Wow! I didn't think that anyone would read my attempt at fan fiction... Thank you all the have read it so far, even if you haven't reviewed, thank you for reading... I think I might cry...sniff...

...Okay, I'm overacting in the name of humor :P On to the reviews!!!

Kitsui: Hrm... My Mother eh? ...I try not to think what she might say if she knew I was writing this fic (other than "Why are you not writing any Fruits Basket fanfiction young lady!?" XD) Thank you for the hugs and the review:)

Saina Tsukino: Here are your cookies! Thank you for the review!

WingedSerpant: oooh, I'm not sure if should say so or not since so many people have also wondered about that too (yup, thats my evil side. I just love to keep people wondering 8D). I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Thank you for reviewing!

Miss Kitty Chevious: I can't see Doumeki overreact either, unless Watanuki was to put himself in serious danger or get himself needlessly injured. Oh well, I'll try to make it longer but it will depend on the content (ho ho ho ho... :D) Thank you for reviewing, here are your cookies!

AuraBlackWolf: Thankies for reviewing!

COOKIES FOR EVERYONE:)

Now onto the story. I don't think this chapter turned out as well as the previous ones (though thats probably because there isn't enough Watanuki/Doumeki, LoL XD) prepare yourself for the longest and possibly worst written chapter I have ever done.

Chapter 4

The sunrise had finally come and gone by the time Watanuki had reached his apartment building. It was still the same apartment that he and Himawari had shared, even though it hurt to think about her there was just no way he could leave. It was a place he could call home and not have to worry about it disappearing with anything precious to him.

'Because they're all gone now.'

Watanuki sighed and entered the building. As he went up the stairs, Watanuki realized that after visiting Himawari, he was meant to phone Yuuko.

"Promise me Watanuki," the long haired woman said as a puff of smoke blew from her lips, her pipe balancing delicately between her slender fingers "no matter how upset you are or how tired you feel, call me. That way I won't have to worry about my favorite employer."

Watanuki mentally slapped himself for being forgetful. He had one more flight of stairs to go before he reached his apartment, and after all that has happened Watanuki couldn't wait to get back into his own bed.

'I'm sure she won't be too mad. Although, I'd hate to think what would happen the next time we meet. She would probably say-'

"Watanuki Kimihiro."

Watanuki snapped out of his thoughts and right before him standing by his door was one very angry looking Yuuko, dressed in her usual bizarre fashion. Watanuki didn't have a change to escape her clutches once she took five steps forwards, grabbing the young man's ear as if he was a child in trouble with a parent. Watanuki squeaked in fear as the grinning annoyed face zoomed up close, making the spectacle man feel quite frightened (which could be put into explicit words by Watanuki's current train of thought).

"Not only did you not call me last night, but you also did not arrive home til now. I had to call a certain individual named Clow Reed, of whom I did not wish to contact, but did so on behalf of the adorable children at my humble home."

Yuuko pinched Watanuki's ear slightly harder, keeping her voice calm and steady.

"After that dreadful confrontation I spent most of last night looking for you, in the rain might I add, only to end up waiting at your apartment for a length of time... you do know that this might have made me a little bit aggravated?"

"Owch! I get it, I get it! Let go of my ear, it hurts!"

"Perhaps I will, but first we go back to my place," in an instant the look of annoyance had been replaced by a friendly smile "then you can tell me everything that has happened."

Watanuki thought that it was times like these his accusations of Yuuko's insanity were indeed proven right. Suddenly without warning, Yuuko pulled his ear as she walked towards the stairs to leave.

"Let's go Watanuki, you can make us pancakes when we get home."

"Let go of my ear first!"

Yuuko looked at the young man from the corner of her eye, as a thought passed through - causing a small smile formed on her face.

'It's as if he was back to his old self again...'

"Mommy is back! Mommy is back!" cried a pair of twin girls in union, although not identical since the one called Maru had blue hair whilst her sister Moro had pink hair. They both hugged Yuuko as she placed a hand on each head, smiling. Somehow the image warmed Watanuki's heart a little.

