Everything had happened so fast. Souhei's proposal was certainly unexpected, but very much welcome. I was so happy, and it felt as though I'd found a part of myself I'd been missing for such a long time. Perhaps the most foreign part of all this was when I felt Souhei's hand gently start to rub my ear. Without even thinking about it, I tilted my head and leaned into his hand. No wonder dogs enjoy it so much when someone rubs their ears. It was a little embarrassing. "Well, as unexpected as this is," my mom said, "It's also something I've been planning for. Yuki, I've been saving up a little of my money from each paycheck, patiently waiting for the day you'd find the right man. I've got plenty of money for you to have the wedding you want, big or small."
"Thanks, Mom, but I don't think I want a big wedding. Who's to say I won't get overwhelmed and turn into a wolf again if there's such a big crowd?"
"Gotta say, I agree," Souhei said, helping me back to my feet. "I'm glad to know she can control it, but I know better than anyone what can happen if she starts to get too nervous. How about just a small wedding back at your place? Yuki grew up as part of that community. Did you tell me you thought of them as family?" He turned to me as he asked his question.
"Mm-hmm. They were our family growing up. Maybe not close family, but I'd still say they were a family indeed. He might have been rather gruff, but I thought of Mr. Nirosaki as my own grandfather. In a way, he took Mom under his wing like a dad and taught her the skills she needed so we could make it out there in the country."
"Mmm. Well, he didn't teach me much past farming, but yeah, even though he didn't want us to know, he was working with the others of his family, in that community, to help us out in almost anyway he could. I learned pretty quickly that we were all in it together. We all helped each other out. Help someone out, think they owe you a favor, then someone else helps you out, then someone helps them. After a while, you completely lose track of who owes who, but it doesn't matter." She clapped her hands once, gathering her thoughts. "Anyway, I don't mean to ramble. I'll stay here while we make the arrangements, and I'll get in touch with the Nirosaki family and we'll get things started on that end. It may be a small wedding, but there are still some things we need to do, like setting a date and time, inviting the small guest list, getting you a dress, Yuki, and a suit for you, Souhei." She seemed to be getting more and more excited as she talked about it. "Your dad and I could never afford a ceremony, but what matters most is your hearts."
"We could have the biggest wedding in the world, or just a kiss between the two of us, and it'd be good for me," Souhei said. "Say, Mom. Oh, uh...should I wait to call you Mom?"
My mom let out an amused laugh with a brilliant smile on her face. "I don't mind, Souhei. You're joining my family, after all. What's on your mind?"
"Ah right. Yeah, should have guessed that. Anyway, you work at the nature preserve right? You find out anything about the Honshu wolves? Other than the fact that, aside from Yuki and her brother, they're extinct."
She sighed a bit as she took her seat. "Sadly no. They don't have a whole lot of information. I did get some questions answered by Yuki's father. Why? What do you want to know?"
"We wanted to know if there are any places in the world where the return of the Honshu wolf would be welcomed," I said, smiling a bit as I realized where Souhei was going with this. "It came up in conversation the other day. Souhei said it sounded like a good dream to follow. Finding a place where I, or rather we, can live peacefully, with both my human and wolf blood, and not having to hide it all the time. A place where they would not only accept someone like me, but welcome it."
"That...That's going to be a difficult dream, Yuki, but I believe if anyone can do it, you can. It's just like your father said the day you were born. You can be anything. If you want to be both human and wolf, and you can find a place where people will accept it, then I want you to go for it." She chuckled a bit as she saw Souhei start rubbing my wolf ear again. "And it looks like you'll have someone to help you every step of the way."
"Our first priority at the moment should be the wedding," Souhei said. "After that, we can look forward to this, and work to make it happen."
"Just wait until I tell Shino about this. I know she's going to tease me, but let her tease. I don't mind it," I said, leaning into Souhei's hand. "Mmmm, can you keep doing that? I know it's weird, getting my wolf ears rubbed like this, but it feels nice."
"Should I leave you two alone?" My mom chuckled a bit as she watched the two of us. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Glad to see you enjoying your wolf side, Yuki. I'm just glad you're still around. I know he's where he belongs, in his place in the wild, but I still miss Ame."
"Oh yeah. You didn't tell me that story yet, Yuki. What happened with your brother?" Souhei looked over as we resumed our meals.
"Well, early in our lives, I turned into a wolf all the time. Ame on the other hand wasn't excited about his wolf blood, especially reading all those kids books where the wolf is the villain."
"Mmm. He almost seemed disappointed in it," my mom said. "He even told me he didn't want to be a wolf."
