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     1.4 +	As soon as the final petal had reached the ground, the wind took up all
     1.5 +of the petals and gathered them into a cluster.  The petals continued
     1.6 +flowing with the breeze while remaining in the same area above ground.
     1.7 +Tomoyo stared at the pink mass with a curious look in her eyes, wondering
     1.8 +what would happen next.  Suddenly, the petals began to inch their way
     1.9 +toward a section of the park with trees surrounding the entire area.
    1.10 +Tomoyo quickly reacted by picking up the elephant and following the cheery
    1.11 +blossom petals toward their destination.  The wind picked up speed and
    1.12 +carried the petals faster, making the girl run in order to try and catch
    1.13 +up.  Once the petals reached the trees, they escaped from Tomoyo's sight.
    1.14 +After Tomoyo reached the first row of trees, she began to walk past them
    1.15 +wondering where she would find the assortment of petals.  The girl wandered
    1.16 +around searching for her destination, but she had no idea where that was.
    1.17 +As she pasted more of the trees, she started to get lost in her search,
    1.18 +noticing that each new tree looked exactly like the one she just past.  She
    1.19 +was beginning to wonder if she would ever find the petals at all.  But
    1.20 +suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Tomoyo spotted them, almost missing
    1.21 +them completely.  The petals had formed a circle around one of the trees as
    1.22 +they began to orbit around it in a clockwise motion.  Tomoyo smiled again
    1.23 +once she had finally found where she needed to be.  She was happy not only
    1.24 +because she had found the petals, but also because she was in anticipation
    1.25 +of what would happen next.  As she crept forward toward the tree, the
    1.26 +circumference of the petals began to increase in size as they spread out
    1.27 +away from the tree.  Tomoyo stopped in her advancement toward the tree as
    1.28 +the petals broke its formation; brushing past the girls chest and
    1.29 +connecting again behind her.  The girl glanced at the pink circle and
    1.30 +watched its movement until it stopped a couple feet away from her.  When
    1.31 +Tomoyo realized that the petals would refrain from moving, she turned her
    1.32 +head towards the tree again as she awaited the next event to unfold.  With
    1.33 +only a few seconds of waiting, the young girl's hopes would be fulfilled in
    1.34 +a manner that she thought she could only imagine.  Revealing herself from
    1.35 +behind the tree, with her right hand holding something behind her back and
    1.36 +her left resting the Clow staff on her shoulder, Sakura gave Tomoyo a very
    1.37 +pleasant smile.  Tomoyo knew that Sakura would be waiting at the end of her
    1.38 +search, but seeing the brown haired girl again put a vast amount of joy
    1.39 +into her heart.  "Sakura!"  Tomoyo shouted in ecstatic jubilation as she
    1.40 +ran toward the other girl and gently wrapped her arms around her neck.
    1.41 +Sakura placed her left hand on Tomoyo's back while still holding onto the
    1.42 +staff.  She then turned the staff back into its key form, letting the chain
    1.43 +attached to it dangle in between the spaces in her fingers.  Her left hand
    1.44 +was now free to give Tomoyo her soft, comforting touch.
    1.45 +>>	"I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to see you again," Tomoyo said, her
    1.46 +voice showing that she was close to breaking into tears.
    1.47 +>>	"I know, and I'm very sorry that I did that to you," Sakura explained,
    1.48 +having regret in her voice but still indicating that she was happy things
    1.49 +had come around for the two.  "I would never intend to hurt you like I did,
    1.50 +but, well I wasn't sure if how the way you felt for me...and now the way I
    1.51 +feel for you, was even possible.  But I've thought about it and now I
    1.52 +realize I was just being foolish."  Sakura removed her hand from Tomoyo's
    1.53 +back and placed it on her shoulder, as she looked into her eyes.  "It makes
    1.54 +more sense to me than ever.  And now that I realize that what we share is
    1.55 +beautiful, I want to make sure it lasts as long as possible."  The brown
    1.56 +haired girl leaned in toward the other girl and whispered in her ear with a
    1.57 +voice that made Tomoyo feel cool and with the words she had been hoping to
    1.58 +hear.  "I love you more than anything else in this world and I want to hold
    1.59 +on to that feeling forever."  After hearing those words, Tomoyo's face lit
    1.60 +up as she knew that everything would be alright, even better than she had
    1.61 +hoped.  Once Sakura brought her attention back to the girl she loved, the
    1.62 +two spent the time gazing at each other's beauty.  Then, without any
    1.63 +warning from either of the two, as the situation presented them with the
    1.64 +same idea, Sakura and Tomoyo leaned toward each other for a kiss.  As their
    1.65 +lips meet, the kiss was light and tender, but the meaning within it was
    1.66 +very passionate.  After the two broke off their physical sign of love, they
    1.67 +smiled and continued to look into each others' eyes, feeling content that
    1.68 +they werte together.  Then a thought suddenly came to Tomoyo's mind.
    1.69 +>>	"Oh, I just realized.  I haven't given you your gift yet."  Tomoyo
    1.70 +exclaimed, almost forgetting she was holding on to the elephant this whole
    1.71 +time.  She then presented the elephant to Sakura with outstretched hands.
    1.72 +"I hope you still want it."
    1.73 +>>	Sakura took the elephant in her left hand, examined it, and clutched it
    1.74 +to her chest.  "Thank you Tomoyo.  Your gift really means a lot to me."
