: This is your life. :
Don't fight it.
Don't waste it.
Don't deal with it.
Don't think about the future.
Don't think about the past.
: Just think about the moment & make it last. :

Chapter Eight: Cranes of Hope

We made it back to the house in record time. Three long hours of misleading street signs and the inability to tell left from right. But in the end we got there. Back to the manor, hands still linked. Then the awkward moment came, as I knew it would. We just stood there at the door to the main house. Still holding hands, wondering what would happen next.

"Well, they're probably worried about us." I said, swiftly unlinking my hands to brush up my hair, blush flushed across my face. Haru nodded.

"We were gone three hours." he said scratching his head. I felt like I just got back from a date, the boy walking you up to the door. The awkward moment. And the blushes. And isn't this the part where...oh you know! The goodbye kiss. But in reality. This wasn't a date.

Haru looked nervous, or maybe not nervous. Anxious. He looked like he had to say something. Something important, or maybe it was unimportant. I couldn't tell. Then he looked up to the sky for a moment as if reciting what he was going to say in his head. Then he looked me straight in th eye.

"Tohru, earlier-" then he was cut off by the open swing of the door. Momiji and Yuki standing behind it, looked at us worry-stricken and yet relived when they saw us.

"Tohru's back!" Momiji screamed back to the house, I winced. Akito would not like that.

"Hi guys! I'm so so so sorry for making you worry." I said, bowing at 80 mph. Yuki put his hands up to stop me with a smile.

"Miss Honda don't worry yourself about that." He said calmly. Momiji giggled.

"Besides if we didn't worry, what kind of friends would we be!" He said proudly, yet at the same time jumping up and down.

"We can go home now if you want." Yuki said softly, he looked a little down, his smiles fake, his voice hollow. And that was because of me. I brought sadness and worry to anyone who got close to me. And they thought they were cursed. But I was brought out of my thought when Momiji stomped his foot.

"I want Tohru to stay here!" He said facing Yuki. Yuki looked startled and speechless, something you never see.

"Well, I just though-"

"No! You just want to keep Tohru all to yourself. We want to stay with her before-" He stopped abruptly. But he didn't need to, I knew what he was going to say. It was written all over their faces.

"Before I bite the bullet?" I asked questioningly, even though I knew I was right, not one of them could look at me.

"You can say it you know. It'll come up eventually. I'm fine with it, really." I said to them, catching each of their eyes. They looked somewhat relaxed, but yet unbelieving. And to tell the truth, I didn't believe it myself either.

"So you know, you don't have to beat around the bush all the time." I said softly looking down at my feet, tracing a pattern in the snow with it.

"So...I'll get my stuff together." I said, putting on a smile and standing up straight. Momiji looked stricken.

"But that's not fair! You should stay here." He half begged half whined. And I sighed. Everything I owned was at Shigure's house. But I decided on a compromise.

"What about this. This week I'll go back to Shigure's, but the whole next week I'll stay here? Well, if Akito will allow it. Better?" I asked, bending down to his perspective. He seemed to be thinking about it.

"Deal!" He said, complete with the business like handshake. I heard Haru chuckle behind me, and I looked at him smiling.

"I'll go get my stuff." I said walking into the house, taking off my shoes at the door. Momiji and Yuki stayed by the door, they looked like they wanted to talk alone for a minute, so without question I walked straight into room that my bag was left in, the letter, and my uniform.

The light wasn't on and I didn't bother turning it on anyway. The mood felt sad, tragic in this room. The lights out, only the glow-y white snow from the window illuminating the room. The hospital looking bed in the back of the room. I walked to the window and just looked out.

That's when it caught my eye, the figure sitting on the wooden porch. Ryou. I could make out the dark hair and bright eyes almost instantly. He was lounging on the porch, his left hand propping up his head, while his right arm fiddled with something. I had a few things to say to him. What things, I wasn't sure of yet. But I knew I had to say something.

I stood by the window for a few more minutes before pushing away and heading out the door. My bag in hand. I walked out to the rice wall that separated me from him. I could make out his shadow from the wall. I anxiously opened the door. If he noticed, he didn't say anything. If he saw me sit next to him, he didn't acknowledge.

