Chapter 2: Returned Feelings

Yuki leaned in to give Tohru a kiss. Tohru, upon instinct, leaned in too. It can't be that different from the movies. Just tilt your head, close your eyes, and kiss.

Tohru closed her eyes and tilted her head. At first it was a light, sweet kiss, and nothing more. Both of the two lovebirds pulled away to re-group. Tohru looked into Yuki's eyes once more. Soon after, Yuki leaned in again, and Tohru followed. Only this time, it was something a little more 'deep'.

This time Tohru felt Yuki's tongue try to go past her lips, just like in the movies. Tohru opened up her mouth and let Yuki's tongue dance with hers. A simple sweet kiss had turned into something more deep. This kiss made Tohru look at Yuki in a whole new light. She had never imagined that Yuki could be so sincere.

After a while Tohru pulled away and gently touched her lips with her fingertips.

"What was that for?" Tohru said sweetly.

"That was to show you that you are never alone."

"Oh Yuki!" Tohru said and threw her arms around him. There was a cloud of white smoke. After it had cleared away, all that was left was Tohru and a little white rat.

"I completely forgot! I am so sorry!" Tohru exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like it's the first time this has happened to us. The transformation part, not the kiss." Yuki added.

"That was what you wanted to tell me wasn't it?" Tohru questioned.

"Yes…," Yuki started. "I know this may sound weird coming from a rat, but Miss Honda, I am in love with you."

"…"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes! That was exactly what I wanted to tell you, although I wasn't quite sure how to tell you. I thought you were going to laugh at me." Tohru said meekly.

"I would never laugh at someone who is as pretty as you." The rat said romantically. Tohru blushed. She didn't exactly know how to respond to that. All of a sudden there was a POOF and another cloud of white smoke. Tohru turned her head quickly, for she knew what was coming.

After Yuki had changed back into his clothes he said to Tohru, "Will you come over here with me please?"

"Sure!" Tohru replied. Yuki sat down and motioned for Tohru to do the same. She sat in front of him and leaned back to rest herself on him. It wasn't an embrace so the two didn't have to worry about Yuki transforming. They were cuddling for a long time and everything was going great. It was just the two of them, looking at the stars.

"Aren't they just simply breath-takingly beautiful?" Tohru asked.

"Yes they are. Just like you."

Tohru turned to look at Yuki and smiled. Yuki couldn't resist a smile coming from a girl that gorgeous. Just then he bent over and kissed her, for the third time that night.

The next morning, Tohru went on with her normal routine. She had gotten up, and had already started to make breakfast. Yuki walked downstairs to find the house very quiet.

"Where is everybody?" Yuki asked.

"Kyo got forced by Kagura to go on an all day date, and Shigure is with Mii. She had called earlier and said that she thought it was a good idea for him to go somewhere else to work on his story. I guess she thought there were too many distractions here or something." Tohru explained. Yuki had to laugh at the last part. Shigure always found something to distract him here.

Yuki walked over to Tohru and put his hands on her hips and kissed her neck. Tohru was taken back by it, but she let him do it. This was all new to Tohru and she was a very curious person.

"Yuki… how am I supposed to make your breakfast if you keep on doing that?" Tohru said cutely. Yuki turned her around and gave her another passionate kiss.

"I couldn't help it." Yuki answered. Tohru blushed and went on with her morning work. Yuki walked over to the table and sat down.

After breakfast, Yuki had an idea.

"How would you like to go out with me later?" Yuki suggested.

"That would be wonderful!" Tohru beamed. "Where are we going to go?"

"That is a secret." Yuki answered mysteriously.

"Yuki… can I ask you a question?" Tohru said being serious.

"What is it?" Yuki replied just as serious.

"Um… what about Akito?"

"Akito? What does he have to do with us?"

"Well… I don't want you to end up like Hatori… a broken heart."

"I would rather be killed by Akito… than live a day without you. Let me tell you something. Whenever I am at school, I feel like I'm caged. With everyone, especially girls, showing me attention and all, I feel awkward. I feel horrible about turning every single one of those girls down, but I can't do anything about that. Whenever I get depressed at school, I can always look forward to you making me feel better. Ever since I have met you, I feel free. You hold the key to set me free." Yuki said. Tohru couldn't help but want to cry. Not because of sadness, but because she felt like she was the happiest person alive. Yuki had made her feel so special just now that all she could do was cry, but she wasn't going to. Not in front of Yuki.

