Don't Tell Sonomi
By Ladylupin
"Moshi moshi...yes, this is Professor Kinomoto...uh-huh...Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Miss Katsuro... No, it's all right... Will you be in class on Monday? ...well, be sure to get the notes from somebody if you're not...Yes, thank you for letting me know... Sayonara."
Fujitaka sighed, the picked up the phone again and dialed another number. "Hello, Dr. Hanairo?... I had another student cancel on me for this Saturday's dig...has a funeral to go to...yes, we're going to be *very* short-handed... We are *not* canceling this dig. I had to wait for *months* to get permission to go out there... Could you? That would be great. And I'll see what I can do, maybe recruit some History majors or something...or even...alright, we'll make this work somehow... Thanks a lot.... goodbye."
He hung up the phone, smiling just a little too broadly for simply the fact that he had found an extra pair of hands for his archaeological excursion. Besides, it still wouldn't be enough. All he really needed was... Then a thought occurred to him. He stuck his head into the kitchen. "Touya! You're free this Saturday, right?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Touya grinned as he wiped the sweat and dust from his face. It had been mostly just a whole lot of hard, tiring physical labor--his father had students to do the delicate work--but it had been worth it if only to see the look on Sakura's face when he told her he would be accompanying their father and she would not. He had never seen her so jealous.
"Hey--can someone give me a hand over here?" Touya got up and hurried over to where another professor, a middle-aged woman about his father's age (but still quite pretty), was struggling with a large box of tools. Quickly he picked up the other end, and together they easily moved it back to the truck they had taken out to the site.
"Thank you," the woman said when they had finished, wiping vainly at a smudge on her cheek. Then she frowned and looked more closely at Touya. "Are you an Archaeology major, or..."
"No...I...actually I'm still in high school...um... Professor Kinomoto's my dad. I'm just helping out."
"Ah--I was going to say, I didn't recognize you , and I know pretty much everyone in the department already. I'm Professor Hanairo, by the way."
"Touya Kinomoto." They shook hands.
It was good of you to come and help, Touya-we needed it."
"Sure." He watched her as she walked off toward where his dad was and started talking to him again. He had been watching the two of them interact all day, as his brain hadn't had much else to do, and gradually he started noticing things-small, but definitely present. He couldn't help but find the entire situation interesting.
Most interesting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura just rolled her eyes and started to leave the room when he told her. "That's not funny, Touya. You know already know I'm jealous, okay? Don't be a dork."
"Sakura, I'm serious."
She stopped, and turned around slowly. "You're not joking?" she asked.
"No, I swear," he said earnestly.
Sakura got an extremely odd look on her face. "You're-you're sure?"
"Sakura, I was watching them all day. *He--was--flirting with her.*"
Sakura just stared at him. "I don't know if he ever realized he was doing it. But-well, it was obvious," Touya concluded.
"Touya!!" She squeezed her eyes shut as if this was almost too much information to assimilate all at once. "Was she--I mean, you know--flirting back?" she asked hesitantly.
Touya shrugged. "Don't know. Kinda looked like it, though."
"Hoeee..."
As her brother left, Sakura hurried up to her room, grabbed her phone and dialed her best friend's number. "Tomoyo?... Oh, thank goodness you're home. I *really* need to talk to you."
"Oh! Is something the matter?" said Tomoyo, worried by Sakura's tone of voice.
"Well...kinda. You see..." She explained, in brief, what Touya had seen and had just told her. "And its not, you know, bad, I guess. It's just...weird."
"'Cause he's your dad. You don't normally think of him that way."
"Exactly. It's just...not a way I'm used to seeing him."
"I know how that is. My dad got remarried about a year after he and my mom divorced, and at his wedding, it was just...odd, seeing him so in love, and with another woman. Confusing. Of course, I was very young at the time..."
"Well, and I know my dad will never forget my mom or anything, and I guess I should be happy for him, being able to fall in love again..."
"You could have a mom again."
"AHH! No, no, I can't think about that yet. I don't even know who this woman is. I don't even really know what's going on. It could be nothing, right? Touya could just be imagining things."
"Do you really think so?"
"No..." Sakura admitted. "If he noticed, then its serious."
They discussed the situation and its various implications for over an hour. Finally, Sakura said, "So the question is, what am I really afraid of?"
