned in and 
   1.242 +kissed Tomoyo again, this time more passionately. The two stayed that way for 
   1.243 +a long time, kissing and holding each other, neither wanting to let go. After what 
   1.244 +seemed like an eternity, they finally parted.
   1.245 +
   1.246 +“Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo said softly. “Don’t go.”
   1.247 +
   1.248 +Sakura looked hesitantly back at Tomoyo. Those big dark blue eyes beckoned 
   1.249 +her to stay. She turned her gaze back to the window. She knew her father and 
   1.250 +brother would get worried if she wasn’t there when they woke up. And 
   1.251 +Tomoyo’s mother would probably want an explanation of what she was doing 
   1.252 +here. Yet, she wanted to stay. Let everything come in the morning,. They could 
   1.253 +deal with it then. After everything that had happened, she didn’t want to up and 
   1.254 +leave Tomoyo alone right now. After telling the other girl she was in love with 
   1.255 +her, there was so much they both wanted to say, to know. She again turned back 
   1.256 +at Tomoyo. The dark haired girl looked at her hopefully. Sakura reached over 
   1.257 +and closed the window. Tomoyo smiled brightly. 
   1.258 +
   1.259 +As the two lay whispering to each other on Tomoyo’s bed, they let everything 
   1.260 +poor out. Feelings and emotions, dreams and worries. All the tension from the 
   1.261 +past few days drained away as the two lay in a tight embrace. They slowly 
   1.262 +drifted off to sleep in the early hours of the morning. 
   1.263 +
   1.264 +The dim outline of Nadeshiko smiled approvingly at the two sleeping girls. An 
   1.265 +ethereal hand gently brushed through her daughter’s hair. Sakura’s dream had 
   1.266 +been a frightening one, but in the end it had brought her together with the one 
   1.267 +she loved. Slowly backing away from the bed, Nadeshiko felt a twinge of guilt 
   1.268 +for having to put Sakura through that. She had sent the dream as a way to 
   1.269 +motivate Sakura into revealing her true feelings. She hadn’t wanted to scare her 
   1.270 +like that, but for Sakura to be happy she had to accept how she felt. She was 
   1.271 +glad it had wound up so well. She knew her daughter would be fine. She had 
   1.272 +always looked out for her and now she knew someone else would, too. She 
   1.273 +smiled to herself as she started to fade away. “Sleep well, Sakura,” she said, her 
   1.274 +voice hardly above a whisper, before she disappeared. 
   1.275 +