AN: Hi everyone only 2 more chapter to go after this one, once again thank you for your support, also thanks to my stellar fantastic beta who helped me so much on this chapter, Monedameow, you are a life saver. The next chapter is planned to be published Wensday, the only day of the next 7 days that i don't work, so i am sorry but you need to wait until wensday. So also i do not own Ouran High School Host club.

Of Respect and Friendship

by Buddhistbabe

Chapter seven

Every day after studying became the most excruciatingly boring time for Haruhi. After talking with Takashi, she realized she didn't have to clean everyday, and was no longer rearranging every piece of furniture that she and her husband owned. She wasn't a member of the host club anymore, but some days she visited them every once and a while to help the new host from the younger classes get settled, but for her it was never the same.

In a disparate attempt to get rid of her boredom she turned to the kitchen as her source of comfort. Cooking had always been a source of comfort for Haruhi, it also served as a connection to her mother. There was a comfort in making foods that she knew her mother had cook for her years before. So Haruhi baked, and she baked a lot. What started out as a small venture turned huge when she started baking favorite cookies for everyone she knew. She baked batches for her father, Huni, the twins, Kyoya, Takashi, and even her mother-in-law.

When Mori came home after the first night of this, he was shocked, even if his face didn't show it, to find every surface in their kitchen and their dinning table covered with cookies, and Haruhi was pulling more out of the oven. He had only seen this many baked goods once and that was for Mitsukuni's 13th birthday, the sheer amount of sugar used was amazing. When his wife noticed the look he was giving her, all she could say in her defense was "I was bored." with a sheepish smile.

So, baking became a daily ritual. While she no longer baked for everyone in one day, she picked a day of the week and assigned everyone their own day, and on their day she would bake their favorites. Takashi became used to walking into their apartment every day to find her covered in flour up to her elbows with her hair pulled back in a bandana.

Some days she would deliver her cookies instead of baking more. On those days she would have tea with her father in his apartment, or she would go with Takashi to the dojo with a basket of cookies for Huni.

Her favorite days turned out to be the ones where she had tea with Mori's mother in her own personal tea parlor drinking tea from wherever her husband had last traveled. Mori's father was a world famous architect; he spent time anywhere, from a few weeks to a few months at a time, checking out building construction. The sadness Mrs. Morinozuka felt at her husband being gone all the time caused her to invite Haruhi to spend at least two of her baking afternoons with her, to help her ease her loneliness.

It was now late October about a week from Halloween, and Haruhi had been visiting her regularly for the last two weeks, every visit similar to the last. They would be having tea and light conversation on safe topics, like how the dojo was doing, or how classes were preceding. While it was common knowledge that both women enjoyed the visits, Haruhi couldn't help but feeling like each visit was carried out with to much civility. One afternoon Haruhi decided to tempt fate and the rules of etiquette to ask the question that had been on her mind since her first visit.

"Mrs. Morinozuka?" she asked to the beautiful older women sitting across from her. "Did you love your husband when you married him?"

Mori's mother slowly lifted her eyes up from her tea cup to meet Haruhi's, but they didn't hold the anger she was expecting them too, they shown a light of understand.

"Did I love him?" She started with a soft smile, as she set down her tea cup. Settling herself in to tell a story.

"Well, we did not marry for love, if by that you mean the fast love and undying dedication that comes with youth. We were arranged to be married. But we were friends first."

Mrs. Morinozuka's eyes drifted from Haruhi's to outside the windows, where she gazed at the bright colors of the fall.

"Because my elder brother, Mitsukuni's father, was going to carry on the Haninozuka name, and thus the dojo and most of our family managements, our parents felt that I needed to marry someone who had different tastes, other than marital arts. There was no need for me to marry into another dojo family; they wanted to expand the family name into other activities."

