Fruits Basket: Give me wings

Final Chapter

Hey guys. The time has come- it's the last chapter. I'd just like to say a massive thank you to anyone who has read all the way up to this point; you guys are amazing and I'm grateful for the support. 

You may notice a couple of bits from voume 22 of the manga that I used, too. I don't own any of that, all is owned by the manga-ka, but it seemed to fit well with the chapter. I meant it to be disjointed slightly, for dramatic effect and all.

Anyway, please enjoy and let me know your thoughts :)  There will be epilogues, too!

Final chapter- The end

“A part of you has grown in me, together forever we shall be, never apart, maybe in distance, but not in the heart.”

Haruhi’s mind had been separated from her body. She was sat in maybe the fourth row back, Tohru’s arm around her, shielding her from, possibly, herself.

Tsuneo was stood in the row behind, next to Hiro. With the same blank look on both their faces, their resemblance was made more obvious. He wore a western suit and Haruhi suddenly realised what a man he looked. She suddenly felt a gush of affection inside for the man behind her. She was lucky to have him with her through all of this. She had known she was lucky from that very first bewildering day.

Her eyes surveyed the group of people stood in the building. Even the servants from the main house were present. In the front row was Shigure, Kureno, and a strange black-haired, slightly old woman who looked curiously like Akito. She also had the same cold stare, and seemed not to care very much about the reason why everyone was gathered. Shigure glanced at her, appearing very uncomfortable. Haku was with his parents, Raiden, Naoko, Yuki and a nervous-looking Machi. Haku still had purple circles under his eyes; he gave a characteristic hacking cough, and Raiden patted him on the back.

“And now, we have some words from the young people… I believe the young lady Haruhi will say a few words.” The coroner spoke softly.

“Up you go,” Tohru whispered.

Haruhi nodded.

The platform was much too high.

“Akito was… Something beyond words to us,” she began. She felt like her soul was adrift in oceans of madness, peering down, watching her mouth move up and down as she spoke the words she truly felt. “There have been many times in my life where I’ve hated, feared, cried and wished to end it all. Maybe refusing to eat anything, deliberately making a rude comment or making a run for it. Any of them would knock me down hard. But, as this past year has taught me, I shouldn’t have taken any of that for granted. We all shouldn’t have. We should have looked at the bigger picture and considered that there was someone hurting deeply inside that fragile body. Akito needed us all, and although we separated once, that parting was wrong because we all needed each other. She’s gone now, our deity has passed on, but her soul lingers and it’s our job to put things right again. The way things were supposed to end last time.

Akito- No matter how high the walls were, we were supposed to surpass them together. Hey, we had a promise… right? But thank you, friend. Akito, you can sleep easy now; we can all walk on our own. We were guided from the beginning, and now you’re no longer here with us, we have to find ways to carry on without you. I wanted to stay awake… and now, looking back, I kind of wish we had been given more time together. There were faults on both sides. Akito shouldn't have been blamed for everything.”

Haruhi stepped down from the platform, and tried her best to smile. Then, a grin spread across her face. “The years might have been hard, but they are what made me who I am. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Akito!”