She awoke to the familiar feeling of gentle fingers running through her short black hair. Her eyes slowly opened to see a sadly smiling Sakura looking down at her, Tomoyo's head resting in her lap like they had done so many times when they were younger. "Good morning," Sakura said to Tomoyo softly, "and thank you." Tomoyo sat up in her chair beside the bed, blushing slightly as she looked Sakura over. She felt so relieved to see that the bruises on Sakura's face and shoulder were almost completely gone. "Your welcome," Tomoyo said gently. "You look... a lot better, Sakura." "My link to the cards, I think. I can feel them again, and their power is helping me," Sakura said in a awed tone of voice. Her eyes widened and she began to struggle to get out of bed, "I've got to get out of here. If he finds me here with you, you could be hurt!" "Don't worry, Sakura," Tomoyo urged, putting her hands gently on her shoulders and trying to get her to lay back down, "I'm certain we can handle him." "We? What do you mean, we?" Sakura asked her in surprise, when they both heard a loud, joyful cry come from the other room. "Sakura!" Kero yelled out happily, zipping into the room and bobbing happily in the air around Sakura. "Oh, Kero," Sakura said happily, "you're all right! Li said he'd killed you!" She grabbed him in a fierce hug, both of them laughing and crying happily. "No way the kid could do that." Kero said to her indignantly, "He just trapped me in the book with the cards. I'm fine." Sakura turned to Tomoyo, smiling happily, "You freed them, didn't you? Oh, thank you Tomoyo. Your the best friend I've ever had." She reached over and pulled the surprised Tomoyo into a bone-crushing hug, too. 'Best friend,' Tomoyo thought to herself with a small sigh, 'I guess that's all I'll ever be to her. It's enough for me, though.' Before Tomoyo could say anything in response, the bedside phone rang shrilly, making them both start. "Hello?" Tomoyo said into the phone cautiously, while Sakura gazed at her fearfully. 'She probably thinks it's Li,' Tomoyo thought angrily. "They tell me it's been done," Sonomi said to Tomoyo wearily. She sounded like she had been up for much of the night before. "I was just informed by my... associate to check with the local news this morning," she finished. Tomoyo blinked back tears as she said "Thank you, Mom." Sonomi sounded a little choked up as well as she answered, "I was glad to help, dear. Can I... come over to see the two of you later?" "Please!" Tomoyo said happily, "I'll see you this afternoon, OK?" "Who was that?" Sakura asked worriedly. "My mom," Tomoyo answered. At Sakura's surprised look, Tomoyo remembered telling Sakura an somewhat edited version of their falling out. "She says there's something on the news we need to see," she said frowning a bit. She picked up a remote control and turned on the TV across from the bed, putting on a regional news station. The news reader: "Repeating our top news story, there has been another drunk driving fatality in the greater city of Tokyo. A Mr. Li Sayoran was killed earlier this morning after running a red light. His vehicle was broadsided by a delivery truck and the car's driver side was crushed. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and he was speeding." The news reader stopped a moment to check his script before adding quietly, "Strangely, the driver of the other vehicle fled the accident scene, and the police would like to contact him regarding the circumstances of the accident..." Sakura looked at the screen in absolute shock for a moment, then softly and silently began to cry, tears of relief more than grief. She fell into a surprised Tomoyo's arms, who held her gently while she cried. "There, there," Tomoyo said to her softly, "there, there." There wasn't much else Tomoyo could bring herself to say. Sakura cried herself to exhaustion, and then just collapsed back into a deep sleep. Kero volunteered to stay with her, and curled up on the bed right beside her. Tomoyo felt a small stab of jealousy towards Kero, and quickly fought it back. 'I can't believe I'm feeling jealous of somebody who looks like a stuffed toy,' Tomoyo thought to herself tiredly. Toya and Yukito shut the news off when Tomoyo came back into the living room, and then quickly got up from where they were sitting together on the large couch. "How is she?" Toya asked Tomoyo quietly. "She's asleep again," Tomoyo sighed. "Li's death has hit her hard, no matter how much he may have deserved it." Toya nodded softly, grabbing his coat. "We've both got jobs we've got to go to," Toya said a bit apologetically, "but can you call us as soon as she wakes?" "Of course," Tomoyo said with a nod. "Thank you both for coming, Toya, Yukito, I'm not sure what might have happened if you hadn't come." Toya paused at the door, and turned to ask her softly, "I was wondering if you and your mother had anything to do with what happened to him?" His dark eyes looked into her own calmly, not