(A/N): I know I already have two unfinished stories up and that I've been neglecting my Leverage one greatly but I was about to implode if I didn't get this one out of my head. One can only handle so much of Tamaki's random rants running freely in you head without pulling a 'Mommy' and giving in. But hey, I hope this one is decent enough for you guys and I'll try to update on a reasonable basis, but no promises.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club nor am I Bisco Hatori. If I was I would have a much comfier chair to write fan-fiction in.

1

"Tamaki!" A young girl ran after the black Rolls Royce that pulled out from the named boys previous home in France. Her hair was a color very much like his own, except it was much lighter. Almost white, and eniterly natural. Her plae hair matched well with her equally pale complexion. Her features had always reminded the boy of the statues you see of angels in museums. Yet the stony resilience that so often dominated her features was marred by tears rolling down her cheeks as she chased after him.

"Tamaki! You IDIOT!" Her skirt was torn and her knees scraped from falling as she ran. Tamaki turned around in his seat his hands pressed against the glass. He was trying to hold back tears as he watched her run.

I'm so sorry, but I have to leave. That was all he had been able to say to her. He had only gotten up the nerve to say it last night. She had stared at him gaping and had slammed her window and refused to talk to him, leaving him standing next to her bedroom window like a scarecrow amongst the shrubs. He had simply left his best friend and hadn't even fought to say good bye properly. Instead, she had fought. Always the tough one, aren't you? "Pull over." The driver looked at Tamaki in the rearview mirror and raised an eyebrow. "Young Master, we need to leave. Spending time dawdlwing with the common folk will make us miss our flight."

The normally princely teen scowled. "She is not common folk. Pull. Over. Now." The driver nodded and pulled to the side. His orders had been to get the young master to the airport and escort him to his new home. He had 'tried his hardest' to stop him but in the end had failed. At least, that's what he would say happened.

Tamaki clawed at the door handle and was out before it had even made a complete stop. His feet slipped on the road as he ran to meet his pursuer. "Tamaki you are such an idiot, an imbecile!" She collapsed against him and he stroked her hair. He sighed and dropped to the ground. They sat there, the girl breathing heavy and Tamaki clinging to her shoulders holding back the sobs he so wanted to let loose. "You…are…the biggest…fool I have…ever met." Stormy eyes looked up at him, glaring humorously. She reached up to bring a fist down on the top of his head. Having run a great deal it didn't hurt, but Tamaki winced just like he always did when she hit him.

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me, that I had upset you." Tamaki chocked out as he sat back wards. "Of course you upset me! You waited until last night to tell me my best friend, my brother was leaving me. But," She paused, the stormy gray-green of her eyes calming from their raging. "I can see why you would. I'm not the most rational when I get angry." Her head hung low and Tamaki was about to reassure her when the calm before the storm passed. "That doesn't mean leaving at an obnoxiously early hour in the morning without so much as telling me where to send your obnoxious fan-mail! You are leaving me to handle all of the girls whose hearts you stolen and you don't even leave me a forwarding address. You are so lucky I like you as much as I do other wise I would have ruined that pretty little face of your by now."

Tamaki stared down at the girl sitting in front of him glowering. If he didn't now her so well he wouldn't have noticed that she was centimeters away from breaking down, and if he didn't know her better he wouldn't have noticed the way she was fidgeting with the locked he had given her last Christmas.

He laughed. That was all he could do. He chuckled and pulled her into his chest, kissing the top of her head. "I love you too. I'll always love you, and I'll never forget you little sister." If he hadn't known her better he wouldn't have noticed the way she didn't hit him for laughing, or the soft 'thank you' she mumbled into his shirt.

The clouds turned a nasty shade of gray and thunder rumbled as an early spring shower began to trickle down. The girl sighed and extracted herself from the princely teen. "You should get going, to where ever it is you're heading." Tamaki reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "I'll call you when I get there." It was less of a statement and more of a question. Nodding she stood up and pulled the tall blonde to his feet, his size making her feel smaller than she really was for not the first time. "Go on, get out of her you moron. I don't want to be the reason you miss your flight."

She was though. Her last words were still ringing in his head, her face still haunting him as he sat in his seat on the next available flight.

"I…really do love you, you moron. So try and keep it together, I know I won't be able to." She had turned around and begun walking only to catch herself. She had smirked as she looked at him, slowly getting wetter standing in the rain. "You better give them hell Tamaki. If I find my big brother is being anything less than awesome when I come around, then I swear I'll kick your butt."

