Disclaimer: Fruits Basket, the Souma Clan and Honda Tohru all belong to Natsuki Takaya-sama. I live only to glorify Furuba.

Ore no Haru

Huling Kabanata

By hitokiri-tomoe

When he came to, he was lying on his bed, a comforter over him. He sat up, and the covers fell away from hi naked torso. He realized he wasn't even clothed at all.

"I dumped you in the bathtub, since you aren't really a seahorse," Kana's quiet voice sounded on his right. He turned to her.

She was sitting on his desk chair, a pensive expression on her face. She had changed her clothes and looked very neat now. She was looking at a photograph in a picture frame. It was, he recalled, her photo. He had transferred it from the clinic the first day she came.

"H… how long was I out?"

She shrugged and stood up, still clutching the picture frame in her hand, "About an hour."

Then she sighed, "Why do you always have to pass out when you transform?"

The exasperation in her voice made him smile.

She slowly walked towards him.

"But I kinda like it," she said in a low voice as she neared Hatori.

She brought her face closer to his, dropping the frame on the bed, her fingers tracing his hair. Hatori started backing away but her free hand caught his arm.

"It's the only time I see you helpless," she whispered, "and the only time I see other things, too."

She got up suddenly and brushed imaginary dust off her shoulder, while Hatori felt his face growing hot.

She laughed suddenly, and picked up the picture frame. Then she started towards the door.

"Go get yourself dressed," she told him.

As she was about to shut the door, she turned to him, a serious and resigned look in her face.

"I'll be waiting for you downstairs."

oOo

When he went down, fully dressed, he saw that her whole mood had changed.

She sat at the dining table, with the picture frame propped up in front of her. She gazed at it with sometimes melancholic, sometimes angry eyes.

She looked up as he approached and didn't even try to smile.

"I sent Kazuya-san away for the evening," she said by way of explanation for their being alone.

He didn't say anything, but just stood there looking at the woman he loved, wondering why he wasn't feeling happy at this very moment, when all should have been clear, when events were driving so straight to a happy ending. He looked at the woman he loved, whose expression seemed to be mirroring all his feelings, all the confusion, all the sadness.

"How I must have hurt you," she said in the silence that followed her earlier statement.

She pushed the picture frame, face down, on the table and stood up.

"How I must be hurting you now," she took one step towards him, but hesitated to take another.

She bit her lip and sighed, "How I must have been hurting you these past weeks, torturing you with memories."

And then she laughed bitterly. Hatori could only look at her.

"You must really hate me. Choosing to forget you so that I may live happily. Coming into your life a second time without a clue of what happened in the past. Living with you here as if nothing was wrong."

Her voice and her lower lip trembled, "I know I deserve it. To be hated. I'm only thankful that you weren't so obvious about it. But it's okay now… I remember… God, do I remember. While I was at the Main House I kept wishing that it wasn't true, that Akito-san was hypnotizing me or something… But when you came… And I hugged you. I realized it was all true. And I was such… a bitch… for even coming here, for imposing on you.

"All this time… all this time… I've been hurting you… I've been so hypocritical," the tears started to drop from her amber eyes, "I told you that the woman who hurt you shouldn't have left you. That was such an irony! I am such a hypocrite! But Hatori…"

Here she took another step towards him.

"When I told you you didn't deserve to be abandoned… I was telling the truth."

She paused, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"But then, you don't deserve to be abandoned by someone who is worthy of you. I left you then, Hatori. I forgot you. I don't deserve you. I deserve only your hate."

She bowed her head. He took a half-step towards her, but then, hesitated, confusion overpowering him. Where was his happy ending? Didn't Kana love him?

No, she doesn't, he thought bitterly. She only feels remorse for you. She only wants to say sorry.

Kana looked up then, and said quietly, "Hatori… Can I… touch you?"

He looked her in the eye, feeling more and more confused by the second.

Why? Why was she asking this? Doesn't she know it might break me to touch her now?

He nodded.

She closed the distance between them, and reached up a hand to his left eye, and caressed his cheek.

"Back then," she whispered, "Before forgetting… I loved you. I remember that well. You… you loved me then, too, right?"

He nodded, still unable to speak.

She smiled gently, truly, at that.

"That's enough for me. That's enough for me to go on."

She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She turned away and picked up her luggages which were still lying on the floor.

"Kana," Hatori suddenly spoke.

