Author's Notes:

Happy New Year to all!! As part of my new year's goals, I now present the final part of Make a Wish. (I know it's been due for a long time now, sorry)

I finish this story after starting it back in 2003, and it accounts as my first Fruits Basket fiction work. The second one being a one-shot, as some of you know., since it's posted in fanfiction-dot-net too.

I close my work in the Furuba fandom with this Epilogue, and I feel very happy and grateful for the opportunity to write and entertain you dear readers. Furuba has been a great experience, and Yuki will forever be one of my favorite characters in the manga/anime series.

Well, then, lets go (bows)

Epilogue: Recalled to Life

(the end of a story in five short scenes)

Kyo felt cheated, somehow. He tried to not feel that way, but....

But all the Sohma knew -better than most people- how life wasn't a game ruled by fairness.

One had to fight his own way through it. Create rules of his own, bend the ones already set, be daring and be stubborn....

'But to be such a royal idiotic mouse! Really! The arrogant, self centered nezumi!' -Kyo seethed in silence, as he sat by himself on the quiet living room.

The Sohma House, the Main Compound, was silent and calm and it felt.....relieved, as if it really was a living being, able to breathe free for the first time in ages. This house full of lies and secrets.....had finally been disclosed, aired and freed from the ghost of cruel past Gods.

'It's only been a couple of months....but damn it, it feels so different in here' -Kyo mused, as he huffed and stood up, pacing around the mostly empty rooms and halls. After all, he wasn't banned from this house anymore. Not since the death of Sohma Akito, which brought an end to the sad masquerade Yuki, Hatori, Haru and the same Kyo had played back when.....

Tap tap tap

Tap tap tap

At the sound of steps getting closer, Kyo turned his red gaze to his right.

"Ne, Kyonkichi-kun, won't you come in this time?" -Ayame called as he approached, in his usual whirl of fine vivid clothes, laces and exuberance.

The smile playing on the hebi's lips was not as obnoxious as his old ones, but his eyes had a green sparkle of something cheesy and fluffy that Kyo feared could translate into hugs and crazy antics with a simple snap of the fingers.

Ayame was really a scary being. Undeniable fact of life.

"Do not call me—argh" -Kyo grunted, his hand going up to mess his own fiery hair in his usual gesture of annoyance- "No, I'm fine right here"

"Really? Really? Reaaaally?" -Ayame leaned into him, his voice starting to acquire a mischievous quality- "But I bet my pretty brother could use your friendly company. Honestly, Kyonkichi-kun, both of you need to reacquaint as soon as possible! Yuki has been through so much! He needs you more than ever! Almost as much as he needs me! Like air to survive! You are his hero, his knight in white armor! Another week goes by and he painfully waits for the moment to see you again and-"

"Shut up! Stupid snake! The hell your're saying! Who would want to see him, anyway? Waste of my time" -Kyo huffed indignantly, folding his arms over his chest and stomping away to the corner of the hall they were occupying.

"But-but Kyonkichi-kun! It's been so long now, and everyone knows it, anyway! You visit so regularly and yet have not spoken to him! You have no idea how Fate works, indeed! Do not let another opportunity go by, as the departure date approaches, I fear that--"

"I bring Tohru, you know that! Everyone knows that! Now go away and stop pestering me! Damn it!" -Kyo seethed some more, as he started for his left, trying to orient himself in the myriad of hallways and find a way towards an exit.

Any exit to take him into the main garden and away from brother-complex Ayame would be okay.

Ayame watched him stomp away, enjoying the chance he got to nurture his own playful nature every time he bumped into Kyo, one of his most favorite victims. These last months had been tiring, indeed.

But things had changed, and he was getting back in track now. It was a thought that filled Ayame with hope, and which injected a little sway into his steps as he continued his way around the Main house.

Kyo doubled around a corner, but slowed his steps, as he listened to Ayame walking further north into the halls.

