READ THIS PLEASE! Firstly, I have to say that your reviews really helped me get through this. Once again, I did not feel like writing another chapter but when I looked at your enthusiactic reviews I finally finished this chapter.

2) I need your opinions. The next chapter will most likely be the last and if you want me to clear something up or have any suggestions that you would like to see in the next chapter then please tell me.

3) THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Was Haruhi's "past" too much? Meaning, did I make it unrealistic or did it not make sense in any way? This is my first time trying to write something like this and I'm a little if-y about it. Writing is important to me and I would like to know how I can improve but I need you to really critique me without being too harsh! Just tell me if you did not like something and why kindly.

4) On youtube (shameless advertising time) I have started a contest for the host club titled Why Host Do You Prefer? My username if lovedbyall and I want you all to vote for which host is the best for hosting! Also, tell me your fanfiction username so I can know you're one of the people reading this story. Thanks!

5) I plan on writing a MoriHaru one-shot soon. That is all. Lol.

Enjoy!

The clock was ticking rather loudly in the ears of a half Japanese and half French blond, a spectacled and money-hungry third son, twins that were shifting their golden eyes back and forth with the tick tock of the clock, a small seventeen year old boy that devoured sweets, the seventeen year old boy's pissed off cousin that seemed to be made of stone instead of flesh, a pretty girl who has amnesia but still managed to get herself two boyfriends, an okama ( 'nuff said), and a pleased looking boy who carries watermelons around in the summertime sat in complete silence.

Strange group of people, no?

We won't even mention their strange predicament, because you should already know about that.

The table was so small that Hikaru and Kaoru had to hold their tongues to not make fun of it (of course, Tamaki had hushed them earlier about it). They were all pretty cramped and the seating arrangements did not help the mood.

The twins were seated next to each other, obviously, this was not a problem.

Kyouya and Tamaki seemed to be doing pretty well sitting side by side as well.

Honey was in between Tamaki and Takashi.

Most importantly...Haruhi was sandwiched between Ranka...and Arai.

Ranka took note of how Arai was getting annoyed looks from several of the teenagers in his home. He looked to his daughter. Haruhi was never the one to blush or seem flustered but it wasn't hard to tell that she was confused and a bit disorientated. She seemed to be lost in thought at the moment, so he would not bother her. One thing he was sure of though, was that a lot had happened during her absence.

"Well, I suppose you boys would like to know how I lost Haruhi in the first place, right?" he asked.

"Ah, yes, if you would tell," Tamaki replied.

Arai shifted in his seat and Ranka took in a deep breath.

"Alright." Ranka said, putting his hands on his knees and inhaling deeply. "Well, it was a rainy evening..."

Haruhi sighed when her head hit the soft white pillow. Her pillow. The pillow that had belonged to her all this time- the pillow she hadn't rested her head on in months. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, willing her body and mind to relax. It had been such a long and eventful day that she wanted to do nothing more than to rest.

"Haruhi."

Hearing that familiar voice, Haruhi slowly opened her eyes and rolled onto her side, her hair falling gently into her eyes in the process. She found that she was even too tired to push her hair from her vision and instead settled for giving Takashi a little smile.

"You forgot a bag." He told her, holding up the small duffle bag. He walked towards her and sat it at the foot of her bed.

"Thanks." Haruhi replied and sat up. Obviously, she wasn't the only one exhausted. He looked more worn out than she had ever seen him. Everyone else had looked the same way after Ranka's story as well, though they had tried to cover it up.

He reached over and rubbed her cheek with his thumb gently. She leaned into his touch while his eyes twinkled. "You want me to talk to Arai-kun, right?" Haruhi asked, knowing that this was what Takashi had been communicating to her.

"Un." He replied. Takashi frowned slightly and took his hand from her cheek and placed it on her knee. "If...you know what you want to say to him."

She stared at him, crossed between being angry at him and wanting to admit that he was right. She barely knew how she felt. Why was it that she felt saddened at the way Arai looked at her? He seemed to caring and free-spirited. She sighed and looked into Takashi's eyes, hoping that he knew that she was not going to lie to him.

