Epilogue- Chapter 4

"Hm?" Kyo stumbled upon a book that lay in Shigure's seat at the living room table. The book title read, "The start of Motherhood." The cat stared at the book for a moment until a certain writer took the book away from his hand.

"Ah! There it is!" Shigure had a smile on his face. He looked at the gaping orange head for a moment before he turned his back to the teen and started to walk back to where he came from, his room.

"What's with the book?" The dog suddenly heard the cat say. He turned his head to see the teen.

"I'm a writer, you know," Shigure paused to turn his head forward and chant, "research! Research!" Kyo's hair stood on end as his eye twitched. The cat let out a breath and noted that his question was a one-time thing and he wasn't going to do that again.

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As the dog closed his bedroom door, his smile turned into a soft smile.

"…I guess I don't need this anymore." Shigure put the book he took from Kyo back into its place in his bookshelf. When the novelist sat in his desk seat, he let out a breath and looked at his computer screen. The tapping of the keyboard was heard in the silent room. A gentle breeze blew through the open door that led into the dog's garden, moving a few bangs that hung from the writer's head. Brown eyes stared intently at the glaring white light as the eyes watched the black letters appear on the screen. In the background, black, shiny, eyes watched Shigure work at his desk. A pink tongue slid across an upper fuzzy white lip then was gone a second later; it slipped back between two fuzzy white lips. White ears perked up when the tapping of the keys paused for a second. A white, strong tail violently moved left to right as four white paws moved eagerly to go forward. When the clock on the wooden wall showed a minute had passed, opaque white nails clawed the wooden floor and the jingle of bells that hung around a rough furred neck cut the heavy pregnant silence.

"Ah!" Shigure gasped when something strong and heavy pushed itself between his lifted arms and his lap.

"Woof!" A pure white medium sized dog with bells stringed around his neck barked once as he lay in the novelist's lap. Shigure could feel the fast rising and falling of the dog's chest on his thighs and right ankle as the white dog's pink tongue hung out of his mouth.

"You know, your owner is going to find out that you have gone into a stranger's house soon." The writer said as he laid back into his chair, deciding to take a break sincec the dog is in his lap and all.

"Woof!" The dog answered.

"Well, you better go before he/she worries about you." Shigure kindly smiled as he patted the dog's head. The dog just continued to lie there, not going to leave anytime soon.

"Alright then, suit yourself. You'll be uncomfortable, if you don't mind." The writer leaned over so his hands reached the keyboard again and began to type. As he leaned over, his stomach pressed against the dog's side, making the writer's body slightly bounce back and forth. Shigure sighed after a moment as he sat back in his chair again, slightly annoyed. He looked down at the dog as he raised his eyebrow. The dog continued to pant, seeming that the writer leaning on him didn't happen at all.

"Ring! Ring!" The phone on Shigure's desk suddenly rang. Shigure leaned over the white dog again and picked up his phone before it rang the forth time.

"Hello? Shigure- hm?"

"Hah…Shigure…"An angry, raspy voice spoke on the other line. The novelist frowned when he heard a loud, hollow throwing-up sound in his ear then slowly smiled when the sound lessened.

"Ah, I see you're doing well, Ha'ri."

"…That's one way to put it…" Hatori gagged as he emptied the rest of his breakfast in his little trashcan that he held in his hand. A tinge of sadness pierced the dog's heart as he remembered the exciting but horrible feelings of the Experience, which his lover is experiencing right now. But happiness took over his thoughts as he remembered last week's conversation in the Main House.

"Akito, Hatori and I wish to have this child." I said as I had my head down in respect. Hatori was sitting a few feet behind me, watching Akito nonetheless. I was kneeling in front of Akito, who was sitting in a chair.

Akito didn't speak for a moment, "Heh, heh," he laughed, "So you're pregnant again, mutt?"

I gritted my teeth, "No, Akito, it's not me this time."

"Then who is it?" Akito wasn't laughing anymore.

"Hatori. Hatori's the one who's carrying our child." I heard Akito let out a long breath.

"You breeding mutt," Akito started through clenched teeth, then chuckled, "Heh, heh. Fine. I'll let you have your child, since you asked me so nicely."

"Thank you, Akito."

"I wonder what's he planning…" Shigure thought.

"Shigure…" Hatori panted.

"Hm? What is it, Ha'ri?"

"You did this to me."

"Now, now. We're both guys."

"…You got pregnant…"

"Now it's the other way around!" Shigure smiled.

"…It's my fault you got hurt…and we lost him…" The writer heard sobbing on the other line.

"Come on, don't cry now. We were given a second chance." Shigure said in a soft tone.

"…You're right." Hatori sniffled.

"Now, get some rest." Shigure instructed.

"Hm," The doctor agreed, "I love you, Shigure." The dragon added.

"I love you too, Ha'ri. Have a good morning's rest."

"Click." The other line ended. The novelist put the phone he was holding back on the machine. Shigure sat back in his chair again and ran his fingers through the rough fur of the dog.

"Woof!" The white dog suddenly backed out of Shigure's lap then ran out the door he came in from.

"Ah! So you're leaving me now?" The writer called after the dog. The black haired watched the dog run until he didn't see the white flash of fur anymore then smiled as he closed his eyes.

"Now then, back to work!" Brown eyes flashed and the tapping of the keyboard was heard in the quiet room once again.

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3 years later…

"Mama! Papa! Wook! A wock!" A black haired, greenish-brown eyed girl named Abby exclaimed as she held a river rock in the air to show her parents. The three of them were in the writer's garden.

"Ah, yes, very smooth." Shigure smiled as he touched the river rock. Then their little girl was off again, looking for more rocks in the garden.

Hatori watched their little girl play with a soft smile on his lips, "Do you think Akito knew beforehand that our child was going to be born without the zodiac curse burdening her?"

"Well, you know as well as I do that there can't be another dog or another dragon born when there's already a dog or a dragon in the world. And anyways, all the zodiac animals were reunited with their master and the curses is finally narrowing down to a small amount of people, getting smaller still." The writer exclaimed.

Hatori's smile widened when he saw their little girl run toward then again, "Yes, a great relief to all of us."

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Author's note: Augh! Hatori OOC-ness! Anyways, Hatori is three months along (just like how Shigure started out! :P) The dog was just there to make Shigure smile and to give Shigure company. Good doggy! Well, it's finally finished. Hope you had fun reading this story, and reviewing it!