Okay, well I'm finally writing a new chapter. I haven't had any time lately to do anything and I am so sorry for the wait. I am gonna try to get this story finished before January because I am going to spend a couple weeks at a relatives house, possibly. And I have been trying to get ideas for the prologue to this story and one to my other story. I will try to update as quickly as possible and hopefully I will have more time than lately because of school and all the stuff I have to do for it. As for the last chapter, I don't write the story, my hands do. Haha, but the last chapter was interesting to say the least. I personally liked how it turned out and there will be some reasoning and confusion on Yukiko and Kyo's part. Oh ya, they kissed! Bwahaha. And I got some great ideas to where I will take this story. Hehe. Well, hope ya like this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket but I do own Yukiko and the poem that Yukiko reads. If you take that poem, I will sue, hehe.

Innocence
Chapter 11
Confusion and a Guest

Yukiko stood shocked as the grip on her arms was loosened. After a moment where neither Kyo nor she moved, Yukiko regained her senses. She pushed Kyo away and he landed on his butt in the creek. She finally was able to run away from him this time and he watched her run into the vast forest.

Reviewing the scene in his head, Kyo beat his fist into the water surrounding him. He got out of the brook and took the path back up to where he last saw Yuki and Tohru.

"Why the hell did I do that? She wouldn't shut the hell up, I had to do something," Kyo reasoned. "The stupid look on her face when she was running. This is all her damn fault! If she didn't look so helpless…"

--

Yukiko crept open the window to her temporary room around midnight. She quietly changed into her pajamas and brushed out her hair. She didn't want to have a chance encounter with Kyo anytime soon. She was too confused about her feelings now.

Yukiko couldn't help but feel something towards Kyo after that kiss. She just didn't know whether it was disgust or excitement. She had never thought about anyone like that, but now she was new to the emotions set forth from that moment their lips touched.

Lying down on her bed, Yukiko wondered about that afternoon. First the fight with her father, who she still needed to apologize to, and then this situation with Kyo.

"Why would he kiss me in the first place?"

--

"Miss Honda, are you ready to go?" Yuki asked Tohru as they got ready to go down to the lake. Shigure was lying down on the floor reading a comic of something. Yukiko was right next to him and laughed sometimes at the cartoons shown. She was trying her hardest to ignore the sour Kyo in the same room, but she noticed how he flinched every time she laughed.

"Uh-huh! All set!" Tohru replied happily. Yukiko had been feeling sick this morning and decided not to go to the lake with them. She was wrapped in a huge blanket on the floor next to Shigure. Her father gave her a once over and said it was nothing more than a mere cold. Fluids and time would wear it out.

"So you're going down to the lake? Better be careful, Kyo… Don't fall in," Shigure taunted. Yukiko kept her eyes to the ground as Kyo spun around to glare at Shigure.

"Like I would!" Kyo screamed. He calmed a little as he noticed Yukiko's disheartened expression.

"Oh, goodbye Hatori… We'll see you in a little while…" Tohru said to the silent doctor lying on the couch with a book resting on his stomach. Tohru and Yuki walked over to see the older dragon sleeping.

"What is it? Is he asleep over there?" Shigure wondered. Yukiko started to get up to bring the blanket over to rest on her father. Shigure grabbed her ankle and made her fall back onto the ground pillowed by the comforter. "No you don't. You're staying right here until you get better." Yukiko pouted and wrapped the blanket around herself, only peaking out to glare at Shigure.

"Uh-huh…" Tohru responded to Shigure's question.

"I didn't think Hatori slept…" Kyo remarked.

"That goes to show what all you know," Yukiko muttered. Shigure and Yuki tried not to laugh at the look of indignation on Kyo's face. Yukiko was facing the other direction as Kyo attempted to come up with something to say.

"Oh, here! I brought a blanket…" Tohru said as she came in running.

"What! Why couldn't I give him mine?" Yukiko screamed in shock. It was her father, and she was obligated to help him. Besides, she couldn't help but feel she needed to do something to make up with her father.

"No need to get testy, my lovely little niece," a voice said from behind Yukiko. She looked up to see Ayame standing above her with a huge grin on his face. "What's the matter? You all look so surprised!"

Kyo and Yuki both looked like they would kill someone, namely Shigure. Yukiko jumped up and hugged Ayame, while Shigure rushed the other three out the door.

"Uncle Ayame, why are you here?" Yukiko asked.

"I was just coming to visit! Oh yes, I also found someone who got lost on the way here!" Ayame announced just as Hatsuharu walked into the room.

"Haru!" Yukiko exclaimed. She hadn't seen the boy since school last week. She had gotten used to seeing him and Momiji every day.

"Hey, I heard you were sick," Haru said as he produced a bouquet of yellow and orange tulips from behind his back. He handed them to a surprised Yukiko. "I got these for you. I hope you feel better soon."

"Thank you so much," Yukiko replied as she hugged Haru tightly.

"You're welcome," Haru said.

"So Haru, you got lost, did you?" Shigure joked.

--

"So what's the real reason you're here?" Yukiko asked Ayame as she was alone with him in the kitchen.

"Oh dear snowflake, do you have no trust in your uncle?" Ayame retorted, leaning against the counter.

"You know that's not true. Uncle Shigure or my dad must have called you," Yukiko said. Ayame's face took on a worried, darker expression.

"You're right, little one. It was Shii-chan. He was worried about you and your father. I heard that you were gone all night. That's not good to do around here. Might I ask why you thought to run around in the middle of the night when you don't know the area?" Ayame asked. Yukiko stayed silent as she bashfully hung her head. "That's what I thought. Well, would you mind telling me what happened?"

Ayame took a quick peak at the door when he heard something moving. He noticed white hair, and smiled to himself waiting for Yukiko's answer.

"I said some things I really shouldn't have," Yukiko started. "But, why? Why would he not try to find my mum?" Ayame walked quickly over to her and gathered her in his arms.

"Oh, believe me, he tried. He tried to find her for two years. He couldn't do anything though with Akito watching him every hour. He wasn't the same after that. Well, until Kana," Ayame said.

"Wait, he said nothing happened with her," Yukiko wondered. Yukiko's expression ranged from angry to depressed as Ayame told her about Hatori and Kana's relationship.

"Why wouldn't he tell me about Kana?" Yukiko asked. Her face was unusually calm as she contemplated everything she learned.

"He figured you would get upset at knowing that he loved another woman. You can't help who you fall in love with. For him, it happened to be both Kyouni and Kana," Ayame said before walking away. Yukiko sat in a chair by the table for about five minutes when Haru figured it was time to go in.

He walked up to her and placed his hand on her head. She looked up at him and he saw the tears rolling down her red cheeks. His eyes softened as he looked down at her anguished face.

"It'll be okay. It's over now," Haru supplied as he watched her close her drained eyes.

"I'm so confused," Yukiko admitted as she visible slumped down in the chair.

"Just live in the now, don't worry about anything that happened in the past. Think about the present and future, and how you can improve it," Haru lectured. He wasn't usually this serious in anything he said but it seemed to fit the moment.

"Thanks Haru. You always seem to be there when I need someone most," Yukiko said looking up at Haru with a gracious expression.

"No problem," Haru said, as he smiled softly. "I'll always be here when you need me." Haru wanted to say something more but he knew it wasn't the right time.

"I hope you're right…"

--

"I've been left behind, again…" Ayame started as he watched Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo walk away. Yukiko and Shigure were beside him while Hatori was sulking behind them.

"You know, you could still go with them if you really wanted to," Shigure said.

"Oh, no, it's quite alright… In fact, I'd much rather stay here…" Ayame said. "It's been far too long since the three of us were together… The night is long… and I'm in no mood for sleep, Shigure…"

"Aya… You read my mind…" Shigure replied in a dreamy tone. "It seems tonight, you and I will be sharing the same dream…"

"Not in front of her," Hatori growled as he slammed his hands over Yukiko's ears quickly. Shigure and Ayame laughed girlishly as Yukiko turned her eyes upward toward her father, who gave her a slight smile.

"Yes!" Shigure and Ayame shouted giving each other the thumbs up.

--

"The coarse hands of time
Slowly make their way around day
A shiver
Random, in the hot afternoon heat

The growling shouts of a stomach barely fed
Miles apart from the cold drink of rain
A whisper
Untraceable, in the bright forgiving stars

The awkward stumble of a man once torn
Reborn with a vengeance for life
A prayer
Marked, for the unselfishness of hope"

Yukiko whispered into the dark surrounding her. She was sitting by a lake, reading a poem she had written about her father. She realized earlier that she hadn't acted the way she was raised to. She had blown up at her father while he still suffered. And that forgiving look in his eyes earlier, he wasn't mad. She couldn't understand that after all the cruel things she had said, he was willing to forgive her. Well, she knew a chance when she saw one. As Haru said earlier, she couldn't live in the past; she had to think about the future now. And the future wanted her to reconcile with her father.

"Yukiko?"

--

Hahaha. Sorry to leave it once again at a cliffie but INXS is on and I'm gonna have a super long update this weekend, I promise! Hope you liked this chapter. Thanks to all my reviewers!

Love, Archer