Legal Crap: I don't own these characters, nor do I make any profit off of them.  I ask you not to sue me.

 Note: I've only seen the dubbed episodes, so I'll be using names from them (Madison rather than Tomoyo, Julian rather than Yukito, Meilin rather than Meiling, etc.)

 Warning: This story is a yuri romance.  In other words, it's a love story between two females.  If you don't like the idea of that, then don't waste your time reading it.  I have no tolerance for flames.  If you don't like this story and tell me so, you'd better have a better reason than just disliking that sort of relationship.

 

 

 Deception Brings Truth

 By Animeanie

 

 Sakura sighed and flopped down on her bed.  "I don't know why you're so worried, Kero.  There hasn't been a Clow Card sighting in months," she said.

 

 From over on the dresser, Kero shook his head.  "That's exactly why I'm concerned, Sakura.  It's been too quiet.  It's been three months since you started Middle School, and not a single card has shown up yet.  The next one is probably trying to lull you into a false sense of security.  Remember what I always say: expect the unexpected."

 

 Before Sakura could reply, the phone began ringing.  She scrambled over to get it.  "Hello?"

 

 Li's voice was on the other end.  "Is that you, Sakura?"

 

 "Li?!" Sakura said, surprised.  Li rarely ever called.

 

 As usual, Li was direct.  "You know that dance at the school tomorrow night?"

 

 "Um, yeah," Sakura said, a bit confused.

 

 "Are you going?" he asked.

 

 "Well, no.  No one's asked me to go, and it's kind of for couples."

 

 "You want to go with me?" he asked.

 

 Sakura's heart skipped a beat.  Could it be possible?  Li was asking her to go to the dance with him!

 

 "Sure!" Sakura managed to say.

 

 "Good.  I'll meet you there," Li said before hanging up.

 

 Sakura stared at the phone for a few minutes, not fully believing what had just happened.

 

 Kero floated over and asked, "What was that all about?"

 

 "Li asked me to go to the dance!" Sakura said giddily.

 

 Kero frowned.  "I don't like that kid, Sakura."

 

 Sakura ignored him and dialed Madison's number.  Madison picked up on the second ring and said, "Hello?"

 

 Sakura couldn't contain her excitement.  "Madison, guess what?  Li just asked me to go to the dance with him!"

 

 There was a slight pause, then Madison enthusiastically said, "That's great, Sakura!  You've had a crush on him for a while now, haven't you?"

 

 "Yeah.  Anyway, I was wondering if you could make me a dress or something to go in?" Sakura asked hopefully.  "It's supposed to be a dress-up sort of occasion."

 

 "Sure, Sakura.  I'll start working on it right now."

 

 "Thanks, Madison, you're the greatest!"

 

 *  *  *

 

 Madison hung up and looked at her TV.  She had been watching one of her tapes before Sakura had called, and had paused the home video.  The screen showed a close-up of Sakura's face.

 

 A tear trickled down Madison's cheek as she gazed lovingly at what she so desperately wanted, but could never have.

 

 With a ragged sob, she buried her face in her arms and wept.

 

 *  *  *

 

 "What do you think?" Madison asked.

 

 Sakura looked in the mirror at the dress that Madison had spent hours on after she had called the day before.  It was an elegant, old-fashioned dress, complete with many frills all over.

 

 "It's wonderful, Madison!  I love it!" Sakura said happily.

 

 Madison smiled.  "That's a relief.  I was a little worried.  Sometimes you don't like my costumes."

 

 "Don't be silly, Madison.  I always like your costumes.  Some are a bit weird, but I always like them," Sakura said.  "Say, where's your dress?  Aren't you going to be wearing one?"

 

 "Oh.I'm not going," Madison said with forced lightness.

 

 "What? You mean no one asked you?" Sakura asked, surprised.

 

 "Not exactly.just no one I liked," Madison replied.  Many of the boys in their class had asked, in fact.  She had turned them all down.

 

 "Oh.  Well, which of the boys do you like?" Sakura asked.

 

 "None of them.  I meant that there was no one I'm interested in," Madison said quickly.

 

 An awkward silence followed.  Madison fixed up a few frills, avoiding Sakura's eyes.  Sakura was confused, and a bit hurt.  Madison was hiding something from her.  They were best friends; they weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other.

 

 She decided not to pry, though.  It was Madison's business, and it was her decision whether or not to tell her.

 

 "Well," Sakura said, breaking the silence, "I'd better get going if I'm going to be on time.  Thanks for the dress, Madison."

 

 "You're welcome, Sakura.  Have fun," Madison replied.

