In the morning

Maho groaned as the sun glared in her face. She sat up and looked around the room and then gasped as she saw Hatori writing in his notepad. "Hatori what are you doing in here?" Maho asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stud up yawning. "Maho, please get back into bed your still unwell." He said not looking at her, but still scribbling on his notepad. Ignoring his orders she walked out of the room. Hatori heard the door close and looked up from his notebook and saw Maho gone. "Maho…" He said irritated. Rubbing his temples he got up and went to look for her.

Maho remembered the house perfectly. Where to make a right or a left it was all etched in her brain. She smiled walking down the corridors and feeling the smooth wood that had not changed. The walls were filled with memories for her…. Both good and bad. Don't think of the bad she told herself. She laughed out loud. "Yeah I wont think of the bad as it stares me in the face" she said referring to Hatori. Looking around she found the kitchen. It seemed like a lot of people were in it. Looking closer she saw that it was Yuki, Kyo, Shigure, and the girl from the night before. Her eyes widened and she walked out before they noticed her and ran back to her room not wanting them to see her in Hatori's pajama's and think something. She looked back to make sure they weren't following her in case they had seen her. Not looking where she was going she ran into Hatori who admittedly grabbed her by the shoulders. His grasp wasn't to hard, but it was enough to make her stop moving.

"Hatori what do you think your doing? Release me at this moment!" Maho screamed at him. She hated being touched by him when it wasn't a loving touch. To her that was all the time. He only touched her to restrain her. He took her arm and pulled her back into her room. "Maho stop acting out." He said not to her but at her. That really got her blood boiling. She stomped her foot and glared at him. "How dare you?" Hatori looked at her and said "Maho, please calm down, lower your voice, change into the clothes on the bed, and lay in bed. You are very sick, you cant afford to run around screaming and making a fool of yourself." With that he walked out of the room as Maho stood there with her jaw dropped that he would say such a thing to her. She was going to burst out the door go into his room and yell at him for walking off on her but she looked down and saw that she was almost flashing everyone and decided she should at least get first.

After Maho was fully dressed in pajama's that fit her correctly she decided to roam the halls looking for Hatori to yell at then for the others to see why they were here. Putting on slippers that were by her bed she looked at a robe on the chair near her bed. It was obviously for her but it was also obviously Hatori's. She decided it wouldn't look right running around in Hatori's robe after she stayed the night and left it alone and went looking for him.

In the kitchen the whole gang talked with Hatori about Maho. Tohru was still worried about Maho "Hatori can I see her… or is she to sick to have visitors." Maho burst threw the doors and smiled. "I'm fine um…" Maho said staring at Tohru while not knowing her name. "Excuse me but I am not aware of the name you go by." Maho said asking Tohru in a most sophisticated matter. Shigure pointed to Tohru and said "Why this is Tohru, she's very special to us." He smiled and winked at Kyo and Yuki as Maho just stared at Shigure. Maho then started to say as she bowed "it's an honor to meet you Miss. Tohru. I've heard only good things about you. I cant wait to go back…" Maho stopped and started having a coughing fit. Deep loud coughs that sounded like she was hacking up blood or something. It was the ammonia acting up. She shouldn't even be out of bed Hatori thought as he rushed over to her. "Back to bed Maho, why are you even out of bed especially since you don't have a robe on." Maho would of glared but she was coughing so much she felt like she was choking and tears came to her eyes since she couldn't stop. Hatori lifted her off of the floor and took her to her room.

Soon enough Maho stopped coughing and sat up in bed looking embarrassed . She didn't want anyone knowing how bad she actually felt from the ammonia. Hatori felt her head and shook his head. "Maho lay down. Stop being so stubborn and listen to me I'm a doctor I know what is best for you at this point." She laid down and turned her back to him. "There's were your wrong Doctor Hatori." Hatori was silent to her hurtful statement. Will you ever forgive me Maho? He silently asked. Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, and Shigure came into the room. "Shigure lets talk outside about Maho's living arrangements." Hatori said as he walked out the door and Shigure followed him. Shigure sang out "The adults must talk about adult business that you are all to young to hear about!" and then he added "Like high school girls high school girls high school girls."

Shaking her head Maho sat up in bed and looked over at Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru. Kyo sitting in a chair staring at the wall with a pissed off look on his face. It was obvious why he was pissed. Kyo… the outsider… at least to Akito's eyes but never to Maho's. Yuki was standing behind Tohru who was close to Maho's bed smiling at her. "I hope you get well soon." Tohru said as she nodded. Maho felt uneasy as she said "Thank you very much." Then awkward silence filled the room. Her and Yuki use to play together in the mansion but now he was hiding behind Tohru. Kyo… he wouldn't even look at me she thought gloomily. A thought then entered Maho's mind. What of Momiji? What if he hates me now… for leaving him.

