FicWad

Three old men sat outside a bar, staring at the structure in the middle of central market plaza. It consisted of a platform with scaffolding big enough for two people to stand under. Or hang from. The ropes had yet to be added, but the men could already see the bodies swinging gently and the seething crowd watching in silence.

"So it's gonna be a hanging," one of the old-timers grunted. "You think the gov's going to come to watch this?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at the viewing balcony being constructed nearby.

"Hell, no," answered his equally grizzled companion from his mug of whiskey. "It's much too hot for the gov to come himself, and he knows it. If he steps outside that gate, the mob'll be on 'im in a tail's flick. He'll send a representative, for sure."

"Who? That old fart Sohma?"

"Likely."

They contemplated the shadowy outline of the wall. Through the curtain of rain, they could see the figures of the guards as they stood ready to pounce on any Outsider who dared attempt to set foot inside the Inner City. "This is bad," the third old man muttered. "They should've just let the two rats go. Gave 'em a pardon and all. This hanging'll only make things worse."

"The Inners're wantin' vengeance, I reckon."

"It's their own damn fault," put in a serving maid, who looked much too young for the world-weary expression on her face, as she came by with more whiskey and caught the tail end of the conversation. "They shoulda let the chieftain's son go. They shouldn't've killed those poor Ashari. All they wanted was a place to live in, and gods know this hellhole ain't much ta speak of. The Inners've always been such cold-hearted, money-grubbing bastards," she added angrily.

The old men blinked at her. "You better calm down, miss. Talk like that'll get you into trouble."

"I don't care," she retorted. "I'm not alone in this. We ain't gonna let the Inners walk all over-"

"Excuse me."

All four turned as one. A boy dressed all in black stood there, the hood of his coat thrown off to reveal a good-looking face topped with a shock of white and black hair. The three old men eyed him curiously, while the maid gave him a scornful once-over. "Whaddya want, punk?"

"Can you tell me how to get to central gate?"

Four pairs of eyes goggled at him. "What are you, some kind of moron?" the serving maid snapped. "You're in central market. Why the hell d'ya think they call it central market? Not that them guards'll let gangster scum like you in," she added with a smirk.

"Which direction is central gate?" the boy repeated.

The old men had been watching the boy's face, and one of them poked the maid in the arm. "Hush, miss," he hissed, then turned to the boy. "Beg your pardon for her rudeness. You take that street to the left, turn right at the corner then head down main street. It leads right up to central gate, you can't miss it."

"Thank you." The boy inclined his head graciously and walked off-

"Son! You're heading in the wrong direction!" the old man called out, but the boy was already too far away.

The maid sniffed. "Cute, but what an idiot. Why'd you make me hush, anyway?"

"Because there's somethin' strange about him. He ain't what he seems to be," the old man replied. "When you get to be our age, you can tell these things."

The maid shrugged and moved away. "Things sure are getting pretty rocky 'round here, huh?" one of the old men mumbled, while his companions nodded into their whiskey.

- - *

Tohru walked down the street, the rain pattering on her umbrella serving as counterpoint to the tramping of her boots on the wet pavement. The wind had picked up again, making her cloak flap around her legs. She felt her cheeks pinkening from the cold, felt the raindrops against her skin-and wondered again why instead of feeling exhilarated by the sensations, she felt like huddling as far away from the rain as possible. She shivered and clutched her shopping bag tighter, and tried to distract herself by concentrating on her surroundings.

As a child, she'd loved taking long walks with her mother. She'd thought then that all of Mizaka looked like this, all elegant buildings, manicured gardens, cobbled streets and pretty shops. It had come as a shock to learn that so much beauty could hide so much ugliness. Her mother had often spoken about the Outer City, of course, but nothing prepared her for her first sight of the world beyond the wall. Dirty, crowded, and smelly and filled with people-cruel people, rough-mannered people, people who thrived in a place where anger and hopelessness carved lines into one's face before time could do the job. Life in the Inner City was genteel and peaceful. Life Outside meant a constant struggle just to make it till next week.

Tohru had never had to live Outside, but her mother had. Her mother was an Outsider; her people were regarded as the lowest of the low, and her mother had had to learn how to survive as quickly as possible. Kyouko did more than survive. She'd fought her way up and pulled herself out of the gutter, and became in the process a legend in her own right.

Tohru sighed, reaching up to tangle her fingers around her charm necklace. It had been nearly a year now since her mother died, but Kyouko's spirit remained strong. Sometimes, Tohru could almost see her, arms outstretched in a welcoming embrace, a wide grin on her face. Sometimes she thought she could hear her voice, telling her not to be afraid, to never give up no matter what.

