Title: Unbreakable Strength
Chapter 53: How to Save a Life
Authors Note: Funny story – I actually wrote chapter fifty four instead of fifty three on accident, so both chapters are coming out on Tuesday morning instead of one on Monday night and then another on Tuesday Morning – sorry about that! Hopefully people will want to tell me what they thought of both of them despite each chapter being posted in five minutes of each other! I know I promised 58 chapters total, and after re-writing the ending to Unbreakable Strength (haha. I know what happens ;) ) I can guarantee that that promise will be fulfilled. Enjoy the story!
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.
Hero by Mariah Carey
"A hero is a man who does what he can," ~ Romain Rolland
Letting go isn't as simple as the two words appear, the concept is quite misleading. And holding on isn't exactly any easier, or for that matter, harder. When a human being is involved, that's when the world starts to stop turning, everyone holds their breaths, and prays for a happy ending.
Hatori was used to not expecting a happy ending. He also knew how deeply the pain ran when a person's spirit was crippled and their free will caged. Akito held on, and held on fierce to the people he called his own.
But a person could not be owned, not entirely. They were a being with a rational mind, a conscious and their own wills and desires to follow. No matter how thick the chain, and how tricky the lock, there wasn't a cage created that could hold a spirit.
But he will try.
The voice was deep, and trilled in an unpleasing manner. Hatori rarely agreed with the voice, who insisted on being called Ryutaro. He wasn't a fan of the zodiac spirits taking a more personal interest in their human hosts.
Really, he wished the damn thing would leave him well enough alone.
You can't ignore what's here, that would a waste of mindful energy and would result in you being an idiot.
Hatori continued to waste effort in ignoring what could not be ignored – a part of himself.
I told you many years ago to seal yourself off, to not care. But you proved to be a stupidly emotional human – just like the others. Why did you let the girl go? Or help Cabalina the Horse and Panya the Mouse? Nothing good will come of this. We'll both be reprimanded for our disloyalties.
A quiet sigh escaped Hatori's lips as he sat down in the comforts of his office, and reflected on Ryutaro's words.
He was right, he shouldn't care, and he shouldn't have helped Tohru, or Yuki and Mira for that matter. But he did care, and nothing the dragon spirit said, could change that.
Tohru had been a mess, there was no other way to describe her outer appearance and frantic mind set. Her hair had been tussled and dark circles painted around her tear brimming eyes. There had been a desperate plea in her voice that broke him, as she begged to keep her memories for the sake of an innocent life.
Oh, he remembered the conversation all too well.
"Hatori-San, Please, I'll do anything! I…I can't do much, and I know that. But I'll…I'll," she broke down into sobs, hitting the dirt. What did she have to offer that would appeal to this cold hearted man?
No, that wasn't fair. Tohru knew Hatori-San wasn't cold hearted; he was just doing his job.
"Tohru…what did you mean by an innocent life?" Hatori asked, only showing a speck of interest with his dry voice.
"Oh…I…Uhm…" Tohru suddenly became quite interested in having her index fingers meet together as she sat silent on the ground, barely being able to look at Hatori.
"Are you pregnant?" he asked bluntly.
"Nooooo…." Tohru dazed off into the distance, now she really avoided Hatori's eye contact.
"Are you?" he pressed again, without showing a single expression on his handsome face. He could see the same fear and hopes that Liv carried, and it broke something inside of him.
Suddenly, he wanted to do nothing more than to help her out.
"Yes…" she sighed, "But I'll be okay! I'll try to be just like Mom and do the very best I can!" she held her hands close to her bosom and looked up, pleading with her eyes.
"I don't remember my father very much, and I don't know if my baby will ever have a chance to meet Kyo. Please, Hatori-San. I want to tell her stories; I have to give her something of how wonderful her father is, even if he doesn't want me. Please don't erase my memories…I promise I'll fade away and you'll never hear from me again!" her eyes filled with tears, until her lids could hold no more and they freely fell down her cheeks and splat against the grave pavement.
Hatori brushed a hand through his short dark locks, and began to contemplate the right road to take. Finally, he looked away, far off into the distance, and spoke.
"I suggest, you run very fast and very far Tohru. Or Akito will find you, your memories will be erased and worse will be done to the child you and Kyo have created. Vanish, it's your only choice if you want a good life for the baby," When he turned to look at Tohru, she was gone.
It hadn't been a wise decision, if Akito found out he very well could end up sporting another blind eye.
But it had been the right decision, and Hatori couldn't have lived with himself if he had erased her memories and taken her to Akito.
Yuki and Mira were a different matter, they couldn't hide from Akito, and they couldn't run fast enough. He'd track them down and drag them back.
At least they took their chance, as he and Liv had done.
Stupid. Foolish. Irrational. Idiot.
The dragon sputtered the words in his mind, and Hatori could only nod.
"I know," he whispered silently and then made another rash decision.
He stood up from his desk, left the cold comforts of his office, and took a hike up to the cat's prison.
Day and night blended into one concept; time. The minute passed as hours, the hours passed as days and Kyo continued to count all the specks in the ceiling. At times, he could swear he was going mad.
The voices in his head were getting worse, or rather voice. It was male, but for a male voice, it was very feminine.
Like the damn rat.
Do not be angry at Panya, be angry at me.
"Damn it!" Kyo felt his hair stand on ends, once again. If there was anything worse than the never ending silence, it was the voice in his head, the soft, purring voice.
"Hello Kyo."
The second voice made Kyo jump, as he whirled around in the tiny hell hole he now called home.
"What the hell?" he snarled, and settled onto his haunches.
