Image of the Day

Image of the Day

Thursday, May 17, 2007

I Guess It's Too Late...

If shoujoai doesn't bring back their fan fiction section then I guess it's too late to lift all my hentai Sakura tales and put them here... problem with blogging you have to worry about getting complaints about the wrong age people reading your stuff so, well, guess it's too late to worry about that now though.

Anyone know what the present situation with www.shoujoai.com is right now?

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered III Episode 8 (10)

Nina called up for data on the assassin Technocrat and came up with the following.

TECHNOCRAT
Human Assassin Listed as “The Technological Assassin”
Raven Guild
Technology enhanced and skilled with cybernetic and technological killing tools Presently partnered with Quake (see Version 2.0)
Last updated 8-14-07

“Version 2.0?” Tomoyo asked, “Let’s find out about that, Tomoyo.” Nina responds as she pulls up the data. “Now, before, Quake looked like this---” The image of a huge male in battle armor comes up.

QUAKE
Cyberroid Assassin Listed as “The Terran Assassin”
Raven Guild
Special Ability - Ability to manipulate “terra” in general vicinity.
Presently partnered with Technocrat (original)
See Version 2.0 for update (8-14-02)

“That means he can manipulate the earth beneath him.” Nina points out, pointing at a line in the text. “We know that!” Keiko rebuffs, “What’s the new Quake look like? And this time how about a nude pic so we can become totally disgusted at his murdering loathsome male body.”

“Gee, aren’t you just a well adjusted individual with males.” Nina sighs. Sakura, still shellshocked, just sat there, cradled in Tomoyo’s arms as they watched. “OK. One completely embarrassing picture of Quake 2.0 in the buff coming---” (she stops) “…whoa!“

QUAKE 2.0
Amazonian Assassin Listed as “The Terran Goddess Assassin”
Raven Guild
Special Ability - Ability to manipulate “terra” in general vicinity.
Presently partnered with Technocrat (original)
Sex change to Amazonian (8-14-02)

“----” Everyone just stood there, staring. And staring. And--- Keiko grabs her face and screams, “AGH!! THAT’S HORRIBLE!! IT’S EVIL!!”
“It’s not that evil.“ Nina notes nonchalantly, “Eliza was much bigger, Tina‘s definitely bigger.” Nina scoffs, turning the image off. “OH YOU WOULD SAY THAT!!!” Keiko screams, making Sakura cringe and hold Tomoyo tighter, “THAT’S SICK!! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!?”

“That Quake is the girl in the relationship?”

“-----” (silence) “---you make me want to go back to my sake addiction, Nina, you really really do --- you know that.”

“You had a sake addiction?” Nina coyly responded, rolling her eyes. “You know I did! (After November how couldn’t you!)” Keiko huffed, storming out. “Well that was fun.” Nina sighs, turning back at Sakura. “I always thought Technocrat was that kind, but I guess he was more bi-sexual than I gave him credit for. Say, Sakura, what do---” Sakura was crying in Tomoyo’s arms.

Nina smiles, and moves forward to comfort Sakura. “I know, I know.” Nina sighs, wrapping her arm around Sakura. “It must be an enormous shock to find Power has fallen for those two. Wanting to be the daughter of two assassins must be painful, and how she threatened you. But I’m here for you!” (Nina leans forward) “Anything you want to talk about! Anything at all! I’m here for you!” Sakura, red faced and teary, looked up at Nina and she began to mouth a few words before going back to crying on Tomoyo’s shoulder. Nina walks out of the room in a huff. “Goddamn fascist bigot fixation on Eliza’s Amazonian gender! She doesn’t see me go all bitchy and crying everytime I think of Tomoyo wearing a strap on does she?!? Same thing after all!”

* * * * * *

(The following parts of CardCaptor Sakura Remastered III was inspired by Clayton Overstreet’s “A Dance To Remember” (The story is set to take place around the Remastered lemon “Figure Eight”))

Sakura and Tomoyo were sitting in their bedroom upstairs, planning Sakura’s next battle costume. She had already tried on two costumes, and this was her third. "Tomo-chan.“ Sakura moaned softly, feeling the material in her hands as she did. “Yes?“ Sakura sighs, tugging on the material abit, “Are you sure this doesn't look silly Tomo-chan?"
Tomoyo smiled her usual gentle smile as she poked at the end of Sakura’s lips to bring it up into a half-smile. "I think you look just great Sakura-chan. You always look beautiful in those costumes."

