1.1 --- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
     1.2 +++ b/stories/ccsxmas.txt	Fri Feb 19 06:24:59 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,428 @@
     1.4 +
     1.5 +
     1.6 +Sakura-chan is Coming to Town
     1.7 +by Amazoness Duo
     1.8 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
     1.9 +
    1.10 +
    1.11 +“Isn’t Santa Claus supposed to be fat?” Kero asked skeptically.
    1.12 +
    1.13 +“Sakura-chan can be a cute, skinny Santa Claus,” Tomoyo offered,
    1.14 +pulling her camcorder down for a second.
    1.15 +
    1.16 +“Hoe...” stated the jolly Cardmistress in question, dressed up like
    1.17 +Father Christmas himself. Once again, she knew this was Tomoyo’s
    1.18 +idea. And just like always, she wasn’t quite sure how the dark haired
    1.19 +girl had talked her into it. But Tomoyo always did, somehow. The fact
    1.20 +that Sakura couldn’t say no to her best friend also played a part in
    1.21 +it. So now she found herself outside of Tomoyo’s house in the dead of
    1.22 +night, dressed up like Santa Claus while Tomoyo watched on in barely
    1.23 +concealed bliss.
    1.24 +
    1.25 +The Seal Beast nodded thoughtfully, his arms crossed. “Yeah, I guess
    1.26 +so. But if Sakura-chan is Santa Claus and I’m Rudolph,” he paused for
    1.27 +a moment to show off the cute little antlers and shiny nose Tomoyo
    1.28 +had gotten him for a costume, “then who are you supposed to be?”
    1.29 +
    1.30 +“I’m Mrs. Claus, of course,” Tomoyo said matter of factly. 
    1.31 +
    1.32 +Sakura’s face went a bright shade of crimson. She waved her arms
    1.33 +swiftly. “To..Tomoyo-chan!” she whined in embarrassment. The
    1.34 +implications of that were blatant enough that even she got it. Her
    1.35 +cheeks burned as she busied herself with picking up the large bag of
    1.36 +presents near her feet. 
    1.37 +
    1.38 +Tomoyo giggled at Sakura’s embarrassment, pulling up her camcorder
    1.39 +to catch Sakura’s scarlet blush on videotape. “And if I’m Mrs. Claus,
    1.40 +then I want nothing more than to videotape my dashing husband’s
    1.41 +midnight ride.” She sighed dreamily, a hand on her cheek. 
    1.42 +
    1.43 +The flustered Cardmistress could only blush under the loving gaze of
    1.44 +Tomoyo and her camcorder. She shifted about, trying to find a
    1.45 +comfortable way to carry the bulky bag, but failing. “So.. Tomoyo-
    1.46 +chan, what are we doing again?” Sakura asked in confusion, blinking
    1.47 +off her earlier embarrassment. “You said you wanted me to come and
    1.48 +play Santa for some kids. Shouldn’t you get onii-chan or someone
    1.49 +who’d make a better Santa for this? I don’t think they’ll believe I’m
    1.50 +Santa.” Looking down at Tomoyo’s take on the Santa Claus costume that
    1.51 +she was wearing, she shifted a foot around, hearing the slight jingle
    1.52 +of bells attached. 
    1.53 +
    1.54 +“But Sakura-chan’s the perfect Santa Claus!” Tomoyo insisted,
    1.55 +letting the camcorder fall gingerly to her side for a moment. She
    1.56 +stepped closer, helping adjust Sakura’s hat, moving the fluffy ball
    1.57 +on the tip over her shoulder. Her fingers brushed back some of
    1.58 +Sakura’s hair back underneath, lingering there for a moment. “You’re
    1.59 +sweet and giving and adorable. And you have so much energy. I can’t
    1.60 +think of anyone else who could handle Santa-san’s job.” She smiled
    1.61 +brightly at the Cardmistress, her heart aflutter. Sakura made a
    1.62 +darling Santa Claus. This was the perfect way to spend her Christmas
    1.63 +Eve, out amidst the snow and moonlight with Sakura. It was so much
    1.64 +better than unwrapping a present or even watching the Christmas
    1.65 +lights. It was her very own Sakura, all dressed up festively and
    1.66 +about to make children’s dreams come true. As well as her own.
