Chapter Ten: Return

Once we got back to the cave, we dried off in the warmth of the campfire. I hadn't stopped smiling since we kissed. One part of the quest was over. I had broken the curse… with the added bonus of falling in love. All I had left was to convince him to come home.

"You're shivering." Kyo said quietly. He wasn't prodding in any way, just concerned.

"Yeah, well, I guess being soaked to the bone would do that to you, right?"

"I don't have any clothes for you…." he said, trailing off. Luckily, the ripped pants from the night of the graduation were still tattered but mostly in tact on him.

"It's alright. I mean, we'll probably go back soon anyway," I said.

"What?" Kyo sounded shocked, almost scared. I looked up at him.

"Don't you want to go back?" I asked. I felt like I already knew the answer.

"I don't think I can." He looked down. "I can't go back to living there. How am I going to face Tohru and Yuki? How am I going to face the family? I should be ashamed of myself."

"What? Why?" I crawled over to him. "Kyo, they miss you. They want you to come home."

"But now I'm with you. What do I tell Tohru?"

A thousand emotions hit me at once. I took a deep breath and realized he hadn't been home in over a year. He didn't know what had happened to them or anyone else.

"Kyo…. You've been gone for a long time…." I explained slowly. I didn't know how tell him what had happened in the year he was gone.

"Is she alright?" he asked suddenly. My chest tightened. "Nothing happened to her, right?"

I shook my head. "No, she's okay." I knew he would still care about her, but I was afraid of how he'd feel with the situation now.

"Then what is it?" he probed.

I took his hand in mine. "Kyo…. Tohru is married." He squeezed my hand a little tighter. I could tell he was angry, but it was only going to get worse as I told him the truth. "She's married to Yuki. And…." I trailed off, not sure how to make this part gentle.

"And…?"

"They have a daughter."

He let go of my hand. He stood up and started to pace along the wall of the cave. He ran his hand through his hair and breathed heavily. I couldn't help but admire his figure as a watched him. But I shook the thought sighed.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he yelled. "I'm gone for a year, and she gets married and has a daughter?!"

I looked at the ground. "There's something you should know about her."

He glared at me. But I knew it was aimed more at Tohru. "What else could possibly be important?"

"Well…. I guess there's two things you should know…." He sucked in a deep breath. "I've been raising her since she was… really young." I didn't want to say the word he wouldn't understand. "And she's the next cat."

He dropped to his hands and knees, and he let out an agonized scream. He put his face in his hands. I stood slowly and walked over to kneel next to him. I put my hands on his shoulders.

"The curse…. It can't be back…. It's all my fault…." He let out gasping sobs between sentences. I crawled in front of him and pulled him into my shoulder. I rubbed his back, and we sat there for a long time.

Finally, his breathing regulated. I pulled back and kissed him on the head. "Kyo, this is not your fault."

"If I had just kept on the stupid bracelet…. If I had just not lost my temper with her….."

"No. This isn't your fault." I insisted. "Look at me."

He picked up his head, his eyes bruised from crying. "What do I do?"

I sighed. "This isn't your fault. But you have to go back with me." I touched my hand to his cheek. "I'll be with you."

"If that's what you think will fix this…." He cupped his hand over mine. "Thank you…." He shook his head. "There's so much I want to thank you for."

"Kyo…." I gave him a gentle smile. "Loving me is enough."

He cupped my face in his hands now, and leaned in to kiss me. He breathed a raspy breath into my face. "Then we'll do this together." He kissed me.

...

We stayed silent on the way through the woods, and I had told Kyo that he needed some new clothes and a shower before we went back. When I suggested it he seemed relieved.

I bought him some new clothes…. I went a little out of my way since I wanted to treat him. We bought some shower supplies and got day passed to the local gym just to shower. It had been a few weeks since I'd experienced soap too, and I had bought some clothes for myself as well. When we were all said and done, you couldn't even tell we had been living in the middle of nowhere for over a month.

We walked back, taking our time. As we got closer, he laced his fingers through mine as he held my hand. I squeezed his hand, reassuring him and being a little nervous to go back myself.

When we could see the house ahead, Kyo stopped walking. I turned to face him and looked into his eyes. "Breathe…. We can do this… together." He nodded and took a deep breath.

We walked up the steps of the porch, and I lightly knocked on the door. I slid it open.

"Hello…?" We stepped inside slowly. I had to slightly pull on Kyo's arm to walk him in.

"Nick?" I heard Tohru call. Kyo tensed and stopped moving. She walked into the room and stopped. Tohru locked eyes with Kyo and stopped breathing.

"We're home," I said, smiling. I hoped to ease the tension….

But then Tohru ran over faster than I could have thought she could run, and she gripped Kyo in a tight hug, forcing my hand to let go.

But Kyo didn't hug her back.

"Kyo…." She sobbed into his arms. "I'm sorry…. I'm so sorry…."

Finally, he pulled away from her and gripped her arms. I watched from the side, not even attempting to predict what would happen next.

"I don't want an apology. I don't want an explanation. I just want to move on."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Tohru looked down and got control of her breathing. She nodded vigorously after a moment of thought. She looked up at him, smiling. She had tears streaming down her cheeks. I envied for a moment how beautiful she looked, even while crying. "I do too."

Kyo smiled at me, gently. I smiled back.

Just then, Yuki strode into the room. Immediately, he locked eyes with Kyo. "Miss Sohma, move," he said as he picked up his pace toward Kyo. My eyes widened, and I knew Yuki was ready to blow his top. Tohru yelled for him to stop, but he walked straight up to Kyo and –

He hugged him.

Kyo was shocked at first but then raised his arms to hug him back. "I've missed you, you stupid cat."

"You too, damn rat."

I covered my mouth to stifle my laughter as Tohru squealed with joy at this.

They separated and Kyo commented, "Bet I can still kick your ass, though."

"You can try any time," Yuki replied coolly. I was just glad things had at least gone a little back to normal.

"Tohru," I said, suddenly a little nervous. She turned to me. "Where's Kiara?"

Tohru's eyes widen, realizing the same thing I had. If the curse was lifted, Kiara would be…. "Kiara!" we both called upstairs. All four of us ran to the stairs and nearly fell trying to get up. When we got to my room….

There on the floor, curled in a ball was Kiara.

But she was still a cat.

"Wh… Why…?" Tohru asked. She could barely form the word.

"Shouldn't she be human again?" Kyo asked, looking to Yuki. "The curse is lifted now." Kyo held up his arm. Yuki and Tohru finally noticed that he didn't need the bracelet at all anymore. Tohru was still wearing it.

Yuki hummed, stroking his chin. "I think perhaps we would find our answers at the Sohma estate." Kyo and I looked at each other.

"Only one way to find out," I said.