"Hey...he still sleeping?"

Tohru smiled, turning her attention from the window and the bustling holiday crowds on the platform outside down to the sleeping baby in her lap. "Yes, he hasn't even twitched."

Kyo shook his head, settling back down into his seat beside Tohru. "I'm not gonna complain about it, but I'm kinda amazed. Considering what a mess this was last time, so far this trip he's been great." He handed Tohru the two bento boxes he'd been carrying and slipped off his coat, draping it over the arm of his seat before taking back one of the bentos. "I wonder if it's all the excitement, or just because he's so much older."

Tohru carefully snuggled Hajime more securely against herself, almost as if he were a belt and not a baby. Once she was satisfied he wasn't going to roll away, she picked up her bento and opened it. "Kyo, would you mind?"

"Yeah, no problem." Reaching out, Kyo easily snapped Tohru's chopsticks for her, then opened his own bento. "I got you crab, is that ok?"

"It's great! I love crab, especially this time of year." Tohru smiled across the armrest at her husband, and they both set to work on their meals.

It was the Monday after New Year's, and Tohru, Kyo, and Hajime were back on the train, making their way northwards and home. It had been a busy trip, just like always; in fact, it had felt busier than ever, in spite of the fact they'd been there for an entire week. But as only the second time they'd been back to Tokyo since Hajime was born, they'd had a lot to manage.

As always, they'd stayed at the dojo, and that part had been as relaxing as ever. Kazuma always closed the dojo for the New Year's holiday, and they had the complex, as well as Kazuma, largely to themselves. For the first time, Kyo brought Hajime into the dojo's large practice room, beaming as his son staggered around exploring the space. Even though Kyo was looking forward to Hajime taking his first forays into the karate world in Hibe, there was something extra special about seeing Hajime in a place that had was home to so many memories.

In the past month and change, Hajime had gotten slightly more confident about walking; now, he could manage about ten steps or so without falling over. He did fall over, regularly, but he made it farther and farther every time and never let a tumble do more than slow him down.

The first time Hajime walked to Kazuma, Kyo had been stunned to see tears in his father's eyes. And Kazuma had noticed, chuckling a little self-consciously and wiping them away.

"Is it so strange, Kyo?"

Kyo had seem Kazuma cry before, so it wasn't that. Wasn't it Kazuma who had once told him "tears are a healthy part of expressing emotion?" But all of those tears had accompanied 'big' things, like when he and Tohru had told Kazuma they were getting married, or that Tohru and Hajime were both ok after the harrowing experience of Hajime's birth. While Kyo would be the first to agree that Hajime's first steps were special, it still seemed surprising that they'd provoke Kazuma to tears.

Kyo had sat down on the floor beside Kazuma, opening his arms to Hajima as the toddling infant came back towards him. "A little bit, yeah. I guess I didn't think it would hit you quite that hard."

Kazuma had smiled, taking in the sight of Kyo sitting there, Hajime in his arms. "I'm finding myself hit by quite a few things these days, Kyo."

"How's that?"

Kazuma had taken a deep breath, then reached out and ruffled Kyo's hair. "Can't you guess?" And his smile, as he looked at Kyo, was soft.

Kyo had smiled somewhat self-consciously, looking down at Hajime. "I guess I can."

For so long, neither of them had even hoped to imagine something like this, a future for Kyo where he could be happy. Each of them had been determined to fight, but neither of them had expected to win. As much as Kazuma loved Kyo, as much as he was willing to move heaven and earth to help him, there had only been so much he knew he'd be allowed to do. Increasingly wild ideas had been considered and rejected as the clock had ticked down, bringing them closer and closer to the day when the door would slam shut on Kyo forever.

It was coming up on seven years, now. Seven short, glorious years since that fateful, unbelievable spring day when Akito had come to see Kazuma and told him tersely than he...she, had changed her mind. That Kyo would be free, that the Cat's House would be destroyed. That Akito, that God, had said 'no more.' Kazuma had been so overwhelmed that he could hardly believe it, and once Akito had let herself out, Kazuma had freely allowed himself to cry. It wasn't everything he'd hoped for for his son, but compared to the future they'd feared, it was the difference between Heaven and Hell.

