Kyo lifted Tohru onto the ladder and held it as she climbed. "Be careful, you; you're not used to having to climb ladders any more, and the last thing any of us needs tonight is for you slip and break your neck!"

He hoped he sounded normal. He meant to be sounding normal, and he was trying his best to be sounding normal. But all that Kyo could hear at the moment was the racing of his own heart, drowning out almost everything else. His voice sounded far away and strange, like it was someone else talking.

Did it sound so strange to her?

Fortunately, Tohru hadn't seemed to notice anything off about him. She'd climbed easily to the top of the ladder, pausing at the top to smile down at him. "I don't think you can forget how to climb a ladder, Kyo, especially when you've climbed it as many times as this one! But I'm not worried; even if I slip, I know you're waiting to catch me!"

Kyo let out a breath, then returned Tohru's smile. She always said the perfect things, Tohru, even when she didn't know she was doing it. "Yeah, you've got that right, Tohru; I'll never let you fall." Filled with a new burst of confidence, Kyo climbed up the ladder after Tohru and followed her across the roof.

"You probably should have waited and made the tea afterwards, since it'll just get cold before you and Honda get back. Unless you wanted to drink it on the roof?" Hatsuharu walked into the kitchen, hands in his pockets, to study the two steaming cups Rin had just finished. It only took a few minutes to make tea when the water was hot, so he wasn't sure why Rin had been so quick to suggest the rooftop field trip to start with. It wasn't like they'd have a lot of time, not if they wanted the tea when it was hot.

But since she had suggested it, and the tea was now ready, he didn't see much point in waiting around any longer. "Do you want to leave the tea, or bring it with us? It might be a trick to carry up a ladder, but I can probably manage-"

"Haru, we're not going up to the roof right now."

Hatsuharu paused, leaning back against the kitchen counter. "We're not, huh?"

"No. Not yet, anyway. We're going to stay down here."

"We are? Huh." Haru looked at Rin, who was now washing up some dishes with a focus that would put a sniper to shame. It was interesting, how she wouldn't meet his eyes right now.

Haru pushed away from the counter and moved behind Rin, bringing his hands to rest at her hips. "Rin, is there something you're keeping from me?"

She didn't say anything, just kept aggressively scrubbing dishes. But from her, the silence spoke volumes.

"Huh," he said again, in the same thoughtful tone. Leaning forward, he moved his arms up and wrapped them around her waist. "Is there something happening up there? Is that why you don't want to go up?"

"Haru-"

"No no no, I'm just working this out. I think I missed a few things at first, but I'm starting to put it together." Haru was holding her close now, murmuring thoughtfully against her ear. "You invite Honda and Kyo over, and want to make everything look extra nice. Makes sense, you love Honda. But you have to run off and get Kyo's opinion on something right away? That's a little weird, but he used to live here, it makes sense. Except there's nothing weird about the balcony access, never has been, and we were just up there this morning. And you take a long time." Haru was gently nuzzling at Rin's hair now, still thinking aloud. "And then Kyo keeps looking out the window when we're talking, and you keep looking at him every time he looks out the window and suddenly you're making tea and they need to go out on the roof and we have to stay down here..."

Haru chuckled suddenly, releasing Rin's waist and stepping back. She turned to look at him, the color high in her face, and he chuckled again.

"So, he's finally doing it, huh? And he's doing it here?" Haru crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the ceiling. "That's pretty cool, it's about damn time." He looked back at Rin. "I'm impressed, you don't usually keep things from me. Especially something like this."

Rin's blush was still intense. "Yeah, well, this wasn't really mine to share."

"And I suck at keeping secrets, I know. Still, it's pretty cool." He looked up again, then frowned at Rin. "Do we have any champagne? Or maybe we should make some red rice..."

She gave Haru a scowl. "Of course not, Haru. Why would we have either of those things?"

"To celebrate, of course. This is a special occasion, we ought to be celebrating."

"She could always say no, you know."

"Honda? Not even remotely possible. So, should I go get some champagne?" Haru took a step towards the kitchen door, and Rin rolled her eyes.

"You're too young to buy alcohol, you idiot." She looked around the kitchen, then up at the ceiling as well before sighing. "Let me get my purse. And we're going to go quickly, understand?"

Hatsuharu smiled. "I always knew you were a romantic at heart."

"Oh shut up, Haru."

"It's nice, being up here again after all this time, isn't it Kyo? Even though it's been a year, I feel like I could have just been here last night!" Tohru sighed happily as she made her way across the roof tiles, feeling the familiar sensations of nostalgia wash over her. Every time they came back to visit in Tokyo, going to a place she knew and remembered made her feel the same way; warm and happy. Today's visit was especially sweet; since no one had been living in this house when they'd previously been in Tokyo, they hadn't stopped by. Kyo had asked her about it, but she'd found the idea of seeing the house empty and alone too sad to contemplate.

