This is AU, because: 1) Tamaki didn't move to Japan until he was a preteen, and obviously didn't attend 'Ouran Elementary' (if there was one.) 2) Haruhi didn't meet him until the Host Club. 2) Little nine year old Tamaki has this stoical and withdrawn attitude. 3) it's very, very different.

"Suoh Tamaki, I never expected you to be such a dishonest boy! You're going to clean the whole classroom today," the man scolded. The blonde nine-year old only stayed silent as he stared at his sensei with blank eyes.

What did he do wrong? The boy did not know. All he did was stand there; he listened to the teacher throw more words of discouragement to show his disappointment in him. Behind the teacher, he could see boys snickering, and he felt anger boil up inside.

But he didn't know what to do, what could he do? He had never been scolded before, and he was used as a scape goat for his classmate's troubles. Suoh Tamaki's thoughts were disrupted as the teacher shoved a broom, bucket, and wash cloth into his hands.

He only wordlessly received it, understanding that he was blamed for a serious cause. Ouran Elementary classrooms were never cleaned by students; they were too rich so they could have a janitor clean it for them.

"Start washing, Suoh!" the boys teased, as he only stared at the items in his hand. He felt rage; he wanted to smash the bucket into their heads and leave. However he wasn't going to be disobey his sensei.

Because he was good kid.

And good kids don't disobey their sensei…even if their sensei was wrong. So very obediently, Tamaki took the blue pail outside of the classroom and walked outside, to the courtyard where the water faucet was, to fill it with water. After it was full, he grabbed it and turned it over on his head.

SPLASH

He stood there with water dripping off his soaked hair. Water slid down his face and uniform was drenched. If you think that Tamaki wasn't at all affected by this unfair situation…

You're wrong.

Because mixing in with the water that was falling down from his face was a single tear.

The sky was a light golden by the time that Tamaki was done with cleaning the floor. He threw the pail down at the floor with the wash cloth, and then started to stalk off with his bag slung on his shoulders. In his ear was still the laughing of his classmates, and his fists clenched because of that.

His face fell and he sighed. His eyebrows knitted and he bit his lower lip.

"Cheh," he said, while kicking a rock against the ground. He had been blamed and been given his punishment that he never even deserved. He just wanted to show them who's really in charge, even though the teacher would probably never do anything about it.

No one was to put any blame on him. He was just at the wrong place and at the wrong time to receive it. Tamaki could feel anger ride up his body, and his knuckles turned white. He just wanted to explode with all this frustration and stress that was building up in his body.

He walked slowly down the mountainous pathway, sticking to the side where the trees were the most. As rich as he was, Tamaki couldn't get himself a ride home by a chauffer. He had always been the 'last priority' in his house, and that day, none of his family members would notice him, even if he was gone.

He sighed, "I hate this…"

"Hey, can you wait?" someone cried, snapping him out of his 'alone' trance. Tamaki glanced around to find the source of sound. At last, he found someone running up to him, panting. "I saw you pass by, and I wanted to say 'Hi', but you were moving too fast."

Tamaki silently mouthed an: "Oh."

The eight-year old scratched her head as she smiled at him, "So anything happen today?"

The azure-eyed boy shook his head and kept walking. He said, "Nothing you should know."

She fell in step with him, and asked with a smile, "Is it a secret-?"

He stopped for a while but resumed walking with his eyes lowered to the ground. Noticing this, the brunette stopped talking and slowly followed after him. She walked faster than him and stopped Tamaki in his tracks.

She asked worriedly, "Did you get in trouble?"

He sighed and gave in to her questioning gaze. Scratching his mass of blonde hair, he replied, "Yeah. I was scolded by my sensei."

"For what?"

"Everyone thinks that I was the one who turned the floors green with chalk. I didn't do anything, but nobody would believe me," he hissed lowly. The girl looked at the floor as she noticed that Tamaki's nerves were being pulled out. "I hate it. I had to clean the room when I didn't do anything."

A hand took Tamaki's clenched fists, and it loosened slightly under her small hand. She looked at him and said bluntly, "I believe you. You're not the type to do those things. You're nice."

