Bird, Cage, and Nest

By E.M. Megs

One-shot

–

"If you love something let it go. If it comes back to you, its yours forever. If it doesn't, it was never meant to be."

–

Tamaki had always known that there would be a time when he might have to give Haruhi to another. Even after they started dated. He'd always known that despite how much he loved her and showered her with gifts, they weren't right for each other. He knew that eventually she would become tired with his antics and feeling like she was constantly on a date with her very own father.

He'd tried to change these things about him. But they were a part of who he was.

It seemed that no matter how hard he tried to keep her to himself, she kept being steered in another direction completely. Away from him. And they weren't even conscious of it. It was just natural for them because of the way they complemented each other.

He'd always known that he'd eventually have to give her away to the man that he had come to love as a brother. He just didn't think it would hurt so much.

Tamaki watched them interact from across a battle-worn room over almost a year. Kyoya was still stiff and on-guard.

The more that he talked to the petite brunette the more his on-edge guard lowered itself.

The more his guard lowered the more likely he was to smile.

The more he smiled, the more likely it was to reach his eyes.

The more it reached his eyes, the more she shown.

The more she shown, the more Tamaki's heart and mind ached with the knowledge that he could never – would never – make her shine like she did when she was with his 'brother.' Just like he could never – would never – make him smile the way that he did with her.

But both of them were still restrained, and he was slowly starting to realize that it was because of him. He was the one putting the road block in their happiness.

So, he came to the decision to remove the road block once and for all.

He let her go.

"Haruhi," he stated on their last date. She looked up from her food at him, chocolate eyes curious and gleaming. 'But never gleaming in the way they do when she looks at him.' He felt a pang in his chest. He had to do this. He had to act for the betterment of her happiness. He wasn't to be selfish. Not to mention, his brother's happiness. "Do you... like Kyoya?"

She chewed slowly, giving him an odd look. "Of course, I do. Why wouldn't I like him? We've been friends for almost four and a half years now." Shit, he should have known better than to beat around the bush with her. She was the most dense intellectual he knew.

"That's... not what I mean." He drew in a deep breath, but he couldn't do it. "Never mind."

Later that evening he went to Kyoya's to question him in much the same way. "Do you like Haruhi?"

Kyoya answered in much the same way Haruhi had, though there was a spark of alarm in his eyes that told Tamaki that the man knew exactly what he meant. "Of course, I like her."

Tamaki sighed and rephrased the question, "Kyoya, tell me straight out right now... Are you in love with Haruhi?"

The man merely pursed his lips and turned away from the blonde. "No. Where would you get that idea?"

"Stop trying to protect me and tell me the truth." Kyoya stayed where he was, seemingly frozen by his best friend's sudden commanding straight-forwardness. "I can see the way the two of you look at each other. I'm not as stupid as everyone thinks. Now answer me with the truth. Are you in love with her?"

Tamaki actually heard his best friend swallow, a indication of nervousness and anxiety that he knew the dark-haired 20-year-old hated showing, even to him. "I apologize," he finally muttered, a sign of his defeat. "I didn't mean to."

Tamaki, having gotten his hopes up somehow, felt them become dashed. So it was true, he was getting in the way of his closest friends' happiness. "Don't apologize," he said quietly, slowly regaining his strength along with his voice as he strode to stand beside him.

"She's your girlfriend."

"She's in love with you." Kyoya faltered for the second time, this time partially out of shock.

"She told you that?"

"No. But I can tell she does. That's why I'm going to break up with her." The bespectacled man stared at him like he was a complete lunatic. "Because, I know she'll be happy if I let her go. Whether she comes back or not is her decision. And I don't care if she does or not as long as she's happy. As long as both of you are."

Tamaki turned his violet-blue eyes to Kyoya's onyx ones. The amount of incredible agony almost tore the Ohtori to pieces, but he understood why the blonde had to do this. "My mother used to tell me that if you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, its yours forever. If it doesn't, it was never meant to be," Tamaki said quietly. "I know you'll take care of her."

Having said all that needed to be said, he stood and walked out of the Ohtori mansion, ignoring his car waiting in the driveway. He went directly to Haruhi's apartment and greeted Ranka politely when he answered the door. "Is Haruhi home, Ranka-san?"

