Do Not Touch (Tomoyo/Sakura)

[storypaint]

Comm: 1sentence
Words: 1409, excluding titles
Fandom: Cardcaptor Sakura
Pairing: Daidouji Tomoyo/Kinomoto Sakura
Theme set: Gamma
Rating: PG, shojo ai

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. All fanfiction archived here is a derivative of canon material that is not my property. I do not profit from these writings. The opinions and actions expressed in these stories are not necessarily the views and beliefs of the original author or me.

01.Ring
The ring on Sakura's finger was beautiful and shiny and every day a reminder that Tomoyo never took her own advice and told Sakura how she felt, knowing Sakura would pick the right answer for her (because Tomoyo already knew the answer).

02.Hero
"You're my hero," she said breathlessly to Sakura, stroking her arm later that night as Sakura rested in her arms, tired from the fight.

03.Memory
It was hard for Tomoyo to reconcile this vision of a bride with the little girl who lent her an eraser so long ago.

04.Box
When she went to college, Tomoyo stored all the things that reminded her of Sakura in a box, marking it DO NOT TOUCH and putting it in the attic where she didn't have to look unless she wanted to (but on break she'd get it down and handle all those precious things).

05.Run
When Sakura told Tomoyo she was getting married, Tomoyo wanted to run away; she compromised with a smile and pretended excitement, then a sudden stomach bug.

06.Hurricane
There was a hurricane in Florida when Sakura and Syaoran were on vacation there, and Tomoyo stayed up until five a.m. scanning the lists of dead for their names (they weren't there, thankfully).

07.Wings
When Sakura took flight against the bear, Tomoyo reached after her; she couldn't help wanting to stroke her feathers, her face.

08.Cold
The bed was cold; it always was.

09.Red
She dressed Sakura in red for prom and watched Li's eyes light up in delight, wishing that someone would see that her expression was exactly the same.

10.Drink
Tomoyo had a wedding to plan, but it wasn't until next October, so she decided she had enough time to get smashed (at least for tonight, so she could sleep).

11.Midnight
She crept back into bed at midnight, clutching Sakura's costume to her and breathing in that heavenly scent.

12.Temptation
"Come on!" Sakura said, reaching out a hand; Tomoyo took her hand and resisted the temptation to pull the girl down on top of her.

13.View
When viewed from the proper angle, it was clear that Touya also had Sakura's ears; it was also clear that he knew, instinctively, how she felt, and he would keep her secret as long as she kept his (his affection for Yukito was obvious).

14.Music
Every song she wrote was for Sakura, every word she sang was for Sakura, every day she lived was for Sakura.

15.Silk
Changing in gym occasionally afforded Tomoyo a glimpse of Sakura's silky undergarments, and quietly Tomoyo treasured these moments.

16.Cover
Syaoran, Touya, even Yukito-- they all realized how she felt, as she stood loyally by-- but they never broke her cover.

17.Promise
"Promise me you'll be happy," Tomoyo said to Sakura the night before Sakura left, and Sakura promised, and then Tomoyo cried.

18.Dream
Occasionally she still dreams of Sakura and that long slow fall in front of that van; she awakes with sweat-damp sheets and tears on her cheeks.

19.Candle
When she awakens thus, she lights the candle at her bedside and prays until morning.

20.Talent
She has a talent for videorecording, but it's impossible to capture all of Sakura on tape, no matter how much she tries.

21.Silence
She keeps her silence until she dies, and orders her journals burned in her will; her secret love for Sakura is now only a whisper in the ear of God.

22.Journey
Every year she made the journey to Hong Kong at New Year's (the one year that the storm blows up and the airports close, she spends close to three hours on the phone apologizing for her absence).

23.Fire
Every year when she visits Hong Kong, it rekindles the fire of desire she has for Sakura, and she always considers not going, letting Sakura fade into a despairing memory, but she never has the strength to stay at home.

24.Strength
She only has enough strength to carry on day by day, to love in quiet, and that is more strength than most men possess.

25.Mask
Tomoyo has a masquerade for her eighteenth birthday party, and for weeks afterward Sakura talks about the mysterious masked woman who kissed her at the party; Tomoyo brushes her own lips and smiles.

26.Ice
The ice is cold when Sakura playfully throws it down the back of Tomoyo's shirt; it is to this she attributes the tremor actually caused by Sakura's fingers on her skin.

