* - * - *

Why was it, Tohru wondered, that the more you tried to hold back time, the faster the hours seemed to slip through your fingers?

She raised a hand above her head and spread her fingers against the skyscape, trying to keep the streaks of gold from bleeding into the melancholy rose hue of late afternoon. Her hand was a small, dark shape against the steadily shifting expanse of sky, utterly powerless against the flowing tide. She lowered her arm, and a small sigh escaped her.

From his perch on her knee, Yuki tilted his head toward her and gave her a soft glance. "What are you thinking of, Honda-san?"

She flushed at having been caught being so maudlin. "Eh? Nothing much, really. Just how fast time seems to fly. It's almost twilight already."

"Mm." His eyes clouded, just before he too turned toward the setting sun. "Darkness always falls quickly in this realm."

"But it didn't before, did it, Yuki-kun?" she asked. "The palace and the city must have been so beautiful before, with all those mountains in the north and the river in the south."

"Yes they were," Yuki replied almost wistfully. The two of them had talked most of the hours away, with Tohru regaling Yuki with stories of the three Sohmas she had lived with, and Yuki returning the favor with a few anecdotes about his life as the beloved prince of Kaibara. She could tell he found it difficult to talk about his past, though, and steered the conversation away the minute his voice began to falter. But he seemed fascinated by her stories of Shigure, Haru and Momiji, as well as the little that she knew about Hatori, his wife Kana and his daughter Kisa. That made sense, considering that Yuki, too, was a Sohma. Probably a distant ancestor, an idea that simply boggled the mind. In fact, he had even remarked, with a touch of sardonic humor, that his family was so prolific that after the world had ended it figured there would be at least one Sohma left standing. It sounded eerily like something Shigure or Haru would have said, and Tohru wondered how the three Sohmas she'd considered her family would have taken to Yuki. With a pang of sorrow, she supposed she would never know.

They had long since exhausted all conversation and sat now in companionable silence, watching the sky change color with the passage of time. Ritsu had left them long before, mumbling something about having chores to do, and Tohru found herself feeling grateful for this chance to be alone with Yuki. Well, not alone, technically. Kyo had abandoned his cozy nest and was now sprawled on top of the cave, soaking up the last rays of the sun. Tohru felt her heart sink even lower at the prospect of saying goodbye to Kyo. Or to Ritsu, for that matter. Hard to believe that only three days had gone by since she came here; she felt as if she'd known them forever. And inside her, the deep conviction still burned that leaving them now, in this cursed place, would be the one thing she would regret for the rest of her life.

Her eyes lowered to the stoic little form upon her knee, and the tears spilled over all of a sudden. She still didn't understand how she could feel so heartbroken at the idea of leaving Yuki behind. She'd known Kyo and Ritsu as humans, at least, but Yuki…Yuki confused her. She knew he was special—the rarest, kindest, most beautiful creature she'd ever met, but she'd never known him as a human. In her mind, she would always see him as a mouse—an adorable silvery-white mouse with amethyst eyes that would forever haunt her dreams—but a mouse just the same. If she'd met him as a human, the way he might have been if not for the curse, then perhaps…perhaps things would have been different between them.

Perhaps she would have found herself falling in love with him.

But then, it was just one more thing she would never know.

"Honda-san."

She gave a start and hastily wiped her tears away. "Yes?"

"Can you do something for me?"

"Of course, Yuki-kun." Ask me to stay and I will, a traitorous voice whispered, and she quickly tamped it down.

"Remember me when you've left this place."

Her entire chest seemed to clench. "W-what?"

He turned, his gaze meeting hers with that odd and thoroughly confusing jolt. "Not just me. Ritsu too, and Kyo. Something's about to happen. The power in this realm has changed, and it won't be long now before Akito makes his move. When he does, the world will remember him, but I doubt anyone would remember any of us. It'd be nice to know that there's one person who knew us before the darkness swallowed us up. If I knew that Honda-san remembered me, I think—I think I'd be able to endure even the darkness. I know Ritsu and Kyo would be the same."

How could you even ask? she wanted to tell him. How could you even think for a moment that I would forget you, any of you? She couldn't answer, though. The tears had drowned out her voice. But she nodded anyway.

Yuki smiled as if a burden had been lifted from him. "Thank you."

She choked back a sob. "Will you—will you remember me, Yuki-kun?" she managed around the knot in her throat.

His violet eyes darkened. "Honda-san," he said softly, "you will be the last thing I see before my eyes close forever."

Once again, the power of speech abandoned her.

