Yuki groaned as bright sunlight streamed into his eyes. Why did the sun have to be so bright? Funny, he remembered leaving his curtains drawn shut last night. Not wanting to wake up or see the sun, he squeezed his eyes shut and yanked the covers over his head. Being surrounded by the darkness once again, a sense of ease and relaxation surrounded him. He was ready to fall back to sleep. From nothing other than experience, he knew exactly who was now in his room disturbing his glorious rest. Maybe if he locked Ayame in a cage and threw the key away Yuki would finally get some peace and quiet in the morning. That sounded like a good idea. He'd find a suitable cage later on when he was ready to wake up. He brought his legs to his chest and yawned, going back to sleep. By now he was used to the bright light and began to lower the blanket off of his face.

"Rise and shine little brother! We have much to discuss! Today is just going to overflow with our brotherly love!" announced Ayame as he jerked the blanket off of Yuki.

Yuki reluctantly opened his eyes and squinted tiredly trying to focus on the man in his room. All he could see with his half open eyes was a red and white smudge he assumed was Ayame. His eyes didn't work their best when he just woke up, and neither did his brain. If he had been functioning properly Ayame would be dead by now, but luckily (for Ayame) Yuki was too sleepy to be thinking clearly. Yuki knew one thing: Ayame was wrong if he thought taking away Yuki's blanket would make him wake up. The castle was heated; it wasn't as if he'd be uncomfortable without his blanket. Besides, at the moment, Yuki wouldn't even mind sleeping on the floor. He was that tired. He felt groggy, he turned around facing the wall mumbling, "If you love me at all you'll let me sleep…"
"You mustn't waste such a beautiful day in bed!" argued Ayame.

Yuki covered his ears with a pillow ignoring his brother. The senseless reasoning of Ayame was one of the reasons Yuki didn't get along with him. Sure it was a beautiful day, but that didn't change the fact that he was tired. He didn't even care if today was the last day he had left to live, he'd rather spend it sleeping instead of hanging around Ayame. But if he had the choice, there was no doubt that he'd rather spend his last day on earth with Tohru. He had been thinking about her a lot more than usual. It was bugging him that he couldn't remember anything from the past except for that one phrase that wouldn't leave his mind.

I love you Yuki-kun…

She had said that to him a million times in his dreams and yet, he still found it hard to believe she had actually said that before. He didn't really remember her saying that. It was just her voice saying those four words that rung in his head, surrounded by nothing but darkness as if veil of shadows had been draped over his memories. Yuki couldn't even be sure she did say it. For all he knew, he could be delusional and she had only ever said that in his dreams. She had agreed to marry him before, right? So she had to have said that before at least once, right? Pondering over this for the hundredth time in under twenty four hours he forgot that Ayame was in his room.

"Punishment from the gods shall be inflicted upon me if I let you remain in bed all day!" Ayame told him as he grabbed the pillow.

Yuki sighed frowning. He gave up and sat up rubbing his eyes. Ayame would never leave him alone, would he? If he gave him whatever he wanted maybe he'd actually leave. That was unlikely though since Yuki could guess that what Ayame wanted was to spend time with him and Yuki didn't want to do that.

"What do you want?" demanded Yuki as he swung his legs off the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Ayame asked.

"Well… Considering that you woke me up," Yuki started to say as he glanced at the clock, "at SIX-O-CLOCK IN THE MORNING?"

Yuki grabbed the clock and gripped it tightly in his hands in disbelief. In a flash he yanked the clock's plug out of the electric socket and hurled the clock at Ayame. Even though Yuki was too sleepy to aim well, his anger helped guide the clock straight at Ayame's face. Ayame fell backwards, and landed on the floor with the clock sitting on top of his face. Yuki jumped up angrily snatching back his pillow and blanket before kicking his brother out of his room and slamming the door shut. He plopped himself back down on his bed and drifted back into his restless slumber. The last thought he was a mental note to lock his door next time.

"That idiot…" Yuki muttered in his sleep.

