Author's Note: Reading the Yen Press translation of Hatori's line in chapter 12 about his feelings for Kana—"As if preordained by the stars, I fell in love with her"—caused my brain to go, "Hey, how about a Hatori/Kana reincarnation romance AU?" I can only hope I can do these characters justice.

Disclaimer: I regret to inform you that I do not, in fact, own Fruits Basket. *cries in Hatori/Kana feels*

Jomon 8401 (4490 B.C.)

He is a fisherman, the youngest of five sons, and she is the oldest daughter of hunter-gatherers. He sees her carrying mushrooms and berries from the forest near the village and his lungs forget how to breathe correctly at the sight of her. Although she smiles brightly at him, he can do no more than nod in greeting.

One day, when he's catching fish at the river, she approaches him with her arms full of peaches. She offers him one, and he says nothing at first, merely staring at her and then at the peach she's holding out to him. When he finally asks if she ought to bring all the peaches home to her family, she says she can always get more if needed. After another moment, he accepts the peach, and they end up talking for hours, long after he's satisfied with the number of fish he's caught.

They meet almost every day after that, at the river or in the forest. Months pass before he asks her if she's promised to anyone, although he thinks he knows the answer. In all likelihood, she's been betrothed to some firstborn son of a tradesman from another village, some other man who will be better able to provide for her.

Much to his surprise, she tells him no husband has been found for her, and with her usual smile, she adds that she was hoping he would ask for her hand.

They approach her parents, who are against the match because, as the youngest of five, he has nothing to offer her. He goes to his parents and explains the situation, but there's no help to be had—all his mother says is that she and his father will find him a more suitable wife.

He thinks it's all over, until she asks him to meet her in the forest one night. There, she asks him to run away with her. Her eyes plead with him, and he is torn between following his heart or his head. For the first time in his life, his heart wins out, and under the cover of darkness, they leave the only home they've ever known, together.

Life isn't easy, of course, and it's especially not easy during times when food is scarce. Even so, there are brief moments of peace and joy between them in the early mornings or late nights, and those moments make all their hardships worth it.

Yayoi 1235 (234 A.D.)

They are both slaves in adjacent noble households in China. Her master is a kind, generous man, and her life is a good one. She catches a glimpse of him through the open window shutters and is instantly smitten. He's withdrawn at first, only glancing at her briefly before looking away, but soon enough, he gets used to seeing her a few minutes every day at the same window.

It's through that window that she learns his master is nothing like hers.

When she first sees his master strike him, she feels the air leave her lungs in stunned horror. She somehow breaks out of her stupor long enough to resume her work, but the sight of him getting hurt doesn't leave her mind. From that day on, she starts saving up silk cloth, as much as she can carry, in the hopes that it'll be enough to buy his freedom. Once she's satisfied with the amount she has, she motions for him to meet her in the garden. She passes the silk over the wall and explains why she's giving it to him, and he looks at her like he's truly seeing her for the first time and whispers his tearful thanks.

But when he gives the silk to his master, he is beaten, and his master pretends the whole incident never occurred. When he tells her what happened the next time they meet, she promises to talk to her master, to get his help.

She never gets the chance. Her master is hosting his before they and their armies leave for battle, and the work to be done to welcome his master's household to her master's manor leaves her with no time to do anything else. That evening, dinner is served—and his master's slaughter of her master's household begins.

He is killed in his attempt to defend her from a soldier, and the last thing she sees before she's stabbed to death is his body, lying motionless on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Nara 66 (775 A.D.)

She is a shrine maiden, respected and well-loved by her village, and he is a humble farmer. She glimpses him during a religious ceremony, and afterward, whenever she is not occupied by her duties, she makes excuses to see him.

He never fails to show her every courtesy due to her position, even when she insists he doesn't need to be so formal. He's such a serious man that she hopes to make him smile or even laugh, and the day she first sees a smile flit across his normally impassive face feels just as much of an accomplishment as completing her training did.

On another day, he asks if she would lie in the same grave with him. She grasps his meaning at once, of course, and she's not opposed to the idea at all. But she will need to have another girl take her place, and the process of that could take up to seven years. She explains this to him and asks if he'll agree to wait, and he does.

Four years later, her apprentice becomes the village's new shrine maiden, leaving her free to marry him. As more time passes, they fill their hut with their children, and for all the years the kami bless them with, they live in peace together.

Heian 36 (1090)

They are nobles of the imperial court, and both of them are married. Her husband has three other wives and numerous mistresses, and his wife is little more than an acquaintance to him. It's easy—far easier than he expects—for her beauty to draw his eye, for words praising her grace and kindness to flow from his brush and onto paper. He delivers his first love poem in her name to her door, but he isn't arrogant enough to assume she will reply with a poem of her own.

Amazingly, though, she does.

After months spent exchanging poems and letters with one another, he visits her one night in her private quarters. His view of her is obstructed by neither fan nor screen, and he realizes in an instant that no flowery words, whether written or spoken, are enough to capture how beautiful she is. Courtship practices demand they engage in conversation, but speech fails him. With a soft smile adorning her pale face, she asks if he finds her suitable company, and all he can do is nod.

Their lovemaking is slow, unhurried. He reveres her with his hands, worships her with his lips, and patiently gives her as much pleasure as she gives him, if not more. He's alarmed when he sees tears sliding down her face afterward, but she's quick to assure him that he didn't hurt her, that he was wonderful. She also says she's never been loved like that before, and he tries not to wonder what she means by that, if it's more than a simple compliment.

He leaves her at sunrise, knowing he'll return sooner rather than later. By the end of the third visit, both are certain they want no one but each other for as long as they live.