"So you'll come around?" He hadn't meant to sound so desperate, but leaving her behind was tearing him apart. First mother, now…

"Of course I'm going to come around! No promises as to when, but you better keep you guard up Tamaki. I may not be any where near your level, on any scale. But I swear to you, I will not leave you alone, and I will be checking in on you."

She hadn't said any more, not a good-bye or anything. She simply stood and waved at the car as it pulled away.

Colors started to run together as he sat in his seat. The plane felt like it was tilting and he cringed at the feeling. The driver, whose name was by now long forgotten reached over touched his shoulder.

"Tamaki?"

"Tamaki."

"Tamaki!" With a shove the colors righted themselves, the plan was gone. It wasn't a rainy day in France. He wasn't on a plane. He was in his final class for the day, and Kyouya was standing over him with a sour look on his face. "Sleeping in class is not the sort of image a member, let alone the king, of the Host Club should send." Tamaki shot upwards to see that the majority of the class had already left save for a clump of fan-girls who by the sound of their giggling must have been watching him sleep.

"I'm sorry Kyouya, I just had a rough night I guess." The King stood up and stretched, flashing a charming smile at his fans. The girls tittered and flounced off, no doubt to make their way to the third music room. "I can understand that. The fact that you were sleeping in class isn't the part that intrigues me." In a move much akin to a puppy dog Tamaki cocked his head to the side. His blonde hair flouncing out as he did so.

"What do you mean Kyouya?" The raven haired boy pushed his glasses up on his nose with a slim finger. By now the classroom was completely empty. "Who is Charlotte?" Tamaki froze up, his figure stiffening as Kyouya's all knowing eyes searched his face for answers to his newest intrigue. "She…." What was she? His childhood friend? His baby sister? "She's the first family I had who wasn't obligated to love me, but did it anyway."

Kyouya quirked a brow and shifted his grip on his trusted notebook so as to cross his arms in front of him. 'How come I've never heard of her?' That's what his stance said. Tamaki smiled at his friend, "Charlotte, is someone who if you're lucky, one day you'll meet her." Smiling in a way only Tamaki knows how to the king of Ouran Academy's very own host club made his way towards the third music room, where another day's adventures were sure to begin.

"Oh would you just shut up?" Far away in a land known as France, a girl whose eyes were as angry as tempests was coming completely undone. "Don't tell me to shut up you good for nothing free loader!"

"Free loader huh? Who was it who pays the bills and puts food on the table again? Last time I check it was ME! Good for nothing drunk." The stormy eyed youth grumbled to her self as she made her way towards the door, a bag of the barest necessities slung over her shoulder. A vase of dead flowers hit the wall six inches from her head. "Your aim sucks you old bat." Apparently another vase wasn't around so she settled for throwing cutlery at the teenager.

Spoon. Fork. Knife. The knife actually stuck in the door frame for a minute before falling to the floor. "I'm leaving now. I made sure Mr. Dresden would check in on you every now and then. There is enough money put away and I have it set up with the grocers to get Mr. Dresden to take care of your food. Everything is set, so if you burn the house down or anything else stupid it's your own fault and your problem, not mine. Have a nice life and a swift death Mom." The woman began to laugh hysterically and shook a coffee cup filled with one part coffee, six parts vodka in the air in a mock toast. "Give em' hell Char!" Pale fingers paused on the door handle.

Her mother may be a drunk and most likely a complete nut-job, but she was still her mother. And occasionally her maternal tendencies, no matter how lame they may be, did decide to show up every now and then, and make Char doubt her thoughts and feelings towards her mother.

"Bye Mom. Don't drink your self to death." Charlotte stepped out of the building to howling of "Of course not! That would be boring!" followed by her signature cackling. Watch this be genetic…Must madness always run my life? No, it didn't. Not now at least. Charlotte took off in a sprint towards the road. It would take ten minutes to get to the airport, after that all she would have to do is sit back and relax.

"In six hours I'm going to be in Japan, after that I have a brother to bother."

Tamaki's ride home had been uneventful. The day at the host club had also been fairly normal, even for them. The girls flocked to them, he charmed them, and they swooned. Hunny-sempai ate cake. Mori-sempai didn't say much of anything, and Kyouya was still the Shadow King.

