Author's Note: This is supposed to be like a real episode of Fruits Basket, so, as you're reading, feel free to insert the various pieces of music and silly faces of characters wherever you please. It helps to complete the reality of the story
I was so happy when you smiled
Your smile breaks through the clouds of grey
Far from the sunny days that lie in sleep
Waiting with patience for the spring
When the flowers will bloom renewed again
Knowing there's more beyond the pain of today
Although the scars of yesterday remain
You can keep on living as much as your heart believes
You can't be born again
All though you can change
Let's stay together always
"Hi! My name is Tohru Honda. I'm a 16-year old girl who lives with the Sohmas, a family who has a curse that makes them turn into the animals of the zodiac when hugged by the opposite sex, or when under extreme pressure. The reason I came to live with the Sohmas is because my mom died in a car accident at the beginning of the school year. That's when I met Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure! They in turn helped me meet Momijii, Kisa, Hatsuharu, Hatori, Hiro, Ritsu, Kagura, and Akito. Akito is the head of the Sohma family, and was the cause of the Sohma's curse. I confronted him, and made him realize all the harm he was causing the family. Hopefully, he'll come to his senses. But right now, I'm back in school! A fresh start to an otherwise interesting year…"
The sun shone clear and bright on the smiling faces of Tohru Honda and Yuki Sohma. It had been their first day back in school, but this year was going to be completely different. Now that they were in college and Akito had stopped his evil ways, Tohru and Yuki looked forward to, could it possibly be?...freedom. From all the worries they could think of. Kyo's heart was free from exile, Akito's from despair…the Sohma family was really beginning to BE a family again. Yuki thought about this as he smiled warmly at Tohru.
"How about we stop at the garden?" he asked, "So we can pick up some vegetables for dinner?"
"What a great idea!" Tohru replied, her smile growing ever wider.
Just as they were pushing back the shrubs guarding Yuki's beautiful garden, their eyes fell upon a body, among the leeks. It was a young girl, with long, flowing black hair and a slender build. She wore an orange top and a silky skirt, and apparently was unconscious. Tohru looked quite frightened, but Yuki took action despite the fear in his heart.
"Let's get her to the house!" he told Tohru, picking up the girl by the shoulders as he spoke.
Tohru took one last look at the girl's pale face and hurried to assist Yuki in hauling her away to the Sohma's nearby house.
Kyo was sitting on the roof of the Sohma house. He was silently waiting for Tohru to be home, wishing he hadn't run away from school after a kid insulted him. He had punched the kid in the stomach and bolted before anyone could say something. A smirk spread on his lips as he recalled this incident. Things were…different, now that Tohru knew about him and all. He still could forgive himself for ever burdening Tohru even more with the wicked side of the cat that he showed no other person. But, to everyone's surprise, Tohru handled the situation with all the kindness and sincerity she had always had. She accepted him, for all that he was. He understood that now, and loved her even more for it.
"Help!"
A voice was heard from the woods surrounding the house. It was Tohru's; she could be seen carrying the body of a girl, along with Yuki, who looked as if he was about to drop.
"Kyo!" Tohru called from the ground, "Kyo!"
Kyo jumped down with cat-like ease from the roof and ran to help. Shigure popped his head outside to see what all the commotion was about.
"I just finished writing my new book!" he said in a sing-songy voice, "want to read i-AHH! Who is THAT?"
"I don't know!" Yuki exclaimed, "She was just collapsed in my garden! She squashed all the leeks…"
"Good thing she did! I hope those damn leeks never grow again!" Kyo said.
"I'll get pillows!" Tohru said, leaving Kyo and Yuki to carry the girl. They buckled under the weight.
"What's the matter, Kyo?" Yuki asked, "Can't carry a girl off her feet?"
"I can carry just fine, you damn rat!" Kyo shouted.
"Could you two just stop fighting for one second and get her inside?" Shigure sighed, opening one of the paper doors.
