K - here is the Epilouge!! Its eleven years later, after the last chapter. I hope you like it. Please dont forget to review - and no, I have nothing against Ritsu, it's just I had to choose one of the characters and it ended up being Ritsu.

I dont own Fruits Basket - but I do own Mari, Kiba, and Hoshihira (aka:Hira)

"Are you sure you're ready?" Haru asked me, looking over at me. We were about to take Hira to Shigure's, and I just wasn't feeling really good about it.

"I think," I replied, my voice shaking a little. Our daughter sat in between us, safely buckled in.

"What's wrong mommy?" she asked, resting her little hand on my arm. I looked at her, and my eyes swam with the horrors of my past – but I couldn't tell her. It would only frighten her, and I didn't want to do that.

"It's nothing Hira," I answered, trying to find the courage that I had somewhere within me," Just a fear mommy will always have." It was the same day after the New Years Celebration that we were taking Hira to Shigure's that my parents had when I was seven – and she is the same age I was as well.

"What am I supposed to do? Tell her no because I am to frightened that something is going to repeat itself? No. I can't do that – it wouldn't be fair to her," I thought to myself. Haru had offered to call Shigure and have him come up to the Main House, but I refused. I knew all to well that Yuki wouldn't come, and they wouldn't risk having Tohru so close to Akito – not again. I hugged the little bulge in my stomach a little tighter then usual as Haru started the engine. Hira noticed my posture, but said nothing. She was getting used to me doing that lately – but she didn't know why I done it. As though she was trying to comfort me, Hira placed her hand on my arm and gave it a small squeeze. I looked down at her and had to smile – she was so sweet and kind. I was sad, yet happy for Hira. She would be able to live a normal life – without having to be careful of transforming into an animal. But she always felt a little left out by Haru, but she understood why he, or any guy in the zodiac-cursed family, couldn't hug her. The only thing is – I knew for a fact, that if my second baby was going to be born on time, that it would live the cursed life. Ritsu, the member of the zodiac who transformed into the monkey, had died about two years ago. We all still miss Ritsu terribly, all but Hira – she was too young to really remember him. She still respects him though, which is good, and I am amazed and happy that she goes to his grave marker and puts a new flower by it each day.

"Okay – here we are," Haru said out of nowhere, yanking me out of my train-of-thoughts. I looked around, and sure enough, we were already at Shigure's. I got out and helped Hira out of her seat-belt, then helped her get safely to the ground.

"What surprises me even more," I thought to myself," Is that with the anger outbursts that I sometimes get, and the black-side of Haru, Hira has never let her temper get out of hand. She's never once had a single outburst – even as a toddler. She was always quiet and so calm." As this thought crossed my mind, my unborn baby kicked me in the kidney, and I winced in pain.

"This one though," I thought," Will definitely have a bad side – out-bursts like me or two-sided like Haru." I glanced at Haru who was coming around the side of the car, then jumped when I heard a voice so close to my ear.

"Hello." I spun around so fast that I had to grab onto the car for support before I fell.

"Kyou – don't scare her like that, it's not nice," Tohru scolded, coming around from the side of the house.

"Sorry," he said, grinning, and then turned back to me," So-what brings you out here Mari?"

"Hira wanted to see Gure-kun and so did I," I told him, flicking my hair over my shoulder. He glanced at the little girl running toward the house, then quickly back at me.

"That's little Hoshihira?" Kyou asked, surprised.

"Yes – and you wouldn't be as surprised to see her grown up a little more if you visited the Main House more often," I told him, playfully and gently smacking him upside the head.

"Hira-chan!" an excited voice said from inside, as she disappeared inside, but seconds later, we heard a crying. Instinctively, I ran inside, and found her on the floor, crying. Beside her sat a black dog, trying to comfort her.

"It's alright Hira-chan," the dog was saying, his voice soft and comforting, but she kept crying.

"Hey Gure-kun," I smiled, coming to Hira's side, and knelt down beside her," It's alright hun – No need to cry." I held her close in my arms, and rocked her gently back and forth until she stopped crying.

"I'm…Sorry...Gure-kun..." she sobbed, wiping away the tears.

"It's quite alright," Shigure replied, smiling a dog-like smile," I've been slowly getting used to this." I looked over at the kitchen, where I saw Tohru working away, cooking dinner.

"Be right back," Shigure said suddenly, picking up his cloths in his mouth, and running off at a fast pace. Outside, I heard what seemed to be a fight, and sighed.

"Come on," I said smiling to Hira, taking her into the kitchen, then to Tohru," Do you have a bucket I could use?"

"Yeah- it's right…," Tohru said opening one of the cupboards and peering around," Here!" She handed it to me without question, and I started filling it up with cold water. As soon as it was filled, I turned and began to walk back to the front.

"Hira," I said softly, and she looked up at me," She if you can help Tohru out any, ok?" Hira nodded and so I left and went outside. As I thought – Kyou and Haru were in the middle of a fight – and Yuki was standing nearby, just watching and keeping a good distance. He smiled at me, then his eyes showed his laughter when he saw the bucket, but when he saw my stomach, he quickly came over and took the bucket softly from me.

"Oh come on," I said softly," It's not that heavy."

