Kyou stared out the window, watching rain drops slide down the panes. It was a cold day, full of dark skies and distant thunderclaps. The kind of day he'd always hated, the kind that had made the cat within him weak.
But the curse had been broken. The cat within him -- the one that Tohru had loved from the start -- was gone.
His weakness was gone.
Rain drops left trails down the glass. Before they would have made him lose all his strength. Now, nothing.
Kyou got up and went outside, letting the rain wash over him. Free.
I hate the rain. I hate how weak the rain made me, how it took so much energy to just stand up. I hate being weak. I'm supposed to win, to succeed. I'm supposed to be strong.
Yuki -- that darn rat -- has always beat me. I need to win, to beat him for once. Then I'll be free forever. Even if Akito isn't the one locking me away, I need to win.
The curse may have broken, but I still have my weaknesses.
"Hey, Ratboy! Bet I can jump more puddles than you!"
Triumph never felt so free.
Failure leads to weakness, but weakness leads to strength, and strength leads to victory.
I hated the rain. If it was raining, I was sure to be resting, trying to get enough energy to stand up and fight. I needed to fight Yuki, to beat Yuki. Failure wasn't an option.
But I did fail. And so I rested, weak on each rainy day. The curse broke, and I was supposed to be free.
On the next day that it rained, I stood outside and felt every drop of icy water energize me.
I looked around me, saw puddles, and leapt.
Soft rain on my face. I should be tired, should be sleeping. My eyes are open and alert, my heart racing in my chest.
Freedom.
Unless you have been caged, you can't understand the thrill of feeling the world around you. I turn to Tohru and grin. I can't help smiling, not today. I pull her into a hug -- a hug! -- and relish the feel of her warm skin. I let her go eventually, the rain soaking us through to the bone. Cool, refreshing, free.
I hold my hand out to her, bowing.
"May I have this dance?"
Rain was a cage for me. My first cage, not my last. I had never been fully awake -- fully there -- on rainy days. It pent up my energy, drained me of my life.
Akito wanted an iron cage for me, one to keep me from the world.
Yuki wanted a different cage for me, one to keep me from him.
The rain wanted another cage for me, one to keep me from myself.
The curse broke, freeing me from Akito's cage, Yuki's cage, the rain's cage. I'm free.
Now rain is my freedom, and puddles only opened doors.