She'd had no idea Isuzu had moved in. Even though the two of them texted regularly, that little detail had never come up in any of their conversations. Tohru was a little sad about that, actually; she would have been so excited to hear that news, and so happy for Isuzu! Between Isuzu's job and this house, she really seemed to be getting her life in order; it had taken so long for her to get her health back after the Curse had broken than she'd been taking most other things extremely slow. It couldn't have been easy for her, remaining dependent on others any longer than she had to.

But maybe Isuzu had wanted to do the same thing as Kyo with his karate promotion; save it to tell in person! It was pretty big news. Or maybe she just hadn't felt the time was right. Whatever her reasons, Tohru was grateful that Isuzu had invited them over now; it was so nice to see the her and Hatsuharu, and to finally make it back to the house! And the roof, even! She hadn't even thought about climbing up to the roof, but she'd been ecstatic at Isuzu's suggestion.

It was just like old times, but better.

Turning to Kyo, Tohru smiled "How does it feel to be back up here after all this time? I hope it's not making our poor little balcony look too sad in comparison."

Kyo laughed as he made his way over to her. "What, you think a 3x7 plank rectangle that looks out to a pretty ugly blank wall isn't sad? Especially compared to this?" He gestured, and they both looked out over the trees and the sparkling lights of the city skyline. On paper, and in person, there was really no contest between the roof and their balcony; the roof would win every time. There was only one thing that the balcony had on the roof, but it was a pretty significant one.

Catching up to Tohru, Kyo pulled her against him and held her as they took in the view. How many times had they sat up here, talking? Laughing? Crying? He smiled, thinking about the time Tohru had tried to demonstrate her basic karate knowledge by giving that weak-ass punch. About welcoming that first New Year's with her (even if Yuki had been there, too). About finding her up here, crying, and him trying to comfort her. Asking her to be selfish. Feeling selfish himself. So many memories, and each of them precious.

And every one of them with her.

But the sad little balcony was precious in its own way, too. "It's beautiful here, Tohru. And I'll always love it here. There are so many good memories here, and I miss it. I miss them." He took a deep breath, nuzzling gently against the top of Tohru's head. He could hear his heart racing again, and feel it beating so hard it threatened to jolt right out of his chest. How was it possible that Tohru was still looking and acting so normally? There was no way he was still passing as normal now, right? "But I love our little balcony, too. It doesn't have a view or much space, and it doesn't have the sky. But it's got you, and that makes it so much better."

Tohru smiled and hugged him close. She had been so happy, here. And she did miss it, but she didn't regret it, either. Kyo was right; beautiful as the roof was, and sweet as their time here had been, it was so much better to be living their life together, on their own. She'd never want to go back, not when she could fall asleep every night in his arms. When they could make plans together. Come home from work and eat dinner together. Hold each other close whenever they wanted, without fear or interruption.

She loved their life together, almost as much as she loved him.

Kyo smiled and stepped back, releasing his hold on Tohru's waist and letting his hands slide to catch her hands, instead. She looked so incredibly beautiful, even more than she usually did, illuminated brightly against the dark sky. Like a shining star, or a sun. His sun. His light. His life. His everything.

Thoughts and words raced through Kyo's mind. This was the place; this was the time. She was the person. She always had been, and she always would be.

Always and forever.

The words flitted through Kyo's mind, and he grabbed them like a talisman. He didn't know who'd started saying them, him or Tohru, but they'd come to be a part of them. A punctuation mark at the end of every 'I love you,' a reminder that they would always be together. How many times had he told her that, always and forever? And he'd meant it. So if he'd said that all those times, if he'd truly meant it, then he could do this. He'd done everything else. He'd shown her he could protect her. Provide for her. Comfort her. Take care of her. Help her. Support her. Love her. There was nothing else left for him to do, other than this.

Kyo looked at Tohru, his eyes shining. He loved her. She loved him.

Always and forever.

He took a deep breath, still holding her hands. "You know, I never thought I was much of a guy for happy stuff before you came along, Tohru. Everything before you was just dark and black; anger and sorrow and so much hatred and fear." Kyo titled his head back, looking up at the sky as he thought about his younger self. How much he'd been hurting, how much he'd wanted to hurt. He'd been so afraid that he lashed out at everything, and feared being happy because it meant he had even more to lose. Then he looked back at Tohru, positively radiating happiness. "But then you came, and you drove out the darkness. You looked at me, and you saw me. Kyo. Not just the Curse. Not just the Cat. You saw those things, too, but you didn't let them define me. You were the first person, ever, who had looked at me without filtering me first through the lens of the Cat."

It had made Tohru blush, at first; she always felt a little self-conscious when he started in with the compliments, even though they both knew she loved them. But as he spoke, she had caught something else; a tone in his voice, an edge behind his words. As he spoke, he sounded more and more sure of himself, more and more earnest, and all Tohru could do was listen. Because suddenly, her throat had dried up and she didn't think she could talk even if she wanted to.

