The Order

Disclaimer: Hah, ya want it :throws disclaimer: fetch!

A/N: Okay, so onto my senseless babbling. It's going to be short because I don't want to give any of my reviewers' early deaths by rambling on and on. So this chapter…yeah. It was actually pretty difficult to write. I had the ideas; I just couldn't get them to flow. Sorry if it's choppy, but I really wanted to introduce the Cherry Blossom Trio before anyone else. I swear, this story is going to gain momentum, I promise!

Now, on to my thanks!

fic fan: Ah, thanks so much for the review! It warms me soul.

SelenityPotter: Wow, you're so enthusiastic about my story! Thanks so much, I'm glad you like the AU. I hope this chapter keeps you interested…

i take people's wits: Interesting review name. I like it, personally. Yes, I love twists and turns and cliffhangers, they're my friends. Thanks for the review!

hannah5o: I like this world too; I'm actually in the process of designing a map for it so I can figure out where the countries like Briar Violet and Rosewood would be in relevance to Zodia. Hm, should be fun to live in, though I don't like the Bhatar either, nasty evil peoples. Thank you for the review, you made my day!

sakura: Awwww, thanks so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter, truly.

Nessa: Hah, the only reason you like the Bhatar is because you're morbid and they are too. Aha! Phantom! No one, he's no one. Some cousin of my mother's aunt twice removed. Lovely singing voice. Eunuch.

George: Hm, in answer to all your wonderfully asked questions…begin reading chapter. Teehee…Shigure…ahahah…

Liliath: Actually, at first when I read your review…I thought I was getting my first flame. To be assured, I continued and found you actually LIKED my story. Imagine my relief! No, I wasn't really expecting twenty reviews until I would update, I wasn't expecting any reviews to be quite honest. To find people like my story…is beyond my natural comprehension. But anyway, I'm glad you like it, and I'm sorry if I sent you into a depression with my lack of updating. But again, I do have school, and school is my life. 'Tis hard to write with school…but thanks for remaining loyal

yi wen1776: Awwww, thank you, your reviews warm me heart. So much support, really I can't thank you enough. I hope this chapter lives up to your standards of my writing…

Lemur: NO DANCING FIGURINES, NONE. You…you EVIL-WANTS-TO-TAKE-OVER-THE-WORLD-LEMUR! You cookie freak, I expect a REAL review from you next time. And also, I bet you had fun on that nature resort thing…hahaha, I laugh at you. Though I truly love you and thanks for reviewing this story as well as GTOTC. You make my day Lemur with your long-winded, nonsense babbling reviews.

Now, with that taken care of…on to the story! DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE REVIEWS...ME LIFE'S BLOOD, WOULD YE DEPRIVE ME OF ME LIFE'S BLOOD? LEAVE A REVIEW, I'M BEGGIN' YE!

Lillia


Tohru.

She felt a slender hand stroke her hair, the scent of cherry blossoms heavy on the air. Quietly she raised her head from the lap she was curled around; peering up into her mother's smiling gray eyes. Locks of tarnished orange blew into the young woman's pale face as she helped Tohru to her feet.

"You don't have to push yourself so hard," she murmured, releasing Tohru's hands.

The fortune teller watched as her mother bent to retrieve something, only to straighten with a small gold treasury nestled in her hands. Tearing her gaze from the circular box, she looked up to her mother. Kyoko's hair was longer, tied back in a braid accompanied by a green cloth knotted over her forehead. A necklace of gold coins clinked around her neck and silver bracelets jingled around her wrists as she revealed the contents housed within her gift.

Twelve crystalline Zodiac figurines gleamed among their velvet coverlet. Gasping softly, Tohru shook her head, but Kyoko spoke first.

"You must always be yourself…and do things at your own pace."

Tears clouded her vision as the sound of water hitting the ground met her ears. Her mother's form wavered, before fading, and with mounting horror Tohru could now discern Kyoko's lifeless body trapped beneath the wheels of a carriage decked out in royal purple hues. The sound of blood spattering the ground became louder and she covered her face with her hands.

"Someday…you shall catch up…"


Waking with a gasp her startled eyes came to rest on several figures bending over her, warm hands keeping her still as she tried to struggle and clear her blurred vision. A flinch of pain crossed her features as her wounds began to throb, the slashes carved into her flesh stinging horribly. Cool fingers were pressed against her forehead, a single word muttered.

