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     1.2 +++ b/stories/nervousdepression.txt	Fri Feb 19 06:24:59 2010 -0500
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     1.4 +Hello, everyone! ^-^ I’d like to dedicate this story to Reisz
     1.5 +Fenrir, without whom I would never have written this story. ^-^
     1.6 +Remember to never stop dreaming. ^-^ This story has two girls in love
     1.7 +and some adult situations, so please read responsibly. CCS and its
     1.8 +beautiful characters were created by CLAMP. 
     1.9 +
    1.10 +I Love You, I love You Not
    1.11 +by Amazoness Duo
    1.12 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
    1.13 +
    1.14 +
    1.15 +	“Everything will always be all right,” Tomoyo whispered, imagining
    1.16 +Sakura’s voice giving life to the dead words. But even that couldn’t
    1.17 +bring back the magic to them. Like a magician’s chant, it only worked
    1.18 +for those with the power. What power? That fiery determination that
    1.19 +burned in beautiful emerald green eyes within the girl known as
    1.20 +Sakura. Tomoyo had tried to make Sakura believe in them, to put forth
    1.21 +her determination into making those words a reality. But for Tomoyo,
    1.22 +the words were meaningless, hollow. They carried with them no magic,
    1.23 +no sparkle. They were simply what they were. A messy collection of
    1.24 +words. They alone had no magic power, no abilities. It was Sakura
    1.25 +that unlocked their magic. Because the magic was within her, not
    1.26 +within any saying. And so they hung in the air painfully, sounding
    1.27 +brittle in the cold air.
    1.28 +	Hugging her dark blue jacket closer, Tomoyo continued walking along
    1.29 +the nearly frosty sidewalk. Her long dark hair trailed behind her
    1.30 +like a shadow. Her pale skin glistened like the falling snow, making
    1.31 +her look like a snow angel that had been brought magically to life to
    1.32 +all who crossed her path. She wore long, thick black stockings and
    1.33 +large boots. Her dark skirt shifting as she continued walking, lost
    1.34 +in her own thoughts. Despite her warm apparel, she felt frigid
    1.35 +inside, as if an arctic wind had blown bitingly across her soul. 
    1.36 +	Shuddering, the dark haired girl hugged herself tightly. It offered
    1.37 +little warmth. She had the sudden thought that Sakura’s arms would
    1.38 +warm her instantly, much stronger than her own self-embrace. She
    1.39 +tried not to let the thought linger, knowing it would only be
    1.40 +painful. Thinking like that was selfish. Sakura’s happiness was the
    1.41 +important thing. Much more important than her own happiness. Sakura
    1.42 +was her best friend. She should be happy with that. Thinking of
    1.43 +Sakura in such ways was painful, taunting. Sakura didn’t belong with
    1.44 +her, but with another. Someone else, probably Syaoran, would be the
    1.45 +one to make Sakura happy. That thought was so much easier to deal
    1.46 +with as a child. Back then it had seemed so much easier. Sakura would
    1.47 +fall in love with someone and she would be happy to watch after her
    1.48 +beautiful Sakura. But as she grew older, her feelings grew as well.
    1.49 +Her love for Sakura only became stronger as the years went by. And
    1.50 +the thought of watching Sakura with another cut into her like a
    1.51 +jagged icicle. 
    1.52 +	Telling Sakura of her feelings would only be selfish. Tomoyo knew
    1.53 +Sakura better than anyone. Sakura could never bear to hurt her. She
    1.54 +would never be able to simply reject her. It would only confuse
    1.55 +Sakura, hurting the one Tomoyo loved more than life itself. And
    1.56 +hurting Sakura was the last thing the young heiress wanted. Better
    1.57 +she suffer than Sakura. Yes, that was right. She could handle it. For
    1.58 +Sakura. But sometimes the love in her heart wanted so badly to get
    1.59 +out, to touch Sakura’s heart. She wanted to feel loved, to feel the
    1.60 +love in her heart returned. But it was an empty dream. One she had
    1.61 +given up on as a child, as a sacrifice so that her beloved Sakura
    1.62 +would find her own happiness. 
    1.63 +	Sometimes it just felt too lonely. Knowing she would have to give
    1.64 +up Sakura was the most painful thought imaginable for the dark haired
    1.65 +girl. She had seen what losing one’s love had done to her mother.
    1.66 +Sometimes she wondered if she could survive it. Her mother was so
    1.67 +much stronger than she was and it had crushed her. Sonomi still
    1.68 +hadn’t recovered, and she probably never would. Tomoyo knew that she
    1.69 +had to. For Sakura’s sake. But sometimes that was all that kept her
    1.70 +going. As her heart inside wept, she smiled serenely at the brunette,
    1.71 +never letting her know the pain that was growing inside of her. She
    1.72 +knew what was awaiting her. Forever alone. She would have her love
    1.73 +for Sakura, but no Sakura. And sometimes that just didn’t feel like
    1.74 +it was enough. She knew she would never give up that love, but it was
    1.75 +so deliciously painful that it nearly consumed her. She was starting
    1.76 +to worry that cracks might begin to show through her masks. She could
    1.77 +only smile so much. It was beginning to hurt now, smiling for Sakura
    1.78 +when she just wanted so badly to cry. But she couldn’t let Sakura see
    1.79 +her pain. Sakura had to be happy. Sakura needed to smile. Sakura
    1.80 +needed to fall in love. She couldn’t be held back by her best friend.
    1.81 +	Tomoyo had been crying herself to sleep more often lately. She
    1.82 +tried to be quiet, so as not to let her mother hear. She didn’t want
    1.83 +her mother to worry about her. She was always so busy with work as it
    1.84 +was. So she would cry quietly at night, watching her videos of Sakura
    1.85 +through a haze of tears. And during the day, she was all smiles. It
    1.86 +was what everyone expected of her, so no one questioned that the
    1.87 +smile was anything but real. She was eccentric. Everyone thought so,
    1.88 +even Sakura. So no one noticed that her smile never disappeared.
    1.89 +Until she was alone. Then it would leave her, replaced by the
    1.90 +emptiness that spread throughout her. It was cold and desolate, a
    1.91 +taste of the life that awaited her. The few times that she had tried
    1.92 +to envision her future, she had quit soon after. There was nothing in
    1.93 +her future. She could take over her mother’s business. She could grow
    1.94 +old, alone, always loving Sakura from a distance. That was all that
    1.95 +awaited her. Much better to imagine Sakura’s future, to hope for the
    1.96 +very best for her dearest Cardmistress. That was what had kept her
    1.97 +going over the past few years, the thoughts of Sakura’s beautiful
    1.98 +wedding, her many children, and her bright smile. That was the future
    1.99 +she was working for, not her own. She always had to keep that
   1.100 +beautiful vision in her mind. She loved Sakura with all her heart.
   1.101 +She would do anything for the athletic brunette, even if she would
   1.102 +never know of the feelings Tomoyo had for her.
   1.103 +	Stormy blue eyes blinked rapidly as tears threatened to spill from
   1.104 +them. Tomoyo wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. She
   1.105 +would have plenty of time for tears later. She just had to hold on a
   1.106 +little longer for Sakura. Once Syaoran got back from Hong Kong,
   1.107 +Sakura wouldn’t need her anymore. Syaoran would be able to help
   1.108 +Sakura through all of life’s intricacies. But for now, Sakura still
   1.109 +needed her. That was a bitter relief. It would be over all too soon,
   1.110 +but at least there was still a place for her in the brunette’s life.
   1.111 +With what precious little time she had left, she would do all she
   1.112 +could for Sakura, to ensure her gloriously beautiful future. It was
   1.113 +the least she could do for the girl who had so easily stolen her
   1.114 +heart. 
   1.115 +	A faint smile crossed Tomoyo’s lips as she watched two young girls
   1.116 +run past. Her mind busied itself with other things, trying not to
   1.117 +dwell on the pain. Cupping her hands, she caught a gently falling
   1.118 +snowflake in her palms. The beautiful crystal lingered for a brief
   1.119 +moment before it began to melt and fade away. It reminded her of
   1.120 +something her mother had told her long ago. ‘The most beautiful
   1.121 +things in this life are gone before we know it, Tomoyo-chan. We have
   1.122 +to cherish them while we can.’ Her mother had been talking about
   1.123 +Nadeshiko then. As she often did. Tomoyo’s smile brightened slightly.
   1.124 +‘Mother still loves Nadeshiko-san even after all this time. I’ll
   1.125 +always love Sakura-chan. I’ll always cherish her,’ she thought to
   1.126 +herself. 
   1.127 +	And the snowflake was gone. Tomoyo silently thanked it for it’s
   1.128 +swift moment of beauty before gingerly closing her hands. Her mind
   1.129 +was already planning out a snowflake costume for Sakura, one just as
   1.130 +pretty as any snowflake out in the skies. Her heart still hung heavy
   1.131 +in her chest, but her thoughts helped her to focus elsewhere, to
   1.132 +things she had always enjoyed. And these invariably led back to
   1.133 +Sakura. Who led back to her lonely thoughts. It was a vicious cycle,
   1.134 +but one she found herself caught in. 
   1.135 +	A thought struck the pale girl as more snowflakes fell around her.
   1.136 +Pulling her camcorder out of its carrying case, she began to
   1.137 +videotape the slow descent of the glittering snowflakes. The footage
   1.138 +would help when she finally started on Sakura’s new costume. Sakura
   1.139 +would look gorgeous in it, like a Snow Princess who had fallen from
   1.140 +her home in the sky above. Tomoyo sighed dreamily at the thought, a
   1.141 +hand going to her cheek, playing the lovely image of Sakura over and
   1.142 +over in her head even as she videotaped the falling snow. Her hand
   1.143 +felt cold against her warm cheek, sending a chill through her.
   1.144 +Shuddering visibly, she went back to her camera work. Each lonely,
   1.145 +frozen teardrop from heaven slowly made its way to the earth around
   1.146 +the pale girl, all alone despite the people passing by. 
   1.147 +	“Tomoyo-chan!” a voice called from across the street. 
   1.148 +	Pulling her camcorder down for a moment, Tomoyo quickly spotted the
   1.149 +source of the voice. A bright smile lit up her face, her earlier
   1.150 +thoughts quickly forgotten as Sakura waved to her. Her heart
   1.151 +brightened at the sight. Sakura made her happy. The brunette lit up
   1.152 +her heart. She waved back warmly. “I love you, Sakura-chan,” she said
   1.153 +quietly. Yes, this was exactly why she would never be able to shake
   1.154 +Sakura’s spell. Even if it was painful at times, she could never give
   1.155 +it up. Her heartbeat quickened as she saw Sakura smile at her. She
   1.156 +was so absolutely perfect. A dreamy sigh escaped Tomoyo. There was
   1.157 +nothing more painful than love. But there was also nothing more
   1.158 +beautiful. Taking a quick glimpse in either direction, Tomoyo hurried
   1.159 +to be with her beloved.
   1.160 +	No one saw the car. It closed on the small girl like a terrible
   1.161 +beast stalking its prey, a dragon snatching away a princess. It was
   1.162 +all a blur for Sakura. One moment, Tomoyo was hurrying to her side,
   1.163 +smiling sweetly. The next, Tomoyo was nowhere to be seen, a car
   1.164 +screeching to a halt where the heiress had been moments before. There
   1.165 +was a sickening thump and then silence. Tomoyo’s cracked camcorder
   1.166 +lay at Sakura’s feet, staring up into the sky like a curious eye.
   1.167 +With shaky fingers, Sakura reached down and picked up the broken
   1.168 +camcorder. This was wrong. Tomoyo was supposed to be holding it.
   1.169 +Still in shock, Sakura looked up from the item, glancing around for
   1.170 +her best friend. The woman who had gotten out of her car was
   1.171 +frightened about something. Sakura followed her towards something
   1.172 +crumpled in the snow. It was deathly pale, almost the same color as
   1.173 +the snow itself. But there was something else in the snow, sparkling
   1.174 +and red. Blood. Sakura collapsed in the snow next to the crumpled
   1.175 +figure, her heart beating furiously in her chest. Her cold fingers
   1.176 +clutched the camcorder like a lifeline, her emerald eyes watching the
   1.177 +tiny shape unmoving in the snow. “Tomoyo-chan..? Tomoyo-chan? Tomoyo-
   1.178 +chan!?!” Sakura burst out into tears, huddling over her broken
   1.179 +friend. Tomoyo didn’t reply, only lying there like a shattered China
   1.180 +doll in the street. “Tomoyo-chan!!” Sakura cried, trying to hold onto
   1.181 +her battered friend. Her bitter tears fell onto Tomoyo’s pale skin,
   1.182 +Sakura’s body shaking painfully as she was wracked with sobs.
   1.183 +	“I... I didn’t see her there,” the driver said quickly, as if it
   1.184 +would somehow magically fix the shattered girl. 
   1.185 +	Sakura didn’t hear anything. She held Tomoyo’s hand, crying
   1.186 +anguished tears. She didn’t even notice the blood beginning to stain
   1.187 +her own dress as she held onto her broken friend. “Tomoyo-chan,
   1.188 +please wake up. It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Just please wake up.
   1.189 +Please? Please, Tomoyo-chan?” Her only answer was the wail of sirens
   1.190 +in the distance. “Please..?”
   1.191 +
   1.192 +	Standing in front of the large, imposing gate, Sakura felt her
   1.193 +heart falter in her chest. She took a heavy breath, blinking away the
   1.194 +tears that threatened. The image of the accident was still vivid in
   1.195 +her mind, even though it had been more than a week before. Whenever
   1.196 +she was in the shower, she could still see the blood on her hands,
   1.197 +even though there wasn’t anything there. She shuddered at the
   1.198 +thought. She still felt exhausted from that day, her soul feeling
   1.199 +drained from it all. She had never cried so much, not even when her
   1.200 +mother had died back when she was a small child. The thought of being
   1.201 +without Tomoyo, of losing her very best friend, was just too much for
   1.202 +her. She couldn’t think of life without the dark haired girl. 
   1.203 +Sakura managed a weak smile when she saw Sonomi herself coming out
   1.204 +to fetch her. Tomoyo’s mother was eccentric, much like her daughter.
   1.205 +The older woman always made Sakura feel special. She was always so
   1.206 +warm and affectionate to Sakura, treating her like a visiting
   1.207 +princess. She knew that part of the reason was because their mothers
   1.208 +had been close when they were younger, but didn’t know exactly what
   1.209 +had happened. Whatever the case, she always felt nice around Sonomi.
   1.210 +And with Tomoyo’s normal loving care, Sakura felt very happy at the
   1.211 +Daidouji home. 
   1.212 +	Her smile faded as Sonomi drew closer. Did Tomoyo’s mother blame
   1.213 +her? Did she think it was her fault that Tomoyo had been hurt? That
   1.214 +thought frightened her. What if Sonomi hated her now? Could she blame
   1.215 +her? If Tomoyo hadn’t been coming to see her, then... More tears
   1.216 +glistened in Sakura’s eyes. She rubbed the away insistently. She felt
   1.217 +like a little girl again, hoping that Tomoyo’s mother wasn’t mad at
   1.218 +her. She never knew her own mother. Sonomi was like the one she never
   1.219 +had. She felt like she had disappointed the older woman, failing to
   1.220 +protect her daughter.  
   1.221 +	Sonomi sighed with relief as she opened the gate, ushering Sakura
   1.222 +in. “I’m so glad you’re here, Sakura-chan.” Hugging the younger girl
   1.223 +tightly, Sonomi smiled before leading Sakura further inside.
   1.224 +A sigh escaped Sakura. At least Sonomi wasn’t mad at her. That was
   1.225 +something. She felt a little better at that. But the pit in her
   1.226 +stomach still remained. She still felt awful, the blur of the
   1.227 +accident burnt into her soul. She shuddered as a maid took her coat.
   1.228 +	“How’s Tomoyo-chan?” Sakura asked quickly, turning her earnest eyes
   1.229 +to Sonomi. She could feel her anxious heart fluttering in her chest
   1.230 +like a caged bird. 
   1.231 +	Shaking her head, Sonomi gazed towards the stairs. “She hasn’t been
   1.232 +doing well, Sakura-chan. She doesn’t want to come out of her room
   1.233 +anymore. She barely eats anything unless I’m there. And even then I
   1.234 +know she’s only doing it so I won’t worry. Her eyes don’t sparkle
   1.235 +like they used to. She’s broken, Sakura-chan. Not just her body, but
   1.236 +her soul. And I don’t know how to help her. Maybe you can cheer her
   1.237 +up. Tomoyo-chan always loves to see you. You mean the world to her.
   1.238 +I’m so glad you could come on such short notice.” The weary mother
   1.239 +looked back to her daughter’s friend and smiled. “I’m sure she’ll get
   1.240 +better now that you’re here.”
   1.241 +	Sakura sweatdropped, placing a hand behind her head. “I’m not sure
   1.242 +what I can do.” She looked back into Sonomi’s stormy blue eyes and
   1.243 +nodded determinedly. “But I’ll do whatever I can to help Tomoyo-chan.
   1.244 +She’s my best friend. I want her to feel better.”
   1.245 +Sonomi grinned, watching Sakura for a long moment. “You’re so sweet.
   1.246 +Just like your mother. I know you’ll be able to help Tomoyo-chan.”
   1.247 +Sakura was her last hope. She didn’t know how else to bring the life
   1.248 +back to her beloved daughter. Tomoyo had survived, but the life had
   1.249 +disappeared from her. Sakura was the only one that could re-ignite
   1.250 +the sparkle within her. Sonomi would do anything for her daughter,
   1.251 +but there was only so much she could do. The rest was up to Sakura. 
