One Year Later

"It's been a while since you've taken me out somewhere so fancy," Akito remarked.

Yuta looked across the table at his girlfriend, silently admiring her lacy black knee-length dress.

She had grown her hair out over the last year. It now came three or four inches below her shoulders. She never let it go any longer because then she started to resemble her mother which was the last thing she ever wanted.

"You've barely eaten anything. Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yuta smiled, hoping she couldn't tell he was lying.

"You're lying."

Shoot…

"After all this time…you'd think I'd be used to how beautiful you are. But you still reduce me to a puddle."

Akito had a feeling that wasn't what he was nervous about, but she blushed all the same.

Yuta got up from his seat. "Shall we?"

Akito smiled as she took his hand and he helped her out of her chair.

He led her over to the small dance floor at the side of the restaurant. A beautiful slow melody played from the live band in the corner.

Yuta put his hands on Akito's waist while she put hers around his neck, and they slowly started to sway together to the music.

She never knew that it was possible for someone to love her as much as Yuta did. She had always thought that Shigure or Kureno were the best she would ever get, but she was so wrong. While both men had always treated her well enough, with Yuta, their relationship was completely different. Shigure and Kureno had only stayed with her because of their bond, and while Shigure would never fully admit it, his feelings for her had indeed changed once the curse was broken.

That didn't stop him from remaining extremely icy towards both Kureno and Yuta for taking Akito away from him. Shigure hated losing almost as much as Akito did. But Yuta never seemed to mind and put up with everything Shigure threw his way. Akito was fairly certain the reason Shigure never went too far was because he knew full well that what Noa would to do him should he hurt her son really, really wasn't worth it.

Yuta rarely ever got angry with her, and he never purposefully hurt her. They had had their bumps along the way, but he always managed to help them come together and make amends, no matter who was at fault.

She felt as if she had won the lottery by being together with him.

"You look so beautiful tonight," Yuta said quietly. "But then, you look beautiful every night."

"Thanks."

"Did Mom help you pick out that dress?"

"Of course she did. You know I'm terrible at shopping for clothes."

Yuta laughed.

"How are she and Kazuma?"

"They're doing wonderfully. I have to admit, though, it's kind of weird for me and my mother to be dating at the same time. It's also kind of weird we're both dating someone from the Sohma family."

"Well, my family is so huge that it's more likely for the both of you to date Sohmas than to not."

"Good point."

"I'm glad she's so happy with him. If anyone deserves someone like that, it's Noa."

"I agree, she couldn't be with anyone better. They're practically inseparable."

"Like us?"

"Exactly like us."

Akito let them dance together in silence for several moments before she asked, "Is there a reason you've gone all out tonight? Did something happen?"

"Come with me."

Yuta took her hand and led her to the garden outside the restaurant. Lights hung over the entire space that beautifully lit up all of the various plants and decorations.

"I love you so much," Yuta told her as they walked the path.

"I love you too."

"It feels like we've been together for much longer than a year. It's hard to remember what life was like without you."

Akito blushed again.

He stopped at the center of the garden in a large circular opening and took both of her hands in his.

"You are everything to me," he said quietly as he stroked a strand of her black hair. "When I think about my future, it always has you in it. I want to grow old with you."

"Yuta…"

"So what do you say?" He took a ring out of his pocket for her to see. "Will you marry me?"

Akito gasped at the sight of the beautiful jewel in front of her.

She smiled broadly at him. "I couldn't see myself marrying anyone else."

Yuta laughed and slipped the ring onto her finger. "I love you, Akito Sohma."

"And I love you, Yuta Kaneko."

Yuta took her head in his hands and gently kissed his new fiancée.

His mind took him back to just last week when he had visited the main house.

"Um…Hatori?"

Hatori turned to the door. "Oh, Yuta." He got a good look at the young man and stood up from his chair. "You look terrible. Are you sick? Should I take a look at you?"

Yuta smiled nervously. "No, no, I'm fine, I'm just…nervous."

"About what?"

