Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Fruits Basket. They belong to Takaya Natsuki. Mikage Tamae is my own creation.

A/N: Finally! It's done. This ending has taken me YEARS to flesh out and while I'm still not entirely happy with it, I'm happy to have finished this story. Originally, I intended to write a whole 'Learning' series but unfortunately was never able to come up with more than these two story lines. To everyone who has followed 'LtoF', thank you for staying with me to the end (and especially for your patience!). For everyone who has enjoyed or will enjoy this little tale, thank you for spending some of your time with Tamae.

Chapter 28

The house was silent.

So much time has passed, Tamae thought. She stood at the edge of the cleared property, looking at the neat little home nestled among the trees. Four years. Three years. Three years of separation and wondering, of intense study in an effort to make the time go faster. Three years of no communication. Yet the house looked the same. She looked down at her shaking hands, remembering the last letter she had received from Rin. It had had only two lines, hastily written in her careless writing: It's all over. You can come home now.

The sudden, sharp flash of hope had sent her hastening to purchase airline tickets and pack her bags. Did Rin mean what Tamae assumed from her cryptic message? She had felt time slow to a crawl as she waited impatiently for the chance to see her friend again and rejoice in her happiness. Even the long, boring flight was nothing but an inconvenience to her.

She hadn't told Rin she was coming. Instead, she had kept her return a secret—just in case she was wrong. Instead of dashing to the Souma estate, she had visited her parents. She had visited her university professors. She had visited everyone she could think of to visit, all in an attempt to forestall her inevitable return to this quiet little house. Now, having travelled over a whole continent, she found her knees quaking at the idea of walking across a few meters.

So she stood there, filling her eyes with the quiet scene. Did she dare hope that there would be some spark in it left for her? Firmly, she corralled her wayward fears and took that first quivering step, then another. Another.

Was time normally so flexible? Each step felt like an hour. Finally, she found herself at the door. With a shaking hand, she knocked on the edge of the frame.

No response.

Perhaps her knock hadn't been loud enough? Feeling the effort as great as lifting a boulder, she raised her hand and knocked again. Her shoulders hunched under her coat.

"Hai, hai." His voice sounded from deep within the house. "Who could it be? Ha-san coming to visit me in my loneliness?"

She almost ran away. Almost. The desire to flee was nearly as strong as the uncertainty that kept her feet rooted to the ground. She stood before that door, her face pale with dread, her body wilting inside her coat and shaking like a leaf.

"Perhaps it's my little flower and her Kyon-Kyon?" his voice drawled lazily as it traveled steadily closer. "Or maybe it's Yuki-kun and his charming Ma-chan? I do so love spring cleaning in fall!" She listened, stunned at the implications in his words.

"Is that you playing coy, Aya—" he slid open the door and stopped. His eyes widened. His genial expression slid from his face. That face was thinner, with some smile lines around his mouth now. Weariness weighed heavily on him. His hair was still that careless mop that looked as though he had simply run his hands through it after a night's sleep. She filled her eyes with his face, realizing a hunger that she had deliberately ignored for the last three years. And still she shook.

"Tamae." She closed her eyes. He had never shown such familiarity with her and yet it felt so appropriate, as though his voice should always be so close. She didn't see him reach his hand out. Her eyes startled open as his hand softly stroked down her face. His eyes were still wide, his expression inscrutable. Was he upset? Happy? Confused?

"Konnichiwa, Shigure-san." Still so formal, in spite of his familiarity. It just didn't feel right to call him by his name only. "Um, I had a break from school and—"

His thumb traced over her lips, stroked her cheek. Her trembling intensified. He continued to stare at her.

"That's not right. Isuzu told me to come back. She wrote me a letter. Um, so I came back." Oh, what was he going to think? "On the first plane I could get. I had to visit my parents first, though. I'm almost finished with my studies, did you know that? I thought I would never be finished with it. And, um, I have some new ideas for some books I'd like to write. Is Mii-chan still your editor? I thought I'd take the opportunity to shop them to her. I, um…" her babbling trailed off as he continued to stand and stare and touch. Finally, amidst all that uncertainty and fear, a bolt of irritation snapped through her. "Say something, would you?"

That seemed to break him out of his trance. He grabbed her arms and pulled her closer. His face tilted towards her. "What would you have me say? That I have been pining away here in my forest retreat for your return?" his voice was light, teasing. "Would you like me to regale you with stories of my sleepless nights spent worrying for you or about how every cute little college girl reminds me of you?"

She stiffened. Her face flushed with ire. "What about me? Do I tell you about how I crammed five years of doctorate studies into three so I wouldn't think about you?" she snapped. She put her hands on his arms and shoved against him. Her hazel eyes flashed acid green and he smiled. Even as she shoved with all her might, he kissed the angry words from her mouth. He kissed her until her grip slackened and her body had completely stopped shaking. When he broke the kiss, he turned one of her hands over and inspected the crescent-marked palm, stroking and kissing each deep groove.

"You should know by now that I never kiss and tell," he said, all levity leached from his tone. She felt that, in some way, she was seeing him for the first time. "Three years is too long to wait. There are probably some details that I've forgotten."

"Such as…?" she asked, eyes never leaving his face. She imagined this was how a person felt after days without water and finding an oasis. She drank in every inch of his face, every line and detail, every sensation.

"Well, hm… Rin and Haru are married now. I'm sure Rin told you? Haru had bought the ring a full three months before he asked her. Then he got lost taking her to his 'perfect location'."

"That sounds like him."

"Ha-san is on his honeymoon. My flower has had a baby—a little girl. She has orange hair like Kyo."

"I'm happy for her. I'm sure she's a wonderful mother."

"Hm."

"May I ask how Akito-san was convinced to release Kyo?"

"Ah, yes. I had nearly forgotten." His hands suddenly tightened on her again. "Let's see… how did it happen? I believe it had something to do with this sort of thing."

Tamae found herself hauled up against Shigure's chest. She blinked a moment, then began to push against him in a near-panic, not registering his arms wrapping around her. She froze as realization dawned and stared up at his smug expression. Then she smiled and laughed, throwing her arms around him. The two stood in the doorway for some time, savoring a feeling neither had experienced with the other. Finally, she spoke: "Do I still have a place here?"

He pulled her across the threshold and smiled. "I believe your teacup is around here somewhere."

FIN