Hey, everybody! It's me again, here with the 3rd chapter of the Guardians Elemental! I really hope you have enjoyed the previous 2 chapters, and that you enjoy this one as well. Without further ado--besides the Disclaimer--I now present my 3rd installment of this, my 1st Furuba fan-fiction here! (And by the way...sorry for the immensely long delay in updating! Not that anyone actually noticed, but...)

Disclaimer: Although this is getting tiring, I need to say that Furuba is definitely owned by Natsuki Takaya, not me. But my original characters are my own property.

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****Many hours and card games later, the Sohmas and Tohru left the Wilson residence. Everyone went to bed exhausted that night. Thank goodness the next day was a Sunday!****

It was a Sunday. A sweet, glorious Sunday. But not an ordinary sweet, glorious Sunday. This time, the Wilsons, Sohmas, and Tohru all woke up at the exact same time. And they all had just had the same exact dream.

Later that day, Julie again brought out her violin and started playing. But her focus was completely lost a few minutes later--she couldn't stop thinking back to that dream. Marie and Faith couldn't concentrate on doing their homework, and Joe couldn't relax long enough before his mind turned back to that haunting, yet glorious, feeling.

Across the street, Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo were lost in thought that evening at the dinner table, and even Shigure stopped stupidly smiling long enough to contemplate the meaning of the dream they'd all apparently had.

The Wilsons just then heard several loud shouts coming from the Sohma residence. They rushed over to see what the matter was and found an elaborate, silver-haired man, who was apparently Yuki's older brother.

"Uh...this is sorta...out of the ordinary," Julie began, watching the two brothers go at it.

"You can say that again," Marie said, without any emotion in her voice.

"Uh, um, Yuki Sohma-kun...? A-are you OK...?" Faith trailed off as Yuki glared back at her. "Ah! I-I'm so sorry..."

"Mademoiselle? What is this I hear spilling out of your dear, young, tender mouth?!" Ayame-san exclaimed, turning towards Faith and grabbing her shoulders. Then he continued, "I apologize profusely for my younger brother's rudeness to you!" Bowing, his long hair lightly whooshed to the floor as Yuki's throbbing vein grew bigger and bigger. Finally, he exploded.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, TOUCHING MISS WILSON WITH YOUR FILTHY, PERVERTED HANDS?!!" Yuki shouted, his words reverberating through the now silent house.

"Hey! Mr. Prince, y'all gotta calm down a little," Julie interrupted the fight, grabbing Yuki's shoulders. "Don't get so upset over this nincompoop that's supposed to be your older bro. 'Cuz I can tell you right now, you're acting a lot more mature and responsible than he is. I'm not trying to flatter you. It's a fact."

Yuki managed to suppress his anger, blushing as he realized the true value of Julie's words. "Thanks," he murmured. Before he could turn away, Kyo rudely hissed, "Take that, Sir Prince! Gonna stomp up to your room now and cry like a little baby, right?"

Yuki's face was impassive as the room fell deathly silent. "Say that again," he snarled quietly. "Say that again, and see what happens, you idiotic Cat!"

"All right then! You're obviously just gonna stomp right up those stairs to your secluded room, slam the door behind you, and break down crying! Ain't that right, Prissy--AAAAUGHHHHH!!! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR, WILSON?!!"

Marie had slapped him as hard as she could. "You, I'm afraid, need to learn about respect and honor," she muttered. "Someone like you, who is rude to anyone he meets, should at least show himself worthy and dignified in front of someone like Yuki Sohma. But no, no no no no! You're far too good for everyone else sitting in this room right now! Aren't you, young lad...?"

"Marie...?" Faith and Julie had never seen Marie so furious yet depressed at the same time.

"If you'll excuse me." Marie's long hair flowed behind her as she exited the Sohma residence. After taking a few steps, she broke into a run, tears streaming down her face. No...I can't believe I'm back to those dirty feelings again! she screamed inside her head, desperately trying not to break down. Coming to a stop while wiping her eyes with her shirt sleeve, she realized that she was nowhere near home. But which direction should she run in to get back? Darn it...my tears fogged up my vision and I can't tell which way is back home!

