Sakura-chan is Coming to Town

 by Amazoness Duo

 amazonessduo@hotmail.com

 

 

 “Isn’t Santa Claus supposed to be fat?” Kero asked skeptically.

 

 “Sakura-chan can be a cute, skinny Santa Claus,” Tomoyo offered,

 pulling her camcorder down for a second.

 

 “Hoe...” stated the jolly Cardmistress in question, dressed up like

 Father Christmas himself. Once again, she knew this was Tomoyo’s

 idea. And just like always, she wasn’t quite sure how the dark haired

 girl had talked her into it. But Tomoyo always did, somehow. The fact

 that Sakura couldn’t say no to her best friend also played a part in

 it. So now she found herself outside of Tomoyo’s house in the dead of

 night, dressed up like Santa Claus while Tomoyo watched on in barely

 concealed bliss.

 

 The Seal Beast nodded thoughtfully, his arms crossed. “Yeah, I guess

 so. But if Sakura-chan is Santa Claus and I’m Rudolph,” he paused for

 a moment to show off the cute little antlers and shiny nose Tomoyo

 had gotten him for a costume, “then who are you supposed to be?”

 

 “I’m Mrs. Claus, of course,” Tomoyo said matter of factly. 

 

 Sakura’s face went a bright shade of crimson. She waved her arms

 swiftly. “To..Tomoyo-chan!” she whined in embarrassment. The

 implications of that were blatant enough that even she got it. Her

 cheeks burned as she busied herself with picking up the large bag of

 presents near her feet. 

 

 Tomoyo giggled at Sakura’s embarrassment, pulling up her camcorder

 to catch Sakura’s scarlet blush on videotape. “And if I’m Mrs. Claus,

 then I want nothing more than to videotape my dashing husband’s

 midnight ride.” She sighed dreamily, a hand on her cheek. 

 

 The flustered Cardmistress could only blush under the loving gaze of

 Tomoyo and her camcorder. She shifted about, trying to find a

 comfortable way to carry the bulky bag, but failing. “So.. Tomoyo-

 chan, what are we doing again?” Sakura asked in confusion, blinking

 off her earlier embarrassment. “You said you wanted me to come and

 play Santa for some kids. Shouldn’t you get onii-chan or someone

 who’d make a better Santa for this? I don’t think they’ll believe I’m

 Santa.” Looking down at Tomoyo’s take on the Santa Claus costume that

 she was wearing, she shifted a foot around, hearing the slight jingle

 of bells attached. 

 

 “But Sakura-chan’s the perfect Santa Claus!” Tomoyo insisted,

 letting the camcorder fall gingerly to her side for a moment. She

 stepped closer, helping adjust Sakura’s hat, moving the fluffy ball

 on the tip over her shoulder. Her fingers brushed back some of

 Sakura’s hair back underneath, lingering there for a moment. “You’re

 sweet and giving and adorable. And you have so much energy. I can’t

 think of anyone else who could handle Santa-san’s job.” She smiled

 brightly at the Cardmistress, her heart aflutter. Sakura made a

 darling Santa Claus. This was the perfect way to spend her Christmas

 Eve, out amidst the snow and moonlight with Sakura. It was so much

 better than unwrapping a present or even watching the Christmas

 lights. It was her very own Sakura, all dressed up festively and

 about to make children’s dreams come true. As well as her own.

 “Besides, the children probably won’t even see you. So you don’t need

 to look the part.” Tomoyo brought her pink gloved fingers up to

 Sakura’s ear, tracing the intricate snowflake earrings that she’d

 given Sakura as both a Christmas gift and a part of the costume. She

 should’ve waited for Christmas day, but she wanted Sakura to have

 them for their trip that night. She had such cute ears. The heiress

 sighed dreamily.

 

 Sakura’s mind had gone blank, her emerald eyes lost in the stormy

 blue eyes that were gazing deeply into her own. Tomoyo definitely

 wasn’t like any of her other friends. And no one could embarrass her

 the way Tomoyo did. But then, no one made her feel the way Tomoyo

 did. All warm and fuzzy and dizzy inside all at the same time. She

 knew she should say something, but words failed her. Her mouth

 opened, but little more than a tiny sound came out. She could feel

 the soft cloth of Tomoyo’s gloves caressing her ears. She felt weak,

 as if she might collapse against Tomoyo if she kept this up. And part

 of her wanted to. She knew Tomoyo wouldn’t mind. She’d hold her there

 as long as she wanted. “I...” Sakura finally tore her gaze away,

 staring down at her feet. Her cheeks burned even against the cold

 wind that raked past them. Just what had that been all about? She

 shook her head, her auburn hair getting thrown out from under the cap

 despite Tomoyo’s earlier efforts to tuck it in. She could hear the

 heiress giggle, almost in her ear with how close they still were. 