The twins pouted when Haruhi refused to be their Barbie doll, even though she would have been adorable in that dress- Bad Tamaki! –It would have been much better if it were in a more fitting color though. Like a light green with chocolate brown to draw attention to those cute doe eyes- Quit that!

"Those twins are rubbing off on me." Sighing dramatically Tamaki flopped down on his bed staring at the ceiling. All together absolutely nothing interesting had happened at all. Glancing at the clock he saw that it was 9:00. Too late to study and I'm not tired enough to go to sleep.

"Charlotte…" It was only right that he think of her, today was her birthday after all. Tamaki sat up and grabbed a book off of his night stand. He hadn't read in ages, but he always flipped through it around this time of the year.

It was a collection of fairytales that had been a gift from Charlotte when he was ten. Everyone needs a little whimsy every now and then Tamaki. He had taken that statement to heart. It had practically become his lifestyle. Flipping through the pages thick tome he came to what he was looking for. Tucked between the end of The Twelve Dancing Princessesand the beginning of The Goose Girl was a picture of when Charlotte had only been seven and himself only eight.

Tamaki had his arms wrapped around her shoulders and she was giggling. The two of them had been playing tag and as a last ditch effort, Tamaki had tackled her to the ground. His mother had been feeling better that day and had been the one to take the picture.

"You kept it?" Startled, Tamaki was taken out of his reverie. Standing in his door way was a girl who looked downright exhausted. He stood up letting the book fall open on the bed spread. She clearly wasn't a customer of the Host's, he would have recognized her. She wasn't dresses like any girl that attended Ouran either.

Her clothes were baggy and didn't look like anything expensive and her hair was short and choppy. If it hadn't been for the fact she was wearing a feminine tank top Tamaki might have taken her for a boy. That voice though, he had definitely heard it before.

"I'm sorry?" Trying to be polite he was trying to find a way to figure out how she had come to be in his room when she started walking forward. "Don't 'I'm sorry?' me. Let me refresh your memory." Her hair had fallen into her face. It was a shocking shade of blonde, practically white. The color stood out even more due to the random streaks of color she had in it.

"What do you- OW!" The girl had brought her fist down on top of Tamaki's head. "Man. You've gotten taller." The girl grumbled as she rocked back off of her tip toes. Tamaki watched as the girls multiple necklaces clinked together. Most of them were gothic crosses of varying sizes and styles, a metal rose here and there, but one of them caught his eye. With out even thinking he put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to get a better look. She didn't pitch a fit, but stood really still as he picked up one necklace to be examined.

In Tamaki's hands was a white gold locket, that didn't fit in with the girl's other jewelry. Flipping in open he saw a picture of himself at age six with a young girl with hair that was practically white sitting on his lap. A picture of him and Charlotte.

"Char..?" The girl lifted her head, the messy bangs falling away from her face as she did so. "You didn't forget me Big Brother?" Stormy eyes smiled up at him. Tamaki was stunned, completely at a loss for words. He simply stood staring wide eyed down at the girl who had come to him like she said she always would. The locket fell from his hands and he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Char…Charlotte Rouge! Oh, my little sister!" Lifting the girl up into the air he spun her around in a circle. She laughed as she flew through the air. Pulling her into his arms he collapsed backwards onto his bed. Charlotte sat up and smiled at his enthusiasm. "Glad to know you haven't completely forgotten me. I wouldn't of blamed you if you had though, you could get lost in this place." Her eyes took in the lavish room her childhood friend called his own. The bed was nearly as big as own room back home.

"I can't believe you're here! Why didn't you call me?" Tamaki grabbed her hand and cocked his to the side in question. "It would have ruined the surprise if I had told you. Although, it might have made it easier to get in here if I had. What is with the hardcore security system? What? Are you hiding a diamond mine in your basement or something?" Her eyebrow raised in a teasing arch as she smirked towards Tamaki.

"No, no diamonds. But, if you came through the front gate then they would have just buzzed you, right?" Poor naïve Tamaki, always such a happy person.

"Yes Tamaki, they let me through the front gate just because I said we were friends even though I'm dressed like a commoner." Sarcasm was practically dripping off of her tongue. "I had to take a more, creative entry path." It was then that Tamaki noticed the scratches on her hands and arms. "Charlotte! What did you-" But Tamaki was cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway accompanied by the concise shouted orders of the Souh family's team of guards. "The intruder was headed in this direction. Team Two go search the west wing."

