Link to the dance later in the story: .com/watch?v=6XCIy2Zkkz8
Please watch it! It's really good!
Chapter 20
"Going away?" Kaoru asked.
"Just for a day," Jasmine said. "I need to tell my mom in person that she's going to be a grandmother earlier than planned. You get out of dance practice tomorrow."
The flight was long and Jasmine slept through most of it. She found her mother in the airport, talking on her cell phone as always. She made an effort to not slip into Japanese when here.
She waited until her mother was finished talking.
"All right, I'll have to call you back in a bit," her mother said and hung up. "So, Jasmine, what's with the unexpected visit? Where are your bags?"
"I didn't bring any luggage," Jasmine said. "I'm on the next flight out. It leaves in ten minutes."
"What on earth did you even come for, child?" her mother nearly yelled.
"I have a message to deliver," she said. "I'm pregnant." Her mother froze.
"I knew sending you to Japan was a bad idea," she began to rant.
"Mom," Jasmine said, but her mother didn't hear her.
"I know a few clinics in the area where you can get it hastily and discreetly taken care of."
"Mom!" Jasmine was fuming. "I am keeping this baby, and I am going back to Japan. You can't take me away from my family, no matter how dysfunctional!"
"I am your family and I am your mother and you will do as I say—"
"No, mom," Jasmine said, letting a tear slide down her cheek. She'd needed to have this conversation for a long time. "All you've ever been to me is a manager and a chaperone. And I think it's all you ever will be. The decision now is for you to make because I've already made mine. My place is in Japan with the people I love. With my family. You didn't even know that I have sisters now, and brothers. And I've even fallen in love and had my heart broken. And I think I'm going to be okay."
"Flight 525 to Japan is boarding now," came a voice over the loudspeakers.
"My friends' wedding is in September," she said. "You're invited. You might want to see what I'm talking about."
And she left her mother standing in the middle of the airport. And the woman hadn't even noticed that her phone had been ringing on and off for two minutes.
Jasmine knew she hadn't seen the last of her mother and hoped this baby could help fix their broken relationship.
"Come on, boss, you gotta think!" Kaoru nearly whined. It was a week before the wedding and Tamaki still had nothing for his vows. Jasmine had informed him that Haruhi had hers completed months ago.
Tamaki was going insane, quite literally. He'd stopped moving at all, and was currently falling asleep on his couch in his music office. Kaoru sighed and sat on the piano bench. They were getting nowhere. Tamaki began to mumble.
"Je n'ai pas de mots…. Je n'ai pas de mots…." Over and over. Je n'ai pas de mots.
Je n'ai pas de mots.
As soon as Tamaki woke up, Kaoru asked him what he was saying.
"What was I saying? I said something? What?" Tamaki mumbled. "Was I sleep-talking?"
"Yeah, you said je n'ai pas de mots over and over again," Kaoru said. He'd gotten good at saying it himself because Tamaki'd been asleep for quite a while.
"That was some pretty good French, but that just means 'I don't have words'," Tamaki said. "I'm just so stressed about not having my vows done. I don't have the words…."
"It had a ring to it though," Kaoru mumbled. "Je n'ai pas de mots." He tried to stress different words and hear the sound. Tamaki sat up slowly, staring out the open window.
"Kaoru…" he said. "You're a genius."
"Hm?"
Tamaki quickly shoved Kaoru over on the bench and fiddled on the piano for a second. He played an arpeggio and then began adding chords. Tamaki was tickled with joy.
"Kaoru, I've got it! I'll sing my vows to her!"
"You're going to have the weirdest wedding ever."
Kaoru found himself surprisingly busy this summer. Tamaki had used up his evenings with trying to write his vows (which, the song was coming along quite nicely) and he spent all of his mornings at Jasmine's house, working on the dance.
He was surprised that he was doing as well as he was. The moves were hard at first, but once he got it down, it was easy to keep doing it. He really felt that he was connecting more with Jasmine. They talked about a lot during practices.
Jasmine had set up appointments with a doctor at one of Kyoya's family's hospitals. She told Kaoru that her first sonogram was scheduled for a week after the wedding. It was exciting, really, to think he'd be an uncle soon.
One day, after their practice, they were both exhausted and collapsed onto the couch in the air conditioned living room. Neither of them had enough energy to even keep their eyes open. They must have fallen into a deep sleep because they didn't wake up until dinner time.
Kaoru woke first. He blushed slightly when he noticed they'd shifted in their sleep. Jasmine was snuggled up next to him with her nose buried in his chest and her arm around his waist. He was surprised to see that his fingers had been laced through her hair.
He gave her hair a few more gentle strokes before sliding out from under her and leaving. He didn't want this memory of her sleeping to be interrupted. He smiled on his way home.