She turned back.

"Is this what you want?" he asked quietly, pleadingly, as if she would be able to hear all the important questions and feelings that were hiding behind those five words.

"Do you mean, do I want to forget you again?"

"No, that's not—"

"No, Hatori. I don't want to forget again. I was weak that time. I want to be stronger now. I want to remember those happy times. I want to remember that a long time ago, you did love me."

She walked out the door.

It was only then that he realized he was crying.

oOo

"Well, now, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

"Aya, you shouldn't go picking up attached girls! And with a pick-up line that bad!"

"Ahahahaha! You're right, Momiji-kun!"

Kana paused as she looked at the two people in front of her. Jolts of recollection passed through her brain.

"Ayame-san," she bowed to the older man who had silver-streaked light gray hair and yellow snake-like eyes.

"Momiji-kun," she smiled at the foreign-looking boy with blond hair and amber eyes.

"Oh, she does remember, doesn't she, Gure-chan?" Ayame turned to Shigure, who was standing at the back, hidden from Kana's immediate view.

Shigure nodded his head vigorously and Momiji jumped up and down excitedly.

"But what's this?" Ayame declared dramatically, "She's walking out! Walking out on Tori-san!"

"Just as we expected," Shigure declared with a woeful expression.

"Oh, I knew it! Tori-san is no expert on manly romance!" Ayame buried his face in his hands, "We should have guided him, Gure-chan! We should have!"

"If only we taught him before, he wouldn't have let Kana-san step out the door!" Shigure murmured, his own tears pouring down his cheeks.

"If I know Gure-chan, he must have even helped Kana-san pack!" Ayame put the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically.

Momiji watched the two older men with a huge grin. He was apparently enjoying the spectacle.

"Ano, Ayame-san, Shigure-san, Momiji-kun, I must—"

Then Momiji suddenly took notice of her, and with his huge grin still in place, he took Kana's bags from her and set them on the ground.

"So there is only one thing we, as Tori-san's bestest friends in the world, should do, Gure-chan," Ayame boomed seriously, producing a coil of rope from his pocket.

"Yes, only one thing, Aya-chan." Shigure matched the seriousness in his friend's voice, and took out a roll of adhesive tape.

The two men faced each other, and as one, gave each other the thumbs up sign.

"Yosh!" they said in unison, then turned towards Hatori's house.

"Ano! Wait!" Kana cried out in genuine alarm, "What are you doing?"

She turned to run after them, but Momiji's suddenly quiet voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Do you know, when you left that last time, Hatori was awfully sad."

She turned to him. He was sitting on one of her bags, a faraway look in his eyes, the sunlight glinting in his hair.

"He cried. I don't think Hatori had ever cried about anything before that."

He looked at her then, as if to see if she was listening. There was really no need. Kana was rooted to the ground. Then he fixed his gaze somewhere far away again and continued.

"I don't think Hatori had ever loved anyone as much as that. He desired only your happiness, even if it hurt him. That's why he made you forget… Because… he wanted you to be happy. Because he knew it was the only way to save you."

He turned back to her, and gave her a sad smile.

"I haven't seen Hatori since Kana came back. But I imagine he's very happy. Because… he can be with you again, for a few moments, even though you don't remember anything. Even though you didn't love him anymore… I think he's happy just being around you. Even though I know he may not have been able to show it. Hatori… is poor in that department. Showing affection."

"Momiji-kun…" she whispered, but she might as well have not spoken.

"Hatori… he loved you so much… and he's never stopped loving you. Everyone can see that. Why do you think he kept a picture of you in a place where he'll always be seeing it, where he'll always be reminded? I think it's because though you've forgotten, though the memory hurts him, he wants to remember. He wants to be reminded every day of how much he loves you, of—"

Kana couldn't take it anymore. She turned away and ran towards Hatori's house. When she reached the stairs leading to the porch, Hatori emerged from the doorway, apparently in a hurry himself. Kana took a step back. Hatori closed the distance between them. They stood there, looking at each other, their bodies only inches from each other.

Ayame and Shigure emerged from the doorway as Momiji reached the house, bounding as happy as a bunny.

"Good work!" he shouted to his two cousins.

"Oh, it wasn't hard," Shigure said modestly, flicking imaginary dust off his kimono, "When we came in he was staring at Kana-chan's picture, looking like a lost seahorse."

