Author's note: Welcome to chapter 11! Wow, that last chapter was rough, huh? Don't worry, dear Reader, things get better! This chapter starts off a little bit rough, but it gets bright and fluffy near the end! Also, I forgot to mention before now. I do NOT speak French, and use a translator for the story. If you speak French, and something is off, don't hesitate to let me know!

Trigger warning: Very minor triggers this chapter. A murdered DVD cabinet, some blood, and Sky's potty mouth as always.

Nope, still don't own Ouran or the Hosts. Damn.

Reviews/PMs are always welcome! Sit back and enjoy the ride!


Sky looked around in shock and then let out a frightened gasp. She jumped up and ran over to one of the DVD cases, where Kaoru had apparently punched the glass door. There was fury on his thin, pretty face, and blood running down his hand.

"Holy shit, Kaoru, what the hell?!"

He was positively shaking with rage, but his voice was choked with tears.

"You were just a little girl! How could that bastard… Why would… I… You were a little girl, damnit!"

Sky's heart melted. She grabbed a stack of napkins from the nearest table and held them under Kaoru's bleeding hand, then took his other hand and dragged him into the adjoining kitchen. She unceremoniously shoved him into a chair and knelt to grab the first aid kit and a large pan beneath the sink. The other boys had gathered around the open doorway, Hikaru looking particularly frantic. She waved a dismissive hand at them all and sat facing the wounded boy.

She opened the kit and with a little sigh, began picking shards of glass out of the slender hand. Kaoru was still trembling, but remained relatively quiet, aside from muttered expletives and hisses of pain. Sky spoke softly as she finished debriding his wounds and picked up a bottle of saline to clean them.

"Yes, I was just a little girl. Broken, defenseless, completely and utterly vulnerable. The people who should have protected me and sheltered me turned out to be demonic, abusive bastards. But, my darling little monkey, that is no reason to murder my poor DVD cabinet."

Her final comment caused a startled laugh to escape, and she smiled at the redhead. She examined his hand carefully, gently turning it this way and that, looking for any lingering slivers of glass. After a few moments, she was satisfied, and set to bandaging it.

"But seriously, Kaoru, please don't punch anything else. You're lucky you don't need stitches. Don't hurt yourself anymore, alright?"

"I… How can you be so damn calm about this?!"

"I wouldn't be doing anyone any good by having a hysterical meltdown right now. I admit, it hurt like seven hells reliving everything just now. But it was a cleansing kind of pain, like draining an infection. As much as I hated telling the story, I hated keeping secrets from you all even more. I can't bring myself to lie to you guys, and hiding the scars and keeping that secret just felt too much like lying. There, all done. That didn't hurt so much, did it?"

She held Kaoru's injured hand in hers and placed a very gentle kiss over the bandages, then pulled her friend in for a firm hug. He was shocked at first, then wrapped his arms tightly around the girl, holding her close. She pulled back after a moment with a serious look.

"I mean it now, no more hurting yourself. Promise me. Look me in the eye and promise me, right now."

"I… I promise, Pixie."

"Good boy."

She grinned and kissed his forehead, then set about cleaning up the mess while Hikaru leapt at his brother. She thought it was sweet that they were so close. She wondered what it would have been like to grow up with a sibling that she could be that close to. She shook her head slightly and decided she needed more caffeine.

"Hey, Pixie?"

She turned, shocked to see the kitchen empty, save for the twins. She glanced between them, wondering at the serious looks on their faces. Hikaru had Kaoru's injured hand in both of his, but his eyes were fixed on the confused girl. She grabbed a soda at random and walked over to the table, taking a quick drink before holding the bottle out to Kaoru.

"Here, drink. You need the sugar after all that."

After thrusting the drink in his uninjured hand, she sat on the table and gave her attention to Hikaru.

"What's up, little monkey?"

"Thank you for taking such good care of Kaoru's hand. I…I've never seen so much blood, I was so scared."

She smiled lightly and patted his hand. Poor little poppet. It was easy to see how frightened he was for his twin.

"It's no problem. I'm so clumsy, I've gotten pretty damn good at first aid."