"Doesn't matter – they could accidentally hurt you and the baby if they weren't paying attention," Yuki said, equally as quiet. Then, he went forward with the bucket and splashed it onto Haru, who suddenly froze. Kyou had quickly back-tracked so he wouldn't get wet.

"That's refreshing," Haru all of a sudden remarked, and I couldn't help but laugh. Hira and Tohru came outside, and Hira began laughing only because Haru was soaking wet and I was laughing. Then she looked and saw Yuki standing there, holding the bucket, and smiling at her.

"Hello, Hira-kun," Yuki said kindly, walking over to her, where he knelt down and gently squeezed her hand," It's very nice to see you again."

"Mhmm," Hira nodded, smiling," It's nice to see you again as well, Yuki-kun."

"So- shall we go inside?" Shigure says, coming around the corner.

"Yeah, I guess," Haru said, and lead Hira inside, while I stayed behind with Shigure. Once Hira was inside, I gave Shigure a hug – I always waited so that she wouldn't feel bad, because if she hugged him he'd transform.

"You just keep getting older and older, don't you?" Shigure said jokingly, smiling at me when we pulled away from the hug.

"Sadly, yes I do," I replied, and then smiled," How are you, Shigure?"

"I'm alive, that's for sure," he smiled," But I'm still the same old Shigure that I have always been – that's never going to change."

"Good – I like the good old Shigure," I said, and we walked inside to join the others.

"How are you?" I knew he was taking about the baby, just from the flicker in his eyes.

"Pretty good, couple kicks every now and then," I answered," Something she hardly done."

"So this one will most likely have a bit of a temper..?"

"Most likely- but what did you expect with parents like me and Haru?" I asked silently, and he nodded in agreement.

The next morning, we got in the car and took off, back to the Main House. I wasn't dreading the return as much as the departure, but I still got small shivers. Soon enough, though, we were back at the Main House, and I helped Hira out of the car. She immediately went to play with the other non-zodiac kids, and I smiled.

"So," Hatori said, walking up to me," Everything alright?"

"Yes, I believe so," I replied, nodding.

"Anything new?"

"No – Shigure's same old Shigure as he always was…Tohru and Kyou are together still, and Yuki's still the same Yuki," I said, walking with him and Haru.

"I don't think that's what he meant," Haru said to me, softly smiling.

"Oh," I blushed softly," There's been a couple kicks, but nothing much more than that."

"Alright," Hatori nodded," Have a good day."

"So, what to do now…" Haru said, a little bit of boredness in his voice.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully, then thought," Now that we're older, and I'm pregnant, we can't do much – especially me, for the baby's sake. But Haru can do things – He just chooses to stay near me incase I needed something."

"Why don't you go do something that you would normally do?" I suggest, and when he looked at me with those worried eyes, I continued," Don't worry – I can take care of myself every now and then, plus Ha'ri isn't that far away. I'll be fine."

"Alright," he nodded reluctantly, and kissed me," Just be careful." He turned and went to our place. Soon, I heard the motor revving, and then Haru shot out in his motorcycle. When I looked around, I became deadly still, my eyes narrowing. Akito was staring right at Hira, not moving an inch, then she turned and her eyes locked with mine. The old shivers and goose bumps I got when I was younger never came – they stopped once I had my memories back. We stared at each other for who knows how long, before she finally got tired of it, and disappeared back into her room. I sighed, relieved that she had given up. Everyone knew how much she hated me – and hated Hira even more – which made me even more protective of her. Our confrontation that had taken place when I was fifteen was still hanging between us, making a tense atmosphere when we were in the same room. Again, I sighed, more out of habit then anything. Looking around, I saw Hiro and Kisa, walking together, hands extremely close – I couldn't help but smile. I saw the kids playing, Hira one of them, and I was glad she'd have a normal life. The sky darkened and I called her inside after a while, and soon after that, Haru came inside.

"Life can seemed cursed at times," I thought, as I remembered the nights when I was younger – without any memories of my past – when I had silently cried myself to sleep," But tears don't do anything. When you really want something, all you have to do, Is realize you have people around who care about you. They will always be there, ready to help- all you have to do, is ask for it."

Later, after dinner, I lay down for the night, and placed a hand on my stomach again.

"It'll be alright," Haru said from behind me, wrapping his arm around me, softly but securely. I felt safe when he done that, and I nodded, and then lay my head down. He fell asleep soon after, and I softly removed his arm. I got up quietly, and walked to Hira's room.

"I can't help it," I thought to myself, as I watched her peaceful expression as she slept," I need to make sure she is alright." I remember thin wisps of my mother doing the same thing – because I would wake up and find her there – and I smiled to myself. Softly, I closed her bedroom door, and made my way back to my room, where I climbed back into bed, next to Haru. His arm quickly wrapped around me again, self-consciously, and I smiled to myself. I was truly happy, here in my little world, and I couldn't want or wish for anything more.

Months later, my baby was born. We named him Kiba, after a great-grandfather of mine – who, in his time, had been the monkey of the zodiac. Hira adores her little brother, and Haru loves him. It's nice to see how much Haru has grown up since we were in High School. As I sat there, cradling Kiba, I knew that we would all be together forever, as long as we shall live – and nothing was going to tear us apart.