"What would be the first thing you would do, if you could be freed of the curse?", I asked Hatori afterwards. "Hugging you of course", came the immediate answer. I giggled.

"That's cute!" I looked up, into his face.

I gently touched Hatri's eye patch. "Aren't you angry?", I asked softly. "What –" Hatori asked puzzled. "I mean your eye", I continued. "You said it was the curse, but … it was Akito, who –" "I don't blame Akito for what happened", he answered firmly. "Good." I didn't know what else to say to that.

"It is complicated", Hatori tried to explain. I nodded, waiting for him to go on.

"There are more secrets hidden in the Soma family, than you know", he continued. "You could say … us, transforming into animals, is one of our more insignificant mysteries."

He faced me, a look in his right eye, that I couldn't quite place. "Haven't you noticed something strange about Akito?", he asked me. I paused a second. "Well, except the fact that he would definitely need some anger management … not really … he looks very feminine for a man, but –" Hatori raised his right eye brow. And it was then, that I realised.

"Oh my …", I stammered. "You mean Akito … he … she …" "Is a woman", he finished my sentence. "It is a long story", he added, noticing my confused face.

And he told me. Everything. About the dream, Kureno, Shigure, Ayame and he had, the night before Akito's mother Ren found out that she was pregant … About Akito's father Akira … Ren, forcing her daughter to grow up as a boy, because she was jealous …

And I understood. "Akito is scared", I realised. "She's afraid of being lonely, nothing and worthless without you, the member of the zodiacs. A forgotten god …"

"And that is why I don't blame her for what happened", Hatori explained. "The curse also affects Akito's life, even if she doesn't transform into an animal."

I had to admit, I felt sorry for Akito. To be tortured and tormented by your own mother … She also had to suffer, just as the members of the zodiac.

Not that it would excuse, what she had done to Hatori. I was angry! I still felt guilty, and I knew that Hatori might be right with the curse, but that was no reason for Akito to hurt him and to treat the others like pawns in a game which she could move as she pleased!

"There must be a way to end this", I said. "To stop all this …" Hatori rested his head on my shoulders. "I wish this would be true …", he murmured.

Hatori didn't have to mention, that I wasn't allowed to tell anyone that I knew the great Soma secret. Besides, I had other things to worry about.

"What should we do now?", I asked Hatori the next day, when I had to leave for work. I hated, going without knowing what should become of us. Just a few days ago, I had been happy, looking forward to marrying my one true love … Now, everything had changed, just as Hatori had predicted. Although maybe in a different way than he had imagined …

"I could pick you up from work, if you like", Hatori answered in a matter-of-fact voice, although he must have known what I really had meant. Akito … How would she react, if she'd find out that we were still together?

"And what if –", I began, when Hatori silenced me, by putting a finger on my lips.

"Akito will not hurt me anymore", he assured me, sounding so confident, that I almost believed him. "Not now, when she knows the truth about us, that we are serious." Well, I highly doubted that!

I faced Hatori. "What, if she tells you to erase my memory?", I asked, my voice suddenly barely audible. "You once said, that you can not disobey Akito's orders, so what would you do, if she would tell you to leave me, to make me forget you?"

Hatori shook his head. "This will not happen!", he said firmly. "Is that a promise?" He didn't answer … Of course not …

I smiled sadly. "I should go." I turned, when Hatori grabbed me by my wrists, making me face him again. "Kari-chan!" He was looking at me, smiling encouragingly.

"We'll figure something out, okay?", he said softly. "Together." Affectionately, I squeezed his hand. "Together sounds great …"

…

Days went by without another word from Akito. Hatori had his eye patch removed. To my relief and surprise, his left eye seemed completely normal, as blue and beautiful as ever. Only when you were standing right in front of him, looking directly into his face, you could detect a slight opacity of the lens. As a result, Hatori let his hair grow, so that a strand fell into his face, covering his eye.

