The school bell rang, signaling the end of another day at Seijou High School. Sakura exited her classroom, slowly navigating the
growing crowd of students who were filing out into the halls. She carefully made her way to her locker where her best friend
Tomoyo would be waiting for her, as was their usual custom. When she finally reached her destination, Tomoyo seemed to be
deep in thought, leaning against the wall and staring pensively at some far off point. Sakura opened her locker, dropping her
books inside and began gathering up the things she would need for after school cheerleading practice. She hoped Tomoyo
would soon come back from whatever far away place she was visiting at the moment. After a few moments of silence, she
decided to try to pull Tomoyo out of her self contained world.
"Tomoyo, are you okay?" Sakura asked sweetly, hoping the sound of her voice would help bring her friend out of her current state.
"Oh…hi Sakura" She felt her cheeks flush after being caught by the very person she had been fantasizing about. "Umm….how was your math test today?" she asked quickly, hoping to draw the attention away from her self.
"I felt much better about it after that study session we had last night", Sakura said smiling. "You really helped me out."
"I'm glad." said Tomoyo, smiling back at her. She was happy to have any excuse to spend time with Sakura, not that she needed one, being her best friend.
"Oh, I'm late for practice!" Sakura cried, after a glance at her watch. She gathered up the last few things she would need and hurried down the hall, giving Tomoyo a quick wave goodbye.
"Talk to you later, Sakura", said Tomoyo. She watched Sakura go until she turned the corner and sighed, leaning back against
the locker dreamily. She wished she could tell Sakura how she really felt about her. She had loved her ever since they were
children, when Sakura had been the Clow mistress and she had dutifully taped every one of her amazing captures. But that had
been so long ago and their friendship had grown even stronger through the years. She didn't want to ruin it all by telling Sakura
the truth. She just had to find a time when she could tell Sakura she loved her without jeopardizing their friendship. Well, until
then I can still have my dream world, she thought to herself. She slowly picked up her book bag and started to make her
way home, thinking of Sakura all the while.
Sakura was happy to sit down after her long practice, even if it was just on the hard front steps of the school. The coach had
been especially hard today, putting them through their drills many times before finally letting them go a few hours later. Sakura
eased her sore feet into her rollerblades and slowly did the straps, standing up after a few minutes of rest. I'll be glad when the
competition is finally over this weekend. She thought, as she skated down the block. Touya and even her father had
promised to come see her, taking time from their busy work schedules. Tomoyo would be there as well to take pictures for the
school newspaper. As Sakura's thoughts drifted to other things, she became less and less aware of her surroundings. Suddenly
a loud shout jolted Sakura out of her musings. She saw she was heading straight for a large group of people and swerved wildly
on her skates to avoid them. Her great green eyes opened wide with fear when she saw where she was heading now, right for a
large flight of stairs in the park. It was too late to stop her self and she felt gravity's pull as she began to fall, tumbling over and
over. After what seemed like an eternity of falling she finally landed hard on her back, the word spinning dizzily around her. She
could only stare helplessly at the cloudless blue sky as her vision slowly faded into darkness.
The nurse smiled at Tomoyo as she walked up to the hospital reception desk. Most of the nurses knew her by now, she had been at hospital during visiting hours everyday for the last few weeks.
"How are you today, Ms. Daidouji?" the nurse asked.
"I'm fine, thank you" Tomoyo replied in her usual polite manner.
The truth was that she had not been truly her self for the past few weeks. Ever since Sakura had been hurt, she had worried
day and night for her friend's well being. She had heard once that people could be worried sick and now she felt she might
actually believe it. Sakura's progress had been slow in the beginning, but now the doctor's believed that she would be able to
go home in a couple of weeks. Tomoyo was relieved that Sakura would soon be leaving the dreary hospital and allowed a
small smile to creep onto her face as she entered Sakura's room. She wasn't surprised to find Sakura asleep in her bed, the
doctors had said that it would be one of the best remedies to ease the pain of her head injuries. She sat in the seat next to the
bed as quietly as she could, so as not to disturb the other girl's slumber, and put her hand over Sakura's, watching over her like
she had so many times before. She recalled how she had played the very same role when they had been children, holding
Sakura close when she thought she had seen ghosts, both finally succumbing to sleep at the fist rays of dawn.
