A/N: Okay, this chapter starts to get really fun with that epic fight scene and all. Twins being awesome, Kyouya being awesome, Mori being awesome... everyone is awesome! Lots of fun! Please enjoy! Drop me a review and remind me to update!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran Host Club or Tangled.
Chapter 6: The Escape
Just as it seems that everything was peacefully resolved, everyone worn out and happy from all the singing, Greno bursts into the bar. "I found the guards!" he cries triumphantly.
Everyone seems to freeze as they recall that they did in fact want to hand Tamaki over to the guards just a few minutes ago. Captain Yoshio Ootori strides in.
"Where's Suoh? Where is he?" he demands. "I know he's in here somewhere. Find him! Turn the place upside-down if you have to!" He slams his fist down on a table, and we can see Haruhi and Tamaki huddled there, eyes wide with surprise and fear.
Then the situation gets worse as the Hitachiin twins are led in, their hands cuffed behind their backs. Then Haruhi feels a tap on her shoulder, and the small child is standing there. "Come with me," he whispers.
The pair crawl after him to where the dark-haired man is crouched next to a trap door.
"Are you… helping us hide?" Haruhi gasps.
"Escape actually," the child says. "Follow us." And with that, he jumps down into the cellar and leads the way down the passageway. Haruhi and Tamaki follow while the dark-haired man shuts the trapdoor and brings up the rear. Above them, they can hear the other thugs trying to distract the guards.
"Sir, I believe this is the man you're looking for," one of them says, dragging out a tiny old man with a long white beard.
"You got me!" the old man sighs, holding out his hands resignedly. His very red nose indicates he might be somewhat intoxicated.
Captain Yoshio Ootori claps a hand to his forehead in exasperation. Then he looks at his older two sons, who are deeply engaged in searching for the missing thief. Then the door bursts open and Kyouya is standing in the doorway.
"Kyouya! You're alive!" the Captain gasps, remembering that moment of horror when he'd seen his youngest son fall off a cliff, still engaged in a struggle with the blonde thief.
"Of course I'm alive," Kyouya says, as though this should have been a forgone conclusion. Then he moves into the bar and peers under the table where Haruhi and Tamaki had been hiding just a few minutes ago. He frowns at the floor, then suddenly turns around and goes behind the bar. It takes him only seconds to find the lever to open the trapdoor and the secret passageway.
"A passage! Good work son!" Yoshio Ootori exclaimed, clapping the young man's shoulder. "Come on men, let's go! Make sure those boys don't get away," he calls over his shoulder to one of the guards, who hefts a spear and glares at the identical twin prisoners. They just exchange identical amused smirks before turning their attention to disarming the unfortunate guard, removing their handcuffs, and dashing down into the passageway.
Benibara stares through the window as everything happens, eyes narrowed. Then the small drunk old man totters outside, singing drunkenly.
"I got a dream… I got some dreams…" Then he spots Benibara. "Ohhhh, somebody get me a glass! Because I just found me a tall drink of water…" He leans against the doorway in what he obviously thinks is a seductive pose.
Benibara giggles innocently. "Oh stop it, you big lug." Then she pulls out her knife, sticking it right in the poor man's face. "Where does that tunnel let out?" she hisses as the man goes cross-eyed trying to stare at the blade touching the tip of his nose.
Down in the tunnel, Haruhi is thanking the dark-haired man and the child profusely. "Seriously, you guys did not have to do this!" she exclaims.
"We know, but we wanted to help," the child says. "What's your name?"
"I'm Haruhi," she says, trying not to trip over her hair as she runs.
"I'm Mitsukuni. Mitsukuni Haninozuka, but you can call me Honey. And that's my cousin, Takashi. Takashi Morinozuka, but you can call him Mori."
Haruhi glances doubtfully back at the dark-haired man, but he just glances down at her and somehow she knows that Honey is right that he doesn't mind the nickname.
"Well, it's nice to meet you both. That's Tamaki Suoh. I don't really know him very well, but we're traveling together, so… ya know."
