Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket

Chapter Fourteen

For d92512

Winter has come for me, can't carry on.

The Chains to my life are strong but soon they'll be gone.

I'll spread my wings one more time.

Is it a dream?

All the ones I have loved calling out my name.

The sun warms my face.

All the days of my life, I see them passing me by.

In my heart I know I can let go.

In the end I will find some peace inside.

New wings are growing tonight.

As I am soaring I'm one with the wind.

I am longing to see you again, it's been so long.

We will be together again.

~ Swan Song, Within Temptation

~ (***) ~

Rosalie was nervous the morning she was going to university. University. Just the sound of going back there but for a reason she wanted to go sounded a little daunting. It was a few days after Momiji had come to talk to her and she still felt nerved from the visit. Then again the stern word she had from William didn't exactly help. What he rammed down her throat was something she already knew, surely he knew she wasn't that stupid. She had been to university before so why she was feeling nervous was beyond her. She wasn't even nervous first time round. She was excited more than anything else. She was going to an institution where she was going to be doing nothing but nourishing the mind and the soul with knowledge. It was Rosalie's idea of heaven in fact. Still, as she was searching through these factors she knew the real reason as to why she was feeling this way. It was because he was going to be there. Once she saw Momiji she was going to break like a glass chandelier and probably run off. That would be a great impression to make on the rest of the faculty and would just be the cherry on top of William's anxieties.

She searched through her clothes and tried on a dozen things from the clothes which she had brought with her but she found what was usually a simple task for her, to be the most difficult decision for her to make. She eventually went safe with a pair of jeans and an Oxford shirt. She didn't want to come across as too lazy or too studious towards other students. If she took this approach she would be creating the image where she wasn't frightening or too approachable. She grudgingly thought that this was a line of thought and an outfit that even William would approve of.

"Yeah he would approve of the lazy student look, wouldn't he?" She muttered to herself.

She brushed her hair quickly and tied it up in a messy, rushed bun and walked downstairs. The few strands of hair which escaped the clutches of her hair tie fell gently against her face and made her look like a country girl who had been walking through the wilderness with the wind howling in her face. Her Nana had made her a special breakfast of eggs and bacon which she thought was delicious and thanked her with a sloppy kiss on the cheek, a big hug and helping her with washing the dishes afterwards. She couldn't remember the last time she washed the dishes, if she thought about it she doubted that she had ever washed the dishes. She never lived in the dorms as she never had to.

During her first degree she lived in the same house she had in Venice since the university wasn't far.

She turned to Erik and narrowed her eyes at what he was wearing. "Did you not even consider making an effort?" She demanded.

Erik looked over his shoulder, still eating his breakfast. "Huh?"

She shook her head and sighed. "Never mind."

She finished drying the last dish and placed it in the cupboard. Her hand shook a little with the feeling of not being able to look back finally beginning to settle in a little bit more. She gave her Nana a quick kiss before leaving the kitchen and returned to her bedroom. She checked herself in the mirror self-consciously before deciding that the less she checked herself the less nervous she would be. She threw herself onto the bed and stared at the photo of her mother on her beside. She brushed her fingers against the glass and smiled. She was sure everything was going to be okay just as long as her mother kept smiling. She knew this was a bit ridiculous considering it was a photo so regardless of whatever situation her mother would always be smiling but then again this was never a bad attitude to have. Her smile faded however, as looking at the photo reminded her of her last moments with her father before he died...

"Rosalie..."

Rosalie turned away from the window to her father. He was in his bed reaching out to her with a shaking hand. He was once a handsome man who was now looked so tired and so...old. She went to his side and too his hand.

"Father."

"I know...I know that I have not been a good father."

She tilted her head. "Oh. That's not true."

"It is...I have not allowed you to study music...because I was afraid of you becoming like your mother...I was afraid...that you might suffering the same fate as she...I was afraid...that one day I might look upon your face...and I would see a ghost which I once loved so much...and still do...I did not want you to walk down too far the same path as she..."

"Father you're tired you must rest." She whispered, stroking his hair back. He took her wrist so suddenly. She was so surprised at the amount of energy he had left in him to grip her wrist so tightly.

