a/n: This is my first official, complete, Tamaki/Haruhi. It was just toooo cute an idea to pass up. xD xD xD Even if the premise seems transparent, read it all the way through to get it. :) Review with compliments, tips, contructive criticism, whatever. I love anyone who gives the time to leave a review. :)
Daddy and Daughter. The sweetest pair that you could possibly imagine. Her with her calm, innocent, oh-so-big eyes. His eyes are a contrast – bright, blue, in constant ecstasy.
"So! Would you like to hear a story?"
The enthusiasm bounds out of his voice and against the walls. She hardly looks up from her book. "Not really."
In a split second, his entire expression changes. "Y-you don't want a story?" He sounds like a wounded dog, pitifully liking its hurt paw.
She looks up, indecisiveness flashes through her eyes, but then:
"As long as it's short."
Again, his face becomes something completely different. Joy sparkles in his eyes as he sits himself down, and she sighs the teeniest bit, wondering what she's gotten herself into.
"Once upon a time," he begins grandly, "there was a little princess. She had the most calm, innocent, oh-so-big eyes in-"
"Stop. I don't want to hear this."
He looks wounded again. She turns back to her book with the passive cruelty she's so known for.
After a moment of silence:
"Will you listen if I tell you a different one?"
She stills, and he sees that her eyes no longer scan the sentences on the page. She gives the tiniest nod, and her eyes travel again to his face.
He considers for a moment. A reflective smile, a rarity, spreads on his lips.
"Once upon a time," he begins again, "there was a girl. She was a normal girl, a peasant girl –" this catches Daughter's attention, as his stories usually focus on princesses and other grand ladies "-and her name was…" he pauses, his blonde eyebrows furrow in thought, until finally the name flickers into view behind his blue eyes. "Oshin. Her name was Oshin."
"Oshin?" Daughter asks dubiously, "I think I've heard that name before. Isn't-"
"Shh, darling daughter, this is daddy's story. You mustn't interrupt."
She crosses her arms unhappily at being cut off. Daddy clears his throat.
"Oshin was a beautiful peasant girl, but she was not very… observant. At least, in many ways." He paused.
"One day, the beautiful Oshin cut her long, silky, feminine-" here he sniffs, almost unnoticeably "-locks. She put on large, thick spectacles and ugly… trousers. Off she marched, to a Castle where only the most talented, intelligent, and sparkling beings were permitted. This Castle – glistening and white – was the home to a famous line of Noble kings, and the current prince reigned without question. Every noble loved the Prince dearly, but Oshin, being an outsider, did not understand this Sacred Connection."
Daughter cocks her head the tiniest bit in interest. This would normally have caused Daddy to squeal, except he's too wrapped up in his precious story now to see anything but 'Oshin'.
"This palace was known for its special curriculum in the Most-High and Powerful Magical Arts. This was very important to Oshin. The entire reasons she had ventured to this glistening Castle was to become a White Witch of the Highest Order. She would work for good and protect the unprotected. She had little room in her mind for anything but this one goal, which was spurred by the Honorable Memory of her beloved dead Mother – a White Witch of the Very Highest Order."
The room is silent and waiting for Daddy's next word as he takes a dramatic pause. Little do Daddy or Daughter, caught up in the story, realize that another person has been caught in the tale as well.
"She worked hard, day and night, toiling for her dream! One day, the prince – and all of his Noble Knights – came across this poor peasant as she searched for a place in the Castle where she could practice her Frochaging spell in private. But, instead, she came upon the Most Noble Prince and his Most Noble Knights, who were readying themselves to entertain the sweet Ladies at the Palace. She ran from them, as she had no desire for their company. But in her haste to leave, she broke the vase that was going to be sold for the castle's charity auction!"
"A vase for a charity auction?" Daughter asked disbelievingly, a bit scornfully.
"Fine," Daddy scoffed, "the Noble Prince's hollow stained-glass ball, a traditional gift to the Crown Prince on his tenth birthday. It was of great Importance, as it connoted that he would someday rule. And so-"
"I liked the vase better."
"So be it! And thus, Oshin was condemned to a year of servitude, forcing her to wait on the Prince and his Knights until she could once again fill the deep hole that had formed in his heart when this vase had shattered!"
"This Prince is silly. It's only a vase. It wasn't even his. It was for a charity auction."
"Think of all the money that it could've made! That pitiable Prince, how tormented he must have felt, thinking of all the food that would be taken from the mouths of his poorest, poorest – poorer than Oshin! – peasants! But at any rate."
