EPILOGUE: HELLO'S AND GOODBYE'S

The young woman stood against the cool breeze of an Indian summer. She wore a light yellow dress loosely tied at the back. The dappled rays of the afternoon sun glimmered on her bare arms. Her hair flew behind her in jet black streams, the strands dancing in the wind.

It had been so long since she's been here.

She clasped the pendant that rested at the base of her neck, and she remembered the days and moments that had passed since.

After they found out it was Soujirou who had intervened and sent the Saturn necklace to her, they had been oh-so-tempted to knock his head in for his interference. Yet what stopped them was the realization that for all his meddling, it had backfired on him. He was their friend and he had only been looking after their best interest at a time when they were too self-absorbed to do it themselves.

Tsukushi smiled wryly as she thought about the uneasy truce she and her mother-in-law had erected between them. It helped that they now lived in a separate home of their own. But the main trigger in bridging the gap had been the most surprising of all. Yoshi.

Domyouji Kaede had initially set her mind against him. Even though her husband would spend time with all three of his grandchildren, she had flatly refused to join in if Yoshi was there. It wasn't so much the child she was rejecting, but the relationship that bore fruit to him.

One day, Yoshi had fallen asleep in the library. Kaede had entered to browse the stacks and to spend some alone time to read. She had sat on a chair diagonally across the couch that Yoshi had been sleeping on. Since its back was facing toward her, she probably had not known that Yoshi was there, otherwise, she would have left for sure. After some time had passed, and unknown to his grandmother, Yoshi had awoken and had been secretly staring at her as she read the book she'd chosen.

Perhaps it was intuition or some sound that alerted her to another presence, but she looked up and met Yoshi's eyes - so much like his father's. Yoshi had smiled sweetly at her and said, "You're pretty, Obaasan... Wanna play?"

The look on Kaede's face as she and Tsukasa had walked in and saw her on all fours playing with Yoshi... From that moment, with those words, Yoshi had his grandmother wrapped around his little finger... The next day, she had even had a golden Saturn pendant made especially for him with his name, "Tsuyoshi", engraved on the back.

Tsukushi sighed... Who knew how long the truce would last? But she was not taking anything for granted this time. This was the chance she'd been wanting from the very beginning. She would not just throw it away...

Her family had come for the wedding. At first, she had been hesitant to even call and invite them, let alone send them an invitation... But Susumu had encouraged her and Tsukasa had seconded it. She knew she'd sounded hesitant over the phone, but her mother's squeal of happiness at hearing her voice, her father's cries of relief when they heard from her at last, rubbed away the last remaining wounds that had set in her heart.

She had so much to be thankful for now... Good friends and a loving family... Her one true love - Someone who had loved her even through the passing time and relentless distance, and her soulmate - someone who had been there for her on earth and after death, had been there still.

"Tsukushi-chan, let's go! We might miss the show!" Tsukasa called out to her from beside the open door of the limo.

Inside, two tousle headed children joined their father - "Mama! Mama! Come on, Mama!"

Tsukushi laughed and ran to join them. Stopping by the limo for a moment, Tsukasa used his hand to tuck a strand of hair away from her face. They looked deeply into each other's eyes and kissed.

Thank you, Hanazawa Rui.

I won't let this go this time around.

*****

I hope you guys like the ending... At first I wanted to write another chapter, but my heart says this story has ran its course :)

Thank you to all my readers for taking the time to read, review and encourage me to write – especially to darkbluegirl, anime07, yurirawr, bosk, Rose Crimsonpaw, Morlana, Star Serenade, BelieveDreamsComTrue, kawaii ninja otaku, reader00, baka!, mrs. Tsukasa, bebepantheon, and everyone else who have stayed with me till the end of this story.

Thank you for all the alerts and subscriptions... I don't think I would have been so encouraged to update so fast and so soon if not for all of you!

See you again in my next story! TC!