The important thing is to choose to live, her mother had once told her. No matter how bad things seem to be, you, Tohru, are alive /now/. No one else in this world can live as Tohru can. Take your time, do things slowly your own way, because the life you're living has a purpose. Who knows? Someday, someone might just learn to choose life because you have.

She'd thought then how easy it was to follow her mother's advice and look forward to each day. The years had taught her somewhat differently, but even during those times after her mother's death when she came close to giving up, she'd still take comfort in the beauty of the city. Then, of course, she'd met the Sohmas. She was perfectly happy with her life.

Well, she had missed her daily walks. But as she drew closer to the park, her footsteps slowed as she gazed upon the heart of the Inner City for the first time in weeks.

"Yaori help us," she breathed. She remembered the marches, of course. Hundreds of people gathered in the streets and picketed the governor's palace to protest the closing of the gates. That was weeks ago, before the storms had driven everyone indoors, apparently without giving them a chance to clean up. Streamers hung down from lamp posts and trees. The ground was littered with leaves and branches, crumpled bits of paper and hand-sized rocks that looked out of place in the smoothly cobbled streets. More posters covered the walls, many of them rendered unreadable by the rain. Few people were out and about, and Tohru managed to cross the street with ease, and she stood at the edge of the park, dismayed. "Mother, what's happened to this place?"

The wind blew a soggy scrap of paper right at her feet. She picked it up, and found herself gazing down at a crude, pencil-drawn sketch of a young-looking face with striking, slanted eyes and lips fixed in a frown. Angry words were written at the edges of the sheet: "Free the prince!" She blinked at the face, recognizing him at last. "So this is the Ashari chieftain's son," she murmured. "The one the rebels say we kidnapped."

Tohru.

The sound of her name drifted into her awareness. She raised her head, her eyes widening at the red butterfly fluttering in front of her, its graceful movements hampered by neither wind nor rain. The butterfly glowed brightly against the gray sky, and as it flew it traced a shimmering path of light in the air. Tohru stared at it, mesmerized. /Akai Chou/, /s/he thought dreamily. Is this real?

Tohru.

A figure was standing not far away, black cape rippling, black hair streaming in the wind. Tohru found herself looking straight into inscrutable dark eyes. The girl's gaze seemed to pierce the distance, and although Tohru had no idea what she was searching for, she met the disconcerting stare head on. The girl's lips flickered in a small smile. Tohru stepped forward, but a hand fell on her shoulder, making her jump.

"Oi, Tohru! What're you doing standing around in the rain?"

A tall girl beamed down at her, blue eyes behind the fall of blond hair bright with curiosity. She was dressed as usual in her gangster outfit: a man's coat, silver chains around her neck, boots that could crush an unsuspecting foot. Or shin. Or jaw. She held nothing more lethal than an empty delivery bag and an umbrella, but Tohru knew that concealed somewhere in the folds of that coat was her ever-present lead pipe. "U-Uo-chan?" she stammered.

Arisa Uotani shook her head with fond exasperation. "Typical Tohru. Dreaming on her feet again. Why're you out here, anyway? I know the café's closed so it can't be work."

"I was just-" She stopped. "There was a girl standing right there. Didn't you see her? And the butterfly, too."

"Girl? Butterfly?" Arisa glanced around. "There's nobody in this park but us."

"But she was-" Tohru trailed off. It was useless; both the girl and the butterfly had vanished. "I'm sorry. I guess I was dreaming on my feet."

Arisa shoved her hair back and glowered at the sky. "Shit. The wind's getting stronger. Come on, let's get out of here."

"What about you? What are you doing here?" Tohru asked, raising her voice over the rain.

"Oh, somebody at Council Hall had some grub delivered." Arisa lifted the bag to show her. "No rain's going stop those poor, overworked bastards from having their dumplings. But you haven't answered my question," she added, giving her friend a sidelong glance. "I'm surprised Shigure-san let you out of the house, what with all the stuff that's been going on."

Tohru flushed guiltily. "Actually, he didn't, but I needed a few things from your store, so I-I snuck out."

"Heeh?" Arisa cocked an eyebrow in amusement as she and Tohru crowded into the Uotani-san's bakery and grocer shop. Arisa's father, a portly, mustachioed man, looked up as they came in. "Those guys at Council Hall pay up?" he asked his daughter.

"Yeah." Arisa waved the money. "They know what I'd do to them if they didn't."

