Disclaimer: I don't own The Host Club, although I wish I did.
Haruhi woke up on the day of her wedding with a feeling of dread. Slowly and reluctantly she got out of bed, showered and started to prepare for the upcoming ceremony. The others had finished planning the wedding, and she kept to her promise, she let them do everything, without even questioning them. She trusted them.
Haruhi was dressed now in her wedding dress, and had been sitting in the chamber personally set up for her, trying to gather the nerves to get up and go downstairs to meet her fate. She was already late.
There was a faint knock on the door, the person; not even waiting for an answer came in anyways.
Her father smiled at the sight of his daughter, and made his way towards her. He took out a tiny box from his suit pocket and placed it on top her vanity. "It's time that I give you this," He said, opening the box to reveal a rose breast pin.
Haruhi's eyes widened. "Dad." she breathed while picking the pin from its dark blue box, "This— this is very beautiful," she gushed as she studied the rose pin against her palm. Its stem was as long as her ring finger with a single leaf on its left side curved elegantly to hold the five petals of its head. It was made purely from gold while the five petals were made entirely from rubies. "Where did you get this?" she asked looking at her father with amazement.
Her father smiled. "It was your mothers'." He said. "The rose was her favorite flower, you know."
"Yes, but why," Haruhi stopped as she turned her eyes once again on the pin, its red and golden sparkle almost blinding her, "I didn't know that you had something that valuable! I thought that—"
"It was traditionally given to the women on their wedding day in your mother's family" said her father, his hands reaching for the pin. He held it against his hand, staring at it with misted eyes. "I remember when your mother wore this, she looked so beautiful…" He stopped and handed the pin back to Haruhi, "I just had to give it to you. So that a part of your mother was with you on your wedding day. She would be so proud of you Haruhi.
At that, Haruhi decided to put the pin on. "Yes, I know" she answered as she pinned the pin on the center of her bodice. The pin clipped in place smoothly and stared up at her. "I'm really doing this," she thought as her father, in turn, carefully placed her veil and tiara over her head.
"You look beautiful, honey," her father said suddenly.
"Do I really?" thought Haruhi as she stared at her reflection. "They say all brides are beautiful on their wedding day," she said to herself as her fingers went up to caress the soft material of her veil. It made her wonder. "Am I one of those brides?" She stared at her reflection once again, but what looked back at her dismayed her. Through the thin material of the veil she noticed her eyes, so small and so dark. For her, brown was a common color. Why couldn't she have had green instead, or even dark violets. Well, she admitted it would look quite odd for a brunette to have violet eyes, but still, another eye color would be nicer than her boring brown one. And why couldn't she have those doe-innocent eyes that she had always admired? Her 'boring' eyes then traveled to her nose, so small and so very much upturned. She mentally frowned with disgust upon seeing the faint wrinkles from stress fighting to get free from under the make-up she had put on. She also noticed her lips were too small, her hair too brown and her skin too pale… All in all, she thought herself nothing but plain and ugly.
"So what if you're ugly?" she suddenly found herself asking. Haruhi nodded slowly. Yes, so what? Anyway, she was marrying a man who couldn't care less about her, just about the money he could make out of her, so what did it matter? In fact, she lifted her chin stubbornly. She hoped that she would be ugly for his sake. She didn't want to please him in any way, let alone to give him a beautiful, rosy bride.
"Haruhi, come," said her father as He tapped her lightly on her bare shoulder. "It is time," He added.
At that, Haruhi lifted herself and her heavy dress up from her seat and began gathering her skirts in her hands. Once comfortable and settled, she let go of the dress to take the bouquet of fresh flowers Hunny handed her.
"Your groom is waiting," he said as he led his daughter outside the chamber. Haruhi nodded and took a deep breath.
"Yes," she thought as she followed her father towards the hallway then to the grand staircase, the long train of her wedding dress creating a pool of white, silken water moving behind her, "He's waiting."
The groom was talking to his best man, the best man had just asked a question but before the groom could answer, a sudden hush filled the grand ballroom. He looked around and saw all the people turning towards the ballroom entrance. Frowning, he looked as well only to see Haruhi, all in white, finally there, standing just outside the ballroom front entrance, looking so shy and unsure. The groom's eyes slightly widened as he stared at her, all his anxiety and worry disappearing to be replaced by relief and awe. Remembering his role, he quickly turned around.
Haruhi stood there, her brown eyes darting from left to right. She bit her lip upon feeling all eyes turning towards her. She looked around to find her eyes settling on the man standing in front of the priest, his back facing her. An unexpected sigh escaped her rouged lips upon seeing her 'groom' standing there and actually managing to look very handsome in his white tuxedo.
"What took you so long, Haruhi?" whispered Hikaru, breaking the ice. Haruhi looked to her side and saw Hikaru; on her other side was Kaoru with her father. As for her father, he was pensive. Almost immediately, loud murmurs of confusion and relief swept through the ballroom.
"Haruhi?" Said Kaoru. "Explain."
Haruhi again bit her lip before speaking. "I— I had to think first," she stammered.