 

 Looking up at last, Sakura tried to fight off her blush, but it

 stubbornly refused to go. She smiled weakly. “So you really want me

 to play Santa Claus? To give these presents to some children?”

 

 “Hai. There are so many sad children without much for Christmas. I

 went singing to lots of them with the choir. I thought that we could

 bring them a bright Christmas after all. With Sakura-chan as my Santa

 Claus.” The dark haired girl sighed dreamily, clasping her hands

 together. “And they’ll wake up on Christmas morning to find wonderful

 surprises.”

 

 Sakura nodded determinedly, balling her fists up. She wouldn’t have

 even thought of that on her own. It was so sweet of Tomoyo to want to

 help those poor children. And if she could help her best friend with

 it at all, even as a substitute Santa Claus, she would do her very

 best. “They’ll have a beautiful Christmas, Tomoyo-chan. I promise!”

 

 Tomoyo took a step forward, hugging Sakura warmly. “I knew I could

 count on you, Sakura-chan!”

 

 Sakura wrapped her arms back around Tomoyo, standing there with the

 other girl pressed against her for a long moment. They both knew

 Sakura would have agreed to practically whatever idea Tomoyo had. But

 she was still glad to have made the heiress so happy. She hugged her

 friend tighter as snow fell slowly around them. This was so nice and

 warm.

 

 Tomoyo stayed that way for a long time, reluctant to leave the

 glorious embrace of Sakura’s arms. After a moments thought, she

 rested her head on Sakura’s shoulder, her long dark hair spilling

 across Sakura’s back. She knew they had to go start delivering

 presents soon, but if she could just stay this way a little longer...

 But Christmas would not wait for them. She slowly, gently pulled away

 from Sakura. 

 

 They stood there for a moment under the stars, silence enveloping

 the two girls. Sakura shuffled her foot in the snow for a moment

 before looking up. “Where did you get all of the presents?” she asked

 curiously, trying to break the silence. 

 

 “From my mother. She runs a toy company, after all. She thought it

 would be a wonderful idea to give out presents this way,” Tomoyo

 explained. “And she was delighted to hear you’d be Santa Claus.”

 

 Sakura blinked rapidly. “Sonomi-san knows I’m doing this?”

 

 Smiling and nodding, Tomoyo continued. “She loved the thought of you

 delivering all those presents. She just made me promise to let her

 see the videotape and she gave me all the gifts we’d need.”

 

 “Sonomi-san’s going to be watching this, too? Hoe...” Sakura

 clutched the bag nervously as Tomoyo pulled up the camcorder again. 

 

 “Like mother like daughter, I guess,” Kero added.

 

 Tomoyo giggled, stepping to the side. “We’re going to watch it

 together when I get home. ‘Sakura-chan’s White Christmas’. It will be

 much better than any Christmas specials.”

 

 Sakura blushed. This was going to be a long night.

 

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

 

 Meanwhile, their not-so-mysterious benefactor was finishing a few

 last minute decorations at the Daidouji mansion. 

 

 “There.” The businesswoman hopped off of the stepstool she had been

 on, stepping back to admire her handiwork. “Much better.” Her eyes

 followed the string of mistletoe. Mistletoe was placed at just about

 every convenient spot in the house. She’d picked it up as much as she

 could on the way home and had spent the next few hours putting it up

 personally. She had to make sure it was perfect. It had to cover

 every possible way Sakura could go through the house when she and her

 daughter got home late that night. 

 

 “She’s going to kiss my little girl,” Sonomi said determinedly. One

 of the maids sweatdropped as she passed, but said nothing. Such

 things were typical in that household. Both Sonomi and her daughter

 were rather eccentric, after all. Just to be safe, the maid hurried

 out from under the mistletoe. 

 

 Sighing, Sonomi sat down in the couch. Her daughter would be out at

 that moment with Sakura, giving gifts to a lot of needy children. She

 was glad to be able to help, and they way the two girls were going

 about it was even better. She couldn’t wait to see her daughter’s

 videotape of the evening. It would be so cute. Seeing Nadeshiko’s

 daughter play Santa, watching her own daughter’s eyes light up at the

 sight.

