Haruhi in Japan?

by Dove of Ages

For Haruh and Muffin19's contest. Haruhi in a fairy tale.

This is for a contest issued by Muffin19 and Haruh. It's a oneshot... A really long one... A really long one.... 27 pages... I'm done now, so please enjoy it.. I apologize if some of it doesn't fit.... Comment, if you can, and vote for it... I quite enjoyed writing it, so...

-.-

Haruhi blinked.

Then she blinked again.

Odd... she thought, glancing around at the sudden change of scenery. Just seconds ago she had been sitting in the third music room, hosting. Now she was standing in the middle of an open field, beneath the shade of a sakura tree in full blossom.

Its not the season for sakura trees in Tokyo. She noted absent mindedly, not bothered in the least, really, of this strange occurrence. There was a logical reason for this, she figured. She had probably fainted in the host room and was now dreaming.

Oh well. Might as well enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted. When she woke up she would probably be bombarded by a frantic Tamaki and a just as frantic Hikaru and Kaoru.

The sun was shining fully above the tree that shaded her, sending beams through its blossoms. Each beam was bright and sparkling and had dust dancing through it, making pretty patterns.

Haruhi reached out and waved her hand lightly through the beam nearest to her, making the dust dance frantically. She couldn't help but smile.

She turned and surveyed the field before her. It was large, and more of a meadow than a field. The grass was green and looked soft and plush, and there were flowers of every shape and color everywhere. She didn't recognize many of the flowers, and couldn't help but marvel at the wide range of shapes.

Taking a step into the light, she knelt next to a flower near the tree. Its petals were long, thick at the base and thinning into a point near the top. Each petal was a different shade of violet, and, instead of sticking straight out in a star-burst form, they crossed in various ways. Like a bow, Haruhi realized as she scrutinized the flower carefully. Like several bows! Leaning in closely, she found that there were three bows, so close together that it looked like one random shape.

She reached out to touch one of the small bows, and jumped when she felt the silkiness of the petals. It was so smooth and soft.

At this point in time, she didn't care that feeling anything didn't make any sense if she were dreaming, because all of this around her didn't exist in actual solid form. She was too entranced by the amazing flowers around her to really care.

Haruhi considered picked the flower, but then decided against it. She would much rather leave the flower there, so as not to disrupt the beauty that was around her.

She stood up and looked around again; this place was simply amazing! There were colors that didn't exist on earth, and shapes that didn't exist! She couldn't even describe, if she wanted to, what some flowers looked like, because there simply weren't words for their beauty.

Haruhi caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and turned. There was a small creature flitting from flower to flower, wings moving so fast she couldn't make a distinction between the two. The wings merely looked like a vibrating rainbow, so full of color and life that it made Haruhi smile.

Was it a butterfly, maybe? But no, its wings moved to fast to be a butterfly, whose wings flitted lazily through the air as they rode air drafts. Perhaps a humming bird.. no, its wings were to colorful to be a hummingbirds.

The creature came closer, landing on a flower just a few yards away; its wings paused, and Haruhi couldn't help but feel as though it had spotted her and was studying her, just as she was studying it.

Suddenly, startling Haruhi, it took off, flying so that it was only a couple of feet away from her face.

Was that... Tamaki?!?!

The small creature looked like a miniature person (specifically, Tamaki), and was wearing long brown pants and a green shirt. His blond hair was even more blond, seeming bleached out a little. Sun bleached maybe? It was very bright and sunny here. His amethyst eyes were sparkling, but he had an odd look on his face.

"H... Haruhii?" he asked, cautiously .

"Uhh..." Haruhi paused. How did this strange Tamaki-look-alike creature know her name? "Yes. That is my name."

He looked at her wide eyed. "Do... do you know who I am?"

"Uh... Should I?."

A flash of disappointment ran across his face, before he perked up, grinning. "You must not be who I though you were then!" he smiled brightly. "So your name is Haruhii too?"

Haruhi was kind of shocked how fast this creature, so like Tamaki, had bounced back from a disappointment that she didn't understand. Who was this other Haruhi that he spoke of?

"Call me Tamachan!" he exclaimed, already seeming to have forgotten that a moment ago he thought he knew who she was. He flitted around her head, as though to look at her from every angle. He flitted between the thing gap between her arm and her side, making her raise her arm so he could get through without hurting himself. He flitted everywhere around her, making her a tad unsettled.

"What are you, exactly?" she asked him when he came back to hover in front of her face.

"Me?" he demanded, making a face at her. He sounded offended. "I am a fairy! You are highly uneducated, I can tell, or you would know what I am!" he made 'tsk' noises at her before cocking his head and asking, "But what are you? Are you human, like the Haruhii that I was speaking of?

Haruhi nodded "Yes, I'm a human."

He smiled. "Yes, good! I have really only seen two other humans before, so you are a strange sight in this place!" his eyes suddenly narrowed suspiciously. "Are you a minion of the evil lord?"

"I'm not anyones minion." Haruhi replied, then briefly wondered why she was playing along with this silly dream. But she brushed off the thought. "Evil?"

