Chapter 21
I hope this chapter was worth the wait. The ending was a bit hard for me to finalize.

The doorbell ringing made Alana look up from where she sat sketching. With a sigh, she grabbed a wet nap to wipe the charcoal from her fingers and headed down the stairs to the door.

Standing on the other side was a girl who looked vaguely familiar. She had half of her long brown hair in a ponytail and her brown eyes were wide with surprise at Alana opening the door.

"How may I help you?" Alana asked after a moment of silent staring.

"Oh! Um…I'm…I'm looking for Momiji?" The girl uncertainly asked bowing.

Alana smiled gently at the young lady assuming it was another of the Sohma cousins she had yet to meet. "I'm very sorry, but Momiji isn't home right now. He's gone to the store with Kisa. They will be home fairly soon. Would you like to come in and wait?"

The girl looked unsure for a moment, then nodded firmly and entered when Alana stepped to the side. "My name is Tohru Honda." She bowed again politely with a slight blush.

"Alana Takashi." Alana bowed back as she closed the door behind them. So this is Tohru…

"I…I didn't know Momiji had anyone living with him…"Tohru commented. "I would never have intruded…"

Alana waved the apology off. "It is not an intrusion at all. Momiji speaks very fondly of you." She gave her a soft smile then led her into the sitting room and waved her to a seat. Alana looked over the girl Momiji had loved carefully. Tohru was very pretty but…honestly looked a bit spacy. Not like she was unintelligent, but more as if day to day annoyances didn't even register for her. They sat in silence for a few moments and Alana couldn't help but smile at the look on Tohru's face. It was as if she was talking herself up to saying something. Deciding to take pity on Tohru, Alana spoke. "Momiji and I have not been together long. It isn't a surprise or insulting to me that you may not have heard of me."

Tohru almost sagged in relief. "I didn't want you to feel hurt if I had said Momiji had never mentioned you." Tohru blushed at having been figured out. "But um um…how do you know each other?"

"One day while passing the Sohma estate, I was listening to Momiji play and met Kisa. She goes to school with my sister and they brought him to meet me." Alana explained simply.

"Oh! Momiji is a fantastic violinist! He doesn't play much in front of others but when you get to see him, he is wonderful!" Tohru gushed, waving her arms enthusiastically.

"He is." Alana agreed proudly. "He has been accepted as a talent at a gallery that does performances. You may get to see him play more often."

Tohru's eyes widened, "That would be magnificent! I can't wait!" She opened her mouth to say more but was interrupted by the front door opening.

"Alana, we are back." Momiji's voice came from the door.

"In the sitting room, Momiji!" She winked at Tohru. "We have a guest."

Momiji's curious face peeked around the corner and a startled look crossed it as he noticed Tohru sitting there. "Tohru?"

"Tohru?!" Kisa's voice came from behind him and Kisa pushed him out of the way and dropped her bags to throw herself at Tohru.

Momiji came into the room and moved all the grocery bags to the kitchen behind Alana, quickly putting those that needed to go into the fridge inside. He hesitated slightly but seeing the understanding, loving look on Alana's face had him leaning over the couch to kiss her lightly in greeting. He couldn't resist showing her that he wasn't afraid to show his feelings for her after that look. There was no condemnation, no anger or jealousy about Tohru, just love.

Alana returned his kiss happily, though she would have understood his discomfort being affectionate in front of the girl he loved, she was glad and proud that he felt comfortable enough in his feelings for her to keep their easy affection normal.

"Hello Tohru. It's nice to see you." He greeted her as he came around the couch to sit by Alana. Kisa still had Tohru in a death glomp so he didn't attempt to hug her now.

"It's nice to see you as well Momiji." Tohru replied, hugging Kisa back just as strongly.

"Did you get a chance to be introduced to Alana?" He asked, threading his fingers through Alanas. He had wondered if he would feel awkward seeing her. While she had visited since she moved, it was not often and it felt…different with her official engagement and moving home. But he did not feel the pining he had thought he would.

"Yes, we introduced ourselves." Alana answered him as Kisa finally peeled herself away from Tohru even if it was only to sit next to her instead of on her. "She arrived only a few minutes before you so she didn't get a chance to tell me any embarrassing stories." Alana teased, squeezing his hand gently.

