Disclaimer: Dear readers, I cannot draw to save my life. I can't even draw stick peoples. How can I own a manga series if I can't draw hmmm? yeah, that's I thought. I also do not own You Are My Sunshine.

Rating: PG

Pairing/Characters: Kyoru. Tohru and Kyo.

AN: This is slightly AU because basically any events after volume 21 are disreguarded. The curse isn't broken, Akii changes her mind about imprisoning Kyo, and our love birds don't get around to professing their love like Natsuki-san has it go (not that I have any problems with that or anything...). ALSO: though I use Norman Blake's lyrics I prefer Sara Hickman's version SO if you choose to listen to You Are My Sunshine whilst reading I'd go with her.

Skies of Gray

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and I cried

"I miss you," she whispered. At least she thought she whispered, but in the terrifyingly silent room, the only other sound being the pitter of rain against the window pane, it sounded as if she shouted to the heavens. In the passing months she had quickly come to hate the silence. This house used to always be noisy, always busy and amusing and full.

But the house has been very quiet for the past eight months.

She shuddered and curled into herself, hoping to create more warmth underneath the soft sheets. However, the act proved to be futile. She was still cold, frozen in fact. The whole room was frigid. Empty. Lifeless. Lonely. And like her heart was in a clamp she felt it squeeze painfully, barely squelching the sob that had been trying to make its way up her throat.

It felt as if she were a stranger in her own home. Or maybe more like a lost girl in a strange house. This place, it hasn't been the same since he-No! She thought desperately. I must not think of him…even though she knew it was hopeless. No matter how much she wished it she could not erase him from her heart. He was too tangled within, too woven into every available nook and cranny her big heart held.

Still she tried to think of something else, anything to keep her mind off of him. She wondered how Yuki was doing at the university; how Momiji and Hatsuharu were doing with the school's cultural festival; how Uo-chan was fairing with her new job; Shigure-sans novel…The rain suddenly picked up, startling her from her thoughts as the unexpected typhoon rocked the house. It was strange to get one so late in season. Tohru listened as the rain sped up its methodic tempo into a frantic beat. It must be raining cats and-

Cats. The word rang in her head, reverberating around her fondest (painful) memories. Cat. And just like that, a harmless, innocent word thought without hesitation ripped down the delicate wall she had so painstakingly held up since April. Across her vacant brown eyes danced flashes of orange and tiny smiles; soft fur and rancorous fights; rooftop sunsets and games of Dai Hin Min; clouds of orange smoke and feral red eyes…

Tohru didn't fight against the rush of memories. For once, she broke and let them play out, relishing each one, fighting as they slipped through her fingers like water. Like how he slipped through her fingers. And Kami-sama did it hurt. It hurt to see his glowing face smile at her from the shadows of her mind. It ached to hear his phantom laugh. But it made her feel better a bit. Helped remind her he was still there, in her heart. He hadn't been completely locked away from her.

But still it hurt so damn much.

She lay still as death on her bed. Her breath shuddered as she tried to keep it all in. Fingers tangled in her silken brown locks, nails digging into her scalp. She couldn't let anything out. She couldn't. Because if she did it meant that she had broken her promise and Honda Tohru kept her promises. Keeping it in meant this was all just a really really bad dream and if she waited long enough she would finally wake up and Kyo would be-

No! Nonononono! His name! Oh his name. It was out. She thought his name! There was no holding it in now.

For the first time in eight months (since April 3rd, I haven't cried since that day) she last cried. At first it started out slow. The tears streamed down her cheeks, hot and wet, and unstoppable. Her shoulders shook, hands trembled as she pulled the covers tighter over her tiny body. She thought maybe she could rein it in if she cried only a little.

She was wrong.

Only minutes later did it morph into choked, desperate sobs. Heartbreaking whimpers escaped unbidden past her lips, the tears flowed harder, almost matching the torrential storm outside. She wanted to stop, but she couldn't. It's not fair. Not fair at all! It wasn't supposed to be this way…Kyo-kun is supposed to be here! With me!

