Thank you for reading all the way to the end! I'm really glad to actually be able to finish this fic. It was a blast to write =)

When I started writing this, I only had one thought. "Omg, Natsume looks like a fox when he returns the spirits' names!" That was the only impetus behind this fic, I swear. It kind of mutated, didn't it XD

I hope you enjoyed the wild ride! I hope I wrote everything well o_O

Please review with what you think! Thank you again! *huggles to all!*

Epilogue

Home was warm. He had parents. The Fujiwara couple had fussed over him, pulled him into their warm arms as a gracious welcome back. They'd stopped at a small field to pick up some bags that he guessed were his. The demons there swarmed him and greeted him with such cheer he couldn't help but feel his mood soar. Upon arrival at the front door, Natori charmed his way in and out, wishing them good health and apologizing for their late arrival (and lack of a phone call). Apparently the excuse Madara … Nyanko-sensei had used was that he'd gone on a hot springs trip with Natori for a week. The mother had been very worried. After all, "he" had only said he'd be gone for a week, and it was far past. Almost a week and a half. In the end, Natsume Takashi had had to pretend they'd gotten lost and ended up in a place much further than they'd expected.

When he sat down to eat dinner, with Nyanko-sensei under the table and ravenously scarfing down shrimp tempura like a wolverine, he felt warm inside.

"You look a lot better, Takashi-kun," said Touko-san.

He put a hand to his cheek, as though to test his skin's consistency. "What do you mean?"

"You were much too reserved before you left. The hot springs must have loosened you up," mused Shigeru-san.

"Oh … really?" Takashi asked curiously as he glanced down at the chubby cat. "I hadn't noticed. I'm sorry for worrying you."

"No, no, we're just happy you're healthy and hale again. Eat up, eat up!" said Touko-san as she placed some more vegetables into his plate. Takashi didn't complain. He only picked the green leaves up and placed them in his mouth.

He felt like it had been forever since he'd tasted something so delicious.

Back in his room, Takashi pounced on the cat and started kneading its head in a noogie. "So. You were 'very reserved,' were you?"

"What! That's how you usually are! It's not my fault you're spineless!" protested Nyanko-sensei as he wiggled back and forth, trying to gain purchase on anything with his short stubby paws.

"I wouldn't have thought it of you. You seemed like some grumpy miser when you picked me up."

"Hmph! That's only because you needed a shove out the door. Now let go!" The cat twisted and managed to slip from his grasp.

Takashi leaned back and stared at the ceiling. There was so much for him to sort through, but his mind was blank.

"Are you going to keep up that form?"

Broken out of his non-thoughts, he turned to face the spirit. "Hm?"

"You're not really human, and you know it. There's no reason to keep this up."

He turned back to the ceiling. "This was how I grew up. I'm more comfortable this way."

Nyanko-sensei didn't ask anything else that night, but instead opted to curl on top of Takashi's chest. For once, he didn't complain when he pet him, both quiet and simply enjoying the moment until it was time to sleep.

The next day, the cat dragged him out of bed at the rise of dawn.

"What's the big rush?" he grumbled. He still felt his eyelashes clumped together and pulled himself up and stumbled to the bathroom.

"You remember the Yuujinchou?"

"Yuujinchou … I have a vague recollection. No wait, don't tell me." Takashi racked his brain and, after a relatively short silence, managed to scrape together an answer. "The memento of my grandmother's."

Nyanko-sensei nodded appreciatively. "I left it with another acquaintance of yours for safekeeping. We should go see him first thing, to get it back."

"The thing's dangerous, right?"

"The sooner we get it back, the better."

Because of this, Takashi bid early leave of the house and, with a promise to call Touko-san when he reached his friend's house, set out to Tanuma's. He cut through Yatsuhara, bidding the demons from yesterday good morning along the way. They cheered back as Nyanko-sensei cursed them for being so rowdy.

The spirit guided him towards a shrine, hidden deep beyond the woods. He stopped at the gate. He felt the energy emanating from the grounds itself and marveled at how such an aura had been around the whole time and he'd never noticed. He couldn't stop his eyes from wandering over what was once familiar as he made his way up to the front door.

Before he could knock, the door clattered open before him and he found himself staring into black eyes.

"N-Natsume!" exclaimed the boy before he dropped the broom he'd been holding with a clatter. He must have been about to go out to clean the front yard. He rushed forward, and, just as he was about to run his hands over Takashi's face to check if he was real, he pulled himself back. "You're … you're really back. Thank goodness…"

"Yeah, I'm back, Tanuma," he said. "Sorry for making you worry."

"I couldn't do anything for you… Sorry…"

"Well, you're a powerless human, so you should learn your place." Both boys glared downwards at the spirit who was attempting to groom himself. "What? I'm only stating the truth."

Tanuma frowned, and Takashi didn't like the spirit's words either. They shared a glance and, with an almost imperceptible nod, both pounced on the unsuspecting cat.

"Agh! What do you think you're doing! You'll pay for this!"

The words rang in his ears, but he ignored the slightly pained eardrums as he jumped to his feet and took after the escaping cat with a vengeance and with Tanuma closely following. Both were grinning gleefully as they hunted down their "victim."

In the end, Takashi completely forgot about calling Touko-san when he finally entered the house and stayed until sunset, succeeding in earning another (mild) scolding from her, complete with Shigeru-san nodding and agreeing with every word in the background.

There were many things to sort out and many more things to remember in order to pick his life up again, but things were going all right. He was slowly remembering just from returning to his previous life, and he found he had a home here, and he had friends. He was happy.

Nothing lasted forever, but he would relish this for as long as he lived. That was his only wish.