Being with someone as simple minded as Fujioka Haruhi made Tamaki feel kind of guilty that he wasn't as pure as some eight-year old. Tamaki looked at the floor and Haruhi gave a suggestive tug on his hand.

"Come, I have something to show you, it might make you feel better," she said positively, with a firm smile on her face. Wherever she led him, Tamaki felt himself succumb to her lead.

It was always like this.

Whenever Tamaki would walk home from Ouran Elementary, he would go home and find no one giving him the attention that a kid needed. He would be emptiness of being ignored. That continued until a brunette came and distracted him from going home early.

Tamaki knew nothing about her, except her name. But what he knew was that she was just as lonely as he was...however, she was stronger than he was. She does not show her

"What do you have to show me now?" Tamaki had to ask, as she dragged him through the forests on the side…and he couldn't help but think that they were detouring away from the road. As Haruhi dragged him through the forests, the boy felt that the sky was turning darker until the pink and lavender was evident in the sky.

"We're almost there," Haruhi said, tugging the eleven-year old along. She gave a reassuring smile to him as they clambered through the thick mass of trees. Suddenly the vegetation disappeared bringing about a clear fielding that led to a cliff.

"Here!" she exclaimed, spinning around with her arms held out wide. "Isn't it great?"

Tamaki glanced around as he followed after Haruhi, the soft grass underneath his shoes sunk slightly with each step he took. She collapsed on the green cool grass as a soft gust of wind blew through the air. Tamaki sat down next to her and gazed out at the forests that the cliff overlooked.

They watched the last of the sun disappear down the mountains and daylight turned to dusk.

"What are we supposed to be seeing?"

The eight-year old laughed at his obliviousness and fell to her back, the grass tickling her clothed back. Haruhi said, "Look up!"

Tamaki looked up and saw a vastness of black and dark blue. However there were small twinkling lights that lay about the mass of blackness. Very awkwardly, he lay on his back next to Haruhi and stared at the black open sky.

"Neh, neh? I found this yesterday night, I thought you'd like it very much, Tamaki-niichan," Haruhi said softly as she put her hands into the air. She seemed to be stretching to grasp them, and she peered at them through the gaps of her fingers. "Look at that…there are so many stars on a clear night like this…"

"Yeah…there is," Tamaki responded with a smile on his face. As silence passed, and as he stared at the sky, Tamaki felt his anger of the day melt away. Haruhi seemed very entranced by the twinkling stars and had been smiling at them.

Curiosity poked him as his blue eyes shifted to look at her. He asked, "What are you smiling about?"

"My mom," she said wistfully. "The sky reminds me of her."

"Oh…I'm sorry," he said lowering his voice, as his gaze went back to the star-littered sky.

"Its fine," she replied, her smile faltered. "…Look at all that." She whispered. "All these stars…how many do you think there are?"

"I…don't know…" Tamaki said truthfully. "There seems to be a lot."

Haruhi shifted slightly, so that she was facing him. "Tamaki-niichan…"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

He threw a glance at her and raised his eyebrows, as Haruhi continued, "Do you believe that the stars are smiling?"

Without consideration, he bluntly said, "That's…stupid."

Haruhi laughed, as a small tear dribbled down her cheek. He looked at her questionably, as several more tears slid down. Tamaki only stared at her sympathetically as Haruhi draped a forearm over her eyes. "My dad…he told me…that…we're moving somewhere else. When I…asked him where…" She took in a deep breath, and broke out from her shaky voice. She continued boldly, "He said that we will probably never come back to this place."

Tamaki stayed silent, as the fact sunk in.

"…I won't be able to see you anymore..."

The Suoh felt a slight disappointment build up in his chest as he looked away. He hummed, "Mm."

He saw, out of the corner of his eye, that Haruhi sat up and turned to him. "Can you promise that'll you'll remember me? And protect me when we meet again? From bullies, meanies, those hardships of life…can you?"

She held out a pinky; her brown eyes were crinkling with delight, however the small drip of moisture that hung on her lashes said otherwise. She said enthusiastically, "Pinky promise!"