"Before we go we should probably check our secret base out." Tohru suggested.

"Of course!" Yuki said, not wanting to be with anyone else but Tohru.

"I just have to clean up the kitchen before I can go out there." Tohru said with disappointment.

"I'll wait for you… you can take my word for it." Yuki promised. Tohru put on a big smile and hurriedly cleaned up the kitchen, which was unlike anything Tohru had ever done before. Maybe it was because she thought she was in love

Yuki walked out to the secret base by himself. Although he loved being with Tohru… he still needed some time to himself. Not much… just some time to think things through.

Maybe Tohru had a point when she brought up Akito. I definitely didn't want to end up like poor Hatori, a broken heart. He'd then have no one to love, or to love him back. Tohru would have the easy part. She'd be able to forget, but I would have the memories. I wouldn't be able to forget. She wouldn't even have the chance to have a broken heart. I love Tohru too much to loose her. Akito just can't find out. No matter what happens… Akito can NEVER find out! Yuki had put a lot of thought into this situation. No matter what happened… Akito could never possibly find out!

Yuki looked at their secret base. All of the plants were growing perfectly. Yuki looked at their base admiringly, "Before Tohru had come across our house… no one knew about this besides me." Just saying that had brought back memories to when he first started this secret base of his.

There were only a few rows of vegetables, 3 to be exact. That was all that Yuki could handle on his own. Before Tohru came along, he did everything by himself. Never would he have imagined that once day he'd end up with his classmate, Tohru Honda.

Even during school they barely even noted each other. Sure, who could Prince Yuki being surrounded by a zillion girls? But Yuki ever took notice to Miss Honda. She was just another girl from school.

Tohru hurriedly walked over to hers and Yuki's mini-garden.

"Oh Yuki…" she said to herself with a sigh. I just love the way you look at me. It's a kind of stare that just speaks for itself. You don't have to tell me that you love me… I can just see it in your eyes.

Tohru spotted Yuki sitting by himself looking at the product of their time and effort. Just look at him. He is so adorable!

Yuki heard Tohru coming and looked up. Immediately a smile came to his face and he walked over to his beloved Tohru.

"I came as fast as I could." Tohru explained, out of breath.

"I'm just glad that you came when you did! I was about to come and get you!" Yuki said playfully.

"It was only 5 minutes!"

"But it felt like longer…" Yuki stole Tohru's gaze and kept it hostage. For a while the two just looked into each other's eyes, enjoying the company. Yuki took Tohru's hand and said, "Come with me, there is something I have to show you." Tohru, not wanting to leave Yuki's side, agreed.

Yuki lead her past their base and began to walk towards the forest.

"Where are you taking me?" Tohru said with interest.

"You'll see." Yuki said romantically. Tohru nodded her head in agreement.

Yuki lead Tohru through many twists and turns through the forest. Tohru didn't know where they were or where they were going. She looked down at Yuki's hand. Hid fingers were intertwined with hers, and for the moment, it didn't matter where she was going. As long as she knew it was with Yuki, she had nothing to worry about. Just when Tohru was again about to ask where they were going Yuki stopped walking. Tohru looked around, "Am I supposed to know where we are?"

"No…" Yuki said.

"Then what are we doing here?" Tohru asked.

"I wanted to be alone with you."

"What was wrong with where we were?"

"Nothing… just look around." Tohru looked around. All she could see were flowers. There was a mass of yellow and white flowers everywhere. A light mist was hanging over the ground, like a blanket. The sight was breath taking, and Tohru remained speechless.

"Do you like it?"

"Oh Yuki! It's amazing!" Tohru's gaze went back to Yuki who was looking straight at her. Now, feeling a little self-conscious, Tohru blushed. Never before in her life had anyone made her feel so special, so important. Yuki had never looked happier in his life, and honestly, he probably never was happier.

Yuki bent down and picked a white flower from the ground. He smelled it sweetly and tucked it away behind Tohru's ear.