"I can't really see out of it anyway, so it doesn't matter", as he said. And I liked it. Hatori had wonderful soft hair, and with the strand falling into his face, he looked only more mysterious.

Life went on and I was starting to hope. Everyday I came to the Soma main house to be with Hatori. In fact I spent more time at his house than in my apartment. I worked at the bookstore and wrote stories in my spare free time. I never heard a word from Akito. I didn't know whether this was good or bad. But, as long as I could be with Hatori, I never questioned it.

Though, I knew that the other members of the zodiac, must have known about what had happened too. One day, I had a nice but strange encounter with Rin, who was suddenly standing in front of my apartment when I came home from work, obviously waiting for me.

"Hi!", I said friendly. "What a nice surprise, Isuzu-chan! Do you want to come in? I'll make us tea." She just nodded.

The whole evening, Rin barely said a word. I couldn't tell whether she was annoyed at being here with me, if she was just being shy, or if she wanted to talk to me but didn't know how to put in words what was bothering her.

Finally, I decided to just ask her. "Is everything alright, Rin?", I wanted to know and smiled sympathetically. "If there is something you want to talk about, then –" "No!", she interrupted me harshly. "There is absolutely nothing!" "Okay …" Isuzu Soma was a terrible liar …

She sipped her tea. "I saw Hatori", she suddenly said. "His eye looks good … As if nothing had happened …" The last part she more said to herself, than to me. I nodded. "Yes, he seems to have fully recovered again."

Rin looked up. "Don't you wish, you would have never told Akito about you?", she asked. "If he wouldn't know, that you were together, Hatori would still be able to see out of his left eye." The way she said this, it sounded very hard.

I swallowed. "Well, we had no choice", I replied quietly. "We wanted to get married, the only other option would have been to elope. And neither Hatori nor I wanted to do that." Rin faced her tea cup. "Hatori must have known how Akito would react", she said. "But he loves you so much that he was willing to put himself into danger …" She fell silent again. Her eyes were shimmering with tears. This was, when I realised.

"Is this about you and Hatsuharu?", I asked softly. Suddenly, Isuzu was standing, looking at me angrily. "How do you know that?!", she wanted to know, her voice sounding threatening. "I, I didn't!", I answered defensively. "It was just an assumption … call it female intuition."

Rin was shaking. "Don't you dare tell anyone about us!", she said furiously. I shook my head. "I would never do that", I promised her. "I don't gossip. This only concerns you two." "You're right!", Isuzu shot back. But my last words seemed to have soothed her.

She sat down again. "I love Haru", she said, her voice tiny. "I need him, so much that it scares me sometimes. No one knows about us, except maybe Shigure but he never said anything, so ... What if Akito finds out? What, if he hurts Haru? I don't want him to be blind on one eye!" She looked away from me, embarrassed by her unusual outburst of emotions. I took her hand.

"Don't worry", I replied, trying to comfort Rin. "Akito doesn't know that you two are together, this doesn't have to change, if you don't want to tell him. Maybe … maybe the curse will lift eventually and then you don't have to be afraid of him anymore."

Isuzu snorted disdainfully. "No one knows how to break the curse", she said, sounding desperate." "The curse could lift itself", I tried to cheer her up. She didn't answer.

Rin left. Although she hadn't spoken another word and acted as cool as ever towards me, I had the feeling, that we had become friends this evening. She even smiled a little, when she said good-bye.

But my encounter with the horse of the zodiac was nothing, compared to the person, I was about to meet …

…

I was still working in the bookstore, where I had asked Hatori out on our first date. And some things indeed never change: I still loved it! Books had something warm, good and hopeful in them. No matter how bad things were in my life, a good book always managed to cheer me up again.

And I enjoyed talking to customers. Every day, you got to meet all kind of different people. It's what I liked about working in a bookstore.