   1.252 +Sakura bowed to the older woman before hurrying up the stairs. She
   1.253 +had to make it up to Tomoyo. It was her fault Tomoyo had gotten hurt
   1.254 +in the first place. All because Tomoyo had been coming to see her.
   1.255 +There had to be something she could do to help the heiress, to make
   1.256 +things better. It wasn’t right for Tomoyo to be so hurt. She had to
   1.257 +do something. 
   1.258 +	Sonomi watched as Sakura slowly disappeared up the stairs. Making
   1.259 +her way into the living room, the older woman collapsed into a chair,
   1.260 +closing her eyes. This whole incident had left her feeling weak and
   1.261 +helpless. She had always been overprotective of her lovely daughter,
   1.262 +but it had all been for nothing. In an eye blink, she had almost lost
   1.263 +her dearest treasure. In some ways, Tomoyo was too much like
   1.264 +Nadeshiko. It was part of why Sonomi was so worried about her.
   1.265 +Nadeshiko had always wound up getting hurt. And she had died a young
   1.266 +death. Sonomi didn’t want the same thing to happen to her daughter.
   1.267 +She had already lost Nadeshiko. She couldn’t stand to lose Tomoyo. 
   1.268 +Waiting there at the hospital while Tomoyo was in surgery, the
   1.269 +auburn haired businesswoman would have given away her entire company
   1.270 +if she could know that her daughter would be all right. She had
   1.271 +stayed by Tomoyo’s side through the next few days, even though Tomoyo
   1.272 +hadn’t been conscious for much of it. Somehow she had pulled through.
   1.273 +Sonomi could only believe that it was because Nadeshiko had been
   1.274 +looking out for her daughter. As soon as Tomoyo had recovered enough
   1.275 +to be moved, she had taken her daughter back home and hired a nurse
   1.276 +to keep an eye on her. The doctors had suggested keeping Tomoyo in
   1.277 +the hospital, but Sonomi didn’t trust hospitals. Nadeshiko had been
   1.278 +there for her final days and they hadn’t been able to save her. She
   1.279 +didn’t want to leave Tomoyo there either. She had hoped Tomoyo would
   1.280 +feel more comfortable at home.
   1.281 +	But now Tomoyo was still empty, her body mending while her heart
   1.282 +remained splintered. Now Sonomi had to hope that Nadeshiko daughter
   1.283 +would fix her own daughter’s soul. “Get better soon, Tomoyo-chan,”
   1.284 +Sonomi whispered.
   1.285 +
   1.286 +	It was snowing outside again. Tomoyo watched out her window as white
   1.287 +snowflakes drifted past. Her room was silent, the only noise coming
   1.288 +from the restless wind outside. She was still bedridden from her
   1.289 +injuries. She couldn’t even get up to put on one of her Sakura
   1.290 +videos. Not that she was in the mood to. It would only remind her of
   1.291 +her darling Sakura, of the lonely love in her heart. So she simply
   1.292 +watched out her window. There would be no snowflake costume, after
   1.293 +all. It had seemed like such a pretty idea, too. But like most
   1.294 +beautiful things, it lasted for but an instant. 
   1.295 +	Except Sakura. Sakura was timeless. No matter what happened, she
   1.296 +would always be beautiful. Tomoyo had little captured moments of
   1.297 +Sakura’s life frozen forever on videotape, always a testament to the
   1.298 +beauty that was Sakura, as if it all existed simply to state that
   1.299 +Sakura had been there, that she wasn’t just a dream. 
   1.300 +Part of her wondered why she hadn’t died. Wouldn’t it have been
   1.301 +easier that way? Then she could watch over Sakura as her guardian
   1.302 +angel. She wouldn’t have to slip away when Sakura fell in love. She
   1.303 +wouldn’t have to watch from afar. She could be right there, right
   1.304 +along with Sakura, could stay close to her forever. She found herself
   1.305 +disappointed that that wasn’t the case. Instead she was still here.
   1.306 +And sooner or later, Sakura would be gone, off with the one she
   1.307 +loved. And Tomoyo wouldn’t be a part of her life anymore. Instead of
   1.308 +watching all of Sakura’s life as her angel, she would simply have to
   1.309 +hope for the best, trusting that it would all work out. It didn’t
   1.310 +seem fair. She had lost even her last hope. She wouldn’t even be able
   1.311 +to watch Sakura’s beautiful future as her guardian angel. 
   1.312 +Dying in Sakura’s arms, it had almost been blissful. It was terrible
   1.313 +to see Sakura so sad, but Tomoyo had wanted her to know that she
   1.314 +would always watch over her, that everything truly would always be
   1.315 +all right. Everyone has to die. So if she couldn’t be with the one
   1.316 +she loved, why couldn’t she at least die in the arms of the one she
   1.317 +loved? Then they could be together forever, even if Sakura forgot
   1.318 +about her. Because Tomoyo would never leave her side again. But
   1.319 +someone had kept her from dying. Someone with long, liquid silver
   1.320 +hair and the same emerald green eyes as her Sakura. She could only
   1.321 +vaguely remember the woman now, as if it were all little more than a
   1.322 +dream. ‘You can’t go yet,’ she had said. ‘Sonomi-chan needs you. And
   1.323 +so does my little Sakura-chan. She’d be lost without you.’ She seemed
   1.324 +so kind, so loving. But Tomoyo still didn’t understand. Sakura was a
   1.325 +big girl. She didn’t need her anymore. Especially when she fell in
   1.326 +love, which was only a matter of time now. Syaoran would be returning
   1.327 +soon. He would take Tomoyo’s place at Sakura’s side. Tomoyo couldn’t
   1.328 +help but feel that the angel had been wrong, that she should have
   1.329 +died then, broken in Sakura’s arms. Better to have died then than
   1.330 +years later when she was all alone. At least she could have died
   1.331 +happily. 
   1.332 +	A knock on the door pulled Tomoyo from her thoughts. She slowly
   1.333 +looked to the door, trying to focus on it. “Hello?” she asked
   1.334 +curiously, her soft musical voice even quieter than usual. The door
   1.335 +slowly opened, exposing a nervous looking brunette. Tomoyo brightened
   1.336 +visibly, smiling at the welcome visitor. She really didn’t see anyone
   1.337 +besides her mother and the maids. It was so nice to see Sakura again.
   1.338 +“Sakura-chan, please come in. I’m so happy to see you.” The pale girl
   1.339 +struggled to sit up, her body aching as she did.
   1.340 +	“Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura held back a gasp. She watched Tomoyo for a
   1.341 +long moment, guilt eating at her with each passing second. Tomoyo was
   1.342 +lying in bed in a pink nightgown. She had bandages all down both of
   1.343 +her legs, disappearing up under her nightgown. She had a cast on one
   1.344 +arm. Bandages wrapped around the back of her head. Another square
   1.345 +cloth of bandage was taped over her right eye. She had always known
   1.346 +that Tomoyo was fragile, but seeing Tomoyo like this struck the point
   1.347 +home. But even then, a beautiful smile lay across Tomoyo’s lips as
   1.348 +she entered. Sakura managed to return the smile herself after a
   1.349 +pause, closing the door behind her. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”
   1.350 +The brunette hurried to her friend’s side, looking down at her from
   1.351 +the side of the bed.
   1.352 +	“I’m all right, Sakura-chan. It still hurts a little bit. But I’m
   1.353 +feeling a lot better.” Which was remotely true. She still hurt a lot
   1.354 +and she was only feeling a little better. And she was only feeling
   1.355 +better because Sakura was there. But it was best not to worry Sakura.
   1.356 +It wouldn’t do to have Sakura crying for her. That would just make
   1.357 +her want to cry as well. If Sakura was happy, she felt much better
   1.358 +about life in general. “I’m just glad to see you,” she said softly,
   1.359 +looking at Sakura with the one uncovered stormy blue orb. She felt
   1.360 +her heart skip a beat as Sakura took her free hand in both of her
   1.361 +own. She squeezed softly to reassure her friend, smiling gently up at
   1.362 +her. Sakura seemed deep in thought about something. Tomoyo tilted her
   1.363 +head to the side quizzically, but stopped that when an icy pain shot
   1.364 +down her back.  She simply watched, deciding it was best not to
   1.365 +disturb Sakura while she was busy with her thoughts. 
   1.366 +	A slow smile crossed Sakura’s lips, a determined look glowing in her
   1.367 +eyes. It all managed to set Tomoyo’s heart a flutter, though Sakura
   1.368 +didn’t know it. All she knew was that Tomoyo held onto her hands more
   1.369 +warmly, watched her even more intently. But none of that seemed
   1.370 +important. She knew what she was going to do. “I’ve got it! Tomoyo-
   1.371 +chan, I’m going to make up for this, I promise!” Sakura smiled
   1.372 +happily, squeezing Tomoyo’s soft hand with both of her own. “I’m
   1.373 +going to make you feel better. I finally know how.”
   1.374 +	Tomoyo blinked in surprise. What was Sakura thinking? If she wasn’t
   1.375 +so lost in Sakura’s greatness, she might be able to piece it
   1.376 +together. Okay, Sakura was excited and determined. She wanted to make
   1.377 +Tomoyo feel better. Hmm... So she had some idea on what she wanted to
   1.378 +do. Something that she thought would make things better. Probably
   1.379 +something to do with the Cards. The pieces slowly fell into place as
   1.380 +Tomoyo kept watching Sakura. She found it ironic that Sakura was
   1.381 +trying so hard to fix things for her when all she wanted was to be
   1.382 +there with Sakura. That alone was enough for her. Sakura didn’t have
   1.383 +to do anything. She just had to be there. That was more than enough.
   1.384 +But it was so sweet of Sakura to want to help her. “But Sakura-chan,
   1.385 +you really don’t need to do anything. I’ll be fine,” Tomoyo promised.
   1.386 +	Sakura shook her head, dismissing the silly idea that she didn’t
   1.387 +have to. She still felt like it had been her fault that Tomoyo had
   1.388 +been hurt in the first place. And even if that wasn’t the case,
   1.389 +Tomoyo was her best friend. She couldn’t simply sit by while Tomoyo
   1.390 +was hurting. And Sonomi had seemed so worried. So she had to fix
   1.391 +things. Giving Tomoyo’s hand a last squeeze, she rested it back on
   1.392 +Tomoyo’s stomach. Invoking her staff, Sakura took a step back. “I’m
   1.393 +the world’s most powerful mage now, right?” 
   1.394 +	Tomoyo nodded, smiling. “Hai, no one’s stronger than Sakura-chan!
   1.395 +You can do anything if you put your heart to it!”
   1.396 +	Normally one to be embarrassed by Tomoyo’s statements, Sakura was
   1.397 +too excited to be embarrassed at the moment. “And right now, there’s
   1.398 +nothing more my heart wants to do than to make you feel better. So
   1.399 +I’m going to use all my magic for that. To make you happy.”
   1.400 +	“To make.. me happy?” Tomoyo repeated. Her heart spun at the
   1.401 +thought. Those words were so beautiful. Even if Sakura was attempting
   1.402 +to make her happy through magic, it was simply that she wanted to
   1.403 +make her happy. Tomoyo felt her heart soar. “Arigato, Sakura-chan.
   1.404 +But you do make me happy. You always make me happy.” 
   1.405 +	This time, Sakura did blush faintly, but she was glad to hear
   1.406 +Tomoyo’s words nonetheless. “But I want to do something special for
   1.407 +you. To make you feel better about all this. I want to help. So I’ll
   1.408 +use all my magic to grant your one strongest wish for one week. I
   1.409 +don’t know if I could keep it up any longer than that anyway. But I
   1.410 +know that I can make your wish come true for a little while at
   1.411 +least.” Magic was a tricky thing, and though Sakura had grown rather
   1.412 +proficient with the Sakura Cards, she was still having trouble
   1.413 +getting used to being the strongest magician alive. But that wouldn’t
   1.414 +stop her from making Tomoyo’s dream come true. She had to try. 
   1.415 +	Tomoyo blinked, slowly shaking her head. “Ano... I don’t think
   1.416 +that’s such a good idea, Sakura-chan,” she warned, sweatdropping. She
   1.417 +could see where this was going and she was already worried. Sakura
   1.418 +was the strongest mage on the planet. She could only imagine what
   1.419 +this would do. Sakura didn’t know that she was what Tomoyo wanted
   1.420 +most of all. It didn’t seem like a good idea to rush into this
   1.421 +without knowing how it would work. Sakura still didn’t even know
   1.422 +about Tomoyo’s love for her. She had a bad feeling about this. 
   1.423 +	“Please don’t worry, Tomoyo-chan. You always help me so much. I want
   1.424 +to help you this time.” Sakura smiled brightly at her bedridden
   1.425 +friend, pulling up her staff as she summoned her magic. “What’s the
   1.426 +one thing you wish for more than anything else, Tomoyo-chan?”
   1.427 +	“For Sakura-chan to be happy,” Tomoyo responded simply. 
   1.428 +	“Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura shook her head. That couldn’t be it. But she
   1.429 +should have known Tomoyo would say something like that. Oh well.
   1.430 +She’d just have to grant Tomoyo’s one wish even if Tomoyo wouldn’t
   1.431 +tell her exactly what it was. So she would use all the Cards and all
   1.432 +of her power. Surely that could handle her wish for one week. “Sakura
   1.433 +Cards! Please hear me! Make Tomoyo-chan’s most heartfelt wish come
   1.434 +true for this next week!” The pink Cards swirled around Sakura like a
   1.435 +cyclone, magic lighting the dark room with burning intensity. All of
   1.436 +the Cards lent their magic to Sakura’s command, each adding to the
   1.437 +final spell. 
   1.438 +	And with a last flash of light, it was over. The Sakura Book
   1.439 +clattered to the floor, the Cards tumbling down to Sakura’s feet.
   1.440 +Sakura herself nearly stumbled at first, her magic drained from the
   1.441 +spell and the use of all the Cards at once. She shook her head,
   1.442 +trying to clear her thoughts. She felt... strange. What had just
   1.443 +happened? She felt so dizzy. The brunette quickly took a seat on the
   1.444 +edge of Tomoyo’s bed, trying to get her bearings. She’d been working
   1.445 +some kind of magic spell... But what had happened? She glanced around
   1.446 +the room, but she couldn’t tell any noticeable difference. Something
   1.447 +soft rested on her hand, drawing her attention back to the bed.
   1.448 +Tomoyo held her hand, looking up at her concernedly. Nope, Tomoyo
   1.449 +wasn’t any different. She was still just as pretty as always. Even if
   1.450 +she was injured. Sakura smiled brightly at her friend. For some
   1.451 +reason, she just felt... happy. Everything seemed perfect. Her
   1.452 +emerald eyes sparkled as she looked deeply into Tomoyo’s stormy blue
   1.453 +orb. Tomoyo always did have such lovely eyes. Even if she could only
   1.454 +see one of them. And Tomoyo was always so sweet and gentle and
   1.455 +loving. And she always made Sakura feel so wonderful. And she was
   1.456 +always there to help her when she needed her. And she always said
   1.457 +such sweet thing to her, even if it was embarrassing sometimes.
   1.458 +And... “Hanyaan...” Sakura said at last, sighing happily.
   1.459 +	Tomoyo could only watch for a moment, trying to work out just what
   1.460 +had happened herself. There didn’t seem to be any noticeable
   1.461 +difference except for Sakura herself. She was just staring into her
   1.462 +eyes with a dreamy look and a faint blush on her cheeks. Tomoyo’s
   1.463 +eyes went wide in sudden realization. “Sakura-chan...” It suddenly
   1.464 +made sense. The wish... Tomoyo had been so lonely lately. She loved
   1.465 +Sakura so much. Did this mean... 
   1.466 +	Things were slowly beginning to make sense for Sakura as well. Bits
   1.467 +and pieces of a puzzle that she hadn’t even known was there began to
   1.468 +fit together. It all made a whole picture that she had missed for so
   1.469 +long. Sakura leaned closer, holding tightly onto Tomoyo’s hand as it
   1.470 +became crystal clear. “Tomoyo-chan... I understand now! You said
   1.471 +you’d explain when I was older, but I never understood. All this
   1.472 +time, you’ve been trying to tell me, but I never knew.” A faint blush
   1.473 +colored Sakura’s cheeks as her heart lifted up. Swooping forward,
   1.474 +Sakura hugged her best friend tightly, almost forgetting that she was
   1.475 +still hurt. “I love you, too!” Sakura giggled happily, relishing the
   1.476 +newfound freedom her realization gave her. It was true. She knew
   1.477 +that. And it made sense as she played it over in her mind. Tomoyo had
   1.478 +loved her all this time, and she had never known. But she had loved
   1.479 +Tomoyo as well, only she hadn’t understood her feelings. But now they
   1.480 +were open to her. She felt excited and tranquil and loved all at the
   1.481 +same time. She felt Tomoyo’s good arm rubbing up and down her back
   1.482 +peacefully. Making a small happy sound, Sakura hugged Tomoyo closer.
   1.483 +How could she have missed it for so long? But it didn’t matter. She
   1.484 +knew now. That was the important thing.
   1.485 +	Tomoyo quickly tried to figure out the situation as she found
   1.486 +herself in Sakura’s arms. Was Sakura in love with her for the next
   1.487 +week? She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What an exquisite form
   1.488 +of torture. To have Sakura’s love, albeit magically induced, for one
   1.489 +week. And then she would have to give it up again. But she had to
   1.490 +admit, it felt so wonderful in Sakura’s arms, to hear those words,
   1.491 +even if they were only caused by magic. She sighed softly, resting
   1.492 +her head against Sakura’s shoulder. It felt magical, so soft and
   1.493 +relaxing. Sakura smelled wonderful. But everything about Sakura was
   1.494 +wonderful. She nestled into the crook of Sakura’s neck, her soul lost
   1.495 +in Sakura. “I love you, Sakura-chan.” This would be one tough week.
