As soon as the final petal had reached the ground, the wind took up all

 of the petals and gathered them into a cluster.  The petals continued

 flowing with the breeze while remaining in the same area above ground.

 Tomoyo stared at the pink mass with a curious look in her eyes, wondering

 what would happen next.  Suddenly, the petals began to inch their way

 toward a section of the park with trees surrounding the entire area.

 Tomoyo quickly reacted by picking up the elephant and following the cheery

 blossom petals toward their destination.  The wind picked up speed and

 carried the petals faster, making the girl run in order to try and catch

 up.  Once the petals reached the trees, they escaped from Tomoyo's sight.

 After Tomoyo reached the first row of trees, she began to walk past them

 wondering where she would find the assortment of petals.  The girl wandered

 around searching for her destination, but she had no idea where that was.

 As she pasted more of the trees, she started to get lost in her search,

 noticing that each new tree looked exactly like the one she just past.  She

 was beginning to wonder if she would ever find the petals at all.  But

 suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Tomoyo spotted them, almost missing

 them completely.  The petals had formed a circle around one of the trees as

 they began to orbit around it in a clockwise motion.  Tomoyo smiled again

 once she had finally found where she needed to be.  She was happy not only

 because she had found the petals, but also because she was in anticipation

 of what would happen next.  As she crept forward toward the tree, the

 circumference of the petals began to increase in size as they spread out

 away from the tree.  Tomoyo stopped in her advancement toward the tree as

 the petals broke its formation; brushing past the girls chest and

 connecting again behind her.  The girl glanced at the pink circle and

 watched its movement until it stopped a couple feet away from her.  When

 Tomoyo realized that the petals would refrain from moving, she turned her

 head towards the tree again as she awaited the next event to unfold.  With

 only a few seconds of waiting, the young girl's hopes would be fulfilled in

 a manner that she thought she could only imagine.  Revealing herself from

 behind the tree, with her right hand holding something behind her back and

 her left resting the Clow staff on her shoulder, Sakura gave Tomoyo a very

 pleasant smile.  Tomoyo knew that Sakura would be waiting at the end of her

 search, but seeing the brown haired girl again put a vast amount of joy

 into her heart.  "Sakura!"  Tomoyo shouted in ecstatic jubilation as she

 ran toward the other girl and gently wrapped her arms around her neck.

 Sakura placed her left hand on Tomoyo's back while still holding onto the

 staff.  She then turned the staff back into its key form, letting the chain

 attached to it dangle in between the spaces in her fingers.  Her left hand

 was now free to give Tomoyo her soft, comforting touch.

 >>	"I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to see you again," Tomoyo said, her

 voice showing that she was close to breaking into tears.

 >>	"I know, and I'm very sorry that I did that to you," Sakura explained,

 having regret in her voice but still indicating that she was happy things

 had come around for the two.  "I would never intend to hurt you like I did,

 but, well I wasn't sure if how the way you felt for me...and now the way I

 feel for you, was even possible.  But I've thought about it and now I

 realize I was just being foolish."  Sakura removed her hand from Tomoyo's

 back and placed it on her shoulder, as she looked into her eyes.  "It makes

 more sense to me than ever.  And now that I realize that what we share is

 beautiful, I want to make sure it lasts as long as possible."  The brown

 haired girl leaned in toward the other girl and whispered in her ear with a

 voice that made Tomoyo feel cool and with the words she had been hoping to

 hear.  "I love you more than anything else in this world and I want to hold

 on to that feeling forever."  After hearing those words, Tomoyo's face lit

 up as she knew that everything would be alright, even better than she had

 hoped.  Once Sakura brought her attention back to the girl she loved, the

 two spent the time gazing at each other's beauty.  Then, without any

 warning from either of the two, as the situation presented them with the

 same idea, Sakura and Tomoyo leaned toward each other for a kiss.  As their

 lips meet, the kiss was light and tender, but the meaning within it was

 very passionate.  After the two broke off their physical sign of love, they

 smiled and continued to look into each others' eyes, feeling content that

 they werte together.  Then a thought suddenly came to Tomoyo's mind.

 >>	"Oh, I just realized.  I haven't given you your gift yet."  Tomoyo

 exclaimed, almost forgetting she was holding on to the elephant this whole

 time.  She then presented the elephant to Sakura with outstretched hands.

 "I hope you still want it."

 >>	Sakura took the elephant in her left hand, examined it, and clutched it

 to her chest.  "Thank you Tomoyo.  Your gift really means a lot to me."