"Oh, yes, evil. He tried to control all of the creatures in this meadow, and on the mountain, and in the forest."

"There's more to this place?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes. Of course! Haven't you ever been here before?"

"I don't know where 'here' is. I don't know how I even got here!"

"This is Tokyo!" he 'tsk'ed at her again. "Have you not heard of it? Really? It is the most beautiful place in all of Japan!"

Tokyo Japan. How original, she thought. Her brain had been doing miraculous things so far, with the beautiful flowers and extraordinary colors and shapes, but now it was apparently frizzing out.

"I've heard of Tokyo Japan, but this place is very different."

"Eh? There's another Japan?"

Haruhi nodded, but didn't bother to explain. She didn't really know how to explain it as this point. This dream felt almost too real to be a dream. It felt like she was actually in some other world! Maybe she was.

But that wasn't possible, she decided. Another world? Psh, that was silly. The only logical explanation was that she wad unconscious and dreaming. She felt silly for even thinking that she was in another world.

Tamachan flitted about in front of her face, looking a little anxious. "You're new here, aren't you? You've never been here? That's why you don't know what a fairy looks like!"

She nodded. "I dunno where 'here' is, really, even if you've told me the name, but I guess you're right. I've never been here before."

He grinned, looking quite pleased. "Yay! Then I have been the first to meet the new comer! Shall I show you around? Eh? Eh?" He was going twice the pace now, seeming to dance in anticipation.

Haruhi hesitated, then nodded. She wanted to see more of this amazing dream world, even if she would wake up soon. It would be an interesting dream to tell the others in the Host Club.

Tamachan flitted up to her and tugged on a piece of her hair. "First of all, you should change your attire! It is highly unsuited for this place! The elves will shoot you."

"Eh?" Haruhi looked down and saw she was still in her Ouran uniform. No wonder she was all sweaty. She had to pause again. Normally, in dreams, she wouldn't feel like this. She was hot and sweat was dripping down her back in the most unpleasant way. She hadn't noticed till just now.

Huh?

At that moment, though, she really didn't have much time to think about it, because Tamachan was yelling, "Close your eyes!" in her ear.

Her eyes snapped shut, and she suddenly felt a cool draft on her legs and back. She had a bad feeling about this...

"You may open your eyes now!" she heard Tamachan say.

She opened her eyes and glanced down. She was no longer wearing her uniform, but instead, it seemed, she was wearing a dress. It had two layers, a white under layer, and a green over layer, both made of light fabric that felt like silk against her skin. The white under layer fell down to her knees in a loose fashion, but hugged her hips and chest like it was made specifically for her. It had one strap that came up around her right shoulder and connected with the back of the dress just beneath her shoulder blades.

The green over garment ended mid thigh, making her think of the mini skirts that high school students in manga always seemed to wear. The sleeve of it, too, came over her right shoulder, but it connected with the back around her lower, well, back. Both garments covered her breasts modestly, even though her left shoulder was left bare.

A brown belt was around her waste, resting on her hips. It was just tight enough so that it didn't slip off. Her shoes, she found with amusement, were a lot like the sandals that the Romans would wear. They had thick soles and laces that laced up all the way to her knees.

"There!" Tamachan said, looking proud. "Now they will not shoot you with poisoned arrows." he smiled. "But one more touch..." there was a bright flash of light that blinded Haruhi momentarily.

When she could see clearly again, she checked her attire. Nothing seemed to have changed. "What did you do?" she asked, curious.

"Nothing much." Tamachan said, grinning. "But I added a pretty bow to your hair! It's green, like your garment, and is laced oh so prettily through your hair."

Haruhi reached up and gingerly touched her hair. Ah. A flower, assuming from the feel of it, had been attached tightly to the hair above her left temple. It was probably one of the flowers she had seen that was shaped like tiny bows, but bigger.

"So I look like an elf now?" she questioned.

He nodded. "Now come! I must introduce you to two friends of mine!" he paused, seeming to consider something. "They will like you, I am certain. I think you will make them happy!"

"Elves?" she asked, ignoring the rest of his banter about making them 'happy'.

"Indeed! They will like you, I'm certain, as I said, and they are the sons of the King of Elves!" he began to flit away. "Come, come, my dear! No point in wasting time!"

Haruhi followed the fairy, and couldn't help but feel amazing in the clothing she was wearing! It made her feel very graceful.

She liked this place a lot, so far.

-.-

It was dark there, dark and gloomy. The only light was from a small glass ball, sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the room. The rays of light that came from it were weak, though, hardly penetrating the dark at all. It almost made the room seem even more bleak.

Deep in the shadow of the room was a man, a human. He was a wizard, full of evil and malice. He had a kingdom set up here, in this place of wonderment and color and kindness. It was a kingdom that contradicted everything in this world, a kingdom of evil and hate. It was spreading too, spreading throughout the world and into the places that still held on desperately to 'kindness' and 'light'.

These thoughts often made him laugh, not in joy though, but in distaste and cruelty. "Kindness." he would sneer to himself. There was no chance that would survive. No chance. Not when the only one brave enough to fend off his evil directly was gone, dead, probably.