All three men put the girl down on cushions Tohru had brought in. Kyo and Yuki stood off to a side, panting and staring in disbelief at the unconscious guest.
"Well," Shigure said, "At least we have a comfortable, and dare I say it, beautiful visitor! Ho Ho Ho!"
"Not this time, Shigure" Yuki and Kyo seemed to say together.
Shigure stopped chuckling and scooted over to Tohru with unease.
"Tohru, maybe you should look after her, you know, until she wakes up?" he asked.
"Sure!" Tohru replied, "Let me get some more cushions for her."
"She looks pretty comfy already, Tohru, " Yuki said, laying a gentle hand on Tohru's shoulder.
Tohru stopped. She took one look into Yuki's eyes and nodded. While Kyo stared at Yuki in a jealous rage, they both shuffled out of the room.
She is very pretty, Tohru thought, but how did she end up in Yuki's garden? Is she just a regular person, or a member of the Zodiac? I still haven't met the Chicken or the Horse. I hope she's all right…
Tohru dreamed about the night when Kyo's darker side was revealed to her. She remembered when he changed, when his flesh twisted into a disfigured body of a monster. She remembered when she ran away to her mother's grave, asking it why she was meant to be alive over and over again. And then she saw him. Kyo. He was in a horrible rage, his eyes a terrible shade of red. And he jumped on her, tearing her to pieces while she screamed soundlessly into the night…
Tohru woke with a start. Her body was trembling and her eyes wide with fear. She calmed down as she looked around the empty living room around her. It was the middle of the night, and, by the looks of it, she had fallen asleep at the girl's side while tending to her. After seven hours, she was still not awake. Tohru laid a hand on the girl's pale forehead, smiling despite the horrid dream that still lingered in her mind.
Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open. Tohru let out a shriek in surprise and removed her hand just as quickly. The girl's eyes surveyed the room with surprising calmness, and at last on Tohru. She tore from the bed and ran to the nearest wall, screaming as she went. The figures of Yuki, Shigure, and Kyo appeared at the door, all with frightened faces.
"Just what the hell is going-" Kyo tried to say, before he was stopped in mid-sentence by a sharp blow to the face. The girl, apparently having caught sight of the trio, kicked the nearest one so as to make a getaway. Kyo sank to the floor. Yuki and Shigure caught the girl just in time as she was heading for the exit.
"Quick! Tie her to a chair!" Shigure shouted.
"No!" Tohru said, "She's just frightened! Don't tie her up!"
"She kicked me in the face!" Kyo exclaimed, nurturing his bruised cheek.
"We'll do as Miss Honda says!" Yuki ordered in an authoritive voice.
Shigure slowly gave in, and helped Yuki bring the hysterical girl back to where Tohru was sitting.
"Don't be scared." Tohru said soothingly, "We were only trying to help you. We found in the woods, unconscious. Can you tell us how you got there?"
The girl ceased to be hysterical, and answered Tohru in a slow, pained voice.
"I…I was traveling. I live in a farm province, far away from here. I live with my family, all hard-working farmers. We owned the land together. One day, I decided to leave, because I felt like I had to get out and see the world. My father got angry. He told me that if I left, I would never be allowed to come back. I didn't care, and left anyway. On the way here, I ran out of food, and suddenly it got so hot. I couldn't go on, but I knew I needed to. Next thing I know, I'm here, in this house."
Shigure, Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru all listened with interest. Tohru was the first to speak.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Skye," the girl responded quietly.
"Well, Skye," Shigure said warmly, "You're very welcome to live with us if you want to."
"Does anyone remember what she did to my face!" Kyo said angrily.
"I'm sorry," Skye replied, while the rest looked at Kyo with scolding expressions, "You looked…scary. I've never seen a man with hair as red as yours before."
"It's naturally this color…" Kyo explained, looking down.
