Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran or any characters.

Akari smoothed her hair down nervously for what must've been the hundredth time in the last five minutes. It was all she could do not to look up at the clock again. It was probably still five minutes until seven, just like it had been the last time she had looked.

Her dress felt unnaturally tight and she was sure she was sweating in places she shouldn't be sweating in. She was just so horribly nervous! She'd never been on a date before and the thought of being alone with Yuji for several hours made her want to puke and jump for joy at the same time.

It was all rather conflicting.

"Ready?"

Akari looked up to see her father standing in the doorway, a supportive smile on his strong face. Instantly she felt a wave of calm rush over her. She smiled at him, "I am now that you're here."

His smile grew by just a tiny bit, "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, Father."

The doorbell rang an instant later and Akari heard her little brother answer it. Even from across the house she heard Fuyuki say, "You're her date? Wow, I didn't know Aka could score someone like you! Did you lose a bet or something?"

Akari turned bright red and raced across the house. She grabbed Fuyuki by the arm and whispered in his ear, "You say anything else and I'll tell Uncle Tamaki about how you like to hide in the girls locker room sometimes."

Fuyuki turned an even brighter shade of red than his sister and scampered off for parts unknown.

Akari turned and smiled up at Yuji, "Hello, sorry about him."

Yuji grinned and Akari felt the entire room light up, "Hello, and it's no problem, siblings are like that."

She giggled and slipped on her shoes, but before she could get him out the door her father appeared. Yuji's gulp was audible as he took in how very large her father was.

"Curfew is ten," her father said this with a pleasant smile on his face, but the look in his eyes was hard, cold, and very protective.

Yuji gulped again, "Yes, sir!"

"Bye, Father!" Akari called as she grabbed Yuji's arm and dragged him out of the house before he father could pull out his Kendo trophies. She didn't want Yuji scared off before she got another kiss – a real one this time.

The dinner was rather pleasant. Now that the date was started Akari no longer felt nervous, in fact, she felt really comfortable, almost too comfortable. The two of them talked about everything under the sun and at the end of it Yuji gave her a nice little kiss. It was definitely better than the first one, but it wasn't like she had imagined. There were no fireworks going off, nor were there stars.

Disappointed, but trying to smile for Yuji's sake she said, "Goodnight," and slipped inside the house at two minutes until ten.

Her parents were sitting on the couch reading on their iPads. They looked up when she entered.

Her father didn't say a word, but her mother asked softly, "Was it everything you wanted?"

Akari took a seat on the chair across from them, "No, there was something missing. I had a good time, but there were no rainbows, no sparks, no mystery, just endless sunshine." She looked into her father's eyes, "Is that right?"

He gave a slight shrug and then leaned over and kissed her mother, who turned a bright pink. As they kissed Akari felt a shock move through the air, as if she was watching a great love scene in a movie.

Instantly she knew what her father was trying to say – no, it wasn't right.

Part of Akari felt saddened by this, after all, it meant that Yuji, her sunshine, wasn't meant to be hers, that is, unless something changed. Obviously it could change, there had been no spark between her parents the first time they had met, it had only been years later that it had occurred.

The rest of Akari was happy, she had been afraid that the fairy tales were wrong, that there was no true love and excitement in romance.

But now, as she slipped quietly away from her parents and into her room, she knew there was. If her parents had it, then she would have it too.

Author's Note: So, It's been several months. I know, I'm sorry. If you've put me on author alert and just clicked on this link then you need to read Times are AChanging to understand this story. Now, sorry for the delay, I was doing my student teaching (I finally graduated btw :D) and I only had time to keep one story updated, so I chose my most popular one - "The Real Memory". But, never fear, this one is on my list now, between job hunting, working at Publix, writing an original story, and other fanfictions, I shall get to y'll, lol. :D

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