Kindness and hope would never prevail.

Never.

-.-

Haruhi followed Tamachan as he flitted ahead, stopping at a flower every so often. They were approaching a forest that lay over a large hill on the west side of the valley. She assumed that the elves he was going to introduce her to were wood elves. That would be interesting.

They entered the forest and were instantly shaded by the immense trees that the forest was made up of. The forest seemed just as amazing as the field they had just left! Fairies with colorful wings, hair, clothing and even skin flitted about around them, sometime high up in the tall trees, and sometimes low upon the ground. Tamachan seemed to know them all by name, and called greetings to the ones that were within earshot. All those that he greeted returned his greeting, not asking questions, but sending her curious stares. She began to hear murmurs of question as they ventured deeper into the forest, but decided to pay them no mind.

Tamachan rambled on and on as they walked, only pausing in his blathering to say hello to the other fairies. Haruhi was starting to get a headache (what a realistic dream...) as she listened, and soon decided to zone him out. He was quite annoying.

Ignoring Tamachan, she began looking around, taking note of the strange plants. Every so often, she would catch sight of a deer, and at least two times, she caught flashes of pure, silkly white moving quickly among the trees.

Unicorns, maybe? She didn't know, but she sure hoped so. She wondered, if there were unicorns, if there were dragons, or trolls, or sprites or... she stopped herself from thinking any further. If she thought of all the spectacular creatures that could be in this place, she would have a mental overload.

Suddenly, she realized that Tamachan had stopped, hovering a few feet to her left, looking a little shocked. She froze, mid step, and found herself looking down the shaft of an arrow, notched and ready.

"Eh?" was all she could say as she attempted to step back. She felt something sharp prick her neck. "EH???" She hadn't eve seen these two coming! There were only two, one to the front of her and one to the back of her, both with deadly weapons.

The one in front of her scowled, glaring at her, holding the strung and arrowed bow with the ease of much practice, arrow tip mere inches from her face. "Who in the heck are you? No. Don't answer that! You are an impostor! How dare you dress as she?" he demanded.

She forgot how to speak for a moment.

He the tip of his weapon closer, threatening her. "Answer me! Who are you? And why are you imposing as my beloved?"

She still couldn't speak, feeling entranced by his golden eyes. His words went in one ear and out the other, and she could only focus on her own thoughts. Thoughts like, he must be casting some sort of elven spell, causing her to be still as a doe in headlights, and, wow he looked like Hikaru.

The elf's scowl deepened, and he said, "I should shoot you where you stand, fraud! Now answer my question!"

Tamachan finally seemed to notice that his new friend was being threatened and hurried over. "Ah! Hikaruu! Hikaruu! Calm down, please, please! She means us no harm!"

Hikaruu soon had a frantic Tamachan flitting around his face, saying things like, "Don't hurt her!" and "She's a friend!" and "Please, Hikaruu, put down your bow!" and "She is not an impostor! She just happens to look like and have the same name as her!"

Haruhi felt the sharp thing pressing against her neck go away, but didn't have enough courage, or will, to move. Hikaruu still had his bow in her face, despite Tamachan's pleading.

"Hikaruu." a voice says from behind her, sounding as calm and relaxed. "Tamachan is right. It's just an uncanny coincidence. She isn't trying to look like her."

Hikaruu slowly lowered his bow, though not by much, and looked at the person behind Haruhi. "Eeeh? Are you sure, Kaoruu? What if he made her look like her to confuse us? What if he is sending her to infiltrate out camp?"

All these unknown 'he's and 'her's were making Haruhi's head ache.

"Tamachan trusts her, and doesn't think she is posing as someone she isn't." the other voice, Kaoruu, said lightly, finally coming around her into view.

She couldn't help but smile slightly. They were twin elves! And they looked just like Hikaru and Kaoru. Their red hair was ragged, but styled, and their golden eyes sparkled with mischief, even though that sparkle was a little dim in Hikaruu's eyes because of the fury and distrust.

Kaoruu reached over and pushed Hikaruu's bow down, so it was pointing at the ground and not Haruhi. "Now then." he turned to her, and eyed her up and down. "What's your name?"

"Haruhi." she replied, smiling. She couldn't help it. This elf was very much like Kaoru, and the other just like Hikaru, not only in looks, but in personality as well.

"Haruhii..." he repeated slowly, as though savoring how it tasted on his tongue. He added an extra 'ee' sound at the end, as Tamachan had done.

She grinned, finding it funny how he prolonged the ending of her name, kind of like 'Hikaruu' and 'Kaoruu'. Maybe it was an elf thing.

He cocked his head slightly and studied her. "You are not an elf, that much is clear. You are human, yes?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He grinned. "You're pretty cute for a human. Isn't she, Hikaruu?"

Hikaruu scowled at his brother, seeming furious. "Do not speak as such, Kaoruu! You know I have a betrothed!" his lip pushed out in a sad looking pout and he eyed Haruhi out of the corner of his eye.