    1.67 +“Besides, the children probably won’t even see you. So you don’t need
    1.68 +to look the part.” Tomoyo brought her pink gloved fingers up to
    1.69 +Sakura’s ear, tracing the intricate snowflake earrings that she’d
    1.70 +given Sakura as both a Christmas gift and a part of the costume. She
    1.71 +should’ve waited for Christmas day, but she wanted Sakura to have
    1.72 +them for their trip that night. She had such cute ears. The heiress
    1.73 +sighed dreamily.
    1.74 +
    1.75 +Sakura’s mind had gone blank, her emerald eyes lost in the stormy
    1.76 +blue eyes that were gazing deeply into her own. Tomoyo definitely
    1.77 +wasn’t like any of her other friends. And no one could embarrass her
    1.78 +the way Tomoyo did. But then, no one made her feel the way Tomoyo
    1.79 +did. All warm and fuzzy and dizzy inside all at the same time. She
    1.80 +knew she should say something, but words failed her. Her mouth
    1.81 +opened, but little more than a tiny sound came out. She could feel
    1.82 +the soft cloth of Tomoyo’s gloves caressing her ears. She felt weak,
    1.83 +as if she might collapse against Tomoyo if she kept this up. And part
    1.84 +of her wanted to. She knew Tomoyo wouldn’t mind. She’d hold her there
    1.85 +as long as she wanted. “I...” Sakura finally tore her gaze away,
    1.86 +staring down at her feet. Her cheeks burned even against the cold
    1.87 +wind that raked past them. Just what had that been all about? She
    1.88 +shook her head, her auburn hair getting thrown out from under the cap
    1.89 +despite Tomoyo’s earlier efforts to tuck it in. She could hear the
    1.90 +heiress giggle, almost in her ear with how close they still were. 
    1.91 +
    1.92 +Looking up at last, Sakura tried to fight off her blush, but it
    1.93 +stubbornly refused to go. She smiled weakly. “So you really want me
    1.94 +to play Santa Claus? To give these presents to some children?”
    1.95 +
    1.96 +“Hai. There are so many sad children without much for Christmas. I
    1.97 +went singing to lots of them with the choir. I thought that we could
    1.98 +bring them a bright Christmas after all. With Sakura-chan as my Santa
    1.99 +Claus.” The dark haired girl sighed dreamily, clasping her hands
   1.100 +together. “And they’ll wake up on Christmas morning to find wonderful
   1.101 +surprises.”
   1.102 +
   1.103 +Sakura nodded determinedly, balling her fists up. She wouldn’t have
   1.104 +even thought of that on her own. It was so sweet of Tomoyo to want to
   1.105 +help those poor children. And if she could help her best friend with
   1.106 +it at all, even as a substitute Santa Claus, she would do her very
   1.107 +best. “They’ll have a beautiful Christmas, Tomoyo-chan. I promise!”
   1.108 +
   1.109 +Tomoyo took a step forward, hugging Sakura warmly. “I knew I could
   1.110 +count on you, Sakura-chan!”
   1.111 +
   1.112 +Sakura wrapped her arms back around Tomoyo, standing there with the
   1.113 +other girl pressed against her for a long moment. They both knew
   1.114 +Sakura would have agreed to practically whatever idea Tomoyo had. But
   1.115 +she was still glad to have made the heiress so happy. She hugged her
   1.116 +friend tighter as snow fell slowly around them. This was so nice and
   1.117 +warm.
