Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket

~Chapter 3~

"Here's this," Aya said, pushing a white envelope towards Hatori.

Hatori set down his cup of coffee, sending a sidward glance to him. "What is it?"

"Photos," Aya replied, without his usual exuberant manner. "They're from Kana-kun's wedding." Hatori's eyes widened, and he turned his head to stare fully at Aya. "You're free to look at them, or not, 'Tori-san," Aya continued, his gaze never wavering from Hatori's face.

Kana? I thought, studying Hatori's expression. A girl he loves, perhaps?

"I see," Hatori whispered. He turned his head and stared off into space. "She got married, huh."

Shigure took a loud slurp of his coffee, and I nudged him slightly. I looked away from Hatori's pained expression back to my mug of hot chocolate. Memories of my former, painful love life came floating back to me. Poor Hatori.

"You suggested going to the cabin so suddenly, so I wondered what was going on." Hatori lifted his head to look at Shigure. "So that's what it was." He gave a small, bitter smile. "I feel bad, to make you fuss over me."

I knew better than to ask for the full story, but I could piece together an inkling of what was happening here. Besides, if I knew Aya well enough, he would say something over the top and give me more insight as to what was going on.

"You know," Aya began, and I rolled my eyes. "I said we should have let you know, 'Tori-san, and to tell you to go to the wedding..." His voice gained more fervor with each syllable. "...and that if all goes well, to steal Kana-kun away from the groom!" Aya stopped suddenly, and glanced away. "However, 'Gure-san said not to do it," he added more calmly.

Shigure noisily slurped his coffee again. I gave him another nudge, but he ignored me again. "There's nothing I could have done over again," Hatori murmured. "It is over between Kana and I..." He trailed off, as if lost in memory. "And so..." He pushed the envelope back towards Ayame. "Here."

"I'm not convinced," Aya sniffed. Hatori's eyes opened, surprised. "I'm someone cut from the same cloth as you, 'Tori-san..." If the moment wasn't so serious I would've laughed myself senseless. "...and I realize that I have a biased opinion, but frankly, I am not convinced." Hatori turned to look at Aya.

"Kana-kun was devious," Ayame continued, his eyes narrowed. "After all, it feels to me like she forgot about everything, and embraced happiness, leaving you, 'Tori-san, to bear all of the unpleasantness by yourself. It feels to me like you have been left behind, 'Tori-san."

"No..." I murmured, staring out to across the lake. I could feel three pairs of eyes on me, so I decided to elaborate. "Once you truly love someone, you never really let them go. I don't think it's about embracing happiness and leaving the unhappiness behind. It's more like...the memories she acquired helped her to balance out her emotions." Everyone was deathly silent as I took a sip of my cocoa. "I could be getting this completely wrong, as I don't know the full story, or even who Kana is, but I'm just speaking from my own experience of love."

An image of Shichiro, laughing and smiling, filtered through my mind, and I sighed, placing my mug down. Shigure squeezed my hand. I looked up at everyone, a small smile on my face. "I had a fiancee once. His name was Shichiro. I was rather naïve back then, and I still am now, I guess, but now I know that I should have never let myself fall in love with him." I sighed. "He wasn't good for me. We had our sweet and tender moments, like every couple, but we also bickered. A lot. Sometimes it would get very bad." I sighed again, as memories overwhelmed me.

"The day that I was going to break up with him, he didn't come home. He had been in a car accident, and died instantly. I was shocked, of course, and felt terrible, but I also didn't know what to make of it. Would things have been different if I hadn't said a certain thing? If I told him to come home a different route? None of that matters now, of course. And it wasn't all his fault that we had a turbulent relationship. A lot of it was my fault as well."

I set my mug down, and faced a silent Hatori. "I'm fine, now. I've moved on. I haven't ignored the bad memories, but I've accepted them, and all of the memories make up who I am today. I'm not saying that my situation was anything like yours, but I am saying that you should be happy. If you wish happiness on Kana, then wouldn't it make sense that she would want you to be happy as well? You haven't been left behind. It could be that Kana was just a stop in the way to finding your true happiness." I blinked. "Eh, this is starting to get really cheesy, isn't it?"