Kaoruu grinned, looking at his brother with a teasing glint in his eyes. He ignored his brothers words and said, "Its nice to meet you, Haruhii. I am Kaoruu, and this is my brother Hikaruu." he walked over and threw his arm around his brother's shoulders. "Buck up and say hullo, Hikaruu."

"Hey." Hikaruu said, but didn't look happy about it.

Kaoruu was grinning wildly. "Ignore my brother's poor manners, Haruhii. He's just down cuz you look like his betrothed, who disappeared. Poor brother, still down because of something that happened years ago." he smiled. "But do not worry about such, Haruhii. He will get over it."

Haruhi couldn't help but wonder though. Betrothed? That looked like her? That was odd.

Kaoruu turned to Tamachan, who had calmed down considerably. "Where did you find her?"

"Eh? Over in the meadow, standing under the Sakura tree. She looked like... well, you know, so I though, maybe, I should go and greet her." Tamachan replied. "I was concerned at first that you might try to shoot her because she looked like her!" he frowned. "So I changed her clothing, so she would maybe look less like her, but I guess it didn't work."

Kaoruu shook his head. "Neh, that is not it, Tamachan. You are forgetting that she also wore traditional elfin clothes!"

Tamachan's eyes widened. "Of course! I am such an idiot! How could I forget?" he looked at Haruhi with watery eyes. "I'm so sorry, Haruhi!" and, just like Tamaki, he went into his corner of woe and grew mushrooms.

Haruhi smiled and then looked at Kaoruu. "So you guys are elves, huh?"

"No, we're fruit flies!" Hikaruu said sarcastically, almost coldly.

Ignoring his bother, Kaoruu replied. "Yes, we are elves. You said you were human, no? Did you come from the evil lord?"

"No." Haruhi shrugged. "I don't even know who that is... The evil lord, I mean. Yes, I am human."

He nodded. "I am glad. The evil lord often uses deceptive tricks to lure us into his clutches. He has taken many of our people into his captivity, so we are very concerned. The Chief has posted extra guard, and they will surely kill you without question if they see you wandering around alone. You should be glad that you met us first!"

"Yes. Thank you so much for not shooting me on sight. I'm grateful." she grinned. This was a really funny dream, if you though about it. Hikaru and Kaoru were elves, Tamaki was a fairy and... she paused. What about Kyoya, Hunny and Mori? What were they, she wondered. Was Renge in this dream? Kasanoda?

Kaoruu continued. "You may wanna come with us and meet Takashi and Honey. They are the leaders of their kind, and part of the Council of Creatures. They will be happy to know that you are not from the evil lord."

Ah. That would be Mori and Hunny. She wondered what they were.

Kaoruu grabbed her hand and tugged her after him. "Come, come, Haruhi! We must hurry to see them!"

-.-

Was that a hill?

Haruhi stared at the bulge of black, scruffly grass as they approached from an opposite hill. They had walked all the way through the forest, which she had found out wasn't very big, and up over a few hills. They were now ascending the highest hill (though far past this largest hill was a sheer rock wall), and just over the top she could see another hill. Or was it a hill? She couldn't tell!

Suddenly, the 'hill' she was eying began to move! The large expanse of rough black 'grass' rose up, up, up, above the hill they were treading and into the sky.

Haruhi realized, as she watched this hill move, that it was, in fact, not a hill at all. Rather, it was a giant! Her steps halted as she watched the gargantuan person rise. He towered as high as a sky scraper and looked just like.. Mori!

I should have guessed.... she thought, swiping Tamachan away from her face as he tugged on her hair, attempting to get her to move forward again.

She continued forward, craning her neck to see the giant clearer, even though she already knew what he looked like. She wondered what Hunny's look-alike would be. What kind of creature...?

"Takashi!" Kaoruu called out, as loud as he could.

The giant's head turned, looking like it was in slow motion because he was so big. "Kaoruu." he boomed, his voice bland, but very loud.

"Where is Honey at?" Hikaruu called.

"Ah..." he pointed down, swinging his arm to point at the ground.

Kaoruu and Hikaruu, Hikaruu seeming to forget his earlier distaste for her, simultaneously, reached back towards Haruhi and each grabbed a hand. They pulled her, practically dragging her, up and over the hill. Below was a sight that astounded Haruhi.

There were mystical creatures of all kinds scurrying around in a town that would have made the real Tokyo look shabby! The buildings were made of majestically carved wood. Not separate pieces of wood nailed together, but a solid block of wood that was carved into a house. Each house was a different shape, color and size.

Each creature was in resemblance of someone she knew, or had seen before. There were centaurs, fairies, trolls, elves, sprites, ghosts, small dragons, three headed dogs... The list went on and on. She recognized and could name the species of most of the creatures, but some she had never heard of or seen before! Those ones were often very bizarre.

As they descended the hill, Hikaruu and Kaoruu still clinging onto her hands, as small form broke out of the crowd that hurried about and skipped towards them. A golden brown cloud of mist floated around it, so she couldn't quite make out its face, but she suspected that it might be Honey.

"Kaoruu! Hikaruu! Tamachan! I'm so glad you made it back! I thought you were going to be late for the party!" the figure called out. Yup. It was Honey.

