Lilies

A/N: Yay, second chapter! Now is the real story. Hope this interests you. I think she has an interesting past, but that might just be me… then again, you don't even know her past yet! So…. Anyway onto the story! BTW: "…" means like a passing of time.

Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Fruits Basket or any of its characters and I sadly never will. That happiness belongs to Natsuki Takaya. However, I do own my lovely Maddy Wilde.

First person point of view: Maddy

Chapter 2: Onto Japan

"Mom, Dad. I want to do something really badly, except I need your help to do it..." I said to my mom and dad as confidently as I could manage. I felt bad asking them for money, especially when I still lived under their roof.

"What is it you need our help with, Maddy?" my mom asked.

"Well…the thing is I really want to go to Japan in the student exchange program at college, but I can't afford it…so I was wondering if you would help me out with the money," I said quietly, my head hung low.

My mother and father looked at each and then looked back at me. "We'll think about and get back to you, okay?" I just nodded and walked to my room.

"Maddy! Could you come downstairs for a minute, please!" my father called up for me.

"Coming!" I shouted and went downstairs to see what they had to say. I walked up to them sitting at the table together. "Yes?"

"Well, we've been thinking your exchange program over very seriously and we've decided that we will help you with the expenses," my mother said with a beam plastered on her face, my father with the same expression beside her.

"Really?" I squealed, my excitement boiling over in me. I can't believe it! I'm going to Japan!

"On one condition," my father said holding a finger up, "you have to promise to do great in college in Japan." I nodded vigorously. He beamed and pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Oh, a whole year with you gone in a completely different country! I'm going to miss you so much!" my mother said, tears in her eyes but a grin still on her face.

"I'll miss you too. I'm going to start packing! Only two weeks until I leave, I still have to get the plane tickets and program information from school…" I said, trailing off thinking about all the things I still had to do in two weeks before I flew off to Japan, before I escaped…

…Two weeks later...

"Prepare to descend in Tokyo, Japan. Everyone please buckle their seatbelts and make sure that all of your luggage is secured above you. Two minutes until descent. Thank you," the plane intercom announced.

"Finally," I sighed. This had been the longest plane ride of my life. I'm so going to have severe jet lag later. I thought to myself.

The plane descended and people were allowed to leave to go to the airport to get their things. I had to wait a half an hour for my luggage to find its way to me. I stepped outside to try and call a cab. I was from a small town so I had never even rode in a cab before, so I had definitely not called one before.

However, I had seen my fair share of movies placed in New York with all of the taxis and cabs, so I decided to take a shot in the dark and just try to call one over. I stuck my hand out into the road, signaling for one. To my great surprise, a yellow cab pulled over. Still shocked, I put my bags in the trunk and got in the back seat. I directed the driver to the hotel complex my parents had put me in.

Once we pulled up, I paid the man and got my baggage. I looked at the complex, and my mouth dropped while my bags fell to the ground when I dropped them in shock. The building was charcoal black and smoking a bit. A man in a green uniform with black soot on it walked over to me.

"Were you planning on staying here?" he asked with sympathy in his eyes. I nodded slowly, still staring at the building.

"Yes, well, as you can see, it has been burnt to a crisp. I'm terribly sorry, but you'll have to find another place to stay, I am sorry for the inconvenience. Have a nice evening," the man, whom I assumed was the manager of the burnt building, said and turned and walked away.

My shock faded and I picked up my bags. I took a deep breath. I didn't have enough money with me to rent another apartment and I wasn't about to ask my parents for more. Then I thought of something that was worth trying. I know! I can afford to buy a tent and then I'll live in that! I can even put it in some woods near the college so it'll be convenient! Perfect!

Honestly, the idea of living in a tent in the middle of the woods wasn't exactly appealing, but it was the best idea I could think of and I knew I could handle it. With these thoughts, I went to find my new college so I could find the forest nearest it after I had gone to the closest store and bought a decent tent.

"Ah, hello Okamura College. Now where is your nearest forest?" I wondered. Then I realized I was talking to a building. I slapped my hand on my forehead.

Luckily, there were woods right behind the college. I went in deep enough so that no one would I was there but not too deep so I wouldn't have to walk too far. I set up my purple tent in a clearing. I threw my baggage into my new little home and crawled in after them.

"Well, I guess it's not too bad… I'll unpack tomorrow. I need sleep so I'll be ready for school tomorrow. It's been a long day…" I breathed, drifting off still in my clothes.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

"What the hell…" I muttered, looking for the source of the insistent and annoying noise that woke me from my peaceful slumber. I soon discovered that it was my digital watch. I narrowed my eyes at it. Then my eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, shit! I'm going to be late!" I yelled and started to get new clothes on and brush my hair. As soon as I looked decent enough, I rushed out of the tent and sprinted through the woods to school.

Out of breath and panting, I ran into my first class, Japanese Literature, just as the bell rang. I sank into my seat and fanned myself with hand to get the heat out of my face from running.

