Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.
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Chapter 25
Into the Dawn
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Part A
A Rendezvous
A figure stood at a console, feverishly clicking away. Then a voice buzzed from his headset, "Sir! The Honda forces have breached the North Wall! I repeat-!"
"I hear ya, I hear ya," the figure said. "I'm trying to fix it now."
Then a voice said from the darkness, "You can't do that, Three."
"Wh-who goes there?" Three turned. Zan walked from out of the darkness. "Ah, Zan, it's you." Zan unsheathed his sword. "Well, I see you're here as an enemy, you filthy little turn-coat." Three turned back to the console, "Whatever. I never liked you anyway."
Zan ran to him, sword pointed, when Three turned and blocked it with his own blade. "What is it, boy? Do you want to fight?"
Zan raised an eyebrow and said, "No, I just wanted to get out my sword so I could roast marshmallows on it."
"Brat." They then began to fight.
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Part B
Someday
Meanwhile…
"So you finally made it."
Ayu spun around to find Kira, running behind her. She grinned, and came up to be right next to her. "Yeah," Ayu replied. "I did."
"Hey…" Kira looked critically at Ayu. "Why so glum?"
Ayu looked at her for a moment and said, "No reason."
Kira knew that she was lying, but did not want to press it. There was no time to do so. She would ask her…
…someday.
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Part C
Apology
Meanwhile...
Zan fought Three viciously. They had never liked each other…and Zan wanted to destroy him for all of the things he had done. Even if it would kill him. In Syphos' - no Three's – organization, his days were numbered. He wanted to do something right…
…and it was at that point that Zan saw his golden opportunity. As Three struck out with his sword, he left himself wide open. It would take luck, and him being a little too close for comfort, but he could do it.
So Zan struck, stabbing Three in the heart.
…as Three's blade cut into his stomach.
They fell from each other, bloody, as Mika arrived on the scene, sword bared.
She looked into Three's lifeless eyes, and felt something akin to pity, before she turned to Zan. She looked at him, recognition flashing in her eyes. "…Are you him? That boy?" Zan nodded slowly. Mika began to sob.
He slowly raised a bloody hand to her cheek, "Don't cry. Please." She stopped and he smiled at her. "Good."
That was when Kira and Ayu arrived, quickly followed by Shinji, Toji, Momiji, Tatsuya, Remus, and Richard. They gasped when they saw Three, and looked on, shocked, as Mika cradled Zan's head in her lap. Ayu walked over to Tatsuya and whispered, "Open this later, with Mika." She handed him the letter and Tatsuya nodded grimly.
Momiji sidestepped to Kira and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped nervously, but seeing him, she relaxed. She pulled him down into a passionate kiss. They broke apart slightly, and she whispered to him, "I'm sorry." With that, she pressed down on the button on the top of her necklace shaped like a silver pocket watch, and time stopped.
Remus looked around him and said, "It's time, isn't it?"
Kira nodded, and whispered against Momiji's lips, "Yes."
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Part D
A Melancholy Man (Part II)
Flashback
Remus made to walk to the door that went out to the hallway, but Kira grabbed his t-shirt. He looked down at her, and said, "What is it?"
"I need to tell you one more thing before I go," Kira said. "Please, sit down." Remus sat back down on the sofa. Kira took a deep breath, and looked directly into Remus' eyes.
Then she said, "I have a favor I need to ask of you."
Remus had no idea what was coming…
Remus just looked at her. "What favor?" Remus said. "You've been acting strange all night. What's going on?"
Kira looked down at her hands and said, "I'm calling you on that favor you've owed me for a long time…it might not be an equal exchange but…"
"Tell me what you need Kira," Remus said. "I'll do it. I would do it even if I didn't owe you for that time."
Kira swallowed, and looked up into Remus' grey eyes. "Well, it's like this. You see, I've never really been able to make my own decisions." Remus opened his mouth, but Kira put up a hand. "Wait, Remy, don't interrupt me. If you do, I might not be able to say it." Remus nodded.
Kira took a deep breath. "I've always been tied by expectations…from others, from myself…it doesn't matter. I made promises when I was actually too young to make them."
"Like about joining the Agency and vowing to always protect Tohru?" Remus said.
"Yes," Kira said. "Those among many others. Because of that, I have never been true to myself, or to the people that I love. I need to find out who I really am though, to be really truthful. Otherwise, it's still not fair. To anyone."
"Wait…why does this involve me? I mean, if you want to 'find yourself,' isn't that something you need to do?"
"Well, you see, as long as I'm with the Agency and around the people I know, I can never really find my true self…they'll just keep pulling me back to my 'fake' self." Kira took a deep breath. "So I need to go far from here…far, far away." She looked at Remus; as if to justify herself, she said, "I already know where I'm going, what I'm going to be doing. I just need help with a few things." Kira paused, but Remus just stared at her. "Well…?"