As he approached, Haruhi determined that he was a sprite. His hands and feet were round, and he was below three feet tall. The cloud of mist, she assumed, changed color according to his mood.

Hikaruu looked thoroughly confused. "Eh? What party, Honey? I don't remember..."

There was a sudden change in his demeanor, and it reminded Haruhi of those moments that happened in manga all the time. Like 'Doom...' as the realization donned on the twin's faces.

"Aaah!" Kaoruu exclaimed, shocked. "I forgot that was today!! Is that why everyone looks so busy??"

Honey nodded. "Don't worry. You have plenty of time to get to the palace to prepare." he turned and smiled at Haruhi, but the smile was quite obviously fake. The mist around his small body turned a foreboding shade of green. "Who is this?" his voice became suddenly strained.

"This is Haruhii! Tamachan met her in the meadow. She is an impostor of her, I can assure you, but she is human." Hikaruu and Kaoruu replied, in time with each other.

The color of the mist darkened again as Honey studied her suspiciously. "Is she a spy?"

"Tsk. Surely you would not think us to bring a spy to our town!" Tamachan scolded, flitting about Honey's head, inside the cloud of mist. "She is a friend. She does not even know who the evil lord is!"

"Ah, good, good!" Honey smiled, and the color around him changed to a bright, happy blue. "But we won't trouble you by telling you about the evil lord. We are preparing for a party! A ball, actually. Ooh, Haruhii, you will be very pretty in an elfish dress!"

Haruhi sighed. Somehow, this was exactly like it was back with the host club. Parties she wasn't informed of until two minutes before hand, the club complimenting her on how pretty she would look, the twins whisking her away to force her into a dress they themselves designed, being glomped by half the club when she finally stepped out in the dress...

Which was what she was doing at this moment*. She had been dragged, forcefully, through the crowd of mystical creatures, past the last house in the village and to the sheer rock wall that she had noticed earlier. Upon approaching the wall, Kaoruu had called out a word that she didn't recognize, and with loud, stone against stone grating, a door opened.

The two had dragged her through the door and into a huge expanse of rooms and corridors, all carved from the rock itself.

And now, after a dizzying flurry of fabrics, colors and Hikaruu and Kaoruu in her face, she was standing in a green elvish dress. It was the same shade of green as the outfit she had formerly had on, with a white undergarment that was the same shape and size of the green over garment. This one had two straps, both about an inch thick. The dress hugged all of her curves (as little of those as she had) and actually made her seem taller. On the left leg, the dress' skirt only fell about mid-thigh, while in the right leg it went down to mid-calf, creating an elegant slope of fabric.

Hikaruu was fiddling with her short hair, styling it, whiles Kaoruu was tying her sandals.

"Haruhii..." Hikaruu said in a winy voice. "Your short hair is impossible! I can't do anything at all with it...."

"Tsk, Hikaruu." Kaoruu replied, glancing up at him before he turned his attention back to the laces. "Just put a flower in her hair, as Tamachan did. It will look wonderful."

Haruhi couldn't see Hikaruu's face, but she assumed that he was now grinning that insane twin-grin she always got back at Ouran. "Ah! Good plan, Kaoruu!" he released the small tufts of hair that he was holding and left the room that they were occupying.

Haruhi leaned back in the chair that she was sitting in and wondered how exactly this had happened...

He thoughts were interrupted by Kaoruu's sigh. "Something the matter, Kaoruu?" she inquired, a little concerned.

"A tad." he replied. "You know that evil lord we have been speaking of?"

"Yes."

"Well... He is planning to invade our party tonight."

Haruhi cocked her head and looked down at Kaoruu, who was looking up at her with wide, golden eyes. "Eh? How would you know this?"

He smiled at her and stood. "Silly, Haruhi, I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Haruhi stared up at him, eyes wide. What happened to the 'Haruhii' bit and... did she detect malice in his voice?

Haruhi stood up as well, a little frightened. This was not like the real Kaoru she knew! This was the exact opposite of the real Kaoru!

"Tsk, tsk, don't be frightened, little girl, little Haruhii. Imposter you are not, but real thing.." he grinned. ".. you are!" his golden eyes glinted with something that Haruhi didn't recognize. A hand lashed out and grabbed one of her wrists. Kaoruu yanked her closer to him, his other hand clawing for her other wrist. "I won't hurt you." he grinned. "Yet."

Haruhi closed her eyes and whimpered, suddenly realizing that, heck yeah, she was in serious danger!

Clang!!

The hands that held her loosened and then fell away suddenly. She gasped and tripped backwards, falling over her own feet and onto the ground. "Wha..?" she gasped out, staring up at a fiery eyed Hikaruu.

"My own brother!" he said ferociously, dropping the cast iron skillet he held in his hand. "Stupid evil lord! Brain washing my own Kaoruu!!" he cursed. "I can't believe I trusted him! After he came back from being kidnapped... I can't believe myself!"

Haruhi stood up, staring wide eyed at the elf. "Hikaruu, you saved me."

