One Misfortune Can Lead to Good Fortune

A full week passed by, until Hatori came by and informed the two girls that they would be granted an audience with Akito that very afternoon. Kylie and Linda were both set on it, neither having any misgivings.

They went through their day like normal and as soon as class ended Hatori picked them up and brought them to the Sohma house with Shigure in tow. "Are you sure you want to do this," they asked softly.

"Yeah, don't worry Hatori, Shigure we know what we're doing," Linda and Kylie replied.

"Alright, but if it gets to be too much in there let us know," Shigure said gently placing a hand on Kylie's face.

"Okay," Kylie said before giving him a hug.

"Please be careful," Hatori told Linda earnestly.

"Heh, aren't I always?" Linda asked before giving him a small peck on the cheek. The two girls gave their men reassuring smiles before opening the door, stepping inside, and shutting it behind them.

"It's good to see you again. What made you witches want to see me again after the beating I gave you last time?" Akito asked sitting next to the window. "Are you going to try to give me some luck, or do you think you can change my decision?"

"Neither, we want to settle things once and for all," Linda told him boldly.

"And how do you intend on doing that?" Akito demanded with a sneer.

"We just want to talk," Kylie said calmly.

"What could you possibly say to me that would interest me?" Akito demanded viciously.

"We want to marry Hatori and Shigure, we're not going to ask for your permission but more for you blessing," Linda told him boldly.

"How dare you," Akito shouted. "You just want to take my family away from me."

"We're not looking to take your family away from you," Kylie insisted. "We just want to be a part of it. Because we love them all, and you Akito. We're really glad that we got to meet you. It's because of you that we were able to know what it's like to be a part of a family than just being in one."

"She's right, for as long as we can remember we weren't part of our family, but since coming here we've been able to act like ourselves and have fun," Linda added.

"I don't care what you experienced you are not going to join this family," Akito declared jumping up to his feet.

"Why do you do it?" Kylie asked softly. "Why do you lock yourself away from the world?"

"That's none of your business," Akito shouted.

"You're afraid of getting hurt out there, aren't you," Linda guessed. "That's it, you're afraid of being hurt from those on the outside and you're afraid of your family getting hurt by those on the outside as well. That's why you hate it when they meet people not in the family…and even then if they stop visiting you as much as they used to you hate them. You can't stand the possibility of the members of the zodiac being happy with more people than just you."

"Shut up! Just stop talking!" Akito shouted stepping forward, raising his hand to hit her. She sat and waited, but when the blow landed, it wasn't Linda who had gotten hit. Kylie fell to the floor after jumping in front of the fist meant for Linda.

Linda looked down at her cousin and waited until she stood, "Are you alright Kylie?" she asked. Kylie nodded and then looked back at Akito who was surprised by Kylie's action.

"Why did you take the hit for her? Not that I care if you get hurt," Akito asked when he got his bearing back.

"That's what you do for family," Kylie told him. "You take shots for them and you support them, even if you don't agree with it. That's what the members of the zodiac do for you, that's what we do for you, because we all care about you."

"They don't take any shots for me, they don't care about me anymore. They all hate me and want to leave here," Akito said taking several steps back.

"That's not true, they don't hate you and if they did I doubt they'd stay in the same city as you. However, even though they move into their own homes they still come to visit and spend time with the family here. When a family member is hurt or in trouble they come to help and make sure that they get better quickly. That is what being a part of a family is all about," Linda explained smiling warmly.

"Sh-shut up," Akito tried to yell but his voice broke. "You're lying… nobody understands… nobody cares about me. They say that they care but they all lie. How could they possibly care about me?"

"Why not take the chance to find out instead of pushing them away," Linda suggested. "Speculating at how people see you isn't good for your health, but sometimes a lot of things can be cleared up just by asking the simple questions."

Akito stood in silence for several minutes. Kylie and Linda were wondering if they should say something more, but before they could he said to them in a low voice. "Do what you want. Now get out."

Kylie looked up at him. "So, does that mean… the wedding…?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said do what you want!" Akito said his voice rising with each word. "Just get out!"

"Thank you," Kylie said softly before turning to leave.

"Thank you," Linda added gently. "I wish you the best of luck." Then she turned and left the room with Kylie.

"What happened in there, we heard the shouting and….Kylie are you alright?" Shigure asked hurrying up to them as soon as they closed the door behind them.

He touched her bruised cheek and she winced at the contact but smiled. "He said we could," she said throwing her arms around him.

Shigure and Hatori were shocked, "How did you do it?"

"We just talked to him really. I guess we figured out what buttons to press that's all," Linda explained. "He didn't exactly say the words 'yes you can marry them' but he did say do as you like."

"That's wonderful," Hatori said with a relieved smile, kissing her cheek.

"It certainly is," Shigure said holding Kylie against him, rocking her gently. "How we've waited for so long."

Linda hugged him and held on tight as small amounts of tears rolled down her cheeks. "I've never been so happy in all my life," she exclaimed giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I hope this feeling never ends."

