Title: Unbreakable Strength

Chapter 25: Fight! Fight! Fight! Pt. 1

Authors Note: Hey everyone! I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciate the encouragement and positive feedback! There is no greater gift you can give to a writer than to click that pretty little button and put a few comments down. Anyway chapter twenty five is up! I can't believe we're this far along with the story. It's really exciting to look at my layout and see what's been done and what's yet to come – you, my faithful reader will just have to wait in suspense!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the characters. However, my dear little Mira Liore Nolan is mine and mine alone along with the lovely Liv Cyrene Nolan.

Eye of the Tiger – Survivor & You Can't Take Me by Bryan Adams


The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Dear Diary,

I am beyond frustrated. Two kisses, multiple soft romantic heart to heart chats and nothing about an actual relationship. This is so typically male. I still haven't spoken to Hatori about my headaches and memory flash backs, but we're going to be at a lake house all weekend, I'm sure I'll have a chance to speak to him about the matter.

I'm really not looking forward to the weekend, but Tohru is practically jumping off the walls, she's so happy. A lot of Sohma's will be there – Hatori, Shigure, Kyo, Yuki and Liv and I. Who knows, it could be a lot of fun. If Hatori has something for the headaches, I'll be happy. I just hope the lake house is big enough for me to avoid Yuki, ever since he ran into me (literally) in the classroom; he's been acting very strange. I've found wild flowers in my room every morning; nobody knows a thing about them. One day I came in and I found rose petals scattered all over my bed and a silver bracelet with a running horse engraved on it – again, nobody knew a thing.

The pathetic part is I wear the bracelet…..

A soft knock interrupted the flow of writing; Mira clicked the top of her pen and flipped the journal closed. The door slid half open.

"We're leaving now, did you forget anything?" he frowned at the seeming reluctance Mira gave off to leave.

"No, I'm ready," she set the book on the bed and placed the pen back into the pencil case, "I didn't realize we were so close to leaving…Tohru looked like she was having a hard time packing food."

Yuki gave a slow rumble of laughter in agreement, "Yes, she did have to skim off the top a bit, I think it will be alright though."

"Sure, we're not feeding an army," Mira agreed with an easy laughter that bubbled forth, easy because it was fake. She left the room with her head down, so she couldn't see those lovely purple hued eyes of his.

It turned out that seven people was close enough to an army.

The ride up was unusually quiet. There was a necessity for two cars. Hatori drove with Liv, Tohru and Yuki. Kyo was stuck with Mira and Shigure – surprisingly, Mira did the driving. Shigure had whined, but Mira's license was more recent.

"Are you positive you can drive?" Kyo snarled from the back, his arms crossed and a frown was permanently on his face from losing the fight to be in the car with Tohru. It had been a rough decision, because Liv was also in the car.

"I want to drive!" Shigure whined from the passenger's seat as Mira started the engine.

"I need to do this get behind the wheel again. It's like getting back on a horse after you fall…the longer you wait the worse the paranoia builds up," she took a steady breath and placed her hands on the wheel, the sound of metal being scrunched against nature's sweet crust and bark distantly echoed in her ears.

With Kyo grumbling in the back, Mira finally twisted around in the driver's seat to beam him an award winning smile.

"Don't worry Kyo, I usually walk away from the car accidents I get into," she turned rather serious though and added in a calmer voice, "I really do know how to drive, I can't remember the tests, but I remember the functions, how it all works. I did well on my Driver's Test…I only had four points deducted."

"YOU CRASHED LAST TIME, REMEMBER? PEOPLE DIED" Kyo's lips curled over as he shot out the words, it was a big mistake. Mira didn't turn around with anger or fire in her eyes, but sorrow and tears.

"No…" she said flatly, detached from all emotion, "I don't," did that make her the monster?

Well, did it?

The lake house was beautiful, but it held no enchantment for Mira as she slammed the car door hotly and grabbed her suitcase. From behind her she could hear the insignificant complaining from Kyo.

Shigure whispered in hushed tones about the events, she could feel their eyes on her back, waiting for a reaction. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Are we going in, or standing outside all day?" she asked impatiently, her tone reminded her of Liv and she immediately checked her attitude.

Yes, it was tasteless of Kyo to say such words, but it wasn't his fault that she was the monster in all of this. She could remember with the right amount of initiative, but she hid out, afraid of the truth.

"Just what we need, another me," Liv remarked by her side, "Seriously, can the 'I'm a total bitch because I had an emotional crisis in my life' okay? It gets old, real fast."

