A/N: To my beta reader (For this story) Sakurawolfblossom Really sorry for not sending this chappie for you to edit. I just wanted to post it coz I was freaking excited my writer's block is finally gone. I'll send you the next chapter after I've written updates for my other stories. PROMISE.
Dedicated to the lovely people who review the story and to my onee-chan, aimee-hime (Author of "Saving Time" – Sailor Moon) who's so busy, she has forgotten to write back. (HINT HINT HINT)
Echii thoughts nixed. We begin now with hints of fluff and the beginning of more mayhem. Enjoy...
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
xxxX-Xxxx
Love Lay Waiting, Patiently
xxxX-Xxxx
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------
Nowhere to Hide, Part Two
-----------------------------------------------
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
::It had come to this,:: said Love, now drinking expensive white wine.
Destiny stretched languidly, unable to hold Her alcohol. ::Why yes,:: she murmured. ::It has.:: before closing Her eyes and slumbering off.
::Wake me,:: said She, in a soft dreamy voice. ::When THE WORKS starts doing something exciting.::
Love nodded, took another sip of the heady liquid, and sprinkled some poetry into the mix.
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
She did not know how it came to be. One moment she was chronicling Sakura's movement with her ever trusty camcorder, the two of them smiling excitedly to see if any of the cards could be merged to make an even more powerful card, while Kero was nodding wisely in the background, telling them to be careful, when poof, just like that, a rune circle was being drawn around her – magically - and she was enveloped in shimmering dust.
It had felt odd, even painful, when she felt herself getting longer, her skin being stretched as her bones slowly but surely started to grow, he muscles stretching, elongating, forming to accommodate the change.
And when it was over – roughly no more than a minute, according to the ginger haired lass who witnessed the whole thing – she felt awkwardness, a gangly-not-comfortable-with-my-own-skin feeling about herself that she had hoped she had outgrown when she realized she was being turned into a clone.
Daidouji Tomoyo looked at herself in the mirror, her reflection familiar yet one of a stranger at the same time.
So this was what she would look like at the age of eighteen. She tilted her head, fascinated by the way her hair fell to one side, a waterfall of silk and ebony. She was not vain, but she had to admit, she looked incredible.
She looked like her aunt, Nadeshiko, except her hair was darker and her eyes more beautiful, more haunting, than the emerald orbs that belonged to the deceased woman. No wonder Touya sempai had called her mom.
As the thought of the man came to her, she blushed scarlet, her hands smoothing over the shirt she was wearing. Her bodyguards promised to return later with new clothes to wear, but it has been agreed she should change to something more comfortable. Thus, the oversized shirt of Touya, and a pair of boxer shorts that Sakura had mumbled had only been worn once by her brother.
Yup, she was wearing Touya sempai's boxer shorts.
Her blush started to look like an unhealthy shade of red.
"Tomo-chan?" came a tentative call from beyond the bathroom door. "Is everything all right?"
The dark haired girl's eye darkened perceptively and she was glad that her best friend could not see it. She hated to worry Sakura, and well…to be fair, this situation really was downright crappy. "Hai!" she chirped, doing her best to give her tone that lilt, that trademark Daidouji Tomoyo spark. "Everything is fine, Sakura. There is no need for you to be troubled."
She glanced at herself one last time, patted her cheeks and willed them to return to a normal shade. When she was certain the flush was acceptable enough, she placed her right hand on the doorknob and gave it a twist. Almost instantly she was glomped by a crying Card Mistress.
"I'm so sorry, Tomoyo!" Sakura hiccupped. Her face was still tear stained, and her eyes were puffy. When the group of bodyguards had laid it out on them, Sakura's nerves had started to unravel, and she had been crying with remorse non stop. Even Tomoyo's placating coos did not make the tears stop flowing. Sighing, she patted the girl's head, and was disconcerted to feel the action so…foreign.
Then it occurred to her why. She's a great deal taller than Sakura now, having added at least four – five inches on her height. "Really, onegai, it's fine. I trust you…You'll find a way to bring me back to my original size…and age."
Her best friend sniffed loudly and burrowed deeper in her embrace. Tomoyo's eyebrows quirked upwards. She felt…so old. Like a big sister trying to make her little sister happy. Always when she thought of Sakura it was with that sense of awe and admiration. The genki girl was just so…uniquely Sakura as opposed to her own uncertainty identity. Now the role was reversed. Sakura, seeing only the appearance of an older woman, was broken down with guilt and acting as she was – a child -, and Tomoyo, somewhat trying to be at ease with her new body, was doing what came to her naturally. She was being nurturing…motherly. In her present form, the action carried surprising weight.
