"Ki-chan! Oh my god, we forgot Ki-chan!"

Haruhi bolted upright in her airplane seat and leaned forward to scoop her purse off the floor, frantically rooting around in it until she found what she needed. Triumphant, she extracted her cell phone from the cavernous sack, brandishing it before her like a talisman.

Before she could unlock it, a large hand closed over it, plucking it from her grasp. "Hey!" She turned an indignant glare on her seatmate, "I was using that."

Smirking, Kyoya simply transferred it to his left hand and held it up in the air. On cue, the ever-diligent Tachibana rose from his seat at the back of the private jet and loped down the aisle to take it from his employer and tuck it safely in his suit jacket before returning to his seat.

"We agreed," Kyoya reminded sanctimoniously, "This is a vacation – no cell phones or laptops except for a daily Skype to Daiki-kun."

Haruhi crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips at him. True, she'd been the one to insist on that provision – otherwise one or both of them would end up spending the entire time working (him) or studying (her) - but under the circumstances, couldn't he bend just a little? "I just need to send the Suohs a quick text. I think we forgot to pack Ki-chan and Dai-chan can't fall asleep without it."

Kyoya's lips jerked with the effort of holding back the smile he was too smart to let show. "Haruhi, it's already well past Daiki-kun's bedtime so either 1. You did pack it. 2. You didn't but it wasn't a problem, or 3. It's already been dealt with. Yuzuru-san does have a key to your house in case Daiki-kun needs anything, remember?" His smile couldn't be contained any longer and emerged as a minute upturning at the corners of his mouth. "As does Shima, the head housekeeper, the butler, and the over-paid security company watching the place. There is no shortage of people who could be tasked to fetch a stuffed toy."

Haruhi slumped back in her seat with a huff and ran her hands over her face. Damn it, he was right. The bastard. She really hated it when that happened. "I'm being a worry-wart again, aren't I?"

"No, you're being a good mother," Kyoya chuckled, "But you don't need to be so concerned – it isn't like you left your son with strangers. He's got two indulgent grandparents taking care of him, not to mention a dozen servants, a formidable nanny, and three dogs. He's protected around the clock by Yuzuru-san's security staff and, if that's not enough, the Suohs have a full platoon of the Black Onion Squad on speed dial. Plus, if he were to get so much as a sniffle, his grandfather-to-be would mobilize the entire Tokyo medical community to cure him. The only child in Japan better looked-after and protected than Daiki-kun is currently in line for the imperial throne."

Well, when he put it like that, her existential parental dread that something horrible would happen and she wouldn't be there was… quite simply, it was ridiculous. How the hell had her father managed to cope with a job that left her alone so often? Laughing at herself, she tilted her head back against the seat. "In my mind, I know that's true but… it's just that it was hard enough to leave him for a weekend, I think a whole week might be impossible for me."

Kyoya shifted suddenly, leaning across her seat and bringing his face within centimeters of hers and, just like that, all thoughts of stuffed toys and unforeseeable accidents flew out of her head. "If you need to take your mind off things, I have a suggestion," he drawled, low and seductive. His fingers reached out to skim along her temple, tucking her hair behind her ear. The gentle stroke of fingernails down the side of her neck ignited every single nerve ending in her body.

Glittering gray eyes trapped her, pinned her in place with the hypnotic gaze of tiger about to pounce, the hint of mischief in them doing nothing to diminish the heat. Nothing to lessen in one bit the crackling, electricity of 'intent' which sparked off him, licking at her skin and sending tiny flickers of warmth racing along her spine. Turning his hand, he cupped her cheek and closed the distance between them, his breath intermingling with hers as he whispered, "You do realize this plane comes fully equipped with a master bedroom?"

Ohhhh… That was… It had been a month since his birthday, the last time they could arrange a break in their schedules. A long month of being a responsible adult with an impressionable child. A very, very long month of brief caresses and teasing kisses that always stopped short of where she really wanted them to.

And why the hell not? They were child-free, they were on vacation, and, according to him, they hadn't even begun to make a dent in that incredibly inventive and exhaustive list of his. Haruhi's tongue snaked out, moistening lips dry from more than the pressurized cabin air, and she opened her mouth to say 'Ye…'

Slam!

