Summary: Tohru receives tickets for the luxury cruise upon the Poseidon for her birthday, along with 9 other people from the Sohma family. Midway through the cruise, the ship is fatally struck by a rogue wave, and is capsized. Now Tohru must find out where everyone else is and escape the bowels of the ship before it slips under the ocean's waves. But not everyone can survive fate. . .

Poseidon
Chapter Five
The Beginning of the End

Tohru was enjoying her mid-afternoon doze, when she was awoken violently by someone. She lifted her hat and adjusted her eyes to meet Kyo's looking back at her.

"We were wondering where you were!" said Kyo, sitting on the bed next to Tohru.

"You were?" replied Tohru, sitting up in hers "I told Haru I was coming up her, he said he was coming too" she looked around; Haru was nowhere to be seen.

"Everyone's getting lunch," said Kyo "I don't know why, it's 4:30 already! Dinner will be soo-"

"4:30?!" cried Tohru "Oh my God! I missed most of the day! There was so much I wanted to do as well..."

"Don't worry," said Kyo, a smirk upon his face "we have two months to explore the ship and do stuff, there's plenty of time so don't panic!"

"I guess..." replied Tohru, looking down slightly.

"C'mon," said Kyo, grabbing Tohru's hand "Let's get ready for dinner."

Tohru grabbed her bag and packed everything away before following Kyo down the stairs, into the gym and spa, then to the lifts were they went down to Deck 12 and into their room.

* * *

Both of them had showers, and whilst Tohru was drying her hair with the hairdryer, Kyo was picking out what clothes he could wear.

I knew I shoulda packed more clothes than this!" he said, finally throwing down his final T-shirt "There's nothing here for a formal occasion."

The Poseidon had been sailing for two days now, and had one more day at sea before finally arriving in Australia. The ship glided across the water, as Tohru and Kyo were sitting in their room, preparing for the major feast in the ballroom, the wind raising the curtains slightly. They hadn't bothered going to a feast yet, and this was the first night they'd be going. It was a formal occasion, and they needed to be dressed formally.

"Of course there is!" replied Tohru, getting up off of the bed, pulling her towel up her chest; her hair slightly more dry than earlier.

"Look at this!" she said, grabbing one of his shirts "These are all creased! Did you just throw everything into your suitcase?"

"Well, yeah," replied Kyo, blushing slightly "I thought I could just iron them when we got here."

Tohru gave a disapproving look, which couldn't be held long, as he embraced her and she fell upon the bed.

"When?" Kyo asked, his red eyes staring down into her big brown ones.

"Tonight," she replied, a small smile upon her face "I promise."

The evening drew in quickly, and the Sun quickly began to set upon the horizon. The Poseidon was still gliding gracefully across the ocean, in half-an-hour the guests were to sit down and eat the evening meal.

Tohru had put on a floor-length cream dress with a ruffled shoulder. It had a white rose attached above Tohru's upper-left chest; which matched the one on her right wrist. Her cream stilettos were covered by the ruffled bottom of her dress. Her hair was tied up in a bun at the back of her head, and she had a cream purse to top it all off.

Kyo came in from the bathroom, dressed in a black tuxedo, with black bow-tie. His polished shoes gleamed from the floor, reflecting almost every light within the room.

"You look stunning," said Kyo, his face on her shoulder.

Tohru looked back at him "You don't shape up too bad, either," she replied, as he turned her and embraced her.

"I love you so much," said Kyo, the gentle breeze drafting through the balcony door "And I hope you know I always will."

"Of course I do," replied Tohru, muffle slightly in his shoulder "And I love you too, more than you could imagine."

The ships horn erupted from outside, signalling dinnertime. Tohru and Kyo grabbed the rest of the things needed, closed and locked the patio door and headed off for the lifts, to the ballroom.
Tohru checked Kyo's watch; it read 7:03pm. They were on time, at least. Although she didn't think anyone else would be.

They arrived downstairs in the reception, to see she was in fact wrong. Everyone else was downstairs, dressed in their best for the first night of their cruise. Tohru was stunned; everyone looked fantastic, all dressed up in tuxedos. Yuki, Shigure, Haru, Hatori, Ritsu and Ayame all shined brighter than any star, in Tohru's eyes, as they headed for the crowded ballroom.

The oak-panelled ballroom was decorated with balloons, streamers and other apparel that highlighted and excelled the ballroom's already modern, yet classic build. The room was based upon two floors, a huge open floor space below a balcony which stretched around the corners of the room, the glass railing marked with a 'P' curved around the edges of the balcony space. On the balcony were gambling tables and tables, which were for drinking and other purposes. The balcony continued through doors at the stage-end of the room.
A dance floor was present in the direct front of the stage, and stretched out, with tables dotted around the dance floor.
Each table had a golden tablecloth, with a white over sheet upon it. Flowers, candles, knives, forks, champagne glasses and bread baskets were placed neatly upon each, and a name upon a card in each seat.

Their table had been reserved for them, and after having to travel down three flights of stairs to get it, everyone was pretty hungry. The table had another group of people on it, who were talking to each other, and greeted Tohru's group as they sat upon the twelve-seated table.

"I'm Kari, this is my sister, Takina, this is my mother and father, Chihiro and Harugi," said the girl next to Tohru, who in turn, waved over to the group.

"Well," said Tohru "I'm Tohru, this is Kyo, Haru, Ritsu, Yuki, Ayame, Shigure and Hatori."
Each time Tohru said their name, the person would wave to the group across them.

"It's nice to meet you," said Kari.

"You too" replied Tohru, a bright smile upon her face.

