Author's Note: Small drabble inspired by Wolf's Rain. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own the respected show in any way.

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Letting Go

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She woke up with a start.

She looked out her window and saw that the cloudy sky was just beginning to lighten. That meant it was early, but also that she wasn't late, and being late again was the last thing she wanted.

It was still hard to get up, though. She had been dreaming about running through forests and looking up to see the stars. She had dreamt she was herself again.

With a sigh, the girl forced herself to throw off the covers, have a shower, and get ready for school. She wished she didn't have to go. But there was no way around it, and so she found some cereal, and then headed out the door without her parents or her sister even noticing she'd left. Not that that was a bad thing; that was just how the she liked it. Solitude was a blessing these days.

As she walked into the old stone building that was her school, the girl wearily brushed aside the whispers about the "weird kid" and got the books for first period out of her locker. She was so tired of this. Why did school have to last so long? Why did these people have to be so shallow? She sighed and told herself that there was only a few more classes left, and that she didn't even need to attend them if she didn't want to, because technically she'd already graduated, she was just there for an extra half-term, adding more courses to her repertoire for the universities... all her parents' idea, of course.

She just wanted to run. She'd run far away, into the woods, until all signs of human civilization were so far behind she wouldn't even remember them. She just wanted to let go; she'd let the wolf come out, and she'd leave forever. She knew if she could be in the form she was supposed to have, she'd be over the fence and gone, never to look back.

With another frustrated and weary sigh, the girl got on with her day. Going home, she passed the small, wooded area that led into deeper forest. The girl watched it longingly as she passed, wanting with all her heart to able to change and be where she was supposed to be, in the forest with the stars and the rain and the snow.

Back home she had yet another shouting match with her mother, this time about leaving early and not telling anyone where she was going. The fact that she had been going to school had no impact on her anger whatsoever, except possibly for the worse, because she was "being a smartass". Her father and younger sister weren't saying anything; they just stood there quietly, watching the girl with disappointment in their eyes. She was forever a disappointment to them, just by being who she was. These people weren't her family; they never were. She had always been so different, always failing in their eyes, always the unwanted child.

The girl started to tune out her mother's voice and looked behind her at the backyard. Through the glass she could see that the snow had begun to fall in soft, gentle flakes, and the girl began to cry. Her eyes drifted and she saw, just behind the fence, the path that led into the forest...she could just walk over there, open the gate and go. She would never have to come back. The girl turned back to her screaming mother. She hadn't noticed her looking out the window, or even that tears were streaming down her cheeks. She went on shouting at her, but her daughter was no longer listening.

She walked past her family, and opened the screen door. They all looked shocked. The girl was just about compelled to turn back, but something pulled at her heart, urging her forward. Besides, wolf cubs left their parents as soon as they were ready...and she was more than ready. She'd already been accepted at the university she wanted to go to. She'd applied in secret for the arts program; her parents wanted her to be a doctor, but she didn't care about medical anything, didn't care about helping people.

It couldn't be that hard to find a job in the city, and her friend had already said that it would be alright for them to live together until she could get enough money for her own apartment. And there was leftover money from lunch and the bus in her pocket, right that moment. Yes, she could make it work. All she had to do was open the gate and leave.

With a smile to herself, the wolf-girl threw open the backyard gate and ran down the path into the woods. She closed her eyes and let go with a deep breath.

She never once looked back.