The flight attendant banged the cockpit door closed, ensuring it was safely latched, and Haruhi returned to her senses with a jolt. All the heat in her body channeled straight to her cheeks, she was getting too used to being one of the 'damn rich bastards' she'd always complained about. Starting to lose her awareness of the people that constantly surrounded her, the people her classmates ignored because they didn't matter.

"No way, sempai," she growled, pushing against him with more force than strictly necessary.

Kyoya arched one eyebrow and she almost apologized for taking her anger at herself out on him. Almost. She absolutely would have if he didn't seem to be laughing at her attack of middle-class sensibility. "Haruhi, you do realize we borrowed this plane from the Hitachiins – I'm sure the staff here are both discrete and inured to all manner of activities."

"Ewwwww…" She wrinkled her nose. "Thanks for that visual. Now it's not just 'no' but 'hell no.' I think my brain needs bleach."

Kyoya collapsed back in his chair, making no effort at all anymore to hide his amusement. "Ah, well – I suppose we'll have to cross number thirty-six off the list another time." In one graceful move he rose to his feet, turning to her and extending his hand. "But it is a long flight and we'll arrive there late morning. I insist we at least get as much of a good night's sleep as possible."

Through the miracle of international travel, after sitting in this tin-can for seven hours they would arrive in Hawaii on Christmas morning – a full twelve hours before they had left Tokyo. If she wanted to reduce jet-lag and not spend the night trying to get rest in her chair, then the cabin was her only option.

She really, really, really, hated it when he was right.

Reaching to take his hand, she stopped, fingers hovering just over his upturned palm and narrowed her eyes. "Just sleep?"

"If you insist," he replied, throwing in an "I promise" in the face of her skepticism as if it didn't leave him a great deal of wiggle room. If nothing else, her engagement to Kyoya would result in her being amazing at contractual law.

Deciding he was being at least somewhat honest, she accepted his hand and let him pull her to her feet. With a nod to Tachibana and instructions to the flight attendant to wake them at eight in the morning local time, he escorted her the short walk to the back of the plane.

One hand at the small of her back, he used the other to push open the cabin door and gesture her to proceed him. Just as she stepped forward, he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "But I never promised not to try and change your mind."

~oOoOo~

Haruhi leaned her head back to catch more of the sun's warming rays on her cheeks. The wind rushed over the convertible (sleek, blue, vaguely shark-like, and undoubtedly expensive), roaring in her ears like a waterfall, tugging and tangling the ends of her ponytail. Sunlight flickered through the canopy above their heads, dancing among leaves the most vivid shade of green she'd ever seen and the air was permeated with the scent of sea and sun and earth and all manner of growing things. She couldn't resist inhaling it deeply into her lungs, releasing it on a sigh that relaxed every fiber in muscles tense from three non-stop weeks of studying for finals.

Credit where credit was due, winter break in Hawaii was a great idea. Sometimes, Kyoya's being 'right' most of the time wasn't such a bad thing.

Sometimes.

Propping her elbow on the car window frame, she rested her head on her fist and turned to study him. Noted the microscopic flinch of his jaw, the brief squeeze his hands gave the wheel, the barely perceptible rise of his shoulders towards his ears before he forced them back down again. His eyes left the road for a nanosecond, sliding to meet hers with a smile before focusing back on the sedate country road between the airport and Kauai's Northern shore with the intensity of a Formula 1 driver in a career-making race.

Something was up. She'd had her suspicions all day, but now she had enough evidence to be certain. Something was making him tense, concerned, maybe even apprehensive. The man next to her was not one enjoying his vacation, was not relaxed and happy. A 'relaxed and happy' Kyoya was was sarcastic, acerbic, and just the slightest bit evil. This Kyoya was too polite, too reserved, even for him.

It had begun the minute they'd woken up. At first, she'd thought he was pouting over her refusal to let him cross number thirty-six off his damned list or that this was what happened when the 'low-blood-sugar-demon' met jet-lag. But, he'd still been subdued even after three cups of coffee, two spiced pumpkin scones, and a heated 'I'll make it up to you later' kiss.

