Author's Notes: This is a short Nadeshiko/Sonomi fic, because, in my humble opinion, they make an absolutely beautiful couple. ^_^ This is mostly a Somoni sketch of sorts, but I hope you enjoy it. Please email me and tell me what you thought! ~Cali California Dumount Send all feedback, comments, or offerings (excluding firstborns ^_~) to: stone0virgin@crosswinds.net. Legal Disclaimer: I am not plural, I am not CLAMP. Personal Disclaimer: I'm not straight, and I'm not sane. ^_~ Gender Disclaimer: This fic involves two beautiful women. One of those women is in love with the other woman. If you have a problem with this, please evolve. Without further ado... ========================= Temporary One 1/1 by California Dumount stone0virgin@crosswinds.net ========================= "Sonomi...." She saw Nadeshiko's lips moving, pale coral parting to reveal that small pink tongue. Words reached her eyes, sung in the other girl's gentle, high soprano; but Sonomi had been staring far too long at the whole of Nadeshiko's china pale to register that her cousin was actually saying. "Sonomi..." Nadeshiko's pretty face fell to an expression of worry, her opal eyes focused more closely on Sonomi. The older girl felt a light, tingling warmth at the base of her spine, a typical symptom when she was the focus of Nadeshiko's attention. The pale girl leaned forward, bright eyes still worried; and in the swirling mix of her half-reality daydream, Sonomi leaned in too. "Are you feeling alright, Sonomi?" It was a rather rude awakening when she felt only Nadeshiko's cool hand against her suddenly burning forehead. "My, you ARE rather warm," Nadeshiko murmured, absently brushing away a stray lock of Sonomi's hair. "I'm fine!" the older girl sputtered, a feeling off horror sliding down her back, curling through her ribs and around her heart. She looked at Nadeshiko with wide, horrified eyes of sapphire, before her fear melted into a feeling of annoyance. 'That's the third time this week,' she though, thin, unartistic fingers coming up to massage her temple. 'Damn.' "Are you sure?" opal eyes narrowed, framed with ebony and utterly enchanting in their bland attempt at disbelief. "Very sure," Sonomi nodded affirmatively, lips moving in a smile she only willed herself to feel. "Oh, what if you *are* ill?" Nadeshiko wailed melodramatically. Mischief was written in her lithe form as she gasped in horror, "What if you have some mysterious disease from Africa!? What if there isn't a cure... Sonomi don't leave me!!" The smaller girl tossed herself into Sonomi's lap, 'weeping' onto her cousin's shoulder. There was a moment, stilled, when Sonomi felt that her bones had melted into her flesh, so that she might better focus on the feeling of Nadeshiko's breath on her neck, and Nadeshiko's little heart fluttering inside her breast, and Nadeshiko's soft hair and.... "Nadeshiko..." Sonomi gasped out, feeling that if she didn't say *something*, didn't take the glory rising up inside her and shove it into a word that it might travel through her blood and make her do something (wonderful, wonderful) stupid. 'Nadeshiko' was the only word that could hold such feelings and not turn in on itself. The younger girl giggled, but Sonomi didn't hear it, instead feeling the delicate vibration against her neck. Then it, and the all-consuming cloud of Nadeshiko and wide pink skirts vanished, returning to the other end of the picnic blanket. Nadeshiko's face still held a carefully made expression of vexation, but there was a naughty light in her eyes that made Sonomi giggle despite herself. "See, now you're all better!" Nadeshiko chirped happily, "No strange African diseases for my Sonomi-chan, nuh-uh!" The mock-gravity in her cousin's words only made Sonomi laugh harder. "Thank you," she said between giggles, "I needed that." "You certainly did," Nadeshiko said seriously, "For a minute you looked like the world was going to end." 