Heaven Shines Its Light

by: FeatherWings

A boy sat in his room in a house that held empty hopes. He could hear the sounds of talking and laughter from the room downstairs. How he wanted to join them with all his heart but deep down he knew he could never be a part of their world. The cat was never welcome to join neither the Sohmas nor the normal humans even though these people seemed to accept him.

Then there was that girl...that angel, Tohru. She reached out to him, extending her hand, wanting to help the helpless person he was. Tohru...how did she see right through him? Him, the boy everyone knew but didn't know. And that smile that pierced his heart and made him want to cry. Tohru, the angel.

Kyo looked up from his spot against the wall and looked at the room incased in shadows. This room, despite all the time he had spent here, was unfamiliar and lonely only echoing the thoughts and memories that played in his head. He was starting to realize he could never escape but did it matter anymore?

He wouldn't be here much longer so no it didn't matter. He was running out of time and when his time did run out...he would be condemned and forgotten. That was always the fate of the cat but that wasn't the only thing torturing him. Even if he was helpless he still wanted to stay with Tohru the angel and that piercing smile.

How much time he had left he had buried it in the back of his mind wishing it would go away but it never did. This empty, lonely room he wouldn't miss but he was here so he could quietly etch what little good there had been in his life into his soul. This was it...this was the end.

He lowered his head and his eyes now fixated on the floor without seeing anything. There was a knock on his door that drove away his thoughts. "Kyo-kun? May I come in?" it was Tohru. He didn't know what to say anymore. He knew he would soon have to say good-bye and he dreaded that as if it were better to disappear without a trace. Not because he didn't want to talk to her but because he wanted to remember her just the way she was. He wanted her to keep smiling. "Kyo-kun?" she called again.

'I have to let her go...' he thought but it made his insides twist in pain. 'No, Kyo! Say something! Say anything!' he shouted at himself. "I don't want to loose you!" he yelled out loud but not intentionally.

"Eh? But I'm not going anywhere!" he could tell she was panicking even without seeing her and he couldn't help but laugh only to notice he hadn't laughed in days. The door opened and Tohru stepped in while smiling. "I haven't seen you laugh in awhile. I was worried." she closed the door behind her and sat down next to him against the wall. For a moment, neither of them said a thing. "Um...so summer vacation is almost here! Isn't that great?" she looked over at the cat who didn't seem happy about it at all. "Kyo-kun...?" his expressing wasn't full of energy as it usually was and his eyes were dull as if he had given up hope. He looked away.

"Tohru?" he said plainly.

"Y-yes?" her eyes wide.

"I remember the day I met you..." he smiled a sad smile.

"On that day I had said I always wanted to be the cat from the zodiac but now...but now I want to be with the cat!"

"Tohru..."

"Kyo-kun...lately you've been so distant and I thought maybe you didn't like me anymore..."

"I would never feel that way!" he yelled suddenly and was surprised at himself. "I mean-" he let out a sigh.

"Sometimes I'm afraid that one day you'll just disappear and that makes me..." tears began to well up in her eyes as she tried to hold them back but still she looked over to Kyo and gave him that smile. "Kyo-kun...I don't ever want you to disappear..." she said through her tears.

"Tohru... when the school year comes to an end... Akito will..." Kyo's eyes also began to tear up. "I'm afraid I won't be around after that..." Tohru covered her mouth with her hands and the tears left red streaks in their wake. "Tohru...I want you to smile for me. I want to remember you with that smile." that smile was full of hope and love and forgiveness as if everything were okay. Kyo wanted to cling to that.

"Kyo-kun..." she blushed. "I love you."

A tear slid down Kyo's face but he smiled. That hope that he had lost was reborn at that moment and it was because this angel loved him. "I love you too." and without thinking he wrapped an arm around her. Tohru then threw her arms around Kyo and in a few seconds she was holding an orange cat.

"I'm so sorry!" she panicked once again but the cat only smiled and then laughed through silent sobs. Tohru did the same and tried to wipe away the tears only for them to come right back. Why they were laughing they didn't know. But somehow they were, if even just a little, happy.

When they felt they couldn't cry anymore and they were tired from laughing they sat together with Kyo on Tohru's lap as a cat. They talked about their lives and times they spent together. They smiled only to cover up the heartache that lingered in the air.

Kyo turned back into a person and put on some clothes while Tohru covered her eyes but still her face was as red as a tomato. He sat down beside her when he was done and once again they didn't say anything for a long time until Kyo broke the silence. "Tohru, let's go." Tohru stared at him.

"Go? Go where?"

"I don't know. But I can't just sit around anymore while my time runs out. I won't let Akito decide my fate anymore. You gave me my hope back. Maybe I knew from the beginning that I couldn't be saved from the curse-"

"No! I believe you can be saved! Kyo-kun, let's go find salvation!" Kyo knew that Tohru also harbored a curse from when she lost her mother but they had been relying on her to break their curse and not her own. Together they would both break their curses and knowing this put Kyo's and Tohru's heart at ease.

"Yes, let's go." Kyo and Tohru smiled at each other even though they were both terrified inside. They realized now that they were in love.

-To be continued-