Why should he go and visit the still bed-ridden mouse, anyway? The others visited the freaking prince often enough.

But....but....even with those visits.....

Kyo felt cheated, somehow. It wasn't like Yuki remembered anything from the last half year, anyway.

Yuki's lavender eyes always had that look of masked skeptism and suppresed wonder when the others tried to explain small bits of the missing memories to him.

Sometimes, Kyo stood on the threshold of the clinic room, watching the scene from afar. Hatori was always present during those visits, making sure Yuki's condition wasn't worsened or altered by negative memories.

It was all so......disgusting.

Kyo hated it. The fact that the freaking Yuki could not remember doing everything he did. That the freaking Yuki could not believe that they were free of Akito during the first days of his awakening. That the freaking Yuki could not remember facing all his fears in one hell of a bet.

That he could not remember being truthful to Kyo for once in his freaking mouse life.

Kyo could not stand to watch those visits anymore. Not when he saw how the mask of the calm and collected perfect high school prince was setting back on in Yuki's eyes, again.

o-o-o-o-o

Hatori allowed himself the weakness to sigh and lean back on his clinic's chair, tension leaving him faster and easier than usual.

As of late, Hatori had allowed himself several weaknesses, to say the truth.

He was delagating more job on his assistants, and taking a bit more time to meet with the rest of the family.

And he took a long time to sit with Yuki and simply keep him company, too.

He had no ominous shadow behind his every step and breath, now. His responsibilities as personal guard and mentor of an irate and twisted Master were gone.

Sometimes, he felt bad about it. How the family was so calm and grateful and happy to have Akito gone. It was not like Akito had asked to be born the Juunishi God. He had not asked for the cards life had dealt him.

But no one asked for the life that they got, and still, it was everyone's free choice what to do with the set of cards given.

Sadly, Akito had lived his life in misery and mistakes by his own choice. It was time he had some rest, too. Maybe his sould could be cleansed and restored through long years of calm and different lives.

On his part, Hatori prefered to focus his attention on the living. He had the young ones to look after. Momiji, Kagura, Ritsu....

He also had a pair of stupid friends to keep in line. Shigure and Ayame had proven to be his life mission (or torture) after all.

And Yuki........the young Sohma had always been something of a loose cannon, even if he pretended to be one of the most mature of the lot. What to do, indeed?

He wanted to keep him longer under observation, but his wounds had healed by now. And Ayame was adamant that Yuki needed a change of location, something to give him a fresh start.

And after three months of care and conversations and reassurance, the teen seemed as balanced as he could hope to be, for someone who had survived imprisionment, attempted murder and finally, partial memory loss.

Hatori would have expected more of a breakdown from the nezumi...but things were turning out so strangely peaceful....

A small smile crossed his face. Surely he was becoming softer with time!

Were his abilities weakening too? Or his heart wasn't in it anymore?

Yes, back then.....probably his heart and resolve hadn't been firm enough...

Hatori hoped it turned out for the best.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Hatsuharu said his good-byes, as he stepped out of Shigure's house.

It had been a short visit in the afternoon, just to settle the last arrangements, just to calm down the ever-protective dog, who had mastered the art of caring for the younger cousins while feigning he was a careless idiotic writer.

Typical of the Sohma family.

Haru eyed his bicycle, as he put on the leather gloves he so much favored.

'I wonder if Ayame wou-' -the teen mentally corrected himself, at the memory of the snake's pleas for a 'cuter' name -' if Ayame-nii would finally let me have the bike I want. I can afford it, anyway. I'll be 17 in a couple of weeks....'

Haru made his way into the streets, resisting the urge to smile at the mental image of the conversation he would hold with Yuki, trying to convince him to go for a ride with him in his flashy new bike.

Surely his cousin would refuse and decline and adamantly say no to the idea.

Haru would argue that he knew how to ride bikes, and that it would be a pretty educational activity, and anyway nobody knew them yet, not in the new city they were about to move to.

