AN: Yay! A Fruits Basket fic! These are so cute :) I hope you enjoy this one.
(Tohru's POV)
Having all of those bad things happen to me so suddenly, many people wonder how it is possible for me to smile and laugh and be happy. I always tell them the truth, which is that I know that my mother would not want for me to allow myself to lose my smile and my positive attitude, even when I was faced with so much sadness and loss. There would still be lots of hope and reason for living left in this world no matter what, and I know that the the world may have its fair share of tragedies, but it is still more good than bad.
Three years ago, my mother was killed in a car accident. I felt terrible and could hardly even bring myself to function for some time, but I realized that letting myself get lost in all of the pain would only make things worse. I lived with my grandfather for a while after that, but when he wanted to get some remodeling done on the house I told him that I had friends to stay with so that I wouldn't be any more trouble. My two best friends both did not have enough room in their homes for me, so I decided not to bother asking them and instead went to live alone in a tent in the woods without telling anyone that I had stopped living with my grandpa.
I didn't know whose land it was that I was living on, and I assumed that it was public land so I didn't think twice about moving there temporarily. It turned out that it belonged to the Sohma family, whose son "Prince" Yuki Sohma I recognized as being the object of almost every girl's affection at my school (the funny thing was that he actually ended up being in a relationship with Machi, the one girl who wasn't immediately interested in him.). He was living there with Shigure Sohma, a nice but somewhat perverted author, and Kyo Sohma, the cat in the Zodiac who had developed strong feelings of anger after being judged and rejected by almost everyone, including his own mother who ended up committing suicide "because of him." I don't think it was fair at all that they treated him badly for something that he couldn't even control.
I think that the wonderful ways that the Sohmas were so kind to me made a huge impact on my overall happiness. I met so many great friends such as Yuki, Haru, Rin, Ayame, Ritsu, Hatori, Shigure, Kisa, Hiro, Momiji, Kagura, and maybe even Akito at some point. I also met Kyo. My relationship with Kyo Sohma was a little rocky because of how much he yelled and got mad, but it definitely was, as still is, very important. I had always loved the cat, but I had never realized that I would fall in love with him until I experienced it for myself.
I now live with Kyo in his Sensei's building and I have a very happy life with him; we are even thinking of getting married. We get occasional visits from both my friends and the other members of the Sohma family, who are now finally free of the Zodiac curse. I had to break it because Akito was going to lock Kyo up forever if the curse wasn't broken by the end of our last year of high school.
Today, something very rare is occurring. We are having a visitor. This visitor, though, is not one of our lovingly familiar faces such as Yuki, Haru, Momiji, Shigure, or really any of the former Zodiac spirit holders. This time it is someone who both Kyo and Yuki dreaded seeing or making any contact with for all of their lives, and who hurt them so deeply by exposing all of their fears and insecurities and then using them to get into the most private corners of their Mindel. This person is someone who is extremely important to anyone associated with the Sohma family. This person is Akito.
Although the release from the curse took away a lot of the power Akito had previously held over the Sohmas possessed by the Zodiac curse, they all still feel a strong connection to her, whether it is positive or negative. Kyo now realizes that Akito was under a lot of pressure too and knows that it would be unfair to blame her for everything that had happened to him and all the abuse that he suffered because of her, even though she is no longer a threat at all.
"Why does, uh.. she, have to come visit us?!" exclaims Kyo, "She couldn't possibly wanna see me, who she hates more than anyone!"
"Come on, Kyo. She's gotten over that prejudice by now and you know that." I smile, trying to cheer him up, "I think it's a great opportunity to get to see what a beautiful woman Akito is now and how kind her heart has become."
Kyo laughs, "I still can't seem to think of Akito as being female."
I can see why he feels that way, considering how he grew up with Akito being referred to as, dressing like, and some would say acting like a male. Once someone gets used to something like that, it gets permanently planted in their head and is very difficult to remove. I think the reason why it was easier for me to accept Akito as being a woman was because I had only known her for a little over a year, while they had known her for their whole lives.
"That's perfectly fine." I giggle, "As long as you promise not to say that in front of her."
He sighs, "Okay, I promise. You also have to try not to do anything too clumsy."
"I-I'll be sure to do my best to be as serious as possible-aaaah!" I fall down, tripping over my own feet.
Kyo smiles and chuckles softly to himself, "It's funny how even though you've grown up a lot, you're still the same Tohru that I met three years ago."
"I think it's because the environment a person is in, and even their whole lives, can change, but the spirit inside stays the same throughout it all. A lot of people disagree with that, but it's just my opinion." I explain.
"I don't think that I can agree with you on that. I know that the way I was treated by Akito, and by everyone else, changed who I am. Of corse it disturbed me, but it also made me stronger as a person." Kyo states.
We sit here in silence for a while, waiting for something to happen. It seems like he is a lot more content and way less angry than he was in the first year of knowing him. He hardly ever yells anymore, at least not at me. Sometimes he can't help but get angry at Hiro or Ayame or Shigure, just because of the way they act, but he's already forgiven Yuki. I'm so very happy that he's finally given up his irrational hate for Yuki.
