Hold On

by Danyu

Kyoru, Yukiru, and light Haru/Rin. Kyou has accepted his fate as the cat. Relationships change and the bond between he and Tohru is cemented forever. But he leaves something behind, something precious enough to give everyone the strength to hold on. COMPLETE.

8. Love

Hold On
By Dan'yu

Chapter Eight: Love

"You're a father, Kyou."

For a long moment, there was no response to Momiji's statement, and then he heard from the darkness a shaky, shuddering intake of breath, followed by a low, choked sound Momiji realized incredulously was a sob.

"Kyou? Did you hear me?"

"I…I heard you, usagi. I'm just…it wasn't a dream, then? It was real?"

Momiji frowned in confusion. "Kyou, I don't understand."

A soft chuckle sounded from the neko, but there was no humor to be found there. "A dream…Momiji. I saw Tohru give birth. I saw her son."

"Your son as well, Kyou."

"What rights do I have to him as my son? What have I done, Momiji? What have I done?"

The hopelessness to be found in his tone brought a pang through the blond boy's heart, as he pressed his face closer against the small hole in the door leading to the room of Kyou's confinement, realizing bitterly that the thin opening must be used to deliver meals.

"Kyou…Kyou, please. You're not making sense."

Another shuddering sigh, another sound of bitter, humorless laughter. "I was selfish that night, that night I slept with her before I was locked away. I loved her, and I used that as an excuse to get what I wanted. Look what I did to her, Momiji. I'm imprisoned in this hellhole, and she's left with my child. My child, Momiji! Not only did I leave her alone, I left her with my baby! Who could ever, ever want my child?"

Momiji felt close to tears himself, hearing the raw emotion of unshed tears in Kyou's voice, losing himself in a strange mixture of disbelief and outrage. Had his time in this dark place really twisted Kyou's perceptions that severely that he had come to loathe himself for leaving Tohru with his child, to believe that Tohru herself would come to regard their son as a curse instead of a blessing?

"Kyou, you dumbkof! You're wrong, you're so wrong! Tohru loves you, very, very much, and she loves your child! She doesn't hate you for the baby you left behind, she loves you for it! She misses you, Kyou, every day that you're gone. She told me once, that she is grateful for Katsuya-kun, because she has a part of you to keep on loving. You stupid, foolish, dumbkof!"

"…Katsuya-kun…?"

"Your son, Kyou, your son."

Even four years later, Momiji remembered the conversation well, the strange, weary wistfulness, the bitter self-hatred that practically radiated from Kyou's presence in the room, his own shock on the severity of the way Kyou's view of the world had utterly twisted in the ten months he had been caged.

The young usagi walked out into the frigid winter air, reflexively shivering as he pulled tighter around himself the long coat and scarf, a red woolen cap covering his head. With age, the influence of his Sohma blood had only grown stronger, and the years had been more than kind to him. The adorable, childish qualities that had drawn so much affection from his elders had never fully faded, instead enhanced by a subtle, androgynous nature that leaned more toward the masculine.

At twenty one, he was not lost to the charm held in the combination of exotically handsome features, glossy golden hair that tended to curl, warm brown eyes, and a playful, easy smile that never failed to attract, especially on members of the opposite sex. Some of his cousins, most often Shigure or Ayame, would tease him on terms of being a lady-killer, but above all, it was the opinion of one girl he held most important.

On his nineteenth birthday, his most vivid memory of that day was the few moments he had managed to have alone with Tohru, as she had stood by him, an infant Katsuya adorably drowsy in her arms as the party wore on into the later hours. Her smile had been warm, and her eyes had shone with a love that bordered on motherly. Despite the fact that he had grown to be several inches taller than her, she had reached up to brush away stray bangs, and leaned on her tiptoes to press a kiss to her forehead.

"You've become a very handsome young man, Momiji-kun," she had said, "Just as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside."

A wistful smile remained playfully on his lips even as he finished his venture across the town, coming at last to his destination as he rapped gently but firmly on a familiar apartment door.

