Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Wedding Present ❯ The Wedding Present ( Chapter 1 )

Standard disclaimer applies. This story was under a friend's username, as I was having difficulties with my own. Comments are always appreciated.

The Wedding Present

The beautiful spring day shone down as the two lovers prepared to make there respective ways down the aisle. The magnificent outdoor field had been filled with rows upon rows of white fold up chairs, which seated the entire Sohma family, and many other guests besides. A red carpet provided a clear path through the green grass to the makeshift alter, bedecked with a lattice work of flowers. A wedding march swelled from the piano moved specially to this spot for the wedding.

First in the line up came Uo, dressed in the midnight blue dress of the bridesmaids and Maids of Honor, paired with a smiling Haru in a black tux. When they reached the front, the separated and took there respective places. In the back, and ever calm Hatori guided everyone into their places and sent them off. Next came a slightly ruffled Kyo, paired with Kagura, also represented in midnight blue. When they reached the front, Kyo yanked his arm away and stood next to Haru.

The music swelled, and Momiji made his way down the carpet path, shedding white flower petals and grinning from ear to ear. Absolutely adorable in his custom made tux, he took his respective place beside Kyo, setting down his now empty basket. Ever stately, Hanna guided a very nervous looking Yuki to the alter. Unlike the other groomsmen, he was dressed in a white tux, trimmed in amethyst purple. After securely placing him at the alter, Hanna took her place beside Uo.

And finally, an ecstatic Shigure led Torhu down the aisle. Dressed in a beautiful white gown, her blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears of happiness. In the audience, Ayame teared up as his beautiful creations paraded by. After placing a chaste kiss on her forehead, Shigure took his place beside Momiji.

Following the two lovers, Kisa and Hiro came down the aisle, bearing twin pillows. On Kisa's, a shiny gold band sparked against the crimson plush. Hiro carried a fine gold band, bedecked in a diamond accompanied by two sapphires. They reached the alter together and stood quietly.

Purple eyes met blue as they joined hands and repeated the preacher's words. "Do you, Yuki Sohma, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, till death do you part?"

He smiled softly, affection in every fiber. "I do."

"And do you, Torhu Honda, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, till death do you part?"

A single tear of joy traced a path down her radiant face. "I do."

With smooth movements, the two removed the rings from the pillows, and slipped them on each others fingers. The preacher smiled at the two. "You may kiss the bride."

Aya, Ritsu and Momiji all erupted into tears while the rest of the audience cheered when Yuki wiped away her tear with his thumb and claimed her lips in a seal of everlasting love more precious then any gold band.

As time does, minutes turned into hours, hours into days. And now the happy newlyweds were a few weeks along in their marriage. Both were sitting in there house, fully furnished by the ever obliging Sohma family. The two were writing a never ending list of thank you's for all the presents they had received.

Torhu glanced up from the list. "That's all the big stuff right?"

"Yes. On to the little things." Yuki smiled at his wife and pulled a box over to where he was sitting. Reaching in, he pulled out a large, brown folder, like you would use to send large amounts of paper or small packages, simply titled `Yuki and Torhu Sohma' . He opened it and slid out three pages of typed print, held together with a paper clip, and started to read.

"What is it Yuki?" Torhu set down her pen and knelt next to him.

"It's a description of our wedding…" He said slowly. "Listen to this. `It was a beautiful spring day when Yuki Sohma and Torhu Honda said their vows…'"

When Yuki finished, Torhu sat back and smiled. "That's a very sweet gift. Now we'll never forget. Who's it from?"

"I don't know." He searched the pages for a name. "It doesn't say."

"Well, lets put it in the box with all the other things from the wedding. I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually." She took the envelope and tucked the pages back in. Into the box it went with some more memorable photos, a flower from the bouquet, the figures from the top of the cake, and all the other little things people keep from there weddings. That box went up into the closet and was supposed to be forgotten about.