The day finally arrived. The church was elaborate, yet small. The families of the host club members were all crammed onto the groom's side of the church. Éclair and Tamaki's mother were even there, thanks to some ropes pulled by Tamaki's grandmother, who actually turned out to be kind of cool, once Haruhi had knocked some sense into her. Misuzu Sonoda was there too, on the bride's side of the church. Jasmine's mother had come in an attempt to better understand her daughter's life. Jandra's father had flown in from Ireland. In short, the bride's side of the church was practically empty compared to the groom's.
Everything went smoothly. Ranka gave his daughter away without even giving Tamaki a death glare. The vows came and Haruhi said hers first, giving an eloquent speech that Jandra could take pride in saying she helped write. Then things kind of took a turn for the wacky.
Tamaki turned to the crowd.
"Everyone, my vows are kind of unconventional," Tamaki said. He moved over to the grand piano on the side of the stage. "I know not all of you speak English, so my good friend, Kaoru Hitachiin, made a translation slide of both Japanese and French to put up on the screen in the back. There's uh, actually a funny story behind this. I had… no idea what I was going to do for my vows. I was literally freaking out about it for three months and then last week, a French phrase stuck out to me and made me realize…" He locked eyes with Haruhi.
"It's not about the words."
And he began to play.
The piano was beautiful and then he began to sing.
"Come near and stand by me, baby
Close enough to reach out and pull you still closer
All that is swelling within me
Must be a language I've never spoken 'til there was you
"I fumble
Try, but I stumble
Over all my heart wants to say now
"Je n'ai pas de mots
Nothing seems to say the way you move me
Rushing through me
Je n'ai pas de mots
But a promise has been made, you can believe this
From the first kiss
It's good that I don't have to speak to know that it's real
Je n'ai pas de mots
"Come near and talk to me, baby
How did you know you were the dream of this dreamer?
Oh, God, how I thank you for reading
In my heart the note I didn't even know that I wrote
"Of what I long for
You gave me much more
Love is standing beside me
"Je n'ai pas de mots
Nothing seems to say the way you move me
Rushing through me
Je n'ai pas de mots
But a promise has been made, you can believe this
From the first kiss"
He took it up into a key change that was so moving, Haruhi gasped.
"Je n'ai pas de mots
Oh, nothing seems to say the way you move me
Rushing through me
Je n'ai pas de mots
But a promise has been made, you can believe this
From the first kiss
It's good that I don't have to speak to know that it's real
"Je n'ai pas de mots
Je n'ai pas de mots
Je n'ai pas… de mots"
He played the last chord and there was applause. He quickly returned to his position at the altar.
"How was it? Did you like it?" he whispered excitedly to Haruhi.
"Loved it," she said. "I wouldn't expect anything less perfect from you."
And the ceremony continued uninterrupted.
"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Tamaki gave her a tender kiss, cradling her face gently.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," Haruhi responded.
It took a while for everyone to get to the reception hall. Jasmine ran straight for a restroom to change into her dress for her dance. She was so proud of Kaoru for picking up such difficult steps so quickly.
They waited until the bridal party was seated at a long table and all the toasts had been made. Jasmine went up by the DJ.
"Haruhi," she said. "Tamaki… This is our present to you. We hope you feel it represents your love as much as we do." She went to take her place with Kaoru. Jandra rushed up to the microphone and added in a slightly comical manner:
"All rights go to Jason Mraz and Travis Wall." And she returned to her seat. There was a ripple of chuckles throughout the room.
The lights dimmed and people gathered around the edge of the dance floor. She heard the song begin and felt Kaoru moving behind her. He held out the heart pendant that was their prop and let it drop.
She twisted out from under his arm and turned away from him. Jason Mraz's voice blared through the speakers, giving her chills.
"If I should be so bold"
Kaoru touched her shoulder and she spun to face him.
"I'd ask you to hold my heart in your hand"
Kaoru held out the pendant and dropped it in her hand.
"Tell you from the start how I long to be your man"
Jasmine spun around and Kaoru placed his hands on her thigh to hold her while she leant forward and extended her foot straight up into the air and held out the pendant. Then she clutched the pendant to her chest and bent her leg as she righted herself and Kaoru let her go. She held her hand out to the side and dropped the pendant to the floor as Kaoru did a few moves close to the ground and picked it up.
"But I never said a word
I guess I've gone and missed my chance again"
Jasmine took a few running steps away and did an arabesque. Kaoru grabbed her raised arm and pulled her back to him, lifting her and placing her down on the ground. He slid up next to her on the floor. She flung her arm back and Kaoru threw his head back so it looked like she hit him. She leant over him and he dangled the pendant around her head before she stood back up.
"And all I want to do is love you"
They both righted themselves and did some synchronized moves.
"A kind much closer than friends use"
Jasmine spun and leapt into Kaoru's arms before he set her back down.
