Chapter 11 Love Unconquered
Tohru was restless.
They had returned to Hana's house that morning. Tohru was full of energy and so she could not sleep. Hana-chan and Uo-chan had cautioned her against going to the Sohma house alone but they were unable to stay up with her.
We could just go for a walk. A mischievous voice whispered in her mind.
Tohru found herself warming to Jinn more and more each day. Sometimes it was hard to tell where her own thoughts ended and Jinn's began.
That's a good idea. Tohru thought back. She stepped out of the house. She was only going to cruise the block, maybe do a bit of light jogging to burn off some of the extra energy she felt. She was wearing a black baby doll shirt with a pair of black shorts, both borrowed from Hana-chan after her mother stole all of Tohru's clothes declaring them unfit for wearing. A red ribbon ran around the bodice of the dress emphasizing her slight curves. The sleeves were lightly puffed drawing attention to the elegant lines of her shoulders and lean, toned arms. She had a black pair of sneakers that had belonged to Megumi once when he was younger, they were like new and fit her feet nearly perfectly, and they were only slightly loose
Really she had only meant to run around the block but mere moments after beginning her trek Tohru found herself leaping fences and cutting through people's yards, heading for the Sohma estates. It was as if she were being called. And for some reason the summons was becoming more urgent.
She ran swiftly and silently. She pulled herself up one side of a retention wall, ran several feet along its length before leaping across to the other side where it narrowed. Her shoes hit the grass hard and her knees buckled, however she smoothly caught herself before she fell, regained her footing and continued on her run. Strangely she was not the least bit winded when she came to the outer gates of the Sohma estates.
Not so strange. Chirped a voice in her head.
Tohru grinned and nodded. A large plum tree with branches reaching in supplication toward the heavens grew conveniently alongside the eastern wall of the Honke. Tohru grinned and with a running leap managed to catch one of the lower branches. She paused, grunting softly as she adjusted her grip. By flexing her torso a few times she managed to swing her legs up and around the branch so that they joined her arms. She paused again for breath.
A little help would be nice. She thought in exasperation.
You wouldn't want me to do all the work, would you? Jinn queried smugly.
In truth it was all she could do to restrain herself from lifting Tohru over the wall. She was in Tohru's mind and Tohru thought of nothing but the Sohma's. She dreamt of them. She worried over them; they were as much a part of her as breathing. In truth Jinn was very excited about meeting people such as the one's Tohru fantasized about at such length.
With a heaving grunt Tohru pulled her body in close to the branch and wiggled around to the topside. She then stood nimbly and reached for the next, and the next until she towered over the ground at twenty feet in the air. She inched along a branch and then leapt toward the wall, which rested a mere four or five feet away from the tree branch.
In spite of her training and her physical conditioning she very nearly missed the wall. Her fingers desperately gripped the concrete blocks. She slammed her elbow and tore skin from her palms, but just barely managed to hang on. With her eyes clenched tight in concentration she hauled herself up and over the wall. She dropped to the ground, allowing her legs to collapse and rolled across the ground in a heap. Her hands and arm stung where she had scraped them and her legs throbbed from the jolt of falling from such a ridiculous height. But she was in.
She giggled, elated. Suddenly a dark shadow loomed over her blocking the starlight.
"Who are you?" A voice demanded. She knew that voice.
"Kureno-san!" Tohru gasped and stood. She began furiously brushing off the dirt that had clung to her clothing when she fell.
"Tohru Honda!" Kureno gasped. Tohru was unsure what to do. She didn't really want to be found out yet. Her hands slid to the small pouch she had tied to her belt loop, they were already readying a needle even as she bowed to Kureno. A simple stick just above the clavicle on the left side of his neck would put him in a restful slumber.
"Hai. How is everyone? Uo-chan is well." She murmured. Kureno seemed to age, as he stood silhouetted in the starlight.
"I should send for Hatori right now. I should summon Akito. I should not do what I am about to do." Kureno took a deep breath. Tohru paused. Her needles were ready; it would take merely a second. She was curious as to what Kureno meant.
"Come with me Honda-San. There is… someone who you will wish…" He paused as if swallowing. Tohru had the strangest thought that he was trying not to cry. He gestured for her to follow. She did.
He's nice. Jinn thought.
I know. Tohru returned. Kureno lead her to a small house. Rin and Hatsuharu were waiting. Their eyes widened as recognition flared to life in their worried orbs.
"Honda-San!" Haru gasped, leaping from the porch he lifted her into the air and spun her around. "It's the answer to a prayer!" He gasped reverently as he put her down. Without releasing her he jerked her into the house and lead her down a hallway past the kitchen and living quarters into a small room. His hands gripped hers in a clammy but firm grasp. She would have smiled but she was beginning to feel an uneasy sensation. As she crossed the threshold onto the bedroom she stopped. Haru released her hands and stepped aside.