"That you're losing him, maybe? You've been the only woman in his life for a long time."
"Nnnn...o," Sakura answered slowly as she considered the possibility.
"I don't think that's it. It's just...the change, I guess. This has got to be a big change for my dad--how will it affect him? I just don't know what will happen, and it scares me."
"Fear of the unknown. Well, don't worry too much, Sakura--I'm sure everything will turn out alright."
"But what if it doesn't?"
"I'll always be here for you, Sakura," Tomoyo promised tenderly.
"Thanks, Tomoyo-I know I can always count on you."
"Of course! Then, I'll see you at school on Monday. Call me if anything comes up before then."
"Okay. See you on Monday. 'Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kero had napped through most of Saturday afternoon, and woke up just as Sakura ended a phone conversation with her friend Tomoyo. He didn't know what it was about, but from her tone of voice, it sounded serious. He figured she would come tell him what it was all about fairly soon, and was surprised when she didn't. Around him, she tried to act like nothing was going on. But for the entire rest of the weekend she seemed preoccupied. Concerned about something. Almost...depressed.
"Hey Sakura--is something buggin' you?" he asked Sunday night.
"Huh? Oh, no, no, I'm fine, everything's fine," she answered quickly. Too quickly, of course; there was obviously something she didn't want to tell him.
"You sure?" he continued. He was genuinely concerned about how whatever it was was affecting her mood, and wanted to help if at all possible. What was a Guardian Beast for, after all?
"Yes, positive," she replied, sounding even a little defensive. Something was definitely wrong.
But then again, there were times when Clow wouldn't always confide in him either, he remembered. He didn't press her further. Instead, after she had gone to bed, he snuck out of the house and went for reinforcements.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Sakura got home from school on Monday, she was fairly surprised to see Yue in her bedroom waiting for her. [A.N. Wouldn't I love to have that to come home to after school ^ . ^ ] He had been sitting in the chair by her desk, and rose as she entered.
"Yue..." she said. "Um...what brings you here? Sit down."
He complied. "Kerberos told me he thought something might be bothering you, Mistress."
"Kero!" She glared at him where he was sitting on the desk next to Yue. "I told you nothing was the matter," she muttered.
"I know that's not true, Sakura," Kero responded vehemently. "We are your Guardians-it is our job to know when you need help." He leaped off the desk and transformed into his true form. "And I intend to help, whether you like it or not," he growled.
That made Sakura smile. "I appreciate your concern, guys, I really do. But-it's not anything you can help out with, it's just something I have to work out by myself, and..."
"Sakura..." Yue began. He got her attention with his uncharacteristic use of her name. "Am I your friend?"
The question was unexpected, to say the least. "Well, yes, I suppose... I did say that, didn't I?"
"According to Kerberos, I believe you've already discussed something with your young friend Tomoyo. Will you not allow me to listen to your troubles as well?"
"Oh..." she sighed, very close to giving in. "It's not really that big a deal..."
"Which is why you've been moping around the house for the past *three days*," Kerberos interjected.
"Okay, okay," she said finally. "All it is, is this: On Saturday, Touya went with my dad to help out on a dig, and while he was there, he saw my dad talking to this other professor--a lady--and...and...he said he was flirting with her," she finished in a rush.
"Ah," said Keroberos. "He's sure about this?"
"Yes. And I believe him. And if it was obvious enough that Touya noticed, then it's really serious."
"So you think he might be...attracted to this woman? Maybe even in love?" Kero asked.
"Yeah. And it's kinda freaking me out. It's all great that he might be able to find someone again, but it's just scary, too."
"Hmmm. Being able to love again..." Yue sighed. "I know something about that...."
Sakura looked at him. "Because of Clow?" she asked.
Yue nodded, then closed his eyes and thought. "If he's confident enough to show his feelings openly, then he must have already admitted the possibility to himself that he could love someone else. And he hasn't spoken a wod about this to you?"
"No."
"Well... I believe it's him you really need to talk to in order to calm your fears."
"I... I can't do that!" Sakura exclaimed.
Yue raised an eyebrow. "Because that would make it real? I believe you are somewhat in denial, Mistress."
"I'm not!" she protested. She hated the way he could read her like that. "I...just...don't really like thinking about all of that too much."
"Then you must either put your fears to rest, or lay them aside and stop letting them frighten you. Is there really anything so horrible that could come of this?" Yue asked, his voice soft and comforting.