"Hello, class. I am Professor Ukon and this is Japanese Literature. We have a guest today. He is a writer and some of you may know him if you have read his novels. Everyone this is Mr. Shigure Sohma," my Professor said, gesturing to a door from which a tall, handsome man walked him.

He had shaggy black hair and eyes that were full of amusement. He grinned and waved at me. I merely raised my eyebrows at him, wondering why he would wave at just me. Maybe it's because I'm the foreigner in this room. I thought to myself.

"Hi there! I'm Shigure Sohma, the novelist. Have any of you ever read any of my books?" he practically sung his words in a cheery, childish manner. He looked around, seeing if anyone would respond to having read his novels.

Out of curiosity, I looked at the author of the book I was reading. To my surprise, it was actually Shigure Sohma. I raised my hand, not shyly, but boldly. I never acted shy if I could help it. Also, I refused to act like all the girls around me were, blushing and giggling while staring at the man.

He looked at me and my raised hand and clapped his hands in glee. I raised an eyebrow again. He rushed over to my seat.

"Have you really? Which one? Do you like them?" he questioned me endlessly, obviously very pleased that someone had acknowledged a book of his.

I nodded and pulled out my book to show him as proof that I was in fact reading his work. He snatched the book from my hands eagerly to discover which novel it was.

"Oooh! This is a good one! Great choice! What is your name?" he asked, truly curious to know my name. I thought over whether or not I should tell but then figured I didn't really have a choice. I mean, I couldn't say, 'I'm not telling you, you bastard.'

"Maddy Wilde," I answered nonchalantly. His face lit up even more when he heard my name. I wonder why.

"Well, thank you for reading my book, Maddy-chan," he said and stepped away from my desk.

I may be an American, but I do know that in Japan, if you are unfamiliar with a person, you address them with their last name, not their first name. He should have called me Wilde-san. Is he trying to flirt with me? Tease me?

I decided to shrug it off when he left moments later. I heard him muttering something about having to get away from his editor called Mii. I rolled my eyes. Some novelist he is, avoiding his editor.

The rest of Japanese Literature passed without incident. When the bell rang to dismiss the class, I ended up being the last one leaving. I'm always so slow at getting my things together. Just as I was about to step out the door, I noticed a notebook abandoned on the floor. I picked it up, more curious to see what was in it more than whose it was.

I opened it and immediately found out who is belonged to. The name was written on the first page. The notebook belonged to Shigure Sohma. It looked like a brainstorming notebook, filled with ideas for his stories. Feeling kind today, I put it in my backpack to return to him when I could. Maybe I could catch up with him…

I looked for Shigure Sohma all day in between classes, but I never found him again. Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to hold on to it. I thought.

When the school day had ended, the sky was pouring down buckets of rain. The wind was fierce and it was hard to see in front of you with the sheets of rain pouring down. I would have gone straight to my tent (though it wouldn't have been much better) if I hadn't had to go to the store to buy food. Of course, with my luck I didn't own an umbrella. I would have to buy one the next time I saw one in the store.

With groceries in my hands and my backpack on my back, I trudged through the rain, protecting the food as best as I could. I couldn't fit it in my backpack because it was full with books and papers. The sidewalk was slick and slippery, I didn't dare to run on it to get "home", but I walked quite fast.

It all happened so quickly. One second I was on the pavement, rushing in the slick rain in my drenched clothes to get to my little home. The next second, my feet were off the ground and I was rolling down a steep hill that had been next to where I was walking. My bags had already flown out of my hands and were resting on the sidewalk, drenched. I rolled painfully fast down the hill toward a rushing, overflowing stream. My lengthy hair wrapped around me once like rope. I splashed into the stream.

I got caught in the rapid current and was carried down the fast river, fighting to stay above water. Finally, half way down the stream, I caught a rock with my fingertips and pulled the top half of my body onto it before I fainted.

First point of view: Shigure

There was a girl named Maddy-chan in one of the classes I visited today. She was strange though. For one thing, she was from America. For another thing, she didn't blush or lower her head when I got close to her like most girls do. She wasn't shy. She held her head high and put her shoulders back boldly and in defiance. She had been very interesting. Plus, she reads my books! I really do hope I can meet her again… I want to get some kind of reaction from her at least!

I was walking back to my glorious abode when I realized I had left my brainstorming notebook back at the Okamura College.

"Oh, well. I'll just pick it up tomorrow," I said to myself. It was pouring down rain and I could barely see in front of me. I held my dark blue umbrella tight in my hand over my head, but the strong and fierce winds threatened to blow it away.

As I walked swiftly, yet carefully, through the sleet and wind, I noticed some spilled groceries on the pavement. By the way they looked like they had been dropped, it looked like someone had fallen down the steep hill, probably into the brimming stream below.

I looked down into the stream to see if anyone was there. There was no one there, but I continued to watch the creek as I continued along the sidewalk next to it. Halfway down the stream, I finally saw something. Unconscious and hanging onto a rock for dear life, was a girl, who was ghostly pale and drenched to the bone.

It was Maddy.