DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters or story line.

A/N: This is my first fanfiction for Fruits Basket so just bear with me and enjoy.

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The curse was finally broken for the Zodiac members of the Sohma family, but Akito still had a tight hold over all the family no matter how hard Tohru tried to reach out to him and heal him. She knew it must had been hard on him knowing that he had been born only to die because of the Zodiac curse but the curse was gone and she still couldn't figure out why he held such a tight reign over everyone.

Tohru couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with that fact that despite the curse everyone had begun to heal and be happy since meeting her. She wondered if she was the reason for his hatred and cruelty. She had so hoped that she could have healed his heart enough for him to begin to be happy as well, but no matter had hard she tried he just wouldn't let her in.

Sitting there on the front porch, watching Kyo and Yuki fight as only a cat and rat could she continued to let her mind wander. What could she possibly do to make Akito happier? What was it that made him so hateful? If only she could find out. Tohru sighed. Maybe she'd find out something when she went to the Sohma House today.

She had cooked for hours making rice balls and miso soup among other things. She had everything packed away in a basket and now she was only waiting for Yuki and Kyo to go their separate paths so she could slip away unnoticed. She was lucky that Shigure was gone for the week on some business venture because it would have been a lot harder to go about her plan with him there as well.

"You stupid rat! I'm done fighting with you!" Tohru's thoughts were broken when Kyo shouted. She watched has he and Yuki turned and walked and different directions. Now was her chance. She rushed inside and grabbed her basket. Keeping her eyes open, watching everywhere to make sure they wouldn't see her she slipped away and headed towards Sohma House where she would once again try to breach the barrier around Akito's heart.

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Sohmas House was just as deserted as it always was. It seemed like a ghost town more than ever now that the curse was broken and the few who were unafraid to go behind Akito's back began to venture out and makes lives of their own.

Tohru walked right up to the main part of the house knowing where she'd find Akito. He was always in the same place here at the Sohma House. It was his sanctuary. Removing her shoes at the door she padded along the halls in stockings, her foot falls barely making a sound. When she reached the door where she knew Akito was hiding behind she slowly slid it back.

Tohru watched as he sat with his head bowed. This was typical for Akito but this time she could see his shoulders shaking. Was he crying?

"Akito?"

Akito jerked at the intrusion and pinned her with a glare so cold she felt shivers shake her from head to toe. When he noticed it was her for the first time his gaze softened. "Tohru enter."

It sounded like a command but Tohru could here a question in there. It seemed like he was giving her the chance the turn and walk away. She hadn't come all this way just to turn back now. Taking a deep breath she slid the door open the rest of the way and entered closing it back behind her.

She kneeled before him only an arms length away. She knew how dangerous this could be for her because of another time she had come here. She mentally shook herself. She was not going to let the past keep her from her purpose today. She placed the basket she had brought with her before her and gave it a gentle push offering him the gift.

"What have you brought for me Tohru Honda?" Akito opened the basket and pulled out the food she had prepared for him. His eyes looked into hers. "Did you cook all this for me? Why?"

"I wanted to do something nice for you Akito."

He studied her as only Akito could. His silenced unnerved her but she kept her eyes locked on his. Finally a small smile pulled at his lips and her heart did a stutter in her chest. How handsome he was when he smiled.

"Join me?"

She nodded and smiled at him. Reaching for the food they ate in silence. Both were lost in their own thoughts and musings.

Finally Akito spoke. "Tohru come back tomorrow and see me." It was a dismissal and Tohru knew well enough not to push him. She nodded and stood. Almost out the door Akito whispered, "Thank you."

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"What are you going to do Miss Honda?"

Tohru glanced at Yuki. She didn't want to lie to him but she knew he'd insist on her staying away from Sohma House if he knew that she planned on going there. "I thought I'd go see a friend today." That wasn't a complete lie and she knew he'd think nothing of it.

"Well have fun then Miss Honda. Kyo is gone off somewhere and since Shigure isn't here I thought I'd go spend the day with that brother of mine."

Tohru smiled. Yuki was trying to hard to get to know his brother. He had disliked him for so long but finally he had decided to give it a try and try to get to know him. Tohru had to admit his brother was a bit on the strange side, so unlike Yuki but so like him in many ways as well. "I hope you enjoy yourself today."

It was over an hour later when the house was empty. Tohru quickly changed her clothes and left. Sohma House seemed different today. The air was fresher and less tense than it had ever been. What was different today than yesterday? Tohru pondered this as she made her way down the hall to Akito.