"You saved me, Tohru. You saved me from the Curse, and from a lifetime of isolation. But you also saved me from myself, from giving any more of the life I had to those dark thoughts and dark feelings. You've listened to me. Trusted me. Encouraged me. Supported me. You've always done whatever you could, to be there for me. To show me how much you love me. And it's made me want to be so much better, to prove I can be enough for you. To show you you've been right this whole time about me, and that your faith in me was worth it. I love you, Tohru. So much sometimes that it hurts. And I'll always love you, always, and forever."

Kyo let go of Tohru's hands and slowly dropped to one knee. Tohru's eyes had filled with tears, and she brought her hands up to cover her mouth as she just looked wordlessly at Kyo. He had tears in his eyes as well, but they were happy tears; excited tears; hopeful tears. And he was smiling, a big, hopeful smile, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box.

"Tohru Honda, will you marry me?"

Tohru couldn't help it; the first thing she did was sob. But then she was dropping to her knees on the roof in front him, taking his face in her hands and kissing him. Kissing him with all emotion and love that had been years in the making, kissing him with excitement and joy and wonder and almost delirious happiness. Then they were pulling back, both of them teary-eyed, but both of them laughing, laughing because neither of them knew quite what to say. Not at first.

Kyo wiped his eyes with his sleeve, still holding the ring box in his hand. Her eyes were shining almost as brightly as his, enough to put even the stars to shame. He'd had a lot of 'happiest ever' moments in his life these past couple years, but he was pretty sure this one would blow literally every other one out of the water. Tohru was sitting there with him, and she loved him, and she was going to marry him...

Right?

"So...is that a yes, then?"

Tohru choked out another laugh. "Of course it's a yes, Kyo! Yes, I will marry you." She sighed, an excited, happy sigh. "I love you, so, so much. And I always will."

"Always and forever," Kyo murmured, and she repeated it softly. Then she took his empty hand. "And that love has brought us so far together already; I can't wait to see where it takes us as husband and wife." Then he was kissing her again, and she was leaning into him, the two of them almost completely oblivious to anything and everything around them other than this moment and each other...

Right up until Tohru slipped. Kyo caught her arm before she did more than stagger, but that was enough to pull them out of their cloud and back into reality. "I told you, Tohru, I don't want you breaking your neck tonight!"

They'd both been spooked enough by the slip to spike their adrenaline, but nothing could ruin Tohru's high. And even though Kyo had looked concerned, she giggled as she held tightly to his hand.

"And I told you, I know you're always waiting to catch me."

Kyo relaxed, the panicked expression slipping away and replaced once again by a smile. "Yeah, I am. And I'm pretty sure I remember someone once saying something about our love being invincible, too. But please, let's not test that?" He squeezed her hand tightly, then let go and held out the ring box again. "I chose this for you. You can pick out a different one, if you don't like it, but I thought...I hoped that maybe you would."

It was hard to see the ring well in the darkness, but Tohru could see the gleam of metal and the sparkle of a stone that glowed orange. She held her breath as Kyo took her hand, then let it out as she felt the cool touch of the ring sliding onto her finger. She didn't need to look at it; she knew that whatever it was would be perfect. Because he'd chosen it, and he was perfect.

And he was hers.

They were both sitting on the roof, still smiling stupidly at each other, when Tohru saw Isuzu and Haru reach the top of the stairs in front of the house. She hadn't even noticed them leaving, but she suddenly realized that Kyo had to have planned this, and Isuzu for sure had to have been in on it. Tohru's heart was suddenly overflowing with gratitude for their friends; there were so many people she was excited to tell their news, but Isuzu and Haru would definitely be the first.

"Look, Kyo, it's Haru and Izusu! I wonder where they went."

Kyo followed her point and grinned. He didn't really care where they'd gone, or that they'd gone, but he appreciated immensely what Rin had done to help. He felt like the happiest man on earth right now, and he was ready to share a little joy. "Should we call them up, Tohru?"

"Oh yes!"

Kyo carefully stood up, then cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. "Hey, Haru! Rin! Hurry up and get up here, would ya?"

Haru and Rin had stopped walking, and both of them looked up at the roof. They exchanged a glance, then, grinning, Haru yelled back. "Did you finally do it, then?"

"Hell yeah!" Kyo couldn't hide the joy and excitement in his voice, even if he wanted to, and Tohru couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm.

"Hey Honda, what'd you say?"

Tohru looked up at Kyo, who was smiling at her with that same look of unparalleled joy. She'd seen him happy so many times now, in all sorts of situations. Every time she saw him smile, a true smile unhampered by nerves or fear or regret or sorrow or distraction, she felt as though she'd never seen a man more handsome, more endearing. More loveable. The smile he was giving her now was so much better than any of those other smiles, and she felt like her own joy gave new wings to her voice.

"I said yes!"