Written by: Miyu, Vampire Princess

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
After a couple of pleas for a continuation to To Be Loved, I decided to write this one-shot story to fill in some gaps and answer some questions (hopefully). I hope that you will enjoy it. This story is told from Hanajima's POV.

"Is it really true?"

"Hard to believe isn't it?"

"It was in the paper, I swear."

"She does seem to be...I don't know, glowing?"

"I still can't believe--!"

"Here, read this!"

It took little effort to maintain my usual "grim" facade among my classmates only a week after my encounter with Akito. Yuki and Kyo never brought up the subject, keeping to more congenial conversation, so it was easy to keep my mask on around them. Even around Arisa, who seemed less than thrilled but accepting of my situation, and Tohru, who could do nothing but gush and look at me in awe, the usual semi-detached expression easily appeared.

News traveled very fast around the high school. I wasn't sure if it was a teacher who brought this to the attention of the students or one of the students who just couldn't keep away from gossip. Either way, it saved me the trouble of telling everyone, save for Arisa and Tohru. They, at least, deserved to hear it from me.

"Hanajima's engaged?!"

Yes. I was engaged to be married exactly one month after graduation in a small family ceremony on the Sohma estate. That was Akito's will when I returned from talking with my family and friends. I would've told them then if I had known.

I even had a ring -- a tiny gold band adorned with a black onyx and a diamond in the center -- to prove it.

The news published in the newspaper was not without my permission. Actually it had been my suggestion. Let the country know. Neither of us truly cared about their opinion, as individuals or as a whole.

Although my friends' opinions mattered very much...to me at least.

Tohru was rather cheerful when I told her the news just the day before it was published. She looked stunned, even with a smile plastered on her face. Honestly I think she was in shock. She knew Akito well enough to know his personality. He is not someone she would have chosen for me, but as long as I was happy, she said, then she would be happy.

Arisa's reaction was less forthcoming in the cheerful department. Her face ran a gamut of emotions: awe, anger, fear, pain, happiness, loyalty, sorrow and a host of others I didn't quite recognize at the time. It finally settled on something indifferent to the situation. I believe she's still undecided to this day, but she did offer me a hug and her congratulations, which meant a lot.

My parents were believably stunned when I delivered the news. They would have asked a number of questions but in the end let well enough alone. All they did ask was to meet Akito. Easily arranged, that was. The look of awe on their faces when they saw the Sohma residence for the first time brought a smile to my face. They seemed reasonably happy with Akito, and amazingly he was on his best behavior.

Megumi's reaction was somewhat unique. During my family's visit to the Sohma residence, Megumi stood directly in front of Akito, looked him in the eye -- well as much as someone nearly twice your size can do -- and asked him directly, "Do you truly intend to marry my sister?"

My brother is no ordinary child, and I had failed to mention this to my fiancée. However, he smiled at Megumi and said with as much honesty as I've ever heard from him, "Yes, that is my intention." He even escorted Megumi and my parents around the main house and other areas of the residence.

So when the news of our engagement had spread around school, it was little trouble for me to ignore the gossiping classmates I saw at every turn. Few had the courage to ask me direct questions, and those who did were probably less than satisfied with the answers I gave them. The only problems it had caused were for Yuki and Kyo. It only lasted a few days, the brunt of the questions anyway. I apologized to them both but they would just shake their heads. Yuki even smiled at me.

"It's no problem, Hanajima-san. Really," Yuki had said on the third day of continuous questioning.

Time moved slowly, but eventually graduation was upon us. Three months that seemed to move like years. The graduating class was small, the number of us moving on to colleges and universities even smaller. I would've very much liked to continue my education, if only for a year in junior college simply for the experience. Perhaps after we're married, Akito will permit me to take a few classes. I always found ornithology to be a unique course of study.