“If you say so.“ Sakura agrees reluctantly, blushing as she looks down at the shiny pink thing she was wearing. The material seemingly glistened in the room‘s lighting, and she looked rather -- well -- words failed Sakura at that moment. "I can't sleep in this, though. And I don‘t think Nina will approve of me trying to capture a Clow card this late at night. She‘ll say I‘m stealing her “beauty sleep“ from her."

Tomoyo giggled and began helping her out of her costume. "And we can’t have that, right? Alright. Go put your usual jammies’ on and crawl into bed for sleep -- that is, unless I get them off of you during the night for something other than sleep."

With that Sakura carefully removed the costume, allowing Tomoyo to fold it up while she went to put her usual comfy nightclothes on. "Are we still going to the New Years’ Dance on Saturday?" she asked Sakura, who stuck her head into the shirt and said, "I don't know. I thought Nina said it’s evil to be conned into going to ANOTHER Misho NamoCatCat event?" Tomoyo bit her lip when Sakura mentioned that name. She had to admit that Nina was probably right.

It’s true. NamoCatCat had been leading Sakura-chan down a garden path for her own reasons lately. First time was when she staged that Field Day which turned into a good reason to get Sakura to seal “Flower” (and for Misho to reap the benefits and sell “Flower” Clow Card based merchandise after the event).

The second time was with the Christmas talent show which seemingly didn’t yield a Clow card appearance, but still made Misho a load of money.

The third time was the trip to the zoo yesterday which yielded the Clow card Power, and the events that came from that--- (see the previous episode for more details).

This, hence, would be the fourth time Misho was doing something for Sakura’s school (this time a dance to celebrate the end of 2002 that Friday) and Nina already was calling Misho the “devil incarnate” before NamoCatCat even thought of inviting her and Tomoyo to the dance.

Misho, of course, was appalled that Nina would blame her for Flower and Power’s appearances and pointed at the Christmas talent show to prove her innocence, still Nina scoffed at the idea that there was anything remotely innocent about Misho’s plots. Still, there was a few Clow Card which would fit the theme of a dance, and maybe Misho was hoping one of them would show up and once again she’d be on top of a major promotional booster with another Cardcaptor incident on her properties spiking up public interest in NamoCatCat Corp holdings. And considering Sakura’s experiences with both Fight and Power, she didn’t want to have another card give Sakura the shock of her life.

With a slight sigh, Sakura stepped out of the closet and ran her hands up and down the soft material of her trusted jammies‘. "Well... I was hoping this time it’d be a legit event and not another reason for Misho to make me try to capture a Clow Card. Still, if it gets us closer to recapturing all the cards I guess I’m all for it.“ Sakura sighed, looking up at Tomoyo. "You don’t think it’s a trick, do you?“

“She’s not like mother.” Tomoyo said in a straightforward manner, “Mother would never do that kind of thing to you --” suddenly she grins at Sakura. "And I much rather worry over what you’ll wear to the dance rather than what Misho does at the dance. Think Mirra-chan is going to bring her lover to the dance? Maybe Toya will take her---" Sakura frowned at her. "Stop teasing me." She remembers how she was supposed to, but never did, have a heart to heart with Toya about Mirra’s “infatuation” with him.

In the end it was the revelation that Mirra and her friend Hikaru were in love that ended any thoughts of Toya being her main crush. Still, Sakura almost had a heart attack on a few occasions thinking of what strange things her brother would have taught her! The worst was the fear that one day she’d walk in on Toya/Yuki, naked, teaching Mirra about sex! That thought alone gave Sakura fits and even made her cry once for no apparent reason… here’s how it came to be.

She was once with Mirra & Tomoyo at the park (Hikaru was out of town for a day), Toya was working as a hot dog vendor (“You work everywhere!” Sakura groaned as she walked up to him to get some lunch for the three of them). Toya opened the cart and began the preps as Sakura shelled out her CreditChip, but quickly turned to tell her. “Hey! Squirt! Cheer up! I‘ll make sure to give Mirra my big one.”

