rlm@0: 	Later that evening, after Sakura returned home, the girl spent most of
rlm@0: her time inside her room.  The entire time though, she laid down on her bed
rlm@0: staring up at the ceiling.  Her sight was observing dead space with her
rlm@0: eyes watching nothing in particular.  Somewhere deep within the back of her
rlm@0: mind, thoughts of herself and of Tomoyo were piling up: thoughts of love,
rlm@0: thoughts of confusion and thoughts of discovery.  There were moments when
rlm@0: these thoughts would race through Sakura's mind and there were others when
rlm@0: they would be too much for her, causing her mind to run dormant.  All of
rlm@0: the girl's questions had been answered except for one, and there was no way
rlm@0: for her to know how to answer it.  As Sakura continued laying motionless on
rlm@0: her bed, her guardian, Kero, came out of the top desk drawer where he had
rlm@0: been sleeping for most of the day.  He looked around and found the room to
rlm@0: be pitch black.  The small guardian groaned as he flew up to turn on the
rlm@0: nearby lamp.  "Sakura, did you forget to wake me up again?  I'm so hungry."
rlm@0:  Kero's attitude changed from crankiness to concern once he saw Sakura's
rlm@0: lifeless body on the bed.  "Hey Sakura, are you okay?"  Kero floated to his
rlm@0: friend's side to console her and try to help her out.  "Hey is there
rlm@0: something the matter?"
rlm@0: >	"Oh.  Hey Kero," Sakura responded glancing at her friend.  "I'm sorry I
rlm@0: forgot to wake you up".
rlm@0: >	"Sakura, it appears to me that something's been bothering you since
rlm@0: yesterday.  Is it alright if I ask what's wrong?"
rlm@0: >	"Well...sure, but I don't think you'll understand."
rlm@0: >	"Hey, I'm here to help, and I'll do my best to help you out in any way
rlm@0: that I can," Kero said in a calm, reassuring tone.
rlm@0: >	"Okay.  Well, basically it's about Tomoyo.  Yesterday after school, she
rlm@0: gave me a letter that...well, she said that...her letter said..." It was
rlm@0: hard for Sakura to talk about something she hardly understood at all.
rlm@0: >	"Take it slow and easy Sakura.  You can go at your own pace."
rlm@0: >	"Okay," Sakura responded.  She sat quietly for a few seconds, then took
rlm@0: in a deep breath and spoke once again.  "In her letter, Tomoyo told me
rlm@0: that...she has feelings of love for me."  Sakura stayed quiet after that as
rlm@0: she anticipated criticism from Kero just for saying such a thing.
rlm@0: >	"Keep going, I'm listening," Kero said, sounding a little impatient but
rlm@0: still williing to help Sakura out.
rlm@0: >	Sakura was a little bit surprised to hear Kero say that, and it was then
rlm@0: she realized that he could understand her situation better than she could.
rlm@0: "Well, after I read Tomoyo's letter, I was unsure of what to say to her
rlm@0: that I just ran off."
rlm@0: >	"What?  Wait a second!  Did you just say that you ran away from her?"
rlm@0: >	"Y,yeah, but I..."
rlm@0: >	"Sakura," Kero was upset at Sakura's description of her past misjudgment,
rlm@0: "when someone tells you their feelings like that, you don't just run away
rlm@0: from them and not come back to resolve the siutation!  You're going to hurt
rlm@0: someone deep inside by doing that!"
rlm@0: >	"I understand that now Kero," Sakura quickly responded.  "But yeserday,
rlm@0: it was all so sudden and shocking to me that I had no idea what to do!"
rlm@0: >	After Sakura's reaction of defense, Kero couldn't help but apologize for
rlm@0: his harsh outburst.  "I'm sorry Sakura, I just wasn't sure how well you
rlm@0: understood the situation you're in."
rlm@0: >	"No," Sakura said as she let feeling of guilt engulf her.  "Don't
rlm@0: apologize Kero.  I deserve to be yelled at for what I've done yesterday.
rlm@0: It's all my fault that I'm in this mess."
rlm@0: >	"Don't say that.  The fact that you want to resolve this problem the
rlm@0: right way shows that you're a caring person.  So try not to take it out on
rlm@0: yourself.  You'll get through this alright."
rlm@0: >	The little girl felt comforted as her friend patted her head, and her
rlm@0: mouth formed a small smile, but it wasn't large enough to show that she was
rlm@0: truly happy.  "Anyway," Sakura continued, "I thought about the letter again
rlm@0: today, and how Tomoyo described her feelings.  As I was thinking, I began
rlm@0: to feel something within me surface.  The more I thought, I began to
rlm@0: realize that I also had feelings of love.  These feelings I have for Tomoyo
rlm@0: are real.  I guess I kinda had these feelings all along, but after reading
rlm@0: Tomoyo's letter and understanding how she felt, I was able to discover them
rlm@0: for the first time.  But, I don't even see how all of this is possible."
