* - * - *
Wan sunlight greeted her when she woke up the next day. She pushed herself up onto her elbow and glanced at the empty spot where Kyo had slept. He was gone, of course, but this time, she understood why he left. She raised her eyes to the gradually lightening sky, already tinged with pink and bright gold. Yuki had told her that the curse was triggered the moment the sun's rays spilled over the horizon, and she wondered at the kind of power it took to change a being's form and nature into that of another with the same ease and constancy as the passage of night and day. She had to admit, she was also curious about the transformation, but neither Yuki nor Kyo would allow her anywhere near them when the transformation occurred. Her conscience ordered her to heed them in this, that it was above all their fear for her safety that drove them to hide their transformations from her, but—but still. She really wanted to know.
She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and her gaze fell upon the sweetberry sapling proudly displaying its two tiny leaves to the world. She eyed it with some skepticism. All night long, Kyo had made her practice summoning energies, even lining up a bunch of sweetberry seeds so she could use her supposed magic to make them grow, but nothing she did could bring back the surge of power he'd felt in her that first time. She was still convinced it had been the Sun Stone's doing, and in the end, even Kyo had to give up in the face of her persistent lack of magic and had had to yell at her again to get her to stop apologizing for disappointing her "sensei."
She smiled at the memory. She didn't understand how it happened, but in the short span of time that she'd known him, Kyo had become as dear to her as Shigure and Haru and Momiji had been. As if she'd finally found the brother she hadn't even known she'd lost. It was almost alarming, really, how quickly he and Yuki had come to mean so much to her. She turned toward the sunrise again, and her smile brightened. Dawn might mean having to do without Kyo's human companionship, but dawn also brought someone else back to her. With a burst of energy, she rose and headed toward the lake, coming to stand at the shore. The mists had begun their stately sojourn from the lake to the forest, swirling gracefully past her in streams of tingling coolness, and Tohru threw her head back and laughed in delight, wondering if this was what it felt like to fly right through a cloud. A flash of silver caught her eye, and she turned.
Yuki stood on the shore not far away, a small white figure glowing silver against the grayness surrounding him, his head tilted upward and his amethyst eyes watching her with a strange, soft light. She opened her mouth to greet him but their gazes caught and held, and her words became entangled with her next breath. Her heart skipped a beat and a slow, melting warmth filled her, a sweet rapture she had never felt before. It confused her, this feeling and the odd certainty deep within her that what was happening was right. That this was how things were meant to be, ever since the very beginning. But—but how could that be? She was a girl and he was a mouse, separated by time and enchantment and the insurmountable barrier of his curse, two different beings from two completely different worlds. It didn't make sense. It shouldn't make sense. But here she was now, standing at the lakeshore, hardly daring to breathe for fear of shattering the moment, looking into the eyes of a small mouse and seeing in them a vision of her future.
The soul of the one person she had been searching for all her life.
A thin ray of sunlight pierced through the mists, making her blink. Yuki shook himself, seeming to recover from whatever trance he had fallen into. He padded closer to her, silvery whiskers flicking back in a smile. "Good morning, Honda-san."
"Yuki-kun." She smiled back and knelt down, facing him. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you come. Have you been standing there long?"
He shook his head. "I didn't mind."
The strange-familiar warmth flashed through her again, making her blush. "Anoo, I was just enjoying the sunrise. It's lovely, ne?"
"The sunrise?"
She held out her hand for him to climb up on and settled him on her shoulder before turning back toward the horizon. "I love watching the colors change as the sun comes up. It always feels as if my heart was rising as well. I think no matter where you are, even here in the cursed forest, the sunrise will always be something filled with beauty and hope. Ack!" she yelped, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go on and on about something so silly."
"I don't think it's silly, Honda-san," Yuki replied quietly from his perch on her shoulder. "It's just that I don't think I've ever really seen the sunrise before."
She glanced at him questioningly.