That pretty much set an already wired Sakura off, and she wouldn’t stop crying for five whole minutes, she kept going on about how Toya was a beast and if he even touched Mirra that she’d kill him. Of course he meant this big hot dog brand that the cart carried, but she got carried away and imagined him in the woods screwing Mirra and -- anyway she cried for 5 more minutes after that and swore that Toya was a horrible person to even say such a thing to her.

Toya, of course, didn’t understand what Sakura was going on about (and, in retrospect, most likely didn’t want to know what Sakura was going on about either.) "What does Yuki see in him anyway --“ she muttered to herself, before noticing Tomoyo’s watchful gaze on her. “N-n-nothing!“

“Alright, Sakura-chan. But I'm going to find out what you said eventually, so you might as well come clean! After all---” (she jumps forward tackling Sakura into the bed and pins her down) “You know you never could keep a secret from me."

"Are you sure about that?" Sakura sighed, enjoying being pinned beneath Tomoyo-chan. Her lips quivering as she thought briefly of clamping her mouth down on one of Tomoyo‘s beautiful perfect--- "Fine, don't tell me." Tomoyo giggled, rolling off of Sakura much to her disappointment. Sakura rolled her head sideways, and smiled at Tomoyo. “I want to go to the dance with you. Even if it means jumping through Misho’s hoops, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.“

Tomoyo quickly turned off the light and crawled into bed with her. "Good night Sakura." She sighed, pulling the brown haired girl into her arms. "Good night Tomo-chan." Sakura yawned, sleep overtaking her.

* * * * * *

Looking at the clock beside the bed she saw it was 1:14 in the morning. She glanced next to her at Tomoyo, but her beloved wasn't in bed. A horrible feeling of dread came over Sakura as she quickly jumped out of bed, and rushed to the closet where she found -- nothing. "She must be doing it again.“ Sakura sighed, relenting to Tomoyo’s ways. It seemed from time to time Tomoyo suffered from bad night visions, and she would crawl out of bed and leave the room as not to wake Sakura. Still, Sakura wished Tomoyo was there so she could comfort her and assure her that everything would be alright. Sakura stifled a yawn, looking about the room as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, before noticing how dry her mouth was.

Slipping out of the room, she walked down the hall towards her private kitchen. On the way she heard an odd sound from one of the doors. It sounded like Tomoyo, but she wasn‘t certain. She blushed, thinking she might end up walking on an amorous Umi (Water) & Gaia (Woods) making love by accident. She stopped and looked around nervously, noticing a light on under the upstairs bathroom door and coming through the key hole. Tomoyo's house was gigantic in comparison to Sakura’s old home, and had more than one bathroom, this being one of them. Sakura heard another low moan from the door, and her worst fears finally overrode her desire to give Tomoyo her privacy as she quickly bolted into the room in a panic. Tomoyo nearly jumped off the seat as Sakura came barreling in, her hand frozen between her legs where she was--- “Tomo-chan!!”

Sakura whined, looking at her lover severely, causing Tomoyo to blush a deep shade of red from embarrassment. Quickly Sakura dropped down to her knees without another word, and pushing Tomoyo’s hand aside she leaned in and began to please her lovingly. Minutes passed as soon she began to notice that her own legs had gotten a bit wobbly and warm while working on Tomoyo, and she was glad she was knelt down or she would probably had fallen over by now. She held her breath as she brought Tomoyo to the pinnacle of climax, her teeth biting her lower lip as she let out a very loud and sharp cry dropping her body as she fell from her lofty climb towards release. Her body seemingly dropped onto Sakura, her arms automatically wrapping around her back as she moaned. Sakura, accommodating her, laid down as Tomoyo slowly floated down to terra firma again. Sakura rolled her over, taking her in her strong grasp to hold her tight.