In a bold move by Yuki, he appeared before Akito the day after graduation and asked for permission to marry Tohru. Thankfully my friend caught him on a good day. He was scowling, muttering nonsense under his breath, but he gave his permission. I think I paid the price for Yuki's askance, but it was a price well paid. Akito certainly had no complaints.

Two weeks before the wedding, I spent the day with my mother, Arisa and Tohru, picking out decorations for the ceremony. Two hundred people didn't warrant a lot of decoration, but I made certain that there were enough streamers, flowers and balloons to satisfy my mother, while conforming to the "less than decorative" persuasions of my future husband. He has his tastes, mind you, but I think he would've preferred to elope rather than engage in this traditional ceremony. But it had been his idea, so he could hardly complain.

The cake arrived early on the morning of the ceremony. Nearly five layers of cream covered white and chocolate. The topper on the cake was not a bride and groom, for Akito and I found it horrible looking to the plain eye. Instead, there was the plastic outline of a heart with a bell in the center and flowers around the bottom. The reception was being catered, but I managed to stay long enough to oversee a few last minute items before being ushered off to change.

And now here I am, sitting in a brightly lit room wearing the only white dress I will ever own. Ayame insisted on making the gown, showering me with dozens of designs that he and Ristu had come up with. The design I chose is most flattering and relatively conservative for him, I think. Still, it is well made from some of the finest fabric I have ever seen. Perhaps I will ask him to make me another dress, more suitable to the tastes of my husband-to-be, and for use in private of course.

I'm half amused with what he might come up with.

"Hana-chan?"

Ah, it must be time. Tohru has been so good with helping me prepare for this wedding. And she looks so adorable in the pastel pink, yellow and green dress I insisted I buy for her for this occasion. She is one of my closest friends without a doubt. I don't know how I managed to make it to this day without her.

"Are they ready, Tohru-kun?"

Her smile lights up her face as she nods. "Hai."

Akito did not want her or Arisa present for our marriage but I insisted, so much so that he's still recovering from the burn marks my dempa licked upon his right shoulder and arm. I despise myself for being so rough. I have never truly unleashed myself purposefully. Akito, despite his muttering curses, took it in stride. His only command was "never do that again, woman."

I think I may be able to comply. We'll see.

The large crowd gathered has me in a state of awe. I have very little in the way of family, therefore many of these people were Sohmas. People that I may never see again save for the odd special occasion and New Year's. Slowly, trying to stay in time to what I had practiced, I make my way up to the place where he is standing.

My fate.

My love.

Akito.

Familiar faces appear the closer I get to my destination. My parents and my brother are the first people I recognize. Sitting in the front row among some of the oldest members of the Sohma family. It was a place of honor, and I was happy that Akito had not begrudged them that. I'd hate to have to hurt him again.

My mother is all smiles and my father looks like he'll bust if he beams any brighter. Megumi sits between them, his face impassive but I see the smile that is only for me. I offer one in return, keeping my gaze on the carpet in front of me.

Arisa smiles and waves at me from one end of a row of seats. She's sitting beside Shigure, along with Hatori, Ritsu and Ayame. Shigure leans over, whispering something only she can hear. He receives a light punch in the shoulder for his comment, but the smile on her face never leaves.

My classmates, Yuki and Kyo, whose presence was REQUIRED by Akito, sat in the row head of them with Tohru in between them. A brunette I have not had the pleasure of meeting sits on the other side of Kyo. The name Kagura comes to mind. I heard Kyo mention it once. Or perhaps it was Tohru. I'll have to be sure to ask later.

Momiji sits in a row across from the others, smiling happily and waving more wildly than Arisa. The boy has become a man I must admit, although his boyish tendencies have not vanished. I think it is good that he has matured without loosing that part of himself. Two of his younger cousins sit with him. Younger than Momiji by at least a few years, I'd say. Two more that I have not been introduced to formally or otherwise. I shall remedy that at the reception.

Hatsuharu is sitting next to him. I've been told countless times in the past week to call him Haru, but I can't bring myself to do that. It would imply a familiarity that we do not share. He is still my friend, by all means, but I like using his full name better.

