Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Custody ❯ Crystal angels ( Chapter 18 )

Momiji decided to talk to Momo that night at dinner, and thus they agreed to go “on a date.” Momo knew that it had to be something important, or else he wouldn't be so serious about it. They made reservations at a fancy restaurant, and Momo was told by her grandmother to dress up for the occasion. She could hardly wait for the night to come.

 

Seeing that they already had the Christmas tree, they decided to spend the day decorating the house. The both of them would go shopping the next day. Momiji was mostly curious about how his family celebrated the holidays, but Momo was outright ecstatic. It was good to see her smile and have fun, when she had been so broken just a few days ago. Brigitta decided to leave them to themselves while she went out. She wanted to surprise them with their gifts, so she made up a story about having to visit an old friend.

 

-“Are you sure that you'll be alright, kids?” -Momo made a funny face to show Momiji how much she disliked being called a kid. She was very careful to not be seen by Grandma, so the old lady didn't know why Momiji was laughing when he waved goodbye to her and told her not to worry. Momiji kept on smiling after the door closed.

 

-“I could definitely get used to this.” -he said in Japanese.

 

-“What?” -Momo asked in German.

 

-“Living together in the same house with you both.” Momiji continued in Japanese. He could speak German rather well, but he felt more comfortable speaking in his native language. He could explain his thoughts and feelings better. This time, it was Momo the one who had to take a moment to catch up on what he'd just said. She realized how hard it must've been for Momiji when he first got to Germany to understand them.

 

-“Onii-chan, I never asked this before, but… how come you can speak German so well? Did you learn it at school?” -Momo didn't switch languages either.

 

-“No. My father taught me so that I could talk to my mother. She was German.”

 

-“Really? Great! I didn't know that! Silly me, I should've known. I never thought about it before. I knew that you were half foreigner, but I… Well, you do look German.” -she apologized with a shy smile.

 

Momiji just smiled back. `I can't believe that she just realized it.'

 

-“Wait! Doesn't that mean that you have a family here too? Aren't you going to visit them?”

 

-“I barely know a thing about my relatives here, and they don't know about me at all, so I guess there's no point in me visiting them. That would be awkward. What could we talk about?” -Momiji decided to play along with her. He was going to tell her the truth that night anyway.

 

-“Many things! They're your family, after all. How come they don't know about you?” -Momo was really interested now.

 

-“My mother never told them that she had a son.” -he explained simply.

 

-“Why?” -she narrowed her eyes in disbelief.

 

-“She didn't like me much. I guess she didn't like to talk about me either, so she chose not to let them know about me.” -his voice was calm and even.

 

-“She didn't like you? Don't you be silly now, that's impossible! She was your mom! I'm sure she loved you! No mother could ever dislike her own child! That kind of woman would be a monster!” -Momo was sure that he was kidding now. That was obviously a lie!

 

Momiji remained silent. Momo noticed that he looked sad for a moment, but then he snapped out of whatever he had been thinking of and smiled at her.

 

-“You think so?” -he decided to fake a big smile so that she thought that he was just kidding.

 

-“Of course I do! And I think that you should see your relatives too, at least so that you get to see the family you come from. I'm sure they'll love you!” A plan began forming in her head. “I know! Why don't we look them up and then I can take you to wherever they're at!” She was already thinking of ways to locate Momiji's lost family when he interrupted her.

 

-“I don't think that's a good idea, Momo.” -he was cornered now, but he wasn't worried about it. He was sure that he could outsmart his little sister. He loved it when she acted all hyper and mischievous, so he grinned at her antics.

 

-“Momiji, your parents are dead like mine, and I know how important your family is when you're alone.” -she lectured him. He turned around to look at her. Momiji was relieved to see that it was easier for her to talk about the deaths of her parents now.

 

-“You're not alone and neither am I. I'm a Souma, remember? They've taken care of me since I was four. They're my family.” Seeing her stubborn chin raised up in defiance, he sighed loudly and said in mock resignation: “We can look them up tomorrow, okay? I want to decorate this tree now.” She nodded. She had won, or so she thought.

 

Momo remained silent while she sorted out the stuff in the box they've just opened. Momiji thought that many of those things must have had been in the family for years. He stood up to cut the rope that kept the tree tied up, and started to get it ready for decorating. He was enjoying every little thing about this Christmas celebration like when he was a child.

