Trial

Tomoyo dressed herself in a nice dress, applied her make up to give her pale face just a tad bit of color. There were many girls who complimented her light skin, but recently the natural beauty turned into a sickly hue. The rollercoaster of emotions of heart break twisted her own image and created someone she didn't recognize in the mirror. Make up was a beautiful invention that hid her flaws, a physical mask to hide the evidence of pain.

But today would be the first step towards a better future. She smiled at herself, her reflection returning the genuine expression. Her mother had been furious. The summer went by with little contact with Sakura and her other friends. Often they would ask to visit her, so they could talk over what happened. But Tomoyo's mother when pushed to her limits would not budge on the grounding. Tomoyo's few trips outside of her home was out of country to be with her mother. Tomoyo's only visitor was a therapist who specialized in depression.

A month of isolation later and she was preparing for school again. But today, she had a lunch date with her friends. She was excited to be with Meiling and to see Syaoran. At first she was terrified of seeing them again, but the many attempts from her friends to see lightened the fears she held. However, Tomoyo could not place her feelings on seeing Sakura again. Her best friend scared her, but the prospect of seeing Sakura made Tomoyo's heart skip.

The teenager walked to her bed and sat down, putting her head in her hands. This was going to be a good day, she wasn't going to ruin it. Somehow, they would work this out as friends. The night she drank herself into a stupor was an overreaction. She was ashamed of herself, but she learned from her lesson. The past month hurt, the isolation ripping her to pieces. And yet, it helped. The time gave her an opportunity to think. Whenever her thoughts started to turn too cloudy, her mother would be there, and the nice therapist, and her body guards. Being in trouble did not mean she wasn't loved. Tomoyo couldn't thank her mother enough now, knowing this experience would be remembered throughout her whole life.

Tomoyo would grow and mature in time. She fancied that she would use the lessons from her mistakes in future relationships. She wasn't as happy as she wanted to be, and she didn't think she would ever be the same kind of happy she had been before her feelings turned toxic. No, from this day on she would hold a different happiness in her heart to heal the laceration left by her own making. It was time to be a woman and face her friends.

Standing up from the bed, she walked passed her mirror. Glancing one last time she nodded at the summer dress, satisfied with its look. A month was a long time to be by herself, and in her time she created enough outfits for last her until next year. At first the clothes were the normal wear she wanted Sakura to have. But the therapist convinced her to focus on making clothes for herself, and just herself. The dress she wore had three layers, two of them made out of light material in bright colors that played well with the main black body of the dress. She fixed her knee high socks, enjoying the new feel of their soft embrace against her smooth legs. Though the makeup hid the mark of several restless nights, she was far better off than the day her mother rushed home. Tomoyo would be confident today, she would be brave and mature on the date with her friends.

A slow frown melted her confidence away. Was she just building a faucade, or was this real? No, Tomoyo shook her head. Doubt of rejection, doubt in herself, was what threw her over the edge of overreaction. Tears rushed to her eyes. Her broken heart wasn't going to heal right until she walked out of her bedroom door and met with her friends. Biting her lip, she nodded again. Confidence, she chanted to herself, confidence.

Tomoyo poured the eleventh sugar packet into her large coffee and stirred. She smiled, her hands lightly shaking. Caffeine and nerves was never a good combination, but she needed the rush to pick her spirits up. Sakura and the others hadn't arrived yet. But then again, Tomoyo came to the shop an hour early, so it was expected. She slowly walked back to her table. Her bodyguard and babysitter for the day was in a corner closer to the shop's entrance, reading a book. The moment Tomoyo sat down for the fifth time that hour, Meiling stepped into the shop.

Tomoyo waved her friend over, giving a friendly smile. The Chinese girl had grown well in the last few years and strode up to Tomoyo's table. "Hi, been a while." Meiling chirped, looking around the café. "I'm going to buy a soda, be back in a sec."

"Okay!" Tomoyo waved, happiness coursing through her at seeing her friend.

Meiling returned with a glass bottled soda, popping the cap off with the table's edge. "I've started a bottle cap collection, my favorites are Coka-Cola caps. See, they're pretty."

"Wow, what made you start collecting?"

"An American video game set in an alternate history post apocalypse world. It's interesting because China's been made out to be the bad guys, when really it was the Americans who screwed everything up. But anyways, they use bottle caps like these as currency." Meiling smiled at her little bottle cap, basking in her simple joy of a new addition to her collection. "I got into video games soon after breaking my engagement with Syaoran off. They're fun."

The bell to the coffee shop rang and Tomoyo turned to look and see if it was Sakura and Syaoran. Her heart skipped as they walked into the café. Syaoron looked at her once with a strange expression she couldn't place, before grabbing Sakura's hand. As if to say, "Mine." Tomoyo stared down at the table, her face turning a shameful red.

"Hey!" She heard Syaoron protest followed by the slapping of shoes against the cleaned floor. Slowly, she dared to see. Sakura stood over her now, hands on her hips. Tears brimmed Sakura's eyes, and her lips pursed together in what Tomoyo could only think to be anger.

"Tomoyo Daidouji, stand up." Sakura firmly commanded.

