Chapter 45 | A Host Club Wedding!

--four years later--

~Kaoru's POV~

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The day was bright, beautiful, and full of hope as the final preparations were finished.

Finally, four years later after I proposed, the day had arrived--Arabella and I's wedding day.

Of course, Arabella and I hadn't gotten married right away; we agreed it would be best if we got married after both of us were finished with college.

So, here we are, four years later.

All our friends and family came, it really was a beautiful wedding.

Of course, Hikaru was my best man, and Haruhi was Arabella's maid of honor. It was perfect.

However, Tono was upset I didn't pick him as my best man, so I let him plan the bachelor party to get him happy again.

Luckily, that was all it took.

Everything was just perfect--the food, the decor, the music, the flowers, everything.

However, the most perfect thing of all was Arabella.

When she walked down the aisle, she looking amazingly beautiful in her wedding dress and veil. I thought she couldn't get any more beautiful and flawless, but apparently I was wrong.

When she was walking down the aisle, all I could think about was what life we would have together--we would get married (like we are now), eventually start a wonderful family, grow old together, and so much more; she's my soulmate.

Our vows were excellent, and the kiss that officially sealed our marriage was more than excellent.

The wedding and the reception were both held in our estate--the Hitachiin estate. We all agreed that Arabella would move in with me in the Hitachiin estate after we were married and Hikaru would get another estate and live there.

So, it was only fit we have our wedding at the place where we would spend the rest of our lives together.

The reception was especially amazing--the music, the food... Oh God, don't even get me started on the wedding cake...!

I remember when we were officially announced to be the new Mr. and Mrs. Hitachiin I got a warm, amazing feeling--a feeling I never want to go away.

Right now, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. Everything just fell into place. I couldn't ask for better family, better friends, or a better soulmate.

Of course, at the reception, things only got more perfect from there; Arabella stood up on a chair and threw her bouquet behind her head at a crowd of single girls.

Renge was the one who caught it (after Haruhi gave it up when she caught it and threw it at her), and she acted like she was a football star and she had just scored at touchdown when it was thrown at her and she caught it. We all laughed at that.

We danced and danced and danced some more, having the time of our lives. Mrs. Hashimoto (or, my mother-in-law, now) was more than thrilled to plan our wedding along with Daniel (my new brother-in-law); they really went all out. Of course, they had plenty of money to since my parents begged to help out with the planning as well.

The dancing and music was probably my favorite part (it was definitely Arabella's favorite part too).

I had approached Arabella and gave her a smile. "Would you like to dance with your husband, Mrs. Hitachiin?"

Arabella had smiled back. "Yes I would, Mr. Hitachiin. But, only if you want to dance with your wife." she said.

I pulled her up and gave her a peck on the lips. "Deal." I whispered before we happily headed to the dance floor.

The Host Club eventually ended up dancing together, having fun and laughing like old times; Tono practically forced Haruhi and Kyoya to dance, although they were happy to do it. Tono eventually ended up dancing with Haruhi, which I smiled at. Then, the rest of them found girls and split up and danced in couples.

It wasn't hard for them to find partners--they were the most handsome guys there, obviously.

After we danced our hearts out, we all separated to just go hang out and talk.

I ended up with Hikaru at the fancy cuisine table, both of us leaning against it and watching all our friends have fun in perfect peace and harmony.

Hikaru and I poured ourselves each a glass of wine and drank, happily watching everything and everyone around us.

"So," Hikaru said after he took a sip of wine. "it can't get more sweet than this, can it?"

I shook my head. "No, it cannot. This is as sweet as it gets. Life couldn't be better," I said, drinking my wine. "Although, the times we had together at Ouran were a pretty close second."

Hikaru smiled. "Oh, most definitely... Hey, remember when we went to Kyoya's water/amusement park thing and we ended up losing Honey? And we got into an intense water gun battle with Tono and Arabella?"

I chuckled. "Definitely! That was sick...!"

"I know!" Hikaru said.

"Oh, remember when we had that Halloween test-of-courage thing at Ouran? And we got chased by Tono who dressed up as... the..."

"The clock tower witch!"

"Yes, yes! The clock tower witch! He dressed up as the clock tower witch, and we totally bought it! And, he chased us all around the school and you and Haruhi got stuck in that net together and Arabella and the class chairman and I all got stuck in that closet? And after that, when we all came back, Nekozawa scared us again with his puppet doll thing! We were all so scared we ran and cried like babies and later got our pictures in the newspaper because we were the Kings of Cowards???"

Hikaru threw his head back and laughed. "Yes! I remember that so well! And, Kaoru, I believe it wasn't Kings of Cowards, but rather it was Ministers of Pantywaists."

