Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket

Chapter Ten

For PeaceLightVictory

I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan,

Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death;

And, from the organ-pipe of frailty, sings

His soul and body to their lasting rest.

~ William Shakespeare, King John (1598), Act V, scene 7, line 21.

~ (***) ~

"Have you got everything?"

Tohru looked up with a startled expression at her boyfriend who was looking down at her in the same cool but affectionate manner he looked at his girlfriend with. She found it strange that it was him asking her and not the other way round. After all, she was always the one who liked to look after other people. She was the one who always wanted to pack the night before she went back or went on vacation somewhere. She looked down at the her things and found her suitcase had been securely packed and was ready go. She was just sitting there thinking rather than anything else. She was lost in her own little dream world for a moment but was also thinking about a particular girl who had been on her mind since her arrival. She was sure that there was something mysterious about Rosalie Laurent. She knew there was something that she was hiding she just couldn't figure out what that was exactly. She quickly smiled and nodded. However Kyo knew this as the face to cover up something or some problem she didn't want to bother him with. He took her by the shoulders and leaned his face close to hers.

"What is it?"

Tohru cast her huge blue eyes up at Kyo and looked away quickly. "It's noth-"

"I've been dating you for long enough to know that when you're bothered by something its anything but nothing. So tell me, that's what I'm here for anyway right?"

Tohru peeked back at Kyo who had a warm, encouraging smile on his face. "I feel like I'm...I feel like I shouldn't be leaving Rosalie like this. I can see that she's suffering from the death of her mother and there's other things she's hiding like you all were. She needs someone here to...'

Tohru stopped and looked down at the ground to collect her thoughts and could see raindrops falling from above. She smiled knowing that it was never a good sign for it to rain but at least they would be driving in it. Then again that would make the roads even busier but at least she and Kyo will be together. She liked being with Kyo, it seemed selfish but she liked it when it was just her and Kyo. It made her understand why her mother wanted to be with her father so much. She looked above her head and saw that there wasn't a rain cloud in sight. She reached out to her face and realised that they were tears rolling down her cheeks. Kyo stepped forward and wiped away her tears affectionately and held her in his arms. She held onto him tightly, almost as if to silently tell him to never let her go. The only reason why she never said things like that out loud was because she didn't have to. He always knew what she wanted. Tohru sobbed into his shirt and she thought of Rosalie who seemed like a little girl, helpless and abandoned despite being a year older than Tohru. She seemed so strong and had a suit of armour which kept everyone out however Tohru could see that she needed someone to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright, that it was alright to let people in and that it was alright to cry.

"She'll be alright.' Kyo assured her. 'She's a big girl, besides she has plenty of people here to take care of her."

"I still remember when you were all here." Her muffled voice replied. "And you all needed someone to tell you all those things which no one had told you. Like it's alright to want to be with other people, that there's nothing wrong with falling in love with that person and that it's alright to cry when you need to."

Kyo stroked her hair and kissed her on the forehead. "Yeah, I know. I think the rest of the Sohma family have learnt enough to know that she needs that. They can spot someone so distant, so afraid f the outside world to know that that's what they need to do. That they need to help her, it's all they've really been talking about. Don't worry you can trust them."

Tohru looked up at him tearfully and nodded. "Okay." She replied weakly.

"Okay? Besides," He wrapped his arms around her waist and tilted his head. "I'd be pretty sad and lonely if you didn't come back with me. Remember? We're going to be together."

"Always." She replied, remembering her promise.

Kyo smiled. "That's my girl."

