Stuff you need to know

'Telepathy'
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Titles
(me talking to you)
/actions or sound effects/
/dreaming/
--Change in setting, Flashbacks or POV--

Disclaimer: Sorry, but I don't own Fruits Basket and that's unlikely to change unless Santa decides to grant my Christmas wish.

Deadly Winter Wonderland

--Yumi's POV--

'/shiver/ Cold...why am I so cold,' I silently think as I awaken from my slumber.

However the place I awaken to is not the place that had I fallen asleep in, instead of the nice and cozy bed, I find myself lying upon a harsh, snow-covered ground. The cause of my coldness.

'But where am I?' I slowly get up and look around.

The only thing I find however is a cold and desolate world. No life, no warmth...nothing. But that can't be right, there is always life to be found, even an unthinkable place like the desert has its own brand of life.

'That's right, there's got to be something else alive here, I just have to find it...I just have to find it,' I start searching, trying to stave of hysteria.

I walked and walked for what seemed like hours, searching, searching, always searching. The things I found however were no longer alive, just lifeless corpses decorating the ground and carefully covered up by the deadly snow.

I know this snow is dangerous, how I know I'm not certain, but I am certain that it is. It seems so soft, so lovely, so pure, so...perfect. Too perfect in fact and so it has to be deadly, after all beneath its beauty lies death, cleverly concealed.

With this in mind I keep walking, fearing that if I stopped the snow would swallow me up and make me join its slumber of death.

This constant walking couldn't last however, I soon feel fatigue tugging at my heels. I have to stop and as I do, I feel myself getting sleepy. I try to fight off this sudden attack of exhaustion, but I can't. I find myself slipping onto the cold snow and into sleep. The last thing I see before sleep claimed me was a snow flake landing on the ground before me. It seems that I was correct, the snow was indeed dangerous and it has begun its work on my body, like it did to the countless others of this world.

--Half an hour later--

'It's so warm,' I think with a sigh, as I rub my cheek against the soft fur.

'Wait. Fur? Why would there be fur," I slowly open my eyes to peek out at the world around me.

Strangely enough, what I see was not exactly as I expected. I thought perhaps that I had been dreaming before, that the endless stretches of snow had been a dream, but unfortunately in seems as if I have thought wrong. For the sight that greeted me upon my awakening was that of the deadly white snow, before I could start to panic however I noticed that I was lying upon the back of something, something furry, and that we were moving.

"I see that you've awaken," the thing beneath me growled.

"Um...yes," I replied, slowly lifting myself up so that I was able to look at the person that was carrying me.

Though now I wished I hadn't, since what I see shocks me beyond belief, for my savior was just about the most unlikely thing a person could think of.

"Now I know I'm dreaming, yep for there is no way in hell that a wolf can talk and it is equally unlikely that the wolf in question would be saving me from certain death. Yep definitely dreaming, that or my mind has finally decided to fall into the infinite abyss of insanity," I said to myself trying to calm done.

"Sorry little one, but unfortunately you are not dreaming, this is all quite real," the wolf informed me apologetically.

"Yeah, right and why should I believe you? Oh great now I'm talking to the thing!" I cried out, burrowing my face into the wolf's fur once more.

"/sigh/ I am not a thing, I am a shadow ookami, and I am here to take you to my mistress," He said patiently.

However I wasn't up to listening to anything else the wolf had to say, after all if I have to go crazy, the least the stupid wolf can do is let me go stark raving mad in peace. Which thankfully he did, he seemed to understand that finding out one is crazy isn't easy, and that I need time to cope with my newly discovered insanity.

'Well I've been expecting this moment to come for ages, I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised. In fact it's probably a relief not to have to wonder when the moment will come, don't have to worry if perhaps it had already happened and I was just too stupid to realize. This way I know with certainty that I have finally gone around the bend, after all when else will I be able to see let alone ride a fully grown and extremely dangerous wolf? Yep, this isn't too bad and plus if I had to go crazy at least I thought up something magnificent to protect me from the cold,' I pondered thoughtfully and with a small contented smile, now that I have come to terms with my loss of sanity.

I was finally wondering where my impromptu savior was taking me, when suddenly we stopped. A little confused by the lack of motion I lifted my face and looked up, and received the second shock of the day. Before me, in the center of all the lethal snow was a thriving copse, which surrounded a small meadow of flowers and in the center of that was a small, crystal clear lake and a large sakura tree in full bloom. I know that being crazy allows me to see the most outlandish things, but seriously this is a bit overwhelming. But hey, I suppose I'll get used to it, I'll have to, after if I'm mad that means that this small piece of paradise is something my crazy mind cooked up.

"You know, you are not really crazy. After all to be crazy the person in question would have to believe that she's completely sane, and since you believe the opposite it stands to reason that you are not off your rocker," a girl, I had previously missed, said.