"My Husband Hatori, is actually my 3rd cousin. You might have known that the Morinozuka family has long served the Haninozuka family, before marriage combined the two bloodlines making them equal in status. Well as we all know traditions die hard, and Hatori was the Morinozuka who watched after me, but his interests did not lay in the martial arts he was trained in. Art was his passion, he could spend hours looking at a painting and recall the images months later with perfect accuracy. He was an avid collector, and when he got permission to go to the university for architecture, my parents decided to enter into a marriage contract with his parents."

She took a slow drink from her tea cup before continuing.

"At first I was really angry. I didn't know what to do, I couldn't escape, what I really wanted was to marry for love, but my fate wasn't to be like that. Not longer after my elder brother was married, I was too. Yet I learned I was lucky, because when I looked at the member of the family who had also been in arranged marriages none of them seemed as happy as Hatori and me. We had things the other couples around us did not have, and that was a friendship and the understanding of each other. Our indifference to each other gradually faded, and then I awoke one morning realizing I was in love with the man lying next to me. All the small things I noticed about him, and the things he did to make me smile, showed me what love really was."

"So I guess if you are wondering if I married for love, the answer is no. But if you are asking if I married the best man I could have, and if I am truly happy, and deeply in love? Of course, no one is as well suited for me as my husband." she finished with her eyes gleaming.

Haruhi sat, absorbing the story like a sponge, clinging to the details and words. It was a beautiful story, and was hoping deeply that the same will happen to her. While Haruhi knew that she had the respect of her husband and the friendship and understand they had together, she wasn't sure if she loved him.

There were things Haruhi did know about her husband. She knew that she enjoyed being with him, just sitting together in relative silence was enough. And she liked doing things just for him, to see him smile at her making his lunch, small things like that made her truly happy. Moments when he smiled at her while she woke up with her hair a mess, and when she caught his eye watching her cook instead of reading his text book, she did cherish those moments. Did those things add up to love? Did she love him?

These thoughts were running so deeply in Haruhi head that she didn't noticed that Mrs. Morinozuka had been saying her name.

"Haruhi? Haruhi? Are you okay?"

"Oh yes, I am sorry I was just thinking"

An understanding smile crept across the elder woman's face.

"Well, my dear, I hate to cut our tea short but I have just been told a terrible storm warning is coming and I think is best if you get back home before Takashi shows up or he'll be worried about you. Knowing him he would run all the way here in the rain to check if you are okay. Thank you so much my dear for coming today, it was really nice to get this chance to talk to you. Next time you stop by, bring my son, and I will get out the baby photos" they chuckled as she walked Haruhi to the door.

"Thank you very much for everything Mrs. Morinozuka."

"Haruhi, we are family. Please call me mom." she called as Haruhi started to walk to the main doors.

"Oh Dear, one more thing" the elder woman called behind Haruhi. "The family Christmas party is at the end of December, it would really be in your's and Takashi's best interest to come and meet that family."

"Thank you."

Mrs. Morinozuka sighed as she watched the main doors close, feeling a little worried about Haruhi meeting the family at Christmas. Their family was…difficult to become a part of to say the least. She looked up at the grey clouds rolling in and smiled as she thought of the wonderful young girl, who was the daughter she never had, and was confident that she would do just fine when the time came.

The ride back to the apartment was quiet as Haruhi wonder back on what had just been discussed. She was so distracted she didn't see the huge black clouds forming in the sky. Her mind was so occupied that as she walked from the limo to the door that she never felt the rain drops starting to fall all around her. She finally noticed the weather when she got to her apartment and looked out the windows searching the street below for the figure of her husband coming home from Kendo. She was hoping frantically he would get home before the storm hit.

Mori was practicing very hard, concentrating all of his attention on his sparing partner. He waited, never liking being the first to strike; he liked to see the weakness of his opponents during their attacks, so he knew how to efficiently bring them down. His waiting was about to pay of, in one lightening quick move he knocked his attacker to the ground with one move, and one hit of the shinai.