Tamaki's door was thrown open and six guards filed in, weapon's pulled. "Young Master! There is an intruder within th-" They caught sight Charlotte sitting next to Tamaki on the bed with her hand in his. "Young Master!" Guns were raised towards the girl in fear for their young charges life. "Don't! She's a friend!" Jumping up Tamaki placed himself between the guards and Charlotte. The guards paused at his words but their aim never faltered from the girl.

"She's dangerous Young Master. I'm going to have to ask you to step away from her, friend or not." This statement caused Tamaki's brow to furrow. "Dangerous? What is that supposed to mean. Charlotte would never hurt me." Turning around to face his friend he asked the guards, "Why would you think she would harm…" He trailed off as he noticed her stance.

Her feet were placed apart, but firmly planted. Instead of looking scared as he might have expected a girl -let alone anyone who had guns trained on them- she seemed more to be a cross between calculating and bored. One hand was on his side in a surprisingly protective grip, and the other was at her hip. Tamaki caught sight of her hand hovering only inches above what appeared to be a knife belted to her side.

"Oh this is ridiculous!" Tamaki pointed at the guards. "You, drop the guns." Turning to Charlotte he said, "You, put that thing on the bed so the guards don't jump out of their skin." She looked up at him, her bored expression only betraying emotion through her eyes which flickered with an caution, a slowly calming rage, and excitement? Slowly she pulled out the blade which seemed to be about six inches from hilt to tip and set it on the bed. It wasn't until she had placed it on the comforter that the guards lowered the guns that had previously been trained on the eerily calm teenager.

"Better. Now, you all out of here." His tone was final, his kingly persona taking hold. "But Young-" Tamaki shook his head. "No, she is a friend. Not a trespasser. If you had alerted me when she came to the front gates in the first place then none of this would have happened. Leave. Now." Charlotte blinked in surprise at the blondes sudden behavior change. She watched thoughtfully as it was the guards turn to resembles dogs, as they left like a line of young pups with their heads bowed and their tails between their legs.

Once the door was shut behind them and the room once again to themselves Tamaki looked at his long time friend. She stepped back as violet eyes bore down onto her. She should have thought this through a little more. Of course they both have probably changed since they last saw each other, but what was she thinking running to him from the get go. She wasn't fourteen anymore, and she wasn't the same person Tamaki remembers.

His eyes followed her as she sank to the floor in front of his bed, refusing to meet his eyes. Tamaki stood an arm's length in front of her, not quite sure what to do. "So," He ventures cautiously. "You carry a weapon now huh? Why?" He tried to make it sound light, but she could hear the worry in his voice. No doubt his over active imagination was going into overdrive contemplating all of the possible scenarios in which she would be required to be armed. "Don't worry, nothing like what I'm sure your imagining happened. But, when you left your mother thought it would best to move somewhere smaller closer to the medical facilities you family traded you for-that they offered her. Dad left us for some 'dancer' and your Mom didn't need us to help take care of her anymore so that left us in one of the not so nice neighborhoods. It's better to be armed and never have to use it than not be armed when I need it most, right?"

His eyes widened as he sank to the floor in front of me. "What? And Mom knew about your situation?" I smiled at him, "Of course, and she actually yelled at my mother for a good hour about it too. But Mom was in no mood to change her mind and refused any of her offers for work." Tamaki's frown lessened then and I can't blame him. I could never even imagine his sweet mother doing anything even remotely rude or heartless. I had been in near shock for a good hour after hearing her raise her voice for the first time.

We sat there calmly for a minute, just soaking up one another's presence. Tamaki shifted so he was sitting next to me, probed up against his bed. "So, what did you do to have two teams of guards after you?" His question was accompanied by a poke in the ribs. Stifling a giggle I grinned impishly. "Well, it must have either been me crashing through your rose bushes-sorry about that by the way- when they refused to let me pass the first time. Or it might have been when I started climbing up the side of your much to large mansion and managed to fall through the window of the one room the you keep all of your guards in. I interrupted their little poker game and kind of upset them by mocking the security system. By the way, your guard dog likes me a lot." The grimace on her face made it clear that the feeling was not mutual.

"Guard dog?" the confusion was plain as day on Tamaki's face. "Huh? She didn't really look like a guard dog, but she ran at me all the same and it took me longer to get away from her than your actual guards." The princely type shook his head. "No, we don't have a guard dog." As soon Charlotte was about to open her mouth the sound of barking came very loudly from the hallway. "Aww, COME ON!" She jumped and was on top of the bed on its furthest corner in seconds glaring in the direction of the door.