And, things hadn't improved one bit once they landed. When she'd made him stop for lunch and sight-seeing in a historic beach side town with an unpronounceable name, he hadn't regarded the colorful, slightly ramshackle buildings as if they were one minor tremor away from falling on his head. He didn't wince when she'd headed straight for the local fish market and ordered two bowls of something resembling minced chirashi tossed with sauce and vegetables, didn't hold up a piece of fish and eye it suspiciously as if trying to discern its pedigree and didn't grimace when she'd insisted he try a bite of her pickled mango shaved ice afterward. In fact, the only 'Kyoya' thing he had done was look testily at his watch and try to dissuade her from spending more time at the lovely public beach at the center of town.

Something was definitely up. Or, more likely, Kyoya was up to something. The real question was, just how upset would she be when he finally told her what it was?

The road widened, the landscape morphing from tropical jungle to asphalt, lawns, and wooden buildings as they entered another town. Halfway through, Kyoya turned right onto a side road heading in the direction of the water. Haruhi looked at him, curious, but any questions she had died on her tongue. His expression had gone from 'preoccupied' to 'downright grim.'

Another turn had them heading down a narrower road. Colorful beach houses, small by American standards, clustered on the landward side of the road opposite a tall, stone wall that obscured her view completely. Straining her eyes, she could just make out the tops of palm trees beyond it, swaying in a breeze that carried with it the smell of salt water. Up ahead, the barricade broke in two, forming an entrance bedecked with flowerbeds on both sides and a fountain artfully sculpted to look like a natural waterfall in the center, bifurcating the driveway.

She wasn't at all surprised when Kyoya circled the wheel sharply, angling the car around the water feature and through the gates. Her rusty English-reading skills weren't up to processing all of the words on the wrought-iron sign arching above them, but she caught enough to be equally unfazed by the view the fence had shielded from her. The road cut through a golf-course sized lawn, heading towards a central building. The shape, and the bright white paint contrasting against a backdrop of tropical blue sea, put Haruhi in mind of a cruise ship gone to ground. Smaller buildings, also white, clustered around it on both sides like baby chicks.

Damn it, it was a resort. At least, that was what the sign had said. She didn't have much luck with those. Hopefully this one would be lacking in alligators. Oh, gods, was it one of the ones she now owned? Given Kyoya's suspicious behavior, she wouldn't want to bet against it.

Gritting her teeth against what she knew was coming, she tamped down hard on her irritation. She'd at least let him explain himself, maybe this was a pit stop and not the final destination. He'd told her he'd rented a private beach cottage for them to stay at. Given it was him, she'd been expecting an ornate villa suitable for the potentate of a small country, but even that was preferable to here.

She never used to mind places like this, just thought of them as a waste of money. Now, though, she got so much attention whenever she visited even the smallest pensión that it made her uncomfortable. It was even worse when it was a Suoh property, then everyone acted like she were visiting royalty. But that wasn't what irritated her, oh no, it was that he hadn't told her. Maybe it was time for another little chat about how she was a reasonable adult who could understand things like 'family obligation' or 'security concerns.'

They pulled up to the front entrance and, before he had time to put it in park, two young men darted forward with more alacrity than if she had been the President. The taller one, an American surfer type with hair bleached white from the sun, bounded around the car to the driver's side. The other, older and more mature despite boyish features perfectly blending East and West, opened her door with a flourish that spoke of long hours spent on the proper protocol when an owner came to visit.

That 'chat' was about to become a full on argument.

"Ms. Suoh, welcome to Kauai," he beamed with an irrepressible infectiousness that had her grinning back, then repeated his greeting in a liltingly-accented Japanese.

"Thank you," she replied, in both languages as well, taking his outstretched hand and rising to her feet. She wasn't going to take her ire out on an innocent bystander.

The young man's eyes flickered to just over her shoulder and he stepped back with a tiny bow, quietly disappearing into the background, the space he'd left open immediately filled by Kyoya. She scowled. A not-so-innocent bystander was a different story.

"Haruhi…" he started to say. Then stopped, his expression so pained, it bordered on constipated. Then opened his mouth again, "Haruhi, I…"

"Mama! Mama! You're here!" Out of nowhere, a small body slammed into her side, wrapping its arms around her knees with the strength of a boa constrictor. Haruhi's hand moved on its own, reflexively ruffling Daiki's hair.

"God dam… I mean… Gosh darn it, monkey! Don't run off on…" Hikaru bolted out the front door next, stopping as if he'd run into a wall when he saw who was in the driveway. "Oops."

Looking from her son to her friend and back again, Haruhi's irritation did an about-face and veered straight into confusion.