"I'd hate for my attitude to be a bother to you," Mira coolly agreed as she pulled the two piece luggage set up to the lake house. It had been a hand me down from her mother, she remembered fancying the look of the leather…but she couldn't remember her mother's face, her clothes, smell, words, expression when she said thank you.

Just as Mira pulled her luggage in, Shigure was shoving them out. Tohru wanted to go for a walk, so they all where tugged along.

It was the most boring, tension-filled walk Mira had ever encountered. Yuki and Kyo weren't bickering; Liv was walking a few paces behind her and Tohru. Tohru was shaking with nerves for reasons unknown and Mira had only her own thoughts to fill the void of noise.

It's like being back in the coma…but worse because now I have other options. I don't have to just entertain myself with my thoughts; I can talk to other people if I wanted to strike up a conversation.

Yes, this was definitely worse.

"Hey," Liv walked up and placed a delicate hand on Mira's shoulder. The surprise made her sister jump nearly two feet in the air.

"DON'T DO THAT," she whipped around with her hair standing on ends, "I spook easily!"

"I know," Liv smirked for a moment, "I need to talk to you privately, let's go this way," she pointed with her thumb to a side path and then grabbed the upper part of Mira's arm to drag her along. The other three just stood and watched.

"I didn't give you any consent!" Mira grumbled when they were out of eyesight and out of hearing.

"I know."

"Well, get on with it. What did you want to say?" Mira popped a hip and waited impatiently, her foot tapped against the hard cracked crust of the earth.

"Nothing of much importance, I was just tired of walking through the valley of silence. What's going on with them?" the fact that Liv felt her voice drop an edge and show a hint of caring, scared her. Was her shield starting to break?

"I have no idea, Tohru's been spacing out more than usual since the funeral and Kyo and Yuki are just keeping to themselves," Mira gave an indifferent shrug, "I'm better, just so you know."

"I can tell," Liv turned to give her a real smile as she picked up walking along the path, "So Yuki talked to you and everything is patched up then?"

"Oh, I don't think it ever will be 'patched up," Mira's smile faltered, but only for a moment. "I realized I could go on with life being bitter, resentful and detached or I could let go, find closure to something I thought was real and true, but was false and full of lies and get on with my life. I took a long hard look at myself and I didn't like what I saw."

"So…no heart to heart chats with him?" the idiot, how long was he going to wait? "What about the bracelet?"

"Huh? Oh, it was on my bed along with rose petals – sweet, but I have no idea who did it. I guess he could be some freaky stalking obsessive dangerous lunatic leaving me wild flowers every morning…but he does have good taste in jewelry."

"Ugh…" she had been so sure Yuki had given it to her, "Well, maybe you shouldn't wear jewelry given from random strangers...it could be a freaky stalking obsessive dangerous chic lunatic. Most men don't have good taste in jewelry," Liv pointed out.

"Great, now I have a wonderful visual image of some girl breaking into my room to leave flowers and jewelry," she groaned at the thought.

"I'm sure it will make he/she/it very happy to see you wearing the bracelet, I bet you kept all the flowers too…" Liv waited half a heartbeat and grinned, "You did, didn't you?"

"Hey did you hear that?"

"Don't change the subject!"

"No, really…it sounds like…arguing," and that was how Mira and Liv found Yuki and Kyo. Yuki was up in a tree, while Kyo hissed at the bottom.

"Don't cats climb trees?" Liv whispered softly into Mira's ear with a confused expression.

"Maybe he's afraid of getting beat up by all the rats up there…" Mira grinned despite the angry look Kyo gave and the start of insults he snarled.

"Don't yell at her," Yuki interrupted from above in the tree, "It's not Mira's fault for your lack of intelligence."

"COME DOWN HERE AND SAY THAT RAT-BOY!"

"I'm getting another head ache," Mira walked a few steps over to another tree and rested her back against it until she slid to the ground.

"They do have a tendency to induce annoyance," Liv agreed from a standing position. It was Tohru who came back and tried to settle everything down.

For Mira and Liv, they were part of the zodiac; it was natural for the cat and the rat to fight. Nobody else tried to intervene, just let them fight.

"Leave it Tohru, they'll always be at each other's throats," Liv warned, it was futile to wish for impossible things, like a better understanding between Yuki and Kyo. "The rat and the cat will never get along, just as many other zodiac stories predestine our personalities and relationships within the zodiac."

"What other legends?" Tohru stopped in time to look over at Liv with wide, curious eyes. She loved the zodiac, meeting more of the members, getting to know who they were. What other legends existed?