The next few days were very happy ones. The school year was winding down and coming to a close while the four were planning for the weddings which, of course, Ayame was helping with. One fine morning, Kylie's phone rang. "Hello? Aunt Marge?" Linda, who was sitting on the opposite side of their bedroom, glanced up curiously. "yeah, Linda's here with me. Speaker phone? If you say so."

Kylie pressed a button and a sultry voice rang out through the room. "It's a good thing I got a hold of you both. The whole family has been in an uproar since we told them that you two were not coming home. Many are worried, you should probably contact a few of them to let them know you're okay."

"Okay, Aunt Marge," Linda sighed. "We really don't have to check in everyday…besides we've been really busy this semester so we really haven't had a chance to, but we'll be sure to help you and Aunt Cory out."

"Don't you give me that, you'll forget the moment this phone conversation ends. I know how the two of you think…well I assume you two have gotten good grades throughout the year," she continued a little softer.

"Yep…in fact we worked hard enough to earn a few scholarships so we can stay longer without depending on their money," Kylie put in happily. "My my, you two have gotten very far without us it would seem. I must admit, I am proud of you both. Cory is too, though she'll never say it out loud." Marge said with a chuckled.

"Mom's proud?" Kylie asked in surprise.

"Yes, you two have managed to take your curse and make good use of it without it hindering your own lives," Marge said with approval. "And you found yourselves two good men that will take care of you. Just don't get carried away, either of you."

Linda got this fake shocked look on her face, "Aunt Marge what would make you think we'd ever do something like that?"

"The cat, the fish, the bird, the ferret you took care of for your aunt Joanne and the list goes on and on," Aunt Marge replied with a laugh.

"Okay, okay I get the point," Linda groaned. "But those were all creatures that couldn't talk to me, this is completely different."

"Don't worry, we think we'll get by just fine," Kylie told her happily. "Tell mom I love her."

"Of course," Aunt Marge promised.

Linda laughed a little after hanging up. "If only they knew..."

"You mean the fact that we kind of have animals taking care of us now?" Kylie asked her with a giggle.

"Yep, it's a good thing I'm not paired with the dog..... the last one I had died," Linda said with a sheepish grin.

"I feel you, poor Francesco the fish never had a chance... went down the drain just as I was cleaning his bowl," Kylie said with a shake of her head. But that aside..."

"Right, now that that's taken care of we can focus more fully on the wedding," Linda exclaimed jovially. "Let's get to it."

The wedding was not too large due to Kylie and Linda's wishes, but it was nothing short of glamorous. Ayame hand crafted all of the outfits for the wedding including their dresses. Kyo and Yuki escorted Linda and Kylie to the altar while Tohru was the flower girl and Kisa and Hiro were the ring bearers. When they got up in front of everyone, they both stared lovingly at their soon-to-be husbands. "Do you two gentleman take these two lovely ladies to be your wives, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" The priest asked.

"We do," they both answered.

"And do you two take these men…" He began, but Linda cut him off.

"You don't even have to ask."

"I concur," Kylie said with a smile.

Hatori and Shigure grinned at their enthusiasm and the priest smiled. "Do you have the rings?" he asked and Hiro and Kisa presented the rings for both couples to place on each other's fingers. "I pronounce you men and wives, you may now kiss your brides." With that Hatori and Shigure removed the veils over their wives faces and kissed them warmly.

Linda and Kylie tossed the bouquets out into the crowd and surprisingly Rin and Kyo by some weird twist of fate ended up catching them.

The group laughed heavily as Haru went black and started beating up on Kyo for catching the bouquet with Rin. "This is the strangest family I've ever come in contact with," Linda said laughing.

"So are you ready to go?" Hatori asked warmly.

"Yes, I was wondering that myself," Shigure asked as well.

"Of course I'm ready to go…I've been wanting to take a break from this crowd for some time," Linda replied.

"So onto the honeymoon then I guess," Kylie said cheerfully.

They headed for the two cars waiting to take them away to their wonderful honeymoon. As they went the rest of the Sohma family threw rice and blew bubbles and bid them farewell. Linda and Kylie waved goodbye to all their new friends and family and held on tightly to their new, wonderful husbands, ready to begin their new life.

"Looks like we're not completely luckless after all," Kylie said from beside her, leaning against Shigure.

"No we're still luckless, this whole marriage thing is going to have some sort of bad luck come back to haunt us just like always," Linda replied sarcastically smiling happily.

Kylie laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Well then," Shigure said with a sly grin. "We'll just have to work hard to make it worth your while."

"Indeed," Hatori agreed.

"For once, I'm glad we were unlucky enough to run into this family," Kylie said to Linda.

"Yeah I'm really happy about it too," Linda agreed leaning against Hatori with her head on his chest. "It was all worth while in the end."

~OWARI~

CM: Ta-da! That's the end everyone! And wasn't it so beautiful! I'd like to give all the readers a special thanks for sticking with us this long and seeing this story through to the end. Just so you know, Shippoman wants to put in an alternate ending we ended up writing after staying up too late. More info when it comes. Ja ne!