Chapter 34 Figure Skating Finals

"What? You're serious?" Shaoran exclaimed as Ryu finished telling him on the plan that he and the others had talked about. He knew that Touya would have indeed went as far as that but to think that Ryu and Eriol had something to do with it was something that his mind was having a hard time comprehending. He didn't exactly know if he was going to be grateful or utterly annoyed that they were forcing this to happen. He could almost see Sakura's reaction when she gets a whip of this. Boy, could he really see it now.

Ryu then handed him a white rose with blue and pink ribbons tied to it. "Here. A peace offering is you will. I'm sure she will love it especially since it will be coming from you." He said. Shaoran accepted the rose.

"Li-sempai, you needed a chance well here it is. Although I can tell you now that Sakura already has her suspicions. The reason why she hadn't acted on them yet because of this whole figure skating thing." Tomoyo said.

Shaoran looked at her suspiciously as his gaze then drifted to Ryu and Eriol. But before he could speak again, Tomoyo said, "Well excuse me gentlemen. I need to meet up with Sakura to help her prepare for the competition in about three hours. See ya." She then left them and headed to meet up with Sakura.

"Don't tell me you're scared." Ryu commented when the three of them were left there. Eriol grinned.

Shaoran smirked and said, "Yeah right. But damn. I still can't believe that you guys did this. I can understand her brother doing something like this but you two?"

Ryu and Eriol jrinned. "Just think about it this way, man." Eriol said. Shaoran looked at him.

Eriol smirked before continuing, "When this is over, you really have lost your best friend but gained a girl friend, perhaps even one day a wife. By the way things are going, I'm guessing Ryu-san here will take over as your best friend."

"Hey let's not talk about the future like that. Let's just deal with now. And the way things are going, you are probably going to be Sakura's best friend." Shaoran said as they headed to the door.

"Hate to break it to you, Shaoran. She already is my best friend. I'm only wishing that I will be hers." Eriol replied.

"I can't say I'm surprised. I'd have to say that is inevitable, Eriol." Shaoran said as they headed over to the Dome to watch the competition.

Shaoran braced himself for what was to happen. This was it. There was no turning back. His courage will not falter now. Where things were going, none of them will be able to fight it but at least before all that, Sakura would know the truth he held from her all that time. He didn't care if Sakura would accept him…who was he kidding? He did care but he had prepared himself for the worst just in case. One thing was for certain though, he will not shy away from the truth. He had already lived the past eight months in stupidity. He wasn't going to do that anymore.

XxXxXx

Tomoyo knocked at Sakura's room. Sakura opened it and let Tomoyo in. As Tomoyo entered, she figured that Sakura was about to fix her hair and her makeup for the event.

"Nervous?" Tomoyo teased as she set her stuff at a nearby chair. She then straightened herself and turned to look at Sakura.

Sakura smiled at Tomoyo and replied, "Nah, not really. I just can't seem to calm myself, that's all."

Tomoyo started laughing. "Thanks for coming, Tomoyo. It really means a lot. Chiharu and Naoko already called wishing me luck. I just can't wait to hit the ice to get this over with." Sakura then proceeded on to say. She then sat in front of Tomoyo, also in front of the mirror. Sakura had her back on the mirror. It was obvious that she was trying very hard to calm herself.

"Just hang in there, Sakura. This day would be over before you even know it. Just give your best and you'll do fine. I can understand the nerves though. We've all been there so I'm saying just hang in there. It gets better." Tomoyo advised.

Sakura smiled and took in a deep breath. It seemed to work a little. Just a few more and she would be all set. But deep down she knew that that wasn't going to happen until the competition was over that afternoon.

Tomoyo then stood and went up to Sakura. "Come on. Let's get started. You'll feel worse if you have to do everything the last minute." She said as she took Sakura's hand and ushered her to the small comfort room provided for her inside her dressing room. Sakura didn't seem to mind. She didn't want to think about pressure so she was willing to do just about anything as a form of distraction.

Tomoyo then handed Sakura the dress she made just for her for this competition. "Oh my God! Tomoyo…this is…this is…thank you so much!" Sakura said when she finally opened the suit bag Tomoyo had given her. She couldn't believe it. It was so beautiful that Sakura felt guilty for being scared of what Tomoyo had up her sleeve. She thought that Tomoyo would go overboard but as she looked at the finished product, she was proven wrong. Sakura fell in love with her dress right away.

As Sakura kept looking at the dress, Tomoyo couldn't help but smile. "I thought you might like it. Now, still have doubts with the modeling contract?" She teased.

"You totally out did yourself this time, Tomoyo. And as for the contract, I already signed it last night. It's in my bag over there. I've been thinking about it since you proposed it and well, I'm desperate for college funds. I'm willing to take this risk. Besides, if I'm going to be stuck in this kind of business, why not be stuck with a close friend? I'm just going to see how it looks on." Sakura replied as she went inside the comfort room to change, while leaving the door slightly ajar.

"Sakura, can I get the contract from your bag? I'll sign it too." Tomoyo called out.

"Sure. It's in my bag."

Tomoyo headed to the table where Sakura left her bag. She opened it and took out the folder. She opened it and smiled. Sakura did sign the papers. It was a step closer to both of their dreams. Tomoyo knew how much it meant to Sakura to head to college and earn her degree. Even if she was still shaken up from the embassy incident, Sakura still wanted to work along that line. She had mentioned once that she could at least apply at UN if she still can't find herself being an ambassador. Being affiliated with the United Nations, she said, was the next best thing. But then again, knowing Sakura, Shaoran and all of them around her, none will allow her to fall short in reaching her childhood dreams.

