EPILOGUE

Professor: And here we are old friends, on the last update. I truly enjoyed writing this story. Once again, I am sorry that it took so long to finish. But I hope that anyone who made it to this chapter found the story enjoyable. Thank you to every single person who has reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. It means the world. And special shout out to North Peach. One, because this story is especially dedicated to her and she was the inspiration for April and two, because she did so much beta reading for this story that it just wouldn't be the same without her. Love you all and see you in another story.

Two Months Later

It was a chilly day, showing the onset of winter in the air. Faith shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her. Soon she'd have to switch to a heavier one, but she kept putting it off.

In front of her stood the courthouse, a building she had just exited with her friends. Behind her, they all said their goodbyes before they went their separate ways for the day.

She had already said her own and now just waited for the one friend who was spending the day with her to finish up.

It was all over, finally.

The Sohma curse, broken the moment April woke up and knew what to do.

Ren, tried and convicted, sentenced to an insane asylum. April said that now that she was on meds, she could actually hold a halfway decent conversation. Faith supposed that was some sort of improvement.

As for Akito? Her trial was finished today. She had been found guilty, on multiple counts of abuse, harassment, one count of second degree murder, and others that Faith couldn't even remember. At least thirty years in prison. After that, there was a chance for parole, but it was slim and depended on Akito's behavior, meds, and future psych eval. No matter what though, she was going to be monitored very closely for the rest of her life.

That wouldn't stop Faith, April, and some others from visiting her though. After all, they were family now.

That was what was freaking Faith out the most lately. She was related to the Sohmas.

These boys she had been going to school with were her family, her cousins. Her sister was…

Faith shook her head. That train of thought was just a headache waiting to happen and she refused to have another migraine.

A door banging open caught her attention. Looking up she saw her sister running back down the steps of the course house. When had she gone back in?

April flew down the stairs towards Haru, sending a quick wave to her sister before leaving. Faith smiled to herself. That was one major change that she most definitely supported. Haru and April's growing closeness. It was endearing seeing them grow together throughout all of this.

There was another change happening though, one that had been completely her idea.

Therapy.

She'd gotten it from Yuki, when they had been talking about the Sohma family and all of its issues. Something he said.

'I guess all of us, even Akito, have something causing what's wrong with us.'

That gave her a train of thought she hadn't been able to let go of.

So, one talk with Kureno and Hatori later found the therapists of Japan with a whole bunch of new clients. And, despite Kyo's continued grumbling about it, Faith felt that it was doing them a world of good. They may not be able to mention the curse, but the wounds from it might be able to turn into healed scars one day at least.

Hopefully.

Faith was once again jarred from her thoughts by a sudden noise. This time it was the beeping of her father's ringtone.

She bit back the guilt that rose up at her dad's name. They still hadn't told him what had happened. Her and April decided to give the Sohmas some peace after everything before factoring their scatterbrained lawyer of a father back into the mix. Besides, it was definitely more of an 'in-person' conversation and not over the phone. So far, his travels for work hadn't even brought him close by.

Either way, she picked up the phone, "Hey daddy!"

"Hey sweetie! How's it going?" Immediately Faith was overtaken by a sense of peace. She hadn't realized just how much she needed to hear his voice today. Sometimes she just needed her dad.

"It's going good," she answered truthfully, "How about you?"

"Busy, very busy," he said, "But I've got some news. Is your sister around?"

"Um, not really, did you want me to go get her?"

"No, I don't have a lot of time." he wasn't kidding. Even his voice sounded rushed to her, "But it's kind of big news. Do you think April would forgive me for having you pass it along?"

"Of course."

Faith could hear him take a deep breath before he spoke, "I've been made a senior partner."

"What?! That's amazing!" She didn't care who thought she was crazy for yelling in front of a courthouse. This was warranted.

"I know!" he yelled back, matching his daughter's exuberance, "But...there's a catch…" his voice dropped low as quickly as it had raised.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's a partnership at our firm in Japan." he said, "We'd have to move there. It's actually not that far from where you transferred to. Is that ok?"

Faith probably seemed speechless to her father, but in reality she was thinking over everything that had happened recently. Finding April's birth family, the blossoming relationships between them and the Sohmas, everything with Akito and Ren…

"Faith? Sweetie?"

She smiled, "I think that'll work out just fine daddy."

"That's good," she could hear the relief in his voice and could imagine his shoulders slumping as he spoke, "That's great. I'm happy. Really."

"I'm super proud of you dad. And I'll tell April. Don't worry."