"There is something that I wanted to tell you, the reason I brought you out here." Yuki started.

"What is it?"

"I've felt this way for a long time. Actually, I've felt this way for as long as I can remember." Yuki held Tohru close, as close as they could possibly get without Yuki transforming.

"I…" Yuki started.

"Yes?" Yuki kissed Tohru. Yuki slipped his hands around her waist and held her loosely, for he didn't want to transform. Not now, when things were so perfect.

Tohru felt Yuki's hands make their way around her waist. Now what am I supposed to do? Tohru was lost. Nothing seemed to matter then, but Yuki. Upon instinct, she put her hands around his neck, and deepened the kiss.

The two of them stood there, lost in each other. Tohru began to feel Yuki's hands slowly slipping downward from her hips. All of a sudden, Yuki pulled away. He looked at Tohru, who opened her eyes slowly.

"I love you Tohru." Tohru knew that she loved him back, but there was something that made her stop thinking for a brief second. It was probably the fact that he had just called her Tohru. That was something that Yuki Sohma just never did.

"And I love you too."

"It's getting kinda chilly out here." Tohru said as the wind blew.

"Did you want to go back inside?" Tohru nodded and the two of them walked back to Shigure's house, their fingers intertwined.

"Hmm… Kyo and Shigure aren't back yet." Yuki said looking at the clock. It was now 6:30 PM and Tohru was about to start to make dinner.

"What are you doing?" Yuki asked Tohru.

"What are you talking about? I always make dinner at this time."

"Did you forget about our date?"

Tohru shook her head. How could she possibly forget? She didn't say anything only because she had thought that Yuki was the one that forgot. She couldn't just be rude and remind him about their date.

"Go get ready." Yuki said.

"Where are we going?"

"I can't tell you."

"Well do I have to dress up?"

"Just be yourself." Yuki said and shooed her upstairs to get ready.

Tohru was going through her closet like a crazy person. She had nothing that would 'wow' him at all. She took out blouse after blouse, skirt after skirt, and after sighing with disgust, she threw it on the floor.

"Why don't I have anything to wear?" Tohru said to herself. Finally she got to the back of her closet. There was a black plastic bag hanging all the way in the back of her closet. She took it out and held it up. Where did this come from? Tohru thought to herself.

She took off the plastic bag and threw it on the floor… what was one more thing on her floor going to do to her? She examined the clothes that were revealed.

The shirt was white and was strap-less. There was a rhinestone design in the lower left-hand corner of the shirt in the shape of a butterfly. Tohru laid the shirt neatly on her bed and looked at the skirt that was hanging from the same hanger. It was a pale shade of yellow that would come a little below her knees. Where had this come from?

After taking the skirt off of the hanger, a little piece of paper floated gently to the ground. Picking it up Tohru read the note quietly to herself.

Tohru,

Your mom wanted you to have this. She wore it the night that she met your father. It meant so much to her. Please, take good care of it.

Love,

Me

"Who is 'me'? Who could've possibly given this to me without me knowing it?" Tohru looked at her outfit admiringly. Picking it up, tears rolled down her face slowly. 'My mother wore this…' Tohru thought to herself. Quickly wiping off her tears, she began to put on her skirt.

Yuki was waiting for Tohru downstairs patiently. This was officially Yuki's first real date, and the butterflies in his stomach weren't helping him relax at all. He had decided to put on his black pants, and a crisp, white dress shirt that buttoned at the neck. 'I hope this is appropriate…' Yuki thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps at the top of the stairs.

There stood his beloved Tohru. Her hair was almost completely pulled back, and was tied with the bow Yuki had given her at their Hot Springs vacation. She looked amazing in her new outfit, for it was something Yuki had not recognized before. She had clearly experimented with a little make-up, but not too much. You could barely tell but the brown eye shadow accented her face beautifully.

Yuki couldn't take his eyes off of her. "Tohru you look…"

"What? Is it too much? If it is I can go change."

Yuki walked over to Tohru and took her hand, held it up and kissed the top of it. "You look incredible." Tohru blushed and complimented Yuki back.

"We should probably get going now." Yuki said.

"Okay." Yuki grabbed hold of Tohru's hand and let their fingers intertwine as they left for their long-awaited first date.