Chapter 6. Home from vacation! Please enjoy!

By the time they returned to the shop Ayame had a finished design complete with measurements and a selection of colors that he wanted to go over with Alana. She handed Mine and Hiro the tea and treats she'd been carrying and bent to look at his work. "This is perfect!" She eyed the materials and pointed to the icy-blue selection. "That one I think." She looked towards Kisa who was looking at Momiji a large smile on her face and nodded decisively. "When will it be done and how much do I owe you for it?"

Ayame smiled and clapped his hands. "I can have it finished before the end of the week and don't worry about paying for it." His face became more serious as he glanced at Momiji. "Call it a gift." He then turned back into his overly-jovial self and darted away to talk with his family.

Alana stood there for a few moments her eyebrows furrowed as she contemplated the family in front of her. There was something that was bothering all of them. But was it simply Momiji's self-imposed reclusiveness or was it more? Momiji looked up then and seemed to search for something in the room. His eyes lit upon her and a smile flew across his lips as he waved her over. Alana fought back a blush and shook the thoughts from her head as she made her way into their laughing group. She wanted to be friends with these interesting people and eventually, she was sure to figure out what exactly was wrong.

~Art of Love~

It was evening by the time they left the shop and headed home. Ayame had done some work on the dress with Kisa on hand and asked that she return the following day. Momiji and Hiro helped protect Alana from Mine who occasionally attempted to drag her off.

Kisa yawned as she leaned into Hiro's shoulder. She'd given up the passenger seat to Alana but she wouldn't lie and say she didn't enjoy sitting in the back with her boyfriend. She watched with a small smile as Alana and Momiji joked in the front seat quietly. She'd been watching the two of them the entire day. There was definitely attraction between them but beyond that, she hadn't seen Momiji smile, truly smile, so much in one day for a long time. She loved Tohru, she was a great older sister who called and wrote often, and Kisa was very happy that Tohru was happy with Kyo. But Momiji deserved someone to love him who didn't carry a dark past; his past was dark enough. She closed her eyes as Hiro linked his fingers with her, the unusual public display of affection completely succeeding in taking her scheming mind off the two in the front.

"I had a wonderful time today. Thank you so very much for…well everything!" Alana smiled blushed lightly looking sideways at Momiji. She'd blushed a lot that day and it didn't seem to be letting up now. She laughed quietly peeking back at the couple in the back. Hiro was gazing at Kisa with a very soft look on his face and Kisa looked as if she was asleep in his arms.

Momiji smiled softly at her as he pulled to a stop in front of her house. "Thank you Alana-chan." He said unbuckling his seatbelt to walk her to the door.

"Oh! You don't need to walk me up." Alana told him her voice as soft as his. "Just get the two of them home." She passed him a piece of paper and slipped out the car before he could protest.

Momiji watched her dart into the house before he looked down at the paper in his hand. It had her phone number and the date and time she worked next. He felt a smile blooming across his face and silently began driving again his mind stuck in a fuzzy happy glow.

~Art of Love~

Alana had watched Momiji leave before she'd headed to the roof of the house avoiding her family. She wanted to bask a little more in the private joy of her day. Meeting Momiji had been a surprise and embarrassing but he was an amazing individual. The smallest things seemed to make him happy. She remembered the unequaled pleasure that had lit his face when she'd told him she loved listening to him play and it made a smile fight its way across her face. She leaned against the side of the chimney and let the cool stone chill off the burn of her blush.

Her eyes drifted shut as music drifted up the open stairwell. Her mother was cooking tonight and she always played music as she cooked. Alana laughed softly as she moved away from the stone to begin dancing across the roof. Her mother was a contradiction in many things. She was a famous sports player who'd married a business man. She was a strong, confident woman; who had a weakness for Disney music.

"I know you; I waltzed with you once upon a dream…" Alana sang softly as she twirled her way around the roof. For this moment, the sense of something missing, something being wrong, was gone. It was a wonderful feeling.

~Art of Love~

The next morning Alana headed to the studio her parents had set up when she'd decided art was going to be her future. While she loved the room and appreciated the fact that her family believed in her enough to put money into supplying this room and letting her stay in their home, at the same time she felt like it was dragging her down some days. Why did she need to leave, why did she need to strive to get out, when everything she needed was provided? She knew that her parents were doing it as a way to show they supported her, that they loved her and were proud of her skills. But she felt as if she was drowning in ennui.

A thought of Momiji and the day before spent in happiness and laughter filled her mind and a dreamy smile slipped across her lips. Since she'd left school she'd felt as if she was stuck, felt as if there was something she was waiting for. Yesterday, she hadn't had that feeling. Yesterday it was as if the hole in her had been filled. Whether it was being out with new friends, laughing, joking and having fun, or Momiji and her burgeoning infatuation with him, she couldn't say for sure and she wanted to figure out which it was.