"Thank you sweetie. But, oh I hate to do this, but I really gotta go. My case only got a 10 minute recess and it's almost over. I'll see you next week when I have to come over to start the paperwork, ok?"

"Ok," she said, "We'll go house hunting or something."

"Sounds great." Faith had no doubt that he was smiling right then, "See you then."

"Ok, love you daddy."

"Love you too sweetie."

A click on the line told her he had hung up so she put her phone away.

"Everything ok?" Yuki asked her gently.

She looked around. Apparently everyone but him had left while she was on the phone.

"Yeah," she said, "Better than ok actually."

He looked at her, a confused look causing his brow to wrinkle at her, "How so?"

"Apparently we're moving to Japan."

"What?" he asked, shocked, "When did that happen?"

"Just now," she waved her phone at him, "My dad just called me."

"That's great Moore-kun." He really sounded excited for her, but she just rolled her eyes at him.

"You could call me Faith you know. I think we're past formalities by this point."

He smirked, "Very true, but it might be strange to start calling you that after so many months."

Faith smiled up at him, "I think you're the only one who would find it strange."

His smirk turned into a smile to match hers, "Very true, but I do think that we have something a bit more important to do today than figure out what I call you."

"And what's that?"

"In case you had forgotten," he sighed, "my brother has invited us to his shop."

Her smile widened, "I'm really glad you and your brother are getting along better."

He huffed, turning away from her as he responded, "Yeah...well, he's...family I guess."

She nudged his shoulder with her own playfully, "Family is important."

"Yeah, Yeah…" he muttered, embarrassed.

"That does give me a question though, slightly off topic."

"What is it?" Yuki finally gave her a sidelong glance, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Faith responded by wrapping her own arm around one of his, hugging it to herself, "Just when exactly were you planning on asking me out? I'm getting a little impatient you know."

To her, Yuki's red face and cute, embarrassed stutters were totally work it.

"Am I heartless?" April asked, breaking the silence between her and Haru as they walked down the street.

He looked at her in confusion, "Why in the world would you say that?"

"When we first confronted Akito months ago," she admitted shyly, "I acted...cold. Heartless. I...I've never acted like that before. What if...what if this means-"

"Shut it." he cut her off harshly, "You aren't heartless."

"But when-"

"If you were truly heartless you would've gone in there and done exactly what Akito would've done. Tortured her into submission. Instead, when you found out that she was family, you broke. That proves you aren't heartless. It doesn't make you like your mother or sister." he smiled knowingly at her, "It just proves you aren't really a Sohma. You're a Moore, through and through."

April couldn't resist the smile that spread across her face at his touching comment, "I wish all Sohams thought like you do."

"They do," he stated firmly.

She shook her head, "Not Shigure."

Haru's eyebrows furrowed, "When did you talk to Sensei about all this?"

"Earlier today," she turned her attention back to the sidewalk as they continued walking, "I went back into the courthouse before we left. I was worried since he hasn't talked to anyone other than Akito since this whole thing started. I asked him how he was doing and…"

Her voice trailed off as she remembered Shigure's anger filled eyes and spiteful response.

"Despite everything I've done and set up and planned...the woman I love is now in prison for at least the next thirty years with almost no hope for parole. All because of you. How am I supposed to feel? Something positive so you'll be able to sleep at night? Well, I apologize for not exactly wanting to help you learn to live with yourself."

The mere memory of it made April want to shudder and cry at the same time. Even 2 months later Shigure stayed as the only Sohma that terrified her.

"Ignore him," Haru's voice brought her out of the unpleasant memory, which she was very grateful for, "Sensei is just taking it out on you. Who cares what he thinks? Obviously a pervert only knows negative emotions anyway."

She smiled and grabbed his hand, giving it a light squeeze, "Thank you."

He turned his blushing face away from her, muttering a "Welcome."

April decided to keep her giggle to herself.

"How's Akito doing?" he asked her, just as suddenly as she had asked her own question.

It took her a moment to get over her surprise, but she did it rather quickly, "She's...she's still Akito, just more subdued. Less violent. She keeps asking about Father, her little empty box. And when I'm gonna leave…"

"Leave?"

"She's still terrified of being alone," April explained, "Either that or she just hates spending time with me. But I'm fairly certain that it's the first one."
"Would you ever do that?" Haru asked, "Leave her?"

April scoffed, "Of course not. She's my sister and she needs me."

