Well, it seems as though I'm back with another summer ahead of me. Hopefully I'll get some writing done…it's been way too long since I've posted anything…

Sorry all you guys, hectic life, dontcha know!

Yup yup…it's tough being me…tehe…

Anyway, I've had this chapter in the works for sometime I've just never gotten around to finishing it. Now I have.

Yay!

I hope you guys like it…please bare with me with the off and on of posting, I realize that it's a pain in the ass, but…well it's just a pain in the ass, and I don't think I have any more good excuses you guys haven't heard yet, soo…yeah…

I've just had some social problems…sooo…sorry.

Hope you like the chapter!

Chapter 5: Panda & Cow Love

Lil felt Haru hug her and she was bombarded by his warmth, but suddenly it washed from her. While all of this was happening, of course a matter of seconds, there was smoke all around and a large "poof." When the smoke cleared all that was left in front of Lil was a large black and white cow. Lil stared at it, Haru had done the thing that he told her never to do, hug her, and now he was gone, and a cow was now in his place. "Haru?"

Everyone else just stared at the two. Yuki looked sadly at Haru, "How could he be so foolish?"

Kyou was staring at Lily's facial expressions. She seemed to be utterly confused. He decided to keep his mouth shut, "I'm not the one who's going to make the first move this time. She's Haru's girlfriend." He had been caught already, unknowingly, for being a cat and he wasn't going to drawn attention to himself again.

"See, yoooooo, excuse me, you don't understand."

"Haru?" A shocked look came over Lily's face. "Are you….a…cow?"

"In short terms, yes," Haru bowed his head in shame. His curse was painful to talk about. There was a silence. Haru wasn't sure what Lily was thinking.

"Wow," Lily blinked a few times. "Okay." There was another silence, "So, is, um, your whole family really cows, or what?"

Shigure stared, "Why would we be cows, Lily-san?"

"Because, um, Haru turns into a cow…" Lily trailed off. She looked around all she saw was blank stares, "What is it about these people and staring at me when they get confused?" She looked them all in the face, "Is it just Haru that turns into a cow?" Again all she got was stares.

Haru looked up at Lily, he was still amazed that she just said, 'okay,' and was finished with it. "No, Lily, I am the only one who turns into a cow…" he stopped for a moment. "Does you're family turn into pandas?"

Lily, who was still thinking about how her boyfriend was a cow, was suddenly the subject of the conversation again. "No, of course not…well yeah, kinda…how did you come up with that so quickly?"

"So, they do?" Tohru said in a squeaky voice. She was so surprised and excited.

Lily, still stunned from Haru's question, stuttered, "Um, yes, technically…"

"Technically?" Haru asked. He still didn't quite fathom the coincidence that both he and Lily turned into animals.

"Well, yes, technically…listen it's a long story, do you mind if we all sit down; it's still a shock to me that someone else has my curse." Lily looked down and fiddled with the edge of her shirt. This was a huge revelation. Maybe she could find a way to turn around this spell if there were other's affected with it.

"Sure, except well…I can't…" Haru looked down at his four legs and sighed a low 'moo.' Lily looked down at him empathetically and tried to hold back her laughter. She managed to transform it into a small smile and sat down on the couch behind her. Everyone else took their former seats and waited for Lily to begin her story.

"Well, you remember my mother's family is originally from Japan; that's true, but what you don't know is that my mother's family is all pandas." She looked around and got some very puzzled looks.

"Wait wait wait, pandas? Then how…" Kyou, who had snuck off to change back and was coming back as Lily said her family was pandas, couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

"Well, you see, we can be both; human and panda. Some time ago a certain species of panda was becoming extinct because of the inhumane hunting in Japan. A kindly sorcerer took pity on the poor animals and gave them the power to transform at will into humans to protect themselves. At first that's all they used it for; protection, but soon it became a bother to transform back and forth so often that many pandas immersed themselves into the human culture. The sorcerer became enraged when he saw this and placed a curse on the family that as their blood became polluted by humans' their power to hold the transformation would diminish. And so, now, my mother, her mother and the generations after the sorcerer placed the curse, people in our family can all hold their transformation for weeks at a time, taking only short periods to return to their original form; but starting with my generation, we all have weaknesses. Who knows how many generations it will take to diminish the power completely." Lily looked down sadly at her hands in her lap; this story is always reminder her of what she would pass on to her children.

