Hello all, thank you for stumbling onto my story. I'm a first time fan fiction writer so please be warned ahead of time, and I haven't written anything in a long time, it'll show I think. First of all, I have to give a special thanks to my little buddy miggitdog, she beta'd the story for me, not only that, but their love for Shizuru and Natsuki is very contagious, ha-ha. I would also like to give thanks to my Senpai, yurianimeotaku, they gave me the best advise when I was thinking about writing this little piece of fiction. I also have to say that I love the stories that are written they never fail to keep me on the edge.

I really wanted to write a story that focused on Natsuki and Shizuru as parents. There are a couple of stories out there that touch on it, however I wanted to write about it more in-depth. I always thought that these two would make wonderful parents, I don't really know why. The story will probably be centered on Natsuki more than Shizuru, but don't worry there will be plenty of interaction between the two of them. I would also like to say that I try to place Natsuki and Shizuru as individuals first than a couple second. They both have strong, unique personalities; hopefully I'll get them right.

The first chapter is a little shorter than I would like, but again I hope to improve in time.

Sunrise owns Mai HiME and Mai Otome and the characters involved, damn them.

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It was a mild Saturday Spring morning in a suburb of Tokyo as Natsuki Kuga was enjoying her time at the park with her four-year-old daughter Aya. The temperature was mild enough for the jeans and light blue button up collared shirt she chose to wear today. Her incredibly beautiful and lengthy cobalt hair tied back in a ponytail. She sat quietly on a park bench enjoying a cup of coffee as her striking viridian eyes focused on her beautiful daughter; playing with the other children on the playground. She chuckled to herself as she saw her little girl take charge of a game of tag.

"Always the leader," she mused.

Aya was just a few yards ahead of Natsuki when she took a quick moment to give a toothy grin and wave to her mother. Natsuki returned the smile and waved happily to Aya. As Aya played the 'organized' game of tag with the other children, Natsuki couldn't help but revisit the time in her life when she didn't have her daughter in her life.

Natsuki was a single twenty-six year old mother and Aya was a result of a one-night stand after a very rare night of drunken chaos at a party. She only knew the man's first name, Masashi. She was obviously shocked to find out she was pregnant about a month and a half later. She contemplated her options, but in the end, she knew she couldn't give up her child growing inside of her. She tried to track down the father of her child however; it was useless. No one seemed to remember him. She eventually gave up trying to locate him and assumed full responsibility of her daughter. Not that she minded she looked at Aya as a gift and never a burden that many insinuated she would be. Natsuki found her unconditional love and her reason to keep on going every day. Natsuki lived her life so that her daughter could live her life free of worry and loneliness Natsuki endured through most of her young life.

Natsuki was accustomed to living life as her own with no one to care for or vise versa. She had a small number of friends, possibly one she could rely on. Her loving mother passed away when she was a young child and her father abandoned her emotionally and physically prior to her mother's passing. By the time she was twelve years old she was taking care of herself with the assistance of her father's child support. She attended Fuuka Academy, at least that provided her a place to live during her teenage years. She barely graduated, she spent most of her high school days sleeping in, working on her motorcycle or racing her motorcycle for quick cash and to satisfy the restlessness she constantly felt. Most of the time that didn't help. Days and nights were generally spent alone fighting the internal anger that occupied her mind and heart. Most people believed that she was anti-social, however that necessarily wasn't the case, no one made a serious attempt to get to know her most of her life, she grew accustomed to that. She was perceived as the cool lone wolf and the students that did approach her did it for their own selfish benefit, anything to increase their popularity. What better way to do that, than talk to the beautiful loner?

After graduation, she was accepted to Tokyo University and Fuuka University, primarily because her test scores were in the top three percent for both universities. Natsuki wasn't surprised, she knew she was intelligent but high school bored the hell out of her. She chose to attend Tokyo University. Her father cut her off financially when she turned eighteen, Tokyo offered her a scholarship that covered almost all of her tuition and boarding, furthermore it gave her the opportunity to start a new life away from the drama and pain. She majored in Mechanical Engineering and was recruited to work for Honda Motor Corporation prior to graduating; she now develops prototypes of motorcycles and racing cars for corporate buyers. She loved her job, a bright career ahead of her, financially independent and occasionally spent time with co-workers outside of work.

Every so often Natsuki would feel the pang of loneliness and felt the need for companionship. Though, she very rarely found it essential to fulfill the desires, other than the night of the company party she attended. She let loose that evening, thanks to an endless supply of free alcohol, surprising everyone around her, it certainly went against her reputation. Masashi didn't work for the company and he was there as a guest or so she believed. After a few too many drinks and some much needed attention, she gave into the rare desire and left the party together. As they say, the rest is history. She woke up naked the following morning in an empty bed, throbbing headache and no contact information for the stranger. A little over nine months following the encounter, Aya came into the world.