"Thank God, finally! Mei, Stefan and I only have exactly…" Kaoru followed out on his brother's heels, frowning at his watch. "Two hours and thirty-six minutes to get her ready. What the hell took you over two hours to get from the airport to here?"

"Mmmm… these malasadas are really good." Honey strolled out next, licking sugar off his fingers. "I think we should put them on the menu, do a 'foods of the world theme', ne? Hi Kyo-chan, hi Haru-chan, how was your flight?" The diminutive host patted his breast pocket. "Don't worry, Kyo-chan, I've got the rings right… right…" His face fell in dismay and he started patting every pocket on the light-gray suit he wore.

Haruhi's eyes contracted into slits. A suit? Here? And, just coincidentally, the exact same one all the rest of the ex-Hosts wore? She looked down at the tiny figure clutching her side. His suit wasn't quite the same, but it was close enough. Confusion morphed into suspicion which decided to pull out all the stops and head straight for 'pissed off.'

Arms crossed over her chest, her right foot tapped an impatient tattoo. Only one person could be behind this and she glared right at that raven-haired, manipulative, bastard.

"I…I can't find the rings!" Honey howled, giant tears forming at the corner of his eyes. "I'm sorry Kyo-chan!"

"They're here, Mitskuni," assured the oldest host, who'd taken up his usual spot beside his cousin, patting his own breast pocket.

"Yay! Then, let's go get the groom ready!" Honey bounced up and down on his toes. "And eat some more malasadas. Oh!" He frowned in consternation. "But then I might not have room for wedding cake. And the cake looks really, really good."

Mori's eyes swept from Haruhi to Kyoya and back. "Mitskuni," he grumbled, placing his hand on the other person-who-really-should-have-known-better's shoulder, "We should go review the security plan one more time first."

"But we already..." Honey tilted his head in cherubic perplexity. Following his cousin's gaze towards Haruhi, his eyes widened in alarm. "Oh. Okay. Yeah, we should go do that, Takashi. Right. Now."

Karou, alerted to the oncoming storm, held his hands up placatingly and backed away slowly. "I'll... go make sure Mei hasn't made any more last-minute changes to the dress."

"C'mon sprout." Hikaru his shoulders shaking in silent laughter, grabbed Daiki's arm and pulling the boy back into the hotel. "Let's let your mom and uncle Ootori have a minute to... talk."

As soon as the courtyard cleared, Haruhi slowly arched one eyebrow at the high-handed, bespectacled, Machiavelli. "Care to explain, sempai?"

She expected him to respond in his usual way – back straight, finger-pushing-up-his-glasses, condescending explanation of how this was the most logical, rational, and reasonable thing to do. How by moving up the wedding, she wouldn't have to spend the next four months dreading it. Maybe there would be some nonsense about how practical a solution it was, how the timing and foreign location reduced the guest list from over a thousand to a mere eight hundred or so. Somehow or other, he'd try to talk her out of her righteous indignation.

But he didn't.

Instead, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Haruhi, I…" He stopped, then shook his head. "No. I can't do it like this." With no more warning than that, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up tight against his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head. In public! In full view of anyone who might be watching! She was too stunned to even try and struggle.

"There are so many things you want in your life," he murmured into her hair, "Things I won't be able to give you – even with money and power and position. That I can't give you because of the money, power, and position. I know your life now and in future won't be the way you expected it to be. The way you planned. And I wish I could change that."

As apologies went, this was a good beginning. His sincerity was always her undoing. She felt her anger ease and her body soften against his. Releasing her grasp on her own elbows, she slid her arms around his waist and nuzzled her cheek against his heart. The steady 'thu-thump, thu-thump' pounding in her ear underscored just how much of a lie that 'cool' façade he wore was.

"I can't give you anonymity. Or the freedom to live an ordinary life." He barked a sharp, bitter laugh full of self-mockery. "Damn it, I can't even get you out of a wedding with over a thousand people you've never met." Taking a step back, he kept his hands loosely grasped around her back and gazed down. "But what I can do is make it so the wedding that counts, the one we remember, is the way you want it to be."

His hands slid down her arms to entangle with hers. "Haruhi, I can't prevent the big, society wedding but, before that, would you marry me? Here, now - just you, me, and the people we love and who love us back. People who are here because they genuinely wish for our happiness."

