Fruits Basket: Give me wings

Epilogue II- Baby

Hi! Sorry for the long gap between epilogues, but  schoolwork calls... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Another minisode to induce that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you read something like this. ^_^

Akito

The baby plodded three awkward steps, before tumbling inevitably into Tsuneo's waiting arms, knocking over a towering pile of books in the process. They scattered on the floor, past the expaserated figures of its parents

It gurgled gleefully and proceeded to pull on Tsuneo's hair, now grown in a tangle past his ears once again.

"Haruhi," Tsuneo said weakly, "Could'nt we have found a better place for this? My study is going to look like the test site for a nuclear bomb quite soon."

Haruhi laughed and scooped up her child. "She's just learning how to walk! And besides, we can clear this stuff up later, so what's the problem?"

He gave a doubtful sigh. "I don't know about that..." The baby grinned up at him. He swallowed. That expression could melt anyone's resolve. "Fine. Forget that I said anything."

"Akito!" Haruhi cooed. The baby giggled in recognition of her name. "Our Akito." She ran her hand over Akito's ebony wisps of hair and smiled. "You were named after our former superior, our relative... You were named for the head of the Sohma family. The old Akito might have been a bit of a jerk- okay- a huge jerk, but you could be, like, the good reincarnation of her or something. Well, she was good anyway..."

Tsuneo added on, "But maybe, in our child, we could see what it is like when an Akito, or any child, grows up unhindered, with no burdens."

"Pure."

He lifted Akito from Haruhi's arms and held her to his chest, breathing in her warmth. "You were born into greatness, Akito."

A knock on the door interrupted their family moment. 

Haruhi raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"

A servant entered the room, smiling widely.

"Hi, Taki. What is it?" Haruhi asked.

"You have a few guests, Mistress Haruhi."

"Oh, who?"

"Ah, a Mistress Sora, Master Benjirou, Master Haku and Mistress Sayuri."

"Great! Let them in and take them in here, please."

"Of course. Consider it done."

Taki backed out of the room and hurried down the hall, keen to let the guests in.

Haruhi turned to Tsuneo and sighed. He understood. He took her hand, holding Akito in the other arm, and gave a low chuckle. 

"I don't think we'll ever get used to this," he said. "Having servants and being called Mistress and Master Sohma. It still feels strange."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. You know what some would say? That nothing's changed. We're still all together, there's still the main house and the head of the family.."

He nodded and looked out the window, through which the sunlight radiated. The breeze outside rustled through the trees in the garden, and he closed his eyes. "No. Things are different now. Time  is moving forward."

"Maybe. There's no more curse, for one, I suppose."

"The Sohmas have returned to civilisation, too. We can go 'outside'. If anyone desired to leave the estate, of course they could, but nobody has expressed any desire to do so. That's does not mean nothing has changed- all it means is that we are bonded together by something human. Love."

"You're starting to sound gooey!" she laughed. "...But I suppose... You're totally right, Tsuneo. Thanks for that... I needed to talk about that... Now- our guests should be in here any second..."

As if on cue, the door slid open and four familiar faces appeared.

Ben burst in, a cheesey grin painted on his face. "Haruhi! It's been so long."

Sora giggled. "It's nice to see you after such a long time. We've all been so busy that there's not been enough time to visit."

Haku gave a half-smile. "Duty calls," he said with a lazy mock salute. He glanced sideways at Sayuri, who rubbed her hand in a circle around her swelled belly. "It hasn't exactly been- er- plain sailing... Women can be so odd when they are due to have a baby."

Tsuneo gave Sayuri an apologetic smile and turned to Haku. His face grew a little distant as if he were remembering something traumatic. "Haruhi was... well..." He swallowed.

Haruhi stifled a giggle and patted Tsuneo's shoulder. "I was a bit of a handful, to say the least," she enlightened them.

Ben turned the subject. "So, how's little Akito doing?"

"Great!" Haruhi replied. "We're trying to teach her how to walk, seeing as though it's been nearly a year, already."

Sora smiled gently at their baby. "She has really dark hair and eyes. Just like her."

"Do you think she's going to grow up right? With heritage like hers? Are you going to tell her about the curse and everything?" Haku asked.

Tsuneo nodded slightly. His tone dropped as he stroked Akito's hair. "When she's ready for it. Growing up in our family, she'll need her purity, and we don't want that polluted by the knowledge of our family matters too early on."

"But yeah, she'll grow up just fine. Despite all the trauma we've had, growing up with the curse, dealing with the old Akito's mess, all the torture and isolation... It probably taught us how to treat someone properly." She glanced at Tsuneo. "Maybe he's too protective of her... Maybe I'm too attached to her... But we know never to treat her wrongly."

Sora grinned. "That's how it's done, Haruhi!"

Thanks for reading!