Author's Note: Hello! Now, it's to the fourth chapter to my "Fix up Moonlit Serenade" quest-thing. I find that I am rewording more than I anticipated, but the plot hasn't changed. I am just describing stuff better, IMO, and adding to what I already have in regards to descriptions and feelings. Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya-san, the rest is all me.

Chapter 4 - Frozen in Time

Kyo's world was spinning out of control. Was this really happening? he thought. Her lips were softer than silk and so warm. It was better than anything he had dreamed of (and he dreamed of her a lot). Whenever he closed his eyes, Tohru was there in his mind, and it helped him to not feel as alone. He was horrified that when he opened his eyes after she kissed him, he would be alone once more. He was sure she was going to vanish, like a shadow, like all those times before.

No, he thought, Not this time! This is real!

Tohru pulled away and a wave of disappointment washed over him, why couldn't it last forever? He licked his lips awkwardly, recalling how she tasted of strawberries. Kyo wondered if she planned this whole thing. Momiji's slip of mentioning her, her emerging from the shadows, the kiss. He smiled to himself. How he had changed in three years! If she had tried this then, he would have been livid from her manipulations. Heh, manipulate me, now, Tohru, I'm yours.

They stared at each other in comfortable silence, their faces mere inches apart, and Kyo could see his reflection in her chocolately brown eyes. She smelled like flowers, he noticed. Jasmine? Roses? He didn't care, he only knew that he will forever associate that smell with his Tohru. It intoxicated him, making him stomach tie into knots. He will never forget that fragrance.

Her gaze shifted to her hands (typical Tohru), and a blush darkened her cheeks (still Tohru). The corner of Kyo's mouth turned up in a sort of half-smile. He reached through the bars and lifted her chin gently with his hand. Her eyes locked onto his and her voice was nearly a whisper when she spoke. "I didn't plan that, I'm sorry."

Kyo chuckled. "Don't be," he replied tenderly. He let his hand drift into her hair and it flowed through his fingers, softer than he had ever dreamed. Time to change the subject. Make her more comfortable. "You look different."

Tohru diverted her eyes. "I'm sorry. Kagura insisted on cutting my hair. I didn't really want to."

Kyo closed his eyes against a brief wave of anger. So Kagura got to see his Tohru regularly, too? He swallowed the temper away, refusing to allow himself to ruin this moment with Tohru. He forced himself to smile, finding it easier than he thought it would be. "I like it. It suits you."

She smiled brightly and studied him through the bars. There were tears forming in her eyes. "It kills me to see you in here. You should be with us, at school. It's not the same without you. Yuki has hardly spoken since the imprisonment. He buries himself in his studies, and we barely see him outside of classes. When we are at home with Shigure, he locks himself in his room most of the time. He really feels horrible about you being in here."

Kyo shot her a cold stare. "Did you come here to see me or defend that damn rat?"

Tohru's eyes widened and she took a step back from Kyo, her hand at her chest as though he had threatened her. Kyo hated himself for it.

Then he saw it. On her left wrist, the one resting in front of her heart, was a bracelet of pearls, in an alternating black and white pattern.

A bracelet remarkably similar to the enchanted one he wore (made of bone white and blood red beads) to keep him from transforming to the cat's true form, a demon figure.

The world came crashing down at that moment. Kyo fell against the wall of his prison and slid to the floor, his face in his hands, and allowed the tears to fall. He screamed in pain over his situation, the solitude, losing Tohru. He threaded his fingers through his hair, his long nails scratching his scalp. He stood and began to pace, then stopped and punched a wall, welcoming the pain.

Tohru was crying behind him, and that was what brought him back to reality. He looked over his shoulder and she was pressed against the bars with one arm stretched through, reaching for him. Kyo stepped up to her and took her hand, placing a gentle kiss to the inside of her wrist then holding her hand against his cheek. "I'm sorry, Tohru."

Before he could say more, Momiji came bounding in from nowhere. "Tohru! We have to go! Akito is coming!"

Kyo felt her fingers brush against his cheek as she pulled her hand away, and she was gone, the smell of flowers hanging lightly in the air.