"So, when is Akito coming here anyways?" he asks, breaking the silence.
"In about an hour. I should start making some tea and snacks now because she'll probably be at least a little early based on her previous visits." I walked into the kitchen and started heating the water. We have a nice little living area set apart from the place where Sensei-san trains his pupils.
"You don't really have to do that, you know. He- I mean, she- can go without tea and snacks." Kyo insists.
"I can't do that. Being a nice host, I'm going to have to make her feel at home." I tell him.
"Whatever you say..." he says under his breath.
I go to the water, which is now very hot, and start making the tea and also some cute little cookies. I choose some fruit tea because I think it will go well with the cookies, and although I've never actually seen Akito eat, I'm sure she couldn't turn down delicious sweets. She is human, after all, despite what others say about her, and although it doesn't show through most of the time, deep inside she actually has a very kind heart.
As I expect, Akito comes to the door ands rings the bell, getting here rather early.
"Akito-san! It's good to see you!" I greet her cheerfully, "We haven't seen each other for sooo long!"
"Hello, Honda-san. Are you enjoying life with Kyo-kun?" she asks politely. It's good that she's finally addressing Kyo at least with some respect...
"Yeah, we've been really happy lately. How have you been?" I reply.
"Better than before. Much, much better." she smiles faintly, "It took a while for me to let to of the fact that I'm no longer in control of the Zodiac and that they do not refer to me as their 'god' anymore, but life has actually gotten easier and a lot more simple since then, and the one I have to thank for that is you."
"Well, thanks so much for saying that! I'm honored!" I thank her, "Oh, yeah! I made some tea and cookies for you."
"Thank you, I really appreciate it." she smiles. It's rare to see her so happy, but she really does have a great smile.
We sit down around the small table and begin sipping on our tea and taking small bites of the pastries. Kyo follows, taking the seat farthest away from Akito. It is clear that he is less than eager to be spending time with her.
"How has your training been, Kyo-kun?" Akito makes conversation, "Since you live here you must have lots of time to practice, right?"
"I've actually been helping to teach some of the younger kids. It's great to give all of my knowledge to the younger pupils and to help out. It feels good to help repay my Sensei for everything he's done for me." Kyo explains.
"Is that so?..." she gazes off into the distance.
"Yeah what is it?!" Kyo exclaims.
"Oh; nothing, nothing." Akito says, "It's just that...You've mature a lot, haven't you?"
"Um, I guess you could say that's true. I've just realized, since my life has gotten so much better, that I don't have any reason to be angry anymore." he explains, "I used to take all of the anger I had out on others and I would blame them for all of my problems, but now that I'm so happy for once I don't have anything to get so mad about. It might not make too much sense, but that's really how I feel."
"It makes perfect sense. I know this because I, too, am happier. I thought I needed the power over the Sohma family in order to feel alright, but it really was only making me more depressed." she says, "And I'm, uh... I'm sorry for the way I treated you just because you were the cat in the Zodiac. It was... wrong... of me... to do this..."
I can tell that it is hard for her to apologize and to admit that she was wrong about something, but it's great that she's making some progress towards becoming a kinder person. Some people think that she is just faking it, but I can tell by the look on her face and in her eyes that she genuinely wants to improve. I am so glad that I was able to be a part of this and was able to change her outlook on life.
"Well, ya sure could've told me that damn earlier!" Kyo seems a little annoyed, "But, I'm glad that you think so. All I ever really wanted is to be accepted for who I am as a person, not as some disgusting monster or the unwanted cat."
"I think we all have Honda-san to thank for changing our whole lives for the better." Akito says. It's strange and new to have Akito being kind in a real, non-acting way. The only time, before all the drama of the breaking of the curse, that she was actually "nice" to me was when she visited us at school, back when we had no idea that she was a woman.
"I-I don't know what to say!" I spazz out a little, just like my old self, "It's really me who has to thank the Sohma family for everything you've done for me! I'd still be all alone if it wasn't for you, and I wouldn't have met all of these wonderful people or had as many totally great experiences with all of you if it wasn't for all of your amazing kindness and!-"
I stop myself, not wanting to be annoying.
"I-I, uh, I'm sorry. I was blabbing on again, wasn't I?"
"Yeah, kinda. But it's okay, that's part of what we all love about you." he laughs.
We all end up laughing hysterically together, which is something that is very rare and very special as well. I was expecting our meeting to be extremely serious and business-like, which it was and some points and not at others. I also expected her to be rather cold, mostly because that was how I remembered her as always acting, but about that I couldn't have been more wrong. What I was truly not expecting was for us to have a fun, easygoing time which involved lots of laughing and smiling, but somehow that was exactly how it turned out.
I am so glad to have shared these happy moments with Kyo, who I love so much, and Akito, who had become a good friend and someone close to my heart. I couldn't ask for a better day.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this cute little fanfic! It's one of my first non-yaoi fics and I worked really hard on it. Expect lots more sweet, sometimes romantic and very cute Fruits Basket fanfictions to come, and also updates to my other fanfics that you might be reading. I appreciate all of the readers, followers, favorites and reviewers! :D. You guys make me so happy and warm and fluffy inside :). Love, Lydia...