"I used to love to stay in bed for as long as I could get away with it, back in the old days," he explained. "I was never a morning person, to tell you the truth. And after the curse, mornings just meant the transformation and a chance to escape the tower for a while, that's all. I guess I never really bothered to look before. You're right, though," he added, gazing out over the lake, the wonder evident in his voice. "It is lovely."
She smiled happily. "Then I'm glad I could share this very special sunrise with you. Yuki-kun's first real sunrise."
He turned to her in surprise, then his eyes softened. "Mm," he murmured. "I'm glad, too, Honda-san."
Oh what is the matter with me? She lowered her head, once again feeling her cheeks grow warm. She couldn't believe she was becoming all breathless and flustered over a—over a mouse! A very cute, very intelligent mouse granted, but a mouse nonetheless. Her reactions to him were beginning to worry her. Did she like him? Yes. Yes, she did. She liked him a lot. She wanted to be with him as much as she could. To learn more and more about him with each passing day, to know the things that made him happy, the things that mattered to him the most. It shook her how much she wanted it. Yaori help her, what did that say about her? Did she want to keep him as a—a pet or something, like Momiji and his bunnies?
No. Her entire being revolted against the idea. Despite his diminutive form, Yuki's essential nature was too big to be contained or pinned down or held against his will. His mind and his heart longed for freedom; the idea of chaining down a spirit as radiant as his went against everything Tohru believed in. Yuki deserved to be free. And so did Kyo. And Ritsu.
But wasn't that what Akito did? Put them in a cage and kept them as his pets?
Don't trust him.
"Honda-san."
Yuki's voice called her back to the present before she could follow the sobering turn of her thoughts. He was looking down at her chest, or rather, at the dark brown splotch on the front of her smock. "I thought I smelled blood," he stated grimly.
She guiltily jerked her bandaged hand behind her back, but Yuki had already seen it. "What happened?"
"Ah, etoo…" Tohru cast about for a good explanation about the wound, came up empty, and settled for the truth instead. "I found a dagger on the ground last night, but I was clumsy again, and the dagger slipped. It's all right, though. Kyo-kun got rid of it and he bandaged up my hand."
Yuki tensed. "A dagger with a hawk's head?"
"Well, yes," she answered, startled. "Did you notice it yesterday, Yuki-kun?"
"Yes," he said, his eyes turning flat and cold. "More than that, I know what that dagger is for."
"Eh?"
"Honda-san—" He sighed heavily. "I know how much you value Kyo's friendship, and I don't doubt he means well. Hot-headed and stubborn and stupid beyond belief, but he means well, I suppose. But don't forget that Kyo is still under a curse, and therefore under Akito's sway. You can't be too trusting around him."
Tohru felt a chill run down her spine. "What do you mean, Yuki-kun?"
"I mean you have to be careful," he said patiently. "Oh, in his cursed form he's probably harmless. Relatively harmless," he amended, eyeing the scratches on her neck. "But cats can't use daggers, and cats can't manipulate people or be manipulated in turn. Akito is still in control. He's toying with us, playing us like pawns on a chessboard. Just be careful, Honda-san. Don't be too trusting around Kyo. Or me, for that matter," he added almost inaudibly.
She shook her head, unable or unwilling to believe that she was hearing from Yuki almost the exact same warning Kyo had given her mere hours before. "I'm sorry, I—I don't understand."
Yuki drew in a breath. "Before you came here, Kyo spent his nights locked up in the tower, and Akito tormented him by dangling his freedom in front of him like a lure. Akito set all sorts of…impossible conditions for his release, and the idiot cat had no way of knowing that Akito has no intention of setting him free. Freedom is what Kyo desires most of all, and Akito knows this. Now he's here, roaming freely around the forest, staying with you and being your friend." He met her confused, agitated gaze squarely. "Honda-san, that dagger wasn't in the clearing when I brought you here. It only appeared when Kyo arrived."