She knelt so that Sakura and she were eye level. "Look," she said, a smile she wasn't feeling etched on her lips. "It's fine. Trust me. Hitomi-sama said my mother would not be home for a good month, and they would take care of everything so that I would not be missed by the other servants back home." She patted the still wet cheeks absently. "So cheer up, eh? It'll turn out fine."
She tilted her head, and looked beyond Sakura to the still scowling Sun Guardian. "You too, Kero-san!" she called out with a happy tone of voice. "No need to sulk just because my bodyguards have always known about the rune cards."
For an answer, Ceroberus gave her a death glare and turned away.
Tomoyo sighed. The Guardian had not appreciated the snort the seven women had given him when he had demanded to know how they came upon Sakura's secret. As it was, the seven had been brutally frank.
They had succinctly told Kero there was no way they would not be curious when their charge did nothing but sew all day fantastical clothing that got even more magical everyday. Nor could they ignore when Sakura would fly up in the air using a wand, as well the fact that magical light shows appeared on a nightly basis exactly where Tomoyo and her cousins was after they trailed the black haired girl when she snuck out of the mansion.
And of course, as invading as it was, there were always the tapes to vouch their growing incredulity at the fact that magic was involved.
As Hitomi-sama had disdainfully said to Kero, "Unlike you, we all twenty of us who were ordered to watch over Daidouji-san, actually make sure our charge was always within our line of sight. Honestly, only an idiot would not put two and two together."
"Especially," piped another bodyguard, "When that Hirazagawa boy came into the scene. He wasn't exactly subtle with those tests he gave. Almost gave us a heart attack whenever our charge was included in his diabolic schemes. And it wasn't like real effort was done to keep the magic secret."
It has to be said that the bodyguards made a good point.
Tomoyo smiled as she patted Sakura's back. They truly cared about her, she thought with a smile. One of them had even winked at her while they were telling Kero their thoughts, and one had frowned and asked her if she was alright. A warm feeling came over the girl as she remembered Hitomi's words. "You're surprised, little Tomoyo? But it's not so hard to love you. Watching you and your ways twenty four hours a day, all of us had come to see you as a daughter or a little sister."
She could feel her eyes watering.
Sakura saw. "Ne? Oh, you're crying!"
"Iie," she whispered, hastily brushing the wayward tears. "Just something in my eyes." She peered at the girl and saw the dark circles under Sakura's own eyes. "You look tired, Sakura," she admonished her friend. She stood up and started pushing the Card Mistress to her bed. "It must have taken a lot of energy to do that spell. You should sleep now."
Sakura squawked her disagreement, but a tired yawn took the punch out of her "No." Tomoyo shook her head again and pointed to the bed where Kero was still sulking underneath one of the pillows. "No buts," said the dark haired girl. "Off to bed now."
Kinomoto was about to say no again, except she looked full at the imposing figure of Tomoyo, now so much taller than she, with a stern expression on the sweet face. A feeling of joy came over the girl and if she was able to explain it, she would have told it right then and there to the other girl.
But she couldn't, for she had never really experienced the feeling of having a mother, and had honestly thought she never missed it. But that exact moment, something warm and fuzzy lodged itself in the genki girl's heart and she meekly bowed her head down, oddly pleased to do so. It felt good, this feeling. She felt… loved and watched over.
She felt safe.
"Yes," she murmured, sneaking a glance at her friend. "Alright…but only for awhile, then Kero and me will try to figure this out." Her head bowed low, she gave Tomoyo another tearful smile. "I'm really sorry about this."
A smile lifted the corners of Tomoyo's lips. "It's quite alright, Sakura-chan. To be honest, there have been worse things that had happened before." She gave the girl another soft nudge. "I have faith in you. You'll do this right, just like all the other times."
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
Love frowned, not sure if He was completely pleased with the interaction. He would have loved it more if Tomoyo could see for herself that everything she felt for Sakura, now laid out bare and magnified because of the situation, was nothing more than motherly instinct drilled home on her since she could consciously think.
'You are so much like Nadeshiko, Tomoyo. I am so pleased. I just know you'll grow into a lovely lady…just like her.'
'Nadeshiko loved music, my dear. I am so glad you are musically inclined.'