As the door swung open, and Tohru appeared in the entrance, his smile only grew, though taking on a strange quality of seriousness that would have unnerved anyone who did not know all the sides to his usually playful nature. "Tohru-kun, your presence has been requested at the Main House, both you and Katsuya-kun."

She regarded him with a puzzled frown. "Momiji-kun? I…Yuki-kun called me. He…informed me of Akito-san's passing away, but tell me, is everything all right? Is something important happening at the Sohma house?"

He shook his head in response to her questions, holding out his hand instead. "I can't explain anything now, Tohru-chan. Please…if you'll just come with me, everything should be a little clearer."

xx

It was a strange gathering, those who had meandered their way into Hatori's office. Outside the actual examination room was Kagura, Kisa, and Hiro all sitting close by, Haru lounged in the corner, Rin nestled against him comfortably, neither of them seeming at all self-conscious despite the fact that she sat nearly completely in his lap. His posture was deceptively lazy, in the way he reclined, hers seeming indulgent to nothing but him, in the way she leaned, pressed so tightly against him, but the same intense focus radiated from the two of them as the other cursed members in the room, bodies tense to attention should anything happen.

It was Kagura that was the first to break the fragile silence, raising a quiet, fearful question she knew each of them had considered at one point or another. "Do you think Shihan will come?"

Hiro and Kisa exchanged wary but hopeful glances, hands and legs so tightly entwined from where they sat side by side any outsider would think the public display excessive, but anyone with knowledge of the inner Sohma could understand the hint of lurking wariness that came with the fear of being separated. Even at sixteen and seventeen, the tentative beginnings of their romance were still just fully coming into bloom, the looming shadow of Akito's wrath fading away more slowly than any of them cared for.

Rin turned her head from its place against Haru's shoulder, and regarded Kagura with a thoughtful gaze. Haru, for his part, made Kagura uncomfortable the most, turning toward her with his intense, piercing eyes. It was a common saying among the Sohma, that there was nothing more disconcerting than being under Hatsuharu's focused stare.

"I don't know, Kagura-nee," he said softly, his eyes shifting downward as his hand tightly grasped Rin's, the need to have her close pulling at him stronger than ever before with their experience at Akito's death only three nights past, "It's really up to Kyou whether to see him or not."

Rin softly sighed against the crook of his neck, surprising him as she spoke, bringing up an inquiry that weighed on each mind. "And what about that girl…Tohru?" she asked him wryly, "Will she come as well?"

"Momiji went to get her. Whatever happens after that is up to her and Kyou."

In the next room, Shigure and Hatori stood in silent vigilance, Yuki and Kureno both strangely absent from the gathering since Akito's funeral the day before. The scrutiny of the two men was placed entirely on the young man nearby, his own attention meticulously focused on the razor he ran along his jaw line to rid himself of months of beard growth.

Watching the young man focus so intently on such a simple task was unnerving, and disheartening. Naked from the waist up, his bare back faced them, lined with scars that stood out brazenly white against his naturally tan skin, though the pallor was paler than they had ever seen, the result of years without exposure to sunlight. A body that had always been lean was now to the point of being painfully thin, giving sharp definition to the ribs along his torso. The face that reflected back at them in the mirror was gaunt and rawboned, the cheekbones so sharp and lean it spoke volumes of his lack of nourishment.

It was the eyes that drew them in the most, staring back at them through the glass as Kyou rinsed his face, and softly padded it dry with a towel. Wild and haunted, they were like the eyes of a caged animal, waiting for any moment to bolt.

Shigure's throat tightened to the point where breathing became nearly impossible. Where along the line, had his manipulations failed him? At what point that they become so weak they had given in so completely to Akito's wishes, and left this boy at her mercy?

Yes, that weakness was with them, a weakness infused into the very blood that flowed through their veins, binding them to their curse. And yet, it was that same blood that bonded them as Jyuunishi, and as family.

Beside him, Hatori mentally reviewed his initial prognosis. Physical abuse at Akito's hand was more than painfully obvious, but the scars were old, and the extremity of the dehydration and malnourishment wreaking havoc on his body most likely stemmed from pure neglect, a side effect of the near year Akito had spent bed-ridden from illness.

