Author's note:
FINALLY! I am SO sorry it took me so long to get the epilogue written! ;_; 
I kept meaning to, but I got busy with other things. (Translation: I got 
lazy. ^_^;;) Well, now it's finished. I just hope any readers of this 
haven't given up on me. ^^;

                                ~Epilogue~

"Almost done with your homework, aniki?" Suboshi asked. Amiboshi looked up 
from his science textbook and smiled.

"Yeah. Need me to help you with yours?" he asked.

"As usual," Suboshi said with a guilty smile. "Sorry you have twice as 
much work to do every night. I wish I could understand this biology stuff 
on my own!"

"No need to apologize. Science just isn't your strong suit." Amiboshi 
gestured for Suboshi to grab a chair and join him at his desk.

"Thanks, aniki." Suboshi sat down and sighed heavily. "But it isn't just 
science. I seem to have trouble with every subject in school except Phys. 
Ed!" he said.

"You just don't apply yourself, otouto," Amiboshi said, joking a little. 
Suboshi rolled his eyes.

"You sound like Okaa-san and Otou-san, aniki." Amiboshi laughed.

"Gomen, otouto."

Amiboshi and Suboshi had been living in Japan for a little over a month 
now. They had been reborn in the modern world as long-lost twins adopted 
by two different foster parents, Hiroko Ishida and Kenji Uematsu...who 
just happened to be dating. A few weeks later, Hiroko and Kenji married, 
and the four of them moved into the Ishida house.

Suboshi smiled as he remembered how he'd met up with his twin at the 
school library. They'd been living in Japan for a week then, and Suboshi 
was looking for books for a Literature assignment.

~About 5 weeks earlier~

"Yeah, I think that's enough. Thanks for letting me borrow the copy 
machine."

"No problem. Good luck with that assignment, young man!" the good-natured, 
middle-aged woman said.

"Thanks...I'm sure gonna need it." The teenager then hauled the stack of 
books and photocopied encyclopedia pages over to a quiet corner and set 
them down on the table with a *thud*. "At least THIS time I didn't wait 
till the last minute...still, how am I going to get this done? Damn it, I 
wish I wasn't so bad in Literature," he mumbled. Sighing, he opened one of 
the books and began to scour the chapters. 'Why did I pick this guy to 
write about anyway? Until a week ago I didn't even know who J.D. Salinger 
WAS!' he thought as he searched frantically for any information.

The professor had given the class the assignment of picking a famous 
American author to write an analysis on, and he'd given them a month to 
turn it in. For most of the students, that seemed like enough time, but to 
Suboshi, it wasn't nearly enough.

'How am I supposed to gather enough information on this guy AND his books 
to fill at least three pages?! Dammit!'

Suboshi was so wrapped up in his stress that he nearly jumped out of his 
chair when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me...is that 'The Collective Encyclopedia of American Authors'?" a 
male voice asked. Suboshi turned around to see a boy his age standing 
there.

A boy who looked exactly like him.

"H...hai..." he squeaked. 'Okay, I've lost it...this guy looks EXACTLY 
like me, and I never noticed him!'

"Ah...I kind of need it. The author I'm writing my analysis on is listed 
in there, according to my computer search," the boy said.

"A-analysis? Would...this be on an American author?" Suboshi asked. The 
boy's eyes widened a little.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"You have Tanaka-sensei for Literature?! Which class?!"

"Second period..."

They looked at each other, then facefaulted.

"You look just like me, you're in my Literature class, and I never noticed 
you?!" Suboshi cried. "Damn, I feel like an idiot."

"That makes two of us," the other boy sighed, running a hand through his 
hair. "Okaa-san was right about me working too hard, I guess."

"I'm just completely lost...this is my first week in this city, let alone 
this school," Suboshi said.

"Yeah, I know how that is," the other boy said. "I just moved here with my 
adoptive mother."