She was fingering her box of charcoal pencils her mind lost in thought when Emiko poked her head into the room. "Hey onee-chan! I didn't see you yesterday."

Alana turned and smiled at the barely concealed curiosity on her sister's face. "Hello imouto…and yes, I had a wonderful time out with Momiji, Kisa, and Hiro."

Emiko giggled and clapped her hands. "I'm so glad! I saw a picture of him, he's absolutely gorgeous onee!"

Alana blushed lightly sitting down on her artist stool. "He is gorgeous. But more than that…" Alana smiled dreamily and her eyes went misty as she thought of Momiji and her sister was struck with the thought that Alana might feel more seriously than she had first suspected. "He is extremely kind and gentle. He has the most amazing smile." She shook her head and picked up one of the pencils in front of her, now having an idea of what she wanted to draw. Her sister started to leave but Alana stopped her by calling out her name. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I know lately I've been difficult." She glanced up at her sister and sighed. "I hated that school so badly. Teachers favoring those who bent over for them, true art underappreciated and artists undervalued. Politics." She spat the last word out with hatred, "I'm so glad to be free of it."

Emiko walked into the room and wrapped her arms around her sister. "But you feel like you have no purpose now." She kissed her sisters forehead. "I understand. That is why Oji-san called the Gallery. It's a step into the future, the unknown. If it gets off the ground, the next step is for you to get your own place."She headed back out to the door picking up her backpack on the way. "I have practice after school today, so don't worry about dinner for me. I'll grab something on my way home."

Alana smiled after her sister, grateful that the younger girl understood her so well. With a lighter heart, she turned to her materials and began to sketch, her mind filled with thoughts of music and laughter.

~Art of Love~

Momiji stared out across the lawn that surrounded his house inside the Sohma compound and wondered again, at the difference that had come over it the last few years since the curse had been broken. A stifling, oppressive air used to suffocate the family 'inside'. Now it was brighter, gentler and full of hope for the future.

But for Momiji the future had seemed rather bleak. While every member of the Zodiac except Momiji and Kagura, the boar, had their own someone to love, Momiji and Kagura suffered from unrequited love for Tohru and Kyo respectively but those two were happily in love with each other. Now though, Momiji was the only one alone. Kagura was dating a young man from England whom she was going to school with now.

Momiji had been left behind.

Yet this morning when he'd woken it was as if he'd left behind the same fog that had been cast aside by the others. As if the sun Tohru had set burning had finally reached him. He walked into the kitchen of his small house with a bounce in his step. Alana didn't work again until tomorrow but maybe he could invite her over to play some music together. He had a piano tucked back in the music room. His thoughts and feet slowed to a stop as he reached the fridge and the phone began to ring.

"Moshi, moshi." Momiji greeted setting the phone on his shoulder and reaching into the fridge for the orange juice.

"Momiji-onii? It's Momo." A small girls voice came over the line.

Momiji's heart skipped a beat. The best thing to happen to him since the curse breaking was his father letting Momo and he hang out. She didn't know that he was her true brother, but she was allowed to spend time with him and bond as if they were real siblings. "Momo-chan! How are you doing?"

"I'm good Momiji-onii! I'm calling cause I wanted to know if I could come over tonight and play with you?" Momo's voice was slightly uncertain but hopeful. Even though their father let them spend time together, sometimes he still worried what their constant company would mean for their mother. But she was still blissfully ignorant of the son she'd forgotten.

"Of course you can come over, that would be great Momo-chan!" Momiji sang his face lit up in a wide smile. He really only got to see her once a month if he was lucky and he missed her when she was away.

"I'll see you after dinner than Onii!" Momo said and hung up quickly after.

Momiji sat at the island in his kitchen a wide smile on his face and stared at the paper he'd set there the night before. He would see Momo tonight and Alana tomorrow at the latest if she was unable to come over this afternoon.

It was like Alana's beautiful painting. Dawn was finally coming.

~Art of Love~

Alana looked up when she heard her cellphone ring and glanced at the caller ID. It was a number she didn't recognize and her heart skipped a beat hoping it might be Momiji. Her hope was rewarded when she answered the phone and heard his cheerful voice.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over and play some music with me." Momiji asked a little shyly.

Alana turned bright red with pleasure. "Of course! That would be great Momiji-kun. When would you like me to come by?"

Momiji hummed briefly in thought and then laughed. "I'll come get you now, how does that sound?"

