(- -)

Chapter 5

A Fire For Forever

Tamaki paced Kyoya's bedroom impatiently. The King of the Host Club had a bad habit of dropping in on his friends, whether they wanted him or not. This time, Kyoya was being dropped in. The Shadow King was trying his best to keep his temper under wraps, but that was hard since Tamaki really was an idiot.

"What could we do next to bring back Haruhi's memories?" Tamaki asked Kyoya.

Kyoya glared at his friend and answered, "I would love to help you plan this right now, but I'm a little busy at the moment."

Tamaki placed his hand on Kyoya's laptop screen and said, "Nonsense, Kyoya! All you are doing is working on your laptop right now! Haruhi's memories are more important!"

Kyoya lifted the blond's hand off his laptop and smacked Tamaki across the face with it.

"First of all, don't touch the computer," He remarked angrily. "And second, don't drop by uninvited."

"Why not?" Tamaki was using that whiny voice again.

"Because-"

Kyoya's bedroom door slammed open and Nanami quickly stormed inside with her usual high energy.

"Hey, Kyoya, let's get a move on!" She yelled.

"Because I already made plans with Nanami for the day," The dark haired boy finished.

"Hey, Tamaki!" The girl chorused. She bounded over to her boyfriend and pulled him into a headlock. Kyoya and Nanami quickly began struggling for the more dominant role as Tamaki watched on. He didn't really know if it was all just their form of affection. "What are you here for?"

"I wanted to talk to Kyoya about Haruhi's memories," Tamaki reported.

Nanami was now in a headlock while one of her hands was against Kyoya's cheek, pushing his face away.

"Oh really? How about you try to unlock her memories of your time together?" Nanami suggested as she struggled to overcome Kyoya's grip. "Ow, that hurts!"

"Kyoya…I think you're hurting Miss Nanami."

"She's fine! She is the one who starts these in the first place!" Kyoya grunted as Nanami grabbed him by the collar and he grabbed her free wrist.

A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting on the floor in a mannerly order. Kyoya's girlfriend looked at her cell phone and then at Tamaki.

"It still is early April…You could try Hanami!" The girl suggested.

Kyoya raised his eyebrow. "Flower viewing?"

"It is quite romantic at night and when two people are alone together and they watch the sakura petals falling," The girl answered with a grin.

"Hanami has already passed, you idiot," Kyoya answered.

The girl punched him in the arm.

"Who says that flower viewing can only be done on a fixed date? Besides, during Hanami, the parks are always so crowded with people." Nanami retorted. "It is much better when there is silence and the couple is alone."

"You must hang around the Kuronuma twins too much."

"I'm serious!"

"Our own hanami…" Tamaki wondered out loud.

"Or, you could wait until July for Tanabata," Nanami added. "The fireworks would be quite a sight to see with Haruhi."

"Oh, that would be excellent for you, Tamaki. You would be able to see Haruhi in a yukata," Kyoya answered with amusement.

The blond blushed and said nothing.

"Take your pick! If not, you could always visit Nadeshiko and Barako at Ouka for help." Nanami answered.

Tamaki stood up with a bright smile across his face. "I am a man of France! I know what to do now!"

"Awesome." Nanami grabbed Kyoya's shirt and said, "Let's go, Kyoya. We're going to miss the movie."

The king of the Host Club stared dumbly at Nanami and Kyoya as the girl tried dragging the latter with her. "Are both of you really a couple?"

"Yes, why?" Kyoya asked as he began to twist Nanami's hand off of his shirt.

"You don't act like it."

Kyoya scoffed. "Just because we don't act like one doesn't mean anything. You never know."

(- -)

"This is your great, idea, milord?" The Hitachiin twins asked.

In the middle of the park field was a huge bonfire. Sakura trees surrounded the fire and petals silently fell to the ground. The park was filled with many couples dancing around the fire.

"What's the bonfire for? We're not welcoming back the spirits of our ancestors," Kyoya pointed out.

"Actually, in older times, couples would meet and dance around a bonfire while music played. It was like a courting ceremony," A voice said.

The Kuronuma sisters appeared from the entrance of the park and approached their cousins, Hunny, Mori, Tamaki, and Kyoya.