Ayame lay outside Yuki's room dumbfounded for a minute trying to figure out what had happened exactly. Yuki's clock sat beside him with a crack in the middle. There was a red mark in the shape of Yuki's digital clock across Ayame's face. He touched his forehead gingerly brushing over his wound. An injury meant he had no choice but to go see Hatori to make sure the mark wasn't permanent. Well, even if Ayame wasn't hurt he would have gone down to see Hatori anyways. Ayame slowly got up to his feet and went to a nearby mirror to examine his red face. Grimacing he took the steps two at a time and raced into the infirmary to report this to Hatori. Ayame jumped onto Hatori's back instantly telling Hatori everything that had just happened. Hatori peeled Ayame off of his back and set the long haired man on a chair and went back to his paperwork.

"I wonder, was that by any chance too early?" Ayame asked himself.

"I told you to wait until he woke up on his own," Hatori replied nonchalantly.

"But how could I, the wonderous brother I am, wait that late?" Ayame asked in his conceited voice.

Hatori sat there hardly listening to the rest of Ayame's repetitive reasoning. He had plenty of more important tasks than listening to this to do. Why did Ayame have to come to him with his life story? Hatori cared about Ayame's rambling just about as much as Yuki did. Now where did he put his narcotics…? He was in the mood to slip some sleep-inducing drugs into Ayame's mouth. He was the royal family's doctor. Wasn't that job enough? Did he HAVE to be Ayame's babysitter as well? Ayame continued babbling about how a good brother couldn't wait that long to see if his younger brother was alright. The sound of Ayame's voice at this time in the morning was starting to irritate Hatori. Hatori had stayed up all night trying to catch up on work since he had neglected his duties to help tell Yuki about his past. He was too tired to keep his head upright and let it drop on the table. Hatori closed his eyes, no longer listening to Ayame.

"And besides, there's no telling when he shall awaken!" Ayame added.

----

After several hours of sleeping Yuki awoke, for the first time in his life he was actually wide awake as soon as he opened his eyes. He looked around the empty room; all the broken furniture had been removed. Various maids and butlers were in the middle of replacing the pieces rather noisily. He ignored them, pretending to be asleep. It seemed like they were trying to wake him with all the noise they were making. They purposely dropped the furniture on the ground instead of setting it down gently. How inconsiderate of them, not that it really mattered. He had slept through all of that racket with ease. How he managed to do that was as much of a mystery to him as it was to the servants. Yuki must have been more tired than he had thought, which was no surprise since he hadn't been able to sleep much last night. His insomnia was understandable considering that he had learned about the story about him and Tohru yesterday.

Yuki stared up at the ceiling trying to drone out the voices ringing in his room. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody. Nobody seemed to notice that he was awake either which he was grateful for. They wouldn't understand how he felt anyways. He needed time to think about this. The late hours of the morning began to dwindle away and soon it was noon. His guests hadn't gotten any quieter. Yuki lied there flat on his back wondering why this had to happen to him. It felt like he was a different person now, almost as if he had lived two lives, or he had been reincarnated with Tohru. One moment he was engaged to Tohru and the next minute he had no idea he had even met her. He hated himself for that. Right now, he had a strong dislike for himself, for forgetting the person he so-called loves. He couldn't even tell her he was a prince, but now he had to tell her that they had been engaged before, and he didn't even remember proposing or even knowing her before.

"Can life get any more complicated?"

It felt like he was carrying the world on his shoulders, and there was no one there to ease his burden. He had no idea what to do or where to start. He couldn't go on carrying this on his own. He felt broken, ready to give up. With an unbearable weight upon his back, he staggered on down the path also known as his life. Yuki needed a break, but the mishap just gave him more anxiety and stress. About to collapse from the pressure he saw Tohru appear beside him to help. Yep, he was officially crazy, or at least he thought so. But that imagination of his did have a point. Tohru would be there for him in any crisis. She'd be in his life, regardless of how his parents felt about it. Still, there was still the chance that she wouldn't want to be with him anymore if she found out he had forgotten her so easily. Deep down, he blamed himself for the whole incident, but his conscience kept reminding him that he wasn't the only one who forgot. She forgot as well.

At least it explained why he had been so comfortable around Tohru as soon as he had met her. He had a feeling he would have trusted her with his life back then regardless of the fact that his mind believed they had just met. He could tell that even though neither of them remembered each other exactly, their bodies still do. One day he hoped they would regain what was lost so they could finish their journey together. That would be a dream come true. Yuki looked at his nightstand for his clock, and he was a bit confused until he remembered he had thrown the thing at Ayame. He sighed and was about to get up when his father entered the room. His body froze and he continued to feign sleep. Next to his mother, his father was the last person he wanted to see. There was no doubt the king would question Yuki's anger. The wiser choice was to avoid the man until something more interesting happened to make them forget about yesterday.

"He's still asleep?"
"Yes your majesty. We did as you said and tried to be as noisy as possible but he continues to sleep…" replied a nearby maid.

"I don't understand what made him so angry… Unless… No… He can't remember anything about that incident… How silly to even think that…" His father chuckled speaking to himself.

Nobody dared to comment on how insane he appeared when he talked and laughed to himself. It was a natural tendency for everyone in this palace to be scared of the king and queen at least a little bit after the accident. After almost losing their precious son they had gone into a frenzy, not so much because they loved him but because they needed him to be the heir. Not wanting to even give themselves any blame for the disaster, they needed a scapegoat, and they chose Tohru's family to be the scapegoat. They blamed the palace of Daichi, more specifically Tohru for the injuries inflicted upon Yuki. Neither the king nor the queen of Kaze seemed to care that Tohru had lost more than Yuki had; her parents had died in that accident as well. From that point on the hatred grew like wild fire, and both palaces forbade anyone from telling Yuki or Tohru about their past relationship. It was so simple to make a new nemesis; the difficult part was restoring a friendship.

The maids and butlers stood there silently waiting for further instruction.

"Well, go on and continue…" he muttered before he strode out of the room.

"Yes sir," they replied even though he was already too far away to hear.

They finished shortly and went back to their other tasks quickly. Yuki was too lost in his own thoughts to even notice the stillness lingering in the air. He lay there, thinking about nothing in particular besides Tohru. He was thinking about everything Tohru and he had done together since that fateful day in spring when he had met her. How could he even think she was a complete stranger? He probably still would have thought they had met as strangers that day if Ayame, Hatori, Shigure, and Kyo hadn't told him that he used to be engaged to her. She was, most likely still, oblivious to this. What was he going to do? Did he still have a right to see her? Should he tell her what he knew? Did he even want to tell her? It'd freak her out or confuse her; he was still freaked out and confused. Nobody expects to find out they're missing some parts of his life. What would she do? How would he even bring it up? But what if he didn't tell her? Surely, he wouldn't be able to act the same around her, and she'd definitely notice that. Besides, she was going to find out sooner or later. And if she found out through someone else and realizes he knew all along there was a chance she'd be mad at him.

"I don't even believe it… It just seems impossible."

Yuki was finally brought back to his senses when he heard the pounding on the door. He lost his train of thoughts and was rather pissed about that. Couldn't everyone just leave him and his thoughts alone so he could sort his situation out already? He needed to decide what to do. At this rate, he'd never make a decision. It would be risky to tell her. If it went smoothly, they could be closer, and together they could try to get their memories to resurface, but if it was unsuccessful, he might never get to see her again. She might even end up thinking he was crazy. Yuki nearly ambled back to his previous debate on whether to tell her or not but the person reminded Yuki of his presence with another set of knocks. Yuki glared at the door. He really needed to decide what to do as soon as he could. He was running out of time. Spring would be here before he knew it, and then he'd be married to someone he didn't even know.

"Go away," Yuki groaned naturally assuming it was Ayame.

The person was persistent; the knocking didn't stop. Yuki mumbled a curse under his breath. Nobody wanted to leave him alone today. First, at six a.m. in the morning Ayame had to barge in uninvited, then servants had come to give him new furniture, then his dad had decided to pay him a visit, and now this person was here. Who would be next? His mother? Tohru? Well the later wouldn't be bad at all, but if she came here that would mean she would learn of his status. Great, just another thing he had to remember to tell her. What would he tell her first, that he was a prince or that they were engaged before? Which one would make her less upset? He laughed silently to himself. Neither were bad news exactly, but they could upset her because he had kept them from her.

"What do you want?" Yuki asked lazily turning over.

He heard the door click open as he muttered, "Damn, I forgot to lock the door again!"

"What? Do you plan on staying in bed all day?"
Yuki looked up at the man who had just walked in, "Hatori?"
"Who'd you think it was? Your brother?" Hatori asked with a half smile.

"Kinda…" Yuki replied slightly embarrassed.

"Trust me, Ayame would not bother to knock," Hatori told Yuki.

Yuki laughed as he sat upright in his bed. Hatori pulled the chair over to his bed and sat down. Yuki sat up in bed giving Hatori a look that asked why he was here. As far as he could tell he had remembered to go see Hatori for his regular check up, and he felt fine, so there was no real reason for Hatori to be here, unless Hatori had finally discovered that Yuki was insane. Yuki had been suspecting that a lot these days. At the least, he had a feeling he was a monomaniac, and that one thing he was obsessed with was Tohru. He went to see her at least once a week, he called her practically everyday, and when he was doing neither he was thinking about her and ways to bring a smile to her face. Yep, sounded like a case of monomania to him.

"Let me ask you again, do you plan on staying in bed all day?" Hatori repeated.

"No… Just until I sort this out," Yuki answered seriously.

"Hatori was silent for a moment before responding, "Yuki you're not going to sort this whole thing out in a day or two."

"I could try."

"Don't you see? You're getting nowhere. Let time take its toll and clear your mind. All I see is an uptight confused boy. Give your thoughts a rest and relax," Hatori advised.

Some time to relax didn't sound like such a bad idea at the moment. Relaxing to him usually meant a nap, but how could he sleep when he just woke up? He needed another method of relaxation. His mind had no ideas of what he could do instead. Most of the time, he didn't have the time to relax. If he wasn't in classes he was with Tohru, if he wasn't with Tohru he was preparing to see Tohru, if he wasn't doing that he was eating, sleeping, or running an errand for Ayame or his mother. When did he have the time to relax? If Hatori, being a doctor, said that relaxing would clear his mind and help him figure out what to do, he'd obey. At this point, Yuki was about willing to do almost anything to be able to make up his mind.

"Go out and take a walk. Get out of bed. Your worrying will do you no good. The most you'll get is more confusion." Hatori continued.

"I see what you mean, but I don't have that much time left…" Yuki muttered gloomily.

"You'd be wasting more time here in bed thinking then anything else."

Hatori left Yuki with those words. The door shut behind Hatori and Yuki sat there for a minute thinking about what Hatori had just told him. Hatori was right; Yuki hadn't gotten any closer to deciding how he was going to tell her or even if he was going to. He didn't think the answer would just come to him if he didn't think about the situation, but he really was getting nowhere sitting here in his room. Yuki had a ton of better things to do than staying in bed all day. Hatori had a point there. His eyes wandered over to the window. Ayame was right about one thing; it was a beautiful day. Yuki thought about how tempting it looked outside and decided he'd rather depict his situation outside instead of inside.

"I gotta get out of here…" Yuki mumbled as he scrambled out of bed.

He slid open the window, breathing in the fresh air hungrily. His foot was already on the window ledge when he remembered something. The last thing he wanted to do was forget to lock his door again. With the number of visitors he had today he wouldn't be surprised if someone else came, and he didn't want them to find an empty bed. He couldn't let anyone find out that he snuck out because then he wouldn't get to see his angel anymore. He darted back to his door and locked it. Without another thought he was already out of the castle and over the wall, heading to the one familiar place that he would only share with her, and nobody else. His feet took him there seeing as his mind was already miles away pondering over his situation once more.

Yuki sat on the cold hard dirt for what seemed like an eternity. He sat there dragging a stick through the dirt aimlessly in circles. The ground was already covered with his marks yet his mind wasn't any clearer. He sighed rolling the stick around between his fingers. Getting bored with the stick Yuki pulled his arm behind his head and tossed the stick into the water. He watched the ripples expand and slow fade away into nothing. That had been amusing while it had lasted. The stick floated aimlessly in the water, drifting farther and farther away from the shore.