 

 *  *  *

 

 Sakura went into the dance and looked for Li.  It didn't take long for her to find him.  When she did, though, she met the sight of him with hurt and confusion.

 

 Over in the corner, Li and Meilin were dancing slowly.  Meilin's eyes were closed in bliss, and even Li seemed relaxed.

 

 Sakura couldn't stand it.  She marched over and yelled, "What are you doing!?"

 

 Meilin's eyes opened in annoyance.  Li jumped away from Meilin.  "Avalon!  What are you doing here?!" he asked, blushing slightly.

 

 "You actually have the nerve to ask me that!?  I'm here because you asked me to come with you!" Sakura yelled.

 

 Li looked very confused.  After a moment, though, understanding flickered across his face.  "You say I asked you to go with me to this dance?" Li asked.

 

 "Well, of course you did!  Don't try to deny it!  You called me yesterday!" Sakura shouted.

 

 Li nodded.  "Now it makes sense.  Listen, Sakura.  I didn't call you yesterday.  Yesterday afternoon, the Lasin Board flickered off and on.  It was trying to point at the school, but it seemed to be having trouble.  Meilin and I decided to come to this dance and check it out."

 

 "Then how do you explain the phone call?" Sakura asked angrily.

 

 "Considering the facts that the Lasin Board was having trouble, you don't sense a card's presence, and that you got a fake call, I'd say the Deception Card is on the loose!" Li stated.

 

 "The Deception Card?  How can a card be powerful enough to almost fool the Lasin Board?" Sakura asked skeptically.

 

 "The Deception Card is exceptionally powerful.  It's not even really a Clow Card.  When Clow Reed made the cards, he made them just like a normal card deck: with fifty two cards, but with two `joker' cards, as well.  Deception is one of those two.  It can fool your senses, it can almost fool the Lasin Board.  It's a  master of trickery, and enjoys playing pranks on people, such as the phone call," Li explained.

 

 Disappointment echoed throughout Sakura.  Li didn't like her; he hadn't invited her here.  And from the way he'd been dancing with Meilin, it looked like he already had someone in his life.

 

 Sakura sat down.  "Well, as long as I'm here, I might as well stay and help you catch the card," she sighed.

 

 "Thanks, Avalon.  And, uh.I'm.I'm sorry, Sakura," Li said.

 

 Meilin led Li way, saying, "Come on, Li, let's go dance some more."

 

 Raising his voice as he always did when embarrassed, he said, "I told you, I'm only dancing to pass the time until the card shows up!"

 

 Sakura watched them dance, sadly realizing that she would never get to dance with Li that way.

 

 *  *  *

 

 Kero performed another fancy trick for the camera.  Madison, holding the camera, laughed.  Kero inwardly smiled.

 

 The Guardian Beast had known for some time now that Madison was in love with Sakura.  He had lived for a long time, and he knew what was friendship and what was love.  And he knew that Madison loved Sakura.

 

 Knowing this, he had flown to Madison's house as soon as Sakura had left.  He had intended to cheer her up, and so far, by performing tricks inspired by Zylon Warriors for the camera, he was doing a good job.

 

 After another trick, the phone began ringing.  Madison, still holding the camera, went to answer it.  Kero took a small break from his rigorous routine and eavesdropped on her conversation.

 

 *  *  *

 

 "Deception, return to your power confined!" Sakura yelled.  The dark, shapeless blob that was Deception was sealed away.

 

 Sakura stood, gasping.  That had been a tough battle.  She and Li had had to fight it for a long time, using almost all of their powers to weaken it.

 

 Sakura picked up the card, which had no picture, symbols, or even writing, and pocketed it.  She said good-night to Li and Meilin and headed home.  Thank goodness the card had shown up after the dance was over.  At least that way there were no witnesses.

 

 Once at home, she flopped down on her bed, exhaused, and fell asleep almost instantly.

 

 *  *  *

 

 "Rise and shine, Sakura!" Kero yelled.

 

 Sakura groaned.  "Leave me alone, Kero.  I had a rough night."

 

 "Come on, Sakura!  Today's a big day, so wake up!" the Guardian Beast insisted.

 

 "Alright!  Alright!  I'm up!" Sakura yelled, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

 

 "Hey, whatcha got there?" Kero asked, seeing the Deception Card poking out of Sakura's pocket.

 

 Sakura took the card out.  "Li and I caught it at the dance last night.  He said it was the Deception Card."

 

 Kero looked at the blank face of the card and nodded.  "Ye, that's Deception.  Good job, Sakura!  That's a tough catch!"

 

 Sakura nodded.  "It sure was."  She sighed.  "What a mean card.  It turns out that Li never called me, it was the card playing a trick.  He'd never admit it, but I think he really likes Meilin.  I don't think he likes me, or at least not that way."

 

 Kero suddenly went rigid.  "You say that Deception made a fake phone call to you?" he asked slowly.

 

 Sakura nodded.  "Yeah, why?"

 

 "Um, Sakura.did you call Madison last night?" Kero asked.

 

 "No.I don't think so." Sakura replied.

 

 "Uh, oh." Kero groaned.

 

 "What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

 

 Kero flew over to her chair, where a videotape was lying.  "I went to Madison's house last night to show off my excellent moves.  After a little while, you.or the Deception Card.called her.  She didn't know, but she forgot to turn her camera off, so she got the whole thing on tape.  When I left later, she said I could keep the video, so here it is," he said, pointing at the video.

 

 "Well.well, what'd the card say?  Did it hurt her feelings?  What?" Sakura asked, concerned.

 

 "Err.you really have to hear it," Kero said.  They went downstairs and put the video into the VCR.

 

 Sakura watched the tape, unsure of what to expect.  For the first ten minutes, there was nothing but a fairly amusing kung-fu show by Kero.  Then, the phone started ringing in the background.  The camera switched views as Madison lowered it and walked over to the phone.

 

 Though the camera could only see the floor, Sakura could hear everything from the phone call.

 

 "Hello?" came Madison's voice.

 

 Sakura could hear her own voice answer.  "Hi, Madison."

 

 "Oh, hi Sakura.  Are you having fun with Li?" Madison asked.

 

 "Madison, I've realized something.  I don't love Li.  I love you."

 

 There was a gasp from Madison.  "W.what did you say, Sakura?" she asked, her voice wavering.

 

 "I love you.  I want to talk to you in person.  Meet me tomorrow at noon by the Penguin Slide."  With that, there was a sound of the fake Sakura hanging up.

 

 Sakura paused the tape.  "Oh, man!  Madison must be so creeped out!  I'd better tell her I don't really love her!  She must be so grossed out."

 

 Sakura reached for the phone, but Kero said, "I'd really watch the rest of the tape before you do that, Sakura."

 

 Confused, Sakura hit the Play button.  There was a silence for a moment, then the sound of a phone being put down.  The camera view shifted as Madison slowly put it down on a table.  From its new vantage point, the camera could see most of the room, including Madison, who was wearing a stunned face.

 

 "She.she loves me.Sakura loves me." Madison whispered in a shocked voice.

 

 Slowly, a happy, relieved, joyful smile spread across her face.  "She loves me," she said softly, as though relishing the very sound of these words.  "Kero, did you hear?  Sakura loves me!" she said, looking deliriously happy.

 

 Sakura could hear Kero's voice from off-camera.  You've been wanting to hear that for a long time, haven't you?" he asked sympathetically.

 

 Madison nodded, tears brimming in her eyes.  "I've loved her for years, Kero.  Years and years."

 

 And then she was laughing and crying at the same time.  Weeping with joy and laughing with relief.  She went on like this for several minutes, as if expelling years of pent-up agony.

 

 When she finally stopped and wiped her eyes, she said, "I'm sorry, Kero.  It's just that.it's been so hard, keeping this a secret.  Every time I see Sakura, I want to hug her, to tell her how much I love her, but."

 

 "I understand, kid," Kero said, flying over within the camera's sight.  "But hey, tomorrow you'll be able to do exactly that."

 

 Madison nodded happily.  Kero flew out of sight again and said, "Well, I'm going to go home now.  Can I keep the tape?  I wanna be able to see how awesome I look using my Zylon Karate Power."

 

 Madison nodded, and the last thing the camera showed before the tape was removed was a picture of perfect contentment on her face.

 

 As the screen went black, Sakura sat and stared at it, unbelieving.  "What will I do?  Kero, what will I do?" she asked in horror.

 

 *  *  *

 

 Kero shrugged.  "Really only one thing you can do.  Go meet her at the slide and tell her the truth."

 

 "But I can't, Kero!  I can't do that to her!  You saw how happy she was.  If I tell her that it was all the Deception Card's doing, it'll hurt her so badly.  I just can't do that to her!" Sakura said.

 

 Kero frowned.  "I said that you should tell her the truth, and I'll stick by it.  Tell a lie, and you could hurt her very badly, Sakura.  If you don't love her, tell her so."

 

 "But Kero, that will hurt her, too!" Sakura said helplessly.