"I just know...that I feel guilty for forgetting about Arai-kun. I knew all this time that there were people and things I had left behind...but I didn't know that someone like him would be here waiting as well," Haruhi explained. She could only watch as Takashi leaned back a bit while he took this information in.

She bit her lip, knowing that as his face hardened into his usual stoic expression, that Takashi had resigned to let the topic come to a standstill. But it was not that Takashi did not care, it was most likely that he had nothing to say- or rather, he didn't know what was appropriate to say in this situation.

"Ah..." He finally said in his baritone voice and stood up, pausing a moment to ruffle her hair gently. "Goodnight Haruhi."

"Goodnight." She replied quietly as she watched him retreat from her room. 'Why...did that sound more like a final....goodbye?' she wondered, never taking her eyes away from her doorway.

It was a cold night. The wind was blowing heavily and it seemed to have some sort of vengeance it was bringing with it. "Or warning of something to come..." Arai said quietly as he walked beside Haruhi.

"Maybe we should be going home now." Haruhi suggested, also taking notice of the approaching storm. "It's getting dark and besides-" she looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with amused but also slight annoyance when she said, "My dad's been following behind us for the past hour."

Arai chuckled and nodded. "You're right. I'll walk you home."

Haruhi thanked him and soon they were on their way. Arai walked beside Haruhi, wondering if it would be okay if he held Haruhi's hand. Would her father go crazy? Or should he prove that he wouldn't hurt her with this symbol of affection?

He finally made his decision and carefully entwined his fingers with Haruhi's, blushing all the while he was doing so. Thankfully and to his surprise, she did not object- and neither did her father.

That's when Haruhi's big brown doe eyes blinked and she asked, in all her serious manner and concern, "Are your hands cold, Arai-kun?"

Arai laughed nervously. Really...couldn't this girl tell when someone wanted to show their affection?!

It was then that Arai noticed him. He squeezed Haruhi's hand protectively despite Haruhi looking up at him with a uncertain look of displeasure. "Arai-kun? What's wrong?"

"We're being followed." he whispered.

"Ah...I noticed that too." Haruhi admitted. "I didn't want to alarm you though..."

Arai would've sweat dropped if he hadn't have been so nervous. Why did Haruhi always see him as a damsel in distress? He was the one who wasn't supposed to be alarming her!

Said man had been lurking in the shadows for a long time now, which explained why Ranka had stayed around for so long. He had probably seen the man following Haruhi and Arai too and was worried for their safety. Arai gulped. Why was this man following them, he wondered.

When he took his attention from Haruhi again the man had disappeared. Arai raised his eyebrows and scanned their area. "Where-" he started, just when he was interrupted by a gruff, "Shut up," in his ear. A chill was sent up and down his spine and his hair stood up on the back of his neck.

He something poking at his back and in the back of his mind he knew that it had to be a gun- a weapon that could kill.

"Don't scream or I'll shoot you and the pretty girl right now." The voice said. "Keep walking like normal."

Haruhi and Arai did as they were told, Haruhi looking quite angry and Arai feeling as if he would wet his pants any minute. "Now, follow my directions and everything will go nice and easy."

'Please...' Arai thought. 'Get help Ranka-san...'

The moment she had opened her eyes Haruhi had to stifle a scream. Stopping herself from ear-splitting screeches, though, did not mean that she had stopped herself from jumping out of her bed in fear and running to the other side of her room. "W-What the hell?!" she said.

From the end of the bed, Ranka rose up and chuckled. "Now, now Haruhi. That isn't any way for a young maiden to talk!"

Haruhi breathed heavily, looked around for awhile while gaining her bearings. Once calm she remembered where she was, remembered the scent and the sights, and remembered that she was home. "D-Dad..." she said, trying out the name and feeling pleased that it sounded exactly right when speaking to the okama. "You scared me. Why are you in my room so early?"

"Isn't it alright for your father to want to see his daughter's bed head?" Ranka asked chidingly and smiling greatly.

Haruhi sighed and ruffled her hair. It seemed that if it wasn't going to be the twins, Honey or Tamaki, she was going to get woken up anyways by Ranka. "I guess there's nothing wrong with it...even if it is annoying." She added flatly.

Ranka laughed loudly, so loudly and for such a long time that Haruhi suddenly felt uncomfortable. His laugh, it almost sounded like he was become hysterical.

