A/N: It's been some time since I've updated on this story. I have been putting this off and then…the time flew by. Either way, the story goes on…though, I'm not sure how long I might keep at this. I'll try to update much sooner from now on…try is the key word. So, disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters. The 6th chapter of Destiny will now be presented to you.

"You haven't heard the last of me, Flame Heart!" Shadow Frost angrily yelled. "I will have veng-"

"Yeah, yeah, something about revenge and darkness," Flame Heart said sending a punch to the mirror and breaking it. She looked at it with a full grin of satisfaction. She could almost hear her sister screaming in frustration. The thought of it made her smirk.

"Um, I'd hate to interrupt, but…how do I get stronger with this power? I don't even know how it works," Tohru asked.

"Simple, I'll give you one-to-one training on that. Our powers work similarly, so it shouldn't be much of a problem," Flame Heart answered. Or will it?

"This is getting out of hand," Uo grumbled as guards swarmed around her. It's been this way since the attempt to kidnap Tohru. The castle grounds were swarmed with guards. If before they thought the guards had invaded their privacy, now it was even worse. "Have you talked to Flame Heart yet?" Uo inquired when Hana entered the room.

"She's been locked up in that room since the incident with Tohru a few days ago," Hana informed her. "She hasn't come out once."

"I wonder why," Uo scowled.

"Perhaps she's…avoiding them?" Hana scrutinized the guards, a dark aura surrounding her. They all shifted uncomfortably under gaze.

"Hmh…lucky," Uo grimaced when she saw yet two more guards joining them in the room.

"What's this?" a soft voice asked, laced with a hint of danger.

"M-Mistress!" the guards seemed to have paled.

"I didn't get enough sleep…because I've been working my tail off trying to figure out our plans with the realm's military leaders. I step out…practically deprived of sleep…to find this?" Flame Heart glared at the guards. "Why did you leave your posts without my consent?"

"!" Uo and Hana stared in surprise.

"You had nothing to do with this?" Hana asked.

"Of course I didn't," Flame Heart shook her head. "It wasn't my idea to keep you guarded around the clock either."

"It wasn't? Then why did they still guard us at the beginning?" Uo asked.

"The Council…they wanted to be safe than sorry," Flame Heart answered. "I tried to convince them not to, which is the other reason I've been …deprived of my sleep."

"My queen, we had to!" one of the guards started. "He…he ordered us to do so!"

"He…?" Flame Heart frowned. "Hnh…can't do much then, can I?" she grumbled.

"Who's 'he'?" a new voice asked. Everybody turned to see Tohru stepping into the room.

"Ichijou, elder of the realm," Flame Heart answered. "It is the way of my kin to do as the elder asks."

"You must hold a great amount of respect for your elders, then," Tohru decided.

"Go. Leave us be," Flame Heart turned to the guards. "I'm with them, so they should be fine."

"But-!" some started to protest.

"…leave…" Flame Heart's voice dropped low. They each stared at each other fearfully before scattering off to their posts. Flame Heart turned back to the girls. "Yes, we do respect our elders. Normally, we do as they ask. It's the way we've been taught."

"Normally?" Hana asked.

"Normally…" Flame Heart nodded, "but…"

"But…?" Uo asked. Flame Heart took the moment to carefully look around to be sure no guard was lingering. When she was assured that none were left, she allowed herself a moment to settle down.

"With Ichijou…it's difficult to trust him," Flame Heart shook her head.

"Why?" Tohru asks.

"He's a very…ambitious character," she responded. "The others…they can't see it very well. Unfortunately, I am able to see it so easily…I can smell his ambition from afar. I can't put my guard down around him."

"Does he know that you are aware of his ambition?" Hana asked.

"Very aware," Flame Heart's eyes narrowed. "It wouldn't surprise me…he is sharp." An uneasy silence settled in the room. Before any more could be said, footsteps started echoing from down the hall. It didn't take too long for a tall figure to make his way inside the room.