"Well, uh…I know that it is customary to ask the father and mother for permission, but…that is a bit complicated in this family."

Hatori raised an eyebrow when he guessed where this conversation was heading.

"I…really, really love Akito. And since I can't ask her father or mother, I would like to ask you since you are the Sohma who has cared for her the most throughout her life."

He swallowed thickly.

Hatori couldn't help but crack a small smile at just how nervous he was.

"May I…ask Akito to marry me?"

The young doctor walked over to him. "Yuta, coming here to ask me of all people for permission shows amazing character. I have no doubt your love for her is genuine. And I wouldn't allow Akito to marry anyone else."

Yuta let out a relieved laugh.

Hatori lightly hugged him. "Welcome to the family."

When Yuta left Hatori's office, he ended up running into Yuki.

The boy had been spending a lot more time at the main house over the course of the last year to continue making amends with the rest of the family. It was a slow road, but he was trying, and that was what was most important.

"Oh, Yuki, I'm glad you're here," he said. "I want to talk to you."

"What is it?"

"There's something really important I have to ask you since it's only right that the person who's like my little brother knows what's going on."

Yuki smiled shyly, still unused to being referred to as Yuta's brother.

"It's been about a year since I started dating Akito, and things are going perfectly. I love her very much. So I would like to ask her to marry me. Is that…okay with you?"

Yuki had not been prepared for that statement. Two years ago, he would have vehemently denied that Yuta ever be involved with Akito in any way, shape, or form.

However, ever since last year when she had confessed her true gender to everyone, things had been drastically different between them. He was still wary around her, and healing for everything she had done to him wasn't going to happen in such a short amount of time. But they had come a long way, and they were continuously patching things up.

Besides, he knew how happy Yuta was with her and how happy Akito was with him. Yuta had helped her open up again and learn to accept things she didn't like. He had helped her become the kind of person who had been the one to request that she and Yuki start making amends in the first place.

Who was he to deny them that happiness?

Yuki smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm okay with it. I hope she says yes."

Yuta laughed and hugged him. "Me too."

The bell above the door to the shop rang as the door opened and closed.

"Welcome, my darling customer!" the white-haired man exclaimed. "You've made one step—"

He abruptly stopped when he saw who had come into his shop.

"Hello, Ayame."

"Akito."

Mine stepped out of the back room. "Who is it, boss?"

Akito smiled kindly at Ayame's wife. "Hello, Mine."

"Oh, hiya, Akito!"

Ayame stepped forward. "What brings you to my shop?"

"Yuta proposed to me last night."

Both Ayame and Mine's eyes sparkled and they ran up to her, each of them taking one of her hands.

Akito tried to suppress her irritation. She had come a long way over the last year when it came to repairing the damaged relationships with her family, but she didn't think she would ever get used to Ayame's overzealous personality.

And now, with him marrying Mine, there were two of them…

"He did?!" Mine exclaimed. "You said yes, didn't you?"

"Of course I did."

"Congratulations, my darling," Ayame gushed. "But surely you didn't come all the way here just to tell us that."

"No, I…have a request."

"Oh, just name it! Anything you wish shall be yours!"

"Will you…design my wedding dress?"

Ayame flipped his long hair over his shoulder. "Why, it's only appropriate that I, your most perfect cousin, design the dress for the happiest day of your life. Just you wait, darling. I shall make something that even a goddess would be jealous of. Mine will take your measurements, and we'll get started immediately. Mine, dearest, put a hold on the maid uniform for that one gentleman. This is much more important."

"Sure thing!"

Mine ushered Akito over to the large three-way mirror and took out her tape measure. Then she proceeded to take all of the necessary measurements needed to create the appropriately sized dress.

"I don't know how you put up with him," Akito mumbled.

Mine laughed warmly. "Not everyone can, that's for sure. I guess I just know how to handle him in my own special way."

"Mine…is marriage…difficult?"

"Well, any relationship takes some work. Sure, there are some really tough moments, but in the long run, it's all worth it. Especially when your husband adores you as much as Yuta does."

