Chapter 24:
As I said, I'm finally getting this wrapped up. So here is the next chapter. Again, thank you so much for everyone who has stuck through this with me!
A few days passed as Momiji seemed to be thinking hard about their conversation. Alana didn't push, some things people needed to work through themselves and she respected him enough to let him decide on his own when he was ready.
When he asked her to take a seat beside him on the couch one evening, she was ready to support whatever decision he had come to. "Alana...I want to tell you about the Sohma family and the secrets we hold. But, I'm not allowed to. As it is a Sohma Secret, Akito has to give permission for you to know as Head of the Family. It's old fashioned I know but…" Momiji gripped Alana's hands tightly in his distress.
"Of course." Alana interrupted when Momiji seemed to start panicking. "When would you like me to go meet her?" Alana's question was simple and Momiji's heart clenched at how easy it seemed for her to just accept his words. He remembered when he was younger, much younger, when Hatori tried to tell his girlfriend about the curse and Akito's reaction had not only hurt Hatori permanently, but driven Kana crazy. She'd been able to handle the changing of Hatori into his dragon shape, but she hadn't been able to handle the guilt of Akito's anger and Hatori's pain.
"I'll give her a call." Momiji told Alana and tugged her closer to rest his forehead against hers.
"Momiji…" Alana started and took one of her hands from him to run her fingers through his hair. "Is what Akito going to tell me about a crime you committed? Are you all in a criminal syndicate?" Her voice was teasing as she looked down at him.
Momiji looked at her nonplussed. "No…" He wasn't quite sure how to react to such a strange question.
Alana smiled softly and tugged at his hair. "Then, while I know that you are nervous about whatever Akito is going to tell me…it won't change how I feel about you. I love you Momiji. You are sweet, kind, funny, and just wonderful. Nothing that I learn will change these things about you." Alana told him firmly and leaned back to press her lips to his forehead.
Momiji closed his eyes and felt a few tears leak from the corner of his eyes and she cuddled him to her chest. How he prayed she still felt the same after she learned about the curse. It lingered in everyone minds and actions even now that it was broken for years. The curse had been such a large part of their lives for so long, they'd been kept in schools with only members of the same sex to prevent accidental hugging of the opposite gender, they'd had few friends outside those who knew of the curse, they'd been conditioned that their lives essentially were under Akito's control. These things left marks that weren't easy to brush away. While all of them had worked hard to grow from these experiences, and for the most part, had let the past lie, it was never fully forgotten.
Rin had a hard time being within arms distance of Akito if they were alone; Ritsu still constantly apologized for everything he perceived he did wrong; Kureno…Kureno had left and while he had written, he didn't plan to return home for a while, finally feeling free and exploring the world that was denied him for so long, knowing that he could fall back into unhealthy habits if he returned before he was ready. Momiji, Hiro, and Kisa, while remembering the hurt that Akito had caused them, had accepted that she was hurting too and having met Ren, knew no other way to reach out herself.
"I know you are worried; I know you're scared that I won't feel the same when I learn, whatever it is you think I need to know." Alana told him, her words warm and gentle in his ear. "But I know all I need to know to love you. 'Love is not love/ which alters when it alteration finds.'" She quoted softly and kissed his cheek. "'Or bends with the remover to remove./ O no! it is an ever-fixed mark/ That looks on tempests and it never shaken.'" Alana didn't know what the trauma Momiji suffered from was but as she said, whatever she learned, didn't fundamentally change who he was. She would just continue to support him as much as possible.
Momiji felt his heart swell at her words and leaned back to cup her face. "'It is the star to every wand'ring bark,/ Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken./ Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/ Within his bending sickle's compass come; /Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, /But bears it out even to the edge of doom.'" He met Alana's smile with a soft one of his own, finally feeling his heart settle in his chest. Shakespeare was right. It wasn't impossible for her to stick with him through this. Love accepts the others flaws and imperfections as readily as the good points.
With a deep sigh, Momiji pulled away and stood. "I'll give her a call."
Alana watched as Momiji wandered into the other room to find a phone and finally let go of a silent sob before she bit back her sadness. Momiji must have been hurt incredibly for him to assume that what she learns will turn her away from him. It wasn't possible. She knew who he was, knew his hopes and dreams, and yes, while there were still things to learn, she liked to believe she had learned the core of him and couldn't imagine that anything Akito could tell her about the Sohma Family would change how she felt about him.
~Art of Love~
The next morning, Momiji waved goodbye to Alana as she headed off to work and turned back into the Sohma estate. He passed his home and headed towards the main house and where Akito and Shigure were living. When he had called Akito the night before, she told him that of course he could come by the next day.
