The Puppet Master's Last Testament (Fruits Basket FanFiction)

Chapter 50: Interlude IV: Frostbitten

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Fruits Basket.

What does it take to set the Sohmas free after Akito's death?

A/N: I really like this interlude; I hope you enjoy it. (Chapter 50!) Oh, many of you guys recognized 'the single act of kindness' in the previous chapters. Niiice!

The Puppet Master's Last Testament

Chapter Fifty: Interlude IV: Frostbitten

Shigure sat down at the computer. He chewed on his lower lip, ruminating for a second. Nothing. She was gone. A month and fourteen days. Gone forever. He looked back on the last thing he had written, a passage that had came easily. Now, his head was muddled; his views about the world – distorted. He leaned back in the overly squeaky swivel chair, sighing deeply.

"Hey Ruhi! Look over there; do you see that cottage?"

Ruhi stumbled over a tree root to get to Ichiro. Luckily she didn't fall and scrape her knee, or it would have been bad. Blood was bad. She followed his tunnel of vision. Indeed, there was a cabin with soft, glowing windows. There was probably a sweet old lady reading by candlelight, drinking hot tea. Her eyes were misty.

"My little scatterbrained schoolgirl, let's see if she's got anything."

"No! We can't just go break in and alarm her. We can't just take things." It always started like this; a small battle of words. The logic-driven one versus the moral-obsessed one. The sunlight danced across her pale face. Her face reflected the harsh weather that had endured; the pain inside of her, and also her hope. She licked her parched, cracked lips. They had been walking for miles without water. No, there was water, it was all around them, in the form of snow, but they couldn't drink that, too cold. They couldn't even enjoy the beautiful scenery around them. They had to be watchful.

"Shut up. Stop being so worrisome. I'm merely checking, for tonight. And how do you know some woodsman with an ax doesn't live in there?"

He dropped their belongings in some brush before creeping toward the residence. He motioned for her to follow him. He inched toward the window, but tripped on an earthen pot. Out came something moist and chunky: cow manure.

"Oh lovely," he said sarcastically. He pulled her against the stone cottage when he heard the window creak open. "Who's out there?" called a woman's voice. It reminded Ruhi of her grandmother's honey-smooth voice. She erased any though of the past and focused on the task at hand: staying quiet. However, the bottom of Ruki's wet, mud-soaked shirt caught on something thorny and they couldn't exactly make a mad dash for the forest. Before anyone could say cow manure twice, an old woman appeared in front of the couple, arms akimbo.

"What are you doing on my property, knocking over my manure?" Ruhi was so scared that she failed to notice the humor in the woman's voice, and the sparkle in her eyes.

"No-nothing ma'am," Ichiro said in his innocently charming voice, "We were just passing through." His fingers fumbled the hem of his wool sweater. He looked shy.

"No one passes through here, dear. There's no marked path. If you're lost, you can be honest. I don't own a handgun or bear trap, and I'm not exactly strong enough to harm either of you."

Ichiro grinned, "You caught us."

Ruhi stared at him, bewildered. They had been avoiding humans for the past several weeks, and he had just told the woman their 'secret.' Ruhi held his two hands tightly in hers.

They sat on the wood chairs around a shaky wooden table, in the small main room. There were a few candles in the center of the table. They glowed, danced, intrigued. It was good to finally see some color; they had been surrounded by whites and grays for so long. The snow had engulfed the brown soil. The winter had stolen the trees of their leaves and fruits. "Do you have any belongings?"