Their Chance Meeting

Summary: After so many years, Tamaki once again meets his mother, but this time, he doesn't know who she is.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club.

Tamaki, refusing to take control of his father's company, married a "commoner" and together they settled in a small suburb of France. There Haruhi, his wife, became a lawyer and after five years of marriage they had their first child, a little girl.

Haruko was a small blonde beauty, her eyes the same as her mother's but her charms and innocence like her own father's.

Since Tamaki did not take his father's company, he was left with nothing, which suited him best, since he didn't rather like to work. His friends from his old host club in school would constantly show up at the Suou apartment building in downtown Paris and talk about their own families.

With so much free time and his wife working, Tamaki made it a daily ritual to take his daughter for a walk somewhere. Today happened to be the market, since Haruhi gave him a list for food he should prepare for dinner that night.

With Haruko in hand, the pair marched through the buzzing streets of Paris and finally to the market.

"Papa? Can we go to the park after we buy food?" the little girl asked, gripping her father's hand tightly. The young Haruko had a certain fear of being lost or parted from her father and mother, and Tamaki always made sure he had a hand free to allow her to hold onto him.

"Certainly, Haruko. Let's get Mother's food first and then we can go anywhere you want to," Tamaki said, picking her up and setting her into a shopping cart.

The shopping took a while, the little bouncing girl gladly reading the list her father left in her care.

"Alright, that looks like it all. Come on Haruko," Tamaki said, picking her up out of the shopping cart. While Tamaki began to put the groceries on the conveyer belt, a single can of sauce escaped and rolled away from the counter.

"Haruko. Can you get that for Daddy?"

"Yes, Papa!" she said, hurrying off to find the lost can. She spotted it, next to someone standing in another line.

"Excuse me," she said, looking at the shoes of the woman standing there. She looked up to see a woman with long blonde and gray hair standing there. The old woman looked down and spotted the child.

"Yes?"

"My Papa wants that can," the girl said, pointing at the woman's foot. The old woman sighed and smiled, bending down to pick up the can and holding it out to the little girl. It was then when the old woman heard his voice.

"Haruko! Come along, if you still want to go to the park!"

The old woman stood up straighter and the little girl thanked her and ran off to the next line.

"Here you go, Papa!" Haruko said, getting picked up by her father as he set the sauce on the counter.

"That will be $51.75, sir," the woman behind the counter said, smiling at Haruko as she tried to pick up a small bag by herself. Tamaki pulled out his credit card and handed it to the woman.

"Thank you, Mr. Suou."

The old woman clutched her chest and looked over the counter to see the back of Tamaki's blonde head.

"Thank you. Come on, Haruko. I got some cake mix so we can surprise Mommy with a cake for dinner!"

"Yay! Cake!" the little girl cheered, pulling on her father's hand as he carried the last few bags of groceries. The old woman felt like she was going to cry as the bag boy handed her a small bag of lettuce.

"Thank you for your purchase, ma'am."

She didn't say anything but nodded, and followed after Tamaki and Haruko. They walked away from the store, Haruko talking loudly about how she was excited about starting kindergarten in three more months. Tamaki smiled as she did so, the little girl gripping his hand tightly.

"E-Excuse me!" the old woman called out. Tamaki turned around to see the old woman standing there. He only smiled at her and pulled Haruko along to come closer to her.
"May I help you?" he asked, smiling at her. The old woman felt her lungs seem to clog. He didn't know who she was.

"I-I… wonder if you are Tamaki Suou?" she asked. Tamaki smiled at her like he did to everyone else.

"Yes, Madame. I am. Do you know my father's business then?"

"I… I am an old friend of your father's…" the old woman said, feeling like she was going to cry again. Tamaki looked down at Haruko.

"Well, I am now married, I decided to not take over the company. This is my daughter, Haruko. Do you wish to talk to my father, see if he remembers you?"

"N-No, that's alright, I wouldn't want to bother a busy man. I'm just… so surprised to see you. It's been so long… you probably don't even know who I am," she said, covering her mouth with a wrinkled hand. He only looked at her blankly, unsure of what the woman was talking about.

"Papa! Look! It's an ice cream truck! Can we have ice cream?" Haruko said, pulling at his hand as she pointed to the truck. The old woman smiled down at the young child.

"Haruko, it's impolite to interrupt adults when they are talking," Tamaki said, looking down at her.

"Oh, no, it's alright. I must be going anyway. I'm sorry to have bothered you," the old woman said, turning away and beginning to walk towards her car.

"Have a nice day!" Tamaki called after her, being dragged away by his little determined girl but the old woman did not turn back. She was too busy crying.

"You spoke to him?" Éclair asked, looking up from her dinner.

"Yes… I did not know who he was… but…"

"How is he? I heard that he married the girl from his Host Club after they both graduated high school."

"They have a daughter… little Haruko… she's so beautiful…"

The old woman covered her mouth as the young Éclair looked down at her food.

"I'm sorry that you haven't been able to see your son since he was fourteen… but I tell you, he probably is still as warm and loving as he was then…"

"Yes… he is…"