She had screamed.
Akito had threatened and hurt and wept, all for the sake of that bond. Her contract. The promise that she would always be loved, that she would always mean something to them.
And now it was gone. The curse was broken. Now they were just fourteen people, with nothing remarkable connecting them but a name.
But. Maybe she would never know, but it was there, the omnipresent fine print to their happy ending.
Rin still woke screaming, inconsolable by all except for Haru, who could never rid himself of the guilt.
Yuki wore grey the day he was wed. Walking amongst the guests at the reception, he shuddered. No celebration should ever involve the colour black.
Tohru bought Kyo a watch, just after graduation. She knew he wanted to revel in the freedom, to have some outward physical sign of his liberation, but she couldn't take seeing the spark of panic in his eyes when he found his wrist bare, quickly replaced by relief, tinged with sadness.
Ayame never could handle the cold.
Mayu had accepted long ago that Hatori had his secrets, which he would never share. And maybe it was better that way.
Sometimes, Kureno's eyes told Uo that he was gone to a place that she would never understand. Sometimes her hands skimmed the scar on his back, and she heard it. The not-quite-pain. The barest intake of breath.
They were happy. Truly, they were. They were finally able to live.
But.
They would never be able to forget. The bond had marked them indelibly. They could never just blend into the world. They could not even blend in to the Sohmas, many though there were.
They would always walk carefully through even the thickest of crowds, remaining apart as much as they could. They would always be wary with strangers. They would always worry that at any time, all this could change.
And, just often enough to remind them, they would all feel the terrible emptiness they had felt that day. The feeling of loss.
So why did she cry?
She knew she had marked them irrevocably.
In a way, they would always belong to her.
Wasn't that what she wanted?
A/N: Why, hello! I hope to make this a collection of stories exploring something that has always fascinated me: what happened to the Sohmas, after the manga timeline had finished?
They are such a vibrant set of characters, and I feel that each is worth exploring, though I may carry a bit of a Tohru and Kyo bias, so you'll se more of them.
And! They won't all be this sad. I promise. They'll have their small bits of happiness.