Disclaimer: I don't own any IPs that might appear in the story
The Council of Thirteen
Book Three: The First Lord
Restitching the Web of Love
Chapter 5: Confirming the decision
Beta:
Two days after the disastrous date between Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun, Hong Kong was graced with mild weather and at the former's insistence she had taken Tomoyo out to see the city's sights citing how she wanted to show her best friend her favorite haunts that she'd not had the chance to see during her previous visits. Tomoyo was of course fully aware that this was little more than an excuse for Sakura-chan to distract herself from what had happened. The Cardmistress had been quite shaken up by the idea that things between her and her husband had deteriorated to the point where he would even contemplate hitting her and had spent the whole of the previous day just sitting in their suite radiating shock, confusion and sadness.
Considering that…
If Sakura-chan wanted a distraction then she was happy to oblige. Besides, spending time with Sakura-chan was always a joy for Tomoyo no matter the circumstances. Especially alone time, which was what today was thanks to Kero-chan's decision to stay back at the hotel to enjoy the new game Tomoyo had bought him. She would deny to her dying breath that she'd given him the gift to deliberately set things up to her liking.
As they walked out of the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden after a leisurely tour, Tomoyo couldn't have been happier with her decision. Not only had the time with Sakura-chan been enchanting as always, the time away from her worries seemed to also have done her best friend some good. At least if her smiles and radiant happiness was any indication.
"I'm surprised that heavily urbanised Hong Kong had such a treasure house of a farm and wildlife like this," Tomoyo said casually as they walked towards Sakura-chan's car.
"I feel the same every time I visit," Sakura-chan agreed as she unlocked it. "And I do that whenever I want to escape the city for awhile."
"And how often is that?"
"Once a week?" Sakura-chan replied with a thoughtful hum. "Though, now that I think about it, I don't always come here."
"Oh?" Tomoyo asked as they slipped into the Beetle. "Are there other places that you'd go to unwind?"
"There's one other place," Sakura-chan agreed as she started up the engine. "I'll take you there. But before that, lunch?"
Tomoyo glanced at the car's clock and noted that it was just past noon.
"Sounds good. Mind if I pick?" She asked her hostess.
"Sure." Sakura-chan said with a shrug as they pulled out of the car park and got going.
"You picked out this place because we watched the classic Lady and the Tramp last night didn't you?" Sakura-chan accused teasingly as they finished placing their orders in a cozy Italian restaurant that Tomoyo had picked out.
"Guilty," Tomoyo admitted with a giggle.
"That all?" Sakura-chan asked with an exaggerated raised eyebrow. "Or did it being a romantic setting factor in too?"
"W-What!?" Tomoyo sputtered in surprise. "R-Romantic?"
"Just being objective, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura-chan said with a playful shrug. "Italian is considered romantic isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess." Tomoyo said, giggling nervously.
"You know," Sakura-chan said with eyes swimming with mischief and something else that Tomoyo was uncertain about. "I like that it's romantic."
"W-What!?" Tomoyo couldn't help but gasp. Sakura-chan doesn't mean it the way I think she does, right? Right!?
Before Tomoyo could ask, their food arrived and Sakura-chan quickly changed the topic of conversation.
"So how's everyone doing back in Tomoeda? How are Rika-chan and Terada-sensei doing? She's what six months along now?"
"A-About there," Tomoyo said, stumbling over her words as she regained her composure.
What followed was a wonderful meal with the two friends having pleasant conversation about their friends and family back in Japan and just reveling in their closeness. Not once did Sakura-chan bring up anything that Tomoyo might interpret as being a sign of romantic attraction towards her again and the heiress could thus only conclude that she'd either misinterpreted or even imagined what had happened at the start of their meal.
It was disappointing but it did not make the meal any less enjoyable. As was her personal maxim, time with Sakura-chan was always to be savored.
The last stop for the day it seemed was Lantau Island where Sakura-chan had decided to take Tomoyo on a walk along the Lantau Trail. It did explain why she had insisted they dress for a hike when they'd left the hotel.
