I've been dabbling at this little thing for a while now, but only 

 today did I get the inspiration to finish it, in part from Spheeris's 

 wish list.  So I guess you could say this is a bit of a birthday 

 present. :)  Hope it stands well on its own.

 

                        The One You Love Best

                    a Tale of Card Captor Sakura

                       by Star Knight Abraxis

 			abraxis@goldengate.net

 

 Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me, but I'll put them back 

 when I'm done with them, okay?

 

       She'd set up a camera, hidden away in one corner of the room, to 

 tape all this.  She couldn't trust her hands not to start shaking at 

 a moment like this... but she wanted this recorded.  For closure, if 

 nothing else.

        "Thanks for having me over, Tomoyo-chan!  I still wanted to 

 talk to you about what to do for Shaoran-kun now that he's leaving. 

 I'm a little nervous..."

        'You're not the only one, Sakura-chan,' she thought.  "Can we 

 talk about that a little later?  There's... there's something I 

 wanted to tell you first."

       "Oh?"  Sakura plopped down on Tomoyo's bed, clutching a stuffed 

 animal to her in a manner so cute as to set Tomoyo's pulse racing. 

 "What is it?"

       Tomoyo took a deep breath, steadying herself.  She knew she 

 shouldn't be doing this; it was so horribly selfish... but she had to 

 tell Sakura.  Just once, before Sakura went off to Shaoran forever. 

 "Sakura-chan...  I love you."

       Sakura smiled brilliantly.  "I know that, Tomoyo-chan!  I love you too!"

       "No!"  Tomoyo cut her off, a bit more sharply than she intended. 

 "I... don't mean just like that.  I'm in love with you, Sakura-chan. 

 Passionately.  Romantically.  With all my heart."

       Sakura nodded, looking a little confused.  "I know.  Like I 

 said, I love you too."

       Tomoyo blinked.  Her mouth went dry.  "Y-you... know?"

       "Well, sure.  I mean, why else would we have been dating for so long?"

       Tomoyo sat down heavily on the bed.  She couldn't quite feel her 

 legs anymore.  "D...dating?"

       Now Sakura was looking a little worried.  "All those things 

 we've done together, just the two of us, like going to movies or the 

 shrine festivals, even catching Clow Cards sometimes.  Well, 

 Kero-chan was there too, but he's sort of a chaperone, I guess."  She 

 looked at Tomoyo with concern.  "Didn't you think they were romantic 

 enough?"

       She had, oh how she had, but she had been sure that was all in 

 her own mind.  But for Sakura to feel the same way?

       No.  It was impossible.   "What about Shaoran-kun?"

       Sakura blinked.  "What about him?  I wanted some advice on 

 whether I should get him a going-away present or something, but that 

 can wait.  Whatever you're worried about is more important."

       "No, it's just... I thought you, well... had a crush on him?"

       "Hoe?"  Sakura shook her head.  "The only person other than you 

 I've ever had a crush on was Yukito-san, and that turned out to be 

 just because he was Yue and I was attracted to the magic."  She 

 blushed a little.  "I don't think I ever thanked you enough for 

 putting up with me through all that.  I mean, some of the time, it 

 must have seemed like I'd dumped you for him.  But... it wasn't like 

 that.  It was just... I think the magic dazzled me, and I couldn't 

 think of anything else whenever I saw him."  She looked down, a 

 little ashamed.  "I don't know why you didn't just abandon me when I 

 did that.  I must have seemed so heartless, and you could do so much 

 better than me..."

       Tomoyo jolted slightly at that.  "But there's no one better than 

 you, Sakura-chan!"  The words almost came by reflex, so overwhelmed 

 was she by the revelation after revelation, but they were of course 

 truer than anything she knew.

       Sakura smiled, blushing.  "Thank you, Tomoyo-chan.  That's one 

 of the reasons I love you so much.  Because you can always see the 

 best in me, even when I can't."

       Now Tomoyo could feel herself blushing, her cheeks warm with 

 embarrassment.  'Reasons she loves me.  She loves me.  Sakura-chan 

 loves me.'  The words were spinning dizzily around her brain, not 

 actually completely sinking in yet.  But oh, how beautiful they 

 were...

       "I know I haven't always been the perfect girlfriend, but I hope 

 I can always make you happy.  And I want to always be there for you. 

 Because you've always been the best part of my life.  You always make 

 me feel special. 

       "And because I love you."

       Sakura took Tomoyo's hands in her own, gently.  "Is that what 

 you were worried about?  You were thinking I might be falling for 

 Shaoran-kun?"

       "Well... maybe a little," Tomoyo breathed dazedly.  'Her skin is 

 so soft...'

       Sakura smiled.  "Well, don't worry.  I don't love him.  He's a 

 good friend, but he's a boy... and he's not you.  I want to grow up 

 with you.  I want to give my first kiss to you, some special night. 

 I even want to marry you, if we could, someday.  And someday, when 

 we're both old ladies, I want to sit with you watching your tapes of 

 us as little kids and laugh at how silly we used to be, and sigh at 

 how in love we were even then.  Even now.

       "I want to be with you forever."

       All Tomoyo could see was Sakura's beautiful green eyes, staring 

 into hers, full of love.  How had she not seen it before?

       She heard, distantly, her mother's voice shouting from 

 downstairs.  "Sakura-chan, your brother's on the phone.  He wants to 

 talk to you."

       "Mou..."  Sakura groaned exasperatedly.  "He sure can pick the 

 wrong moment.  I'll be right back, Tomoyo-chan."  Sakura drew her 

 girlfriend into a quick but close hug, then stood to race out the 

 door.

       Slowly, Tomoyo looked around the room.  Her eyes fell on the 

 camera, still hidden in the corner, still recording the stunned look 

 on her face.

       And to think she'd wanted to see *Sakura's* expression!

       And with that thought, the disbelief left her all in a rush, 

 leaving only giddy happiness.  Sakura-chan loved her.  The same way 

 Tomoyo loved her back.  She'd loved her for the longest time.  And 

 Tomoyo had missed every single hint.

       She flopped back onto the bed, smiling dreamily.  "Hanyaaaan," 

 she sighed happily.

       And she'd thought *Sakura* was the clueless one.

 

 Author's Notes:

       I've read a few Tomoyo/Sakura fanfics recently, and while many 

 of them were quite good, I also noticed a bit of a sameness to a lot 

 of them.  Either Tomoyo and Sakura were already a couple, with the 

 briefest of explanations, or Sakura found out how Tomoyo felt (often 

 through magic), and after a bit of soul-searching, came to 

 reciprocate.  Being as perverse by nature as I am, I wondered if 

 there wasn't a different way to approach it.  This is the result.

       I won't claim this fits perfectly, or even well, with CCS canon. 

 I haven't even seen the whole series or read all the manga at this 

 point.  But isn't it a fun idea? :)

       I also have a more serious CCS work in progress, dealing with a 

 secret admirer of Tomoyo (and I'm actually drawing her from canon), 

 but it's taking a bit longer than this.  Hopefully it'll get done 

 sometime in this geological epoch.