Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket in any capacity

The horse's mate

Rin wasn't sure when she came to the decision. No, that wasn't true, she had a feeling that she had made this decision for a long time now. Ever since she first met Tohru? Maybe not that far back. But certainly, near that time.

She had seen how selflessly Tohru gave of herself-to every single member of the Zodiac. And it was enough to break Rin's heart.

People like Tohru, like Haru, like Yuki and Momiji, they broke her heart. They really did.

Willing to put everyone before themselves. And how did that end for them usually? Walked all over. Abused. Burnt out. Left to bleed alone in the world.

Rin and Haru hadn't been together now for almost years. They had broken up, that was all. She had loved Haru. She still did. But the love had changed. She knew she couldn't love him in the same way she used to.

He would always be her rock, her strength. He had done everything for her.

But she knew, the moment she had met Tohru, she knew, her relationship with Haru was going to see its end.

Even without Akito and what Akito had done to them, she knew that the relationship would come to its end.

Haru had been a necessity. He had always been there for her when she had needed him. And she would always be grateful for that, and always protect and help him, if he needed it.

But every single time she had seen Tohru Honda, it would make her heart stop. Make it stop, then go wild at other times.

She had always known it for what it was. Had dreaded it.

And it had come to fruition.

Haru, oddly, hadn't seemed surprised. He had been angry when she had broken things off, yes. But he hadn't seemed surprised when she had told him who it was she had fallen in love with. He had just nodded, appearing in no way startled.

What was more, he was happy for them. He supported it and looked out for her and Tohru.

Rin and Tohru had been together now for almost three years now. Ever since the Zodiac curse had been broken and the former Zodiac members freed. And Tohru had turned to Rin, who had told her how she had felt weeks before the curse fully broke. And Tohru felt the same way.

Much to Rin's surprise, but also her ire, Akito supported them and was happy for them as well.

Rin felt no love for Akito's approval, and told her as much, disgust in her tone. However, they had Akito's approval, nonetheless. She even paid for the home that Tohru and Rin were now living in. Rin saw it as a way of Akito trying to bribe her way into forgiveness for the things she had done. Rin supposed it was better than being thrown out a window or having all her hair cut off or stabbed.

She didn't know what Tohru had done, but it looked like not even Akito was immune to Tohru's charms.

All of the Sohmas who had been directly affected by the curse, had a lot of healing they still needed to do. But they were doing it.

Kisa and Hiro were still close friends-they were young, so, it would be a while before anything happened more than that, but they were still close.

Momiji had been adopted by Haru's family, and kept in contact with his sister-this was arranged by Akito, Haru's parents and Momiji's biological father.

Haru had graduated and had become the owner of a martial arts dojo.

Kyo had graduated and Akito had paid for the therapy he'd need later. Thankfully, Kazuma, Kyo's father was there for him, making sure he got the therapy.

Ayame was still running his clothing store-of course.

Yuki had graduated and stayed in contact with Rin and Tohru and most of the others. He was in a relationship now with his girlfriend of almost two years, Machi Kuragi.

Kureno had moved into the city and would help the family from there, bring in more money, if need be, but allowed to be free now, as he wanted.

Hatori had met someone new and had married her. They were still living on the estate. When Akito had learned of it, she had paid for the wedding and had given her blessing, despite how tense Hatori had been at first, even after being assured that Akito had changed.

Ritsu was working for Ayame now, more confident in her identity and more comfortable in presenting herself as a woman.

Kagura was seeing therapists now, trying to work out her needs to control everything and destroy things when she got angry.

Akito herself, was working on her own issues, and was glad to be there for her family.

Shigure? Well, for him it was just exile. Good riddance.

Rin and Tohru? They were living in a house of their own, not far from the main Sohma estate.

They lived together, and they loved each other deeply.

Tohru's friends, Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima had moved in together in another house nearby. Were it legal for couples of the same sex to marry, Uo and Hana would have married ages ago. As would Rin and Tohru-were it legal. But Rin still had a hard time thinking about that possibility.

In any case, many, many things had changed over time. But one thing that had not changed?

Tohru, always putting everyone else before herself.