She knocked lightly on the door before she pushed it open. Her eyes grew big at the sight of all the flowers scattered around the room in vases and on the floor and there Akito sat among them. His eyes weren't cold today. They held a questioning look and something that seemed like hope.

Tohru just stood there. This couldn't be the same man she had known and secretly fallen in love with. Where was the coldness than had been there only the day before? Why did he seem so different and changed today?

"Tohru aren't you going to come in?"

She stepped in and closed the door. She once again kneeled in front of him and when she did he reached his hand towards her face. Instinct told her to flinch away but she held herself still and closed her eyes preparing for the slap she figured was coming but was entirely shocked when all he did was gently place his hand against her cheek.

She opened her eyes and saw his smile. A real smile for the first time Akito Sohma smiled a beautiful happy smile. This was the man she knew had always hid behind the coldness, the man he kept trapped away afraid of allowing himself to be happy even after the curse was broken. This was the man she had glimpsed once before right after the curse broke and this was the man she had fallen instantly in love with.

She turned her face into the feel of his soft hand. His slender fingers brushed past her ear and tangled into her hair. He gently pulled her face towards his and when his lips first touched hers she knew something about him was changed forever. She had finally broken the barrier down.

He broke the kiss and smiled at her. "Tohru your one act of kindness broke something in me yesterday. No one had ever had the nerve to do what you did. When someone came to me they wanted permission to be happy with someone else and it just made me all the more aware of my own loneliness. You, however, came to me not with a wish for yourself but for to bring me a gift. You came for me. It was then I realized that the reason I hated you so much was not because you had helped heal the hearts of every one else but because I wanted so desperately for you to heal my own heart. I realized that in order for you to do that I had to let you into my heart and when I took the chance yesterday I realized that you were my heart. All this time I was jealous of Yuki and Kyo and everyone else but it was my own fault for letting fear keep me from taking the solace you offered. I finally came to understand that somewhere along the line my hatred turned to love and I was scared. The curse was finally broken and I was still scared to live. You, Tohru, gave me back my life with once simple act of kindess. Tohru you are my life."

He stopped speaking and Tohru gazed at him, tears forming in her eyes. She had finally down it. She had healed Akito and for that he could now live happily. She smiled at him before she wrapped herself around him and hugged him. Her body melded to his perfectly as if she were meant to be a part of it.

She felt him breathe into the hair behind her ear before he turned his face slightly and began kissing his way down her neck. She turned her head giving him better access and shivered her his kissed the spot right below her ear. Her hands rose on their own to allow her fingers to tangle in his hair. Grabbing the black beauty of it she guided his face to hers and kissed him.

This kiss started out gentle before turning into to a tornado of passion, tongues battling for dominance. She felt his hands roaming her body and when the reached the hem of her shirt she let him pull it above her head and then removed her bra. She moaned softly when his mouth moved from one breast to the other while his hands moved up her legs and beneath her skirt. When he touched her through the barrier of her panties she moaned again.

He kissed her again using the force of it to gently push her backwards until she lay upon the floor with him hovering above her. He never broke the kiss as he slid her skirt and panties from her and managed to remove his own clothes as well.

She let her hands roam the slender build of his body and the small but well define muscles of his chest and stomach then his back. His skin felt like satin under her fingers. She pulled her legs up to grip his hips and he broke the kiss to trail searing kisses down her neck and chest then down her stomach stopping to run his tongue inside her navel before he placed the hottest kiss on the center of her wanting.

Her back arched off the floor as his tongue and fingers drove her to the brink of insanity and when she thought she would shatter into a million pieces he stopped. She looked into his eyes and gave silent permission to continue. He poised himself above her and thrust forward breaking her maidenhead. He stopped long enough to let her adjust then started to move in a slow rhythm that had her wanting more. She gripped him tightly with her legs and urged him to go faster to go deeper and when he complied her world shattered and her body quaked with brilliant pleasure. She heard him whisper her name before he too dove into the insanity of oblivion.

Together they lay there with him wrapped around her body and his arms lovingly around her. He sighed happily. "Thank you Tohru for saving me…from myself."

Tohru smiled and snuggled back as closely as she could. She had saved the man she had come to love and now he could live not only for himself but for her too. She had taken the chance that no one else would and now she could happily live with the beautiful consequences of her hopeful wishing.