   1.118 +
   1.119 +Tomoyo stayed that way for a long time, reluctant to leave the
   1.120 +glorious embrace of Sakura’s arms. After a moments thought, she
   1.121 +rested her head on Sakura’s shoulder, her long dark hair spilling
   1.122 +across Sakura’s back. She knew they had to go start delivering
   1.123 +presents soon, but if she could just stay this way a little longer...
   1.124 +But Christmas would not wait for them. She slowly, gently pulled away
   1.125 +from Sakura. 
   1.126 +
   1.127 +They stood there for a moment under the stars, silence enveloping
   1.128 +the two girls. Sakura shuffled her foot in the snow for a moment
   1.129 +before looking up. “Where did you get all of the presents?” she asked
   1.130 +curiously, trying to break the silence. 
   1.131 +
   1.132 +“From my mother. She runs a toy company, after all. She thought it
   1.133 +would be a wonderful idea to give out presents this way,” Tomoyo
   1.134 +explained. “And she was delighted to hear you’d be Santa Claus.”
   1.135 +
   1.136 +Sakura blinked rapidly. “Sonomi-san knows I’m doing this?”
   1.137 +
   1.138 +Smiling and nodding, Tomoyo continued. “She loved the thought of you
   1.139 +delivering all those presents. She just made me promise to let her
   1.140 +see the videotape and she gave me all the gifts we’d need.”
   1.141 +
   1.142 +“Sonomi-san’s going to be watching this, too? Hoe...” Sakura
   1.143 +clutched the bag nervously as Tomoyo pulled up the camcorder again. 
   1.144 +
   1.145 +“Like mother like daughter, I guess,” Kero added.
   1.146 +
   1.147 +Tomoyo giggled, stepping to the side. “We’re going to watch it
   1.148 +together when I get home. ‘Sakura-chan’s White Christmas’. It will be
   1.149 +much better than any Christmas specials.”
   1.150 +
   1.151 +Sakura blushed. This was going to be a long night.
   1.152 +
   1.153 +
   1.154 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   1.155 +
   1.156 +
   1.157 +Meanwhile, their not-so-mysterious benefactor was finishing a few
   1.158 +last minute decorations at the Daidouji mansion. 
   1.159 +
   1.160 +“There.” The businesswoman hopped off of the stepstool she had been
   1.161 +on, stepping back to admire her handiwork. “Much better.” Her eyes
   1.162 +followed the string of mistletoe. Mistletoe was placed at just about
   1.163 +every convenient spot in the house. She’d picked it up as much as she
   1.164 +could on the way home and had spent the next few hours putting it up
   1.165 +personally. She had to make sure it was perfect. It had to cover
   1.166 +every possible way Sakura could go through the house when she and her
   1.167 +daughter got home late that night. 
   1.168 +
   1.169 +“She’s going to kiss my little girl,” Sonomi said determinedly. One
   1.170 +of the maids sweatdropped as she passed, but said nothing. Such
   1.171 +things were typical in that household. Both Sonomi and her daughter
   1.172 +were rather eccentric, after all. Just to be safe, the maid hurried
   1.173 +out from under the mistletoe. 
   1.174 +
   1.175 +Sighing, Sonomi sat down in the couch. Her daughter would be out at
   1.176 +that moment with Sakura, giving gifts to a lot of needy children. She
   1.177 +was glad to be able to help, and they way the two girls were going
   1.178 +about it was even better. She couldn’t wait to see her daughter’s
   1.179 +videotape of the evening. It would be so cute. Seeing Nadeshiko’s
   1.180 +daughter play Santa, watching her own daughter’s eyes light up at the
   1.181 +sight.
   1.182 +
   1.183 +In the meantime, she’d been working on a gift for Tomoyo. Or, more
   1.184 +accurately, a gift from herself and Sakura to Tomoyo. Sakura just
   1.185 +didn’t know she was involved yet. But all she had to do was get the
   1.186 +brunette under the mistletoe with her daughter. Which shouldn’t be
   1.187 +too difficult with how much she had put up. She thought the world of
   1.188 +Sakura, but Nadeshiko’s daughter could be so dense sometimes. She was
   1.189 +just going to give her a helpful push in her daughter’s direction. 
