This should have been a moment to celebrate, but I found myself on my knees, sobbing as I clutched Tamaki's jacket, trying to bring back his warmth. How long had it been since the last time I'd cried like this, when Tamaki was there to comfort me? I had told myself then I would tell him someday how much he meant to me, and now he meant even more and I couldn't tell him anything.

As if our victory had been a cue, everyone else finally broke down around me. The twins collapsed into each other's arms, holding on for dear life. Bawling, Hunny threw his arms around Mori's waist, but the tall boy was too distraught to even comfort his cousin, staring off into the distance, looking lost.

Kyoya's reaction was absolutely terrifying. He was on his knees too, glasses slipping off his face, pounding his fist on the ground and cursing Tamaki's name under his breath. He was showing more emotion than I'd ever seen from him, and this public display of his feelings was what really drove home for me the magnitude of Tamaki's death.

Only a few minutes had passed when I heard footsteps near the stairs. Suzuran. I had completely forgotten she was still out there somewhere. We may have beaten Benibara, but that would probably just make the younger Zuka girl want to kill us even more.

As the footsteps echoed down the stairs, nothing but cold, all-consuming fury could have given me the strength to pull myself off the ground, raise my arms, wipe away my tears, and completely obliterate the staircase as the tall figure descended it. The rest of the Host Club looked up in surprise as, with a yelp, the falling body was swallowed in a great cloud of swirling dust. Breathing heavily, I ran forward, ready to strike again, when they pulled themselves out from a waist-deep pile of what used to be a staircase. I swear my heart stopped right then and there.

It was impossible.

He was standing right in front of me, sputtering and wiping dust from his face – but I'd seen him die.

Hadn't I?

Halfway to the pile of rubble already, I took another step forward.

"It could be a trap," Kaoru warned shakily from a few yards behind me, but I ignored him.

"Tamaki?" I called, my voice cracking.

Looking up at the sound of his name, Tamaki held up his arms in surrender. "It's me! Don't attack!"

I choked out a laugh. He was alive! He had a black eye, his clothes were torn and covered in blood, and a fine layer of dust had turned his unkempt blond hair white, but here he was, in the flesh.

"Tamaki!" I yelled again, fresh tears of joy spilling out as I ran towards him. When I was close enough, I threw myself at him, and he caught me around the waist, stumbling backward down the pile of rubble, barely managing not to fall over. Arms around Tamaki's neck, I hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go for fear he'd be gone when I did. I had to tell him how I felt before I lost him for real. Leaning back and looking up into his bemused face, I tried.

"Tamaki, I…I…" My lips didn't know how to form the words. They knew another way to tell him, though. Standing on tiptoe, I closed my eyes and leaned in, pressing my lips to his. A heartbeat's hesitation and he kissed me back. The magnitude of the earthquake that had nearly stolen Tamaki from me, all the adrenaline I'd felt as I watched the lightning he'd summoned crash down from above, they were nothing in comparison to this.

Too soon, Tamaki slowly pulled away, a smile dancing on his lips as he looked down at me. "First you try to kill me, then you kiss me…I'm getting mixed signals here."

"I thought you were dead!" I exclaimed.

"I should have almost died sooner," he joked, and I smacked him in the arm.

"Not funny! I…I really thought…" I took a deep breath to calm myself before I started hyperventilating. Tamaki ran his hand through my hair and smiled.

"Well, I'm fine. Better than fine, actually," he said, leaning in to kiss me again.

By this point, however, the rest of the Host Club had gotten over their shock at seeing Tamaki and had rushed over to where we were standing.

"Stupid Milord!" Hikaru and Kaoru yelled in unison, shoving me out of the way and tackling Tamaki with a hug. Hunny jumped into the pile, and Kyoya and Mori stood behind Tamaki, thumping him on the back the way guys do.

"Really, why is everyone so happy to see me?" Tamaki laughed, hugging his friends back. "You really thought I was dead?"

"Of course, what were we supposed to think?" Kaoru demanded, stepping back from the Tamaki-love-fest. "You were buried under a giant pile of boulders, what happened to you?"

"Buried…? Oh, you mean when you and Boushi almost got crushed?" Tamaki asked, staring at Kaoru and me. "Did you think I pushed you out of the way?"

"You mean you didn't?"

"Well, I did, but not physically. I knew I was too far to get to you in time, so I pushed you with the strongest gust of wind I could muster and hoped for the best. It might have been a little too strong," Tamaki said sheepishly. "I was worried I hadn't acted in time when I didn't hear anything from your side, but you must have been out cold."

"But then where did you go?" I asked. "You weren't there, Kyoya didn't see you leave, you were just gone!"

"I was about to check on you and Kaoru, because like I said, I feared the worst. Before I could, that Suzuran girl showed up out of nowhere, grabbed me, and teleported us…somewhere," he explained, throwing his hands up to indicate that he had no idea where in this huge building she had taken him.

"The whole point of separating us was so she could take us out one-by-one, but she wasn't counting on us finding each other. She tracked down Hunny-sempai first, underestimating him, and wasn't expecting him to have found Mori-sempai and Hikaru by then. I think that earthquake must have been caused by the giant plants she grew from under the school. Anyway, when Suzuran recognized that she was outnumbered, she went looking for an easier target, and seized the opportunity while Kaoru and Boushi were out to take me somewhere alone."

"What, did she tell you all of that? You have a knack for getting villains to monologue," Hikaru noted.

Ignoring Hikaru, Tamaki carried on. "Even as weak as she was from that electrical shock earlier, she didn't go down without a fight. But she over-exerted herself, and within minutes couldn't even stand up on her own." He looked around at all of us, our battle scars. "I only wish I'd gotten here sooner."

"We're just glad to have you here at all," Kyoya said, his emotional walls not quite back in place yet.

"So…this is it," I said in wonder. "We defeated the Zuka Club…no more monsters. No more fighting. Now what happens?"

"Now," Tamaki said, crossing over, taking my hand, and swiftly kissing me, "we have our whole lives ahead of us. So, we live."

I smiled. The Host Club had nearly gotten me killed in numerous ways, annoyed the crap out of me on a daily basis, and turned me into a cross-dresser. But it had also given me friends I'd do anything for and who would do anything for me, changed me for the better, and saved the world.

My whole life ahead of me, with these guys?

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

The End.

A/N: …I don't even know what to say…it's really over! D: It's hard to believe I've been working on this story for, what, nearly 8 months now? That's a long time…thanks to anyone out there who's stuck with me since the beginning, and to everyone who's jumped on the bandwagon since then. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, subscribed to, and read Ghost Club, for being so awesome and giving me the encouragement to keep writing. You guys rock!

So, just to summarize…thank you. ^.^ And finally, this won't be the last you hear from me. I already have my next fanfic planned out and partly written, so keep an eye out, I'll be starting it soon-ish. Much love, Boushi~