"I know...about the photo...I was to have all of them burnt...I pretended that it was because I found it too painful...to gaze upon her face...But it was Yuri...who commanded that I burn them all...Yuri ordered me...to erase all association the Sohma's had with our family but forgot one thing that still binds us to them...you...And I am grateful for it..."

"Father please you have said enough."

"No...Not enough...I have not told you enough times...of how much I love you...I was so selfish...I was so selfish...Forgive...Forgive..."

It was heartbreaking to find him this way. She was always a little intimidated by her father. He always seemed so tall and strong, but then again that wasn't a difficult thing to do (since most people were taller than her). Though seeing him being so weak, even on his death bed seemed more than a little bit surreal. She never thought of all people that her father's life would end so tragically. Dying of old age was sometimes a blessing in this day and age with the numbers of cancer and tragic accidents on the rise but her father was actually in pain. For him to come to the end of his life in such a state. It was pitiful. Not even Yuri came to visit him in his dying hours. Even though the father and the daughter had never been that close she felt distraught over his condition. His condition. Doctors were boggled over the fact that he had aged so drastically as the actual age that he was at. They found no cause, he was healthy and there was nothing medically to cause this but Rosalie knew the truth. It was a result of the gift he had passed onto his daughter that he had become this way. It made her fear for her own life. Would she come to the end of her days in this condition?

She never thought that those words would pass his lips let alone on his deathbed. She kissed him on the forehead before she left the room when a nurse came in to tell her that visiting hours were up. Her fingers brushed against his as she walked away and he had a look in his eyes as if to tell her that he didn't want her to go. Maybe she did look more like her mother than she thought. He seemed to be gazing upon it as if he was calling out to his wife to not leave him. She gave him a caring look as if to tell him that they would be together soon. To not worry about the separation too much as it would come to an end soon. She just didn't know that it was going to end as soon as it did...

"Rosalie."

She sat up and found Erik peeking around the door. She gave him a look and threw a pillow in his direction which he ducked just in time from, chuckling at her attempt.

"What do you want?" She demanded.

He stood back and held up his hands in mock surrender. "Nice to see you too. I just came in to see how you were. You seemed very quiet this morning."

"I was enjoying my breakfast." She replied simply.

"I guessed as much from quickly you ate it." He said as he sat down on the bed. He peered at her as she cast her eyes downward with an expression which told others that she was deep in thought.

"A penny for your thoughts."

"It would cost more than that." She replied dryly.

"Don't I know it." He chuckled.

She found herself smiling back at him which was a surprise to both of them. They had both encountered a lot of surprised over the past week. However they were happy surprises which was a change in their world. As the days passed Erik and Rosalie were growing closer to one another. They weren't growing close in the romantic sense. They both knew that they would never see each other in that way anyway. Rosalie was too sensible and Erik was too flamboyant. Rosalie was an outcast in the family as much as Erik was only they were isolated for different reasons. Erik was an outcast out of people despising his behaviour and Rosalie merely distanced herself from others. This was what happened, they found, when people shared something in common. She was beginning to see that she found a kindred spirit in Erik. She never thought she would find someone she could see eye to eye on things. Erik being the last person on the planet if this was to ever happen. Despite the major differences in their personalities, their relationship was based on the belief of opposites attracting. Rosalie's icy sarcasm cooled Erik down and Erik's bright playfulness warmed Rosalie up.

"Is it what happened with William?"

She tilted her head from side to side. "Yes and no."

"It has to be one or the other, Rosa."

Her head shot in his direction with a frown on her face. "Rosa?"

"Oh. I was thinking about it the other day. Giving you a nickname. Thought I'd try it. You don't mind do you?"

She thought about it for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't actually. No. Call me Rosa."

"Excellent. Something we agree on."

"Don't get too excited." She warned but still had a smile on her face. /

Erik threw back his head and laughed. "I was a very good reason to do so. The impossible has happened! Ring the church bells! Or the shrine bells! Any bells! The impossible has happened!" He cried running around the house.

She laughed and threw herself on the bed and stared out the window. Was everything going to be okay?

"Yes."

She looked up to see Erik in the doorway. "Whatever it is you're asking yourself the answer is yes."