   1.190 +
   1.191 +Closing her eyes, the auburn haired businesswoman rested on her side
   1.192 +on the couch. She was exhausted. It had been a long day at work. This
   1.193 +was the busiest time of the year for her, after all. But she’d made
   1.194 +absolutely sure to get all the gifts she could for Tomoyo’s little
   1.195 +Christmas endeavor and had hurried home as soon as she could. Her
   1.196 +sweet little daughter had been very grateful. So sweet and polite,
   1.197 +just like Nadeshiko. 
   1.198 +
   1.199 +A smile crossed Sonomi’s lips as she lay sleepily on the couch. Her
   1.200 +thoughts were drifting back to a time long ago, back when she had
   1.201 +been able to spend this time of year with her very own Christmas
   1.202 +angel. And in her tired mind, she forgot about the present. Nadeshiko
   1.203 +was alive again. Shimmering radiantly, excited by the prospect of
   1.204 +Christmas. Sonomi sighed, hugging herself. Yes, her dearest Nadeshiko
   1.205 +had loved this time of year so much. Nadeshiko had even kissed her
   1.206 +under the mistletoe once. It was still Sonomi’s favorite present of
   1.207 +all. “Nadeshiko-chan,” Sonomi whispered, curling up like a child.
   1.208 +
   1.209 +
   1.210 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   1.211 +
   1.212 +
   1.213 +Sakura crept quietly through the silent house. She squinted to try
   1.214 +to see better in the darkness. The only light came from the Christmas
   1.215 +lights twinkling on the tree. She could barely hear Tomoyo tiptoeing
   1.216 +behind her. How Tomoyo could walk in this darkness and videotape at
   1.217 +the same time was beyond Sakura. 
   1.218 +
   1.219 +“Cookies!” Kero’s eyes widened hungrily. The little mock reindeer
   1.220 +zipped over to the plate of cookies left for Santa. This job wasn’t
   1.221 +so bad after all.
   1.222 +
   1.223 +“Shhh!!” Sakura chided the Seal Beast. But he was already too busy
   1.224 +munching on the cookies to care. Sighing, she made her way to the
   1.225 +Christmas tree. He was going to wake someone up on one of these
   1.226 +trips, she just knew it. She was lucky he hadn’t already. 
   1.227 +
   1.228 +Kneeling down, Sakura rummaged through her large red bag, searching
   1.229 +through the presents. She squinted to see the nametag on it. “Which
   1.230 +presents am I looking for, Tomoyo-chan?” the Cardmistress whispered,
   1.231 +holding up two different packages. 
   1.232 +
   1.233 +"Megumi-chan,” Tomoyo replied, zooming in on Sakura. She made such
   1.234 +an adorable Santa, sitting there underneath the tree. Oh, how she
   1.235 +wished she could be sitting there with her under the pretty lights.
   1.236 +But they didn’t have time for that even if she could.
   1.237 +
   1.238 +Sakura crawled forward with the gift, trying to find a good place to
   1.239 +put it under the tree. She finally placed it behind one of two gifts
   1.240 +that had already been there. “How’s that?” Looking over her shoulder,
   1.241 +she saw Tomoyo still videotaping her. She slowly followed where the
   1.242 +camcorder was pointing. Her face red, she sat back quickly. 
   1.243 +
   1.244 +The camcorder immediately went back up to Sakura’s face. Tomoyo
   1.245 +smiled brightly, covering her embarrassment. She must have been out
   1.246 +of it that night. Sakura usually didn’t catch her when she’d catch
   1.247 +little glimpses like that. “That’s perfect, Sakura-chan,” the heiress
   1.248 +reassured the still embarrassed brunette.
