My Soul Will Find Yours : The Fulfillment of the Promise

Anata

I covered my mouth with my trembling hands as tears spilled from my eyes. Nothing mattered at the moment. The beautiful man staring at me was the only thing I saw. I was no longer inside my bathroom, I was only in our small little world. There's only me and him right now!

Kaname... The great shogun Kirishima Kaname... My beloved husband... The father of my children...

He's here! He's here! Every pore of my being sang.

My legs trembled as I took three steps to where he was.

"A-anata..." I whispered as I knelt before him.

Kaname held my face with both hands while staring deeply into my eyes. Using his two thumbs, he wiped away my tears.

"Why are you crying? Aren't you happy that I'm here?" he asked, his gentle and familiar voice made me cry harder.

"Oh, anata..."

I couldn't help it anymore, I wrapped my arms around him and showered his face with kisses. When I found his lips, I kissed him with all the longing I felt since I came back. The familiar warmth of his mouth, the wonderful taste of his tongue, the intoxicating feel of his lips against mine made me deepen our exchange even more. When he kissed me back with equal fervor, I felt like I was going to explode. The feeling was beyond words...

"Hina..." he whispered while pulling me closer. "How I've longed for you, my love..."

Our kiss lasted for a long time. When it ended, I noticed that I was already sitting on his drenched lap with my towel on the floor. Charles had disappeared although I did kind of hear the door close earlier. With my arms around his neck, I pulled him closer for three chaste kisses.

"If this is a dream then I don't want to wake up," I whispered while caressing his face.

"You're not dreaming," he whispered back. "You're really here in my arms."

"I missed you so much, Kaname," I choked as the waterworks were starting again. "Leaving you and the children was the most painful thing ever."

"Your disappearance hit us all really hard," he replied, his odd eyes glazed with a sadness that I felt deep inside me. "I nearly went crazy trying to reunite with you. I tried, my love. I really did. I even contacted the red priestess of Ezo but she, too, failed."

"When I came to, I refused to believe that I was back in my time," I wept. "The worst thing was, I woke up next to your tomb. It hurt so much! I couldn't accept that you were gone!"

"Shh..." he comforted. "We're together now..."

"But... How?" I asked. "How did you get here? And in my house, no less."

"I don't know as well," he took my discarded towel and wrapped it around me. "The last thing I could remember were the children and the staff crying as I started to lose consciousness."

"Huh?"

"I was in my deathbed, Hina," he explained. "I was calling out your name as I took my final breaths. There was darkness and next thing I knew, a black cat with the same eyes that I have was licking my nose. When I heard your voice, I decided to get up. I was still wobbly but I managed to get on my feet."

An impatient meow and the sound of little nails scratching the door interrupted our conversation. It was followed by Charles telling Panther to give us more alone time.

"We'd better get changed," I said. "You're drenched and I'm still naked."

~~~

Charles' eyes widened when he saw us emerge from the bathroom. He was sitting on a chair with a miffed-looking Panther swishing his tail on his lap.

"I don't have any clothes for... For y-your father," I told him awkwardly. "His kimono is drenched, he needs to change into something more comfortable. Could you perhaps go home and get him a set of clothes?"

"I have some clean gym clothes in my car," Charles got up immediately and left to get them.

Kaname sat on the very same spot Charles sat on. Like me, he was wrapped in a towel. When Panther saw him, he immediately rubbed his face on his leg and begged for pets. Kaname complied and Panpan started purring like a motorboat.

"The little devil likes you," I said, a bit surprised at how affectionate my usually antisocial cat was being towards him.

"'Little devil'?" Kaname chuckled. "He reminds me of my cat, Kan-chan."

Charles returned with a bag full of gym clothes. I asked him to help his father change while I went to mum's room to put on my pajamas. By the time I returned to my room, Charles was helping Kaname dry his hair with my hairdryer. I almost laughed out loud at how stiff and uncomfortable both men looked. One was sitting in front of my vanity table while the other served him. Charles had obviously never used a hairdryer before although he was trying his best; meanwhile, Kaname looked frightened of the noise it was making.

"I prepared the guest room for you," I told Charles as I took the blow-dryer from him. "It's almost morning and I know you're tired, stay over and get some rest. I'll wake you up when it's time for breakfast."

"Okay, mama. Goodnight," he smiled and left the room like an obedient oversized child.

"Something wrong?" Kaname asked when I didn't move.

Shaking my head, I replied, "That was the first time he's called me mama... I... I'm just not used to it."

Kaname hugged me by the waist and smiled at me. "He told me a quick background of how things are in this time. He said he got reborn as your former lover's cousin."

"Yes, he's really helped me a lot all these years," I nodded and sat on his lap. "But never in a million years did I expect him to be my little Riku..."

"He looked the same way as he did when he grew up in the castle. If you've ever wondered how your first son looked like when he became the next shogun, all you have to do is look at him."

A yawn I wasn't able to suppress escaped from my mouth. "Sorry, I haven't slept a wink."

"What time is it?" Kaname asked.

"It's almost the third division of the hour of the tiger," I replied.

"Shall we rest then? Where did you put the futon?"

"We don't sleep on futons here, anata," I smiled as I pulled him to my bed. "We sleep on beds."

"So that's what this is for," he muttered to himself before climbing up. "No wonder it's so soft."

I turned on the air conditioner, switched the lights off, and joined him on the bed. Kaname automatically wrapped his arms around me. For the first time in weeks, I was finally able to sleep soundly again.