She blinked up at him, incredulous at him speaking her own words, the ones she'd let out the one time she'd allowed herself to voice dissatisfaction. "But… how? I mean..." Her head shook in disbelief. "You… you said we couldn't elope. Our parents said we couldn't elope. Everyone said we couldn't elope. Vehemently!"

"Oh, we can't elope." He looked horrified, as if the very word itself were contaminated. "The social and business ramifications would be disastrous." Kyoya lifted a hand to stroke his fingertips against her cheek. "But an impatient groom? That's a different thing altogether. People won't just forgive that, they'll celebrate it." He chuckled, mocking society's foibles. "A grand, romantic gesture from an Ootori? That will be a conversation topic for years. Practically legendary."

"But..." Her hands flew to her mouth, trying to tamp down on the hope bursting within her. "Is... is this even legal?"

"Perfectly, according to several international treaties." His eyes glinted with the triumph of having found a way around the restrictions imposed on him. "Your father will hand deliver the paperwork to the registry office as soon as he returns. But-" With a jerk, he pulled her back into his arms, trapping hers between them, her palms flat against his chest. "-I haven't heard a 'yes' yet."

It couldn't be this easy. No - it wouldn't be. He'd dismissed the ramifications of it offhandedly, but she knew a lot more about his world than she had a year ago. People wouldn't voice offense, wouldn't be able to, so censure would fall on him in a myriad of unspoken ways. They would whisper behind his back, damning him with little words like impulsive. Undisciplined. Weak. The reputation he'd spent years building would fray at the edges.

This wasn't just a 'grand, romantic gesture.' This was Kyoya offering her his heart on a platter. Even if it would have been the wiser course, even if it were for his own good, there was no way her own heart was strong enough to reject a gift like that.

Besides, anyone who made the mistake of thinking him weak, deserved whatever they got.

Joy bubbled up within her, too strong to be contained, and she laughed. "Yes! Of course it's yes!" Haruhi smoothed her hands over his shirt. "Gods, you're as crazy as the rest of them, aren't you? I can't believe you arranged an entire wedding in under two months because of one comment I made."

"I can't believe that after all this time knowing me you still have no idea just how powerful you are." Placing a finger under her chin, he lifted her gaze to his. To eyes so filled with love her laugh vanished along with her ability to breathe. "I'd raise monuments if you commanded it. Level empires to the ground. Arranging a tropical wedding with a little under fifty guests?" He scoffed, "Child's play."

Gliding her hands up over his chest and around his neck, she tangled them in the hair at the back of his neck. "Idiot. Like I need any of that." Lifting herself up to her tiptoes, she pulled his head down and feathered her lips across his. "I only need you."

An explosion of cheering and clapping coming from the hotel deafened her, had her pulling back in embarrassment. Kyoya was having none of that. His arms tightened around her and he captured her mouth with his, returning her kiss with a ferocity that startled her, consuming her until she never wanted it to end. A kiss that went on and on until she thought that it wouldn't.

The applause was still going when he finally released her.

Blushing, she twisted in his arms to face the horde spilling out from the foyer now that it looked like the wedding was still on. At the center of it stood Yuzuru, Daiki in his arms, both grinning broadly and next to them the trifecta of Anne Sophie, Fuyumi, and Kyoya's mother clutched their handkerchiefs and dabbed at their eyes. Bracketing the trio on the other side, Ootori Yoshio looked like he was maybe, possibly, on the verge of cracking a smile.

Haruhi's lips twisted, smothering a chuckle. Somewhere, a very hot place had to be freezing over.

Maria and her brood were there, clustered next to the Hitachiin family, Mei, and Misuzu with Haruhi's former downstairs neighbors and their boss standing guard. Kasanoda's gaze kept alternating from his wife over to where the amassed Morinozuka and Haninozuka clans stood opposite him. Behind all of that, she could see even more familiar faces - her boss (by several bosses) Masahiro, Momoka and Class President Soga, Renge and her assistant, the Nekozawa siblings... the list went on and on.

Kyoya had really done it. Had gathered together everyone she loved to give her the wedding she hadn't even known she'd dreamed of.

How had her life ended up this fortunate? How had fate allowed her to have found the love of not one, but two utterly amazing men? Her throat closed over a lump, making it difficult to swallow, and her vision blurred, forcing her to blink rapidly against the moisture prickling at the corner of her eyes.