One day, a young man, probably in his late twenties, entered the shop. He was handsome: Light brown hair, dark blue eyes, tall and a slender body. I noticed other women in the store, staring at him curiously. But it weren't his good looks, that draw my attention to him.

He seemed completely lost. Like a child, that had gotten separated from its mother. I had the strange feeling that this was the first time that he had ever been to a bookstore. And he looked … lonely. He reminded me a bit of Hatori, the first time we had met. The same hounded, hurt expression in his face …

Suddenly our eyes met. The man smiled shily, as he walked over to me.

"Hello." I bowed politely. "Can I help you?" He nodded. "I think so …" He looked at me.

"Are you Hikari Aino?", he asked. "Yes", I answered, taken aback. "How did you know …?" The man sighed. I felt a strange tingle in my stomach, as I watched him standing there. There was only one way he could know who I am …

"You are Kureno Soma …", I said slowly. "The rooster …" "So Hatori did tell you", Kureno nodded. He shook my hand. "I would really like to talk to you", he said, voicing the reason for his visit to me. "Okay."

I told Mr. Shiraki that I was having lunch, not waiting for his response. I was too curious and confused. Kureno had to stay with Akito at all times. Why was he here now? What did he have to tell me?

"Won't you get in trouble with Akito, when she sees that you're not there?", I asked Kureno when we had left the bookstore. I didn't bother, acting like I wouldn't know Akito's secret. I had the feeling, that Kureno already expected me to know it. And he wouldn't tell anyone.

Kureno shook his head. "No, it's okay", he assured me. "This won't take long."

He turned to me. "Akito has told me that you think you can lift the Soma curse", he said. "No!", I replied defensively. "I've tried to, yes, but it was completely useless, I didn't find out anything, I –" I didn't get to finish my sentence, as Kureno suddenly pulled me ino a tight embrace.

"What …?!", I stuttered. Kureno had put his arms around me, hugging me. Time seemed to stand still for a moment. We just stood there, I could feel the warmth of Kureno. I closed my eyes, expecting to hear a small puff, like I had heard, when Hatori had transformed into a seahorse. But nothing happened …

I looked up into Kureno's face. "You … you didn't …", I stammered, completely dumbfounded. "You are still a human. Why?" A sad smile appeared on his face. "I don't transform into a rooster anymore", he told me. "Since I was about sixteen." My head was spinning.

"But how?", I wanted to know. Kureno shrugged his shoulders. "It just stopped", he said. "I don't know how, I don't why." He lowered his head. "The others don't know about this of course."

"That is why you're not allowed to leave Akito's side", I realised. "Because she's scared that they might leave her when they'd find out." Kureno nodded.

"Akito was terrified, when she heard that I wasn't cursed anymore", he said darkly. "I can still remember the little, frightened girl, looking at me through her tears … I couldn't bear to see her so unhappy, so I promised her to always stay with her."

I listened silently.

"Why are you telling me all this?", I asked softly. "With a temper like her's, Akito might kill you, if she knew that you are here with me!" Kureno chuckled shortly.

"Maybe", he replied. "I'm not sure why I'm here myself. I think I just thought that you should know this. You are Hatori's fiancée after all." He paused for a second.

"The other members of the zodiac distrust me", Kureno continued. "Some of them even hate me, because of my close relationship with Akito. Especially Shigure … Hatori was the only one, whose situation could be compared to mine, as the doctor for Akito …"

He turned to me. "So, I guess that is why I wanted to talk to you." I smiled. "Well, thanks", I said, feeling very emotional by all what I had just heard.

Kureno nodded. "You're welcome", he replied friendly. We fell silent. "If you'll excuse me", he said, straightening up. "I think I've said enough for one day." "Okay." I couldn't say more.

Kureno turned to go. He looked so vulnerable … "Wait!" Before I knew, what I was doing, I hugged him again. Kureno smiled. "Aino-san …" I buried my head in his coat.

