Work Text:
Isuzu tried to avoid Tohru, because if she didn’t then the outcome would be inevitable. Tohru was a good person; kind to a fault, always giving herself for others. She was Isuzu’s greatest weakness, so Isuzu avoided her, because it was the safest thing to do. The hardest, but the safest.
“Isuzu-san!” Tohru came rushing at her like she always did, arms out-stretched, smile wide enough to split her face in two. She clung to Isuzu like she was the most important person in the world, and for a moment, in Tohru’s arms, Isuzu felt like she could be. Anyone who was loved this much by a woman this incredible had to be, surely, or at least the luckiest.
“I missed you.” Tohru squeezed her, nose buried in Isuzu’s now shoulder-length hair. She had been content to keep it short, but Tohru thought her ponytails were cute and Isuzu wanted to make Tohru happy.
That was the problem.
She avoided Tohru because the outcome was inevitable, because it was a fate decided as soon as she had given up and fallen into Tohru’s arms on that day in spring, many years ago now. As soon as their skin had touched, and Tohru had whispered sweet words into Isuzu’s hair, Isuzu had loved her. She had loved her more than her fragile heart could take; it broke with the intensity of it, but Tohru’s affection had pieced it back together, had made Isuzu whole again.
“Whatever.”
Even though Isuzu’s skin was flushed, she didn’t reciprocate the sentiment. Not aloud, at least; each moment away from Tohru was a torment that she could barely handle. Saying it wouldn’t do any good though. It would just complicate matters further, and since the curse broke Isuzu had settled happily into a simpler existence.
Tohru didn’t comment, just smiled her easy smile and entwined her fingers with Isuzu’s.
“Let’s go, Isuzu-san.”
Wherever you want, Tohru. I’ll follow you anywhere.
Isuzu didn’t speak, merely grunted a response, but her lips were turned up in a smile, her heart warm and happy now that it was beating next to Tohru. There were still things that Isuzu wanted, of course, but the bliss of solely being together was enough for now. Isuzu loved, and was loved, more so than she ever had been in her life. There was no way that she could ask for more. But when Tohru stole a secret glance, lip caught between anxious teeth and cheeks flushed with longing, Isuzu wondered if, when the time came, Tohru would be willing to give more. She hoped so. Her heart had broken so many times that the pieces barely fit together anymore. One more fracture and Isuzu might break completely.