"Skye," Tohru said, "Let's get you a room. I'll show you where you can sleep. Oh, and by the way, I'm Tohru Honda, and this is Shigure Sohma, Yuki Sohma, and Kyo Sohma."
"Hi," Skye said, smiling, "Are you all brothers?"
The three looked at one another, and burst out laughing. They laughed until their sides hurt, to the confused face of Skye.
"Kind of," Yuki finally said, wiping his eyes.
Skye was shown to her room, and feel asleep almost instantly upon it. Tohru made sure she was comfortable before going to her own bedroom. There, she saw Yuki standing by her door.
"Good night, Miss Honda," he told her lovingly.
"Good night, Yuki," Tohru replied, smiling.
Yuki then strode off to his bedroom, trying not to make a sound as he went. Unfortunately, Kyo was waiting for him at the end of the hall. He pounced, only to be kicked back by Yuki.
"Dammit!" Kyo shouted, "How did you know I was there!"
"I could hear the sound of your breathing a mile away," Yuki responded.
The sounds of their fight could be heard well into the night. Tohru fell asleep herself to sounds of the cat and mouse fight outside her door.
Skye woke up early the next morning. She walked silently out of her bedroom and tiptoed down the stairs of the ancient Sohma house into the kitchen. Her stomach rumbling, she caught sight of the rice cooker Tohru had placed near the sink. Her mind formulated a delicious idea…
Shigure and Tohru woke up at about the same time, both earlier than Kyo and Yuki, who had fought well into the night.
"Good morning, Tohru!" Shigure greeted cheerfully, "My, my, something smells good downstairs!"
"I smell it, too!" Tohru replied.
They both hurried downstairs, only to find Skye in the kitchen. She noticed their presence and turned around with a tray of…rice balls!
"Breakfast is ready!" Skye proclaimed, the steaming rice balls on her tray.
"What's for breakfast?" Kyo said sleepily, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Rice balls for breakfast!"
"Smells delicious!" Yuki said, rubbing his head and smiling as usual.
All five sat at the table, and the only sounds to be heard were the 'munch munch' of rice being crammed into each person's mouth.
"Thank you for making breakfast, Skye," Tohru said in between bites, "I really appreciate it."
"Fwanks!" Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure replied.
Skye looked cheerful as she, too, chowed down on the early morning food she made. These new people she had met seemed to be nice; they had given her a place to stay, despite her violent behavior when they first met, they shared kind words, even though they barely knew her. Skye felt much more welcome here than any place she had ever been to.
"These are about the only thing I know how to make," Skye said. The heads of the three boys and girl were suddenly attentive. "I never really learned how to cook. Silly, isn't it? You live on a farm, yet can't cook for yourself."
"I can teach you if you'd like!" Tohru said, her face turning bright, "It'd be no trouble at all!"
"Thank you," Skye responded, "That's very kind of you."
"No problem," Tohru said.
There was a moment of silence as Tohru and Skye shared friendly smiles towards one another. Then the silence was broken by the shouts of the mailman outside their door.
"MAIL! MAIL! FOR MISS TOHRU HONDA!" he shouted frantically.
"I'll get it!" Skye said quickly, and rushed to the door.
"I'm your friendly, neighborhood mailman! Mail for Miss Tohru-"
The mailman crashed into Skye just as she was letting him through the door. It crashed down onto the table where Shigure, Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo watched with astonished faces as Skye POOF-ed into a horse!
"AIEEEEE!" The mailman screamed as he came smashing down on top of the door.
All three Sohmas leaped on top of him and ran after the frightened horse, which seemed to be prancing away in shock. Tohru, on the other hand, leaped to the mailman whose eyes were rolling around in their sockets and babbling nonsense.
"Did I just see a girl change into a horse? There was smoke coming from her dress! Someone call the fire department! She's on fire!" the man said crazily.
"It's going to be okay," Tohru said as she tried to calm him down, "Our door caught on fire when I was cooking. It's out now."