"As time went on, though, I wanted to go to school, and fit in with the other girls. That meant I had to put my wolf in a cage so to speak. Ame on the other hand started to feel the call of his wolf blood more and more strongly starting one winter when he caught a bird. He tripped over his scarf and fell in the stream, and the current made him smack his head on a rock. I caught up to him and jumped in to pull him out. He...didn't even remember falling in, but he did remember catching that bird, and from then, he began to love his wolf blood more and more until that day when he decided to leave."
"He stood up on that hilltop, and when I heard that howl, all that confidence behind it, I knew he was where he belonged, even if I knew it meant I would probably never get to see him again." A single tear appeared in Mom's eye as she recounted that story, but the smile never left her face. "I always hoped that he'd at least come back to the house once in a while, but in all this time, I've not seen him once. I still hear his howl on occasion though, and I know he's still up there in those mountains. It does make me wonder if he'd come home if he heard a howl from a member of his pack. From you, Yuki."
"Well, I'm sure I can't howl like he can, but when we're back at the old house, I'll give it a try."
Souhei volunteered to clean the dishes after we finished dinner, which gave Mom and I the time to sit down and work on wedding plans. Even then with the ring on my human finger, it almost didn't feel real. "Well, I'll tell you one thing we need to figure out. How I'm going to get the wedding ring to stay on when I turn into a wolf. My paws and my fingers aren't exactly the same size."
"I was thinking the same thing, and I might have an answer," Mom said as she took my hand. She closed her fingers around my wrists, then looked me in the eye. "All right. Yuki, I want you to turn into a wolf for me. All the way." She kept her hand on my wrist even as I changed. She kept her hand closed to the same size, wanting to keep the measurement. Once I was completely a wolf, she slid her hand down, her fingers catching on my paw. "Uh-huh. Just as I thought. A ring won't fit, but a bracelet might. It'll be a little loose on your leg as a wolf, but it wouldn't just fall off."
"Hmm. We should give it a try with a regular bracelet before we commit to making a wedding band out of it," I said, a little unsure it would actually fit that well.
"Well of course. I wasn't planning to dive right in without testing it. Come on, Yuki. You know me better than that. Tomorrow we'll get you fitted for a bracelet, and we'll test it out. I'll cover all the costs, so don't even worry."
"Well, don't count Souhei out. We have to match, after all." I looked towards the kitchen, hearing Souhei finishng up the dishes. "I'm going to call Shino and tell her the good news. Hey Souhei, you wanna be on speaker for that?"
"What, you think I'm gonna miss out on that?" He came walking towards the living room, drying his hands. "Go on, call her up." I almost felt myself crack up giggling as I dialed the number and put in on speaker.
"Hey, Yuki. What's up?" Shino's voice was a perky and friendly as ever, one of the things I always admired about her, even if she did like to tease me quite often.
"Hi Shino. You sitting down, because I've got some news that's going to knock you on your rear if you aren't."
"Oh really? Let me guess...you won a new car in some sort of giveaway?"
"Oh, it's a bit bigger than that," Souhei said, chuckling as he sat beside me.
"Huh? Oh, hey there, Souhei. Still getting used to you living with Yuki. So, I'm on speaker, am I? This better not be some sort of prank." She clicked her tongue, presumably wagging her finger at the phone. "You know that's not at all like you, Yuki."
"It's no prank, I'm sure of that," Mom said, laughing a little. "It's big enough I had to come out here."
"Yuki, is that your mom? What's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Let's stop teasing her guys." I chuckled a bit, looking back to the phone. "Why don't I let Souhei tell you?"
"Well, Shino, you know Yuki and I have been dating a while, and I asked her to marry me."
When she heard this, Shino started cracking up laughing. "You guys, you think you're going to fool me that easily? You really brought you mom all this way just for a prank call?"
"It's no prank, Shino. I brought my mom here to meet Souhei and tell her about him moving in. We were sitting down to dinner and he pulled out a ring to propose."
"She's not lying, Shino," my mom said. "I raised her better than to lie about something like that."
"So, Yuki...and Souhei...really are getting married?" There was a moment of silence before I heard Shino squeal over the phone. "Yuki! That's so exciting! When is it going to be? And where? You better have been planning to invite me!"
"Easy, Shino. Easy! Don't scream our ears off. Of course I want you to be there, but not just as a guest. I want you to be my maid of honor. You've been one of my best friends all these years, even longer than Souhei."
"Funny. I thought I'd always be your best friend, but now you've gone and found an even better one. Even then, I'm still so happy for you. Maybe I should start dating some too. Can't meet Mr. Right if I don't put myself out there." She sighed a bit. "In all seriousness, congratulations, Yuki. Souhei, too. If you need my help getting things arranged for the wedding, you feel free to call me."
