The light hurt his eyes as the door to the dark room opened wide enough to allow a slender body to pass through. He recognized her smell and her touch as she slid to the floor beside him and wrapped her arm around him. His eyes had adjusted well enough to make out the sharp features of the person sitting beside him. After the last member of the zodiac was freed, all that was left were God and the cat. The spirits within them called out to each other so strongly that they could not bear to be separated; they ate together, slept together and sometimes bathed together. Having spent the past two weeks confiding in each other, there were no longer any secrets between them. They were like children who lost their mother, clinging to each other; desperately afraid they too would lose each other.
"It's strange isn't it?" she questioned as she rested her head on his shoulder, "I never thought it would be this way."
"Me either," he said pulling her closer.
The room was quiet as the pair sat silently. Neither of them really wanted to be there, but something inside them demanded the nearness of the other. They were the last in the cursed chain of the Sohma family. One by one the links had snapped drawing them closer together until the need to be near each other grew beyond a mere obsession into a basic need.
Akito raised her head and turned to look at the boy beside her.
"I never noticed" she said as she contemplated the orange hair that fell haphazardly onto his forehead. She was captivated by the brilliance of his eyes, the gentle curl of his lashes, the strength of his jaw line, the soft slope of his nose, and the curve of his lips.
"How could I have not noticed?" she asked skimming her fingers along the softness of his cheek. "You've always been here, and yet I didn't see you; not you, only that thing. The thing you became because your pain was so great."
"I never realized…" her voice trailed off as she wiped his tears and hugged him to her bosom. "I never realized that you have been waiting all this time," Akito continued speaking in words that were not entirely her own. "You've been here all this time waiting. Waiting for me. I made you wait for so long. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. You were the one who would never leave me and I pushed you away. You were the one who really wanted to be with me. I pushed you away for all this time. I locked you in cage to keep you near enough to torment, but far enough to punish."
"I am truly sorry. Can you please forgive me?" she asked the crying figure against her chest.
She heard no answer as his warm tears soaked the front of her kimono and his sobs shook her body. She pulled him closer as she turned and wrapped her legs around his body. The arms around her tightened as a jolt of electricity passed through them.
"Kyo" she said as she slid her hands around his body.
"I don't feel angry anymore;" he whispered trembling in her arms, "The bitterness is gone away."
"Kyo" she moaned his name softly while loosening his grip on her. "Please Kyo."
"No" he rasped as he tried to pull his arm away from her.
"Stop please. Akito-sama, please stop. Please. Please stop," he begged as he felt the coolness of her fingertips sliding along the inside of his wrist.
"Don't," he begged as she slid her index finger inside the beads that had been his lifeline for so long.
Her palm grazed his wrist as she quickly turned her hand, destroying the delicate string that had protected him for so long. He howled as the force of her intrusion sent tiny beads of blood and bone rolling across the floor.
Neither of them could breathe in that small space of eternity; the stench was too great. They struggled for oxygen but could not escape the sweet scent of Akito's shampoo as it hung heavily in the air. Neither of them noticed that a single bead had escaped beneath the doorway. Neither of them heard the struggle outside the door as their shrieks filled the air. Neither of them cared as Akito buried her face in the soft sensitive skin of Kyo's exposed neckline.
"Let me in Hatori!" Shigure yelled jumping to his feet outside the doorway.
"Move out of the way, Shigure!" Kazuma commanded roughly shoving Shigure aside in his haste to get to his son.
"Stop it both of you!" Hatori ordered, arms outstretched barring the entryway to the room that was the source of concern.
"Stop it and look!" he said pointing to the small bead that made its way into the hallway, "Take a deep breath, both of you. Do you smell it? "
Shigure stood frozen as Kazuma collapsed into a heap on the floor.
"I don't smell anything. I don't smell anything," the older man cried as tears of jubilation rolled down his face.
"He's free! He's free! My son is free!" he exclaimed rocking back and forth pounding his fist on the floor.
"He's free! He's free! He's free! He's free! He's free!" he sang losing his breath and beginning to hyperventilate. Kazuma gasped for air as Hatori reached inside his medical bag and pulled out an oxygen kit to assist him.
"Calm down," the doctor instructed, "we can't be sure of anything yet since they are still in that room."
"I'm not angry," Kyo repeated in disbelief offering no resistance as the weight from her body slowly forced him to the floor.
"I don't want to leave. Please don't send me away, not now that you finally see me." He silently whispered to the goddess who was peering down at him.
"Don't leave me. Not you too. Don't leave me. Please, I don't want to be alone. I made you suffer for so many years. The isolation, I can't take it. Please don't leave me," she begged pressing her body on top of his.
They held each other tightly as Akito's tears fell onto Kyo's eyes mixing with his tears before rolling as one engorged droplet down his face and onto the floor. . Both of them had felt the piece of the bond that was the cat's anger and isolation snap into oblivion and they were afraid it would not be long before the rest followed.
"I don't want to be alone," Akito whispered, her words flowing into Kyo's mouth beneath hers, "Everyone always leaves me. My father, Yuki, Kureno, Shigure, Ayame, Hatori, Momiji, Isuzu, Kisa, Hiro, Ritsu, Hatsuharu, Kagura, they all left. Please Kyo don't leave me. I don't want to be alone. I never wanted to be alone. Let's stay together forever, just the two of us"
Kyo was torn. More than anyone he understood how it felt to be ostracized, but he had seen what Akito's version of staying together had cost Kureno and it was a cost he was not willing to pay. The cat inside him didn't want to leave its goddess, but Kyo didn't want to chain himself to Akito now that he finally had a chance for true freedom.