"Well... That's what Tomoyo said too. Maybe I should just stop making such a big deal out of it. Everything's sure to be fine, right?" She tried to smile. She still wasn't sure if she really believed it.
"Give it time," said Yue.
"You'll be alright," Keroberos added.
Later that afternoon, Touya dropped by. "Hey, Sakura," he said, poking his head in the door. "Did Yuki....... oh," he stopped as he saw his little sister sprawled out on her bed and...*Yue* sitting beside her gently rubbing her back. The moon guardian turned to look at him. "I will return the 'Snow Rabbit' when I have finished attending my mistress," he informed Touya pointedly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Somehow, Sakura managed to get through most of the week, and even to forget her problems for a while. By Thursday night, she was almost in a good mood. She smiled and hummed to herself a little as she stood over the stove making dinner. It also helped that Touya was working and not around to bug her for once. (Okay, well maybe she did miss him-a little-when he wasn't home for dinner.)
"I'm home!" she heard her father say as he walked in the door.
"You're just in time-dinner's almost ready," she called back.
"What are you making?" he asked, coming into the kitchen. "It smells delicious."
"Potato soup." [A.N. I know, not exactly a traditional Japanese meal, but it's all I could think of. My roommate made some tonight, and it was sooooo good!] "There's bread and salad, too."
"Sounds great." He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. Both of them remained silent for several minutes. Sakura concentrated on stirring the soup.
"Anou, Sakura..." Fujitaka said finally. "Come sit down by me for a second. There's something I need to talk to you about."
"But the soup..."
"It'll be okay for a few minutes." Sakura nodded and took a seat next to her father. "Sakura... You know I've always tried to keep your mother's memory alive in this house."
"Uh-huh..."
"I... For a long time, I thought that was all I would ever need, but now... Sakura, you and Touya are still my first priority, and I don't want to do anything you would feel uncomfortable with, but..."
"You think there might be...someone else?" she asked softly.
"Yes," he confirmed with a sigh.
"Who?" she asked.
"She's a colleague; she just joined the History faculty at the university recently. Her name's Hanairo Hidemi--you might have heard me mention her before." He paused. "Like I said, Sakura, if you have strong objections I wont pursue this any further but... if you feel alright about it, I was thinking of asking Dr. Hanairo to go to dinner with me tomorrow night."
Sakura had to ponder for a long moment before responding. "I think...that would be alright." She looked up at her father. "I'm a little bit nervous, because its something I've never dealt with before. But...I'm excited too," she realized. "I'm happy for you."
"You're sure?"
"Yes," she said, and smiled genuinely for the first time that week. "The soup's going to burn," she muttered, and stood up to go stir it again.
"Okay, then..." Fujitaka stood up as well. "I've already talked to Touya, and he didn't seem to have any problem with it, as I expected would be the case. You were the one I was really worried about. Would you like me to bring her by here tomorrow night so you can meet her?"
"Oh, of course!" Sakura replied, without hesitation.
"Good, then we'll--" He stopped as the phone rang and he went to pick it up. "Hello?" He listened for a few seconds then turned to Sakura. "It's for you." He handed her the phone. "It sounds like a boy," he smiled.
"Hoe...?" Who would be calling her? "Moshi moshi..." she answered.
"Mistress?"
Her eyes widened and she darted into the next room. "Yue??" she whispered loudly. "Why are you calling me on the phone?"
"I felt...I just wanted to know if you were alright."
She relaxed. "I'm fine," she said, and meant it. "Now, I've got to go. I'll call you later tonight, okay?"
"Very well." He hung up.
Sakura grumbled a little about her crazy guardians as she walked back into the kitchen and hung up the phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next night, Sakura stood in the front entryway and prepared herself to meet her dad's...girlfriend. *That's* *so* *weird!* she thought yet again. Kero and Yue were both upstairs in her room, and she had asked Tomoyo to come over as well for emotional support.
"Tomoyo..." she whimpered. "What was I thinking?" She gripped her best friend's hand tightly. "What if we don't get along? What if she doesn't like me? What if..."
"I wouldn't worry," Tomoyo said. "I don't think anyone could not like dear Sakura-chan!"
"Of course..." Sakura muttered. She heard the front door *click*. "Aah! They're here! Oh, Tomoyo, I'm so nervous..."