"Dad?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. She watched as tears formed in his eyes, dripped down his face and suddenly his laughter turned into sobs. "Dad..."

"I'm sorry Haruhi," he cried and before she knew it he had his arms wrapped around her and was holding her close and so tightly that she could barely breathe. "It's been so long...I thought I would never see you again. I wanted to say 'good morning', I wanted to see you and hold you..." he sobbed, stroking her hair gently.

Haruhi nodded, her face planted into his shirt. Her heart thudded loudly in her ears and she did know it until she took a deep breath that she was crying and her breath was shaky. She tried to say something but it came out in a sob as well. From that point on she couldn't stop crying no matter what she did, no matter how she tried to play it off or wipe her tears they kept flowing, kept coming. She finally gave up and sobbed onto her father's chest, letting his scent and strength flow into her and holding him tightly while he also cried.

But the thought that made her continue crying even when Ranka had left the room to allow her to rest and settle down resonated through her head and her mind loudly and clearly was the thought of, "I'm home. I'm home..."

Arai was sweating even though his whole body was cold and he was shivering. It was raining hardly and they were still walking with this guy directly behind him pointing a freakin' gun in his back and no one was on the street and Ranka was freakin' no where to be seen! Why did life suck so much and WHY had they come to such a desolate place?

The street was not completely void of people but the few people that they had seen were busy with their own lives. The few cars that rode past sped away, their lights shining brightly and leaving Haruhi and Arai in the dust.

Arai wondered what Haruhi must think of him- a complete coward and idiot that couldn't take care of his girl, probably. A wimp was what he was, he thought.

"Alright," the gruff voice said. "We're going to go into this house. Take the keys."

Arai suddenly felt cold keys being stuffed into his hand and he took it, despite the thought in his head to drop them and kick the guy where the sun don't shine. He wondered though, why they built houses in such places. It was just perfect for a villain's hideout!

He opened the door, and as soon as he did the guy pushed them in and slammed the door, locking it behind him.

Haruhi and Arai looked up and saw his face. He was indeed a gruff man- a strange looking beard and beady black eyes to match. As he reached down to the little desk that was right in front of Haruhi they saw the silver gun, shining in all its terror. He picked up a bottle of beer from the small table and took a mighty swig before smiling and speaking to them.

"Well, look what I done gone and found myself here."

Haruhi frowned and said evenly, "Let us out of here and maybe you won't get into too much trouble."

He laughed whole-heartedly before shaking his head and saying, "Poor girlie, even if I do get in trouble, you'll be dead by then. See, I don't care what happens to me. I don't care! That's why I'll have some fun. That's why."

"Fun?" Haruhi repeated, and Arai shivered.

"Yeah, so stand up and I'll show ya."

"You're out of your mind!" Arai spat.

The man chuckled and replied, "I guess you're right," before stepping towards them, " I shouldn't have bought a boy along, but this here girl is so cute- I figured I could take on a little pip-squeak like you though, 'cause I just gotta have her!"

"Leave her alone!" Arai yelled, making a crazy lunge for the man and sending them both crashing to the floor. Even in elementary school, Arai had never gotten into a fight. There had never been a reason for him to actually have physical confrontation. So he swung his fists down upon the guy for a while before making his mistake. He stopped punching and turned around to Haruhi and saying, "Get outta here!"

The man took the opportunity send a jaw-crushing blow to Arai's jaw. Dazed and hurting, Arai landed a few inches away. The man seemed to be infuriated now, and took no more time to talk. He moved to Haruhi and she did the only thing she could think of- grabbed the very beer bottle that had been sent to the floor and smashed it across the guy's head as hardly as she could.

To her surprise, he did not seem to be fazed by the stinging sensation or the fact that blood was dripping unceremoniously down his head. He only seemed to be even more angry. Haruhi tried to run- finally with the realization that she could do nothing to defeat this man like she had when they had been walking with his gun to Arai's back.

The gun!

She panicked when he grabbed her arm roughly, swung her around so that her back was against his stomach and then his gun was against her temple. Her knees shook horribly. She had never been so frightened, especially considered that the only thing she had ever been afraid of was thunderstorms.

Thunderstorms...