"You are a good person", I stuttered. He shivered, as he slowly patted my head. "Hatori is really lucky to have someone like you in his life", he murmured.

I watched him leave. I could only hope, that one day, all the members of the zodiac would be freed of the curse, so that every one of them could find their happiness … Without the chains, put on them by Akito.

…

Days turned into weeks. Even now, after all that I had found out about the Soma family and their curse, sometimes it felt, like I wouldn't know anything about them at all. And there was Akito … The thought of her still put on hold any plans of marriage that Hatori and I were discussing.

"The only thing that matters is that we are together", he once said. That was true, and yet … With Akito and what she had done to Hatori, our relationship seemed so temporary … Like it could be over any day. Hatori and I may be in love, but Akito could still drive us apart. I knew that … every day. It was like I would have been on the Titanic, in constant danger of hitting an iceberg.

I only felt completely at ease, when I was alone with Hatori. The moments we shared together, were the happiest in my life … I felt safe and loved, like nothing could go wrong, as long as he stayed by my side.

Yet, the whole situation seemed to start to affect my health: I was tired all the time, I felt sick. In the mornings I had to drag myself to work, freezing even when I wore my warm winter coat.

"I just hope I haven't caught the flue!", I thought one evening, when I litterally fell into bed, feeling exhausted and strangely plump.

Of course, Hatori noticed my unusual behaviour.

"Are you sure you are alright, Kari-chan?", he asked me anxiously, after I had fallen asleep at the kotatsu, my body stretched out across the heated desk. I never fall asleep like that. Normally, the only times I am sleeping, are in bed, during the night. Hatori knew that.

"I'm fine", I assured him, stifling a yawn. "I think I might have caught a cold, that's all." Hatori clearly didn't believe me. "I would feel better, if you would let me have a look at you", he said urgently. "You look pale." I laughed it off.

"Don't be ridiculous", I replied, trying to sooth him. "I am healthy and well, my body just needs more sleep than usual. Nothing more, nothing less."

Hatori wasn't convinced, but in the end, he decided to drop the matter.

He was right though. After the smell of Hatori's green tea at breakfast the next morning made me throw up, even I had to admit, that something was wrong with me.

"I am sure it is nothing serious", I told Hatori, who had dragged me into bed and called the bookstore to say I was sick, after this highly unglamorous episode of my life.

"You can say whatever you want", Hatori replied, pulling out a needle of his lab coat, making me feel sick again. "You are now getting a check-up!"

But what he should find, I think even Hatori had not expected …

I must have fallen asleep again. When I woke up, I felt Hatori sitting beside me, lovingly stroking my hair. "Hey", he said, gently kissing me on the forehead. "Good afternoon, sleepyhead." "Hey", I said, closing my eyes again, as I enjoyed feeling his hands in my hair.

"Were you sitting here the entire time I was sleeping?", I asked. Hatori shook his head. "No", he answered softly. "I analysed your blood sample." Something in his voice made me look at him.

"What?", I asked, suddenly laughing nervously. Hatori's face seemed frozen. "Am I that ill?", I tried to joke. He didn't answer.

"Oh no!" I sat upright. "Seriously now, I am not terminally ill, am I?", I wanted to know, starting to freak out. Hatori didn't say a word.

"Come on, Hari, this is not very funny!" I was panicking.

Finally, Hatori coughed and said. "No, no you are completely healthy", he soothed me. "You were right."

I raised an eye brow, confused. "But then what is wrong with me?", I asked him. And why was he looking at me like that?!

Hatori swallowed hard. "Nothing is wrong with you", he assured me. "It's not that, it's …" He cleared his throat, facing me.

"Kari, you are pregnant."

…

At first, I thought I had misunderstood something. That I had misheard, what Hatori just told me. This couldn't be true … Me, pregnant! This had to be a bad joke!

"But … but …", I stammered, sounding like a moron. "Are, are you sure?!" Hatori nodded, seeming just as agitated, as I was.

