Disclaimer: Hello my loyal fans! I love you all so much! Life is so stressful you know? I'm on the brink of my sanity and sometimes I wish that I'd disappear. Still I search for that special someone, but I know that I have people who can at least read my words. As long as my words affect someone, even if its just a silly, fun, and cute story, then so be it. I do not own Fruits Basket, but my heart is still in this story, and that is something, no one will ever take away.

Chapter 34

It seems Christmas day came and went, but the happiness in the air lingered for the next few days. Tohru was as chipper as ever, humming it seemed every other minute when she wasn't talking. Even Kyo and Haru, broke out of their shells to be around the rest of the boys, and not too many words of bickering were in the air. Tohru returned to normal meals, normal days, and some lazy naps on the couches.

Today was three days after Christmas, and the sixth day into their break. They had a few more days remaining, and right now Tohru was lounging on a couch reading a novel; a pillow to her back, and a pillow resting on her chest. Momiji was on the opposite couch clicking away at a portable video game, and other than that the atmosphere was quaint and tranquil. The others had gone out on their own errands, and Shigure remained in his office typing away at the keyboard, much like I am.

And so the heart grew warmer, opening itself to a town with no people. That warmth, and that love, could not be accepted, we no longer understand innocence.

Tohru turned a page, the sound of the edge crisp and delicate in the peaceful air and she continued to lose herself in the depths of pages and words. It just seemed to much like an old rural styled novel, her happiness on the sofa away from work. Down the stairs came Yuki and he took the opportunity of her alone to sit down on the couch beside her feet. Tohru felt his presence as he sat, but stayed with her book. Yuki watched her, waiting, until finally he could wait no more. He leaned over and with his index finger, pulled the book down a few inches so she could see his eyes.

"Is something the matter Yuki?" Tohru asked in her usual innocent manner

"Tohru, it's a great day out, wouldn't you rather be outside, take a walk maybe?"

Tohru closed the book letting out a sigh "I guess it is a lovely day out, I doubt wasting it would be fair," She smiled and then looked over at Momiji "Hey Momiji, do you want to come to the park with me, and Yuki too if he'll join me"

Momiji looked up from his game "Sure Tohru!" Momiji instantly threw the game over his shoulder like it was nothing and ran to get his stuff on. Yuki frowned, wanting to spend private time with Tohru, but looking at Tohru's smiling face he couldn't keep it there for that long

"Well, will you join us Yuki?" Tohru asked him smiling

"Of course Tohru, I would be delighted" Yuki smiled softly and pulled her onto her feet. Tohru threw on her jacket and white winter hat, and Yuki threw on his jacket and a black scarf. As they walked to the park Momiji frolicked ahead of Yuki and Tohru. Yuki's eyes never seemed to leave Tohru as she smiled and strolled along with them

"I'm really enjoying this break from school. Midterms were such a killer Yuki, I'm so lucky that you helped me study for them." Tohru smiled trying to pick up some sort of a conversation

"It was no trouble at all Tohru," He told her gently with a smile "You would've done just fine even without my help. I have complete faith in your abilities"

"I wish I had as much faith in myself as you do, then maybe I'd have a chance" Tohru laughed. Her breath would constantly condense into puffs of air and then disappear in a quick moment. Almost like spirits who came and went, like the wind. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and they continued walking down the street. Tohru's eyes followed the other travelers, some old, some young, and her eyes followed especially a young couple, college students maybe, and she smiled as the two of them held hands as they walked down the sidewalk together.

"Umm Tohru, what exactly are you looking at?" Momiji asked jumping to see over the parked cars, wondering about the mysterious something that had caught Tohru's attention. Tohru came out of her dream to look down at Momiji and smiled "What's so funny Tohru?"

"You are silly, I'm not looking at anything that important!" she laughed softly

"Oh come on Tohru, tell me!"

Tohru pulled Momiji up the street, so the parked cars would not block their view. She knelt down on one knee, so she was at Momiji's view and she pointed to the couple

"You see those two, the two happy people. I was just, admiring them. They each have someone completely there for them. A special someone just for them. It's a beautiful sight right?"

