Disclaimer: Dude! What's happening in the manga wouldn't be happening if I owned Fruits Basket, so I don't own it! Well, I mean, I do happen to own several books and a book mark...

Some of this story may be unrealistic in some ways. I'm sorry, but it's the best I could do. :D

"Tohru, why'd you have to leave?" a soft male voice whispered. The wind wailed loudly as it swept through the graveyard. His incense's smoke blew away, and watching it go he hoped that it went to Tohru. He heard soft footsteps walking up behind him, and turned to see his old enemy.

"You came to see her grave too?" he asked, without contempt. This wasn't the time to be name-calling or to have a fistfight. Tohru's other friends, Uo and Hana, had already come and gone.

"Of course I came you stupid rat. I lived with her too, and she was my friend." The orange-haired man glared at him, as if wishing to stare him down. Gray eyes met orange, and they both broke away to stare at the grave.

"Yuki." The name was so surprising to him; he turned with slight shock in his eyes. Kyo turned to face him. "Where's her baby? I want to see him."

In Yuki's arms was a small bundle. Yuki held it out to Kyo, who took it with surprising gentleness. "His name?" Kyo asked, gently caressing the baby's face with one finger.

"Aaron. Tohru said that she loved that name, even if it was English."

"Hello Aaron. I'm Kyo," Kyo said softly, looking down at Tohru's son. He looked more like Yuki than her, but his eyes were exactly like hers. Aaron smiled up at him, and Kyo looked away. His smile was hers too. "Here," he said somewhat forcefully, handing the baby back to Yuki.

"Visit us. I want Aaron to not know what happened between the two of us, or the horrors of the Sohma family." The request sounded more like a plea. Kyo stared at the baby and pictured Tohru smiling instead of the baby smiling and her staring at him instead of her son. He nodded. Tohru's son wouldn't ever know why his mother died or what had happened between his father and Kyo.

Several years passed, and Aaron was acting more like his mother everyday. He learned cooking from reading cookbooks and doing the laundry by following the instructions. Soon it was time for him to go to school instead of being home-schooled.

"Father, I'm not quite sure I want to go to school anymore," Aaron said, staring up at the middle school his father had said was his new school.

Yuki laughed. "Nonsense. Your mother said she went to this middle school, so that's where you're going." He didn't mention that this school was where Tohru and Uo had met Hana. His son would go to this school and would hopefully make some friends.

Being the overprotective father Yuki was, Aaron had not really interacted with other children. Aaron was mostly in the fenced backyard when he was outside. Yuki was somewhat saddened by that fact, but he didn't want his son to be teased like his mother had been. Aaron had light gray hair and a girlish face, making him look like his father.

Once they had reached the door to Aaron's classroom, Aaron stopped. "Go on. You can do it. Never give up, that's what your mother used to say." At the mention of his mother, Aaron grinned a big grin to his father and walked inside the room. Yuki smiled a little and left. His son would be fine.

Aaron grew up a few more years, and soon it was time for him to go to high school. He looked very much like his father, but had inherited some more 'manly' characteristics from his mother's side of the family. Now he and his father were standing in front of Kaibara High, the exact same school where his mother and father really began to know each other.

Yuki turned to his son. "Aaron, be warned… I had a fan club when I went to school here, and since you're much handsomer than I was, you will undoubtedly have one too."

"Father, I couldn't possibly be handsomer than you. Mother was so plain looking."

"Aaron, do not ever call your mother plain. She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever met, and the same goes for Kyo."

"Father, why does Kyo visit us? You've never told me why."

"He's my cousin, and when your mother lived with me he joined us since my other cousin Shigure's house was where he was supposed to live."

Aaron was silent was a minute. "I must look like Mother, right?" he asked his father softly.

"He never really said, but I think it's your eyes and your smile that remind him of your mother."

"Talking about me?" a voice interrupted their conversation. They looked up and saw Kyo leaning against the wall, wearing his old school uniform.

"Hi Kyo!" Aaron called, waving.

"Hey. Are you ready for high school Aaron? Because if anything, the girls here are notorious for having an obsession over Sohmas." The three of them laughed.

"Well, I guess it's time to go," Aaron said, heading in.

"Yuki, I know I shouldn't be saying this, but your son…"

"What about him?" Yuki demanded, eyes narrowing.

"He's too serious. I can't imagine Tohru wanting a son who can't stay relaxed for longer than ten minutes."

Yuki's eyes widened and realized that Kyo was right. He had raised Aaron shut away from the world, wanting to protect him but instead hurting him. "Oh Tohru, what have I done?" he wondered aloud, staring at his hands.

Kyo put a hand on Yuki's shoulder. "Hey. I think that this high school will change Aaron just the way it changed us."

"But what if there's no Tohru for him?" Yuki asked, watching his son silently walk into his classroom.

"There will be, I promise."