 

 "Well, you gotta do something!" Kero shouted.

 

 Sakura groaned and covered her eyes.  "I just don't know what to do.  I don't want to hurt Madison, but I can't do anything that won't!" she moaned.

 

 "Yes, you can," Kero replied.

 

 "What?" Sakura asked hopefully.

 

 "Tell her you love her," Kero said.

 

 "What!?  But I don't love her that way!  She's a girl!  How could I love a girl?" Sakura said incredulously.

 

 "How can she?" Kero retorted.  "She loves you for who you are.  She loves you for your personality, for your actions, for the way you are.  She loves you, and she's not letting the issue of gender confuse her feelings for you.  That's an uncommonly strong love, Sakura.  A love with the power to look beyond what society accepts is a powerful love, indeed."

 

 "But, Kero.I don't." Sakura stammered.

 

 Kero frowned.  "I've seen a lot, Sakura.  I know what friendship is.  I know what love is.  And I know what denial is.  And you, kid, are deep in it."  He flew up the stairs, saying, "I'm gonna let you figure this out for yourself, Sakura.  Don't keep Madison waiting at the slide for too long."

 

 Sakura watched him go in disbelief.  How could he just leave her here by herself?

 

 Sakura sat for a moment, staring at the blank TV, then got up.  Kero was right about one thing: she did need to get going.  She certainly wasn't finding any of the answers here, and it wouldn't be fair to make Madison wait.

 

 As she waked to the Penguin Slide, Sakura thought about what Kero had said.  Was she in denial?  He had sounded pretty sure.  Could it really be?  Did she really love Madison?

 

 Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated.  She thought about the people she loved.  She saw Tory.  She saw her father.  She saw her mother.  And she got a glimpse of one other person.  Madison.

 

 Sakura opened her eyes and sighed.  That didn't help very much.  There was no way of telling if she'd seen Madison because she loved her, or just because of their strong friendship.

 

 She could have wept from frustration.  If only she could know for sure, one way or another!  She wanted to be able to give Madison a straight answer.  No, actually, that wasn't entirely true.  She wanted to give Madison an answer that would make her happy.

 

 Sakura stopped in shock.  She realized that she no longer really cared about figuring this out for herself.  She wanted to figure this out because she cared about Madison's happiness.  She cared more about Madison's happiness than her own.  And Sakura knew that to be a sign of true love.

 

 "I love her," Sakura said aloud.  "I love Madison Taylor."

 

 The words felt right.  Sakura said them over and over, and knew she could do so with honesty.  She loved Madison.  She had for a long time.  She'd just been denying it.  She loved Madison with all her heart.

 

 Her heart swelled with joy at the realization that Madison loved her back.

 

 She ran the rest of the way to the Penguin Slide.

 

 *  *  *

 

 As Sakura approached the Penguin Slide, she could see Madison waiting for her.  Madison ran to her, arms outstretched.

 

 As Madison was about to embrace her, however, Sakura said, "Wait, Madison.  Before you hug me, I need to tell you something."

 

 Madison stopped and lowered her arms.  "What is it, Sakura?" she asked, confused.

 

 Sakura told Madison about the Deception Card's trickery.

 

 Madison's eyes shimmered.  The look of sadness on her face nearly broke Sakura's heart.  "Sakura.I'm.I'm sorry.I.can we.can we still be friends?"

 

 Sakura shook her head.  "No, Madison, you've got it all wrong.  I just told you about the Deception Card so that I could tell you this for myself."  She took a deep breath.  "Madison, I love you.  You mean more to me than anyone else in the world."

 

 A few tears escaped Madison's eyes, creating rivulets down her cheeks.  "Oh, Sakura, I love you, too!" she cried, hugging her.  "I've loved you for so long!"

 

 Sakura returned the hug and asked, "Madison, why didn't you ever tell me?  All this time must have been terrible!"

 

 "I was scared, Sakura," Madison said softly.  "I mean, we're both girls.  I was afraid you'd be disgusted, and you wouldn't want to be my friend any more."

 

 "Well," Sakura said, smiling, as she drew back from Madison, "you don't have to worry about that any more, Madison.  We're going to be together forever."

 

 Madison's eyes closed with joy as she savored those two words.  "Together forever."

 

 Madison opened her eyes after a moment and looked deeply into Sakura's eyes.  Sakura looked back.  Slowly, they drew closer and closer until their lips met in a loving kiss.

 

 A kiss between two people who love one another is a truly beautiful and unique thing.  There are no words to describe its wonder, but suffice to say, as the world melted away around them, both knew that this was where they bleonged.

 

 The End