Months turned into years. Yuki got a job in town, a very profitable software company. Because his boss and some coworkers were female he had to be extra careful, but he enjoyed it regardless. Torhu had wanted to get a job cleaning, but after much careful persistence from Yuki, she agreed to be a housewife, something that made her very happy.

And that envelope was never truly forgotten about. Every month or so, in secret, they would sneak down the box and go read the pages, which were added to as they lived. In the pages, there happy marriage had taken a downward spiral, Yuki was a drunk who never worked, and Torhu had three different cleaning jobs just to make ends meet. They fought constantly. Torhu had also gotten attacked by a dog a few weeks after the marriage at a friends house, and had a scar from her eye to her chin.

Five hundred and forty seven days after they had gotten married, Torhu came back from an annual doctor visit with Hatori to find out she was pregnant. Yuki was overjoyed, as was Torhu. That night, he got up and opened the envelope. As he began to read, he heard her footsteps coming down the hall. In haste he tried to put it away, but Torhu caught him pushing the box into the closet. "Couldn't forget about it either huh?" Yuki nodded sheepishly, and she smiled at him. "Neither could I."

Together they got the box down again and opened the envelope. In the pages the Yuki and Torhu were fighting as bad as ever, and Torhu suspected that he was having an affair with his boss. Torhu herself was using marijuana heavily and pregnant, but had no idea who the father was.

"It's like everything that could have gone wrong in our lives is here, instead of in real life." Yuki said slowly.

"Like protection." Torhu agreed. "We need to keep this safe." She tucked it back into the box and stored it away. Yuki wrapped his arm around her waist and the two went back to bed.

Time continued to pass, and Torhu gave birth to a girl, which they name Sakura. In the bustle of a baby and general life, the two never got time to read the contents of the envelope. Yuki was still happy at his software job, and was moved up to Executive Manager, making him responsible of the newest products coming from the industry. Three years after the birth of Sakura, Torhu had another baby, this time a boy, who they named Seiko.

One night, when Seiko was just under a year, Yuki and Torhu visited the envelope again. In the pages, Yuki was drinking heavily as ever, and had started to beat his wife. The baby that would have been Sakura had miscarried, and instead of Seiko they had a girl named Akito. Unfortunately, the three year old was turning out to be just as sadistic as her predecessor, having a strange fetish for destroying stuffed animals. Torhu had sunk into depression, and was experimenting with a lot of different drugs, mostly ecstasy and heroin. The scar from the dog attack had never fully healed, and her constant state of self pity made it almost impossible for her to work. Yuki had lost his job when his boss's husband had found out, and was so piss drunk all the time that he never left the house.

When they finished reading, Torhu was close to tears. Yuki wrapped up the pages and helped her back to bed.

More time passed, and Sakura moved up in the ranks of school, until she was a freshman, starting High School. The young woman was beautiful and soft spoken, just like her mother, and shared her brown hair but had her father's amethyst eyes. Seiko looked just like Yuki, although his eyes were as blue as his mothers, even as a sixth grader. Both parents count believe that their children had grown up so fast.

Torhu took a part time job as a caterer, helping out with some of the most important events. Her aspiration to do well and please her clients made her a necessity, and she was happy. Yuki was working just as diligently as ever, putting away money for the kids collage fund. Altogether, they were happy and healthy. Shigure, Aya, and the rest of the family would drop by every so often, to visit and play with the children. Because the children were well aware of the curse, the Zodiac members had no inhibitions when visiting. Hiro and Kisa were happy newlyweds, and Momiji was pursuing a career in the United States.

One night, when Seiko was getting ready to be a High School student and Sakura was stressing about becoming a Senior, Yuki and Torhu opened up the envelope again.

Within the pages, it said that Yuki was fast losing touch with his family. He was never home, and a drug ravaged Torhu had given up trying to make ends meet. Akito was a Senior, and had gotten arrested three different times, once for theft, and twice for DUI. The young woman was completely uncontrollable. Torhu was much to broken by her husbands past beatings to stand up to her daughter, and sought refuge through drugs.

