Kiss Kiss
By Lady of the Ink
Pairing: Kyou and Kagura Sohma
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Theme: #20- The Road Home
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but you knew that . . . I hope. But I do own this story and all the twists that it takes.

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Kiss Five
Where Life Leads

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The road was nothing special, a little outdated by modern standards even. The tightly packed dirt was dotted here and there with weeds and plants that had managed to force their way through. Its sides were lined with wildflowers and leafy shrubs, adding to the gently wild feel of the area.

Kyou Sohma stood at the beginning of the path with a large duffel bag at his feet. The orange strands of hair being ruffled by the wind were the only movements of his otherwise motionless frame. His full attention was focused on the house that stood at the other end of the road. It was a simple two-story structure with fresh tan paint and a dark brown roof. Flowerbeds in full blooming color surrounded the wraparound porch.

A tight feeling grew as he stared at the house, his house. Even after almost a decade of living there, he always had a similar reaction when he returned after spending time away. It was the first place that he could truly call his own; the only place where he felt at liberty to relax and be himself.

He had lived in other houses, of course, but none of them were really homes. There was the one he was raised in with his mother and father, which came complete with any number of traumas that he still carried with him. His time at the dojo with Kazuma had come the closest but he hadn't felt deserving of what he was being offered. There had been too many whispered comments and open sneers for him to accept the kindness at face value. He'd felt unworthy and a little guilty, emotions that he'd tried to offset by forcing himself to be like any other student and nothing more.

Living at Shigure's had been an entirely different experience. It was never meant to be permanent and he hadn't wanted to be there at all in the beginning. But his resentment had slowly turned into something else completely. He now looked back on it as one of the best experiences of his life, the one that had most shaped the man that he had become.

But it wasn't his home. Even without the threat of imprisonment constantly hanging over his head, it wasn't the kind of place he wanted for himself. His idea of the perfect home was somewhere isolated and quiet, where he could be alone with his thoughts. After a lifetime of being the family sideshow, he wanted somewhere away from prying eyes where it would be just him and nature.

When the curse had been broken and they'd all been freed to find their own lives, they'd each been granted a considerable settlement. With his share, the first thing Kyou had done was start looking for the right location. He'd found it in this clearing, removed from the crowded city and surrounded by trees and open space. He'd done as much of the work as he could by himself, determined to lay his claim on every inch by investing his blood and sweat and not just money. When it was completed, he'd eagerly moved in, expecting to find the comfort and peace that he'd been searching for all his life.

All he'd found was an empty house.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when the front door suddenly slammed open and a stampede erupted through it. The explosion was accompanied by shouts of "Daddy! Daddy's home!"

Kyou dropped to his knees beside his bag and spread his arms wide to encompass the three warm, wiggling bodies that crashed into him. They tumbled into the dirt amid shrieking laughter as all three children tried to hug him at once. It took a few minutes before Kyou managed to untangle himself and line them up in front of him. He found himself looking at two very disheveled little boys and a little girl who was frantically trying to brush the dust from her pink plaid jumper.

"I guess this means you guys are happy to see me?" he asked with no small amount of amusement. His smile grew as the boys started arguing over who got to carry his bag while not-so-subtly trying to figure out which pocket contained the gifts he always brought for them. Kyou swept his daughter into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he followed his sons' wildly weaving path towards the house.

When he looked up and saw Kagura waiting on the porch with a smile, a warm feeling grew inside him. He'd been so wrong to think that a home had anything to do with four walls and a ceiling because it didn't. Real homes were about the people that filled them and he'd finally found his.

He was home.