Ever since the first day Watanuki had met the pair, he had always noticed how close they were as they never left each other's side for a moment. He did not know who or what their parents were, but he did hear that in their previous homes they caused a lot of mischief for the other residents as well as their own foster parents. Yet somehow once they had entered Yuuko's care, they have been really well behaved and listened to whatever Yuuko had to say. It wasn't that Yuuko used any particular punishments, although she did used to poke at Watanuki with a duck puppet whenever he was being in Yuuko's terms 'Grouchy.' It was just... Yuuko just had a certain way with words that took effect on people. He didn't know what she had said to them after their arrival, but whatever it was it changed the twins eyes from a look of sinister sneakiness to a pair of happy eyes.

Shaken out of his thoughts, he realized the twins were now hugging his legs, speaking in union once again in sweet little voices.

"Welcome back Big brother Kimi-kun!"

Blushing in embarrassment at the nickname for him (no doubt with the help of Yuuko), Watanuki laughed softly.

"Hello girls," Watanuki felt his face smile, even though he felt a little bit empty behind this smile he really was glad to see the two again "how have you been?"

Moro and Maru looked at each other for a moment, a worried look took place on their face. Maru was the one to speak up their question.

"We were going to ask you the same thing Kimi-kun."

"We wanted to know..." As Maru trailed off, Moro continued her sister's question.

"If you were okay. You're not sad about Himawari-chan anymore, are you?"

Once those words had been said, Watanuki felt a pain in his heart with memories once again flashing through his mind. But this did not stop him from smiling, even though anyone who looked into the blue eyes would have seen a painful sorrow being bottled inside the young man.

"I'm still a little sad, but I'll be alright."

"Maru, Moro - can you go tell Clow that we're back please."

Yuuko had taken off the boots she had worn at this point, whereas the twins in response to the request skipped off in search for Clow. Watanuki felt grateful at Yuuko's distraction.

"Are you alright Watanuki?"

Watanuki had slipped off his shoes that were still damp, reminding him of the man who helped him last night. That sleeping face... Watanuki tried to push those sorts of thoughts aside, in attempt to get rid of them.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"Don't lie to me. I know you too well."

It was scary when Yuuko said things like that. It made Watanuki think that perhaps in a past life she was a powerful witch that read minds and started fire, although the latter of that idea was just exaggerated for the young man's amusement.

Before their conversation could continued, they were interrupted by a very well-dressed man with spectacles and a small boy dressed in black with a strange rabbit like hat.

"Hello Yuuko my dear, I see you have found our lost prince here."

"Yes, yes I have. Which would mean that you would have to leave now, wouldn't it? Since it must have been a long night for you."

Yuuko's face might have looked like a friendly smile, but Watanuki could see the tone in her voice say something along the lines of 'get out of my house you smug bastard.'

"Well I must admit that once you had left, they proved their selves to be quite challenging."

In Watanuki's mind, he had started putting subtitles into the conversation. Right about now Clow was saying 'Mokona kept jumping around because he found the sugar and caffeine in the cupboard, the girl's had decided to braid my hair and we ended up watching 'Finding Nemo' three times.'

Watanuki had found himself spacing out of the conversation between Yuuko and Clow and started to think about a certain amber eyed man, wondering what he was doing now.

'Perhaps he's just going back to his own life. I mean, why would he worry about me? It was only pity after all, wasn't he? What could explain the reason for the way he held me in his arms?' For some unknown reason to Watanuki, just mentioning the word arms being associated with Doumeki made his heart skip a beat. The visual image, the memory of warmth and texture of the other man's shirt invaded Watanuki's thoughts momentarily. Watanuki forced himself to concentrate on his thoughts, which were screaming in questioning anger of himself.

'What's wrong with me? Why can't I get over that contact with him? I belong only to Himawari dammit! She's the only one who was able to make me feel this way, now that she's gone I shouldn't have to feel this feeling again right? So why do I still feel this way about a stranger, a man no less!'