"Well…" Liv paused and then slowly smiled, "My favorite, is why the Rooster despises the Horse," her eyes locked with Mira's and the smirk slowly spread across Liv's face.

"I believe it's the other way around," Mira interjected, "It was after all, the Roosters job to crow when the sun rose, announcing the break of a new day and to wake the horse."

"The horse shouldn't be so lazy," Liv shook her short locks out and grinned up at Yuki, "That Rat wasn't the only trickery one. The Rooster woke the world up, but yet who was stabled inside, which was given pasture to graze and loved as part of the family even in their old useless age? The horse! The Rooster grew tired of it, sick of the adoring love shared to the horse and not to the Rooster. Every morning the Rooster so dutifully sang her welcoming song to the sun, and the horse kicked her! The horse wanted more sleep; the horse was rude and condescending to such a small and insignificant creature. The poor Rooster was permanently damaged; it is why other birds can sore yet the Rooster can only fly a very short distance! It was time for revenge. So one day, the Rooster stopped crowing, at the right time," Liv's eyes sparkled with the story, her lips pursed into a proud smirk. Nobody pushed the Rooster around.

"The Rooster decided to change the internal clock work of the horse; because of the Rooster…the Horse nearly missed the banquet from the God," Mira shook her finger at Liv with shame, "Naughty Naughty, playing with the Horse like that, trying to fix it so the Horse would be an hour late, that would be all it took, just one hour. Should have let the Horse sleep."

"It would have worked," Liv retorted, "if the horse wasn't so damn fast!" The horse was the last to arrive, but in the magnificent beauty of her running to the banquet and barely catching up, none was the wiser.

"The Rooster shouldn't be so jealous," it wasn't her fault that she was a beloved animal. "Be glad you're not the cow, people eat beef. Nobody eats Rooster; the meat's too tough to chew."

"Horse is tasty, a delicacy in some places," Liv made a smacking noise with her lips and grinned.

"Har Har," the effort to stand up and hit her wasn't worth it, so Mira just sat on the ground and glared. There was a friendly air between them that hadn't existed before.

"It's so nice…" Tohru muttered from the side. She received strange looks from both Mira and Liv. "Even through the trickery and deceit, jealousy and resentment, you two are still friends."

"Hey now, I wouldn't use the f-word," Liv warned with wide eyes. Nobody was supposed to like her.

"I find her jealousy and rude comments an endearing trait," Mira insisted with a grin, "Might as well get used to it. Family doesn't go away."

"Don't you see, maybe if you two can get along then…" she turned to Kyo and Yuki with a very hopefully look, "Maybe you two could get along!"

"I wouldn't count on it Miss. Honda," Yuki muttered darkly, hoping to end such a ridiculous conversation.

"Be friends with that girly boy?" Kyo snorted and sat back on the soft earth's surface. Yuki scaled down from the tree and stood by Tohru with an apologetic look. He really did want to make her happy.

"In time though, anything is possible," Tohru continued to insist, her bright brown eyes held hope.

Such a fleeing emotion, hope. The zodiac members knew better.

"Tohru, try to remember that Mira and I had a different up bringing than Kyo and Yuki. Too us, it doesn't make sense to be very bitter about an old story – even if it does hold merit and is true. Too us, this all still very strange, less of a curse and more of an inconvenience. We didn't grow up with the pressures of a fable resting on our shoulders."

"Some relationships just aren't meant to be Tohru," Mira added, her voice held a tint of bitterness.

Yuki's eyes shifted to flash over at Mira; he caught the brief look of the side of her face as she turned her head and looked away. It was as if she knew all the right moments to avoid his glance.

"Come on Hatori, everyone's asleep," Liv grinned wildly as she grabbed his hand and pulled him outside side of the lake house. The sun's rays were barely starting to kiss the soft curves of the land.

"We need to be back before the others wake up," his hand rested softly in hers. For now she was here, he wouldn't allow Liv to be hurt like Kana.

"I'm sure between the two of us we can come up with a reasonable excuse as to why we were both gone," Liv interjected, she wanted to watch the sun rise before all the magic was sucked away from the simple things. Soon the fragrance of roses would hold no joy; the feeling of the soft breeze brushing against her arm would no longer cause goose bumps to sprout. She would be a clipped bird in Akito's cruel grasp.

"Let's not have to make up any excuse," he wouldn't put her in danger; Shigure didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. There was no reason for Akito to know how far he would go to protect the girl who had managed to bring life and color back into his life after Kana. It was futile to compare the two, Kana and Liv, both were so different. Kana had a gentleness about her that she radiated to everyone while Liv was all thorns and rough edges, mistrustful and unforgiving until a man got inside her heart.

