Chapter 3: Daisuke and Chika

It has been twenty-six years, and Daisuke and Chika are expecting their first child.

They have taken the advise of their parents on both sides and are furiously in pursuit of names BEFORE the child is born.

There had been no little upset in the household after Daisuke and Chika had announced their engagement, let me tell you. Neither the Cat nor the Rat was terribly pleased about their progeny becoming attached to one another. But one thing leads to another, and after pleading and cajoling, various threats and promises, the families were at last united. Tohru was secretly pleased, even if her husband and best friend (Yuki) weren't happy about it.

Daisuke and Chika have been married for two years now. They are very, very happy. Daisuke is serious, gentle and somewhat stubborn. Chika is loud, cheerful, and bouncy. Together, their personalities mesh, rather than clash. People are happy around them, let's put it that way.

It is a month before the expected time, and they have narrowed down their choices. If it's a boy, they will name him Hiroshi. If it's a girl...

It is a girl. And her name is Kyouko. Five years later, Tohru has already told her granddaughter stories of the gracious lady she was named after, and the little girl talks about her great-grandmother as though she is still alive. Kyouko is watching, smiling from heaven, Katsuya at her side. Her daughter is happy. Her daughter's children are happy. And her namesake is the very image of sweetness, happiness, and over-all love. She is a mirror of all that is loveable.

There is singing in the house. Chika loves to sing, and Daisuke loves to listen, as he did to his mother many years ago. Chika learned the guitar in high school, and her family loves to hear the sound of music in the house.

The sounds of the nearby ocean mingle with the singing. It is even happier than usual, because today Obaa-chan and Ojii-chan are visiting.

Kyouko has been waiting to see them anxiously for the last month and a half. They visit often, but not often enough! She carries the little gift they gave her the last time they visited as she searches the house over for them. Not finding them, she seeks her mother in the kitchen, still clutching the toy cat.

"Mama...? Mama!" She comes around the corner, her adorable pigtails and tiny sailor-outfit framing her adorable face.

Her mother turns around from where she is frosting a cake and decorating it with little gum-drops. She wipes her hands on her apron as she faces her daughter.

"Where are Tohru-kun and Kyou-kun?" Kyouko asks.

"He—y, call them Obaa-chan and Ojii-chan, okay?" Chika responds.

"Eh?" Kyouko puts down the little cat next to the gift her maternal set of grandparents gave her. The little stuffed mouse and cat lie there together, for once at peace with each other. "Tohru-kun said I was allowed to 'call them by name,'" she says with a tiny, cute pout.

A quiet opening and closing of the fusuma behind them, and mother and daughter turn as Daisuke enters, in his usual quiet manner.

"If it's Ojii-chan and Obaa-chan," he says, "They'll be out walking."

"Awww..." says Kyouko. She has not missed the tenderness present in her grandparent's every glance to each other. Every word is said with love; every time they touch each other, there is supreme happiness, just at being together with each other.

Chika murmurs, "They're growing older," with a glance at her husband. Daisuke smiles and puts a hand gently on Kyouko's head. "Don't disturb their love-love time together," he tells her softly.

She grins, turns around in a happy circle. "Love-love, love-love, how lovely--" she chirps happily as her father embraces her.

Kyouko wriggles out of her father's arms a minute later and trots out of the house. Peeking from behind a sunflower, much taller than herself, she spots her grandparents walking together. As always, they are holding hands, looking at each other with shining eyes. Kyou is dressed in a yukata, as usual. He bends over and picks a flower for his wife. She smiles as she accepts it and kisses him gently.

They have been through storms together; they have weathered the clouds, enjoyed the sun, and above all, tried to make their loved ones happy.

Yes, they are always together. And their family is indeed happy.