Her father walked in the door. And close after him... "Ah, good, you're right here. Hidemi, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Sakura. Sakura, Hanairo Hidemi."
The woman knelt down to be at Sakura's eye level. "Pleased to meet you, Sakura," she said kindly.
Sakura froze. She was...nice. She was...pretty. And... she made Sakura feel all floaty inside.
"N-nice to meet you," Sakura said, blushing adorably. "Oh, and, um, this is my friend, Tomoyo." She gestured to the dark-haired girl standing respectfully a few feet away.
Hidemi nodded. "Pleased to meet you too, Tomoyo." She rose to her feet again.
"Well, we ought to be going, then," Fujitaka said. "I should be back around ten or so. You girls have a good time here, alright? Oh, and Tomoyo," he turned and said, just before he stepped out. "Just for my sake, if you don't mind..." He winked. "Don't tell Sonomi."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[A. N.-LOL! Do you realize how much a of a cow she would have if she knew?? :P But aaagghh! I meant this to be a more lighthearted, happy fic after "Ghosts", but it gets all bogged down in angst, too! And I did NOT mean for it to be this long. I apologize if the conversation between Fujitaka and Sakura ended up being really lame, and too short, but it was SO FREAKIN' HARD TO WRITE! What else is wrong with it... Before I posted this, I edited out a lot of the "hedges" in Sakura's speech; there were a whole lot more "um"s, "like"s, "I mean"s, "you know"s, etc. when this was first written. And more ellipses, too. I have a tendency to do use them when a character is talking about an uncomfortable topic, because that's the way I would talk. But it does get distracting sometimes. I never found a good, canon explanation as to the whereabouts of Tomoyo's dad, so for the purposes of this fic, her parents are divorced. And Tomoyo here is just playing the part of a friend and a good listener; I have no idea what would be strictly in character for her in this situation. She'd probably want to videotape Sakura meeting Hidemi ;) Still, if enough people review and say they liked the fic, I'll give Fujitaka and Hidemi a chapter in my Valentine's fic (which WILL be published by Valentine's Day! If it kills me!) So, until then, read, review, and... RELEASE!!]
By Ladylupin
"Moshi moshi...yes, this is Professor Kinomoto...uh-huh...Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Miss Katsuro... No, it's all right... Will you be in class on Monday? ...well, be sure to get the notes from somebody if you're not...Yes, thank you for letting me know... Sayonara."
Fujitaka sighed, the picked up the phone again and dialed another number. "Hello, Dr. Hanairo?... I had another student cancel on me for this Saturday's dig...has a funeral to go to...yes, we're going to be *very* short-handed... We are *not* canceling this dig. I had to wait for *months* to get permission to go out there... Could you? That would be great. And I'll see what I can do, maybe recruit some History majors or something...or even...alright, we'll make this work somehow... Thanks a lot.... goodbye."
He hung up the phone, smiling just a little too broadly for simply the fact that he had found an extra pair of hands for his archaeological excursion. Besides, it still wouldn't be enough. All he really needed was... Then a thought occurred to him. He stuck his head into the kitchen. "Touya! You're free this Saturday, right?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Touya grinned as he wiped the sweat and dust from his face. It had been mostly just a whole lot of hard, tiring physical labor--his father had students to do the delicate work--but it had been worth it if only to see the look on Sakura's face when he told her he would be accompanying their father and she would not. He had never seen her so jealous.
"Hey--can someone give me a hand over here?" Touya got up and hurried over to where another professor, a middle-aged woman about his father's age (but still quite pretty), was struggling with a large box of tools. Quickly he picked up the other end, and together they easily moved it back to the truck they had taken out to the site.
"Thank you," the woman said when they had finished, wiping vainly at a smudge on her cheek. Then she frowned and looked more closely at Touya. "Are you an Archaeology major, or..."
"No...I...actually I'm still in high school...um... Professor Kinomoto's my dad. I'm just helping out."
"Ah--I was going to say, I didn't recognize you , and I know pretty much everyone in the department already. I'm Professor Hanairo, by the way."
"Touya Kinomoto." They shook hands.
It was good of you to come and help, Touya-we needed it."
"Sure." He watched her as she walked off toward where his dad was and started talking to him again. He had been watching the two of them interact all day, as his brain hadn't had much else to do, and gradually he started noticing things-small, but definitely present. He couldn't help but find the entire situation interesting.