"Kyou," Shigure said gently as the younger man faced them, bathed and freshly shaved, "Haa-san is broader around the back than the rest of us, but you're so much taller now, I think this ought to fit." He held out the white linen shirt.

Kyou nodded silently, accepting the shirt. As he tucked the garment into the jeans he wore and fastened the buttons, it became blatantly obvious that while he fit snugly in regards to his height and width of his back, his body and waist were so small that the shirt still hung limp and open from his frame. As he left loose the two buttons below the collar, the shirt fell open enough that the very beginning of a long scar that ran along his chest became visible against his dark skin. It seemed to Hatori, that Kyou was making no efforts to hide his condition.

As he finished dressing, the neko regarded them through the mirror once more, his eyes unreadable. "Thank you," he said quietly, the first words he had spoken since being released.

Shigure nodded in response for the both of them. "Would you like us to cut your hair for you as well, Kyou?"

Kyou paused thoughtfully, slipping his fingers through thick locks of hair long enough to fall against his shoulders. "No, just something to tie it all back should be fine," he replied softly.

A rapping sound at the door of the examination room broke through their quiet conversation, and Shigure and Hatori exchanged glances, an unspoken communication passing between them as Hatori moved to open the door, and Shigure returned to Kyou in hopes of solving the problem of a hair tie.

Hatori spoke in low volumes with the individual on the other side of the door; nodded once in understanding, and then motioned for Shigure to follow him as both men moved to exit the small room. As he passed, the novelist patted Kyou firmly on the shoulder, as if in reassurance, and Kyou wondered what could possibly cause the man to seem so nervous.

His answer came a moment later, however, as the object of his dreams…fantasies, memories, desires, emotions…timidly stepped into the room.

Time stopped, the world ceased spinning on its axis, reality, as he knew it came to a standstill. He forgot what it meant to breathe, to remember anything beyond that moment, even something as simple his own name.

And then she whispered to him, the sound of the name given to him at birth, and it all came rushing back to him, his identity, his existence, and his place in the world. "Tohru, Tohru…" her name passed from his lips in a steady repetition, a mantra meant to ground him, to convince himself he was not dreaming.

She whispered his name once more, tears shining against her face. He tried to smile, failing miserably as he reached out to her, hesitantly, slowly, for her image had been an apparition in his imagination for too long, and he feared her disappearing.

But suddenly, she threw her arms around his neck, pressing against his side, and she was tangible, so very real as the warmth of her body, the feel of her, soaked into him. "H-hey," he muttered, wincing at the shaky quality to his voice, "Haven't I told you before that I hate to see you cry?"

The comment was hypocritical, for even as he spoke, his own tears obscured his vision of her. His arms went around her tightly, careful not to hold her against him, wanting her near all the same. He was not aware of the moment he sank to his knees, but as he hit the floor, her embrace was still there, her hand stroking his hair as his body wracked with sobs, her voice warm and soothing against his ear. She held him for a long time, long after he had calmed, listening in silence as he spoke, not caring as his words rambled and became broken or unintelligible, as he released everything that was done to him, all his years locked away in that room, and so much more.

xx

Kyou could not remember the last time he had been this nervous. Anticipation and a not entirely unpleasant kind of fear welled up inside, tightening his throat, knotting his stomach, confounding any rationality existing in his mind. It rendered him utterly speechless as he stood with Tohru at his side, hand in hand, as he faced the members of his family who had grown so much in the intervening years that their faces were like those of strangers.

His gaze was inevitably drawn to the little boy seated in Kagura's lap, as a pair of vermillion eyes, identical to his own, stared up at him curiously. Even as the room hushed with anticipation, and Tohru softly called out to their son, the child seemed merely curious, coming obediently to his mother's side and slipping his hand into hers, staring in question at the obvious link between his mother and the strange man.

"Kaasan? Who's he?"

"He's…he's your Otousan, Katsuya-chan."

