A/N: Written for the 31_days challenge at lj, for December 04 2012: prompt= rejoice in what I carry in my heart

Summary quote comes from (not word for word) Abyssinia. I've returned the book so I can't remember who the author was.

New Year

Tohru raised her head in shock when the door flew open unexpectedly. In the first instance that followed thereafter, she had trouble deducing the identity of the two shadows through her tears, nor could she imagine who it was that had come to her on the eve of the New Year. Yuki, Kyou and Shigure were at the Sohma's Main House. Hana was at her family. Uo was at her apartment…and she'd specifically told both of them not to come. They both had their own traditions for New Years…

…just like her. With her mother. And the picture lay on its stand, arched back and catching the gleam of the overhead light as it sat before her, the face an eternal smile.

Then she blinked, and the shadows slowly came into focus as the pair framed by the doors hunched over. Yuki and Kyou. Standing against the dark backdrop of the winter evening, glowing slightly in the contrast and the aftereffects of her tears.

They both looked at her. She blinked again, then hastily rubbed her eyes and stuttered something. They hovered a moment – thinking, catching their breath – and then they sat on either side of her and smiled and waved off her protests.

Hours later, they watched the clock count down to the new year upon the roof, and their hearts were warm. Kyoko waited patiently in her eternal image on the low table in the living room; Tohru sat between Yuki and Kyo, watching the stars twinkling in the sky and thanking them before a new wish.

She may have lost her mother in the year that had gone, but she had gained precious friends. And she hoped – wished – they would become better friends in the future, and it was that wish ultimately that coveted the first minute of the new year.

And when she opened her eyes, her wish said and sealed within her heart along with the pain and happiness she shared, she stood carefully, wrapped in a cool blanket deliciously warm.

'I'm going to ring Hana now,' she said brightly. 'I promised her she'd be the first person I rang.'

The boys blinked as she vanished between them, before sharing a smile.

Less than a minute later, Tohru heard them arguing. And she smiled as well.