Some Time Later
Two people, a young man and a young woman, were talking in a tiny kitchen. One was seated at the table, laughing, while the other bounced excitedly back and forth around the room.
"Calm down!" the young man laughs, grabbing the girl as she passes and pulling her to stand in front of his seat. He stares at her with a mock serious expression. "Deep breathes."
"You're one to talk," she says with a wry grin.
"I suppose," he replies. "On second thought, don't calm down."
The young woman raises an eyebrow, unsuccessfully suppressing her smile. "Why?"
The young man grins widely. " 'Cause it's entertaining."
As the she laughs, he tugs on her hand that he's still holding, and she leans down a few inches to kiss him.
"Hey Namie, Momiji!" a high pitched voice calls out of the next room and a little girl goes running past in the hall. "Stop making out! They're here!"
The couple breaks apart, still laughing. The boy gives the girl one more light kiss on the lips, then jumps up excitedly.
"Come on, come on!" he says.
"Now who's the excited one?" she chuckles
He sticks his tongue out at her.
The two of them join the little girl and the teenage boy whose grinning face clashes with his dark clothes, just as the door opens. A man pushes inside with a suitcase, but the crowd in the hall only has eyes for the person behind him.
The woman is thin and pale, and there is a green scarf around her head that goes with her eyes. In a small patch where the cloth is slipping, one can just see the faint fuzz of hair growing back. As she crosses the threshold, the little girl and teenage boy cheer and swarm her in enormous hugs.
The young woman hangs back, almost nervously, her hand still in the young man's. Then the woman looks up at her and holds out her arms. The young woman lets go and runs into the embrace, holding the woman tightly.
"Welcome home, Mom" she whispers. "We missed you."
"It's good to be home," the woman whispered back, kissing her on the forehead.
The little girl tugs on the woman's hand, and they move towards the kitchen, followed by the teenage boy and the man still carrying the suitcase.
As they go, the young woman stays and looks to the young man, who had watched the proceedings with a wide smile. She smiled back, and he moved forward, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, with a contented sigh.
He bent to her ear. "I love you," he whispered.
She tilted her head back and beamed at him. "I love you too," she murmured back as she hugged him around the middle. And, still holding each other, they followed the others into the kitchen.
In life, nothing ever begins or ends. It is only a series of moments, connected by the bonds one makes, and the love one finds.
The hardest story to write is your own. And, though mine is not the same as Namie's, it's close enough to make it difficult. I don't get to have a sweet rabbit-boy to help me though, but I do have great friends and awesome reviewers. So thanks to Lotta Devon, Nano Kunitachi, Takara Rose Oizumi, and everyone else who gave me support and helped me though. And thanks to you, if you have taken the time to read my little story.
Disclaimer: Fruit's Basket and its characters belong to Natsuki Takaya.