He scowled. "Don't bother to thank me now. We have bigger things to deal with!"

Haruhi paused. "The evil lord?"

"Yes." his scowl deepened. "Obviously, we have to figure something out. We have to do something! He's probably planning on kidnapping half of the village and turning them into evil mind washed slaves like Kaoruu!"

Haruhi nodded. "Yeah, probably. Something must be done. But first, we should probably take care of Kaoruu..."

Hikaruu stared down at his unconscious brother. "What? Tie him up?"

"That would probably make sense, considering as how he would try to stop us if wakes up."

Hikaruu sighed. "Of course."

Hikaruu went to find some rope, and they quickly tied Kaoruu. Haruhi could tell that it didn't make Hikaruu happy, though. She had kind of figured he wouldn't like it though. Who would like the thought of having their sibling brainwashed by and evil lord and then having to tie him up because of it?

As soon as they had tied Kaoruu securely, Hikaruu lead Haruhi from the room that they were in and into the vast hallway systems of the palace. "We have to hurry. The ball has probably already started by now! I don't know when or where the evil lord is going to strike, but I'm sure it will be soon."

Haruhi, hurrying along beside Hikaruu as best she could in the elven garb she was wearing, said, "He will most likely strike during the heigth of the party, when most of the guests have arrived." she paused. "He probably has also somehow managed to get some of his allies..."

"Brain-wash-ees!" Hikaruu corrected.

"Whatever. Into the palace. I doubt a single man could take down an entire huge village of mystical creatures by himself."

Hikaruu harumphed at her. "He has magic, bad magic. That's why he is able to kidnap and brainwash my people!"

"Magic, huh?" Haruhi could've guessed. She was in this place full of elves, fairies, giants and who knows what else! It would make sense that there was also magic.

"Yes, magic. He uses it to lure my people away, and then uses it again to bend their wills to his purpose. He is evil!"

"So you've told me..." she muttered dryly. How exactly were they going to battle someone with magic? She was a normal human, she didn't have any magic powers. As far as she knew, Hikaruu didn't have any magical powers either.

Hikaruu, who seemed to have this gargantuan place memorized, led her along corridor after corridor, down stairs times a billion, past rooms that never ended, and finally, into a large storage room.

The storage room was laden with bows and arrows, swords, lances, maces and lots of other weapons as well.

"Can you shoot a bow?" Hikaruu asked as he strapped a light weight sword to his hip and pulled a quiver of arrows over his shoulder.

"Uh...."

"I'll take that as a no. Daggers? Swords? Anything?"

"No..."

Hikaruu sighed. "You are absolutely useless!"

"Thanks." she muttered.

"Well..." his eyes scanned the rows and rows of prime weapons. "Ah. Here we are." he stepped forward and picked up a long dagger that was attached to a green belt. "This will do nicely. You won't have to use it, necessarily, but it will protect you if you do.. Unless someone shoots you with a bow or comes at you with a sword, you'll be fine."

That is so encouraging... Haruhi couldn't help but think.

He also picked out a bow and a quiver of arrows and gave them to her, along with the dagger. "Put those on. I know a few people that we can alert, who aren't, for sure, brainwashed by the evil lord. I'll put you in one of the balconies that overlook the ball room. Yell if you see someone tall, dark and handsome."

Haruhi, fumbling with the dagger belt, nodded, but couldn't help but feel a sense of dread at who the evil lord would be.

-.-

Haruhi looked down upon the crowd milling around below and couldn't help but feel a little helpless in the matter at hand. There were so many creatures of all kinds that her mind was buzzing. How could Hikaruu possibly expect her to spot someone that had been described to her as merely 'tall, dark and handsome'? And what a cliché description at that.

Her eyes scanned the crowd again, but she was swiftly distracted by the colorful banners that hung across the ceiling and the multiple decorations that were hung on the walls.

Agrivated, she turned her attention back to the crowd. Creatures, creatures and more creatures...

Suddenly, faintly, she heard something. Something like a massive boom. She strained her ears to hear better, but no other noises out of the ordinary reached her.

She was just turning back to scanning the crowd when she saw someone, out of the corner of her eye, entering through one of the smaller servant doors on the right side of the room, the less crowded side.

Normally, this would not be that differetn, except for the fact that Hikaruu had explained to her that any and every servant and slave had been allowed to attend the party as normal people and would not be forced to use these doors.

She stared hard at this newcomer, wrapped in a black cloak with its hood up over the figure's head. Haruhi instantly knew who it was.

Kyoya...? She wondered. Watching as the figure walked stealthily along the wall, sticking to the shadows. What was he... the truth struck her halfway through the thought and she knew exactly who he was.

The evil lord is Kyoya?? she thought, eyes wide as she stared at him. But then again... It was quite fitting.

Realizing that she was doing absolutely nothing as she stared at the evil lord Kyoya, she looked around frantically, looking for the other guards that Hikaruu had told her he would post.

She saw absolutely zero.

Keeping one eye on Kyoya and the other looking for guards (quite the multi task, if she did say so herself), she came to the realization of, Duh, she wouldn't find the guards. They were elves! Haruhi scowled and decided that something must be done before Kyoya hurt anyone!