And then Tohru and Kyo had come running into the dojo, on that amazing day soon after, and Kyo had held up his bare wrist. That was when Kazuma could truly and finally say that everything he'd ever hoped for had actually come to pass.

Since that day, he'd formed new hopes. Hopes of seeing Tohru become Kyo's wife, of seeing the two of them happy and settled. Hopes of a grandchild. One by one, those hopes had come true, with a frequency that seemed almost too unbelievable to accept. The Kyo of sixteen, who had come to the mountains with a face and presence of death, seemed like a dark, nearly forgotten nightmare. The Kyo of nearly twenty-four sat before Kazuma, strong, healthy, and happy. Holding his own son, who radiated his own joy.

And in Hajime, Kazuma saw everything he'd ever wished for, for Kyo.

Kazuma reached out and squeezed Kyo's knee. "I'm so very, very proud of you, Kyo. Proud, and happy. If I ever hoped for anything for you...if I ever wanted to see anything for you..." Kazuma's voice broke, and he wiped his eyes again. "Whenever I dared let myself wish, I wished for this."

Kyo's own eyes were misty, and he swallowed, looking down at Hajime. Then he covered Kazuma's hand with his own, giving it firm squeeze. "I never woulda gotten here if it wasn't for you, Dad. If you hadn't saved me, if you hadn't...loved me." He swallowed again, looking back from Kazuma to Hajime. "If I can be half the dad you've been, then I'll know I'm doing something right."

"Oh, believe me, Kyo, you are."

"You done, Tohru?" Kyo finished his bento, and he looked over at where Tohru was poking the last of her rice. It was tasty enough, but after thinking about it for a moment, she sighed and nodded her head.

"It's delicious, but I'm so full that if I eat any more I'll regret it. And we've still got three hours and three connections to go, so I probably shouldn't."

Kyo took the bento boxes away to the garbage, then returned to his seat. "Do you want me to take him for a while? Your legs must be falling asleep with him sprawled out like that, and it might not be a bad idea for you to walk around for a while."

But Tohru shook her head. "No, he's sleeping pretty comfortably, and I hate the idea of accidentally waking him. I'll be fine, it's only little more than an hour to Aomori."

"Assuming he stays sleeping that long," Kyo said, his voice a mixture of hope and skepticism.

"Even if he wakes up right this second, at least he hadn't spent five and a half hours screaming this time,"

"Eh...don't remind me."

They had gone to visit Tohru's grandpa, just like they did every time they went to Tokyo. It was Grandpa's second time meeting Hajime, and he'd been extremely excited about the visit. Grandpa, now Great-Grandpa, had enough enthusiasm that it was almost possible for Kyo to actually enjoy the visit.

Unfortunately, this time they'd been unlucky enough that Tohru's aunt was home. Just her aunt, at least; Tohru's obnoxious uncle was blessedly absent. But it was bad enough having Tohru's aunt there. She'd never approved all that much of Tohru, so it was understandable that she also had never approved much of Kyo. She'd accused Tohru of improper behavior at the Sohma house all the way back at the beginning, so learning later that Tohru was dating Kyo had only cemented the idea that Tohru had been behaving 'improperly' all along.

And Tohru moving away with Kyo straight out of high school hadn't done much to change that opinion.

It wasn't until Tohru and Kyo had gotten married that her aunt finally started to be nice, and even then it was in a somewhat backhanded way. Fortunately, they very rarely had to deal with her; although they went to visit Grandpa every time they were back in Tokyo, they usually visited on weekday mornings, when Tohru's aunt and uncle were at work. Kyo could count the number of times he'd ever actually seen Tohru's aunt on one hand, prior to this year.

But then Hajime came along, and suddenly Tohru was a favorite. When they'd visited in May, both Tohru and Kyo had been staggered to see Aunt Ikuko at Grandpa's house, and she'd practically fallen over herself fawning over Hajime. And even then, she'd managed to backhandedly insult all of them with a 'joke' about Hajime's hair.

