Disclaimer: I do not own Cinderella or Ouran High School Host Club. All characters and merchandise from Cinderella and OHSHC is the property of Disney and whoever owns the rights to Ouran, Funimation I think, anyways enjoy.

True Love (Come Softly to Me)

Chapter 2

I hear the all too familiar sobbing of a heart-broken girl. "Cindy." I call out her name. She looks up at me. I hop the railing and gently glide down. I then run over to her and kneel so that I'm face to face with her. I place a hand under her chin and lift it up. "What's wrong?"

"I… just… I… just…" she begins crying again. I hug her, I close my eyes, and I start to cry. "I'm sorry Cindy, I'm so sorry." I can't stop the mixed tears of sadness and rage from trickling down my face. Cinderella breaks my embrace. I continue crying until I feel her giving me a hug. "What?" I start to say before she cuts me off.

"Thank you."

"But I thought…"

"No don't speak."

"But…" She places a gloved finger on my lips.

"Silly, I told you don't talk." I wipe away my tears.

"I want to thank you for showing me what true love is."

"Love? What has that got to do with anything?" I was confused

"True love isn't something that happens with one glance, true love is expressed through a desire to make someone else happy. I used to think I would be happier if I could go to the ball and hope to win the prince's heart but now I see I was wrong. You showed me what it means to love someone. Love is born from caring and supporting those around you not fancy clothing or expensive jewels. You truly are a hero." By this point my face resembled a ripe tomato. I thought to myself, "This is how people see me? The Fairy Godmother was right. I do fail to see the goodness within me." I let out a small chuckle and shook my head.

"What is it?" asked Cinderella

"Now it's my turn to thank you." I said "I never saw the compassionate side of myself before this. Now I know what it truly means to love another too. Love is doing things for the people you care about regardless of how trivial they may seem to you. Which reminds me, we are at a ball are we not? It would be a shame to end the evening seeing as how you are dressed without one dance." I bowed and extended my hand. "May I?"

"It would be a shame wouldn't it? But I don't how to." She said retracting her hand staring off to the side. I took her hand anyway.

"Neither do I. Let's just enjoy tonight." She smiled and stood up. I slipped my right hand around her waist as she took my other hand. Without any music, it was hard to keep count with the steps but I seemed to manage okay. When we had finished, we were greeted by thunderous applause. When I looked around the whole ballroom was filled with men and women. Cinderella and I just stared at each other in amazement before acknowledging the crowd. We then left the castle together arm in arm.

"Thank you again… what is your name?"

"Joshua.."

"Well then thank you Joshua for a wonderful evening."

"Twas my pleasure milady."

"Stop it." She kidded playfully slapping my chest.

"What?" We both started laughing. Although she didn't live close, the walk back to Cinderella's house was surprisingly short. She opened up the gate to the backyard and led me back to the stone bench. We both sat down and gazed deeply into each others eyes'. I put my hands on her face and she did the same. We were so close that our lips almost touched we each closed our eyes and waited to kiss but when I opened my eyes I was no longer sitting on the stone bench instead I was back in my time outside a strangely familiar house. My phone jerked me out of my daydream. Not bothering to check the caller id I answered it. "Hello."

"Hey Josh, it's Sara. Why don't you come inside?"

"Inside?" I questioned not understanding what she meant.

"Yes, silly, you've been standing outside on my lawn for the past minute." Looking around I did in fact recognize that I was outside of Sara's house and that my car was parked in her driveway. Looking at the doorway I saw Sara clad in a knee high silver dress and gloves to match, she was wearing a simple silver necklace that snuggly wrapped around her neck. Her hair was done up in a bun kept in place by a hair piece that ran along the middle of her head. Her heels glistened as the tiny sparkles of silver coating danced in the light. I had to be hallucinating. The only difference between the two was the dress length and their hair color, Cinderella was a strawberry blonde while Sara's hair was a light brown. "Well are you coming in or do I have to come out and get you?" she asked annoyed but playfully.

"Oh… I… um… yeah I'm coming." I stammered. I couldn't believe that Sara, my best friend from fifth grade onward, was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. As time went by we drifted away from each other but still stayed in contact. Out of the blue she called me asking if I wanted to go with her to the upcoming school dance. I planned to say no but something in her voice told me that if I let her down she would never forgive me so I said yes. Walking in, I was greeted with a hug.

"Thanks Josh, for you know, doing this."

"My… my pleasure." I tried to stop stuttering.

"By the way I really like your outfit."

"Outfit? That reminds me; could you wait right here for a second and close your eyes? I forgot something in my car."

"Why do I have to close my eyes?" she whimpered.

"Cause it's a surprise." I retorted.

"Fine." She frowned kiddingly placing a hand over each eye.

"No peeking either." I scolded.

"Hmph!" she puffed turning around. Running back out the car I took the bouquet of violet roses I bought out of the back seat and hurried back inside the house. I tapped Sara on the shoulder. Whirling around she expected to be face to face with me but contrary to her belief all she saw were violet roses.

"For you… I thought you might like these…" I blushed. Squealing out of joy and snatching the roses from me Sara whispered a 'thank you' smelling the intoxicating scent of the freshly picked flowers. I pecked her on the side of cheek. "You look really amazing." I confessed rubbing the back of my head with my hand.

"So do you." She responded covering up her blush with the flowers.

"Don't you two lovebirds have somewhere to be in about 15 minutes." Announced Sara's mother.

"Oh my gosh! She's right. Come on Josh!" Sara remarked taking my hand in hers. We made it to the dance without much trouble. The cheesy theme our student council came up with was "Love at First Sight". As the first song of the night played Sara wrapped her arms around my neck while put mine around her waist. Laughing loud enough for only me to hear I had to know.

"What's so funny?"

"It's this dance."

"What about it?"

"You know what the theme is right? 'Love at First Sight' I was just thinking about it."

"Oh, and what about love at first sight?" She leaned in and kissed me on the lips. Confused, I waited until she stopped.

"Why did you do that?" Smiling she brought my ear down close to her mouth.

"Do you remember the day we met?" Crap! Girls hate it when you don't know stuff like that but my mind was a total blank.

"Don't worry I thought you would have forgotten. One day after school you saw me crying all by myself. You came over to me and offered to be my friend. That's when I knew that I loved you with all my heart. It was hard to see in the dimly lit gym but boy was my face red. Now that she mentioned it I do remember that day. It was seven years ago, Sara had just moved from East Coast to our town in the Midwest. She didn't have many friends because everyone made fun of her New York accent. I remember going up to her and offering her my hand. After she dried her tears she took my hand and we have been inseparable ever since.

"You mean from that moment on you…" Giggling Sara moved in again for another kiss. Meeting her lips I thought back on the night: The evening started harmlessly enough; then I had a side quest into the World of Disney, then I show up on Sara front lawn, then I gave her flowers and suddenly she confessed her love for me, and now here I am in crummy school gym slow dancing with my best friend. After the dance was over and I had just opened the door for Sara, I saw the Fairy Godmother sitting on top of a lamp post smiling down at me. True love may come in many different forms but the one thing that binds it all together is friendship and selflessness.

END

I definitely think that this is better than the first draft I did.