Chapter 8
Dress Up!
Yukito drove back home on Pacific Avenue, which exhibited snarled traffic even on good days. But today, lots of people were running across the street and gumming it up further. Even more people crossing without looking than normal, and it was starting to get on his nerves.
In the passenger compartment behind him, Shaoran stated a possible cause, "Looks like there's a big fire over there." Sure enough, off to the left, they could see the licks of bright orange flame flashing up above the buildings, and a pillar of smoke illuminated by the city lights.
Traffic was snarled for miles, and access was blocked from Abbot Kinney Boulevard by the overturned car. There was no way a fire engine was getting in there any time soon.
Sakura and Shaoran both tensed up at the same time, reacting to some invisible signal. "Do you feel that?" Sakura asked.
"Yes." Shaoran's magical senses definitely felt it. "That's not a normal fire."
"I don't like that fire, burning up people's homes. Let's do something about it."
Kero called up to the front of the limo, "Yuki, stop the car!"
As Yukito drove into a parking lot, Tomoyo noted, "Looks like it's time for this universe's grand debut of Cardcaptor Sakura!"
"Hoe?" she uttered quizzically.
"I think I have just the outfit for you to wear this time!" By now, Sakura knew there was no stopping Tomoyo. Nor was there any reason to, as Tomoyo's sartorial choices had saved her bacon a couple times.
Tomoyo drew out a hanger bearing Shaoran's forest green Chinese battle costume and handed it to him, then ushered Sakura inside the wardrobe room within the stretch limo. It was fine for him to change out there, as you couldn't see through the tinted windows anyway. But Sakura's change, as always, would be a little more elaborate.
For today's battle costume, there was only one option to choose. Sure, Tomoyo had access to a decent library of previous costumes. But the effort she had coincidentally finished yesterday, made with cloth that happened to fall into her hands? Tomoyo knew there was no true coincidence, only necessity.
With such a special fabric as the one that Spider Grandmother had provided, Tomoyo was driven to make something equally special for Sakura. The fine weaving was so exquisite and the white so pure, that it could serve to make a wedding dress as suitably as a battle costume. She had spent an excessive amount of time contemplating the former, before settling on a radically simple design, at least for her tastes.
The basic structure of the outfit looked like an undine's uniform: a long white sheath dress with a square sailor collar bordered in pink. But as an Atelier Daidouji original, it offered a bit more than that. Right under the collar lay a large bow the color of cherry blossoms with white lace, tied under a central brooch of faceted aquamarine. A wide pink stripe was embroidered down the center of the dress, terminating just below Sakura's waist in a narrow circle, containing a large five-pointed pink star.
Sakura wore the matching sailor cap in the French style, with an azure ribbon and topped by fluffy pink pompom. Right in the center of the hat, it bore an embroidered winged heart in pink and blue. This logo was emblazoned in larger form on the back of the outfit's short cape. The getup wasn't complete without a pair of rose wellies with cobalt blue soles.
No matter how much time Tomoyo had spent imagining the final outfit on her favorite model, it paled in comparison to the real thing. A frisson of joy traveled from her heart out to her fingertips as she reviewed today's battle costume. Hands pressed into her cheeks, Tomoyo declared, "Very cute as always, Sakura-chan!"
"Oh, um, yeah, you look cute in that," Shaoran stumbled through.
"Really? Thank you!" Sakura smiled, her face turned red despite being well away from the fire.
"At least the brat's not blind," Kero muttered. The flying plushie wore a bow and hat matching Sakura's outfit. He always appreciated Tomoyo's touches, even if his true form was much cooler. "Alright everyone, let's get in there and put out this fire!"
Dress Up!
Yukito drove back home on Pacific Avenue, which exhibited snarled traffic even on good days. But today, lots of people were running across the street and gumming it up further. Even more people crossing without looking than normal, and it was starting to get on his nerves.
In the passenger compartment behind him, Shaoran stated a possible cause, "Looks like there's a big fire over there." Sure enough, off to the left, they could see the licks of bright orange flame flashing up above the buildings, and a pillar of smoke illuminated by the city lights.
Traffic was snarled for miles, and access was blocked from Abbot Kinney Boulevard by the overturned car. There was no way a fire engine was getting in there any time soon.
Sakura and Shaoran both tensed up at the same time, reacting to some invisible signal. "Do you feel that?" Sakura asked.
"Yes." Shaoran's magical senses definitely felt it. "That's not a normal fire."
"I don't like that fire, burning up people's homes. Let's do something about it."
Kero called up to the front of the limo, "Yuki, stop the car!"
As Yukito drove into a parking lot, Tomoyo noted, "Looks like it's time for this universe's grand debut of Cardcaptor Sakura!"
"Hoe?" she uttered quizzically.
"I think I have just the outfit for you to wear this time!" By now, Sakura knew there was no stopping Tomoyo. Nor was there any reason to, as Tomoyo's sartorial choices had saved her bacon a couple times.
Tomoyo drew out a hanger bearing Shaoran's forest green Chinese battle costume and handed it to him, then ushered Sakura inside the wardrobe room within the stretch limo. It was fine for him to change out there, as you couldn't see through the tinted windows anyway. But Sakura's change, as always, would be a little more elaborate.
For today's battle costume, there was only one option to choose. Sure, Tomoyo had access to a decent library of previous costumes. But the effort she had coincidentally finished yesterday, made with cloth that happened to fall into her hands? Tomoyo knew there was no true coincidence, only necessity.
With such a special fabric as the one that Spider Grandmother had provided, Tomoyo was driven to make something equally special for Sakura. The fine weaving was so exquisite and the white so pure, that it could serve to make a wedding dress as suitably as a battle costume. She had spent an excessive amount of time contemplating the former, before settling on a radically simple design, at least for her tastes.
The basic structure of the outfit looked like an undine's uniform: a long white sheath dress with a square sailor collar bordered in pink. But as an Atelier Daidouji original, it offered a bit more than that. Right under the collar lay a large bow the color of cherry blossoms with white lace, tied under a central brooch of faceted aquamarine. A wide pink stripe was embroidered down the center of the dress, terminating just below Sakura's waist in a narrow circle, containing a large five-pointed pink star.
Sakura wore the matching sailor cap in the French style, with an azure ribbon and topped by fluffy pink pompom. Right in the center of the hat, it bore an embroidered winged heart in pink and blue. This logo was emblazoned in larger form on the back of the outfit's short cape. The getup wasn't complete without a pair of rose wellies with cobalt blue soles.
No matter how much time Tomoyo had spent imagining the final outfit on her favorite model, it paled in comparison to the real thing. A frisson of joy traveled from her heart out to her fingertips as she reviewed today's battle costume. Hands pressed into her cheeks, Tomoyo declared, "Very cute as always, Sakura-chan!"
"Oh, um, yeah, you look cute in that," Shaoran stumbled through.
"Really? Thank you!" Sakura smiled, her face turned red despite being well away from the fire.
"At least the brat's not blind," Kero muttered. The flying plushie wore a bow and hat matching Sakura's outfit. He always appreciated Tomoyo's touches, even if his true form was much cooler. "Alright everyone, let's get in there and put out this fire!"
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto