Epilogue

It has been ten years since I graduated from Ouran Academy as third in my class. That was a huge surprise to Ryuu and Cho, that's for sure. After the day I moved out and stopped living with Tamaki, we barely even spoke to one another. It was my fault though, he tried to talk to me at school and he called, but I ignored him. I stopped drawing and focused on school and went to college majoring in business management.

"Miss Suoh, you have an important call on line two," my assistant said to me as she popped her head into my office. Without a word to her, I picked up my phone and held to receiver up to my ear.

"Emiku Suoh," I said as I looked over the numbers from last month's profits. I straightened my back as I heard Grandmother's voice. It was really annoying that she still had such an effect on me and what she was saying didn't help at all.

"I want you to come home immediately. There is someone here that I need you to meet. He's going to be your husband this time next week."

I nearly dropped the phone. Nothing she had ever said to me would have led me to believe I would ever have to get married to a strange man and I instantly wondered if this was how Mom had felt. "Of course, Grandmother. I'm leaving right now." She hung up and I was left clutching the phone for a few moments before putting it down and standing up to grab my purse. All I could hope for was that he wasn't completely terrible.

All the way home, my heart was beating nervously. I could talk in front of a hundred businessmen all waiting for me to slip up, but meeting one outside of the office terrified me. The limo stopped and the driver opened up the door for me. Slowly, ever so slowly, I made it to the front door and opened it as I walked in. One of the maids told me that everyone was upstairs in Dad's office. I made my way up there and took a deep breath before opening the doors.

I never expected to see him standing there along with Dad, Grandmother, and his father. My breath caught and just the sight of him made my heart beat even faster than it already was. I hadn't seen him since our graduation and that seemed like forever ago. "Emiku, don't just stand there with that silly look on your face," Grandmother said snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded and closed the doors behind me.

"Please pardon my tardiness," I said with a slight bow. "Traffic was terrible." Grandmother waved away my excuses and told me to sit down. I did and without argument.

"If I remember correctly, you and Kyoya Ootori here were in the same class at Ouran, yes?" Grandmother began. I nodded and kept my eyes downcast. If I looked up, I would be too tempted to look at him. No matter what I had told myself that all those years ago, I still cared about him a lot. It made sense that he would be mad at me and it didn't make sense that I was the one who threw the tantrum like a child. "Kyoya is now the head of the Ootori Group and as such, Mr. Ootori and I have come to the agreement that it would be best if you two were to marry."

I heard Mr. Ootori give a small chuckle as I nodded to Grandmother. "This seems nothing like the girl I met years ago, that was the girl I thought was perfect for my son." I glanced over at him. He was right, I had changed. I had changed a lot.

"Emiku has matured since then and has become very obedient," Grandmother stated as an explanation.

I scoffed lightly. "You make me sound like a dog," I muttered. Grandmother rested her eyes on me and raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

I sat up straighter and not because she scared me. "I believe I said, you make me sound like a dog." I thought for a moment and laughed slightly. "I guess I kind of did become your dog didn't I? I can't believe it took me this long to realize it."

She scowled at me. "This is neither the time nor the place for such nonsense."

"I beg to differ. Mr. Ootori brought up a good point. I have changed dramatically and only because you wanted me too," I said defensively. I stood up from my seat and looked at the old woman that I for some reason had given up everything I cared about for.

"Emiku, sit back down," she said calmly. I shook my head.

"I don't know why I didn't do this years ago. I should have refused from the start, but I didn't want to let Dad down. You have to name Tamaki as the heir, he's the one who deserves it and unfortunately it took me this long to say anything."

Dad took a few steps toward me and pulled me into a rare hug. "You didn't let me down. You did something I wasn't able to do," he whispered into my ear. He let me go and I grabbed my purse.

"I'll be out of the house in less than a week," I called as I started toward the door.

"Emi." I stopped when I heard his voice. It hadn't changed in the slightest since I had last heard it. "You told me that there were two things that you'd do for your mother. What were they?" He asked.

I didn't turn around, but I lifted my head up as I thought about the day we spent just lying on his bed talking about everything and nothing. It was before I had ruined things the first time. "That I would find someone who loved me and that I would become a doctor so other kids would have to lose anyone they loved to unknown causes." I did look behind me then and what I saw made a tear run down my cheek.

Kyoya had gotten down on one knee and was holding a ring as he looked up at me. "Emiku, when we were kids, I messed up a lot when it came to you. And I never told you just how much you meant to me. How much you still mean to me. I love you, Emi. Will you marry me?" I was speechless and I was just staring at him. I looked up at our family members at the other part of the room. Dad and Mr. Ootori were smiling softly and Grandmother was glaring at me.

I took Kyoya's hands and pulled him up to his feet and wrapped my arms around his neck as I brought my lips to his. When we broke apart, I nodded. "I'd love to marry you, Kyoya." He slipped the ring onto my finger and kissed me once again.

Six months later and a lot of wedding planning later, there was a beautiful wedding. The wedding ceremony was an interesting event to say the least. All of the hosts had shown up and Natsumi and Aimi were bridesmaids. Tamaki was crying the whole time while his three months pregnant wife, Haruhi, sat next to him trying to comfort him. Dad had walked me down the aisle and I couldn't have asked for a better day. For the party afterward, Tamaki had switched from crying to threatening Kyoya instead. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn that he was the pregnant one with his mood swings.

At the end of the night, Kyoya and I were off on a trip to Greece for our honeymoon. I was happy about it and was determined to get at least one picture while we were there. Kyoya held onto my hand while we sat in the plane. I leaned my head on his shoulder. "I love you, Emi." He kissed my head lightly and I closed my eyes.

"I love you, Kyoya. I have since I hated you." I looked up at him with a smile and he looked back at me with a matching smile. We were perfect for each other. We fought and we got on each other's nerves, but we loved each other and supported each other more.

I had been wrong. Kyoya hadn't outsmarted me back in high school. I had just been scared to get my heart broken the way Mom had, but I'm not my mom. We're different people and though I'll never forget her, I have to live my own life using my own experiences as a guide. Looking toward the future had never seemed easier than when I was with Kyoya. I loved him and I have since that first day I met him and hated him.

It's over... I never thought that would happen. As I said previously, thank you to everyone who has been here from beginning to end and people who have joined somewhere in the middle and to those who have yet to join me, all of the support means so much. Um, I have loved writing this fanfic for all of you and I never even imagined that people would love it as much as you all have. And for those of you who hated it and didn't say anything, it doesn't matter, I still completely loved writing it. I've felt myself grow more confident with my writing through this story as well. I'm less likely to say that I don't like something of my own creation now and at the start of this I was second guessing every other word or occurrance.

Thank you everyone and as saddening as this may be, there won't be a sequel. And it is simply because whenever I start one, it never gets finished and I don't want to see that happen.

As to what happens after the honeymoon (or during) is left to your imagination and interpretation. I'd actually like to hear some of your thoughts as to how you think they'll live, if you'd like to share that is. I'll stop typing now and let you go on with your lives :)

I love you all tons~

Megan :D