Katsuya blinked up at him with those impossibly bright eyes, and Kyou forgot what it was to breathe as the younger male circled him, his expression…not sad or elated, depressed or even angry…only thoughtful. Kyou wondered if the boy was as puzzled by this older version of himself as he was by the younger.

Finally, Katsuya came to a halt before him, and his face broke into a wide, infectious grin. "I'm lucky, Kaasan, aren't I? I've been such a good boy, I get a daddy for my birthday."

With that, he launched himself at his father, and as Kyou embraced his son for the first time, he glanced over the head of messy coppery hair to meet eyes with the mother of his child. "Tadaima," he said softly.

Tears in her eyes once more, she smiled at him. "Welcome home," she whispered.

xx

A week later, Katsuya's belated fourth birthday was held at Kazuma's residence, where Kyou and Tohru had been staying as they slowly readjusted to one another. The reunion between honorary father and son had been unforgettable, and slowly but surely, the malignant presence of their suffering under Akito's reign was dissipating.

It was over an hour into the celebration that Haru finally gained his first sighting of Yuki. Leaving Rin with a reassurance he would soon return, he made his way through the crowd to stand near his cousin, the other standing in the doorway leading into the house, his eyes locked on Kyou and Tohru as they assisted their son in a party game, all three of their faces alit in bright smiles.

"They really look good together, don't they?" Yuki said, "All three of them."

Haru studied him, seeking the meaning of the strange pensive wistfulness and jealousy clouding Yuki's features. "Hai, they do. Were you planning to approach him at all tonight? I'm sure Katsuya-kun will be happy to see you. He talks about you constantly."

"Mmm…maybe a bit later. I'll let them be for now."

"Tell me something, Yuki…"

"Hmm?"

"Does it make you angry at all, knowing that after all these years of playing Katsuya's father figure, Kyou can just waltz in so suddenly and take your place?"

Yuki whirled on him in an instant, furious, strangely seeming to pale even as his face flushed with rage. "What the hell do you know about it? I don't know who you think you are to assume such things, Haru!"

Unaffected by the other's sudden change in mood, Haru reached out, gently touching a hand to the side of the nezumi's face. Yuki winced, but he did not pull away. "I'm assuming things because I understand you to an extent, and now I'm trying to understand whatever it is you're going through now."

"You assume too much…it wasn't my place anyway."

"But you wish it was."

Yuki did not answer, turning his face away. Haru's next question seemed to melt away all resistance and subterfuge, as he stared out into the crowd of people with unreadable eyes. "You're still in love with her, aren't you?"

Yuki regarded him with a dry smile. "Whether I do or not, I don't fully know. I know my feelings for her aren't entirely platonic, but I care about her enough that I want to see her happy. So what does it matter if I still love her or not?"

"It would matter to you."

"Then it's my burden to bear, not hers."

Haru sighed, leaning back against a nearby wall. "You know, Hatori told me something interesting this morning. He said something about you planning to go away. Were you going to tell us before disappearing?"

"Of course I was. I was planning to tell everyone tonight. I'm graduating early in March. I'm planning on going to Europe after that."

"What about medical school? Continuing your studies?"

"That's part of being a Sohma. With the money saved in my accounts, I'll have no trouble going back."

"What about that girlfriend of yours? Miya-san?"

"Ah, Reika…well, that's really for the best anyway. We decided recently that we were better off as just friends."

"Yuki…I'm sorry."

"Don't be. She's going away herself, to the States with her parents. Apparently, she didn't see our relationship that same way I did. She had someone waiting for her there, and they're to marry soon. One of those arranged marriages, I think. But that's all over with, and besides, Haru, I'm not the one you should be looking after."

Haru smirked. "I wonder what Rin's reaction would be…knowing that you think she needs my protection."

"She'd be angrier than hell, no doubt. But she wasn't the only one I'm referring to. Rin's not as painfully thin as she used to be, Haru, but she could never normally put on weight that fast…or did you think no one was going to notice?"

"I wondered if someone would. Sensei's suspicious, maybe even Kagura-nee, but you're the first to say anything. It's not quite obvious yet."

Yuki nodded, reaching out to briefly touch Haru's shoulder. "Well, then I can be the first to congratulate you. Fatherhood's really going to suit you, Haru."

