Part Two:
Momiji paused outside the door of his home and stared up at the windows that were lit, upstairs. He sighed heavily as Andie placed her hand onto his shoulder.
"Are you all right?" she asked him.
"No" he shook his head, "But I have come this far right?" he smiled a little as he looked at her, "Can't give up now."
She smiled and nodded her head as he rang the doorbell. Momo came to the door to answer it, and immediately grinned widely when she saw him, forgetting completely about how he felt about hugs, and jumping into his arms embracing him tightly. The truth was, Momiji loved hugs as much as the next person, but when he had first gotten to know Momo he was still cursed as the Rabbit of the Zodiac, and it was difficult for him to get close that way, for obvious reasons. As she pulled away she practically jumped.
"Momiji. I am so glad that you came back" she replied, "I've missed you so much. And Miss Andie" she added to the girl who was standing next to him, "Papa will be glad to see you too."
"Speaking of which" Momiji began but he didn't need to finish, for Hideto Sohma had appeared at the front door with a gentle smile on his face, "Oh never mind. He's here."
"Hello Momiji" Hideto said to which his son nodded, then he turned to his daughter, "Momo. Why don't you go tell Mama that the company we were expecting has arrived. I want to talk to Momiji alone for a few moments."
"Okay Papa" she agreed and was about to run off but she stopped and turned to Momiji, "But you are staying for awhile right?"
"Oh yea" Momiji nodded with a grin, "Sure."
"Yea!" she cheered and then dashed off to the kitchen where her mother Naomi Sohma was cleaning up from dinner that night.
Hideto smiled again and then turned to Momiji as he welcomed them both into the house.
"Momiji" he began, "I know how difficult this is going to be for you, so my thought was since it was my idea in the first place, if you would allow me, I want to be the one to tell your mother."
"Are you sure?" Momiji asked with a bit of worry in his eyes.
"Absolutely I would feel a lot more comfortable doing it that way. Miss Sullivan, would you mind keeping Momo busy until then?"
"Of course not Mr. Sohma" Andie nodded encouragingly, "I would be happy to."
"Good" Hideto nodded as they arrived in the sitting room at the same time that Naomi and Momo appeared once more.
"Why hello Momiji" Naomi greeted him warmly, "We're so glad that you have returned. Did you have a good trip?" she asked they all sat down.
"What?" Momiji replied a bit absently, "Oh. Yes mam" he nodded.
At this point Hideto turned to his daughter with a gentle smile.
"Momo why don't you take Miss Andie upstairs and show her how well you play the violin now."
"Huh?" Momo looked at him confused.
"Oh yes" Andie took up the cue as Naomi looked at her husband with a quizzical eye, "I would love to see how much you have learned. Also I have some new stuff I would like to show you. Give these three a chance to talk" she added squeezing Momiji's hand as she stood, "Come on" she held her hand out to the little girl.
"Okay" Momo nodded happily, "Follow me. You'll be here when we come back won't you Momiji?" she asked him.
"Of course" he grinned, "I'll still be here."
She smiled and then the two girls departed from the room and Naomi once more looked at her husband very confused now.
"Hideto" she replied as she cleared her throat, "Is there something going on that I should know about?"
"Actually honey" Hideto said beginning, glancing at Momiji briefly who looked at his father once and then began to stare at the floor once more, "There is something that we, or I did want to tell you. And it's very important that you listen to me until I am done."
"All right" she nodded frowning, "But I got to tell you Hideto you're kind of freaking me out."
"Well that's fair" he nodded, "Here it goes" he replied as he sighed, "Naomi" he took her hand, "Do you remember when we were first married and how much we loved each other? We couldn't wait to start a family of our own."
"Yes. I remember" she smiled.
"Well a couple of months after we were married you became pregnant with our first child."
"That's not possible" she shook her head confused, "We didn't have Momo until much later."
"Yes I know" he nodded, "But our first child wasn't Momo."
"Hideto" she said slowly as Momiji continued to stare at the ground nervously, "The first pregnancy was a failure dear. I miscarried that baby."
"No honey" he shook his head, "You didn't. You had the baby. It was a boy."
"What are you talking about?" she shook her head now in disbelief, "I think I would remember that I had another child."
