Discovery, a mai hime fanfic

TITLE: Discovery

AUTHOR: L145

PAIRING: ShizNat (all/both)

RATING: PG for some swearing

SUMMARY: Kuga Natsuki, in doing some research for Miyu, finds herself switched with the Gakuenchou of Garderobe, Natsuki Kruger. HiME/Otome crossover

DISCLAIMER: Mai HiME and Mai Otome are both owned by Sunrise. All characters are owned by Sunrise. Any resemblance to other stories and real-life situations are purely coincidental. I know I've seen this plot a few other times, but this was not written in any way to rip off anyone else's story.

AN: I suck with staying in character. Plain and simple. Oh, and I can't write long paragraphs worth crap. Not like I always read them anyway, but it's cool to have ten-line paragraphs. Makes me feel accomplished. Ohwell.

Please note that this took seven months to complete. That means that any continuity errors or conflicts with either of the animes are due to the long periods of time when the notebook I wrote this in got dusty. I won't be correcting any errors on this thing - took me long enough to write. Oh, and I know for sure that this conflicts with Zwei, so ignore the OAV while you read this.

Oh, and this is my first fanfiction written since 2001. Be nice, please - my writing may have gotten a bit rusty.

Miyu paused outside of the church. "Alyssa-chan? Can you deliver a message for me?"

"Hai, Miyu-san," Alyssa stated with dull eyes before taking a sealed envelope and walking off.

"Deliver it to the first HiME you see," Miyu called behind her. "Return here then."

Natsuki was walking slowly around the Fuuka campus grounds, trying to find the parking lot where she had parked her motorcycle at. Why do I always get in such a hurry that I forget?

"Kuga Natsuki-san."

Natsuki turned at the voice, not expecting to see the short girl in front of her. "What?" she irritably asked.

Alyssa bit her lip and forced a step forward, still not liking interaction with the other students. "Here. From Miyu." And she dropped the letter into Natsuki's hands before running back in the direction of the church, nearly tripping on the way.

Now what? Ripping the envelope right where she stood, Natsuki studied the words written with mechanical precision. Just like Miyu to be able to write her words as if with a keyboard, isn't it? And of course lined up in perfect rows even though the paper lacked proper lines to be the guides.

HiME,

I have many other things to attend to and many other things to prepare for. I must kindly ask you to do a small favor for me. The room with the Pillars has been wrenched out of it's purpose. I will not have a chance between now and it's destruction to see what it will be used for. I ask you to please visit it and see what has changed. Be sure to note anything you see while in the room and report it back to me as soon as possible.

M.I.Y.U.

Well, that was strange. Despite having pretty much saved the world, Natsuki still couldn't find it in herself to trust Miyu. After all, the android had defeated Akane without any effort and had helped Alyssa blow up the bridge near the academy and nearly helped her destroy Fuuka Academy without any second thoughts. She had only existed to serve in destruction.

But hadn't they all?

With a short sigh, Natsuki decided that no matter whether she trusted Miyu or not, she was still curious about the underground room. Mai had told all the HiMEs about how the pillars were raised when each of their Childs were defeated.

"Yours and Kaichou-san's went up at the same time," Mai had said very seriously. Then she had lightened her tone and tried - as she always did - to be as positive as possible. "How did you manage that?"

Natsuki shook her head almost violently and marched off in the direction of the Library. That last thing she wanted to think about was Shizuru. There was enough problems between the two and Natsuki wasn't sure even exactly what those problems were in the first place. She loves me, I know. But how do I feel?

And that's where her headache began. After not caring about anybody at all for years, she had no idea how friendship was supposed to be like. And then her best friend falls in love with her, causing her brain to twist and turn in trying to decide how to react to Shizuru's feelings and how to possibly learn to love her back in the end. Because she felt something, but it was a good question what that something happened to be. And that's when her headache would grow and grow and eventually she would just sit down and try to think of something else.

She opened the heavy doors leading into the Library and slowly walked inside, noting the lack of Nagi in his hideout. Following the stairs around the room, she found herself suddenly underneath the building, in a crystal room. The floor had been badly ripped apart, enough that the pillars were extremely obvious from beneath her feet. Twelve of them in total - she had been one of those pillars once, as had Shizuru.

She walked slowly as to avoid the cracks in the floor and stood in the middle of the room. That one was mine. And she walked towards the pillar she had been encased in for those few hours, standing completely on top of it.

A flash of light, white. Almost blinding - she fell to the floor.

