Even comfortably laying in their bed, cuddled up against him, Hikaru was unusually quiet. After a while Kiri asked, "Are you in pain?"

Surprised, she answered promptly, "Not really, not even as much as after I got the implant."

"You've been very quiet," he told her.

She hesitated, and then sat up.

"Hikaru," he said in a mildly scolding tone.

She sighed and laid down again.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What if we can't have kids?" she blurted.

He took her hand and asked quietly, "Is that what the doctor told you when he spoke to you alone?"

She looked at him and then turned her face away.

"If we can't, we can't, it will be OK," he told her firmly.

She replied, without looking at him, "The doctor said the implant probably wasn't working, for months, maybe even years."

"OK?" he replied, puzzled.

"I wasn't pregnant," she said quietly.

He surprised her by laughing and she turned to look at him. He leaned in and kissed her and ran his fingers through her hair. When he let her go he smiled at her and asked softly, "Were you disappointed? Do you want to make a baby after we're allowed to have sex again?"

She shook her head and replied worriedly, "No, I just, what if," he stopped her with another kiss.

Then he replied seriously, "I meant what I said, if we can't, we can't, and it will be OK. But it will probably be fine. Don't worry about it."

He distracted her thoroughly for a few minutes, but then asked with some embarrassment, "Want to lay on the couch and watch a movie? I don't know how much of this I can take."

"OK, sorry," she replied.

He scooped her up and told her, "Don't apologize because I want to ravish you."

She laughed and asked, "Ravish?"

"Absolutely," he replied as he settled her on the couch. "From head to toe," he promised. Then he walked over and opened the thin, delicately carved cabinet on the opposite side of the room and Hikaru gasped.

"You have a TV?" she asked incredulously.

He turned and stared back at her with surprise.

She covered her face and wailed quietly, "Sometimes I don't know anything about you Kiri, I love you so much it's crazy, but I didn't know where you keep your chocolate, or your blankets, and I had no idea that was a TV cabinet."

By the time she finished her list he was on his knees in front of her. He pulled her hands away from her face and onto his shoulders. "Didn't you tell me last night that we're going out to play and eat ice cream when I'm ninety?" he asked demandingly.

Confused she replied, "Yes?"

He smiled a little and told her, "Then you've got plenty of time to learn everything. I intend to spend my whole life with you Hikaru." He leaned in and kissed her. After a minute of that he said a little plaintively, "And we have to stop this, what kind of movie should we watch?"

--

Kiri spent several hours of the afternoon trying to adjust his schedule for the days Hikaru needed to recover. After listening to the last round, Hikaru told him grumpily, "Kiri, just go to work tomorrow and Monday. My mother or Risa or Shizuoka can come spend the day with me tomorrow, and Monday I'm allowed to move around and I should go do our concert rehearsal."

He refused to give up completely. Eventually he worked things out so that he had the morning free, and he asked Miri to come stay with Hikaru for the afternoon.

--

Sunday Miri was late, and Hikaru was afraid that Kiri would refuse to go to work. She thought Kiri was also anxious, since he kept going back into his office and shuffling things. Just when she'd decided to call Risa, and ask her to come, she heard footsteps on the front steps and a moment later Miri sailed through the door.

She wasn't alone, Takahashi followed her in, spotted Hikaru on the couch and made a beeline to her. He pulled her up into his arms and buried his nose in her hair.

Miri looked around and asked worriedly, "Did Kiri-kun leave? Sorry we're late, Taka-chan showed up just as I was leaving."

Hikaru looked toward the office to see Kiri freeze in the doorway and stare back at her as Takahashi said, "I've missed you love. Your mother told me you had to go to the hospital. Are you OK?"

Before she could answer, Kiri spoke in a tight voice, "Please let go of my fiancé."

Takahashi turned and raised a sardonic brow at him and declared, "She was mine first."

"What? Taka-ji!" Hikaru exclaimed.

Miri laughed and replied, "I remember that, she was about four I think."

"I don't care, put her back on the couch," Kiri said firmly.

"I'm fine," Hikaru told him, surprised by his reaction.

Takahashi set her back on the couch and turned toward Kiri and folded his arms with a grim expression.

Kiri ignored him. He brushed by the taller man, and knelt in front of Hikaru. He raised his hand to her cheek and said seriously, "If you don't promise to keep still and rest while I'm gone, I'm not leaving."

Hikaru blushed and said, "I promise Kiri, don't worry. And Taka-ji wasn't hurting me, I feel fine."

He leaned in and kissed her and replied, "Good, because if you're serious about rehearsing tomorrow anyway, you can't go pushing things today."

