AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is the much anticipated, and waited for, final chapter of Midnight Terrors and Secrets. I am so sorry for the ridiculously long wait and I thank you for your immense amount of patience! My life has gotten extremely busy, between school work and my jobs, I haven't had the chance to work on, nor finish, my stories.

My writing style has changed quite a bit over the years, but I hope that you are all still able to enjoy this final installment of Midnight Terrors and Secrets and if was worth the wait.

As usual, please leave a review of what you think after you finish reading! Enjoy!

Chapter 9: The End

Koi ended up having to spend another two weeks in the hospital, after Kyo left, due to his fragile condition. The healing process for him was much slower than predicted because his bones had become very brittle after years of malnourishment.

However, Kyo was able to leave the hospital precisely on time after some therapy sessions to help him cope with only having one lung. He had been told that it would be a while before he would be able to run or do any sort of intense physical activity without feeling weak or losing his breath quickly. He would have to go back into training to work up his endurance, but it was not impossible for him to return to his original strength.

o-o-o-o-o

"We're ho-ome!" sung Shigure as he helped Kyo through the front door of the house.

"Kyo-kun! Welcome home!" Tohru said with a smile. "It's been so quite around here without you." She crossed her arms to keep herself from running up to him and hugging him.

"Thank you, Tohru-kun," said Kyo, returning Tohru's smile.

"Even I have to admit, it was a bit too quiet. But, that's not to say that I am not going to miss it," said Yuki lazily from where he sat by the living room table.

Kyo's eyes narrowed, and he raised his arm and was about to lunge forward to hit the rat, when Tohru stepped in between them.

"Kyo-kun, remember what the doctor said. You still need to take it easy. Just because you are out of the hospital does not mean that you are completely healed," said Tohru. "You could seriously injure yourself."

Kyo slowly lowered his arm. "Fine. I'm going to go to bed. I'm tired." He glared at Yuki one last time and then stomped off to his room.

She turned around and looked at Yuki, "Please try not to upset him. If he becomes too upset he could break one of his stitches and have internal bleeding."

Yuki looked at Tohru, "I'm sorry Honda-san. I did not realize that he was still healing."

"Please be more careful next time."

Yuki nodded. "Of course."

o-o-o-o-o

Koi arrived in the afternoon. The doctors had wanted to run some final tests before they cleared him to go home. Tohru had prepared a 'welcome home' dinner for him, including leek soup. He did not have any problems adjusting to his new home. Even Yuki managed to be welcoming towards the second cat. But, after dinner Yuki slipped out the back door, saying something about needing fresh air and then mumbled something about cats under his breath.

"Thank you so much for letting me stay with you. I really appreciate you letting me stay here," said Koi.

"Of course, Koi-kun! You are family after all," said Shigure.

Koi smiled then yawned. "Well, I think that I should get some rest. I'm pretty tired."

o-o-o-o-o

"Here are the extra sheets that you wanted, Kyo-kun," said Tohru.

"Thank you," Kyo took the sheets and began to arrange them on the second bed that he had set up in his room while Koi was washing up in the other room.

"You must be so excited that Koi-kun is finally home," she said.

"I am. It still feels like this is part of a dream. But I will feel better once today is over."

"Why do you say that?"

Kyo stopped what he was doing and looked over at Tohru. "Because, today will be the first full moon since everything has happened. The last full moon he went through he was under such heavy sedation that he did not respond. But, tonight he won't have anything to protect him."

"But, he is better now, he's not as weak as he used to be. He should be able to handle the change better, won't he?" asked Tohru.

"I'm not sure. I just hope that he has healed enough that he will not cause internal damage."

"We will just have to wait and see."

o-o-o-o-o

Kyo was jolted from his slumber by the loud sound of groans ripping fabric. He quickly sat up and saw Koi transform into the horrendous creature that comes with being the cat of the zodiac. Koi cried out and began to stumble around this room, frantically trying to find a way out of the room.

Kyo got up and hurried over to him. He reached out and took hold of his brother's arm "Koi, Koi-nii it's okay. It's okay. Can you hear me?"

Koi froze, remained quiet. His breathing was heavy and labored.

"I'm right here," Kyo said calmly. He watched his brother's dark eyes frantically scan the room. "It's okay. You're safe, you're home. You don't need to be scared." Kyo slowly moved closer towards his brother. "Just look at me. You know me don't you?"

Kyo had to take Koi's face into his hands to force his brother to look at him. After a few minutes of protest Koi's eyes finally focused on Kyo's face.

"See? You know me. I'm your brother. Kyo," Kyo met Koi's gaze. "You just need to breathe."

Koi's ragged breath gradually became slower and more even. However, the rattling in his chest that happened every time that he inhaled did not change.

"It's going to be okay." Kyo slowly put his arms around his brother and pulled him into a hug.

Almost a half hour passed by before Kyo felt the bones in Koi began to shift back into human form.

Koi swore under his breath once the process was finished. Beads of sweat broke out on his body and his temperature began to rise. He coughed violently several times, and by the end of the fit his lungs had managed to clear themselves. However, what had been causing his ragged breathing now covered Koi's hands.

Kyo could see the deep red liquid beginning to drip through his brother's fingers.

Kyo swore, picked up his brother and then rushed him into the bathroom.

"We need to get you to the hospital. You need some help," said Kyo. He frantically wiped the blood from Koi's hands with a towel as they both sat on the bathroom floor. "Let me get Tohru-kun, she'll know-"

"Kyo-nii…stop," said Koi weakly. "I'm sorry…You can't help me this time."