 

 In the meantime, she’d been working on a gift for Tomoyo. Or, more

 accurately, a gift from herself and Sakura to Tomoyo. Sakura just

 didn’t know she was involved yet. But all she had to do was get the

 brunette under the mistletoe with her daughter. Which shouldn’t be

 too difficult with how much she had put up. She thought the world of

 Sakura, but Nadeshiko’s daughter could be so dense sometimes. She was

 just going to give her a helpful push in her daughter’s direction. 

 

 Closing her eyes, the auburn haired businesswoman rested on her side

 on the couch. She was exhausted. It had been a long day at work. This

 was the busiest time of the year for her, after all. But she’d made

 absolutely sure to get all the gifts she could for Tomoyo’s little

 Christmas endeavor and had hurried home as soon as she could. Her

 sweet little daughter had been very grateful. So sweet and polite,

 just like Nadeshiko. 

 

 A smile crossed Sonomi’s lips as she lay sleepily on the couch. Her

 thoughts were drifting back to a time long ago, back when she had

 been able to spend this time of year with her very own Christmas

 angel. And in her tired mind, she forgot about the present. Nadeshiko

 was alive again. Shimmering radiantly, excited by the prospect of

 Christmas. Sonomi sighed, hugging herself. Yes, her dearest Nadeshiko

 had loved this time of year so much. Nadeshiko had even kissed her

 under the mistletoe once. It was still Sonomi’s favorite present of

 all. “Nadeshiko-chan,” Sonomi whispered, curling up like a child.

 

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

 

 Sakura crept quietly through the silent house. She squinted to try

 to see better in the darkness. The only light came from the Christmas

 lights twinkling on the tree. She could barely hear Tomoyo tiptoeing

 behind her. How Tomoyo could walk in this darkness and videotape at

 the same time was beyond Sakura. 

 

 “Cookies!” Kero’s eyes widened hungrily. The little mock reindeer

 zipped over to the plate of cookies left for Santa. This job wasn’t

 so bad after all.

 

 “Shhh!!” Sakura chided the Seal Beast. But he was already too busy

 munching on the cookies to care. Sighing, she made her way to the

 Christmas tree. He was going to wake someone up on one of these

 trips, she just knew it. She was lucky he hadn’t already. 

 

 Kneeling down, Sakura rummaged through her large red bag, searching

 through the presents. She squinted to see the nametag on it. “Which

 presents am I looking for, Tomoyo-chan?” the Cardmistress whispered,

 holding up two different packages. 

 

 "Megumi-chan,” Tomoyo replied, zooming in on Sakura. She made such

 an adorable Santa, sitting there underneath the tree. Oh, how she

 wished she could be sitting there with her under the pretty lights.

 But they didn’t have time for that even if she could.

 

 Sakura crawled forward with the gift, trying to find a good place to

 put it under the tree. She finally placed it behind one of two gifts

 that had already been there. “How’s that?” Looking over her shoulder,

 she saw Tomoyo still videotaping her. She slowly followed where the

 camcorder was pointing. Her face red, she sat back quickly. 

 

 The camcorder immediately went back up to Sakura’s face. Tomoyo

 smiled brightly, covering her embarrassment. She must have been out

 of it that night. Sakura usually didn’t catch her when she’d catch

 little glimpses like that. “That’s perfect, Sakura-chan,” the heiress

 reassured the still embarrassed brunette.

 

 ‘It’s dark. She didn’t see anything. She didn’t know she was

 recording up my skirt,’ Sakura rationalized, though the excuses

 sounded lame even to her. She blinked, slowly realizing that Tomoyo

 was holding a hand out to her. She took the pale girl’s gentle hand,

 getting to her feet. ‘She didn’t really..’ Sakura was thinking.

 Distracted by her thoughts, she didn’t realize her foot was around

 the cord to the Christmas lights, stepping forward, she stumbled into

 Tomoyo, the two girls falling together. 

 

 Tomoyo opened her eyes slowly, having shut them instinctively as

 they had been falling. “Are you okay, Sakura-chan?” she asked

 quickly, worried about the brunette. She sighed inwardly in relief as

 Sakura nodded into her shoulder, giving a muffled ‘hai’. She squeezed

 her hand, making sure the camcorder was still all right as well.

