This came from a dream I just had last night. It was like that alice in wonderland episode except cinderella style... kind of... mixed with a little Ella Enchanted and some Ever After... probably... I think it had a lot to do with watching Stardust for the first time actually... hense the mixed title. A little DNAngel may have helped, too.

Anyway, no OCs this time, and I apologize if the characters seem OOC at times. This story doesn't really take place in any particular time period within the anime or manga, but I guess you could say its more of an "in between" or "after" type thing. I don't know how long this story will be. I'm planning for all my other ones to be long, but this one may be a lot shorter or possibly just as long, I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see.

So I've seen how people like to take the characters from an anime and totally rearrange their world into something like... I dunno, final fantasy or something to that effect. That's kind of what I'm doing, but its a lot like that Wonderland episode, except Haruhi's in a coma this time.

You'll have to read to find out more. (PS: Pairings will be a surprise.)

Prelude

"So, Haruhi, what do you think of the Christmas festival the school is planning?"

Haruhi gave one of her natural smiles. "I think it'll be beautiful."

"Hey, Haruhi," another of her customers said, staring at her with hopeful brown eyes, "Is there anyone you're going to give a white ribbon to this year?"

Haruhi blinked a few times. A white ribbon? She hadn't given that any thought at all, mostly because she wasn't suppose to give one, but now that she was male in the eyes of all students of the school with the exception of the Host Club (and a few certain others), she would have to give it some thought. But she covered that up neatly with another warm smile and a teasing shrug. "Not sure yet. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

It worked perfectly. All four girls gazed at her with sparkling eyes and hopes sent off to God that it would be them. She had a feeling each girl the Host Club told this to would be praying at their bedsides tonight. Especially the way Tamaki was going. Every time she turned around, there was one more girl bragging that the Host King would be giving her a white ribbon on Christmas Day. It wasn't that he promised each girl who asked him, he just gave them the hopeless idea that it was possible, and they took it into their tiny little brains to interpret that idea into a reality. Haruhi had to shake her head at Tamaki. He was more like the King of Fools than the King of Hosts. Even the twins were smarter than that... usually.

"Who do you think Tamaki will give his white ribbon to?" The girls started gossiping to each other.

Haruhi felt the urge to roll her eyes at them, but she had to keep her composure. "Who knows?" If she had to guess, probably every girl in school would get one from him, and if not in public then in secret, or maybe he would have some stupid love pageant or something. That was definitely Tamaki. She wanted to sigh in disgust, but she held back.

It was a little after the Club was closed that the twins called to her. "Haruhi!"

She had no choice... again. Before she had even turned her head or tried to get away, they had her captured by their uncontrollable grabbing hands. "What?" Even if she was perfectly used to it, it didn't mean she had to like it.

"All the girls in school are wondering who will give them a white ribbon this year." Hikaru teased from her right.

"Who are you gonna give yours to?" Kaoru teased form her left.

"Why do I need to? I've never had to give one away." She'd completely forgotten about the problem of genders again.

"Because the whole school is convinced that you're a boy," Kyouya reminded her, "Traditions can be broken, and while your with us, you'll be forced to think about it eventually."

"You must've gotten a lot of white ribbons in middle school!" Honey cried excitedly from the sweets table.

"Ooh, that's right!" Tamaki was immediately in on the action. "I bet you got at least a hundred each year!"

"Not that many." Haruhi was starting to get slightly annoyed, as was usual during her Host Club hours.

Even the twins were curious. "Then how many did you get?" They asked together in perfect unison.

"Well, let see..." Haruhi didn't feel it was that important, but she told them all kind of things anyway so what did one more matter? "I usually found about eight in my locker, six in my desk, and about three boys would present their ribbons to me in public and four in private throughout the day. I didn't really know who most of them were from."

"But you accepted them all, right?" Tamaki asked, expecting a certain positive answer from her.

"Well…" Haruhi had to think about it. It had been almost a year since those days. "I guess I did, but I usually ended up throwing a lot of them away."

The whole Host Club dropped jaw in shock at her words.

"In fact," she went on, "I remember finding them one night in the box I left the last of them in and dumping them all in the trash."

Her further statement crushed the boys.

"I didn't really need them so…What else was I suppose to do?" She finished.

With that last verbal strike, they nearly fell apart. They stared at her with empathic pain in their eyes for every boy who had suffered such heartbreak. Kyouya was the only one who was able to hold himself together.

The twins stepped away from her as if she were something unnatural. "You did WHA?!" They both cried together.

Hikaru was the one to break their unison. "You could've at least used them for decorations or something!"

"Haru-chan, how could you!?" Honey's sweet brown eyes stared up at her with building tears.

"Those ribbons were some poor boy's heart and soul handed to you on a silver platter!" Tamaki shouted at her, "You can't just through that away!"

Haruhi just stared back at them in confusion. "What's so important about a silly ribbon?"