"Don't cry," he said again. "Nothing here is worth your tears." With a frown, he looked up at the sky, noting the creeping purple of twilight. "I have to go. The sun is almost gone."

No, please don't go. Don't leave me yet, she tried to tell him, but could make no sound other than a shaky hiss of breath.

He jumped down, sparing a glance at the cave. "The idiot cat's vanished. He must already be feeling it, too." He suddenly went stiff, fighting back a tremor as the enchantment began to take hold. "Stay here," he gasped when it was over. "Wait for Kyo. Don't leave the clearing."

And with that, he turned and darted away.

Tohru watched him disappear, feeling the moment stretch and warp. Thoughts and emotions tumbled through her in a wild kaleidoscope of flashing images and remembered voices. She sat frozen and wide-eyed, barely breathing even as her tears continued to fall.

He's gone. He couldn't stay. Yaori help me, what do I do now? He'll disappear. Akito will take him again. But I can't do anything. I can't set him free. I can't…I can't…

Then, from out of the spiraling insanity, she heard her mother's voice once again. Your Prince of Snows is waiting for you.

She gasped, and in the next instant she was up and running, following the path that Yuki had taken. The darkness had deepened, but it seemed as if she could see as clearly as if it were broad daylight. Sand and stone and clinging reeds crunched underneath her feet as the clearing melted away behind her, and the hulking forms of the trees loomed over her, reaching out with gnarled branches toward her, and in her chest the Sun Stone answered with a warning flare of heat. She gasped again, but didn't slow down until she could see Yuki's small form lying on the ground just up ahead, where he'd apparently fallen. There was an explosion of white and purple mist, surrounding him in a spinning, glowing hurricane while at the heart of it the little mouse shape transformed into pure, shimmering silver. Tohru stumbled to a halt, and as she watched in utter shock, the silvery mouse form began to shift and grow, as if the lines had broken and were free to reform themselves into something else…something human.

Tohru felt numb. The silver sheen had faded, and the new form rose straight and tall in the middle of the storm of white mist. Her eyes grew impossibly wide. A boy stood there, as naked as the day he was born, his pale, smooth skin gleaming against the darkness, silvery hair stirred about by the mist. He offered his profile to her as he stared straight ahead at the tower, and Tohru followed the perfectly sculpted lines of his cheek and nose, down his throat and shoulder, and over his tightly muscled chest and lower still to his slim hips and legs, unaware that she was openly gawking at him. Definitely human, came the disjointed thought. An unbelievably gorgeous human. Not a mouse at all.

The realization nearly struck her blind. Oh gods, the transformation! This is Yuki's true form!

She took a step forward, her hand reaching out toward him, and by some miracle, she finally found her voice. "Yuki-kun?" she croaked.

The boy turned toward her, and Tohru gasped out loud. His was a face of almost unearthly beauty, but there was nothing in it. The thin, well-formed lips neither smiled nor frowned, and the stunning violet eyes beneath the silver bangs were as flat and empty as glass beads. There was no hint of recognition or of anything else in that face. The perfect human form before her was completely devoid of life, making Tohru feel as if she was looking at the most exquisite doll ever created. All trace of Yuki the mouse had been wiped out utterly.

But this was Yuki, too! she reminded herself. This was Yuki's body, and it belonged to him, not to Akito. Somewhere within this cold, lifeless shell, Yuki's soul lay trapped beneath the curse.

The boy turned back to the tower as if dismissing her. He stepped upon the lake as if it had turned as solid as rock, and instantly a wide, silver beam of light blazed upon the surface of the water, extending between him and the island. He took another step, obviously intending to return to the tower—and to Akito.

"No!"

The ragged cry was torn from her, and in a flash she rushed forward and flung herself against him, wrapping her arms around his chest as tightly as she could. Water lapped up against her ankles, soaking the hem of her skirt, and the whirling white mist chilled her everywhere it touched her. But all she did was tighten her hold on him, pressing her cheek against his smooth, warm back. "No, no, don't go," she begged as hot tears streamed down her face and dampened his skin. "Please, Yuki-kun, don't go back to him. Wake up, oh please wake up, Yuki-kun!"

He didn't move.

"Please," she wept brokenly. "Please, Yuki-kun. It's me, Tohru Honda. Don't you remember me? I remember you, I'll always remember you. You're Yuki-kun, sweet, gentle Yuki-kun who likes sweetberries and tending to gardens and staying in bed late, who tries to take care of Rit-chan and even Kyo-kun and who won't hesitate to save another person's life even when he believes his own can't be saved. Please, Yuki-kun. Remember who you are. Don't go back to him, please."