"Ichijou," Flame Heart acknowledged.

"Flame Heart," he responded just as coldly. "It seems you deliberately disobeyed orders. I asked those guards to assist the children."

"Children?!" Uo protested.

"When are you going to learn to listen to me?" he continued as if no one had interrupted him.

"The amount of guards around them was ridiculous," Flame Heart answered. "Allow them a bit of air to breathe, take pity on them."

"Pity will not save them when they are confronted with Shadow Frost," he glared.

"Shadow Frost will not be foolish enough to lead another attack so soon," Flame Heart reminded him, "especially not after her defeat."

"You were only fortunate that she hadn't sent any well trained soldiers," Ichijou growled. "Obviously, neither of your parents had passed on their genes. Their children lack intelligence."

CRACK!

The three teenagers stared in surprise. Ichijou is now seen against the wall, Flame Heart's fist next to his head. A large crack had formed underneath her bleeding fist.

"You may get away with speaking in such a manner regarding me…but don't think you can get away with calling my sister anything," Flame Heart growled.

He narrowed his eyes, "If your parents were still here, they wouldn't approve of your rule. They certainly couldn't do anything about it. It was decided from the beginning that you would lead your people ever since you were born. You took that filth's place as leader."

"…" Flame Heart's eyes hardened in anger.

"They wouldn't approve of you defending that scum either," he continued.

"I would still my tongue if I were you," Flame Heart warned him. "She's my sister and you have no right to pass out quick judgment on her."

"Oh, but I do," he laughed. "I'm an elder."

"That should give you no right!" Flame Heart snapped.

"Shadow Frost should have been killed from the moment she was born!" Ichijou shot back. Flame Heart's crimson red eyes now seemed to come to life with fire as anger took over. They had no right to treat her that way. If anything, they could have been the ones to stop the prophecy by showing her at a young age love and compassion. Instead, they heeded words that came from a soothsayer. Why did they listen? Why couldn't they have just hoped in Light instead of treating a small child as if she was a disease? Images of a moment in their childhood flashed in her eyes.

~ Flashback~

"Onee-chan?" a young child with long flowing black hair and red highlights called out in the dark. Sniffles are heard in the dark of the room.

"What are you doing here? You will get in trouble if they catch you in here," a voice murmured quietly. The younger sibling's eyes saddened as she laid eyes on the child who was crouched in the darkest corner of the room. She hesitantly moved towards her older sister. "Miyuki," she said in a warning tone when she realized her younger sister was approaching her.

"What?" the younger sister asked as she sat next to her older sister.

"…" the older one glared. "Miyuki, if your parents-"

"My…parents…?" Miyuki asked softly.

"…they disowned me already…you know that," the older one turned her head away.

"You always…pretend that it doesn't bother you, Kanako," Miyuki sighed. "…but…does it really not bother you?"

"…" Kanako was silent before answering, "It doesn't matter. I'm evil. I'm the Shadow Frost and you're Flame Heart. Nothing can change that."

"Kana-chan, that woman is a soothsayer! You can't trust in those words!" Miyuki protested.

"I wish I can believe that," Kanako gave a bittersweet smile. "…but after so long, seeing everybody around me flinch away from me…I started to believe it." Tears started to flow freely from her eyes. Miyuki is quick to wrap her arms around Kanako and pull her closer. Kanako freely cried in her younger sister's shoulder as Miyuki murmured comforting words into her sister's ear.

"It won't be that way, Kana-chan," Miyuki softly spoke. "If you truly wish it, then it won't happen."

"How do you know for sure?" Kanako asked.

"…you have a good heart, Kana-chan," Miyuki smiles. "If you lead your heart in the right direction, then I'm sure it won't ever happen."

"That sounds like something an 'adult' would say," Kanako smiled slightly into her sister's shoulder.

"Well, I got that last line from a book," Miyuki admitted sheepishly. Kanako looked up and chuckled at her sister's embarrassment. "But you know something?"

"What?" Kanako asked.