   1.249 +
   1.250 +‘It’s dark. She didn’t see anything. She didn’t know she was
   1.251 +recording up my skirt,’ Sakura rationalized, though the excuses
   1.252 +sounded lame even to her. She blinked, slowly realizing that Tomoyo
   1.253 +was holding a hand out to her. She took the pale girl’s gentle hand,
   1.254 +getting to her feet. ‘She didn’t really..’ Sakura was thinking.
   1.255 +Distracted by her thoughts, she didn’t realize her foot was around
   1.256 +the cord to the Christmas lights, stepping forward, she stumbled into
   1.257 +Tomoyo, the two girls falling together. 
   1.258 +
   1.259 +Tomoyo opened her eyes slowly, having shut them instinctively as
   1.260 +they had been falling. “Are you okay, Sakura-chan?” she asked
   1.261 +quickly, worried about the brunette. She sighed inwardly in relief as
   1.262 +Sakura nodded into her shoulder, giving a muffled ‘hai’. She squeezed
   1.263 +her hand, making sure the camcorder was still all right as well.
   1.264 +Having checked the important things, she finally went about seeing to
   1.265 +her own condition. Sakura had landed on top of her, her head buried
   1.266 +against her shoulder. The back of her shoulder hurt, but it would go
   1.267 +away soon enough. She simply laid there with Sakura for a moment,
   1.268 +looking down at the auburn hair spilling our of Sakura’s red Santa
   1.269 +hat.
   1.270 +
   1.271 +“What was that?” a girl in a nightgown asked, stepping out of one of
   1.272 +the back rooms. 
   1.273 +
   1.274 +“It was probably nothing, Kumiko-chan,” a blonde girl replied,
   1.275 +hugging the other girl from behind. “Let’s go back to bed. Tomorrow’s
   1.276 +Christmas. You just want to sneak a peak of the present I got you.”
   1.277 +
   1.278 +Kumiko raised an eyebrow. “You mean you want to sneak a peak of me
   1.279 +wearing your present. I still can’t believe you bought me lingerie.
   1.280 +My parents will kill me if they find out.”
   1.281 +
   1.282 +Giggling, Megumi nodded. “Can I? It is Christmas Eve, after all. You
   1.283 +can open one present. And then you could wear it back to bed,” the
   1.284 +blonde suggested, nuzzling Kumiko’s neck. Kumiko blushed darkly, but
   1.285 +that just brought a delicious sigh from Megumi. She was so happy to
   1.286 +have Kumiko over for Christmas. Her parents were both gone, working
   1.287 +again. To afford her treatments that didn’t seem to work anyway. She
   1.288 +was just getting sicker and sicker as it was. But at least she could
   1.289 +spend Christmas with the one she loved. 
   1.290 +
   1.291 +Kumiko blinked, ignoring Megumi’s warm and insistent nuzzling. No
   1.292 +small feat considering how she usually melted under such an assault.
   1.293 +But something seemed wrong. The Christmas lights on the tree were
   1.294 +out. She walked over, Megumi still hanging onto her. What she didn’t
   1.295 +know was that Megumi was having trouble standing on her own at the
   1.296 +moment. 
   1.297 +
   1.298 +Tomoyo lay there, still stuck underneath Sakura. Sakura had frozen
   1.299 +against her, unsure of what to do. If they stood up, they’d be
   1.300 +caught. But if they stayed where they were, the two girls would
   1.301 +probably find them, too. They weren’t in a very good position. Well,
   1.302 +they were, Tomoyo had to admit, holding Sakura closer. But it
   1.303 +wouldn’t be good if they got caught. She could feel Sakura blushing
   1.304 +against her. Apparently she had heard the girls’ conversation. But it
   1.305 +wasn’t anything new. She dressed Sakura up all the time with her
   1.306 +costumes, including matching undergarments at times. But then, Sakura
   1.307 +had never thought about it in that context before.