"Don't you be scaring the customers, girl," her father scolded her, but Arisa merely laughed. Tohru smiled as she watched the two. It seemed like an odd father-daughter relationship, but there had been a time when Arisa and her father barely spoke to each other at all. Arisa had once been a member of one of the gangs running wild in the Outer City until she broke away from them. She'd reconciled with her father since, and her reputation and extremely persuasive manner with her lead pipe pretty much ensured that nobody would be pilfering candies or piling up debts at Uotani-san's store anytime soon.

Uotani-san headed off to the backroom, admonishing his daughter to mind the store. Arisa made a face at his disappearing back. "Gods, there he goes again. Ever since he and his buddies got suckered into that reformist group, the old man's barely around. I ought to buy this store out from right under his nose." Tohru laughed, and Arisa grinned back. "All right, what're those things you need so badly you had to sneak around behind Shigure-san's back for them?"

As Tohru rattled off her list, Arisa moved about the shelves to fetch the items. "Here, I'll throw in some of that Castrian ink Shigure-san likes. He's always coming around here for it. And tell Momiji-kun sorry but we're out of rabbit pellets. I was supposed to go Outside to pick up the delivery, but all those new rules about gate passes are such a pain. And these storms aren't helping. I mean, what the hell is wrong with this weather-"

"It's the end of a dream."

Arisa glanced at Tohru, but she was staring out the window, her eyes oddly unfocused. Tohru herself was unaware that she'd spoken. She'd happened to turn her head and there, standing across the street, seemingly oblivious to the wind and rain, was the black-haired girl. As Tohru met the dark-eyed gaze, she felt as if electric tremors were zipping across her brain, and she was swept along by the surge of power.

Tohru.

The whisper in her mind again. /What do you want? /she asked.

I've been waiting for you, Tohru. Will you come?

Come where? Who are you?

Instead of an answer, an image of a red butterfly glowing bright against the sky flashed in her mind. The butterfly melted into the image of a woman with sea-blue eyes and hair the color of the sunset. Tohru's heart twisted painfully. Mother.

Your people are waiting for you, Princess. Will you come?

P-Princess?! Tohru thought frantically, remembering Momiji and his nickname for her. I'm sorry. I don't understand. Please, how do you know my mother?

Will you come? The voice began to fade. The girl was walking away.

Wait! Tohru cried out. "Wait! Don't go!"

"Tohru!" A hand grabbed her shoulder, breaking her trance. Tohru shuddered and shot a wide-eyed gaze at an alarmed Arisa. "Uo-chan?" she rasped. "The girl in black, did you see her?"

"Tohru, I didn't see a damn thing," Arisa snapped, her temper prickling from sheer anxiety. "What's going on? You've been gawking at that window and babbling nonsense-"

Tohru drew back in surprise. "I was speaking? What did I say?"

"Something about the end of a dream. And 'the thirteenth has come,' whatever that means. And you seemed about to tear your necklace right off." With a start, Tohru realized that she'd been gripping her charm necklace and quickly dropped her hand. "Tohru, are you okay?" Arisa went on in a much gentler tone. "You kept saying your mother's old nickname over and over again."

The Red Butterfly. "Akai...Chou."

"Yeah." Arisa held her hands tightly. "Tohru, I love you. Those three Sohma guys love you. You've been so brave and strong all these months, but we know you've been missing your mother. I mean, the gods knows I miss her too. But you don't have to keep it all to yourself. We're here to help you, you know."

Tohru smiled tremulously. "Thank you, but really, I'm fine. I have you and Shigure-san and Hatsuharu-kun and Momiji-kun. I do miss Mother, but that wasn't what I was-"

Will you come?

Her breath caught as her mind was filled with the image of the girl in black.

"Tohru?"

"I'm so sorry, Uo-chan. I have to go." Tohru hastily refastened her cloak and grabbed her umbrella, ignoring her friend's bewildered expression.

"Tohru, what's going on? Where're you going?"

Tohru paused at the doorway, then gave her friend a bright smile. "Somebody's waiting for me." And then she was gone.

"Who's waiting-Tohru, wait!" Arisa darted around the counter but at that moment, a group of youngsters tumbled through the door, looking as if they fully intended to wait out the rain. She ground her teeth then noticed a crumpled sheet of paper lying on the floor, where Tohru had apparently dropped it in her rush. She picked it up and stared at the unsmiling face of the bandit chief's missing son, then at the spot where Tohru had vanished round the corner. "What in hell is going on with that girl?" she grumbled.