"What did you do? What did you do?" Momiji asked, excitement dripping with every word.

"I told him we were going to take Kana-chan away from him if he didn't act now," Ayame announced grandly.

"Wah, tell me the truth!" the Rabbit admonished cheerfully.

The three suddenly chanced to glance at the couple, who were still standing there, staring into each other's eyes as if no one but the two of them existed.

Ayame rolled his eyes, "Tori-san, say something!"

Hatori reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair from Kana's face. Then suddenly, he took her hand and ran, pulling her along.

The three watched them, sweat drops forming on their foreheads.

"Well?" Momiji asked, "Shall we follow them?"

"Of course!" Shigure answered promptly, "We have to see this through 'til the end!"

"And we still have to gather everyone," Ayame quipped, "Everybody must be present for 'that'!"

"Yes, 'that'!" Momiji shouted gaily.

oOo

They were both kneeling in the dark room, where years before, Akito accidentally blinded Hatori and made Kana blame herself.

Kana was trembling all over. Hatori reached out and squeezed her hand.

Akito was standing in front of them, his back turned.

"I'm defying you," Hatori said clearly, without any hint of fear.

Akito gave a small harsh laugh and turned to them, violet eyes flashing dangerously, "Are you asking for my permission?"

Hatori didn't say anything, and waited for the blow that was sure to come. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Kana. He was also preparing to defend her, in case the blow should be directed at her.

"Hatori…" Akito said in a singsong voice as he paced in front of them, "Why tell me you're disobeying me now, when you've already betrayed me… years ago."

He looked up, surprised. He had no idea what he was talking about.

He chuckled at the doctor's reaction, "Don't act so innocent now. I have proof. That… woman… beside you is proof."

He brought his face close to Hatori's and hissed, "You've disobeyed me before. And nobody—nobody—disobeys me."

He slapped Hatori hard. Kana screamed and ran to him.

"You're wrong," Hatori managed to say as he got up on his knees, "I didn't do it. I made her forget. I don't know what happened."

"Liar!" Akito shrieked, his whole being trembling.

"You did it on purpose," he spat, his chest heaving, "You made it so that Kana would remember again! Why?"

The menace in his voice was unmistakable.

"Did you think that you could be happy? You're wrong!"

He stepped towards the still kneeling Hatori, his face contorted in fury.

"No one's going to be happy! Because we're cursed!"

He stamped his foot now, like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Why? Can this girl break the curse? Can she!"

"No, I can't," Kana's small voice suddenly interrupted Akito's outburst.

Both men in the room suddenly turned to Kana. Akito gave her a half-crazed, half-murderous look.

"I can't break the curse," Kana continued quietly, "But… Akito-san, you're wrong… about happiness."

Akito took a menacing step towards her. Hatori immediately put himself between the two, giving Akito a defiant look.

"You aren't unhappy because of the curse."

Akito glared at Hatori but didn't say anything.

"You're unhappy… because… you choose to be. Because… you don't allow happiness to enter this dark room."

Akito laughed at that.

"You don't permit the things around you to bring you happiness. Look outside the window, Akito-san, do you not notice how beautiful the sky is? How beautiful the grass is, how the wind seem to caress the leaves so gently, as if it were its lover? Do you not notice how the flowers keep up their love affair with the birds, with the bees, with the butterflies? If only… If only you choose to be moved by these things, I'm sure… I'm sure you'd find a bit of happiness."

Akito was silent at that.

"But Hatori,"

Hatori turned towards her.

"Hatori chooses to be happy. Although the circumstances are unusual, it still makes Hatori choose happiness."

She slowly got to her feet and took a step past Hatori, towards Akito. And in front of the Master of the House, she got down on her knees, tears flowing down her face.

"So, please, allow Hatori to be happy."

Akito took a step back and for a full minute, did not say anything. Then he gave Kana a disdainful look.

"Disgusting girl," he pronounced, then turned his back on both of them.

"Leave. Both of you. Do whatever you want," he said in a harsh tone.

Kana looked up, about to thank him, but Hatori tapped her shoulder, and when she turned to face him, he shook his head.

She got to her feet, and together, they walked out the room.

oOo

When they emerged from the Main House, they found two people waiting for them, plus Hatori's minivan.

There were Ayame and Momiji, who both heaved a big sigh of relief when they emerged.

"You took a long time in there," Ayame said in a serious tone.