The icy mists whipped at her with greater fury, forcing her to close her eyes and cling even more tightly to him. The body in her arms shuddered powerfully, and had she been looking, she would have seen the blank violet eyes flicker and change, the color deepening and coming alive. Terrified that he was about to pull away and go striding off across the lake, Tohru dug her fingers into her arms with bruising strength and braced herself for his rejection.

"Honda…san?"

Her eyes flew open. She raised her head, wondering if she'd imagined that familiar voice speaking her name. He shuddered again and shifted in her arms, forcing her to loosen her grip on him enough to allow him to turn in her embrace. She found herself staring up into his face, his violet eyes no longer empty but as wide as hers and stormy with confusion, disbelief and pure, unadulterated shock. He met her gaze, and his eyes softened with a new emotion, one that stole her breath away and made her heart race. The connection she'd felt with him earlier, the sweet rapture of having found someone she'd been searching for forever, became a raw, powerful force between them, sweeping aside all her doubts and fears about the rightness of it all.

And she understood at last how this was all meant to be.

His hands lifted and cupped her face, his fingers tracing her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, his thumb brushing over her parted lips. His other hand slid into her hair and over her throat, feeling the frantic beat of her pulse. He was shaking badly, but then so was she. She smiled tremulously even as her tears spilled down her lashes and splashed onto his hands, and even though he barely blinked, his eyes too filled with tears, trickling unnoticed down his face.

"Honda-san," he whispered.

"Yuki-kun," she sighed. "You remembered."

His own lips parted in a smile that made her insides melt. Yuki-kun's first real smile, she thought dazedly. "I remembered you, Honda-san. I always will."

She smiled again as a blush warmed her cheeks. His eyes darkened in response, and slowly he lowered his head to hers. "Honda-san," he whispered again. "Tohru…"

Then he stopped, mere inches away from her face, his eyes slamming shut. She frowned in puzzlement. "Yuki-kun?"

"Run," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"W-what?"

"Run! Get away from me!" He tore her arms off him and pushed her away, sending her stumbling backward onto the shore. As if on cue, she heard another familiar voice shouting at them, coming from the direction of the clearing.

"Bastard! Don't touch her!"

She spun around to see Kyo sprinting toward them, the red-gold mists of his own transformation still whirling around his naked body. The next moment, he was standing between her and Yuki, forcing her to move even farther away from Yuki. "You fucking bastard," Kyo growled, "what have you done to her? If you've hurt her—"

"Honda-san," Yuki called, ignoring Kyo completely. She met his gaze from somewhere behind Kyo's shoulder, and the broken despair in his face tore at her heart. "Honda-san, I'm sorry."

Yuki's body glowed a sick shade of green, and he choked and closed his eyes, just as the white and purple mists enveloping him wrapped around him, solidifying into a white shirt, trousers and boots, with a black pendant shaped like a hawk hanging around his neck and a sword slung at his hip. At the same time, and the red-gold streams around Kyo closed in around him, becoming the familiar black shirt and brown breeches he wore. Yuki opened his eyes again, and even Kyo bit back a curse.

The once-violet eyes weren't violet anymore, but an amused wintry gray, and the smile on his lips was cold and calculating. The creeping darkness that Tohru had felt before surrounded him in a noxious aura, and the air crackled with malevolent power.

Tohru felt her blood turn to ice. She had finally witnessed Yuki's true transformation, and was now face to face with the dark sorcerer Akito for the first time. And through the rising haze of her terror, she found herself wondering whether she or Kyo would ever make it out of this alive.

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Author's Notes:

Sorry about the cliff-hanger. I still haven't finished the next part yet. Don't kill!

Thank you, thank you so much for reading and reviewing! It makes me want to cry. (R Junkie, you are an inspiration. Or a motivation. Either way, thanks for your comments. ^__^)

Mmm, a few points about the story: I'm not sure if it's moving fast enough. It's a grand total of four books, actually, and Book 3 is coming soon. That's where everyone comes in—Momiji, Haru, Uo-chan in one thread, Shigure and Saki in another (what happens to them? won't tell, won't tell! ^__~), Yuki, Kyo, Ritsu and Akito in yet another, and of course Tohru, Kagura, Ayame and Hatori and his group in the last. (I gave spoilers to my own story. I must be sick.) I really wanted to center Book 2 around the people at the heart of the story. Book 4 is where it all ends, of course. Oh, and about Akito, he more or less takes on the form of the hawk during the daytime, although his awareness extends throughout his realm.

If you're still not sick of this monstrously long fic, please continue to read and review. You guys are the best, as always.