A/N: This is it, the final chapter. Thank you to everyone who read this far, and I hope you'll look forward to my next foray into Ouran fanfiction.

Enjoy!

.07 Haruhi

"What do you mean you were overbooked?" Mei raged at the airport employee. "Our parents booked these tickets a month ago, and now you're telling me that someone else has our seats?"

"I'm sorry Miss Yasumura," the man said in a calm voice that only served to further piss the ganguro off. "We had an unfortunate computer error that resulted in the overbooking. We can give you another flight to Japan tomorrow at-"

"We can't wait 'til tomorrow," Mei argued back. "We're supposed to go home today!"

Meanwhile, Kasumi and Haruhi sat on a bench watching their friend continue shouting at the employee. Kasumi sighed in frustration.

"I can't believe this," she muttered. "Just our luck, huh?"

Haruhi nodded.

"Well, at least we had a fun trip," Kasumi said wistfully. "I'm really gonna miss Paris... and I bet you had fun last night with that Tamaki guy, huh?"

Haruhi glared at her friend's smirking face. "Kasumi, for the thousandth time, all we did was talk."

"Oh really," Kasumi said slyly. "So that's all you were doing on the dance floor was talking?"

"Yes, talking," Haruhi answered firmly. "You would know that if you and Mei hadn't left me there."

"I said I was sorry didn't I?" said the now sheepish Kasumi. "I didn't want to go, but Mei said you guys were having a moment and that we shouldn't intrude."

"That's hardly an excuse," Haruhi snorted. "...and we weren't 'having a moment'. Really Kasumi, I'd only just met him."

"So?" Kasumi shrugged. "That doesn't mean anything. Sometimes when you meet the right person, it just hits you."

Haruhi sighed. "Life isn't like a romance novel Kasumi, besides, I'll probably never see him again."

"Excuse me."

Haruhi's head snapped up and she first saw Mei's shocked face before the familiar form of Tamaki Suoh appeared in her line of sight.

"No way" she whispered to herself, while next to her, Kasumi let out a cheer.

"Is there a problem here?" Tamaki asked the man behind the desk.

"This girl here and her friends had a flight booked for Japan, but there was an error with the booking and no seats are available," the man explained.

Tamaki looked a bit confused at that.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Because it was to my understanding that there were some seats still open in first class."

The man nodded. "That's true, but these girls are flying economy and there's no availability there."

At that Tamaki smiled and reached for his wallet. "Well then, give them three first class seats."

Haruhi jaw dropped, and she was pretty sure Mei's and Kasumi's had as well.

"You-" she started to say as she stood up. "You- You can't-"

"I insist," Tamaki said with a look and a tone that implied no room for arguments.

Even though she wasn't quite happy with how she got there, Haruhi had to admit, first class was nice. Behind her, Mei was sound asleep against the window, and Kasumi had her headphones on and her nose in a magazine. Haruhi glanced at the seat beside her. Somehow she'd wound up sitting right next to Tamaki Suoh, who was surprisingly quiet throughout the whole flight, but Haruhi had a good idea why.

"Did you talk to them?" she broke the silence.

He started a bit and then turned to look at her.

"Well I called, but none of them picked up," he answered. "I left them all messages, telling them I'd be back, but I don't know how many of them will want to see me. I haven't gotten a single callback yet."

Haruhi put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Well, if they don't come," she said. "They were never good friends to start with."

"They were the best friends I've ever had," Tamaki responded defensively.

Haruhi pulled back her hand, a bit startled by his tone. "Then they'll be there."

Tamaki blinked, then smiled.

Haruhi turned to look out the window again, but then she felt Tamaki's hand on her shoulder.

"Haruhi, will you wait with me?" he asked once she was facing him.

"What?" Haruhi asked, confused.

"I asked them to come meet me at the airport," he explained. "I won't be too happy if they don't show up, but if you're with me, I think I'll be okay."

This didn't help much, in fact her confusion only grew.

"Why me?" she asked.

Tamaki looked deep into her eyes, as if he too was searching for an answer to her question.

"I... I don't know," he answered with a shrug. "There's something about you. I just feel like it'll be okay if you're with me."

Haruhi stared, not sure whether she should say yes or no, at least not until she saw the lost look in his eyes.

"Okay, Tamaki-san, I'll wait with you," she answered.

Tamaki looked relieved as he gazed into Haruhi's eyes, and kept looking even when she tried to avert her eyes. His relief had changed to a thoughtful expression, she wondered just what he was thinking.