Akito was humming as she played a hand game with Kaiya on the floor of the porch and Momiji smiled softly as he approached. He enjoyed watching Akito be so gentle and loving with her daughter. Some people might be jealous, wondering why she had been so cruel to them as children but so kind to her own daughter or if it was because Kaiya was her daughter that she treated her that way but Momiji knew that was untrue. Akito was healing. She'd learned ways to love other than cruelty and anger and Momiji so enjoyed seeing that progress in her. It was always hard to overcome abuse, and it had been a long hard road for Akito to overcome the abuse she had been shown her whole life, but like a ray of sunlight after a storm, she was peeking through stronger every day.
"Momiji!" Akito greeted with a smile when Kaiya's wandering attention brought Akito's attention to his presence. "How are you doing? What did you want to talk about?"
Momiji sat on the edge of the porch beside them, gazing off into the yard. "Akito…how do you feel…about telling Alana?"
Momiji could almost feel Akito's gaze on him. He knew she was probably thinking of all the ways that new people learning about their curse had gone wrong, he'd been thinking about it all day himself. But, he couldn't keep this from Alana forever and it was better to do it now than wait for much longer. What if, what if they got engaged and she left him because she couldn't handle it? He wouldn't be able to handle that. It was better to deal with this now…just in case.
"I know…I know I could just not tell her." Momiji admitted plucking at his jeans almost as if they were his violin strings. "I know it's not as if she has any way of finding out about the curse if I didn't tell her about it…but it'll always be in the back of my mind that the family knows about this big secret that shaped us and affects us all to this day." He took a deep shuddering breath and slowly let it out. "It's the reason I didn't know my mother and grew up mostly alone. This curse, while it won't affect future generations in the same way, it shaped ours completely. If I want her to be a part of my life, a part of my future, I can't hide the past from her."
Akito nodded. "I understand." There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes as the two of them sat contemplating Momiji's words and watching Kaiya roll a ball back and forth between her feet. "I'll tell her for you."
Momiji whipped around to look at Akito shocked. Akito hated to discuss the curse for any length of time. It had been a dark time for all of them and Akito knew she had caused so much of the hurt and felt immense guilt over the pain she had caused.
Akito replied to his unasked question. "It'll seem more true and less fantasy coming from me. And if she reacts badly at all…I'd rather be the one to face her disbelief and anger than you."
Momiji leaned into Akito gratefully. "Thank you." He said empathetically.
Akito rested her head on his and then patted it gently. "I don't mind. Alana is an amazing girl and I believe this will work out well for you." Akito reassured him.
Momiji felt some of his worry lessen at Akito's support. "Thank you." I hope you're right. He thought to himself knowing Akito probably felt the same as well.
"It will work out Momiji." Akito tugged him into a quick hug. "I have faith."
Momiji clung to her for a moment soaking up her comfort.
~Art of Love~
When Alana returned home that night, she greeted Momiji with a big kiss and hug. "Hello darling!" She practically sang as she danced around, putting away her things.
"You are in a great mood today." Momiji mused, his mood lifting just by watching her happiness.
"Work was fun, we had a school trip come through and I got to play for some kids who always get very excited and then I got to come home to you!" She said softly as she danced past him again and laid a kiss on his cheek.
Momiji returned her grin with one of his own. His heart felt so much lighter with her joy filling the space around him. He knew that the big test of their relationship was coming, and soon, but the happiness she showed just at seeing him made hope blossom more firmly in his chest. He pulled her into his arms as she passed him a second time and began to dance with her, humming a song as he went. He was going to enjoy her joy as much as he could.
~Art of Love~
A few days later, Alana met Akito on the walkway outside her set of rooms. She gave Akito a warm smile as they settled at a low bench in the garden. For a few minutes, they simply sat in silence and looked out over the landscaping. "I don't know the family secret," Alana started, "but as I told Momiji, I don't need to know about it to know that you are all wonderful people and nothing you tell me will change my mind."
Akito looked at her with teary eyes and took a deep breath. "Do you know the legend about the Chinese Zodiac and the Cat?" Akito asked trailing her fingertips through the water feature that they sat around.
Alana shook her head. "Not much."
"There was a God who decided to hold a banquet. He sent one of his animals, the Rat to inform the others. However, the Rat played a trick on his friend the Cat and told him it was a different day. So 13 animals arrived for God's banquet but the Cat slept through it. God declared the animals who had shown up to the banquet were the Zodiac and the Cat, arriving late was angered. He spent the rest of his life angry with the Rat for his trick."
"How sad." Alana murmured, letting Akito guide their conversation. "The Cat being excluded when he was the one betrayed."
Akito nodded in agreement. "Our family has carried the Spirits of God and the animals, including the cursed cat for generations."
The poem used is Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare. I do not know how much Shakespeare is taught in Japanese schools but it is one of the most recognized Sonnets and I thought maybe it would be taught in classes where they might learn English. I felt it was a pretty good quote for this section. Next chapter, we get into Akito telling Alana about the curse and how it goes.