She couldn't take this. She couldn't. "But he threw it away, Yuki-kun. He threw it into the lake, and he—" —warned me about you too. He told me not to trust you, because you and Akito are the same person. She closed her eyes against the thought. "How do you know all this?" she asked, unconsciously bracing herself for his answer.
Pain flickered in the violet depths before Yuki looked away. "Ritsu tells me. I don't usually remember what happens at night. It's not something I…like to dwell on."
Voices haunted her, chasing her around a never-ending cycle of doubts and uncertainties. Even words that had practically slipped past her consciousness rose up and added to the clamor inside her, until it was all she could do to keep her heart from shriveling up completely.
Your Prince of Snows is long gone. Yuki and Akito are one.
That dagger wasn't in the clearing when I brought you here. It only appeared when Kyo arrived.
I'm dangerous. I'll only hurt you again, or worse.
I become a monster.
Serves you right.
Her eyes opened wide, and she turned her gaze from the rising sun to the pillar of darkness that was the tower. The heavy, choking aura of malice seemed to reach out across the distance, mocking the daylight and the hope and beauty that she so foolishly believed in.
You will destroy them. And they will destroy you.
No, came the answer from deep within her. It doesn't have to be this way. I won't let it.
"Honda-san."
She blinked as if coming awake from a dream. Yuki-kun was looking at her gravely. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't say all this just to upset you. I just—I just wanted to—"
She shook her head again and touched a finger underneath his chin, cutting off the rest of his apology. The soft silver fur tempted her and, giggling, she began to rub his stomach lightly until she could feel him shiver with reaction. "It's all right, Yuki-kun. I think I understand."
"You do?"
"Yes." She put her hand to her shoulder and when he jumped onto her palm, she held him out in front of her. "Thank you for caring, for wanting to protect me. Kyo-kun said almost the same thing because he wanted to protect me, too. But I'm not giving up. I believe in you, Yuki-kun, just as I believe in Kyo-kun. With all the things that Akito destroyed, he couldn't destroy either of you, because you still have that light within you. That's why I believe there's hope."
Yuki stared at her, his heart laid bare in his eyes. "Honda-san, I—"
He couldn't continue, and she smiled at him, rubbing his stomach again with a gentle finger. "I'm so glad I met you, Yuki-kun. I'm so glad I met someone like you, who kept true to his own beauty. You and Kyo-kun are both so strong, it makes me wonder what the two of you could do if you did get along. Only, the thing Akito does best is keep you from believing in your own strength. But I believe in you, and if you believe like I do…" She sighed wistfully. "If you believe, Yuki-kun, I think you'll find your freedom right where it counts the most."
An eternity passed in the space of a heartbeat, then Yuki reached up and captured her finger in both paws, amethyst eyes dark and intense. "No, Honda-san," he said huskily. "I won't have to believe, because I found you instead. I found a girl named Tohru Honda who lived as only Tohru Honda could. I won't need to believe to find hope, because now I'd know."
Someday, someone might just learn to choose life because you have.
Tohru's breath caught. Here it was. The reason she'd been born into this world. All that she'd lived through, every precious moment of love and joy, of pain and loss—everything led her to this one moment when a girl stood at a lakeshore and a mouse sat upon her hand, separated by time and enchantment, their hearts beating in the same ancient rhythm that had been set for them since the very beginning. This was all meant to be. She couldn't explain how it had come to pass, and perhaps she would never be able to, but for now…for now it was enough that she understood. Deep inside her, in the place where it counted the most, she understood.
Mother, you knew all along. Her lips parted in a soft smile. "Yuki-kun, I—aah!"
She jumped straight up into the air, flattening Yuki against her palm. Trembling, she glanced down at her feet where she felt…something brush against her leg. "K-kyo-kun?!"