"He says to relax, but it isn't that easy… This is hopeless..." Yuki muttered he fell back down onto his back.

Yuki stared up at the light blue sky. Soft clouds lazily drifted by in various shapes. He saw a little cloud in the shape of a flower. He smiled, thinking about how Tohru would react if she had seen that cloud. She'd probably have a bright smile across her face. He knew one thing for sure; she'd think it was adorable. Yuki yawned as he stretched his arms into the sky. He hated wasting his time like this, he should have called Tohru. He'd much rather spend time with her instead of lying here, supposedly relaxing and clearing his mind. Well, it was too late for that; his cell phone was in his room. Yuki grabbed a stone beside his hand and hurled it at the clouds in the sky envious of how carefree they seemed. Why couldn't he just be a cloud? Life would be a lot simpler that way. There'd be no forgotten past, annoying brother, or arranged marriage if he was a cloud. The pebble crashed back down beside his head. He partially wished the stone had hit him; he deserved to be punished for forgetting her.

Yuki sat up again as a gust of wind blew dried leaves past him. He cocked his head to the side when he saw the blood red petal being carried off by the breeze. His hand reached up securing the petal between his palm and fingers. He opened his fist slowly examining the petal more closely. The browning edges became more obvious to him. A swift gust snatched the petal back taking it to the distance. Yuki looked back at the roses he had planted and noticed where that petal had come from. Those roses were also turning brown. The roses were dying from either the chilly weather or the lack of water. Everyone knows that everything withers and dies after a while, but it still disappointed him to see his creation die. One minute they were bright and lively but now they were slowly dying. There was no way he could make the weather warmer, but he could water them.

"These were for her… I won't let them die that easily…" Yuki murmured determinedly.

He spent the rest of the afternoon hauling water to each rose bush and carefully watering each one individually instead of waiting for the rain to feed them. His hands acted as a temporary hoe, using his fingers to till the rough dirt until it was a rich chocolate color and softer than ever before. He worked on the roses until his hands were covered with small cuts and dribbles of blood. His hard work definitely helped. The roses shown with a more vivid color and had a healthier glow. Yuki beamed proudly. It's true. People do learn new things everyday. Today he had subconsciously learned more about his past self and present self. Never before in his life had he experienced the joy of tending to a garden, except for maybe the day he planted them for Tohru.

"She'll be happy… Knowing she'll smile made all that work worthwhile," Yuki smiled to himself.

He bathed his hands in the cool lake water washing off the filth and blood. His eyes widened when he saw his reflection in the lake. Yuki immediately splashed water onto his warm dirt caked face. He had to scrub at the dried dirt on his face to remove the debris. Yuki liked his lips craving something to drink, but there was no way he was going to drink lake water. There was no telling what had been in the lake, for starters there was dirt and the blood from him. Still, it was hot. He dragged his wet hands through his hair and let the cool water drip down his neck. The refreshing lake tempted him to dive in and take a swim, but the sound of footsteps stopped him from actually jumping in.

"Yuki-kun? What are you doing here?"

Yuki turned around to see Tohru standing there as beautiful as ever, her eyes brightly shining with joy and pure innocence. Tohru remained there with her head cocked to the side staring at him. She stared at him her eyes watching droplets of water slide down his face. A blush edged onto her cheeks; he was just so gorgeous when water was splattered across his body. He smiled at her glad to see her. One thing was crossed off the list of things he had to figure out. He didn't have to worry about whether he was worthy of seeing her anymore. It would be impossible for him to try and stop seeing her, but if he wanted to keep seeing her, that meant he would have to tell her that he was the prince of Kaze, someone her aunt and uncle despised, and that they had been previously engaged. Two more items crossed off, and now all he had to do was figure out how he would tell her, the hardest step of all.

"I could ask you the same thing princess," Yuki responded mysteriously.
Tohru beamed warmly, not replying to his statement. Her reason was rather simple; she had an odd feeling in her gut that he would be here. So just because she felt like seeing him she wandered over. Seeing as she didn't want to sound like an obsessed fanatic of his, she kept silent. She walked over to where Yuki sat and kneeled down beside him. She instinctively took his hands in her smaller ones examining the rough cut up texture that ran across both his palms and the back of his hands. For the first time, she realized how soft and smooth they were before. Tohru turned his hand over inspecting his whole hand several times trying to figure out what he could have been doing. He grinned at her and closed his hand, trapping her hands in his. She flinched out of shock looking up at him. She gave up on trying to figure out what Yuki had been doing and decided to ask.