The day after tomorrow, Ayame, Yuki and Haru would move together to the new house they would share. Their things were ready, the house was ready, Rin and Kagura would go with them, since their apartments near their respective Universities were close by.

Poor Yuki was still muttering about the injustice to have to move in with his eccentric brother. Besides, it was his last year of high shcool....to change schools was a pretty hard thing to do, for someone like him who had been so popular.

Anyway, Haru was sure that the change would be good in the end. Yuki didn't need to go through the torture of being bombarded day after day with questions from his Fan Club, asking about his whereabouts and life for the past months.

Yuki knew small tibdits of what had happened,but he could not remember, after all.

And Haru secretely thought that keeping Yuki in the same house as Kyo and Tohru was just too awkward too. The cat kept giving Yuki these annoyed glances, Tohru kept breaking into happy tears every ten minutes around the mouse, and Yuki could only blink at them and try to be as nice and gentle as always, trying to convince everyone that he was fine and that it wasn't necessary to fuss over him so much.

As far as Haru could foresee, the only negative point in all this, was precisely putting up with all the oddities that came together with Ayame-nii.

The older cousin was already talking about offering them a part-time job as the teen models of his clothes and crafts shop, Ayame Mise.

The first time Ayame had made the suggestion, Yuki had turned cold murderous eyes at the snake, pointing out that Ayame Mise products were mostly weird girl costumes.

Ayame's green eyes had sparkled as he explained how his products were romantic designs made out of the highest quality fabric, meant to enhance and enchant the senses. But if his cute brother refused to wear such divine creations, Ayame could well branch out and start creating an only-male line of clothes too. Complete with prince-like styles, and lace in blue shades, and heroic details like gloves and cravats and dark sexy leather....

The subsequent exchange of annoyed words from Yuki and sex innuendo from Ayame had turned into an entertainning discussion of large proportions, where Haru, Hatori, Shigure, Tohru and even the current house cook had been mentioned and involved.

The memory finally managed to bring a smile to Haru's usual calm demeanor.

Their future did look interesting enough.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The cold wind of the night was almost a comfort to Kyo. He was pretty used to it, anyway.

He sat in his usual spot on the roof of Shigure's....of their house, lazing around after one crappy boring day.

Tohru had retired to her room early, right after dinner.

But Kyo was not worried, since the girl seemed calm enough. Tohru had done a bit of crying that afternoon, saying her good-byes to Yuki and Haru in the Main House.

But it wasn't as if they were going to live in England or something. If Kyo was not mistaken, a simple three-hours long train ride could take them to the city where the mouse and the cow would be living since tomorrow.

Tohru could visit them whenever she wanted. And there was the phone too.

Surely Shigure and Hatori would also insist in paying visits every two months or so, just to make sure that crazy snake hadn't turned the other two into some sort of doubtful-gender models.

Not that the damn mouse needed any help in that department. The ugliest dress could do the trick with him, Kyo thought, and snickered as he remembered the school festival where Yuki had been stuck in a pink monstrousity for the better part of the day.

Kyo sobbered after a moment. As much as it disgusted him, he had to accept the fact that all of them had spent as much good moments as bad ones together. With that mouse and the cow....the rabbit and even their classmates.....

Kyo would have preferred if things didn't end up quite like this. Not everyone splitting up without.....without.....

"The hell I care, anyway" -Kyo huffed, throwing his hands up in the air and plopping down onto the roof, his eyes closed.

A sudden voice rang in the quiet of the night air.

"That seems to be a typical line for you"

Kyo sat up hastily, eyes first wide in surprise and then narrowed in suspicion.

He didn't expect the damn mouse to suddenly appear climbing up onto his damn roof, of all things.

Power of the thoughts and callings with the mind be damned.

"What are you doing here?" -he barked out, for some reason his appearance turning hostile.