"It is, its nice to see people smile like that." Momiji's eyes followed the happy couple, the boy with brown hair, the girl with a beautiful blue. "What about you Tohru, do you have a special someone?"

Yuki was watching them a few steps away. He watched the couple too, wishing he had his special someone. She could be right beside him, and she still felt worlds away. He watched her, and he watched Momiji. Waiting silently for Tohru's final response.

"I believe...we all have someone special, that special someone just for me. He's out there, and he's watching silently, waiting until he wants to show himself. In a city with no people, are they happy, I wonder sometimes...."

"What are you talking about Tohru?" Momiji asked her softly

"Sometimes it feels like, we aren't people. Too busy, to see the beauty, so it all dies, it fades away, until nothing is left, but this world of grey. Are we our own monsters, sometimes I wonder. But then," Tohru lifted her head to the sky "But then you see happy people, who can still see the color in this world, I envy them, that they can share it together, and spread that happiness."

"In a world of black and white, we wander the misty grays." Momiji stated slowly "Wasn't it you who said that a long time ago?"

"Maybe I did, but the world isn't truly in black and white just yet....I hope it remains bright and vibrant, before we lose it all" Tohru stared at the sky, watching snowflakes begin to fall again.

"I have hope Tohru, if people like you can see the color, and spread it as much as you do, then the world will be fine" Momiji told her gently, staring down at the sidewalk "I know, that I am not that special someone just for you. But that does not mean, our bond is faltered. Our bond, is special. Tohru, I'm glad to have met you, I'm glad you came into my life, and everyone else's."

Tohru smiled and together they stood up, and she took his hand gently and held it in hers. They walked together into the park, through the gate with a silent meaning. Yuki watched them, and he stood there wondering. I am, her special someone? He coughed a few times, then ran to catch up with the others.

Tohru, Yuki, and Momiji returned home an hour later, trying to avoid the snowfall which had gotten heavier on the way home. Tohru suggested she made them all some soup and they happily took up the offer. Tohru wandered the kitchen, allowing her soup to settle on the stove and she hummed along quietly. Her voice, even the humming, filled the corners of the room, and everyone seemed to smile in their own way.

She grabbed a tray, and served the soup into two bowls. She wandered into the den, and Momiji was curled up in a blanket like a marshmallow, and even Yuki had his own blanket draped across his legs.

"Hey Eskimo, I have your soup silly" Tohru bent over looking into Momiji's cave.

"Alright soup! Thanks a lot Tohru!" Momiji took the soup and ran up to his room to eat it in front of his computer.

Tohru laughed and watched the marshmallow go mobile to run up to his room. She walked over to Yuki next, and frowned softly looking at him. His eyes were glossy, and indication that he was getting sick. She put the tray down on the floor and rested her hand on his forehead, which rather startled him

"Uh Tohru what are you doing?"

"Oh Yuki, you're burning up. I bet that walk outside in the cold air made you sick. Come on, you should go upstairs and get in bed!" Tohru pulled at his hands.

"Please...Tohru...I'm fine!" Yuki stumbled as he was reluctantly pulled to his feet. He quaked forward and started coughing, crippling forward until Tohru grabbed his shoulders. He lifted his head up to look at her with a weak smile "okay...maybe I'm not as great as I thought"

"Yuki...." Tohru's eyes were full of concern. She walked him up to his bed slowly and watched him get under the covers. She ran into her room and came back with an extra quilt for him and draped it over him "Stay here, I'm going to go get your soup and some other stuff"

Tohru ran downstairs into the medicine cabinet. She grabbed the thermometer, a dish and rag for the warm water, some medication, water, and her soup which was still in the middle of the den. She grabbed all the stuff and ran back up to Yuki's room, edging the door open slowly with her foot. "I'm...back...Yuki..." Tohru balanced on one foot until the door opened far enough that she could squeeze in.

Yuki looked like he was asleep on the bed, but he opened his eyes slowly hearing Tohru's voice. There was sweat on his forehead, his fever was worse than Tohru had imagined "Hello Tohru..." He told her gently. Still Yuki was smiling.