The fire-colored cat looked up at her with the most scornful expression she'd ever seen on a face that wasn't human, then he turned and brushed up against her leg once more before sitting down to wash himself, satisfied at having gotten her undivided attention. "Kyo-kun," she laughed, partly in joy at seeing him and partly in embarrassment at her melodramatic reaction. "You surprised me. Oh no! I'm so sorry, Yuki-kun! Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." Yuki picked himself up and sighed. "That idiot cat is a curse in more ways than one."
"Haaa," was all Tohru could think to say. She put him back on her shoulder before Kyo could notice him, then nearly knocked him off again when she reeled in shock at the ear-splitting wail.
"Aaaaugh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm s-s-so sorry!"
Ritsu descended upon them like a deranged god, eyes flaring, skirts flying, hair exploding every which way. "I-I-I saw Kyo-sama coming and didn't try to stop him! I let him ruin your moment together! It's all my fault! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm so w-w-worthless!"
"Eh?!" Tohru's face burst into flame. "M-moment?!"
"How long have you been standing there, Ritsu?"
At Yuki's deceptively bland query, the kitchen-boy wailed again and threw himself at Tohru's feet, hands twisting into her skirt. "I-I-I was bringing breakfast but I was late again! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm—ite!"
Three pairs of eyes turned toward Kyo. In the middle of Ritsu's rant, the cat had stalked toward the distraught boy and swiped at him with a well-aimed claw. Ritsu gaped at the cat, then down at the thin red line on his upper arm, then back at Kyo, who flattened his ears and hissed belligerently. Ritsu's mouth opened and closed. "That hurt," he finally said, more stunned than in pain.
"Rit-chan, are you all right?" Tohru instantly knelt beside Ritsu and began to dab at his scratch with her sleeve.
Ritsu sniffled and looked mournful, but otherwise calmed down. "Th-there's a stain on your dress, Tohru-oneesama," he pointed out timidly.
Tohru didn't even glance down. "Um, yes, I had a bit of an accident."
"I-I brought another dress for you to wear." From out of nowhere, Ritsu produced another brown bundle and offered it to Tohru.
"Oh! Thank you, Rit-chan!" Tohru took the bundle and shook it out. It was a kitchen-maid smock identical to the one she and Ritsu were wearing now. She beamed at the abashed kitchen-boy. "Thank you so much. But I hope I'm not taking away all your clothes."
"Don't worry, Honda-san," Yuki said from her shoulder. "There's a lot more where those dresses came from."
"Eh? But—but why dresses?" she asked.
Ritsu and Yuki exchanged glances. "Th-they were my mother's and my s-sister's," Ritsu answered at last, looking down at his lap. "I-I wear them to remember, and because—because I'm not w-worthy to wear anything else."
Tohru went still. Somehow, she didn't even think about Ritsu's past, which must have been every bit as painful as Yuki's. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, her heart aching for the little kitchen-boy. "What happened to your mother and sister, Rit-chan?"
"M-mother died when the p-palace collapsed. O-oneechan was k-killed several days before."
So he'd lost his family, too. "I'm sorry," she said again, reaching out to touch his hand. Ritsu lifted his head and stared at her in surprise. "I miss my mother, too," she went on, trying to tell him that she understood. "I'm glad you have an older sister to remember, as well, Rit-chan."
"I-I—thank you," Ritsu whispered. Tohru could feel the warmth of Yuki's gaze, and she tilted her head to touch her cheek against his side. Kyo cracked one eye open from the sunny patch of grass he had curled up in, yawned, then turned his back on them with a huff of annoyance.
Tohru regarded her companions with soft eyes. Strange that she had come so far, only to find friends she'd never known in the unlikeliest place imaginable, these remarkable spirits who had known pain and loss and still held on to life. Strange that she would come so close to dying in this land of monsters and curses, only to find that she had a home here—a place where, for one brief moment, she could belong. Her gaze fell upon the strange little cave in the middle of a patch of purple berries and tiny white flowers, and her eyes misted over. Strange that with all the destruction and death and the looming shadow of Akito hanging over them all, she could stumble upon a place and time that she wished would never end, because—because she was happy here.