Tomoyo, weak as a kitten, could only hold on as Sakura took her -- to the kitchen? There, Sakura covered Tomoyo’s nude bottom with the spare blanket hidden in the kitchen for “cuddle” times, and poured herself a soda. “I feel a bit guilty for barging in on you like that, Tomoyo-chan -- in such an intimate moment.” (her lips pull up in a smile as she takes a slow drawl on her drink, “I’m jealous!” Sakura leaned over, smiling as Tomoyo blushed at the attention. “I was -- I was looking at this when I was -- I’m sorry --“

The picture was of Sakura, of course, dressed in the cat costume Tomoyo had made for her for Halloween a few days ago. She remembered how Nina teased her about the costume, calling Sakura something she probably would never repeat in public, yet it was still humorous anyway as the two laughed abit and talked about the halloween antics and all the trouble Nina got into trying to trick people into giving her candy twice. After a few minutes Tomoyo also drew a glass of soda, drank it with Sakura, and the two retired back to bed.

* * * * * *

She was under the covers fast and had her eyes closed just as Tomoyo returned from washing up (and putting the blanket Sakura used for her back where it was). Tomoyo slid into bed, her arm curling around Sakura as she laid her head down to sleep. Sakura felt a little nervous, still blushing from her forced entrance in on Tomoyo’s private moment (fearing the worst), but Tomoyo didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. Suddenly she felt Tomoyo’s hand on her shoulder and felt warm breath on her cheek as Tomoyo leaned over her and whispered, "No matter what happens, I love you Sakura-chan. One day I’ll tell you my fears -- be patient, please, Sakura-chan -- please. I will always love you, nothing will ever stop that..."

Something warm and wet dripped onto Sakura's cheek and Tomoyo rolled back over to go to sleep. Sakura wasn't sure what she wanted to do. A part of her wanted to comfort her beloved, tell her that everything was going to be alright. But another, more immediate, part of her was frozen stiff in fear. She wanted to give Tomoyo her space, and patiently wait for her to confide in her as to what she was so fearful of that it’d leave her shaking and crying in the night as she tried to sleep.

How could she miss something like that, a fear that gripped her beloved, and not yet be able to see it? How could she love Tomoyo yet not see the pain she was in? She quickly peered about the darkened room looking as if in vain for specters or Darklings that might be the root cause of Tomoyo’s fears, only to find nothing beyond their bed which posed a threat to the young dark haired woman. As Sakura peeked around at the dark room, she became more and more convinced that it was something similar to Shadow/Fear which was making Tomoyo scared. She remembered the incident with Shadow/Fear from a few months ago and how the two cards, working in unison, did terrible things to her (making her believe that Tomoyo was a rotting walking corpse right in front of her eyes).

Still, as her eyes roamed the room for any sign of an external agent that might have been causing Tomoyo’s fears, she came up with nothing. Sakura couldn't see much in the dim lighting, but everything in it was all too familiar. The walls were covered with pictures of her and Tomoyo together (and some pictures, hidden in a drawer, were of each of them in intimate poses, taken by the other in their happiest moments). The desk itself was spilling over with drawings of either the costumes Tomoyo had designed for her, or Sakura‘s attempts to draw beautiful pictures of Tomoyo (she was still practicing her artistic skills even if Kerberos at times made fun of her pictures much to her dismay). And, sitting up on the shelves near the huge TV, were the DVDs which consisted of either their favorite movies slash animes, or the newly minted DVDs which starred herself (as Card Captor Sakura, and some of just her as herself) as well.

It was as if Tomoyo dedicated her life to Sakura, and vice versa. After a while Sakura rolled over and looked at Tomo-chan's face, sighing as she gazed upon her now sleeping visage. Even in the dark she could see Tomoyo's soft pale skin. She wanted to talk to her lover about her fears, maybe do something for her... but couldn't bring herself to do it. Now wasn't the right time. She promised Tomoyo she’d be patient and wait. Patience, after all, was a virtue. She only turns away for a half a minute, but that was more than enough time for Tomoyo to suddenly disappear from her side. Before she could gasp she felt her bottoms sliding off and a soft whisper beneath her, “I can’t be selfish and leave your needs unchecked.” Sakura looked down, and almost immediately groaned as she felt her sex swallowed up by Tomoyo’s eager mouth as she went down on Sakura’s womanhood. Gripping the sheets tightly, Sakura swiveled and moaned softly, feeling Tomoyo love and lick every inch of her precious center until she was making Sakura’s body seemingly rise in the air with each gasp and pant before she felt her moment crest. As it happened she cried out, feeling her own body drop as Tomoyo’s must have done earlier, falling--- falling--- right into Tomoyo’s arms as she crawled up to face her, and hold her tight. The two fell asleep in each other’s arms, holding each other tightly.