rlm@0: >	"What do you mean by that?" Kero asked.
rlm@0: >	"It, it just doesn't sound right.  I don't understand how any of this can
rlm@0: be normal.  Tomoyo and I are both girls and we both share a desire of love
rlm@0: for each other, but when I think about it, it just sounds weird.  I never
rlm@0: even knew that I could fall in love with another girl.  Being in this
rlm@0: situation scares me a lot.  That's the reason why I ran away from Tomoyo."
rlm@0: Sakura's tone of voice showed that she was starting to act hysterical.  "I
rlm@0: don't even understand how the love between two girls can be real!  This is
rlm@0: something that's been on my mind for an entire day and I feel like I'm
rlm@0: going crazy!  It sounds unnatural and uncommon!  Kero, I love Tomoyo, but
rlm@0: can this really be called love?"
rlm@0: >	After hearing everything that his friend had to say, Kero thought long
rlm@0: and hard to come up with a solution for Sakura's perplexing problem.  He
rlm@0: delivered his reply once he believed he found the right choice of words.
rlm@0: "I can understand that at your age, you would find all of this to be really
rlm@0: confusing.  Okay Sakura, I think I know of a way to explain this.  Now you
rlm@0: know that your father loves you, right?"
rlm@0: >	"Well, yeah."  Sakura was very curious as to what Kero would say in order
rlm@0: to help her out.
rlm@0: >	"And your father also loves your brother, even though they're both the
rlm@0: same gender.  As you know, that type of love is not considered romantic."
rlm@0: >	"Right."
rlm@0: >	"Now, keep in mind the relationship between your father and your brother
rlm@0: as I continue.  The love that your parents shared with each other was the
rlm@0: romantic type of love.  The love between yourself and Tomoyo is also
rlm@0: romantic.  If you think about it, there are different types of
rlm@0: relationships between the two genders.  Many of them, even the one you have
rlm@0: with Tomoyo, are considered by a lot of people to be real love.  I hope you
rlm@0: no longer think of your situation being strange, because I certainly don't
rlm@0: see a problem with it."
rlm@0: >	Sakura listened to every word that was told to her, and it took a while
rlm@0: for her to understand.  She kept the relationship of her father and her
rlm@0: brother in her mind the whole time.  At one point, she came across the fact
rlm@0: that since they were family, they cared about each other and it didn't
rlm@0: mater that they were both male.  As soon as Sakura realized this, she
rlm@0: compared it to her relationship with Tomoyo.  Her realization was that even
rlm@0: though they were both girls, her emotions of love mattered the most between
rlm@0: them.  Sakura discovered that gender was not an important factor when the
rlm@0: feelings between two people were true.  Soon, a smile came across Sakura's
rlm@0: face.  It finally made perfect sense to her.  "I...I understand. I actually
rlm@0: understand it now.  Incredible.  But, the whole thing sounds so simple now
rlm@0: that I've had it explained to me.  I can't believe that I was just worrying
rlm@0: over nothing the whole time."
rlm@0: >	"It's okay Sakura.  A lot of people have problems with this sort of
rlm@0: thing, but you've found the answer to this situation.  I think you should
rlm@0: be proud with yourself."
rlm@0: >	"Yeah.  I am proud, and I'm happy about it too.  I didn't really think
rlm@0: I'd be able to...oh!  I still haven't said a thing to Tomoyo since
rlm@0: yesterday.  She's probably so heart broken, or mad that she doesn't want to
rlm@0: speak to me.  Now what am I suppose to do?"
rlm@0: >	"Well first of all, I think you should call Tomoyo on the phone."
rlm@0: >	"Huh?"
rlm@0: >	"Sure.  Arrange to meet with her sometime tomorrow so you can fully
rlm@0: discuss your feelings with her."
rlm@0: >	"Do...you think she will agree to do so?"
rlm@0: >	"If you ask in an appropriate manner, she will forgive you."
rlm@0: >	"Should I call her right now?"
rlm@0: >	"Uh...not yet.  There's something more important that you need to take
rlm@0: care of first."
rlm@0: >	"What?  Something more important?"
rlm@0: >	"Yeah.  I still haven't been feed in a while.  Could you please do that
rlm@0: first?"
rlm@0: >	"Oh!  Hm.  You bet Kero.  Wait right here."
rlm@0: >	"Thanks Sakura," Kero said as he watched his friend leave the room in a
rlm@0: joyful mood.  "Sakura and Tomoyo huh?  Well, who would have guessed?  Then
rlm@0: again love and life hardly turn out the way we expect it to.  I think those
rlm@0: two girls are going to be just fine together."
rlm@0: 
rlm@0:  
rlm@0: 
rlm@0: