(This continues from the last chap)

The short orange haired girl ran towards the white haired teen in the distance. Haru was walking around the castle gates with a blank face. A small grin spread across Kisa's face as soon as she saw him, she had been looking for him for over half an hour already. He didn't have a spot he favored to be at which made finding him a wearisome task. Sometimes it took her hours to find him since he tended to get lost easily as well.

"Nii-san!!!" Kisa called running towards Haru.

"What do you need?" Haru asked stopping in his walk to face her. Upon his face was a dazed look, an expression that usually signified that he was deep in thought.

"Onee-chan didn't leave this time!" Kisa exclaimed happily.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I actually got to have breakfast with her this morning!" Kisa smiled.

Kisa strongly believed that Tohru was still at home and wasn't going to leave anymore. Haru on the other hand didn't, though he didn't let her know that. He wanted to let her have her hope; he wanted her to have faith for now. She didn't have to think being royal was bad yet, he didn't want her to run away for a few years at least. Truthfully he didn't think she would want to leave but he also didn't think Tohru would ever sneak out, this just proved how unpredictable people were. He was their older brother, his job was to protect them and keep them from making the same mistakes he did when he was their age. Haru felt like he was failing at his job as of now.

"That's great… But where is she now?" Haru asked.

"Taking a nap," Kisa answered.

"And when did she tell you that…?"

"Three hours ago… Why?"

Haru didn't respond. Knowing the situation a little better than Kisa he highly doubted Tohru was taking a nap. He had run away from home himself plenty of times before though he knew she was leaving for a different purpose. When he was younger he ran away for the heck of it, he wanted freedom, he wanted to be rebellious. Tohru wasn't the type to want those sorts of things and one thing proved that, she returned home each and every time so far.

"You think she left… Don't you?" Kisa asked.

"It's a guess but the last time you did see her was three hours ago," Haru replied rather calmly.

Meanwhile Tohru was crawling through her window. Losing her balance she toppled down into her room clumsily landing with a thud. She sat there on her knees for a second before what happened fully registered in her head and she started to feel the pain. Tohru rubbed her red knees to try and soothe the burning pain, it had little to no effect but she ran her hands over them anyways. For a minute she remained in that spot until a bit of the pain had eased away. She got up looking down at her legs; there were no cuts or scraps, just red skin that was slowly turning a light shade of purple. Bruises would replace the scarlet spots later, luckily her dress was long enough to hide them from Haru and Kisa. Kisa would worry over her minor injury and Haru might scold her for being so clumsy, depending on what mood he was in.

"Ow…" Tohru muttered.

Tohru turned around and shut the window, locking it. She sighed, trying her best to straighten out her dress before she made her way over to the door. It was about time she showed her face around to make sure no one thought she had died in her sleep or something along those lines. Opening the door she found Haru and Kisa standing out there just about to enter, their hands both held out ready to grab the door knob. Her eyes widened either from shock or fear or maybe both. Kisa's eyes held the same look whilst the man beside her had no expression change.

"Onee-chan!" Kisa exclaimed.

"Kisa? Nii-san? What are you both doing here?" Tohru asked.

"We were just going to check on you," Kisa responded.

Tohru smiled but was going into a state of panic inside. Her mind went crazy, thinking up every single scene that could have happened if they entered a few minutes earlier. They wouldn't have found her taking a nap as she said she would be, or even worse they might have caught her climbing through the window. If that happened, there was no doubt that she would end up telling them about Yuki then that would most likely be the end of her trips to see the handsome man. Just that thought convinced her to be twice as careful to make sure nobody ever caught her.

"How about we get a snack? I'm hungry!" Tohru suggested trying to get their thoughts away from her.

"Okay! I'm hungry too!" Kisa replied placing her hand on top of her small stomach. Like Tohru she hadn't eaten since breakfast, now was at least a few hours after.

"You two go ahead, I'm not hungry," Haru told them. Unlike the both of them he had awoken a couple of hours later and had a late breakfast. The meal could have been called lunch considering what time he had eaten it.

"Alright," Tohru and Kisa chirped in unison.

Tohru and Kisa turned to leave together when something caught Haru's attention. Yuki's gift to Tohru, the pink ribbon, stuck out in her dark brown locks. Being her older sibling he knew what she had and what she didn't. This ribbon wasn't something he had ever seen in her hair before until this moment not to mention how new it looked. Suspicions began to fill his head; it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was from a guy.

"Tohru, is that a new ribbon?" Haru questioned pointing to the pink ribbon tied in her hair. He had decided to start with a simple question, both to keep her from freaking out and because he didn't feel the need to have to find out what she was doing or who she was meeting at this exact moment.

"Eh...? Oh you mean this? Yes, it is new!" Tohru answered.

Looking at the ribbon Kisa smiled, "That's beautiful Onee-chan! Who gave it to you?"

"A friend…" Tohru replied vaguely.

Before they could ask her about her friend Tohru darted away from there telling them she'd meet Kisa downstairs. Even with Haru's precautions they had both ended up getting her to put her guard up and flee from the scene. Kisa glanced up at Haru knowing all to well he hadn't just asked the question without reason. She thought about it, it took her a short while to catch onto his notion.

"Do you think her friend is the person she'd been sneaking out to see?" Kisa asked Haru.

He just shrugged.

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A little over a week later Tohru sat on her bed awaiting nightfall. Chewing on her lip out of anxiety she glanced at the clock on top of her nightstand every minute. There was a lot for her to be excited and nervous for, today was another day she was going to spend with Yuki or night. She knew the guy pretty well but she was still uptight around him. He seemed too perfect, too beautiful, too everything for her yet she still wanted to keep him to herself and away from every other girl. Tohru felt possessive though she hadn't realized it yet. Subconsciously she felt the urge to be better, for the chance that maybe she'd be good enough for him. She glanced down at the light purple dress she had on hoping it looked alright on her.

After spending the day together Yuki was walking Tohru home as usual. They were taking the short cut through the forest. Peering to her side Tohru spotted the lake about half a mile to her right. Tohru sighed looking out at the scenery slightly depressed she looked away from the body of water. Yuki turned to her noticing the change in her attitude.

"What's wrong?" Yuki asked worriedly.

"Nothing… I was just thinking how pretty the lake would look at nighttime with the moon shining down on it," Tohru replied with a faint smile shifting her eyes to look up at his face.

"I'm sure it would look lovely…"

Tohru looked down at the road, a thought rattled her. Hesitance started to build up within her as she tried to work up the courage to ask him what she wanted to. Chomping down on her lip she froze in her place. Yuki paused, feeling that she wasn't walking anymore he whirled around giving her a confound look wondering why she had stopped. He took a step back to her grazing her cheek with his forefinger in attempt to bring her out of her thoughts. Her jaw dropped open about an inch feeling his touch. She stared up at him timidly closing her mouth.

"Umm…"

"Yes… Is something the matter?"

"Umm… Would you like- Will you please join me here at night sometime? I mean would you please consider the possibility???" Tohru asked a bashful smile planted across her face. She bowed her head unable to meet his gaze; she didn't even know why she was requesting this of him but her mental images of how the lake would look with a white moon above it gave off a siren's call to her luring her to it.

Yuki smiled warmly answering, "I would love to… And I thought I would have to keep doing you favors so you would come meet me."

"No… All you have to do is ask… I really enjoy your company!" Tohru admitted shyly.

She began to walk again now that he had agreed to go with her, she felt relieved and happy. Yuki started up after her keeping in pace with her deciding to make the plans now. He preferred to come up with the next date they'd meet in person than over the phone. It felt more personal this way, talking to her, with her face less then half a foot away made it a lot less complicated to read how she felt exactly about plans and such and what she really wanted to do.

"I enjoy being with you too. I'm glad you asked. When would you like to meet?"

"Well I heard there's a full moon tomorrow… So I was hoping we could go then…" Tohru said softly.

Yuki nodded liking the sound of being with her when there was a full moon out. It sounded romantic enough, he was glad he wasn't the one who asked her to come along with him at night. With this set up she had no reason to believe he was some sort of pervert for wanting to meet up in the dark. He probably wouldn't have asked her to see him at night anyways, getting together at night was both beneficial and not at the same time. Darkness would help hide them away from onlookers and such but it also held many dangers like robbers and rapists. There was no way he was going to let her walk alone.

"Alright, how about I come pick you up at midnight?" Yuki suggested.

"Eh?! You don't have to go to all that trouble!" Tohru exclaimed.

He shook his head not wanting to argue with her while at the same time not wanting to tell her why he didn't want to let her come on her own. If he told her that he was afraid that someone might attack her she'd be terrified, probably too frightened to even come. That was an easy way to ruin a date. Yuki would rather not have her worry about the small chance of that happening, he'd just walk her there and back to protect her instead.

"It's dangerous for a girl to be out alone at night. I'll meet you here tomorrow at midnight, okay?" Yuki told her as they arrived at her palace.

"Okay… Thank you… For spending the day with me and for walking me home… See you tomorrow night then…" Tohru replied as they arrived at the side of her castle. He knew that she snuck in so he knew exactly where it was most convenient to drop her off. She didn't know what he knew or suspect anything from his actions. As usual she was oblivious to this kind deed.

"See you then…" he nodded smiling before waving to her, turning to leave.

Tohru stared out the window at the full moon. The old clock in the parlor downstairs rang a low sound that could be heard from her room signaling midnight. She quickly scampered out the window and down the rope, descending to the ground. As soon as she crawled out the secret exit she began her search for Yuki. Feeling a hand grasp her shoulder Tohru let out a soft shriek, losing her balance she started to fall when she felt strong arms wrap around her waist catching her before she made contact with the ground. Tohru gazed up at the concerned face above hers. Yuki held onto her with fretful eyes, not meaning to scare her.

"Are you alright?" Yuki asked, still holding her up as he peered down at her face.

"Yes Yuki-kun… You startled me but thank you for saving me! I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble already…" Tohru replied apologetically.

"No problem…" Yuki whispered helping her back onto her feet.

"Ready to go?" Tohru asked in a quiet but excited voice.

"I'm ready if you are," Yuki responded.

"Then let's go!!!"

They began to head towards the lake together carefully walking leaving no traces behind and making no noises. Neither of them uttered a word, both equally afraid of getting caught by one of the guards pacing around the castle walls. The guards were mainly around the gate, a good distance from them, but they were still cautious. She had already screamed, softly but they had to have heard it. It was darker then either of them anticipated. Even with the full moon above them the trees blocked out most of the light to their dismay. It was difficult to see where the other was.

"Everything looks so pretty at night… Don't you think so Yuki?"

The only response she received was the stillness of the night air. Tohru's brows furrowed with confusion wondering if she might have spoken too quietly. She couldn't see Yuki, but that was no surprise, she couldn't even see her own hand if she placed it in front of her face. What scared her was that she couldn't hear him respond, he couldn't have been tricking her for she couldn't even hear his footsteps.

"Yuki?" Tohru asked looking to her right and left.

"Yuki? Yuki?!" She called worriedly.

The shrill howl of a wolf could be heard. Tohru spun around but the only thing she saw was darkness and clumps of trees. She tried to take a deep breath and remain calm but her terror grew with each night sound she heard that wasn't Yuki. There was no chance he would have ditched her, was there? Tohru clenched her fists together trying to remain cool but finding it harder to do so then it seemed. She didn't know what to do; she didn't know what to make of the situation. Never being able to leave the castle meant she had never gone out alone at night, not once had she been lost. Now, she was at a loss of options, she had no idea how to find Yuki or where to look for him.

"Yuki!!!" She yelled running forward wildly beginning to panic.