"I double-checked your test results", he said. "There is no doubt …"

"Oh my …"

For a few seconds we didn't say anything.

"But how …?", I asked, closing my eyes again. "I mean, I know how it happens, but when …? We never really …"

Hatori blushed. "You are now three weeks pregnant", he replied. In my confused brain I tried to do the math.

"So that means that it happened on the night we talked about Okinawa", I realised. Hatori nodded. "Yes …"

The next seconds passed in total silence. We were just sitting there, next to each other, trying to digest the news, while the realisation slowly began to sink in.

I was pregnant … A baby, a little, living creature, inside of me, small and perfect …

Oh my god, I was going to be a mommy!

In my whole life, I had never thought about being a mother, not for a single moment. Getting married was already a huge step for me, and this only concerned two people! But now …

Instinctively, I put a hand to my stomach.

"A good thing is, that … that our baby is not very likely to be affected by the curse", I heard Hatori beside me. "Except of course, if it transforms into a real dragon, but …" He

broke off.

"What do we do now?" My voice was trembling. I had no idea if I fullfilled the requirements of a good mother, I didn't know anything about bottles, diapers or anything else connected to babies. I wasn't even sure if I liked them!

Not to mention Akito, who would go ballistic, if she knew.

"Well …" Hatori threw a quick glance at me. "You are now part of the Soma family, even Akito can not change this", he said, and I could detect a little smile in his face. I had to laugh unintentionally. "I like that thought."

Thankfully, I leaned my head on his shoulders.

"You know what?", I said, now very calm, after the first panic attack had passed.

"What?", Hatori replied, putting a strand of my hair out of my face.

"Despite Akito, the curse, or the fact that I haven't got the slightest idea how to behave as a mother, I am … happy."

That was the truth. I was here, with Hatori, right where I wanted to be. Our baby was a love child. That was a fact, that nothing could change.

I looked at Hatori. "Are you happy?", I asked, suddenly anxious, he might find the idea of becoming a daddy not that wonderful.

He just smiled, squeezing my hand lovingly. "I am very happy." "Good …"

I shivered suddenly. "Only the thought of those side-effects during a pregnancy makes me want to freak out." Hatori laughed.

"Don't worry", he said, putting his arm around me, protecting me. "We'll manage." "Yeah …"

Hatori crawled beside me into bed. I could feel that he was nervous, just as I was. In nine months we would be parents … We would have to speak to Akito (and to my parents …). Our lifes would change, even more, than it did when we first met.

"What do you think, will I be a good mother?", I asked, after I had snuggled up against Hatori. He kissed me on the head.

"You'll be a great mother", he answered, sounding so certain, that I immediately felt better. "I saw you with Kisa, Hiro and Momiji. They love you!"

I giggled. "Well, it's hard not to love Kisa and Momiji. And Hiro … he's tough, but so cute. He and Kisa are so kawaii together!"

Hatori nudged me affectionately. "See what I mean?" He turned to me, putting his fingers under my chin, so that he could lift my head.

"Our child will be safe and loved", he said gently. "Our son or daughter will not grow up, isolated by the limitations of our family curse, like I had been. We will be good parents, giving our child all the affection he or she needs."

I smiled and touched him gently on the nose.

"How do you know that?", I teased him. Hatori chuckled and kissed me passionately.

"Because of you", he replied. "You know me better than anyone else, Kari. I've never dreamed of meeting someone like you. Of being here with you …"

He smiled. "So, if you have teached me anything, then that nothing is impossible."

I sighed happily, as I leaned my head against his shoulders. "You just have to believe", I mumbled sleepily, as I closed my eyes, slowly drifting of into sleep. Hatori smelled so good …

"Right", was the last thing I heard him mutter, before I fell asleep.

When you have found the one, you want to spend forever with, all you have to do, is to stick together …

I was just wondering what life had in store for us next.