"I know you've been here on Lantau before," Sakura-chan said as they set off on the trail. "I've brought you here before even but I don't know if you've ever been on this particular trail."
"If we did, I can't recall it." Tomoyo admitted with a giggle. "Besides so long as I have you for company, Sakura-chan, I'll be more than happy to walk it again even if I had."
"You're easy to please Tomoyo-chan," Sakura-chan replied with a giggle. "You're a hostess' dream guest."
Only when the hostess is you. Tomoyo thought even as she laughed at Sakura-chan's joke.
They walked along the trail, joking and chatting for some time before in a moment of daring Tomoyo decided it was time to ask about something that had been at the back of her mind for some time.
"Sakura-chan, I have a question." She said hesitantly. For though she had finally built up the courage to ask, she was still terrified.
What if Sakura-chan rejects me!? Part of her mind screamed. If she did…
Well, she would still be her best friend wouldn't she? And that would be enough, right? It had been for years, hadn't it?
But what if pushing for more destroys our friendship?
It won't happen. It couldn't. Wouldn't! Right?
"What about?" Sakura-chan asked with an inviting look on her face.
"T-The beach," Tomoyo sputtered out nervously.
"Oh, that." Sakura-chan said, laughing awkwardly and blushing. "That was, um, just me, uh, getting caught up in the moment, I guess?"
Tomoyo felt a wave of disappointment wash over her at Sakura-chan's dismissal of what happened. But as always she would accept whatever her best friend offered her. Even if it was just table scraps of affection, she'd savor them like the delicacy they were. Who was she to complain, to want more, when she was being offered so much already?
"Oh," Tomoyo said, surprising herself by just how calm she sounded. "I guess I was overthinking it."
Sakura-chan looked stricken and her mouth opened and closed as she struggled to come up with a reply. This sparked some hope in Tomoyo that she quickly squashed. Her best friend was surely only trying to come up with a more diplomatic way to put down her unwanted affections.
She was saved the trouble when a sudden chill breeze swept across the path and Tomoyo broke out into an instinctive shiver.
"You're shivering," Sakura-chan noted as she pulled Tomoyo close. "Here share some of my body heat."
Tomoyo saw the joke for what it was, a bid to change the course of the conversation, and was more than happy to play along so she giggled.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan," she said as she teasingly, and more than a little opportunistically, snuggled into the Cardmistress' side.
To her surprise, Sakura did not pull away and instead just adjusted their positions slightly.
"There we'll be able to walk and still stay close like this." The brown haired angel said with a smile when she was done.
Tomoyo just nodded, thoroughly confused by the mixed signals her best friend was sending her.
She was thus pretty much on auto pilot as they continued the rest of their walk, pressed into each other's side.
At the end of the day, Tomoyo had finished with a late night shower in preparation to go to bed and was just getting ready to exit her attached bathroom in the bedroom of the hotel suite she was sharing with Sakura after a shower when Yue-san's voice called out through the door.
"Please wait a moment, Tomoyo-san."
"Yue-san?" Tomoyo asked, blinking in surprise. "Why are you here? Does Sakura-chan know that you're in Hong Kong?"
"We need to talk," the Guardian said in his usual taciturn manner. "Mistress did not know I was coming but she has definitely sensed my presence since I arrived."
"I see," Tomoyo said distractedly as she weighed the pros and cons of stepping out of the room.
She hadn't brought her change of clothes into the bathroom beyond her undergarments and wasn't exactly comfortable walking in front of Yue-san dressed in just those, yet she would rather have what must be an important conversation to the Guardian face to face.
I guess I'll have to compromise. Tomoyo thought with a sigh. For all that Yue-san had a human half in the form of Yukito-san, he didn't seem to understand human norms. Or perhaps simply did not care to pay attention to them. It usually wasn't an issue but this was beyond the pale. Still she knew from experience that he would not back down so she had little choice in the matter.
"I'm coming out," Tomoyo told the winged humanoid as she slipped on one of the hotel's complimentary bathrobes as an added layer of protection for her modesty. "Please look away and close your eyes, I'll come out, get dressed and then we can talk."