Most interesting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura just rolled her eyes and started to leave the room when he told her. "That's not funny, Touya. You know already know I'm jealous, okay? Don't be a dork."
"Sakura, I'm serious."
She stopped, and turned around slowly. "You're not joking?" she asked.
"No, I swear," he said earnestly.
Sakura got an extremely odd look on her face. "You're-you're sure?"
"Sakura, I was watching them all day. *He--was--flirting with her.*"
Sakura just stared at him. "I don't know if he ever realized he was doing it. But-well, it was obvious," Touya concluded.
"Touya!!" She squeezed her eyes shut as if this was almost too much information to assimilate all at once. "Was she--I mean, you know--flirting back?" she asked hesitantly.
Touya shrugged. "Don't know. Kinda looked like it, though."
"Hoeee..."
As her brother left, Sakura hurried up to her room, grabbed her phone and dialed her best friend's number. "Tomoyo?... Oh, thank goodness you're home. I *really* need to talk to you."
"Oh! Is something the matter?" said Tomoyo, worried by Sakura's tone of voice.
"Well...kinda. You see..." She explained, in brief, what Touya had seen and had just told her. "And its not, you know, bad, I guess. It's just...weird."
"'Cause he's your dad. You don't normally think of him that way."
"Exactly. It's just...not a way I'm used to seeing him."
"I know how that is. My dad got remarried about a year after he and my mom divorced, and at his wedding, it was just...odd, seeing him so in love, and with another woman. Confusing. Of course, I was very young at the time..."
"Well, and I know my dad will never forget my mom or anything, and I guess I should be happy for him, being able to fall in love again..."
"You could have a mom again."
"AHH! No, no, I can't think about that yet. I don't even know who this woman is. I don't even really know what's going on. It could be nothing, right? Touya could just be imagining things."
"Do you really think so?"
"No..." Sakura admitted. "If he noticed, then its serious."
They discussed the situation and its various implications for over an hour. Finally, Sakura said, "So the question is, what am I really afraid of?"
"That you're losing him, maybe? You've been the only woman in his life for a long time."
"Nnnn...o," Sakura answered slowly as she considered the possibility.
"I don't think that's it. It's just...the change, I guess. This has got to be a big change for my dad--how will it affect him? I just don't know what will happen, and it scares me."
"Fear of the unknown. Well, don't worry too much, Sakura--I'm sure everything will turn out alright."
"But what if it doesn't?"
"I'll always be here for you, Sakura," Tomoyo promised tenderly.
"Thanks, Tomoyo-I know I can always count on you."
"Of course! Then, I'll see you at school on Monday. Call me if anything comes up before then."
"Okay. See you on Monday. 'Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kero had napped through most of Saturday afternoon, and woke up just as Sakura ended a phone conversation with her friend Tomoyo. He didn't know what it was about, but from her tone of voice, it sounded serious. He figured she would come tell him what it was all about fairly soon, and was surprised when she didn't. Around him, she tried to act like nothing was going on. But for the entire rest of the weekend she seemed preoccupied. Concerned about something. Almost...depressed.
"Hey Sakura--is something buggin' you?" he asked Sunday night.
"Huh? Oh, no, no, I'm fine, everything's fine," she answered quickly. Too quickly, of course; there was obviously something she didn't want to tell him.
"You sure?" he continued. He was genuinely concerned about how whatever it was was affecting her mood, and wanted to help if at all possible. What was a Guardian Beast for, after all?
"Yes, positive," she replied, sounding even a little defensive. Something was definitely wrong.
But then again, there were times when Clow wouldn't always confide in him either, he remembered. He didn't press her further. Instead, after she had gone to bed, he snuck out of the house and went for reinforcements.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Sakura got home from school on Monday, she was fairly surprised to see Yue in her bedroom waiting for her. [A.N. Wouldn't I love to have that to come home to after school ^ . ^ ] He had been sitting in the chair by her desk, and rose as she entered.
"Yue..." she said. "Um...what brings you here? Sit down."
He complied. "Kerberos told me he thought something might be bothering you, Mistress."
"Kero!" She glared at him where he was sitting on the desk next to Yue. "I told you nothing was the matter," she muttered.
