Shizuru smiled brilliantly at the sable-haired girl, as Natsuki 'welcomed' her to her home. Shizuru opened her mouth to softly thank Natsuki for her welcome and taking care of Nao and Mikoto for her, when the door to the bedroom burst open and both young girls came spilling into the room.

"Shizuru!" Mikoto cried out happily, as she made a beeline for Shizuru's side. Nao walked at a more sedate pace, but the excitement at seeing Shizuru again was plain in her evergreen eyes.

"Hey, Shizuru. How are you feeling today?" Nao asked, as she came to stand slightly behind Natsuki's sitting form. Mikoto had run over to the other side of the bed and was leaning over Shizuru's chest, grinning happily down at the chestnut-haired girl's face. Shizuru returned the happy grin, and then pulling her hand free from Natsuki's, she reached up and affectionately ran her fingers through the dark-haired girl's bangs. Mikoto purred in soft pleasure as her golden eyes closed, and a serene expression crossed her face.

Natsuki and Nao shared an indulgent look between each other, at the two girls before them. During the short time that Nao and Mikoto had been in the Kuga household, they had both already formed a small bond with Natsuki. For Nao it was almost as if she had known Natsuki before, the two of them just seemed to click well together. And Mikoto was just so easygoing in general, that she and Natsuki were also very comfortable around each other.

The four young girls then all suddenly looked up and over to the door, as it once again opened to admit someone else into the room.

Shizuru felt her breath catch slightly, as she watched the woman who had such stunningly-striking look and who resembled Natsuki so much, enter the room. She walked with a slow, steadied grace with her long raven-black hair flowing down her back, and over the pastel-pink and white kimono that she wore beautifully. A smile was on her face as she came over to Shizuru's bed. Natsuki immediately rose from her chair, and allowed her mother to sit in it, as she gave a demure, "thank you" to her daughter.

Shizuru felt nervous in this amazing woman's presence. She reminded the chestnut-haired girl of her own mother in small and subtle ways. At least in ways that Shizuru could remember. She had lost her mother at the tender age of seven, so most of her memories of the woman who would laugh happily at the slightest things, and who had a gentle and soothing presence similar to Natsuki's mother, were faint and not always easy to remember.

"Hello again, Shizuru dear. You're looking much better than you were in the hospital when we last spoke. I knew the change in environment and continued rest would do you a world of good," Saeko said as she gave Shizuru a soft, motherly smile.

Shizuru blushed shyly and nodded as she replied back, "yes, thank you. I'm feeling much better now. I also want to thank you for taking care of my sisters while I was unable to. I swear to you that I'll repay all of your kindness once I'm able to freely move around again. And then Nao, Mikoto, and I will take our leave and no longer bother you and your kind family again." Shizuru's ruby-red eyes found Nao's lime-green and Mikoto's amber-coloured eyes, and the three of them nodded faintly in agreement with each other, at the plan to someday repay their hosts.

Natsuki and her mother shared a brief look of their own, as small smiles came to both their faces. Saeko turned back to Shizuru, took the prone girl's hand between both of her own, and looked at all three wayward girls briefly in turn, before once again settling her gaze on Shizuru with a soft smile.

"We've decided...my husband, daughter and I...to adopt the three of you into our family."

The silence that greeted this statement would have been comical to Natsuki, if she hadn't been looking at the expressions on the other three girl's faces. Stunned wouldn't even begin to describe it, Natsuki thought to herself, as she watched a myriad of emotions play out across the other girls' faces. Shizuru was the first to attempt talking but when she opened her mouth to do so, her lips moved but no actual words came out.

Nao sat down hard on the bottom edge of Shizuru's bed, being careful to not actually touch the brunette's bandaged leg. The redhead ran her fingers through her hair in a slightly-agitated motion, as she tried to process this news that Natsuki's mother had just hit them with. Mikoto was the quickest of the three to process and accept the news, and a blindingly-bright smile spread over the young girl's face. She rushed over to Natsuki's mother, threw her small arms around her neck in a firm hug, and cried out, "you're our new Mommy now!"

Saeko sat stunned for a second before an answering, brilliant smile covered her face and she returned Mikoto's hug one-handed, as her other continued to gently grasp the shaking honey-brunette's hand.

Shizuru looked up and into Saeko's shining emerald-green eyes, as tears came to hers and then spilled down her cheeks. Nao bit back a sniffle as she hurriedly wiped her hand under her nose, and turned her body so that no one could see the tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes.

They were being adopted.

Someone actually finally truly wanted them, and it was someone who seemed to genuinely care about their well-being. The three young girls were all filled with so many emotions, that it was going to take some time for them to fully process the wonderful news.

Saeko realized and understood this as she locked gazes with her daughter once again, and tilted her head slightly towards the door. Natsuki understood her mother's silent meaning, and both Kugas moved from Shizuru's bedside and walked over to the door, saying that they would be back later, so that the three girls could have a little time alone together.

As soon as the door closed quietly behind Natsuki and Saeko, Nao and Mikoto moved over to Shizuru's side. They all then fell into each others arms crying tears of joy, being as mindful as they could of Shizuru's injuries, as they held each other close.

They finally had a home to call their own.

~o~o~o~

"Now stay still my dear, while I comb out this knot. I did mention to you before, that you needed a small haircut," Saeko said with a light twinkle in her jade-green eyes, as she sat on the edge of Shizuru's bed. She lightly stroked a comb through Shizuru's honey-coloured locks, and snipped carefully with a small pair of scissors at any split ends she found.