"Yes, I can. I can get Hatori-san to see you," said Kyo, "He'll be more helpful than those doctors at the hospital. Or, we can see if he can get you some beads, like I have, to keep you from having to transform like this, or-"

"You know that beads don't work for me."

"I know, but we have to try something. I don't want to lose you." Kyo looked up at his twin brother, his eyes filling with tears. "Not after everything that we've been through."

"But I am already lost Kyo-nii," Koi said quietly.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Do you know the reason why I am sick all of the time?" asked Koi.

"Yeah, you weren't fully developed yet when you were born."

Koi shook his head. "No, it's because of the curse. There are not supposed to be two cats in the zodiac. You were born first, so you are the 'true cat.' I was never supposed to have been born, let alone lived as long as I have." Koi looked down at the small bloody towel as he continued to speak, unable to look his brother in the eye. "I have been denying this for years. I did not want to believe that I was not meant to live. But, after everything that you have done for me and even going to the hospital, I am still sick." His eyes began to fill with tears, "I am so sorry to have put you through this. I should have told you. If I had known that they were going to take your lung from you, I would have told them not to waste their time."

"Stop it," croaked Kyo, as tears began to roll down his cheeks. "It was my choice to give you my lung and it was not a waste of time. I care about you. You're my brother."

"I know," Koi slowly raised his head and looked at Kyo. "And I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate everything that you have done for me. The days that you came to visit me, were some of the best days of my life. But…"

"But, what?" Kyo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"I am still dying Kyo-nii…there isn't anything that you can do to stop it." Tears began to run down his face, " I-I don't have much time left."

"Well, how much longer do you have?"

Koi shook his head. "I don't want to tell you. I want to be able to live the rest of my time here as normal as possible. I don't want people to constantly be thinking about when I am going to die, but about what I am able to do and enjoy in the present." He caught Kyo's gaze, "So please keep this a secret for me. I don't want anyone else to know, especially Tohru. I don't think that she would handle it well. I wouldn't want to make her cry." He gave a small smile, "She's very kind Kyo-nii. I can see why you like her."

Kyo managed to return his smile and slowly nodded. "Okay, I promise not to say anything."

o-o-o-o-o

The days went by, one by one. Each morning Kyo was greeted by a brief wave of anxiety while he waited for Koi to wake up. He could not help but wonder when the day would come where he would no longer wake up. But, every time he saw Koi's golden-green eyes open he was able to relax.

"Good morning, Kyo-nii!" Koi said cheerfully. "Are we going to go to Shishou-san's dojo again today?"

Once Kyo had begun to feel less pain when he moved, he started to go to Kazuma's dojo to train to regain his strength. Each time Kyo left, Koi was by his side. Kazuma was startled the first time that he ever saw Koi. But his shock changed to excitement when Koi asked if he could join Kyo in his training.

o-o-o-o-o

With each passing day Kyo began to feel his strength returning to him. He even noticed that Koi was beginning to look less pale and he was not tiring as easily.

'Perhaps he is getting better. After all he was strong enough to make it this far,' Kyo thought as they walked back to the house after one of their training sessions.

"Hello, Kyo-kun, Koi-kun! Did you eat lunch yet?" asked Tohru as the two boys walked into the house.

"No, we're starving!" said Kyo.

"We I started making some soup. It should be ready in about fifteen minutes. You can have some if you'd like," offered Tohru.

"Sounds great," said Koi with a small smile.

"Yeah, we'll go wash up and then be right down," said Kyo.

Kyo and Koi headed upstairs.

"You can wash up first Kyo-nii. I want to take a little nap first. I'm afraid that if I go first I will fall asleep in the water," Koi said with a laugh.

"Okay, thanks." Kyo smiled at his brother and tousled his black hair. "Thanks for coming again to Shishou's with me."

"I'm glad that I could come! It was fun!" Koi yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Could you wake me up after you are done washing up?"

"Sure."

o-o-o-o-o

Kyo took his time washing up and getting ready so Koi had some time to rest. Kazuma had worked them hard today, he needed his rest.

He had just finished getting dressed and was towel drying his hair when he heard Tohru call up the stairs, "Kyo-kun! Koi-kun! Lunch is ready!"

"Coming!" he replied.

He walked out of the bathroom and over to his brother who was lying down on his bed in Kyo's room. "It's time to wake up Koi-nii. It's lunch time. I'm sorry that I took so long getting ready." He crouched down and put his hand on Koi's shoulder. "Koi-nii," he gently shook his brother's shoulder.

Koi did not move.

Kyo felt his stomach drop. "Koi-nii?" He shook his brother again.

Koi remained unresponsive.

Kyo cursed as a lump started to grow in his throat. He lowered his head his head and put it on Koi's chest to try and hear a heartbeat.

"What are you doing?"

Kyo raised his head and tears began to run down his face.

Kyo look up to see Koi looking back at him.

"You-you weren't waking up…I-I was worried…worried that…"

"You thought that I had died," Koi said quietly as he slowly sat up.

Kyo gave a small nod.

His brother remained quiet for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Well, I guess you're stuck with me for another day then!" he said with a smile.

Kyo rubbed the tears from his eyes and smiled, "Yeah, I guess so."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I would like to dedicate this chapter to pinksugarrush whose review gave me the encouragement and motivation to finally get myself to finish this story. I hope that you enjoyed reading it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!

If you have any criticism, I would greatly appreciate it if you wrote it to be constructive, not destructive. Any comments that are purely negative (such as a comment that just says "this story stinks") will be removed. Positive comments are always welcome! And last but not least, I hope that you enjoy the chapter!