She was leaning against the great sakura tree, her eyes staring at me with curiosity.

"Well if I'm not mad how do you propose to explain him, you, and this place," I challenged, throwing out my arm to encompass everything from the wolf to the crazy setting.

"What is wrong with me?" the girl question.

"Oh nothing, except for the fact that you look like a younger version of me and that you seem to be able to read my mind. Other than that everything's splendid," I bit out sarcastically.

"/sigh/ You seem a little excited why don't you take a few breaths and calm down," the girl soothed.

"Ca...Cal…CALM DOWN...ARE YOU NUTS, HOW THE HELL DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN," I shouted, enraged.

"You know I don't like being shouted at...Yami?" the girl stated thoughtfully.

Before I knew what was happening I found myself being dumped face first into the small lake, when I surfaced spluttering I heard the irritating girl say, "Now isn't that better, the water is just so refreshing," smugly.

'Man I take back what I thought earlier, being crazy totally sucks,' I thought bitterly, while crawling out of the lake feeling like a drowned cat.

"/sigh/ Didn't I just finish telling you that you're not mad? And before you ask me how I am able to hear your thoughts, I'll tell you. You see your thoughts ring crystal clear to me because we're in your mind and I am you," the girl explained.

"Oh and that's suppose to help how?" sarcasm dripping from my every word.

"Bear with me for a moment...this world is your mind: it's the world you created for yourself, a place you can escape to at any moment as you have demonstrated. This is also the place where you subconsciously draw ideas for your sculptures and I am...I suppose you can say your inner child. I stay within this world to guide and protect you, the real you."

"If what you're saying is true, then why the hell is my world filled with all this snow, I'd think I would have a more active imagination," I said dryly.

"It usually is, but you see due to your brother's rather bloody death, you suffered a great trauma that has your mind shutting down. Your world used to be beautiful, filled with mystical creature, and foliage of every shape, size and form. However when you started to shut down, the snow came, it fell upon this world and killed everything it touched, when I realized what was happening I quickly came here, to the core of your mind, and set up a barrier. With the help of Yami, I was able to keep the snow at bay and protect your sanity," the girl, or rather myself, said giving the great black wolf a pat.

I could feel my mouth hanging open at her explanations, this couldn't be real!

"Ah but it is, in a way, this is all so very real. This was the world you created long ago, don't you remember? A world that you visited but once before, the time after your parents died, you came to play. Last time there wasn't any snow though, for you were too young to fully comprehend death thus your mind didn't feel the need to shut down completely to deal with pain. Instead your mind made me, I was created for two purposes the first was to be your playmate whenever you withdrew from the real world and the second was as a precaution against a total mental shut down. I had fulfilled the first task long ago, for as you grew older you didn't need me anymore, your brother was able to shelter you from the pain of the real world, and I became your imaginary friend. The second task however I am still completing, for some reason you do not wish to be healed," chibi Yumi said sadly.

"What do you mean, I don't want to be healed, are you telling me that I actually want to go through the pain over and over again?" I inquired.

"I do not know, every night when you sleep and your mind finds a measure of peace, the snow stops so I go out and try to reclaim bits of your mind. But every morning when you awaken, you seem to purposely cause yourself pain and the snow begins a new, and the bits of your mind I had reclaimed the night before is lost again. This is the reason why every morning when you wake up you feel a sense of peace, that is me reclaiming your mind, however than you find something to remind you of your brother and the snow returns causing you pain. It's a never ending cycle of peace then pain," chibi Yumi answered.

"But if you really are me, then why can't you just stop the snow?" I asked.

"I can't because you are the only one that'll be able to save yourself from the snow: you are the only one that'll be able to decide whether or not to put the grief behind you and move on or to remain in the past and in the pain. I can only guide and give you a little piece," chibi Yumi said with a small, sad smile.

"Mistress, the real one shall awaken soon, you must send her back," the wolf told chibi Yumi.

"Yes of course...it's time for you to go."

"Wait, but how do you know I am going to awaken soon?" I asked slightly confused.

"You see Yami, here, isn't one of your creations, he is a being that can come and go from your world and the real world, so he's able to tell when the real sun is blazing fully in the sky," she answered quickly while urging me to leave.

"But how do I go?"

"The same way you came, by going to sleep, by sleeping in this world you'll be awakening in the real one."

"Oh okay," I said before lying down upon the field and closing my eyes.

As I feel myself drifting off of I hear Chibi Yumi's quietly whisper, "Do not forget what I said, you are the only one that'll be able to decide whether or not to wallow in the pain of the past or to move on and live life to its fullest. I can help but the choice is yours..."

Suzu: Wintery goodness, hope you guys liked, although it is a bit short. Please review so I'll know what you all think. Well ja ne.

Vocab:

Yami: shadow

Chibi: mini

Ookami: wolf