"I know that's not true, Sakura," Kero responded vehemently. "We are your Guardians-it is our job to know when you need help." He leaped off the desk and transformed into his true form. "And I intend to help, whether you like it or not," he growled.
That made Sakura smile. "I appreciate your concern, guys, I really do. But-it's not anything you can help out with, it's just something I have to work out by myself, and..."
"Sakura..." Yue began. He got her attention with his uncharacteristic use of her name. "Am I your friend?"
The question was unexpected, to say the least. "Well, yes, I suppose... I did say that, didn't I?"
"According to Kerberos, I believe you've already discussed something with your young friend Tomoyo. Will you not allow me to listen to your troubles as well?"
"Oh..." she sighed, very close to giving in. "It's not really that big a deal..."
"Which is why you've been moping around the house for the past *three days*," Kerberos interjected.
"Okay, okay," she said finally. "All it is, is this: On Saturday, Touya went with my dad to help out on a dig, and while he was there, he saw my dad talking to this other professor--a lady--and...and...he said he was flirting with her," she finished in a rush.
"Ah," said Keroberos. "He's sure about this?"
"Yes. And I believe him. And if it was obvious enough that Touya noticed, then it's really serious."
"So you think he might be...attracted to this woman? Maybe even in love?" Kero asked.
"Yeah. And it's kinda freaking me out. It's all great that he might be able to find someone again, but it's just scary, too."
"Hmmm. Being able to love again..." Yue sighed. "I know something about that...."
Sakura looked at him. "Because of Clow?" she asked.
Yue nodded, then closed his eyes and thought. "If he's confident enough to show his feelings openly, then he must have already admitted the possibility to himself that he could love someone else. And he hasn't spoken a wod about this to you?"
"No."
"Well... I believe it's him you really need to talk to in order to calm your fears."
"I... I can't do that!" Sakura exclaimed.
Yue raised an eyebrow. "Because that would make it real? I believe you are somewhat in denial, Mistress."
"I'm not!" she protested. She hated the way he could read her like that. "I...just...don't really like thinking about all of that too much."
"Then you must either put your fears to rest, or lay them aside and stop letting them frighten you. Is there really anything so horrible that could come of this?" Yue asked, his voice soft and comforting.
"Well... That's what Tomoyo said too. Maybe I should just stop making such a big deal out of it. Everything's sure to be fine, right?" She tried to smile. She still wasn't sure if she really believed it.
"Give it time," said Yue.
"You'll be alright," Keroberos added.
Later that afternoon, Touya dropped by. "Hey, Sakura," he said, poking his head in the door. "Did Yuki....... oh," he stopped as he saw his little sister sprawled out on her bed and...*Yue* sitting beside her gently rubbing her back. The moon guardian turned to look at him. "I will return the 'Snow Rabbit' when I have finished attending my mistress," he informed Touya pointedly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Somehow, Sakura managed to get through most of the week, and even to forget her problems for a while. By Thursday night, she was almost in a good mood. She smiled and hummed to herself a little as she stood over the stove making dinner. It also helped that Touya was working and not around to bug her for once. (Okay, well maybe she did miss him-a little-when he wasn't home for dinner.)
"I'm home!" she heard her father say as he walked in the door.
"You're just in time-dinner's almost ready," she called back.
"What are you making?" he asked, coming into the kitchen. "It smells delicious."
"Potato soup." [A.N. I know, not exactly a traditional Japanese meal, but it's all I could think of. My roommate made some tonight, and it was sooooo good!] "There's bread and salad, too."
"Sounds great." He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. Both of them remained silent for several minutes. Sakura concentrated on stirring the soup.
"Anou, Sakura..." Fujitaka said finally. "Come sit down by me for a second. There's something I need to talk to you about."
"But the soup..."
"It'll be okay for a few minutes." Sakura nodded and took a seat next to her father. "Sakura... You know I've always tried to keep your mother's memory alive in this house."
"Uh-huh..."
"I... For a long time, I thought that was all I would ever need, but now... Sakura, you and Touya are still my first priority, and I don't want to do anything you would feel uncomfortable with, but..."
"You think there might be...someone else?" she asked softly.
"Yes," he confirmed with a sigh.
"Who?" she asked.