Tamaki sat up stared at her for a while, he closed his eyes. He could tell that she was strong. Haruhi was a girl who refused to shed many tears, and although the piece of news it her hard, she would never show it that hurt to be leaving.

He admired that.

And loved that.

He hooked his pinky to hers. Tamaki opened his deep blue eyes.

"Yeah, I will. And…thank you…Haruhi."

She smiled.

Like the stars at night that always look after me, I may not have acknowledged the value of your presence, but now I thank you for being there for me.

-Many, many years later…

"C'mon, Haruhi, I know you want to," a man said, positioning himself between her and her destination. Haruhi walked around him and continued with files in her hands. "You're quite a catch you know, if you put aside your work and actually focused on life...you would be married by now…"

"Thanks but I'm not interested in you, Taro," she replied, keeping her distance. Feeling tired of having someone follow her, she whipped around and scolded him. "Look. I'm tired. I don't want to have a drink. I have work to do. I want to go on home. So can you leave me alone?"

"Ouch," he said, a bit put off. Taro walked ahead of her and stopped her. A hand of his caressed her face, as she glared at him. "I don't take 'no' for an answer, Fujioka. You're coming with me."

Haruhi glowered stubbornly. She reached into her bag, and fingered her peppermint spray. As the man's face neared her, she was ready to grab the spray and shoot it into his eyes. However, something got to the man before she did.

A harsh push rammed him aside, and shoved him away from her. Haruhi stared at the twenty-four year old crumpled on the ground, and then looked at the person who interfered. He rubbed his knuckles casually and said, "Taro-kun, please think that this is another type of sexual harassment, and I simply can't allow it."

Taro lay unconscious on the grounds of the vacant building. The tall blonde immediately grabbed her wrist and dragged her out the door of the building. They ended up walking into a lone and dark park that was surrounded by thick forestry. A lamp illuminated the tiled floor of the park, and their shadows stretched across the floor. A stiff silence filled the atmosphere.

Haruhi lit up. "Arigatou, Suoh."

Tamaki only continued looking forward as he continued walking. He said absently, "There's no 'Niichan'?"

"Eh?"

"Nothing," he muttered, put-off that she had forgotten him. Tamaki couldn't blame her; it was around fifteen years ago when they last met. He sighed deeply, and looked up at the night sky. "Look…there are so many stars on a night like this..."

Haruhi stopped mid-step, and so did Tamaki. She looked at the sky that was littered with stars. "Yeah…there is."

She fell in step with him and stood by his side as they marveled at the sparkling lights dotting across he vast dark blanket. She saw a smile on Tamaki's face as he stared distantly at the black mass. Feeling curious, she raised her eyebrows and asked, "What are you smiling about?"

"Someone," he said, fully aware that he was mimicking the conversation many, many years ago. "The sky reminds me of her."

Haruhi blinked, and murmured, "Oh…I'm sorry."

"Its fine," Tamaki assured as he tilted his head so that he could see her. "Look...There are so many stars…how many do you think there are?"

"There's a lot…" she answered.

"Haruhi…"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Haruhi looked at him curiously and he continued. "Do you believe that the stars are smiling?"

Almost bluntly and imitating the nine-year old Tamaki, Haruhi said, "That's…stupid."

The blonde man laughed as his lonely gaze met her eyes. "That's funny…because I do…" Tamaki looked up at the sky once more nostalgically. There was a long stretch of silence between the two before Tamaki started to walk away. "I'll see you sometime later, Haruhi. Be careful on your way home."

As he strolled away from her, he felt disappointment heave on his chest. Nevertheless, Tamaki suppressed the feeling.

He paused slightly as he heard her say, "Yeah, I will. And…thank you."

He smiled.

It would be better if you didn't forget me, because I didn't. I would never forget the girl who carried the attributes that I have lacked. I remember the girl who was so strong that wasn't afraid of anything, but I realized that it was just a mask, something to cover up your real emotions.

I can still see you're unstable, but I'm here for you.

Just like we promised.