"What happened?" Momiji asked, looking from Kana to Hatori.

Their eyes met. They smiled at each other.

"Oh no," Ayame scratched his head, "They'll be looking like that for a long long time."

"It went well, didn't it?" Momiji bounded over to Ayame, "Or else they wouldn't be looking so lovey-dovey!"

From behind them, a car horn blared. Shigure waved from inside the minivan.

"Oh, it's time to go 'that'!" Ayame clasped his hands together in front of him.

"Yes, 'that'!" Momiji agreed, pulling Kana's hand as he ran for the minivan.

"'That'?" Hatori gave Ayame a distrustful look.

"You'll find out soon enough! It's a present from me and Gure-chan!" Ayame explained grandly.

"I wonder why I'm suddenly filled with foreboding."

"Ahahahahaha! Be nice, Tori-san!"

oOo

The minivan parked, somewhat clumsily, in front of a small garden restaurant.

Ayame and Shigure scuttled out and faced out from the steps to the entrance.

"Welcome!" they yelled in unison, arms outstretched, "To Kana-chan and Tori-san's pre-wedding!"

Kana and Hatori got out of the car, identical confused expressions on their faces.

"Come in! Come in!" Momiji called.

They held hands and entered the small restaurant.

They found everything in shades of peach and cream. There was wine on the table, and a small feast. Yuki, Kyou and Tohru were standing off to one side, now joined by Momiji.

Shigure cleared his throat, "Of course, this is just Part I of Kana-chan and Ha-san's Wedding Present!"

"I've already got everything figured out until Part 10!" Ayame gushed.

"Now for the Prenuptials! Gather around, children!"

The teenagers moved closer to the adults, and Shigure stepped in front of the couple.

"Do you, Souma Hatori," he began in all seriousness, "Promise to say yes when the minister asks you if you would take Souma Kana as your wife?"

"Half of the time I don't know what you guys are thinking."

Shigure turned to Ayame, who nodded.

"Coming from Tori-san, that's good enough," he whispered and Shigure turned to Kana.

"Do you, Souma Kana, promise to say yes when the minister asks you if you would take Souma Hatori as your husband?"

"And do you promise to let Souma Ayame, the greatest designer in the whole universe, design your wedding dress and everybody else's clothes on your wedding?" Ayame added, with tears glistening in his eyes.

"No at that, Ayame," Hatori stated.

"Yes," Kana said at the same time, looking solemn.

"Well now," Shigure declared, "I pronounce you betrothed. You may now… uh… hold the bride-to-be's hands."

"To preserve the solemnity of course," Ayame quipped, "To have you transform now would be anticlimactic."

Hatori didn't need to be told twice. He turned to Kana, and their eyes were only for each other.

Shigure and Ayame burst into tears.

Momiji hopped around, all hyper.

"It's so romantic!" Tohru gushed, "It must be wonderful, to have someone you love be so close to you, isn't it? Yuki-kun? Kyou-kun?"

The two boys looked at Tohru, then at each other, then away with a huff.

"I must admit," Ayame said through his tears, "This isn't nearly as exciting as my original plan to let Tori-san take Kana-chan away from her wedding and just running away!"

"But this is also so romantic!" Shigure said, blowing his nose, "I must write about this! It will be Kana-chan and Ha-san's Wedding Present Part 15!"

"Ahahaha! So you've already figured that far?"

"Of course! How about you!"

"I've already got 'til Part 22!"

"What! You must not beat me when it comes to Ha-san!"

"Ahahahahahahaha!"

oOo

The night breeze blew warmly into the open doors.

Souma Kana and Souma Hatori sat outside the clinic, a bottle of wine and two wine glasses between them.

"I must admit that was fun," Kana commented, her eyes sparkling.

"Those fools," Hatori muttered.

"Oh, lighten up!" Kana said cheerfully, "You should be used to them by now."

Hatori just turned to her and gave her a smile.

"That's it. You should smile more often."

They were silent for awhile, looking up as the stars continued to increase above them. The moon was absent tonight.

"Hatori…"

"Hmm…?"

"I'm sorry."

"I don't think this is the time for that now…"

"No… I meant… I'm sorry for earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"Earlier. I didn't tell you I love you. Even though I wanted to. I was… going to be a coward again. I was going to be silent about my feelings, and leave. I… didn't want to get hurt. I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter."

