THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER!
Chapter Twenty-Three: Healed
Pain was the first thing that registered in his sleepy mind. The second thing was that he desperately wanted Nii-san to come and make him better. The third thing was that he felt very... big. It was only then that the previous day came rushing back to him. Akito had finally ordered them to be turned back into teenagers. At least that explained the aches currently racking his body. Slowly, he began stretching out his fingers, wrists, arms, legs, feet, and toes. It wasn't until after he had stretched everything that he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was his brother's smiling face. "Afternoon, sleepy head. Are you sore?" It felt normal to have Nii-san push his hair off his forehead until he remembered that he was no longer six-years-old. Blushing slightly, he nodded his head. A part of him wanted to desperately move away, but that would require him to actually move. "I'll go get you some medicine. I'll be right back." Yuki didn't say anything as Ayame stood and left the room. He closed his eyes once more, slowly stretching again while trying to clear his mind. Yuki needed to wait until he was more awake to sort through all the jumbled emotions and desires running rampant in his mind.
Shigure stumbled into the kitchen just as Ayame turned to leave with water and pills for Yuki. Kazuma and he had begun getting worried when almost twenty-four hours had passed and both teens were still sleeping. "Shigure, I need you to call Hatori. He wanted to know when Yuki or Kyo woke up."
"The sleeping beauties are finally awake?"
"No, only Yuki is. Kyo was still sleeing when I left the room. Don't forget to call Hatori!" Ayame heard his friend mumble something in response, but ignored him as he went up the stairs. Yuki was trying to turn onto his side, but wasn't having much luck with it. His face was slightly red, eyes squeezed tight, and the arm he was supporting himself with was shaking.
Yuki let his body relax when he felt arms supporting him. He had only wanted to lay on his side because his back was hurting; the teen had assumed he would able to do this. He had wasted what little engergy he had and now only wanted to go back to sleep. Nii-san obviosuly had different ideas though. Instead of placing back down on the bed like Yuki wanted, he was now sitting halfway up with one strong arm behind his back while the other one was pressing something small and round against his mouth. "Yuki, open your mouth. This will help with the pain. I've got some water so you can take the pill." Yuki opened his eyes at this. Why couldn't he just so back to sleep? If he was asleep then he wouldn't know he was pain, so problem solved. He tried telling Ayame this, but all that came out was a slight rasp. Ayame took his chance and placed the pill in Yuki's mouth. Yuki's eyes widended slightly; he hadn't wanted to take the pill. Before he cold do anything, a glass of water was being placed against his lips. "Swallow the pill and then you can back to sleep." Yuki had no idea why he wanted so badly to not take this pill, but if it was the only way he would be allowed to go back to sleep...
Ayame smiled as Yuki took a sip of water and swallowed. He didn't understand why the rat had been resisting, but once the pill was swallowed Yuki pushed slightly against his arm. Ayame helped Yuki onto his side and tucked him in again. Yuki snuggled into the covers and was alseep within moments. Ayame didn't move his eyes when Kazuma spoke. "How's he doing?"
"Okay, I guess. He's really sore and in a lot of pain, but beyond that I think he's fine physically. I have no idea how he's doing mentally. Has Kyo woken up yet?"
"He did for a minute while you were out of the room, but fell right back asleep." Ayame didn't comment as he watched his now teenage brother sleep.
It was several more hours before both boys woke again. Hatori had come by again why they were sleeping and said what had seemed to become a manta: "Just wait." Ayame and Kazuma had vowed to kill the next person who said that to them.
Kyo was the first to awaken this time and the first one to talk. "Dad?" Kazuma's head shot up from the book he was reading, a huge smile stretching across his face. He was finally awake and talking! Kyo had still called him dad!
The teen was now regretting that choice though.Where had dad come from? Kazuma was Shishou not dad. His dad had abandoned him. Why had he called Shishou dad? He remembered being little and everything that had happened in the past weeks, but he was sixteen now, not five. He wasn't supposed to call him dad; that had only been appropriate because he was little. He wasn't little anymore, so he couldn't call him that, right?
"How are you feeling?"
"Sore and thirsty. How long have I been asleep?"
"About thirty-two hours. I'll go get you something to drink." Kyo nodded slightly, still sleepy, and confused. Why had he wanted Shishou to pick him up and carry him downstairs? I'm not little anymore. I can't be thinking like this. I can't call him dad. That'll just bug him. Kyo forgot about his own confusion as he heard Yuki talk from the other side of the room.
"I feel better. I'm still a little sore, but it's not bad. It feels like I ran too much, and I'm really confused."
Ayame didn't cease stroking the soft hair under his fingers. "About what?" Yuki's brow crinkled.
"What your doing feels good, but I'm too old for it. I'm sixteen, not six. I-" he blushed and looked away-"I keep wanting you to hold me, but that's stupid. I'm too old for that." Ayame smiled and shook his head.