"Thanks Shino. We haven't worked out when it'll be yet, but we know for sure it'll be back at the old house in the country. The people there are like family to Mom and me. I wonder how Grandpa Nirosaki will react. He was always a gruff one, never really letting his emotions show. We'll see if that stone mask cracks when he learns about this."
"Oh, I doubt he'll stay dry-eyed about this," my mom said, laughing a bit. "I can picture it now. That old man acts all tough, but he's a big soft soul when you get right down to it. Anyway, Shino, we're going to get Souhei and Yuki fitted for bracelets tomorrow."
"Bracelets? Well that's non-traditional, but hey, I'm not going to judge. Whatever makes you feel like you. What do you need me to do?"
"Well, I'm hoping to keep the ceremony small. Just you, the family, and the people back at Mom's home. Mom's been saving up for this, and I'd feel bad if we went too over the top."
"All right, all right. Just let me know if there's anything else you need."
As we hung up on the call, Mom let out a yawn. "I know it's kind of early, but I think I'm going to take a nap. It was kind of a long trip."
"Yeah, that's not a problem. Let me get you a pillow and pull the couch out."
"Hey, no need to make a fuss. The couch is comfy enough just like this." She laid down on the couch, resting her head on one of the throw pillows.
"Well, if you're sure." All the excitement of the day had drained her. True, we were in the middle of planning the wedding, but there was no rush.
I stepped outside with Souhei, looking out towards the sun starting to sink over the mountains. "We're really doing this. I won't lie, Souhei, I'm a bit nervous. I know I want to be with you, but even then."
"I'm pretty sure that's natural, Yuki. It's a big commitment. I'm nervous too, but I meant what I said. I'll stand by you." His arms were strong, yet gentle as he pulled me into a hug, looking into my eyes. "Don't be afraid to tell me how you feel, about anything. I'm not expecting things to be perfect, but I know whatever problems come up, we won't get anywhere if we don't talk about them and work through them. I'm ready for this, Yuki, and I hope you are too."
Hearing his words, they were greatly reassuring. Even though he was optimistic, he was also realistic. "If you'd told me everything would be perfect, I think I would have given you back your ring, Souhei. The same applies for you. Be honest with me. And thank you. I don't feel quite so nervous now. I'm definitely excited though, and I...I really hope we can get Ame to come home. Even if it's just for a day, or even for an hour."
Souhei just nodded as we watched the sun start to sink down. It was always a splendid view. The higher skies started to go from a bright pink to a blue-purple that slowly crept over the pink and orange that painted the horizon. The low hanging clouds lit up like fires in the sky. It was the sort of sights you'd expect to find in painting hanging in galleries. No matter how many times I watched it, it was always a welcome sight. "Somewhere out there, Yuki. I'm sure of it, somewhere there's a place where you can just be you. A place you truly belong. Where we truly belong. I can already picture it. The people in the town will be friendly and kind, just like those your mother lives near. We'll build our own place, and build our own life there. We could watch the horizon slowly start to burn as the sun rose each morning, and watch as those embers fade away when the sun sets every night. People would know who you truly are, and they'd have no problem with it. They'll welcome us there with open arms."
"A place we belong. We could start our own garden, and maybe someday, we could even start our own family." I laughed a little as I looked up to him. "I'm sure we'd have lots of questions for Mom then, especially if the child carries both halves of my blood."
He scratched his head a bit as he chuckled. "Yeah. I wouldn't know how to raise a regular child." He looked down at his hands with a sigh. "But I guaranteed I'd be a better parent to them than either of mine. I wouldn't forget them, the way my mom did to me, or leave them the way my first dad did."
"Don't think about that, Souhei. I know someday, you'll be a great dad, but that's not going to be for quite a while. But you know what it sounds like to me?" I took his hands, looking into his eyes. "It sounds like you've found your dream. A dream we'll have to fight for together. Someday."
"Yeah. No rush. We're both young. We've got all the time in the world." I felt him lean in and kiss me on the forehead. "Thanks, Yuki. It's nice to have someone I can count on." As the sun finally set and the last traces of daylight were gone, Souhei was the next to yawn. "You know, I think your mom's got the right idea. It's been a long day with a lot of excitement. What say we head to bed early tonight?"
I gave a nod, getting to my feet. "I'm not sure how I'll be able to sleep."
"Just take some time and quiet your mind, and join me when you're ready. Don't be surprised if I've already conked out though. Good night, Yuki."
"Night, Souhei."