"Marie-san? Are you all right?" It was Tohru. She'd instantly taken off after Marie when she saw her run from the house.

"I'm fine," Marie replied, looking anywhere but at Tohru.

"Please, don't take Kyo-kun that seriously. After all, he and Yuki-kun still argue quite a lot. It sounds like I'm just trying to excuse his rude actions back there, but--"

"It's OK, Miss Tohru Honda. Thank you." Marie smiled, then turned towards Tohru. "When I was small...my true parents always loved me. Everything was perfect. As far as I was concerned, nothing bad or repulsive or impure existed. But then..."

"And then?" Tohru prompted her.

"Then, they died in a terrible accident at sea," Marie continued, eyes closed. "And I was taken in by my aunt and uncle. I was relieved and relaxed, because I thought that maybe my life could go back to normal. My life mostly did go back to normal, but my foster parents--as far as I'm concerned, they're not even my relatives anymore--were harsh, mean, and cruel. There was no telling when they'd blow up at me. But of course," she added bitterly, eyes burning with hatred, "they never laid a single finger of the blame on their own bratty, idiotic little daughter. She was called Priscilla, and to this day, I find it hard to believe there even was such a hateful little girl in my lifetime. However, when I relax for the slightest moment...even if it's just a 30-second stretching period...whenever I let my guard down for the tiniest fraction of a second...that's when I remember the horrors of my childhood. And how I decided to simply run away from it all, with my childhood friends Julie and Faith." There was a momentary silence, then Marie bowed to Tohru, saying, "Excuse me for my rambling on and on. I had no intention to tell you--all that--but...eh, well, there's no turning back now, is there?"

Suddenly, a high-pitched, feminine voice squeaked from within the nearby undergrowth, "That's right, you ungrateful little wretch! I knew it, that you'd run away on purpose! But I didn't have the heart to tell dear Priscilla or Richard. Now, though, there's no escaping me--prepare to die, idiotic brat!"

"Aunt Emma? Is that you?" Marie replied as nonchalantly as she could in front of Tohru.

"It is indeed me, stupid imbecile! Who do you take me for?!" the same creaky voice as before screeched.

"Isamu, stop it. RIGHT NOW," a deep voice boomed from further in the undergrowth. The bush leaves parted, revealing a rather disheveled Isamu waving a knobbly old cane. Then a tall woman with waist-length, tied-up blonde hair stepped out from behind a tree.

"Bonjour, mes amies!" a dancing girl, waving her arms excitedly as her eyes shone, exclaimed brightly, jumping out of the nearby oak tree (miraculously landing on the ground 15 feet below without a single scrape).

"Édith Dorothée Wilson...what are you doing here...?" Marie asked.

"Eh?! You know her, Marie-san?!" Tohru exclaimed.

"Yes, she does know her. I myself am Atsuko Hanako Wilson, another one of Marie, Faith, and Julie's cousins."

Tohru was shocked. But that deep voice...I thought it was a man who said it!! AAHHHHHHHH!!

"Hey, Marie! There you are. Listen, you OK?" Julie's voice was very serious and her eyes softened as she came over to Marie, followed by Yuki, Kyo, Joe, and Shigure.

"She's fine...Isamu there certainly shocked her for a second, though," Atsuko replied before Marie could even open her mouth.

"You all seem to be having fun...mind if I join in?" a kind-voiced, gentle-eyed young man asked as he peeked his head out from behind a tree.

"Huh? Daichi...what's going on? Why are you here, of all places?" Julie asked, flabbergasted.

"Eh? Another Wilson?" Yuki and Kyo said at the same time. Realizing what had happened, they promptly turned away from each other and muttered, "Hmph!"

"Hello! Pleased to meet you all. I'm Daichi Hachirou Wilson, cousin of Julie, Marie, and Faith," he said, turning to the Sohmas and bowing.