Yuki flinched finally hearing Tohru's voice. He had realized she had wandered away from him a second before she did and had immediately began looking for her but finding no hints as to where she might have gone. At last his eyes caught sight of the brunette a few feet of him about to hit a tree.

"Tohru!" Yuki exclaimed grabbing her arm before she ran into a tree.

She fell back against his chests startled. Her eyes snapped open making out the figure of a tree less than half a foot from the tip of her nose. Yuki exhaled thankful that she hadn't crashed into the tree and broke her nose. Tohru's quick breathes began to slow as she gradually relaxed glad that they were back together again.

"Yuki, I was so scared! You were gone and I was alone!" Tohru gasped twisting her head up to look at him.

"Who's there?!" barked a guard who was making his way over to where they were with a flash light.

Yuki quickly pushed Tohru against the thick tree she almost collided with, placing his finger to her lips wordlessly telling her to remain quiet. The guard's flashlight cast a soft yellow glow that grew brighter with each step he made towards them. She could feel Yuki lean in towards her as the guard got closer. He was so near, she could hear his rapid heartbeat, inhaling she could even smell the sweet scent of soap clinging to his skin. Yuki kept his arms outstretched one on either side of her shoulders. Feeling her warm breath against his neck he did his best to focus on going by unnoticed by the guard instead of on her and how her radiance shined under the dim moonlight.

"Whoever's there you better not be up to anything funny. I advise you to get out now before we find you in the morning," The guard warned taking one last look before returning to the castle giving up hope in finding the intruder.

Realizing the awkward situation they were in Yuki blushed immediately shoving himself away from the tree. He took a step away from her looking at her grateful that the guard hadn't found them. Yuki hoped he hadn't invaded her personal space too much but looking at her now he could tell she was kind of spacing out.

"You can breathe now…" Yuki told her.

Tohru's cheeks darkened as she became aware that she had been holding her breath the whole time the guard was around. She released the air she had been restraining breathing rapidly to catch up her oxygen supply. Yuki laughed using his hand to try and stifle his laughter, not wanting the guard to come back.

"Hold my hand this time so we don't get separated again," Yuki added extending his hand out to her. Tohru timidly slipped her hand into his.

"Sorry… It's my fault for screaming!" Tohru apologized.

He smiled giving her hand a light comforting squeeze. Tohru peered up at him beaming happily as they made their way to the lake. Yuki could feel her grip around his fingers tighten as they went deeper and deeper into the forest. The thick canopy of tree tops began to block out more of the moonlight if that was even possible. Practically clinging to him she did her best not to walk or trip over anything. This was tricky seeing that she couldn't spot what was in front of her until it was an inch from her eyes. Yuki grasped his hand more firmly around hers after keeping her from tripping over another root. He knew they needed a way too see in the obscurity, he wished he had brought a flashlight.

"Wait here," Yuki told her softly releasing her hand coming up with a temporary solution.

"Yuki?" She called worriedly vaguely seeing him move away.

"Don't worry… I'm right here… I won't be going anywhere without you… Just don't move," Yuki reassured her.

Tohru bit her lip nervously unable to make out Yuki's form in the darkness. He felt around the air until he came upon a tree. Gently he peeled off a thin sheet of bark. She vaguely saw him crouch down with something in his hands. Attentively he rolled the film of bark into a narrow cone shape. Patting around on the ground he found a long piece of thin string like root, he used these to tie the structure together in several places. Next he chose a long sturdy branch and a smaller rough one he swiftly rubbed them together. A small fire lit up at the end of the stick, he used this to light the torch structure. Both branches were tossed aside after he made sure they weren't on fire.

"Better?" he asked standing up and holding it like a torch.

"Yes… Thank you…" Tohru smiled warmly.

"So that's what he was doing,.. Making a torch so I wouldn't be scared…" Tohru thought feeling more comfortable already. She felt appreciative though guilty for making him go through all of that trouble for her.

"At this rate we'll never get there," Yuki teased her taking Tohru's hand with his right and holding the torch with the other.