"Your eyes," he breathed, as if reading her thoughts.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow, "What about them?"

"They're quite lovely," Tamaki answered, in that charming voice of his. Was he flirting with her or something? "They'd look so much better without those hideous glasses of yours."

Haruhi sweat dropped. 'Hideous?'

"Well, I do have contacts," Haruhi answered with a bit of a shake to her voice. "I just don't wear them very often."

"You should," Tamaki answered before suddenly reaching out and grabbing the frame between two fingers.

Haruhi protested and tried to push his hand away, but he still managed to get them off, and when he did, his own eyes widened and his jaw fell. He gawked at her as if he'd never seen anything like her.

"You really should..." he said softly to himself as he gazed at her now glasses free face.

Unnoticed by either Haruhi or Tamaki, a certain ganguro's peacefully 'sleeping' face broke out into a smile.

"Woah, look at the time," Mei loudly declared while looking at her bare wrist. "I'd better hurry home, come on Kasumi."

"Wait, wha-" The confused girl started before Mei clamped a hand over her mouth.

"We'll see you later Haruhi-chan!" The ganguro said as she winked at Haruhi, and ran off into the crowd, dragging Kasumi along with her.

And that was it. Mei and Kasumi had once again ditched Haruhi and left her alone with Tamaki Suoh.

Haruhi watched them run off with an exasperated expression before looking at Tamaki.

"Sorry about them, they don't usually act this way."

"It's all right," Tamaki answered. "I can tell they're good friends to you."

Even though he was smiling, Haruhi knew that inside he was still scared. These friends of his clearly meant a lot to him, as if they were his real family. For the next ten minutes, neither one talked. They were standing in the place Tamaki had told his friends to meet him, and as the minutes dragged on, she could tell he was losing hope. Fifteen minutes had gone by. Twenty minutes.

The 21st minute passed, and Tamaki slumped over in a nearby seat.

"They didn't come," he whispered in a broken voice.

Haruhi watched him, knowing she should say something, but what, she didn't know. In the end, she decided to just say what she'd been thinking the entire time they'd been there.

"Listen Tamaki-san, no matter what, I want you to know that I I'll still be here for you."

Tamaki looked up, a hopeful look in his eye. "You mean it?"

"Yes," she answered, in a way she never would have when she was younger. "I mean it."

And suddenly, Tamaki's sadness seemed to melt away. Before Haruhi knew it, he'd sprang to his feet and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, thank you, Haruhi!" He shouted, making passer-by stop and stare. "I knew you wouldn't let me down, you're such a good friend!"

"Please let me go," Haruhi deadpanned. She wasn't really used to people acting that way toward her (other than her father, anyway).

Tamaki let her go, but the grin still remained, and for that she was grateful. Even though she knew he was still sad, she could tell that he would be okay in the end. In amazed her how much she'd come to care for this person in the very short time she'd known him. It felt like so much longer than two days, and though he was a bit of an idiot, as she was slowly coming to understand, he really was sweet and, dare she say it, charming. Haruhi gave a light, relaxed sigh, she could already tell they'd be good friends.

"What do you say we get some coffee?" He asked her once he composed herself. "I think there's one of those 'Starbucks' places over there that you commoners go to, I've always wanted to try it!"

'Again with the commoner stuff?' Haruhi's inner voice muttered. 'And here I thought I'd be rid of that once I got out of school.'

Haruhi took another glance at Tamaki's exuberant expression and felt a smile tugging at her lips.

'Well, I guess it's not so bad.'

The two of them grabbed Haruhi's bags (Tamaki, ever the gentlemen, insisted on carrying the heavier one) and walked away from the bench towards the coffee shop just across the way. They'd gotten three steps, when Tamaki's free arm suddenly shot out in front of Haruhi, stopping her in her tracks.

"Wha-"

"Shhh," He shushed her.

"What is it?" the surprised Haruhi asked again, more softly.

"I hear something," Tamaki answered softly as he leaned forward and titled his head to the side so he could hear better.

Haruhi listened as well. At first, she heard nothing but the buzz of people talking and the voice on the overhead announcing flight times. And then she heard a voice, a familiar voice. It started out too low for her make out what it was saying.

"...ma ...an."

And then it got louder.

"...ama ...han!"

And louder and louder until-

"TAMA-CHAAAAN!"