 

He didn't celebrate Christmas since back in the days when he still lived with his parents. His mother was scared all the time so that she tried to defend herself from him by mistreating or simply ignoring her son. The lack of acknowledgement from his mother always hurt Momiji the most. At least when she yelled at him he knew that she saw him, that she noticed him following her around, begging silently that she loved him. His father tried to make it up to his little boy by decorating the house and the Christmas tree with Momiji's help. That would keep him busy for a few days so that he could forget about his mother for a while. He wanted his child to feel connected to his German ancestry, so he planned every detail carefully. They bought everything together, and they would even cook something special for Christmas day. Even though he was still a toddler, Momiji felt that something was missing among the candy, the music, the food and the gifts. He wished that his mother would play with him and his new toys, but the only one to ever do that was his father. It was always Momiji and his Papa together all the time until they day he was left at the Main House. Almost twenty years later, the young man the toddler had become still remembered the forced smile on his mother's face. She would pretend to be interested in Momiji after his father dragged her out of her room for dinner on Christmas day. His father never noticed it, but Momiji always knew.

 

How he hated that fake smile!

 

Momo's sad voice interrupted his thoughts.

 

-“Momiji, do you miss them? Your parents, I mean.” He turned around to look at her, but she was still kneeling on the carpeted floor pretending to be interested in the contents of the box. He heard her sob once, so he decided to give her a little privacy. He turned around to the tree again.

 

-“Sometimes. Mostly when something brings back any of the memories that I have of them.” -he confessed calmly.

 

-“I miss them! I miss them so much! I want them here with me! We used to do this together… It isn't the same without them… Papa would be bringing down boxes from the attic now and Mama and I…” -she broke down, crying.

 

Momiji walked over and kneeled in front of her on the floor. Lifting gently her chin with his fingers, he could finally see her face. She looked back at him, tears running down her cheeks. It broke Momiji's heart to see that her eyes held all the sadness of the world. He didn't fight the urge to hold her this time. He surprised Momo when he pulled her into his arms to hug her. It was the first time he initiated the contact. Holding the back of her head with one hand, he started to caress her golden locks in a soothing motion. Momo continued to cry on his shoulder for a few minutes until her breathing evened out and she relaxed in his arms.

 

Momiji never felt so happy about the curse being broken as he was at that moment. Momo hugged him tighter, enjoying the comfort he provided.

 

-“Everything will be alright. You'll see. With time, all the memories you have won't make you sad anymore. One day you'll be able to look back to the times you spent together and smile. You should be happy that you got to be with them and that they loved you so much.” -Momiji tried his best to comfort her, to find the right words to tell her.

 

-“I know that! But… why did they leave me? How could they do this to me?” -She spoke from the same spot on his shoulder, so her voice was muffled and broken. “Do you know how I feel now, Momiji? Have you ever felt this way too?”

 

-“I have Momo, many times.”

 

By the time their grandmother got back home, the two of them were laughing and playing again. It was hard to believe that Momiji was more than couple of years older than Momo. Those navy pants and grey sweater he was wearing looked so out of place, though! True, he had rolled up his sleeves now, but still… Fortunately, she would be taking care of that soon. She sat in the living room to watch both children playing together.

 

-“Onii-chan, come! I think that we're missing another box! I can't find them anywhere!”

 

-“What are you talking about, Momo?” Brigitta turned instantly to look at him. Momo was practically dragging him away by the hand now saying something about a surprise. What made her turn around was the fact that she heard Momiji speak Japanese again. She didn't really pay attention to that before, when he translated for Tohru, but now… She heard her grandchildren still arguing up the stairs to the attic. Momo scolded him playfully in German while Momiji replied happily in Japanese. It was a painful reminder that they had grown up apart, that he had been living all his life in a country far away to where he was going back soon.

 

`And he's taking Momo with him.'

 

Some minutes later, Momiji entered the living room again, carrying what looked like a heavy box. He dropped it a little carelessly on the floor, at which Momo shrieked loudly.

 

-“How can you do that! What if you break them?” Momiji had to dodge Momo's fist. It was easy for him, seeing that Momo lacked the intention to really hurt him.

 

-“I'm sorry, okay?” -he laughed at her.

 

Momo knelt down again and started to remove the many layers of tape that prevented the box from getting any dust inside. Brigitta sat closer to them. She had a good idea of what Momo was looking for. After Momo pulled out some little boxes and bags from inside, she finally jumped off the floor holding an old box in her hands. Momiji wondered what the commotion was all about. Brigitta recognized the box and smiled.

 

-“Okay, Momiji. These are really special. They're everybody's favorites, so we're doing it like this. I'm going to give you four for you to put wherever you want. I'll put on another four and Grandma gets the other four. Fair enough?” -Momo explained carefully.

 

-“That's fine, but I still don't know what you're talking about.” Momiji shrugged. Momo grinned.

 

-“I'm talking about these.” -and she took a little crystal angel out of the box and put it in Momiji's hand. He recognized it immediately. The figure was transparent, delicate. It still sparkled in the light like he remembered. He couldn't believe that they still had them all after all those years. He touched its smooth, cool surface with his finger like he'd done so many years before.

 

`My crystal angels.'