"Haruhi should be on her way now," Nadeshiko reported. "We saw her leaving her apartment."

"So what memory will Haruhi be regaining here?" Kaoru asked.

"Her memory of me," The king answered.

"But Tama-chan, Haruhi already knows who you are!" Hunny replied.

"She doesn't remember me as her boyfriend," He said quietly.

Barako raised her finger and explained, "Even if Haruhi doesn't remember her memories of Tamaki, she'll always end up falling back in love with him."

Nadeshiko quickly pointed at the entrance of the park. "She's here!"

Everyone pushed Tamaki towards her. With thumbs up, Tamaki walked over to Haruhi.

The Host Club and the Kuronuma twins crowded together with their wallets out.

"So let's get this bet going," Kyoya ordered. He took out his binder and a pen.

Hikaru handed a 10,000-yen bill to Kyoya and said, "I bet 10,000 yen that they don't last another year." Kyoya took the money and began writing it down.

"Make mine three years after graduation." Kaoru instructed. He threw in his own 10,000-yen bill.

The girls each threw in a 5000-yen bill. "We bet that they will get married and have at least one child," They said together. Hunny nodded with agreement and he and Mori added their own 10k bill.

"Interesting bet," Kyoya replied as he wrote it all down. He threw in two 10k yen bills. "I'll take it."

(- -)

Haruhi stared into the bonfire. She really didn't have any idea why Tamaki asked her to come here, but somehow, being alone with him made her heart ache once again. Why did it do that? Haruhi normally had an explanation for anything, but this was another story. It pained her to be with him, and it hurt even more when they were apart.

"I know I lost something, but how important was it?" Haruhi asked. She looked at Tamaki, who was already starting at her intently.

"Very important."

Haruhi gazed past the fire and at the Host Club. The Hitachiin twins were fooling around, poking fun at the two girls with them. Kyoya watched on in silence and in amusement. Mori was giving Hunny a piggyback ride all around the park. As she smiled, memories began flooding into her mind left and right. The twins having a mock fight, being forced into going to an artificial resort, going to the beach with the Host Club and almost drowning until she was saved by Tamaki, Hunny suffering without sweets for three days, and the Central Salon Race were just among these memories.

"I realize these people may well be the ones I've been searching for all this time." She replied softly. "In fact, I'm sure of it."

Tamaki and Haruhi smiled warmly at each other. The girl turned back to the fire.

"But I still feel like I'm missing one more thing. I can tell it was very important to me," She stated. "I can't really explain it. There is something strange about you, Tamaki. Even though I know who you are, you still seem so familiar."

Tamaki reached into his pocket and withdrew a pretty green ribbon. He quietly tied it into Haruhi's short hair and commented breathlessly, "Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful."

The girl touched the ribbon gingerly. She smiled softly.

She recalled a similar memory from her childhood. A day out with her parents…the wind undoing the ribbon in her hair…a small foreigner boy tying a green ribbon in her hair…watching him run off… This boy and Tamaki were the same person. Afterwards…

"Tamaki, we used to date, didn't we?" Haruhi asked.

He nodded. "We did for a year, and then you lost your memories. But if you want, we could start up again."

"Okay."

Her smile was like an angel's smile. He blushed and moved closer to her. He placed a timid kiss on her cheek and they watched the fire burn and the sakura petals fall all around them.

It would later turn out that Nadeshiko and Barako's bet would win. In eight years, Tamaki and Haruhi would be happily married. Their first child would be a girl named Shizuka whose looks came from her mother, but had her father's eyes and spirit. She would be suggested as the potential bride for a boy named Ayumu Ohtori, but that's a whole other story…

This is the final chapter! Unfortunately, my video game was delayed for two more weeks, so I was able to write again. There will be a sequel, and it will be the final one. That sequel will focus on Kyoya and Nanami and it is set eight years after this one. Of course, judging from the final paragraph, you already knew that...It is going to be a short story - only four chapters. I already wrote it, so expect it to be up pretty quickly. I'm going to make some minor tweaks, but that's about it. The Kuronuma twins will be featured, of course, but they won't be as important like they were in these other two stories. They won't even be making their appearance until the third chapter! So, expect the sequel to be up VERY soon. Thank you for reading!