A Card Captor Sakura ficlet by Maria.
Characters: Sakura Kinomoto, Li Shaoran, Li Meiling, Tomoyo Daidouji, Kerberos/Kero-chan.
Couple: Some Tomoyo/Meiling, though more leaning towards sapphic friendship. Slight Sakura/Shaoran.
Summary: Meiling commits a small big mistake. But her friends, specially Tomoyo, are there for her... Slight spoilers.
In the girls' bathroom of the amusement park, Meiling breaths in deeply, trying to regain control of herself. She's done throwing up, but her eyes are still watery, and there's no way she can stop feeling the sour taste of vomit in her mouth. Not at least until she can brush her teeth. And that will have to wait.
Sakura and Tomoyo get closer to her, and Sakura rubs her back cautiously.
"Meiling-chan", she asks in a soft voice, "do you feel better? Can you walk?".
The 14-year-old Chinese girl straightens up and nods weakly. Tomoyo hands her some tissues; she quickly cleans her face with them, and allows Sakura and Tomoyo to help her walking towards the door. They get out as quickly as possible, and see that Shaoran is waiting next ot the door, with Kero sitting on his shoulder. Whoa, they must be really worried about Meiling's well-being since they're just there, not saying anything snarky to each other.
"I brought you a chair, Meiling. Sit down and rest, please".
She thanks him silently and sits down. He stands up by her side and looks at her seriously. Kero-chan flies in front of her face and carefully flaps his wings as a sort of fan.
"I'm sorry I made you worry, Shaoran".
"Meiling...". He speaks softly but very seriously at his cousin. "Why did you do such a thing? The rollercoaster was new and all, but...".
Sakura places a hand over her boyfriend's shoulder, stopping him gently. "I know what you mean, but it's not the moment to say so. Come to think of it, I remember there's a small store where we can get some pills that will make Meiling-chan feel better... Shall we get some of those?".
Shaoran blinks, then nods and turns to Tomoyo. "We'll come back as soon as possible. Daidouji, can you take care of Meiling, please?".
"You didnt' say anything about me, kid!", Kero asks quickly.
"Help Tomoyo-chan to cake care of her, Kero-chan, please!", Sakura adds before the small Guardian can say anything else, and both she and Shaoran head towards the store. Kero watch them leave, but then he turns as he hears Meiling sob.
"Meiling-chan?", Tomoyo calls out to her softly.
Meiling's eyes were starting to fill up with tears. "I'm sorry... so sorry...".
"What are you sorry for, girl?", Kero asked Meiling, sitting down on her lap.
"... I...".
"No, don't blame yourself. No one could know you'd feel sick while riding the newest rollercoaster here...". Tomoyo patted the other girl on the shoulder. "Rest a little, and you'll be okay. Li-kun and Sakura-chan will bring you something that will help you".
Meiling, however, doesn't seem to listen, and keeps berating herself. "You all did well when you didn't want to follow me, but nooooooo, I was stupid enough to show off and...".
"No".
Tomoyo's voice sounds unusually sharp. This surprises both Kero and Meiling, and they look at her. She then leans over Meiling and caresses her cheek, drying her tears away.
"You couldn't know what would happen. And you saw the whole deal as a way to prove yourself. That's not a bad thing in itself, just that you made a mistake...".
Meiling looks at her friend, and smiles. Kero is tempted to talk, but he doesn't, and he decides to let Tomoyo finish first... After some moments, she continues.
"Yes, you made a mistake, Meiling-chan. But you can see it as either losing, or as something that will allow you to learn how to make things better...".
Meiling isn't completely sure about it. Well, she's the Queen of "Do It and Think Later", after all, but...
"You listen, girlie!", Kero says cheerfully. "Rome wasn't built in a single day, they say. And now, cheer up and stop sulking. Be back to the girlie we know, hehe".
She decides that both Tomoyo and the stuffed pet are right. By using such an experience to become stronger, she would grow up.
"Do you feel better, Meiling-chan?", Tomoyo asks. Kero flies from Meiling's lap to Tomoyo's shoulder and sits there, waiting for the Chinese girl to say something.
Then, Meiling looks up and smiles.
"No need to ask that, Tomoyo", she says vividly. "Like Sakura-chan said in a certain dream... I'll always be okay!"
