In Memory Of
Anime: Fruits Basket
Written By: Ryu-Takehshi
Prologue:
The young woman smiled brightly as she cradled her newborn baby girl in her arms and rocked her gently.
"Well now, what should we name you, little one?" she asked as the small baby giggled; her eyes twinkling as she smiled.
"You're smile is so cute!" the young woman remarked. "Maybe… Hey, do you wanna be named after one of the greatest people to ever live?"
The child giggled again.
"That's what I thought!" the woman laughed. "So it's settled then!"
"And have we decided on a name for our little girl?" a man's voice wondered. The woman turned around to see her husband walking towards her, carrying the baby's twin brother.
"Actually, yes…" she nodded at her baby girl. "We have come to an agreement, haven't we?" she asked the baby.
"Goo!" the baby smiled.
The woman smiled tenderly as the name rolled off of her tongue. "Tohru…"
The man smiled as well, as if remembering a very fond memory. He looked over to his wife and muttered. "Thank you…"
"And for our son?" the woman tilted her head at the little boy in her husband's arms.
The man rubbed his son's head and almost whispered, "Katsuya…"
The woman walked towards the baby crib and laid newborn Tohru down gently as the phone rang.
"Why don't you acquaint yourself with the new Tohru?" the woman laughed as she left the room to get the phone.
The man laid Katsuya in the crib as well. He looked down at his daughter lying beside her brother and felt a warm feeling in his heart that he hadn't felt in a long while. He reached to touch her head and the baby grabbed tightly onto his finger.
"Hey Tohru…" he nodded as he bent down to lift her up. "Do you like that name? Tohru…? The first Tohru did a lot of great things, y'know?" he told her as he lifted little Tohru up.
Poof…
"N-no…! No!"
The woman came rushing back but paused when she saw her husband knelt on the ground, frozen with fear.
"W-what… happened? Where's Tohru?!" Her eyes drifted to a small, furry… something that lay beside her husband. She brought her hands to her mouth in shock and began to cry.
"No! Why…?" she exclaimed. "It's impossible! That was just a story!"
The man finally got himself together as he shook his head and turned to his wife. "Where's that box? You know… my family heirloom box?"
His wife's trembling hand pointed towards their curio cabinet. "I-in there…"
"Good, now… get some string."
The woman nodded and bolted out of the room, frantically trying to piece together what was going on.
The man stood quickly and opened up the cabinet. There, he found a small wooden box and carefully lifted the cover. Inside the box were large beads, coloured black and white. He closed the box and brought it over to the small, furry thing that had become of his daughter, just as his wife came sprinting back with an elastic string.
"We'll have to adjust it as she gets older, but for now it'll settle as a necklace." He stated as he strung the beads onto the string and made a necklace.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry Tohru…" the man sighed. He put the necklace around her, or rather its, neck and suddenly noticed, "Wait… what if…?" He turned back to his wife. "Pick up Katsuya for me…" he told her.
"Tell me what's going on!" she demanded.
"Please," he told her, putting his arms on her shoulders, "we need to be sure about this, so pick up Katsuya."
She looked down at their peacefully sleeping son. She gulped and bent down to bring Katsuya into her arms.
Poof…
The woman cried louder and knelt to the ground just like her husband did. Another small, furry thing appeared next to her.
The man sighed again as he tried to fight back tears. "No… It wasn't supposed to happen like this…"