He didn't smile like she wanted, and she frowned a little. She picked up his hand and gave it a little shake.

"What's wrong, Hikaru? Where's that cheeky smile I'm so fond of?"

"I…I'm sorry, Pixie. I'm so sorry."

"What? What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything."

"No, I did. I shouldn't have…I didn't mean… I should never have made those jokes about kissing, and, and, and… The thing earlier, with the zippers and and…I just…I…"

"Oh! Oh God, seriously?"

She placed her hands on his cheeks and forced him to look her in the eyes.

"Don't you dare apologize for some innocent jokes, Hikaru. You did nothing wrong. Do you hear me? Nothing."

"But Pixie…"

"Don't you 'But Pixie' me, mister. You made a joke, that's all. It wasn't inappropriate, I wasn't scared, I never for a single Goddamned second thought you were going to hurt me in any way. Do you honestly think I would let you guys spend the night if I thought any of you would even think about hurting me?"

"I… Well… No?"

"Of course not! I would never think you guys are capable of something so vile. You've never been anything but sweet and kind to me. So you made a vaguely perverted joke, big deal. Who hasn't? I mean, God, just yesterday I accused Kyoya of writing erotic My Little Pony fanfiction, remember?"

Hikaru snorted out a little laugh at the memory, and Sky smiled at him, glad the crisis had passed. She shook her head and kissed her silly friend on the forehead.

"You are a sweetheart, Hikaru. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me, so please stop worrying, alright? And don't stop joking with me like that, I'm not that fragile. I'm a big girl, I can take a joke."

"Alright, Pixie. Alright."

"Good. Now come on, my silly monkeys, let's go see where the others went."

She hopped off the table and curled an arm around each twin, giving them both a little hug. The brothers each wrapped an arm around the girl's waist and cuddled close. They broke apart after a moment, and Hikaru gave her hand a little squeeze before letting go. Walking back into the little theater, she noticed that someone had already cleaned up the broken glass.

"Ok, so… How about something fun now? This serious atmosphere has got to go."

"Are you sure you're ok, Pixie-chan?"

Sky turned to Honey and flashed a cheeky smile before reaching out to tousle his hair. So cute!

"I'm fine, honest. You guys know my deepest, darkest secrets, and nobody ran away. I would dance around like a total moron if I wasn't sure I'd break something."

She grinned and stuck her tongue out at the little blonde, causing a burst of the bell-like giggles she adored.

"You are just too cute, my sweet little bunny."

"You're cute too, Pixie-chan!"

"Aw, thank you, precious."

Honey beamed radiantly at Sky and grabbed both hands, twirling around in happy circles. She couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up. After a minute or two of the manic whirling, she became dizzy and had to sit, still giggling lightly as her head spun. She held her hands to her head as her giggles finally tapered off.

"Oh man. I haven't twirled like that since I was little. God, Honey, how can you do that without getting dizzy?"

"Just lucky, I guess!"

He giggled and twirled again, proving his point. She just shook her head a little, smiling fondly. She glanced around at the rest of her boys, and her smile grew. She sighed softly and tucked her long legs under her, content to sit and watch as Honey tried desperately to get someone else to twirl with him.

Tamaki sat next to her and lightly patted her shoulder. They shared a small smile over Honey's antics, and Sky bumped her shoulder against his in a friendly manner.

"Are you sure you're alright, ma cherie?"

Sky took his hand and patted it gently. Her boys were just too sweet.

"I'm fine, chardonneret, honest. I actually feel much better now that it's all out in the open. I feel…lighter. Really, honestly, you guys need to stop worrying quite so much, ok?"

"We can't help it, ma cherie. We love you. How can we not worry when our little unicorn princess hurting?"

"Aww. Damnit, Tamaki, knock it off. You're going to make me cry!"

Tamaki smiled brightly and kissed her cheek. She grinned back and curled an arm around his shoulders, giving him a little hug. She thought again how lucky she was to be surrounded by such sweet, caring friends. She rested her head against Tamaki's and sighed quietly, perfectly happy with life for the first time in years.