"Yuki."

"Hai?"

"So…you're planning to just run away?"

Yuki turned his head back to him, and for the first time in a long time, flashed a genuine smile. "Think of it more on Kyou's terms…more like I'm finally breaking free from the cage."

"Yuki-jiisan, Haru-jiisan, c'mon. The games are starting and everybody had to play!"

Both of their arms now captive, both men willingly let themselves be dragged along by the zealous boy. Haru sent one last searching look in Yuki's direction, as his older cousin shared laughter with the child between them over some unknown joke. Haru did not miss the adoration shining in Katsuya's eyes, now the tenderness that softened Yuki's.

It's not wrong, Yuki, to love this child. We all do.

xx

"Kureno-san?"

Kureno glanced up, startled, from his place fidgeting nervously in the shadows. Tohru watched him curiously as he shifted his feet, searching for the appropriate thing to say. "K-Konnichiwa, Honda-san.

"Konnichiwa, Kureno-san. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes…I…" He regarded her with a shy, awkward smile. "I thought I'd bring a gift for your son's birthday, Honda-san." He handed her the modestly wrapped package, averting his eyes as he awkwardly cleared his throat. "It's not much, just a wooden toy, but there were Sohma children who enjoyed my wood crafting when I was younger, and I thought…that maybe your son would as well."

Tohru smiled at him. "Thank you, Kureno-san. I'm sure he will adore it. Would you…would you like to come inside? I'm afraid I've put Katsuya-chan to bed already, but there is still warm food, and many of the other adults are still here."

"No, but thank you for the offer." He glanced at the house with a wistful smile. "I don't think I'd be very welcome."

"Perhaps, Kureno-san, that will change, now that the others will be able to get to know you."

"Yes…there is time for that now, isn't there?"

"Kureno-san, how are you adjusting now, after Akito-san's death? Are you doing alright?"

"It's…odd, I suppose, for lack of a better word. I've long since been released from the curse, but with Akito gone; I am no longer bound by my promises either. It's a strange feeling, this sense of freedom. Anyway, oyasumi, Honda-san. Wish Katsuya-kun a happy birthday for me."

As he turned to leave, Tohru stopped him with a light touch to the arm. "Ano, Kureno-san, just one more moment? You see, there is a friend of mine who has been waiting for someone, for a very long time. She has only seen this someone a handful of times, but I think, deep down, she still loves him very much. It might be time for that person to finally give her love a chance."

Arisa…

Feeling the slip of paper she placed between his fingers, an address perhaps, or a phone number, he turned back to her with a warm smile. "Arigatou, Honda-san, and once again, oyasumi."

"Oyasumi, Kureno-san."

xx

"Shigure."

Indifferent toward the familiar sound of the Sohma doctor's voice, Shigure smiled wryly as he faced him, putting out the remains of the cigarette he had been enjoying against the nearby banister. "Well, well, Haa-san, hello again. You know that if you are taking up stalking me, such a crime is rather unbefitting of such a respectable occupation as a doctor."

"If you weren't constantly acting like such an idiot, I wouldn't feel the need to check up on you so often."

Shigure only smirked, lighting up another cigarette as he offered the package to Hatori, who shook his head to decline. "No thanks. I'm planning on quitting."

"Ah…that wouldn't be Mayu-chan's influence, would it?"

"What do you know about Mayuko?"

"You're seeing her, aren't you?"

"Perhaps."

Shigure exhaled, releasing a long expanse of hazy smoke into the frigid night air, as he turned to stare out into the dark. From their place on one of the countless porches of the sprawling Main House, the Sohma estate seemed to stretch vast and empty in the black of the night. "Tsk, tsk. You've always been so slow, Haa-san! You ought to ask the poor woman to marry you and be done with it. She's been waiting for you for so long, and Kami knows neither of you are getting any younger."

A slight pause. "It's unlike you to be so straightforward," Hatori said thoughtfully, as he joined his friend at the railing to stare out into the night, "Callous and blunt yes, but never without speaking in riddles."