"Fire! Where!" The mailman jumped to his feet and ran away in a hurry towards the forest. Tohru could only watch helplessly as he scrambled away, leaving her with the mail he had come to give her. Yuki ran towards Tohru, his shirt covered in what appeared to be mud.
"Miss Honda? Are you okay?"
"Yes, Yuki. I'm fine. I hope that mailman is ok…" Tohru replied.
"He'll be alright," Yuki told her, "We caught Skye. She almost got away. I can't believe she's an animal of the Zodiac! I should have known…"
"Yuki, it's ok," Tohru said, trying to comfort him, "We all make mistakes."
Minutes later, a very tired Sohma family and two nervous girls were all seated around the main table at the front of the house. All eyes were on Skye, their gaze piercing and questioning.
"I was going to tell you, " Skye said quietly, "I didn't want you to throw me out like everyone else has."
"Oh, so you just keep it a secret until we all find out on accident, huh?" Kyo blurted out angrily.
"What Kyo's trying to say is, how long have you been cursed?" Yuki asked.
"As long as I can remember," Skye said, "My family has been keeping me inside all my life, because I can't hug any boys without changing. I can't live a normal life. My spirit needs to be free! Horses aren't meant to be caged up!"
Skye's face suddenly turned angry as she recalled the memories and emotions, a feature Tohru nor the Sohma's had seen before on the young girl's face.
"Why can't I be normal? Why do I have to live a lie?" she shouted angrily.
"We understand how you feel," Shigure said calmly, "You see, we, too, share a common illness. We, too, change into the twelve animals of the zodiac."
Skye suddenly stopped, her eyes turning to every person in the room in disbelief. Shigure blurted out:
"Except for Tohru, of course!"
"It is as he says," Yuki explained, "Our entire family is cursed. We all change into animals of the zodiac, yet live with it as you do. My only question is, I have never seen you before. How are you cursed yet not a family member?"
Skye sat back down, her eyes turning now towards the floor.
"My brother, Akito, ran away when I was very young. Ever since his disapperence my family has been broken and torn in pieces."
There was a timid silence over the table, as if Skye had muttered an evil curse over them all.
"Akito is…your brother?" Kyo finally said, his eyes wide with fear.
"Yes," Skye responded, looking up, "You know him?"
"He is the head of our family." Shigure said softly.
"Family?" Skye exclaimed, "Your cursed family?"
"Yes," Shigure answered.
"I need to see him, then," Skye said defiantly. "I need to talk some sense into him!"
"You can't," Yuki breathed, "He won't let anyone see him now."
"But he's my brother!" Skye said, tears coming into her eyes.
"He's crazy, Skye," Kyo said, "You don't want to see him. It's because of him we are all cursed! He'll hurt you like he tried to hurt Tohru."
Tohru spoke with the voice of a compassionate mother:
"Skye, your brother, the brother you know, he's…not there anymore. Or if he is, he is buried deep under anger and sadness. You can try to go speak with him, but he probably won't listen. I think you should wait a while. Wait until you have the courage to see what your brother really is, not what you believe him to be."
Skye looked at Tohru, taking in her words, hard as they were to hear.
"I'll wait then," she said at last.
The leaves rustled gently in the wind. The sun broke through the trees above to reveal a truly beautiful sky as Tohru Honda and Skye Sohma walked across the Sohma grounds on their way to Yuki's garden.
"It's so hard to believe," Tohru spoke, "that a nice young girl like you is really Akito's sister."
"Well, he was never mean when we were growing up," Skye said, looking up, "He was as nice and gentle as I am now, that is, until strangers came to our house one day."
"Strangers?" Tohru asked.
"Yes. They came to speak with my parents about Akito, and the next day he left. I think he went with them. I not only came here to escape farm life, but to search for my brother, whom I wish to see again."
"I'm sure you will," Tohru said tenderly.