December 26th
Tomoyo came back from the hospital a few days ago after an incident on Sunday (seen in “Figure Eight“). She had been there overnight after taking a nasty fall while ice skating with Sakura the day before. While in a delirious state, she told Sakura her deepest pains -- and finally answered Sakura’s long nagging question as to what scared Tomoyo in the night. The information helped, but it also affected Sakura. She wished she could do something -- maybe if she found the Time card she could go back in time, stop what happened to Tomoyo from happening.

But Tomoyo dismissed the idea, thanking Sakura for being so concerned about her. “What’s past is past. As long as you’re here with me I’ll overcome it -- someday.”
Those words comforted her, yet now she didn’t feel so comforted. She couldn’t sleep. It was already 1AM in the morning but she couldn’t sleep. Everything kept racing through her head over and over again, and the more she thought of it the more it hurt her to do so. Fight. Power. What happened to Tomoyo when she was 9. Everything kept rolling about over and over again, and it only made Sakura more confused. She didn’t know how to resolve her feelings. She didn’t know how to overcome her fears. All she could do was shiver as she tried to make sense of it all.

That’s when she felt two reassuring arms wrap around her, and hold her tight. Behind her, near her ear, a soft voice sang to her.

Figure Eight as Double Four.
Figure Four as Half of Eight.
If you skate, it would be great -- if you could make--- a Figure Eight.
That’s a circle that turns round’ upon itself.

“What’s --” (a finger gently shushes her)
1x8 is 2x4. 4x4 is 2x8.
If you skate upon thin ice, you’d be wise if you thought twice -- before you make another single move --
Silence. Slowly her finger lifts from Sakura’s lips. “What’s that song called?”

“Figure Eight.” Tomoyo whispers, leaning her head against Sakura’s shoulder, “It doesn’t hurt as much to think about it anymore -- thank to you.”

“Did it hurt -- then?” Sakura asked, her face filled with worry. Tomoyo only nodded and smiled, “It’s OK. I can speak about it -- as long as you’re the one doing the listening.” (a few seconds pass) “It hurt when I used to think about how father played it -- to mask what he was -- doing to me. But I’m over it. I have to be --” (smiles) “-- I have you to protect me from the pain.”

“Tomo-chan --” Sakura swivels about, kissing Tomoyo softly on the lips, looking deeply into her eyes as she speaks again, “As long as you’re with me, Sakura-chan, I’ll never suffer from doubt or fear again. My love.” Sakura smiles, hugging Tomoyo tight. “Now why are you up, Sakura-chan?”

Silence, a long worried silence. Finally, Tomoyo nods her head. “I know what they did scared and hurt you -- but it’s going to be alright, you’ll see.”

“B-but -- Fight -- Power --why did they do it? Why won’t they trust me?”

“They will. They just need time, like I needed time before I could tell you why I was afraid, Sakura-chan. Give them time and they’ll come around, you’ll see.”

“-- am I --” Sakura stammers, stopping briefly before Tomoyo motions for her to continue, “-- am I living someone else’s dreams?”

“Someone else’s?”

“I never wanted this before.” Sakura admitted, “The Clow Cards, I mean. I would have been happy if only to fall in love, and maybe grow up to become a famous archeologist -- or maybe a penguin trainer.”

“Definitely can’t forget that!” Tomoyo chides, bringing a smile to Sakura’s lips for a few seconds before her frown returns, “But -- after the end -- Eriol -- and everything he said -- if you hadn‘t “caught“ me -- selfish me, couldn‘t see your pain --”

“You didn’t fall. And I never thought of you as selfish -- except maybe when it comes to dessert, then you are most definitely selfish at time!”

“Tomo-chan!” Sakura cries out, giggling abit as Tomoyo tackles her down into the bed, smothering her with hugs. “I guess I’m a little selfish in the dessert dept.”

“I know you are, my sugar craving little Card Captor!” The two laugh a little, before falling silent as they held each other, smiling as they relished the warmth their bodies gave off in this quiet span as they looked into the other’s eyes. “I’m not as sugar craving as Kero, am I?”

“Well -- since you put it that way…” Tomoyo smiles, “Maybe not that bad.”
The two kiss, holding each other tight as they allow sleep to overtake them again.

* * * * * *

Sakura yawned and stretched as the alarm clock went off. She had not an easy time adjusting to sleep ever since Tomoyo’s fall on the ice last Sunday. She had been a bundle of nerves worrying endlessly about Tomoyo, even when they got back home she only worried about Tomoyo. So much so, in fact, that thoughts of the dance seemed distant memories next to her fears. She had not been able to find the words to comfort her beloved, though she knew Tomoyo was happier now that she told Sakura the truth.

Still, Sakura wished she knew the right words to say to Tomoyo about what happened to her. She decided to pay Kero a visit. In her private “room”, a huge walk in closet room converted into a bedroom, Sakura watched as Kero rolled over in his tiny bed, clearly agitated that Sakura was visiting him so “early“ in the morning. Cloud was slumbering peacefully in her futon tucked into a corner so the two kept their voices to a soft whisper as they spoke. "Would you mind not asking me silly things so early in the morning --“ Kero grumbled as he rolled over, having had his fill of being Sakura’s “guidance counselor” in all things related to love and “family” (Mirra-chan) for one year. He pressed his face into the little (but highly comfortable) pillow on his “bed” and sighed irritably. “If it’s as humanly possible for you, I don’t suppose you would allow me to finish this dream I was having about chocolate cake."
Sakura sighs, “But Kero! Chocolate cake?“

“It’s a very good chocolate cake --“ Kero grumbles, rolling over once again in bed before finally giving up the ghost of a chance of gaining more sleep. With a stifled yawn he sits up and stares at Sakura with bleary eyes. “I can’t allow Tomoyo to torture herself like this! I love her too much to allow it to happen! What can I do to help her?“

“I don’t know.“ Kero grumbled, before rolling back into bed again. “That’s it?“

“That’s it, now wait for me chocolate ca --“

“KERO-CH --!!” Sakura almost yelled, quickly dimming her voice as to not wake Cloud up. Kero did likewise, but was still miffed. “I don’t know. Tomoyo’s your lover, not mine! Go away!“ Kero cried out, before going back to sleep. Kero was obviously in a bad mood about something, so Sakura decided to leave him be as she went and got dressed for her day out with Tomoyo today.

As she changed into a nice outfit for an outing today, Sakura thought long and hard about how she could help Tomoyo. The obvious answer was to never let what happened to Tomoyo happen to Mirra. Could she do that? After all there really was no men in Mirra’s life, and for all intents and purposes Sakura was the “father” so nothing of that sort could ever happen again... but then Tomoyo must have had a problem with it. After breakfast Sakura put on her skates and headed outside. Tomoyo, already set in her blading gear and dressed quite nicely, was waiting by the huge ornate fence of the estate grounds.

Sakura found herself smiling, even though she still wasn't sure about how she could protect Mirra from men. On the way to school she and Tomoyo talked about Christmas, made plans for another intimate day at Sakura’s old home (now abandoned ever since her father vanished) and so forth. Sakura left out a few choice fragments, of course, like the problem with finding Fight again or them dealing with Power and her new “parents“ the Assassin’ Guilders Technocrat & Quake. With all that hovering over her head, how could she even pretend to be able to help talk to Tomoyo about what happened to her when her own problems were mounting and she couldn’t do a thing about them? What if Tomoyo-chan got mad at her interfering?

When they got to the huge mall Nina and Eliza were already there waiting for them. For an instance their faces stopped Sakura. They had such serious faces on you would have thought that somebody died -- but as the two came into sight their faces brightened and they were smiling again. "Yo, Sakura! Tomoyo! Ready to do some serious shopping?" Nina called out, causing Sakura to blush at the attention. Thankfully Tomoyo answered so nobody noticed. Once they got into the mall, Sakura relaxed a bit as Nina‘s attention wandered from store to store so much that she stopped paying attention to either Sakura or Tomoyo.