judging her or her possible actions. For just a moment, Tomoyo wanted to tell him, to lessen the weight of responsibility she felt herself carrying, but she quickly regained her self control. "Even if I did," Tomoyo said to him equally softly, "I'd still have to answer you 'No', Toya. Why do you ask?" With a slight smile on his face Toya simply said to her, "Good job." He then patted her gently on the shoulder. Yukito smiled at her gently, "Please, take good care of her for us, Tomoyo." With that, both young men left the apartment together. She watched them leave arm in arm and thought with a bit of envy what good partners they were for each other, the shy, innocent Yukito and the strong, outgoing Toya. Of course, both of them had to deal with Yukito also being Yue and Toya's returning second sight, but still... Tomoyo smiled across the kitchen table at her mother. "Sakura's been out like a light since this morning," she finished telling the tale with a weary sigh. Tomoyo really didn't look like she had gotten much rest yet. Sonomi drank a bit more of her tea, "It can't have been easy for her." She smiled a bit wryly, "Sakura must have felt such relief that he's dead, and then the guilt she must have felt over feeling so relieved." She shrugged eloquently. What Sonomi really found herself wondering was if Tomoyo was still in love with Sakura. It had hurt her daughter so much, letting her go the first time, she didn't want to see her go through that again. "Hmm," Tomoyo agreed softly. She looked across the table at her mother curiously. Finally, she just decided to ask, "So, are you dating anybody?" Sonomi blushed redly, and for a moment looked like she was going to choke on her mouth full of tea. "Ah, no, I'm not," she said softly. She smiled a bit as she looked over at her daughter and chided her gently, "That's not a typical daughter to mother question." "No, I guess not," Tomoyo agreed, blushing a bit herself. She smiled across at Sonomi, "But we're not the typical mother and daughter, either." They heard sounds from the other room, and Sakura stumbled into the kitchen, brushing at her eyes tiredly. Kero was doing his best stuffed toy impression on her shoulder. A little smile quirked Sonomi's lips as she thought of all the times he had pulled that on her. Sonomi raised her tea cup to him in a toast, "Kero, I know about you. You don't have to do that anymore." She smiled a bit as both Sakura and Kero both looked startled. Sakura shot Tomoyo a suspicious glance. Tomoyo flushed a bit under Sakura's glare. "She found one of my video tapes of you," she explained quickly. As they were talking, Kero landed on the table and began to demolish the plate of cookies sitting there. "How are you feeling?" Sonomi asked Sakura softly, pouring her a cup of tea and pushing it across the table to her. "Better, thank you," Sakura said to her a bit stiffly. From the guilty glance Tomoyo gave her Sonomi suspected that Sakura had gotten an edited version of their last big fight. Not that she could blame her, Sonomi would have told her best friend if she had one. Tomoyo smiled at Sakura tiredly, "A crisis does wonders for our family dynamic." She nodded to Sonomi, "We've declared a truce and are well on our way to a formal cease fire." Sonomi snorted in amusement over the military metaphor, and even Sakura smiled a bit at that. "I'm glad," Sakura said with a warmer smile. She took a seat and drank some tea, smiling fondly as she watched Kero scarf down the cookies. Sonomi was also watching the mini-lion with wings eat with no little awe. "Where does it all go?" she mock whispered to Sakura and Tomoyo, getting a smile from both of them. "I've wondered that myself," Tomoyo answered, rolling her eyes. "Hey," Kero protested, "I'm a growing guardian beast, here!" He tried to look wounded as he added, "I need my energy." Sakura smiled, but her eyes filled with tears. She got up out of her chair with a choked out apology, fleeing the room. Tomoyo was up after her in a moment, but Sonomi grabbed Kero before he could chase after the two girls. "Give them a moment," Sonomi said to Kero quietly. Sakura curled on the couch, crying softly. Tomoyo gently eased herself down, silently cursing Li's ghost as Sakura flinched from her in reflexive fear. She patted her on the shoulder, gently, "Is there anything I can do, Sakura?" She winced at asking such a dumb question, but she couldn't think of anything else at the moment. Sakura uncurled a bit, turning a little to seek the safety of Tomoyo's arms. "I'm sorry," she got out between the sobs, "I know he's gone, but I still..." she trailed off, weeping softly. Tomoyo tightened her arms around her. "You don't need to be scared anymore, Sakura," Tomoyo vowed to her quietly, "I'll be right here to protect you, I promise." Sonomi watched them a bit sadly from the kitchen door. 'Tomoyo loves Sakura so much' she thought with a sigh, 'if only she could see it.'
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