27.Fall
As Sakura falls in love, Tomoyo is there to watch and guide; occasionally she considers sabotaging Li, but she doesn't have the heart-- she loves Sakura too much.

28.Forgotten
It's strange how quickly Tomoyo became just a girl to send Christmas cards to every year, Sakura thinks as she checks the mailbox, not knowing what to write back and jiggling the baby on her hip.

29.Dance
One semester in gym class is dance, and Tomoyo spends a breathless week teaching Sakura how to tango; it is the best week of her life, spent with her cheek pressed against Sakura's.

30.Body
Sometimes Tomoyo runs a finger around her belly button and wonders what it would feel like to be touched as a woman, but the only one she would ever want to touch her is in Hong Kong, and so her desire wanes.

31.Sacred
When her roommate at college runs across the eraser in its special box, she jokes about it being sacred, but Tomoyo only nods and puts the box away.

32.Farewells
The worse farewell was the first farewell, with the words of love itching to escape from her lips; the next ones dull Tomoyo to a stupor, and she cannot care that Sakura is leaving until she is gone, and then Tomoyo cries.

33.World
It was a cliche to say that Sakura was Tomoyo's whole world, but sometimes cliches can be true.

34.Formal
There was never a formal date of commitment, not one that Tomoyo can remember, but when she goes to bars she wears a ring and pretends that the day she met Sakura is her anniversary with her nebulous spouse, so she doesn't have to listen to pick-up lines.

35.Fever
One year Tomoyo gets a terrible fever, and when she awakens, Sakura's hand is on her forehead, her voice in her ear, and Tomoyo opens her mouth to tell Sakura the truth, but falls asleep again.

36.Laugh
Sakura has twelve different laughs, plus one with hiccups, and Tomoyo has recorded every one.

37.Lies
It was astounding to think that her most special relationship was built on lies and misleading truths, but life was always complicated.

38.Forever
She didn't marry and bear a child to ease the ache, like her mother did; Tomoyo wouldn't sully her forever love with the touch of a man.

39.Overwhelmed
One night when she is feeling overwhelmed, she walks the hallways of the mansion to her mother's room, and Sonomi lets Tomoyo sleep in her bed, the tears drying on the sheets (she doesn't ask, because she knows).

40.Whisper
"I love you," she whispers, touching her lips to Sakura's cold forehead, wishing that Sakura would smile again, awaken, do anything except be gone from her life.

41.Wait
"True love waits," she cautions Sakura, who blushes furiously; the truth is that she doesn't want to think about Syaoran's hands on Sakura's body, not ever.

42.Talk
For the first year, the phone calls are regular, every Sunday evening, but Sakura begins to skip weeks and even months, with breathless excuses of commitments and her job and her children; Tomoyo stops calling.

43.Search
She searches for Sakura's face everywhere she goes: in the heart of Tokyo, in the deserts of Egypt, in the rainy streets of London (sometimes she sees a familiar smile, green eyes, but it is never her, of course).

44.Hope
"Hope is a powerful thing," Sakura says in wonderment, looking down at the changed card, and Tomoyo can only nod and hope.

45.Eclipse
Sakura tells the story of Eriol's eclipse later, and Tomoyo wishes desperately that she had been there to hold her friend steady, to call her name, instead of closing her eyes and succumbing to the spell.

46.Gravity
Sakura calls from Hong Kong, overjoyed, to inform Tomoyo of her engagement, and Tomoyo's heart sinks into her shoes as she congratulates her friend.

47.Highway
Tomoyo likes the highway; the space between the white lines is too short for her to think about Sakura, and thinking about her hurts a little more each day.

48.Unknown
Tomoyo remembers the thrill in her heart when they were facing the unknown stranger; now that Eriol sits before her smiling, she hardens her heart against him (for he has attempted, for good or ill, to harm Sakura, and that is a mortal sin in Tomoyo's book).

49.Lock
Thank God for Sakura's easy acceptance, Tomoyo thinks, cradling the special box to her chest, because she doesn't know how to explain the eraser nestled in with Nadeshiko's wedding bouquet.

50.Breathe
"I love you, Sakura-chan," and a breath, and Sakura's cheerful return, "I love you too," means something completely different.