She was happy to be here, with Kyo and Ritsu and…and Yuki. Somehow, she didn't want it to end.
Mother, please help me find a way.
She realized that everyone else was watching her, and she smiled. "Anoo, is anyone else interested in breakfast?"
Help me find a way to make this last forever.
* - * - *
It couldn't last forever. Not something as incredible as this. Not in all the years of his imprisonment could Yuki have imagined a moment when he would find himself looking forward to the coming day and wishing he had the power to stop time altogether. Wishing he could stay where he was forever. He had forgotten what it was like to be filled with a sense of wonder and simple bliss; he doubted if he had ever known what happiness was, even back in the days before Akito and the curse. But he knew now, and the knowledge both exhilarated and frightened him.
He watched her as she chatted with him and Ritsu about nothing and everything. They would have stayed in the cave after she'd bathed, but she'd decided that the day was lovely enough for a picnic, and so here they were, sitting among the flowers with the remains of breakfast in front of them, doing something as mundane as basking in the sun and conversing. She sat with her skirts spread around her, her hair glinting honey and chestnut around her heart-shaped face, her aquamarine eyes as bright as her smile as she spoke about the shops and marketplaces in Mizaka, the parks where she and her mother used to walk, and the family that had taken her in after her mother died. The sound of her laughter warmed him more than the sunlight ever could. It mesmerized him. He couldn't imagine anyone more joyously alive than she, as if death itself could not touch her. He couldn't forget that it had, though. She'd been dying when he found her, her body wracked by fire and sickness, her heart nearly crushed by grief. The memory chilled him. For all her spirit, he couldn't forget how fragile and vulnerable she was, completely defenseless in every way that mattered. She hid nothing at all; every thought and emotion shone from the sea-blue depths for anyone to see. From what she'd told him, she was no stranger to hurt and rejection, yet she still trusted. She still opened her heart to everyone, choosing to believe instead of doubt. He wanted to warn her, to tell her that the world could not possibly be worthy of someone as exquisite as her. He wanted to keep her away from everything that could hurt her, to protect her from anyone who would seek to break her spirit. But all he could do was sit here and bask in the light of her presence. He truly was as weak as the mouse he appeared to be.
Or…or was he?
She said he was strong. He could see she believed it wholeheartedly. This beautiful, amazing girl saw strength within him, never realizing that what she was seeing was the strength within her. But she believed in him just the same. Somehow, she had looked past the weak, useless mouse and seen him. Akito didn't matter. His past and his curse didn't matter. To her eyes, he was just Yuki.
How does she do it? he marveled. How does she say the things I want her to say?
"Yuki-kun, look!" she cried, pointing up at the sky. "That cloud looks just like you!"
He followed her gaze toward a cloud shaped vaguely like a mouse. "Mm. And that one over there looks just like the idiot cat. It's as full of air, too," he couldn't resist digging, just to see what would happen.
From its patch of grass, the cat lifted its head and eyed him balefully. Then it stood up, stretched, and curled up again, fully intent on ignoring them. And that was it. No challenging hiss, no yowl of fury, no leaping attacks with fur flying and claws bared. And here he was, sitting on the ground beside Tohru and presenting as tempting a target as he could without jumping up and down in front of the cat's face. Yuki had seen it with his own eyes, and he still couldn't believe it.
He wasn't the only one. "I-is Kyo-sama ill?" Ritsu wondered.
Tohru cast a fond look at the cat. "I think Kyo-kun is just sleepy. He tried to teach me some healing techniques last night, and it must have tired him out."
The cat continued to ignore them.