-x-x-

"Hey, what's your name?" a tall brunette asked Aaron. He stared up at her. She blinked, then waved her hand away. "Geeze, what's there to think about? All you have to tell me is your name." She began to walk away, but Aaron grabbed her arm.

"My name is Aaron," he said simply, then let her go. Her face broke into a smile.

"There, that wasn't so hard now was it? My name is Tsuki. I don't think I've ever met someone named Aaron."

"I've never met anyone." The comment took her by surprise, but she laughed.

"Really? You're kidding."

"No. I mean, I know my classmates' names and stuff, but I've never talked to anyone."

"Should I feel lucky then, being the first to talk to you?" she laughed again.

Aaron was having a little trouble comprehending that she could laugh so much when there wasn't much to laugh about. "Well, I guess so," he muttered.

"Come on, lighten up. There's more to life than what you're living." Her laughter died away and her smile disappeared.

"What am I living then?" he asked, not sure if he was angry or curious.

"I've heard of you, now that I think about it. You live with your widower father and the first time you went to school was middle school. Some of these kids have seen you through the fence, playing all by yourself, but your father pretty much scared them all away."

"No! My father wouldn't let that happen!" Aaron said defensively.

"Well, not in the sense of 'stay away from my son or else!' but more in the sense that he would never let you out on your own and you never had birthday parties and couldn't ever go to anyone else's." Tsuki crossed her arms, as if waiting for an explanation.

"When I was one years old, my mother died on my birthday. Every year on my birthday we go to visit her and grandma's graves."

"No wonder you're so serious. How about on your next birthday I take you to get ice cream? Honestly, I've heard of your mother. She was the sweetest and most cheerful woman I've ever heard of."

Aaron stared up at her. She had heard of his mother? He extended his hand. "Deal. I can't wait to try ice cream."

She stared at him, and laughed again. "Dude, you so need to get out more."

Shortly before Aaron was to begin his final year of high school, Aaron was summoned to see the head of the family. Yuki had always spoken of Akito with great fear, and had always told Aaron to avoid him at all costs. But now Aaron could not avoid the summons. He was ordered to come, and so he had to go.

Aaron slid open the paper doors leading to Akito's dark room. He made sure to keep his head down out of respect. "You summoned me Akito-san." His voice had a flat, even tone.

"I did. You're that interfering girl's son, am I right?"

"I am the son of Yuki Sohma and Tohru Honda Sohma."

"So I was right. Come closer child." In the darkness of the room Aaron could barely make out a beckoning hand. He had no choice but to obey and inch forward.

That was a mistake. Akito slapped him, catching him by surprise. Aaron fell back, and Akito began to kick him and hit him. "Your mother didn't get her full punishment for marrying your father! And since she died, you're getting the rest of it!" Akito screamed. Aaron screamed as he felt his ribs get broken.

-x-x-

After what felt like hours, Akito was finally finished and stalked away. Aaron was shaking from the pain. "Mama…?" he asked, crying. "It hurts." And just before he passed out, he thought he heard his father's voice.

Yuki threw open the paper doors and ran over to his son. "No! Aaron… NOOOOO!" he screamed, falling next to his son. His body began shaking with sobs. This scene was very familiar…

"No! Tohru!!" Yuki cried, kneeling next to her. Her body was battered and bleeding, her face bleeding from three long scratches.

"Yuki… darling… I love you…" she whispered, crying.

"No! Tohru, don't leave us, we need you!" Kyo cried, kneeling on her other side.

"Kyo… I love you too…" She looked back at Yuki. "Take care of him… He won't have… a mother…"

"Don't talk that way, you'll live! Hatori's coming, he'll help you! I love you Tohru!" Yuki cried, grabbing her hand.

"I'll always… love you…" Tohru's grip relaxed, and she moved no more.

"NOOOOO!!" Kyo and Yuki screamed.

"Hatori, they're in here!" Kyo shouted from the hallway, and he raced in, shortly followed by the family doctor. Hatori ran over and began to do first aid. "I've called an ambulance. He'll be fine."

-x-x-

Tsuki was walking over to Aaron's when she heard the ambulance siren. Watching it go she saw that it was heading towards the big Sohma estate. "No, that's where Aaron is!" she cried. She began to race after the ambulance, not caring about the fact that she had weak legs.

Panting, she reached the Sohma estate just as they were wheeling Aaron in on a rolling bed. "What happened?" she demanded from the nearest person.

"Akito-san attacked him," the man said simply.

"Momiji! You watched my son nearly get killed?!" Yuki demanded.

"No! I only heard Akito muttering something about having finally meted out Tohru-chan's punishment."

"Tohru's… punishment…" Yuki's eyes widened and went blank. "She was killed because of Akito giving her punishment? She died because of us?"

Tsuki was silent listening to the two men. That must have been why Aaron's mother died- because the same person who attacked Aaron hated his mother and killed her.