"Ah, a typical bridal moment," said Hikaru quickly, with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Nothing wrong. At least she showed up, eh?" He then turned to his guests, all waiting and looking unsure. "If everybody would be so kind as to sit down…" He stopped and looked around expectantly. When everybody obliged, Hikaru smirked. Then turning to Haruhi, he smiled and winked. "Now, let's have that wedding, shall we?" Her father went to his seat at the front.
Haruhi smiled. "Thank you," she said softly as Hikaru and Kaoru each intertwined one of her arms with theirs. Behind her she saw Mori and Hunny pick up her dress's long train.
"Are you ready?" asked Kaoru softly.
Haruhi merely nodded.
When everything was settled, the restlessness vanquished, the orchestra started playing the bridal march. Haruhi began to walk, arm in arm with the twins as the crowd stood up.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" the best man whispered to the groom as Haruhi began walking towards them.
The groom didn't answer, nor did he turn around, not wanting to ruin the plan. He swallowed hard upon seeing her reflexion in the grand mirrors in front of him, noticing the pristine whiteness of her princess-cut gown which bared her creamy shoulders. On her head was a small and delicate-looking tiara holding her veil made entirely from satin. She had her hair swept back, parted to the side, giving him a glimpse of her tender skin. On her chest, in the middle of her bodice, was a pin in shape of a rose, looking straight at him. An unusual burst of pride swelled from within him seeing her like this, proclaiming to the entire world that she was going to him, she belonged to him.
Haruhi took a deep, calming breath when they reached the groom. When the twins proceeded to hand her right hand to the groom, she felt sick with nervousness. As her future husband took it gently, and steered her towards the minister, she was ready to have a heart attack. She refused to look up to see the face of Yuaku Saramashi , the man she didn't want to marry, but was out of the love she held for her father.
When the orchestra music slowly faded and the guests sat back down once again, the minister cleared his throat loudly and began the simple wedding ceremony. Haruhi listened…
"Miss. Fujioka…"
The name played over and over again, like a broken record inside her head. She frowned upon hearing the voice of the minister starting the ceremony… and before she knew it, she was now facing her groom. Then he was placing the ring on her right left finger and she on his, their hands joined together before a hundred pairs of watchful eyes. She couldn't even remember where the bouquet of flowers she'd been holding went. Through all of this she refused to look up at her grooms face. Oddly she didn't smell that horrible smell that was always lingering around Yuaku Saramashi, instead she could smell a lovely sweet and calming scent that she knew from somewhere but at the moment just couldn't remember where from.
"Do you, miss, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to be of one heart and one soul, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do," she said, her voice soft and clear at the same time.
With that, the minister nodded and asking the groom the same question.
"Do you, sir, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to be of one heart and one soul, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do," replied the groom, loud and clear, his eyes not leaving her head.
With that, the minister raised his hands, placing it on top of their heads, barely touching their hair. "And with the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," he proclaimed. Then turning to the couple, he smiled and let his hands down. "You may now kiss the bride."
"Finally," the groom couldn't help saying. At that, Haruhi couldn't keep her head down. Taking a big breath she looked up into her husband's face. Her eyes widened in shock. The man in front of her wasn't Yuaku Saramashi, it was Tamaki. Her gaze shot across to the best man, to find that it was Kyoya, and behind him were the twins, Mori, and Hunny, all smiling at her. Tears started to form in her eyes as she realised what they had done for her. Tamaki smiled down at her, and in his eyes she could see that he really loved her, and that he was proud to have her as his wife.
She smiled as Tamaki as got a hold of the hem of her veil. He lifted the veil off her face. He then placed the thin material behind her head, letting it fall gently down to her back. Then without another word, Tamaki slowly lifted her face up to his, smiled tenderly at first and kissed her.
Haruhi closed her eyes as she felt his soft lips against hers. Amidst the loud applause of the people around her, she let out a surprised cry when she felt Tamaki's arms tightening about her to lift her an inch or two from the floor. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms about his neck and deepened the kiss. She gave a soft whimper of pleasure upon feeling Tamaki kissing her with the same feeling of hunger and urgency.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the minister suddenly said. "Mr. and Mrs. Tamaki Suoh!"
At that, the crowd began to clap again, much louder than before. When Tamaki finally let go of Haruhi, they turned and smiled at the huge crowds of people all waiting to congratulate them as they began walking arm in arm. Immediately, the orchestra started playing something lively and the servants rushed in. Not long after, a refreshment table was set up and gallons and gallons of champagne and wine were served. Immediately, a lively party was started after the ceremony.
Haruhi didn't care about the future. She knew she would be safe and loved by her husband. She had her friends from the Host Club…..no they were her family.
Kyoya had assured her yesterday that her father and herself would both be pleased and happy with the wedding and its terms he was planning for her, and she didn't doubt him for a second.
She was even more pleased when during the reception, the twins showed her the daily paper, Yuaku Saramashi was is jail for life after being found guilty for illegal marketing, fraud, and human trafficking crimes.
Her life was going in the right direction, where it was going to lead her; she didn't care as long as her family was there besides her.
A/N : Okay people, its finished. Hope you enjoyed it. I have an extra piece to this story : The honeymoon, which is rated M.
I might consider making a sequel to this if I get enough requests for it.
I would love to list everybody who took the time to read this story and actually waited patiently for me to update.
Without you I would have never been determined enough to finish this story.
Thank you to all.
Black Angel Of Paris