"Watanuki that was incredibly rude."

As if he was waking out a trance, he noticed that Clow had gone and the little boy Mokona was holding onto his hand. Watanuki didn't think that he was spacing out enough to ignore what was happening around him.

"Ah! I'm sorr-"

"It's alright Watanuki. It's nothing to worry about. Let us first worry about you."

Watanuki was lead to the kitchen by a smiling Mokona, where they all sat round the table with tea already made and poured into cups. Mokona sat right next to Watanuki and Yuuko sitting opposite the pair. The blue eyed man knew which topic it would lead to, and so he tried to buy more time by talking to the small boy.

"Mokona, what is with that hat?"

The hat was black with a pair of large rabbit ears at the side with a half a blue glass (or plastic) orb right in the centre. With the rest of the outfit being completely black to match, the boy had dark hair and eyes with a cheerful smile to top it off. The strange thing about Mokona is that at a glance, he doesn't look like a boy or a girl. It didn't help much when people came up to the young child, asking if he was a boy or a girl and always replying the same answer: 'Mokona is Mokona.'

"Yuuko gave it to me, cool huh?"

Watanuki raised an eyebrow, causing the smaller child to pout.

"Aw, what do you know! Watanuki is only jealous because he hasn't got one."

"Yeah," Watanuki replied with a soft tone of sarcasm "that must be it."

"Mokona, could you go find your sisters. Watanuki and I need to talk."

Mokona gave the enigmatic woman a questioning look, tilting his head to the side.

"Why? Is Watanuki in trouble?"

Watanuki was half expecting Yuuko to say no, until he was proven wrong by the nod of her head. Mokona shook his head and patted a small hand on Watanuki's shoulder.

"Well, it was nice knowing you."

And with that remark Mokona left the two alone, leaving Watanuki slightly speechless.

"What did he mean..."

"Watanuki, it's not nice to lie to children as well as to me."

Yuuko's voice was stern to match the serious look on her face, almost making the young man feel nervous at her gaze.

"What should I have told them then? That I am missing Himawari? That I still feel sad, so sad that I could die?"

Watanuki's words were shaky and struggling to keep the tone of his voice down. He didn't mean to let the last words slip out, but it was already too late to take back what he had said.

Yuuko looked at the blue eyed man with a thoughtful look, before speaking her own thoughts.

"You do know that we would miss you if you were gone, don't you? I know for a fact that Moro, Maru and Mokona would be sad." She paused to light her pipe, inhaling the smoke and blowing it out from her mouth. Watanuki looked at the rising smoke, twisting and turning then disappearing into the air.

"But then I guess our mourning couldn't compare to yours."

Watanuki quickly looked directly at Yuuko, as if she had slapped him on the face. She leaning forward so that their eyes would meet at a closure distance.

"You really do miss her, don't you."

A heavy weight in his heart returned to Watanuki. Himawari was his whole world, his everything. How could he ever let her go? Watanuki's began to water as he began to speak.

"...It hurts... when people come and go. I think it's because you give so much of yourself by opening your mind and heart... when they leave, it feels as if they take part of your self with them. It's as if they're tearing a hole from inside, making it feel empty."

Tears fell onto the table, his arms propped onto the table to support his head buried into his hands. "It just hurts so much Yuuko."

Watanuki let it all spill out, letting out something of the thoughts and feelings that so badly needed to be released. He never thought that he would tell Yuuko though, if anything she would be the last person he would tell.

'But that's just it, there is no one else. Other than...' Watanuki groaned, shaking his head from side to side as if he was trying to shake out all the thoughts from inside his head.

"Watanuki?"

"Why does he always come to my mind? I only met him last night, yet I keep thinking about him. Why? I don't need him. I don't need to be hurt again.."