 Having checked the important things, she finally went about seeing to

 her own condition. Sakura had landed on top of her, her head buried

 against her shoulder. The back of her shoulder hurt, but it would go

 away soon enough. She simply laid there with Sakura for a moment,

 looking down at the auburn hair spilling our of Sakura’s red Santa

 hat.

 

 “What was that?” a girl in a nightgown asked, stepping out of one of

 the back rooms. 

 

 “It was probably nothing, Kumiko-chan,” a blonde girl replied,

 hugging the other girl from behind. “Let’s go back to bed. Tomorrow’s

 Christmas. You just want to sneak a peak of the present I got you.”

 

 Kumiko raised an eyebrow. “You mean you want to sneak a peak of me

 wearing your present. I still can’t believe you bought me lingerie.

 My parents will kill me if they find out.”

 

 Giggling, Megumi nodded. “Can I? It is Christmas Eve, after all. You

 can open one present. And then you could wear it back to bed,” the

 blonde suggested, nuzzling Kumiko’s neck. Kumiko blushed darkly, but

 that just brought a delicious sigh from Megumi. She was so happy to

 have Kumiko over for Christmas. Her parents were both gone, working

 again. To afford her treatments that didn’t seem to work anyway. She

 was just getting sicker and sicker as it was. But at least she could

 spend Christmas with the one she loved. 

 

 Kumiko blinked, ignoring Megumi’s warm and insistent nuzzling. No

 small feat considering how she usually melted under such an assault.

 But something seemed wrong. The Christmas lights on the tree were

 out. She walked over, Megumi still hanging onto her. What she didn’t

 know was that Megumi was having trouble standing on her own at the

 moment. 

 

 Tomoyo lay there, still stuck underneath Sakura. Sakura had frozen

 against her, unsure of what to do. If they stood up, they’d be

 caught. But if they stayed where they were, the two girls would

 probably find them, too. They weren’t in a very good position. Well,

 they were, Tomoyo had to admit, holding Sakura closer. But it

 wouldn’t be good if they got caught. She could feel Sakura blushing

 against her. Apparently she had heard the girls’ conversation. But it

 wasn’t anything new. She dressed Sakura up all the time with her

 costumes, including matching undergarments at times. But then, Sakura

 had never thought about it in that context before.

 

 “Kumi-chan, can we go back to bed?” Megumi asked quietly, resting

 her head against the braided haired girls back. She suddenly wasn’t

 feeling very well at all. She would drag Kumiko back to bed, but she

 didn’t think she could even keep standing if she let go for a moment.

 

 “Just a second, Megumi-chan,” Kumiko replied distractedly, following

 the unplugged Christmas light cord in the dim light. Her eyes went

 wide as she spotted a boot. And then a shadowy figure lying on the

 floor. “Ahhhhh!” she screamed, reeling back. There was a dead body on

 the floor! In Megumi’s house. 

 

 Sakura stood up quickly, her heart pounding in her chest. “No, wait!

 It’s all a mistake!” She waved her arms in front of herself, trying

 to stop the braided girl’s scream.

 

 Following Sakura’s lead, Tomoyo got to her feet as well. She bowed,

 smiling softly. “We’re sorry for the trouble. We were just dropping

 off a present. Now If you’ll excuse us, our sleigh is waiting. Right,

 Santa?” She wrapped her arms around Sakura’s, pulling her gently

 towards the chimney. 

 

 “Santa?” Megumi asked, watching the two from over Kumiko’s shoulder.

 Well, they were certainly dressed the part. And they didn’t look like

 they were here to cause any harm. Just two girls their own age. It

 didn’t make any sense why they were here, but she didn’t feel like it

 was a bad thing.

 

 “Hai...” Sakura replied, laughing nervously, a hand behind her head.

 “Merry Christmas!!” She waved quickly, pulling out a Sakura Card to

 make a hasty retreat. Tomoyo hurried back to her side after plucking

 Kero away from the cookies.

 

 Blinking, Kumiko shook her head. “But..!” A finger pressed against

 her lips, silencing her. 

 

 “Shhh... Just ignore it, dear,” Megumi whispered. “Now go ahead and

 open your present.” 

 

 “Megumi-chan...” Kumiko blushed. Maybe Megumi was right. She should

 just ignore any of this had happened. Even if she did want to know

 who those two girls were. And why they were in her girlfriend’s house.

