Author's Note: Well, here is the epilogue as promised! Thanks for everyone who's kept up with this story, thank you to everyone who reviewed, and please check out the sequel on my blog. I've already got up the prologue and chapter one. You can find the link to my blog on my author profile. For the story, click the Fruits Basket link, and poke around at the other stuff, too! Well, hope you enjoyed I'll Be Standing There By You. I posted it 3/31/11, and I'm finishing 3/29/12 :).

Epilogue

"'Cause you're so much more than a memory"—Hoobastank.

Yuki stood beside Kyo as his cousin bowed his head in front of his mother's grave. She had been buried in the Sohma plot, but in a lonelier area reserved for those who weren't family by blood. The grave was well-kept with fresh flowers placed on the plaque that matched the other flowers in the area.

Kyo knelt down, getting grass stains on his jeans as he placed a framed picture of himself and Tohru in front of The Rice Ball next to the fresh flowers.

"She would have loved Tohru," Kyo said softly. "She would have loved that I fell in love and got married and had a house. I know she would have. She was nice like that. She used to tell me that she loved me so much that she didn't want to share me with the world, but she would have shared me with Tohru… if she'd let herself have the chance to."

Yuki touched the top of Kyo's head. "I'm sure you're right."

Kyo's fingers brushed the frame and he shut his eyes. "I keep telling myself that she's in a better place. Everyone who dies is in a better place, waiting for us to come to them later." He tilted his head back to look up at Yuki, his eyes dry but sad. "I'm going to believe it one day."

Yuki ruffled Kyo's hair. "Are you ready to go?"

Kyo sighed and shook his head slightly. "No. Not right now. I think…" He gazed back at the plaque. "I think I want to stay here for a bit. It's… quiet."

Yuki nodded. "All right, but just for a bit. We need to leave for the airport soon."

"Just for a bit," Kyo agreed and lapsed into silence.

Yuki took a few steps away, inhaling the sharp, crisp scent of grass and jasmine. He rubbed his bare arms. It was summer, but places of death always gave Yuki chills. The Sohma family graveyard was pretentious and marvelous at the same time with its white marble statues and manicured gardens separating older portions of the cemetery from the new.

Yuki watched his cousin's serene form with a soft smile. Kyo had come a long way. Months of gray skies had parted to let the sun peek through the clouds.

Tohru had died in early March and Yuki had stayed with Kyo until late April before returning to Tokyo to quit his job and sublet his apartment. He rented a nice, little two-bedroom house in Maizuru close to The Rice Ball, as he took on full time duties as The Rice Ball's business director and shook hands to break ground for another bakery in the city of Kyoto.

In May, Kyo made the decision to lease the cottage he and Tohru had lived in to the family Ayame recommended, and he'd moved in with Yuki. It was a nice arrangement. Yuki liked having a roommate he didn't have to put toilet seats down for. Though, every time Machi slept over, she complained that Yuki was learning bad habits.

In June, Ayame and Mine had married. It had been a small, simple ceremony at the Sohma lake house. Yuki's parents had actually attended, and Kyo had been persuaded to sing a song with his guitar. He'd been all smiles and laughter that night, and later on he'd asked Yuki to help him research his maternal relatives that lived in America.

In July, Kyo had returned to work. He took over for Master Kazuma as head instructor of his dojo and Experimental Wednesdays at The Rice Ball resumed. He cried less, ate more and had fewer nightmares. He was still quiet, and sometimes, he walled himself off from the world, but he was getting better. Yuki no longer worried about leaving Kyo alone if he needed to go away for a few days, but he never stayed away longer than a week.

In August, Kyo had let Yuki make them a spaghetti dinner and didn't laugh about the burned garlic bread. Instead he'd washed the bread down with a glass of red wine and said: "Yuki, let's go on a trip." And Yuki had agreed.

"Do you think they'll like me?" Kyo asked; the sound of his voice shaking Yuki from reverie. Kyo didn't look at Yuki and his voice had been small and tight.

"What would Tohru say?" Yuki asked, coming to stand beside Kyo again. Kyo's slender fingers twisted blades of grass around his mother's plaque.

Kyo gave a soft sigh. "She'd say… she'd have said 'Anyone who takes the time to know you will love you.'"

"She'd be right," Yuki said. "Your family's going to love you."

"I'm scared. Maybe we shouldn't go," Kyo whispered; he broke the blades of grass he twisted.

"They're expecting us, Kyo. They sound so excited," Yuki said, putting his hands on Kyo's thin shoulders.

"I was supposed to go to America with Tohru. She was going to know what to say, because I don't." Kyo's head rolled forward. "I wish she was here."

"I do, too," Yuki said, massaging the tense muscles of Kyo's shoulders and neck. "But she wanted you to do this."

Kyo nodded, not raising his head. His hands dug in his pockets and he extracted a keychain from one. He set it on his mother's plaque in front of the smiling picture of him and Tohru and took a deep breath, in and out, before standing.

Yuki moved back, not wanting to crowd Kyo but wanting to remain near.

"We better get to the airport, then," Kyo said. "Tohru would scold you if you let me miss our plane."

Yuki raised a brow at Kyo's slight smirk. "She would scold you more for getting your clothes dirty before getting on a plane to meet your grandmother."

"She would scold you for letting me get my clothes dirty."

Yuki snorted and laughed, giving Kyo a light shove. "Stupid Cat."

"Damn Rat," Kyo said. He stared at Yuki for a moment then grabbed him into a quick hug. "Thank you."

"You don't have to…."
"Yes, I do," Kyo breathed. "Just shut up and take it, Rat. Now, come on. I'm not chasing after an airplane. I run fast, but not that fast."

Yuki laughed again and he and Kyo began weaving through the gardens to the gates that would take them to the parking lot where Yuki's car was parked.

Yuki glanced over his shoulder at Kyo's mother's grave. The sun glinted off the silver of the picture frame and the green plastic of the keychain with the word Galveston painted on it.

Look at us, Tohru, international travelers. I don't really have to wish you were here, because I know you are.

And until Kyo really knows it, too, I'll be here to remind him.

Always.

"I'll Be Standing There By You."

If you guys want to know what happens when Kyo and Yuki go to meet Kyo's maternal extended family and if you want to continue following Kyo's healing process, go to my blog and see the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Empty Spaces. The link to my blog is on my profile page! Click the link for Fruits Basket and look for the prologue first. And hey, while you're there, poke around at some of my original work. I love guests, so long as you don't eat, don't wear your shoes on my carpet, and clean up after yourselves. Enjoy!

Hoobastank. "More Than a Memory." Every Man for Himself. Island, 2006. CD.

Author's Note: So, what's the verdict? Like it? Hate it? Don't care either way? Well, anyway you liked it let me know. Please review :)