'Always have a happy smile, Tomoyo. That was how my dearest cousin faced the day everyday.
'Why yes, Tomoyo…Nadeshiko was my mother. Oh, does this make us cousins?'
:Poor child,:: thought Love, watching the girl tuck Sakura in. ::To have been so pressured to be the image of a past that even how you should feel for someone had been mutilated.::
With graceful movements Love scooped a few more 'Happily Ever Afters'.
::'T'is no ones fault:: He continued, His hands smattering more and more of the ingredient into the mixture. ::Mortals are such fascinating fools.::
He smiled, and very delicately poured more of THE WORKS, watching the reddish concoction go down to where Tomoyo was standing. ::But not today, Tomoyo. Today… today is the day you start acknowledging your true feelings and not hide behind the identity of Nadeshiko's motherly love for those she left behind.::
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
He felt light headed while at the same time feeling as if a vice was slowly being tightened on his head. It was as if he was being woken from a wonderful dream, while in the throes of a hangover.
A major hangover.
"What the fuck happened," he muttered, his right hand gingerly going up to his head to touch where the pain was most acute. He yelped when it touched a very large bump. 'Damn,' he thought. 'That's one heck of a bump.' His hand brushed on the top of his head, and he gave another yelp. "Two bumps?"
Touya grimaced and tried his darnest to recall what had happened. Briefly, he remembered Sakura screeching 'Hoe,' for the second time, pain and the feeling of blacking out after wards.
Then he remembered catching glimpse of where he was falling on to.
Touya started doing a fine job of impersonating a ripe tomato, all red…and well, red. 'It did not happen,' he tried to convince himself. 'It did not, it did not!'
"Touya-sempai?"
Kinomoto raised his head helplessly, almost choking in embarrassment. Beautifully shaped legs first came into view, then his shirt and then…those violet eyes. "Daidouji," he said, his voice unsteady. Then another thought. "You are wearing my shirt." He hoped, to all the kami that was venerated in Japan, that she was wearing something more underneath his old college shirt.
Tomoyo blushed, almost as successful as he was into turning into a human tomato. "Well, the girls thought it was best that I change…I couldn't breathe properly with what I was wearing before."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Silence.
The young man cleared his throat after a full three minutes of utter quiet. "What happened, Daidouji?" Yes, Daidouji, not mother. He was pleased that he could think clearly now, even though he could not look his conversation partner straight in the eye yet.
Delicate hands fluttered in the air gesturing helplessly. "I don't know exactly. One moment Sakura was thinking of combining the Song Card with one of the others, and before we could figure out what happened, the Time Card was activated." She paused, and gave him a rueful smile. "As always, the Card came after me…"
It was true. In the long history of the Clow Cards, then the Sakura Cards, Daidouji Tomoyo had the unique position of being the most favoured victim of the bloody runes. It was as if something about the girl just drew them to try and do mischief on the poor girl, whether directly or indirectly. The point was, she was almost always the victim that the Cards targeted.
Touya nodded, not sure if he wanted to know the answer to his next question. "Can it be undone?"
The girl – lady – before him shook her head sadly. "I do not know. Demo…please, don't pressure Sakura-san. She seemed to have drained herself when the spell was cast and I'd like her to rest."
The brown eyed occupant of the room nodded dumbly. So, the spell may not be undone. He wasn't sure, but the thought wasn't as unpleasant as it should be. "Kero?" he croaked.
Tomoyo started worrying her lower lip. Her eyes were downcast so she did not saw Touya's eye zeroing on her action before he turned his head away, shamed. "He…" she faltered at her next words. "He seems to think – well, hoped - it could take a while for the right spell to be found…to turn everything back to normal."
"Oh." 'Damn it!' Just why he was cursing was open for discussion. He told himself he would love to have this situation fixed. He drilled the point home.
"Yeah…"
They fidgeted, he just staring at the girl, doing his best not to think. She now was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, so that he was able to see – with a slight tinge of disappointment – that she was wearing some shorts of sort.
Then he realized…that it was his boxers.
The tomato interpretation returned full force.
"Touya-kun?" she asked him uncertainly, bending down to peer into his glazed eyes.
It was, so to speak, a moment ripe with possibilities.
Possibilities THE WORKS was more than happy to make use of.
Up in Their pink cloud, Love nudged Destiny awake. A loud 'Pinnngggg-g-g-g-g' has just been heard by Love so it could only mean one thing. Too bad Kero didn't hear it again.
