Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Resolutions ❯ Prologue: Dreams and Memories ( Prologue )

Disclaimer:

I don't own fruits basket.

Resolutions

by: carpetfibers

___________________________

Prologue: Dreams and Memories

___________________________

She was back in the hills again. These hills that she knew, but- they had no name. Nothing that she could remember. The grass beneath her feet felt fresh and harsh, brittle to the touch, yet inviting when firmly stepped. The scents filling her nostrils overwhelmed her senses- camellias, pine, and yet one more, a perfume so ordinary, yet unordinarily so. In this dream, she smelt it like it had been born into her skin.

The ocean.

She was there. In that place by the hills, by the sea, in a house with hand made windows and daily tilled earth. A place she knew in this dream to have been a home- when, or how, or even who, she knew not.

Her feet carried across the path, past the white washed stones that lined the cliff face and past the blue bells that she knew- yet remembered not- had been planted by her hands. The door came close and beneath her hands its face textured sensations of sand and chipping paint. Weathered away by wind and sea, the wood had begun its decay, and yet, its every splinter felt known.

But not remembered.

The knob turned, and she followed its path into a room with drawn windows and curtains made by the same hands that tended the blue blossoms from the garden. She traced over the words stitched into a framed embroidery. 'Home sweet home...' When, how, why? But dreams seldom answer, and hers never did.

She stepped forward, her feet moving across the wood paneled floor, scrubbed smooth by hands that she knew to be hers. Never mind not remembering when. Never mind not remembering. Her vision faded until all merged into one- the bed rolls, the corner table, the patch work table cloth, the bouquet of wildflowers taken from the cliffs- oh how the sea rages; it rages!- and all lost shape as her hands sought out to feel the faces of the ones she could not see. Soft lashes, warm breath, thin lips, taut skin- she knew! She knew!

But could not remember.

And so she sought to taste what could be felt. Her lips seeking those of the faceless. In the taste, breath that merged into her own, she found that there were two and not one. Two and not one. To each she cried and reached and drew into her being, for she knew, and this she remembered, that this was but a dream. And a dream passes as reality returns.

Voices followed, the faceless but with voices of their own. Calling her name from lips she knew so well, in tones she could cadence as she could breath, but the memory was not there. It vanished come morning. But this dream was living and she felt she could die in it.

Her hungry hands touched and caressed and felt the sensations that sight could not give her. Warm skin and cool. Thin and full. One strong, and one quick. One supple, and one firm. Her hands sought to create a memory for memory's sake, for her sake, for these faceless ones' sake. As her eyes could not see and as her ears could but imagine from memories not remembered and knowledge not known, as all this, she cried. The scream rose from within, a deep panting thing that shouted and sang and boomed and died. It fell as did the dream and she woke with eyes still blind and a darkness that came with shadows.

She was awake and all was gone once more.

"- wake up! Don't cry, it's alright. I'm right here. Just a dream, just a dream." The soothing voice broke into the dream and the scream caught in her throat. Tohru threw herself into her roommate's arms and let the fear and tears take over.

"Shh...Tohru-chan, it's okay now. Everything's just fine. The dream's gone, all gone. See?" Saori Atsumo tilted the face of the girl she had taken in as a sister toward the walls. Indeed the shadows had all disappeared, leaving behind only the welcoming desk with its wood polished drawers stuffed full of papers and a second hand dresser that was in the process of being stripped and refurnished. Just one of the many pet projects Tohru had taken up in her free time.

"Oh, Saori-chan, it was the same as last time. Everything felt so real, and I could almost remember it. I was so close-" But Saori hushed her again, smoothing down her hair reassuringly and whispering those comforting phrases that all seem to know in times of need.

"You shouldn't press it, Tohru-chan. The memories will return when you're ready for them. And," the older girl pulled away slightly, "if a house and a few plants scare you this much, then maybe it shouldn't be remembered."

Tohru bit down on her lip. She didn't like keeping things away from her friend, but something inside her told to not mention the two faceless men. Even common sense would tell her that, though. It really wouldn't do to tell her future sister-in-law that she was having dreams of kissing faceless men.

It really wouldn't do at all.

"Thank you, Saori-chan. I'm alright now." The tall girl stood up from the mahogany bed and nodded. She padded toward the door, only stopping briefly to shove her short black hair back under its bed cap. She knew by now that it was best to leave Tohru to her thoughts after one of her dreams.

Tohru fell back into her bed, burying her head into her feather pillow and wrapping her white down comforter tightly around her body. She knew that there'd be no more sleep this night.

If only she could remember; if only she could remember.

* * * *

Author's Notes:

Right, so it's finally up again. I've written out fairly far into the story; there remains only the last four chapters, however I'm always revising and reviewing. I hope the sequel lives up to your expectations. And yes, to allieve your worries, I won't be taking this down after only a few weeks up. Sorry about that...