   1.496 +
   1.497 +
   1.498 +	“Is it done yet?” Kero asked impatiently, his face hovering near
   1.499 +the oven. “I’m so hungry,” he pouted, trying to emphasize his point.
   1.500 +	“It’s not for you anyway,” Sakura said absently, checking over the
   1.501 +directions once more. She wasn’t the best cook in the world and she
   1.502 +knew it, which is why she was trying so hard to follow the directions
   1.503 +precisely. Because although she wasn’t a wonderful cook, Sonomi was,
   1.504 +and the older woman had given her the recipe. And on top of that, she
   1.505 +wanted it to be perfect. And Sonomi has said that Tomoyo hadn’t been
   1.506 +eating much lately, so Sakura had decided to bake something for her.
   1.507 +With Tomoyo stuck in bed, it seemed like the perfect time to bring
   1.508 +her a treat. Tomoyo always brought over such tasty things, obviously
   1.509 +inheriting her mother’s cooking abilities. Sakura paused for a
   1.510 +moment, wondering whether or not her own mother had been good at
   1.511 +cooking. Probably not, she decided. Why would she need to be when
   1.512 +Sonomi made such great things?
   1.513 +	“But I’m HUNGRY,” Kero reiterated, working up some tears for good
   1.514 +measure. “And it smells so good. Just like one of Tomoyo’s mom’s
   1.515 +cakes.” He grinned hungrily, delving back into memories of the
   1.516 +different treats he had tried over the years. But that just made him
   1.517 +hungrier. 
   1.518 +	“You aren’t getting any of it. It’s for Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura said,
   1.519 +holding up a wooden spoon as if to ward Kero away from her precious
   1.520 +cake. Satisfied that she had followed the recipe exactly, Sakura
   1.521 +stepped away from the counter, wiping her hands off on her apron. “It
   1.522 +is one of Sonomi-sama’s cakes. She gave me the recipe yesterday when
   1.523 +I asked what Tomoyo might like to eat.” Smiling happily, she took a
   1.524 +quick glance at the timer and nodded to herself. So far so good. As
   1.525 +soon as she was finished, she could go take it to Tomoyo-chan. She
   1.526 +sighed, placing both hands on her cheeks. She felt so warm inside,
   1.527 +and it had nothing to do with spending so much time in the kitchen.
   1.528 +Finding out how Tomoyo felt about her had brightened every aspect of
   1.529 +her life. She was no longer so confused about her feelings and her
   1.530 +own heart. Before, she had listened to others about what her heart
   1.531 +wanted, unsure of what she wanted herself. But now it all made sense.
   1.532 +She just wanted to be with Tomoyo. More than anything. “Hanyaan...”
   1.533 +she whispered joyously. 
   1.534 +	Everything just made so much more sense now. She had always felt so
   1.535 +good around Tomoyo, but now she knew what it all meant. And the
   1.536 +thought that she’d been so close to the one she loved all this time
   1.537 +left her heart spinning. She wanted to be with the dark haired girl
   1.538 +all the time. She never wanted to leave her side. When she would lie
   1.539 +in bed at night, her last thoughts would be of Tomoyo before she
   1.540 +slipped into a peaceful sleep. Tomoyo was the first thing she thought
   1.541 +about when she got up, usually while hugging her pillow. It was a
   1.542 +poor substitute for her best friend, though. But she had to hug
   1.543 +something, to imagine Tomoyo was with her. And she certainly wasn’t
   1.544 +about to hug her mean older brother. 
   1.545 +	It was amazing how things had changed so quickly. But at the same
   1.546 +time, it didn’t feel like much had changed at all. Tomoyo was just as
   1.547 +warm and loving as she had always been, because she had always loved
   1.548 +her, which Sakura now realized. And Sakura’s feelings were still the
   1.549 +same. She just understood them now. Tomoyo always brought a blush to
   1.550 +her cheeks with some of what she would say. She always made her feel
   1.551 +good inside. She’d always been the most important person in Sakura’s
   1.552 +life. So in many ways, it just felt natural. As if things had finally
   1.553 +taken their proper course. 
   1.554 +	“How long do you plan on letting that thing burn?” Touya asked
   1.555 +curiously, his arms crossed. He watched his little sister blush
   1.556 +furiously and hurry to the oven, nearly dropping the cake as she
   1.557 +pulled it out. 
   1.558 +	Embarrassed, Sakura tried to salvage her slightly burnt cake. Just
   1.559 +how long had she been out of it? Things like this always happened
   1.560 +when she was distracted. But it was so easy to get lost in the
   1.561 +different thoughts and feelings that swept through her heart! At
   1.562 +least Tomoyo understood. And she thought it was cute when Sakura
   1.563 +would daydream like that. Shaking her head, Sakura fought back her
   1.564 +blush as she concentrated on the cake. Of course Tomoyo thought it
   1.565 +was cute. Tomoyo thought everything she did was cute. Her blush
   1.566 +darkened as she realized that line of thought wasn’t helping. She
   1.567 +just hoped Touya would leave the kitchen soon. Being embarrassed was
   1.568 +so much worse when people were around. “Hoe... Now it’s ruined.” 
   1.569 +	Stepping up to the cake dutifully, Kero took a nice long sniff. He
   1.570 +looked at it thoughtfully for a moment before shaking his head. “No,
   1.571 +it’s not ruined. It’s just a little burnt. Put some extra topping on
   1.572 +it and it’ll be fine. It won’t be as good as Tomoyo’s mama’s cakes,
   1.573 +but I still won’t mind having a nice big slice or two,” the Seal
   1.574 +Beast said hopefully.
   1.575 +	Sakura pulled the cake away from Kero, shielding it with her body.
   1.576 +“You still can’t have any of it. I already told you I’d make you
   1.577 +something later.”
   1.578 +	“Then who is it for?” Touya asked, raising an eyebrow. 
   1.579 +	Shaking her head quickly, Sakura sweatdropped. “No one,” she said
   1.580 +quickly, busying herself with lathering on a thick layer of icing on
   1.581 +top of the cake. She shot Kero a glare when she saw half of the
   1.582 +strawberries already eaten. Sighing, she started placing the
   1.583 +remaining ones on the cake. 
   1.584 +	“It’s for Yuki, isn’t it?” Touya asked, grinning. Though he’d been
   1.585 +dating Yukito for some time now, he still teased his younger sister
   1.586 +about him. Besides, he thought, it’s better she have a crush on him
   1.587 +than on the brat. It was easier for him to keep an eye on her that
   1.588 +way. 
   1.589 +	“No, it’s not for Yukito-san,” Sakura said, raising her head as she
   1.590 +continued to place the strawberries in a pattern across the cake. She
   1.591 +felt a happy trill resonate through her heart. She didn’t just have a
   1.592 +crush on somebody. This wasn’t some schoolgirl crush. It wasn’t her
   1.593 +going after someone she couldn’t have. She was making a cake for her
   1.594 +girlfriend. This was for her special someone. And she really, really
   1.595 +wanted to tell Touya that, to wipe that smirk off his face, to show
   1.596 +him that she was dating, too. She bit her lip before she could say
   1.597 +anything, trying to focus on the cake. “It’s for someone very, very
   1.598 +special,” she said, smiling. “It’s to show much I like them,” she
   1.599 +added, her cheeks warming. 
   1.600 +	“It’s not for the brat, is it? Is he back in town?” Touya asked,
   1.601 +trying to mask his concern. 
   1.602 +	“No, it’s not for Syaoran,” Sakura replied, putting the finishing
   1.603 +touches on her cake. “There,” she said proudly, taking a step back to
   1.604 +admire her handiwork. It wasn’t perfect, but it looked pretty. And
   1.605 +maybe Tomoyo wouldn’t taste the burnt part with all the icing she put
   1.606 +on it. She wanted to get it to Tomoyo as soon as possible. Then she
   1.607 +could try to get her to eat. But that was just her ulterior motive.
   1.608 +She just wanted to be with Tomoyo again. Giving her the cake was just
   1.609 +a happy plus.
   1.610 +	“Sugoi!” Kero said excitedly, his beady eyes growing as he looked
   1.611 +at the cake. “It looks so good!” His paw went forward to touch the
   1.612 +icing, but before he could get a hold of it Sakura had pulled it away.
   1.613 +	“Kero-chan, you can’t have any of Tomoyo-chan’s cake,” Sakura
   1.614 +scolded.  She held the cake, ignoring the Seal Beast and his pleading
   1.615 +eyes. It took her a moment to realize two other sets of eyes were on
   1.616 +her as well. She turned slowly, noticing her brother and Yukito
   1.617 +staring at her. Yukito must have entered while they were talking. He
   1.618 +did spend a lot of time over with Touya. Her cheeks darkened quickly
   1.619 +as the sudden realization hit her. She hadn’t meant to say that. She
   1.620 +stared back down at the cake, blushing a deep scarlet.
   1.621 +	“That’s great!” Yukito exclaimed. “Isn’t that cute, To-ya? I knew
   1.622 +you’d find someone special, Sakura-chan. It looks like To-ya had been
   1.623 +right all along. I’m still a little surprised. I didn’t know you
   1.624 +liked girls.” He tilted his head to the side, still smiling. 
   1.625 +	“Thank God,” Touya said in relief, his hands on his face. “I was so
   1.626 +sure you were going to marry the brat. Then I’d always be worrying
   1.627 +about you. I don’t have to worry about Tomoyo-chan. I know she’ll
   1.628 +actually take care of you.”
   1.629 +	Blushing even deeper, Sakura began making her way to the door. It
   1.630 +would’ve been easier if they hadn’t said anything at all. But then,
   1.631 +she had accidentally blurted it out. She hadn’t quite expected Touya
   1.632 +to be so thrilled by the whole thing. But it’s better to have your
   1.633 +family like the one you love, she decided. Whatever the case, she
   1.634 +just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. “I’m gonna go
   1.635 +take Tomoyo-chan her cake,” she said quickly, heading for her roller
   1.636 +blades near the front door. She ignored the rest of their comments as
   1.637 +she slipped them on and hurried outside.
   1.638 +	“I guess I won’t have to worry about her giving me a heart attack
   1.639 +after all,” Touya said thoughtfully. It wasn’t what he’d been
   1.640 +expecting, although he had known Tomoyo was in love with his sister.
   1.641 +And though Yukito thought Syaoran was good for Sakura, he didn’t. He
   1.642 +had always thought Tomoyo would make a much better significant other
   1.643 +for his overemotional younger sister. He looked at the other two in
   1.644 +the kitchen when he got no response. Both Kero and Yukito were
   1.645 +staring at him.
   1.646 +	“I’m hungry,” Kero whined.
   1.647 +	“That cake really did look good,” Yukito added, nodding his
   1.648 +agreement.
   1.649 +	Touya sighed as the two continued to stare at him. Preheating the
   1.650 +oven, he wished Sakura had picked something less edible as a gift for
   1.651 +her sweetheart.
   1.652 +
   1.653 +	“Hi, Tomo...” Sakura cut herself off, a hand going to her mouth as
   1.654 +she watched Tomoyo’s sleeping form in bed. She quietly closed the
   1.655 +door behind her as she stepped into the room. One of the maids had
   1.656 +let her enter. She had been disappointed to find out that Sonomi was
   1.657 +still at work. She had hoped that she could thank her for the recipe.
   1.658 +But there would always be time for that later. She smiled as she
   1.659 +walked to the side of the bed, watching Tomoyo. The pale girl was
   1.660 +beautiful, even in her sleep. Long lavender hair lay spilt about her
   1.661 +pale frame. Bandages still adorned much of her injured body. The
   1.662 +large blankets were pulled up around her, either by a worried mother
   1.663 +or an attentive maid. 
   1.664 +	Setting the cake down on an empty spot on Tomoyo’s desk, Sakura sat
   1.665 +down. The desk was cluttered with all sorts of costume designs and
   1.666 +several sheets of music. But even then, it was organized chaos.
   1.667 +Everything was placed somewhere for a reason. Tomoyo always did have
   1.668 +a good eye for details. It looked like the objects on her desk hadn’t
   1.669 +been touched since the accident. Which made sense because the heiress
   1.670 +couldn’t even get to her desk at the moment. 
   1.671 +	Sitting at the desk, Sakura tried to lay out her options. She could
   1.672 +wake Tomoyo up, but the other girl probably needed her sleep. She
   1.673 +could always go home, but that thought was instantly rejected.
   1.674 +Leaving Tomoyo’s side wasn’t an option she wanted to consider. She
   1.675 +could always just wait for her to wake up. Deciding that was the best
   1.676 +course of action, the brunette looked back to the sleeping girl,
   1.677 +smiling. Tomoyo looked so peaceful now, lost in her own beautiful
   1.678 +dreams. Not at all like the scared, distant look her sleeping face
   1.679 +had held during her stay at the hospital. Shuddering, Sakura rubbed
   1.680 +her shoulders. Tomoyo was better now. That was the important thing. 
   1.681 +	Turning back to the desk, Sakura glanced through some of the sheets
   1.682 +of paper on top of it. Emerald eyes skimmed over some lyrics to a
   1.683 +song Tomoyo was practicing for choir. She probably wouldn’t have the
   1.684 +chance to sing it with the rest of the choir now, though. But maybe
   1.685 +she could still sing it sometime. Sakura always loved to listen to
   1.686 +Tomoyo singing. It was so entrancing to listen to her best friend’s
   1.687 +ethereal voice. She would be the pale girl’s audience. That thought
   1.688 +lifted her mood considerably. Tomoyo had such a gorgeous voice. 
   1.689 +	Setting the music sheet aside, Sakura began to look through
   1.690 +Tomoyo’s costume designs. It was strange looking at pictures of
   1.691 +herself in different costumes. Tomoyo really was a good artist. Each
   1.692 +picture looked just like herself, decked out in some imaginary outfit
   1.693 +that Tomoyo would bring into existence with her own form of magic.
   1.694 +Occasionally she would see Kero in the picture as well, with little
   1.695 +matching outfits to go along with Sakura’s. The brunette was
   1.696 +surprised that Tomoyo could make so many varied costumes. And even
   1.697 +though Sakura had caught the last of the Cards years ago, she still
   1.698 +found herself modeling the costumes for Tomoyo. Which always sent a
   1.699 +certain thrill through her, being Tomoyo’s very special model. She
   1.700 +couldn’t model the way her mother did. She was too embarrassed for
   1.701 +that. But if it was for Tomoyo, then it was okay. Because she felt
   1.702 +safe with Tomoyo. Because she knew that Tomoyo enjoyed it so much.
   1.703 +Because she liked being the center of Tomoyo’s attention. 
   1.704 +	‘Kawaii!’ Sakura thought, pulling up one of the costume designs. It
   1.705 +looked like some sort of living rainbow, something belonging up near
   1.706 +the clouds. She would gladly wear it for the heiress when she
   1.707 +finished it, twirling about it in just as she always did. She could
   1.708 +already imagine Tomoyo’s voice praising her as she hurried to get
   1.709 +shots from different angles. Sweatdropping at the thought, Sakura
   1.710 +continued. The next one was of some kind of fairy. She saw herself in
   1.711 +a small, cute sleeveless dress, with tiny little shoes on and
   1.712 +beautiful butterfly wings. Two little antenna hung from a hair band.
   1.713 +Her ears were a little longer and pointed, giving her an elven
   1.714 +appearance. Now that she looked at it more closely, the antenna
   1.715 +weren’t part of the hair band after all. So maybe not all of Tomoyo’s
   1.716 +costume designs were based in reality. Glancing over to the dark
   1.717 +haired girl’s bed again, Sakura smiled at her. It was sweet to think
   1.718 +the other girl would draw her as a sprite. 
   1.719 +	Flipping to the next one, Sakura could see that it wasn’t quite
   1.720 +finished yet. Parts of the costume were missing. There was only one
   1.721 +thigh high stocking, with plenty of lace at the end. Her other leg
   1.722 +was bare. The skirt was short and looked like it was made of several
   1.723 +layers. Ribbons raced up from the skirt over her bare stomach,
   1.724 +leading up to a large bow at her neck. She had long, frilled gloves
   1.725 +leading up past her elbows. Beautiful ribbons hung from her hair.
   1.726 +There didn’t seem to be any blouse except for the ribbons, and they
   1.727 +didn’t even cover up anything. Sakura blushed at how... detailed it
   1.728 +was. It took her a moment to realize the costume wasn’t half-finished
   1.729 +at all. This was exactly how Tomoyo had planned the costume. She
   1.730 +certainly hadn’t ever worn anything like _that_ before. At first she
   1.731 +didn’t know what to think. It was a surprise to know that Tomoyo
   1.732 +thought about that. About her like that. It gave the thought of
   1.733 +modeling for Tomoyo a new twist. Sakura’s cheeks darkened
   1.734 +considerably. ‘Don’t think like that!’ she chided herself. ‘Tomoyo-
   1.735 +chan probably just... just...’ Her thoughts trailed off. Even if she
   1.736 +could be rather naïve about things, this was rather self-evident. It
   1.737 +really was flattering, in an embarrassing sort of way. And that
   1.738 +really wasn’t new at all, coming from Tomoyo. That helped Sakura get
   1.739 +some sort of grip on the situation. 
   1.740 +	What would it be like to actually wear that for Tomoyo? Somehow she
   1.741 +didn’t think it would be all that different from when she modeled
   1.742 +other costumes for Tomoyo. The heiress would want to take pictures
   1.743 +from every angle, sighing happily and telling Sakura how great she
   1.744 +was the whole time. It was what happened afterwards that would
   1.745 +probably be different. Blushing a cherry red, Sakura pushed the
   1.746 +thought aside. This was no time to be thinking about such things,
   1.747 +while poor Tomoyo was stuck in bed. Or maybe that was the perfect
   1.748 +time to be thinking about it. Sakura shook her head quickly. “Hoe...”