Shizuru Viola stood at a back table, preparing the usual tea for Gakuenchou. Now that the battle between Otomes were over and Nagi had been put in prison, a whole new era was beginning in Garderobe. Now, Otomes did not need a master and anyone could become one. This, naturally, was causing a huge headache for Natsuki Kruger, the headmaster of Garderobe, and the pile of paperwork in front of her wasn't even the cause.

"We don't have the resources to accept all these applications!" Natsuki had exclaimed when Shizuru has brought in the stack of papers. "How does the council expect us to teach all these students?"

After going through 20 applications - which Gakuenchou would normally have denied in an instant - Natsuki gratefully accepted the tea her assistant handed her. "Thank you, Shizuru."

Shizuru politely smiled and looked at the applications Natsuki had already paged through. "Natsuki, let me take a look at these. You go rest, okay?"

Not wanting to argue, Natsuki stood and, placing a hand on Shizuru's shoulder, kissed her briefly. "Get me up for tea in a half hour. I need to get through these all today or I'll fall behind."

Shizuru nodded and took the seat Gakuenchou had just been sitting in. Before even looking at the papers, she watched Natsuki walk though the door to their bedroom and close it behind her. Sighing, she focused her attention back on the applications. After paging through five of them, she leaned back in her chair and thought back to when she had attended the school. The classes were extremely difficult and the students had a lot to be expected of. Going back to the applications at hand, she couldn't help but chuckle lightly to herself. Well, I can't see how any of these are qualified to attend Garderobe...

Kuga Natsuki opened her eyes after a moment of difficulty. Her head was pounding, and she was very lost, from what she could tell. The bed she was lying on was not hers, that she knew, and the decor in the room was unfamiliar as well. After all, she couldn't play piano, so why is one right in front of her? And her entire apartment was the size of this gigantic bedroom. (Not that her apartment was in bad condition, she had gotten Nao to help her redecorate because Nao had been the one to ruin it.)

She slowly sat up and took in her surroundings again. It was time to figure out where she was, since she didn't plan on staying here forever. Moving to the door, she opened it.

"Ara? Is Natsuki awake already? It has only been twenty minutes," Shizuru Viola said, not looking up from the papers on the desk.

Natsuki stopped frozen in the door, noting how Shizuru was wearing a long purple dress that she had never seen before, and had seemed to have aged at least six years overnight. "Shizu-ru?"

Either Natsuki is still very tired or very sick. Shizuru finally looked up to see what the problem was and almost fell out of her chair. She stared at the younger Natsuki for a moment before deciding teasing (Why does my Natsuki look so much younger than me this morning?) would be a very very bad idea. So, instead she walked over to the younger girl and first off noticed the over six inch difference in height.

"Are you lost?" Shizuru managed to say.

"Hai," Natsuki said quietly. "Is your name Shizuru?"

Shizuru looked at Natsuki oddly. "My name is Shizuru Viola. Can you tell me your name?"

"Kuga Natsuki."

If Shizuru wasn't so confused and a little scared, she would have chuckled at Natsuki's nervousness. Nevertheless, she managed to guide the girl to a chair. "Here in Windbloom we put our family name last. Where are you from that it is put first?"

"I am from Japan," Natsuki stated. "Is Windbloom very far from there?"

"Ja-pa-n," Shizuru murmured, analyzing the mental map of the world in her head. The name wasn't familiar to her at all, and she wasn't sure if she had ever heard of the country before. "I am not familiar with that place."

Natsuki nodded and looked down at her hands. There goes my chances of getting home anytime soon. She couldn't help but wonder how she got here, to a place she had never heard of, where the person who found her... "Why do you look so much like my friend Fujino Shizuru?" she blurted without thinking.

Shizuru blinked, dumbfounded. "A-ara? I could be asking you why you look so much like my Natsuki Kruger."

This time Natsuki blinked, just as confused. Then, she fainted.

Natsuki Kruger opened her eyes and noticed she was in a huge room. The ground where she was standing had been completely torn up, and for fear of tripping, she quickly managed to cross the room and find herself in an open archway. Where is this place? It can't be in my school or I'd have known about it.

Meanwhile, Fujino Shizuru had been wandering the high school Fuuka campus looking for her friend. She stopped for a moment in front of the main building and saw Alyssa looking up at the sky.

"Alyssa-chan, have you seen Natsuki?" Shizuru asked.

"H-hai," Alyssa said, startled. "S-she's in the room w-with the crystal pillars. M-Miyu gave her a note to go there."

"Thank you, Alyssa-chan!" Shizuru stated, smiling in her usual hiding way. "I'll go find her."