"Maybe a man gets tired of acting the same way, ne?"

"Does that mean you'll drop the act then? Now that Akito is gone?"

"Akito's death puts the past to rest, Hatori. What makes you think everything I am is such a game of pretend?"

"Because I knew you once…when you were different. Are you just going to sit out here all night and sulk, wishing for things you can no longer have?"

"What reason would I have to sulk?"

"Akito's passing."

Shigure sighed, regarding his companion with the enigmatic, mocking smile Hatori found both familiar and disconcerting. "That day Katsuya was born, you felt it as strongly as I did, didn't you, Hatori? Something about that boy, the cat's son, a child born of Tohru-kun's acceptance and love for the outcast of the zodiac…something about his birth weakened Akito's hold on each of us. Over the years, the bonds between all of us and others have grown so strong, especially centering around that boy.

There is no way to break our curse. Rin found that out the hard way, as did Tohru-kun. But it can fade with time. Every day the ill effect we suffer as Sohmas fades away more and more. Love, acceptance, compassion, trust…those are the keys to abolishing the curse's effects.

In a handful of months, a child will be born among the Sohma, a child conceived that night of Akito's death, the parents unknowing. And that child will take Akito's place, and our curse will go on."

"The child…Hatsuharu and Isuzu?"

"You noticed that as well? No matter. It's not them. Surely you felt her conception as strongly as I did, Haa-san, just the same as that night Akito was conceived. She will be born of a different branch of the family, those ignorant to their child's fate."

"So you'll just wait for this child to come into the world, and let your bitterness continue to consume you until it affects her as well?"

"No, Hatori. This time…that is not my intention. I'll leave her to our young counterparts, those that are still young and not so jaded. They won't fail with her as we did with Akito."

Seeing his companion's puzzled expression, Shigure smiled humorlessly. "We failed her, Hatori, just as much as she failed us. And Akira, and Ren, and this whole damned clan."

Hatori frowned, silent in thought for a long moment. "Shigure, you loved her, didn't you?"

No response.

xx

"Tohru?"

"Oh!" Surprised, Tohru whirled around, dropping the garbage bag she had been holding as she tried to give the living room of Kazuma's home so semblance of cleanliness in the aftermath of the party. "Kyou-kun! You startled me."

Kyou moved closer, flicking his eyes from the dropped bag to Tohru's face, raising his hand to gently brush through the hair loose from her braid. "Kyou-kun, huh? I must have really surprised you, to cause that kind of slip."

She felt her face warm, embarrassed as she realized her mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry. It was a slip of the tongue."

Kyou smiled. "It's fine. I've just always liked it when you called me by name. There was something special about it." He took her hand, urging her to step away from the mess she had been cleaning. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"But Shishou-san…"

"Shishou wouldn't want you to overexert yourself. We can get the others to come and help in the morning. They caused this mess, after all. So why don't you come to bed? You look even more exhausted than Katsuya did before he passed out."

Wordlessly, she nodded, and he led her to the spare bedroom they had been sharing the better part of a week. As he closed the door shut and dimmed the lights, he turned back around to find her regarding him with a strange, thoughtful expression.

"Tohru? What is it?"

She slowly approached him, pausing just before her body made contact with his. Silently, she touched her hands to his face, causing him to smile softly as she kissed him, her hand moving to tangle in the ponytail at his nape.

As they broke apart, she remained leaned against him, her fingers toying idly with the long strands of hair. "It's strange, seeing you with long hair."

"I haven't got around to cutting it yet. I don't know how Shishou handled it for so long. It's an irritation when I'm trying to train."

"I think he liked it. It makes you look more like him, and when he saw it, he seemed strangely proud. Do you have to cut it so soon?"

He grinned, wrapping his arms around her until he lifted her off her feet, causing her to flounder for balance, her hands gripping tightly to his shoulders. "You like it, then?"

"Yes." Her smile faded, and he was left wondering as she slid her arms downward, her hands pressing against his chest. "Kyou? Would you mind letting me down?"

