And with that, I pulled him into another gentle kiss.

And this is where this story ends, but it certaintly isn't the end, not yet. No, this is merely the start. And so I will not end this with simply saying "the end", because that would be a lie. No I will end this with the truth, with just two words.

The Beginning

Epilogue- Shigure's Pov

I was sitting next to Hatori, watching as Ayame preformed the celebratory dance that introduced his year, the year of the snake. It had been almost two years since Miyako had left to live in the Sohma house, and since then, she had been visiting every weekend, and a couple week days when she had the time.

She was surprisingly busy, always interacting with the zodiacs, or looking after Akito. They hadn't separated as I had originally feared they would by forcing them to spend so much time together, no, in fact, they had done the quite the opposite and grown much closer. Miyako and Akito were so obviously in love, and they couldn't make a better couple. Happy and energetic Miyako always brought out the happiness that the god had tucked deep within him, and Akito was able to handle the fox's occasional tricks and her lively ways.

The only one that didn't like them together was of course Ren, but they had completely disregarded her persistent verbal abuse. Instead, they focused on each other. Miyako showed all of us photographs of Akito, and the other zodiacs whenever she came over, each photo getting more and more improved, her talent obviously showing. She perfected her talent, and then, she published her very first book, a book of various photographs, put together to tell a complex tragic story that ended in love, very much like Miyako's own life story.

Whenever I visited, which I had to admit, wasn't very often, I always brought Kyo along with me. Even though he was reluctant to go, he went, for Miyako. And when we did come, we would be tackled into tight hugs by Miyako, who then led us to her room to show us the various pictures she had lining her walls, all taken by her. She then would sit us down in her living room and demand to know what was happening with our lives. And we would tell her, we would tell her the most recent way that I tortured my poor editor, and Kyo would tell her about how well he was doing in school, since she had dropped out. Our stories always made her smile and laugh, and gave us our share of Miyako's glow, that kept us going until she visited us, or we visited her, whichever came first.

I looked over at Akito. He was sitting on his throne-like chair in the back of the room. Underneath him, leaning casually against the bottom of his solid chair, was Miyako. Her red, orange, and white hair had grown, and now reached down her back in a shaggy straight cut. Her eyes were shut, simply rejoicing in the music that was playing, in the quite whispers that passed around the room and the familiar sounds that each person made on their own. My little sister was wearing a long black kimono, lined with red fabric, and underneath she wore long baggy black pants, the ends of each leg cuffed with the same red fabric. Her hand was clasped in Akito's, who was sitting in a long regal looking kimono, and who had his eyes open, surveying the banquet, watching over all of the zodiacs. Even though his black hair hid most of his face, I could still see the glow that shone from within him, the glow that was brought out by Miyako, the fox.

The whole scene reminded me of a particular illustration in a book, from a while ago.

It had been a beautiful illustration. Of a young girl, sitting under against a large, throne that held a young boy. The girl had long red hair that reached down her back in a shaggy cut, and the boy had his bangs resting against the sides of his face, and hanging into his eyes. He wore a regal looking kimono, while she wore baggy black pants and a red and black kimono. And they were just sitting there, the girl perfectly content to sit right underneath the boy, who looked perfectly content just by having her there, with him. Their hands were clasp together, the boy's eyes open, the girl's eyes closed.

The illustration in the zodiac book. It hadn't been from before the supposed theft of the necklace, as Miyako had originally thought. It was afterwards, it was when the fox had accepted the offer of the god to be cursed with him, with all the others, to stay with him forever. There was only one little detail that wasn't in the illustration, but I suppose you couldn't expect each individual fox and god to relive the same scene.

In this world, in this time, in this banquet, a small red creature rested next to the throne, a red paw gently sitting on his master's leg. It was a sleeping fox, now grown from when Miyako received him two years back. Yume.

At with one final satisfied glance, I turned my head back to the dance of the snake.

Author's Note *IMPORTANT*: Well, this is the end of Miyako. But this character doesn't end here. I will be posting another Miyako story, a prequel. If this interests you, tell me. It will be really, really good, I promise! Review! And I love all of you for sticking with me for fifty-five chapters! That's A LOT!

-Echo