That was enough to break the boys. She watched them as they dropped to the floor like she'd shot them one by one.

Tamaki slid to the floor in front of her. "She's hopeless…"

"So… cruel…" The twins said painfully from their fallen positions on the floor.

Honey finally burst into tears. "How could she be so heartless?" He sobbed into Mori's arms.

Haruhi blinked at them. She was still confused. What was it about a ribbon that meant so much?

"I know you don't feel much for material possessions," Kyouya said, suddenly right next to her, "But try to remember that other people do and respect that."

"But why do people feel so much for one little object?" Haruhi turned to her older peer, "It's not like it's gonna be there forever."

"That's not the point, Haruhi," Kyouya replied, "It's not the object itself, but the memories it holds that are important."

"Like your mother's portrait and shrine," Tamaki recovered almost instantly and put in his own kind words, "It won't be there forever either, but you keep it because you need it to remember her by, am I right?"

Hikaru rose from the floor. "Even the self-absorbed idiots who prize their trophies. They only keep the trophies to remember whatever it was they won it for."

"And of course to show it off but that's beyond the point." Kaoru said, joining his brother.

"Sometimes it can hold important meanings, too!" Honey quickly stopped his crying to join in, too.

"Like love." Tamaki bowed before her and held out to her a white rose to give an example.

She didn't blush, as they were all probably hoping so badly -and they tried rather often- but she did take the rose from him for once, starting to understand the concept. It mildly surprised everyone, but pleasantly. What she didn't notice, however, was Hikaru's jealousy...

She was walking home from school later. She'd already changed clothes, so no one knew it was her unless they recognized her face. The block on which her apartment condo was located was coming up when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Haruhi!"

She turned and saw Hikaru running toward her from the school's direction. She could clearly see the Hitachiin limo in the distance, which made her suspect him all the more, but she stopped and waited for him. He was still in his school uniform even though she had left about half an hour ago, plenty of time for him to have changed by now if he'd wanted to. More to suspect. Was that the smell of another Hitachiin prank in the air?

"Hikaru," she greeted him, acting as though she suspected nothing, "Why did you follow me?"

"I was hoping you'd stay a bit longer, but you left right away," he said after catching his breath, "I wanted to walk you home."

Like he would do that. Well, the walking part anyway. Now it was time to show she had his number. "Why?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I just wanted to!" He held up his hands before her as if to surrender himself. He knew what she was thinking. "Look, no trick, I'm alone. Kaoru isn't with me."

"Then why do I spy your limo in the distance, there?" She pointed to the black hood very badly hidden behind a tree and a sign. There was no mistaking it. It had the Hitachiin logo on the front fender.

"Oh, they just dropped me off," he shrugged with an innocent look on his face, "I'm not going to run the mile to catch up to you. It's faster by car."

Haruhi sighed in exasperation. That was just like a rich boy, and the twins were no exception... usually. Plus, the look on his face didn't have that feigned aura like they usually had when they were playing pranks. He was being genuinely honest with her, and even if it was a trick, it was most likely of the more gentle kind. In which case, it would be impolite to turn him down. As much as she would have liked to, considering the trick was probably to get inside her house again.

"Alright, fine," she said dryly as she turned away, gesturing for him to follow, "Let's go."

His face brightened when his offer was accepted and jogged to catch up to her fast pace. She wanted to walk faster and just get it over with, but he seemed so happy that out of courtesy she just couldn't do it.

"I, uh... told them not to pick me up." He said suddenly after a few minutes of walking in silence.

She gazed at him in confusion, then turned back to see if the limo was still there, but it was gone. Something was up. He was definitely playing a trick, but it seemed harmless enough. Still, she needed to know. "Why?"

"Because..." He didn't seem at all devious to her. He actually seemed nervous, like his next words would be something he would never normally say. "Cause, I wanted to spend some time alone... with you..."

He was blushing now, his gaze anxiously averted. What was he up to? "Me?"

"Yeah." He forced himself to looked at her with a shy smile so gentle it made her want to question if she really could distinguish between his brother and he. Even his amber eyes made her wonder who he was.

So she thought about it for about half a mile toward her apartment. It didn't really seem to be a trick anymore, and although this was strange behavior for Hikaru, there was no longer any reason to suspect him. Well, it was only him, after all. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad with just one member of the Host Club. They had almost made it around the block as she decided to give her answer, but that's when another limo pulled up. The two of them stopped in their tracks. Haruhi was puzzled as to what was going on, but she noticed Hikaru glaring at the dark tinted windows of the vehicle like he knew all too well. They watched as the window of the passenger seat rolled down...

...To reveal the face of none other than Tamaki. "Haruhi! Come take a ride with me!"

"Now?!" She felt alarmed by the suddenness. She started to back away, feeling a little threatened by the brightness of his smile. Whenever he smiled like that, it meant another pointless adventure that would probably cause her trouble, as harmless as he meant it to be.