This was something else Tohru hoped for Rosalie. She hoped that one day she might have a boyfriend who would love her unconditionally and would want to be with her all the time. Or maybe not even a boyfriend, just someone. It could even be a friend, someone to talk to about all those hopes and fears that she had. The good times which passed her by and those moments which made her realise even though life could be hard just reminding yourself that it could be worse made it easier. She hoped that Rosalie would trust someone enough to allow them to love her. She noticed that she had become particularly close to Yuki but she knew it was down to the fact that their parents were twins. Perhaps they felt they were bound to one another as Yuki becoming the brother she never had and Rosalie being the sister Yuki never had. If she had grey hair, she could've been mistaken for being his twin. Besides, Tohru noticed that Momiji had become fond of her and remembered from a letter how excited he was about her coming to Japan and how curious he was about who she was and what she was like. There had been times during the dinner and yesterday where they were both and alone and seemed...She wasn't sure. It seemed like they were acting like Tohru and Kyo acted towards one another. When they were in love with one another but didn't want to admit to it.

"Hey!" Kyo and Tohru looked up and saw Rin and Haru, with their daughter in tow walking towards them.

"We were hoping to catch up with you guys before you left." Haru greeted. "Considering that you're taking her away from us again, Kyo."

"I'M NOT TAKING ANYONE AWAY! SHE'S COMING OUT OF HER OWN FREE WILL DAMMIT!" Kyo protested.

"Alright, Kyo. Calm down." Rin scolded. "We were having a joke. We're even considering moving somewhere else ourselves."

Kyo gave them a blank look whereas Tohru was practically jumping up and down with excitement. "Oh really? Where are you thinking of moving?"

"We haven't decided yet. We were thinking of definitely living somewhere by the sea."

"Why there?" Kyo asked curiously.

Haru shrugged his shoulders. "We just thought its a nice spot to live and also it'd probably be quite a peaceful and ideal place to raise a kid. We'd like Izumi to have as much happy memories as possible, where better than by the sea?"

"Yeah I suppose I can see what you mean." Kyo mused. "But does it matter where the kid is but more about how much the parents make sure that the kid feels like it's loved."

Haru smiled slyly. "Kyo...you sound like you're ready to be a father. Do I hear the sound of little feet or is that just me?"

Kyo blushed and was about to shout something back at him before another voice interrupted. "Haru, honestly don't tempt fate. Just imagine having another carbon-copy of Kyo running around."

Kyo spun round recognising the voice and preparing to pounce on his prey. Yuki was walking up to the car holding hands with Machi. He had a look of distain and disgust on his face, probably at the comment and idea of Kyo and Tohru reproducing.

"ALRIGHT YOU DAMN RAT-"

"Yuki how nice to see you!' Tohru interjected, in attempt to prevent a fight between the two. Yuki cast a gracious smile in Tohru's direction.

"I was happy to come down and say goodbye. Despite it would make me a great deal more happier, along with many others that you weren't leaving us again." He added acidly at a fuming Kyo.

"Er...Well, um..."

"But no matter. I'm sure eventually when Kyo finally learns something about martial arts you'll finally be able to settle down somewhere. What is it like moving from place to place?"

"Huh? Well I think it's quite nice, considering you get to see new places and you make so many good friends as well. I've still kept in contact with a few people from work and all that kind of thing."

"I see. I suppose there is an attraction to travelling in some ways."

He wrapped an arm around Machi and held her close to him. He could see why Kyo dragged her along on, what Yuki thought, as his futile conquest. He hated him for it but he could understand why he was doing it. He knew what it was like to be apart from someone you loved, the pain of being separated from another human being who frankly meant more to you than that being so far away was unbearable. The thought of Machi being far away was hard when he was studying away from Tokyo. He couldn't imagine leaving Machi alone somewhere and forcing himself to be far from her. After being together for so long, he imagined Machi felt the same way on the matter. He and Machi had moved in together after dating for three years they felt it was the right time to do so (despite people beginning to question them when they were going to get married). Most people rushed into it after dating for a few months and others were still living in separate apartments after dating for ten years, so Yuki saw their case as relatively normal. Yuki had never loved someone so much, he loved Tohru but only saw her as the maternal figure he always yearned for from his own mother. Machi was someone he wanted to hold close on those cold, lonely nights. Or someone that made him feel happy and content when they smiled.

"I was wondering," Machi began. "What you wanted to do with your life, Tohru?"