Tears filled her eyes as she took notice of the loud sounds of the storm outside. Why had she had to think about it? Now she would die in her least favorite type of weather...

Meanwhile, Arai was still on the floor, wondering what the heck was the right thing to do in this situation. "Wait...please! Don't hurt her!" he pleaded. "We'll give you anything...make your life better." He talked, talked because talking was stalling- it was buying time. "What do you like? Money?"

"I like girls." The man answered and got to work on Haruhi's pants, tugging at the belt wrapped around her waist and practically growling in his anger when it would not come off.

"Haruhi!" Arai yelled, running towards them again and unfortunately getting his lights knocked out once again. This time though, the man did not stop. He continuously pounded upon Arai with his fists.

"Stop!" Haruhi yelled and pounded onto the man's back. When she got annoying enough, he whisked around and hit her in her head roughly- with the handle of his gun.

She fell to the floor. Again, he hit her with the gun just as she was getting back up. Blood. Too much blood. She tilted to the side, just as he delivered another blow to her face with his fist.

"Haruhi!" Arai yelled.

Haruhi did not see Takashi or Arai or the twins or anyone for two days. Perhaps they all wanted her to become accustomed to her life at home again. Her mind would wonder on why they had not contacted her, until she would get distracted with her friends from school, who would all come over and tell her how much they all missed her and shower her talks of school life that she found intriguing but a bit distressing.

Between that, her father talked to her all the time. She learned of the woman in his dreams- the lawyer that had died and was always smiling- her mother. She would hold the picture and look at it, trying to remember anything from her past about the woman. Sometimes she did, she thought, or it could've been made up memories that she had conjured to fill the spot where her real memories should've been. Even so, Haruhi liked to believe that these memories that she was seeing were true and that her mother had really patted her on the head and gave her thumbs-up.

Perhaps she would ask Ranka if they were really memories or not, but for now she wanted to bask in them, let them refresh her body and mind as much as they could.

It was Takashi who contacted her first, bringing a smile to her face and making her happy for the rest of the day. He told her that they had all went back to school, that things at the Host Club had returned back to normal, that the twins were laughing and Tamaki was smiling and Honey was enjoying cake while Kyouya documented it all- while he watched silently and felt proud of them all for the rejuvenation.

"I'm glad you're all doing well." she responded. Of course, it had been hard to drag out the information on what everyone was up to from the silent senior. But once he realized that she really wanted and needed to know he had spilt the beans and said what she wanted to hear.

"How are you?" He finally asked.

"Fine. Just..." Could she say it? Being Haruhi, she did not blush of saying this to the man that was her boyfriend, but well, it was her first time saying something like it... "I miss you."

"Me too." He replied truthfully, no hint of surprise in his voice. He figured that it was natural to miss her, and so admitting it was not a problem for him.

"Takashi...I wanted to let you know that I'm going to set things straight with Arai-kun. That once I talk to him I really want us to begin a...relationship. If that's alright with you."

"Yeah," he replied, his excitement for once evident in his voice, "That sounds good."

Ranka scorned himself for not having a car, for not having a cellular phone, for not slamming his way into the house sooner. Nonetheless, he did have a knife. It was a pocket-knife and could surely do some damage if it had to!

With that as his only comfort and not enough time to get some police or back-up men for support, Ranka did the only thing he could think of.

He crashed through the window.

His flesh stung in pain where some chards of glass has sunken in but he paid it no mind when he saw Haruhi sprawled out on the floor and Arai also bleeding heavily, one of his eyes shut tightly and swollen already. "Hey!" he yelled and swung his hand with the knife crazily, cutting into the man.

The man yowled in pain and fought against Ranka, immediately pulling for his gun and aiming it at him. Ranka didn't care if he got shot, he was blinded by fury and could only think of this man dying by his hands. Perhaps the man saw this look of temporary insanity in Ranka's eyes or maybe it was a memory of something that happened in his past that made him react like he did- whatever it was, the man seemed startled beyond belief when he looked at Ranka, and went crazy, pressing the trigger of his gun repeatedly, over and over again.

"HE WON'T DIE!" the man yelled before Ranka lunged at him again.

Apparently, he did not realize that his bullet was not loaded.