"Nope! Nope! None of that!" Mei, in a blindingly-bright turquoise, knee-length sheath dress, pushed her way out of the throng and grabbed Haruhi by the wrist. "No crying until after Stefan puts his industrial-strength, waterproof, goop on you. Now, if we are done with the whole 'moron-springing-a-surprise-wedding-on-a-girl' drama?" She sneered the question at Kyoya, not waiting for an answer before giving the bride the maniacal look which signaled an impending make-over. "Let's get you guys hitched!"

Stefan, Kaoru, and all three of the Ootori/Suoh women enveloped her, carrying her away on a river of laughter. Over her shoulder, she caught sight of the rest of the Host Club hustling Kyoya off for his own sure-to-be-less-intensive preparations. Daiki enthusiastically joined in, pushing against his soon-to-be-father's back to hurry him along.

Stefan better get that makeup on her fast, she was going to dissolve into a puddle any minute now. All these people who'd rearranged their holiday schedules for her, who'd conspired to keep this secret from her, who were laughing and smiling as if her happiness were their own… it was a blessing she never would have imagined. Not last year. Not six years ago. And definitely not back when she first walked through the doors of Ouran, first even thought of applying. Kyoya was right - her life now and in future wouldn't be what she'd always expected, what she'd always planned for herself.

It was going to be so much better!

~oOoOo~

Kyoya stood alone on the shore. Alone at the very spot where, less than three hours ago, he'd said the words that changed his life forever. The simple little words that welded two into one. That meant his life no longer belonged to him.

Before him, a path of silver stretched from just beyond his feet all the way to the nearly full moon hanging in the sky like a Christmas ornament. The waves lapped at the shore, a peaceful melody occasionally punctuated by the beats of J-Pop, American Rock, and Latin Ballads coming from the terrace behind him. The celebration party was in full swing with no signs of stopping.

He should be back there, he was both the host and one of the guests of honor. And he would go back.

In a minute.

A whisper of footsteps against sand notified him of her presence a moment before delicate arms wrapped around him from behind. He covered them with his own, shoulders relaxing when Haruhi pressed her cheek against his back. "Tired of the party?" she asked, her voice barely audible over the waves.

"Not really," he replied, rotating so he could hold her. So he could smell the orchids in her hair, stroke his fingers up and down her spine. "I just wanted a bit of time to myself. Were people starting to notice I was gone?"

Elfin eyes twinkled up at him along with the smile she hadn't let go of since the moment she'd placed a foot on the flower-strewn aisle. A smile that made her sparkle brighter than the diamond on her finger, until everything had faded into the background but her. Until his breathing became so shallow it was a miracle he hadn't expired from oxygen deprivation on the spot. Until he'd scarcely heard the words of the ceremony, causing their audience to laugh when he had to be prompted to say his vows. Even now he couldn't begin to describe how radiant she'd looked, how beautiful she would always look to him.

Kaoru and Mei would have a hard time topping themselves for the next ceremony, the simple, silk-chiffon dress they'd decided on had been perfect. Wisely, they'd left the bodice unadorned except for a small string of pearls along the sweetheart neckline, the 'Natural' host didn't need any embellishments to enhance her appeal. The unlined skirt fell in soft drapes that flowed and danced in the breeze like the petals of a flower. And the color! Whatever fanciful name it was called, it gleamed in the golden light of the setting sun - glowing whiter and whiter until she was the brightest star on the horizon.

"No, I'm the only one," Haruhi stated, yanking his thoughts away from recent memory and back to the present. "Everyone else is too busy watching Hikaru and his… date, I guess? Do some kind of Latin ballroom thing. I think they called it a bachata." She wrinkled her brow adorably. "I honestly can't figure out what their relationship is."

"Nor can I." It was... annoying. Hikaru successfully keeping secrets from him was as bothersome as a fly at a picnic. "All Kaoru and Stefan could tell me was that Christina-san is here repaying some unspecified favor. And someone," he teased, "Won't let me use my computer to do a background check on her."

Haruhi snorted, not one bit repentant. "Well, Hikaru is a big boy. I'm sure he can handle his own love life." Rolling her eyes, she clarified, "Or whatever they've got going on."

"Mmmm..." he concurred, adding "But, if he can't, that might be amusing to watch."He laughed at her glower. Someday, when he was feeling suicidal, he'd tell her how adorable she looked when she was angry. How irresistible.