This? Rin knew she couldn't abide any longer.

So, she had decided to do something about it.

From the moment she and Tohru had met, Tohru always would try to look after Rin. Always. And Rin had always been helpless to Tohru's efforts.

When Tohru had found Rin in Shigure's house and Rin had hallucinated, seeing her parents and terrified, begging not to be yelled at.

So Tohru had come over and had held her. Would wrap her up in her arms and hold her tightly.

When Rin was ill, and Tohru had come into her room, bringing out a platter of food, and had upon seeing Hatori struggling with Rin, and all Tohru had had to do, was cry her name, and Rin had stopped moving.

She had been helpless to Tohru. Always.

Eventually, it hadn't been long, till she had ended up throwing herself into Tohru's arms, soon after trying to flee Shigure's house, only in the robe that she had had on when she had been sick.

They had worked together for months, evading Akito and trying to figure out how to break the curse. And well…one thing led to another and what Rin had known had been coming eventually crashed right into them.

One night while they had been planning, Rin had sat down on the edge of the bed next to Tohru, and had told her simply that she wanted to kiss Tohru.

Tohru had looked surprised, but in no way frightened or dismayed.

If anything, she had looked the opposite. Her cheeks had flushed with pink and she had leaned forward, only pausing to offer up an apology if she was kissing Rin if Rin didn't actually want to.

Rin had smirked and had leaned in, kissing Tohru deeply.

And it had carried on from there.

But what had been consistent all throughout the past three years, had been Tohru giving and giving and giving. And expecting nothing back.

It had been enough to frustrate Rin a great deal.

Tohru? She gave everything she was to Rin and to the rest of the family. To everyone around her. And it was going to destroy her. And Rin knew it.

So, Rin knew that she had to do what was needed to be done to take the burden off of Tohru.

It was another few years before she had realized that. And she had lived with Tohru now-had done so for three years.

And it was on this night that she had made her decision about what Tohru needed and that she would give her dear girlfriend what she needed.

Rin sat down on the couch, awaiting Tohru's arrival from her job, leaning back and patiently waiting.

Rin and Tohru both worked near the city-Rin worked as a banker-of all things, but it worked and it brought in a lot of money and with her intimidating presence, people knew at her job to obey her.

Tohru worked in a kitchen in a nearby restaurant and she tended to get back later than Rin did.

Rin checked the clock, sighing. The digital numbers marked it almost 8.

Rin leaned forward, elbows on her exposed knees. Her style hadn't changed much since her teenage years. Despite her youth, she had worked her way up the ladder of the bank she worked at, with severe ruthlessness. And she was always able to get most of her straight or bisexual male employees and coworkers in trouble whenever they stupidly looked at her long, exposed legs, with her black leather skirt clasped around her waist, and her usually revealing shirts.

Rin's head perked up when she heard footsteps coming from behind the house's closed door.

She heard a jingling of keys and heard a lock unlocking, and the door opened up and Tohru came in, closing the door and locking up. She caught Rin's eye and smiled widely, but Rin could see the tiredness in her lover's eyes, the exhaustion that seemed to possess Tohru's every movement.

"Hi, Rin," Tohru said, then lost her smile, "I'm sorry, did I keep you waiting?"

Rin chuckled. Would there ever be a time when this selfless, foolish girl didn't apologize for one imagined mistake or disrespect or another?

Haru had at one time referred to Tohru as a "reverse Akito."

Rin had always laughed whenever she remembered him saying that. It was fitting. A reverse Akito, indeed.

But she wasn't going to laugh now.

"You weren't keeping me waiting," Rin promised her, "I'm just glad you're home. Have you eaten?" Rin had a good guess what the answer to that question was.

Tohru worked herself to near unconsciousness.

She knew to eat, but sometimes? Sometimes, Tohru just forgot, whenever she was working.

Tohru's eyes widening and looking away, told Rin immediately what the answer was.

Rin sighed, getting up from the couch. Well, it was probably best that Tohru ate before they discussed this.

"Follow me." Rin said gently to Tohru.

"Oh, Rin, you don't have to do anything," Tohru protested, "I don't want to bother you."