But it was already too late... With a loud and echoing BOOM! a wave of black colored magic exploded from the hooded figure, throwing innocent party goers into the air. The creatures in the room immediately started screaming and fleeing, a very natural reaction, Haruhi thought.

A volley of arrows flew from the other balconies that lined the walls, all aimed skillfully at the evil lord.

The hooded man turned and a hand shot out, sending bolts of black lighting from his palm. Every single one of the arrows disintegrated instantly.

Haruhi felt any hope that she had had fall right out the back of her head.

Guests were scrambling for the doors, all frantic to get away from the evil lord. Haruhi cringed as she saw Kyoya turn his attention to the guests still remaining. She knew this would be bad.

He walked to the center of the room, scattering more creatures with his power as he moved. The party goers pace to get out speed up drastically.

Haruhi was suddenly struck with the thought of was Hikaruu safe? What about Tamachan? Or Honey? Or Takashi? But more importantly, was Hikaruu safe?

She brushed each and every thought away and focused upon stopping Kyoya from hurting or abducting anyone!

Both of his arms rose from his sides and black curling fingers of magic launched swiftly across the room. The tendrels wrapped themselves around a small centaur, probably a child, and several fairies that were buzzing in a cluster as they hurried towards the door.

The ruckus the creatures sent up as the curls of magic brought them back to Kyoya was enough to wake the dead. The centaur thrashed about, but to no avail, whiles the mother (Haruhi assumed) shrieked in rage and sorrow.

Something had to be done! And it had to be done now! Haruhi looked frantically for something to do, anything! But there was nothing.. Unless...

As the centaur and fairies drew closer to the evil lord, they grew smaller and smaller, their cries growing faint. As they reached the evil lord, they disappeared inside of his cloak, and their noise disappeared.

This of course, made the swarm of creatures hurrying towards the doors hurry faster. As she watched, her mind in a frantic rush, Haruhi's ears picked up a cry of "The doors out are blocked!". This cry echoed among the creatures in the room, and among the creatures that had already exited the room into the hallways.

There was no escape.

Shocked by this, Haruhi could only watch as the next two creatures were taken captive. She was knocked out of her shock when she saw a familiar silhouette dash from the crowd, straight towards the black lord Kyoya, a shining sword clutched in his hands.

"Hikaruu!" the cry ripped from her mouth, but too late. A bolt of black lightning shot towards him and struck him.

Hikaruu fell instantly, the cloth that covered his chest scorched. He didn't move.

Haruhi didn't know what took hold of her, but as she saw Hikaruu fall, something snapped. Furious, she jumped onto the the balcony's rails and lept into the air.

Her hands snagged a banner, ripping the side that she was putting all of her weight on from the ceiling above them and swung downwards, plummeting full force towards the ground.

A move that would only happen in a fairy tale, Haruhi swung on the banner, swooping like a falcon towards it prey. Her advantage was that Kyoya's back was too her, and she took him by surprise. Her feet, out stretched in front of her, struck him full in the back, knocking him flat onto the ground.

Haruhi hit the ground rolling, after hitting Kyoya. The hit knocked the wind from her lungs, but she knew she had to recover fast or Kyoya would destroy her.

Gasping, she jumped to her feet and slid the dagger from it's hilt. Her hands held it with a skill that she didn't know she had. Hanging low to the ground, she lunged at the evil lord, who was rising to his feet.

He too jumped forward, one arm raised towards her, a bolt of lightning falling from his palm.

Having seen how the lightning struck before, even though she was unconscious to how she processed how it struck, she easily dodged it. She had no idea that she had these abilities.

"Haruhii." Kyoya spoke for the first time as she lunged forward and he dodged back. "What a surprise. I knew you would be back."

"I don't know what you're talking about." she said blandly, dodging another of his lightning bolts. "This isn't even real! It's a dream!" Funny how she couldn't quite convince herself that it was a dream anymore.

He laughed at her and retorted. "A dream? I always knew you were stupid. Did you lose your memory when you transported to another dimension?"

"I must not be who you think I am." she replied, dodging in behind him and making a stab at his back. Kyoya was too fast for her, though, and whirled, catching her hand just before it plunged into him.

"Tsk, tsk, naughty." he said. "Maybe I should help you out with your little 'memory problem'." the hand that was free shot towards her, and before she could react, it clenched onto her head, thumb on her right temple and middle finger on her left temple.

Everything went dark for a moment.

Then a colorful arrangement of memories exploded in her brain, so many she couldn't keep track. She could only see brief images, but she recognized each of them as a memory... as her memory.

There was Tamachan, giving her a rare flower with a smile so huge it nearly fell right off the edges of his face..

Kaoruu dancing with her...

Takashi letting her ride on his shoulders...

Honey happily dragging her through the meadow to show her something...

Rengée (Renge, a harpy) attempting to eat them all whiles yelling gibberish at them...

Hikaruu kissing her...

Wait... Hikaruu kissing her?