   1.749 +Besides, Tomoyo had been the one to draw it, so it wasn’t like she
   1.750 +was completely innocent there. Glancing back at the bed, Sakura
   1.751 +looked right into a silent, stormy blue orb. Bolting upright, Sakura
   1.752 +stumbled backwards, her ankle catching on the chair leg. Her arms
   1.753 +pinwheeled as she tried to maintain her balance, her heart beating
   1.754 +rapidly in shock. The paper fluttered out of her hand, landing slowly
   1.755 +on the floor between the two of them. Sakura barely managed to keep
   1.756 +her balance, grasping onto the chair. “Tomoyo-chan!” she said
   1.757 +quickly, her eyes wide. The other girl had been completely silent,
   1.758 +leaving Sakura completely unaware to her presence. “You’re awake!”
   1.759 +she stated obviously. Laughing nervously, she put a hand behind her
   1.760 +head. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
   1.761 +	The dark haired girl bent down, wincing slightly as her injured body
   1.762 +moved. Reaching down, she picked up the piece of paper, being careful
   1.763 +not to crumple it. She still wanted to finish it one of those days.
   1.764 +Sitting back in bed with the paper, she simply smiled at the
   1.765 +Cardmistress. “I like watching Sakura-chan,” she said matter-of-
   1.766 +factly. “When I woke up, I saw that you were here. I was so happy to
   1.767 +see you. I just wanted to lie there and watch you for as long as I
   1.768 +could. You’re much better to watch in person than in any of my
   1.769 +videos. I can only capture your image and your sound. I can’t capture
   1.770 +that wonderfully genki spark that is Sakura-chan.”
   1.771 +	“Arigato, Tomoyo-chan,” Sakura said, blushing from the praise. She
   1.772 +cast her eyes down for a moment, standing in silence. Her eyes slowly
   1.773 +returned to the paper that Tomoyo had on her lap. “Ano...” she began
   1.774 +nervously. “What’s that costume for?” 
   1.775 +	“This one? I have a cat one that I’m working on, too. It’s from
   1.776 +the ‘Sekushi Sakura-chan Collection’ I’m working on,” Tomoyo replied
   1.777 +excitedly, as she always did when talking about her Sakura costumes. 
   1.778 +	“But why?” Sakura asked, sweatdropping. 
   1.779 +	Tomoyo smiled happily. “Because Sakura-chan’s getting older. So
   1.780 +someday she’s going to want to do more adult things. And when you do,
   1.781 +I want to have costumes ready for you to use. Costumes are for
   1.782 +special occasions. Catching Cards aren’t the only good occasions for
   1.783 +them,” the heiress explained, watching Sakura’s growing blush.
   1.784 +	“That sounds like you’d need to take videotape, too,” Sakura
   1.785 +replied, her cheeks red.
   1.786 +	“Lots of videotape,” Tomoyo agreed, nodding. 
   1.787 +	“Oh, I almost forgot!” Sakura turned, grabbing the cake. Whether she
   1.788 +was just changing the subject or if she’d honestly gotten caught up
   1.789 +in something else wasn’t certain. “I made this for you. It’s from
   1.790 +Sonomi-sama’s recipe.” She held out the cake for the dark haired girl
   1.791 +to see, walking closer to the bed. “I left it in the oven a little
   1.792 +too long, though. I hope it still tastes all right.” She sighed,
   1.793 +still a little disappointed that she had made that mistake. She had
   1.794 +so wanted it to come out perfectly for Tomoyo.
   1.795 +	“It’s lovely, Sakura-chan!” Tomoyo stated happily, taking a long
   1.796 +look at the cake before looking up to the even more lovely cake
   1.797 +bearer. She smiled sweetly. “I’m sure it will be great. Even if it
   1.798 +isn’t perfect, I wouldn’t trade it for a cake made by the world’s
   1.799 +best pastry chef. Because it doesn’t matter if things are perfect.
   1.800 +What matters is that you made it. Even those little imperfections are
   1.801 +filled with your love and care. That’s what makes it so delicious.”
   1.802 +She could see that Sakura didn’t completely believe her yet, so she
   1.803 +continued. “It’s like when you made that yukata for Li-kun. You
   1.804 +didn’t know how to sew very well, but you tried your hardest anyway.
   1.805 +Even though it wasn’t perfect, it didn’t matter. Because you had gone
   1.806 +through all that trouble to make it. Everything we do, we leave a
   1.807 +piece of our hearts in. Everything we touch has a little bit of us.
   1.808 +So something that you put your heart into means the world to me.
   1.809 +Because it has little bits of Sakura-chan’s soul mixed in.”
   1.810 +	Sakura thought this over for a moment before nodding. “Like your
   1.811 +costumes,” she said at last. Tomoyo had always put so much loving
   1.812 +care into her costumes, making each and every one for Sakura to wear.
   1.813 +But the costumes weren’t important alone. It was that Tomoyo had made
   1.814 +them specifically for her, that she had spent all that time on them,
   1.815 +just so she could wear them. That made Sakura feel a lot better about
   1.816 +the cake, even with the imperfections. It suddenly didn’t matter so
   1.817 +much that she had made the mistake. She smiled brightly as she set
   1.818 +the cake back down. “Let me go get some plates.”
   1.819 +
   1.820 +	The two girls sat together on Tomoyo’s bed, eating slices of
   1.821 +Sakura’s cake. They had decided to leave a slice for Sonomi to try
   1.822 +later, as a thank you for the recipe. To Sakura’s delight, it had
   1.823 +turned out pretty well, the frosting masking the slightly burnt
   1.824 +parts. She was glad to see Tomoyo eating. Sonomi had been very
   1.825 +worried about her daughter not eating, so Sakura was glad to do her
   1.826 +part to get something in Tomoyo’s stomach.
   1.827 +	The pale girl took a small bite of Sakura’s beautiful cake, her eyes
   1.828 +never wandering far from the girl she loved. She let the sweet flavor
   1.829 +roll across her tongue. She hadn’t been very hungry lately, but she
   1.830 +couldn’t resist having a piece of Sakura’s cake, especially if Sakura
   1.831 +was right there with her. She sighed happily, taking a small bite of
   1.832 +one of the strawberries. The knowledge that it was made for her by
   1.833 +Sakura followed every delicious bite. Sakura scooted closer to her on
   1.834 +the bed, eating her own slice of cake. She could tell that Sakura was
   1.835 +watching her. It was like a beautiful dream to have Sakura’s eyes on
   1.836 +her. “It’s very good, Sakura-chan.”
   1.837 +	Sakura smiled at Tomoyo’s comment. Finally seeing Tomoyo eating the
   1.838 +cake, hearing that she liked it, it made the whole process of making
   1.839 +it worthwhile. It had all led up to this point. Just like her life
   1.840 +had led up to this point, as if everything had built up to this
   1.841 +moment in time with Tomoyo. Sure, it had taken a few twists to get
   1.842 +there, but everything had worked out in the end. And she could have
   1.843 +her fairy tale ending. They both could. She took another bite of her
   1.844 +cake, feeling excited about the future, the possibilities, and most
   1.845 +importantly, the here and now. 
   1.846 +	‘Please don’t look at me that way. Please don’t taunt me like this,
   1.847 +Sakura-chan. Because I don’t know if I could ever resist you. And
   1.848 +when this is all over, when that look fades from your eyes, the sun
   1.849 +will stop shining on my world,’ Tomoyo thought desperately. Sakura
   1.850 +was looking at her with such love and adoration in her eyes, an
   1.851 +unbridled passion that she had never seen before in those emerald
   1.852 +gems. It was exactly what she had always wished to see, a love as
   1.853 +deep and endless as her own. But now it was frightening. It would be
   1.854 +gone before she could ever fully taste their depths. It would be
   1.855 +taken from her in the blink of an eye. 
   1.856 +	Which left Tomoyo with a very difficult decision. How should she
   1.857 +take this? Sakura had given her the most precious gift she could
   1.858 +imagine, her warm and beautiful heart. But soon she would have to
   1.859 +give it back, to part from it. And that seemed unbearable. But she
   1.860 +would have to. She understood that. But in the meantime, Sakura loved
   1.861 +her. For now, she had the love she had always longed for. Could she
   1.862 +give in to it? Was it right to? Sakura’s love was only magic, a work
   1.863 +of Sakura’s Cards. Would she be taking advantage of Sakura if she
   1.864 +allowed herself to get closer to the Cardmistress while she had this
   1.865 +chance? Or should she just wait it out, not allowing anything to
   1.866 +happen in the next week for Sakura’s sake? It was a maddening
   1.867 +question. Her heart and mind were torn in completely different
   1.868 +directions. She didn’t want to give in to Sakura’s love only to have
   1.869 +it taken away. She didn’t want to use Sakura’s well intentioned wish
   1.870 +to fill her own lonely heart. It didn’t seem right to be in a
   1.871 +relationship with Sakura when it was all simply done by Sakura’s
   1.872 +magic. On the other hand, the brunette had given this gift to her,
   1.873 +wanting her to be happy. It would be a shame to not accept Sakura’s
   1.874 +gift. She had always known that one day Sakura would fall in love
   1.875 +with another. At least she could have a week full of memories of
   1.876 +their time together, memories of being loved by Sakura, right? And so
   1.877 +her heart continued its tug of war as she finished her slice of cake.
   1.878 +It had been delicious, but now it was all gone. Just like this would
   1.879 +be. She set the plate to the side, folding her hands on her lap.
   1.880 +	Unaware of Tomoyo’s troubled thoughts, Sakura finished her own slice
   1.881 +of cake. She went back to watching Tomoyo, trying to decide what to
   1.882 +say. Her heart moved this way and that, swaying about. There were so
   1.883 +many feelings inside of her, all meshing and struggling to come
   1.884 +forth. She wanted to tell Tomoyo, to explain them all, to hold them
   1.885 +out to her, but she couldn’t find the words. After a moment of
   1.886 +hesitation, she leant forward swiftly, hugging the pale girl tightly.
   1.887 +Tomoyo seemed surprised by Sakura’s sudden move, but Sakura just
   1.888 +continued to hold onto her. “Tomoyo-chan!” She could feel Tomoyo’s
   1.889 +soft lavender hair brushing past her cheek, tickling her. “I love you
   1.890 +so much!” She closed her eyes tightly, blushing a bit as she held
   1.891 +onto the heiress. It was the best way she could think of to express
   1.892 +the feelings surging through her heart.
   1.893 +	Tomoyo felt a thundering heartbeat against her breast, but she
   1.894 +couldn’t tell if it was Sakura’s heartbeat or her own. She could feel
   1.895 +Sakura’s arms holding her tightly, encircling her in their warmth.
   1.896 +This was where she had wanted to be for so long, in Sakura’s arms.
   1.897 +She closed her eyes, giving in, at least for the moment. It was too
   1.898 +much to fight off both her own love and Sakura’s, no matter how
   1.899 +magically induced the latter may be. Leaning into the brunette,
   1.900 +Tomoyo curled up against her beloved. Her head slid down against
   1.901 +Sakura’s chest, her hands resting against Sakura’s stomach. She
   1.902 +listened intently to the beat of the Cardmistress’s heart, her stormy
   1.903 +blue eyes closing. Her concerns faded away like a child’s bad dream
   1.904 +when in her mother’s arms. “Please don’t ever let me go,” Tomoyo
   1.905 +pleaded quietly.
   1.906 +	Resting her chin on the top of Tomoyo’s head, Sakura sighed softly.
   1.907 +All the chaotic feelings in her heart were still there, but Tomoyo
   1.908 +soothed them, calming them, bringing them all together. She suddenly
   1.909 +wasn’t so worried about trying to describe them to Tomoyo. Tomoyo was
   1.910 +always so good about understanding her heart. She felt that she
   1.911 +didn’t need to say it all out loud. It was there. They could both
   1.912 +feel it. “I won’t,” Sakura promised, wishing with all her heart that
   1.913 +she could prove it, prove that she would hold onto her forever and
   1.914 +ever. 
   1.915 +
   1.916 +	“It’s so beautiful,” Tomoyo whispered. It was snowing lightly,
   1.917 +small white crystals dancing their way through the air around her.
   1.918 +Some settled in her long, lavender hair, others dropping gingerly
   1.919 +onto her lap. She felt Sakura’s hands on her shoulders from behind
   1.920 +and turned to smile at the Cardmistress. Sakura had come over earlier
   1.921 +that day and Sonomi had suggested that Sakura take Tomoyo outside for
   1.922 +a bit. Tomoyo still couldn’t get very far on her own, so Sakura was
   1.923 +pushing her in a wheelchair. The heiress didn’t mind relying on
   1.924 +Sakura for her mobility. It meant she couldn’t be far from the girl
   1.925 +she loved. And that was perfectly fine by her.
   1.926 +	Returning Tomoyo’s smile, Sakura watched the snowflakes falling
   1.927 +about her dark haired friend. ‘She’s so beautiful,’ Sakura thought to
   1.928 +herself, her fingers trailing through some lavender curls. She sighed
   1.929 +happily her arms wrapping around Tomoyo’s shoulders. 
   1.930 +	Tomoyo blushed faintly, her heartbeat quickening in her chest.
   1.931 +Having Sakura so close, holding her so lovingly, it was a dream come
   1.932 +true. Despite the snow surrounding them, the heiress felt warm
   1.933 +inside. Reaching up with her good hand, she rested it on one of
   1.934 +Sakura’s arms. She held onto it as if to keep Sakura from ever
   1.935 +releasing her hold on her. She felt so peaceful like this, alone with
   1.936 +Sakura. If only it could always be this was... She closed her eyes,
   1.937 +ceasing that thought. There was only now. There was only Sakura. She
   1.938 +rested back into the brunette’s loving embrace. 
   1.939 +	“Tomoyo-chan, when you get better, let’s go rollerblading together,
   1.940 +okay?” Sakura asked suddenly, her eyes lighting up. She shifted
   1.941 +against Tomoyo, leaning over enough to see the other girl’s pale
   1.942 +face. It seemed like such a good idea. She wanted to do everything
   1.943 +with Tomoyo, to spend every moment with her, to share everything with
   1.944 +her. Rollerblading had always been fun for her and it seemed even
   1.945 +better with Tomoyo. And why not? Yukito and Touya were always off on
   1.946 +long bike rides together. Or so Touya said. 
   1.947 +	Tomoyo’s stormy blue eyes met Sakura’s shining emeralds. A sad
   1.948 +smile crossed her lips. That was so sweet of Sakura to want to share
   1.949 +that with her. But by then, it would be too late. They wouldn’t be
   1.950 +going together as a couple. They would just be two friends again by
   1.951 +the time Tomoyo was better. But nonetheless, she found herself
   1.952 +nodding. She couldn’t bear to disappoint Sakura. And it would still
   1.953 +be fun to skate with her, even if it wouldn’t be the same. “Hai, I’d
   1.954 +like that, Sakura-chan,” the dark haired girl replied softly.
   1.955 +	Sakura smiled brightly at Tomoyo’s response. “Sugoi!” She hugged
   1.956 +the wheelchair bound girl even tighter. “That will be fun! I’ll teach
   1.957 +you how to rollerblade. It’s really not that hard. And you’re always
   1.958 +so good at everything, so you’ll pick it up in no time.”
   1.959 +	“But now I have incentive not to learn how. If I don’t learn to
   1.960 +skate on my own, I have to keep holding onto Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo
   1.961 +reasoned thoughtfully, her bandaged head tilted to the side. Why
   1.962 +would she want to learn how to skate when it was so much more fun to
   1.963 +have Sakura skate around with her? It was like learning how to dance
   1.964 +on your own. Why let go of your partner?
   1.965 +	Blushing profusely at Tomoyo’s words, Sakura looked down. That
   1.966 +didn’t help avert her gaze from the dark haired girl, though, as the
   1.967 +heiress was so close to her, taking up all of her attention. Still
   1.968 +blushing, she rested her head against Tomoyo’s soft shoulder. “Ano...
   1.969 +We.. we can still hold hands... Even if you do learn.”
   1.970 +	Resting her head against Sakura’s, Tomoyo nodded slowly. “Learning
   1.971 +to skate, with Sakura-chan as my beautiful teacher... Watching you
   1.972 +move about so gracefully in your rollerblades, trying to help me
   1.973 +learn how to use them, it sounds so cute!” The heiress sighed
   1.974 +dreamily, already imagining it. Of course, the idea of rollerblading
   1.975 +was far from her mind. It was simply doing anything with Sakura hand
   1.976 +in hand that left her breathless. She could feel Sakura’s heart
   1.977 +beating against her back. Listening to its lovely rhythm, Tomoyo
   1.978 +began to breathe slowly along with it, their hearts beating in
   1.979 +tandem.  Tomoyo’s heart called out to Sakura’s with each staccato
   1.980 +beat. She could feel Sakura’s warm cheek against her neck as Sakura
   1.981 +blushed. That only managed to lift her spirits even higher. Sakura’s
   1.982 +blush felt as cute as it looked. She rested into it, blushing
   1.983 +herself. The hot skin against her neck sent a shiver through her
   1.984 +body. She held her breath, almost afraid the moment would end if she
   1.985 +made any sudden moves. She wanted to hold onto it as long as
   1.986 +possible. 
   1.987 +	Still a little embarrassed, Sakura finally pulled away. She didn’t
   1.988 +notice Tomoyo’s soft sigh as she stood back up, brushing away her
   1.989 +auburn hair. Smiling enthusiastically, she stepped in front of
   1.990 +Tomoyo’s wheelchair. “Do we have all the things for our snowman?” she
   1.991 +asked curiously. 