Ranka's eyes narrowed. He'd always preferred Kyoya over him. "Yes," the red-head finally answered begrudgingly, trudging into the house and leaving the door open for Tamaki to let himself in. Haruhi was sitting on the couch with a rather large law book sitting on her lap. She jumped up quickly when she noticed that she had company.

"Tamaki-sempai!" He almost winced. The habit of her calling him sempai had been broken a year ago, yet the honorific still jumped out every once in a while when he surprised her. "I didn't know you were coming! Did you forget something?"

"No," he replied, scratching the back of his head, "Actually, I have something I need to talk to you about..."

"Oh... well. Um..." She strode over to the door and slipped on her shoes and coat, knowing that she wouldn't be able to talk with him without her father eavesdropping. "Dad! I'm going out for a bit! Don't let the rice burn!"

She grabbed him by the arm and left without waiting for a reply. She led him away from her apartment toward a nearby park and sat on a swing after reassuring herself that her father hadn't followed them. He watched her a moment before striding over and putting what he wanted to say to her in the simplest terms possible and hope that he wasn't wrong. "I'm breaking up with you," he stated clearly, grabbing the chains of her swing in order to keep himself steady.

Haruhi's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "What?" she asked incredulously. Perhaps she hadn't heard him right...?

"Haruhi, I'm breaking up with you. I was going to at lunch... But I chickened out because I didn't want to accidentally be wrong. But now I know I'm not."

"What the hell are you blabbering on about?"

"You... You're in love with Kyoya." She gaped wordlessly, jaw finally hanging open. He almost wished that she was cry and say that he was wrong. That she would do something besides stare at him as he stumbled over his words in an attempt to piece together all the raging thoughts in his head. "It didn't... make any sense at first. But you always sort of... gravitate to him. When we go to parties or just go on an outing with our friends. I always find you straying from my side and wandering over to talk to him. And I understand why now. You glow when you're around him, Haruhi, and it's the same for him."

She looked away from him. 'Oh God,' he thought anxiously, 'I was wrong. I was wrong and I just ruined everything.' Now he really was hoping that she would start crying and call him a stupid moron. But no, even if she was heartbroken, Haruhi wouldn't cry. That wasn't like her. After a few moments he had to ask, "Crap. I was wr-?"

"Thank you," she interrupted sincerely, smiling widely at him. He blanched involuntarily. Why was she thanking him? She chuckled at his expression and murmured, "I was preparing myself for you to propose to me. Preparing to turn you down that is. Though I've never been able to work up the guts to leave you. You saved me the trouble of having to break your heart." She really was meant for Kyoya if she could make a statement like that and still keep a smile on her face.

"I already broke it myself," he muttered under his breath so quietly that she almost didn't hear.

She swallowed slowly and stood up from her seat, effectively making him step back. She lifted herself up on the tips of her toes so she could kiss his cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered. He felt tears coming to his eyes but held them back for her sake. He didn't want to leave her with a guilty conscience, not when so much new happiness was waiting for her. "Who knows," she added with half of a scared kind of laugh, "Maybe all three of us are completely wrong about all of this and I'll come back."

Tamaki shook his head, already accepting the fact that she was never meant to be his. "You won't." She smiled sadly and stroked his cheek with a single finger. "I won't let you come back because that will mean making him suffer."

"You really are the princely knight," she mumbled, letting her hand fall.

He sighed impatiently. "Haruhi. What are you waiting for? Go to him already."

She grinned at him. "But I have to tell my dad that you broke my heart first," she exclaimed teasingly.

His eyes widened. He barely caught the mischievous look in her eye before she took off toward her house again. "You wouldn't!"

"I would!" she called back, laughing as she ran freely. He watched her, feeling the snow that was starting to fall around them chill his cheeks. Somehow, as he watched her run and laugh happily he couldn't help but associate her with a canary just newly freed from it's cage.

She was the bird, he had been the cage, and she was headed to her new nest.

–

A/N: A position that I oddly find myself in – though under different circumstances. I'm in an odd mood at the moment, don't ask. Let's just say that I can relate to Tamaki's pain.

May or may not be a sequel chapter to this depending on how everyone likes it. If it's well liked, I already have a postlude stirring around in my head. Actually... This MIGHT turn into my next compilation of one-shots (that would be interesting). That's a really big MIGHT.

I also wrote this because 1. I'm sick and have nothing better to do and 2. because it was really bothering me that I have 19 published stories instead of an even 20. Yes, I'm OCD. Shhh.