Sakura: Knight of the Clow

Chapter 15 : Christmas

"You want to have a Christmas party? Seriously?" Tomoyo asked.

"It IS the season," Sonomi answered mildly.

Tomoyo made a frustrated noise. There were the monster attacks, the Knight being publicly known, the Government hunting the monsters (badly)... with all that going on, why would you think it was a good idea to party?

"We always hold a party, you know," Sonomi sighed, "if we suddenly didn't, people would start asking questions. And frankly, people could use the cheering up."

Tomoyo made a face but nodded. "Corporate and private parties?" she asked.

"Correct, and I'd like you at both," Sonomi said. She hesitated, "Kaho has agreed to attend both events as my girlfriend. I would appreciate your support."

Tomoyo raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise. Sonomi and Kaho had, until now, kept their relationship quiet, as they knew there would be various questions about undue influence and insider information leaking. Apparently they decided to go public anyway.

"How is father taking the news?" Tomoyo had to ask.

Sonomi made a face, "Not well."

"I will, of course, be bringing Sakura with me," Tomoyo added.

"Of course," Sonomi nodded. She added thoughtfully, "Hopefully this ends up less exciting than the last party."

"Heh," Tomoyo smiled wryly.

"Speaking of excitement... I understand the Government is annoyed with you?" Sonomi asked.

"They're angry about my story on the cover up on monster attack fatalities," Tomoyo acknowledged, "they're demanding I reveal my sources."

"Which you're refusing," Sonomi knew.

"Damn right," Tomoyo nodded.

"Do you need legal assistance? My lawyers...," Sonomi started.

"No, the paper's ones should be fine. The politicians are more annoyed that they looked bad," Tomoyo said flatly.

They talked a bit longer, then Tomoyo got ready to leave. "Thank you for coming," Sonomi hugged her awkwardly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Merry Christmas!" Sakura said cheerfully as she presented the gift to her assistant. \

"Uh, thank you?" Yue Susanno looked surprised. "I didn't expect..."

"You're welcome." Sakura smiled warmly, "It's just a small thing, and a treat for your girlfriend Caroline."

Yue looked embarrassed.

With a chuckle Sakura continued, "Come on, let's get everything ready for storage."

This was the last day the museum would be open before the holiday break. They were doing over the Clow Reed section, making sure everything was tidy before the break. They had already finished clearing items for research.

"Did you hear back from Li?" Sakura wondered.

"I thought you were reasonably certain they were fakes?" Yue asked.

"But they're good, interesting fakes," Sakura said cheerfully.

Yue shook his head. Archaeologists were weird...

Sakura's phone rang. "Hello? Oh, Tomoyo!" she smiled.

"I was just visiting your brother and Yukito," Tomoyo said cheerfully, "and I dropped off Yukito's present there too."

"Yukito is still hiding out from the TV news?" Sakura asked.

"He likes being behind the camera, not in front of it," Tomoyo said. "Can I pick you up after work?" she asked.

"Please," Sakura smiled. She hung up then smiled cheerfully, "Well, let's finish up."

The security guards were locking up as they left. "Have a good night," the older man waved.

"You too," Sakura beamed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Clow Reed had not experienced 'Christmas' before, though he understood it from memories in his host body. It wasn't something he cared about much one way or another.

"Merry Christmas!" the talking rat in the park he frequented cheered.

"Merry Christmas," Clow echoed. "Nuts?" he offered from the bag he carried.

"Please!" the rat grabbed some. "We saw a glowing card thing in the tunnels... is it one of your things?"

"That it is," Clow sighed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The formal party was first. Sonomi invited the boards of the companies she owned, along with some the presidents. It tended to be fairly boring as no one would dare get drunk or risk doing anything to offend the boss.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my fiance Kaho," Sonomi smiled charmingly.

"Are you INSANE?" one of the execs lost his shit and swiftly descended into a rant about the lesbian menace and how she'd disgrace them all.

"Wow, what year did he come from? The fifties?" Sakura murmured.

When he started getting personally insulting Tomoyo muttered, "That's it."

Tomoyo calmly strode up to the man, grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind him. As he yelped in protest, she marched him to the door. His date swiftly followed, looking profoundly embarrassed by it all.

"Allow me," Mei Lin opened the door.

"Thanks," Tomoyo casually chucked the guy out the door, the woman following. She then shut the door and walked back to Sakura.

Sonomi nodded thanks to both women then turned to face her staff. "Please remember that we have an official anti-discrimination policy. This kind of thing will get you fired with cause," Sonomi said coolly.

There were murmurs at that.

Sonomi raised her glass, "Merry Christmas."

"Well, that was fun," Mei Lin sighed to Sakura and Tomoyo.

"Could be worse," Sakura sighed, "Sonomi can replace that fossil, at least."

"Sorry about that," one executive sighed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The 'private' party was on the actual Christmas Eve, and was just family and friends.

"Hmm," Tomoyo leaned against Sakura, "I wouldn't have danced with you at the other party."

Sakura dipped her, making Tomoyo laugh. "Too bad," Sakura chuckled, "I would have liked making conservatives heads explode."

"You are evil," Tomoyo teased.

Kaho sniggered softly as she sat in Sonomi's lap. "Just imagine what sort of fit he'd have had seeing this," she purred.

Sonomi chuckled as she mused, "He'd have a coronary."

"I hate you all," Mei Lin muttered.

Nakuru Akizuki, an attractive, somewhat androgynous woman, offered her hand."May I?" she asked warmly.

Mai lin looked a little startled but accepted.

"Wasn't Nakuru a guy?" Kaho asked softly.

"They don't really consider gender a thing," Sonomi explained about the young executive working for her.

"Ah," Kaho nodded.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Tomoyo were slow dancing. "I'm surprised Sonomi and Kaho beat us to the punch," Tomoyo murmured.

"Well, I was sort of expecting you to propose," Sakura said quietly back.

"I sort of figured you would, big monster hunter that you are," Tomoyo suggested.

"You ARE the crusading reporter who carries out her story come hell or high water," Sakura countered.

"So neither one of us moved because we thought it was going to be the other?" Tomoyo chuckled warmly.

Tomoyo laughed, "Pretty much!"

"Then we have some things to talk about, I think," Sakura purred as they both swayed close together.

To be continued...

Notes: Shorter chapter. I 'lost' a first draft of this when my computer up and died. Re-wrote the first two pages from memory, pretty much.