"What were you doing?" she asked worriedly.

"Tell me, do you notice anything different?"

"Eh?"

"Don't ask questions, just respond honestly."

She blinked gazing at him trying to figure out what he meant. He looked back at her not giving her any clues or hints that would help her understand what he was referring to. Tohru bit her lip and looked around hoping to answer correctly. Her eyes skimmed the area. Everything looked in place, nothing seemed to be missing; there were still twenty rose bushes planted around the lake. Maybe what he wanted her to notice wasn't something he had taken away but something he added instead? There didn't seem to be anything new in particular besides some faded scribbles in the ground, but she highly doubted he was talking about the marks in the ground. She glanced back at Yuki, but his expression remained the same; he sat there waiting for her answer. Her teeth dug into her lips as she struggled to find something before he lost his patience. Tohru scanned the scene for the tenth time before a droplet of water on a rose bud caught her attention.

"Well… Um… I think… the roses look prettier… I don't know if that's possible but I think they are…" Tohru replied praying that she was correct.

"That's what I've been doing, making them fit for a princess," he told her with a grin.

"You didn't have to do all of that! They were already so beautiful!" Tohru exclaimed admiring the roses from where she sat.

Yuki placed his hands onto her shoulders and pulled her onto his lap. Tohru felt her cheeks heat up as she gazed up at him. He simply grinned back at her and wrapped his arms around her thin shoulders. She couldn't keep a smile off of her face for two reasons, first, because she had guessed correctly and secondly, because being around him was enough to make her ecstatic. He held her closely finding it adorable how red and warm her cheeks were. Wanting to find out for himself how warm her skin was, he pressed the side of his face against her cheek in a loving gesture. He could feel the heat increase rapidly when he did that, and he smiled. Yuki moved his face away from hers before she burned to death and chose to continue their conversation.

"Not as beautiful as you…" he breathed into her ear.

No matter how many sweet things he told her she still managed to turn red. Her heart froze for a minute before beating faster and faster. His warm breath ticked the skin on her neck. She felt his lips press onto her cheek before he rested his chin on her shoulder. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered around again in a frenzy, making her feel a bit nauseous. She leaned backwards against his chest with a smile trying to ignore the feeling in her abdomen. Tohru wished she wasn't so shy and easily embarrassed so she could enjoy these types of situations more without having to be so self-conscious. Her bashfulness wasn't the only thing making her feel awkward though.

"What's wrong?" Yuki asked her.

"Nothing…"

Yuki frowned sensing that she was slightly uncomfortable at the moment. He couldn't figure out what was bothering her unless she didn't like him being so close to her. He moved his chin off of her shoulder and pulled away from her slightly, but that didn't seem to make her less tense at all. He just wanted to make all her worries go away, but he couldn't figure out how. All he seemed to be doing was giving her more troubles. He couldn't even tell her what he was supposed to, and now didn't seem like the right time since she had so much on her mind. Yuki didn't want to give her more burdens when she was stressed. His relationship with her was enough of a grievance. If her family was anything like his, he suspected she was having a lot of trouble; still, he didn't want to stop seeing her even if it meant she'd be more at peace. Regardless, he wanted her to feel at ease.

Yuki smiled devilishly as an idea came to him. Having her back to him and her face away, she didn't see his smile and suspected nothing. He leaned towards her pausing for a brief moment before leaving a trail of kisses up her slender neck. At that moment he was grateful that she was ticklish. Tohru gasped before starting to giggle uncontrollably. She flailed her arms around as she squirmed around on his lap trying to move out of his reach. She was unsuccessful since wherever she moved he would follow. Eventually she toppled off of his legs, but he caught her before she made contact with the ground. His lips never left her neck and she hadn't stopped laughing all the while. His fingers remained enclosed around her arm so she wouldn't fall. He stopped kissing her for a split second so he could pull her back upright.