"But I still can't say it after all we've been through"
She took the pendant from him and he dropped to the ground, letting her swing her leg over his shoulders. He stood, bringing her soaring into the air.
She felt like she was flying as she extended her hand and let the pendant dangle in front of Kaoru's face behind her. She did a roll backwards and he flipped her off of his shoulders.
"And all I really want from you is to feel me"
She let the momentum take her down backwards as she bent at the knees, letting Kaoru catch her behind her neck.
"As the feeling inside keeps building"
Her shoulder settled on his calf and she ran her hand up his side to his chest as he took the pendant from her fingers and kind of kicked her back up to her feet.
"And I will find a way to you if it kills me
If it kills me
If it kills me"
She spun, looked at the pendant in his hand and grabbed his hand, running at him, trying to shove him away from her.
She leapt into a spin and he caught her midair. He set her back down on the floor where she dropped and he leapt over her and did his own spin at the other end of the dance floor. They locked eyes and she began to run towards him.
"I think it might kill me"
He tossed her the pendant and she caught it right as they reached each other. They stood face to face and began ripping at each other's outfits in frustration. They stopped and she clenched the pendant's chain between her teeth. Kaoru's hands were on her hips as he trailed his own lips over the end of the chain up close to where she was biting it.
"And all I really want from you is to feel me
As the feeling inside keeps building"
She hopped up and he held her as she leaned back and he practically kissed her stomach. He flung her away from him and she went flying backwards through the air.
"And I will find a way to you if it kills me
If it kills me
It might kill me"
Jasmine rushed up on Kaoru and hooked the chain of the pendant behind his neck. She reached her leg around his and pretended to kick his knees out from under him, making him kneel. She hung the pendant around her neck and twisted around and let herself fall into Kaoru's arms. He laid her on the floor and lowered himself over top of her. She grabbed him by his hips and made him close the distance. Thy sat up and he turned around so she was behind him.
She snaked her arm above his shoulder and turned his face to hers.
She kissed him.
Kaoru's eyes closed and he brought a hand up to place behind her head, returning the kiss eagerly. They hadn't planned on doing the kiss at the end, but he was glad that she'd done it instead of him.
Neither of them had noticed the music had stopped until applause and wolf whistles erupted around them. Jasmine blushed and took Kaoru's hand as he helped her up. She gave him a bear hug before turning and giving little bows to everyone as thanks.
They made their way off the dance floor as the DJ started the real music for the guests. Haruhi came up to them and hugged them both.
"Thank you guys so much, that was beautiful," she said. "All those lifts! It looked like you were flying," she told Jasmine.
"It kind of felt like it too," Jasmine said, resting a hand against her stomach gently. "It was good timing on the wedding on your part though. Any later and I might not have felt comfortable enough to do it in such revealing clothes." Haruhi chuckled.
"Well you were beautiful out there," she said. "Have fun, you two." She winked at Jasmine out of Kaoru's sight and returned to her place next to Tamaki. Jasmine and Kaoru wandered into a side room, their breathing still elevated.
Jasmine hugged him again, clutching his hair lightly.
"Thank you," she whispered. He pushed her away a little so he could look into her eyes.
"Jasmine, I…" he began, not really knowing what he wanted to say to her.
"What is it, Kaoru?" Jasmine asked, smiling warmly.
"I—"
"She's throwing the bouquet! Come on!" Jandra rushed up and grabbed Jasmine's wrist, dragging her away from Kaoru into the main room to join the other unmarried ladies.
Haruhi smiled over her shoulder at Jasmine and then let her bouquet fly far to the back of the group. Jasmine fingered the petals of the flowers that had just dropped into her hands. She didn't hear the congratulations or the disappointed complaints of the younger girls. She wandered back to the room where she'd left Kaoru standing in the doorway.
"Sorry, I—"
"It's okay," he said with a smile. "Congratulations. You'll be the next of the women in attendance to be married." She laughed.
"Then I feel sorry for all the other girls because they'll most likely have to wait," she said. "I'm kind of undesirable: a teenage mother-to-be. And I'm not even out of high school yet."
"You're not undesirable," Kaoru said and stepped closer to her. "And you might not have to wait as long as you think. I know at least one man who would like to marry you in the future." Jasmine swallowed the lump in her throat.
"You?" she asked.
"Maybe," he said with a smirk and began to lean down, inching their lips closer and closer. "If you'll have me."
Jasmine let her eyes close as he kissed her. She didn't really know when or how, but she really had fallen in love with Kaoru. They pulled apart for air, leaning their foreheads against the other's.
"I know at least one girl who would like to take you up on that offer," she said with a smile.
"You?" he teased.
"No maybes about it," she whispered, her smile lighting up her whole face. "I love you."
He kissed her again, then said "I love you too."