Shizuru calmly walked around on the sidewalks until she reached the entrance of the main building, carefully taking the steps Mai had explained. Lord Kokuyou had rested down here, apparently, and she had seen all of the pillars raised. It was, then, natural for Shizuru to be shocked when she saw a bunch of familiar blue hair that was definitely longer than she remembered Natsuki's being.

The unfamiliar woman, as she was dressed in a way Natsuki would never let herself in public, narrowed her eyes and spoke directly to Shizuru. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"My name is Fujino Shizuru. I was told my friend Kuga Natsuki would be down here."

"Kuga, huh?" Natsuki asked, looking at Shizuru. "It doesn't look like she's here. Something strange must have happened."

Shizuru blinked, not used to being around someone so beautiful that's so smart. I am the one of authority here, being the last student council president. "Why do you say that?"

"You bear a striking resemblance to my Shizuru Viola, from what I can see - it's rather dark in here," Natsuki began. "As I can tell from your reaction, I am similar to your Natsuki as well. My name is Natsuki Kruger. There seems to be some sort of force working in this chamber that could have caused a switch of your Natsuki and myself."

Nodding, Shizuru stated, "This place does have a sort of power within. It is the place where those who were dearest to us HiMEs went to rest for a brief time. It was destroyed by an android named Miyu and we were all revived."

Natsuki took a step back, almost in shock, and then thoughtfully admitted, "I don't understand your HiME system, but from the little time we've had it where I come from, it seems like our own Otome system without a Master in power. A person named Miyu made it all possible when the blue star turned red..."

"The red star is the reason for the HiMEs, and the HiME system made this room..." Shizuru neglected to finish her statement, shaking her head. "But that doesn't explain why you're here and my Natsuki is not."

"Do you know someone who could explain?" Natsuki asked.

Shizuru thought for a moment before smiling in her usual masking way. "I can find someone."

Shizuru Viola, for the first time since she became the third pillar of Garderobe, panicked. There was a beautiful girl whom she knew next to nothing about lying on the ground in front of her. Wishing her own Natsuki was here, she cursed and decided though she desperately needed another cup of tea to focus properly, the life of this new Natsuki was just slightly more important.

She bent down and picked the girl up, looping on arm under Natsuki's knees and the other around her upper back before standing up and walking down the halls of the school, all while looking very determined. She didn't even notice the students trying to get her attention with "Shizuru-onee-sama!" and instead was able to focus solely on the task in front of her. And so she managed to quickly navigate to Youko's door and descend the spiraling steps to the scientist's haven.

"Youko," Shizuru stated after getting the busy woman's attention. "I want this girl thoroughly examined. No nanomachine injections given, if possible."

Youko turned in her chair and looked at Natsuki, her eyes widening at the sight of someone resembling their Gakuenchou so much. "Yes, Shizuru. What is her profile for the report?"

"All I know is that her name is Kuga Natsuki and her country of residence is Japan," Shizuru responded. "I, through my years of serving the world as peacekeeper, have never heard of the place. Are you familiar with the name?"

Youko simply shook her head and retrieved the necessary forms for observation of her new patient. She pointed to the nearest bed-station. "Let's move Miss Kuga here. I'll make some scans and see what I can find. Will you be returning to Gakuenchou's office?"

Nodding, Shizuru sighed, "I have to look over the paperwork. Natsuki disappeared, leaving Kuga-san in her place. That means I'm running this place until we find a way to get my Natsuki back."

"You're running the school, huh? Scary thought," Youko chuckled. Then, noticing the pained look in Shizuru's eyes, coughed before speaking again. "I'll call you when Miss Kuga awakens, then?"

"Please."

Youko pushed a few buttons on a machine in front of her, starting a scan over Natsuki's body. "We'll get Gakuenchou back, Shizuru. As soon as it's possible, she'll be here. You look after the students. Isn't that what she'd want, anyway?"

Shizuru moved her gaze to the floor for a brief moment before looking up and nodding. "All right. Time to look over the many applications, then."

Shizuru led the older Natsuki around through buildings before finding the one she was looking for. After passing numerous classrooms and the student council meeting room (which she was tempted to look through the window to find Natsuki on the laptop), she knocked on a faculty room near the high school freshman classes.

When the door opened inward, Midori appeared, holding a glass which couldn't have not been filled with something alcoholic. "'Eyyy Kaichou! 'Re we all-a gonna go karaoke 'anight?"

"Midori-sensei, let's get you inside so you can rest up, yes?" Shizuru pushed the teacher into the room and Midori instantly fell on the lounge's couch, showing how heavily under the influence of the horrid drink she really was. Her loud snoring instantly broke the silence, causing Natsuki to wince and the loss of hearing she'd soon have.