"You could never bother me." Rin chuckled, entering the kitchen and she checked over her shoulder, making sure Tohru was following. She was.

Rin nodded to the table and Tohru hesitantly sat down, as Rin put on a pot of water and turned on the burner. Despite Tohru's continual assurances, Rin brought her a bowl of noodles and dumplings, making sure Tohru ate, as Rin tossed a Fuji apple up and caught it in that same hand, before bringing it up to her face and took a big bite out of it, keeping her eyes on Tohru and making sure the brunette ate her food.

As Tohru ate, Rin sat down across from her lover and spoke quietly, when she was done with eating her apple, and tossing the core into the trash, "Tohru, love, there's something I need to talk to you about."

She watched as the chopsticks in Tohru's hands stiffened and the brunette looked at her, worried.

Rin smiled at her reassuringly.

She knew what she had just said, was contradictory to her serving her girlfriend a big bowl of food. And she said in a gentle tone, "It's nothing you've done. You've done nothing wrong, alright? I want to make that clear. But I'm worried about you."

Tohru, as Rin had expected, instantly started rambling on about how she was alright, smiling as if her working herself to the point of exhaustion was just a sport to her.

But Rin sighed and spoke firmly, reaching out and placing a hand on Tohru's wrist, catching the brunette's attention and quieting her.

"Tohru," Rin spoke in that firm tone, "It's alright. You can admit that you're tired. That you need help." Rin hoped she was conveying her message properly to Tohru, trying to assure her that she had learned a good lesson from Tohru those years ago, when Tohru had taken Rin into her arms, comforting her, when Rin tried to push everyone who had tried to help, away.

Tohru looked at Rin, startled.

Rin said softly, "Tohru, I know you work hard. Too hard. I want to make things easier. I want to try something, if you'd let me?"

That got Tohru's attention. She nodded. "Yes," she said, "Of course, Rin. What is it?"

Rin inhaled a deep breath before beginning. Here it went, she supposed.

"Work as much as you need and want to, but I'd like it if you came back at a reasonable hour," she said, "Around 6 at the latest, alright? And when you get home, let me take care of you."

Rin took a deep breath as she said, keeping her voice controlled, and she stared at Tohru, hoping that her intentions were clear here and not imposing, "Let me make the decisions for you when you get home."

Tohru blinked several times at this, confused. Rin sighed as she said, "I know that even if you work hours and hours on end, you'll say that it's no hard work at all. But if you want to do that, then when you come back home, I want to be able to take care of you. I want to do that."

She knew that there would be no way for her to do this without framing solely it as if it was something she wanted to do. Tohru likely wouldn't listen to her otherwise.

And it was something she wanted to do, but she wanted to do it for Tohru.

Seeing Rin's expression, Tohru's eyes widened, then she nodded, smiling. "Okay," she said.

Rin added as she nodded to the table where their dinner was, "And I expect you to eat as much as you can." She got up then, "I'll get us some drinks."

"Oh, I'll help," Tohru said, ready to get up.

Rin, however, sent a sharp look to her lover as she said, making sure her voice was commanding when she spoke, "Sit back down."

Tohru gasped, doing precisely as Rin instructed, sitting down.

Rin scanned Tohru's face. Tohru didn't appear upset or admonished. She looked mildly frightened, yes, but also?

Slightly excited?

Rin said quickly, "If at any time, you feel uncomfortable? You can tell me. If you want a certain situation to end where I'm calling the shots, you can say "red" for "stop," alright?"

Rin saw the comprehension in the brunette's eyes and Tohru nodded quickly, indicating that she understood what this was.

Tohru wasn't nearly as innocent sexually as a lot of people thought she was.

Rin smirked as she said, "Then, do I have permission to continue?"

Tohru nodded and bowed her head slightly as she said, "Yes. Green, please."

Rin smiled when she saw the light blush in Tohru's cheeks.

"Alright," she said, "Stay where you're seated. I'll get the drinks. You do nothing except eat your food, and tell me when you need something, understand?"

Tohru nodded again. "Yes, Ms.," she said obediently, that slight excitement still visible in her eyes.

Rin smirked as she said, "Good girl."