“So how’s everyone?“ Nina silently cursed her luck and motioned to one side, muttering something about “The Walking 8-ball” as Miss Mitsuki walked towards them. She and Sakura passed polite conversation, but Nina didn’t want to be anywhere near her and for good reason (at least in her mind it was a good reason). Sakura spent the rest of the day just casually shopping while Nina did some serious shopping. At lunch in the mall’s huge food court, Tomoyo asked the now obvious question of her, "Are you alright Sakura? You've been really distant lately." Sakura smiled at her. "I just have something on my mind, Tomo-chan. Don't worry, don’t worry! I'm fine."

Still, it didn’t seem at all as if she was anywhere near fine, but try as she might she still couldn’t convince Tomoyo that she was doing “OK”. By the time it was the afternoon the only thing that held Sakura’s attention the whole day was Tomoyo, lunch, and a movie the two went to to keep Sakura’s mind off her troubled thoughts. She felt a shiver go down her spine that had nothing to do with cold or distaste. She blamed herself for Tomoyo‘s rape at her father‘s hands. If she only hadn‘t agreed to visit Hong Kong for a short time with Syaoran. If only she didn‘t leave Tomoyo alone -- her father would never have had the chance to hurt her. If only she was there to protect Tomoyo. If only she‘d had seen right from the start the love Tomoyo had for her, then she wouldn‘t have woken to her own feelings too late to save Tomoyo from the incident that happened to her.

"You look like you’re about to cry, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo whispered, drawing close to Sakura to shield her from the others around them in the mall. Sakura looked up startled and blushed. "Oh, sorry..." She apologized, wiping her face as she gathered up her wits and focused again on not losing the stuff she bought today. Tomoyo smiled at her. "It's alright. I'm sure you have plenty of things on your mind. Just remember I’m here if you need a shoulder to lean on, alright?" Sakura nodded. "Thanks Tomo-chan -- I could use that on the bus ride home -- if you don’t mind that is!!“
She nodded. "I don’t mind.“

The bus ride home was quiet, but it was also relaxing. As she promised, the minute they got on Tomoyo took the window seat at the back of the bus and drew Sakura’s head onto her shoulder. She then took her arm around Sakura’s waist while her other hand grasped Sakura’s hand and held it tight as the bus rambled on home. "I’m such a child. Everything makes me cry -- I’m such a child.“ Tomoyo giggled at that revelation and hugged her. "Yeah, that sounds like you. But I love every part of you -- even the part that occasionally cries because she’s in pain.“
Sakura blushed at the compliment but quickly composed herself. "Um, I don’t want to be a burden to you, Tomo-chan."

“You’re never a burden to me.” she reassured her. When they got to the Daidouji Estates, Tomoyo suddenly stopped and looked at Sakura. "Sakura-chan. Listen to me --“ (she waved off any protest before Sakura could even form them in her mind) “-- your not to blame for what happened.“

“Blame?“ Sakura tried to sound confident, as if she didn’t know what Tomoyo was talking about, but Tomoyo wasn’t buying it. “You can’t lie to me, Sakura-chan, remember? I know you feel as if it’s your fault I was --“

“IT IS!!“ Sakura blurt out, a tear rolling down her cheek. “If only I stood by your side -- I could have stopped him! Made him go away! He wouldn’t have hurt you if I was there to pro --“ Tomoyo rushes up, her strong arms holding Sakura tight as she hugs her, “Oh, Sakura-chan! Please don’t do this to yourself! Please --“ (she sobs) “-- that was my fear.“

“Your -- fear?“ Silence. A long awkward silence as Tomoyo gathered her feelings. Finally Sakura acted on her feelings. She leaned in and kissed Tomoyo on the lips. “ I never wanted you to be hurt -- I never knew until then just how special you were to me -- how much I --“ Tomoyo sighs, holding Sakura tighter, more this time for her own needs than just to stop Sakura. When they got inside the two slowly walked up to their bedroom, shut the door, and laid down in bed holding each other tightly.

To Be continued