The Most Treasured Gift
Author Note: This was a Secret Santa gift for Thumbjr. in Deviantart. He asked for - "A Fanfic revolving around CardCaptor Sakura's Tomoyo x Sakura pairing. Mood: Romantic (shoujo-ai). Tomoyo has made another oh-so-cute outfit for Sakura to try on and wear. One thing eventually leads to another. Might include a video-recorder to capture the moment. Mistletoe (and a kiss added) is a plus."
Disclaimer: Sakura & Tomoyo are property of CLAMP. I do not claim any rights to these characters.
Tomoyo placed two candles in the center of the circular, western style table in her room and took a step back to admire her table setting. A beautiful, white lace table cloth covered the wooden table. She had her finest English style tea set laid out for two. Yes, it was HER tea set; one that her mother had brought for her on one of her regular business trips to England. It was one of those tea sets that was made out of bone china and had pink roses on it. "Perfect" she spoke out loud in a soft, high pitched, excited voice.
Rushing over to where her video camera stood on a tripod, she double checked to assure that everything was set up properly and ready to go. She then took a moment to look at her reflection in one of her many full length mirrors. She was wearing a long, white cashmere sweater that reached to her knees, with a black belt, which had a large oval shaped silver buckle, around her waist. Under it, she wore a pair of black tights and black suede ankle high boots that also had an oval shaped silver buckle to the side and a 3 inch heal. Her hair cascaded loosely over her shoulders and down her back in long waves. She was wearing just the slightest touch of makeup; mascara, lip gloss, and blush.
After taking a deep breath, Tomoyo smiled at her reflection and then rushed to the other side of her room to retrieve Sakura's present. She set it on the table beside Sakura's place sitting and stepped back a second time. Everything had to be perfect. A glance at the clock told her that Sakura should be arriving at any moment. Anxiously, she began to pace the length of her room and wring her hands nervously as she went through all of the details in her mind to be sure that she wasn't forgetting anything.
A quiet rap on the door jerked Tomoyo out of her thoughts and she rushed back across the room, towards the door, just as it was opened by one of the maids. "Sakura-san has arrived, Tomoyo-sama," the maid announced and held the door open further to allow Sakura to enter the room.
Sakura, at the age of 14, was dressed in a dark green jumper style dress, with a long sleeved shirt beneath it that was a lighter green in color. The sides of her short hair were pulled back into a single pony tail and tied with a ribbon that matched her outfit. She carried with her, a box from Tomoyo's mother's favorite bakery.
Tomoyo stood unmoving; staring with stars in her eyes, at Sakura. She couldn't get over how cute the other girl was.
Sakura greeted her best friend with one of her brilliant smiles and watched, for a moment, as Tomoyo's expression turned from one of complete adoration to acknowledgement. She was use to it by now. Tomoyo often became glossy eyed and stared at her all hanyan like.
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo finally exclaimed and stepped closer, taking the cake box that Sakura was offering. "Oh! You picked up the Christmas Cake," she spoke, even though she knew that Sakura said she would bring it. Tonight was Christmas Eve, and Tomoyo had invited Sakura over to spend it with her.
Tomoyo took the cake box to the table and set it down. The maid had just left the room, closing the door behind her, and Sakura was still standing where Tomoyo had left her. Sakura stared at the table setting in awe. Tomoyo returned to her and took Sakura's hand to lead her to the table. "I'd like to give you your gift first," Tomoyo explained. She picked up the rectangular shaped, department store style box from the table and turned to hand it to Sakura.
Sakura looked surprised. Not that Tomoyo was giving her a present, but because the present was so big. She frowned uncharacteristically and looked at her best friend with large green eyes.
Tomoyo stared back at her with sparkles in her eyes. Her smile was wide and she watched Sakura expectantly. "Go on, open it," she urged.
Sakura looked down at the package, secretly hoping that Tomoyo hadn't spent a lot of money on her. She was always being spoiled by Tomoyo and Daijouji-san, Tomoyo's mother.
"Oh! Wait!" Tomoyo squealed suddenly, surprising Sakura and nearly causing her to drop the present. Tomoyo bounced over to her video recorder and, with one finger almost in slow motion, pushed the record button. She then bounced back to Sakura with a cheerful smile and motioned for her to continue.
Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath of relief. She supposed that it shouldn't have surprised her, that Tomoyo would have her video camera set up and ready. It just never ceased to amaze her. She looked down at the package in her hands. It was wrapped with red shiny paper with a big silver bow tied around it. Being careful not to break the ribbon, she slid it off of the package and then carefully, taking care not to rip the paper, opened it. Tomoyo bounced on her toes, seeming impatient. Sakura slid her finger around the sides of the box to break any tape that may have been holding the top in place and then lifted the lid to reveal what was inside.
It was a short, red , silk kimono that had a silvery snowflake pattern. The edges of the sleeves and the obi were red and white candy stripped. There was also a pair of red and white candy stripped tabi socks to match. Sakura's eyes were wide and she let out a little gasp as she lightly ran her fingers over the material. It was beautiful!
Tomoyo was obviously pleased by Sakura's reaction, and was even more excited that she had it forever documented on video. Walking around behind Sakura, she placed her hands at Sakura's waist and guided her to the changing room. Sakura blinked at her in surprise, speechless. It had been awhile since Tomoyo last dressed her up in a costume that she had made. "Try it on," Tomoyo said with pleading eyes. Sakura couldn't ever deny her best friend anything. If it made Tomoyo happy, Sakura was willing to do it. With a tiny nod, she walked into the changing room.
Tomoyo could barely contain her excitement. She returned to the table to take the cake out of its box. She then straightened the table setting for the hundredth time and lit the two taper candles. After turning down the ceiling light, Tomoyo returned to the door of the dressing room. "Do you need any help?" she asked, knocking on the door. The door hadn't been closed all the way and it creaked open a little farther; enough so that Tomoyo was able to see that Sakura was ready for her obi to be tied.
Sakura jumped when she felt Tomoyo's arms wrap around her waist to help tie the obi. She looked at the full length mirror on the wall in front of her and met Tomoyo's eyes. "It's just as I imagined it would be…" Tomoyo's voice whispered past Sakura's ear, sending a shiver down her spine. Sakura could feel the heat creep up into her cheeks. "You look lovely," Tomoyo continued to fawn over her, now untying the green ribbon from and running a brush through Sakura's hair. Sakura closed her eyes and let out a tiny sigh of contentment, enjoying the feeling.
When Tomoyo was finished, she hugged Sakura from behind. Resting her chin on Sakura's shoulder, she studied Sakura in the mirror and her eyes glossed over with adoration. "Kawaii!" she breathed against Sakura's ear again. Sakura felt her head begin to spin and an odd sensation of butterflies in her stomach.
Taking her hand, Tomoyo led Sakura from the changing room back into her room and to the table, where they both sat. Tomoyo poured tea and Sakura remembered about her gift for Tomoyo. Reaching down for the bag that she had dropped beside her chair earlier, she pulled out a thick, square shaped package about 18x18 inches in size. "It's not much," Sakura said, holding the present out for Tomoyo to take. Tomoyo was really hard to shop or make a gift for. What did you buy or make for someone who has everything?
A renewed sense of joy filled Tomoyo's eyes as she accepted the gift. "May I?" she asked if she could open the present. Sakura nodded and Tomoyo tore at the wrapping paper eagerly to reveal a crocheted blanket made from different shades of purple yarn. Throughout the squares of dark and light purple were patterns of pink cherry blossoms.
"Otou-san helped me with it," Sakura admitted quietly. She was studying the flowers on her dessert plate, too embarrassed to look up. "I didn't know what I should get for you, so I decided to make this, instead. I thought that the cherry blossoms might remind you of me at night, if you're ever lonely." Sakura could feel her cheeks burning brightly.
"Oh Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cried sweetly. "It's beautiful! I Love it! It will forever warm me when I can't be with you," she said after getting up and walking around the table to hug Sakura.
There were the butterflies in Sakura's stomach, again, and that feeling of dizzyness, just from being this close to Tomoyo. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Then Tomoyo placed her hand under Sakura's chin to gently lift her face. "Look," Tomoyo said, when their eyes met, and pointed to the ceiling above Sakura's head.
Sakura tilted her head back further to look where Tomoyo was pointing. In the candlelight, Sakura's eyes had to adjust before she could make out the form. It was mistletoe, dangling right above her. "Ohhh…" she said in a whisper and before she had the chance to fully realize what was going on Tomoyo's hair fell, like a curtain, around her face. Tomoyo was so close that she could smell the peppermint on her breath. Sakura tried to swallow the knot that jumped into her throat.
"Thank you, I will treasure this night, always," Tomoyo spoke before softly pressing her lips down against Sakura's.