Again the envelope was put away, and the parents continued on with life. Both children were A+ students, and Sakura was striving for a medical collage. Seiko had dreams of becoming an auto technician, and was taking the welding and computer classes that the school offered.

A few months after the school year started, Yuki was called away to another part of Japan for a business meeting and the release of some new machinery. He was expected back in a week. The last time his family saw him was when he smiled and waved from the entry to the plane.

Three days later, at 5:01 pm, Torhu was helping Seiko with some homework while she cooked dinner. Sakura's voice cam from her upstairs bed room.

"Mom! A man from Dads work wants to talk to you!"

Torhu picked up the downstairs phone, slight bewilderment marring he face. "This is Torhu Sohma."

"Mrs. Sohma, I regret to tell you that your husband has been killed." His voice was of one who had to be the bearer of bad news about a person he had never met.

Torhu's first reaction was shock. "H...How?"

"Um, the details are still sketchy. Apparently he was testing out a new machine and it malfunctioned. The explosion killed him and three others. More are seriously injured." The attendant did his best to sound apologetic.

"Thank you for calling." Torhu dropped the phone and sunk to the floor, eyes filled with tears. A faint voice came from the discarded phone, then a dull tone. Seiko got up and ran to his mother as she began to sob.

"Mom? Mom!"

.

The day dawned cold and cloudy as the members of the Sohma family gathered to bury their deceased. All were dressed in black, and comforted each other in soft voices. Torhu's eyes were blood shot from her unstoppable tears, even now they coursed down her cheeks. Her children stood with her, eyes just as blood shot. Uo and Hanna were there as well, offering comfort to the three through their own tears.

Momiji, Hiro, Haru, and Kyo stepped silently through the group, carrying a black casket adorned with roses. Each of their faces was a mask, showing no emotion as the set the casket beside the fresh turned earth.

Each family member stepped forward to say some words about Yuki. Shigure reflected upon the time he spent in his house, and Aya had to be removed before finishing because of his inability to stop the flow of tears. Uo and Hanna stepped forward together and said something, shedding tears as well.

Torhu was the final to step forward. Fighting a fresh wave of emotion, she touched the casket with her hand, unable to speak. Sniffles were heard throughout those in attendance; otherwise it was silent as first the children, then the rest of the family came forward, placing a hand or a finger on the casket. After a few moments, the appendages were removed and everyone stepped back. Hatori came forward for the final burial speech.

"We are here today to perform a task no family member ever wants to consider. But please remember, even as the tears fall and your soul feels torn full of holes, that he will always be alive in our hearts and memories. Although we seem to walk an empty street, the gradual ebbing of pain will be our guiding light." Hatori stepped back into the crowd, not bothering to wipe his trickling eyes.

Momiji, Haru, Hiro and Kyo stepped forward again to lower the casket into the ground, accompanied by a fresh wave of tears from all in attendance. The able men from the audience stepped forward to assist in the burial. When the final spot of dirt was smoothed, Kyo looked down at the grave.

"Good bye, Yuki." He said softly. Heavy rain drops began to fall from the dark gray sky.

A few days later, Torhu sat in the living room before a roaring fire. Both children had been sent to live with Shigure when Torhu's depression began to seriously affect her. Hatori had tried everything, but he was unable to help, saying that only she could heal herself. The rain that had started on Yuki's funeral had yet to stop.

Through bloodshot, tear filled eyes, Torhu read the pages in the envelope again. There was little new, only that Yuki had broken all contact with his family and Akito was being taken to Juvenile Hall for drug possession and arson.

When she finished reading Torhu sat back in her chair, blinking away her tears. The envelope had failed her family. It had failed in protecting Yuki from death. With a careless toss, she committed the pages to flame and closed her eyes, waiting for the dog bite scar to blossom on her cheek.

Until next we meet!

Dragon Warrioress