He went to help up his sparing partner, and that was when he noticed the sky starting to turn dark. His thoughts were immediately pulled from Kendo and the review of the practice fight to his wife. He knew that today she was visiting his mother, but if she reached the apartment before him he would be breaking the promise he made to her that she would never come home to an empty house. What worried him more was that if she got there before him and the storm started what would she do? He turned quickly to leave but was stopped by Huni, who was wearing a very serious and un-Huni like expression.

"Takashi, I just received a call from my mother. It seems that your mom has invited Haruhi to the Christmas party."

Mori looked up with slight panic on his face.

To an outsider no one would understand why a family spoke so heavily about Christmas. Normally the idea of a Christmas party was met with cheer and excitement. Those people had never attended a Haninozuka/Morinozuka family gathering. The look Mori was giving his cousin showed his worry at the idea of exposing Haruhi to the critical and judgmental eye of their family.

"Don't worry Takashi, I am sure we will be able to figure out a plan for my grandparents when the time comes, but at the moment, I think you should head home with Haru-chan. The weather is getting much worse." With a nod to his short friend he turned around and ran.

The heavy rain had started to pour by the time he had stepped out of the dojo and ran toward his ride. That was when he heard it, the crush of thunder. His heart started to beat faster, and his thoughts were consumed by one thought: 'Haruhi's fear'. He wrenched open the door to his car and jumped in. hoping to make it home quickly.

When Haruhi heard the thunder, she was balled up on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She was afraid, but for once, her fear was not focused on herself getting struck by lighting, but on Takashi out there in the lighting storm.

The lightning and thunder crashed on as she wrapped the blanket tighter. Her muscles were paralyzed with fear at the idea that her husband was out in this storm, so similar to the one that started her fears so many years before. Her worry was making her sick.

Takashi's feet flew up the stairs taking three steps at a time; he just pulled up in his car, and was now making his way up the stairs to their apartment. He reached the door and pushed it open to see Haruhi, wrapped in a blanket, shivering with fear.

The noise made Haruhi to look out between the folds of her blanket. Through the opening she saw Takashi dripping wet. At that moment the relief of seeing him caused her to forget the lighting and rush towards him, wrapping her arms around his soaking frame. She didn't mind the water dripping off him on to her; all she cared about was that he was safe.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Haruhi. I am so sorry" he said to the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. "I broke my promise to you, I said you would never come to an empty home, and I lied. I am so sorry. Are you okay?" He asked her softly, hoping that she would forgive him.

"I was so scared and so worried. But you are okay, and that's all that matters." She said into his chest. "It doesn't matter that you weren't here, it only matters that you are here now. I saw so worried something had happened to you Takashi. My mother died during a storm like this. When you weren't here all I could do was worry about you. But you are safe, and now you are home with me."

The arms around her tightened their embrace as she told him that. Mori was not expecting this. He knew she was afraid of thunder, but he never really understood why, he always assumed it had to do with amount of noise. Another crash of thunder rumbled through the sky, causing his wife to cling tighter to his chest. He held her close, doing what he always tried to do his best at, protecting her.

Mori was always a man of impulse, but he was also a man of self-control. He could always hold back and keep in check his instinctive reactions unless he felt them necessary. Today, self-control was not on his side. He wanted to kiss her, they had not had a real kiss yet and they had married in July, almost a full four months now. He loved her that much he knew for sure, he didn't know how to say it, but he wanted to show her.

His hair was still dripping wet, and he could feel the heat radiating off her small frame as she clung to him for life.

"Haruhi?" he said, causing her to look up from his chest and into his dark eyes. His impulse to kiss her soft lips took over him and he lowered his head to hers. Kissing his wife for the first real time, was everything he hoped it would be and more. He heard a small sigh escape from her lips while she kissed him back, a sign that she was enjoying his new way of showing affection. When they broke apart both were blushing fiercely. Haruhi quickly looked away embarrassed to meet his eye. Just as she turned away she saw that they were not alone.

Standing in the open doorway was a shocked, slack-jawed, soaking wet Tamaki.