Ten-year-old Sakura Kinomoto had every reason to be deliriously happy. She was just waking up from a wonderful sleepover at her best friend (and cousin) Tomoyo's house. They had stayed up late and eaten lots of candy the night before. But something about this morning didn't seem so wonderful. Her head was hurting, and her stomach was feeling kind of weird. She had been feeling a little strange the day before, but had determined not to let it spoil her weekend with Tomoyo. Perhaps this was not such a good idea, however, since her father and older brother had been ill that week with what they called "stomach flu". Sakura had no idea what was meant by that – all she knew was that both her father and brother had spent a lot of time in the bathroom groaning and making strange sounds, and she had been asked to make soup and had been on her own for dinner that week. As she opened her eyes and started to sit up she heard a gasp next to her.

"Tomoyo-chan?" she asked sleepily. "What's wrong?"

"Sakura-chan, are you okay? You look so pale?"

"I feel a little strange."

"Strange? Let me go get mother!" Tomoyo raced out of the room and Sakura sighed. It wasn't that she didn't love Sonomi, Tomoyo's mother. She had been her late mother's best friend though, and sometimes she could be a bit – overbearing. Like in the way that she made Tomoyo grow out her hair so she would look more like Sakura's mother, Nadeshiko. And ever since she had realized Sakura's true identity, she had invited her over nearly every weekend for a sleepover and insisted on spending as much time with the girl as possible. Sakura had a feeling that Sonomi would blow "feeling strange" into something huge. Just then Sonomi blew into the room.

"Sakura-chan! Are you all right??" Sonomi panted. She looked at her closely. "Tomoyo-chan was right, you are pale! Do you feel sick? What hurts? Does your head hurt? How about your throat?"

"M-my head hurts a little, but I'm sure it's nothing. And my throat doesn't hurt."

"Are you nauseous?"

"N-nau ?" Sakura looked to Tomoyo for help with this word she had never heard before.

"Nauseous. Do you feel like you're going to throw up?" Tomoyo put in helpfully.

"I – " Sakura paused. She did sort of have that feeling in her stomach, but since she had never thrown up, or been sick before, she didn't know what it was called or what it meant. But when she saw the look of worry on Tomoyo's and Sonomi's faces, and remembered the breakfast they were all going to eat downstairs and the fun she was supposed to have with Tomoyo in the park that day, she decided that it was nothing. "I don't know. I don't think so." She responded.

"Good," Sonomi looked relieved. "Then how about we have breakfast in bed? I'll go get it and be right back." Just like that, she was gone.

"Sakura-chan, are you sure you're okay? Your father and older brother had the flu just last week, so you probably got it from them. Are you certain that you want to eat breakfast?"

"I don't want to ruin our Sunday, Tomoyo-chan. I'll just take a nap when I go home, and I'll be fine! I'll be in school tomorrow, you'll see."

"Okay, if you're sure…" Tomoyo clearly didn't believe her friend. "I know! Instead of going to the park, we can take pictures in here! I have lots of new outfits for you to try on, and you can rest more!" A pained look crossed Sakura's face. While she loved Tomoyo as a sister, sometimes her excitement to film her was a bit much to handle.

Next Chapter: An Interesting Breakfast