AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, we've reached then end of this particular story ^_^ Thank you very much for sticking with me through all of it. The inspiration for this epilogue came a while back when this crossed my Facebook feed:

Tanabata (七夕?, meaning "Evening of the seventh") is a Japanese star festival, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The date of Tanabata varies by region of the country, but the first festivities begin on July 7 of the Gregorian calendar. The celebration is held at various days between July and August.

For the purposes of Oncoming Storm, we'll say that it took place around July 7th ^_^

Thank you again for sticking with me through this.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is the property of Akira Amano and all the actual characters belong to her. The storyline and the original characters I created for this story belong to me.

I hope to see you next time!

~ Yuki

Target XX-02: Fireworks

"Are you ready to go, Haru?"

Haru glanced in her mirror to see Gokudera watching her from the doorway of her room. The silver-haired Storm Guardian was dressed in a dark green yukata and looked a bit uncomfortable in the traditional garb, but it brought a smile to Haru's face. Her eyes turned to her reflection, checking over the lines of the silver and green yukata that she'd purchased especially for Tanabata. She pulled her mother's kanzashi out of their box and settled them in her hair before rising.

"Now I am," she said.

She crossed the floor and Gokudera smiled. "That color looks good on you," he said.

Haru still felt kind of weird to hear Gokudera complimenting her, but it brought a smile to her face as they headed down the stairs. From everything they'd gathered from their intelligence networks, the Trabuchet had vanished for the time being and they could finally relax at least a little bit before they tumbled into their last semester of junior high.

"The other said they'll meet us at Namimori Shrine at nine for the fireworks," Gokudera said. "We've got a couple hours."

"Any word from Kyoko?" Haru asked.

Gokudera shook his head. "Not yet, but Ryohei said that he'd likely be bringing her with him to the festival. It's been a while since we've seen her. She's been avoiding Judaime and the others at school except Hana."

"I…see."

Haru had tried to call Kyoko a couple times since their attack on the Trabuchet HQ, but the call had immediately been sent to voice mail and Kyoko had never returned the call.

"If she's there tonight, I think there will be at least some answers," Gokudera said.

Haru nodded and when the two reached the door she slipped her feet into the wooden geta that went with her yukata and the two exited and headed towards the festival grounds.

As it neared nine o' clock Haru and Gokudera made their way up the steps to Namimori Shrine. They'd stopped by the bamboo and tied their wishes to the tree or at least Haru had while Gokudera looked on impassively and she couldn't help but chuckle. "You don't have any wishes today?" she asked.

"Right now I'm good," he said, catching her hand as they departed.

They finally reached the summit and found the others already spread out on blankets under one of the trees and Haru smiled and waved. Kyoko was indeed there with her brother and was smiling like she always did, but as Haru drew in closer; she saw that Kyoko's smile wasn't quite reaching her eyes.

While the boys got caught up in a game that Reborn initiated, Haru settled down next to her best friend. "What's wrong Kyoko?" she asked softly.

Kyoko started a bit at her words and tried to force a smile, but failed miserably. "I won't be able to go to Takanamori in the spring," she said softly.

Haru's eyes widened. "Why?" she asked.

"Mom and Dad are moving and making me go with them," Kyoko said. "Father got a transfer down to Okinawa and while they're okay with leaving Nii-san here since he's already in high school, they want me to go to a high school down there. Tonight's the last night that I'll be able to spend with all of you except if we meet up right after school before Mom and Dad get home. I'll see Tsuna-kun and the others at school, but there won't be a lot of time for us to hang out anymore."

"Oh Kyoko-chan…" Haru whispered, wrapping her arms around her friend in a tight hug.

"I'll come back to Namimori and everyone here," Kyoko promised, "but I can't go against them right now."

"We can always exchange emails until you can return," Haru said.

Kyoko smiled a bit through her tears. "I would like that," she said. "You can keep me up to date on everything that's going on here in Namimori while I'm away."

Haru nodded. "Have you told Judaime yet?" she asked.

"I can't tell him right now," Kyoko said. "I'll still be in Namimori until the end of the school year. That will be soon enough to tell him."

Haru's eyes went to Tsuna who was wild-eyed and panicking about something going on in Reborn's game, but she could almost feel the odd contentment that lay underneath the surface.

"You're probably right," Haru said.

The announcement that the fireworks were about to begin brought the groups back together and Haru met up with Gokudera. "Who won?" she asked.

"Reborn…of course," he said bitterly.

Haru chuckled. "I don't know why you guys even bother to play games with him when that always seems to happen…"

"Have you ever tried to turn down a challenge from Reborn, Haru?" Gokudera asked.

Haru giggled. "No, he's never challenged me."

"Be thankful for that," Gokudera told her.

Haru smiled and leaned against Gokudera as the first fireworks exploded in midair.

"Well, we made it through the rainy season and got the Trabuchet as Judaime wished," Haru said softly watching the colors arc through the sky.

"Yeah, we did."

There was an odd note in Gokudera's voice and Haru looked up at him in question. He was regarding her intently for a long moment then his hand came up and eased into her hair.

Gokudera glanced over at the rest of the Famiglia and saw them focused intently on the fireworks display and then turned his attention to Haru again.

Haru read the intent in his eyes just a moment before their lips met in a soft kiss.

END NOTE: As I've implied a few different times, my world of KHR with Haru doesn't end here. If you'd like to come with me through some more stories in this series (The super creative name I came up with for it is: "The Future Revised"), I'll be publishing the first chapter of the next story in the series Season's End somewhere around October 23rd.

If you've had enough of my world, thank you again for coming along with me and I hope you enjoyed the ending ^_^

With Regards,

Yuki Seki