"That is acceptable."
"Ready?" Tomoyo asked after giving Yue-san a moment to turn away.
"Yes."
At his declaration, Tomoyo hurriedly rushed out of the bathroom and over to the bed where she'd laid out her nightgown earlier. Quickly slipping off the bathrobe and putting it on, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the other being occupying the room.
The angelic looking Guardian was dutifully looking away at the room's door and waiting patiently. So still was he, he didn't even seem to be breathing, that if she didn't know otherwise she'd have mistook him for a statue.
"I'm decent," she told her best friend's familiar as she carefully folded and set aside the bathrobe she'd used earlier.
He turned around at that and gave her a nod in greeting.
Tomoyo was too polite to roll her eyes at him, but the urge to do so was strong, even as she politely gestured to a set of table and chairs set up in a corner of the room.
"Thank you, Tomoyo-san." The magical being said as he walked towards the aforementioned area, the heiress following behind him.
"Tomoyo-san, are you intentionally seducing my Mistress?" Yue-san asked bluntly seconds after they had both taken their seats.
Tomoyo was so shocked that all she managed was to sputter out a confused denial. "Seducing Sakura-chan!? What are you talking about!?"
Yue-san looked at her searchingly for a long moment, before nodding seemingly satisfied by whatever he'd found.
"Do you think my Mistress will reciprocate your feelings?"
Having somewhat regained her equilibrium now that the conversation had shifted to more familiar ground, Tomoyo carefully considered the matter. Despite Sakura's own ignorance towards it, she had no illusions that anyone even mildly acquainted with both of them failed to see her love for the Sorceress Supreme after all.
"I honestly do not care either way." Tomoyo said with a shrug. "I will love Sakura-chan regardless, forever and ever."
"I am pleased to hear that you have not changed in that regard." Yue-san said with a nod. "However, I wonder if my Mistress' feelings are the same as they were before?"
"If it has changed, I have not noticed." Tomoyo replied, thinking back to her conversation with Sakura-chan along the Lantau Trail.
"Or perhaps you are in denial." Yue-san countered. "You do realize that I am here to confront you precisely because Cerberus has told me that things have changed between you and my Mistress?"
"Well, Kero-chan is wrong then." Tomoyo said with a shake of her head. "I think I know what made him think that, but he's wrong. I have asked Sakura-chan about it and she told me that what happened was not what he thought it was."
Yue looked at her with narrowed eyes for a long moment before shaking his head and standing up.
"If that is what you want to believe then so be it."
"I trust Sakura-chan." Tomoyo insisted. "If she says what happened between us was not romantic then it wasn't!"
"That is a good approach." He said as he began walking towards the door leading to the rest of the suite. "But let me just play Devil's Advocate for a moment. Did Mistress actually say that what happened was not romantic?"
That pulled Tomoyo up short. Sakura-chan had not actually said that, had she?
But she had implied it, right?
Yue-san shot her a sympathetic look and shook his head.
"You will have to sort this out on your own. You and Mistress." He said as he pushed open the door. "Just take care of her and yourself whilst you do."
"I will always take care of Sakura-chan," Tomoyo replied instinctively but with no less determination because of it as she followed him out.
They found the aforementioned woman standing just outside the door with a blush on her face.
Yue-san proceeded to exchange pleasantries with his Mistress before departing but Tomoyo barely noticed any of that, her mind instead focusing on Sakura's out of place blush.
Why would she be blushing? Because she heard what I said about always taking care of her? But that's nothing new. I've told her that many times. Could it be? Has something changed in Sakura's feelings like Kero-chan and Yue-san think and she's seeing those words for what they truly mean for the first time? No, it can't be. Sakura wouldn't lie to me. Tomoyo's racing mind reasoned. But then again, she's not the most perceptive person when it comes to her own fe-
Tomoyo's speeding thoughts were derailed when a concerned Sakura-chan lightly squeezed her arm and leaned in, leaving their faces only inches apart.
"What's going on, Tomoyo-chan?"