Then he was locked inside of her forever.

She raced him up to the top of the mountain, where she had first taken his hand and dived into the icy unknown below them. As the sun began to steadily rise above them, Hatori leaned in and pressed his lips softly against hers. Liv reacted passionately and tugged him closer to her warm body; her tongue flickered against his warm lips as he roamed over hers. She clung to him as the sun's rays hit her back and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

For as long as he could, he would hold and protect her.

It was light out when Mira stirred, her eyes slid open slowly and she moved into a sitting position. Her eyes flashed to the doorway as she spotted Liv sneaking in.

"Where were you?" her voice broke the silence, Liv jumped and whirled around in surprise.

"Damn it," she had her hand clutched to her heart as she calmed down, "None of your business."

"Defensive, much?" Mira asked with a smirk, "But you gave me such a hard time at the Hot Spas," she didn't say anything further. Mira wouldn't give Liv a hard time about wherever she was at and with whomever she was with…it broke her to pieces to think about Yuki's smooth and perfect lips molded hot against hers.

Just the thought had tingles shooting up her spine. Despite the pain that memory of the kiss brought her, she would never trade it away.

"Yeah, well…sorry about that," Liv ducked her face, so she wouldn't have to see the astonished look that Mira gave off.

Mira was astonished, "Did you just say sorry?"

"I'll take it back if you make it a big deal," Liv threatened in hushed tones.

"Don't I feel special, the great Liv apologized too little old me."

"Knock it off," Liv warned as she shuffled through her bag for appropriate clothes to wear. Frustrated, she dumped half the contents out and began to stuff items back into the bag.

"I'll help," Mira offered and crawled over to the side of the room and began to help stuff things in. She was nearly finished when she saw the tip of a white envelope poking out from under the bed. Thoughtlessly, she reached for the letter.

Liv turned her neck in time to see the event unfold, but powerless to do a thing, "Mira…No…" she reached, but it was too late.

The letter fell open on Mira's lap, and her eyes began to soak in the words, "I didn't write this…" her mouth felt dry, a rock lodged in her throat, "I didn't sign this…I don't know who-"the image of a soft woman with wide brown eyes and a creamy complexion crossed her mind, her motherly attitude and compassion led her to know one detail.

"They didn't die in the automobile accident, they never died…" she wasn't a monster; she didn't remember killing them because she never did. Emotionless, Mira stood up and began to walk away.

"Don't get all pissy about this; I did it to protect them and you! You had to believe they were dead, it was better this way," Liv stood up as well and crossed her arms, her eyes starred coldly at Mira's back.

It was better this way?

Anger pulsed through Mira, she whipped around to stare Liv in the eyes. "You had no right!" by now her voice had trigged Tohru awake, even Yuki and Kyo were rummaging around in the next room, wondering what was going on.

"I had every right! That's not your life anymore, I took care of it. They won't contact you again, I promise," suddenly, Liv felt a hard object make contact painfully with the side of her face. She crashed into the paper thin wall and slid right through it. Her ears rang and she whipped away a trickle of blood at the corner of her lips.

Mira had never punched a living being before…but at that moment it felt good.

"I'm not apologizing for that!"

"I wouldn't accept it," Liv rolled back on her heels and shot up, "That was so uncalled for," she stretched the muscles in her jaw and winced.

"What did you say to them?" Mira demanded loudly, Yuki and Kyo both had made it to the door way, Tohru stood off to the side with wide eyes. Even Shigure and Hatori from across the house came running at the noise.

"It's none of your concern anymore," Liv shot back, her body was tensed up.

"Like hell it's not! WHAT DID YOU SAY TO THEM?" Mira hissed the word out loudly, it was a good thing they didn't have neighbors. She was ready to pounce when Liv shot forward, her entire body mass hit Mira square in the torso and they went tumbling through the side of the house, ripped through the wall and tumbled down the steep hill that the Lake House stood at.

The girls hit the ground uncomfortably, Liv pinned Mira to the ground.

"Call them at a payphone, don't let anybody else know," she whispered into the girls ear and then pushed her hands against the ground to get off her.

Mira stood up rather awkwardly as well and brushed the dirt off her sweatpants and the light blue t-shirt she had slept in.

For a moment she could only glare at her, "I really wish I could figure you out Liv," Mira mumbled before walking back to the house.

"It's better you don't," Liv insisted as her stride matched Mira's.