Tohru first dipped the rag in the warm water and wiped the sweat off his face. Her face, was filled with concern, and at the same time her deep concentration. She dipped the rag in water again, rinsed it, and left it on his forehead. She returned to her tray of materials and she turned back around with a cup of water and a pill "Hey Yuki...eat this for me okay? It'll make you recover quicker" Yuki nodded and slipped the pill into his mouth and washed it down with his water "Good Yuki..." She took the cup back from him.

"Tohru...this isn't all necessary...I'll just sleep it off, don't worry about it..." He told her laying back down against his pillow

"No Yuki let me help you, I don't want you getting any worse," Tohru told him gently. She stuck the thermometer in his mouth. She waited for a few minutes, watching the snow fall until she pulled it back out again. "102.3, its kind of high" She left the lid on his soup and put the thermometer away "You sleep okay Yuki, and I'm going to see what else I can do to help"

Yuki nodded slowly, and closed his eyes and slept. Tohru left the room and skidded to a stop before she nearly slammed in Haru "Oh sorry Haru,"

"What's up Tohru, you seemed stressed" He rubbed the back of his head looking at her

"Oh its nothing, Yuki's got a fever. But he's going to sleep for a while. I just need to go do some other things. Maybe you could..."

"Keep watch over Yuki for a while?" He finished her question

"Could you please?" Tohru asked him

"Of course Tohru. Anything to help you out."

Tohru bowed "Thanks Haru, I owe you" she sped down the stairs to attend to her things. Haru slid open the door and sat down in the chair where Tohru had been and looked at Yuki

"Come on Rat, I know you're not really asleep, even if you are ill" He told him unemotionally, and on command Yuki's eyes opened

"Hello Haru."

"Are you sick or is this your asthma?" Haru started

"I think its from the cold weather, just the flu, not asthma, I haven't done anything that would aggravate it. That's usually in the spring"

"Alright. So you aren't faking it at least, you do look on the paler side, even for you."

"I'm glad to see you so concerned" Yuki shot back hotly

"No reason to get defensive. She's worried about you, at least you've always got an ally on your side" Haru looked out the window at the snow. "She'll be here for you," he told Yuki blandly again

"What are you saying, you make it sound like she wouldn't care about you!" Yuki implied

"No, I know Tohru cares. That I grasp onto more than anything in the world. She has special place for each of us, but you and Kyo, have special places in her heart. Momiji and I, we're different from you two. Momiji and I, we love her, as brothers. Somehow, I took on the older brother role, and Momiji instantly takes on the younger one. In a way, I like it that way"

"Why?" Yuki asked confused

"I don't have to compete. There is no stress to show my feels, I can show them as I please. The same with Momiji. She will never feel reluctant to embrace me, to keep me close, because there is nothing I have to prove"

"So, are you saying, Kyo and I are hurting her?" Yuki asked delirious

"I'm not sure really. She loves us all like family. But somewhere deep inside of her, she's uncertain around you and Kyo. I can see it. To me, its obvious, to see that she hasn't placed you two just yet. You two, are such unstable people"

"Unstable?!" Yuki got angry

"Look. I will always be there for Tohru. Momiji will too. We have our designated roles. But what about you and Kyo? Kyo is always leaving, yelling, fighting, she can't figure him out, and you, I don't know what it is about you, but you always hold back."

"Shut up..." Yuki looked away

"It's because of Akito isn't it?"

"....."

"You don't trust him. Even though he's giving Tohru this chance, you don't want her to take it. You don't want to take it, for your own selfish reasons, or selfish hostilities you have against Akito."

"Get out,"

"Fine, I'm going" Haru rose from his chair, no sign of anger or emotion "She wants to figure you two out so bad, be your friend, but if you hold back like you do, she'll never be able to get close to you like she has with me and Momiji" With that Haru left, and walked out of the room.

Tohru came back into his room maybe twenty minutes later, and he was practically asleep. He listened to her dip the rag into the water and rest it back on his head again after wiping away the fever sweat. She stayed by his bedside nearly the whole day. He snoozed on and off again until late into the night. The snow hadn't stopped, there was a good foot outside now.