As she looked down at Sakura's sleep filled face, she could see how much time had really passed since then. They were both
young women now, had complicated lives, filled with commitments and responsibilities. Their friendship was one of the few
things that had not changed, remaining strong throughout the years. She felt guilty for wanting more from the friendship, but this
accident had set off a warning bell in her head. She realized she might not have as much time as she thought to tell Sakura her
true feelings. She felt tears begin to form in her eyes as she thought of Sakura's mortality, as well as her own. She saw Sakura's
eyes begin to flutter open, and she quickly turned to the window, wiping the tears from her eyes so Sakura wouldn't see she
had been crying.
"Oh Tomoyo, how long have you been here?" she asked, somewhat confused.
"Not that long, Sakura." She said, forcing a small smile onto her face. "When I came in, you were asleep, so I decided to just sit."
"Thanks for coming to visit me again" she said smiling. "You always seem to be looking out for me."
"Of course" said Tomoyo warmly, her small smile faltering for only a moment.
Sakura leaned back against the sturdy oak tree, staring up at the cloudless blue sky dreamily. Tomoyo set down her backpack
and joined her friend, leaning against an adjacent side of the same tree. They often came to this spot after school when the
weather was nice, staring at the sky and enjoying each other's company. It was at times like these that she felt the calmest and
most at ease. She felt like she could tell Sakura anything here, which was the exact reason she had brought her to the spot that
day. After all her attempts to tell Sakura the truth, today would be the day that she would confess her feelings to her. She
looked into the great emerald eyes of the girl sitting next to her, gathering her courage and trying to piece together what she was
going to say. Noticing her friend's stare, Sakura turned her attention back to Tomoyo, a questioning look on her face. All the
things she had planed to say seemed to be erased from her mind as she stared back at her, unsure of what to do next. Unable
to recall any of the words that she had planed to say, she decided to let her actions speak for her. She closed her eyes and
leaned forward, placing her lips on Sakura's in a gentle kiss. Suddenly, instead of feeling Sakura's warm lips on her own, she
felt nothing but air. Confused, Tomoyo opened her eyes to find Sakura had completely disappeared. She frantically looked
around for her, but she was nowhere in sight. She called out to her missing friend, hoping for an answer but there came no
reply. It was as if Sakura had evaporated into thin air.
"Sakura?" "Sakura!"
Tomoyo sat up in her bed, barely aware of the darkness that surrounded her. It took a few moments for her to realize that she was not in the park, but in her own bedroom.
"It was just a dream…" she whispered to her self.
She felt sweat forming on her forehead, as if she really had been searching for her missing friend. Is this what would happen if
she really told Sakura how she felt? Would she just disappear, never to be seen by her again? The thought alone made her
second guess ever wanting to tell Sakura at all. She quickly pushed the doubt from her mind. She knew that not telling her
would almost be as bad as having her disappear from her life forever. Coming to terms with this helped her feel a bit more at
ease and she gently lowered herself back into bed, falling into a fitful sleep.
Tomoyo waited hesitantly at the door of Sakura's hospital room before gently knocking at the door frame. Seeing that she was
awake this time, she entered the room and sat in a chair next to Sakura's bed. Sakura could see Tomoyo looked especially
tired today, her normally bright eyes drooping from lack of sleep.
"You don't seem like your usual self today, Tomoyo." She said worriedly. "Has something been bothering you?"
Tomoyo suddenly felt wide awake hearing Sakura's voice so close to her. She began to feel an uneasiness inside of her, knowing what she was about to tell her friend.
"yes, there has been something I wanted to tell you for a long time now, but I've always been kind of afraid"
Sakura looked at her questioningly with her bright green eyes, just as she had in the dream and Tomoyo began to feel a sense
of déjà vu come over her. She sighed inwardly and repeated the exact motions she had in the dream, leaning forward this time
with her eyes open to make sure the other girl would not disappear. Their lips met and Tomoyo say her friend's eyes open wide
with surprise and then with understanding. She had known her friend's intentions all along, but had been waiting until she was
finally ready to admit it to her. As the kiss ended, they held each other in a warm embrace, staring out the hospital window into
the cloudless blue sky.
Notes- I decided to compile all the chapters into one part, since they were all kind of short anyway. Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review if you'd like.