As soon as everyone knew that Ryoma had woken up, they ran to the hospital to see her. Ryoma had many visitors. The first ones to arrive were, of course, her family.

"Oh Ryoma! I'm so happy… I'm so happy…" Rinko cried as she hugged her daughter in her arms, dampening Ryoma's hospital shirt with her tears.

"Kaa-san…" Ryoma hugged Rinko back. Nanjirou, sitting on the other side of her bed, put an arm across her shoulders and pulled her to his chest. He proudly kissed her temple. It was one of the extremely rare times - if not the first - that Nanjirou actually acted like a real father.

"Welcome back, bishoujo," Nanjirou said. Ryoma smiled to him. Ryoga put hand on her head, gently patting her.

"Welcome back from me as well, hime-chan," Ryoga added. Ryoma didn't mind being called 'princess' this time. It felt wonderful to be cherished by her family. Nanako happily hummed a song as she put flowers in a vase.

"There," Nanako said, putting the vase on Ryoma's bed table. "This will brighten your mood and help you heal faster."

"Here, Ryoma-chan. This is for you," Miyabi said, giving a present to Ryoma. Miyabi had come along with the family. They had crossed paths at the entrance of the hospital and came up together. Miyabi brought Ryoma a gorgeous Himalayan stuffed toy cat with silky long fur and vivid blue eyes. It was a toy worthy of being put in a collection. It looked exactly like Karupin. Ryoma loved (adored) it.

"Arigatou, Miyabi-senpai," Ryoma said, her eyes shining brilliantly as she marvelled over her new toy. Miyabi giggled, happy to see that Ryoma liked her present.

"How do you feel, Ryoma-chan?" Miyabi asked.

Rinko, Nanjirou, Ryoga, Nanako and Miyabi spent all afternoon with Ryoma until they saw that Ryoma needed to rest. With a last kiss and hug, they left Ryoma.

The regulars too came to visit her the next day. They missed their sole female teammate.

"Ochibi/Echizen, you woke up! Woeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Kirihara and Kikumaru wailed like a baby, crushing Ryoma in their (suffocating) hug.

"Hmnn! Hmnnn! Hmnnn!"

"Hora! Eiji, Kirihara, let her breath!" Ooishi cried out, rushing forward to detach them from her.

But Ooishi didn't need to make a lot of effort to detach Kikumaru and Kirihara's armsfrom Ryoma. Niou and Marui took care of the matter. They had decided that it was their turn to hug Ryoma, so they shoved away the annoying guys to make space for themselves.

"We miss you, Echizen-chan," Marui said.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUG! multiplied by four.

"Ouffffffff!" Ryoma changed color from white to blue. It was a good thing that Ryoma was no longer connected to an electrocardiogram and that Yukimura was there to control the regulars' (overly annoying) enthusiasm. Otherwise, all the doctors and nurses of the floor would have rush into her room. Her lungs desperately needed more oxygen and her heart was furiously demanding Ryoma to get some more.

Touga and Sora too thought about Ryoma. They came with their mother to see her.

"Echizen-chan, konnichiwa," Yumiko greeted.

"Yumiko-san, konnichi-… Ompfh!" Ryoma's breath was cut off because of Touga and Sora. The children launched themselves onto her as soon as they stepped in her room.

"Nee-chaaaaaaaan! We were so worried for you! Woeeeeeeeeeee!" Touga and Sora crushed her in their arms, but not enough to suffocate her like Kirihara and Kikumaru had. The kids had more consideration than the regulars.

"Thank you," Ryoma said, smiling and patting the kids' head.

"Woeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The children cried, hugging her harder. Their original intention was to make Ryoma feel good so she would heal faster, but it was Ryoma who had to make them smile before they left her. It took Ryoma a certain amount of time to make the kids stop crying, but she succeeded. Before leaving, Touga and Sora gave her a pretty 'Get well' card they had made themselves (and they certainly had more artistic skills then Ryoma).

Yuuta came with his parents. He said it was because his parents wanted to thank Ryoma in person for saving Fuji-dono.

"Otou-san, okaa-san, this is my friend, Echizen Ryoma," Yuuta introduced. "Ryoma, this is my parents."

"Konnichiwa, Fuji-fusai," Ryoma bowed her head.

"Konnichiwa, Echizen-chan. I'm Fuji Sennosuke," Sennosuke said, taking Ryoma's hands in his. "Thank you for saving my mother," he said with a smile.

"It was nothing, Fuji-san," Ryoma replied.

"Echizen-chan, I'm Fuji Seri. Thank you for taking care of Yuuta and Syuusuke," Seri said. "And it's a pleasure to finally and properly make your acquaintance." Surprised by Seri's last words, Ryoma examined the woman up and down. And her eyes popped out of her head.

