Chapter 3: Things Still to Come
With the farm now under new ownership, Yuki and Sōhei helped Hana relocate some of her personal things to her new residence in the city. One of the things Hana insisted she take with her was her husband's driver's license, though she said they could use it to make their own enlarged copy of the photo to have. While in the city, the couple also made sure to properly register Izumi's birth and get properly wed; after all of that was taken care of, they finally settled in to their newly owned home. Sōhei knew that they would need extra income in order to keep themselves ahead when it wasn't growing season, so he decided to take up a job of his own. Inspired by seeing all the photos that Yuki showed him, he took interest in becoming a freelance photographer; he invested in a professional camera and then put himself out there for possible clientele. Within weeks, he was able to get plenty of calls from people asking for a variety of shots to be taken and was getting paid just enough to make ends meet. Yuki decided to remain at the farm to fully look after the property and Izumi. She was still disappointed by the fact she never got to go to college, but being with her loving family made her forget any of that regret. By the time growing season came along, the couple immediately started work on tending the fields to grow vegetables; Yuki used all her knowledge gained from living there for years to help teach Sōhei how to properly do so, and eventually he got into the rhythm of it enough that he could do it mostly so that Yuki could devote more of her time to raising Izumi. With the crop being successful as ever, they were able to sell for a good profit; combined with the income from Sōhei's photography business, they were also able to invest in a used kei truck to help with all their transportation and no longer had to rely on the bus. For their first year living as a new family, things were looking brighter than they initially imagined.
As the years continued to progress, Izumi continued to grow. Upon reaching three years of age, she had become much more active and playful, which reminded Yuki of herself. She had grown long hair that was dark brunette, much like a combination between Yuki's own brunette hair and the black hair of both Hana and Sōhei; she was also fond of the green dress her grandmother had sewn for her. However, her parents noticed that she had yet to show any signs of her wolf bloodline, unlike Yuki and Ame, who were able to transform well into their toddler years. This made them a bit relieved that they could easily bring her into public, but Yuki was also disappointed that she couldn't share her gift with her daughter. One day, Sōhei had some job orders to be fulfilled in the city and took Yuki and Izumi with him in the truck so they could visit Hana in the meantime. Once at her place, Hana greeted the two and let her granddaughter go play with toys in the guest room while she talked with her daughter in the living room.
"She's a lot like you, you know?" Hana said to Yuki.
"Well, that's the thing I wanted to tell you about," Yuki said back. "She's now three years old, yet unlike me, she doesn't appear to have wolf abilities yet."
"Well, that didn't stop me from making this," Hana said as she presented Yuki with a stuffed wolf doll similar to the ones she made for her own children.
"Oh, I don't know if that's really a good idea," Yuki said, looking at the doll. "We've kind of decided to not tell her anything about my gift and hide anything relating to it; we've even requested Ame to only come to the house in human form, even though he rarely makes appearances now for some reason." She then stuffed the doll in her handbag. "Besides, I was hoping to just hand mine down should she be able to become one."
"Why are you going through all this trouble to hide everything?" questioned Hana.
"It was Sōhei's idea," replied Yuki. "He thought that it'd probably be too traumatizing to know while she's this young, especially if she'll never be able to become a wolf."
Hana paused for a few seconds, then replied, "Your father has told me in a dream that his wolf ability always continues to be passed down through generations; it just varies from each child when they first discover it."
Yuki scowled, "I wish you'd stop mentioning those dreams; I just don't believe that it's really dad's spirit you're seeing."
"Why are you upset?" asked Hana. "Everything he's told me has not only been reassuring but truthful."
"Well, if that's the case, then why hasn't he visited me, or Ame for that matter?" Yuki angrily said back. "I'll tell you why: because we never got to know him. Dreams aren't some interdimensional plane of reality where you visit the deceased; they're your subconscious pooling together to create visions in your head. Father died when I wasn't even a year old, and Ame was just born; we have no actual memories of him, unlike you."
Hana remained silent for a while, then replied. "If that's really the case, I don't think I would've ever known that I needed to let Ame go when he was ready."
"Well, keep believing what you want to believe." Yuki stated.
After that conversation, Yuki went to check on Izumi to see if she was doing alright with her playing. Hana then prepared lunch for the two of them, and after that, they prepared to head out.
"I just have one more question." Hana said to Yuki as she was at the door. "If she ends up being so, will you know how to tell her?"
Yuki paused, then spoke, "I'll at least give it some thought." She then left with Izumi to meet back with Sōhei so that they could drive back home.
