Sakura took a deep breath as she sat waiting at the reception. Nervous, she kept fiddling with her phone. A collection of messages from Shiro stacked up, recommending videos she could watch. She refreshed the screen to check if Li had replied, but it was empty.

It had been almost a week that he hadn't texted her back. She tugged onto her shirt, pessimistic thoughts started clouding her thoughts. She looked around the room to distract herself.

She observed how impressively the Daidouji Mansion had been redecorated partially into a studio.The room she waited in was decorated in a modern style, with white minimalist decor, warm studio lights and a large french window.

Elegant leaves in gold pots stood tall beside her and 'Piffle Fashion' was written in a sophisticated letters on the wall behind her. The receptionist before her sat scrolling through her phone, unbothered by Sakura's presence.

Suddenly she heard the giggles of a child approach the door. A woman with long flowing hair walked into the room.

"Tomoyo?" Sakura gasped.

Music: https/youtu.be/ElxpaKK_KOY

The receptionist stood up to wish her formally and Tomoyo looked towards Sakura with an odd expression.

She was carrying a small girl child wrapped in her arms. After an eloquent pause, Sakura bowed down greeting her. Tomoyo smiled and hinted at the receptionist to take the child from her arms. Sakura looked at the girl as she tugged onto Tomoyo's shirt. Tomoyo called Sakura as she went into her own personal office.

Sakura kept looking at the young girl who was running around in the lawn.

"So you had to be FrostPunk22 to meet me?" Tomoyo smiled.

"I wasn't sure if you'd meet me if I contacted you directly." Sakura spoke softly.

There was a momentary pause. Tomoyo and Sakura both looked out of the windows, avoiding eye contact.

"You grew your hair?" Tomoyo asked pulling out a clip from her pocket and pulled her hair into a bun.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah... You've kept yours the same as it was. You don't look any different now."

Tomoyo laughed. "I am hardly the same. I have responsibilities now." She added.

"You're doing great Tomoyo." Sakura looked at Tomoyo. Daidouji sat in her white shirt and pencil skirt, poised gracefully, the way a gentle leader should. Her fringes were ruffled and her pristine azure studs added a shine to her soft face. She reminded Sakura of Aunt Sonomi in so many ways.

"What about you? How have you been?"

"Me? I'm doing...fine." A sweat dropped from Sakura's head.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Oh! So Touya and Yukito are getting married... and I needed you to design their wedding suits."

"Touya? And Yukito? They're getting married?!" Tomoyo held her face. Sakura nodded.

"To be honest, I saw it coming." Tomoyo chuckled.

"What about you Sakura? Don't you need an outfit for the wedding too?" Tomoyo asked with sparkles in her eyes. Sakura could feel a deja-vu moment creeping in through her memories.

"Ummm. Sure?"

Tomoyo stood up in excitement and went to the desk to get her pen and notebook.

"And there was this other thing... I actually... wanted to talk you about something..." Sakura hesitated and clenched her fists.

"I know... everything seems okay right now... but... I... Wanted to apologise... For not talking to you after that day... I'm sorry this took so long... I didn't know how to help you..." She spoke softly looking at her clenched fists.

"Sakura... It's okay." Tomoyo spoke with kindness.

"But... It's not. I screwed up... I'm sorry." Sakura sighed.

"It's okay... I screwed up too." Tomoyo reached out to Sakura for her hand and pulled her up.

"But Tomoyo... I must have hurt your feelings" A stinging silence filled the room in an instant, this is exactly what Sakura wanted to avoid. She didn't know what else to say and looked down at her feet.

"You know... I had always liked you since school Sakura, but I didn't want to ruin our friendship, so I didn't tell you about it..." Tomoyo pulled her towards the desk.

"You were the closest person to me, Tomoyo. But... I never saw you that way..." Sakura whispered.

"But something else happened, which you don't know... As the years passed, something shifted in me..."

I realised... That I was always behind the camera... Never before it... I was always the one looking out for others... And I... couldn't understand why I took so much effort into making clothes for you, being there for you, while you never reciprocated my feelings..."

Tomoyo fiddled around her desk looking for her measuring tape. Sakura's face grew dark with a sad frown.

"It wasn't your fault... You were so cheerful, you didn't realise. And you made me forget about these things when I met you in school. Then... we went into college..." Tomoyo carefully measured the length of Sakura's shoulder."

"I thought... If you weren't there... I would be able to become all that I couldn't in school. But... I realised it wasn't you who stopped me from doing this... It was me..." Tomoyo noted down the measurements on her diary.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Sakura asked.

"Because I didn't want you to know... The more we stayed apart, the more I realised how much you affected my life... And how happy you made me..." Tomoyo looked away from Sakura in the pretext of looking through the book.

"It was as if I wanted to be my own person, but also... I wanted to be closer to who you were... I had a lot of frustration on myself... For being the way I was..."

Tomoyo turned around using her gentle hands to measure her height.

"I didn't know what I wanted or what I could do to make things better... I didn't think it through... And I confessed." Tomoyo patted Sakura to keep her backbone straight.

"I don't know what I wanted to hear from you... So I never got back to you..." Tomoyo picked up the book and briskly wrote numbers on it.

"I'm sorry I never got back to you after that. I'd understand if you hate me for that." Sakura choked on her weakened voice.

"It's okay. I don't hate you." Tomoyo smiled and looked out of the window. A peaceful smile spread across her gentle face.

"I always knew you'd come to meet me Sakura."

She looked as if she had been liberated from invisible chains that held her. She looked at the young girl run around the field like a fearless spirit.

"You know, I actually thought of naming her Sakura?" Sakura looked at Tomoyo.

"She reminded me so much of you."

Sakura looked at the young girl chasing a butterfly with a flower in her hand.

Her white hair shone like ice in the midst of fresh green leaves. Her eyes had the same gentle blue Tomoyo's did, and her soft hair curled up against her tiny face.

"But maybe... Looking out for people, and being behind the camera... Isn't so bad afterall." Tomoyo smiled. Sakura could feel the warmth in her smile. She rushed to Tomoyo and pulled her into a tight embrace. She could feel tears welling in her eyes. Tomoyo patted Sakura on her back.

"Momy. Why are you crying?" The little girl asked as she ran into the room.

"Nothing Akihio. This is my very special friend, Sakura." Tomoyo explained to her daughter. Sakura rubbed her eyes, pulled away and looked at Tomoyo's daughter.

"Hello, Akiho-chan." Sakura kneeled beside her.

"We will be great friends, I promise." She took out her pinky finger and held it before her. Akiho held Sakura's pinky with her own tiny finger and smiled.

Author's Note*

With Akiho setting into the story, you can already guess that there will a plot around Sakura and Tomoyo's daughter. I won't disclose what plans I have, but there are interesting premises I'm ready to explore.