My eyes travel just a little farther to the left and catch something surprising. A smile. From Rin. Why am I not surprised that she is sitting next to Hatsuharu?

Rin and I have some sort of strange understanding. Close enough to friendship I suppose. I ran into her one morning while walking around the grounds. She's a nice enough girl with a bit of a personality problem. Perhaps her curse makes her more susceptible to her current moods. However, we did have a chance to talk. She is not stupid by any means. Simply misguided.

The next face I take in is Kureno's. He stands beside Akito, his hands clasped behind his back. I have not had the pleasure of talking to him, although we have met on several occasions. If I'm not mistaken he's stealing glances of a certain blond sitting with the older Sohma men. Ah, another mystery to dive into.

Akito is the last face I see, my feet stopping as I reach my destination. He grasps one of my hands in his, squeezing it gently, much gentler than any of his relatives or friends would give him credit for. He offers me his version of a smile, careful not to let it slip into a smirk, before a clergyman offers a prayer to the gods and the ceremony has begun.

Our ceremony was relatively traditional with touches of western elements. My gown, for one, was particularly western in appearance. I would not have been comfortable in a kimono, nor would I have done with all the decoration. The lighting of the candle, secondly, is a western tradition that Akito found rather amusing.

'We'll start a tradition for other Sohma to follow,' he'd told me.

The reception lasts much longer than I, or my new husband, had anticipated. It's good to sit and chat with my friends. I have so few, although I am making new ones. It's also good to talk to people I may never see again but for a few times a year. Many of them are genuinely happy for myself and Akito, the few that weren't kept to themselves in a corner of the room. I didn't pay them any mind, neither did Akito.

An hour after the party is supposed to end, Akito escorts me from the room down the hallway and into another, less lit but still beautifully decorated one. It takes me a few minutes to realize that this is his room. The room in which we had first met. There were minor changes, but the added furniture and larger bed did not go unnoticed.

"Part of my wedding gift to you," he says, placing a light kiss on my cheek as I stand there, nearly dazed.

"What's the other part?"

It takes him the better part of three hours to show me.

Later that night, well after the clock in the hallway has struck two, I lay in bed and gaze at the ceiling. It has been a long day and an even more strenuous night. I can hear his steady breath beside me, feel the rise and fall of his chest against my shoulder. And although these are his tell-tale signs, I know that he is not asleep.

"Why are you still awake, Saki? Are you not tired yet?"

"I am tired," I tell him and it is true. I can feel sleep edging into my conscious mind. "But I realized that I have yet to share my wedding gift with you. Part of it at least."

He props himself up on an elbow and looks down at me with a scowl. "Surely it can wait until morning, this other part of your wedding present."

I smile inwardly. "It could yes."

When I make no move to close my eyes and attempt sleep he sighs, shaking his head. "Fine then. What is it?"

With deliberate slowness I grasp the hand lying on his hip under the covers and drag it over until it rests on my lower stomach. I press it there lightly, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye to gauge his reaction. To my satisfaction I do not need to speak. As his eyes widen and a genuine smile forms on his lips, I know that he is happy with his gift.

"When?" He practically stutters over his words. "How long?!"

"Yesterday. Five weeks," I reply with a calmness that belies my somewhat giddy interior.

"How did you--?"

"One of those home pregnancy tubes." Before he can comment I add, "Hatori confirmed it."

I feel his hand press lightly against the spot where I had placed it. Without another word he lies back in bed, his hand never leaving that spot. He places a light kiss to my shoulder then to my cheek. I turn to look at him, hoping for one last kiss, but his eyes are already closed and he is drifting to sleep.

Sighing I close my eyes, allowing the sleep once tugging at the edge of my mind to consume me. Tomorrow is another day. A drop in the hat when you consider that we will be together forever.

And the child I carry inside me is proof of that.

Oyasumi, little one.