-1He'd never felt like this, not ever with her. It was a deep, fluttery feeling in his heart, tingling and whirling around, stirring new emotions and thoughts when he looked in her eyes. The fact was, however, he could never have her. She was not meant for him, she was meant for another.

Kana had been different. She, though kind and beautiful, did not seem to have that innocence, that tenderness that she had. She was sweet, in a way that only a young woman such as her could be, but still..

Tohru was different.

"When the snow melts, what does that become?"

"Oh! That's easy! It becomes spring.."

And the cold winter in his heart was changing. He didn't have to pretend around her. He didn't have to act as though he didn't care, he didn't have to hide away from her, never touching, never feeling.. She knew. She knew about him, what his family knew, and through it all she smiled, her bright, tender smile.

Akito, of course, didn't look lightly on the swift, secretive looks they shared. He had his little spies, the little members and people he controlled, who saw their meetings, heard their words and felt their love, though hidden and dark. And so, he was punished.

She was ignored. She was hurt.

She left. Just as Kana had done before her. Left when things got difficult. But Kana hadn't remembered.. Kana couldn't recall their love. Tohru could, he knew. She remembered everything. And she still left him.

And once more, spring became winter, cold, dark snow covering his heart, drifting away from his cousins and the other zodiacs that knew of them, their touches and words and breaths..

But then she came back. Her eyes, full of tears, and without thinking, she hugged him. Holding him in her hands, she apologised, her dripping tears all that he needed to live. She told him she was wrong, she should have stayed.. So many things. And he forgave, and they forgot, and things were as they should have been.

But, as always, good things never last. In his mind, he knew, but he held onto her, he grasped her hand, and she became Tohru Sohma, joining with him and being his, more so than she ever was anyone else's. But then, the happy news that should follow with the birth of a child disappeared.

As her grandfather hugged their daughter, she changed, becoming a tiny little horse in his arms. And as Tohru looked up, crying for the curse their girl would have to bear and for the loss of a family member, he and she shared a look, knowing that nothing would be the same. He would have to live without being able to hold his wife, but he could hold his daughter.

Years passed, and Matsuro grew, fate leading her path. She always questioned why daddy would hug her and why he never hugged mama, she asked if he didn't love mama, was that why? And her daddy would laugh, and say that he loved mama so much that he would die for her, and that nothing would stop him from hugging her if he could. Matsuro was confused, but questioned no longer.

Years after, when Matsuro learnt of the curse, when she knew her own fears and the darkness that they all had, Tohru became ill.

He was stricken with worry. Yes, he was a doctor, but he stumbled in his thoughts, his worry clouded his mind.. He didn't think as he should have. Still, he tried, and she got worse and worse, falling, leaving.. Drifting. She knew him, still, and whispered his name every night as he lay beside her, the illness inside her spreading, catching hold of her and tightening it's grip.

There was nothing he could do.

On her bed, surrounded by her friends, unable to hug half but shakily smiling at them as her last breaths fell. Her last word was his name, echoing in the darkness as he held her hand, her shuddering frame falling into the endless dark that was death.

Tohru left.

Hatori drifted.