'Ah! She's the woman of the park!' Ryoma recognized Seri.

"Huhuhu!" Seri chuckled at Ryoma's reaction, amused. Ryoma blushed in embarrassement.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Fuji-fusai," Ryoma stuttered under Seri's and Sennosuke's amused and gentle smile.

"And this is from Shindou-san, Aoko-san and Kaoko-san. They wish you to get well soon," Sennosuke said, giving Ryoma a basket filled with delicious looking fresh fruits. (A/N: For people who have forgotten, Shindou is the Fuji's butler, Kaoko and Aoko are the maids Ryoma met during the cruise ship trip. Notice 2: Fruits are expensive in Japan. For example, three strawberries cost 18 dollars. And I'm not making fun of you.)

"Er, domo," Ryoma said, taking the basket. "Please, send them my thanks."

"Certainly," Sennosuke nicely said.

Each time Ryoma received a visit, it was never only one person. Except when it was Syuusuke. When ever the older Fuji boy came, everybody left them to be alone. Rinko had insisted on it. The two young people deserved to spend time alone after everything they had gone through.

Everyone was happy for Ryoma, but one person wasn't feeling well.

It was Fuji-dono.

Tokyo. Fuji mansion.

Fuji-dono, alone in her private quarter, looked outside her window but saw nothing. She felt lifeless and tired. She was tired of the comedy she forced herself to play. In front of everyone, Fuji-dono kept up a cold front because it was forbidden for her to show weakness. However, inside, she was falling deeper and deeper in her remorse, leaving her spiritless.

Ever since the accident, Fuji-dono didn't talk to anyone and asked that no one disturb her. She didn't want to see anyone. The truth was that she feared of what people would say about her. Before, Fuji-dono wouldn't care about people's opinions of her, but today was different. Seeing the accident occur before her very eyes had strongly shaken her from her normal demeanour. It was known to everyone: Fuji-dono despised Echizen Ryoma, but the latter saved her from a certain death. Fuji-dono knew it herself. She wasn't anywhere as young as she used to be in the past. The impact of the collision would have instantly kill her.

'If it wasn't because of her, I would be…' Fuji-dono trembled at the mere perspective of her being hit instead of Echizen Ryoma.

There was also another reason why Fuji-dono didn't want to see anyone.

Syuusuke.

Fuji-dono was scared of meeting Syuusuke. Since Echizen Ryoma's accident, Fuji-dono and Syuusuke met only once face to face. It was the day when he learn about Ryoma's hospitalization. Syuusuke had darted his eyes away from her, refusing to meet her glance. Syuusuke couldn't pretend to not know it was because of her that Ryoma fall into a coma. Syuuske's rejection hurt Fuji-dono much more than she wanted to admit it. Unable to stand the thought of seeing her favorite grandson sad because of her once more, Fuji-dono locked herself in her private quarters.

Just remembering that day, Fuji-dono felt her heart clench in pain.

'Syuusuke…' Fuji-dono brought her hand to her chest, trying to ease her pain. A tear rolled down Fuji-dono's face. 'He must feel resentful toward me…'

Knock knock knock.

"Fuji-dono, I brought you tea," Shindou said through the door. Fuji-dono wiped away her tears with her handkerchief and composed herself, bringing forth her cold mask.

"Come in," Fuji-dono answered.

Shindou entered with a tray in his hands. Fuji-dono forbade anyone to disturb her, except for Shindou. He was the only person Fuji-dono allowed to come into her quarter. Shindou served Fuji-dono her tea.

"Here for you, Fuji-dono," Shindou said, handing a cup to Fuji-dono.

"Thank you," Fuji-dono said, taking the cup of tea from Shindou's hand. Fuji-dono took a sip of the hot liquid. The Oolong tea immediately relaxed her. She took another sip. With his job done, Shindou excused himself. He turned on his heels to leave the room. But just before closing the door, he spoke again.

"Fuji-dono, Echizen-hime-sama has woken up from her coma," Shindou said, closing the door behind him.

Alone, Fuji-dono froze in the middle of drinking her tea.

'She… She… She woke up…'

A sigh of relief escaped Fuji-dono's lips. She felt the heavy pressure on her heart and her shoulders lift off. Her relief was so strong that she trembled. She was forced to put down her cup of tea. In her state, she could drop it any time. While trying to calm down the frantic rhythm of her heart beat, a thought kept echoing in her head like a mantra.

'Yokatta… Yokatta…(1) '

1) Yokatta: equivalent to "What a relief."

Updated on Tuesday March 2, 2010. Beta-ed on Tuesday March 24.

A/N: I didn't put Syuusuke in because it will be for the next chapter. Next time, it will be Syuusuke's and Ryoma's time alone.