"Huh?"

"Did you know… Kana, that your weakness was one of the things I love about you?"

She was silent.

"For me, it means that you still need someone to protect you… As long as you have that weakness, I can go on protecting you."

She sighed, "You always do know how to make me feel better."

He smiled. He can smile so easily now.

"Do you remember when I caught a cold during the summer?"

"Yes. You were the sorriest-looking thing in the clinic at that time."

"I know. I kept waiting for you to tell me how stupid it was to catch a cold during the summer, but you never did tell me that. I was so glad."

He shrugged.

"Hatori…"

He turned to her.

"I'm glad I remember now. I'm glad I remember everything, even those sad memories."

She took the wine bottle, unceremoniously popped the cork, and filled their wine glasses with it. She handed one glass to Hatori and lifted the other.

"Even though a lot of the memories hurt, even though it made me cry… I'm glad I remember. And I never want to forget ever again."

She stood up, pulling Hatori beside her, and raised her glass to the moonless sky. Hatori did the same.

"To memories!"

Owari…

Author's Notes:

It's actually one of my policies not to be writing too many Author's Notes, so I saved up until the last chapter of the story. After all, even real books have author notes, so I think this is legal.

Okay, first of all, I'm just gonna give a big fat "Thank You" to everyone who has taken the time to read this, and an even bigger "Thank You!" to those who actually took the time to submit a review and help me improve my writing, and the characterizations.

Ah, I'm so glad I'm finally done with this, and it's only going to need a few editions instead of hours and hours of debating what to do with the characters. I actually finished this whole story quite a long time ago, before I went on vacation but it just took me so long to get to encoding it. I actually made changes to the ending, just now. I just added the last scene today, the rest has been written a long time ago.

I was actually really playing with the idea of a sad ending for this fic, but nothing so extreme as character death. But then I figured that it had enough angst in it, so it should be given the right amount of pathos and happy scenes. I hope I balanced it well enough to most people's satisfaction.

And these are some answers and messages to those who were extremely kind enough to review (I really really appreciate it, guys, thank you so much. Although I still planned on finishing this story even if I didn't get a single review, I'm still glad I got this much feedback.):

Blushing Sigh – I'm sorry for making you proud so late. Lol. Life couldn't wait to catch up with me. You said the angsty vibe depressed you. It depressed me. Chapter 5 especially.

Julliane – Hm, well, I don't know where I was predictable, but then, it's because I'm the one who wrote it, that I can't know when it gets predictable because everything that happens in the story is pretty much predictable to me. I don't hate Shigure, honestly! I actually really really love him. It's just that it was soooo just in the atmosphere that Akito should kiss him. Lolielol. XD And actually, Shinbo really is kind, and add to that the fact that he was never really sure of Kana's love for him, so it made letting her go easier, because he truly did love Kana, and want her to be happy. Hm… was I unsuccessful in conveying that?

Hatori Obsesser – Thanks for reminding me that not everyone can speak Japanese. Hell, I can't even speak Japanese. ;

Jazze Al-Bhed-Girl – Yes, the chapters' names are in Filipino. shrugs Just a quirk.

Lonely Dream-lover – Hey, this one's angst, too. But with a happy ending. And lots of comic relief that I hope are actually funny.

Melai – Thankies. Coming from you, that means a lot.

Nica – Yes, he isn't that bad at all. I'm no Akito hater, by the way. He's actually just like everyone else in the Souma Clan. Misunderstood, haunted, unhappy.

Hatorifan, person, Lexi-Teniro and Purejoy – Thanks for reading!

Sakura Rider – Wrong. I couldn't do that, and I wasn't even tempted to, seeing that Kana remembers everything now, so she wouldn't say the same things.

MapleRose – I'm really flattered that you took the time to read and review my story. I'm so glad I got those kind of criticisms so I know where I'm going wrong and that stuff. When I started the fic, I was particularly looking for someone to correct me about the way they address each other, as I have forgotten already. I've also duly noted your other comments and suggestions and will set to work on correcting the parts where I screwed up. --; Again, thank you.

Okay, so that's it. I think this has gone on quite long enough. I thank you all for supporting this fanfiction, now I think I'm going to hibernate for awhile and write a fiction that has been bugging me for more than a month now. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed the hours pondering the plot and setting my mechanical pencil to paper. Ja ne!

hitokiri-tomoe x