"You're adopted too?" Suboshi blinked. "Wow, looks like we have more in 
common than appearance! What's your name?"

"Amiboshi Ishida. Yours?"

"Suboshi Uematsu."

"Nice to meet you," Amiboshi said. 'Why does that name sound so familiar, 
though...?' He shrugged. "Anyway...mind if I borrow that book?"

"I guess...I'm not finding enough on J.D. Salinger in here anyway," 
Suboshi grumbled.

"I'm writing about John Knowles! The search SAID he was listed in here...
let me see." Amiboshi looked at the index, then flipped through several 
pages before stopping somewhere near the middle of the book. "Ah! Yeah, 
he's there..."

Suboshi watched as Amiboshi looked over the pages. There was something 
very familiar about this boy...he just couldn't place it.

"Hey...since both our authors are in that book...maybe we could share and 
work on our essays together," he suggested. Amiboshi looked up and smiled 
at him.

"Sure," he said. "It's always easier to work with someone than by 
yourself." He sat down and pulled his chair close to Suboshi, who gave him 
a heartfelt smile.

"Thanks."

As they scoured the chapters of the book and wrote down any important info 
they would need, Amiboshi kept sneaking glances at the other boy. He'd 
just met Suboshi, but for some reason he felt like he'd known him all his 
life. And it didn't even seem strange to him.

Suboshi smiled as he watched Amiboshi's pen move across his notebook page. 
He didn't seem to be having any trouble gathering info. 'I'll bet he gets 
straight As,' he thought. Something about this, the idea of Amiboshi being 
so smart, felt very comforting to Suboshi... 'Because now I've got someone 
to help me with my homework any time?' No, it was more than that...there 
was a certain familiarity about this Suboshi couldn't place.

"You almost done with this page?"

Suboshi looked up as Amiboshi's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"I need page 362, are you almost done with the page you're on?" Amiboshi 
asked. Suboshi sweatdropped.

"You can have it...to be honest, I wasn't paying attention that much," he 
admitted.

"Somehow I kind of figured you for a short attention span," Amiboshi 
teased.

"I-it's not that! I just couldn't stop thinking about you, that's all," 
Suboshi stammered, then realized what he'd just said. 'Damn it! You just 
met this guy, you want him thinking you're some kind of pervert?' "I 
mean..."

Amiboshi raised an eyebrow.

"So I'm more interesting than your schoolwork?" he asked.

"Well, I see plenty of schoolbooks every day, but seeing a guy who looks 
just like me is a once-in-a-lifetime thing!" Suboshi laughed.

"True." Amiboshi smiled. "I admit, I kept sneaking glances at you as 
well...there's something about you...I can't place it, but there's...this 
feeling that I might know you from somewhere. Not just having the same 
class, but..."

"Just that I KNOW you, I've spent time with you before," Suboshi finished 
the thought. Amiboshi blinked.

"...How did you...know what I was going to say?"

"I don't know...man, this is WEIRD. We've never met, we didn't even notice 
each other in the same classroom for a week..." Suboshi began.

"But we look exactly alike, we get on REALLY well considering we just met 
and everything...even our family situations. I know there's nothing 
unusual about single parents adopting, but..." Amiboshi trailed off.

"It's the fact that it's paired with all that other stuff, right?" Suboshi 
said. "I know. I swear, it's almost like we were long-lost twin brothers 
or something!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a cold tremor wash over him.

'No...I-I don't remember my real family, but I'm pretty sure I was an only 
child...it can't be...'

Before he could question it any further, though, he noticed Amiboshi 
staring ahead, looking at nothing.

"A...Amiboshi?"

Amiboshi slowly turned around and looked at Suboshi.

"...My brother..."

No questions. No wondering what possessed him to say that. Not from 
Suboshi, not from himself.

At that moment, Amiboshi realized all the images going through his head 
every night weren't just strange dreams. They were memories.

Memories of the war. Memories of his past life.