Hatori seemed to be frozen, and I felt a pinprick of nervousness strike me. Had I said the wrong thing? Was I completely off base?

"You're right," he murmured, and a relieved feeling swept through me.

"For once in my life," I agreed, smiling softly.

Aya sniffed. "Mina-chan, 'Tori-san, you're just too kind. That may be one of your good points, but you're too kind."

"What about being too exuberant?" I countered.

"Exuberant? Exuberant? Why, my dear Mina-chan, there is no such thing as 'too exuberant'!" Aya chuckled.

"Why don't you put forward some of that exuberance into strengthening your brotherly bond with Yuki-kun?" I suggested, grinning. Shigure had told me last night about the brothers at odds.

Aya leaned backwards, his eyes wide with shock. "Huh? Really?" He started to ponder that idea.

Shigure put down his mug, and spoke for the first time. "Next time... I hope you meet someone that you can be together with, without being lonely. A person that brings happiness, just by being together with her." Shigure's eyes slid to mine. "I hope the same for you, Mina-chan."

Aya brightened. "Indeed, 'Gure-san! You are every bit a poet."

"Novelist, novelist!" Shigure and I said in sync, and laughed. I noticed that Hatori seemed to be far away in thought, and smiled softly. He needed time, but I was positive that he would be able to move on and find someone that would keep him happy and entertained, and someone that would love him for a long time to come.

"Ah, they're back!" Shigure called, and I turned to see the three teenagers walking forward. I bounded off the deck to go meet them.

"Didja have a good time?" I called, slinging an arm cheerfully around Tohru's shoulder.

"Hai! The lake was beautiful!" Tohru replied beaming.

"Hey, hey, welcome back!" Aya called, his arms outstretched. "Yuki, and friends thereof!"

"Who are you calling his friend?" Kyo shouted at him, almost seeming to hiss. For some reason, he reminded me of a cat...

"We just got back!" Tohru said cheerfully.

"By the way, Yuki, I just received some advice from Mina-chan!" Aya called. Yuki looked at me, and I held my hands up in defense. "From now on," Aya continued, "I am going to strengthen our bond with a more aggressive attitidue!"

"What do you mean, more aggressive?" Kyo muttered.

"That is to say, Yuki is my younger brother, and I am Yuki's older brother," Aya cheerfully cleared up. Don't let him take this too far... "Based on that fact, I now declare this... Yuki! As your brother, you are to obey me!"

Back away slowly and you won't get hurt...I silently thought to Aya, but he was too dumb to recognize the danger signs. Yuki's eyes glittered dangerously, and a smirk appeared on his face.

I joined Hatori and Shigure as Aya's scream of pain reverberated behind me. I did my best to ignore him as I took a sip of my hot cocoa.

"That Ayame..." Hatori muttered. "He just doesn't get it."

"He doesn't get it, huh?" Shigure added.

"I don't think he gets it," I agreed.

I dropped my packet of pocky under the table, so I bent down to get it. Tohru's panicked scream startled me, and I bumbed my head against the table. "Owwww," I muttered, rubbing my head, and looked to where Aya was.

He was gone.

I blinked. "Where'd Aya go? Is that a snake?" I didn't notice the panicked looks that settled on Hatori's and Shigure's faces as Yuki swung the snake and let go, letting it spin towards the lake.

I sweatdropped. "Do they have a grudge against snakes or something? And did Aya go inside?"

"He went for a walk. To the lake," Hatori replied after a brief pause.

I shrugged, ignoring all the weirdness, and went back to eating pocky. "Just for the record, I didn't tell him to say all that stuff," I called down to Yuki.

"I didn't think you did, Mina-san," Yuki replied. "He has a habit of taking things the wrong way."

I laughed. "That's Aya for you."

A/N

Third chapter. This is not going to be an angst story, by the way. It's more like, yeah, bad things have happened in her past, but she's gotten over them. I can't tell you how many stories I've read where it's all about the girl can't move on and the boy helps her through. Not the case here.

Thanks to everyone that has reviewed/favorited/alert my story!

Review, review, review!

~Eva Sirico~