   1.308 +
   1.309 +“Kumi-chan, can we go back to bed?” Megumi asked quietly, resting
   1.310 +her head against the braided haired girls back. She suddenly wasn’t
   1.311 +feeling very well at all. She would drag Kumiko back to bed, but she
   1.312 +didn’t think she could even keep standing if she let go for a moment.
   1.313 +
   1.314 +“Just a second, Megumi-chan,” Kumiko replied distractedly, following
   1.315 +the unplugged Christmas light cord in the dim light. Her eyes went
   1.316 +wide as she spotted a boot. And then a shadowy figure lying on the
   1.317 +floor. “Ahhhhh!” she screamed, reeling back. There was a dead body on
   1.318 +the floor! In Megumi’s house. 
   1.319 +
   1.320 +Sakura stood up quickly, her heart pounding in her chest. “No, wait!
   1.321 +It’s all a mistake!” She waved her arms in front of herself, trying
   1.322 +to stop the braided girl’s scream.
   1.323 +
   1.324 +Following Sakura’s lead, Tomoyo got to her feet as well. She bowed,
   1.325 +smiling softly. “We’re sorry for the trouble. We were just dropping
   1.326 +off a present. Now If you’ll excuse us, our sleigh is waiting. Right,
   1.327 +Santa?” She wrapped her arms around Sakura’s, pulling her gently
   1.328 +towards the chimney. 
   1.329 +
   1.330 +“Santa?” Megumi asked, watching the two from over Kumiko’s shoulder.
   1.331 +Well, they were certainly dressed the part. And they didn’t look like
   1.332 +they were here to cause any harm. Just two girls their own age. It
   1.333 +didn’t make any sense why they were here, but she didn’t feel like it
   1.334 +was a bad thing.
   1.335 +
   1.336 +“Hai...” Sakura replied, laughing nervously, a hand behind her head.
   1.337 +“Merry Christmas!!” She waved quickly, pulling out a Sakura Card to
   1.338 +make a hasty retreat. Tomoyo hurried back to her side after plucking
   1.339 +Kero away from the cookies.
   1.340 +
   1.341 +Blinking, Kumiko shook her head. “But..!” A finger pressed against
   1.342 +her lips, silencing her. 
   1.343 +
   1.344 +“Shhh... Just ignore it, dear,” Megumi whispered. “Now go ahead and
   1.345 +open your present.” 
   1.346 +
   1.347 +“Megumi-chan...” Kumiko blushed. Maybe Megumi was right. She should
   1.348 +just ignore any of this had happened. Even if she did want to know
   1.349 +who those two girls were. And why they were in her girlfriend’s house.
   1.350 +
   1.351 +Megumi giggled. “I love you, Kumi-chan.” She kissed the other girl’s
   1.352 +cheek. 
   1.353 +
   1.354 +
   1.355 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   1.356 +
   1.357 +
   1.358 +Tomoyo slid her window open as she hung in the air, held aloft in
   1.359 +Sakura’s arms. The Cardmistress was holding onto her waist tightly,
   1.360 +her angelic wings flapping to keep them up. The window finally open,
   1.361 +Tomoyo slid inside before helping Sakura follow. Sakura’s angel wings
   1.362 +dissipated in a burst of feathers. She let go of the empty sack that
   1.363 +had held the gifts, stretching tiredly. It had been a long night. She
   1.364 +saw Tomoyo smiling sweetly at her as she yawned. She covered her
   1.365 +mouth quickly, blushing faintly. 
   1.366 +
   1.367 +“Thank you, Sakura-chan. You made tonight a perfect Christmas. For
   1.368 +all of those girls. And for me.” Tomoyo stepped forward, taking one
   1.369 +of Sakura’s hands in both of her own. “It was the best Christmas I’ve
   1.370 +ever had. Thank you.” She kissed Sakura’s hand gently. She was so
   1.371 +happy. She didn’t want the night to end, but she knew she could go
   1.372 +right back and watch it all over on videotape. Her beautiful
   1.373 +Christmas Eve with Sakura. She sighed contentedly.