"That book is right about that," Miyuki smiled. "Don't you think?"

"…" Kanako thought about it for a moment before agreeing, "Yes, I think that's right, too." She smiled as she hugged Miyuki closer to her. Miyuki grinned and returned the hug. There, Kanako knew that she wasn't alone…that she had a hand to hold in the dark and through the thunderstorm.

~End of Flashback~

"It's something none of us could control," Ichijou's voice brought Miyuki (Flame Heart) back to the present. "Not even you!" he added darkly.

"No…" Flame Heart's fist dropped to her side. "It didn't have to be that way. It's just that your lies poisoned her mind!" Flame Heart snapped. "I know only too well that you were one of her tormentors…it didn't have to be this way."

"The prophecy-!"

"The prophecy is a lie! This could have been so easily avoided! After all, the prophecy was told by a soothsayer!" Flame Heart interrupted him.

"…" Ichijou's anger was rising.

"Don't you see? They could have raised her in a way loving parents would and taught her love and compassion! The fact that they chose not to is something I truly couldn't control!"

"Your affection for your sister is blinding you! Can't you see the horror she caused?! The pain she forced you to endure?! The screams of your parents still echo in your ears to this day!"

"…" Flame Heart's breath hitched. The screams were starting to sound in her ears. She closed her eyes tightly as she turned her head away. Still, she said, "No…my sister…I can feel her underneath it all."

"Can't you see? It's too late to save her! It's just as the prophecy foretold!" Ichijou shouted.

"The prophecy means nothing to me…for they are the words of a soothsayer. She's not lost, Ichijou," Flame Heart's voice was soft. "I know you don't see it, but…there is something within me telling me it's not too late." The silence that followed was tense.

"Flame Heart?" Tohru's hesitant voice asked.

"Yes?" Flame Heart answered.

"You really still think there is hope for your sister, don't you?"

"…yes…" Flame Heart replied. "I don't know how to explain it, but something is telling me that there is hope for her...she's not too far gone. I know it."

"…you are stubborn…" Ichijou shook his head as he pushed himself off the wall. "You can't change a stubborn heart."

"I can relate because that's how I feel when I talk to you," Flame Heart gave a weak smile.

"…" he shook his head with a sigh. "Miyuki, you never cease to amaze me." With that, he bowed and left the room.

"…Miyuki…?" Hana asked.

"…that's…my name," Flame Heart replied. "My…real name," she added.

"Oh," they blinked in understanding.

"I think…some of the tension between you and that guy cleared away," Uo commented.

"I think so, too," Flame Heart sighed. "I'm glad, though. I didn't want any trouble with him." She then frowns as her thoughts went back to her sister, "I just…I wish he would have looked past the prophecy and seen my sister for what she was before. It makes me wonder...where...just where I went wrong for her to have been driven down a dark road."

"I didn't think you were very...fond of your sister. It didn't seem like it the last time you spoke to her," Hana noted.

"That...is the small spark of cruelty that each and every one of us can have," Flame Heart bowed her head in shame. "Sometimes, I can't help but be angry at her...and sometimes...I just wonder...why?" Her eyes softly saddened. "Did I...fail you in some way, Kana-chan?" she quietly murmured into the air.

...

"No...No, my dear sister," ocean blue eyes watered. "You have done me no wrong...I just wish you knew the truth behind our parents' death...and the reality of the entire situation." Shadow Frost tenses when she heard the familiar click of heels approaching her.

"She won't ever know..." a feminine voice spoke threateningly.

"Light will always overcome darkness," Shadow Frost scowled. Her breath hitched when she felt the sharp edge of a knife pressed against her neck.

"You will do as I say," the woman growled into her ear. A few droplets of blood started to run down as the woman placed more pressure against her neck. "You are my puppet."

"..." Shadow Frost clenched her teeth in anger. She had no other choice but to nod at the woman who stole her life away from her.

Plot twist! I'll just leave you hanging there while I figure out how the next chapter will turn out...hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please do review.