   1.992 +	“Hai!” Tomoyo responded, lifting up the small bundle she had with
   1.993 +her. “But we could always just dress up Sakura-chan instead. You’re
   1.994 +much cuter than anything made of snow.” She simply smiled as the
   1.995 +blush returned to Sakura's cheeks. How could she possibly not love
   1.996 +the auburn haired girl? She was just so perfect. 
   1.997 +	“Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura got out nervously, a hand resting behind
   1.998 +her head. She didn’t know if it was more embarrassing that Tomoyo
   1.999 +said such things or that she honestly meant them. But it was way too
  1.1000 +cold out to let Tomoyo dress her up instead of a snowman. Not that
  1.1001 +she would choose that option anyway, right. ‘Hoe...’ Sakura shook her
  1.1002 +head, closing her eyes as she tried to clear her thoughts. When she
  1.1003 +opened her eyes, she saw Tomoyo still smiling at her, watching her
  1.1004 +with that loving gaze she always had. And Sakura wasn’t so worried
  1.1005 +anymore. “We’ll make the cutest snowman we can.”
  1.1006 +	Nodding her agreement, Tomoyo began to shift through the small bag,
  1.1007 +pulling out little articles for their snowman. She sighed sadly,
  1.1008 +placing a hand on her cheek. “Our poor little snowman won’t be able
  1.1009 +to be on video with Sakura-chan. And worse yet, I can’t record Sakura-
  1.1010 +chan making a snowman in the first place.”
  1.1011 +	Sakura laughed nervously. “It’s all right, Tomoyo-chan. I don’t
  1.1012 +think the snowman will mind,” she said reassuringly.
  1.1013 +	“But you look so cute playing in the snow!” Tomoyo insisted,
  1.1014 +watching her friend kneeling in the snow in front of her. That would
  1.1015 +make such a cute image on videotape, something to play over and over
  1.1016 +again. What sweet torture this was! She had Sakura’s love for a whole
  1.1017 +week, but she couldn’t record a single second of it because she had
  1.1018 +yet to replace her camcorder. In the end, it would be like one long,
  1.1019 +beautiful dream. It was probably better that she couldn’t have
  1.1020 +videotape of it. It was brought about by magic. It wasn’t really her
  1.1021 +Sakura to have. So it would only be recording a charade. But if it
  1.1022 +was just a charade, it would be so much easier to ignore Sakura’s
  1.1023 +affections. It didn’t feel like that. Sakura felt so genuine, as if
  1.1024 +it was really her and not some magic spell causing this. ‘So this is
  1.1025 +what it would be like to have her love? It’s better than I could have
  1.1026 +ever imagined,’ Tomoyo thought to herself. ‘Sakura’s love is magical.’
  1.1027 +	Sakura, meanwhile, was getting over her embarrassment by starting
  1.1028 +the snowman, scooping the snow together into some vague shape. She
  1.1029 +looked up to see Tomoyo still watching her from her wheelchair. This
  1.1030 +didn’t seem right. She knew that Tomoyo liked to watch her, but she
  1.1031 +wanted to do this together. Looking from the beginnings of her
  1.1032 +snowman and back to Tomoyo, she thought for a moment. Standing up,
  1.1033 +the auburn haired girl wiped her hands off on her skirt. The snow
  1.1034 +continued to drift around them, beautiful pieces of clouds falling
  1.1035 +from above. Sakura took a step forward before pausing, trying to
  1.1036 +decide exactly what to do. She reached forward and paused again,
  1.1037 +still unsure of herself. Tomoyo’s eye caught her own, looking at her
  1.1038 +with a look of complete faith. That strengthened her resolve.
  1.1039 +Reaching forward, Sakura gently wrapped her arms around Tomoyo’s
  1.1040 +waist. She could feel Tomoyo so close to her, could feel her breath
  1.1041 +against her cheek. Tomoyo felt so soft, so fragile. Sakura was almost
  1.1042 +afraid she would break the heiress if she moved wrong. Getting a
  1.1043 +better grip, the Cardmistress lifeted her best friend, walking back
  1.1044 +to the start of her snowman.
  1.1045 +	Tomoyo’s breath caught in her chest as she felt Sakura holding her
  1.1046 +tightly, carrying her. Her cheeks flushed as she rested in Sakura’s
  1.1047 +arms. For a moment, she worried that Sakura would feel the frenzied
  1.1048 +beating of her heart. But then it dawned on her that Sakura’s heart
  1.1049 +was beating just as rapidly against her. Sakura’s arms protected her
  1.1050 +from everything in life, shielding her from everything but the warmth
  1.1051 +of her heart. She held on as well as she could with her working arm,
  1.1052 +feeling dizzy with the joy bubbling over in her heart. She didn’t
  1.1053 +want it to stop ever, to ever be anywhere else but Sakura’s warm
  1.1054 +embrace. There was no place sweeter in Heaven or on earth than that
  1.1055 +wonderful spot nestled between Sakura’s outstretched arms. 
  1.1056 +	Sakura paused for a long moment, Tomoyo held tightly in her arms.
  1.1057 +She pulled her closer, her eyes falling closed. The heiress’s long,
  1.1058 +beautiful hair fluttered around her like a cloak. “Tomoyo-chan,”
  1.1059 +Sakura thought she whispered. She slowly sat down in the snow with
  1.1060 +Tomoyo, not letting go of the pale girl in her grasp. She couldn’t
  1.1061 +bring herself to pull away. It felt so nice to be so close to Tomoyo.
  1.1062 +To know that Tomoyo was right there with her, that their hearts were
  1.1063 +beating together. She didn’t want that to stop. Blushing, she brushed
  1.1064 +back some of Tomoyo’s silky hair so that she could see her face
  1.1065 +better. Tomoyo looked back at her, little strands of lavender framing
  1.1066 +her pretty face as their eyes met. Sakura brushed more hair away,
  1.1067 +Tomoyo still cradled against her. This time, her fingers lingered on
  1.1068 +Tomoyo’s soft cheek. They stayed there for a long time, reveling in
  1.1069 +the feel of her friend’s warm skin. She swallowed, trying to stop the
  1.1070 +spinning of her heart. It did little to help. She was drawn in my
  1.1071 +Tomoyo’s beautiful features, by the feelings in her heart.
  1.1072 +	Tomoyo gazed into Sakura’s eyes, her cheeks scarlet under Sakura’s
  1.1073 +touch. She breathed slowly, simply watching her green eyed goddess.
  1.1074 +Her soul swirled inside of her in a cacophony of emotions, wanting to
  1.1075 +entwine with Sakura’s beautiful soul.  Was she really awake? Was she
  1.1076 +dreaming? Did it matter? For so long, she had dreamt of this moment,
  1.1077 +of being this close to Sakura, of being together. This single moment
  1.1078 +made those dreams feel like nothing. She could feel Sakura’s warm
  1.1079 +breath against her skin, her fingers still pressed against her cheek.
  1.1080 +Her heart cried out in joy. This was it. This was her what she had
  1.1081 +been wishing for through the years of their friendship. Sakura was
  1.1082 +almost upon her, their lips inches apart, their bodies together in
  1.1083 +the snow. Tomoyo could barely move, though whether that was from her
  1.1084 +injured body or the spell Sakura held on her, she couldn’t say. Her
  1.1085 +cheeks darkened as Sakura finally cupped her cheek, leaning in. 
  1.1086 +	Sakura leant in, her heart pounding inside of her as she kissed
  1.1087 +Tomoyo. She felt lush hair under her lips, shifting against her. She
  1.1088 +blinked curiously, pulling back slightly. Tomoyo was looking to the
  1.1089 +side, her cheeks crimson and her hair shifting around her. “Tomoyo-
  1.1090 +chan?” Sakura asked sheepishly. She had been about to kiss her best
  1.1091 +friend. But she loved Tomoyo. She did want to kiss her. She felt
  1.1092 +disappointed that she hadn’t been able to. She wanted to feel
  1.1093 +Tomoyo’s lips, to pull her close again. ‘Hanyaa...’ she thought,
  1.1094 +blushing.
  1.1095 +	“So shall we get started?” Tomoyo asked her friend, smiling
  1.1096 +sweetly. But inside, she felt very different. Her thoughts spun
  1.1097 +around in circles, relief mixing with deep regret. She had missed out
  1.1098 +on a dream she had carried with her for years, to kiss her beloved
  1.1099 +Sakura. But she just couldn’t bring herself to take advantage of
  1.1100 +Sakura like that. The auburn haired girl had wanted to make her feel
  1.1101 +better. She hadn’t known that she would fall in love with Tomoyo
  1.1102 +because of it. Tomoyo didn’t feel right taking a kiss from Sakura if
  1.1103 +the brunette was a victim of her own magic. But still, her heart
  1.1104 +longed for that sweet kiss, the feel of Sakura near her again. As it
  1.1105 +is, she could barely move away at all anyway. So she was stuck right
  1.1106 +next to a very loving Sakura. That wasn’t fair. It was so tempting to
  1.1107 +just give in, to immerse herself in Sakura’s love for the week. But
  1.1108 +she just couldn’t do that to Sakura. She sighed inwardly.
  1.1109 +	The Cardmistress slowly nodded in agreement, still confused. Hadn’t
  1.1110 +they been about to kiss? What happened? Sakura felt as if she was
  1.1111 +missing some vital link,. It was like she had seen some pictures out
  1.1112 +of order. It didn’t make sense. Maybe it was just Tomoyo being
  1.1113 +eccentric again. But that didn’t really fit. Tomoyo’s eccentricity
  1.1114 +always had to do with being closer to her in some way, especially in
  1.1115 +loving ways. Like kissing. Sakura came back to the present as she
  1.1116 +felt Tomoyo shifting on her lap. Sweatdropping, she slowly helped the
  1.1117 +other girl to her side. “Un!” she responded, nodding. Trying to
  1.1118 +ignore the past few moments, which was incredibly hard to forget, she
  1.1119 +began to shovel more snow onto the snowman with her gloved hands.
  1.1120 +Tomoyo slowly began to help her with her free hand, adding to their
  1.1121 +snowman. 
  1.1122 +	The two worked together quietly on their snowman, both girls
  1.1123 +concentrating on it. Every once in a while, their hands would touch
  1.1124 +and linger before one or the other would slowly pull away. They
  1.1125 +shared warm smiles and long glances, soft giggles and comments on
  1.1126 +their snowman as it progressed. The snow slowly began to take shape
  1.1127 +under their collective hands, forming into a cute little snowman
  1.1128 +before them. 
  1.1129 +	Looking through the little bag next to her, Tomoyo began to cloth
  1.1130 +their little snowman. She wrapped a shawl around it, tying red
  1.1131 +ribbons around the arms. Sakura busied herself with the shiny buttons
  1.1132 +Tomoyo had decided on for the eyes. Finally satisfied with their
  1.1133 +work, Tomoyo sat back in the snow, smiling. She gazed over at Sakura,
  1.1134 +brushing some dark hair from her eyes. “It’s so kawaii. Our little
  1.1135 +snowman, formed from our hearts coming together. It’s like having a
  1.1136 +baby with Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo said delightedly.
  1.1137 +	“Tomoyo-chan!” Sakura blushed a deep crimson, both hands going to
  1.1138 +her cheeks. A baby? She wasn’t ready to think about babies yet. She
  1.1139 +looked down, blushing. A weight rested against her side, something
  1.1140 +long draping across her back. Forgetting all about her embarrassment,
  1.1141 +she looked over to find Tomoyo leaning against her side. Smiling
  1.1142 +softly, Sakura’s arm went around the pale girl, pulling her closer.
  1.1143 +She felt Tomoyo sigh happily against her, sending a trill through her
  1.1144 +soul. Together they sat there, watching their snowbaby, holding onto
  1.1145 +each other. Snowflakes fell around the two, showering them with
  1.1146 +beautiful crystal gifts for their baby shower.
  1.1147 +
  1.1148 +	Sakura sighed softly as she slid into the warm water of the bath.
  1.1149 +She nearly started at the nearly unbearable heat scorching her skin,
  1.1150 +but slowly relaxed into it. “I was out in the snow longer than I
  1.1151 +thought,” she said aloud to no one in particular, her voice echoing
  1.1152 +through the otherwise empty bathroom.  
  1.1153 +	Closing her eyes, she slipped deeper into the water, its soft caress
  1.1154 +lapping over her shoulders. She would be lucky if she didn’t catch a
  1.1155 +cold from all the time she spent in the snow. But it had been worth
  1.1156 +every moment. Her cheeks darkened slightly at the thought. She had
  1.1157 +lost track of time with Tomoyo by her side. Just how long had they
  1.1158 +sat out there together, anyway? It could only have been hours, but it
  1.1159 +had felt like it stretched on for days. Even then, it still wasn’t
  1.1160 +enough time for the Cardmistress. She pouted, resting her head back. 
  1.1161 +“Tomoyo-chan...” Sakura whispered longingly. Whenever they were
  1.1162 +apart, Tomoyo was all that she could think about. But then, Tomoyo
  1.1163 +was all she could think about when she was with the heiress, too. It
  1.1164 +was like Tomoyo’s touch had been imprinted on her soul, leaving its
  1.1165 +mark in everything Sakura did. 
  1.1166 +	How she could have missed these feelings for so long, she didn’t
  1.1167 +know. But now that she had uncovered them, they were almost
  1.1168 +overpowering. 
  1.1169 +	As she lay there, immersed in the warm water, she could see Tomoyo
  1.1170 +in her mind’s eye. The sweet, angelic girl so close, her stormy blue
  1.1171 +eyes sparkling, her pale skin so soft, her dark hair framing her
  1.1172 +beautifully. Without realizing it, Sakura leant forward, her lips
  1.1173 +puckered as if to kiss her pretty best friend. Blushing and blinking
  1.1174 +rapidly, the auburn haired girl gave up her attempt. A sigh escaped
  1.1175 +her as she sunk lower in the water. They had been so close! Just a
  1.1176 +few more inches and she would know what those cute lips felt like
  1.1177 +against her own, what it felt like to kiss Tomoyo. If only she could
  1.1178 +go back in time and get those extra few inches... The love in her
  1.1179 +heart was glowing with a singular intensity, nearly ready to burst.
  1.1180 +She felt like that love had nowhere else to go but through her lips,
  1.1181 +right into Tomoyo, as if she could use that to show the other girl
  1.1182 +the raging feelings inside of her. 
  1.1183 +	Well, there would always be other times. But she didn’t want to
  1.1184 +wait for some other time! Patience wasn’t Sakura’s strong point. Her
  1.1185 +mind delighted in the sweet torture of imagining kissing a slightly
  1.1186 +surprised Tomoyo over and over again. She sighed again. So close, yet
  1.1187 +so far away. Those inches might well have been miles. 
  1.1188 +	All she wanted to do was to hold Tomoyo close, to kiss her
  1.1189 +repeatedly, to feel the pale girl against her again, to experience
  1.1190 +every unique little thing about her, to take it all in and immerse
  1.1191 +herself in it all. 
  1.1192 +	The only thing troubling her was that she still couldn’t understand
  1.1193 +why Tomoyo had withdrawn from her when she had been about to kiss the
  1.1194 +heiress. Tomoyo was usually so warm and affectionate with her. She’d
  1.1195 +almost expected the pale girl to kiss her instead. So what had gone
  1.1196 +wrong? Maybe Tomoyo had just been too shy. But that didn’t seem like
  1.1197 +the other girl at all. Tomoyo certainly didn’t shy away from showing
  1.1198 +her love in any number of other ways.
  1.1199 +	Sakura couldn’t get her mind off of the thought. Her mind spun with
  1.1200 +possibilities. But none of them adequately explained why Tomoyo would
  1.1201 +have turned away from her. None of them seemed quite right. None of
  1.1202 +them really fit Tomoyo. 
  1.1203 +	Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be anything she could do about
  1.1204 +it from where she was. But maybe if she tried again, whatever had
  1.1205 +gone wrong the last time wouldn’t be present. Or maybe it would and
  1.1206 +Sakura could actually figure out what it was. It felt like some
  1.1207 +complicated puzzle, but the answer shone brightly in her mind. She
  1.1208 +would kiss Tomoyo soon, sealing their love with a soul binding kiss.
  1.1209 +“Hanyaan...” she said aloud at the thought. 
  1.1210 +	The reason that it was getting to her the most was that she truly
  1.1211 +did want to kiss her dark haired friend, to be next to her, holding
  1.1212 +her, feeling her delicate skin against her own. She wanted to hold
  1.1213 +onto Tomoyo and to never let go again. To experience every little bit
  1.1214 +of her eccentric best friend.
  1.1215 +	Her eyes closed, Sakura slid deeper into the water. A hand slid down
  1.1216 +her leg, hesitant. But her insistent thoughts were getting the better
  1.1217 +of her. She could already see herself kissing Tomoyo in her mind,
  1.1218 +could practically feel the pale girl next to her. She could see
  1.1219 +Tomoyo’s pale skin as clothes seemed to melt away, their lips meeting
  1.1220 +again and again. Tomoyo’s costume design returned to mind, her cheeks
  1.1221 +warming at the thought. She could see Tomoyo watching her excitedly,
  1.1222 +videotaping her, telling her how cute she was. And she could see
  1.1223 +Tomoyo coming closer, setting the camcorder down, kissing her again,
  1.1224 +her hands going across Sakura’s barely clothed body.