"I thought I'd pay you a visit," Hatori spoke absent mindedly. As always, he looked to the clouds, and not quite at Kyo.
"Don't bother," Kyo finally snarled after a moment of silence passed. He turned his back on Hatori with all intentions of ignoring him.
"I had a visit with Tohru this morning."
"You bastard!" Kyo swung around again, with all intentions of murdering Hatori if he could only break the bars.
"Akito had ordered I erased her memory, but I let her go," he continued calmly, his eyes fixed on Kyo now.
The red hot anger dulled in Kyo. His breathing eased and his lips slowly loosened from the tight snarl.
"I just wanted you to know that. She is safe from the harm of Sohma hands for as long as she stays away. I take it you've already seen to that," he raised an eyebrow, and waited for confirmation.
"Yeah.." Kyo sighed and plumped back down on his butt, "Yeah…" she was so damn gullible. It was so easy, and yet…he couldn't believe how easy she had been to fool. How could she so easily believe him? How was it…that for one second, she could doubt that he loved her?
"Have a nice evening…" Hatori heard Kyo snort behind him as he left.
As he walked, Hatori captured a glance up at the main house, where Liv's room was. Tonight, he was fortunate enough to see her, standing slim and tall at the window and gazing out. He imagined her lips were quirked in an unhappy fashion, and her expression frozen as her mind wandered away, lost in a happier time to happier memories.
The pain seared across his heart, and he as cold and frozen as winter.
I told you not to care…
The voice was more sorrowful and deep than usual. For a minute, the two shared the pain together.
"Hello my little bird," his voice was casual as he walked in. There was a source of terrible power that trembled in him though.
Liv kept her gaze out at the stars. She knew very well that Hatori was almost right below the window, but to see him would once again cause tears to fall.
Tears that were completely useless, so they better locked up in her heart.
"Good evening," she replied in a robotic monotone, because the words were expected of her and to not say anything would signal disrespect. For a moment she was disgusted by herself, for being this pet of his.
There was a subtle kick in her stomach, and Liv was reminded why she did it.
"Why don't you sing to me, song bird?" he rarely ever called her by name. Besides, this frail and boring human wouldn't be here for long. He was talking to the Rooster.
"I wouldn't know what to sing, to please you," Liv whipped around to face him. Her eyes were cold and steel.
Just sing…I'll tell you the words, give you the melody.
Gallius attempted so sooth her, as he often did. They were after all, in this together.
But tonight, Liv would not be smoothed.
"If I am to play this part, and for my own reasons I'll play it well – I must know one thing. Why all the cordial human rituals? Why would you want to marry me or my sister?" she had to know, because nothing in her heart made sense. He was a God, what did he want with a boring marriage to a human?
Akito's eyes crinkled with amusement, "Have you not guessed it? Have you not understood why I want all the zodiac together? My dear, our bond was so tight and perfected in the beginning years. When the Sohma's first came to this land and their blood ran rich and pure. It was their blood that sealed our bond, and it is their blood that keeps our bond strong and alive. Over the years, the Sohma blood has thinned. This pure family has allowed cross breeding," his lips twisted into disgust at this.
"Is that all we are to you than? Tools to breed a more pure Sohma race so your spirits may be stronger in their hosts?" Liv demanded. The anger brimmed, and for a moment…she felt alive. She felt like herself, the strong self-sacrificing girl that had gone to all ends to protect what was hers, and to fight for what was necessary.
If she was to be a puppet, then she would be a puppet that at the very least held onto what she had once been.
"You can't imagine how irritated I was in the last generation. The blood sacrifice they gave was hardly sufficient, and Tetsu wasn't as easy to control as this human," his face scrawled up in disgust.
Liv almost allowed herself to smile, "Mother was more than you bargained for, I take it." She was suddenly very proud of the blood than ran in her veins.
"She knew what she was doing, if that's what you mean," he snarled bitterly, "Obviously there are many kinds of rituals, many that call for some form of payment. For our bond, to keep my spirits immortal and bonded to a human host, we must sacrifice a Sohma every generation. Tetsu became very…intrigued by the different rituals…she was cunning and managed to hide her plans from me. There was one ritual in particular that she became obsessed with, one I did not learn about until it was too late. A ritual to make a person untraceable."
Mother had hid them very well, Liv suddenly realized this. "You couldn't find us. She sacrificed herself and our father as a payment to hide us…" Liv was humbled by her mothers sacrifice.
"Not quite…" Mana snarled, "This specific ritual….does not call for any payment in blood," and at this he smashed one of the lamps on the table in a fit of rage.
Liv jumped from the sound of the crashing ceramic as her mind raced on the meaning of his words and the implications of it.
Oh very nice, that's been in the family for generations, I'll have you know.
"SHUT UP!" Mana shoved Akito back into his mind and regained his poseur.
"I beg your pardon," Liv took a healthy step back, as maternal fear flickered inside of her gut.
A steady breath or two later, and Mana was back in control and calm.
"I will have this family pure of blood once again, and our bonds will be tighter than ever. It will be just as the old days were, and control will be ours," his goal was in sight. All he had to do was reach out, and take it. And this time, there would be no imp witch plotting her way to undermine his efforts.
Additional Authors Note: So I'm going to be completly honest with you - this is possibly one of the most important chapters of the story, and there's a few parts in here that flowed together so well, where the story and character actually grabbed me and said - "No, that's not what happened silly little writter. This is what happened" and they wrote the story for me. I'm not sure what implications this will cause, but all will be good - because when the story speaks to you, a writer is powerless but to listen. I hope everyones curiosity is spiked as Tetsu takes a more center role in the story.
