Hope is still there.

Summary: Arisa Uotani has run away from her friends and family. But why?

After 15 years has gone by, Uotani decides to tell her friends the cold, hard truth.

But it will be harder then said. How will they react? Is there hope still? Will they reject her?

I don't own Uotani, Hanajima, Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, etc. But I love them all

/text/ - Character's inner voice

(Text) – My notes to you

Chapter 1: The accidental encounter and first secret.

A good-look man was walking down a road. Many people stopped to that a good look at him. Who can blame them?

He was a good-looking guy with bright orange hair. He was tall, athletic-looking and according to the girls, cool and still single. But he was too busying thinking to even notice the girls looking at him. His mind was traveling to a different time. To be exact, 15 years ago.

Flashback: Tohru ran inside the room in which Yuki was reading a book and Kyo was watching TV. "Sohma-kun! Kyo-kun! Something terrible has happen!" Kyo looked at her with disbelief and Yuki stared at her concerned face. "What is wrong, Honda-san?" "Yeah. What's the matter?" Tohru started to say something but she suddenly fainted. "TOHRU-KUN?" "HONDA-SAN?"

Yuki and Kyo ran forward to see if Tohru was okay. She had already landed on the soft floor so she was carefully placed on the sofa. Yuki looked at her face. "I wonder what was so terribly that it made her faint."

Kyo snorted. "Probably something about not finding the right ingredients for dinner." Yuki glared at him. "Don't even joke about that." "OH, what are you going to do about it?"

The doorbell rang while Yuki and Kyo were sneering at each other. "Yuki-kun! Kyo-kun!" Shigure was yelling from his room. He was working on his new novel and very busy (which is a surprise really.) "Can one of you guys get it? It's Saki-san!"

Yuki sighed and walked out of the room. Kyo snorted and sat on the ground, watching Tohru sleeping. /I wonder if…/ Yuki walked in with a gothic, sad girl. Saki Hanajima always dressed in dark clothes but her face was usually expressionless. But today her face was different. It was…sad. Yuki was concerned about this terrible thing that made Tohru faint and thought that the thing topic is making Hanajima cry. "Hana-chan, what happened today?" Hanajima started to cry and fell apart. "Ran…away…left…without…a trace." Kyo was shocked at Hana's sudden breakdown. This wasn't the Hana-chan he knew. Kyo grabbed her shoulders and shook her quickly. "What! What happened? Who ran away?" Yuki was sitting by Tohru and was very concerned. "Kyo. If you keep it up, Hana-san will faint, too." Kyo grinded his teeth but he knew Yuki was right. "You're right." Kyo released Hanajima and sat in front of her. She continued to cry but she told them what Tohru and she found out. "Uo-chan left without a trace. She disappeared with grace. She left nothing but a note saying 'I am leaving. Don't following me. And don't worry about me. I will see you again. I promise.' Here dad rushed over to us today and handed the note to us. Then he just ran away from us." Hanajima stopped crying. She felted waves of shock, confusion, sadness, and loneliness. Yuki was the first to recover from his thoughts.

"Why? Why did she run away? When she was a sophomore? So, what do we do? Wait? We can't just wait! We have to find her!" Kyo looked at Yuki and nodded. "Yes. We'll search day and night. We'll search forever. Either way, we must find her. FIND HER!" End of flashback.

/We never found her. We eventually gave up. / Kyo was now 30 years old and today was officially 15 years after her disappearance. /Feh! Why am I still thinking about this? I said like I am regretting myself. I might as well have my memory suppressed years ago. Besides, I should be glad that Akito-san let me have the day as a break from that horrible place. /

Kyo was on his way to Yuki's new house. /Everyone is the Zodiac are married. Everyone but me, at least. Hiro-kun and Kisa-kun, Hatsuharu-kun with Rin-san, Ayame-san with Mine-san, Hatori-san with the great Mayuko-san, Ritsu-san with Mii-san, Kureno-san with Sakura-san, and Yuki-kun with Tohru-kun. Yuki-kun is lucky to have Akito-san let him live out of the main house and marry Tohru-kun. Even Shishou got married with Hanajima-san. Why me? My life is such a disaster. I thought Akito-san would die by now but no. It just happens to be that he is alive. /

WHAM! Kyo was knocked to the down. Kyo flipped back on his feet with grace and kicked the figure. "Who the hell are you and why did you knock into me?" The stranger dodged it with ease and laughed. "Whoa, old man! I have never seen old people like you move like me!" The voice sounded so familiar that Kyo stood straight up and examined his attacker. "OLD? I tell you what, I am not old and…Yankee!" The orange-haired girl laughed. "You sound like a friend of mine, only he is in high school in America." The girl was good-looking with long, orange hair. She has red eyes, tall, and she had a slight accent in her Japanese. "Is that you Uotani?" She heard that and strike a karate pose. "How do you know my last name? I just met you and now you know my last name?" Kyo stepped towards her with confidence. "Because you are the splitting image of Arisa Uotani. How I am suppose to believe that you are not her? The only difference is your hair color and your eye color." The teen started to get pissed. "Okay, that does it!" The teen started to run towards Kyo and he was ready but somebody pulled on her shirt and she fell on her face.