Haru looked at Lily with the deepest sympathy he could muster, he knew exactly how she felt and could relate entirely to her story.

"What a wonderful story! It sounds exactly like a fairy tale! Someone should really write it down!" Shigure piped up with his usual energy.

Lily looked at Shigure and said, "But, it's not…it's my life."

Shigure was slapped back sincerely and got an equally hard look from Haru.

Suddenly there was a large poof, and as the smoke settled, everyone in the room saw Haru sitting on the ground awkwardly trying to cover himself up. "Would you guys give me some privacy?"

There was a swarm of apologies as everyone quickly turned around, Haru looked down at the ground to quickly sweep up his clothing and put them on. "Alright everyone you can turn around now."

Tohru, who was still a little embarrassed about the situation with Haru's change back, went strait to Lily, "Lily-san, I know that your situation is embarrassing to you, but I think it's just wonderful! I can't believe that I am friends with a panda! So what is your weakness?"

"Your attitude never censes to amaze me, Tohru-san." Lily smiled down at Tohru with the only thought, "She's so cute." "Well…um…to answer you're question, my weakness is chemically treated water."

"That's kind of an odd weakness to have," Yuki said quietly.

"Well it's not as bad as the first time I figured out that it was weakness." Lily looked at Shigure, "That is worthy of being written down." She laughed slightly.

"Oh, then please, tell it!" Shigure responded.

"Okay, well, up until my generation, it was understood that every new child born from a woman of my mother's family was part of this panda/human curse. It was also very well known that within the first month the child would have it's week cycle and would change into a panda. However, in my case, a month came and went, and there was no transformation. There was much discussion on whether or not the sorcerer had died or that he had lifted the curse. But sadly this was only considered for a short period of time. Everything was fine, until I went to a pool party held by one of the girls in my preschool. I was very excited because I had never been invited to a birthday party, nevertheless a pool party, and her pool was going to be the first pool I had ever been in; naturally I was very excited. So, when the day of the party came there was a large rush of all the kids into the pool; I, being very forward and outgoing, jumped strait in and started to swim about, only to realize that everyone was staring at me and I was covered in fur. Thank God my mother was there and of sound mind to take me out of the pool immediately. She called my grandmother, who came by and used a little of her hypnotism to make everyone believe that there had been a bear in the pool and that I had not been the bear. After that all of the cousins in my generation began to find out their own weaknesses. They were all out of this world things, like, my cousin Neel can't touch his head to anyone else's, he found that out while a fight with his brother, who can't hold anyone's hand, and many other ones that I just don't know about because, well, as you know, I don't keep in touch with them." Lily looked around at all the Sohmas, and then back to Shigure. "Is that a good enough story for a book?"

"I should say so, even though it would expose your family as pandas…" Shigure had thought many a time about writing a story about his own family, and found the same reason was his problem.

"Yes, I know…" Lily trailed off.

Okay…so now I will introduce something that I haven't done in a VERY VERY LONG TIME!

Responses to Reviewers!

Lain the Fluff-Master:: smiles : awww honey, you're so sweet. And if you didn't realize I caught up on reviewing your story… Anyway, oh please, social life is definitely not the only reason…I've had creative meltdowns before, and believe me that is a legitimate excuse! I think it's SO SWEET that I helped you realize the wonderful drawing power of Fruits Basket! It's really cool how someone over the internet can effect someone else in a (hopefully) positive way. In response to your complaint, I tried my best to make this one a little longer for you:: smiles and waves :

Akita Sohma: I laughed sooooo hard when I opened the email that contained your review…tehe…I understand that I am an evil person…you don't have to tell me! Lol…anyway, I am terribly sorry. I just happen to be the Cliffy Queen…lol.

Haru and Kisa Lover: Thank you so much for your support! AND thank you for putting me on your "Greatest Hatsuharu Stories Ever!" C2…that is quite an honor:: giggles : Don't boyfriends get in the way of writing? Tehe…YAY for two smiley faces…

Peral-chan: Yes, Lily did scream "not bottled water"…I hope this chapter answers your question…if you still have one, please don't hesitate to review!

That goes for everyone else too! If you have questions or comments please, don't think that you're bothering me or anything! I love opening my mail box to find that I have a reviewer eager to tell me what he or she thought of my latest chapter!

Purtymanagirl58