A small, just ever-so-small, 'pfft' comes from the doorway. But neither Daughter nor Daddy notices a thing.
"You see, the Prince and his Knights do not notice that Oshin is female. For despite her beauty, they only think her to be a very androgynous male. And anyway… the Prince, too, is not very… observant. Oshin herself did not say anything, because to her, gender is not important. And thus, when they realized that she had the strength of character – and good looks – to be a Knight, the good Prince makes her one of their own."
Daughter is quiet, captivated by his tale.
"Now, Ladies should be of a good breed and a gentle nature, but one girl – who called herself a Princess – was not. She tormented the new Knight, jealous of the attentions that the Prince gave him. She did not know of Oshin's true identity, and neither did the prince. The other Knights were slowly discovering this, but the Prince himself had not yet seen what beauty lay within his reach."
"This girl, who called herself a Princess but behaved no better than a gutter rat, threw a fit and set Oshin up to have done a Heinous Crime – to have tried to steal her Maidenly Honor!"
"'Maidenly Honor'? Wha-"
"When you're older, my darling daughter. But of course, the Noble Prince and his Noble Knights saw right through this gutter rat's ploy, and they banished her from their Noble Court in tears. Oshin, being dirty from the food the Gutter Princess had spilled upon her, changed into a new set of clothing. This is just when the Prince, who believed Oshin to be male, brought her a change of clothes. He was quite shocked, you see," Daddy told Daughter quickly, "but he didn't see anything he shouldn't of. Just enough to know she was a girl. Remember, my darling daughter, never let any man but Daddy see any part of your modest body!"
Daughter gave him an impatient look.
"It was only an accident! At any rate, Oshin's secret was out. But there was no possible way that her identity could come out to the public, especially the females. See, the Knights Nobly entertained the Ladies to raise money for the poor peasants. So it wouldn't do to let Oshin off the hook, as she had a debt to repay. And thus…," Tamaki trailed off dreamily, "Thus it began. The story of five Knights, one Prince, and one Peasant."
There was a quiet, but one that begged for more – hung around both Daddy and Daughter and the figure in the doorway, a silence that called out for a resolution.
"What happened next?" Daughter whispered.
Daddy closed his eyes contemplatively and a smile spread like sunlight over his face.
"They faced a lot of tough times. Someone would try to hurt her, but he would not succeed, because the Prince was there. The two fought, but petty anger did not succeed. Because they loved each other – no, not that kind of love – not yet," he explained, "A deep friendship."
Daughter watched him intently, eyes wide.
"A pack of ridiculous Lady Knights came and tried to take Oshin away, but did not succeed. Oshin's father – who was a good and kind man, though he looked like a woman – tried, in all of his Fatherly Love, to discourage the Prince from Oshin. He did not succeed. Some… some of the Knights loved Oshin, as well."
Silence engulfs the room for a moment, and the figure in the doorway freezes in surprise. The figure's mouth opens just the tiniest bit, but still Daughter and Daddy do not notice.
"The Wicked Dowager Queen tried to marry the Prince to a Beautiful but Wicked Princess. And although she was hurting at the time – although this Princess was not a Gutter Princess – she still was Wicked. She was Tragic, but that did not make her Good."
"What… what happened?"
"The Prince overcame that obstacle. The Tragic Princess was taking him off to her kingdom to be wed, when Oshin – so brave and so strong – came to rescue him, to tell him that the lies the Tragic Princess had told him about his Knights' loyalty were not true. And thus, he Tragic Princess – with tears in her eyes – let the Prince go to be with his True Love."
"True Love," Daughter whispered inaudibly.
"And when he held her in his arms he knew. When he held his arms around her, just for that tiny moment, he knew that she was his True Love. And when the Prince became King, he Proposed to his True Princess. And they had a beautiful baby Princess with calm, innocent, oh-so-big eyes."
Daughter starts to laugh, and her hands rapidly come together to form a round of enthusiastic applause for Daddy.
Daddy stands, bows in all directions with exaggerated (or is it really?) pride. Rising from one of his bows, he pauses, and blinks. Just once.
"Haruhi?"
His wife stands in the doorway, adding her own clapping to Daughter's.
Not to mention her true, sweet laughter.
a/n: Well, in case you were a little confused: Daddy is Tamaki, Daughter is his and Haruhi's daughter. In the story, Prince is Tamaki, and Oshin is Haruhi (do you remember how he compares her to Oshin, the television character?). You're supposed to have thought that Daughter was Haruhi and Daddy was Tamaki for a little while. :D I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope that you had that much fun reading it. ;)