Author's Note: Hello, readers! I come with some pre-canon Hatori/Kana fluff, because these two deserve all the fluff. ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.

The Best Dream

"We should go to Okinawa."

Hatori let out a curious hum at this statement and turned his head to peer at Kana. Her thoughtful, almost dreamy gaze looked straight ahead, past the cherry blossom trees and their falling petals, past the emerald green grass of the hill they were sitting on, past the azure sky and wispy clouds above them. After a moment passed without Kana elaborating, Hatori chose to speak.

"Okinawa?" he repeated. "What brought this on?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Kana asked rhetorically, snapping out of her reverie and smiling at him. "I found a travel brochure while getting supplies this morning, and from what I read, Okinawa sounds perfect for a romantic getaway. There's tropical weather all year, the sky's clear enough for stargazing, and the beaches are supposed to be the most beautiful ones around." She sighed. "Imagine going on vacation there, just the two of us."

She did paint a lovely picture. In his mind's eye, Hatori saw white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, and a happily smiling Kana in a straw hat and green sundress. A weekend away from the office—away from the Sohma estate—with only each other to occupy themselves with...it was a nice idea.

He told Kana as much after a brief pause, and her smile widened. "Maybe we could go next year sometime."

"Maybe," he agreed. Perhaps Okinawa could be where... The thought came to him, but he mentally shook himself before it could complete. He had yet to ask her, let alone get Akito's permission. There was no need to get ahead of himself by thinking about where he and Kana could go for their honeymoon.

"We should make sure to go on one of those glass-bottom boat tours while we're there," she was saying. "We could see fish, sea turtles, coral reefs, whales—"

"An abnormally large number of seahorses?" Hatori interrupted wryly.

Kana laughed. "Yeah, probably."

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, and as he watched Kana's hair gently sway in the slight breeze that had picked up, a smile spread across Hatori's face. He'd been doing that more often lately, whenever he was with her. She didn't even need to do anything special; her presence alone—here beneath the cherry blossom trees, at his office, in his life—was enough for a smile to come to his lips. He remembered her words from the other day—condensing a lifetime of happiness into a handful of weeks—and found himself grasping her hand.

"Will you share a true lifetime of happiness with me, Kana?"

The question was out of his mouth before he even realized he was asking it, and in the next instant, he wished he could take it back. It was too soon, too abrupt—it had barely been two months since she learned and accepted he was cursed; he had no right to ask her to commit to him further. He saw her eyes widen and her lips part, and he opened his mouth to tell her that it was perfectly all right if her answer was no. If she didn't want to take that next step with him yet, he would respect her decision.

Kana's expression changed before Hatori could get a single word out, and the joy on her face outshone the sun itself.

"Yes," she breathed, her eyes filling with unshed tears as she squeezed his hand. She laughed again. "Yes!" She cupped his face with her free hand and leaned in to press her lips eagerly to his, and he kissed her back for a moment before pulling away.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I'll understand if you need time to think about it."

"Of course I'm sure," she assured him, grinning as she wiped at her eyes. "You could give me years to think about it and I'd still say yes."

Hatori couldn't help smiling at that. "Very well, then," he said.

But as happy as he was that Kana accepted his proposal, he knew there was still the matter of broaching the topic with Akito. Considering how jealous the god was over the Zodiac members' love, getting Akito's permission for them to marry would be like pulling teeth. He explained this to Kana later, after they returned to the office, and her response was to smile reassuringly.

"It'll be fine. We'll just have to convince Akito that our marriage won't change anything."

All Hatori could do was hope she was right.