Memories of his brother.

"Suboshi..."

Suboshi didn't say anything, only stepped forward to embrace the other 
boy.

"Aniki," he finally whispered, closing his eyes and burying his face in 
Amiboshi's shoulder. "Aniki..."

"It's you...I-I can't believe it's really you, otouto," Amiboshi 
whispered. "I-I've missed you so much!" Tears filled his eyes. "I-I still 
remember finding out you were dead, and-"

"I know...e-ever since I came here I...I just felt like something was 
missing, like I'd forgotten about someone...and I can't believe I didn't 
SEE it the first time I saw you!" Suboshi said, his voice breaking 
slightly. "Aniki..." He trailed off, tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Otouto..." Amiboshi hugged him tighter and closed his eyes. "We're 
together again now...and that's all that matters," he said.

~Present~

"It's been a crazy five weeks, hasn't it?" Suboshi laughed as he put down 
his notebook and pencil, getting up and settling down on his bed. "And to 
top everything off, we have homework!"

"Crazy, yes...but they were the best five weeks of my life," Amiboshi 
said, sitting next to his twin.

"Why is that?" Suboshi asked.

"Because you're with me," Amiboshi said, wrapping his arm around Suboshi.

"Aniki..." Suboshi leaned closer, resting his head on Amiboshi's shoulder. 
"I'm so glad Otou-san bugged me to go to the library that day." Amiboshi 
nodded, his eyes closing slightly as he relaxed against Suboshi.

The next few moments were filled with silence as Suboshi began to feel a 
bit strange...strange, but somehow good. Without thinking, he tilted his 
head closer to Amiboshi's.

"Otouto?" Amiboshi blinked. Suboshi blushed deeply.

"Aniki, I..." he began, closing his eyes.

"S-Suboshi..." Amiboshi suddenly realized what Suboshi was feeling...and 
that HE felt the same thing!

'I know twins are closer than average siblings are, but...feeling each 
other's emotions? And...what IS this feeling? Something...something about 
our past lives, and...'

Before either twin knew what they were doing, Suboshi closed the gap 
between his and Amiboshi's lips, kissing him gently.

"Otouto..." Amiboshi pulled away. "Y-you just..."

"I know...aniki, I-I just have this feeling...that..."

"I-I know, I'm feeling the same thing...but we're brothers? I-isn't it 
wrong?" Amiboshi said.

"Even if it is...somehow, I have a feeling it's right," Suboshi said 
before leaning in to kiss Amiboshi again. This time, Amiboshi returned the 
kiss and only pulled away when the need to breathe arose.

"Otouto...this is right," he whispered. "I just know it is." Amiboshi 
sighed. "But...how are we going to hide it from people? You know, us being 
all close and all that," he said.

"You know what the great thing is?" Suboshi asked.

"What?"

"Nobody would ever suspect twin brothers." Suboshi grinned. "We can even 
share a bed and our parents wouldn't know anything," he whispered.

"Otouto!" Amiboshi blushed brightly, putting a hand to his face to still 
the blood dripping from his nose.

"You're as shy and modest as ever, aniki." Suboshi laughed. "But that's 
one of the reasons I love you."

"I love you too," Amiboshi snuggled closer to Suboshi, closing his eyes.

"Let's never be separated again, aniki," Suboshi murmured.

"This time, we'll stay together no matter what," Amiboshi said.

The past was behind them now. No more death, violence and illness to panic 
about. They had a home, two loving parents, and each other.

And maybe they'd run into Miaka, Yui and even the other seishi again. And 
maybe this time around, they would be friends.

Just maybe...

                                ~End~

        FINALLY! *collapses onto the desk* It's finished..."Dear Brother" 
is finally completely, 100% FINISHED! XD XD XD Aaah, I'm so proud of 
myself, I actually completed an epic fic. ^_^ Thanks so much to everyone 
who reviewed it! ^_^