Sakura-chan is Coming to Town by Amazoness Duo amazonessduo@hotmail.com “Isn’t Santa Claus supposed to be fat?” Kero asked skeptically. “Sakura-chan can be a cute, skinny Santa Claus,” Tomoyo offered, pulling her camcorder down for a second. “Hoe...” stated the jolly Cardmistress in question, dressed up like Father Christmas himself. Once again, she knew this was Tomoyo’s idea. And just like always, she wasn’t quite sure how the dark haired girl had talked her into it. But Tomoyo always did, somehow. The fact that Sakura couldn’t say no to her best friend also played a part in it. So now she found herself outside of Tomoyo’s house in the dead of night, dressed up like Santa Claus while Tomoyo watched on in barely concealed bliss. The Seal Beast nodded thoughtfully, his arms crossed. “Yeah, I guess so. But if Sakura-chan is Santa Claus and I’m Rudolph,” he paused for a moment to show off the cute little antlers and shiny nose Tomoyo had gotten him for a costume, “then who are you supposed to be?” “I’m Mrs. Claus, of course,” Tomoyo said matter of factly. Sakura’s face went a bright shade of crimson. She waved her arms swiftly. “To..Tomoyo-chan!” she whined in embarrassment. The implications of that were blatant enough that even she got it. Her cheeks burned as she busied herself with picking up the large bag of presents near her feet. Tomoyo giggled at Sakura’s embarrassment, pulling up her camcorder to catch Sakura’s scarlet blush on videotape. “And if I’m Mrs. Claus, then I want nothing more than to videotape my dashing husband’s midnight ride.” She sighed dreamily, a hand on her cheek. The flustered Cardmistress could only blush under the loving gaze of Tomoyo and her camcorder. She shifted about, trying to find a comfortable way to carry the bulky bag, but failing. “So.. Tomoyo- chan, what are we doing again?” Sakura asked in confusion, blinking off her earlier embarrassment. “You said you wanted me to come and play Santa for some kids. Shouldn’t you get onii-chan or someone who’d make a better Santa for this? I don’t think they’ll believe I’m Santa.” Looking down at Tomoyo’s take on the Santa Claus costume that she was wearing, she shifted a foot around, hearing the slight jingle of bells attached. “But Sakura-chan’s the perfect Santa Claus!” Tomoyo insisted, letting the camcorder fall gingerly to her side for a moment. She stepped closer, helping adjust Sakura’s hat, moving the fluffy ball on the tip over her shoulder. Her fingers brushed back some of Sakura’s hair back underneath, lingering there for a moment. “You’re sweet and giving and adorable. And you have so much energy. I can’t think of anyone else who could handle Santa-san’s job.” She smiled brightly at the Cardmistress, her heart aflutter. Sakura made a darling Santa Claus. This was the perfect way to spend her Christmas Eve, out amidst the snow and moonlight with Sakura. It was so much better than unwrapping a present or even watching the Christmas lights. It was her very own Sakura, all dressed up festively and about to make children’s dreams come true. As well as her own. “Besides, the children probably won’t even see you. So you don’t need to look the part.” Tomoyo brought her pink gloved fingers up to Sakura’s ear, tracing the intricate snowflake earrings that she’d given Sakura as both a Christmas gift and a part of the costume. She should’ve waited for Christmas day, but she wanted Sakura to have them for their trip that night. She had such cute ears. The heiress sighed dreamily. Sakura’s mind had gone blank, her emerald eyes lost in the stormy blue eyes that were gazing deeply into her own. Tomoyo definitely wasn’t like any of her other friends. And no one could embarrass her the way Tomoyo did. But then, no one made her feel the way Tomoyo did. All warm and fuzzy and dizzy inside all at the same time. She knew she should say something, but words failed her. Her mouth opened, but little more than a tiny sound came out. She could feel the soft cloth of Tomoyo’s gloves caressing her ears. She felt weak, as if she might collapse against Tomoyo if she kept this up. And part of her wanted to. She knew Tomoyo wouldn’t mind. She’d hold her there as long as she wanted. “I...” Sakura finally tore her gaze away, staring down at her feet. Her cheeks burned even against the cold