Akito smiled as she looked down at the sparkling ring. "I shouldn't be so nervous about the whole thing."

"Don't you worry. Once you get to that day and you see him waiting for you, all your worries will disappear in an instant. And we'll make you look so beautiful for the wedding that Yuta will have no other thought than how lucky he is to be marrying you."

"Mine, I'm truly glad that Ayame has you. He's very lucky himself."

"He is, isn't he?"

Both women laughed.

Noa walked into the main house to meet with the one woman Akito had never let her see before.

Her mother, Ren Sohma.

Ren lived at the main estate and she had for as long as they all could remember. Unlike with Shima, it was harder to throw her out of the main house considering she was the wife of the previous head of the family.

The Sohma reputation would take a huge hit if anyone found out that she had been expelled from the grounds, no matter how terrible of a person she was.

So unfortunately, the venomous woman had to stay on the estate. What Akito could do was keep her locked away inside her room with servants continuing to attend to her.

Akito had attempted to somewhat make amends with her as well, but Ren had pushed away every single one of those attempts. It disgusted Noa just how much this woman despised her own flesh and blood.

Noa knocked on the shoji before pulling it back.

The woman inside turned to look at her.

Noa immediately saw that Shigure's words were true. She really did look like an older version of Akito. Her long jet-black hair flowed all the way down to the floor she sat on, and she wore a long spaghetti-strap dress that revealed more of her breasts than Noa wanted to see.

"I've never seen you before," Ren smirked. "No one in this dreadful place lets me meet new people. Rather cruel, I think. Who might you be?"

"It's finally time for us to meet, Ren Sohma. I am Noa Kaneko."

"Ah, so you're Noa. I've heard so many people talking about you. Including that stupid girl who I have the misfortune of calling my daughter."

Noa sucked in a breath. This was going to be harder than she thought. She had never wanted to claw someone's face off so much. Unfortunately, Ren wasn't like Kyo's father. If Noa did anything physically, Ren would probably just be amused and start laughing which would only make Noa more upset.

"So why choose to meet me now of all times?" Ren continued to smirk. "It's my impression that you've been coming here for two years."

"Akito never wanted me to talk to you which was probably more for your safety rather than hers or mine. I wondered if you had heard the news that Akito is going to be marrying my son."

"What fool would ever want to marry that pathetic girl?"

"I would be careful about how you refer to my son. He is a very good man who will treat her well. I could not be happier that the two of them have chosen to spend their lives together."

"You really believe a marriage like that will last? No one would want to stay with that girl for very long. Besides, she's hardly marriage material."

"I don't see how you would know that seeing as you were hardly involved in raising her. Nevertheless, they've developed a very strong relationship over the last year, and they love one another very dearly. I've watched them grow together, and I have no doubt that they will continue to stay together for the rest of their lives."

Ren's smirk grew crueler. "And you feel the need to tell me all of this…why?"

"Because I wanted you to be aware that this marriage will officially make me Akito's mother. And as her mother, I forbid you to have any further contact with her. I will not allow you to poison her mind any longer."

"I never wanted that brat to begin with, so that is fine with me. My darling Akira was the only thing I ever wanted. He loved me more than that girl. I made sure of that. I made sure I was always number one in his heart. I was all he ever needed."

Noa crossed her arms. "Hm…you know, he treasured Akito a good deal seeing as she was the god of the zodiac."

"Ugh, that all was a fake legend created to make the stupid girl feel like she was worth something."

"Well, she certainly wasn't going to get that from you. Regardless of whether it was true or not, and it most certainly was, Akira firmly believed in it, didn't he? Hm…I wonder what Akira might think of you now if he knew how horribly you treated his precious child over the years…" She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we'll never know."

Ren's smirk abruptly disappeared and she frowned. "He would still love me. He only ever loved me."

Noa went to the door and turned to face her with a smirk. "Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?"

She slammed the shoji behind her hearing Ren scream out, "He would've loved me! I know it! He only loved me!"