Yuki stared at her. She really didn't know, he thought. She didn't know how much she'd changed them, and in so short a time. But then, how could she? She hadn't been here for the past seven years. She had no way of knowing that fear and despair were all that he and Ritsu had known, that innocent friendship was unheard of in Akito's world. Before she came, he and the idiot cat shared nothing but a mutual desire to see the last of the other, preferably through bloodshed. She couldn't know all that, and so thought nothing of the magic she had wrought upon them. A sweet serenity pervaded the clearing, and it radiated from her. The walls he had spent a lifetime erecting around his heart began to melt away, and for the first time in his life, Yuki knew what companionship and acceptance felt like. For the first time, he remembered what home felt like.
He turned to gaze across the lake with a silent sigh. How ironic to think about home when he was sitting here among the ruins of his own palace. This blighted realm wasn't his home, merely his prison, but for the first time, he felt almost…almost at peace. As if he'd fallen asleep and was dreaming this angel beside him, who had the power to turn the most hellish place into something close to paradise, and if it was a dream, then he prayed to all the gods that it was one he would never wake up from.
Because when the dream finally ended, there would be nothing left to stand between him and the shadow anymore.
"Yuki-kun?"
"Hmm?"
She was peering down at him, aquamarine eyes dark with concern. "Are you all right? You suddenly seem so quiet."
He shook his head. "It's nothing, Honda-san. I was just thinking, that's all."
She regarded him silently, then, seeming to decide not to press him about it, smiled and nodded. She reached down to gently stroke his back, and he could feel his body melt with pleasure at her touch. It was all he could do not to close his eyes and sigh. It constantly surprised him, how much she seemed to enjoy petting him. He hid a smile of his own. It figured that only she would be able to find something delightful in his curse. The thought seemed to throw open a window in the musty corners of his mind, and he tilted his head to gaze at her in dawning realization. Only she would be able to see beauty and hope in a forest full of ugliness. Only she would be able to draw out a frightened, wounded child who hid behind his mother's dresses and fits of contrition and make him smile again. Only she would be able to overcome the barriers of anger and hatred in a captive boy and get him to trust again. Only she…
Only Tohru…
Don't go there, a voice inside his head warned. Don't be a fool if you can help it. You know how dangerous this kind of thinking can be.
"Yuki-kun, I saved the last sweetberries for you. I'm sorry there are so few left. Kyo-kun and I used them to practice last night, but I tried to make sure we didn't finish them up. I know how much you like sweetberries, too."
He must have made some sort of coherent response, because she'd smiled again and turned to ask Ritsu a question. Her fingers had stopped their soothing motions against his fur, but her hand still rested on the ground beside him. His gaze moved from her face to her hand, his eyes tracing every tapering curve and delicate line beneath her translucent skin. He had touched that skin before; its softness had been seared into his memory. For the first time, he was actually glad he was a mouse. Had he been human, no power on earth would have been able to stop him from taking that small white hand in his and touching his lips to each graceful finger.
Don't think about it. Don't lose your head over a lot of useless longings.
But it was too late. Every yearning fantasy he had had since the day she first came, which he had fought so hard to deny, burst through the cracks of his defenses and flooded his mind. Images danced in front of his eyes, fevered and relentless: Her aquamarine eyes widening, the entrancing rose tint rising into her cheeks, inviting his hand to brush against them and to feel the answering warmth of her skin against his.
Don't think. Don't feel.
Her face turning toward his, her breaths stirring the air between them. His fingers threading through her hair as the chestnut tresses flowed over his arm in a silken caress
Don't desire.
Her lips parting in surprise, those sweet pink lips that had captivated him ever since she first smiled at him. In his mind he gently traced their outline until they curved upward again in a tender smile meant only for him. Had he been human—
Don't hope.
"Yuki-kun? Are you all right?"