"Why'd you let them know about the curse?" Atsuko whispered in Julie's ear.

"It wasn't my fault! That idiot Hothead over there--" Julie jerked her thumb back towards Kyo--"fell on top of me, causing me to transform!!"

"I see..." Atsuko trailed off as she noticed Isamu standing up, looking straight at them.

"Nonetheless, you should've had some more self-control back there, right? Simply say something like, 'Oh dear! Oopsies--looks like I changed into my play costume too soon!' Why couldn't you have done that instead of blurting out all our family secrets?!" Isamu asked bitterly, walking up to Julie.

Everybody got quiet.

"It wasn't her fault, Isamu," Marie said, stepping forward, trying to explain.

"SHUT UP!!" Isamu slapped her across the face. She crumpled to the ground from the force of his hit.

"You idiot!" Julie shrieked. "This is a 14-year-old girl we're talking about!!"

"Hey. You two, you should calm down--" Yuki was brusquely cut off by Kyo.

"Stay the heck out of it, Rat. These conflicts don't concern us. C'mon, you guys."

Tohru was so worried she didn't even hear Kyo; Shigure was not in any mood to listen to a middle-schooler; and there was no way Yuki was going to 'stay the heck out of it'. Kyo sighed and decided to stay, seeing as no one bothered to heed his words.

"Julie...it's alright. I'm OK." Marie pulled herself up, face screwed up from the pain; then she, helped by Julie and Faith, walked home, away from everyone else.

Without a word, Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru followed them. Joe and Shigure glanced at each other for a few seconds, then took off jogging after the middle-school kids. Daichi motioned to Édith to follow him. Now only Atsuko was left, glaring daggers at the nonplussed Isamu.

"What did I do wrong? Everyone just suddenly d-d-deserts me!!"

"I would've thought that it was quite obvious why everyone left you. But of course, the family head can figure out anything. Can't you?" As Atsuko caught up to the other Wilsons, Isamu's mind flashed back to a few years ago: "SHUT UP!! DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT! I CAN DO ANYTHING!! NO ONE CAN OR WILL STOP ME!!! SO NEVER DOUBT MY AUTHORITY AGAIN, ATSUKO. Because you'll regret it," he'd threatened Atsuko as she'd angrily glared up at him during his rather loud lecture.

His face closed and he walked in the opposite direction everyone else had gone. So, they think they can do whatever they want now, eh? Well, I'll show them. I'll show them who's boss around here!?

Meanwhile at the Wilson residence, Marie was resting her swollen ankles while reclining on the comfy sofa in the living room; the others laughed and joked around her.

"Marie! Are you OK?!" Faith suddenly asked, dropping to her knees in front of the couch. "The scar..."

Marie drew the reappearing, disfigured scar line with her fingernail. "It's fine. It'll come and go with time."

Kyo whistled. "That was quite a slap your family head gave you back there. Man, and that scar from him!!"

"It wasn't from Isamu's slap," Julie muttered. The room got deathly silent as she continued, "Not entirely, at least."

"Marie's foster parents were...let's just say they were the worst of all the Elementals' parents." Atsuko took over the commentary. "When she was only 5 or 6, they started treating her very harshly, for no apparent reason. They threatened her, slapped her, threw her across the apartment's bedroom, sometimes even viciously attacked her. It was not a pleasant place, for those two idiots were constantly drinking. When they were sane again, they still blamed her for everything that'd happened: the broken window, torn sofa cushion, you name it."

"Thankfully, us three were friends even way back then, and we were always there for each other. Marie told us about her family situation. Faith and I decided then that we'd also had enough," Julie added. "So Joe took us in, and we've lived with him ever since! However, we've only just moved to Japan. Now we've been living here for...about a month-and-a-half, right?"

"Yes." Faith nodded.

There was an awkward silence as everyone cleared their throats.