"What, now you have ownership over the rooftop or something, cat? One would think you would invest in something a little bit more normal"

Kyo gritted his teeth. The ever arrogant mouse back into scene.

"I meant, what are you doing here this late at night, baka nezumi"

Yuki blinked at him, perfectly unruffled.

"It's not even eight, you know"

"I know that!" -Kyo bit back, although he hadn't, since he had lost track of the time a while ago- "I meant....anyway, what the hell are you doing here? You done packing and all the stuff? Don't you have to take your meds or something?"

Yuki's eyes almost narrowed at him, Kyo could see the intention to glare....but the mouse chose to ignore the comment and instead take a few steps towards the edge, chancing a glance downwards.

"Just wanted to stop by and get some papers from Shigure. I thought that I also could-"

"Tohru went to bed early. And you had your cheesy meeting this afternoon anyway. Stop trying to make everyone tell you they are going to miss you and all that crap. It's not like it's true anyway. Unfortunately for some of us, you're still going to be living in the same planet"

Suprisingly, Yuki gave one of his silent chuckles at the harsh words.

"What's so funny??!!" -Kyo bristled, coming to his feet and pointing an accusing finger at his amused cousin.

"Nothing" -Yuki shrugged amicably- "One could almost believe you mean what you say, baka neko"

"What! Damn nezumi, you're saying I'm lying? 'Cause I am not! The sooner you get outta here, the better!"

"Sure, whatever you say, cat" -Yuki nodded, giving Kyo a condescending look, as if the cat was a child throwing a tantrum.

Kyo had to suppres the urge to throw a punch to Yuki, as the nezumi carefully made his way back to the ladder.

The gray-haired Sohma stopped for a minute, before climbing down. He had a pensive look around him, as if trying to make a decision....

Kyo stood beside the ladder, looking down at him.

The other teen looked as quiet as usual, ever the mature one, ever the graceful stupid mouse. He didn't look very similar to the distraught Yuki of months before, the one crying in silence, silver hair hiding moist eyes.

Kyo tried not frown at the memory, tried not to show his concern at the rather shocking and painful memory.

But maybe he did not manage to conceal everything, because the moment Yuki looked up at him, the mouse blinked twice, lavender eyes reading his expression.

The paler teen seemed to make his decision then.

"I actually wanted to tell you something before leaving, Kyo"

The red-haired teen folded his arms across his chest, looking skeptical.

"Ah? What?"

Yuki seemed pretty serious about it. Maybe a bit hesitant too.

"Thank you for those five minutes, back then. I doubt you'll ever want to, but if something happens, and you also need some five minutes of your own, I'll make sure to be around, okay?"

......

Yuki turned his eyes to the ladder, and continued to step down, but was halted by a sudden fierce grip on his wrist, right above the hand that was holding onto the wood of the ladder.

Kyo was crouched low, looking at him with wide red eyes.

"......"

Yuki looked back with neutral eyes.

Kyo stuttered for a minute, but he didn't let go. He was remembering....

Back then, when Yuki was prisioner in the Main House, right after recieving a harsh beating from Akito, Kyo had come to his room.

It had been very awkward and difficult for the cat, but in his own harsh way, he had tried to offer some comfort to the mouse. He had offered five minutes of free conversation, or companiable silence, heck he had even offered a hug to the damn Yuki! Anything to wipe that haunted look from the eyes of his cousin.

Yuki had refused, although he had shared some odd and painful comments regarding the past memories of his mother and his childhood locked in a dark room. Kyo supposed he had been of some help, but afterwards he hadn't say anything....he almost had forgotten about it.....

And Yuki remembered it?

"How come....you....?" -Kyo murmured, eyes not so wide anymore, but still tinted a shade more crimson due to his confusion.

Yuki managed a half shrug.

Kyo clenched his teeth, as his grip grew stronger still.