 

 Megumi giggled. “I love you, Kumi-chan.” She kissed the other girl’s

 cheek. 

 

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

 

 Tomoyo slid her window open as she hung in the air, held aloft in

 Sakura’s arms. The Cardmistress was holding onto her waist tightly,

 her angelic wings flapping to keep them up. The window finally open,

 Tomoyo slid inside before helping Sakura follow. Sakura’s angel wings

 dissipated in a burst of feathers. She let go of the empty sack that

 had held the gifts, stretching tiredly. It had been a long night. She

 saw Tomoyo smiling sweetly at her as she yawned. She covered her

 mouth quickly, blushing faintly. 

 

 “Thank you, Sakura-chan. You made tonight a perfect Christmas. For

 all of those girls. And for me.” Tomoyo stepped forward, taking one

 of Sakura’s hands in both of her own. “It was the best Christmas I’ve

 ever had. Thank you.” She kissed Sakura’s hand gently. She was so

 happy. She didn’t want the night to end, but she knew she could go

 right back and watch it all over on videotape. Her beautiful

 Christmas Eve with Sakura. She sighed contentedly.

 

 “It was fun, Tomoyo-chan.” Sakura replied, shifting about. She

 wanted to say more, but the whirlwind of feelings inside of her

 refused to translate into words. She bit her lip in frustration.

 There had to be some way to explain, to say something, to let it all

 out. Now was the time where they said goodbye and she left for home

 to have Christmas the next day with her father and brother. But she

 didn’t want to go. She felt like she’d regret it if she didn’t say

 something, if she left now. 

 

 Tomoyo stroked Sakura’s hand gently, comfortingly. Something was

 obviously bothering the Cardmistress. Sakura almost looked ready to

 cry. Tomoyo’s heart broke at the sad look in Sakura’s eyes. The

 Cardmistress was so intent, but she was having trouble with

 something, as if it refused to come to her. Sakura had looked so

 happy before. What had gone wrong? All she could do was be there with

 her. She squeezed Sakura’s hand gently.

 

 Her mind a swirling mess, Sakura took a shuddering breath. This had

 been such a perfect night. So why was she on the verge of tears? It

 wasn’t fair. Not to Tomoyo. But such a perfect Christmas Eve deserved

 a perfect ending. But nothing she could say sounded right. Something

 up above finally caught her eye. She looked up, trying to discern it

 in Tomoyo darkened room. Mistletoe, she finally decided. But what was

 it doing in Tomoyo’s room? It didn’t matter. She shouldn’t be

 thinking about such things right now anyway. She should be thinking

 about how to say goodbye. Blink. She looked back at the mistletoe and

 back at her Mrs. Claus. She swallowed nervously. She shouldn’t. She

 should. She was too embarrassed. But it was the best way to end the

 night. Their beautiful Christmas night, sealed with a kiss. ‘Hoe...’

 she thought. Steeling herself. She closed her eyes, wrestling with

 her embarrassment at the idea and the burning need within her. It

 finally one out, burning away her reluctance. Blinking, she looked

 back into Tomoyo’s worried blue eyes. Leaning forward, she kissed her

 best friend. Her lips inexpertly brushed against Tomoyo’s taking a

 moment to finally press against them in a kiss. The world seemed to

 tilt and tumble around her, her cheeks ablaze. 

 

 Tomoyo was for once completely taken by surprise by her beautiful

 Cardmistress. She didn’t always know exactly what Sakura would do,

 but she was rarely surprised by it. Now she was completely thrown

 off, the delicate balance of all of her careful planning sent

 spinning. For a moment, she had no idea what to do. But she quickly

 pushed past her disorientation, returning the kiss. Sakura’s delicate

 lips were softer than freshly fallen Sakura blossoms that Tomoyo has

 so often kissed, imagining this moment. Her arms wrapped around

 Sakura’s shoulders, pulling the auburn haired Santa Claus close. Her

 heart was near bursting with the love eager to get out to her friend.

 I love you, she tried to say through their kiss.

 

 Sakura finally broke the kiss, blushing furiously. Tomoyo was still

 rubbing her back. She couldn’t work up the will to pull away. She

 didn’t want to be apart from Tomoyo. Resting her head on the other

 girl’s shoulder, she sighed happily. “Merry Christmas, Tomoyo-chan.”