Left Behind

Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Cure, if I did I wouldn't be working min wage :P

Summary: Due to some really bad English grades Nagisa must travel to the US to complete a two month program in order to graduate to high school. What happens when she never shows up?

A/N: This story is from Honoka's point of view but the beginning build up is from third person. The story has been in my mind for a long time so I thought I would give it a try writing it down. I haven't written stories in over 3 years so please forgive me for being rusty. Due to this the chapter's will more than likely be edited once or twice after being posted. If you notice any mistakes or can think of anything that I might have left out forgotten (I am going to try and tie all loose ends so you may have to bare with me till the end) than please let me know. :)

"How did it come to this?" Five years later and I am still asking myself that question as I sit here on the deck looking up at the starlit sky from my back yard. 5 years ago my life was perfect... okay maybe not perfect, but pretty close to it if I do say so myself, which I do. Now, it seems life tries its hardest to make everyday even more of a struggle then the last. I have my good days don't get me wrong, but they seem to get farther apart as the days approach to the anniversary of that faithful day when you left me here by myself. I still remember that day as if it only happened yesterday.

(Not quite 5 years ago) Normal perspective

"Misumi-san, can I have a moment please?" The class was just exiting the room to retire after a long day of learning when the teacher asked to speak with the previously mentioned student. Misumi Nagisa, a girl of average height with a very athletic build and short light brown hair, was in the middle of packing her supplies when she heard the teacher call her name. She quickly stuffed the rest of her work into her bag and grabbed her lacrosse stick before heading to the front of the class to speak with the teacher. "Misumi-san I would like to have a word with you about your grades. As you know it is mandatory in this school to maintain a certain level of academics, and while I admit that most of your grades have vastly improved since you started getting tutored by Yukishiro-san, your English grades have remained unsatisfactory. I am afraid that at this point you will be unable to graduate to high school with the rest of your class."

Nagisa had, had a foreboding feeling at the beginning of this conversation and that feeling just kept getting worse and worse as the teacher kept on talking about her grades. She did her best, honest, but it was so hard to stay focused on the teachers hour after hour when all the stuff they taught was so boring, and let's not even mention that dreaded thing the world calls homework. Seriously who would invent such a horrible thing? As bad as her feelings got towards the end of the, so far, one sided conversation, nothing could prepare her to hear that she might not graduate. Sure her grades were bad, but they weren't that bad were they? "Please sensei there must be something I can do that will allow me to graduate with everyone else, I don't want to be kept back a year. Isn't there any extra credit assignments, tests, ANYTHING that I can do?"

"Hmm, well there might be something but it will not be easy, in fact you will probably have to work harder than you ever have in your life, academically that is."

"What is it?" Nagisa asked with a slight quiver in her voice for fear of finding out what it was she would have to do in order to graduate to the next level. Honestly, it's bad enough she would have to study for entrance exams, and now this?

"There is a program for students that are having problems in the English course to take that will give them the credit needed pass this class. It is akin to an exchange program, you will be required to fly to the United States for the next couple of months and pass an English course there. Pass that course and you will pass here. The difficult part with this program is that since it is only 2 months long and a regular course term for and American student is five months long you will have to work double hard to pass the test that will be given at the end of your stay there. Here is a form you will have to fill out with your parents, bring it back by the end of the week otherwise you will be required to repeat this year." The teacher explained.

"When will I have to leave?" Nagisa asked.

"At the end of next week, have a good night Misumi-san." With that the teacher left the class leaving a very confused and anxious Nagisa in the room looking over the sheet and thinking of her options, or lack thereof. After a while of feeling defeated, knowing she had no choice in the matter, Nagisa walked out of the class heading to her shoe locker. Thankfully she didn't have lacrosse practice as she no longer had the strength and energy to play her favourite sport. As she dragged her feet to the area of the shoe lockers she noticed her best friend Yukishiro Honoka standing by her locker waiting for her. The slim, dark blue haired scientist smiled at her friend before frowning when she noticed the look on her companion's face.

"What's wrong Nagisa?" Honoka asked. Nagisa sighed before she handed the sheet in her hand to her friend to look at. She exchanged her shoes for the ones in her locker and looked anywhere possible except at her best friend as the other girl examined the sheet. Honoka was going to kill her when she heard that she hadn't been doing better in her English like she told the other girl she would. Honoka's brows furrowed in confusion as she was given the sheet of paper only for them to pop up and her eyes to go wide as she read and finally understood what the paper was all about. Nagisa would be leaving her for 2 months. In a rush Honoka grabbed Nagisa's hand and pulled her out of the school building and headed in the direction of her house.

Neither girl spoke on the way to Honoka's house but the contact was maintained the entire walk there. Upon arriving they greeted Honoka's grandmother Sanae and her dog Chuutaro before quickly walking into Honoka's bedroom to talk. Once the door was shut Honoka sat on her bed with Nagisa in front of her already having taken a seat on her desk chair and depositing her bag lacrosse stick along her bedroom wall. At this point Mepple, and Mipple popped out of their respective places by their "owners" side and stood in their original forms on top of the desk looking at the two knowing that something big was about to be discussed. "Nagisa what is this form all about? Why are you going to America?" Honoka asked trying to keep her voice stable from the amount of emotions that are running through her mind. Nagisa finally looked up at her friend and immediately noticed the swirl of emotion running through the other girl's eyes. Seeing this she felt really guilty over what she was about to say to the other girl but knows she has no choice in the matter, which only worsens the situation since she won't be able to truly comfort the other girl like her mind is screaming for her to.

"Sensei told me that because of how bad my English grades are I wouldn't be allowed to graduate with everyone else unless I did this program to pass the course." Nagisa watched her best friend as she said this. She could see the swirl of emotions gradually slow until she was able to pick out each and every emotion, upon the most dominant was sadness, fear, and the most dominant, that currently had her slightly shaking in her seat, Anger. Yup she was soo dead.