"Yuki!" she squealed in between laughs.

"Mmm?" he mumbled continuing down her neck.

She turned around to him and covered his mouth with her hands before she died from laughter. He kissed her fingers in the same manner. He held onto her wrists gently but securely preventing her from trying to stop him anymore. Her whole body shook with her fit of laughter. It was getting harder and harder for her to get oxygen into her system. Abruptly he stopped his teasing game and wrapped his arms around her back tightly. She blinked surprised from the sudden switch from his playful actions to this seriousness. Tohru glanced up at him, but could only see the side of his face. She had no idea what was going through his head, but she rested her head on his chest anyways. Shyly she extended her arms and hugged him back. For a minute he was silent. They just sat there, bodies pressed together in an embrace. She didn't mind since she was pretty tired anyways.

"You don't have to worry anymore… Because I won't let you face anything alone from now on. Please tell me what's wrong. I'll always be here for you, to chase away all of your fears and worries. You can trust me. Even if I can't do anything I'm sure if you tell me you'll feel better. So please, tell me what to do to make you smile again…" Yuki quietly begged her holding her closely.

Tohru didn't respond. She could feel tears well up in her eyes. She hated herself sometimes; she detested being a princess; she loathed herself for still being with him when she knew she was supposedly engaged to another man. She was being unfaithful to her fiancée, wasn't she? But she didn't know him, she didn't love the guy, she had only met him once. How did her aunt and uncle expect her to marry the guy when the only man she wanted to be with forever was the one hugging her now? Tohru frowned, her lip quivering. She knew she was being selfish and unfair; she knew she wasn't considering Yuki's feelings in this. He'd end up more hurt if she let this go on, but she couldn't end things with him; she didn't want to. Love wasn't fair. Why did her heart have to go and give itself to him without her consent? Why did she have to love this man who she couldn't be with?

"Tohru? Please… Not just for you but for me… I need you here with me…" Yuki murmured.

He heard her sniffle. Yuki placed both of his hands on her cheeks raising her head so he was looking into her teary eyes. He noticed the tears now that had trailed down her face and onto his shirt. Tears continued to stream down her face. Her trembling hands grasped his collar as she pressed her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her again, holding her like he would never let her go, letting her tears soak his shirt. He continued to hold her quivering body until she quieted down. Yuki felt her relax a bit. He stroked her hair urging her to calm down. Her clutch loosened slightly. Yuki peered down and smiled at the now sleeping woman. He rearranged her sleeping form cradling his sleeping beauty gingerly. She looked delicate and peaceful enough to be an angel aside from her tear streaked face. He leaned forward planting a sweet kiss on her forehead carefully so he wouldn't disturb her rest. Yuki brushed a couple of tears trapped on her eyelashes away wondering what could make his angel cry with such pain.

"I hope you never have to hear the things I have to tell you… But I know I must tell you if I want us to stay together forever… So please take it well… Please don't hate me for what I've kept hidden from you… Because my heart won't be able to take it…" Yuki whispered to her as he tightened his grip around her.

What was it about her that lured him to her all over again? What was it that made his heart throb when she cried? What was it that made him seem obsessive whenever he was around her? He didn't want her to be with any other guy; he didn't even want any other guys around her if he could help it. Everything he did now, he did with her in mind, yet he couldn't come up with any way to tell her what he needed to. Yuki closed his eyes for a minute trying to sort things out. His eyes snapped open when he felt her tense up all over again. Her breathing grew faster and hoarser. She was struggling with something. A cold sweat broke out across her body. Her grasp tightened around his shirt. Her face scrunched up, a look of fear crossing her face. It appeared as if she was fighting to wake up but just couldn't. He hated that frightened look on her face; he wanted to hurt whoever or whatever was scaring her.

"Tohru, Tohru! Tohru!!" he called her shaking her frigid body in attempt to awaken her.

"Tohru!!!" He exclaimed desperately, his voice filled with worry.