"Oh! I wouldn't!" Tohru started, looking a big flustered at the idea she would tell stories about Momiji. She stopped stuttering when Momiji laughed.

"No worries, Tohru." He told her chuckling. "Alana is just teasing. How was your flight?" He asked leaning back comfortably into his couch.

Tohru gave a wide smile and began to describe their flight back home. The Sohma estate had paid for their tickets and to ship their belongings home as well. The things they shipped were due to arrive the following week. "We don't have much." Tohru shrugged. "We had rented a furnished house so did not need to bring home any furniture."

"Did you enjoy your travels?" Alana asked curiously.

Tohru nodded happily. "Very much. Kyo got to learn from many Masters." She looked extremely proud of her fiancé.

"What did you do?" Alana was getting the impression that Tohru would not talk about herself freely. Not because she was hiding things, but more, because she didn't think what she had done was of interest.

"Umm. I took some classes. Cooking and…and child care." She blushed lightly.

Momiji felt a jolt of surprise. Obviously, if Tohru and Kyo were getting married, they were probably thinking about children but it was a bit of a surprise she was taking child care classes now. Then again…Shigure and Akito had a baby, Aya and Mine were going to be having a baby soon, Hiro's little sister was a toddler, and others were ready to begin their families as well.

"That's an admirable thing to do. Take classes to improve yourself." Alana told her with a gentle smile.

Tohru gave her a big smile back. "Akito thought it would be something I would enjoy."

"And did you?" Momiji asked thinking Akito probably suggested it so she could have Tohru available to watch her daughter. He knew she hated having the servants watch Kaiya, too many of them were very subservient to the Sohma family and treated Kaiya like a princess and while she was too young for it to have much effect, eventually it would cause her to become a spoiled brat and Akito did not want that he knew.

Tohru nodded excitedly. "I did." She seemed to be ready to take the subject off her, however, and turned to Kisa. "How is school going for you?"

Momiji gave a faint smile. Tohru's shyness was acting up. She had really grown since they'd first met but that shyness was still a big part of her personality. She was so incredibly friendly to everyone that you almost forgot she did not like a lot of attention directed at her.

"School is going very well. It was gotten very lively since Emiko and I started hanging out." She turned a mischievous smile on Alana who stuck her tongue out in reply.

"Emiko?" Tohru asked curiously, looking between the two.

"My sister. When I first met Kisa, her uniform was the same as my sisters. So I asked my sister if her name was familiar. The next day, she went up to Kisa and they have been plotting against me ever since." Alana mock scowled at Kisa who decided it was her turn to stick out her tongue.

"Emiko and I just decided that they needed to meet." Kisa looked at Tohru with wide, innocent eyes. Momiji and Alana both gave her disbelieving looks which increased when Tohru cuddled her and cooed over her 'sweet thoughtfulness'.

A knock at the door had Alana rolling her eyes and going to see who was at the door. Hiro waved at her as he entered. "Sorry I'm late." He said shortly and stopped dead in his tracks as he entered the living room and saw Tohru wrapped around Kisa. He made a small face and moved to sit on the long couch with Momiji and Alana rather than try to squeeze in next to Kisa. "Tohru." He greeted off-handedly as the two girls separated.

"Hello Hiro!" Tohru greeted. Kisa gave him a big smile but stayed tucked up into Tohru's side. "How are you?"

"Fine." He answered rather brusquely. Alana raised an eyebrow in question at Momiji at Hiro's short, and almost hostile, behavior. He gave her a grin and shook his head. Tohru didn't seem to notice and turned to Momiji as well.

"Oh…um…congratulations on getting into a gallery, Momiji!" Tohru gave him a big smile. "Alana told me that you were accepted into a performing gallery?"

Momiji nodded and ran a hand gently down Alana's arm. "Yes, Alana had an interview with a gallery representative and convinced me to perform for him as well. He took a recording of me playing and showed it to the Head of the Music department who accepted me. So we have a meeting with the department heads to learn what we are going to do next." He gave Alana a shy smile as he felt a little bit of butterflies in his stomach at the thought of what new things might be coming.