I won't make the same mistakes my father made.

Natsuki shook away the melancholy and focused on her pride and joy once again. She smiled to herself at least she looks like me. Aya inherited Natsuki's thick cobalt hair, flawless porcelain skin and beautiful emerald eyes. Natsuki kept Aya's hair shoulder length; brushing it was a pain in the ass when it got too long and Aya was even more restless than her mother. Too many mornings were spent chasing Aya around the house with a hairbrush in her hand trying to get her to sit down for two minutes to brush the knots and tangles out of her hair. Today Aya, being the tomboy she is, opted to wear her baseball cap (backwards of course), Ichiro Suzuki baseball jersey and shorts.

Aya ran around the playground with her arm stretched out in front of her trying to catch up to a boy that appeared to be her age. The young dark blonde out maneuvered her and Aya tried to compensate as she dragged her right foot and tripped causing her to fall to the ground. She dusted herself off and the young boy started laughing hysterically at the expense of Aya. Natsuki knew what was going to happen next as she rose from the bench she was sitting on. Aya gave her best impression of the Kuga death stare, she was a long way from mastering her mother's stare, and it was more comical than threatening to an adult. Aya began chasing the little boy around the playground until she tackled him down.

Natsuki immediately ran towards Aya trying to prevent what she knew would happen next. Aya's face was beat red; she had her arms in the air prepared to extricate her revenge on the poor boy below her. Her arms started coming down with force; Natsuki quickly intervened and picked up her daughter preventing the "end" of the poor kid's life. Natsuki had a temper at times and Aya certainly inherited it as well, that being said, Aya had a difficult time controlling the outbursts at times. Natsuki hoped she would learn to as she grew older.

"Aya! What have I told you about hitting?!" Natsuki said sternly.

"Momma, it wasn't my fault. You saw what he did after I tripped." Aya huffed.

"It's no excuse. You know you don't know your own strength at times," Natsuki sighed.

"Momma, I wasn't going to hurt him…that badly," Aya whined; she knew it was useless she was in trouble. Her momma gave her the stare.

"You know where you are going when you get home young lady."

"Ahhh damnit." Aya quickly slapped her hand over her mouth when she realized what she said. "Oops," she blushed and turned her head away to avoid eye contact with Natsuki.

"Aya! Where did you pick that language up?" Natsuki shouted, her face turning a very lovely shade of reddish-purple. She was making every attempt possible to hold her temper in check.

"You and Aunt Nao" Aya stated with a smirk. Almost every time the two of you are together I hear the "S" word, the "D" word and some other words I don't know, Aya thought to herself, but dared not to say it, she had already pushed it with her mother.

"I'm an adult and I'll deal with Nao the next time I see her. I'm allowed to say words like that, but you are definitely not allowed to. You hear me?" Natsuki was now rubbing two fingers between her eyes; the headache was quickly forming.

Aya nodded in agreement.

"You are having a time-out when we get home."

"Aww momma, I'm sorry. Please no time-out." Aya was close to tears it was her last chance.

Natsuki glanced at her with an eyebrow raised. Aya exploited her primary weakness and that was Aya herself. Her daughters tears never failed to put an ache in her heart, even if they were for show like it was at this moment. She turned them onto get what she wanted and in most cases to avoid punishment. Aya was a good-natured child, intelligent and precocious, it often got the best of her.

Natsuki hugged Aya in a tight embrace, "Not going to work this time," she said humorously.

"Aww shucks," trying to snap her fingers.

"We'll see how you behave, we're going home now. Before we do, you have to say your sorry to the little boy you mauled."

"Do I have to?" Aya gave Natsuki her the certified Kuga pout.

"Yes you do." Before I have one hell of an angry parent in my face, she thought to herself.

"Okay momma. I'm also sorry I said the 'D' word, it won't happen again" Aya apologized while she grabbed Natsuki by the neck and hugged her tightly.

Natsuki smiled at the embrace and began walking around the playground, unable to really see where she was going. She accidentally bumped into someone almost causing her and Aya to fall over.

"Excuse me, I'm terribly sorry."

"Ara ara, that's quite alright. I wasn't watching where I was stepping either" said a beautifully smooth Kyoto-ben accent.

Natsuki maneuvered Aya so that she could put a face to the enchanting voice.

"Momma that's the boy!" Aya shouted pointing down to the blonde headed boy that was hiding behind a pair of legs.

Natsuki couldn't focus on anything other than the deep crimson eyes that were staring deep into her own eyes.

…TBC…

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I hope you enjoyed it so far. If you haven't figured it out, Masashi is Masashi Takeda. Don't ask why I chose him to be the father of Natsuki's child, please don't cringe ha-ha. I also realize that a small section felt out of sequence, but I stared at it for days, so did my beta, we just left it, our brains hurt.