A message rose above the crowd over the tannoy-system, with which the crowd went silent "Dear guests upon the Poseidon. We appreciate your wait, and that dinner is about to be served. Tomorrow will be a final day at sea, as we then call in at port off the coast of Australia. The weather will be clear throughout both days, with a wind speed of three knots tonight through to tomorrow morning. We do ask people to be careful on deck during tomorrow as there will be waves of 1.14 metres. Thank you, and enjoy your cruise upon the Poseidon."

With that, everyone burst into rapturous applause as the ships horn blasted once more, signalling the approach of dinner.
Music began playing from the stage behind her. Waiters came round with menus for every guest; within each was a huge and luxurious selection to choose from.

"What're you having?" whispered Tohru to Kyo "I can't decide."

"I don't know either," replied Kyo, looking at her "There's too much to choose from."

"So," Tohru asked casually "What's everyone having?"

Mostly everyone else was having the side salad to start, then Italian chicken for main course, and a chocolate gateau for dessert. Others had ordered the salmon for main course, or strawberry trifle for dessert.

After about ten minutes, about twenty or-so waiters came out with trolleys, carrying around 150 dishes between them. One came over to Tohru's table and handed out the side salads and a mango (for Yuki). The side salad was surprisingly tasty, despite looking a bit dry. The plump peppers made up most of the flavour, whilst the lettuce just seemed to be there for decoration more than anything.
Another waiter came to their table, to offer complimentary wine for each guest. Everyone on the table chose to have white wine, in which everyone raised their glasses ("To new beginnings").
After a fully-appetising starter course, main courses were served out. Everyone's courses came together, and they tucked in to one of the best meals Tohru had ever had. This could have rivalled her home cooking! The chicken was so tender, and the tomato and basil sauce blended and textured with the chicken perfectly. The sauce was so thick and creamy, that it was almost sickly, in a sense. The aroma of the sauce lingered, even after the plates had long gone, and dessert was brought over to the table. A whole chocolate gateau had been brought over to their table, fourteen identical slices cut into it. The taste was so sweet, and so sickly that it was practically a heart-melting pleasure. The thick pieces took the longest, as it was almost too sickly to eat. Tohru had to offer hers to everyone else, after only eating a half of her slice, with which everyone kindly declined, as they could barely manage theirs.

With that, the courses were done, with which everyone gave a polite round of applause to the chefs and waiters. There was about twenty minutes of general chatter, whilst everyone's stomachs settled.
Yuki, Ayame and Haru stood up from the table.

"We're going to the disco downstairs," Haru said, placing his chair under the table "It's free drinks for the first hour, and Ayame got some tickets!"

"Oh, okay," replied Tohru, smiling brightly at them "Have fun!"

And with that, the three of them left, out of the back doors and two decks below to the disco.

Tohru looked up as the band began playing again, this time a singer was on the stage. Tohru never caught her name, as she was talking to Kyo at the time. However, Tohru thought she was good.
The music became very catchy, and soon Tohru was asking Kyo to dance. She was tugging at his arm.

"C'mon!" she whined "It'll be fun!!"

"What's so fun about getting up and embarrassing yourself?" replied Kyo, his free arm holding onto the table, as Ritsu, Shigure and Hatori watched and laughed.

"Oh, you're no fun!" said Tohru, slumping down onto her chair, a sad look upon her face. She stared at Kyo. She continued to stare at him for several minutes before he gave in.

"Oh, okay then!" he shouted, grabbed Tohru by the arm and dragged her to the dance floor.

Despite the fact he'd been complaining earlier, Kyo was in fact a good dancer. He was very limited to begin with, but once the music caught up with him, he began to flow with the tune. Tohru was enjoying herself so much, that when a slower song came up, she grabbed Kyo instantly, and they began to slow dance together. Tohru never once felt Kyo's feet stumble upon hers; he was acting a proper gentleman.

Meanwhile, up upon the bridge of the Poseidon, the captain looked worried.

"There's something about the sea," he said, binoculars in hand "Something just doesn't feel right, y'know?"

With that, he lifted the binoculars to his eyes, and scanned the horizon. It was then, he saw it. A 150ft wave was heading directly for the ship.

"Oh, God..." he said, dropping the binoculars on the floor. "Man the bow thrusters! Turn the ship full astern to starboard!"

With this, there was panic on the bridge.

"Sound the alarm, everyone to their stations immediately!" said the Captain.

A crew member pushed the button for the tannoy system, and sounding the alarm "All crew report immediately to your emergency stations! This is not a drill! All passengers be prepared for immediate and heavy rolling within the next three minutes!"

In the ballroom, Tohru and Kyo had stopped dancing, there was utter silence until the drill had finished. With that there was complete pandemonium, Tohru and Kyo ran from the dance floor to the rest of the group.

"Oh my God!" shouted Tohru, amidst the screams of everyone in the ballroom "Haru! Yuki! Ayame! They're in the disco!!!"

Tohru broke down into tears "C'mon!" shouted Kyo "We gotta get to the lifeboats! It's the only way of getting off of this thing!"

Tohru turned to Kyo, tears falling gracefully from her cheeks and off of her chin "It's too late," she said, pulling Kyo down to her level, and embracing him for what she thought would be the last time.

"The wave's coming closer!!!" someone screamed as the wave approached the starboard side of the ship.

Back on the bridge, the Captain was trying all he could to turn the ship head-on into the wave; however, the ship was not turning fast enough. He pulled as hard as he could on the bow thrusters, but to no avail.

The Poseidon was doomed...

Tohru and Kyo hugged as tightly as possible, Shigure, Hatori and Ritsu with them too, as the wave drew ever closer to the ship, utter pandemonium around them, as people ran and screamed for their friends and loved ones.
The ship slowly began to shudder, as the wave drew closer to the doomed ship.

(A/N: Thanks for keeping up with my slow schedule! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and looking out for the next one coming soon!)