This time, I was the one who threw their head back and laughed like crazy. "M-Ministers of Pantywaists...! You're right! You're so freaking right, Hikaru...!" I laughed until I was almost choking on my wine.

"We...," Hikaru heaved, trying his best to stop laughing. "we had too much fun back then...!"

I nodded. "Oh, totally...!" I snorted.

However, we didn't just have good times, but bad times as well.

In fact, I still remember the day Arabella and I told all our friends about her past; after Haruhi found out, it wasn't long before we eventually had to spill the beans to the rest of our friends.

Of course, they were all devastated to find out all that happened to Arabella, and it was awkward for awhile, but we all got through it; we had each other, after all.

We would make sure none of us ever felt like Arabella had--completely alone and scared.

I promised Arabella personally that she would never end up like that ever again as long as I was around; and I'm not going anywhere any time soon, and luckily she knows that too.

"I've got one! Remember when we did that experiment personality-change thing with... What was his name...? Oh, that's right; Kasanoda!"

I smirked. "Or, more appropriately, Casanova."

"Or, Bossanova!"

"Yes! Yes! Bossanova-kun!" I snickered. "We always got his name wrong!"

"Actually, the way I remember it, we did that on purpose."

I thought for a second. "Maybe... Either way, he hated it when we got it wrong, but we did all the time, and so did Tono, so eventually he stopped correcting us! Poor guy...!"

"We kind of hated him though," Hikaru said. "I mean, he was all over Haruhi and Arabella."

"Oh, yeah, he definitely had crushes on the both of them. But, I wasn't worried; Arabella was far too into me then."

Hikaru snickered. "Yeah, sure, okay...! Please, you were freaking out as much as I was!"

I sighed. "Okay, okay, fine! You're right! I was freaking out...! But, not more than you!"

"Whatever. Oh! Remember when you saw Arabella naked at the county club?"

This time, I did choke on my wine. "Y-Yes, I do remember that. It was all your fault! You set it up! I was so mad at you when you did that! I think I threatened you by saying I would never speak to you again or something like that."

"You did. You definitely did. You were so mad," Hikaru said before giving me a mischievous smile. "But, you definitely liked what you saw..."

I gasped and slapped him on the arm. "N-Not true...!"

Hikaru gave me a look.

"Okay... Okay, fine, I might've liked it a little bit..." I mumbled.

Hikaru nodded. "I thought so."

We sat in silence for a bit before I suddenly said, "We did it."

Hikaru's eyes widened. "You did?" he whispered.

"Yes. We finally did it. Yesterday, actually."

"Well, how'd it go? Was Arabella okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she was fine. She told me she needed to do it, or else she would never do it. So, with the help of me, she finally got rid of those horrible files."

"What did you do with them?"

"We put them through a paper shredder."

"Wow. Bold move. Great job." Hikaru said.

"Yeah, I was proud of her. She said that it was time to get rid of them because she admitted that she was wrong--there are some good people in the world; people you can trust. And she also said the only reason she kept those awful files was to remind herself everyday of what had been done to her and her family and she would use that to tell herself that she couldn't trust anyone."

"Well, I'm glad you did it together. I'm real proud of both of you." Hikaru said.

I smiled. "Thanks. It was kind of a big step. But, we had each other, and that's what made it special."

Hikaru smiled back. "You know, I'm glad you two found each other. You're perfect for each other. You make each other stronger. I'm also glad that my brother found someone to be happy with. It's really a good feeling to see someone you love happy, you know? I'm really proud of you, Kaoru. Mum and Dad are too. Everyone is." he said.

I felt myself start to tear up. "Thank you so much for being proud of me and for all this. I couldn't have done it without you."

Hikaru spread his arms out wide. "Come on, dear brother, bring it in!"

I smiled widely before we both hugged.

Then, we separated and Hikaru suddenly looked behind me and said, "Wow. She's cute."

I turned around and saw a girl that kind of resembled Haruhi.

"Oh yeah, I think she's a relative of Haruhi's," I said. "You should go talk to her."

Hikaru's face twisted into a devious smile. "My pleasure."

I smacked him on the back. "Go get her, tiger." I said.

My brother stood up. "On my way," he said before he turned to me again. "I'm really glad you and Arabella are married and happy. It really warms my heart."

I rolled my eyes. "That was cheesy, Hikaru," I pointed out. "But, thank you; I'm happy that Arabella and I are married and happy too."

"Yeah," Hikaru said, getting ready to take off after that girl. "Oh, and there's one more thing I need to say."

"What's that?" I asked.