But I saw what he was fiddling with from the window, and then noticed the paper cranes dropped onto the floor next to him. Paper cranes? A lot of people knew how to make them one way or another, but I'd never learned, never had the time to. I curiously watched as he folded one after another using only his right hand.

"Your good at that." I said to him, he looked at me curiously, but I only nodded toward the crane he was currently working on. Each of them took him under a minute to make. He didn't say anything, just went back to folding as if his life depended on it.

"Why are you making so many?" I asked sheepishly, there must've been at least fifty on the ground next to him. His hand stopped in mid fold looking at me, lifting an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked, a little bugged. He just shrugged it off and continued folding then tossing it aside.

"You obviously never heard the legend of 'Sadako and her One Thousand Paper Cranes'." He said, still folding.

I just shut up, knowing whatever I said wouldn't be appropriate either way, but it didn't matter because he just kept talking.

" was a Japanese girl who lived near Hiroshima, Japan. She was only two years old when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. As she grew up, Sadako was a strong, courageous and athletic girl. In 1954, at age eleven, she became dizzy and fell to the ground. Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease"."

He paused as to give effect to the story. I sat on the edge of the porch drawing lines in the snow with my foot. This story sounded familiar. He continued.

"Sadako's best friend Chizuko, came to visit her and brought with her some origami . She told Sadako the legend of the crane. It is Japanese legend that folding 1000 paper cranes so pleases the gods that the folder is granted a wish. Sadako wished to get well. So, after hearing the legend, Sadako decided to fold one thousand paper cranes."

I stopped drawing lines the the snow, looking at Ryou almost captivated. I felt bad for the girl. So young left to carry such a heavy burden.

"After she folded 500 cranes she felt better and the doctors said she could go home for a short time, but by the end of the first week back home the dizziness and fatigue returned and she had to return to the hospital."

I dazed off, looking out at the flowerless sakura trees. What happened to the girl? And Ryou kept going, still folding and talking. Almost as if it was a very important task to fold all those cranes.

"Sadako continued to fold cranes. Even though she was in great pain, she tried to be cheerful and hopeful. Not long afterwards, with her family standing by her bed, Sadako went to sleep peacefully, never to wake up again. She had only folded a total of 644 paper cranes."

I instantly snapped up. No happy ending...I couldn't help but wonder. Was she happy? Did she accept her fate? I felt as if my heart poured out to this girl. For all the troubles she went through. It must've been hard...Then all of the sudden Ryou looked up at me. What shocked me was the pure and utter hope in his eyes.

"I'm making them for you. Your going to get better. I swear it. Already on number 456." He said, showing me one that he just finished. I was speechless. But then a small smile slowly crept on my face.

"Thank you...you think I have time to start too?" I asked hopefully. His hope was like a disease. caught quickly. He knew what I implied. What I really asked was 'Do I have enough time before I die?' He stopped folding and looked at me.

"Don't talk like that. Of course there's enough time! Plenty plenty plenty of time!" He muttered more to himself than to me.

"Did...she die happy? Wait...not happy...content?" I asked timidly, for who would die happily at the mere age of eleven?

Ryou looked at me, for a second I felt like the girl, Sadako Sasaki, doomed to oblivion, and it made my breath hitch, I was crying. A few tears spilled over my cheeks as I desperately tried to wipe them away. I had cracked. The stress that precariously piled up on me all fell down. I tried to keep in the tears, but then I started to hiccup. I felt two strong arms envelope me and hold me close into a brotherly hug, I clutched on for dear life.

"I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die." I shouted over and over again into his shirt. I felt his run his hand up and down my back trying to comfort me, but I found no comfort.

"I know...I know..." He said softly into my hair.

"I-I-I want to finish high school, drive a car, get married, I want to ride an airplane, explore the world." I hiccuped into his shirt. I thought back to what I was telling everyone. How I said I was fine, How I've accepted my fate, How they didn't have to beat around bush. Lies, all lies.

"I'm not okay, I don't want to believe it. I can't. I won't!" I shouted angrily into his shirt. He pulled away slightly so I could look into his eyes.