"It's so exciting!" Kisa says. "Alana got in with two acceptances as well!"

"Oh!" Tohru gasped looking over at Alana. "Yes, Momiji said you had an interview. Do you play the violin as well?"

Alana shook her head with a smile. "I play the piano."

"And she's an artist!" Kisa jumped in. "She's amazing! She's painting a portrait of me! I bought something of hers when we first met and she did a portrait of Aya and Mine! They are beautiful!" Kisa gushed causing Alana to blush lightly.

"Akito bought a seasonal set from her as well." Momiji bragged. "A trio of a Cherry tree in Summer, Spring, and Winter." Alana's blush deepened at the overwhelming support she was feeling just then.

"Yes, Alana is quite talented." Hiro piped up. Everyone turned to gaze at him. His words did not match the tone and they waited to see how he would finish. "She's not a space cadet like some I could name."

Alana raised her eyebrows in surprise. Hiro was pretty caustic normally but that was pretty much a straight insult toward his girlfriend's sister of the heart. None of the other three seemed to even notice though and Tohru simply smiled at him.

"I am going to start dinner. Tohru, you are welcome to stay." Alana said standing.

"Oh! No thank you! Kyo will be coming by to pick me up and we are having dinner with his dad." Tohru smiled beautifully at the mention of Kyo.

Alana nodded in acceptance and headed from the room to let the others talk without a relative stranger. The doorbell rang and she changed her course to answer the door. "I've got it."

"Bet it's that cat." Hiro muttered under his breath as she passed by his chair.

Cat? Alana thought to herself and opened the door. A tall young man with bright orange hair and red-orange eyes waited on the other side of the door. He looked started at her appearance and Alana took a shot in the dark. "Kyo?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah?" He replied confused.

"Tohru is inside, she mentioned you were coming by. So I guessed." Alana admitted. "I'm Alana Takashi, Momiji's girlfriend." She stood to the side to let him in and gestured toward where the others were.

"Nice to meet you." He muttered politely as he stepped past her.

She continued to the kitchen, hearing the greetings Kyo received. She debated if she should go back in to support Momiji in the face of his old loves fiancé but decided not to hover. She wasn't going to be far if he decided he wanted her near him. She hummed quietly to herself as she began to sift through the groceries Momiji and Kisa had brought home and began to pull out ingredients for yakitori and vegetable tempura. She began the prep while keeping one ear out to the conversations in the other room. While she couldn't hear the words that were being said, she could hear the general tone and volume and was listening to make sure problems weren't starting.

Hiro's tone was extremely sarcastic and snippy and Alana was definitely going to be asking Momiji about that. He wasn't exactly sweetness and sunshine but he had ever had quite that tone before. Momiji was quiet but didn't seem distressed and Tohru and Kisa were very chipper. Kyo was quiet though, he wasn't talking much at all, and he occasionally had a snappy rejoinder to Hiro but mostly just listened to the others talk.

Once the food was set out and prepared, waiting only for them to cook it, Alana joined the Shoma crowd back in the other room.

"-replaced, Cat. Kagura has fallen in love with someone else. What will you do?" Hiro mocked as Alana came in.

Kyo flushed in aggravation. "Throw a party?" He muttered to himself as he leaned back next to Tohru.

"Dinner is ready to start cooking." Alana said softly as she perched on the arm beside Momiji.

"We should head off then." Kyo surged to his feet as if in a hurry to leave.

"In a rush to call Kagura?" Momiji teased, a smirk unlike any other she had seen on his face.

"You damn Rabbit!" Kyo started, finally losing his temper.

Tohru jumped to her feet to get between them. "Um..um..we need to hurry to meet Shishou." She seemed nervous as if worried the two would begin fighting.

Momiji looked apologetically at Tohru but Alana could still see the mischievousness in his eyes and the glee in Hiros'. Kisa looked mildly exasperated but also a little amused. Alana knew there was some old story to go along with this and felt a little wistful at not knowing the story; she would just need to ask if it was something they could tell her over dinner. "Of course. We hope to see you guys this weekend."

Tohru smiled, relieved at the lessening tension. "We would love to be there." She gave hugs all around and then let Kyo drag her from the house. Only after the door was closed did Momiji laugh and high-five Hiro.