Akito-san…Akito-san had granted Kyo pardon from his fate-the Cat House. She had been so happy, so overwhelmingly joyful to hear that she no longer had fivemonths, fourmonths, twomonths, onemonth, notime, left with Kyo. In fact she had been granted a whole lifetime. It had been the miracle she wasn't counting on. Graduation had been welcomed with open arms and relieved sighs and quick secret glances that made both blush fiercely. The curse was still there, but it didn't matter because Kyo was free.

But it didn't last.

Because Akito-san changed her mind less than a month later (April 3rd…) and on a peaceful morning (they had been making rice balls. Kyo-kun had just gotten back from his morning run and Tohru had been waiting for him in the kitchen. They had been laughing and he was flicking rice at her head playfully and she had squealed shamelessly and it had been so perfect until Hatori-san's car pulled up.) came for Kyo unexpectedly, barely giving them time for a proper (notenoughtime) goodbye.

Wave after wave after wave of tears flowed. The brown haired girls crying had become embarrassingly loud and she was now weeping into her downy pillow, trying to muffle her pain. Their goodbye had been too rushed, too fast and she had barely any time to think. Mind chaotic, she had stood numbly (shaking) in the kitchen as the nightmare tore apart her reality. She hadn't snapped out of it till Kyo was being dragged out of the house (hardly packed anything), not yelling but…

She had flown from the kitchen. She ignored Yuki's cries and Hatori's surprised look and flung herself at Kyo, hardly caring that Akito was watching with impatient disgust. Chests a breath away from touching, she found some unknown courage (and totally unTohru-like behavior) and swiftly captured his lips in was most likely the sloppiest, emotion driven, desperate kiss either would ever receive.

Despite the way their teeth clacked and how hard Kyo gripped her and how she had no idea as to what she was supposed to do, it had been wonderful. And then he was gone-ripped from her weak desperate hands and forced to a place he was suppose to be free from. The last words he said to her were to not cry, to please please not cry for him.

She had promised and she failed him. She failed him again and now she was alone. Again.

When was she going to stop crying? She had tried so valiantly to endure. Smiling every day; singing cheerfully as she did the laundry; hanging with her friends; cooking for the Sohma's; she kept right on going, acting like everything was alright. It seemed she had been doing great.

Liar. You weren't.

But each day became harder. Each time someone almost let his name slip or she walked past his room it felt like she was suffocating. Each day that slowly dragged on, making her wonder how Kyo was doing…

The tears were never going to stop were they? Would people ever stop leaving her?

"I thought I told you not to cry, stupid," a hauntingly familiar voice rumbled in her ear. She froze, aware of the warm body that had suddenly appeared in her bed. Right next her. Pressed to her side. Another sob erupted from her. This can't be real.

"Tohru…god Tohru I'm sorry," the voice sighed, tired and strained. "Please stop. You know I can't stand to see you cry," it begged. It can't be real! It can't be real! The figured sighed, his warm breath teasing her neck as it flittered across sensitive skin. She didn't dare look behind her, afraid the apparition (because it couldn't be real!) would disappear and she'd be alone again.

Tohru was tired of being alone.

"Come on, look at me Tohru. I've, I've missed you," the voice admitted painfully. And that voice, so familiar and comforting and sounding so very real, tugged at her heart, her soul. She couldn't resist. She never could.

Slowly, so excruciatingly slowly, she turned her head behind her, fervently hoping the figure wouldn't vanish. Her breath caught in her throat, brown eyes widened in shock, "Kyo…-kun," the name came out strangled and hoarse.

Kami-sama he was there. He was really here! In the dim lighting she could make out his rebellious orange hair, the sharp angels of his handsome face, and those devastating crimson eyes shadowed by a fringe of fiery strands. It was her Kyo. Is it really? She took in a deep breath and caught a whiff of spice, sweat, and something sweet (cinnamon, her mind supplied. Kyo-kun sometimes smelt like cinnamon) and her heart knew it was him.

"It-it's you," she breathed out in wonder filled relief. And then she broke. This was all so much. Overwhelming. Instantly she found herself spooned into his strong arms, her head tucked gently under his chin and his rough hands grasping madly at the fabric of her nightshirt. The bed sheet between them prevented the transformation, so she hugged him as tightly as her feeble strength allowed.