Maho couldn't take it any longer. She decided to break the awkward silence…with awkward conversation. "So do you still hate me? Actually more importantly… does Momiji hate me? Even if I don't deserve your forgiveness I want to apologize all the same. I know that you guys know that isn't why I came back this week. I love you guys even though I've changed, we've all changed…" Maho couldn't speak anymore. The lump in her throat grew to large and she couldn't speak. Kyo and Yuki kind of stared at each other feeling awkward and out of place. Tohru then touched Maho's shoulder. Maho sniffled a little and yelled at herself don't let them see you like this be strong be strong be strong. She started to chant to herself… it wasn't working either. Maho looked at Tohru and said "It must be this cold. Its making me all crazy and what not." Maho laughed a little playing off the pain. Tohru then said "I don't think any one could hate you Maho. I mean I think they understand why you ran away, and they even understand why you tried killing yourself. They're your family, they love you too. I'm positive that Momiji doesn't hate you either." Tohru was silent and then she continued talking.

"I lost my mom last year and my heart broke in so many pieces. But I had to be strong, for mom. I know that mom would feel guilty if I sat there blaming myself for what happened. Ill admit that sometimes the sadness overwhelms me and I start to cry to myself, but it will be ok. You'll never be able to run away from the pain, if you do then we aren't being true to ourselves. It's ok when things get to sad and you feel like crying, it's ok when it feels like you've fallen and you can't get up. Because if you look around you and you truly think about things, then I'm sure that you'll realize how much people care for you. People care about you even if they don't know you. At least that's what mom use to always say to me. It still a sad thing when someone goes, it's even sadder when a loved one dies. Death will never be a happy thing, we can let it defeat us or we can grow stronger from it. Maho lets become friends and grow strong together. We can't grow strong by ourselves, we need someone to help guide us. When my mom died I had Aou, Hana, and then Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure helped me too. With them came Momiji, Haru, Hatori, Ayame, Kisa, Hero, and Ritsu came and helped make me want to become stronger too." Tohru was silent as she waited for Maho's reaction. Maho then asked herself…how could it be that this girl who doesn't even know me talk as if she understands me?

Maho looked down at the sheets. Tears streamed her face and she smiled as the cold salty tears seeped into her mouth a little. "Thank you Tohru. Yes… let us be friends." While still looking down she wiped away her tears. They could be friends she thought but she wasn't ready to show them her tears. She got up from the bed and hugged Tohru tightly and Tohru smiled brightly and hugged her back a bit surprised by the action though. "Yuki, Kyo… can we be friends again… can you still think of me as part of the family?" Tohru was turning around to see their reactions and tripped over her own feet. She fell and Maho's quick reflexes made her move out of the way. Kyo and Yuki on the other hand both wanted to catch Tohru not thinking clearly. She fell onto them and made them turn into a cat and a rat.

Maho stared at the scene wide eyed and couldn't help but laugh. Tohru became hysterical and grabbed Yuki and Kyo in her hands and started running in circles. "Oh no what have I done? Not here not where Akito will get mad at me! Oh no I'm such a klutz, I turned Yuki and Kyo into their zodiacs!" Maho smiled at the scene, it felt good to smile like this. Maho thought bitterly but I still can't stay here with Hatori. It still hurts to just look at him, it causes me so much pain. For now ill stay away from him, until I'm stronger like Tohru. She concluded to herself. Kyo and Yuki were yelling at each other, and at the same time trying to make Tohru fell better. Maho was about to say something when the door opened up. In walked Shigure and Hatori and Tohru was still running around and flew into Shigure turning him into a dog. When she did that Yuki and Kyo flew from her hands and almost hit the wall had Hatori not caught Yuki as Maho held Kyo after catching him as well. Maho put down Kyo and ran to Shigure. "Your so cute like that!" She said as she hugged him and pet his fur. "I'm not a real dog you know." He said agitated and turned back into a human were Maho was now hugging the naked Shigure.

Immediately after that she flew back away from him and closed her eyes. "Aiyah Shigure!" She yelled at him. Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure quickly got dressed as Hatori walked over to Tohru. She was still uneasy and nervous about being in the mansion with Akito. Hatori put his hand on Tohru's shoulder for reinsurance and told her "It's ok Tohru. Just try to be more careful next time." The caring look in Hatori's eye made a twinge of jealousy run threw Maho's body. She sighed and looked down. Hatori then walked over to her and looked at her feet. "Maho why are you out of bed with nothing on your feet? Why are you out of bed at all?" Hatori asked her firmly. She didn't respond to him but she just crawled back in bed and didn't even look at him. Hatori left and came right back with a dress in his hands. "Hatori I don't think that dress will look good on you." Shigure teased. Ignoring Shigure, Hatori placed the dress on the bed at Maho's feet. "Here put this on, Akito wishes to see you."