'Iie,' Sonomi thought, feeling chilled in the shade of the tall elm, 'You're the end of the world.' The tenderness in her mind soothed the words, but did nothing to combat the sudden bout of sadness that colored them. "Well it's not," she replied with an air of authority, "At least not today. Let's finish up and get going. Don't you have a shoot this afternoon?" "Probably," Nadeshiko said, reaching into the picnic basket for the container of cherries. After struggling with the lid, she popped it open and plucked out a cherry, holding it above her mouth and batting at it with her tongue. "You're so silly, Nadeshiko-chan," Sonomi grinned, giggling when the other girl paused in her game and crossed her eyes. She looked like a kitten caught playing with string. "That's why you love me!" Nadeshiko said, eyes candid. "Though heaven knows how I manage it," Sonomi forced past the beating of her heart. She leaned over and picked out a cherry, eating it quickly. Nadeshiko just rolled her eyes. "I don't see why we can't just stay out here all day," Nadeshiko pouted as they folded up the blanket and placed the empty containers in the basket. "You have a shoot later on," Sonomi reminded her politely. She thought perhaps her brain needed a few moments of Nadeshiko-less lucidity. "I know," the other girl stretched her pale arms and yawned like a cat, "But I just... I don't know, I want to *do* something today." Unable to think of anything uncompromising to day, Sonomi simply shrugged. "Oh, come on," Nadeshiko sang, spreading her arms as if to embrace the world and Sonomi in it, "Let's just stay a little while longer." Her slim, elegant hands captured Sonomi's, whirling her around in and endless circle of color and shadow. The scenery blurred, Nadeshiko was the only clear thing, smiling and laughing.... Without warning (as, Sonomi reflected, most of Nadeshiko's accidents were), the pale girl's foot slipped and sent the two cousins tumbling down the soft slope, and blinding whirl of gray, brown, pink skirts and blue slacks. Nadeshiko shrieked and shrieked, but to Sonomi's ears it sounded as if she was enjoying it. They rolled to the bottom of the hill, the older girl pressed against the softness of the younger, having landed on top. "Are you alright?" the question burst from Sonomi. Nadeshiko lay still beneath her, eyes closed and face serene. "Hai," the other girl murmured dreamily, eyes still closed, "That was fun." For a brief, paranoid moment, Sonomi considered that Nadeshiko was deliberately plotting, trying to force her to act the sweet impulses flooding through her veins. "Nadeshiko..." Sonomi's tone was suddenly sharp. She braced her weight on her arms, afraid to crush the delicate china doll beneath even her slight weight. "You're really warm, Sonomi-chan," sweet coral lips moving again, so close, and Sonomi felt herself once again drawn into the spell. There was no fighting it. All awareness suddenly flowed to her breasts, pressed against Nadeshiko's own full ones. The other girl's pink sun dress had slipped off her shoulders, revealing only soft ivory skin. Sonomi imagined it, the whole of Nadeshiko's flesh, covering the other girl's body with delicious satin. Her hands throbbed into protest from supporting all her weight, and against her will, Sonomi let herself lay more fully against Nadeshiko. The pale girl's face was calm and still, ebony lashes fanned against her cheeks, breathing light and airy. And then those small, full lips, naturally pink, and the warm cavern of Nadeshiko's mouth beyond their barrier. Sonomi thought desperately, trying to evade the ideas flooding her. .... she could reach down and brush Nadeshiko's soft cheek. .... or gather her up and cradle her, pretend that she though Nadeshiko was hurt. .... maybe she could cup Nadeshiko's pretty face, bring her lips down on the other girl's. Those lips would be warm and clinging, and somehow Sonomi might lift Nadeshiko into a sitting position, lean over her, thrust her own tongue into the other girl's mouth, run it along those pearly teeth, melt or shatter into a million tiny pieces reflecting only Nadeshiko, Nadeshiko.... "You're really warm, Sonomi," the pale girl said quietly, opening those moon-opal eyes, her voice worried. Sonomi quickly removed her weight, standing up and helping Nadeshiko to her feet. Once again, a slim pale hand came up to touch the other girl's forehead, feeling for a temperature. "Are you sure you're alright?" Sweet, innocent. "I'll be fine," Sonomi's voice was strangled, "Someday." She really wasn't sure how much had happened.