wind that raked past them. Just what had that been all about? She shook her head, her auburn hair getting thrown out from under the cap despite Tomoyo’s earlier efforts to tuck it in. She could hear the heiress giggle, almost in her ear with how close they still were. Looking up at last, Sakura tried to fight off her blush, but it stubbornly refused to go. She smiled weakly. “So you really want me to play Santa Claus? To give these presents to some children?” “Hai. There are so many sad children without much for Christmas. I went singing to lots of them with the choir. I thought that we could bring them a bright Christmas after all. With Sakura-chan as my Santa Claus.” The dark haired girl sighed dreamily, clasping her hands together. “And they’ll wake up on Christmas morning to find wonderful surprises.” Sakura nodded determinedly, balling her fists up. She wouldn’t have even thought of that on her own. It was so sweet of Tomoyo to want to help those poor children. And if she could help her best friend with it at all, even as a substitute Santa Claus, she would do her very best. “They’ll have a beautiful Christmas, Tomoyo-chan. I promise!” Tomoyo took a step forward, hugging Sakura warmly. “I knew I could count on you, Sakura-chan!” Sakura wrapped her arms back around Tomoyo, standing there with the other girl pressed against her for a long moment. They both knew Sakura would have agreed to practically whatever idea Tomoyo had. But she was still glad to have made the heiress so happy. She hugged her friend tighter as snow fell slowly around them. This was so nice and warm. Tomoyo stayed that way for a long time, reluctant to leave the glorious embrace of Sakura’s arms. After a moments thought, she rested her head on Sakura’s shoulder, her long dark hair spilling across Sakura’s back. She knew they had to go start delivering presents soon, but if she could just stay this way a little longer... But Christmas would not wait for them. She slowly, gently pulled away from Sakura. They stood there for a moment under the stars, silence enveloping the two girls. Sakura shuffled her foot in the snow for a moment before looking up. “Where did you get all of the presents?” she asked curiously, trying to break the silence. “From my mother. She runs a toy company, after all. She thought it would be a wonderful idea to give out presents this way,” Tomoyo explained. “And she was delighted to hear you’d be Santa Claus.” Sakura blinked rapidly. “Sonomi-san knows I’m doing this?” Smiling and nodding, Tomoyo continued. “She loved the thought of you delivering all those presents. She just made me promise to let her see the videotape and she gave me all the gifts we’d need.” “Sonomi-san’s going to be watching this, too? Hoe...” Sakura clutched the bag nervously as Tomoyo pulled up the camcorder again. “Like mother like daughter, I guess,” Kero added. Tomoyo giggled, stepping to the side. “We’re going to watch it together when I get home. ‘Sakura-chan’s White Christmas’. It will be much better than any Christmas specials.” Sakura blushed. This was going to be a long night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile, their not-so-mysterious benefactor was finishing a few last minute decorations at the Daidouji mansion. “There.” The businesswoman hopped off of the stepstool she had been on, stepping back to admire her handiwork. “Much better.” Her eyes followed the string of mistletoe. Mistletoe was placed at just about every convenient spot in the house. She’d picked it up as much as she could on the way home and had spent the next few hours putting it up personally. She had to make sure it was perfect. It had to cover every possible way Sakura could go through the house when she and her daughter got home late that night. “She’s going to kiss my little girl,” Sonomi said determinedly. One of the maids sweatdropped as she passed, but said nothing. Such things were typical in that household. Both Sonomi and her daughter were rather eccentric, after all. Just to be safe, the maid hurried out from under the mistletoe. Sighing, Sonomi sat down in the couch. Her daughter would be out at that moment with Sakura, giving gifts to a lot of needy children. She was glad to be able to help, and they way the two girls were going about it was even better. She couldn’t