"Yes now!" He said with an overly cheerful attitude, another sign that he had something planned. "It's just a quick little ride. I want to show you something!" He opened the door and practically lept out to hold the door open for her, gesturing vigorously for her to get in. "Come on, step in, princess!" He even gave his best charming smile.

But Haruhi was not amused or lured. He'd called her princess, something he'd never called her before, which made her freak a little on the inside. What was going on with him? Maybe it showed on her face because Hikaru stepped forward, holding an arm out between her and Tamaki.

"She doesn't want to go." He growled, glaring at the Host King.

Even Tamaki was taken by surprise. Unlike Haruhi, he seemed to realize what was going on and what Hikaru was about, but he didn't stand down. Instead, he stepped up too, but rather than get mad, he retained his happy-go-lucky game face. "But Haruhi doesn't like to go anywhere! She needs to get out more!"

"She doesn't want to go..." Hikaru said again, "...With you."

Haruhi could almost taste the hostility in Hikaru. Tamaki actually started to back off. Now what was going on? There seemed to be some sort of fight over something between the two boys, but what? Despite her confusion and prior unease, she could see the older twin being a hard-headed jerk again -like he had with Arai- which made her change her mind. She pushed passed his arm to Tamaki in a vote to get in the car.

"That's enough, Hikaru." She glared at him over her shoulder.

"Haruhi..." Tamaki sounded worried, like he might actually suggest she go with Hikaru instead.

She looked up at the Host King in surprise, and when she looked back over her shoulder, Hikaru looked crushed. His whole body was shuddering with what could have been grief, but in fact, it could have been any emotion. Even she couldn't read him in that pure moment of unpredictability. Suddenly she felt bad. She'd just completely broken the offer she'd accepted from him to walk her home, and she had been about to give him her answer to whether he could accompany her inside her apartment. Why did he have to be so rebellious and angry? It made things so damn difficult for everyone.

When he finally stopped shivering, his eyes still hidden beneath his red bangs, his voice came in a hoarse, unreadable whisper. "You never answered me."

Haruhi froze. She knew the answer she was going to give him, but whether that answer was the best one now scared her. What would he do if she told him no? What would he do if she said yes?

Beside her, Tamaki quietly ushered the driver away for a moment of privacy, so his limo drove off, but otherwise he remained silent. He was not about to leave Haruhi alone with an upset Hikaru.

"Answer me." Hikaru said louder, his voice barely recognizable. He still wouldn't look at her.

Haruhi didn't dare move, and she was too afraid to speak. If he was angry, she didn't want to make him angrier, especially by moving closer to Tamaki who would indeed protect her, but then, would Hikaru really try to hurt her?

When she didn't answer, he gave a shattering cry and grabbed her by the shoulders. "So you choose him over me?!"

She didn't know what he meant. "W-wha-?" She stammered, cringing at his sudden attack, as scared of his expression as she was of thunder and lightning.

"Stop pretending like you don't know!" He shook her relentlessly, unable to control himself by now.

Tamaki immediately intervened. "Hikaru, stop!"

Hikaru glared death at him, as if deeply resenting his older peer. "You have no-!"

"-That's enough!" Tamaki tore Haruhi from the younger boy's arms and held her protectively. "You're scaring Haruhi."

Finally Hikaru stopped. His eyes widened in alarm and he looked to the girl, truly seeing her now that his fury had passed. There were tears of fear in her eyes, the same that he'd found her crying in the church during that lightning storm, and she was holding onto Tamaki the same way she'd been holding her ears to block out the thunder. He was horrified. He backed away to protect her from himself. He wanted to run away, but it was right then that Kaoru showed up.

"Hikaru, what-?" The younger twin called as he ran towards the scene, but when he saw the impact of the situation, he halted in mid-run.

"Kaoru..." Hikaru whispered, unable to look his brother in the eyes.

"Hikaru," Tamaki scolded, drawing the attention of his younger peer, "If you want someone to love you, learn to control this behavior, or find someone who can handle it."

The moment he spoke of love, Haruhi finally understood. She shuddered from shock in his grasp and pulled away with strength even she never knew she had, then tore off into the street... She never even knew what hit her. The last thing she remembered was hearing was her name and a horn honking, but when she finally saw the car coming, it was already too late.

Okay, so maybe I made Hikaru overreact a bit -okay, a lot- but if you paid attention or even watched episode 16 (or chapter 20 of volume 5), you wouldn't be objecting so much. But as for Haruhi... well... I needed her to get knocked out somehow in some dramatic way, so don't flame me. You no likie, no readie.

Anyway, next chapter isn't gonna be so much the real world anymore. I know it's probably confusing, but just let it flow and things will come to you as you read. Okay, let me know how you like it so far, and please, please, please, please, PLEASE let me know what you think next chapter.

READ & REVIEW! VERY IMPORTANT... TO ME... THANK YOU!