All right, everyone, the rest of the background story. :) There will only be two more chappies and then it's over, two after this one that is. Oh, notes for some.

Roses: This is not mentioned in the story, which I should have mentioned, Yuki is a cousin, but a VERY distant cousin, so it would not be bad in the slightest for Tohru and Yuki to be married.

Fullma8712: The part about Tohru's name is revealed in this chapter. As you saw in chappie 17, Kyoko's last name, or maiden name I should say, is Honda, but the reason Tohru took on her maiden is revealed here. :) Just read.

Chapter 18

"Congratulations, it's a girl," the nurse told Kyoko as the beautiful baby girl was placed in her arms. She squeezed her eyes shut, half expecting it to change into some strange animal, but it didn't. She sighed with relief as she stared down into the face of her baby girl.

"And Katsuya was so set on it being a boy," she chuckled as he appeared in the room. "Katsuya, it's a girl." She laughed as he bent over her body to see the tiny child in her arms.

"We can still name her Tohru can't we?" he asked. Kyoko thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Tohru Sohma," she whispered to the child.

The two children grew together, spending every Wednesday together. Yuki would occasionally come with Kyo to visit Tohru whenever Akito allowed him to leave the main house to which he was a prisoner. Everything was fine for the first three years, but on the eve of Kyo's fourth birthday trouble hit. Rubette was having constant trouble with him and came to Katsuya with a cry for help.

"She's having trouble with Kyo," Katsuya said to Kyoko once she had put Tohru to bed.

"Then you should be with her," she replied.

"But, what about you?" he asked.

"I'll be fine, Tohru and I will manage, I was in a gang, remember?" she said, grinning. He smirked.

"How could I forget?" he asked.

"But, Katsuya, you do realize that you won't be able to come back," Kyoko said solemnly.

"I know," he said. "What should we do, for Tohru?"

"I think the best way for you to leave her life is for you to die," Kyoko said. "You're going to have to fake your death." He nodded.

"What then, she's going to want to know about Kyo and Rubette," Katsuya said.

"Hatori will, Hatori will have to erase all her memories of them," Kyoko stuttered as her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Katsuya!" She threw her arms around him and began to sob. "I love you so much, no matter what you've done to me, I still love you." Now he was crying, holding his wife to him tightly.

"Oh, Kyoko, I love you so very much, I'm so sorry I hurt you, so very sorry," he whispered.

Katsuya died to Tohru and soon afterward all of her memories were erased of Rubette and Kyo. Kyoko took up her maiden name and so from then on she and Tohru were Kyoko and Tohru Honda. Katsuya married Rubette but her burden of having a child cursed by the cat was too much for her. She couldn't bring herself to truly love the creature, though she tried. Katsuya was having the same problem with his son. Knowing that Kyo and Yuki could never see Tohru again just as she could never see them, Hatori erased their memories as well. Just after Kyo's sixth birthday Rubette committed suicide. Fearing that Kyo would drive him to do the same, Katsuya entrusted his son to Kazuma. He hated the boy and blamed Rubette's death on him. After Rubette died he desired to return to Kyoko, but knowing he couldn't ever go back he moved t the other side of Tokyo to get as far away from Kyo as possible and that's where he was still living.
Kyo and Tohru just sat there in awe, unable to speak. It was wild to believe but yet, at the same time, it made sense. All the pieces fit, it could have happened. Kyo just stared at Tohru but she wasn't looking at him.

My father's alive? She thought. It was the only thought her mind could comprehend at the moment. The story was filled with so many realizations that she was overcome.

"M-my father's alive?" she breathed as Kazuma nodded.

"Yes, Tohru," came an unfamiliar voice. The door to Hatori's office slowly opened and the figure of a man with black hair and dark eyes appeared in the room.

"D-Dad?" she whispered as the man nodded. She leapt from her chair and into his arms, tears flooding her face. The man stroked her hair as she cried into his shirt. Kyo, on the other hand, had the opposite reaction. His face tensed and his limbs became rigid. He, unlike Tohru, knew their father and had been treated exactly the opposite. His father hadn't loved him; he doubted that he loved him now.

"Kyo," the man said as Kyo lifted his head to look at him. Tohru was still holding onto the man for dear life as if she would never let him go. "Son, I know I've hurt you more than I can ever know. I've hurt too many in my lifetime, you, Tohru, her mother, and even your mother. Kyo, I came to see my daughter and my son. If you could ever forgive me, I-" Kyo held up his hand as he slowly stood up. Tohru was now looking at him and her tears had stopped but she wouldn't release her grip.

"Dad, it's going to take a while, but I'll try," he said. Katsuya's eyes filled with tears as he looked tenderly upon his son.

"I still have some questions," Tohru said abruptly, finally pulling away from her father. She and Kyo sat back down as Katsuya pulled up a chair beside Hatori.

"All right, go ahead," Hatori said.

"Well, first, why are Kyo and I even remembering this? Why did we have flashbacks? You erased our memories, right?" Tohru asked.

"Both you and Kyo are very strong human beings emotionally. When memories are erased they can be brought back only if the person is strong or if a situation occurs that's significant enough to bring it back. The two of you dancing together must have been strong enough," Hatori explained.

"Dancing, but why-" Tohru started.

"Rubette and Kyoko both told me how they taught you two to dance. Kyo hated it at first but after a while there was nothing more the two wanted to do," Katsuya said with a chuckle as Tohru turned to glance at Kyo. The boy's face was red and he couldn't look at her. Suddenly another thought struck Tohru.

"What about Yuki, you said his memory was erased too," she said.

"Yuki has neither memories nor the connection you two do," Hatori replied.

"What a pretty boy," Kyo chuckled, grinning. Tohru smiled, she loved it when he smiled, even if he was making fun of Yuki.

"Well, what about Akito, how did he plan on using this information against us?" she asked.

"He was planning on giving you all this information without any warning in the hopes that it would be too much heartache for you two to handle," Kazuma said. She nodded slowly.

"Anything else?" Hatori asked.

"I don't think so," Tohru said, her voice faltering as she burst into tears.

"Tohru, what's wrong?" Hatori asked as the rest looked at her worriedly.

"I-I just found out that Kyo is my brother and, and I can't even hug him, I can't how him how much I love him," she cried. Kyo's eyes softened and he looked down at his little sister with a new love. The romance melted away and was replaced with the love an older brother would feel for his younger sister. He felt the pain too, the piercing ache that filled his heart when he realized he couldn't reach over and comfort her. He smiled softly.

"You can hug me if you want, Tohru," he said. She threw her arms around him in a rush of emotion and cried on his shoulder for a split second before he turned into the small, orange cat. She held him in her arms and rocked back and forth on her knees on the floor. Katsuya looked tenderly upon his children and got down on his knees beside Tohru, putting a hand on her back. Hatori and Kazuma looked on the scene with tears in their eyes.

"We did the right thing," Kazuma said to Hatori.