Dismissing her previous line of thinking as mere wishful delusions, Tomoyo replied with a reassuring smile.
"Nothing, I was just thinking about something Yue-san brought up."
"What was it?" Sakura-chan asked with a worried frown.
"It's nothing to worry about." Tomoyo insisted with a shake of her head.
Sakura-chan looked unconvinced and her frown deepened.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Tomoyo said with a firm look.
Sakura nodded in reluctant acceptance and let the matter drop.
"I was actually on my way to ask you if you'd like to join me for some drinks. So how about it, Tomoyo-chan? Game?"
Tomoyo considered the invitation for a moment before shaking her head apologetically.
"Maybe another time," she offered instead. "I think I'd like to sleep early tonight."
Or more accurately, she added in her own mind. I need some time to ruminate on what Yue-san suggested.
"Oh, alright." Sakura-chan said, pouting lightly in disappointment. "Off to bed with you then, sleepyhead."
Tomoyo giggled at the tease and obligingly walked the short distance back into her bedroom.
"Good night, Sakura-chan."
"Night, Tomoyo-chan."
The view Sakura is enjoying
( . )
Some time after Tomoyo-chan had gone to bed, Sakura found herself sitting at one of the tables that offered a view of Victoria Harbor in the Peninsula Suite at the Peninsula Hong Kong where she was staying and admiring the view whilst nursing a tumbler of whisky.
She didn't usually drink but she had picked up a small habit for it after the stressful breakdown of her marriage.
"What do you think, Kero-chan?" She asked the Guardian Beast as he floated nearby, keeping her company.
"I will abide by whatever decision you make," he said loyally. "Or more like, I'll follow your lead on the decision you've already made."
Sakura did not refute his observation, instead shooting a glance over her shoulder and deeper into the suite towards where Tomoyo was sleeping.
Turning back to the view outside the fantastic window, she nodded.
"Is what I am doing considered adultery?"
"Would it matter to you if it did?"
"No," Sakura admitted after taking a sip of her whisky. "I'm more concerned about what it would mean with regards to the divorce if it was."
"So you're going through with it," Kero-chan asked with a sharp intake of breath.
"Yes," Sakura said with determination.
"You'll need to ask a lawyer." Kero-chan said in reply. "About whether your relationship with Tomoyo-san counts as adultery and whether it affects things."
Sakura just nodded and took another sip of her drink.
A month later, Tomoyo sat next to Sakura-chan in the meeting room of one of the premiere law firms in Hong Kong and looked at her best friend uncertainly.
"Are you 100% sure this is what you want to do?" She asked with a frown.
Tomoyo was deeply conflicted by what Sakura-chan was doing. While she didn't want her best friend to be shackled to a marriage she clearly no longer wanted to be a part of, another part of her was overcome with fear over what this meant. Would Sakura-chan ever find happiness with another person if she left Li-kun? Their romance was practically out of a fairy tale! If it had failed, then what hope was there of any other romance she might go through?
Her former concern far outweighed her latter ones though and if Sakura-chan was certain she would support her all the way. She always would.
Sakura-chan just nodded.
Tomoyo was about to question her further when the door opened and a middle-aged man in a tailored suit walked in.
He was Wang Chengrui, one of the territory's finest divorce lawyers.
After exchanging greetings, Mr. Wang offered the two women a professional smile and began laying out the many documents he'd brought with him.
"Let us begin-"
Done!
So this is how the fairytale ends… Well, in this verse at least. To be honest, if not for the spiders (and their mistress) I believe that in most universes Tomoyo wouldn't necessarily break up Sakura's marriage with Syaoran. In most, she'd watch things from the sidelines like her mother did with Sakura's parents. But in some where she was just that little bit more courageous, she'd likely end up being Sakura's (but not Syaoran's) mistress. Unfortunately, this isn't one of those universes.
Speaking of the spiders, you might be wondering where they were in this chapter. The simple answer is that they weren't there. By this point, their machinations have reached a point where they no longer needed to interfere. Even without them things would've moved exactly in the direction they wanted and that's what happened.
Well, that's all for now. Till next time annyeong!