"I promise you won't be alone" he said choosing his words carefully to compromise with the conflicting voices within him. He had always wanted to be accepted as a member of the Sohma family and acknowledged as a part of the zodiac, but he also wanted to be free to choose his own destiny with the support of that family.
He sat up pulling Akito into his lap and stroking her hair. He knew that he couldn't leave her entirely, not entirely. The Akito he'd come to know was so much like himself, or what he would have become without Shishou, that it scared him. Ren had managed to evade capture and barge into the room on more than one occasion, but her brief visits had left a lasting impression on both Kyo and Akito.
"No wonder she's so messed up" he thought, "Ren makes my father seem like a loving parent. She had no balance, no one to teach her. I can't promise her forever, but I can't leave her. I can't leave her"
Kyo planted a tender kiss on her forehead as he rocked her in his lap. He'd never been that close to a girl before, but now it was like second nature. He'd never been that close to Akito and now he couldn't leave her, not totally. The years of sadness in her eyes mirrored his and he knew that somehow, they were the key to each other's future. He felt her body relax as she slowly fell asleep in his arms.
He wasn't sure when or how long he'd been asleep when he was awakened by Akito stirring beside him. He slowly opened his eyes and found her face right next to his. He'd seen her in all stages of wakefulness, but there was something strange about her. Her eyes were glazed, her cheeks were flushed and her breath was ragged. She grabbed his hand and placed it between her breasts. Her touch felt different; it was hot and cold at the same time as she placed her palm on his chest. She moved closer to him, crushing their hands between them.
"I understand now, Kyo. I understand what to do to keep away the loneliness," she panted smiling maniacally.
"I understand," she said as she wrapped her legs around his and rolled him onto his back using her shoulders as leverage.
"Do you feel it?" she asked as she gently kissed his lips and straddled his hips.
Kyo's eyes widened in fear as Akito pressed against him. They'd been in close proximity for 14 days, but nothing like this had ever occurred. Her eyes were wild and her breathing was heavy and labored. He knew what type of relationship she had with both Kureno and Shigure and he didn't want that. He began to struggle in an attempt to get from beneath her. She was surprisingly strong for someone that slender as she easily held her position.
"Get off me please" Kyo pleaded. He wasn't sure how much longer he could suppress his teenage body's response to a woman's warmth against him, "Please stop. I'm not Kureno."
"I know. That's why I'm doing this. Relax. I'm not going to hurt you," she said freeing one hand to stroke his hair. "Relax and you will understand."
Kyo lay still as his struggling was only making his situation more difficult.
"Do you understand now? Do you feel it?" Akito asked once more as Kyo submitted beneath her. "I felt it. I've been fighting it all day, but now I understand. This is how it has to be. All this time they were waiting for each other. It was only after I went to sleep that I stopped fighting and it was able to assert itself."
Kyo closed his eyes as Akito stopped pressing down so forcefully. He prayed that she wasn't going to try to do that to him. He began to relax once he realized her hands were beside her head on his chest and her breathing became slow and steady. He felt something similar to what he felt earlier when the monster form left, but stronger.
"You feel it now don't you?" Akito whispered, "You can see it, can't you?"
Kyo felt like he was floating instead of laying on a futon in the middle of a cold floor. "What is this feeling?" he wondered as he felt himself get lighter and lighter.
"I can feel them," he said as his breathing pattern slowed to match Akito's and his body felt further and further away.
They inhaled in unison as the vision of an orange cat slowly winding its body around the legs of a smiling god swam before their eyes. Their bodies shuddered as one when the cat leapt into the god's outstretched arms. A moan escaped their lips as the cat slowly began to nuzzle the cheek that had been lowered to receive its loving gestures. The pressure between them was suddenly relieved as both the god and cat vanished before their eyes. The final chain was broken.
Neither of them was sure if it was a dream or reality as they seemed to sink back down into their sweat drenched bodies. Their hearts beat erratically as they struggled to catch their breaths. Each of them was ensure of exactly what had happened as they searched the other's eyes for some type of clue or explanation. The only answer was the empty silence of finally being alone with solitary thoughts.
Shigure was the first to notice the sliding door opening and was surprised to see Akito stepping out without her constant companion. He wrapped his arms protectively around her and guided her into the hallway before instructing a maid to go find Hatori and Kazuma.
The sun was shining brightly on Kyo's sleeping figure as Kazuma walked through the door. He looked around the room for traces of blood fully aware of Akito's violent side and her punishment for so called betrayals. He was relieved to find none as he leaned over his sleeping child.
"He's never slept like this before" Kazuma noted as Kyo snored quietly. His concern and excitement got the best of him as he began to shake his son awake.
Kyo rose slowly and looked around the room, "Akito…," he began.
"She's outside with Shigure. She seems to be fine, but Hatori is checking her just to be sure. How are you feeling?" Kazuma questioned.
"I'm not sure. It doesn't seem real." Kyo honestly replied. "Will I be able to come home now? I need some time to think."
Kazuma just smiled as he helped his son off the futon. He didn't bother to hand him a change of clothing as he led him out of the room, down the hallway and out of the door.
Author's note: Thanks to Lunaticneko and Boopy1014 for beta-reading.