"Sleep…"

And she felt her body relax, her muscles loosen as she once more fell into darkness. Many times she woke to soft voices, but whose they were she could not discern. Other times she felt hands stroking her hair, soothing the nightmares from her troubled mind. When she finally woke from her sleep, sunlight slanted through the glass walls and she gazed at the delicately carved figurines of the Zodiac. None were broken, and all shined rainbows upon the stone tiles.

Sitting up, a sharp breath left her throat as her entire body ignited with a fiery pain. Straining to keep still, the pain lessened to a dull throbbing and she stared at her figurines, reaching out to slowly caress the one of the cat.

"Ah, so you're awake?"

She blinked, gazing in perplexity at the young man leaning against the doorway. He smiled, tucking a thumb into the sash at his waist, his tan robes long and gaping at the chest.

"Where am I?" she swallowed as her voice cracked, recognizing the man to be the one from the market place.

He walked into the room, stepping over to the far corner where a table rested and poured a glass of water. Kneeling by her bed, he offered it to her, watching as she took it and drank deeply. Clearing her throat, she looked up at him.

"I found you, if you must know. You were in dreadful condition, bleeding and covered it dirt," he tsked and shook his head. "Now what would my little flower be doing all marked up and sleeping in mud?"

Tohru blushed at the idle question, rubbing her fingers over the rim of the glass. Memories tumbled through her mind, unrelenting in its fine detail of her chance meeting with the Bhatar.

"I…" she bowed her head. "I was attacked."

Shigure cocked a brow. "Is that so…by bandits, was it?"

She shook her head, eyes becoming distant. "I don't know who they were."

"Were they cloaked?"

"Yes…cloaked and hooded. I was with my two friends; we were going home because of the storm. Can't sell fortunes in a storm," she said, managing a weak smile.

He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "No, I suppose you can't."

"Shigure, get away from my charge," a voice said from the doorway.

Tohru blinked as another young man walked in, dressed in the slender green robes of a Healer. A wealth of green hair fell across his left eye, leaving the other very clear and currently scowling in the blue-haired man's direction. Tohru vaguely recalled seeing him as well in the market and reading his fortune. Shigure stood in a fluid movement and laughed easily at Hatori's glare.

"I wasn't going to do anything to her, honest!" he exclaimed innocently.

Hatori shook his head. "I don't care; go out into the hall until I'm finished."

With a dramatic sigh, he bowed to Tohru and left the room, only to be heard giving a shout of surprise. "Aaya!"

"Why hello Shigure, I came with Hari to see your little flower. I hear she's in need of some new clothes," another voice babbled from the hall.

"Ignore them," Hatori said, kneeling at her side and pressing cool fingers to her forehead. "Your fever is gone, that's a good sign. Would you mind removing your robe? I need to change your bandages…"

Tohru was blushing darkly as her fingers trembled, untying the sash and letting it fall off her shoulders. Hatori removed the old bandages covering the largest gashes around her back and arms, rubbing a warming salve into the angry markings. He hesitated briefly at the wound on her stomach, before continuing with deft movements, then nodded as he finished. She quickly hugged the cloth around her skin, suppressing a shiver.

"Does anything else hurt?"

She shook her head and blinked when Hatori indicated the crystalline figurines. "Shigure found them tied about your waist. He thought they were of value to you and had them repaired while you slept."

Shigure peeked into the room. "Can we come in now, Hari? Aaya is just dying to meet her…"

Hatori ran a hand over his eyes and sighed softly, before nodding. "Yes…" He turned to Tohru. "Don't be alarmed by them, they really aren't as idiotic as they appear."

Before the fortune-teller could voice her confusion, Shigure strolled back in followed by another…something. She blinked rapidly, trying to discern if the person trailing Shigure was indeed male. The voice was perhaps male…but the slender form clothed in a spill of velvet robes…could have been female. A lovely face was framed by a cascade of silver hair and pale green eyes glinted from beneath long bangs.

"Ah, she is exquisite!" he exclaimed, for Tohru leaned towards her first guess as to the person being male. "Perfect, I'll just have to get her measurements and then before you can say 'genius' I'll have a sprawling line of clothing for her."

"Uhm…" Tohru bit her lip, looking between Shigure and Ayame. "I…I still don't know where I am and who I'm indebted to."

"Indebted?" Shigure shook his head. "It was my pleasure to care for you, but ah! You must not know who we are, hm?"

