Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran or any characters.
Z – Zero
Haruhi sat alone. Every other seat at the table was empty. Every spot was set though. The plates were laid and the silverware set. All that did was make it seem emptier.
Haruhi sat in her normal seat, next wear Tamaki normally sat. Tonight was there annual reunion dinner. Kyoya had started the tradition; when he threw one to celebrate fifty years of dating Alianore. It had caught on after that. Which each of the Host Club members taking turns to host it. Tamaki and Haruhi would throw it two years in a row. Mainly because Tamaki had insisted on a seven year cycle because it wouldn't be fair to have them throw it as a couple. She hadn't understood that then and she still didn't now, but that was Tamaki for you.
That tradition had been going on for years now. Due to the Age Advancers that medicine had perfected they had been able to hold this reunion for four cycles without losing anyone. Haruhi was approaching a hundred herself, and she still looked much younger. That wasn't going to last forever though.
This was the fourth time Haruhi would be hosting the reunion and this would be the last time. She had found out today that the Age Advancers had stopped working on her five years ago and they hadn't found out until now since appointments were only every five years. Without the Age Advancers to slow her aging down she would age much faster, until she reached the age her body thought she should be. Unfortunately, this would result in her dying within the next five years, since the Age Advancers made every four years feel like one year to your body.
Haruhi looked around the table and pictured everyone sitting in their seats. She didn't know how she would tell them. Now, she was the only one at the table and the rest of the seats were empty. After tonight it would be the other way around. The next time the reunion took place here her seat would be empty.
Then the next time the reunion was scheduled to be here it wouldn't be. Tamaki had decided, upon hearing her news that he was taking himself off the Age Advancers. She had pleaded with him not to, but he hadn't listened. He had said he could not live without her, no matter the cost.
Haruhi's eyes filled with tears as she went over all the years they had been together, all the memories they had made. True, she wasn't going to die tomorrow; she had a while, not enough of a while though. All she knew was that she had a maximum of five years and she was going to make the most of it.
Haruhi began to stand up from the table when Tamaki walked in. He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. He gave her a comforting smile as he walked over and held her in his arms.
Haruhi's tears turned into sobs as she buried her face in his chest. She had never expected to live this long in the first place, the technology hadn't been around when she was young. Now that she had though, she didn't like having an expiration date. She had expected another forty or so years on this planet. Time to see her great-great-grandchildren, but that was being stolen away.
All because her body had decided to become allergic to the Age Advancers and not let them do their job.
Haruhi pulled away from Tamaki's chest slightly and looked up at his smiling face. She gave him a soft smile back as she said softly "Tamaki, please, take me upstairs and make me feel alive again. Like that first night, when we were at Disney."
Tamaki gave her a small kiss before saying "Yes my love. I promise to ALWAYS make you fell alive."
Haruhi kissed him again there in the dining room.
That first kiss led to a kiss on the stairs.
The kiss on the stairs led to a kiss in the hallway.
The kiss in the hallway led to a kiss in the bedroom.
The kiss in the bedroom led to a kiss that would last forever.
A kiss that would last long after the dining room table below would hold none of the Original Seven. For even in the number zero, can worth be found.
Author's Note: I was tearing up as I wrote this... Age Advancers are completely made up out of whole cloth, though they are working on developing stuff like this. Such as there being a list of 32 (I think that's the number) different vitamins and supplements you can take that should increase your lifespan by a third, that's what it does on mice at least and there hasn't been enough time yet to see if it works on humans. BUT none of these vitamins or supplements will hurt you, so why not take them? Meh, Rambling.
This story is done. I felt like coming up with a sad one here. Remember, this is not the END, it is only the end of her lifetime. She did live to be a hundred and something. Please, please, let me know what you think of this. Even if you haven't reviewed ANY other chapters in this story or in any story I've ever written. Just let me know your thoughts.