He shook her harder drastically while trying not to hurt her. Tears were dripping down her cheeks all over again. He needed her back with him now before he started crying with her. She did this to him, just the sight of her tears made him want to weep with her. Yuki closed his eyes in attempt to keep tears from sliding out. He glanced from her to the lake wondering if water would wake her up. Shaking his head, he decided that wasn't a good way to wake up a princess. He stared at her begging her to wake up. A shrill scream left her mouth as her eyes finally shot open. A look of relief instantly crossed his face. She gazed up at him, her eyes returning to their normal size. Her breathing slowed down as she glanced around slightly confused. The grip she had on his shirt remained the same. Subconsciously she bit her lip, her eyes darting around from side to side looking as if she thought a monster was beside her.

"What happened?" Tohru gasped.

"You had a nightmare," Yuki explained glad to have her back with him.

"Yuki-kun… I was so scared!" She choked out as tears started to form.

He clutched her dearly in a warm embrace trying to ease away all of her terror. Her tears hindered as her body started going back to a normal temperature. His arms made her feel safer than she had ever felt before. She smiled; the creases that had appeared on her face from her bad dream had faded away. Tohru knew she had nothing to be afraid of as long as Yuki was here with her. She was a bit embarrassed about having fallen asleep though. Actually, she wasn't even aware she fell asleep until she woke up. Her hands remained clenched on his shirt as she sniffled once more. He pressed his face into her long hair breathing in the scent of her shampoo with satisfaction. He felt so much better now that she wasn't crying or trembling with fear anymore.

"Please, I won't push it anymore… I know you'll tell me when you're ready… For now, just stop crying. I need to know that you're okay. Nothing else matters anymore. Just know that I won't let anyone hurt you so don't be scared anymore," He told her squeezing her tightly.

She nodded into his shoulder slipping her arms around his back. In his embrace, her nightmare no longer scared her. She smiled feeling the need to thank him for his kindness. It just seemed to get harder and harder for her to believe that this perfect man was hugging her. He was just too sweet and caring, and lately she couldn't help but wonder if he was someone she had made up. Tohru glanced up at him and tightened her grip around him to make sure he was real. He reacted by squeezing her back in his arms. His face held so much concern and now she felt bad for causing him to worry so much.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered into his chest.

"Don't be. I want you to know that you can tell me anything. I don't know if I can solve all your problems, but I promise I'll try my hardest. I'll always be with you, okay? Even if it isn't alright with you I don't think I care because I… I can't stop it now… I really am falling for you, faster and faster…" he said to her in a soft voice.

"Yuki…"

"Shh… You don't have to say anything…" Yuki mumbled to her placing his forefinger to her lips.

She wrapped her fingers around his wrist pulling his finger off of her mouth. She gazed at him directly in the eyes. He didn't try to silence her anymore; he wanted to hear what she had to say. Tohru was silent for a second a bit embarrassed to say what she wanted to. Her hands remained gripping his wrists to make sure he wouldn't stop her from speaking anymore. His eyebrows were raised now with curiosity. Staring into his warm grey orbs, her nervousness disappeared, yet her voice couldn't come out louder than a murmur.

"I'm falling for you too…" she barely whispered to him.

She released his wrists and snaked her arms around his neck planting a kiss on his lips. He slid his hands around her waist, his hold around her pulling her closer to him, and he returning the awaited kiss. His passion filled kiss seemed to calm her fears gradually until she could hardly remember what her nightmare had even been about. They broke apart when they were deprived of air and couldn't last any longer without oxygen. Tohru smiled at him shyly before resting her head upon his chest tiredly. His hold around her just tightened as if he was afraid she'd disappear if he let her go. He set his head on top of hers with a smile across his face. What she had said had made him happier than words could describe.

In truth what they had just said was mostly a lie. They weren't falling for each other at all anymore. They were way past that step. They had already fallen for each other in their previous relationship and again when they had their first meeting for the second time. There was no more falling, they had fallen and crash-landed into love. They were in love now even though neither of them knew it. Nothing could break this bond now, not even death himself. Love was the chain and lock that attached people together for eternity regardless of the thoughts of anyone else.

Sorry for the late update! Please review! And if you want you should go have a look at my Deviantart page and see the more recent drawings I did for my fanfics! There are 2 for "Forget Me Not" and 1 for "The result". I'll put a link in my profile! 3