##
A year passed since Yuki had the conversation with her mother concerning Izumi, who still hadn't been able to become a wolf yet. During this time, Ame was still providing for the family with what he hunted. However, he wasn't having any real conversation with any of them. As confusing as this was for his family as to why he was being this reclusive, it was even more confusing for himself. He would constantly ask himself why he was acting like this. He still loved his sister, accepted Sōhei as his brother-in-law, and was proud of them for starting their own family. Yet it seemed that the whole idea of them together seemed to keep him away. One day, early in spring, he sat alone in his den in hybrid form, mainly so he could easily keep his wolf senses on standby while also having his human hands to add more drawings on the rock wall by his sleeping area. He had recently added ones that showed his family with their new addition, yet he felt that there was something missing. Just then, he heard sounds of animal distress. Whether it was threats from hunters or not, he had no choice but to investigate as his duty. He quickly changed back into a full-on wolf and followed his ears to where he heard it. When he came to where the sound was coming from, he detected no sign of humans around; what he did see was a large bear severely injuring a fox. Ame's role as guardian of the mountain meant not just protecting wildlife from human hunters but also to make sure the other animals don't unnecessarily harm each other, and seeing a fox get injured angered him immensely, as that was the species of his late sensei. Without hesitation, he snarled and lunged at the bear, attacking it well enough to only make it want to retreat. Eventually, the bear did that, and Ame hoped it would learn from now on who the apex predator is. He went to check on the fox that was attacked, but it was too late, as it had succumbed to its injuries. Right after, he heard mournful cries from nearby, and when he went to go check on that, he found a single fox kit. Piecing it together, he realized that this kit must've been orphaned from the attack, being the only survivor of its litter. Ame felt pity and tried talking to the kit to calm it down. The kit was able to understand the wolf's language and soon found trust in him enough to come up to him. Ame provided it with comfort and was later able to have it come back with him to his den.
When they reached the den by dusk, Ame helped nurture the kit back to a fully calm state. He realized that the orphaned kit, which he soon noticed to be female, would still need parents to look after her. Thinking about how he was trained by a fox that was like a father to him, he thought it would be best if he would do the same and raise this one as his own. As the kit was feeding on some scraps, Ame resumed work on the drawings. While he was doing that, the kit suddenly noticed him turn into a human and was startled. Ame was able to talk back to her while still in human form, shifting his face to a wolf one to prove that it was still him. The kit calmed down and approached him, and through scent alone she was able to tell that it was indeed still him. She then curled up next to Ame now that she knew she was still safe, and Ame gently petted her while reassuring her everything was going to be okay. He then continued his drawings and added this current moment to the wall. Somehow, he knew that what was missing before was now there.
##
Later that night, back on the farm, Yuki and Sōhei had just gotten Izumi ready for bedtime by preparing her a bath and dressing her in her nightgown. After a short moment of family bonding, they put her to bed for the night. A couple hours later, after finishing up some tasks, the two of them started to do the same with themselves. Lying in bed, both were trying to relax a bit with some reading. They also had a chat about what was currently going on involving the people in their lives and how it was affecting them. Not long after, while they were still awake, they heard a cry come from the other bedroom.
"MOMMY! DADDY!" Izumi called out.
They both jumped out of bed and quietly talked about what was wrong.
"Do you think it's something severe?" Yuki asked Sōhei.
"No, I think it might have finally happened!" Sōhei whispered back.
"Y-you don't mean..." Yuki nervously replied.
"Yes, dear," Sōhei assured her. "I think you should talk to her alone."
Yuki nervously looked down. "I don't know what to say; I wasn't prepared."
Sōhei placed his hand on her shoulder. "You've got this; you know right from your heart."
Yuki paused for a few seconds and then made the decision to move forward, realizing that her daughter needed her. She approached her bedroom door, cracked it open, and looked inside.
"Izi, is everything alright?" She asked her daughter.
As she looked in, she could see the silhouette of her daughter on her bed acting rather scared at something. As Yuki went further in, she was able to clearly see that it really had happened: her daughter had partially turned into a wolf with pointed ears on top, a canine nose, and paws instead of hands and feet.
"Mommy, what's wrong with me?" Izumi tearfully asked her.
Yuki took a deep breath and began to calmly explain, "Izi, don't be scared; we knew that this might happen to you. You are part wolf and are able to turn into one."
"A wolf?" Izumi replied back, still crying in confusion, "Why am I a wolf?"
Yuki, still taking deep breaths, continued to explain the truth: "Because Izi, I am also part wolf; you shouldn't have to be afraid of me."
"What about Daddy?" Izumi asked.
"No, he's only human," Yuki answered, "but he knows what I am and loves me for that, just like your grandma Hana loved your grandfather; he was part wolf as well. The only wolves in our family are you, me, and your uncle Ame."
Izumi continued to cry, still trying to cope with this new truth that was hard to believe.
"Let me show you what I look like as a wolf," Yuki told her daughter.
Izumi recoiled in shock as she saw her own mother suddenly change shape and become a four-legged wolf with a tan coat and brunette mane that matched her hair that was still on her head.
"See, it's still me." Yuki gently spoke while smiling.
As she heard her mother's voice come out of the wolf she just saw, Izumi suddenly began to calm down and not produce any tears. She realized that she really didn't have anything to be scared of if her mother could be this beautiful a wolf.
"So I can be both human and a wolf?" She asked her mother.
"Yes, Izi," Yuki reassured her. "We can talk about this more in the morning; right now, I think it's better that we all get some sleep."
Yuki was then about to head back out of the bedroom, but before she could make a move, Izumi called out to her, "Can you please sleep with me tonight?"
Yuki knew from that request that her daughter still needed more comfort from the whole situation. "Okay, just for you."
She then jumped onto her daughter's bed and curled around her. Izumi started to feel even more calm as she felt how soft and warm her mother's fur was. She embraced her mother while lying down, starting to gently fall back to sleep.
"I love you, my precious pup," Yuki adoringly said while nuzzling her daughter.
Sōhei, who had been listening to the conversation behind the closed door, quietly opened the door a few minutes after it fell silent and stepped in to get a closer look. When he saw the sight of his wife in wolf form comfortably sleeping with their partially transformed daughter, he couldn't help but smile at how everything went better than expected. He then placed a blanket over to the two of them before heading back to his own bed, wishing them sweet dreams.