Tohru blinked at her and tilted her head. "I'm sorry?"

"I mean...I know you're going with Kyo just to support him and earn some money and experience but have you ever stopped to think what you want to do with your life?"

Tohru hesitated and realised that in fact she hadn't thought about this at all. "No. I never really thought about it. I mean...My Mom always told me to graduate and I have so...I can't really think about what I want to do with my life..."

"Oh..." Machi replied in a distant voice. "Well I'm sure its one of those things you'll stumble upon one day. Sometimes it takes people years for them to find what they're supposed to do with their lives."

Tohru nodded however looking a little uncertain. "Yeah. I guess the one thing I've always wanted to be is happy and I'm happy now so...Well...Actually, Yuki can I speak to you privately for a moment."

Yuki nodded and walked down the road till they were just out of earshot. "I need you to promise something to me."

Yuki nodded. "Anything, Miss Honda."

Tohru took a deep breath. "I need you to promise me that you'll look after Rosalie. I know it sounds ridiculous..."

Yuki shook his head. "No it doesn't. Believe me I have the same concerns for her as you do. I can see that she is going through the same things we went through when we were all still under the curse of the Zodiac. We've all been...discussing how there has always been something that the Laurent family is hiding and I know she's scared of this and she needs help. So I assure you, Miss Honda, I'm already on it."

Tohru nodded but looked regretful. "What is it?"

"Well, I would've liked to see her one last time. Before I left."

"Well they knew that you were leaving today. I'm sure that they'll be here...if they want to. You have to respect the fact that you are family to us but not her yet and really Erik isn't part of the Sohma family anyway."

Tohru nodded and started to walk back to the car where Kyo was waiting. She turned to him with a small smile beginning to spread across her lips like warm butter. Just looking towards him made her feel safe. Just knowing that he was close by made her feel like there was nothing to fear about what was to come or what was going to happen to all of them. She knew that this was going to be another time in their short histories where something was going to come along and change everything forever. His short, orange hair was blowing in the wind as he looked out in the direction they were going to be driving in. He was what she thought what a free spirit was like. He was always looking out into the distance for the next place he was going to stay. Although he always wanted the reassurance of her hand in his so that he knew he wouldn't be facing it alone. He had that look on his face which told her that he was longing to go back to where they had running to. Maybe that was what Rosalie was doing. She was running away from whatever it was that she needed to get away from. She knew it was time to go and that it was best not to continue waiting around. Kyo wanted to go home, to the home which really wasn't their home. They were only home when they were together. It just made it harder to leave if she stayed any longer. She appreciated the fact that not everyone was going to be able to make it and Kyo wanted to avoid traffic. He hated traffic. He hated driving full stop. The car was just borrowed off someone Kyo knew quite well from the dojo he was currently training at. It saved them money from buying train fares, but it made the journey all the more longer.

She hugged everyone goodbye before allowing herself to be taking away in the car. When she sat down in the seat Kyo was so eager to get away that he started the engine before she even put her seat belt on. Arisa and Hana arrived last minute with Kureno and Kazuma, adding an extra two hours being stuck in traffic. Kyo wanted to get away as soon as possible but he was more than willing to hold off the departure for his guardian. Arisa and Hana, as usual, were scolding Kyo for 'taking their Tohru from them'. He had to roll his eyes every time they said that, despite the fact that they had given him their blessing the first time round, but with the way that they treated him was almost like they were her parents. Kazuma was continually offering Kyo a job at his dojo where Kyo would decline, claiming he wasn't ready to teach or even inherit Kazuma's dojo. It almost got to the point where Kyo was hiding in the car from everyone and also it was a sign that they really needed to get a move on. Tohru put him out his misery by slipping into the car and waving to everyone. Kyo started to engine before she even closed the door and shot off. As they drove through the streets Tohru spotted a girl on the side. She peered closer and recognised the violet eyes and the night black hair. Their eyes met and Tohru raised a hand and waved at her. Rosalie waved back with a single tear rolling down her cheek.