    1.75 +>>	"I'm glad that you still like it."
    1.76 +>>	"Do you know the reason why I really like it?" the brown haired girl
    1.77 +calmly asked.
    1.78 +>>	"It's because you said it was cute, isn't that right?" Tomoyo said with
    1.79 +a slight hint of confusion in her voice.
    1.80 +>>	"I did say that," Sakura responded as she loosened the grip on the plush
    1.81 +figure and gently held it at her side, "and I still think it's cute, but
    1.82 +there is a different reason as to why I like it now.  I like it because it
    1.83 +came from you.  The fact that you gave it to me really means something.  If
    1.84 +anyone else had given it to me, it would just be another stuffed animal to
    1.85 +add to my collection.  But I can tell that you gave this to me because you
    1.86 +love me.  You put so much thought into giving this to me.  It holds all of
    1.87 +your feelings and that's why I like it.  And besides, the elephant is cute,
    1.88 +but it could never replace your natural beauty."
    1.89 +>>	The final set of words that Sakura said connected with the dark haired
    1.90 +girl effectively as she began to blush.  "Th-thank you," she said.  "And
    1.91 +thank you for understanding my intentions.  I had hoped that you would."
    1.92 +>>	"Oh, and there's something else I wanted to say," Sakura began as she
    1.93 +moved her right hand from behind to reveal what she had been hiding.  "As
    1.94 +far as putting thought and emotion into one's gift, that's what I had done,
    1.95 +when I made these for you."  The gift Sakura held out to Tomoyo, in a
    1.96 +slightly proud, but still cheerful manner, was a pair of fresh roses from
    1.97 +the Flower Card.
    1.98 +>>	Tomoyo smiled once she saw her gift.  She took the two pieces of floral
    1.99 +beauty and smelled them to find they emitted a heavenly aroma.  "They're
   1.100 +very beautiful.  Thank you Sakkura."
   1.101 +>>	"And each of those roses both symbolize something."
   1.102 +>>	"Really?"  Tomoyo asked as she looked up to Sakura.  "What do they mean?"
   1.103 +>>	"Hm, one represents all the feelings I have for the girl I love, and the
   1.104 +other is for the hope that the two of us will always be together."
   1.105 +>>	A warm feeling went through Tomoyo as she embraced the other girl again,
   1.106 +and a gentle sigh escaped through her lips before she spoke.  "I would
   1.107 +really like to see that hope realzed."  As the unnoticed minutes drifted
   1.108 +by, the thoughts and desires of the two girls for each other went through
   1.109 +their minds, while the comfort of the two close together physically
   1.110 +acknowledged all of them.  A cool gust of wind went by as Sakura and Tomoyo
   1.111 +found themselves looking into each other's eyes again.
   1.112 +>>	"Well," Sakura began as she flashed a joyful smile, "I think now that
   1.113 +we've found our way into each others hearts, we should probably celebrate
   1.114 +our union.  Is there anything that you want to do?"
   1.115 +>>	The dark haired girl gave the other girl a light kiss as well as her
   1.116 +answer.  "Just being here with you is fine with me.  It doesn't really
   1.117 +matter what we do."
   1.118 +>>	"Alright then."  As Tomoyo took Sakura's arm, the two of them led each
   1.119 +other toward one of the trees.  They sat next to one another at the base of
   1.120 +the tree while a feeling of calmness and serenity found its way into both
   1.121 +of them.  Tomoyo rest her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, and Sakura
   1.122 +returned the gesture of affection by placing her hand on her girlfriend's
   1.123 +head.  Nothing felt out of place as the cherry blossom petals were freed
   1.124 +from their dormant position above ground and were carried by the wind as a
   1.125 +sign to anyone who saw them that two people had fallen in love.
   1.126 +>>
   1.127 +>>	After another school day had come and gone, Tomoyo stood by the entrance
   1.128 +waithing for Sakura to meet with her.  The two girls had decided to buy a
   1.129 +snack after school and share it with each other.  To keep herself occupied,
   1.130 +she took scenery shots of the school grounds with her camcorder.  She only
   1.131 +got a few minutes worth of footage before Sakura came out and greeted her.
   1.132 +>>	"Sorry to keep you waiting," Sakura said a little bit embarrassed.
   1.133 +>>	"Oh it's no trouble at all.  I'm just glad you came, and I knew you
   1.134 +would be here," Tomoyo answered while recording Sakura on film.  Since the
   1.135 +two were closer than ever, Sakura no longer felt shy or embarrassed about
   1.136 +being in front of Tomoyo's camcorder, especially now that she knew why she
   1.137 +was he dark haired girl's favorite thing to record.
   1.138 +>>	"So, do you still like the gift that I gave you?" Sakura said as she
   1.139 +struck a pose for the machine's lens.
   1.140 +>>	Tomoyo responded with a smile as she took the camera away from her face
   1.141 +to look at her girlfriend with her own eyes.  "Being with you has always
   1.142 +been a gift, and I will always enjoy that."
   1.143 +>>
   1.144 +>>
   1.145 +>>So what did you think?  Did you like it?  Dislike it?  Or are you just
   1.146 +indifferent?  Anyway, please tell me what you think.  I will take comments
   1.147 +and criticism of any kind.  Just send it to me at mebrown@dubuque.net, I
   1.148 +would really appreciate it.  Thanks a bunch.