  1.1225 +	Sakura made a small sound, shifting in the water. Her legs spread
  1.1226 +apart, water splashing about her. Her hands were moving in time with
  1.1227 +her thoughts, making it almost like Tomoyo was actually with her for
  1.1228 +a split second. She could almost feel Tomoyo's hands caressing her
  1.1229 +skin, Tomoyo’s soft voice echoing in her ears as the heiress became
  1.1230 +more insistent. She held herself open for a moment, almost expecting
  1.1231 +Tomoyo to accept the invitation. And the Tomoyo in her thoughts did
  1.1232 +just that, Sakura’s fingers mimicking her friend’s imaginary
  1.1233 +movements. 
  1.1234 +	Hunched over in the bath, Sakura took a quick breath, still lost in
  1.1235 +her fantasy. The water lapped around her body, but she could hardly
  1.1236 +notice it. All she could think about was Tomoyo. Everywhere. Always.
  1.1237 +Tomoyo. Her eyes were clenched tightly, painfully. She shook slightly
  1.1238 +and then slumped in the water, breathing heavily. Her cheek lay
  1.1239 +against the surface of the water, wet and warm. She tried to catch
  1.1240 +her breath, feeling almost feverish in the bath. The Cardmistress
  1.1241 +tried to collect her thoughts, but they were distant, fragmented. All
  1.1242 +she knew was that Tomoyo smiled back at her from every one of them.
  1.1243 +“Tomoyo-chan...” she whispered. She felt like she had been caught in
  1.1244 +a tsunami, torrents of emotion buffeting against her soul again and
  1.1245 +again. But she was slowly releasing their was no release from that
  1.1246 +feeling. It was still wrapped tightly around her heart. And Tomoyo
  1.1247 +was at the center of it.
  1.1248 +
  1.1249 +	“Kawaii!” Tomoyo watched excitedly as Sakura stood before her in
  1.1250 +one of her costumes. The Cardmistress had visited again a short time
  1.1251 +ago and had agreed to try out several of Tomoyo’s costumes while she
  1.1252 +was there. This was the fourth costume she had worn. Only three more
  1.1253 +to go and Tomoyo would be all out of new costumes for Sakura to wear.
  1.1254 +She wanted to slow down time and speed it up at the same time. If she
  1.1255 +could slow it down, she could have even more time watching Sakura
  1.1256 +model her costumes. But she wanted to see what Sakura looked like in
  1.1257 +the others as well. 
  1.1258 +	One of the reasons she had so many costumes was that there simply
  1.1259 +wasn’t as much a reason for Sakura to wear her costumes anymore.
  1.1260 +Before when Sakura had been catching the Cards, she had needed a new
  1.1261 +costume for each of her adventures. Now that it was over, Tomoyo had
  1.1262 +to find a good time for her friend to come and model for her. So the
  1.1263 +costumes weren’t as necessary anymore, but Tomoyo did like being able
  1.1264 +to have Sakura wear them personally for her. And Sakura was sweet
  1.1265 +enough to do just that for her.  
  1.1266 +	Sakura still looked a little embarrassed, but she was starting to
  1.1267 +forget her nervousness. Everything affected her easily, but she moved
  1.1268 +on to other thoughts just as quickly. And it was hard not to get
  1.1269 +caught up in Tomoyo’s exuberance. The pale girl was usually so quiet
  1.1270 +and thoughtful, but when she was interested in something, like Sakura
  1.1271 +herself for interest, she made it abundantly clear. The Cardmistress
  1.1272 +wondered how she ever could have missed it before. 
  1.1273 +	Twirling in the long, multi-layered skirt she was currently in,
  1.1274 +Sakura could hear Tomoyo clapping. A smile lit up Sakura’s lips as
  1.1275 +she turned to face the heiress again. Taking the long skirt in her
  1.1276 +hands, Sakura curtsied to her audience of one.
  1.1277 +	Back when Tomoyo had first made costumes for her, she had always
  1.1278 +worn them when she was busy with the Cards. She hadn’t had time to
  1.1279 +really appreciate them. Or the attention Tomoyo gave her when she was
  1.1280 +wearing them. After the whole debacle with the Cards was finally
  1.1281 +over, she had thought it would be the end of silly things like
  1.1282 +costumes. But Tomoyo kept making them regardless. Sakura had been a
  1.1283 +little baffled at first, but if her eccentric friend wanted to see
  1.1284 +her in them, she couldn’t refuse. If Tomoyo spent so much time on the
  1.1285 +costumes, it seemed only right to wear them. So she had begun
  1.1286 +modeling them for Tomoyo back then. It had been embarrassing at
  1.1287 +first, and still was to some extent, because she wasn’t busy with
  1.1288 +other things while wearing the costumes. It made her self-conscious
  1.1289 +knowing that she was being videotaped in the many different designs
  1.1290 +like that. But Tomoyo’s obvious excitement when she would wear them
  1.1291 +for her began to make her worry less. Tomoyo loved it so much when
  1.1292 +she would. And there was something about that that Sakura liked. Just
  1.1293 +knowing she had all of her friend’s attention, that Tomoyo’s eyes
  1.1294 +were on her and only her then. Though she had trouble admitting it,
  1.1295 +she did enjoy modeling for Tomoyo. In a way, it made her feel closer
  1.1296 +to her mother. But unlike her mother, she only wanted to model for
  1.1297 +Tomoyo. She was too shy to do that for anyone else. And she knew how
  1.1298 +happy it made the heiress. So slowly she began to do more in the
  1.1299 +costumes, actually modeling them, letting Tomoyo direct her where she
  1.1300 +would, taking snapshots and videotape of her in whatever costume came
  1.1301 +out next. It became a fun little thing they did together, an excuse
  1.1302 +to stay over for the weekend or to stop by after school. 
  1.1303 +‘Sakura, I have a new costume finished. Could you wear it for me?’
  1.1304 +	‘Sure, Tomoyo-chan! Just let me drop off my things at home.’
  1.1305 +	And so it went. Days and weeks and months and finally years of lace
  1.1306 +and ribbons and videotape. Sakura looked forward to it more than the
  1.1307 +soccer practice she had been taking lately. Part of that was just
  1.1308 +seeing the smile and starry eyed looks Tomoyo gave her. But it was
  1.1309 +just fun. She loved being with her best friend, and dressing up for
  1.1310 +her was exciting. Slipping into a new outfit, anxious to see what
  1.1311 +Tomoyo thought, to hear her words on it, to see what poses she would
  1.1312 +want to see her in. It was exhilarating. And now it seemed to make
  1.1313 +more sense. Of course she liked Tomoyo watching her. Of course she
  1.1314 +wanted to model for her. Because Tomoyo’s never wavering love and
  1.1315 +attention meant everything to her. And she wasn’t taking it for
  1.1316 +granted anymore. And she could feel it so strongly when she would
  1.1317 +dress up for her. 
  1.1318 +Her cheeks a little red, Sakura put a hand behind her head.  “So
  1.1319 +what do you think?”
  1.1320 +	“I think you look gorgeous in it, Sakura-chan. Like a beautiful
  1.1321 +dancer who wants to let go of everything and dance the night away,”
  1.1322 +Tomoyo stated dreamily, a hand on her cheek. Sighing contentedly, the
  1.1323 +heiress was in Heaven. What could possibly be more wonderful than
  1.1324 +Sakura modeling specifically for her? The athletic young girl was
  1.1325 +already so beautiful. Seeing her all dressed up in the costumes she
  1.1326 +made for her was stunning. And watching her pose and move about for
  1.1327 +her eyes only... Tomoyo sighed again, her stormy blue eye never
  1.1328 +leaving Sakura. 
  1.1329 +	The Cardmistress blushed at Tomoyo comment. Tomoyo always said
  1.1330 +rather complimentary things to her, but she always accepted them
  1.1331 +shyly. Part of her just couldn’t understand how Tomoyo thought so.
  1.1332 +The other part was just flattered to hear the other girl say it.
  1.1333 +Nonetheless, she always loved hearing her. It was like a puppy doing
  1.1334 +tricks for its mistress to hear loving words of praise. But with
  1.1335 +Tomoyo she never even had to do anything, or at least not knowingly.
  1.1336 +The dark haired girl seemed to find everything about her wonderful.
  1.1337 +“Which one should I wear next?” 
  1.1338 +	Tomoyo looked towards her desk where the other costumes were
  1.1339 +waiting. Placing her hand on her chin, she thought carefully. She
  1.1340 +would eventually see Sakura in all of them, but she still treated it
  1.1341 +like an important decision. It was all a matter of what would look
  1.1342 +best after the one Sakura was currently wearing. “I think you would
  1.1343 +look very pretty in the red one with the ribbons,” she said at last,
  1.1344 +indicating one near the bottom of the small pile of clothes. She
  1.1345 +watched Sakura walk over to claim the costume. “You are so cute in
  1.1346 +that,” she breathed happily, gazing at Sakura.
  1.1347 +	The girl in question blushed again at hearing Tomoyo’s soft voice.
  1.1348 +It made her happy to know Tomoyo thought so. It sent warm waves
  1.1349 +lapping all across her soul. Quickly sifting through the costumes,
  1.1350 +she came about the red one in question. Turning to Tomoyo, she held
  1.1351 +it closely to her chest. “I’ll be right back, Tomoyo-chan!” she
  1.1352 +promised. The thought of being gone for too long was something she
  1.1353 +didn’t want to deal with. More than anything, she just wanted to be
  1.1354 +there with her dark haired girlfriend. Tomoyo merely smiled at her
  1.1355 +promise as she hurried out the door to change. 
  1.1356 +	Standing in the rather luxurious bathroom, Sakura began to pull off
  1.1357 +the costume she was wearing. She wanted to hurry up and return to
  1.1358 +Tomoyo, but she was afraid of ruining Tomoyo’s costume. ‘Each costume
  1.1359 +is stitched with love,’ she could remember Tomoyo saying. So she was
  1.1360 +always very wary about getting a stitch out of place. She didn’t want
  1.1361 +to ruin anything Tomoyo worked so hard on. Finally slipping out of
  1.1362 +the long skirts of her previous costume, Sakura examined the new one.
  1.1363 +It did look cute, like everything Tomoyo designed. It was very soft
  1.1364 +to the touch, and very pretty. It looked almost like something she
  1.1365 +would wear out on a date. Well, nothing she could afford to have in
  1.1366 +her own wardrobe, but something she could see herself dating in. She
  1.1367 +shifted around on her feet as if she were dancing, holding the dress
  1.1368 +tightly. Yes, it would be beautiful to wear out on a date with
  1.1369 +Tomoyo. It was a beautiful red dress with a large red ribbon in the
  1.1370 +back. It had black stockings and black gloves that went along with it
  1.1371 +as well as a red ribbon for her hair. The small red shoes had small
  1.1372 +ribbons on them as well. She smiled at the details. Tomoyo and her
  1.1373 +ribbon fetish. But it was very cute. She couldn’t wait to wear it for
  1.1374 +her. 
  1.1375 +	Tomoyo waited patiently in her room, staring at the spot where
  1.1376 +Sakura had been moments before, swishing about in the twirling skirts
  1.1377 +she had made for her. It wasn’t fair that her camcorder had been
  1.1378 +broken. This little fashion show would have made such a lovely tape!
  1.1379 +The type of thing she would watch again and again late at night and
  1.1380 +with her mother when she had some time away from work. But all she
  1.1381 +could do was try to remember every beautiful detail. Closing her
  1.1382 +eyes, she could imagine Sakura posing for her again, right there in
  1.1383 +front of her. 
  1.1384 +	This was her last night with Sakura. The next day was the end of
  1.1385 +their week together and her wish would be over. A bittersweet smile
  1.1386 +crossed her lips. She may not be able to have Sakura for forever, but
  1.1387 +she did have one beautiful week together with her. Even if she
  1.1388 +couldn’t be with Sakura, she got to experience her love, got to have
  1.1389 +a taste of the heavens. And she would never allow herself to forget
  1.1390 +that taste. 
  1.1391 +	Tomoyo had to admit that if she had to decide on an ending for
  1.1392 +their short-lived relationship, this was certainly a good one. A
  1.1393 +sparkling all-Sakura fashion show all for her. It was much better
  1.1394 +than watching Sakura on her videotapes. It was Sakura Live! It was
  1.1395 +the brunette in all of her amazing glory, right there for her to
  1.1396 +behold.
  1.1397 +	The pale girl sighed, resting back in her bed. Soon this would all
  1.1398 +be over. Nothing but memories and dreams. But what was life without
  1.1399 +dreams? The heart can’t live without beautiful dreams to sustain it.
  1.1400 +She would miss this terribly. It would be unbearably difficult to
  1.1401 +just let go of Sakura’s love. But she would have to. And it would
  1.1402 +hurt. But she would always have these memories to fall back on. It
  1.1403 +wasn’t just a dream anymore. She now knew what it was like to have
  1.1404 +Sakura’s love. And it was more amazing than she had dared to imagine.
  1.1405 +Now when she saw Sakura married and in love, she would know exactly
  1.1406 +how lucky that other person was. And she would still have that little
  1.1407 +sliver of when Sakura had loved her that way. That would sustain her
  1.1408 +soul. It had to. 
  1.1409 +	The door opened, pulling Tomoyo’s attention away from her thoughts.
  1.1410 +In the doorway stood the athletic Cardmistress, resplendent in the
  1.1411 +red dress. It fit her perfectly, the ribbons making her look like a
  1.1412 +beautiful present. The heiress couldn’t say anything, transfixed by
  1.1413 +the image of her love. “You look lovely, Sakura-chan,” she said at
  1.1414 +last. 
  1.1415 +	Sakura blushed, stepping further into the room. She looked down,
  1.1416 +getting a different look at the outfit now that she was wearing it.
  1.1417 +“Thank you, Tomoyo-chan.” Looking up again, emerald green eyes met
  1.1418 +intense stormy blue. She was suddenly very glad Tomoyo picked this
  1.1419 +dress. It really was pretty and the heiress seemed to like it quite a
  1.1420 +bit. She turned to her side, posing for her friend. If Tomoyo still
  1.1421 +had her camcorder and wasn’t bedridden, now would be the time that
  1.1422 +the dark haired girl would be directing her, coming up with different
  1.1423 +positions for her and what she should be doing. So for now she just
  1.1424 +posed as best she could, wanting to do the best she could for her
  1.1425 +friend. 
  1.1426 +	Tomoyo wished more than ever that she still had her camcorder as
  1.1427 +she watched the Mistress of the Cards before her. She could always
  1.1428 +get Sakura to wear them again after her wish, but that just wouldn’t
  1.1429 +be the same. Sakura wouldn’t be wearing it the same way, with the
  1.1430 +same loving look in her eyes. It would just be disappointing. No, she
  1.1431 +would just have to remember this one. So her eye never wavered for a
  1.1432 +second, wanting to imprint the image forever in her mind. 
  1.1433 +	As if drawn by Tomoyo’s deep gaze, Sakura found herself nearing
  1.1434 +Tomoyo’s bed. Her heart was pounding in her chest more fiercely than
  1.1435 +during any of the trials she had faced. It took her a moment to
  1.1436 +realize that she had already come to a decision. It was that decision
  1.1437 +that had her so nervous. But it held her bound like a magic spell,
  1.1438 +pulling her forward. She couldn’t stop now if she wanted to. Sitting
  1.1439 +on the edge of the bed, she looked down at her bedridden friend, the
  1.1440 +injured girl staring back up at her. Slowly, she reached out and took
  1.1441 +Tomoyo’s hand where it stuck out from her cast.
  1.1442 +	Watching Sakura, Tomoyo felt her cheeks flushing. Sakura was so
  1.1443 +close to her, gazing down into her eye. There was something there in
  1.1444 +those emerald orbs, something she was struggling to make out. They
  1.1445 +were warm, passionate. She could see a hint of nervousness in them as
  1.1446 +well. She squeezed Sakura’s hand with her own, trying to assuage the
  1.1447 +brunette’s worries. She always wanted to support Sakura, to be there
  1.1448 +for her. Even right now. Especially right now. Her fingers laced with
  1.1449 +Sakura’s, holding the gloved fingers tightly to her stomach. Her
  1.1450 +heart skipped a beat as she felt Sakura’s grip on her hand tighten.
  1.1451 +“Sakura-chan...” she whispered.
  1.1452 +	The Cardmistress hesitated for a moment, a hurricane of thoughts
  1.1453 +swirling through her, all struggling for dominance. Should she? Could
  1.1454 +she? And then, a moment of calm. The eye of the storm. Everything was
  1.1455 +suddenly clear. Leaning down slowly, she held tightly onto Tomoyo’s
  1.1456 +hand, ready to kiss the dark haired girl. None of her thoughts
  1.1457 +mattered. This was what she wanted. Her shimmering first kiss with
  1.1458 +her one, true love. She could feel Tomoyo’s breath against her lips
  1.1459 +as she drew near, their hair teasing each other. She could only see
  1.1460 +into one of Tomoyo’s eyes, but it was a deep pool of adoration. That
  1.1461 +only spurred her on. Their noses touched ever so briefly, sliding
  1.1462 +across as she sought out Tomoyo’s lips. Her heart pounded in her
  1.1463 +chest as she rested half on top of Tomoyo, trying not to place too
  1.1464 +much weight on the injured girl. Their lips brushed lightly. Sakura
  1.1465 +felt sparks tingle through her, the feeling of petal soft lips
  1.1466 +blanketing her thoughts in a warm bliss. 
  1.1467 +	Tomoyo shuddered at the feeling of Sakura’s lips brushing against
  1.1468 +her own. Even that brief contact went straight to her heart. It felt
  1.1469 +so nice, so enticing. She pursed her lips, watching Sakura above her,
  1.1470 +her heart beating against Sakura’s chest. Feeling Sakura so close to
  1.1471 +her, against her, smelling her hair, seeing those large emerald orbs,
  1.1472 +it all coalesced around her into a real life fairy tale. But this
  1.1473 +wasn’t her fairy tale. No matter how much she wanted it to be.