Flattening the palm of his left hand against her back, he trailed the fingers of his other up along her spine. "Don't you think there are better things we could be doing out here than discussing Hikaru..." He skimmed his hand along her shoulder blade, following the patch of skin, luminous under the light of the moon, stretching from her elbow, to shoulder and up the side of her neck. "Just the two of us..." Cupping her cheek firmly, he anchored her head in place. "On a beach..." The feather-light stroke of his thumb against her very, very, sensitive earlobe made her shiver. "Under the moonlight..." Her eyes glazed over with desire, fanning his into a flame.

She was so small next to him, so tiny, he had to bend down to claim her mouth the way he'd been dreaming of all night, ever since the obligatory chaste kiss at the altar. To kiss her the way he couldn't with all their friends and family looking on. The way he was prevented from by propriety, decency, and possibly the laws of the State of Hawaii. To kiss her like she was the air he breathed, the place he found rest, the missing piece of his soul.

Because she was.

She was all that and more.

By the time they broke it off, they were both panting, their breaths mingling with the sound of the waves. "Think they'll notice if we disappear?" Kyoya asked, only half-joking.

"Probably," she replied, snuggling her cheek against him, forcing her breathing to normal. "Let's do it anyway."

"I'll text Tachibana to bring the car around," he replied promptly.

She laughed, rubbing her nose against him, a cat marking its territory. Then, she sighed deeply, stepping away with an air of regret. "God, I want to, but… I need to say a proper goodbye to Dai-chan before we go." She patted at her hair, making sure the artfully disheveled up-do Stefan had created hadn't come undone. "And, I'm pretty sure Kaoru will have an aneurysm if I don't change into the going-home outfit he planned for me." She reached out to him in invitation. "Coming?"

He faltered. He wasn't ready to return, not yet. There was a reason he was out here on a night when he should be by her side.

Understanding filled eyes which had always seen through him, discerned the things he couldn't say. Haruhi rose up on her toes, kissing him on the cheek. "I get it, you still need a few minutes to yourself." Lifting her skirt to keep it out of the sand, she headed back towards the party. "But don't stay out here brooding too long," she called out over her shoulder, "I've got a list of my own we need to get started on. I think you'll really like number seven."

Kyoya's grin didn't leave his face until long after she'd disappeared back to the patio. What on earth had he done in his life to deserve her?

Nothing.

He'd done nothing at all.

That was the whole point of why he was out here, wasn't it? The love of another person wasn't something that could be earned. It wasn't a commodity to be purchased or a reward for good behavior - it was a gift freely given. All he could do was cherish it, try to be worthy of it. And for that, he needed to finally lay the past to rest.

Tradition and convention said this was the wrong place, that he should be standing back in Bunkyo. Standing before a stone monument that contained all that physically remained of the person who'd once mattered the most to him. But he'd hesitated too long. Put off the conversation he hadn't ever wanted to have until he couldn't any longer. Until there were no more days, no more minutes, between 'now' and the future before him. Facing west, he looked out towards the sea, towards the waves that would carry his words back to his homeland. Back to where they needed to go.

"Tamaki, I…" He hesitated, not sure how to begin, not really wanting to. "I'm not sure I believe in things like souls, and spirits, and afterlives, but if they exist, if you can hear me… then I need to tell you, I'm sorry." He shook his head, his mind already supplying how his friend would have reacted. "No, idiot, not that I married Haruhi – I couldn't even try to lie that I regret that in any way." Sobering, he repeated, "But, I'm still sorry. I'm sorry that it's time for me to step out of your shadow. Time to say goodbye.

"I never wanted it to come come to this. But, I can't stop feeling like, somehow, I stepped into the life that belonged to you. The one you were destined to have." Kyoya stopped, closing his eyes. As much as his mind protested he was speaking only to water and air, his heart insisted that this was real. That a piece of himself was being torn away. "And I'll never be able to be the man they need me to be, the man you'd want me to be for them, if I continue believing that. If I always think of myself as 'second best.' The only way I can think of to move forward is to say goodbye."

