A/N: I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Last chapter was pretty much a set up for the rest of the story. Enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 2 - Magical Spells, Sugar Plum Fairies, and a Prince
A scuffling, a squeak. Something moving in the night. Haruhi woke up with a start and noticed that it was just midnight. When had she fallen asleep? Where was everyone? They were all missing. Another scratching sand. What was that? What had woken her up?
Suddenly she felt odd. Not sick. There was no real way to describe this feeling. She just felt weird. Closing her eyes, she hoped the feeling would pass and then she could look around again, but when she opened her eyes again, she had to bend her head back to gaze up at her tree, her television, and everything else in the apartment. She had shrunk! How had that happened? This had to be some sort of weird dream. Maybe Tamaki spiked the punch or the food or something! She was now the same size as her nutcracker.
Another sound pulled her focus away from the tree and her current plight. What was that? She looked around and found… a rat. Not just one, but there were at least a dozen who were suddenly coming from every crack and crevice. Since when did they have a rat problem? Never! But here they were and they were coming towards her. As they marched towards her, she backed up scanning the area for something to fight them with. Side to side, her eyes swept the room and constantly came up short. She needed something with which to defend herself. And then a sound, a horrible haunting squeak coming from the under the tree. Her heartbeat accelerating, she was prepared to face her foe – it was either than or succumb to the rats and that was not how she wanted to leave this world. Quite the contrary, she rather get back to normal size and spend the holiday with her boyfriend… and her friends if they decided to barge in on Christmas as well as Christmas Eve. At this point, she would welcome them with open arms.
The awful sounds got louder and she was starting to tremble at the unknown thing that was coming closer, intruding in her apartment. Where was her father? Where were the guys when she really needed them? It wasn't like she could call because her cell phone was on the coffee table, far too high for her to reach and too big for her to use anyway. Backing up to the bookshelf, she climbed on the shelf and tried to squeeze in between two books without much luck.
As soon as the thing appeared, she gasped. Before her stood a three headed rat wearing three crowns. But why were the heads those girls from Lobelia who constantly tried to kidnap her. On the left, Chizuru Maihara's face stared back at her with a maniacal smile. On the right, Hinako Tsuwabuki snickered. And in the middle, Benio Amakusa (Beni Bara) smirked studying Haruhi from head to toe, a hungry glint in her eyes. That glint gave Haruhi the shudders, and she wasn't exactly sure why.
All three heads' found and focused their gaze on Haruhi. They wanted her. She needed to join them, and if not, then she could be destroyed. Rushing forward, they tried to grab her, but was stopped by a sword in their way. Following the sword, they found a nutcracker blocking their path. Not just any nutcracker, Haruhi's nutcracker.
Furrowing her brow in confusion, Haruhi immediately recognized the toy that was helping her. It was the nutcracker that Tamaki had given her for Christmas. It had glasses and a purple and blue uniform. Tamaki had told her that he had it customized to look like Kyoya, not that she thought it looked like her boyfriend. How was it he was alive? And why did she suddenly see the resemblance to Kyoya – although very slight and minute. Shaking her head, she forced the thoughts from her mind. Right now was not the time to think about such things. Right now, she needed to focus on what was going on in front of her. Her nutcracker was trying to play hero and although it seemed he was putting up a good fight, she could tell he was struggling.
It was like the two foes were dancing. Leaping through the air, spinning, dodging, and twirling around each other. For every thrust, the rat queen parried. Then she would shuffle and thrust, trying to find an opening. On and on it went. Stabbing air, blocking strikes. The clanking of swords was almost deafening and Haruhi wondered why none of the neighbors rushed over to check on the commotion, or for that matter, she wondered why her father could still be heard snoring in his room. Didn't he hear this? She almost covered her ears, the noise was so loud.
"Haha, we will have her!" Beni Bara shouted.
"That's right!" The outside heads agreed.