"Yuki, you're never too old for a hug, or to be held when you don't feel good. Besides, it's going to take a little while for you to get used to being a teenager again. You've been six for almost two months. All of those impulses aren't going to magically disappear. You had to get used to be little, remember?"
"Yeah, I felt stupid sitting on your lap."
"Exactly, but you got used to. Now, you have to get used to being a teenager, but I'm afraid you're going to have to get used to hugs. I'm not giving that up," Yuki rolled his eyes though he was a little happy about that. He really didn't want to give up being hugged either.
Kyo had heard Ayame's explanation about getting used to being a teenager again, and that explained many of his confused feelings, but that did nothing to solve the dad issue. Was he really ready to call Shishou that? What about his own biological father? He didn't consider that man his father; he hadn't for a very long time. He always referred to him as he biological father, but did that mean he was willing to accept a new dad? What if Shishou decided to abandon him alos because he thought being a father was too much responsibility? He hasn't left you yet, has he? You've been calling him Dad for a while, and he hasn't left yet. You love him. He's your dad in every way but blood. He didn't tell you to stop when you called him dad earlier. Just try it again.
The cat slowly drank the large glass of water his surrogate father had brought him. Kazuma was watching the teen carefully. He had a feeling that Kyo was beginning to regret calling him dad earlier. The orange-haired teen was now simply holding his glass, staring off into space. He didn't even notice when Kazuma took the glass out of his hands. He gently shook the youth's shoulders to snap him out of his revere. Kyo jumped and looked over at him. "Do I get to know what you were thinking so hard about?" Kyo blushed and looked away while shrugging his shoulders. Kazuma hadn't expected anything else. "Was it about calling me dad?" Kyo didn't look at him, but he immediately tensed. "It's okay if you want to call me dad. I'm sure your confused, but I like being called Dad. It's totally okay with me for you to call me that." The man smiled as his boy slowly turned around to look at him.
"Are you sure?
"Positive. I'm not going to leave you, or change my mind about anything. I would actually love it if you called me Dad." He held Kyo's gaze, smiling slightly, until the teen nodded several minutes later.
Kyo still wasn't sure about this whole Dad business, but it felt right to call Shishou that. "Dad?" Kazuma wanted to cry; this was better than he had expected.
"What?"
"I need to go to the bathroom, and you're blocking my way." He laughed and stood up, offering his hand, which Kyo gladly took once he actually tried to stand. It felt like he was a hundred-years-old.Kyo declined his father's offer of help in the bathroom assuring him that he capable of managing on his own. Kazuma made sure his son made into the bathroom and closed the door before letting his emotions take over. Everything had turned out for the better; Kyo had finally accepted him as a father. After all those years of missing each other, after not connecting or relating for so long, they were now finally a family. They were finally father and son. Kyo knew that someone would always be there for him, that there would always be a pair of arms in the middle of the night to run to even if he thought he was too old for that. Kyo knew that he would always have somewhere to run to, somewhere to call home, someone to call Dad. He had finally accepted that he was loved, that he deserved to be loved.
Yuki endured Hatori's examination again as he waited for Kyo to return from the bathroom. He really needed to go, and Kyo was taking an impossibly long time. "You're fine, Yuki-kun. You'll probably be sore for a couple of days, and you're going to have mixed up emotions for a few days, but you'll be fine." Yuki nodded tensely.
"What's taking Kyo-kun so long? I need to use the bathroom." Ayame smiled at his petulant tone.
"He's not taking a long time; he hasn't even been in there for a minute yet."
"Well, I need to go really bad."
"Okay, think about something else."
"I can't think about something else! I'm about to wet myself!"
Ayame laughed and shook his head. "Are you going to continue being friends with Kyo-kun?"
This distracted Yuki from his growing full bladder. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it. I don't hate him anymore anyway. It depends on how he acts towards me, and you only distracted me for a second. I still need to go the bathroom really bad. Can my brain my affected by being little? I can't remember any big words."
Hatori answered him from the other side of the room. "Yes, it'll take a little while before all of that comes back. It's going to be a nightmare to catch back up in school."
"How did you explain that? I don't remember what you said."
"You both had a severe case of mono and things just kept popping up, so you needed to stay out longer. Hatsuharu and Tohru did some of your work and turned it in so no one would get overly suspicious."
"Okay, but- Yes, you're back!" Yuki tried to jump out of bed, but encountered the same problem that Kyo had had. His body simply would not move faster than a crawl. "No, I have to move fast! I need to pee!" Yuki blushed at his whiny tone, but he couldn't help it. He really need to go. He accepted Ayame's help down the hall, but refused to let the man enter the bathroom. Ayame went back into the teen's room and sat on Yuki's bed. He could tell that Yuki was still confused and adjusting, but he knew that everything would be fine. He didn't know why he knew this, but it was true. Everything was going to fine. After everything Yuki had went through, after the abuse from Akito, the indifference from their parents and himself, Yuki was going to be fine. He seemed to have risen above all that. He was strong; he was struggling. There would be more bad times, they were unavoidable, but Yuki knew that he had someone to depend on. He had someone who was going to be there for him no matter what. Despite his flamboyant and loud personality, and sometimes the truth of his words were lost in the volume at which they were spoke, he knew they were true. Yuki knew his brother loved him, and that Nii-san would never leave him again. He would never be ignored again. Words were good things. Words were power that he would now gladly wield. Words would set him free, not cage him. He needed people to help him figure everything out, but he knew that he could also stand on own two feet. He hadn't deserved Akito's treatment, and nothing of what Aktio said was true. The world was not all blackness. There was light shining through to destroy the blackness. His world was not black, and it was not full of black words. He didn't deserve a black world and would never believe again that everything was hopeless. He had someone who would help him, who would love him, and as long as he had that, he knew he could make it.