What looked like a dirty blonde, human sized bullet hurled itself at Tamaki, almost knocking him off his feet. The newcomer was joined before either the taller blonde or Haruhi knew it, when twin cries of 'Boss!' rang out and two more bodies threw themselves at Tamaki. Their voice meshed together and Haruhi wasn't even sure what they were saying as the mess of bodies tried to organize themselves in a way that they could all squeeze Tamaki half to death. Haruhi watched as a tall man walked over and pulled the three off of Tamaki and another young man stood behind him.

"I can't believe you came back, Boss!" Hikaru Hitachiin cried after straightening himself.

"Yeah, we thought we'd never see you again!" His brother, Kaoru Hitachiin, added.

Tamaki chuckled, tears welling up in his eyes as he looked at his old friends, for once in his life completely lost for words.

"We missed you Tama-chan!" Mitsukuni Haninozuka, or Hunny, piped up while hugging Tamaki around the waist.

"We're glad you're back," came the resonating voice of Takashi 'Mori' Morinozuka.

Tamaki smiled at them individually, and then his gaze turned to the bespectacled Kyoya Ootori standing away from the group.

"Hey there Kyoya," he called out. "Why are you all the way back there? Didn't you miss me?"

Kyoya studied Tamaki for a moment and then he walked forward, pushing past the other four as he went. He stood in front of Tamaki and whacked him over the head with his fist. Tamaki clutched the top of his head in pain and looked on the verge of tears until Kyoya smiled at him.

"You're such a moron, Tamaki," He said with a shake of his head. "Don't ever leave like that again."

Tamaki pain seemed to vanish instantly, Before anyone knew what had happened, he launched himself at his best friend and pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Ah, I missed you, Mother!" Tamaki cried and rubbed his cheek against Kyoya's several times before letting go. "I missed all of you so much!"

As if something struck his brain, Tamaki suddenly remembered something, or someone, important.

"Oh, and I completely forgot!" he announced before turning around to face the young woman he'd come to think of as a dear friend. "This is my new friend-"

"Haruhi?"

"HARUHI?"

"Haru-chan?"

Tamaki stopped as the group stared with wide eyes at Haruhi. He turned his own gaze to her, and when he saw similar recognition in her eyes, openly gaped.

"Wait, do you all know each other?" he asked incredulously.

"Well sort of," Haruhi answered. "See, we all went to school together. Hikaru and Kaoru were in the same class as me and I've met Hunny-senpai, Mori-senpai, and Kyoya-senpai a few times."

"So you went to Ouran?" Tamaki asked and just like that, a light bulb went off in his head and he gasped. "Then you're Haruhi Fujioka, the honor student, aren't you?"

"And I guess you're Tamaki Suoh, the Chairman's son," Haruhi stated with a smile, wondering how she hadn't picked up on her new friend's last name.

Tamaki nodded dumbly, but then a change seemed to come over him.

"Well, I guess you were right then, Haruhi."

"Right about what?" she asked.

Tamaki grinned, his violet eyes looking deep into her unobstructed brown ones.

"This really is fate."

And somehow, Haruhi found she couldn't deny that.

"Well, I'm getting bored now," Hikaru loudly spoke up, breaking the mode. "Let's go get something to eat."

"Yeah, let's get some cake!" Hunny cheered, jumping up and down like an excited child.

"First dinner, then cake," Mori said firmly to his cousin allowing the smaller boy to climb up onto his shoulders.

"I think there's a place a few blocks from here," Kaoru joined in the conversation.

"That's not very specific," Kyoya remarked while pulling out his cellphone.

"Haruhi, are you coming?" Tamaki asked the girl when he noticed she wasn't with the group.

Haruhi shook her head and made to sit down. "No, I don't think so. I'm sure you guys want to get reacquainted with each other and I don't want to be in the way."

"Who said you'd be getting in the way?" Hikaru asked her with a serious expression.

"Yeah Haru-chan," Hunny spoke up. "We want you to come!"

As the others voiced their agreement, Tamaki gave her that charming smile that bewitched women everywhere, and held out his hand.

"C'mon Haruhi, let's go."

Haruhi stared at him, then at the twins, then the bespectacled boy, and then the small one and his much larger companion. They were such an odd bunch, she had to admit. Maybe that's why they worked so well together.

She knew right away that she would go with them. Somehow, she'd known it from the start. So when she finally took Tamaki's hand and allowed him and the others to lead her away, nobody was really surprised.

And she didn't know why, but as she and the six young men exited the airport discussing where to go for some early dinner, she couldn't help but feel that for the first time in a long time, everything was exactly the way it was suppose to be.