The nutcracker did nothing but shake his head vigorously. He would never let this three headed rodent win Haruhi because if necessary, he would protect her with his very life. Letting his anger momentarily blind him, he thrust forward with his sword so hard and fast, he threw off his balance. A big mistake. He already knew it too. He could do nothing except hope the rat queen missed. And then something extraordinary happened; the rat queen faltered. Seeing his opportunity, he twisted his body and thrust his sword into the chest of his foe.
They couldn't believe it. Just as she/they were getting the upper hand and was mere inches away from stabbing the nutcracker, a shoe hit Beni in the face causing momentary surprise, and in the lapse, she felt the sword of her enemy pierce her heart. No more would she live to rule over her rats. No longer would she be able to sneak into Haruhi's house to watch her sleep. The world of the rats and people would not be bereft of the Rat Queen with here three heads. Dramatically falling to the ground, she fell backwards in a heap, sat up to take her last breath, and then fell down again this time dead… at least she should be.
Without thinking, Haruhi took off her slipper and threw it at the three headed rat just as it appeared her nutcracker would lose the battle, and by some miracle it actually hit the target. She could only imagine what the twins would have said in that moment, "Wow, Haruhi. You can actually throw a shoe, but you don't much else in the way of athletic ability." Falling to her knees, she lifted her head in time to see the dozen rats that had invaded her house, pick up their queen and carry her away. Good riddance.
A hand appeared in front of her face to help her to her feet, and when she lifted her head to gaze up at her savior, she found herself looking into the face of her beloved Kyoya. How? What? "Kyoya?" She asked bewildered as she placed her hand in his.
"Who else would be here to make sure nothing untoward happened to you?" He answered with a small smile turning up his lips.
She could have answered Mori, Hikaru, Kaoru, Tamaki, or Hunny, for they all had rescued her at some point in time, but she smartly kept that to herself, but instead she said, "How? What is going on here?"
"That's easy…"
Sweat dropping when he uttered those words and didn't continue, the brunette probed, "It is?"
"I will explain everything later. Suffice it to say, I am a prince and you rescued me. Now, come with me. I have something wonderful to show you." He didn't give her a chance to argue or think about anything. Taking charge, he pulled her towards the tree where a bright light suddenly appeared and enveloped them.
Holding onto her boyfriend tightly and closing her eyes tightly, Haruhi trusted him to guide her through this unknown place, even if she was a little wary about what was happening. First of all, this was Kyoya and he would never let anything happen to her. Secondly, he was the Shadow King and most things were very afraid of the third son of the Ootori family. Finally, she trusted him more than anyone and so did her father, so she was in safe hands. Well, she hoped she was; however, he was acting a bit strange.
Kyoya dropped his eyes to the woman who clung to him and smiled again. This was the girl who had rescued him in more ways than one. The woman he had fallen for when he first laid eyes on her. She was more special than she probably realized and he never wanted to let her go. "Haruhi… Haruhi, look," he bent down and whispered into her ear.
Slowly opening her eyes, she gasped for twirling around them were snowflakes. The snow seemed almost alive and celebrating something, "It's so beautiful."
"Hmm, they appear to be happy to see you."
"Me? Why?"
"For you brought me back here to my kingdom. A curse was put upon me and you brought me back to life."
"Kyoya?" This was not like him, and although part of her liked it, it was a little unsettling to see this side of him. Even when they were alone, he was still the same Kyoya, albeit a little more touchy feely and a little (very little) more soft spoken; and although he wasn't completely soft on her, she wouldn't take him any other way because that is what made him… him.
"Your love brought me to life and broke the spell. You are the one who brought me home and rescued me. I pledge my life to you forever more. Please say that you will stay with me and be my queen."
"I… I…" How did she answer that? This was Kyoya and yet it wasn't. Taking a deep breath, she finally released it and said, "Yes."
Unable to hold in his happiness, he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss. This was his dream come true. Breaking apart, he murmured against her lips, "Thank you. Come!"
Once again he was pulling her, leading her somewhere unknown; and once again she was following without further question. With that one answer, Haruhi knew she had committed herself, and besides, she was really curious about what exactly was going on. For now, she would play along. Why did this remind her of something that happened to her when she was in her first year? Didn't that have something to do with falling down a hole and seeing Usa-Chan actually walking?