"So anyway...it won't hurt to tell you the others' Elements, will it?" Marie asked. "Atsuko is Wind, Édith is Nature, and Daichi is Energy."

"I'm sorry about what happened back there," Yuki quietly said. All eyes turned to him as he continued, "If I could've kept my temper under my control, you wouldn't have run over to see what the matter was, or have yelled at Hothead over there, or have met Isamu-san. It's...my fault." He bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"Sohma Yuki-kun...what are you talking about? The shouts attracted our attention, but we could not suppress ourselves from going over to your house and seeing what was the matter. We three were more at fault than anyone else in this room right now." Faith glanced at everyone in the room for a moment, then continued, "Even if you did not control yourself as well as you could have, it's no matter. The damage is done, and the healing process has already started. There's nothing you can do about it. Neither can anyone else try to fix the problem. Because--unfortunately--it's here to stay." Faith's eyes hardened and her voice grew cold.

The Sohmas were all surprised: Never before had Faith appeared so cruel.

They shrugged it off for the time being and Julie broke the uncomfortable silence by asking, "Your family head--Sohma Akito?--will want to know about us, won't..." She paused for a moment, then restarted. "This family head of yours will definitely want to know about us, I'll bet. I mean, now that we Wilsons here know your secret..."

"Ah!" Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure gasped at the same time.

"I completely forgot about that!" Yuki exclaimed, berating himself for not having thought about it before.

"Geez, he'll be pissed! And at you guys too!" Kyo banged the coffee table, causing the books on it to jump.

"Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear," was all Shigure could say as he tried not to enter Tohru-panic-mode.

"Um...that isn't too bad, right? I mean, Akito-san wouldn't torture you guys or anything, right?" Tohru asked worriedly. Everyone else stiffened up.

"Well..." Marie cleared her throat.

"I guess it could actually work out," Kyo said in a fake, high-pitched, nervous voice.

"Mm-hm," Shigure replied sarcastically.

Tohru seemed not to notice and enjoyed the rest of the day with her foster family and the Wilsons. However, a dark cloud loomed over everyone's thoughts that night.

The next morning, at school, Julie, Marie, and Faith were gone, as were Yuki and Kyo. The 5 of them had been called away to a meeting with 'undisclosed personnel'.

Meanwhile, Tohru bore it all as she laughed and talked with her best friends, Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima. But she wondered how her other friends were doing, and if they were all right or not.

"Eh? Akito-sama...what's going on? Why are you here with the Wilsons' family head?" Yuki asked innocently, head bowed in respect.

The other 4 reluctantly bowed their heads as well as Akito and Isamu glared at them.

"Well then! Let's get started." Akito clapped his hands, seeming to have a gleam in his eye and a new excitement in all his actions. "You 5 are here with us today in this private room of Kaibara Middle School's office because Isamu and I met and...well, let's just say that we discussed a few things, particularly in regards to everyone's...ah, curses getting revealed." The 5 students glanced sheepishly at each other.

"No matter! Anything and everything's forgiven all of you. But--" Isamu paused and solemnly stared the 5 students right in the eye before continuing. "But, if this kind of situation happens ever again...be warned. And know that all your past sins will never again be revoken or forgiven. Understood?"

The 5 students nodded.

"Good." Isamu nodded in satisfaction. "Now run along and enjoy yourselves. But remember--this meeting is our little secret." Akito and Isamu waved gleefully at the 5 students' departing backs.

When they finally escaped the horrifying intensity of the office, they took off at a run, not caring who saw them. They ran to their individual lockers, grabbed their stuff, and raced home as quickly as possible. The rest of the day, for them, had just been ruined.

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So, how'd you like it? Huh? Huh? 8D Sorry, I'm hyper right now. Yes, at 10 PM my time. ^_^; Heh. Please read and review! Thank you for taking the time to read! :D

(Yes, Édith is French.)

Tohru: Oh no! Where did they all go? And here I am, with these gifts from Uo-chan and Hana-chan to them!

Others: ...?