Tohru shook her head, still hugging the robe against her stinging flesh. "I'm sorry…s-should I?"

"No, you shouldn't," Hatori said, silencing Shigure's reply. "I will introduce us. My name is Hatori Sohma, and I'm the Royal Healer to Lord Akito." Ignoring her gasp of surprise, he motioned to Ayame. "This is Ayame Sohma, the Royal Tailor and a master of mischief." Ayame grinned, placing his hands on his hips. Hatori then glanced at Shigure. "And that…is Shigure Sohma, the Royal pain in the ass."

Shigure sniffed. "Hari…"

Tohru stared at them in shock, before scrambling to bow, flinching slightly. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I caused all of you so much trouble, I…!"

Shigure placed his hands on her shoulders, helping her back to the bed and shaking his head. "It was no trouble, really. Hari rarely helps members outside of the Sohma family, so if anything you should thank him."

She nodded and turned to Hatori, bowing her head. "Thank you very much, my lord."

Hatori shook his head. "I will be back to check on you in a few more days. Get some rest. Let's go Ayame."

"One moment!" Ayame dashed over to Tohru, removing a cord of rope from around his shoulders and taking quick, knotted measurements of Tohru's frame, before bounding off to join the waiting Healer. "I'll be back soon Shigure; keep the bed warm, won't you?"

"Always Aaya," Shigure said, waving after them.

Tohru, not comprehending the transaction between the two, turned her gaze to her Zodiac figurines, brushing them lightly. "Thank you Lord Shigure, for fixing them…they were my mother's."

"I see. A family heirloom?" Shigure asked quietly.

She nodded. "My mother was a fortune teller too before she died. She gave them to me when I saw my first vision."

Shigure stood, hands tucked into the sleeves of his robes. "Ah, well I wouldn't want to dredge up old nightmares for you. I'll leave you to your rest." He turned to leave, pausing at the doorway and turning to face her. "Before I forget…there's another person who lives here. He knows of you, and I'm sorry he's not here to meet you; he had to attend to some business of his own. Perhaps you've heard of him. Prince Yuki?"

Tohru watched him leave, before a bolt of shock went through her. Prince Yuki Sohma!


As the sun was slowly setting, Shigure was in his study bent over a brittle scroll. The scratch of his quill on paper was all he focused on and translating the script lying in his lap. Thus, he did not hear a figure enter until they cleared their throat. Startled, he looked up, cheek smudged with a line of ink.

"Yuki, I didn't expect you back so soon," he said in acknowledgement, leaning back in his chair.

Yuki pulled the velvet hood away from his face, tousling his silver hair in the process. "Yes, I was expecting to run late as well but matters were quickly concluded. Is everything all right?"

Shigure toyed with his quill, nodding absently. "Yes, of course. Oh, the fortune teller woke when Hatori came to change her bandages…"

If he expected a reaction from Yuki, he was hard pressed to find it. "And?"

"The poor thing, she scarce had enough energy left to eat a piece of bread before sleep claimed her again. Do you want to go check on her?" he questioned, placing his fingers beneath his chin.

Yuki nodded, tossing a wrapped parcel on Shigure's desk before leaving with a snap of his cloak. Shigure plucked the silk-covered package from the wooden surface and opened it quietly, smirking slightly at the contents inside.

"Ah, jelly pies. You truly outdid yourself this time Yuki, that baker woman is an old crab," Shigure grinned devilishly. "So a girlish face is her weakness, I'll have to remember that."

Yuki traveled the stone halls of the small estate, pausing as he glanced into the sun room, a room that had been extended from the rest of the house and contained walls crafted from glass. The dying rays of the evening sun now filtered through the glass, casting a golden hue upon the girl in the center, the twelve Zodiac figurines lined up beside her bed splaying rainbows across the floor and her skin.

Silently he knelt by her head, his cloak circling about him as he stroked slender fingers down her cheek, tracing them into her hair. She murmured incoherently, shifting, seeking the warm hand that played with her brown locks. Yuki sighed softly and retracted his touch, moving to stand, but a hand entangled in his cloak, keeping him anchored. Surprised, he glanced down at the fortune teller to see if she had merely reached for him while engrossed in her dreams.

Two sleepy blue eyes blinked up at him.


TBC………MUST NEEDS REVIEWS….REVIEWS PLEASE! WILL WORK FOR REVIEWS!