  1.1474 +Closing her eyes, she sighed. Every bit of her wanted so much to give
  1.1475 +in, to let this kiss happen. But that wouldn’t be fair to Sakura. She
  1.1476 +could feel Sakura’s breath against her cheek and her resolve
  1.1477 +faltered. She already had a taste of Sakura’s love. Why couldn’t she
  1.1478 +have this? Why? Just this little bit of Sakura... In her love clouded
  1.1479 +mind, it all made so much sense. Just a kiss. Their first and last
  1.1480 +kiss. No one would ever have to know. Not even Sakura. So it wouldn’t
  1.1481 +be betraying Sakura. It would just be one, soft, lovely kiss...
  1.1482 +	“Sakura-chan, please don’t,” Tomoyo whispered softly, reluctantly.
  1.1483 +She prayed that Sakura would stop in time. She prayed that Sakura
  1.1484 +wouldn’t listen to her and wouldn’t stop at all. She simply prayed
  1.1485 +with all her heart.
  1.1486 +	“Tomoyo-chan?” Sakura asked, blinking slowly as if fighting off a
  1.1487 +haze. Why didn’t Tomoyo want to kiss her? Why didn’t she want to be
  1.1488 +close like that? Why didn’t she want to share their first kiss? Was
  1.1489 +something wrong? Sakura slowly sat up, disentangling herself from
  1.1490 +Tomoyo. “Tomoyo-chan, what’s wrong? Are you... not ready?” It was a
  1.1491 +silly question. Tomoyo didn’t seem to mind anything as long as it
  1.1492 +involved Sakura in some way, shape or form. Sakura couldn’t imagine
  1.1493 +her best friend not being ready to kiss. Tomoyo was already more
  1.1494 +mature than she was as it was. And if Sakura herself was ready...
  1.1495 +	“No, it isn’t that, Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo replied, her eye slowly
  1.1496 +opening. She sighed softly, not wanting to continue. There went her
  1.1497 +chance. And it was her own fault for it. “It’s that I don’t want to
  1.1498 +take advantage of you.” Explaining things was the only way out now.
  1.1499 +If she didn’t, it would only hurt Sakura’s feelings. She wanted
  1.1500 +Sakura to know that she wasn’t rejecting her. 
  1.1501 +	“Take advantage of me? No, it’s not like that at all. I want this,
  1.1502 +too, Tomoyo-chan! I do. With all my heart.” Sakura took Tomoyo’s hand
  1.1503 +in both of her own, holding it tightly. “I thought about this for a
  1.1504 +long time. It’s what I want. I want you to be my first kiss.” A blush
  1.1505 +crossed her cheeks when she finished. 
  1.1506 +	Tomoyo smiled sadly, looking up at the mistress of her heart. “And
  1.1507 +I would love to be able to do that for you, Sakura-chan. I want you
  1.1508 +to be my first kiss, too. But I can’t do that. I can’t take that away
  1.1509 +from you. I want your first kiss to be special. I want it to be with
  1.1510 +the one you really love.”
  1.1511 +	“But I love you,” Sakura argued, not understanding. What was Tomoyo
  1.1512 +saying? Her heart began to beat in fright. She didn’t like where this
  1.1513 +was going at all. She held onto Tomoyo’s hand tighter, holding it
  1.1514 +like a lifeline. 
  1.1515 +	Squeezing Sakura’s hands back, Tomoyo felt her heart shiver within
  1.1516 +her. She didn’t want this to end. But she couldn’t hurt Sakura. She
  1.1517 +could never allow that of herself. “You don’t really love me, Sakura-
  1.1518 +chan. You granted me a wish last week. You didn’t know what it was.
  1.1519 +It made you fall in love with me,” Tomoyo explained quietly.”
  1.1520 +	“No, that wasn’t it. It was...” Sakura blinked, trying to think
  1.1521 +back to that day. She had granted a wish for Tomoyo. She had
  1.1522 +forgotten what the wish was. And then she had realized her love for
  1.1523 +Tomoyo. A sudden pain shot through her heart. “No!! That’s not it! I
  1.1524 +do love you! It wasn’t a wish. It wasn’t...” Sakura sobbed weakly,
  1.1525 +tears falling onto the injured girl below her. The world had been
  1.1526 +pulled out from underneath her. She was falling, unable to grasp onto
  1.1527 +anything to slow her descent. This past week had been the best week
  1.1528 +of her life. This newfound love had meant everything to her. How
  1.1529 +could it only be a wish? Her hands clenched tightly onto Tomoyo’s,
  1.1530 +not letting go.
  1.1531 +	Tomoyo held onto the other girl with her free arm, rubbing her
  1.1532 +back. “Please don’t cry, Sakura-chan. It makes me sad to see you
  1.1533 +cry,” she said softly. “You made my fondest wish come true. For this
  1.1534 +past week, you have given me the greatest happiness I could imagine.
  1.1535 +I would never want to give that up for anything.”
  1.1536 +	“But I do love you!” Sakura insisted, sniffling. “It’s not just a
  1.1537 +spell. I never knew how I felt. But I do now. I love you, Tomoyo-
  1.1538 +chan. I love you so much. It’s not just magic. It can’t be. I love
  1.1539 +you too much for it to be. I don’t want it to go away. Ever.”
  1.1540 +	“I love you, too, Sakura-chan. With all of my heart. That’s why I
  1.1541 +can’t go through with this. It’s only a charade. It was a beautiful
  1.1542 +charade, but I can’t betray you with it. Because it’s not what you’d
  1.1543 +really want. It’s only my selfish spell that made you love me. And
  1.1544 +it’s over tomorrow. Then you’ll be free to fall in love for real with
  1.1545 +someone else,” Tomoyo explained, trying desperately to smile for
  1.1546 +Sakura. Tears threatened to overcome her, but she couldn’t stand to
  1.1547 +cry in front of Sakura, not when the auburn haired girl needed her.
  1.1548 +	“Then I’ll fall in love with you as soon as the spell wears off,”
  1.1549 +Sakura replied, wiping angrily at her eyes to get the tears away.
  1.1550 +Frustration and helplessness surrounded her, leaving her feeling lost
  1.1551 +and lonely. “You aren’t selfish for wanting someone to love you. We
  1.1552 +all want that Tomoyo-chan. And you deserve it more than anyone I
  1.1553 +know. I want you to have it.” Her voice broke, more tears spilling
  1.1554 +down her cheeks. “I want you to have it with me. I love you.” She
  1.1555 +held onto the pale girl tightly, not daring to let go. 
  1.1556 +	Closing her eyes tightly, Tomoyo kept rubbing Sakura’s back. Her
  1.1557 +own tears were silent, a quiet backdrop to Sakura’s sobs. ‘I’m so
  1.1558 +sorry, Sakura-chan. I want it to be with you, too. More than
  1.1559 +anything,’ she thought sadly. 
  1.1560 +
  1.1561 +	“But I do love her, Kero-chan! She just doesn’t believe me. She
  1.1562 +thinks it’s all some spell. But it can’t be. I know it can’t. I
  1.1563 +really do love her.” Sakura squeezed her pillow tightly, wishing it
  1.1564 +was Tomoyo. She hated this. She felt sick. Ever since she had heard
  1.1565 +that her love might all be a dream she might wake up from, she had
  1.1566 +felt weak and brittle. If something so strong could be fake, then she
  1.1567 +had no idea what was real. But she couldn’t believe that. She
  1.1568 +couldn’t allow herself to.
  1.1569 +	“...” Came Kero’s reply. He didn’t know what to say. It could very
  1.1570 +well be a spell for all he knew. Clow Reed had been rather
  1.1571 +unscrupulous with some of the spells he had worked in his day. And
  1.1572 +Sakura was even more powerful than he was. It sounded likely. But
  1.1573 +telling Sakura that didn’t sound like a good idea. He wanted to help
  1.1574 +his Mistress, but he didn’t know how. 
  1.1575 +	“I just have to prove it to her,” Sakura went on, ignoring her
  1.1576 +plush sidekick. “If I can make it past tomorrow afternoon, she’ll
  1.1577 +have to believe me. Because the deadline was only one week. And I
  1.1578 +know I love her. Because this wouldn’t hurt so much if I didn’t.”
  1.1579 +Resting her head against the pillow, she felt her tears soaking into
  1.1580 +it. She had thought that she had shed all of her tears at Tomoyo’s
  1.1581 +house, but they just kept coming. She sighed shakily. 
  1.1582 +	“I do love her. It’s not some stupid spell. Because she means
  1.1583 +everything to me. Because she makes me happy. I want to be with her
  1.1584 +forever. I want to hold her forever, just like I promised. When I
  1.1585 +close my eyes, I see her. I can hear her singing to me when I listen
  1.1586 +closely enough. When I’m with her, I’m the happiest girl in the
  1.1587 +world. When I’m away from her, I just want her to be there again.”
  1.1588 +Sakura held the pillow in a death grip, slumping onto her side in
  1.1589 +bed. “I’ve never felt this way before. Not even about Yukito. And not
  1.1590 +about Syaoran. She makes me feel better than I am. She makes me
  1.1591 +stronger, better, braver... I need her...” Her voice cracked again,
  1.1592 +her eyes shutting tightly. 
  1.1593 +	Sitting up, she clenched her fists tightly, blinking away her
  1.1594 +tears. Determination burned in her eyes. “I’m gonna prove it to her,
  1.1595 +Kero-chan. I don’t care if it was a wish or not. I love Tomoyo-chan.
  1.1596 +And I’ll love her even after tomorrow. I’ll love her forever.” Sleep
  1.1597 +would be long in coming that night, but Sakura focussed completely on
  1.1598 +her thoughts, on Tomoyo, on the feelings inside of her. She would
  1.1599 +overcome any spell. She wouldn’t let her love die the next day.
  1.1600 +
  1.1601 +	“Please, Tomoyo-chan, you need to eat,” Sonomi said worriedly,
  1.1602 +holding out a bit to her daughter. The girl in question simply lay in
  1.1603 +bed, the life once again faded from her eyes. What had happened to
  1.1604 +her precious daughter? She had been so vibrant for the past week, so
  1.1605 +alive. Even if her body was having trouble recovering, Sonomi had
  1.1606 +been thrilled to see the sparkle in her daughter when they would
  1.1607 +talk. And now it was all gone again, as if it had never been there at
  1.1608 +all.
  1.1609 +	“I’m sorry, okaa-sama,” Tomoyo said quietly. “I can’t. It hurts too
  1.1610 +much.” She closed her eyes tightly, trying to hold back the tears
  1.1611 +inside. She wanted to eat to appease her mother, but it was too
  1.1612 +difficult to work up the strength to eat. The last she had seen of
  1.1613 +Sakura was her wiping at her tear streaked cheeks before leaving.
  1.1614 +That image, her sad and lonely Sakura, remained with her. She would
  1.1615 +lose her the next day and it would all be over. And now Sakura was
  1.1616 +hurting because it. All because she wouldn’t kiss her. Tomoyo
  1.1617 +sniffled, closing her eyes tighter until they hurt. It was all her
  1.1618 +fault. Now she would be alone forever and her last memories of her
  1.1619 +time with Sakura would be that she ruined it. 
  1.1620 +	“What’s wrong?” Sonomi asked, suddenly concerned. “Where does it
  1.1621 +hurt, my little girl?” She set the plate aside, scooting closer to
  1.1622 +her daughter. Her heart cried out for Tomoyo, wanting some way to
  1.1623 +take away her pain, to wipe away those tears. 
  1.1624 +	“Everywhere,” Tomoyo replied, trying with all her heart not to cry,
  1.1625 +not to worry her mother. But it was no use. She felt herself being
  1.1626 +cradled in her mother’s arms, could hear her mother’s soft
  1.1627 +reassurances. Giving up, she burst into tears against Sonomi, crying
  1.1628 +in her arms. Those arms were her only solace. Sakura would soon be
  1.1629 +taken away from her and her memories would be marred with the pain
  1.1630 +she inadvertently caused. She cried against her mother until all her
  1.1631 +tears were gone. Sonomi would not leave her that night. Eventually,
  1.1632 +she fell asleep in her mother’s arms. 
  1.1633 +
  1.1634 +	Tomoyo lay in bed silently, staring up at her ceiling once more.
  1.1635 +She felt drained. Her whole body felt weak, empty. Her mother had
  1.1636 +finally gone to work only after Tomoyo had promised her that she was
  1.1637 +feeling better and that she would try to eat. And it was true. She
  1.1638 +was feeling a little better. The night before she had felt hopeless.
  1.1639 +Now she could at least be thankful that Sakura would probably forget
  1.1640 +all about her pain in just a few short hours and would be back to her
  1.1641 +normal, genki self. And her love would be gone forever. She closed
  1.1642 +her eyes, not wanting to think about that. A knock at her door drew
  1.1643 +her attention. At first she thought it was a maid, but she quickly
  1.1644 +changed her mind. The knock was soft and shy. “Sakura-chan,” Tomoyo
  1.1645 +whispered. “Come on in, Sakura-chan,” she said louder. The door
  1.1646 +opened to reveal her friend. 
  1.1647 +	Sakura gazed over at Tomoyo for a long minute, feeling a little
  1.1648 +awkward. After the day before, she wasn’t quite sure what to say. She
  1.1649 +entered the room, closing the door behind her. Walking over to the
  1.1650 +bed, she sat next to Tomoyo. Her thoughts swirled around her, but
  1.1651 +they weren’t the same pleasant thoughts that had assailed her the day
  1.1652 +before when they had almost kissed. But she was here for a reason.
  1.1653 +She didn’t have much time left before the wish ran out. She took a
  1.1654 +deep breath, mustering up her motivation. It wasn’t over yet. “I have
  1.1655 +something for you,” she said at last. 
  1.1656 +	“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Tomoyo said quickly. She
  1.1657 +offered a small smile. “You’re all I ever really wanted. I’m glad
  1.1658 +you’re here.” She reached over, taking one of Sakura’s hands in her
  1.1659 +own. Sakura returned the smile briefly, making her feel a little
  1.1660 +better.
  1.1661 +	Digging around in the bag she had brought with her, Sakura pulled
  1.1662 +out a new camcorder. She looked at it for a moment before handing it
  1.1663 +out to Tomoyo. “I got it with the money I have saved up. Well, and
  1.1664 +I’ll be doing onii-chan’s chores from now until I move out because he
  1.1665 +helped with it. But I wanted to get you something.”
  1.1666 +	Tomoyo put a hand on the camcorder, running her fingers over it.
  1.1667 +Her old one was gone now, but Sakura had gone to get her a new one.
  1.1668 +That meant so much to her. She looked up quickly, meeting Sakura’s
  1.1669 +anxious gaze. “Thank you so much, Sakura-chan. It’s wonderful!”
  1.1670 +	Sakura smiled back, obviously pleased. “I know you could buy
  1.1671 +another one, but I wanted to get it for you.” She reached out, taking
  1.1672 +Tomoyo’s hands. “When you get better... Please use it a lot. To make
  1.1673 +up for all the time you’ve been stuck in bed. Whenever you videotape
  1.1674 +me, I feel so special. I feel like I’m your movie star. And that.. it
  1.1675 +really makes me feel happy. Seeing you smile when you’re watching me,
  1.1676 +it makes me want to do everything I can for you in front of the
  1.1677 +camera.”
  1.1678 +	Nodding solemnly, Tomoyo looks up at Sakura. “I will. I’ll
  1.1679 +videotape as much as I can of you. So I can capture all of the
  1.1680 +beautiful moments in your life.”
  1.1681 +	“In our life,” Sakura corrects, squeezing Tomoyo’s hands. “I’m not
  1.1682 +going anywhere. I love you. I’ll always love you. This isn’t going to
  1.1683 +change anything. I want you to videotape all of the wonderful things
  1.1684 +in our life. Our first real date. Our first baby. Our wedding.
  1.1685 +Everything. I want to sit with you when we’re all grown up and watch
  1.1686 +these tapes together. I want to be able to look back and blush at
  1.1687 +seeing us together through all the years. And I want to say, ‘See,
  1.1688 +Tomoyo-chan? I told you I’d hold you forever.’ And I want you to
  1.1689 +smile and..” Sakura closed her eyes, trailing off as tears fell down
  1.1690 +her cheeks. 
  1.1691 +	Tomoyo gently brushed Sakura’s tears away with her fingertips. “I
  1.1692 +love you so much,” she whispered. “And I will always love you.
  1.1693 +Exactly because of things like this. Because Sakura-chan has the
  1.1694 +biggest heart I know. And I know I’ll always have an important place
  1.1695 +in your heart, even if it’s just as your best friend.” Her heart sung
  1.1696 +at Sakura’s devotion, at the hopes and dreams Sakura held for them.
  1.1697 +She wished those dreams could come true, that they could spend an
  1.1698 +eternity together.
  1.1699 +	“I will love you!” Sakura shook her head, tears flinging from her
  1.1700 +cheeks. “Even if I have to use another magic spell. I’ll always love
  1.1701 +you. I need you. I don’t want to lose you after all this.”
  1.1702 +	Smiling softly, Tomoyo trailed her fingers through Sakura’s hair.
  1.1703 +“But then you wouldn’t be the Sakura-chan that I’m in love with. You
  1.1704 +wouldn’t be able to shine. Because you would be lying to your heart.
  1.1705 +And I want your heart to be free. I want you to fall in love with the
  1.1706 +person who can make you happiest, whoever that may be. Because I love
  1.1707 +you.”