Not gonna lie, it had been hard for her to come to terms with everything for a long while. Honestly, Akito and their new relationship was something she could handle, something tangible, something that was in front of her. The thing that April was truly having trouble adjusting to was the news of Akira and his story. She had another father, who loved her dearly, obviously. But he was dead. Did she even have a right to mourn? Or call him her father? April had visited his grave, but it was strange. She certainly felt something towards him, but it wasn't fatherly love. It was more...longing. She had wished she had a chance to know him, to meet him, at least once. It was a regret in her life, definitely, but everyone has those. This was something that she was going to have to learn to deal with. At least she knew he had been a good man.

They continued walking on in silence for a few moments before she became aware that Haru was looking at her. She turned and saw him smiling. It wasn't a smug, knowing smile though. It was far more peaceful and, dare she say it, proud.

"What?"

"I just," he sighed, "I think you are going to do this family a world of good."

April smirked, "Well, my job is 'head of the family' now. Someone has to look after you lot."

"And no one better to keep us in line," he smirked right back at her before growing serious again, "So you're really going to do it? Become head of the family?"

"Legally, I was supposed to be instead of Akito," she pointed out, shrugging, "Which Faith isn't happy about at all. Now that we know my real birthday and have proof that I'm older than her, she hasn't been thrilled. And hasn't stopped calling me Imoto-chan. But, on a more serious note, I've been thinking about it. I could pass the title and responsibilities to Kureno, or Hatori, but I've found that I kind of want to do it."

"You want to do it?" his tone was very confused.

April just nodded, "I never had a passion for anything other than Japan and fighting before this. No clue what I wanted to do after high school. I know that was part of the curse, but it's more than that. And now I have an option that I'm already devoted to where I can combine my birth family and the family that adopted me. It seems almost too perfect to be true."

Haru gave her a light chuckle, "I think that is the first time someone other than a maniac has used the word perfect for any part of our family."

"Well, things are gonna change around here," she said, smiling again.

It was then that Haru stopped walking altogether, causing her to stop as well because of their conjoined hands. It was then that she noticed him looking across the street and realized where exactly they had inadvertently walked.

"Do...you wanna go visit?" she asked softly.

"No," was his immediate answer, shocking her again, "I've been to see her a lot in the last couple months. I'm sure she wants a break."

He gave a breathy chuckle that didn't convince April in the slightest, "She used to get tired and annoyed with me all the time. I think that still holds true today.

"Don't say that," April whispered, "I never met her, but I know that's not true."

Haru didn't respond to that. Instead he just looked away from the cemetery and down to their hands.

"I can't forgive Akito," he said quietly, "Not for all she's done. And Rin wouldn't want me to either. I won't disrespect her memory like that."

"No one is asking you to," April whispered softly, "She's my sister and I"m not even sure I can forgive her for everything."

He shook his head, "I just don't get how everyone can forgive her so easily. She has done so, SO much to all of us and…"

He trailed off, but April didn't need him to finish. She knew what he meant.

"I'm not sure they've truthfully forgiven her, but think they're willing to try just so they can finally move on. They don't want to be bound to Akito anymore then they have to. That includes hate. Sometimes the best way is to literally forgive and forget."

"I can't forgive...and I'll never forget." he sighed, "I think, I'm always going to be bound to Akito, in more ways than one."

"What do you mean?" Now it was April's turn to sound confused.

"There's the curse. Even though it's broken, I think all of us will still remember how it bound us. Not even Hatori can get rid of those memories. Then, she killed Rin. Sadly, that does bind us together. And finally," he took a deep breath and looked up into her eyes, "There's you."

"M-Me?"

He nodded, "You are Akito's sister. And since I plan on keeping you in my life...I'll be bound to Akito in another way."

April tried to will the blush off of her face but had the distinct impression that she was failing, "What do you mean?"

Haru's gaze never faltered from her as he answered, "I mean that...it is going to take me awhile to get over Rin. I don't agree with everything Yuki said about my relationship with her, but maybe he was right about it not being the healthiest. Either way, if you're willing to give me some time to move on...I'd like to give us a try. Someday."

She smiled and squeezed his hand, "I'd really like that."

"Then I just have one more question for you." he said.

She kept on smiling, waiting for him to keep going.

Maybe it was her new promise of a relationship, or being reunited with her birth family. Maybe it was her new friendships here in Japan. Perhaps it was a strange new confidence that came from all of the recent events, these strange movements in her life. But April felt certain that from now on, she could handle any changes that came her way. Including whatever it was that Haru wanted to ask her.

"Do you know how to get home from here?" he asked sheepishly.

She rolled her eyes.

Then again, somethings never change.

The End