Though both of them expected her to be at work during their New Year's visit, she was at the house again then, too, and once again all over them. It was all Kyo could do to be civil, given how strongly he disliked her, but he did his best for Tohru's sake.

And Tohru needed his support that visit.

When they had visited in May, Tohru and Kyo had been caught off guard by Tohru's aunt and run a bit ragged by Hajime. But even with those distractions, they'd been able to immediately see that Grandpa wasn't looking too good. He'd been as happy to see them as ever, and positively over the moon to finally meet his first great-grandchild, but he'd also been slower, and stiffer. He'd lost weight, and he was often short of breath. Even their shortened visit had severely exhausted him. He'd brushed off their concerns, telling them he was fine, but they both knew he wasn't.

This time, at New Year's, it had been worse. A lot worse. Grandpa had been happy to see them, but he was even more exhausted. He'd lost more weight, but had oddly swollen hands. Walking from the couch to the bathroom had tired him further, and he couldn't fully catch his breath. And there were moments where he got confused and clearly couldn't remember who they were, any of them.

Even after Grandpa had said goodbye and gone to lie down for a nap, Tohru's aunt hadn't wanted to tell them what was going on, not wanting to 'worry Tohru with something she can't do anything about.' But some with some additional gentle pressure from Kyo, she finally came around.

"Congestive heart failure, sadly. We're making sure to do everything we can, but it probably won't be that much longer. At this point, it's probably for the best."

It was very hard to remain civil after that.

They'd left shortly thereafter, Tohru practically clinging to Hajime. And for the first block, they'd walked in silence. Then Tohru's eyes had started watering, and she'd started sniffling, and before much longer they'd ended up on a bench, Hajime and Tohru both in Kyo's arms and Tohru sobbing into Kyo's overcoat.

There had been very few people in Tohru's life, when she was younger. Kyoko had come into her relationship with basically no family, and Katsuya's own actions, paired with Kyoko being Kyoko had meant that much of Katsuya's family had held them at arm's length, especially after Katsuya's early death. Kyoko had had no good friends, no true support network. It had basically just been Tohru and Kyoko, alone against the world.

Except for Grandpa.

Out of everyone who could have been there, and everyone who should have been there, he had stood alone in caring about them. When Kyoko had died, Grandpa had been the only one who had been there for Tohru, the only person who even tried to offer her a home. He had done his best by her, even though it hadn't always worked out. And alone out of all of them, he'd tried to understand her. He hadn't judged her. He had encouraged her, whether it was to keep staying with the Sohmas, to speak her mind, or to follow her heart.

He had loved her.

They had sat together on the bench for a long time while she cried, neither of them saying a word.

"Kyo, can you make sure we have everything? I want to change Hajime's diaper before we get into Aomori."

Kyo looked over at Tohru as she stood up, holding the still-sleeping Hajime. Personally, he thought it was a rather bold move; he'd have preferred they try to make the full train transition without jostling Hajime any more than necessary. Still, given the current aroma wafting off of their son, he could understand her not wanting to wait.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait until we get to the station? It might be easier if you don't have to worry about the rocking," he said cautiously. Even on a train this smooth, changing a diaper could be a trick. Especially if Hajime decided to actually wake up!

Tohru shook her head. "No, I'd rather do it now. There's no line, so it should be quick. I'm sure the station is going to be a zoo, and we don't have a lot of time to make our connection, so I'd rather just get it done now. If he wakes up, he wakes up."

Fine, go. I'll get our stuff together."

"I can't get over how adorable he is, Yuki!"

Tohru sat cross-legged on the floor in Yuki and Machi's living room, beaming down into her lap at nearly five-month-old Mutsuki. Although Yuki had been diligent about sending pictures, this was the first time Tohru and Kyo had actually gotten to meet him, and Tohru was in love. His hair was still sparse, but a fine layer of silvery grey fuzz covered his head, and his baby eyes were a blue so light they were almost grey. If Hajime had been the spitting image of Kyo before his eyes changed color, then Mutsuki was even moreso the spitting image of Yuki.