  1.1708 +	“How can you say that? How can you let that happen? Because I don’t
  1.1709 +ever want you being in love with someone else. I love you so much. I
  1.1710 +couldn’t let you go. You do make me happy. You make me more than I
  1.1711 +am. That’s why I don’t want to ever let you go,” Sakura argued, tears
  1.1712 +still falling past her chin.  
  1.1713 +	Tomoyo sighed, her eyes closing for a moment. She felt so tired. If
  1.1714 +only they could live happily ever after... “If Sakura-chan couldn’t
  1.1715 +let me go... That would make me very happy. And I’ll always love you.
  1.1716 +I’ll always be yours, Sakura-chan. Whether or not you know that.” It
  1.1717 +was hard for her to keep seeing this as magic. Sakura genuinely
  1.1718 +seemed to be in love. With her. She really seemed to want to spend
  1.1719 +forever with her. It was hard to write it off as just the spell.
  1.1720 +Because she knew Sakura. And Sakura was fighting desperately to hold
  1.1721 +onto her right now. And she didn’t want to fight against Sakura.
  1.1722 +Maybe Sakura really did love her. Her heart skipped a beat at that
  1.1723 +thought. Maybe she had been wrong all along. 
  1.1724 +	“I love you, too, Tomoyo-chan. And I always will. No matter what
  1.1725 +some stupid spell says. I love you,” Sakura insisted. As if to prove
  1.1726 +her point, she leant forward. Her tear-filled eyes closed as she
  1.1727 +leant over her best friend. Her hands held onto Tomoyo’s sides as she
  1.1728 +came closer. ‘I love you!’ she wanted to scream with every fiber of
  1.1729 +her being. She wasn’t going to let that die. Nothing would kill that.
  1.1730 +It may have just been a spell at first, but it was more than that
  1.1731 +now. She did love Tomoyo. And nothing would ever take that away from
  1.1732 +her.
  1.1733 +	Tomoyo could feel Sakura against her, the Cardmistress’s chest
  1.1734 +shaking slightly as her body shook from crying too much. The heiress
  1.1735 +held onto the auburn haired girl as best she could, wanting to take
  1.1736 +that all away. Her dearest Sakura should never have to be marred by
  1.1737 +tears. Her own heart swelled as she saw Sakura leaning towards her.
  1.1738 +She didn’t want to betray Sakura. But she wasn’t betraying Sakura.
  1.1739 +This really was Sakura. These were her feelings, her hopes and
  1.1740 +dreams. Tomoyo met Sakura’s lips as they reached hers. That silky
  1.1741 +soft feeling melted against her lips, drawing away her breath in a
  1.1742 +sensuous kiss. She kissed Sakura back, her working arm going around
  1.1743 +Sakura’s waist as they did. Each kiss was like a declaration of love,
  1.1744 +a prayer that things would work out, that this wasn’t the end. 
  1.1745 +	Sakura finally felt Tomoyo lips against her own. This time there
  1.1746 +was no resistance. Tomoyo was kissing her back softly, sending a
  1.1747 +shiver through her body. It felt so nice. ‘I do love you,’ Sakura
  1.1748 +thought again, kissing back with all the strength she could muster.
  1.1749 +Tomoyo seemed a bit surprised at first, but quickly matched her.
  1.1750 +Sakura never wanted their lips to part. It felt intoxicating, like
  1.1751 +being bathed in pure love. She snuggled closer to Tomoyo, embracing
  1.1752 +her as they kissed again. If only she could keep kissing her until
  1.1753 +the deadline, until it was all over. She felt safe with Tomoyo, in
  1.1754 +her arms. She felt a dizzying mix of warmth and wonder at each
  1.1755 +additional kiss. She would prove to Tomoyo that she would hold her
  1.1756 +forever. That they would be together forever. She would make Tomoyo
  1.1757 +happy. They would always.. always... They would always what?
  1.1758 +	Their lips met in kiss after kiss, turning Tomoyo’s world into a
  1.1759 +sea of cherry blossoms. Each lingering kiss felt like a brush of
  1.1760 +angel wings against her soul. For once, Tomoyo could fully express
  1.1761 +her love for the brunette, and she did so as best she could. She
  1.1762 +kissed back with all the love in her heart, trying not to think about
  1.1763 +tomorrow. There was only now. And now would last forever. She could
  1.1764 +slowly feel Sakura lessening the kisses, could feel less coming from
  1.1765 +the other girl. Sakura seemed bewildered, out of place. Tomoyo
  1.1766 +stopped immediately. Looking up at her friend. Her heart cried out, a
  1.1767 +sharp blade slicing through it. She wanted to deny it, to believe
  1.1768 +that it wasn’t true. But Sakura just looked at her in confusion. It
  1.1769 +was over. Her blissful week was gone. Sakura’s love was gone. Her
  1.1770 +most treasured gift was now no more than a memory.
  1.1771 +	“Tomoyo-chan? What happened? I can’t remember anything. It’s all
  1.1772 +blurry. Hoe...” Sakura shook her head, trying to focus. But the
  1.1773 +harder she focussed, the further away it all got. Like a dream upon
  1.1774 +awakening, it all began to fade from her mind as if it had never
  1.1775 +been. She shook her head, sitting up. Had she fallen asleep on Tomoyo
  1.1776 +or something? “Did I make your wish come true?” she asked hopefully.
  1.1777 +That was the last thing she could remember, trying to make Tomoyo’s
  1.1778 +wish come true.
  1.1779 +	Tomoyo forced a smile, blinking quickly. “Yes, you did, Sakura-
  1.1780 +chan. You did it wonderfully. It was the most beautiful wish I could
  1.1781 +ever hope for. Thank you so much for this week,” she said with all
  1.1782 +her heart. All her broken heart. Sakura’s love was gone forever now.
  1.1783 +Only her memory remained of it. She didn’t even have videos of it to
  1.1784 +relive it all. Only the time they shared. Now she would have to give
  1.1785 +it all up. And for Sakura, she could. At least Sakura wasn’t scared
  1.1786 +about losing her love anymore. Because for her, it had never been.
  1.1787 +But for Tomoyo, it would always live on in her heart. 
  1.1788 +	“Tomoyo-chan, are you crying?” Sakura asked worriedly.
  1.1789 +	“Everything will always be all right,” Tomoyo whispered.
  1.1790 +
  1.1791 +Several Years Later:
  1.1792 +
  1.1793 +	Tomoyo knelt before Sakura, sewing up a few last modifications on
  1.1794 +her best friend’s wedding dress. The wedding was only a day away and
  1.1795 +Tomoyo wanted everything to be perfect for her dearest Sakura. She
  1.1796 +had tried her hardest to help Sakura and Syaoran get together. They
  1.1797 +really did make such a cute couple. And seeing Sakura about to get
  1.1798 +married gave Tomoyo something to latch onto, to pour all of her heart
  1.1799 +and soul into. Sakura had given her practically a free reign over the
  1.1800 +wedding to do with as she pleased. So the heiress was putting her all
  1.1801 +into making sure it was the best wedding ever. She wanted it to be
  1.1802 +something Sakura would never forget. It was supposed to be the
  1.1803 +happiest moment in Sakura’s life, so it had to be absolutely perfect.
  1.1804 +	Suppressing a yawn, Tomoyo went back to work on Sakura’s dress. She
  1.1805 +had barely gotten any sleep at all in the past week and a half. There
  1.1806 +was so much to do and she wanted to finish all of it in time for the
  1.1807 +wedding. Her life had been dedicated completely to the wedding, to
  1.1808 +the realization of her most cherished wish for Sakura to be happy.
  1.1809 +There would be no sleep that night either. She still had to make the
  1.1810 +wedding cake and finish the last few modifications on the wedding
  1.1811 +dress, which she was doing now. Sleep didn’t matter. Sakura’s wedding
  1.1812 +did. There would be plenty of time for sleep when Sakura was off on
  1.1813 +her honeymoon. And plenty of time for crying. But that was all for
  1.1814 +later. For now she had Sakura’s wedding to look forward to. In many
  1.1815 +ways, she had been hoping for it even more than Sakura. Because it
  1.1816 +had always been something she fantasized about, Sakura’s gorgeous
  1.1817 +wedding. So she had to strive to make that dream a reality.
  1.1818 +	“Tomoyo-chan, are you okay?” Sakura asked concernedly. “You don’t
  1.1819 +look so well. You look sick.” She held her hands together in front of
  1.1820 +her as she waited for Tomoyo to finish. She felt so nervous. 
  1.1821 +	Smiling weakly, the young businesswoman shook her head. “I’m fine,
  1.1822 +Sakura-chan. I’ve just been very busy lately. It will be better after
  1.1823 +the wedding. Then I can watch my tape of Sakura-chan’s Happy Wedding
  1.1824 +over and over and over again.” Tomoyo sighed dreamily, returning to
  1.1825 +the task at hand. 
  1.1826 +	“But.. Tomoyo-chan, aren’t you lonely?” Sakura asked curiously,
  1.1827 +looking down at the beautiful heiress kneeling before her.
  1.1828 +	“The best happiness is knowing that the one you love is happy. If
  1.1829 +they’re happy, that’s all that truly matters,” Tomoyo replied, not
  1.1830 +looking up. Of course she was lonely. But that was all right. Because
  1.1831 +Sakura wouldn’t be. 
  1.1832 +	Sweatdropping, Sakura continued to stare down at her friend. “I
  1.1833 +must be selfish, then. Because I want to be happy, too.” She sighed,
  1.1834 +waiting patiently for her friend to finish. She was used to being
  1.1835 +Tomoyo’s model for dresses by now, but the fact that this wasn’t just
  1.1836 +some normal costume sent a fresh wave of butterflies through her
  1.1837 +stomach.
  1.1838 +	Tomoyo stopped her work, looking up at last. “You deserve to be
  1.1839 +happy, Sakura-chan. That’s not selfish at all. You want to be loved,
  1.1840 +to be happy. And that’s what I want for you, too.”
  1.1841 +	“I hope so.” Sakura sighed, her eyes closing for a moment as she
  1.1842 +tried to relax. Kneeling down, she looked over at Tomoyo. Reaching
  1.1843 +into midair, she summoned a small ring with her magic. Looking into
  1.1844 +Tomoyo’s eyes, she took another nervous breath. “Tomoyo-chan, will
  1.1845 +you marry me?” she asked, holding out the ring in her hands. 
  1.1846 +	Tomoyo could only stare in shock for a frozen moment. This didn’t
  1.1847 +make sense. It didn’t compute for Tomoyo. Sakura plus Syaoran equals
  1.1848 +happiness. This wasn’t anything that she had planned. “But.. what
  1.1849 +about Syaoran?” she asked desperately, trying to make sense out of
  1.1850 +the situation. Her heart was thundering in her chest as she met
  1.1851 +Sakura’s gaze. Watching Sakura in her wedding dress, hearing her
  1.1852 +propose, she felt weak. 
  1.1853 +	Sakura looks down before answering. “I called it off a few nights
  1.1854 +ago. He’s already back in Hong Kong. My heart just wasn’t in it. You
  1.1855 +wanted this wedding more than I did. That’s why I couldn’t tell you.
  1.1856 +I didn’t want to break your heart. I didn’t want this wedding dress
  1.1857 +you worked so hard on to go to waste.” She pulled at the dress in
  1.1858 +emphasis. “I couldn’t let you do all that for the wedding and then
  1.1859 +just call it off. But my heart didn’t belong to him. I didn’t love
  1.1860 +him. I’ve been feeling more and more lately like I was just going to
  1.1861 +marry him because everyone wanted me to. Like I didn’t have a choice
  1.1862 +in the matter, that it was all expected of me. And more and more...”
  1.1863 +she sighs, looking back up into Tomoyo’s eyes. “I’ve been missing
  1.1864 +you. You’ve always been there for me, Tomoyo-chan. But sometimes I
  1.1865 +forget that I need to be there for you, too. And I want to be there
  1.1866 +for you. Through everything. Because I love you. I finally realized
  1.1867 +that. You’re the one who always makes me happy. Not him. Not anyone
  1.1868 +else. You do. Making this dress for me, working on my wedding, you
  1.1869 +were trying to give me something beautiful. You were trying to make
  1.1870 +me happy. I love you, Tomoyo-chan. I want to have this wedding. With
  1.1871 +you. It’s just as much your wedding as it is mine. You spent so much
  1.1872 +time on it. You deserve a little happiness, too.”
  1.1873 +	“Sakura-chan...” Tomoyo was taken aback by the sudden turn of
  1.1874 +events. Sakura’s words had her heart melting. She swallowed back
  1.1875 +tears, holding her hands to her chest. Her eyes were lost in emerald
  1.1876 +pools. It wasn’t even a question. “Of course I’ll marry you, Sakura-
  1.1877 +chan!” Tomoyo watched as Sakura breathed a sigh of relief and giggled
  1.1878 +herself, the tension draining from her weary body. Sakura reached out
  1.1879 +and took her hand, sliding the small ring on her finger. Such a
  1.1880 +delicate act sent ripples through Tomoyo’s heart and soul. Sakura’s
  1.1881 +hand didn’t leave hers when it was done, instead settling on her
  1.1882 +palm. She gazed at Sakura adoringly.  This wedding had been all about
  1.1883 +Sakura’s happiness. It had been the goal she had striven for. And now
  1.1884 +Sakura was sharing that with her. “I’ll need to have someone use my
  1.1885 +camcorder to record it all,” she said thoughtfully.
  1.1886 +	“I’m sure we’ll always remember it, even if it’s not on tape,”
  1.1887 +Sakura reassured her eccentric fiance. 
  1.1888 +	Tomoyo smiled at the other woman. “I made a promise a long time ago
  1.1889 +that I would. And years from now, we’ll sit together and watch it,
  1.1890 +those beautiful times we’ve spent together.”
  1.1891 +	Returning the smile, Sakura nodded. “Un! And we’ll always be making
  1.1892 +plenty of new memories together, too.” She leant forward, a little
  1.1893 +shyly. Tomoyo met her halfway, kissing her. Sakura relaxed into the
  1.1894 +kiss, her fingers entwining with Tomoyo. The wedding seemed far off,
  1.1895 +like a distant happening. This was what she really wanted. Her
  1.1896 +fingers gently brushed through Tomoyo’s beautiful hair, feeling the
  1.1897 +strands between her fingers. She could feel Tomoyo’s warm hand on her
  1.1898 +cheek. She sighed happily as she sat back.
  1.1899 +	Tomoyo watched Sakura, entranced. Her head was still swimming from
  1.1900 +their kiss. The wedding she longed for, the girl she loved, the
  1.1901 +happiness she didn’t think she could have had all managed to find
  1.1902 +their way onto her lap. It was almost too much to bear. Sakura hugged
  1.1903 +her tightly, the wedding dress clad woman snuggling against her.
  1.1904 +Tomoyo sighed deliciously, melting against the auburn haired girl. 
  1.1905 +	“I’ll never let go, Tomoyo-chan, I promise,” Sakura whispered, her
  1.1906 +eyes closed. Her fingers trailed absentmindedly through Tomoyo’s
  1.1907 +silky hair. For the first time in months, she wasn’t worried about
  1.1908 +her wedding. Now she couldn’t wait. She didn’t know how she would
  1.1909 +explain the change of plans to everyone, but it didn’t seem to
  1.1910 +matter. Tomoyo would be there with her. She could do anything with
  1.1911 +Tomoyo by her side.
  1.1912 +	“That’s all I could ever wish for,” Tomoyo replied, resting her
  1.1913 +head on Sakura’s shoulder. There was still much to be done for the
  1.1914 +wedding. She still needed to finish Sakura’s dress. And she hadn’t
  1.1915 +even started on the cake. But all of that paled in comparison to
  1.1916 +Sakura herself. Tomoyo finally had her wish. Sakura was happy. And in
  1.1917 +a beautiful miracle, she got to be the one to make Sakura happy.
  1.1918 +There would be time for a big, noisy wedding soon. For now, she just
  1.1919 +wanted to be with Sakura. And Sakura felt the same. Sighing happily,
  1.1920 +Tomoyo nuzzled Sakura’s neck, her eyes falling shut. “I love you,”
  1.1921 +she whispered, her voice muffled in Sakura’s dress. She had finally
  1.1922 +found the magic. It was there. Everything really would be all right.
  1.1923 +Because Sakura brought out that magic. And she could believe that
  1.1924 +with Sakura. Because their happiness was intertwined, two beautiful
  1.1925 +red ribbons tied together into a bow. “So what do we name our baby?”
  1.1926 +Tomoyo asked curiously.
  1.1927 +	“Tomoyo-chan..” Sakura sweatdropped. “Don’t you think you’re
  1.1928 +looking a little too far forward?”
  1.1929 +	“I’ve been planning Sakura-chan’s wedding since I was ten years
  1.1930 +old. I like to have everything nice and worked out so that it can go
  1.1931 +smoothly,” Tomoyo explains. “And you’ve already granted one of my
  1.1932 +wishes. And wishes usually come in threes. My next was to see Sakura-
  1.1933 +chan with a beautiful baby.”
  1.1934 +	Sakura giggled softly, nodding. “Hai, I’ll see what I can do about
  1.1935 +that one. But later. And what’s your third wish? It has something to
  1.1936 +do with ribbons, right?”
  1.1937 +	Tomoyo blinked. “How did you guess?”
  1.1938 +	Sakura blushed, holding closer to Tomoyo. “I should have known. I
  1.1939 +think I can make that one come true on the honeymoon.” 
  1.1940 +	“See? It’s fun to plan things ahead. And I think Sakura-chan’s
  1.1941 +getting good at it.” The pale girl giggled, resting against Sakura.
  1.1942 +Their hearts beat in tandem. And the two held each other, listening
  1.1943 +to their very own melody. 
  1.1944 +
  1.1945 +