"No you wouldn't sweetie. And the reason why is because you lost your memory completely of the whole thing" he said simply and then he began to explain all about the Zodiac curse and the conditions of it, all the while she listened her eyes becoming wider and wider as the information sank in.
Momiji fidgeted in his seat as his father came to the end.
"And so, since it was so difficult for you and you became so ill, I asked him our son to give you up so that you could be healthy. As difficult as it was for him, he selflessly agreed" he looked over at Momiji, as did Naomi.
As she glanced at him her eyes filled with tears, and Momiji stood up abruptly.
"Uh you know what" he said, "I can't do this" he backed away, "I can't Papa. I got to go" he ran from the room.
"Momiji" Hideto started to stand to go after him but Naomi stopped him as she stood up.
"No Hideto" she shook her head, "Allow me."
He nodded slowly and she ran to the front room where Momiji was standing at the door, debating whether he should take the knob and walk out of there.
"Momiji" she said his name in barely a whisper but he heard her and turned around in surprise, "Please don't go" she moved forward slightly.
"Okay" he nodded slowly, "I won't."
She moved even further and stared into his eyes and then placed a hand over her mouth.
"Oh my" she began to tear up, "It is you isn't it. What have I done?"
"No no" he shook his head starting to get worked up "Please don't blame yourself. It was me who decided to give you up. It was my choice. I'm so sorry" he began to sob, "I am so so sorry."
"Momiji" she moved closer, "Stop. Please stop my boy."
Momiji looked at her the tears settling in his eyes. She placed a hand onto his cheek and caressed it gently. Her eyes became even gentler and the tears began to flow down her face.
"It really is you" she cried, "I have had dreams about you."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think I ever forgot about you completely Momiji. In my dreams I was often looking for a child that I couldn't find. No matter how many places I looked, I could never find him. That child was you. My son" she cried.
"Mama" he cried even more, "I wanted to tell you. So many times. But I was worried that I would make you sick again. I didn't want to cause you any more pain. Especially since you have Momo now."
"Momiji" she said slowly, "The fault was mine. I wasn't a strong enough mother to you. I can't believe it. I can't believe how much I have missed. I mean look at you. You're a man now. You're all grown up. You must hate me."
"No" he shook his head, "I could never hate you. I love you so much and I have never felt ill towards you for what happened. Not once. And now" he replied moving forward a little, "If you want. I am longer cursed. If you want, that is" he repeated, "You can hold me. Just like you always wanted to."
"Really?"
He nodded and she moved even closer and threw her arms around her son, embracing him tightly, as proudly as any mother could. He hugged her tightly back and Hideto watched from the corner of the room, happily as he saw two of the people he cared about so much, come together at last.
An hour later they were all together back in the sitting room, after having told Momo the good news. She was very excited and sat on his lap most of the night. As dessert was passed around, Naomi once more turned to her son with a smile.
"Well you know what this means now don't you?"
"What?" he asked.
"You have to come home" she smiled even more.
"What?" he repeated quite surprised, "Home?"
"Of course" she nodded, "This is where you belong after all. I won't take no for an answer" she grinned taking Hideto's hand lovingly.
Momiji smiled and nodded appreciatively before running over and embracing his mother once more.
"I would love to" he said pulling away, "I've waited all my life to be a family again. Of course I won't be staying for long" he walked over to Andie.
"What do you mean son?" Hideto asked.
"Well" he smiled at Andie and then turned to his parents, "I can stay at least until I get married."
Hideto and Naomi stared at the couple for a moment and then nodded their heads and laughed.
"Well that calls for a celebration!" Hideto cheered.
Naomi grinned and then they all had a mini party. When Momo had been put to bed, by her big brother of course, Naomi and Hideto escorted the young couple to the door. Momiji hugged his father and then turned to his mother. They both embraced one last time.
"Thank you Momiji," she replied softly as they pulled away, "For everything. I am so proud of you. I can't be any prouder of anyone."
"No mama" he shook his head, "It's I who should be thanking you."
"For what?" she asked a bit confused.
"For giving me life," he said with a grin and then she leaned down and kissed his cheek.
He smiled again and then took his fiancée's arm and the two of them walked back to the main house, where they were staying. Naomi leaned her head onto Hideto's shoulder and smiled contently.
"That is a fine boy we have Hideto."
"Yes Naomi" he agreed, "A very fine boy indeed."
(Till Next Time)