Takahashi glanced at Miri and saw that she was grinning at the pair fondly. He relaxed his stance and asked, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Belatedly, Hikaru did, and then Kiri left.

She looked Takahashi over. He had some grey in his hair these days, but he looked good.

He was the one who'd kept Night Dreams going after Akira died. He was the one who'd taught her to play the guitar. He was the one that carried her out of the hospital and shielded her from the reporters. And he was the one who told Yuki and Hikaru that getting Miri pregnant was the best thing that ever happened to Akira.

He'd said one night after the funeral was over and Hikaru was home again, just before the band went back on tour, "Your father was always talented, but he was always angry. Akira was angry at the whole world, until he found out Miri was pregnant. Oh, he already loved her, but that was when he suddenly realized he had a family to hold on to. Sure, it was rough, with them so young, but it gave him a center. It gave him drive. You three are the reason 'Night Dreams' exists."

Hikaru looked at him now and said, "Welcome home Taka-ji. I missed you too." Then she laughed and asked, "Did you have to taunt Kiri like that?"

Takahashi looked her over and asked bluntly, "Do you love him?"

Hikaru smiled and answered simply, "Yes. I'm going to marry him."

"Hmm, then I have to tease him a lot while I'm here," he replied with a grin, but then he frowned at her. "What if I'm not ready to let you go?"

Miri whacked his arm and said, "Don't pout Taka-chan. You'll ruin your image."

"Pah, image be damned. Hikaru you can't get married yet!" he declared. Then he added, "Unless the reason you're stuck on the couch resting is that you're pregnant too?"

Hikaru's smile faded and she said, "No, I'm not. There was a problem with my implant." She looked at him seriously and added, "I'm going to marry him this summer, even if you're not ready."

"I see," he replied, then scooted over and kissed her forehead. "I'd figured you'd wind up with Ryu-chan or maybe that brat Rin. Who is this guy? How'd you meet?"

"Ooh, I want to know that too," Miri exclaimed and bounced excitedly on the cushion she'd curled up on.

Hikaru just stared at him and asked uncertainly, "Did everyone but me always know Ryu-sensei loved me?"

Takahashi gave her a thoughtful look and answered with a question, "Does knowing change anything?"

Hikaru replied quickly, "No!" But then she hesitated and changed her answer, "Well, maybe. I never worried about making him unhappy before."

"Didn't you?" he inquired searchingly, and shushed Miri when she started to speak.

Hikaru thought about it and replied, "I guess I did, because I tried not to ask about things I thought would hurt him. So, no, it doesn't change anything." Somehow she felt relieved, being able to declare that.

Takahashi gave her a knowing grin and asked again, "So how did you meet your Kiri," and his eyes slid over to meet Miri's and he added, "and why doesn't your mother already know?"

Hikaru laughed and blushed and mumbled, "Because it's embarrassing."

"So embarrassing you can't tell anyone?" he asked with surprise.

"Risa and Shizuoka know," she replied promptly.

"I see," he said with a laugh.

Miri pouted and asked plaintively, "You can tell your friends, but not your own mother?"

Hikaru spent a painfully embarrassing but restful afternoon, telling her loved ones how she'd met and fallen for Kiri.

--

Monday's rehearsal turned into a jam session with Night Dreams in the afternoon. Partway through the night they moved onto the stage at Blue Moon. Ryuske, Rin and Hatsuharu had played with Takahashi when he came to visit before, but only Hikaru had ever played music with the whole band. Those times had been more casual, mostly just fooling around when she'd been smaller. Playing together for real, that was something different.

At one point when Hikaru and Rin were doing a song with Night Dreams Koriyu and Emmett, Ryuske turned to Takahashi and said abruptly, "You can't have her."

Takahashi looked at him in surprise and said, "Neither can you, I hear."

"She's the reason Mirage exists, Night Dreams can't have Hikaru," Ryuske clarified.

"Why would we," Takahashi began and then his breath caught as the four on stage started one of Akira's songs. He turned and stared at Hikaru.

All of Night Dreams members were staring at Hikaru. Her voice lowered as she hit the low notes her father had rung before the song had been adapted to its current form, and then soared again as the song lifted.

"Dear gods," whispered Takahashi.

Ryuske repeated, "You can't have her, she's mine."

Takahashi recovered his composure and teased, "Oh really, I'm pretty sure she claims she's Kiri-kun's."

Ryuske didn't react, just looked at him seriously.

Takahashi yielded and said quietly, "I know. Akira is gone, we won't ever try to pretend Hikaru is his replacement. But she's really amazing, gods, I had no idea she could sing his full range."

"Practice and natural ability," replied Ryuske calmly.

"Yeah," Takahashi laughed.