Watanuki trailed off as his arms folded, so he could cradle his head into his skinny arms. Yuuko stood up and walked around the table to the now broken man, placing a hand on his back to let him know that right now he wasn't crying on his own. Even though the long haired woman knew that she couldn't be the one to help Watanuki out of this state of mind, she had a feeling that there was someone else out there that could. For now, she would have to settle with being able to give advice to the young man.

"Watanuki... you should move on."

Watanuki froze at those words. Even though his back suddenly stiffened under her fingers, Yuuko chose to continue.

"I'm sure that Himawari would have appreciated your faithfulness towards her, but I am certain that she would not want you to suffer like this. I'm sure that she would be happier if you were to move on with your own life, rather than to isolate yourself from everyone else in order to protect yourself. But you should keep in mind, that as long as you are living you will meet many people - whether you like it or not. It is true that they won't all be good people. In fact maybe some of those people will end up hurting you, however, there is also the chance that some of those people might try to learn who you are... they might want to make you happy by offering friendship and love..."

Watanuki lifted his head up. His glasses smudged with his own tears, making his vision go blurry. His whispers sounded like a child who was heartbroken over the loss of something precious.

"I can't love anyone ever again. Not like how I loved Himawari."

"You don't have to stop loving Himawari, nor do you have to love anyone else like Himawari. However, you can still love another person for who they are and for their own individual heart." Yuuko paused, smiling sadly as she bent down closer to Watanuki's ear.

"It is possible to Love again."

Watanuki didn't know what to say. Some of the chaos within him still resided in his heart, although he felt the heavy weight inside lift up from his body. Although he didn't know what to think about Yuuko's views on loving again, he was somewhat grateful for the older woman listening to him. The young man took off his glasses and started to clean the lenses using a corner of his shirt.

"I don't know what to say Yuuko... but thank you. Thank you so much."

He wiped his eyes before putting the glasses back on, turning to smile at Yuuko as best as he could, even if there were still some amount of sorrow in his eyes. Yuuko smiled back, knowing that Watanuki did listen to her rather than brush off he advice. At least in some way she can hope that she had somehow helped Watanuki.

"Now... you know what would be good right about now?"

Watanuki just gave the eccentric woman a blank look, to which Yuuko continued anyway with much enthusiasm.

"Those pancakes you promised to make!"

Watanuki looked completely lost from Yuuko's words before they sank in, causing the look of ranting to arise from his face.

"Hey! When did I say I would make pancakes? Is that anyway to treat someone who has been crying? Stop frolicking about and pay attention to me!"

"But Watanuki, food is good for the soul!"

Watanuki was about to reject this idea, except that Yuuko had already called the children to come and help make pancakes. Which caused three little childrens to be very excited.

"Yay! We get to make pancakes with Kimi-kun!"

"Can we have chocolate pancakes? Mokona likes Chocolate!"

"Alright, alright." Watanuki knew he couldn't let the children down just because he refused. "Everybody calm down and, Mokona why are you taking in third person?"

"Because Mokona is Mokona."

"That doesn't even answer my question!"

Yuuko thought it was good for Watanuki to be acting like his usual self, even though she knew that the young man was not quite over his problems yet.

"You know where everything is, so I'll leave you to it."

"Eh?" Watanuki turned with a quizzical look, whilst the children danced around him singing a random pancake song. "Where are you going to be Yuuko?"

"I have you go out for some more sake, we're running low at the moment."

"Dammit woman, you're suppose to be a guardian not an alcoholic!"

"See you soon, and don't forget to leave some for me!"

Yuuko turned and walked towards the door, hearing the noises from the kitchen of a ranting Watanuki and some very happy children. Her face no longer was smiling, but went emotionless as she slipped on another pair of shoes.

'It's about time I visited Himawari-chan.'

---

Urgh. I did it. I wrote a longer chapter. Now before I fall asleep onto the keyboard, I first must apologize. Yuuko was a hard character to write, which created several mini writers-blocks (especially when I had introduced Clow. DX) although I though it got better towards the end.

We'll be seeing Doumeki in the next chapter, so please review!

Thank you!