"I understand why you're going," Remus said softly. "I'll even help you…but you can't blame me for being a little mad at you right now."
"Why are you so mad?"
"Why do you think Kira?" Remus shouted. "We've been trying to get you back for months! I mean, we could have died getting you back…especially Momiji! We down played the danger he was in on purpose, but he really could have died Kira! What about Ayu? What about Tohru? What about Momiji? What about me?" Remus cradled his head in his hands.
Kira came over and sat next to him. She hugged his tortured form and said, "You'll miss me, Remy?"
Remus nodded. "Well, you are my best friend." They sat like that for a few moments. Then, Remus straightened and, with a stubborn gleam in his eyes, said, "Alright, what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to give some letters to the people I'm leaving behind right after I leave," Kira said. "To say goodbye." Kira paused. "I also want you to wait by the phone every morning on my birthday, July 19th. I'll call you, and you can update me on what's going on…and I'll tell you what's going on." Remus nodded. "Is that okay with you?" He nodded again. "Good," she stood. She smiled back at him softly and said, "Goodbye, Remy. You'll always be like a brother to me." Then she flickered away, and Remus felt as if she had always been a ghost, just beyond his fingertips.
Remus leaned back against the couch, throwing his arm across his eyes.
After a few moments, streams began to appear from under his arm.
Remus cried…for Momiji, for Ayu, for Tohru, for all the people who would be affected by this act…
…for Kira…
...for himself. He cried for the Melancholy Man…the person who could never be "the one." He cried for this new night…that he, the Melancholy Man, would have to suffer through while Kira was not there.
He cried for the night.
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Part C
Fare thee well, sister mine.
Kira untangled herself from Momiji sadly. Then she said, "Do it." Remus took a small device from his pocket, and pushed a button down on it.
There was a blinding flash of white light. When the light cleared, on the ground laid several people, all dark sides, dressed in their ceremonial outfits. Remus looked down to see Kira's dark side, ignoring his own, so he could see the infamous "Dark." When he saw her, his heart stopped; She's beautiful, he thought. He was awakened from his daze by a clearing of a throat. Kira looked at him expectantly. "Oh. Sorry," he said sheepishly.
She nodded and said, "Here you go," giving him the letters. He took the pile, and placed them on the ground. When Remus straightened, he caught a flying Kira who tackled him. He took a step back as she cried into his shoulder.
After a few moments, he whispered into her ear. "You don't have to go Kira."
She said, "Yes. Yes, I do, Remy, and you know it."
He sighed and said, "I do." Remus held her tightly to himself.
After several moments, they separated, Kira still sniffling. She took off her stopwatch and said, "Press this after I'm out of sight…and when you're ready." He nodded. She kissed him on the cheek and said, "Goodbye."
He looked at the girl who was like a sister to him…and a dear friend, as she turned and ran off, into the dawn. When she became a mere silhouette, he whispered, "Goodbye." Then she vanished into the sun, leaving the traces of her life behind…to be mourned.
Remus shuffled through the letters, looking for his own, before finding an envelope that read, "For Remy." He opened it, and a CD popped out. He took his CD player (that he just happened to have with him) and listened to track one:
In the light of the sun, is there anyone? Oh it has begun...
Oh dear you look so lost, eyes are red and tears are shed,
This world you must've crossed... you said...
You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah,
She said
You don't know me, and you don't wear my chains... oh yeah,
Essential yet appealed, carry all your thoughts across
An open field,
When flowers gaze at you... they're not the only ones who cry
When they see you
You said...
You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah,
She said
You don't know me, and you don't wear my chains... oh yeah,
She said I think I'll go to Boston...
I think I'll start a new life,
I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name,
I'll get out of California, I'm tired of the weather,
I think I'll get a lover and fly him out to Spain...
I think I'll go to Boston,
I think that I'm just tired
I think I need a new town, to leave this all behind...
I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of the sunset,
I hear it's nice in the Summer, some snow would be nice... oh yeah,
Boston... where no one knows my name... yeah
Where no one knows my name...
Where no one knows my name...
Yeah Boston...
Where no one knows my name.
He smiled, and knew where she had went…and that she would be happy. No one was getting this information out of him. Even at death.
Remus turned to the sleeping people around him and said, "I guess it's time to do this." He pressed the button on the stopwatch.
And all hell broke loose.
End of Chapter 25
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By the way, the lyrics are from the song "Boston," by Augustana. I think it came out a few years ago.
At any rate, this was the final chapter of the Tales of an Onigiri Saga. Next update will be the very exciting epilogue and a farewell note. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for staying with me this far!
Please review to tell me what you think!