"This is the second freaking time, you freaking damn mouse! You're too damn good at lying, bastard! How do you do it?! How can you remember?! Lying bastard!"

Yuki smiled at the insult.

"I'm not sure myself, so don't fret. Things are fuzzy, and I'd rather get my act together before I tell the others" - he tugged at his trapped wrist, looking down again- "The driver's waiting, so..."

"Wait! You just gonna tell me that and go, like that? No freaking explanation? Nothing!?"

Yuki looked back at him.

"Who knows? I think Hatori was too perturbed to really mean it back then. Or maybe I've gone too many times through memory alteration to be significant by now. I haven't asked him about it yet. I haven't told anyone anything yet. I've tried not to let on about it..."

"And you just told me now because....?"

Yuki's lips quirked in a smirk.

"I actually didn't think you would be able to understand the comment"

Kyo growled, more dog-like than cat-like.

"I could push you down the stairs, you know" -he said through his clenched lips.

Yuki's smirk turned more into a smile.

"That would render all your previous efforts null, wouldn't it?"

Through a fog, Yuki remembered it. Not the first days, though. The first days after waking up in the clinic, his mind had been in a frightening blank state. But just a couple of days later, he started recalling memories, slowly and silently remembering.

He felt relieved, then, because it may had been a good thing not to remember everything at once. The fuzzy quality of his memories allowed him to recover with a calmer stated of mind.

But still, there were things he did remember well. Like Kyo's actions and words, the threats he yelled to Akito, his willingness to release the mononoke form, just to get the detested cat to safety. And distantly...an almost hesitant hug.

Wonder of wonders, now Yuki felt gratitude towards his cousin, even if he was doing a good job at hiding it.

On his part, Kyo pretended not to understand the last comment. He would be damned if he had to own up the fact that he had actually acted like a freaking hero to the freaking mouse.

He didn't mean it like that anyway! He was not going soft, damn it!

"I....just felt you had the right to know, baka neko" -Yuki said after a couple of seconds, poignant as usual.

Kyo snorted, finally releasing his cousin's arm.

"Stupid mouse and your stupid reasoning" -he said, giving a smirk of his own- "You really should stop lying so much"

"I'll keep it in mind" -the mouse replied, not looking at him anymore, watching where his feet were going while climbing down and reaching the window of the second floor.

"Oi! I mean it, stupid mouse" -Kyo called, watching the other disappearing through the window.

"Sure, baka neko" -came the amused voice- "See you around"

"Oi!" -Kyo called again- "Don't go saying stupid mushy things to me, okay! Five minutes my foot! The hell you think, we're not friends or anything!"

A soft chuckle rang as steps moved further into the house.

"Who would want to be friends with an idiot cat, anyway?" -the amused voice was more and more distant.

"I heard that!" -Kyo yelled.

Up on the roof, the cat shook his head in dry amusement. What a bunch of weird things.

He looked up at the night sky, expecting something equally silly and surprising to happen -again. Some sort of freaking shooting star or that crap.

But the night was quiet, dark and moonless. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

And Kyo nodded to himself. That was how things were supposed to be. One was supposed to work for their own wishes, anyway.

o-o-o-o-o

Yuki exited Shigure's house, making his way to the waiting car.

They still had to figure out a way to break their curse, and school would be a hectic things this year, but .....

But Yuki had his life back. A life of his own, and all the time and family and friends to work for his own wishes now.

THE END

A/N:

Well, that was unexpected. Originally, it was much shorter, inside my head.

And it was not supposed to be so fluffy. To say the truth, I hadn't planner for Yuki to end up remembering things, at least not so fast! But as you well know, usually characters decided their own dealings, and authors end up complying.

It's a rather tricky thing. XD. LOL at the fact that Tohru didn't make it into the epilogue

As disclaimer, let me point out that this title -Recalled to Life- belongs to the first section of the book A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.

And with that, lets bring an end to this story. Thanks for all your support.

Be well, everyone!