Chapter Text
There was something wrong. Tomoyo had no magical powers, but she had tagged along with Sakura enough times to understand what the strangeness of magic felt like in a largely non-magical world. Although she had her cell phone to call Kero-chan and Sakura right away, for some reason today Tomoyo hesitated. She heard the wind rustling through the trees above her but felt no breeze and the fallen leaves at her feet were still. She wasn’t anywhere particularly abnormal. Just walking home from one of her private singing lessons. The team of bodyguards probably wasn’t far behind her, always discreetly following in a plain but high class sedan, so as to give the “young miss” some sense of freedom in her teenage years, though it was by no means a secret. As such Tomoyo did not feel afraid for her safety, just strange… off somehow.
Despite her bodyguards, Tomoyo also knew that they could not be much help against any kind of magical force, so she kept her thumb on the “call” button of her cell phone just in case. Tomoyo did not often stop to take in the commercial buildings along her route home, but she liked to think of herself as an observant person, and most people would say that would be an understatement. However, when she looked to her left, she stopped mid step, caught off guard by the traditional house and grounds in the midst of their town’s business district. She had a sneaking suspicion that the reason she had never noticed this place before was because it hadn’t been there before. Or at least it hadn’t appeared to her there before…
But before she could press the button to dial Sakura, a low female voice called out to her.
“Young girl!”
Tomoyo raised her eyes from the traditional japanese manicured gardens to the figure standing on the front steps. A formidable figure indeed, she was very tall and slender, with black hair as long as Tomoyo’s own, though the woman’s was completely straight.
“Don’t make that phone call. Come join me for tea instead,” the friendly tone of her voice did not disguise her meaning. It was not a question or an invitation. It was a summons. Tomoyo hesitated at the property line, but as soon as her toe crossed over, it was like she could hear the cogs of fate clicking into place. Yuko smiled.
Tomoyo was led through the smoky greeting lounge and beaded doors to the tea room by two exuberant girls who were almost identical except for their hair, and now she was seated across from Yuko at a plain round table with a simple silky white tablecloth. The woman never actually introduced herself, but Tomoyo heard the girls, Maru and Moro, say, “What tea today, Yuko?”
To which she replied after giving Tomoyo a long once over, “How about the golden oolong?” Which happened to be Tomoyo’s favorite...
Now, after having been served their tea in western style elegant porcelain cups, Yuko finally spoke to Tomoyo.
“You must have a wish, you wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“I have a feeling I wouldn’t be able to be here otherwise.”
The woman in the black kimono with a butterfly motif and fringe accents fascinated Tomoyo, not only because of her impeccable style, but her half lidded red eyes seemed to hold many secrets.
Those eyelids closed and Yuko smiled, put her elbows on the table, laced her fingers together and propped her chin up before she opened her eyes again; now they were twinkling with what Tomoyo hoped was amusement.
“I see I must not underestimate you…”
Tomoyo didn’t know how to answer, but was very well bred of course so she sipped her tea politely, waiting for Yuko to take the lead. Yuko seemed totally at ease, content to just watch Tomoyo, her graceful fingers curling around the teacup now.
“Nevertheless, you do have a wish. One that you have held deep in your heart for quite some time now.”
Tomoyo didn’t blush, but did feel a twinge of shame and looked down into her tea cup. Sakura’s smiling face flashed in her mind. Tomoyo! Syaoran wrote me from Hong Kong! Sakura’s tear stained face now, He says he won’t be able to come for Golden Week. I know I shouldn’t cry, I’ll be alright with such wonderful friends like Tomoyo-chan and Kero-chan!
“I have always wished for my friend’s happiness over my own,” she answered simply.
“A dangerous wish,” Yuko replied, “it’s hard to predict what your friend will do with the energy offered by your wishes. If they disappoint you, it is easy to succumb to despair and regret.” Now she fixed Tomoyo with a sly gaze, “But nothing happens by coincidence, everything is inevitability.”
Tomoyo paused at that, digging deeper into her heart’s dearest wishes. I wish I was Sakura’s greatest happiness. More than anyone else… I want to be by her side. Tomoyo had never lied to herself in this regard. She was in love with Sakura. But it was utterly unrequited, and she knew it, besides the fact that they were cousins.
“I… have decided that whatever Sakura’s choice, I shall support her, because it has always been her smile that has brightened my world. And she has made her choice. I could never be comforted by her smile again knowing that it was only because of a spell that she loved me and not her true happiness… So my wish is, in essence, one that could never come true, not by any power, except of course, Sakura’s.”
Tomoyo didn’t know why she was telling this woman all of this, but Yuko’s mischievous eyes softened a little, considering her guest carefully again, before she said,
“Once again you have shown yourself much wiser than expected.”
Once again I have no idea what you’re talking about, “expected?” Tomoyo thought, but she kept quiet and sipped her tea.
“Are you not bored with the day to day routine? Never being the main character in your own story?”
Tomoyo was caught off guard, “Bored?” she asked, without really expecting an answer.
“It seems to me that someone as beautiful and intelligent as you, with the resources that your family can offer, could do anything she wanted in the world. Yet you stay here making costumes for your unrequited love. Am I wrong?” Yuko answered with more questions.
Tomoyo wanted to say, ‘you’re wrong!’ right away, but the words caught in the back of her throat. Never mind asking this strange woman how she knew all these intimate details about Tomoyo’s life.
In elementary school, making costumes and filming Sakura seemed like the only thing she wanted to do. But now that they were both in high school, thinking about universities and futures beyond Tomoeda. Although she would follow Sakura to the ends of the earth, Tomoyo thought maybe it was time to do something selfish. What are you going to do, design the lingerie for Sakura’s wedding night with Syaoran, and then retire to be an old maid in the country?
Yuko seemed to be able to sense even the slightest change in Tomoyo’s heart, “I did not mean to distress you. It was inevitable that you came here with your wish. Because today it is I that will compensate you to complete a service for me .”