Laughing (Tomoyo/Sakura)

[storypaint]

Title: Laughing
Series: Cardcaptor Sakura
Pairing: Daidouji Tomoyo/Kinomoto Sakura
Author: rhap_chan
Artist: sky_pirate_tat
Theme Set: Dark themes, #9
Rating: G
Warnings/Spoilers: 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.

Summary: When Sakura told Tomoyo that she loved Syaoran, she laughed. She was a practiced actress, after all.

When she figured out that she loved him and told me with those wide eyes, I laughed.

"Of course you do," I said, and encouraged her to chase him. This would be the best thing for them both. To separate them would be to break them, and I could not live without Sakura's smile. If not her love, then her smile. This was my pledge, and I intended to keep it.

When she told me that she loved him, I laughed so hard, I nearly cried, but I held back the tears and let them flow later, when I was alone. It would not do to cry before Sakura. She wouldn't understand. Her smile bolstered me up enough that I could hide my tears.

Since he came back to town she smiled even more, soft smiles of a girl in love, with a trace of blush across cheeks that were losing their childish softness. They were not smiles she shared with me, but at least she was happy. Sakura's happiness was my happiness, I always told myself to remember. Never mind that each one of her love-soaked grins pushed me closer to the edge. Soon I would fall, and I wouldn't land on my feet, and she wouldn't be there to offer a smile and a hand up, because she didn't understand.

That was okay. I would laugh and get up and brush myself off, like I have always done, and life would go on with days measured in the length of Sakura's smiles.