by
Lyaliro
A/N: I do not own CCS, nor do I own the characters within it. All I own are dust bunnies, so please don't sue me.
Warning: This fanfic contains shoujo-ai, also known as yuri, which is also known as a girlxgirl relationship. Don't flame me because you weren't smart enough to read the warning.
We were older now, both in body and mind. Talks of sex began creeping into our lives, threatening to leech away our child's innocence until we were nothing but an empty shell, ready to be launched into the real world. But you seemed unaffected. You blossomed and grew into a beautiful young woman, and yet was left untainted by society's tendrils. And even though Li was giving you endless hints, you never thought of him as more than a good friend. I am both glad and saddened by your blissful state of unawareness. Because I know that no matter how many times I tell you I love you, you will reply the same with an ease of tongue that gives no sign of the sort of love that I feel for you. Those three words you say feel like knives in the heart, and yet it liberates me like nothing else. So I say it again in the hopes that you will notice. But you never do. I know I told you I would explain it to you when you're older, but I already have. And I will explain it to you once more. I love you, Sakura Kinomoto.
We sat in your room, finishing our homework. Kero, it seems, was off on some errand. So were your brother and father. It was just us two in the house. You are lying on the floor, hands cupped under your chin as you stared at the work in confusion. In your mouth is a half-eaten strawberry Pocky stick. It dangles on your lip in the cutest way, just about to fall out but never brave enough to. You catch me staring, and you tilt your head to the side as you say, "Nani?" I smile and reply, "You're so cute, Sakura-chan." You blush and then quickly finish the Pocky. "A-arigato…" you half-mumble. I giggle, which makes you blush even more. Then I quietly slip off of your bed and lay down next to you.
"What are you having trouble with?" I ask, and you point to a somewhat complicated math problem. Pencil smears and large X's are all over your scratch paper where you had erased and crossed out a few too many times. I notice the pencil in your hand is quite dull and has an almost nonexistent eraser. "You do the problem like this," I say, and take the pencil from you. Our hands touch for a moment. A shiver ran down my spine and my heart shuddered for that one second. You don't seem to notice a thing. I write out a few things on your paper, explaining as I go along. "Oh!" you cry out, "I see now!" The pencil traded hands once again and you finish the problem. "You are such a good friend, Tomoyo-chan," I hear you say. Then you smile at me, and I was almost torn to pieces by the glow of your smile.
You offer me a Pocky stick. I gladly accept it, putting it into my mouth. Then you begin talking about a certain someone you have a small crush on. "But, they're a little--" You stop as I playfully box your ear. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll even let you practice on me," I say, half-teasing. I think I would even enjoy pretending to be your mystery crush. Then, though only pretend, I would be the object of your affection. The one you care for the most in the world. For good measure I added, "You can even practice kissing. Of course, it will cost you a bit to tongue…" Then you lightly cuffed my ear, your face blushing fiercely. I laughed to disguise my desire, for I knew it would show in my eyes if I didn't mask myself. Oh, how wonderful it would be if your lips touched mine!
But fantasizing about you never helped to satisfy. I knew you were nothing more than a completely innocent soul, a girl who was and always will be straight. In more ways than one, of course. I spent years of my life watching you. Sometimes you were completely unaware of my presence. But the one moment I treasure most was the day we were running to school. It was the day of a field trip, and we were both still young, but you were younger than I was in certain ways. You forgot your roller blades and there was no other way to get to school. We held hands as cherry tree blossoms fell around us, you leading the way. Then your head turned to face me, and you smiled. My heart fluttered, and I stumbled. My knee was scraped badly from the fall. Then you bent over, a genuine look of concern in your eyes. I told you I was okay and carefully stood, telling you to continue running. You insisted that we walk, though. We almost missed the bus. You apologized for the rest of the week, but a few extra minutes with you was well worth the pain.
You waved her hand in front of my face, hoping to snap me out of my uncharacteristic state of unawareness. I chewed at my Pocky, "Oh? Gomen nasei, Sakura-chan." I looked into your leaf-green eyes. Eyes that still contained the innocence of childhood, whereas my childhood was tragically flawed from unrequited love. Without warning you leaned forward, biting onto the end of my Pocky stick. I immediately froze. You say, "First one to pull back loses," with a tone of playfulness in your voice. I continue my way towards you, only hesitating that one moment. And you do not hesitate at all, coming towards me at the same rate. Then we both stop when our lips are almost touching. I could hear my heart beating at a mouse-like pace. Your green orbs seemed pleading. Begging me to not turn away and laugh, begging me to pull you closer…
My arms wrapped about your shoulders as we both sat up. Your lips were so warm and inviting. My tongue explored the depths of your mouth, and I'm sure your tongue did the same to mine. I could feel your hands rest on my waist. Finally breathless, you pulled back. Your cheeks were flushed and a few strands of hair were in your face. "You lose," I say playfully, "and you owe me 1,000 yen." You simply giggled and dove in again. The second kiss lasted longer, and with quite a bit more passion. Both of us were guilty of letting our hands wander a little too much. We ended up lying on the floor again, except with you below me. I reluctantly cut our lip-lock due to curiosity. My head now resting on your bosom, I quietly whisper, "Did you know all along?" You say, "Hai, Tomoyo-chan. I did." I felt as if I should hate you for making me suffer for those long years, but I only gave your hand a light squeeze.
"I love you, Tomoyo-chan."
And for the first time, I was the one to reply.
A/N: Yaaaay. ^-^
'Nother A/N: Who cares about correct usage of past and present tense words, anyway? x_o;