Hikaru put one arm on my shoulder and wore a smug look on his face. "I told you so." he said before he gave me a pat on my back and walked away after the girl, wine glass in hand.

I stood there, my eyes widened before I shook my head and chuckled.

"... I know you and Arabella are meant to be! You both (being the idiots you are) just haven't realized it yet! And, when you do, you'll start dating and become couple and you'll get engaged and, when you have the wedding with all our family and friends there and after you and Arabella are married, I'll be there at the wedding too and I'll say, 'I told you so'. And guess what? I'll be right."

I remembered the memory of Hikaru blabbering on like an idiot about Arabella and me. And, the funny thing is, it turns out he was completely right.

I chuckled again.

Suddenly, my beautiful wife came along and smiled at me. "Having a good time?" she asked.

I smiled back. "The best."

"I'm glad," she said. "There's a song about to start playing. The rest of our friends are having a ball on the dance floor," She held out a hand. "You want to dance with your wife again?"

I took her hand and got up. "There's nothing I'd rather do more." I said before we headed to the dance floor where everyone else was dancing.

~Arabella's POV~

Soon, the song started playing and we all began to dance.

"Kiss, kiss, fall in love!

Hey! Hey! Hey!

I see you come, I watch you go.

You never seem to leave me though.

So is this love? Or hate? We'll see. You're makin' me crazy!

Inside my dreams, you're all I see.

Well, all I see is you with me.

Lady, maybe. Or host, I find I really don't mind.

If I were to choose a prince, in this garden of romance, maybe we could take this chance.

May-be you're my love!

And I would like to find a hand like yours to take mi-ine.

And we would kiss, we could stop time and I'd fall in love with you!

Tomorrow's far a-way.

Let's place our hope in to-day!

Just you and me in a beautiful spring!

And we'll always fall in lo-ove... again!

Hey! Hey!

May-be you're my love!"

When the song ended, we all applauded and cheered.

My perfect husband smiled down at me. "I love you." he said.

I smiled back up at him. "I love you too." I said.

Then, we both leaned in, his arm wrapping around me, and we kissed.

Kissing Kaoru was like you were on an intense roller coaster, and you were having the time of your life, and all you want to do now is throw your hands up and scream.

It's that amazing.

I'll never get tired of it.

All my life I thought I'd never be truely happy, I thought all my chances of being truely happy died the day my father did.

But, I was wrong; the Host Club came along and showed me I could be happy again.

And Kaoru came along and showed me I could trust again. He showed me I could love.

I turned my head towards the beautiful blue sky and smiled, looking up and admiring it.

I imagine my father is up there, looking down on my mother and Daniel and me, waiting for the day when we'd all be together again.

And, someday, when I'm ready and it's my time, that day will come.

Dear Dad,

After you passed, I thought that was it--I would never again find happiness. I would never again trust or love.

I was wrong.

When you died, I felt as if my entire world had just exploded and I was broken and could not be fixed. I was an empty shell of a person. I built up walls and let no one in. I was dark and cold inside.

And then the Ouran Academy Host Club came along and broke down the walls to let the light in, the light that used to shine all the time before your death.

They showed me that I wasn't dead inside, that I actually was very much alive and bright and full of light--they showed me how to be happy again.

And then, Kaoru Hitachiin; the beautiful boy who not only showed me how to be happy again, but showed me I could trust people again. He showed me how to love.

He, along with my beautiful, amazing friends, showed me that life wasn't about how to survive the storm, but it was about learning to dance in the rain. It was about spending it with the friends and family you love.

And, thanks to the Host Club, I can now happily say I have friends and a real family. Because great friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.

And, my friends are impossible to forget.

Because they all taught me how to live again.

So, Dad, your daughter is doing fine. She's enjoying life to the fullest, just like you always wanted.

We'll see each other again, someday, when the time is right.

But, for now, I need to enjoy and live my life with all my amazing friends and family and I need to grow old with my soulmate. It's that time, and I'm going to enjoy all of it. Every single bit of it.

No matter how impossible, embarrassing, or hard it might be, at the end of the day, it's all worth it for the beautiful, happy, amazing, and energizing parts.

Mom, Daniel, and I are doing fine. We couldn't be more happy or at peace.

We all miss you and we're glad you're looking down on us from heaven, watching us and seeing everything we do, and seeing us happy, each and every day.

We'll all see you again someday and become our perfect, little family again.

For now, however, I have to deal with a big, loud, and rowdy in every way possible family.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love you, daddy. And I will always be your flower.

Eternally yours,

Arabella Hitachiin.

THE END

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"Life isn't about how to survive the storm. It's about learning to dance in the rain."

-Taylor Swift

"Great friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget."

-unknown