"God Tohru," Kyo mumbled into her hair, "it's unbelievably great to see you." she only nodded, afraid only frantic babbling would spill from her mouth unlike the words she truly wanted to say. He pulled away a bit, but not too far, she wasn't letting go of him ever again, and tilted her head up. Staring into his vivid eyes, seeing the cock-sure flame in them, she knew that this had to be real. Her fire, the thing that kept her warm, and safe, and happy, was burning brightly next to her. Kyo must have escaped the House and came here to find her and now they would be together. She pointedly ignored the whispers of doubt in her mind, the ones pointing out that he wasn't wet despite the rain and how did he get in here exactly?

No, she thought firmly. No more thinking. He frowned suddenly, and her heart caught with worry.

"I made you cry. God I'm the stupid one," he muttered angrily. She shook her head, a smile wobbling on her pale, tear streaked face.

"It's ok! It's ok Kyo-kun! I just missed Kyo-kun so much! But now I am happy again because you are here! With me," she said this a bit shyly, feeling a well-known flush creep across her cheeks. His face softened a bit, but he still scoffed at her.

"We must both be idiots," he murmured and before she could comprehend what he meant he claimed her lips with his. She went rigid for a moment, taken off guard by the suddenness, but quickly fell into sync with him. This kiss was slower, more tender and loving than their first. It sent a pleasant tingle down her spine, radiating out to the rest of her body. Slowly a wave of warmth washed over her, soothing some of the numbness she previously felt.

He deepened it, tongue dancing across her lips as she continued to follow his lead, unsure of what to do but trusting him completely. After all this was Kyo-kun and he'd never intentionally hurt her. And then things moved faster and faster. Hands roaming everywhere, mouths hungrily tasting each other, broken whispers, and kissed away tears. His kisses were trailing down her neck, hot and gentle and teasing, searing her senses and chasing away the dreaded cold that had sunk into her bones.

Too fast too fast! Her mind chided her but it never screamed stop and she allowed it to continue, relishing every touch and the taste of him, how his fingers teasingly wander up and down her stomach. His mouth left her collarbone and she tried not to groan at the loss of warmth. It found its way to her ear, just lingering there as his warm breath tickled it. "Tohru…" it whispered raggedly…

And her eyes snapped open. The rain was still pounding at her window incessantly. She was even colder than before though her face was warm and wet with tears. She sprung up and frantically searched her bed. No one was there, but the sheets were rumpled. Had he been here? Did she fall asleep and he just left for food or the bathroom? The sheets were cold but rumpled, that had to mean something right? Tohru was grasping at straws, desperately desperately hoping…it had to be real! It couldn't have been a dream! It was so real!

Her thought process an incoherent, frantic jumbled mess (stuck on realrealrealreal it had to be!) she stumbled out of bed, kicking at the sheet twisted around her legs, and dashed out of her room.

Her feet slapped loudly against the wooden floor (so loud in this quiet house, but it won't be any longer right?) as she fled down the hall, turning corners she knew so well until she was in front of his door. She didn't allow a moments hesitation as she flung open the door and staggered into the room.

"KYO-!" she cried out, "-kun…" trailed the broken whisper.

No. Anguished. Tortured. Grief-stricken. No....

His room was empty, just as barren and cold as it had been for the past eight damn months. Kyo wasn't here, he had never been here.

She had been dreaming.

It was a wet, cold night, approximately eight months after Sohma Kyo had been sent to the Cat House. For eight long months, Honda Tohru had smiled and laughed and carried on in her optimistic manner, hoping she'd wake up. A few seconds ago she had woken up.

And shattered.

In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me
When I awake my poor heart pains.
So when you come back and make me happy
I'll forgive you dear, I'll take all the blame.

AN: So I'm back with my latest Fruba installement, hurray! So anywho...Tohru wasn't too OOC was she? I tried to not make her a huge crybaby but it still kind-of felt that way to me. I also tried not to choke you guys with anguish, so let me know if I was too heavy or too light on it mmkay? All mistakes are my own because I tried editing it while watching Bones and am really impatient to get this up SO I have probably missed something. ALSO: the previous title of this was In Our Darkest Hour but I wasn't sure about it. Should I keep Skies of Gray or go back to the first one? K, I'm done now.

Obey the pretty purple button! (please)