   1.374 +
   1.375 +“It was fun, Tomoyo-chan.” Sakura replied, shifting about. She
   1.376 +wanted to say more, but the whirlwind of feelings inside of her
   1.377 +refused to translate into words. She bit her lip in frustration.
   1.378 +There had to be some way to explain, to say something, to let it all
   1.379 +out. Now was the time where they said goodbye and she left for home
   1.380 +to have Christmas the next day with her father and brother. But she
   1.381 +didn’t want to go. She felt like she’d regret it if she didn’t say
   1.382 +something, if she left now. 
   1.383 +
   1.384 +Tomoyo stroked Sakura’s hand gently, comfortingly. Something was
   1.385 +obviously bothering the Cardmistress. Sakura almost looked ready to
   1.386 +cry. Tomoyo’s heart broke at the sad look in Sakura’s eyes. The
   1.387 +Cardmistress was so intent, but she was having trouble with
   1.388 +something, as if it refused to come to her. Sakura had looked so
   1.389 +happy before. What had gone wrong? All she could do was be there with
   1.390 +her. She squeezed Sakura’s hand gently.
   1.391 +
   1.392 +Her mind a swirling mess, Sakura took a shuddering breath. This had
   1.393 +been such a perfect night. So why was she on the verge of tears? It
   1.394 +wasn’t fair. Not to Tomoyo. But such a perfect Christmas Eve deserved
   1.395 +a perfect ending. But nothing she could say sounded right. Something
   1.396 +up above finally caught her eye. She looked up, trying to discern it
   1.397 +in Tomoyo darkened room. Mistletoe, she finally decided. But what was
   1.398 +it doing in Tomoyo’s room? It didn’t matter. She shouldn’t be
   1.399 +thinking about such things right now anyway. She should be thinking
   1.400 +about how to say goodbye. Blink. She looked back at the mistletoe and
   1.401 +back at her Mrs. Claus. She swallowed nervously. She shouldn’t. She
   1.402 +should. She was too embarrassed. But it was the best way to end the
   1.403 +night. Their beautiful Christmas night, sealed with a kiss. ‘Hoe...’
   1.404 +she thought. Steeling herself. She closed her eyes, wrestling with
   1.405 +her embarrassment at the idea and the burning need within her. It
   1.406 +finally one out, burning away her reluctance. Blinking, she looked
   1.407 +back into Tomoyo’s worried blue eyes. Leaning forward, she kissed her
   1.408 +best friend. Her lips inexpertly brushed against Tomoyo’s taking a
   1.409 +moment to finally press against them in a kiss. The world seemed to
   1.410 +tilt and tumble around her, her cheeks ablaze. 
   1.411 +
   1.412 +Tomoyo was for once completely taken by surprise by her beautiful
   1.413 +Cardmistress. She didn’t always know exactly what Sakura would do,
   1.414 +but she was rarely surprised by it. Now she was completely thrown
   1.415 +off, the delicate balance of all of her careful planning sent
   1.416 +spinning. For a moment, she had no idea what to do. But she quickly
   1.417 +pushed past her disorientation, returning the kiss. Sakura’s delicate
   1.418 +lips were softer than freshly fallen Sakura blossoms that Tomoyo has
   1.419 +so often kissed, imagining this moment. Her arms wrapped around
   1.420 +Sakura’s shoulders, pulling the auburn haired Santa Claus close. Her
   1.421 +heart was near bursting with the love eager to get out to her friend.
   1.422 +I love you, she tried to say through their kiss.
   1.423 +
   1.424 +Sakura finally broke the kiss, blushing furiously. Tomoyo was still
   1.425 +rubbing her back. She couldn’t work up the will to pull away. She
   1.426 +didn’t want to be apart from Tomoyo. Resting her head on the other
   1.427 +girl’s shoulder, she sighed happily. “Merry Christmas, Tomoyo-chan.”
   1.428 +
   1.429 +
   1.430 +
   1.431 +