Shatter
By Taste of Violets
Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It belongs to CLAMP.
Author's Notes: This fic was inspired by a challenge on LiveJournal's TsukimineShrine CCS fanfiction community, which asked for a fic including the phrase "You'd better wash that."
Also, I'd like to note that if you happened to read the other Cardcaptor Sakura fanfic that I currently have posted, "Caged Songbirds," this fic has no connection with that one. I just enjoy writing fics about Meiling and Tomoyo; I don't normally link them together or have them be part of a story arc. If I ever write a fic that is meant to be a companion or sequel to another, I'll be sure to note it to avoid confusion. Meanwhile, this is just an unrelated fic.
Warning: Shoujo ai implied.
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Meiling gasped at the sound of the crash, then stared in disbelief at the shattered glass on the floor. "Oh my God," she whispered. Instinctively she bent and tried to sweep up the shards, then dropped the glass and jumped up again with a cry. She bit her lip and gazed at the blood welling up from the new cut on her finger.
"You'd better wash that," said a gentle voice from behind her.
Meiling wheeled around to see Tomoyo standing in the doorway of Sakura's bedroom.
"Daidouji-san," Meiling said frantically, "I don't know what – I mean, I saw it, and all of a sudden I, I got so angry, and before I knew it I – I had –" She gestured wordlessly at the mess at her feet.
Tomoyo entered the room and sank down wordlessly onto the floor. She picked up the framed photograph with a sort of reverence, lifting it the same way it had fallen, with the black backing of the frame facing up. A few more shards of glass fell out from the pane. Tomoyo carefully turned the frame over so that the picture was visible. Silently, Meiling moved over beside Tomoyo to look at the picture with her.
The faces of Sakura and Syaoran beamed up at them from behind their pane of broken glass. Behind them, sakura trees were in bloom. Syaoran had picked up one of the blossoms that had already fallen, and he had been about to tuck it into Sakura's hair when the picture had been taken.
Tomoyo put out a finger and, avoiding the sharp and jagged areas where the glass had shattered and fallen out, she traced a path around the couple's smiling faces.
"I took this photograph," Tomoyo murmured.
Meiling suddenly realized that she didn't know how her arms had ended up around Tomoyo, but they were around her all the same.
"I didn't mean to do it," Meiling said hoarsely. "I mean – well, it wasn't an accident – but I, I didn't think, I just –" Suddenly Meiling gasped and broke away from Tomoyo, staring at her in dawning horror. "What will I tell – ?"
"I will explain to Sakura-chan," Tomoyo interrupted her firmly. She laid a gentle hand on Meiling's shoulder for a moment, then returned it to the picture frame. "Please go and wash your cut."
Meiling didn't move. "I was so excited to finally come back to Tomoeda again," she whispered. "And I was so happy when she invited me to sleep over. I thought – I thought I could finally be nice to her. I thought I had finally grown up." She rubbed savagely at her eyes with the hand that wasn't bleeding. "Aren't I older than this?"
Tomoyo looked down at the picture she was still holding. Her hands were clenched so tightly around the frame that the knuckles were white, but when she spoke, her voice sounded quite composed. "Sakura-chan will come upstairs in a moment," she said, "and I must explain to her. Please go and get yourself cleaned up now, Meiling-chan, so Sakura-chan will not worry."
Meiling turned to go, then hesitated and turned back. "Daidouji-san, I –"
"I know," Tomoyo said. Her smile was sincere, but somehow sad. "Now please go. Sakura-chan is –"
Tomoyo broke off suddenly as a voice called from downstairs. "Tomoyo-chan, Meiling-chan, sorry for the wait! I'm bringing the tea up now!"
Meiling glanced at Tomoyo and opened her mouth to speak, then immediately shut it again when she saw the other girl's face. Tomoyo was pale, and her eyes were closed. Her hands shook slightly on the picture frame. Meiling watched as Tomoyo's trembling lips parted and silently formed the words "Sakura-chan."
"Daidouji-san," Meiling said wretchedly.
Tomoyo's dark lashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes. Her lips curved once more into their habitual smile. "I know," Tomoyo repeated. "Now please…go."
Meiling glanced once more at the picture in Tomoyo's hands, then at Tomoyo's face. And then she turned around and went. She walked to the bathroom and ran cold water over the bleeding cut on her finger until she could hardly see it anymore. Then she walked back to Sakura's room, and when she saw that Sakura was smiling sweetly at her as she braided Tomoyo's hair, and that Tomoyo seemed to be having trouble remembering to breathe, she didn't say a word. She simply smiled back and took her cup of tea, and she was very careful not to look at Tomoyo's eyes.
Because there are some things broken that can never be fixed.