A/N: Sorry. I hadn't intended to keep you waiting this long. I was finished the day after, but my connection was messed up. Please, enjoy.
Chapter 10 – Back
… I was back. Not just in Toronto, but inside my own room. I sat up in my bed, Volume 7 falling to the mattress as I carefully avoided the shelf. It was dark night, just as it had been when I left Shigure's house. I stopped my thoughts. Shigure's house? I couldn't have gone there. It was all just a weird dream.
Then I felt something in my hand, as my senses returned slowly. It was the handle of a bag. I took it out from under the covers, staring at it without comprehension. Then it all came back to me – finding the Canada guide book, Tohru handing me the bag with her clothes in them – hoping beyond hope to get them back. And Yuki…
I started, reaching into the bag. There, among the soft folds of Tohru's gift, was a box. Yuki had slipped it in just before I disappeared. Turning on my bedside lamp, I noticed a note stuck to it. To my surprise, it was written, albeit haltingly, in English.
It was not a dream. Take this, Kokoro.
Tears starting in my eyes, I opened the box with trembling fingers. Another note lay on top of something inside. I took out the note, and saw there revealed a beautiful necklace; teardrop-shaped, with a blue stone in the middle surrounded by circular diamonds. The note read:
I saw this coming home one day and thought of you. I am afraid it is not real, though it looks pretty enough… just like you.
I smiled. Damned with faint praise, I thought, but I knew what he meant. Taking out the necklace, I put it on. It sparkled in the light from my bed lamp. I admired it for a moment, and then realised – if it hadn't all been a dream, I had been away for two weeks and my parents would be dreadfully worried. Quickly I got out of bed and went out into the hallway toward my parents' room. I opened the door, fighting off the urge to call "I'm home!"
It was empty and the light was still on. That meant they were still awake. Were they perhaps sitting by the phone, waiting for news? I took a look at their bedside clock before I left and was surprised to see that it was the exact time as it had been when I left. This was very confusing. I went downstairs.
The main floor was quiet. I heard the sound of the television from the basement. Going downstairs again in growing confusion, I went into the den and saw my parents sitting there, calmly watching a movie.
"What's the matter?" My mom asked. "You look really confused about something." The movie went to commercial, so my dad switched to the Weather Network.
"Haven't you gone to bed yet? You aren't dressed," he said. I stole a glance at the screen and almost cried out. TODAY'S FORECAST, it read, and its date was the same day I had left.
I looked back at my parents, who were looking at me expectantly.
"What is it?" my dad asked. "You look as though you've seen a ghost."
I took a deep breath, trying to get my thoughts under control. I wondered if my home was not now a dream, and that I would awake in the dark room at the main house. I pinched myself, but didn't wake up. This was no dream. This was too weird.
"Umm…" How to explain? What to explain? Finally, I decided that since everything seemed to be normal, I wouldn't complicate matters. Obviously, I hadn't been gone for two weeks.
"Nothing. Just wanted to say goodnight."
I went back to my room and fell asleep trying to figure things out. In the morning, I had come to the conclusion that I had been transported into the world of Fruits Basket, gotten myself out, and come back at the exact time I had left. It was the only plausible explanation. But who was the mysterious glowing figure at the window? And why was it given to me to transport myself in and out of books? Was this all some crazy fluke? Or could this happen again?
But the answers to all my questions were long in coming.
A/N: I do intend to write a sequel. Whether I do or not depends on many chances. But, unfortunately for all of my Furuba-fan readers, the story will not be set in Fruits Basket, but in another of my favourite books. Unless you have the exact same book preferences as I, this may be the last time we meet. Therefore, farewell, faithful readers! I bid you adieu! Thank-you so much, and keep on reviewing!