"She's a colleague; she just joined the History faculty at the university recently. Her name's Hanairo Hidemi--you might have heard me mention her before." He paused. "Like I said, Sakura, if you have strong objections I wont pursue this any further but... if you feel alright about it, I was thinking of asking Dr. Hanairo to go to dinner with me tomorrow night."
Sakura had to ponder for a long moment before responding. "I think...that would be alright." She looked up at her father. "I'm a little bit nervous, because its something I've never dealt with before. But...I'm excited too," she realized. "I'm happy for you."
"You're sure?"
"Yes," she said, and smiled genuinely for the first time that week. "The soup's going to burn," she muttered, and stood up to go stir it again.
"Okay, then..." Fujitaka stood up as well. "I've already talked to Touya, and he didn't seem to have any problem with it, as I expected would be the case. You were the one I was really worried about. Would you like me to bring her by here tomorrow night so you can meet her?"
"Oh, of course!" Sakura replied, without hesitation.
"Good, then we'll--" He stopped as the phone rang and he went to pick it up. "Hello?" He listened for a few seconds then turned to Sakura. "It's for you." He handed her the phone. "It sounds like a boy," he smiled.
"Hoe...?" Who would be calling her? "Moshi moshi..." she answered.
"Mistress?"
Her eyes widened and she darted into the next room. "Yue??" she whispered loudly. "Why are you calling me on the phone?"
"I felt...I just wanted to know if you were alright."
She relaxed. "I'm fine," she said, and meant it. "Now, I've got to go. I'll call you later tonight, okay?"
"Very well." He hung up.
Sakura grumbled a little about her crazy guardians as she walked back into the kitchen and hung up the phone.
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The next night, Sakura stood in the front entryway and prepared herself to meet her dad's...girlfriend. *That's* *so* *weird!* she thought yet again. Kero and Yue were both upstairs in her room, and she had asked Tomoyo to come over as well for emotional support.
"Tomoyo..." she whimpered. "What was I thinking?" She gripped her best friend's hand tightly. "What if we don't get along? What if she doesn't like me? What if..."
"I wouldn't worry," Tomoyo said. "I don't think anyone could not like dear Sakura-chan!"
"Of course..." Sakura muttered. She heard the front door *click*. "Aah! They're here! Oh, Tomoyo, I'm so nervous..."
Her father walked in the door. And close after him... "Ah, good, you're right here. Hidemi, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Sakura. Sakura, Hanairo Hidemi."
The woman knelt down to be at Sakura's eye level. "Pleased to meet you, Sakura," she said kindly.
Sakura froze. She was...nice. She was...pretty. And... she made Sakura feel all floaty inside.
"N-nice to meet you," Sakura said, blushing adorably. "Oh, and, um, this is my friend, Tomoyo." She gestured to the dark-haired girl standing respectfully a few feet away.
Hidemi nodded. "Pleased to meet you too, Tomoyo." She rose to her feet again.
"Well, we ought to be going, then," Fujitaka said. "I should be back around ten or so. You girls have a good time here, alright? Oh, and Tomoyo," he turned and said, just before he stepped out. "Just for my sake, if you don't mind..." He winked. "Don't tell Sonomi."
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[A. N.-LOL! Do you realize how much a of a cow she would have if she knew?? :P But aaagghh! I meant this to be a more lighthearted, happy fic after "Ghosts", but it gets all bogged down in angst, too! And I did NOT mean for it to be this long. I apologize if the conversation between Fujitaka and Sakura ended up being really lame, and too short, but it was SO FREAKIN' HARD TO WRITE! What else is wrong with it... Before I posted this, I edited out a lot of the "hedges" in Sakura's speech; there were a whole lot more "um"s, "like"s, "I mean"s, "you know"s, etc. when this was first written. And more ellipses, too. I have a tendency to do use them when a character is talking about an uncomfortable topic, because that's the way I would talk. But it does get distracting sometimes. I never found a good, canon explanation as to the whereabouts of Tomoyo's dad, so for the purposes of this fic, her parents are divorced. And Tomoyo here is just playing the part of a friend and a good listener; I have no idea what would be strictly in character for her in this situation. She'd probably want to videotape Sakura meeting Hidemi ;) Still, if enough people review and say they liked the fic, I'll give Fujitaka and Hidemi a chapter in my Valentine's fic (which WILL be published by Valentine's Day! If it kills me!) So, until then, read, review, and... RELEASE!!]