"For shame boys." Kisa giggled in an attempt to scold them.

"I couldn't help it!" Hiro muttered defensively. "They sat there with those ridiculously besotted expressions on their faces."

"They are in love!" Kisa protested, no longer trying to hide her laughter.

"So are we! So are Momiji and Alana." Hiro scowled. "But none of us give each other looks like that."

Alana and Momiji blushed at Hiro's blatant announcement of their feelings but didn't argue or deny it; though they did find it interesting that they didn't have 'ridiculously besotted expressions' on their faces when they looked at each other. As they wandered into the kitchen, Alana and Momiji moved to begin cooking the Yakitori while Kisa moved to make the vegetables and Hiro began to set the table. They worked quickly and efficiently around each other.

Once dinner was finished and everyone was settled at their seats, Alana finally asked the question that was burning on the tip of her tongue. "Kagura?"

The three Sohma all glanced at each other before bursting into laughter. "Another Sohma…I know it seems odd and a little…well gross that so many Sohma's are romantically involved with each other. But none of us are actually closely blood related. A few generations back, the Head of the Sohma Family decided that anyone who marries a Sohma, takes the name and that unless they had permission from the Head, all Sohma were to live in the Compound or within a few blocks of the Compound. So for some of us, we have Sohma blood only by way of our great-grandparents." He shrugged at Alana's confused look. "Such was the power of the Head of House back then. I looked up how close we all were one day since we call each other cousins."

"Anyway…" Kisa interrupted, "When they were children. Kagura decided one day she was going to marry Kyo. She's a little older than us and had a little older than us and had a very…enthusiastic and at times, violent, way of showing Kyo her feelings. Kyo never felt the same way though." Kisa explained. "He was rather…"

"Stupid." Hiro interjected.

Kisa continued, "…About emotions and feelings. Other than his adopted father, who he calls Shishou, Kyo didn't have very good relationships growing up and so didn't know how to react to Kagura and Tohru when they began to fall in love."

"How did you all meet Tohru?" Alana asked looking around. "It seems a bit unusual that you all became friends with her when you all are different ages."

Hiro scowled, "She was living with Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure as their housekeeper during their last few years of school."

Alana paused as she raised a bite of food and stared. "While I feel there is a bit more behind that bit of information, I'll just say okay and let it go."

Momiji chuckled, "Yeah there is a bit more behind it but it isn't our story to tell. Let's just go with it was odd and we all ended up meeting her in odd ways." He shrugged, he had already told Alana about how they had met. "It gave us some good stories though." He laughed. "Do you remember when Kagura and Tohru dragged Yuki and Kyo off on a double date."

Kisa and Hiro laughed in memory and the rest of dinner went by in laughter as the three Sohmas' shared stories of Tohru, Kyo, and occasionally Yuki. Eventually, Alana got dragged in to share a few stories of herself and Emiko (for ammunition for Kisa).

After they finished eating and cleaning up from dinner, they stood around chatting for a few minutes. In a brief lull, Kisa turned concerned eyes to Momiji. "Are you alright?"

Hiro and Alana glanced over as well before going back to cleaning and letting the two of them talk in semi-private. Momiji though, just smiled and hugged her to his side. "Worried about me?"

Kisa nodded into his shoulder and hugged him back. "I know you haven't seen her in person in a long time."

Momiji nodded and took a moment to think. It was true, he hadn't seen her in person in over a year and there was a difference now that she was officially engaged. But he felt…normal. He didn't feel like his heart was breaking, didn't feel like he couldn't breathe. It was like…with her official engagement, with his meeting Alana…he had finally let go of her. He would always love her…but he wasn't in love with her and probably never had been, but she had been the first person to see him, to believe in him. It made him love her just by being her.

"Yeah, I am okay." He hugged her tightly and then locked eyes with Alana. He gave her a loving smile which she returned and felt that right then…his world was pretty perfect.

I hope no one minds the little part about how the Sohma are related. I don't remember it being addressed in the manga but it has been a long time, so I decided this was how I wanted it to be. To me, it seems unlikely someone wouldn't question cousins being romantically involved, but that's my American culture, it might not be the same for others.

Anyway, please review and let me know what you think.