In time, they separate from their spouses and marry each other, and he has a house built for them. The court is scandalized that neither of them take other lovers, but they're too happy with their life together to pay them any mind.

Kamakura 58 (1242)

She is a princess, and he is a samurai appointed to be her bodyguard. He stays close to her during the day, and at night, he escorts her to her bedchamber and stands guard at her door. There is always a curious energy in the air between them, and she wonders if he feels it as sharply as she does.

He thwarts an assassination attempt on her life one night, and when she lifts shocked eyes from the dead man on her floor to meet his gaze, the charge that flies between them is so severe—so intense—that she can't resist it. Before either of them know it, she's kissing him, kissing him like her very life depends on it, and he's kissing her back. After a small eternity, he pulls away, and she almost sobs at the loss of contact, even if she knows as well as he does that they can go no further, that they should go no further. They are of different stations, different ranks of nobility, and that kiss must be their only one.

Except it happens again, and again, and their fourth kiss ends up being far more than a kiss. By then, neither of them can pretend it will be the only time they throw caution to the wind.

Eventually, she enters into a political marriage with the mild-mannered, unassertive second son of the lord of another clan. If her husband ever notices that none of "his" children resemble him at all, he's all too willing to turn a blind eye to it.

Muromachi 122 (1467)

He is a general in the Eastern Army, and she is a warrior under his command. She saves his life in battle, shooting down a Western soldier aiming at him while he's busy nocking a fresh arrow to his own bow, and he later repays the debt by saving her life in another battle. From there, an understanding forms between them—neither of them will allow the other to come to harm, not while they both draw breath.

They die on the battlefield at the Shokoku Temple, and their final thoughts are of each other (and of another, far more ancient vow: I will find you again).

Meiji 27 (1894)

She is a war nurse, married to a marine, and he is a soldier in the Imperial Army, fighting to remove Korea from Chinese suzerainty. He is brought to her after being injured in the line of duty, and although she's quite used to seeing wounded men, something about seeing him with a war injury tears at her heart; she resolves to not cause him more suffering while tending to him.

In the weeks that follow, he proves to be a good patient—he's cooperative, non-argumentative, and endures pain with little worse than the occasional grunt or wince. Every now and then, he smiles at her, small but grateful, and her stomach gives a traitorous flip.

She tries not touching him any more than necessary, but her fingers will sometimes linger on his skin or his bandages. Even something as small as that feels like a betrayal of her husband, who's never done anything but right by her, yet it doesn't stop her from doing it, it doesn't stop her from wishing he'd smile at her more often.

It definitely doesn't stop her from imagining what kissing him would be like.

He makes a full recovery in time, and they go their separate ways without even a squeeze of each other's hand (it's for the best, she tells herself, though she's not sure she believes it). The conflict ends and she and her husband reunite and readjust to civilian life, and she is happy, she is. Still, ever so often, she can't help wondering how different her life would be if she'd met him before she married.

Heisei 9 (1997)

He is the Sohma family doctor, cursed by the spirit of the dragon, and she is his new assistant, eager to do a good job and more than a little attracted to him. Initially, he is cool and businesslike with her, his wintry exterior on full display, but little by little, the snow begins to thaw in the face of the bright, warm spring she brings to his life.

He's fallen in love with her before he knows it, and it's not difficult to realize she's in love with him, too. Still, for a time, he holds back, unsure of how she'll react to his secret and knowing the curse won't allow them to have a normal relationship in any case. By all rights, the day she finds out should've ended things...but it doesn't. She tells him she's glad she met him, that she wants to be with him, and with those words, an overwhelming sense of salvation and forgiveness washes over him—the snow has melted, and spring is in full bloom.

But spring doesn't last forever. Akito opposes their engagement—furiously, lividly, violently opposes it—and it results in him losing most of the vision in his left eye and her being eaten away by guilt. He doesn't blame his God, and he could never blame her; the only one to blame is himself for forgetting how quickly Akito can fly into a rage, for thinking even for a moment that he could have a bond outside of the curse.

Her guilt leads to a deep depression, and in the end, he erases her memories of their relationship. Some part of his soul breaks when she leaves, but he knows it's better for her now that she has. Now she's free to find someone else who can truly make her happy, even if he is refrozen by snow, resigned to live in a world without spring, with only the memory of her to keep him company.

Eventually, long after the curse breaks, he marries Mayuko, and although they have a good life, he is never able to banish her entirely from his heart.

2165

They are scientists assigned to the space exploration team on a mission to the Gliese 357 system. They bow to each other and introduce themselves shortly before they're put into hibernation for the journey. The last conversation either of them have before being frozen is when they share some banter about their hopes—she's eager to find life on other planets, and he just wants to be sure every contingency can be provided for.

When they reach their destination, her cryostasis chamber malfunctions, and it's his quick thinking and medical knowledge that saves her life. He looks after her in the hospital bay, and when she's well enough, they take the trip down to the surface of a habitable planet, which is given the rather appropriate if uncreative name of Gaia. He watches her as she stares in joyous amazement at all the vibrant greenery around them and thinks this environment suits her perfectly.

He is part of the group scheduled to return to Earth, while her group remains on Gaia, but when the time for departure arrives, the thought of leaving her behind feels intolerable, unbearable. He stays with her, and they build a life—and a family—together.

During his last moment alive, a fleeting thought comes to him, one rooted in a knowledge much, much older than his body: What if she's here in her next life, and I'm on Earth? Will we meet again with so much distance between us?

2647

They do.

5294

They always do. No matter the distance, no matter the life they have, they always meet again.

10,588

For all time.