"NAGISA! How could you! You said that would study harder to pick up your English grades, it was the deal we made for me to stop tutoring you in it. Kami I don't believe you would lie to me like that!" Honoka was on her feet yelling at the other girl unable to believe her friend would be dumb enough to put herself in that kind of situation. As Honoka started pacing the room trying to keep her tears in check, Nagisa sat in her seat a while longer trying to put her thoughts in order and think of a way to pacify her friend and explain things. Nagisa finally stood up and walked to where her friend would be once she turned around to continue her pacing. As Honoka turned to continue pacing she bumped into Nagisa. Honoka was about to push the girl away to continue her pacing when Nagisa grabbed her wrists and pulled her further into her body, only to then wrap her arms around Honoka's waist. Honoka began to struggle in the taller girls arms and brought her own arms up to try and push Nagisa away from her but Nagisa just held her tighter until finally the smaller calmed down enough and let her arms fall to her side.

"Gomen Honoka," Nagisa rasped out, having a hard time controlling the lump forming in her throat. The thought of spending so much time away from the smaller girl scared her just as much as it did Honoka. She had learned a long time ago that she wouldn't be able to survive for long without the support of her best friend and had been petrified ever since of losing her. "I'm so, so sorry. I never meant for it to get this bad I swear. I did study, I tried so hard to remember everything on the sheets but every time I had to bring it back up my mind would just go blank. I would know the answer but I just couldn't grasp it long enough to write it down." By now the smaller of the two had silent tears falling down her cheeks onto the fabric of the taller girl's shirt covering her left shoulder. Feeling the tears on her shoulder was the final straw for Nagisa and the tears she had been trying so hard to keep in began to pour down her own cheeks as well. Nagisa buried her head into the curve of her friend's neck and into her hair, silently breathing the scientist's scent of floral body wash and subtle perfume to help calm her nerves. She would never tell the smaller girl this but she was secretly in love with her. She had been for a long time but knew that such a confession would scare her off, and so stayed silent pretending to be interested in guys instead. Unknown to her the scientist's thoughts and actions were closely mimicking her own. Honoka had long since brought her hands up and around the athlete's neck and had her head rested against her friends shoulder for support. She was calmly breathing in her scent while trying to stop the tears. Her short haired friend never wore perfume but always carried the scent of Irish spring soap and simple shampoo. It wasn't a scent that most girls their age go for as most try to make themselves smell pretty, but it was a scent that screamed Nagisa and Honoka loved it for just that reason. Honoka had also been in love with her friend for a long time. In fact she had been ever since the first time they transformed and cure black had saved her from that roller coaster wheel that nearly hit her. She didn't know what to call the feelings she had at the time since she had never had any real experience or interest in the romance department, but as time wore on and the closer the two of them got it was no longer possible to deny that what she was feeling was indeed love. Like her friend she did everything possible to hide what she was feeling since Nagisa has always been shown interest in guys and would probably be put off by her romantic feelings. It hurts her to be so close to the one that she loves and to never to be with her, but the scientist would rather have the athlete in her life as a friend than not at all.

The girls held each other for what seemed like ages before they calmed down enough for the tears to come to a halt, but neither girl could find the strength to let the other go so they continued to hold one another for another long period of time. Finally finding her strength and knowing that she needed to put her friends mind at ease even if her own wasn`t, Nagisa pulled away from the hug far enough to be able to look her friend in the eyes. Both of their eyes were red and puffy, but all the girls could think of was how beautiful the other looked at that moment. With minimal distance between their faces they got caught up looking in each other's eyes for a small period of time. Two sets of eyes, one dark blue and the other brown, softened as they gazed at one another and each began to lean in feeling an uncontrollable gravity pulling them in. As their faces became mere centimetres apart, and their heart beats became impossibly fast, a rather loud knock came from Honoka`s door startling both girls apart.

"Honoka supper is ready." Honoka's grandmother let the girls know

"A-Arigato Obaa-san" Honoka replied shakily not being able to speak properly in her current state. Both girls looked at each other blushed and then looked away. Both feeling like they almost let their feelings slip, and both feeling guilty about almost forcing themselves onto the other. As the atmosphere become more stifling Nagisa's stomach decided to make itself known by announcing that supper was a really great idea. Honoka decided that it would be best to go for supper and try to process things then, and then return to their previous problem before trying to figure out another one. Letting out a deep breath Honoka began "let's get something to eat, I know you must be starving since you haven't eaten since lunch, but don't think your off the hook just yet, we still have a lot of discussing to do before you leave tonight." Nagisa beamed at the idea of food as her stomach wouldn't stop grumbling ever since the mentioning of supper, but when she heard what Honoka said about not being off the hook and saw the look in the smaller girl's eyes she knew she wasn't out of the lake yet. Nagisa unconsciously shivered at the thought of what the other girl might do to her after they ate. She might be small and look frail but Honoka was a lot stronger than what most people gave her credit for. Shuffling her feet after her friend Nagisa followed Honoka down the corridor to the dining area where they proceeded to eat. Meanwhile, Mepple and Mipple still stood on the desk wondering what had just happened and feeling completely forgotten about.

OMAKE:

Nagisa: *Glares at Ash*

Ash: *starts to fidget* Ok why are you glaring at me?

Nagisa: I don't like where this is going

Ash: I just started it, how could you know where it is going, and if it will be bad or not. It could be wonderful for all you know

Nagisa: *Still glaring at Ash* I read the summary

Ash: *Begins to sweat* Oh, ummm, see ya *takes off running*

Nagisa: Hey get back here *runs after Ash*

A/N: What? You didn't think it would be that easy did you?