Tomoyo's placed her hands onto the table, slowly pushing outwards. Her whole body shook, her confidence falling apart. Sakura would now humiliate her in public, and Tomoyo deserved every bit of shame that would follow. It took far more strength to stand up than she could have ever imagined. Her body refused, her heart pattered in her chest in her panic. But Tomoyo stood, she turned, and she faced Sakura.

The eyes of several other patrons and the staff of the café looked on at what might unfold next. Sakura hadn't been loud, but the aura she gave caught everyone's attention. Tomoyo could see the anger and hurt in Sakura's eyes, the hate Sakura must feel. But Tomoyo had come this far. She took in a steadying breath and spoke. "I'm sorry."

Sakura raised a hand high and Tomoyo stared at it in fear and awe. Would Sakura really hit her? Would her friend slap her, and strike her apology down in a violent action of loathing. Tomoyo closed her eyes, knowing she deserved it for manipulating Sakura into doing something Sakura didn't want. Tomoyo felt the hand touch her right cheek, Sakura's knuckles sliding across Tomoyo's face as if she were being backhanded. The motion was slow and gentle, almost like it were also an awkward caressing.

Tomoyo fluttered her eyes open, her vision blurred by tears.

Sakura shook her head. "I don't accept your apology." Tears freely rolled down her cheeks, falling from her beautiful green eyes in trickling cascade. "Not until you h-hug me."

Tomoyo shook, her head felt light. Her knees wanted to give out under her, and she desperately wished to pass out in that moment. Her constitution was stronger than she wished, and she was forced to take the next step. It was a tremendous step, a leap really, across a horribly deep ravine, but Sakura was reaching out to her. It wasn't a rope, it wasn't a bridge, but a hand over a distance that was impossible to reach. Tomoyo's own footing was going to break under her. She needed to take the leap forward.

Meiling pushed out from her chair, and walked behind Tomoyo. "Can I touch your back?" She politely asked, smiling. The question was so strange and out of place in the moment that Tomoyo didn't know what to say.

"Y-yes?"

Meiling smiled and placed a hand onto Tomoyo's back, and with a slight nudge forward Tomoyo stepped towards Sakura. "Ah, u-uhm!" Tomoyo had grabbed Sakura to catch herself, her knees slowly giving away. Tomoyo held onto Sakura, shaking and slowly falling to the floor.

Sakura grabbed Tomoyo and lifted her up, glaring over Tomoyo at Meiling. "That was uncalled for, you ruined the moment."

Syaoran stepped up beside them, shaking his head. "Sakura, you're gonna have to hug her first, she's too terrified to stand."

"I-I'm fine!" Tomoyo lied, still unable to stand up properly. Her face burned, and she wanted to break down and cry. Her hands wouldn't let go of Sakura though.

Sakura sighed, and helped Tomoyo back to her chair. "This isn't how I planned us making up."

"W-what?" Tomoyo asked, too shocked to think straight. They were making up? But, the world around her was falling apart, and her confidence was no where to be found. She didn't even know how she held herself together long enough not to pass out. She desperately wanted to pass out and just not be there in front of all these people, in front of Sakura.

Then Sakura wrapped her arms around Tomoyo, one arm brushing against her breast and the other arm going over her shoulder. There was a gentle squeeze and Sakura pulled away, smiling. "I'm sorry I wasn't a good friend, but you were also stupid too, so I accept your apology."

Tomoyo wanted to ask what Sakura had done to be a bad friend, but it never came. A certain bodyguard in the corner of the café started to clap, followed by a few other patrons. Strangely enough, those around her all clapped, even if they were the nervous boy with his mom who looked as if he didn't know what was going on. Tomoyo buried her head into Sakura's shoulder, too embarrassed to show herself.

And she smiled, Sakura's sweet scent washing into her senses. It was a guilty pleasure, but she took in a deep calming breath and basked in its wonders. Slowly lifting her head, Tomoyo struggled not to sob as her tears ran. "I love you still but I… Please, continue to be my friend?"

Sakura nodded, hugging Tomoyo again. "Yes, I'll always be your friend."

They separated from one another and smiled. They each knew the road to recovering from the incident would be hard, but the first big step to being what they needed to be had just been taken. Their friendship would grow for the best, and they would be happy.

"Yuck, this coffee's overly sweet!" Syaoran complained, sticking his tongue out at having taken a sip from Tomoyo's cup.

"Syaoran, don't steal other people's drinks!" Sakura huffed, puffing her cheeks out.

And suddenly, the scene took a turn towards normality. Tomoyo genuinely smiled a second time that day. Her confidence was returning and she fixed her poster. "I like it sweet."

"It's almost gross though." Syaoran said, giving her a wink.

Tomoyo giggled, reaching for her coffee. "Well, I'll keep the things I love then."

Meiling leaned down next to Tomoyo's head, grinning. "Like me? You love me right?"

"Yes, you're like twenty sugar packets." Tomoyo her blushing face with a swig of her drink.

"Oh, and how many pakcets would I be?"

Tomoyo looked up to Sakura's green sparkling eyes. "I guess there are some things that are too sweet for me." She took another sip of her coffee, still smiling. Their friendship would recover, and they'd all be happy again.

All in due time.

This concludes Love's Destruction. Again, no pre-reading, curious to see what readers think of it at its current state.