He did as she asked, still puzzled, and she remained in the circle of his arms. Her eyes followed the movement of her hands, as she traced the barest hint of the scar on his chest as it peeks its ugly head out above the collar of his shirt.

"Kyou…"

"Hai?"

"I cried with you that day…but…may I…" she trailed off, seeming to gain confidence as she squarely met his eyes, determination shining in them, "I want to see what it we were crying for."

Struck speechless, he could only nod, and with his acquiesce, she began to loosen the buttons of his shirt, one by one, and as she finally reached the end, she untucked the tails from the waistband of his pants, letting the garment fall away from his shoulders and land on the floor with nothing more than a whisper of fabric.

She touched her hands to his skin once more, running her fingers along the outline of the scar on his chest, moving onward to feel the furrows along his back beneath her fingertips. At her touch, Kyou struggled to remain still, to ignore the growing of the intensity of the heat quickly growing inside, the sparks she ignited with just the simplest of contact. The intimacy to be found in the touch was profound, as he watched her in mesmerized awe.

He saw an old sadness creep into her eyes, and he raised his hand to brush his thumb against her cheek, chasing away the negative emotion with his touch. Her hands were now splayed across his back, their motion stroking against the tense muscles, and her proximity was closer than ever. Her hands were soft against his skin, and Kyou swallowed hard. He fixed his eyes on hers, their reddish amber provocatively dark.

"Tohru, do you have any idea how much I've missed you?"

Tohru shivered slightly, the husky quality of his voice against her ear oddly thrilling as his warm breath danced across her skin. "I've missed you as well. Kyou…please…"

In response to the wordless plea, he gave in to what they both desired so strongly, crushing his mouth over hers with his strange mixture of gentleness and ardor.

His hands rested at her hips, pulled her closer as his arms locked around her, lifting her once more as he deepened the kiss, stifling a groan as her hands stroked his chest and arms in feather-light caresses.

He pulled back, wonderfully breathless, and her forehead rested against his, her eyes closed and her face flushed with an endearing blush. Without hesitation, he swept her into his arms, and carried her bridal-style to deposit her gently in center of the bed.

He leaned over her, and kissed her once more, loosening the buttons of her blouse to examine more of the slight body hidden beneath the garments. Hunger rang through him, for touch, for skin-to-skin contact, combining with awe for the sheer beauty of her.

He ran his hands over silken skin, the angle of her hips, the swell of her breasts, the gentle slope of her back. He made quick work of the remaining clothing, and her body he worshipped, stroked, caressed, explored.

Passion, want, desire, all of them coursed through him in a tumultuous storm as he leaned over her. The heat was nearly unbearable, the ache inside consuming him, but he hesitated still. The act of lovemaking was a foreign mystery to them both, and as nervous as virgins, he stared down at her, wanting but unsure.

Soothing away his fears, her hands reached up, releasing the binding around his hair to allow the long strands to fall around them in a thick curtain as she cupped his face, and brought his mouth to hers.

As he sank into her, his body sang with sensation, the heady ecstasy overwhelming as instinct took precedence and he began to move over her. Their rhythm was slow and steady as a dance, the joining of their bodies speaking more than they could ever express in words. Exerted breaths mingled between them, their cadence of the heartbeats pounding in unison, bodies entwining so tightly he felt the frightening sensation of physical contact.

His senses dulled as the sweet pain of release caused his body to jerk and tense, her name a hoarse gasp ripping from his throat, as the very foundation of his world was shaken, the very depths of his soul trembling in the aftermath of climax, shaking him to the deepest core. He felt her follow him a moment later, in that gravity-defying free fall where heaven and earth submerged and left them soaring.

They lay together, limbs hopelessly entwined, bodies held joined and held tightly in the embrace of unyielding arms. His mind still foggy, he quietly whispered into her ear how much he loved her, pressing his lips against her temple. As the slightest tendril of realization crept into his consciousness, his body jerked upward, panicking as he realized the degree of their closeness.

She opened her eyes to gaze up at him, and she smiled, silently reassuring, sending the message that explanation could wait. Pushing aside his worries until morning, Kyou sank into her embrace, feeling complete for the first time in his life.