wait to see her daughter’s videotape of the evening. It would be so cute. Seeing Nadeshiko’s daughter play Santa, watching her own daughter’s eyes light up at the sight. In the meantime, she’d been working on a gift for Tomoyo. Or, more accurately, a gift from herself and Sakura to Tomoyo. Sakura just didn’t know she was involved yet. But all she had to do was get the brunette under the mistletoe with her daughter. Which shouldn’t be too difficult with how much she had put up. She thought the world of Sakura, but Nadeshiko’s daughter could be so dense sometimes. She was just going to give her a helpful push in her daughter’s direction. Closing her eyes, the auburn haired businesswoman rested on her side on the couch. She was exhausted. It had been a long day at work. This was the busiest time of the year for her, after all. But she’d made absolutely sure to get all the gifts she could for Tomoyo’s little Christmas endeavor and had hurried home as soon as she could. Her sweet little daughter had been very grateful. So sweet and polite, just like Nadeshiko. A smile crossed Sonomi’s lips as she lay sleepily on the couch. Her thoughts were drifting back to a time long ago, back when she had been able to spend this time of year with her very own Christmas angel. And in her tired mind, she forgot about the present. Nadeshiko was alive again. Shimmering radiantly, excited by the prospect of Christmas. Sonomi sighed, hugging herself. Yes, her dearest Nadeshiko had loved this time of year so much. Nadeshiko had even kissed her under the mistletoe once. It was still Sonomi’s favorite present of all. “Nadeshiko-chan,” Sonomi whispered, curling up like a child. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sakura crept quietly through the silent house. She squinted to try to see better in the darkness. The only light came from the Christmas lights twinkling on the tree. She could barely hear Tomoyo tiptoeing behind her. How Tomoyo could walk in this darkness and videotape at the same time was beyond Sakura. “Cookies!” Kero’s eyes widened hungrily. The little mock reindeer zipped over to the plate of cookies left for Santa. This job wasn’t so bad after all. “Shhh!!” Sakura chided the Seal Beast. But he was already too busy munching on the cookies to care. Sighing, she made her way to the Christmas tree. He was going to wake someone up on one of these trips, she just knew it. She was lucky he hadn’t already. Kneeling down, Sakura rummaged through her large red bag, searching through the presents. She squinted to see the nametag on it. “Which presents am I looking for, Tomoyo-chan?” the Cardmistress whispered, holding up two different packages. "Megumi-chan,” Tomoyo replied, zooming in on Sakura. She made such an adorable Santa, sitting there underneath the tree. Oh, how she wished she could be sitting there with her under the pretty lights. But they didn’t have time for that even if she could. Sakura crawled forward with the gift, trying to find a good place to put it under the tree. She finally placed it behind one of two gifts that had already been there. “How’s that?” Looking over her shoulder, she saw Tomoyo still videotaping her. She slowly followed where the camcorder was pointing. Her face red, she sat back quickly. The camcorder immediately went back up to Sakura’s face. Tomoyo smiled brightly, covering her embarrassment. She must have been out of it that night. Sakura usually didn’t catch her when she’d catch little glimpses like that. “That’s perfect, Sakura-chan,” the heiress reassured the still embarrassed brunette. ‘It’s dark. She didn’t see anything. She didn’t know she was recording up my skirt,’ Sakura rationalized, though the excuses sounded lame even to her. She blinked, slowly realizing that Tomoyo was holding a hand out to her. She took the pale girl’s gentle hand, getting to her feet. ‘She didn’t really..’ Sakura was thinking. Distracted by her thoughts, she didn’t realize her foot was around the cord to the Christmas lights, stepping forward, she stumbled into Tomoyo, the two girls falling together. Tomoyo opened her eyes slowly, having shut them instinctively as they had been falling. “Are you okay, Sakura-chan?” she asked quickly, worried about the brunette. She sighed inwardly in relief as Sakura nodded into her shoulder, giving a muffled ‘hai’. She squeezed her hand, making sure the camcorder was still all right as well. Having checked the important things, she finally went about seeing to her own condition. Sakura had landed on top of her, her head buried against her shoulder. The back of her shoulder hurt, but it would go away soon enough. She simply laid there with Sakura for a moment, looking down at the auburn hair spilling our of Sakura’s red Santa hat. “What was that?” a girl in a nightgown asked, stepping out of one of the back rooms. “It was probably nothing, Kumiko-chan,” a blonde girl replied, hugging the other girl from behind. “Let’s go back to bed. Tomorrow’s Christmas. You just want to sneak a peak of the present I got you.” Kumiko raised an eyebrow. “You mean you want to sneak a peak of me wearing your present. I still can’t believe you bought me lingerie. My parents will kill me if they find out.” Giggling, Megumi nodded. “Can I? It is Christmas Eve, after all. You can open one present. And then you could wear it back to bed,” the blonde suggested, nuzzling Kumiko’s neck. Kumiko blushed darkly, but that just brought a delicious sigh from Megumi. She was so happy to have Kumiko over for Christmas. Her parents were both gone, working again. To afford her treatments that didn’t seem to work anyway. She was just getting sicker and sicker as it was. But at least she could spend Christmas with the one she loved. Kumiko blinked, ignoring Megumi’s warm and insistent nuzzling. No small feat considering how she usually melted under such an assault. But something seemed wrong. The Christmas lights on the tree were out. She walked over, Megumi still hanging onto her. What she didn’t know was that Megumi was having trouble standing on her own at the moment. Tomoyo lay there, still stuck underneath Sakura. Sakura had frozen against her, unsure of what to do. If they stood up, they’d be caught. But if they stayed where they were, the two girls would probably find them, too. They weren’t in a very good position. Well, they were, Tomoyo had to admit, holding Sakura closer. But it wouldn’t be good if they got caught. She could feel Sakura blushing against her. Apparently she had heard the girls’ conversation. But it wasn’t anything new. She dressed Sakura up all the time with her costumes, including matching undergarments at times. But then, Sakura had never thought about it in that context before. “Kumi-chan, can we go back to bed?” Megumi asked quietly, resting her head against the braided haired girls back. She suddenly wasn’t feeling very well at all. She would drag Kumiko back to bed, but she didn’t think she could even keep standing if she let go for a moment. “Just a second, Megumi-chan,” Kumiko replied distractedly, following the unplugged Christmas light cord in the dim light. Her eyes went wide as she spotted a boot. And then a shadowy figure lying on the floor. “Ahhhhh!” she screamed, reeling back. There was a dead body on the floor! In Megumi’s house. Sakura stood up quickly, her heart pounding in her chest. “No, wait! It’s all a mistake!” She waved her arms in front of herself, trying to stop the braided girl’s scream. Following Sakura’s lead, Tomoyo got to her feet as well. She bowed, smiling softly. “We’re sorry for the trouble. We were just dropping off a present. Now If you’ll excuse us, our sleigh is waiting. Right, Santa?” She wrapped her arms around Sakura’s, pulling her gently towards the chimney. “Santa?” Megumi asked, watching the two from over Kumiko’s shoulder. Well, they were certainly dressed the part. And they didn’t look like they were here to cause any harm. Just two girls their own age. It didn’t make any sense why they were here, but she didn’t feel like it was a bad thing. “Hai...” Sakura replied, laughing nervously, a hand behind her head. “Merry Christmas!!” She waved quickly, pulling out a Sakura Card to make a hasty retreat. Tomoyo hurried back to her side after plucking Kero away from the cookies. Blinking, Kumiko shook her head. “But..!” A finger pressed against her lips, silencing her. “Shhh... Just ignore it, dear,” Megumi whispered. “Now go ahead and open your present.” “Megumi-chan...” Kumiko blushed. Maybe Megumi was right. She should just ignore any of this had happened. Even if she did want to know who those two girls were. And why they were in her girlfriend’s house. Megumi giggled. “I love you, Kumi-chan.” She kissed the other girl’s cheek. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tomoyo slid her window open as she hung in the air, held aloft in Sakura’s arms. The Cardmistress was holding onto her waist tightly, her angelic wings flapping to keep them up. The window finally open, Tomoyo slid inside before helping Sakura follow. Sakura’s angel wings dissipated in a burst of feathers. She let go of the empty sack that had held the gifts, stretching tiredly. It had been a long night. She saw Tomoyo smiling sweetly at her as she yawned. She covered her mouth quickly, blushing faintly. “Thank you, Sakura-chan. You made tonight a perfect Christmas. For all of those girls. And for me.” Tomoyo stepped forward, taking one of Sakura’s hands in both of her own. “It was the best Christmas I’ve ever had. Thank you.” She kissed Sakura’s hand gently. She was so happy. She didn’t want the night to end, but she knew she could go right back and watch it all over on videotape. Her beautiful Christmas Eve with Sakura. She sighed contentedly. “It was fun, Tomoyo-chan.” Sakura replied, shifting about. She wanted to say more, but the whirlwind of feelings inside of her refused to translate into words. She bit her lip in frustration. There had to be some way to explain, to say something, to let it all out. Now was the time where they said goodbye and she left for home to have Christmas the next day with her father and brother. But she didn’t want to go. She felt like she’d regret it if she didn’t say something, if she left now. Tomoyo stroked Sakura’s hand gently, comfortingly. Something was obviously bothering the Cardmistress. Sakura almost looked ready to cry. Tomoyo’s heart broke at the sad look in Sakura’s eyes. The Cardmistress was so intent, but she was having trouble with something, as if it refused to come to her. Sakura had looked so happy before. What had gone wrong? All she could do was be there with her. She squeezed Sakura’s hand gently. Her mind a swirling mess, Sakura took a shuddering breath. This had been such a perfect night. So why was she on the verge of tears? It wasn’t fair. Not to Tomoyo. But such a perfect Christmas Eve deserved a perfect ending. But nothing she could say sounded right. Something up above finally caught her eye. She looked up, trying to discern it in Tomoyo darkened room. Mistletoe, she finally decided. But what was it doing in Tomoyo’s room? It didn’t matter. She shouldn’t be thinking about such things right now anyway. She should be thinking about how to say goodbye. Blink. She looked back at the mistletoe and back at her Mrs. Claus. She swallowed nervously. She shouldn’t. She should. She was too embarrassed. But it was the best way to end the night. Their beautiful Christmas night, sealed with a kiss. ‘Hoe...’ she thought. Steeling herself. She closed her eyes, wrestling with her embarrassment at the idea and the burning need within her. It finally one out, burning away her reluctance. Blinking, she looked back into Tomoyo’s worried blue eyes. Leaning forward, she kissed her best friend. Her lips inexpertly brushed against Tomoyo’s taking a moment to finally press against them in a kiss. The world seemed to tilt and tumble around her, her cheeks ablaze. Tomoyo was for once completely taken by surprise by her beautiful Cardmistress. She didn’t always know exactly what Sakura would do, but she was rarely surprised by it. Now she was completely thrown off, the delicate balance of all of her careful planning sent spinning. For a moment, she had no idea what to do. But she quickly pushed past her disorientation, returning the kiss. Sakura’s delicate lips were softer than freshly fallen Sakura blossoms that Tomoyo has so often kissed, imagining this moment. Her arms wrapped around Sakura’s shoulders, pulling the auburn haired Santa Claus close. Her heart was near bursting with the love eager to get out to her friend. I love you, she tried to say through their kiss. Sakura finally broke the kiss, blushing furiously. Tomoyo was still rubbing her back. She couldn’t work up the will to pull away. She didn’t want to be apart from Tomoyo. Resting her head on the other girl’s shoulder, she sighed happily. “Merry Christmas, Tomoyo-chan.”