Yuki was beside her, unable to disguise his delight at the sight of Tohru and Mutsuki together. They'd all hoped to get together much sooner, but babies and jobs and the small matter of five hundred miles of separation had made that impossible before New Year's. It was a disappointment not to have gotten to see Mutsuki when he was tiny, but it was hard not to be charmed by the delightful little boy now sitting up and babbling at her.

Tohru's own delightful little boy had made the most of being in a new space, toddling all over and around the room, climbing up on everything, putting his hands into everything. Kyo was on Hajime duty, knowing how excited Tohru was to play with Mutsuki, but even he had quickly ended up frazzled by the sheer amount of mischief Hajime was making.

As Kyo pulled Hajime off of the bookcase for the fourth time, Tohru had looked apologetically at Yuki.

"I am so sorry, Yuki, really! He's just so very busy, and he gets very excited when he's in new places-"

"Tohru, it's fine. Don't worry about it," Yuki said, giving her a smile. "If anything, it's proving highly educational; I had no idea we had so many things that a baby could get into! Mutsuki's only just started army crawling, so Machi and I have been pretty lax on childproofing so far. I should actually be apologizing to you two for not making this a little easier on you."

Hajime, newly released, had promptly taken off for the plants in the living room window. Again. And Kyo had rolled his eyes as he went after him, muttering something about the benefits of duct tape.

Tohru looked around the room as Yuki spoke. True, it had a lot of things that would interest a baby, like plants and shelves and knickknacks, but considering it was Yuki and Machi's house it was surprisingly orderly. As long as someone actually had an eye on either baby, they probably wouldn't be able to hurt themselves. Too badly.

Probably.

"It's too bad that Machi ended up having to work late. I didn't realize she'd have to be working at all so close to New Year's, but that was my mistake not checking," Tohru said, looking back to Yuki. "It would have been so nice to talk to her and hear how she's doing!"

Yuki sighed and nodded. "Yes, apparently there was an unexpected audit triggered earlier this week, and the whole accounting department has been called in to sort it out. It's made for a very long week for her, unfortunately. But it's given me some extra quality time with Mutsuki, so that's been nice," Yuki said with a fond smile at his son.

Yuki himself was on New Year's leave, and enjoying it very much. He loved his position as a Human Resources Manager; being around people, listening to them, finding the perfect fit for the multitude of jobs he helped staff at his large corporation...it kept him busy, but it kept him satisfied. His time in student government had taught him that he actually liked managing people, and that he actually had a knack for handling tricky personalities. If he could manage the Student Council, then he was confident that he could handle anyone.

The only thing that truly annoyed Yuki about his job was the fact that his name had gotten him in the door. When you were a Sohma and lived in Tokyo, it could be challenging to be judged entirely on your own merits. Yuki had actually made a point to apply for positions with companies he believed unconnected to the Sohma business interests, but any illusions of self-sufficiency had been dashed his very first day at work when the president had come down to introduce himself and then 'wink-wink' ask Yuki to put in a good word with the family.

But if he'd gotten hired for his connections, he was determined to prove himself on the basis of his own merits.

In a way, it made him feel a sense of kinship with Kyo; though in very different positions, each of them had started out similarly. Kyo had proved himself separate from Kazuma, and Yuki knew that he could do the same. He would do the same.

It had surprised Tohru to hear that Machi was already back at work, instead of taking the full first year of child-care leave. But she could also understand; even though she loved being at home with Hajime, and getting to have the extra time with Kyo, staying at home could be draining and it certainly wasn't for everyone. Even Tohru herself was looking forward to going back to work, a little further down the road.

Kyo snagged Hajime again and brought him over to Yuki and Tohru, plopping down on the floor and pinning Hajime in his arms. "Ok, we're going to just sit for a bit," he said, ignoring Hajime's protests. "This is a nice place, Yuki. How do you two like living in Tokyo again?"

"It's alright, so far. We both miss Kyoto, of course, but it's nice to be back in Tokyo. There's a lot more professional opportunities here, for both of us, and it's nice to be closer to family. Kakeru and Komaki had a little girl last November, if you remember them? Machi's brother and his wife."