This particular memory snapped her back to the presence, and an unknown fire that hid in a corner of her brain forced the magic of Kyoya back. With a swiftness she didn't know she had (or she forgot she had, as she was learning) she hit the ground, spinning her leg out to knock Kyoya's feet out from under him.

As soon as the dark lord hit the ground this time, she was on top of him, her dagger pressed precariously close to his throat as he knees held down his arms.

"I don't care what happened in that past! I care what happens now!" her words were suddenly furocious and very out of character, it seemed. "What did you do to Hikaruu?"

"Get off!" Kyoya demanded, struggling. "I didn't kill him, of course, you stupid wench! Why would I kill a prime specimen? He is perfect for what I am conquesting to do!"

Haruhi heard feet tramping towards them, and knew that her time questioning the dark lord would be swiftly over. "Tell me! Is this a dream, or is it not?"

He scoffed at her, looking highly annoyed. "Of course it isn't a dream! Do not be stupid!"

Faster than lightning, Kyoya knocked her off of him and switched the position. Now he was pinning her instead of vice versa. Uncarring about the guards that were running towards him, he flicked his wrist and quickly shot them all down with lightning bolts.

Smiling, he took the dagger from her and held it against her throat. "As we were saying, Haruhii, my dear?" that smile was evil. "You are quite idiotic, as I have stated. You stupid girl, you originated here! This is your homeland. When I captured you many years ago, you refused to marry me and alluded my bondage spells somehow. You transported yourself to a different world entirely, leaving all of your friends without a trace of you. You probably didn't avoid the spell that I put on that would eventually transport you back here." he chuckled. "Do you remember now?"

Haruhi was about to open her mouth, but before she could, she saw an iron pan zooming through the air. She suppressed a grin as the mettle clanged against Kyoya's skull, knocking him out for really this time.

Haruhi shoved Kyoya off of her and looked up at the person holding the iron pan, expecting it to be Hikaruu. She was shocked to see that it wasn't. "Kaoruu??" she exclaimed as he helped her up.

He nodded. "Hey there." he grinned.

"But.. but I thought you were brainwashed by Kyoya and then Hikaruu knocked you out and..."

He interrupted her. "I was brainwashed by the evil lord, and Hikaruu did knock me out." he rubbed his head. "I guess he hit me hard enough to reverse the effects of the brainwashing."

Haruhi sighed in relief. "That's good. I was worried about you."

"Well, right now, we shouldn't really be worried about me. I think Hikaruu needs our absolute attention!"

She nodded and swiftly hurried over to Hikaru, who was still unconscious from Kyoya's blast. Kaoruu followed suit. Haruhi carefully examined Hikaruu's chest where he had been hit. It looked like it had only scorched his clothing and knocked him out. Other than that, it didn't look that bad.

Kaoruu didn't bother to even examine his brother, but, rather, ran off. When he came back, he was carrying a vat of cold water. He didn't hesitate to poor it over Hikaruu's head.

Hikaruu woke up immediately, as though he had only been asleep. Sputtering and coughing, he demanded, "What was that for?!?"

Haruhi and Kaoruu both laughed.

Hikaruu stared at Haruhi, seeming to not hear their laughter. "You are... Haruhii?"

She smiled and knelt beside him as he sat up. "Not just any Haruhii." she smiled. "Your Haruhii."

Grinning, he roughly pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "I knew you were! I knew all along!"

Kaoruu laughed. "Liar! It took the evil lord's banter to remind you." Kaoruu glanced over his shoulder to see timid and slightly fearful looking creatures traipsing back into the room, seeming to sense that the battle was over.

"Hey!" Hikaruu said suddenly. "We still have time for a party! Let's get on with it, shall we?"

A cheer rose from the people that had already entered the room, and it echoed back into the depths of the people that were still deeper in the castle.

The whole place echoed with a cheer.

The party went on till the next day, as all celebrated the coming back of Haruhii, Hikaruu's betrothed. Haruhii was almost dizzy with the strange sensation of knowing that this was not a dream, but real actuality. Even though she didn't understand quite what happened or how, she knew that this was reality, a strange reality, but reality.

Ouran Host Club was the figment of her imagination, and this was her real life.

At the ball, she danced happily with Hikaruu, Kaoruu, Tamachan and Hunny (Mori was too large to fit in the castle, so he took a nap on a neighboring hillside). She ate a strange concoction that reminded her of ootori, called Haruhii's Dish, after her. She talked with lot's of different creatures that she had once knew, and was now recalling, and was enjoying the happiness of the peoples around her.

When the sun rose the next day, she had never been more happy.

The reign of the dark lord had ended, and the people of this place no longer had to worry about him kidnapping there family and friends. Hikaruu and Haruhii, who was fully restored of all memories from the past, were married soon after the evil lord was imprisoned in his own dungeon, and a great feast was thrown.

Soon after they were married, the father of Hikaruu and Kaoruu, the chief of all the elves, passed on, and Hikaruu was crowned in his place. Haruhii was queen by his side, and happily assisted in ruling over the court.

All ended well for them, and Haruhii said that one could almost say that it was a grand 'Happily Ever After'.

The End.