Honey nods. "We like your dream. It's good to have dreams."
"How did you two end up in such a rough place?"
"Our fathers are in charge of the biggest gang of bandits in the land. They all know better than to mess with us because someday we'll be in charge of them," Honey says proudly. "Although to be honest, we're a lot more interested in our martial arts. I know Takashi would be perfectly happy just teaching at a dojo. I'd like that too, actually. We could teach so many fun classes!"
Haruhi can only stare at them, unable to reconcile the sweet and innocent child and the quiet and protective older man at his side. "You're serious? But aren't you…?"
Honey laughs. "I'm older than Mori, but I look a lot younger," he says with a sweet grin, little pink flowers appearing around his head as he talks.
Haruhi can't speak and she forgets to keep running, and nearly trips over her hair, but Mori reaches down to steady her and she feels shockingly safe next to these two young thugs.
They walk along quickly for several more minutes. Honey and Mori end up a little ways ahead while Haruhi and Tamaki stroll along behind.
"I gotta say," Tamaki says at last, "I didn't know you had that in you back there. That was pretty… impressive."
Haruhi can't stop herself from blushing at the rare praise. "I know!" she gasps excitedly. Then she quickly composes herself. "I know," she says in a more offhand tone. "Sooo… Tamaki… I just realized I really DON'T know much about you… Where are you from?"
"Whoa, whoa, sorry Princess, I don't do backstory. However, I am becoming very interested in yours… Now, I know I'm not supposed to mention the hair…"
"Nope."
"Or the guardian…"
"Uh-uh."
"Frankly, I'm too scared to ask about the frog…"
"Chameleon," Haruhi says, patting Pascal on the head. Somehow he's managed to remain on her shoulder for their entire adventure.
"Nuance. Here's my question though: if you want to see the lanterns so badly, why haven't you gone before?"
Haruhi turns scarlet. "Ah… ha ha… well…" Before she can answer, they both hear thudding noises and rocks being to vibrate around them. "Tamaki?" she gasps nervously. They turn and see a light appearing behind them.
SUOH!" the guards shout.
"RUN!" Tamaki yells, pushing Haruhi ahead of him. Haruhi bunches up as much of her hair as she can and runs. Mori and Honey hear them and also take off running. The foursome burst out at a dam with several caves nearby. The Hitachiin twins appear at one of them and they glare up at Tamaki.
"Who are they?" Haruhi yelps.
"Let's just say they don't like me," Tamaki suggests, brushing back his white-blonde hair.
"Who are they?" Haruhi demands, pointing at the guards as they appear behind them.
"They don't like me either," Tamaki says with a sigh.
Then Kyouya appears from a different direction (who knows why?).
"Who's THAT?" Haruhi exclaims.
"Let's just assume for a moment that everyone here doesn't like me," Tamaki groans.
Haruhi drops her pile of hair and hands her frying pan over to Tamaki. "Here." Then she flings her hair toward a piece of wood across the chasm and lands on an empty ledge. Tamaki turns just in time to block the sword of Captain Ootori with the frying pan.
"I've waited a long time for this," the captain says, swinging his sword again. Tamaki swings the pan again and manages to knock the captain right out. The two oldest Ootori sons attack next, and Tamaki manages to fight both of them off. Mori scoops up Honey onto his shoulder and grabs one of the dropped swords to help Tamaki fight off the guards.
Tamaki stares at the frying pan in surprise and disbelief. "Ohhh mama, I have got to get me one of these!" he exclaims in delight. Then he looks up to see that Kyouya has managed to climb up onto the ledge and has drawn his sword. "Shit…" he hisses under his breath, facing off against the young guard.
The pair begin to fight, but it's soon obvious that Tamaki is hopelessly outmatched by the well-trained Kyouya. Haruhi swings her hair over the gorge to rescue Mori and Honey just as Tamaki is disarmed and the frying pan flies off the ledge, landing with a clatter on the ground below.