But, he did realize that the gun was doing no good against Ranka, and he kicked Ranka hardly. The two fought, until they rolled over to where Haruhi was.

Though he was in pain that he had never felt before, Arai was trying to carry the girl out of the house. He was not quick enough, though, and he ended up falling to the floor, Haruhi on top of him, Ranka on top of her and the man on top of Ranka.

Haruhi's eyes popped open, and Ranka sent his knife up into the air, preparing to bring it down upon the man in one final blow.

Haruhi screamed.

She did not see the man when Ranka was suddenly thrown to the ground and rolled out of eye sight. She turned and then saw Arai, who had the gun in his hand. He reached for her arm but she snatched away.

"Haruhi, we've got to go get help!" he said, worried about Ranka. But Haruhi was not paying attention. She screamed again, an ear-splitting scream that made her own head start pounding in pain. She went for the door, opened it without looking back, without noticing Ranka or the man or Arai or anything.

She just knew that she had to get out, that she had to run.

She did run, but the boy was right behind her. That boy who had the gun in his hand- that boy that she did not know. That couldn't have been Arai! She didn't know him, she thought, pushing the thought to her brain and thinking it over and over again as she ran. She did not believe in knowing someone like that. She couldn't have!

The pitter-patter of the rain echoed off of the sidewalk. She was running, running, running. Unfortunately, this girl had no direction. She did not know where she was going, nor did she know why she was running in the first place. It was very confusing, very tiring.

"Haruhi!"

"No! Let go of me!"

"Haruhi, please!"

"NO!"

She snatched away. His face has been a complete blur, mixed in the rain and her tears, she could not see his face. She thought the voice was familiar, but she was so scared that she didn't stop to check twice.

The only thing that made sense right now was running because that would get her away, far, far, away.

Her head was pounding as she stopped to get a breather. Her chest was burning, her throat dry, her entire body in complete pain.

She looked up, her eyes scanning a place where it would be safe.

The solitude of an alley.

Ah, so the frequent headaches she had always had made sense now. It was no wonder why since she had been hit in the head so many times. Haruhi turned around in bed, staring at the bright full moon. 'I wonder if everyone is looking at this same moon?' she wondered.

"There was so much I could've done...so much that I should've done." Tamaki whispered, staring out of the window at the bright and beautiful moon.

"You didn't know that such a story was what brought Haruhi to you," Kyouya said, taking his glasses off and glancing at the moon as well. "Let's just be thankful that the man in question was captured, confessed, and Ranka was allowed out of the mental institution."

"How can I?" Tamaki asked. "This happened to Haruhi..."

"I know." Kyouya agreed. "I know."

"What a sight, right Hikaru?" Kaoru smiled warmly and took in looking at the moon with his brother.

"Yeah..." Hikaru answered.

"Thinking about Haruhi?"

"It's just...why didn't we realize that the girl Tono found- why didn't we expect it to be something tragic like this happened? That her mother is dead...that she already had a boyfriend even though we were pursuing her. That she and that boyfriend were kidnapped and beaten brutally by a crazy guy?"

"How could we have known?" Kaoru replied.

Hikaru nodded, and they said together, "I guess...everything happens for a reason."

"It's destiny that we met Haru-chan, ne, Takashi?" Honey asked, the moon reflecting off of his warm caramel eyes.

"Un." Takashi agreed.

"And you're so happy that she misses you!"

"Ah."

"I'd be happy too!"

"She misses everyone, not just me." Takashi said.

"You think so?"

"She told me so." Takashi told him.

"Then, we should have celebratory cake, right?"

"Ah." Takashi smiled, looking at the moon now too. "We should...when everyone is together again."

"I think you're right." Honey nodded.

Haruhi smiled and laid her head down. "There's still some changes that I want made, Mom." She told the picture on her dresser. "I just have to see if I can make them all come true."

Haruhi hoped so. She really hoped so.

Upcoming Chapter Preview: What is it that Haruhi plans on changing? How will she speak to Arai and complete her comfort in her life with her father? Most importantly, will her relationship with Takashi really last?

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! I'm shocked that I'm still getting people to alert and favorite this story! It brings happiness to my heart to see that people actually like my writing! Please review! I love you guys so much!

Until next time! Ja ne!