She gasped, an icy dread creeping over her. Yuki lay in bed, as still as death covered in bruises a freshly stitched wound on his chest. Ayame lay wrapped around his brother like a cocoon.
"Ayame?" Hatsuharu called, concern ringing in his voice. Just then Rin came racing into the room.
"Haru!" She cried her dark hair whipping around her. "Haru, get Hatori I think Ayame may have done something foolish!" She held an empty bottle of pills in her hand. Haru's eyes widened in dismay, before he raced from the room. Kureno was already at Ayame's side tapping him on the face, begging him tearfully to open his eyes, to wake up.
"What happened?!" Tohru begged, her voice ragged, not quite completely her own. Kureno's eyes jerked to her face before he answered.
"Akito… she punishes Yuki for disobeying her."
"Akito did this?" Tohru whispered as she stepped closer to the still form of her beloved and his brother. Had she worked so hard, sacrificed so much, had Hana-chan sacrificed herself only to arrive too late?
Only to arrive just in time to watch Yuki die. Tohru's eyes already raining tears flashed with ruby fire.
I can help them Tohru. Give me control. Tohru nodded. Jinn stepped forward. Wind with no source swirled around her body. A golden glow began to radiate from her center. She raised her hands to the cold as death flesh of two members of the Juunishi. Jinn closed her eyes and allowed her power to fill her up. Tohru's long mane of mahogany tresses lifted in the air with the power of the energy flowing through her body. Her skin became tinged with pink; her hair had a red tint.
I can help! Tohru whispered in Jinn's mind. Tohru had felt the influx of Jinn's power. She had felt a similar might before when her love for Yuki and the others had enabled her to keep control of her mind. She concentrated her power to meld with Jinn's.
There was a flash of golden light. A Golden silhouette of a butterfly appeared over them and the song of a phoenix flooded the air. The majesty of such power sent Kureno to his knees. Jinn ignored him draping her body atop the fallen brothers. She allowed her power to flow into them, to restore their failing spirit, to pull them back to themselves. She absorbed and dispersed the poison Ayame had taken. He groggily stirred and his eyes opened slowly.
Ayame taken care of, Jinn turned her full attention to Yuki. The song of the phoenix trilled again, piercing the night, shimmering golden lights danced in a shower of molten sun as the Golden butterfly again flapped its wings. As she healed him jinn studied the sleeping prince from beneath her lashes. He was tall and delicate, but his slight frame hid lean sinewy muscle. Jinn felt a stirring inside her she had not expected; a woman's hunger in her middle. She could see why Tohru loved this one. She sensed strength and sorrow in him, as her energy pierced and filled him she sensed a well of gentleness that offered her long ago beaten spirit solace and rest.
Jinn knew as she healed the young man in her arms, as their spirits briefly merged and then withdrew, that she- at least- would never be the same. As she allowed her strength to fill him he stirred in her arms, his body rubbed against hers. Lightning shot through her and she gasped at the arc of desire, which stabbed her so neatly. Her eyes were wide in shock as she healed the prince in her arms.
Ayame watched in hope and fascination as Tohru gathered his brother to her. They fit together neatly. He observed in wonder as light arced and bounced around them, and he thought he could almost see Tohru pouring herself into his brother. Yuki's color returned. His bruises began to fade and heal. The stitched wound healed flawlessly before his eyes, the thread gone. Then Yuki stirred. Aya felt tears wet his face and fall from his eyes in an unblinking downpour. His brother was safe. He would live thanks to this precious girl.
This girl had returned yet again to their cursed family, and yet again she brought Yuki back to life.
Tohru's eyes snapped open and she gazed upon Yuki with the eyes of a woman awakening to her own desires. Ayame felt himself smile as he saw her hand clutch reflexively in Yuki's hair and the other on his arm when he shifted.
Her eyes were red though. Aya felt his smile slip. Tohru's eyes were supposed to be blue. Why then were her eyes red? Tohru clutched Yuki's hair and then leaned down close. With her eyes still open she captured Yuki's lips in a kiss. She gently brushed her lips against his. He moaned into her mouth, his eyelids fluttering.
The Phoenix sang her song, one of triumph, suddenly the giant golden butterfly exploded into hundreds of small sparkling butterflies. The wind did not die down though. Power flowed through jinn and it was a power each member of the Juunishi felt.
Ayame watched Tohru lower her head again. This time she rested her lips against Yuki's moving her mouth over his. She breathed her breath into him and he gave it back to her. His mouth opened and Tohru began gently suckling his lip. Yuki opened his eyes to find himself living a dream he had had far too often. He was lying in bed, Tohru was with him and she was kissing him. Surely this must be a dream. Quickly before the dream could end he reached up a hand to pull Tohru close to him and kissed her with all the pent up passion in his heart.