Yuki and Kyo were now back in their respective rooms at Shigure's hiding from everyone downstairs. Almost all the members of the zodiac had come over for a Welcome Back To Normal party for the two boys. Both thought this was ridiculous. Everyone else saw it as a reason to have a party, especially Shigure and Ayame. Having a serious Ayame was always a sight to hold and a relief from his usual demeanor, but, honestly, they all missed the loud Ayame. Yuki was glad to see his brother acting like his old self. He did need bis brother serious sometimes, but he didn't want Nii-san to ever change.
The noise from downstairs reached his ears and he knocked loudly on Kyo's door. Neither of them had said much to each other, but Yuki was sick of tip toing around each other. He wanted to knew where they stood. He barely heard the invitation to enter as Ayame and Shigure broke into song. Sighing, he opened the door and entered. "Did you decide hiding up here was better too?" Kyo glanced up from his manga.
"There's no way I'm staying with all those idiots. You're brother's back to normal and with Shigure. It's safer to stay up here." Yuki laughed.
"True."
An awkward silence settled over them as Kyo tried to focus back on manga. Yuki took a deep breath, deciding just to say it. What was the point in stressing over it? No matter how much he stalled, or thought about it, Kyo's answer wouldn't change. "Are we still going to be friends? Or at least friendly? What do we do now that we're both teenagers again?"
Kyo was surprised to say the least; he had been wondering the same thing, but Yuki had never been one to blurt something out like that. "I don't know. Do you want to be friends?" Yuki shrugged in response.
"I'm not sure, but I don't hate you anymore. I don't even dislike you anymore. It wouldn't really be too horrible to be friends, would it?"
"I guess not, but are you sure you want to be friends with me? I haven't changed that much. I still have a temper."
Yuki smiled at that and looked down at his hands in his lap. "I know, but I don't want things to be they way they were before. We had fun being friends when we were little. I don't see why we can't continue. Of course, we're still going to fight some, but everyone fights."
"I still swear I'm going to kick your ass one of these days."
Yuki laughed loudly at this. "Sure you are. I'd like to see you try."
"Okay, we'll try now." Both boys were up in an instant hands and fists flying as they exited Kyo's bedroom and went down the stairs in a heap to interrupt the party both grinning and laughing at the insults.
Ayame and Shigure stopped singing as the boys fell into the room fighting. Ayame and Kazuma exchanged a defeated look. It seemed some things would never change. Ayame grabbed Yuki while Kazuma grabbed Kyo against both boys' protests.
"What ya' do that for? We were having fun!" Kyo yelled indignantly.
"Fun?" Kazuma repeated. "You were fighting each other."
"Yes, fun," Yuki replied. "He said he could kick my ass, and I was just about to prove him wrong." He was glaring at the cat, but it was ruined by the huge smile covering the lower portion of his face.
"In your dreams, girly boy." Kyo was grinning just as widly while trying unsuccessfully to get out of his father's grip.
"Is that the only insult you know? It's gotten rather old, don't you think?" Kyo started to reply, but was cut off by his father's yelling voice.
"WAIT! So, you two are friends?" He looked down slightly at Kyo. Kyo looked across at Yuki still smiling.
"Yeah, we're friends, right?"
Yuki smiled, relaxing in Ayame's grip. "Yeah, we're friends."
It was another two weeks before Yuki and Kyo were allowed back to school with all of their work completed. Tohru had been helping them around the clock along with a tutor had Ayame and Kazuma had hired. Their classmates and teachers were mistyfied to see the two getting along so well, but no one complained. It was nice to see them in such good moods. Most could tell that something had changed in two of them, but no one could put their finger on exactly what. They seemed obviously happier, but there was something else, something deeper that only showed through in their eyes.
Hana seemed to be able to sum it up best one day while talking to Tohru.
"Their waves have changed. They're still odd, but there's something else now, something better. They're happy. They know that they deserve love, and that they are loved."
Fini.
Author's Note: And that's it. That's the end. I would like to thank all of the reviewers for sticking with me for over two years. It's hard for me to think that I've been working on this for over two years. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAD STUCK WITH ME!! I hope this lived up to your expectations, and if your read Loveless CHECK OUT my Loveless story, Always. This is my most successful story to date, and one last time THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! This wouldn't have been possible without all of you.
Bledding Black Rose