Authors note- this is a response to a challenge from the Fruity Group mailing list.For those that are on it,I'malcuinbear. The pairing is Rin and Haru, and spoilers from chapters 103-4 are in effect.

I haven't eaten for days. Even if I did, I doubt that the food he gives me is safe for me to eat. If I can't leave here alive, I'd rather die and be free. There are those that would hate to hear me say that, but I don't care anymore. They can't help me now. No one can.

I don't even know how long I've been in this room. A week, a month, it seems as though time has stopped. Nothing to keep myself entertained, but my self, and the haphazardly cut strands of my hair. No way to tell how many hours have passed in this cage. If the amount of time has passed that I think it has, then Satsuki should have had her daughter. I wish that I could see them. Satsuki, Hiro, the baby...

At first I was angry. I felt that Akito had no right to lock me in here. So what if I knew that his precious bond had been broken? We of the jyuunishi should have been told that there's a chance that we could be free, right? I didn't realise that I couldn't defy the God, and get away with it. In his eyes, I was a heretic, and bond or no bond, heresy is a punishable crime. A crime punishable by the cutting of my hair, and being locked in the Cat's chamber. Broken, and hidden away from any one that cares. I can only hope that the Cat graduates soon. Part of me wants to repent for the 'sins' that I've committed. But the other part tells me that I can't give in to Akito's totalitarian ways. I'm torn. I don't know what to do.

I wonder why no one realises that I'm gone? Akito says that they think that I'm in the hospital again. But if I was, wouldn't they come to visit me? Wouldn't Kagura's mother have to talk to my doctor, as she's my guardian? Hatori would have to visit me to prepare for the check ups that I'd need when I got released, wouldn't he? But I guess not. Akito could have Kureno tell them how I'm doing. Documents can be easily forged.

Theres only so much more of this that I can take. I can feel myself slipping away. Its as though I'm standing at a fork in a road without a map. Only two paths, and no way to tell where I'll go. But now that I've chosen a path, I now know that I am going the wrong way. Now, when I sleep, I see this strange world. Its like something from a child's imagination. Paper flowers, as soft as pure cotton. Clouds that as they float over head, sing gentle lullabyes. A warm person holding me, whose face I can't see.

I want to stay in my sanctuary. So why is someone trying to bring me out of it? A voice other than Akito's or the maids, calling me over and over. But though I hear the voice, I can't see the person its coming from. I can hear a second voice. He seems angry at the other person. But, then the first voice fades, leaving only the second. "What has he done to you, lovely girl? Please wake up. You can't leave me. I won't let you. I'll protect you, from everyone, from everything. But please, wake up. I can't lose you a second time." Haru?...it can't be. Their arms wrap around me.

The voice keeps calling out to me, 'I love you, Rin. Please come back to me.' Over and over, their words echo in my mind. I want to believe it. But Akito's words play louder than the others. 'You will only destroy him! Someone like you could never be good enough for Hatsuharu! No one can love a person like you, Isuzu. NO ONE!' I finally say, "No...destroy you...."

This makes the person hold me tighter. "You won't destroy me by being near me. Being away from you is what could destroy me. I want you in my life, Rin. I need you in my life. Without you, there is no Sohma Hatsuharu. You are the air that I breathe, the light that I see by, you are everything to me, Rin.

Even though I can't see him, I try and return his embrace. My vision finally clears, to reveal the only one for me. Tears are freely falling down his face. I delicately brushed them away from his face. "Tadaima, Haru." He says, "Okaeri." And I know that everything is okay.