Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame sat at a table inside a newly opened restaurant with the name A Dozen-and-One Stars.

"Mmm, Gure, this place is wonderful!" Ayame declared with a laugh. He looked up at the mural of a realistic night sky that was painted on the ceiling.

"Yes, I agree," Hatori added in his more subdued voice. "The food is very good here. How did you hear about it?"

"I read great reviews about it in the paper. And something about the name intrigued me…" Shigure answered. He trailed off as their waitress came to pick up the dirty dishes.

Suddenly she returned with a tray supporting three steaming mugs. She put one in front of each man.

"Um, we didn't order this," Shigure protested.

"Yes, I know," the woman replied. "Compliments of the head chef." She bowed and left.

"Shigure! You didn't tell us you knew the head chef!" Ayame pouted.

"No, no," Shigure chuckled nervously. "I don't. At least, I don't think I do."

"Perhaps he recognized you from your books," Hatori suggested.

"Yes, that must be it. I'm even more popular than I realized!" Shigure laughed, but quickly subdued himself. "So, Ha'ri," he said seriously, "Why did you want to meet us?"

"I wanted to speak with you about Akito," the doctor said gravely.

"Is he all right?"

The seahorse shook his head. "He is getting worse by the day. I don't think he's going to live much longer."

"How long?" Ayame asked, uncharacteristically sober for him.

Hatori was silent for a moment. "A week, at the most." He paused. "The strange thing is, during his fevers, he often speculates that no one will cry for him."

Shigure nodded. "There was one person who would have, but…"

"She's gone," Hatori finished.

The snake watched to two with compassion. All of the Sohmas, with the possible exception of Akito, had been deeply affected by the loss of Tohru.

The three soon stood to leave as the waitress came back with their check. "You enjoyed your meal, I presume. You're very lucky."

The men looked confused.

"Yes, it was quite good," Hatori replied.

"But may I ask, why we are so lucky?" Shigure requested.

The waitress looked slightly surprised. "The head chef cooked this meal herself. She's the best cook I've ever met!" With that, the woman bowed politely and left.

Shigure paid the bill and left a tip, and the three departed.

)( )( )( )( )(

Tohru sighed happily as she placed her keys on the counter inside her apartment. She had enjoyed seeing Shigure, Ayame, and Hatori today, and having the honor of cooking for them again. Two years had passed since she'd seen any of the Sohmas.

Once she, Yuki, and Kyo had finished high school, Akito had demanded that all of the Sohmas move back to the main house. Tohru had insisted she would be fine on her own. After all, her mother had done fine on her own, and she had had a child to take care of as well.

Akito had forbidden her from having any contact with the other Sohmas, but he had allowed her to write to him, which she did nearly every other day, asking how he and the others fared.

She missed them. Nobody could ever replace the Sohmas. She could only hope they were doing well.

Stooping to pick up the mail that had been dropped through the slot in her door, Tohru spotted another letter from Akito. She hurriedly opened it—it had been a while since he had last written, and she had been starting to worry.

Reading the letter quickly, she was relieved to find that the others were doing fine. But her face paled as she read of Akito's diminishing health. He wrote that it would be unlikely for her to receive any more letters from him.

A tear fell from one of Tohru's eyes to land on the letter, quickly followed by another. She put the letter with all of the others from Akito that she had kept, and went her bedroom, where the picture of her mother sat.

"Oh, mom," Tohru said through her tears. "I don't want to lose anyone else."