 >>	"I'm glad that you still like it."

 >>	"Do you know the reason why I really like it?" the brown haired girl

 calmly asked.

 >>	"It's because you said it was cute, isn't that right?" Tomoyo said with

 a slight hint of confusion in her voice.

 >>	"I did say that," Sakura responded as she loosened the grip on the plush

 figure and gently held it at her side, "and I still think it's cute, but

 there is a different reason as to why I like it now.  I like it because it

 came from you.  The fact that you gave it to me really means something.  If

 anyone else had given it to me, it would just be another stuffed animal to

 add to my collection.  But I can tell that you gave this to me because you

 love me.  You put so much thought into giving this to me.  It holds all of

 your feelings and that's why I like it.  And besides, the elephant is cute,

 but it could never replace your natural beauty."

 >>	The final set of words that Sakura said connected with the dark haired

 girl effectively as she began to blush.  "Th-thank you," she said.  "And

 thank you for understanding my intentions.  I had hoped that you would."

 >>	"Oh, and there's something else I wanted to say," Sakura began as she

 moved her right hand from behind to reveal what she had been hiding.  "As

 far as putting thought and emotion into one's gift, that's what I had done,

 when I made these for you."  The gift Sakura held out to Tomoyo, in a

 slightly proud, but still cheerful manner, was a pair of fresh roses from

 the Flower Card.

 >>	Tomoyo smiled once she saw her gift.  She took the two pieces of floral

 beauty and smelled them to find they emitted a heavenly aroma.  "They're

 very beautiful.  Thank you Sakkura."

 >>	"And each of those roses both symbolize something."

 >>	"Really?"  Tomoyo asked as she looked up to Sakura.  "What do they mean?"

 >>	"Hm, one represents all the feelings I have for the girl I love, and the

 other is for the hope that the two of us will always be together."

 >>	A warm feeling went through Tomoyo as she embraced the other girl again,

 and a gentle sigh escaped through her lips before she spoke.  "I would

 really like to see that hope realzed."  As the unnoticed minutes drifted

 by, the thoughts and desires of the two girls for each other went through

 their minds, while the comfort of the two close together physically

 acknowledged all of them.  A cool gust of wind went by as Sakura and Tomoyo

 found themselves looking into each other's eyes again.

 >>	"Well," Sakura began as she flashed a joyful smile, "I think now that

 we've found our way into each others hearts, we should probably celebrate

 our union.  Is there anything that you want to do?"

 >>	The dark haired girl gave the other girl a light kiss as well as her

 answer.  "Just being here with you is fine with me.  It doesn't really

 matter what we do."

 >>	"Alright then."  As Tomoyo took Sakura's arm, the two of them led each

 other toward one of the trees.  They sat next to one another at the base of

 the tree while a feeling of calmness and serenity found its way into both

 of them.  Tomoyo rest her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, and Sakura

 returned the gesture of affection by placing her hand on her girlfriend's

 head.  Nothing felt out of place as the cherry blossom petals were freed

 from their dormant position above ground and were carried by the wind as a

 sign to anyone who saw them that two people had fallen in love.

 >>

 >>	After another school day had come and gone, Tomoyo stood by the entrance

 waithing for Sakura to meet with her.  The two girls had decided to buy a

 snack after school and share it with each other.  To keep herself occupied,

 she took scenery shots of the school grounds with her camcorder.  She only

 got a few minutes worth of footage before Sakura came out and greeted her.

 >>	"Sorry to keep you waiting," Sakura said a little bit embarrassed.

 >>	"Oh it's no trouble at all.  I'm just glad you came, and I knew you

 would be here," Tomoyo answered while recording Sakura on film.  Since the

 two were closer than ever, Sakura no longer felt shy or embarrassed about

 being in front of Tomoyo's camcorder, especially now that she knew why she

 was he dark haired girl's favorite thing to record.

 >>	"So, do you still like the gift that I gave you?" Sakura said as she

 struck a pose for the machine's lens.

 >>	Tomoyo responded with a smile as she took the camera away from her face

 to look at her girlfriend with her own eyes.  "Being with you has always

 been a gift, and I will always enjoy that."

 >>

 >>

 >>So what did you think?  Did you like it?  Dislike it?  Or are you just

 indifferent?  Anyway, please tell me what you think.  I will take comments

 and criticism of any kind.  Just send it to me at mebrown@dubuque.net, I

 would really appreciate it.  Thanks a bunch.