Both girls continued to talk, while the scenery around them moved in and out on its daily business. The trees swayed with the breeze, birds chirped delightedly, leaves blew with the flow of the wind. It was then that Skye decided to show Tohru how she felt.
"Let me show you something," Skye said.
"Make me upset."
"Why?" Tohru asked, confused.
"Just do it," Skye said confidently, "It won't hurt me."
Tohru walked over to Skye and slapped her…but all Skye felt was a mere touch.
"C'mon Tohru Honda!" Skye barked, "I KNOW you can do better than that!"
Tohru took one look at Skye's enthusiastic face, and slapped her as hard as she could.
BAM! The hit could be heard all the way at the Sohma's house. Yuki, Shigure, and Kyo looked up in surprise from their lunch.
"Good shot," Skye mumbled, before tears began to well up in her eyes from the pain. Before Tohru knew it, the POOF had already happened, and Skye had transformed into a horse.
"Get on!" she neighed.
Tohru obliged, and as soon as she seated herself upon Skye's back, she was carried off at a great speed. Skye was letting Tohru ride her! The wind was upon her face, and the sun in her eyes, and Tohru had never felt so alive before in her life! She let out a cry of excitement as Skye led her back in the direction of the Sohma house. Skye neighed, and suddenly the house was in sight. Kyo, Shigure and Yuki were racing towards them, not knowing Tohru and Skye were already well on their way. The three Sohmas had only enough time to dodge out of the way when they saw the slender horse and jostled Tohru emerge from the greenery! Shigure laughed in delight when he realized what was happening, and the laugh spread to Yuki and Kyo, who had been so worried before.
"Thank you, Skye," Tohru could be heard saying later that day, "It was really a wonderful experience for me!"
"Your welcome, Tohru," Skye responded joyously, "I just hope we can see each other again soon."
"Visit whenever you like!" Shigure said eagerly.
"Just don't come galloping in and break down the door," Kyo instructed, smirking.
"Really, you're welcome anytime," Yuki said, smiling warmly.
"Thank you for everything," Skye answered, "I will be back soon, I promise!"
She made a face as if remembering something. "I almost forgot! I want you to have this." She handed Tohru a necklace, with a locket in the shape of a horse's head. "So you'll never forget me, okay?"
"Okay," Tohru said, holding it close to her heart.
They all waved goodbye as Skye Sohma left, her raven-colored hair shining in the moonlight.
"She was really something, wasn't she, Kyo?" Shigure said, while writing his newest romance novel.
"Not anything special, if that's what you mean," Kyo responded heatedly.
"I'm not suggesting anything!" Shigure said quickly, "But you did tend to steal glances at her bedroom last night…"
"IT'S NOT LIKE YOU WEREN'T EITHER!" Kyo shouted angrily.
"What! I'm just saying you liked her, that's all!" Shigure replied with a taunting face.
"I DID NOT, YOU PERVERT!"
Meanwhile, outside the Sohma house, Yuki and Tohru were sitting quietly, staring up at the night sky.
"You think she'll ever come back?" Yuki asked, looking at Tohru.
"I think she will," Tohru responded, "She felt like we're her only family now."
"Tohru?" Yuki said, looking up at the sky.
"Yes, Yuki?" Tohru answered, turning her head to face him.
"Just promise me you'll never leave, you know, like she left,"
"She didn't leave, she just…"
"We need you here." Yuki looked at Tohru, his eyes glittering, "with us."
"I'll never leave," Tohru said, promising to Yuki, "not when I have everything I need here."
Pleasant supper, now let's gather around.
Look to this day's tears to bring tomorrow's strength.
La La La, A wonderful feeling, love and life
La La La, Loveable, love and life
To the day that was given our best
Along with a 'goodbye' and 'thank you',
Let's end it smiling,
That is my small prayer.
When the spring flowers bloom,
And the greenery sprouts,
Look, some of the tears
Are floating away on the wind!
La La La, A wonderful feeling, love and life
La La La, Loveable, love and life