"Your not going to die. I swear. I promise you. I'm to stubborn to let you die anyway." He said, I calmed down a whole lot. I knew it was a promise that would eventually be broken. For he wasn't God. I knew even though he said so, maybe even really thought so, it would never be so. My eyes had dried, and Ryou stood up, taking my hand with him to pull me up too.

"Better?" he asked. I sniffled a little and nodded, then leaned against one of the support beams. He looked at me to be sure and stuffed his hands into his pocket taking out another piece of origami paper. My heart bled while I watched his fervently make more and more cranes.

"So, Who is this Hatsuharu guy and what is he to you?" He asked suddenly, and I almost jumped. Blush back on my face.

"Umm...well he's a Sohma, and umm...Well, he's one of my close friends! Yeah, that's it." I said, He just raised another eyebrow.

"You like him." He stated, that wasn't a question. 'Ugh, busted.' Knowing that my chances of lying and getting a way with it was one out of a million, lying was no option. So I just nodded, but then whipped my head fast enough to give me whiplash to look at him. I could already see the annoyed little mark on his forhead.

"Don't you dare go all big brother on me!" I warned him, poking him with a finger on the chest. He always became that overprotective brother character when a boy was involved, even in elementary.

He just raised his hands in defense, "I was just going to say that...he's a nice guy." he said. And I had to blink twice.

"What...?" I asked confused. I was almost looking forward to mad brother, err well cousin.

"You know he was the most worried, I mean we were all worried, but he took worrying to the next level." He blew out a low whistle while still folding cranes. I looked at him questioningly.

"And that's how you tell how a guy is nice?" I asked.

"No dum-dum, He carried you all the way from school on his back." He said. And then an interesting thought crossed my mind that almost made me choke.

"OH MY GOD! You know their secret! And it's all my fault!" I practically jumped to attention. The shout brought Kyo and Kisa out from the house in a rush. Panting and all. Then Hatori casually strolled out to us.

"Sissy alright?" Kisa asked worriedly clutching to my pant leg. I nodded warily, weren't they mad? Are they going to erase my memory? Surely they wouldn't.

"He knows!" I said pointing to Ryou, who looked confused and a little lost. Hatori chuckled. And Kyo just smirked.

"What? A person outside of the Sohma family knows! What have I done! O god, you are-" I was stopped in mid sentence when Kyo clamped a hand over my mouth.

"Jeez you talk too much." He said, before letter my mouth go. I looked worriedly at Hatori wondering what would happen now.

"And by the way. We already told him. He was bound to find out anyway." Kyo said gruffly crossing his arms in a huff.

"But-" I started.

"Miss Honda, if you must know. Akito gave us permission to tell." Hatori said, always sounding so professional.

"Akito?" I asked, maybe I had heard wrong.

"His mind works in strange ways." was the only thing he said before going all doctor, "I heard you were going back to Shigure's for this week." I nodded. "In that case, take these with you." he said handing me a bottle of what looked like pills.

"Take one everyday. It will help. But before you take them make sure that you've eaten something. And especially don't over exert yourself. That means no running. Okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, thank you so much!" I said, bowing down once again.

"No need, there are people here that care about you more than you know." he said before turning back into the house.

I looked down at Kisa who was still huddled against my leg, "I'll be right back okay? I just need a moment with my cousin, okay?" I asked. Kisa just nodded, understanding at such a young age and left for the inside of the house too.

Ryou had already laid back down on the porch, propped up by his left hand, folding with the right. The cranes. I would learn how to make them as well as him. I promised myself now that I would. But I wouldn't make them for me. I'd make them for the Sohma's. For all the care that they've shown me.. For everything they've done for me. Then after that one thousand. I'd make another for Ryou. I nodded to myself, making a promise that I would not soon forget.

"This time, I'll practice making cranes for all of you." I said, I didn't know if he heard me, but I just turned and opened the door back into the house.

His hope brought me hope. Hope and the drive to live again. I would never give up. Not now. Not ever.

I finally updated, last day of school. So no more delays. Review or I might lose my muse xP