Falling silent, he carefully reconstructed his control, brought his tattered emotions in line until he could do what had to be done with eyes wide open. "I have to say goodbye to the man who steps back so you can shine. To the one who lets you seize the crown." With every word he spoke, he felt lighter. Felt as if a weight he'd been bearing for years was lifting away. With each syllable, his voice rang out stronger until it reverberated over the waters. "You did your best, and had things been different I would have been happy for you, but in the end, she chose me. Haruhi. Chose. Me."

He let his declaration hang in the air until the last echoes faded. Then, fervently, quietly, he voiced an oath every bit as sacred as the one he'd made earlier. "Tamaki, I know can't take your place. We're too different, it wouldn't be fair to anyone to even try. But I promise I will take care of them, I will love them, and I will do whatever I can to protect their happiness. They are your greatest treasures, and now they are mine too." He bowed low and deep in gratitude. "Thank you. Thank you, for entrusting them to me. I won't let you down."

Raising his head, Kyoya waited quietly, a tiny pulse of anticipation beating in his heart. But, no challenge rang forth from the heavens, no outrage over his audacity. The only response he received was the soft whisper of wind rustling in the trees, the 'shushing' of waves against the shore. Bemused that he'd half-expected anything else, he remained silent, inhaling and exhaling the night until the peace he had sought settled over him. Until he was ready to leave the 'Shadow King' behind.

Pivoting on his feet, he started to head back to the terrace, and stopped dead in his tracks. Pulse speeding up, he stared transfixed at a trick of light, a mirage of movement and shadow, that every rational part of him said couldn't be.

A little over a kilometer away, out where the land curved to form one side of the bay, a cluster of rocks poked out at the junciton between sand and sea. A local landmark the concierge had pointed out earlier, blabbering something about a local legend and lapu that he'd only half listened to. A natural jetty on which wave after wave crashed, sending a spray of droplets up into the air, forming a thick, swirling vapor.

What he saw in the mist had to be an illusion. Some natural phenomena that let the darkness turn it from a cluster of rocks worn smooth by time into something... else. Something unearthly. Something ethereal.

Something hallowed.

Some scientific anomaly interacting with moonlight, creating ghostly images in the churning ether. Phantasms that, to someone highly imaginative, would appear as a young man with shining hair.

Kyoya was not imaginative. Not in the least. And yet his breath hitched, he was unable to even blink.

Reason told him that next, a cloud must have moved across the completely clear sky, changing the shape of the light. Or a wave, unseen and unheard, altered the shape of the fog. His mind contended that something had to have happened because, for a second, the apparition smiled, raising a hand in a silent absolution.

Compelled by a faith so deep and hidden he had never known it was there, Kyoya slowly lifted his hand to accept it.

At that exact instant, the phantom vanished. The rocks were just chunks of stone. The mist just condensed droplets of water hanging in the air. The moonlight shone down unwavering, no clouds marring the pristine sky. No sign that anything unusual had happened at all.

But the heart of one man knew different.

Eyes never leaving the promontory, Kyoya breathed out a quiet, heartfelt 'Thank You' to the night. To the unseen listeners logic could no longer convince him weren't there.

His burden of guilt laid down at last, he turned his back on the past, on all the 'what ifs' and 'might-have-beens', and walked confidently towards the terrace brimming with laughter and love and light. Towards the future he could now embrace with his whole heart.

And, if one were highly imaginative, they might have almost seen in the moonlight a shimmering figure watching him go. Heard in the sound of the wind and waves the softly whispered benediction, "Be happy, mon ami."

A/N: The end.

This chapter took much longer than I expected. Part of me didn't want to write it at all because it meant 'the end' and the other part obsessed over it because I wanted to strike exactly the right note. I hope it doesn't disappoint. (God I hope it's not too sappy. Please tell me it wasn't too sappy...)

It still seems surreal to me that after over two years, 32 chapters, 160Kish words, 280 followers, 195 favorites, and 376 reviews (at last count) that this story is finally completed. Thank you, thank you, thank you again and again to everyone who has taken the time to read, favorite/follow, and especially comment on this story.

Extra special Honey-hugs to those who nagged me back to writing when I got busy, to those who challenged me to try my best to write a story I thought worthy of these characters, and to those who forced me to make sure I was doing my best to be true to the amazing source material Bisco Hatori provided. There are waaaay too many people to even begin to list here - y'all know who you are and I am grateful for every one of you.

Thank you all again for the amazing experience this has been and for being one of the best and most supportive fandoms out there. – MB.