A Flawed Mirror

They say a best friend is like a mirror, reflecting your flaws and merits without prejudice. But Tomoyo was different, capable of only reflecting one thing: Sakura's genki face.

If Tomoyo had been a real mirror, a skilled craftsman might have detected the flaw beneath its polished surface. A crack that would slowly grow over time, until the mirror shattered into a million pieces. For Tomoyo had a flaw. She loved Sakura.

The love was carefully hidden beneath the façade of a best friend. As her best friend she laughed and smiled with Sakura, reflecting only her happiness and joy. And that was why she could not be a true mirror, for she could only see the smiling face of Sakura.

Just like she saw it now. The sweet, beautiful girl smiling quizzically at her, asking, "What's wrong Tomoyo-chan?"

'There's nobody here.' The thought flashed across her mind, the two of them were alone, and without thinking she leaned forward and kissed that smiling face. The kiss was desperate and fleeting, a small taste of what she would never have. And then she opened her eyes to see solemn green orbs looking at her and the illusion was shattered.

"Don't tell Sakura." She whispered, sounding like the broken girl she had become.

"I won't." Sakura's voice had finally said, "But what will I tell the Mistress?"

"Just...just say I brought over some cookies. I'm sure Kero will enjoy them." Her lips twitched into a faint smile that never reached her tired eyes.

"Ok." Mirror nodded with Sakura's head, smiled with Sakura's face, and even her taste was what she had imagined...But she wasn't Sakura.

"I have to go now." She turned to leave, and Sakura's familiar hand caught her shoulders.

"Will you be okay?" Those solemn eyes, that serious tone...no, Mirror was nothing like Sakura after all. And yet for one brief moment, she had been.

"I will be." Tomoyo answered, the lie spilling easily from her lips, as she gave a reassuring smile that was as false as her words. Shrugging off the hand, she headed home.

As Tomoyo walked, she reflected on the circumstances that had led her here.

She had baked some cookies...she had headed over to Sakura's place...Sakura wasn't around, there was a magical problem to deal with...she had left Mirror in her place...

Sakura hadn't called her.

That thought had hurt the most.

Suddenly, she realised she was home and walked into her empty house. Her mother was at another meeting, and the housekeeper had an urgent family matter. There were only her bodyguards, keeping discreetly out of sight as she had ordered.

In the privacy of her room she looked at herself in the mirror. The Tomoyo that had been Sakura's best friend, the Tomoyo that loved her unconditionally and without prejudice...that Tomoyo was gone. Even as she still tasted Sakura on her lips, she knew that it had not been Sakura, just like the girl in the mirror was no longer Tomoyo.

Staring at the mirror, she began to practice her lines. "Ohayo Sakura-chan. Ohayo Sakura-chan." Over and over she practiced until she finally sounded like Sakura's best friend, and not the woman who loved her.