The two ebony haired people, so lovely and so freaking obstinate, could never know for certain what happened. Touya, still somewhat dazed could honestly say one moment he was drowning in an amethyst pool while Tomoyo could honestly say she felt someone push her from behind.
Kero, then in Lala land, being hugged by an exhausted Sakura, still maintained, and rightfully so, that he was asleep when the 'thing' occurred. Unfortunately, since Sakura was asleep, he had no witness to vouch his innocence.
To this day, Touya claimed Kero was a rat faced liar, though there was a smile on his lips when he say those words, and Tomoyo could still not bring herself to ask the Guardian if he was telling the truth about being asleep.
Kero still shouted to anyone who wanted to listen he was innocent of any wrong doing.
But yes, the' thing' did happen.
Let it be written down for documentation.
She was on her hands and knees, her face inches away from Touya, wondering if he was having after shock reaction to having his head hit, when she felt someone pushed her from behind. Before she knew what happened, her lips were on his.
Kinomoto, acting on instinct, had wrapped his arms around the poor (?) girl to stop her fall. His eyes were wide with shock, and so was hers.
But here was the clincher that had Love and Destiny doing the tango in Their respective place way, way up on Their pink cloud, crystal tumblers now discarded, the expensive white wine drip, drip, dripping down, a very only one of its kind weather condition: Alcohol rain.
The two idiots – Touya and Tomoyo - did not pull back right away.
This was what happened when the shock of that 'thing' happening died down.
Tomoyo's pupils dilated, till it was barely visible. Her heart started a crazy, funky beat deep in her chest. It felt, in all honesty, like it was about to explode out of her rib cage.
Holy cow…her first kiss.
And yes, she must admit, though nothing French took place, it was quite good. She never dreamed her first kiss would be so…innocent and set about by an unexplainable accident, but in truth, it was really quite alright. Languidness took over her and she closed her eyes and breathed an imperceptible sigh that warmed the lips she was in contact with.
Touya, in surprise, was like a statue, but one oddly warm and very much alive. His senses were in fire and heightened. His sense of touch registered the softness of the girl he was holding, his sense of smell was filled with vanilla and peaches, his sense of sight seeing nothing but black hair and violet…always the violet.
His tense of taste…Great kami…his taste was filled with Tomoyo.
It was better than any vision, better than any dream. His lips moved to answer her sigh and they moved against her own. It was a chaste kiss, and he realized that he wanted more.
So when his arms tightened on the girl, it was because he was ready to take the kiss on a whole new level. And truthfully, the girl in his arms was curious enough to allow him to do just that.
Love and Destiny executed a perfect twirl before Love dipped His giddy partner in a sweeping circle. The debonair entity had a rose clamped on His luscious lips. Everything was proceeding smooth as whipped cream laced with condensed milk and honey.
Alas, there were five senses and the sense of hearing of our beloved hero was quite acute.
"Touya, Sakura!" called Kinomoto-sama, the sound of the front door opening and closing heard distinctly by the young man. "I'm home!"
::Damn,:: thought Love, whom in surprise had dropped His dance partner. He scooted over to the edge and peered down.
Destiny gave Him a sour look, incredibly grateful They were dancing on a soft fluffy cloud. Then She copied Her partner's movement and took a look see. ::Uh-oh,:: she said, her face grimacing, as if she was in pain. In truth, she was scatty happy. Another twist, so fantastic even She had not thought about it had just happened.
Love glared at Her, the expression on the entity's face mutinous. ::Fix this!:: demanded Love.
Destiny stuck her tongue out. ::I don't wanna!:: This could, after all, be very interesting. If you asked Her, additional drama was perfectly acceptable setting for THE WORKS. The other entity disagreed completely.
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
Love glowered at Destiny and Destiny glowered right back.
Poor Love was ready to crack.
Love had forgotten about the father…
…and the fact that once long ago, he was married to a woman who possessed Tomoyo's lovely face.
Upstairs, two people were staring at each other, face flushed, and yup, you guessed it…still in each other's warm embrace.
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------
xxxxxXx-xXxxxxx
A/N: I know I promised fluff but give me time. All great love stories involve gentle wooing. As obstinate as Touya and Tomoyo are, they require…time to realise why they were meant to be.
Also, sorry if I seem so hard on Tomoyo's mother. There will be an explanation on later chapters.
P.S. To my Sailor Moon readers who have me on author alert, my stories will be updated like crazy come the few next days. My writer's block is gone.