Disclaimer:

I don't own the characters of Ouran High School Host Club. Disclaimer for the whole story.

Author's Note:

First Ouran story :)

I hope I'm not copying anyone's idea. I scan the archive for stories to read with the pairing often, and haven't found anything too similar.

Anyway, I love Tamaki as a character, I just felt it was too cliché that he ended with Haruhi. So this a future fic set after the manga, but around 3 years after I'd say.

Rating might change, not sure yet.

I hope you enjoy!

No Flames. Reviews Appreciated. Constructive Criticism Welcome.

Chapter One:

|| How the Times Have Changed ||

xxx

It felt odd returning home.

It wasn't like she hadn't seen her father's house in while, but the thought that she would now reside there once again, stirred an uneasy sensation within her.

"Haruhi?" Her father poked his head around the corner.

"Hi dad." She called back, struggling to bring in her bags.

"I just didn't expect you to be back so soon." He noted, relieving the heaviest from her arms.

"Yeah we'll..." She trailed off uselessly, shrugging as she did. Her hand ran through her long hair, reminding of how much had changed.

Ranka patted his daughter on the arm affectionately after delivering her bags to her room, and then made himself scarce.

Haruhi sighed, moving to flop onto her old bed. She loved that her father never intruded when he knew she wanted space. Granted he was over protective, but she was alright at the moment and just needed some time on her own to figure things out.

She stared around at the room in general.

The furniture was the same, but she hadn't slept in this room before. It had been a few months back, but her father had managed to buy them a larger home.

Ranka was doing well to make enough money to keep this place, and she knew staying there would be a burden to him.

"Ugh, I'm such an idiot." She grumbled, rolling over onto her front.

More than a year had passed since she had graduated from Ouran Academy. Thing had not gone to plan, but at the time, she hadn't minded.

She had lasted for two years with Tamaki, thoroughly enjoying the time they had spent together. But as the Suoh family had needed to groom him as their successor, the fun times had decreased and both had awoken to a reality check. It wasn't that they were unwilling to work through things, but Haruhi especially, began to realise after graduation that the nature of the relationship had changed. When she saw Tamaki, her feelings were different to what they used to be.

So they had broken up, with little tears and sorrow, unknowing if they would renew the relationship in the future.

Still, as she gazed at her hands while deep in thought, she had never truly known if Tamaki had felt the same way. Perhaps he was still living the dream, and just agreeing to make her feel better?

It seemed she would never find out, since he had gone to France a week ago for family business, and she was unsure how long he would be staying there.

A gentle scent wafted into the room, arousing her from her haze of thoughts.

From the direction of the kitchen, she could hear the soft sizzle of food, and her father's joyful humming.

And to Haruhi it didn't matter how kind and tolerating her father was, she knew that she had never achieved her goal. That on some level Ranka wished she hadn't been so involved with a boy that she lost sight of her aspiration. More than that, she was disappointed in herself.

Moving into one of the Suoh's estates and spending days together with Tamaki doing the things they loved, had thoroughly distracted her from her studies as a lawyer, to the point where she had put it off entirely.

Now she was unemployed, without a qualification and had moved back into her father's home.

She groaned and sat up. Over to her desk was her bag, containing her phone and purse.

Haruhi reached over to find a ribbon to tie back her hair. As she did, she tipped the small bag over, so her phone spilled out.

She didn't know why, but as she gazed at it, she was reminded of the time she spent in Karuizawa. She smiled as memories of old friends flooded back.

"Dad?" She called out into the hallway, pausing for an answer.

"Did you call me?" Was the trilling reply.

Resisting the urge to smile, Haruhi made sure to be louder. "Where's my box of old things? Did you keep it?"

"Course dear, it's in your cupboard."

Sure enough, when she opened the doors she found a small box of her older possessions, hidden in the corner.

It took some effort to open it, mostly because she was too lazy to find some scissors and remove the tape that kept its securely shut.

On the top, was a framed photo of the Host Club, including Renge, all dressed in normal school uniform. It was probably the normality of the photo that tugged at her heart.

A moment in time, captured.

Briefly, she wondered what they were all doing at that moment.

Renge she knew, was once again in France. Kyoya was still around, but busy with business and helping Tamaki along. Honey and Mori kept contact, occasionally inviting her around or somewhere for a friendly outing.

Her eyes flickered to the two tall and impish looking figures standing up front, identical expressions although their hair colour was different.

The twins, well, they had gradually faded from memory and their presence decreased in her final year of school. It had seemed to her that Kaoru was reluctant, but following his brother, he too eventually disappeared.

All the Club members had known that Kyoya knew something, but regardless of their poking and insistence for information, he hadn't budged an inch, declaring that the problem ran much deeper than simply retelling the situation.

She wondered what had been so important, that caused them to break their ties with the Host Club.

After that, it was easy to see the downfall of the Club, Honey and Mori already had enough trouble attending. Tamaki had given up, declaring it would be over when he and Kyoya graduated anyway, but Haruhi at the time, hadn't minded; she was with the first person she ever truly loved, and it was wonderful.

The only bad thoughts that came when she thought of the ambitious and playful 'Lord', was that she had been lulled into such a false sense of security that she had forgotten her origins.

Then again, Haruhi and Tamaki thought it would last forever.

She smirked at their naivety.

But she couldn't dwell on something that had been done; now she had to focus on her future.

Haruhi figured, if she sat down and did her studying, she could get back into the habit of being a top student. She just had to apply for a degree somewhere.

She pulled out her laptop, a gift from Tamaki, and began searching.

All she could do now was move forward.