Noa smiled to herself. While she still wanted nothing more than to maul the horrible woman, leaving her with the planted idea about her husband that would only continue to fester would work well enough.

Akito ran around her home making more wedding preparations as the big day drew nearer and nearer. She didn't understand how women handled all this. Planning for this event was the most stressful thing she had ever done which was saying a lot considering she was the head of a huge family and had been the god of the zodiac, both of which presented stressful situations in their own right.

If it wasn't for her bridesmaids, Kagura, Arisa, Saki, even Rin who had mostly made up with her, and her wonderful maid of honor, Tohru, she might've yanked all of her black hair out of her head by this point.

"Akito."

Akito turned at the familiar deep voice. "What is it, Hatori?"

"I…I need to speak with you about something. It's important."

Knowing Hatori was not one to overdo things, whatever he wanted must really be vital for him to interrupt her planning. Not to mention that he sounded really nervous and Hatori was never nervous.

"All right," she stated. "What is it?"

"Let us speak in here."

He led her to one of the rooms in the main house. When they stepped inside, Akito saw Mayuko—Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo's previous teacher and Hatori's current girlfriend—kneeling in the back of the room. She had been dating Hatori for the last several months, and Akito was overjoyed that he found someone he cherished so much after she had ruined his relationship with Kana.

While Akito moved to the front of the room, Hatori left her side and kneeled down in front of her.

"Akito…I wish to marry Mayuko Shiraki."

Akito couldn't believe what she was hearing. After everything that had happened in the past, he still came to her for permission to marry?

That explained why the normally stoic man looked so nervous in front of her.

Akito took a deep breath. She refused to let history repeat itself in any way.

"Mayuko," she said gently but firmly. "Please stand up."

Mayuko nervously did so. Akito could see Hatori tense up even further which made her feel guilty all over again. He was only this nervous because of what she had done to him the last time he had asked her this question.

Still, it meant a lot that he had continued to come to her with it. She would make sure it was not for nothing.

"Do you promise to stay by Hatori's side, no matter what may happen to him in the future? Even if things get very hard, if things happen that you can't explain, will you stay next to him?"

"Now and forever," Mayuko replied.

Akito looked down at Hatori still kneeling in front of her. "Hatori, do you promise the same?"

"Yes," Hatori answered.

Akito smiled at them. "Then I have no reason to object. You have my blessing."

Hatori let out a relieved chuckle and stood up as Mayuko came to stand next to him. "Thank you, Akito."

"I just have one request."

"Anything."

"Please let me deal with one wedding at a time."

Later that evening, Akito slowly entered Hatori's office. "Hatori?"

Hatori smiled at her. He hadn't stopped smiling ever since he had been given permission to marry Mayuko.

"I'm glad you and Mayuko are so happy," she told him. "You deserve that more than anyone."

"Thank you for granting us your permission to marry."

"I, um, wanted to ask something."

"All right."

"Out of everyone in the Sohma family, you were always the one to look after me the most. And maybe it was all simply because of the curse, but…regardless, you know me better than anyone. And not just because you've been my doctor and know every single intimate and embarrassing detail about me."

Hatori chuckled softly, not really understanding where this was going.

"So I wanted to ask you…will you be the one to walk me down the aisle at my wedding?"

Hatori smiled fondly. "It would be an honor."

Akito smiled back at him as he came up to envelop her into a tight and fatherly hug.

Yuta and Akito walked inside the cemetery because Yuta wanted Akito to meet his father.

"Hi, Dad," he said quietly when he approached the gravesite. "I brought someone with me."

Akito stepped up to stand next to him.

"This is Akito Sohma, my fiancée. I wish you were here to see her. She's the most perfect woman in the entire world."

Akito blushed. "Mr. Kaneko, Yuta and Noa talk about you so often that even though we never met, I feel like I know you. I promise to look out for your son every day. I hope that we can have your blessing on our marriage."

"I miss you, Dad," Yuta said softly. "But thanks for looking out for me and Mom. Now look after my future wife too."