"That's not a guard dog Char." Laughing Tamaki went towards the door and opened it despite Charlotte's pleas to do anything but that. A dark blonde blur tackled Tamaki to the ground and began licking him to death. In between laughs Tamaki chocked out, "This-Ha-ha!-This is my dog- stop that tickles! - Antoinette!"

Charlotte slowly crept over to the edge of the bed to get a good look at her. She really was a pretty dog, very hyper. Just like her master…A red ribbon was tied around her neck in stead of your average collar. She seemed content to sit on top of Tamaki's chest and lick him to death. At least, she had seemed that way, until she caught scent of her newest friend.

"She is a lovely dog Tama-AHHH-" the golden retriever pounced on Charlotte, pinning her to the bed spread and began to try and lick her face off. "No, bad dog! Leave poor Char- he-he- No leave poor Charlot- he-he, haha, Bwha-ha-ha-ha!" Tamaki collapsed into a laughing fit next to Charlotte on the bed.

"Thank you so much for the support brother dearest." The sarcasm made Tamaki wince, but it didn't make him stop chuckling. Antoinette was now spread out in the space between them, having finally decided that the two had been licked enough. "Sorry little sister, but you have to admit-" She waved a hand dismissively, finding it hard not to grin at their situation. "I know it was hilarious." She rolled over so she was on her stomach with her hands propped on her elbows. "So, seeing as I am to lazy to bother looking for a hotel right now and you have more than enough house to spare, I think I'll be staying here for tonight." Tamaki grinned. "You can stay as long as you like Char, just like old times you're always welcome." His smile was so genuine it made Charlotte's signature stormy gaze soften to a much calmer tone and hue. Shaking her self she rubbed her mouth.

"I haven't smiled this much in ages. I'm afraid my mouth is going to freeze like this." Tamaki reached a long arm over to ruffle her hair. "It's good to smile! You should do it more often. You must not have enough whimsy in your life, eh Char?" His grin prompted a laugh out of her. "Why do you think I came to see you Blondie? Alright, so I haven't seen you in ages; What on earth could the great and almighty Tamaki have been up to in that length of time."

And so he began to tell of his friends, of his time at Ouran, and of the Host club. The stories with the Host club- meaning all of them- always got a laugh out of the girl. She laid there and smiled listening of her friend's wild adventures feeling so very happy for him, as well as the soft tug of jealousy.

"Then we realized we left Kyouya all alone, half asleep in the middle of the COMMONERS MARKET! He was so mad at us, thank fully Haruhi had been shopping and was able to help him find his way back to us. Oh, and then…" Tamaki trailed off as he caught sight of Charlotte fast asleep. The smile had never left her face. Holding back to the urge to squeal like one of Hunny-sempai's fan-girls he got up and grabbed a blanket to cover her up with. Antoinette snuggled up against her in her sleep, causing Char to cringe in her sleep. But then she wrapped her arms around Antoinette in her sleep clutching her like a teddy bear.

Tamaki walked over to the door and flipped the light switch. He crawled back into bed next to his 'little sister' and dog and settled in for the night.

I can't wait until the club meets her; they're going to love her. I just know it. Somehow I think she needs it too. Before he drifted off into dreamland he heard the sound of someone mumbling. He lifted his head and realized it was Char. Tamaki leaned in closer so he could hear her.

"I missed my big brother… I wish you could have been there…..I needed you most….silly…don't tell him….it'll only…upset..him…" She yawned and then snuggled in closer to Antoinette. His heart broke right there; shattered at the thought of not being there for her. "I'll make it up to you Char, you'll see. Big Brother's so sorry, so very, very sorry." He whispered it into the darkness, knowing she wouldn't hear him. Settling down he felt her reaching into the darkness, clawing at the blankets. He reached out and took her hand and she relaxed. Her breathing became regulated and her grip softened but didn't let go.

Tamaki kissed the back of her hand and then went to sleep, dreaming of his friends, new and old, all together in one big happy family. The way things should be…

(A/N): Okay, I'm not sure if Tamaki was OOC or not but I feel he could be like this so please be nice. I have no clue where this is going, well some ideas and plans have been made, but nothing cement. So reviews, suggestions, and ideas are always helpful and appreciated!

Lots of Love From Me to You,

-Rat