"You don't have to do that Momiji-kun! I can walk there no problem." Alana protested turning to gaze at the few pieces of art she'd done the last few hours. It was pushing lunch time and she'd been up early enough to see her sister before school started.

"I want to come get you. Be there in a few minutes." He hung up before she could argue again and she smiled wistfully as she closed her phone. She'd spent the morning drawing with her charcoal pencils. Many of the pictures were faces; her family's and those of the Sohma's she'd met the day before. But she'd drawn one specifically to give to Momiji in thanks for inspiring her. She rolled it up gently and tied a ribbon around it before trooping to her room to grab clean clothing. She shrieked in horror as she glanced in her bedroom mirror and saw the smudges of pencil all over her face and hands and the disarray of her hair. "I need to shower!" She shouted and hopped into the bathroom that split her room from her sisters, leaving clothing all over her floor.

In ten minutes she was out of the shower, clean and fresh and her head was buried in her closet. The doorbell rang and with a curse she darted down the stairs. She clutched her bathing kimono close to her and opened the door with an embarrassed smile. Momiji flushed lightly when he saw her and she waved him inside. "I was working and had to hop in the shower. You can wait in my studio if you want."

Momiji smiled. "Sure. Sorry, I didn't mean to rush you." He followed her silently looking around the house and admiring some of the art work and the photographs that lined the walls. He entered the room she waved him to and watched smiling slightly at her back as she dashed off.

Alana changed quickly into a pair of dark jeans and a long gold scoop neck shirt. She grabbed his present and re-entered the studio to see Momiji glancing at her work. "Do you like them?" She asked timidly. She was always nervous when asking people what they thought lately. How had her mother phrased it? 'Damn school did a number on her self-esteem.'

Momiji held a picture of himself in his hand when he looked over at her. In the drawing he was looking serious and a bit sad, a far off-look in his eyes. "They are amazing Alana-chan." He told her quietly.

She wandered over and picked up a different drawing. The serious one was good, but it saddened her. It had been the face Momiji had worn when he'd discussed his family's problems. She handed him the new one, it was of him laughing. "I like this one better." She blushed lightly, meeting his eyes.

Momiji glanced at it and a smile tugged at his lips as he looked back at her. "Me too." He set both down and they headed out to his car. "Were those for the Gallery?" He asked as they pulled away from her home.

"Maybe. I haven't picked out what I wanted to show. But if you'd rather I not use the pictures of you that's fine. I have to ask your cousins if I can show the ones of them as well. The one of Kisa and Hiro napping together in the back of the car is going to be a gift to her though, so even if I show it, it won't be for sale." Alana rambled twiddling her fingers gently around the strap of her purse.

Momiji reached over and gently stopped her movements by linking hands with her. "I don't mind if you use them."

Alana smiled at him and relaxed. They soon arrived at the compound and Alana gazed in amazement as they entered the gate and headed towards Momiji's house. "This place is beautiful." Alana murmured looking up at the house as they exited the car.

"Thanks. I like it." He felt pleased with her reaction and proud of his home. He knew she'd love the bright, open interior as well. When they got inside he noticed the note on his fridge and quickly read it. "Alana-chan?" He called her over, away from the large window that looked out on the gardens. "There's something serious I need to talk to you about."

Alana nodded coming to stand beside him. "Anything Momiji-kun." She was worried, he looked so serious and a bit upset and nervous. Did he regret having her come over?

Momiji ran his fingers through his hair. "This is…complicated." He started. "Later tonight, my younger sister will be coming over. I don't get to see her very often and she doesn't know I'm her brother. When she's older I can tell her, but for now she's too young to understand."

"Do you want me to leave when she gets here? If you don't get to see her often, I shouldn't intrude." Alana told him softly.

"I want you to stay, if I didn't I wouldn't have asked you over. I just wanted to give you some background information." Momiji told her just as softly. Then he shook his head, clearing it of the heavy thoughts. "Anyway, let's head to the music room. I have a piano and my violin all set up."

Alana was silent as she followed him to the music room. He lived here alone, it was obvious, and his sister didn't know that they were related…she didn't know how these things had come to be, and didn't want to intrude on Momiji by asking things he might not want to share; but she hoped one day they would be close enough that he knew he could tell her anything. So for now, she'd just support him as well as she could and be there if and when he needed her.

Originally, that last convo went differently, he told her about his mom and why he was alone, minus the Zodiac part, but I thought, two days of knowing each other? Even if they had been deep in love at first sight, that's a lot of trust so it's just that his sister doesn't know they are related.

I hope you all are still pleased with the way this is going. I'm trying to make it obvious to us how they feel to us, but display that they are hesitant and unsure.

Review please!