Kyo walked into the room at maybe five o'clock and Tohru looked up smiling

"Hey Kyo! Oh look you're all wet" She left sleep Yuki to give me a towel "Now I don't want you getting sick too!"

"I'm fine Squirt." He told her rubbing the towel against his hair "It's murder out there, the snow never stops" he yawned and covered his mouth "It feels like I shoveled the sidewalks fifty times and I never make any progress."

"Don't worry, we'll end up stuck at home in the house tomorrow, we'll tunnel out if we have to" Tohru smiled as she slumped down resting against Yuki's bed

"How is the Rat?"

"His fever has dropped, its nearly gone. It should be gone by tomorrow morning"

Kyo sat down next to her, Yuki listening all the time "Well, looks like you've done it again"

"It's the medicine..." She yawned "Oh dear, sorry Kyo"

Kyo threw his arm around her shoulder and rubbed it gently, sort of in the gesture of a brother. "Maybe you should rest Tohru,"

Tohru rested her head against his shoulder "I'm okay, I'm going to stay right here until I know his fever's gone. Then I'll go and sleep"

"You're extra cautious now, aren't you?" He asked her looking out at the snow

"What do you mean?"

"After Kyoko died. You're careful now....you'd do anything to keep anyone safe"

"....I guess so."

Yuki opened his eyes, and felt sorry for Tohru. Remembering, the day her mother had died, he had thought something bad had happened, and hadn't cared at all. He hadn't cared, because he didn't know Tohru then, now he regretted it...

"Do you know that I was born on a day like this Kyo?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was snowing hard the day I was born. My mother said I was the winter's gift, and from it came something beautiful"

"You?"

"No, the spring."

Kyo laughed "Stupid girl." and he rubbed her head in the process. "Well, you may be staying here, but I'm going to go eat and then go to sleep. You should think about that too, I doubt you've eaten since you started taking care of him"

"I ate a pop tart"

"Does that really count Tohru?" He asked laughing and walking out of the room. Tohru got up from off the floor and changed Yuki's rag, he had closed his eyes maybe seconds before she had gotten up, not to be caught for listening. Tohru placed the rag back on his forehead and stroked the side of his cheek, him trying hard not to flinch as a bodily reaction

"Come on Yuki, you have to get better" Tohru sat down in the chair and waited some more. The hours rolled on, she keeping herself busy with the book she had been reading this morning. Around seven o clock she shook Yuki gently trying to wake him up "Hey sleepy head, I just wanna take your temperature"

Yuki moaned and grumbled and sunk under the covers so only the top of his violet hair stuck out. Tohru smiled and sat down on the bed and let her fingers rub the top of his soft hair "Now come on Yuki, the sooner we get this over with the sooner you can sleep again"

Her hand was comforting against the top of his head, and he honestly didn't want to move. But of course for Tohru he squirmed until his head popped out and Tohru shoved the thermometer into his throat. The same beep of the thermometer was the only sound to fill the room as Tohru checked the reading.

"Well Yuki, you only have a 99.4 now. So I say you're nearly out of the woods" Tohru smiled swinging her legs up onto the bed and resting against the headboard.

"Thank-you for taking care of me Tohru,"

"Don't worry about it Yuki, I'm just relieved to see you're okay."

Yuki squirmed some more until his head rested on her lap, the rest of him submerged under the warm covers. Tohru stroked the side of his face and his hair smiling

"I'm sorry I worried you Tohru."

"Yuki, everyone gets sick once in a while! Remember I fainted in school! Its only natural, we're not super people"

He closed his eyes "But it seems, you worry about us so much, you forget to take care of yourself"

"Were you listening to me and Kyo talking?" she asked him stroking his face again laughing

"Maybe..." He told her childishly

"I'm fine Yuki. No need to worry" Tohru smiled

"Mmm your hands are so soft..." he sighed quietly drifting farther off back to his dreamland "Tohru?"

"Yeah Yuki...?" She asked looking down at him. He was practically asleep

"Am I the special someone just for you?" He asked her sleepily, but he was completely lost in a dream before he could ever hear the real answer.