Kyo didn't remember them after first, not until Tohru said "Oh yes! He was your Vice President, wasn't he?" And that was all Kyo needed to remember the peculiar and somewhat exasperating Manabe.

"That's right, that guy's your brother-in-law. How did you and Machi both end up having nut cases for brothers?"

Kyo's comment was so on the nose that Yuki couldn't help but wince. One thing was certain, Mutsuki wouldn't have to worry about boring uncles.

"Speaking of brothers, do you see Ayame very often, Yuki? I'm hoping to stop in at the shop before we leave, but I'm not sure if we'll have the chance."

Yuki had smiled then, a soft, happy smile. "Yes, actually. We get together every other week and have coffee, just the two of us. And we try to get together with our families when we can. But our coffee chats are...nice. Surprisingly nice." He leaned back on his arms, smiling at Tohru. "I never would have thought we'd be at this point, Ayame and I. But I feel like now...both of us grown, both of us married, both of us fathers...we have more common ground than ever before. Granted, he's still an idiot-"

That time it was Tohru's turn to wince.

"-But it's toned down, somewhat. He doesn't automatically annoy me just by opening his mouth."

They had talked more of other Sohmas, of jobs. Of city living versus country living. Yuki had congratulated Kyo on his latest tournament placement, which surprised both Tohru and Kyo since they hadn't known Yuki even knew about the tournament.

And of course, they talked about the babies.

Hajime had been curious and excited to be held by Yuki, making a noble attempt to grab and yank Yuki's silvery hair. And Yuki had laughed, turning to give Kyo an amused look. "I'm guessing you put him up to this."

Kyo had been amused in turn. "Hey, he's a smart kid. He knows that it's good to start out on the offensive."

"Yes, well." Setting Hajime down in his lap out of hair pulling range, Yuki had looked him over, smiling. Kyo's orange hair, Tohru's brown eyes. Their baby, unquestionably, and one who unquestionably knew only love. "I can't believe he's almost a year old already. That both seems much too old and also not old enough, considering how mobile and vocal he is. Has he started saying any actual words yet?"

Tohru and Kyo had both shaken their heads. "No words yet, just sounds. He's pretty preoccupied with movement these days, so I imagine he's put speech on the backburner. But hopefully before too long we'll start hearing some words!"

Like, maybe, 'Mama.'

None of the adults were ready when it was time for the visit to end, but both Hajime and Mutsuki had badly needed to sleep. Tohru had hugged Yuki tightly at the door, and he'd hugged her nearly as tightly in return.

"Have a Happy New Year, you three. I'd say this past year has been a good one for all of us, but let's try to top it, shall we?"

Kyo had chuckled, shifting Hajime on his hip and wrapping an arm around Tohru. "Dunno if that's possible, but I'm always up to try. Thanks, Yuki."

"Happy New Year, Yuki!"

"You're kidding me, he's still asleep?" Kyo was amazed when Tohru came back to their seats, a fresh-smelling Hajime still passed out in her arms. And Tohru was trying to keep her giggles quiet as she nodded.

"I know! It's amazing, isn't it? He must be absolutely exhausted; either that or he might be getting sick," Tohru said with a sudden flash of concern.

Kyo reached out to touch Hajime's forehead. "He doesn't feel warm, at least; I bet he's just tired. Can't blame him if he is, he saw a lot of people this trip."

"Yes, he did." Tohru's voice was soft, thinking about all the people they'd seen. Some they'd gone to see; some had seen them. It had been fun and frantic and festive, and she'd loved it.

Most of it, anyway.

She loved Tokyo, and she loved getting to see their family and friends. But right now, going home to their house in their own little town, she felt almost giddy with anticipation.

The train ground to a halt, and the two of them, along with the rest of the passengers, lined up to leave. Kyo hefted their bags, and Tohru cuddled Hajime close in preparation to brave the holiday crowd, then the two of them looked at each other.

"We're gonna have to hoof it to make the next train, Tohru. Are you ready to move?"

Tohru smiled at him, her eyes twinkling at the challenge. "I'm ready if you are!"

Kyo grinned right back. "Alright, let's go!"