Momiji shrugged his ever-faithful bunnypack off his shoulders, letting it fall down into the mounding cedar-chip covered ground. A few small children ran past him, laughing as they chased each other before climbing into the play structure nearby. He smiled at them as he made his way toward the swingset. The swings had always been his favorite, ever since he learned to do it on his own. He'd built a special liking to anything fun he could do on his own, because it wasn't very often that he had someone to play with.
He sat down and pushed back, lifting his legs and leaning back as he was propelled forward, working up the intertia to swing higher and higher. He stared up at the cloudless, sunny sky, and thought of Tohru.
Thought of Tohru and Kyo.
He'd always liked Kyo; had always thought they had a little more in common than the other juunishi, even if the older boy never saw it. It seemed so silly to think it... Kyo was always so angry, and he was always so happy. Always. None of the others really understood just how often either of them felt... just sad. Not sad the way Yuki or Kisa-chan were... it wasn't a type of sad that anyone else could see.
Except Tohru.
Tohru could see everyone's sadness, and made it her own. That's why everyone was getting happier. Tohru understood, and knew the right things to say to make us feel better about being us. Tohru was sad too, and all of us knew it... but Kyo is the only who can help her.
Momiji stared up at the sun, letting the swing slow until his weight stopped it completely.
Tohru was his second mother. His mutti. And he was losing her, and it was just as painful as the first time, because just like then, he'd seen it coming from the very begining. The looks Kyo gave her, and how much more he'd meant to her. Even when he'd given her gifts, it was Kyo including himself that made her happiest. He looked down at his clothes, not as bright and flamboyant now that he had grown into a more adult body. He wore bold colored shirts, and dark colored slacks... a lot like what a certain orange feline did.
He pushed back against the ground, his feet sticking as he rocked to and forth, his smile still in place, his eyes screaming such deep, burning pain. He loved her just as much as Kyo did, he was sure of it. Not like a mother anymore, though... like boys love girls. Like Ha'ri loved Kana. Like Haru loved Rin, and Hiro loved Kisa. Tohru was his love, the only girl that he'd ever wanted to wrap his arms around and protect from everything. But... he couldn't have her. She was Kyo's, and she always had been, and that was okay.
Kyo deserved a special someone, too. Afterall, he knew a little how Kyo felt, and had always wanted him to find a way out of his sadness.
The difference between he and Kyo, was that he had chosen his pain. He'd been given the option, and chosen it, because he didn't want anyone to suffer. With his father sobbing against his little shoulder, he had agreed, wanting to save his mother, wanting to see her smile for the first time in his life. And he had, so he knew he'd made the right decision in the end.
And this decision, the one he'd made to not interfere and let Kyo and Tohru love each other, it was the right one to make too. He knew it was, because he'd seen it from the very begining. His loss would bring people together. Would make those he cared most for smile so bright that he would have to smile back, have to be happy for them no matter how hard the tears would come later.
He smiled and jumped from the swing, walking back to his bunnypack and snatching it before he took off in a run toward the Main House, done with playing for the day. He laughed as he felt the wind tussle the blonde curls his mother had given him, swinging his pack up as he lifted his arms, looking ridiculously young, even in his new adult body and clothes.