BAM! "You're stupid sometimes, you know that?" /Huh/ Kyo looked at the stranger and was shocked at who it was. The teen groaned. "Okaa-san that hurt." The teen got up and faced her. "That old man knows my last name. And I was pissed at how he knew me of all of a sudden." "Era? He, who?" The Yankee's mom looked at Kyo and widens her eyes. "Carrot top?" Kyo replied. "Yankee?" Arisa Uotani was standing in front of Kyo. She is exactly the way she was 15 years ago except more mature looking, if you could believe that. "Is that really you, Kyo?" Kyo nodded. She turned towards her daughter. "Katoru, catch me." "Huh?" Arisa fainted and Katoru gasped and caught her with lightning reflexes. Kyo staggered forward. "Uotani!" Katoru looked at Kyo. "You! Help me get her into the car." Kyo nodded. "Here, I'll drive her to her friends' house." Katoru was confused. "Aren't you her friend, too?" Kyo looked away. "Yeah, but…" /I have no home. I can thank Akito for that. /

Kyo started to drive with out speaking to her anymore. /This kid is starting to scare me. Memories are starting to flood back. / Kyo stopped the car in front of a beautiful, 2 story home. "Kyo-kun! Welcome!" Kyo looked at a beautiful woman running out of the house with an apron on. "Hi, Tohru-kun." A young girl was running out of the house, too. "Kyo-sama! You're back!" Yumi Sohma was Yuki's and Tohru's child. She is 12 years old; she had Yuki's eyes and Tohru's hair. She is a very good fighter, cooker, and gardener. She is the middle school student council president and she is also a straight a student like Yuki was back then. Yuki followed her. He too looks handsome as ever. He still has his purple eyes and good looks. (Just imagine him older…Impossible. I think he will look the same.)

"What took so long, Kyo?" "I ran into an old friend." Yuki and Tohru were confused because all of his friends are their friends, too. Kyo stepped out of the car and whispered something to both Yuki and Tohru. Yuki's eyes widen with realization and nodded. Tohru's eyes, too, widen but with relief and happiness. "She is here? Oh, wow! It has been so long!" As Katoru stepped out of the car, carrying her mom, Yuki offered to help her. "Here, I will carry Uo-chan inside for you." Katoru looked at the handsome guy and blushed. "Thanks." Tohru saw the fainted Uotani and ran to Uotani's side all worried. "Is she alright? Had did she faint? Do we need to call Hatori-san?"

Kyo shook his head. "No, don't call him. She fainted when she saw me. After 15 years, why did she come back all of a sudden?" Yumi ran inside to get blankets for Uotani. Yuki looked at Kyo. /I bet that…/ Katoru was wondering about the same thing. /Why did Okaa-san make us go on a trip to Japan? It does make some memories some back. / Ignored that thought, Katoru ran to Tohru. "Is she alright?" She watched Yuki gently lay her down on the sofa while Yumi placed a pillow behind her head and laying a blanket on her. "Hai. She will be fine."

Kyo ignored the group and walked outside to the back porch and sat down. Katoru asked if Tohru was her Okaa-san's friend in high school. Tohru nodded. "Yes. She was my best friend in high school, you know. You look like her except…" Katoru nodded and Yuki looked at her. /Like Kyo…/ Tohru knew where this was going. She decided that this was a matter for Yuki and Kyo only so she kept quiet. "Everyone says that my hair is a weird color and my eyes are abnormal. I was violent, too. They say I am cursed. I didn't believe for one minute!" Katoru looked at Tohru, Yuki, and Yumi. "But I was cursed! I discovered it after my 5th birthday"

Yuki's eyes widen while Tohru decided to usher Yumi to her room for a nap. Yumi agreed without hesitation and left the living room. /Also usually, my parents don't believe that I am old enough to listen to adult stuff. Hello, I know where this is going. I feel her pain. I am in the same situation. /

Kyo heard her say those words, walked in, and sat down. "Cursed? How do you know? Are you sure that you are not assuming things?" She glared at him and nodded. "Yeah. Here let me show you." Tohru was confused. "Show us? How?" Katoru sighed and hugged Kyo. Kyo went "Gak!" while both Yuki and Tohru gasped. And Kyo closed his eyes, waiting for a great POOF! But he didn't transform. Katoru backed away.

"Hmm, that is weird. Usually, something strange happens." Yuki was curious. "What strange thing?" Kyo was angry. "You can of given me a heart attack, woman!" Kyo held his hand over his heart like it was about to burst. Tohru calmed Kyo down. Yuki was getting an idea of this thing that she was talking about. "Katoru." "Hai?" Yuki took a deep breathe and sighed. Kyo and Tohru can tell that this is a big, difficult question.

Yuki at Katoru directly in the eye. "Are you cursed with the Cat spirit?" Katoru widen her eyes. She removed her glaze and looked down. Kyo was shocked to see the answer and Tohru was too. "Hai. I am cursed with the zodiac animal, the vengeful cat spirit."