He blinked, suddenly aware that both Tohru and Ritsu were staring at him. "Ah, yes! Yes, I'm all right," he blurted as he nearly burst into flame in sheer embarrassment. Unable to look Tohru in the eye, he settled for glowering instead as Ritsu gawked at him, as if he'd never seen Yuki act like a scatty dimwit before. Realizing that he probably hadn't didn't make him feel any better. He consoled himself with the fact that Kyo was still napping—or still ignoring them with the same bull-headedness he had shown in every other instance—and had not witnessed his little gaffe.
He could feel the weight of Tohru's worried gaze upon him, and hurriedly scanned his memory for the threads of the conversation. "Ritsu's right, though. It does look like rain," he remarked calmly, looking up at the gathering storm clouds. He suddenly frowned. There was a heaviness in the air that he usually associated with the prelude to an electrical storm, when the barriers prepared to eliminate yet another trespasser into Akito's realm. But the atmosphere felt…different. Full of dark anticipation and watchful malice. Something was going to happen. He knew because Akito knew.
Akito. Sick despair drove away the lightheartedness of the past hours. He could deceive himself with all sorts of fanciful dreams and wishes, but Yuki knew better than to think that reality would be any kinder to him. He was Akito's vessel, and he could never aspire to be worthy of someone as good and pure and innocent as Tohru. When twilight fell and he woke up from this dream, he would be swallowed up by the shadow once more. He could only pray that, when he did wake up, he wouldn't find that he had taken Tohru into the darkness with him.
She had to leave, he decided. She had to get away from here before it was too late. He thought fleetingly about the Sun Stone, mildly surprised that he'd forgotten all about it, but it didn't matter now. All that mattered was that Tohru be given a chance to escape whatever fate awaited the three of them, and if the Sun Stone could give her that chance, no matter how slim, then he would be only too happy to leave it in her care. He could ensure that the Sun Stone's power didn't kill her. He could give her that much control over it. With several hours of daylight left, she still had enough time to make her way to the edge of the forest, force the barriers open, and run to safety. He would lead her there himself, offering her what little protection his presence afforded her from the monsters in the forest. He wouldn't think about the part of him that would shatter when she left. The only thing that mattered was that she be safe.
He turned toward her, opening his mouth to begin his speech, only to come face to face with a tiny, perfect earth-star. Focusing past the white-petaled bloom, he found himself staring into Tohru's earnest, gentle eyes. "Here, Yuki-kun," she offered, holding out the earth-star to him. "The flowers were so pretty, I thought they might make you feel better. It's a bit silly but, um, I hope you don't mind," she added shyly.
He dazedly took the flower and clasped it in both paws. "No, Honda-san. I don't mind at all."
She smiled at him, and the world was that much brighter. "I don't think it's going to rain yet, Yuki-kun," she said softly.
And just like that, he knew. Unexplainable, unexpected, unwanted…but the certainty flowed through him just the same, awakening every nerve and drop of blood. Even if he lived for a thousand years, there would be no one else for him but her. He had waited for her for so long—seven years, two hundred, an eternity of torment in this hellish place—but somehow, he didn't know how, he had found her at last. Or she had found him. He had loved her forever—gods, how could he have not known it before? How could it have happened so quickly? And why had it taken him so long to realize this fundamental truth about his existence? He loved her, this beautiful, vulnerable girl whose heart could encompass the world. He loved her, and because he did he would lose her. She couldn't stay here. There was nothing but death for her here. She would leave and be safe from Akito's reach, and she would think back and remember a little mouse she'd met in a forest, never knowing that she had taken with her the one thing left of him that had been his sole reason to survive: the tattered remains of his heart.
You fool, the voice in his head sighed. You've just taken that final step toward your own doom. Akito will never forgive you for this, and you have just handed him the key to your own destruction. You sad, pathetic fool.
No, it wouldn't last forever, and surely it was better this way. Their time together was running out; he would have to tell her very soon, while there was still daylight left. But for now, for just a little while longer, he would lose himself in her aquamarine gaze and feel her magic wrap around him in a warm embrace, and pretend that maybe, just maybe, the two of them were meant to be.