The soft glow of the fire gave off a faint orange light around them chasing away the darkness. Yuki knew well enough that the fire would make it considerably easier for people to spot them but he didn't want her to be scared. He could easily see how much more relaxed she was with the lighting. It also made it easier for him to keep her from smashing into something or falling over. They continued quickly hoping they were far enough to be out of sight of the guards.

As the trees began to thin the lake became visible. The large moon had captured the area in a pale silver glow. A perfectly bright round moon sat reflected in the center of the lake. Getting closer radiant gold flickering lights from fireflies could be seen fluttering around. The only sound heard was the soft chirping from crickets. Tohru gasped, her eyes surveying the area trying to memorize every single detail.

"It's gorgeous…" Tohru breathed.

"It is a lovely sight…" Yuki agreed as he blew out the fire.

Tohru laughed dancing around in a small circle. Yuki couldn't help but smile. The bottom of her dress twirled around with her lifting high enough for him to catch a glimpse of her undergarment. His eyes doubled in size before he looked away ashamed. She halted glancing back at him with a wide innocent smile running back to him unable to see his flushed cheeks.

"C'mon!! It's fun!" Tohru exclaimed grabbing both of Yuki's hands spinning around him in a circle.

Tohru giggled dropping to the ground dizzily. Yuki joined her taking a seat beside her. He laughed shaking his head his embarrassment gone now. She laid on the grass her back to the ground peering up at him hoping he wasn't laughing at her.

"That was fun!"

Yuki smiled noticing that Tohru looked like an angel. The moonlight illuminated her face, giving her a pale complexion, the free floating silver stream making her lilac dress appear white. Along with her joyful eyes and her hair sprawled out across the grass he almost expected wings to sprout from her back and a halo to appear above her head. Tohru blinked finding him staring at her. She pushed herself into a sitting position.

"What? Is there something on my face?" She asked her hands moving around on her face frantically.

"No… Of course not… Just can't help seeing how beautiful you look…" Yuki replied.

Her face darkened out of embarrassment. She felt her cheeks turn fifty different colors as she looked away bashfully. Yuki chuckled quietly moving closer to her and wrapping his hand around hers. Tohru glanced up at him her face smiling warmly clutching his hand. He didn't say anything, squeezing her hand back in response, looking straight ahead, watching her out of the corner of his eye. They stayed there for a few hours enjoying being around each other watching the sun begin to peak up. Faint pink rays tried to lighten up the place failing miserably, being overcome by the dark blue sky. Tohru yawned stretching her arms towards the sky.

"Come on… Let's go before anyone notices that we're gone…" Yuki told her as he stood up and held out his hand to help her up.

Tohru nodded placing her hand into his.

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Kisa tiredly walked over to her bedroom window opening the curtains to allow in some sunlight. She peered out the window for a minute spotting a teenage girl with long brown hair running towards the castle. The girl bore a strange resemblance to Tohru; her hair was the same color and length and that dress she was wearing, Kisa could have sworn she saw it in Tohru's closet before. But why would Tohru be outside this early?

"Onee-chan?"

She rubbed her eyes and shook her head before taking another look but the girl was no longer in her sight.

"Am I seeing things? I'll go make sure that Onee-chan is in her room…" Kisa decided as she excited the room.

Kisa walked down the hallway to Tohru's room. Her hand reached up to knock. Realizing that if she was sleeping she'd disturb her she dropped her hand. As quiet as possible Kisa opened the door. Squinting her eyes, she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. All the curtains were drawn, not allowing a single ray of light in. Kisa smiled when she saw Tohru in bed fast asleep, not noticing Tohru's flushed cheeks or the sweat droplets clinging to her forehead.

"It must have been a different girl with long dark hair…" Kisa concluded as she slipped out of the room.

Asan-chan researched how to make torches! Yay!

You know you love that little review button! ;p

Tell me about all my mistakes and if they're OOC!

Oh and must ask for all your input and advice! You know Tohru's fiancee that will show up later... Do you guys prefer it to be a Akito or an OC?