"How about two out of three?" he asks meekly, raising his hands in something resembling surrender. Kyouya cannot suppress a triumphant smirk and he pulls out handcuffs (kinky bastard!), but before he can do anything with them, Haruhi is flinging her hair across the chasm again.
"Tamaki!" she calls out. He reaches back and just manages to grab a hold of her hair. He flashes a peace sign at Kyouya before he is yanked off the ledge by Haruhi and Mori both pulling on the golden locks. Kyouya actually drops the handcuffs in surprise.
As Tamaki swings, he finds himself in the path of the Hitachiin twins, who look pissed.
"You left us there to be caught, you clumsy oaf!" Hikaru yells at him.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Kaoru adds.
They both swing swords of their own, but they miss. Tamaki can't help but laugh. "Ha! You should see your faces because you look…" He is cut off with a WHAMM as his stomach hits a jutting pole and all the wind is knocked out of him. "…ridiculous…" he manages to gasp out.
Kyouya has recovered from his shock and seized a battleax, and is now using that to hit a pole so that he can make a bridge to cross to Haruhi, Mori, and Honey. He manages this, but some of the water behind the dam begins to leak out.
"Princess, come on!" Tamaki calls. She turns to Mori and Honey first, but Mori is already climbing up a ledge, with Honey clinging to his shoulder again.
"We'll be fine, Haru-chan!" Honey calls. "Hurry up, that water sounds pretty bad!"
"Jump!" Tamaki yells to her.
Seeing that Kyouya is almost upon her, Haruhi leaps blindly off the ledge. Kyouya's fingers grasp at the air mere inches from her hair. With Tamaki holding her hair, she manages to land safely on the ground, and then she bunches up her hair and starts running as the Hitachiin twins pursue her. Meanwhile Tamaki jumps into a narrow channel of water and starts grinding down even as the water behind the dam begins to roar at a mad crescendo.
The dam finally bursts, and a massive tidal wave begins to fill the gorge, sweeping away Kyouya and the other guards, as well as the Hitachiin twins. Tamaki grabs the frying pan from the ground and then grabs Haruhi's hand as they run from a falling rock pillar. Seeking shelter, they dash into a nearby cave and the pillar blocks them from getting back out, but the entrance is not sealed enough to stop the water from getting in too.
Desperately, the pair begins searching for another way out of the cave as the water fills it. Haruhi scrambles onto a rock that is high enough for her to keep her head above water while Tamaki dives desperately again and again. Both of them push and shove at all the rocks they can reach, but there is no way out and they're completely trapped. As Tamaki shoves at a boulder, the rock slices his hand open and he yelps in pain. Then he shakes his head in frustration.
"It's no use," Tamaki gasps at last. "I can't see anything." Frantic with terror, Haruhi dives in herself, but Tamaki catches her around the waist and pulls her back above the water. "Hey! There's no point. It's pitch-black down there."
Haruhi bursts into tears. "This is all my fault. She was right. I never should have done this. I'm… I'm so sorry, Tamaki."
Tamaki puts his arm around her and holds her gently. "I always pictured myself going out in a blaze of glory, but at least I can go out trying to comfort a beautiful young woman instead. I always… I always assumed that I would die alone," he adds sadly. "Do you have any deep dark secrets you want to confess so I don't feel so alone?"
Haruhi blinks. "Well… I have magic hair that glows when I sing."
Tamaki stares at her. "What?"
Haruhi gasps in realization. "I have… magic hair… that glows when I sing!" With a yelp of triumph she starts to sing as fast as she can as the water rises up to meet their heads. "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine…"
But it seems to be too late, the water has reached the ceiling of the cave and they fall underwater… And then her hair begins to glow! The whole cavern is suddenly bathed in a gentle golden light. Tamaki's mouth drops open, but he claps it closed quickly and dives down towards the bottom of the cave. Spotting several rocks that look loose, he begins digging, pulling them aside desperately, even as the glow fades away and leaving them in darkness once again.