It had been a full week since Saeko had broken the news that she and her family were adopting the three young girls. The paperwork for the adoption was already being swiftly processed, as the Kugas had a lot of influence and connections in many different areas and fields. There was however one very important stipulation made in the adoption proceedings, and it had been adamantly made by Saeko's husband, Ichiro Kuga.

He demanded that once Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto all turned 18 that they would no longer be considered 'Kugas', and would not be entitled to any further of the family's wealth. In fact, he didn't even want the three girls to be 'officially' adopted by his family. Ichiro made his wife change the terms of the 'adoption', so that the Kugas would only be considered the three girls 'legal guardians' and not actual 'parents'.

The way that Ichiro actually saw things, Shizuru should never have been in the way of his driver, to get hit by the family car in the first place. To him it would look terrible socially for one of his employees to have run over a young girl and then he, Ichiro Kuga of the elite and influential Kuga Conglomerate, to then leave her out on the streets to care for herself. So he had agreed to care for the three essentially homeless girls...mostly at his wife's very insistent urging...and partly because he did feel a slight twinge of responsibility for the injured girl and her small family. But he had only agreed to their care until the three girls turned 18, and then could be legally released back into the world on their own.

Saeko had explained all of this to the three young girls, after she had first told them that they were being 'adopted'. It broke her heart to have to explain that her husband had changed the terms of their adoption. But Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto were so eternally grateful to Saeko and her family for taking them in at all, that the three young girls were still very happy to have somewhere to call home and a new family. Even if it was only until they all turned 18. And considering the fact that Nao and Mikoto were a full two years younger than Shizuru, it meant that the three of them could all stay under the same roof of their 'adopted' family for those two extra years, until Nao and Mikoto were both also 18.

And Saeko promised them all that even after they all turned 18 and she was no longer 'legally' responsible for them, that they could all still count on her and Natsuki for absolutely anything that they ever needed.

Shizuru, Nao, and Mikoto had yet to meet Ichiro Kuga himself. He was off on a business trip in Mumbai, India and he wasn't scheduled to return home for several weeks.

Saeko had talked to the three girls about starting school with Natsuki, once Shizuru was back on her feet again. Considering the fact that they hadn't had much formal education in the last few years of their lives, Saeko decided to hire a private tutor for them all, to help them get a head-start on what they would need to know when they all started classes.

Miyu was a very strict, but not unkind private tutor. She taught all three girls what they would need to know, for the grades that they would all be entering into. They actually surprised Miyu quite a bit, with how intelligent they all were. They were all pretty fast learners and grasped onto concepts, ideas, and equations fairly quickly. Even Mikoto, whom Miyu had worried at first would be the slowest learner of the three. But even she excelled beyond Miyu's highest expectations, and the blue-haired woman told Saeko that her three young students, would be ready to start classes at Fuuka Academy, when she was finished tutoring them.

So the 6-8 weeks that Shizuru needed for a full recovery passed fairly quickly, with many new and wonderful memories made for them all. Saeko brought home crutches for Shizuru during her second week of recovery, so that the chestnut-haired girl could be a bit more mobile on her own.

Shizuru had some trouble getting used to them at first, and had to depend on Natsuki's caring touch to balance her around the Kuga's sprawling estate. Shizuru may or may not have wobbled more than she needed to on her crutches, which always inspired Natsuki to rush to her side, and gently slip her arms around the crimson-eyed girl's waist to keep her steady.

Finally the necessary weeks for Shizuru to make a full recovery passed, and crimson-eyed girl was finally able to have all her casts removed. Her leg and arm were fully healed, and she could now move them with only the smallest twinge of discomfort, which the doctor said would also eventually go away. Her fractured ribs had actually healed a week earlier, and Shizuru could finally do something that she had been kept away from, the entire time of her painful recovery. So when she was finally able to snap open the lid on her battered violin case, then pull out her treasured instrument and lovingly tuck it back under her chin, it was like welcoming back an old friend.

Shizuru nearly cried at the feelings unleashed within her, as she tenderly drew the bow across the violin strings, and the long-missed sounds of beautiful music once again caressed her ears.

Saeko brought a hand up to her lips, as the exquisite sounds of Shizuru's violin playing filled the piano room that she, Nao, Mikoto, and Natsuki all sat in listening to Shizuru work her musical magic.

Natsuki was brought back to that fateful day, what now seemed like a small lifetime ago, when she had stepped out of her limo and was serenaded by the honey-haired girl on a street corner.

Once Shizuru was finished playing, flushed a pretty pink from the mild exertion of playing with all her heart, she blushed even deeper and bowed shyly at the applause that she received from her small audience. Natsuki then stepped forward with the dazzling smile that always took Shizuru's breath away. The cobalt-haired girl then gently took Shizuru's hand, gave her a minute to place her violin lovingly back into its case, and then led Shizuru out to the estate's sprawling, hilly backyard. It was twilight outside with nighttime quickly approaching, but there was still enough light for the two girls to make their way up to what had become over the past few weeks, their own special place. It was beneath a huge tree, whose branches and leaves provided very ample shading during the daylight hours, and a small private cove during the quiet nighttime.

Shizuru and Natsuki lay side by side, their backs pressed up against the tree's broad trunk, with a soft wooly blanket tucked around them both, to ward off the mildly-cool nighttime air. They spent a couple of pleasurable hours together gazing up at the star-filled night sky, pointing out constellations to each other, and admiring the glowing moon and a stray shooting star or two...just feeling happy and comfortable in each others presence. They were trying to soak up as much personal, private time together as they possibly could.

Because the next day marked the start of Shizuru's first day of school.