"Sir, would you please come with us?" one of the two ambulance workers asked, guiding Yuki into the back of the van. Yuki was crying and it seemed like his hair went two shades grayer.

"Hey, sir, take me to the hospital please," Tsuki asked Momiji. "That's my best friend that got hurt."

"Sure kid. Come on." He ran into his car and once she got in they followed the screaming ambulance.

Screeching to a halt at the curb, Tsuki jumped out of the car and raced inside. "Hey, hey! When can Aaron Sohma see visitors?" she requested. The lady sitting at the desk looked up at her and answered, "Let me check. Ah, here it is. He can't see anyone for several hours."

"Then I'll stay right here. Where's his father?"

"Yuki Sohma? I believe he's sitting in the emergency waiting room." Tsuki nodded and headed for the room, not bothering to wait for Momiji.

"Hey, Sohma-san, are you here?" She looked around the room to see Yuki sitting in a far off corner, head in his hands. Tsuki walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"We didn't care." Yuki's voice startled her, but she didn't speak. "Why would we? We loved each other very much. Her parents were castaways, and we didn't mind that we, too, would be castaways. As soon as my mother found out we had married, she had disowned me and Akito had given me a slight beating. I never knew he would do the same to Tohru.

"After the Sohma family had found out Tohru had given birth to Aaron, twelve of our relatives came to visit us. They were all people Tohru had touched in one way or another. Shigure, Kyo, Kagura, Momiji, Hatori, Haru, Kisa, Hiro, Ayame, Ritsu, Rin, and Kureno. That was when Akito demanded that he see Aaron and that Tohru take Aaron to him. Tohru didn't know what else to do, so she went alone. She said that she thought Akito might hit Aaron.

"Hatori had somehow extracted what happened from Akito. He had spoken to Tohru for a couple of minutes, but when she revealed that she didn't have Aaron he screamed and threw himself at her in a rage. He… he…" Yuki's body began to shake, but he continued. "Akito had broken her ribs, causing her lungs to be punctured and had deeply cut her face. Several of her lower body internal organs had ruptured as well. He left her when he realized she was close to dying.

"Kyo and I reached her only to hear her final words. She told me to take care of Aaron, but I failed."

"No, you couldn't have failed," she said softly. He looked over at her, surprised. "You were trying to take care of him the way you thought was best, keeping him away from the world. But you realized that eventually you needed to expose him to the rest of us, which you did. I thought he was a little sheltered at first, but he is one of the most intelligent people I know. He knows more about a lot of stuff than the rest of us."

Yuki gave her a watery smile. "You're his Tohru. Kyo was right. Kaibara High did change him like it changed us," he thought, looking at her. "Thank you. He's lucky to have you as a friend."

"No problem," she laughed. "I'm the super-special person whom he first really talked to."

They sat in silence, both nervous about Aaron. At last, a doctor came in and headed over to them. "Sohma-san. Your son is fine. He is accepting visitors now." Yuki brightened and stood up, eager to see his son. Tsuki stood up as well.

-x-x-

"Aaron! It's Tsuki!" Aaron opened his eyes to see his friend.

"Hey Tsuki. How did you know I was hurt?"

She frowned. "Well it was obvious. I was heading for your house, and then the ambulance was heading over to that huge Sohma estate. I ran to find out what was going on."

"Father… why did he hurt me?" Aaron asked suddenly, looking over at his father.

Yuki couldn't answer right away. He took a deep breath, then looked directly at his son. "He hated your mother. Akito thought that she had stolen his Zodiac from him. Then when I had married her, he gave me a similar beating that he gave you, but on a light scale. It was after you were born and the rest of the family found out that he went after you. Your mother met him and he attacked when he found out you weren't with her. She told me to take care of you Aaron."

"Mother… died because of me?" Aaron asked, eyes welling with tears. "Father, do you hate me now?"

"Geeze, there you go again Aaron. You're too serious. Lighten up. No way can your dad hate you. If he did, why would he have kept you?" Tsuki let out a rush of air in an annoyed way.

"You're right Tsuki. You always are."

"Hey, someone has to be your best friend." She smiled and reached to hold his hand. "I'm here for ya Aaron."

"I knew it. You are his Tohru."

Laughter rang out as the wedding party headed outside to see the bride and her groom off. The whole of the Sohma family, nearly two hundred, was present, as were Tsuki's family and her and Aaron's friends. "Thank you!" they cried, waving goodbye.

"She was his Tohru," Kyo said to Yuki.

"Yes. And she always will be."

I was doing something today and thought, hey, what if Tohru died and left Yuki to care for their son? What would his life be like? Because of this thought, this 2,970 worded story was born! I stuck my OC Aaron in there (some of you may remember from the story he was in that I deleted... I changed him a teensy bit 'cause Sakura Haruno doesn't exist here). I made up his friend Tsuki on the spot because I didn't want to name her Sakura- even though apparently it's a very popular name in Japan.

Thanks for reading!

Raye