They arrived at a large beautiful castle that sparkled in the sunlight almost as if covered in glitter (or candied sugar), and almost immediately a crowd awaited them. Haruhi had to blink a few times, rub her eyes, and blink a few more times before she was convinced what she was seeing was real. Why were her friends dressed in weird clothes?
The first to greet the couple was Hunny dressed in a costume from Spain and all of the sudden music from nowhere started to play and he was dancing. Actually his dance looked more jerky and jumpy, nothing like what it should. And was that Usa-Chan and Kuma-Chan joining him?
Tilting her head to the side, Haruhi shook her head. This did not look like it did in the ballet she had seen, but this was Hunny and this was the Host Club, so she would just go along with it because it was just easier that way.
"He represents chocolate," Kyoya whispered.
The brunette nodded, "Oh." Convinced this had to be another crazy dream, she tried to think of a way to wake herself up. Pinching herself, she groaned softly, "Ouch."
"Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh yah. Perfectly fine," she smiled and turned back to the performance. Sometime while she was trying to wake herself up, Hikaru dressed in an Arabian costume and Kaoru dressed in a Chinese outfit had started to dance. "Aren't they supposed to be dancing separately?" She had been unable to hold in her question.
"This is Hikaru and Kaoru. You try to separate them during a performance."
"Good point."
Next up was Mori dressed in a Russian garb. As he started to dance, Haruhi felt herself finally forgetting about the dream, forgetting about getting home for now, and relaxing a little bit. The taller host seemed more skilled than the others and he moved with such precision, the brunette could almost picture him as a Russian dancer.
After he was finished, Haruhi expected to see a few more dancers, but the Sugar Plum Fairy approached. "Tamaki?!" Wearing a crown and dress, there was not mistaken that the Sugar Plum Fairy was her blond friend. This was all wrong. As she continued to watch, her regular customers were his Cavalier dancers. She wanted to laugh, and if she could pick up her jaw from the floor and get rid of the deadpan expression, she might just do that.
Tamaki approached the couple once his entrance had been concluded and cast his soft smiling gaze upon Haruhi, "Thank you for returning our prince and breaking the spell." He leaned in closely and whispered, "You really need to wake up because we all know I am the only prince."
"Huh? What did you say Tamaki-senpai?" The brunette questioned. Surely she had not heard him right, and soon she couldn't breathe.
Glomping her, Tamaki held on tight and squealed, "My daughter is just so cute! I can't believe you chose mommy over daddy! Daddy just loves his little girl!"
Kyoya sighed and pulled Haruhi free, knocking Tamaki to the ground in the process. The blonde's skirts went over his head and everyone could see his white tight clad lower half, "Daddy, please leave her alone. We have been through all of this before. Now get up before you embarrass yourself further, or do you want the whole school to see pictures of you in a girl's ballet outfit?"
Now this was the Kyoya Haruhi knew and loved. Much better.
"Eek! Sorry mommy!" Tamaki jumped to his feet and made sure to keep another 5 feet in between them.
"Haha, looks like Tono was red carded again!" Hikaru and Kaoru joked simultaneously.
"Isn't it time to crown them Sugar Plum Fairy-Chan?" Hunny smiled, his gaze telling no one to argue with him.
Tamaki turned his gaze to his shorter friend and said, "Huh?"
"The crowns," Kaoru told him.
"They are the king and queen now, so you have to crown them," Hikaru reminded the blond fairy.
Blinking for a moment, the princely type suddenly snapped and exclaimed, "It's time to crown our rulers!"
Everyone started to dance around the couple and Tamaki placed the crown upon their heads. Their prince was back and the spell was broken. It was a time for the kingdom to celebrate. Holding out his hand, Kyoya asked, "May I have this dance my queen?"
"Of course," Haruhi smiled and placed her hand in his. As they started to dance and spin about the room, she started to feel funny again and closed her eyes allowing Kyoya to lead her through the motions of the dance. The feel of his arms, the heat of his body, and the sound of his heartbeat were all lulling her to sleep. Sleep? Did that mean this wasn't a dream?