She took out a pen from her purse and sat. She took out the contract and started signing the papers. After signing the last page, she leaned back a little with a smile on her face. She hadn't noticed that Sakura had already stepped out. But the image didn't escape the mirror in front of her. When she realized that her friend had already stepped out, she immediately stood and turned towards Sakura.

Sakura smiled at her and started walking towards her. "It fits perfectly, Tomoyo. I love it. Thank you." She said.

Tomoyo smiled as she took a glimpse of her masterpiece. She was happy when she finished it now seeing it on Sakura, she was absolutely speechless. It was absolutely Sakura.

Tomoyo then let Sakura sit in front of the mirror.

"Ok now that I know how the dress looks, I can start with make-up." Sakura commented as she took out her make-up kit.

"Go with the golds and silvers. It's perfect that way." Tomoyo suggested.

"Gold? Silver? You're serious?"

"Yeah. Since I'm your official designer now, I can make suggestions on your make-up to give you a more dramatic effect. You know what, I'll do your make-up and you can start with your hair. This way, we both can finish up early."

"Uh doing my hair will be like next to impossible while you are doing make-up. I'll just wait for you to finish before I tie my hair in a bun."

"Sounds good to me." Tomoyo said as she started with the make-up.

"Just don't overdo it, Tomoyo. This is a figure skating competition and not a fashion show. Ok?"

Tomoyo started laughing and then replied, "Relax will you? I know that. I'm just going to use that for eye make-up. What's nice about you is that you don't really need much make-up. Honestly, an all natural look suits you more. Although we can enhance some like your eyes. You already have great green eyes so let's make it a little obvious."

"I trust you, Tomoyo." Sakura said as she smiled and closed her eyes.

Tomoyo then took a gold eyeliner and started with her eyes. Sakura had nice skin so she really didn't need to use foundation. She then used some silver eye shadow for the base and built it up to the gold to give it a more dramatic look. She took out some blush on and brushed some on Sakura's cheek before applying some powder to even everything out. Tomoyo then took Sakura's favorite cherry blossom lip gloss to finish the look.

"Ok. You can open your eyes now, Sakura." She said as she turned the chair towards the mirror so that her friend could see what she had done.

When Sakura first looked at herself at the mirror, she really had to do a double-take. She couldn't believe what Tomoyo had done. Now she was really confident that going into that modeling contract with Tomoyo wasn't a bad choice. Her friend indeed had a talent for it. Sakura could feel herself smile the broadest. She liked the subtle yet striking effect that Tomoyo had accomplished.

"Wow!" was all Sakura could manage to say.

Tomoyo stood proud at what she had done. "I was going for a modest yet with an impact sort of thing." She said.

"I'll say…there's no doubt in my mind that you will make it into the fashion world big time with these talents of yours." Sakura commented as she took her brush and started with her hair. She pulled it up in a bun and secured it with a lot of black hair pins. She then took out the white rose with diamonds hair pin Shaoran had given her to hold it all together.

"Perfect." Tomoyo commented as Sakura's coach entered the room.

XxXxXx

"Hey Tomoyo. So how is Sakura holding up?" Touya couldn't help but ask when Tomoyo came and joined them. She was about to sit when Touya had asked the question.

She smiled and replied, "Nervous for one but I'd have to say that she's doing good actually. She's so beautiful and confident that she will just breeze through this entire thing. Even if she finished third in her short program this morning, she really doesn't mind. Now that the free program is about to start, well…let's just say that she's more worried about that."

"Well there's no doubt in my mind that she'll do great. She had worked so hard for this." Eriol commented.

"Wish we saw the short program this morning." Yukito said.

Tomoyo smiled and said, "I have it on film. Besides, she understands why you guys couldn't make it. You guys had work. Well, that's to say for you and Kinomoto-san. As for these three, we all know why they didn't arrive until now."

The guys smirked as the free program was starting. "Sakura is the third performer. She's after that girl over there." Tomoyo said pointing to the girl near them. They sat near the entrance, where the skaters entered and exited.

Just as she finished saying it, Sakura walked out and was watching the performance with her Coach nearby. Her teammate was the first to perform.

"Hey Sakura!" Tomoyo called out, snapping Sakura out of her nerves. She looked up and saw all of them. She smiled as her eyes drifted to all her friends and brother who were there to support her. She was shocked when she saw Shaoran but then gave him a warm smile and bowed slightly.

They were actually pleasantly surprised at how Sakura looked. What Tomoyo said was an understatement. Sakura was drop-dead gorgeous. Tomoyo had been able to fully bring out Sakura's natural gifts.

"How are you holding up, imouto-chan?"

Sakura took in a deep breath and answered, "Better than expected. I'm on in about six to ten minutes so couldn't be better."

Her gaze then drifted to Eriol and said, "I promise I'll do your song some justice. All that hard work won't be for nothing."

She then looked at Shaoran and said, "Thanks for the good luck charm. It helps with the nerves." She pointed at the birthday present he had given her. He smiled.

Sakura then heard her Coach call to her. She turned to them and said, "Well I guess that's my cue. See you later guys." They watched her walk towards her Coach as she was given last minute instruction and had congratulated her teammate for a job well done. She then took off her white jacket to reveal the magnificent white dress Tomoyo had expertly made for her. It wasn't a design usually seen on the ice.

Sakura made a silent prayer. Before she knew it, it was her turn. She took a deep breath and skated on to the center of the rink and into the light.

(to be continued…)

Four chapters to go before we have to say goodbye. Thanks for reviewing and reading up to this chapter. Please do continue to send in your views and stuff. Thanks.

Michiko