He had dreamed of nothing else the past year, nor desired anything more than to feel Tohru in his arms, to feel her mouth upon his own and to kiss her as he would never kiss another. Her mouth yielded to his and her arms tightened around him as her body melded against the length of his. His kiss was unpracticed and clumsy; such is the way of first kisses. Nevertheless it knocked the breath out of both Tohru and Jinn. They felt their entire body was on fire.
"Tohru?" Hatori breathed softly from the door. Tohru pulled away from Yuki with a jerk. Yuki was staring up at her dreamily as she looked toward the door. As she looked into the doctor's eyes Hatori gasped. This was not Tohru staring back at him. She was… changed. Her eyes were a feral red that sent shivers up Hatori's spine. Gracefully she withdrew from Yuki and stood, her hair still rising from the powerful energy that rolled off her in waves. In two voices from one mouth she spoke.
"Yes it's me. I come to take back what is mine. I told you a year ago, I would return for my family. How could you let this happen." Her hands balled into fists and diamond droplets fell from her eyes. She raised an arm to wipe away her tears.
"How could any of you let what happened to Yuki take place!" She cried. A burst of energy shot from her and the Juunishi cried out as they were flung to the floor. She turned back to Yuki. She smiled so tenderly at him that his breath caught in his throat.
"I have come for you Yuki." Tohru smiled warmly. He felt his face light up with embarrassment. That kiss had been no dream. He was suddenly quite shocked as Tohru placed one hand beneath his knees and the other around his shoulders, lifting him from the bed as if he weighed no more than a child might. Out of pure reflex he threw his arms about her neck.
"Honda-San-" He protested but she paid no heed as she advanced toward the door. Ayame watched in wonder, practically swooning over the romance of it all as Tohru stepped through the door taking with her an aura of power that made his hair stand on end. With Yuki in her arms, Ayame watched Tohru and his brother disappear into the night.
Ayame was thrilled. He didn't quite understand all that had happened but he realized one thing that made his heart cry out with joy. Tohru, Yuki's teenage love, she had embraced him with a woman's passion, kissed him with a woman's desire. Tohru had wrapped her body lovingly around Yuki as she healed him.
And Yuki had not changed.
Yuki clutched tight to Tohru as she ran with inhuman speed and grace, leaping the Sohma walls as if they were nothing. She ran the two of them to Shigure's old house. The door swept open before them as if the house had been awaiting their return.
Tohru laid Yuki gently upon his old bed, a smile of such tenderness in her eyes that his heart ached and tears welled up in his eyes. She had changed. She was slimmer, leaner, more angles than curves. Yuki read in her that the past year had not been entirely kind to her. He wanted to sweep her into his arms, to kiss away the darkness he saw in her eyes so that she need never fear the night again.
Tohru's eyes drank in the sight of Yuki. He was the same as ever. He was elegant, even in a simple linen shirt. His hair was still short, his eyes a soft lavender that made your bones melt like chocolate left in the sun. Her lips tingled, she could still taste him, soft and tangy and salt. She eased herself to the bed at his side, staring up into his eyes searching his gaze for any hint of what had happened.
"Yuki-kun." She whispered softly.
"Honda-san." He answered in a hushed tone.
"What happened?" She whispered, her face a mask of concern.
Yuki looked away ashamed to meet her gaze.
"I was never the man you imagined me to be Honda-San. I let them lock up Kyo. I went to see him, but not as often as I should have. I only went when I thought Akito wouldn't know. Sometimes, she found out."
Akito punishes him when he doesn't obey… Tohru's heart wailed in misery. Jinn reached out a small delicate hand and turned Yuki's eyes to meet hers.
"You are more the man that I knew you could be today than you ever were. I couldn't love you more if I tried."
"Honda-San!" Yuki gasped. He found himself weeping then, great trembling sobs that welled up from somewhere deep inside him. All the abuse, all the ugliness he had endured under Akito's harsh rule melted off of him under the sweet smile of Tohru's love. She renewed him. In her arms he was made whole once more. He leaned into her arms and she wrapped them around his neck, cradling his weeping head to her chest as he expunged all the ugliness foisted upon him by his deranged God. His arms unwittingly wrapped around her waist as he cried.
It was a good first wish, wasn't it Jinn-san? Tohru whispered tearfully in Jinn's head.
Upon learning of the conditions of Jinn's help Tohru had made her first wish without hesitation. It was a desire that had hummed longingly throughout her entire body and soul for years.
"I wish to be able to embrace my family, every one of them!" She had shouted the words aloud so there could be no doubt.
Hai, Tohru-kun, it was a good first wish.