Shizuru stood then and went over to the cupboards behind the couch and gracefully made a fresh pot of tea, pouring a glass for both Natsuki and herself. She sat on a computer chair as she sipped the beverage before, with the glass halfway to her mouth, stated, "All we can do now is wait for Midori to wake up. She was writing a thesis about HiME related activities to she might have some informations to help both of us."

"You've gotten a lot of good information from her, then?" Natsuki questioned skeptically.

With a usual cryptic smile, Shizuru answered, "You could say that. She was a HiME also - arguably the leader of us all."

"We have a Midori too," Natsuki stated, looking down at her teacup. "She's the leader of a separate faction of Schwartz, a sort of terrorist group. But she's not a bad person - the group she leads, Aswald, actually has good intentions."

"Midori's good intentions get in the way sometimes," Shizuru smiled before resuming the act of supping her tea, letting silence reign over both of them.

Natsuki stared at the teacup steaming in her hands, noting how similar this Shizuru was to her own. Even the type of tea and the way it was prepared was identical. If she closed her eyes, she could even imagine the stack of paperwork filled with applications and official statements sitting on her work desk - causing her to instantly open her eyes. She definitely didn't miss that aspect of her home. So much pointless extra work thanks to Queen Mashiro... But it had been Arika to lead her there. So who's fault was Garderobe's situation?...

"Do you have a Nagi?" Natsuki suddenly asked.

Shizuru's face paled as she answered, "Yes. He oversaw us all during the HiME battles, gave us reasons to fight each other in the end... gave us reasons to kill-"

"'Eyy that brat made shi' happen," Midori mumbled in her sleep before the snoring started up again even louder this time.

Natsuki sighed, "Do we have to stay here?"

"She'll start drinking again if we're not here," Shizuru stated, getting up to pour a new glass. "Would you like some more?"

"Please."

Shizuru Viola managed to leaf through eight of the hundreds of applications, all of the hopeful students unqualified, before she gave up. She rose to make some much needed tea but was interrupted by the soft ring of the telephone on the desk. Three rings sounded before she picked it up and answered, hoping it was Youko.

Which it was. She left the pot of water and box of tea leaves in a disarray on the coffee table, them scattering as she left the room. Once she reached Youko's laboratory of sorts, she made her way over to the now awake girl. There was a stand next to her bed-station holding a stack of pages, and even more were in Youko's hands.

"Shizu-ru..."

Shizuru smiled, "Good morning, Natsuki. You are in our health facility, under observation. Please forgive our suspicions - we recently came out of a terrible war."

"Me too..." Natsuki whispered.

Patting the girl on the head as comfort, Shizuru smiled before moving over to Youko. "What did you find?"

After shuffling some papers around, Youko spoke, "The girl seems very powerful. There's a mark on her back that seemed to glow when I had a closer look at it. It reminds me of the symbol that appeared when the HiME system was implemented. The strange part is that although she has this ability, she does not have any evidence of nanomachines and no other possible catalysts unless this mark is the cause of her power. I was unable to do an analysis, however, because she woke up. I think, though, that a conversation with her to learn about her HiME system would be just as beneficial and, coupled with some examination, could discover what her world is and how to switch her back." She removed her glasses and sighed, setting her papers down. "She seems like a tough girl - didn't want to answer any of my questions while I waited for you."

"I'll do what I can," Shizuru stated before allowing Youko her silence to mark some key points in the documents that had printed. She walked over and pulled a chair next to the bed station. "Natsuki?"

The girl blinked for a moment before sitting up. "Shizuru, why am I here?"

After looking from Youko back to Natsuki, all Shizuru could manage as an answer was a very shaky, "I don't know."

After two hours and a dozen cups of tea, Natsuki Kruger was finding the silence in the teacher's lounge to be nearly unbearable. Finally, she found the resolve to sand and walk over to the still sleeping Midori. The room was frozen then, as even Shizuru had set her teacup on the table.

"I agree, it's about time Midori woke up," Shizuru nodded, her facial expression blank.

Startled, Natsuki was shocked to note the statement. Why hadn't Shizuru woken Midori up, then? But it didn't really matter, so she shook Midori until the snoring subsided and a pair of very tired green eyes opened. At that point, Midori screamed and exclaimed, "Ah, how long have I been out? What happened to me? Why are you here? Is something going with the HiMEs again? That Nagi brat, I'm gonna kill him!"

Shizuru then swiftly moved over to the couch, "Maybe Natsuki could not frighten Midori and take a step back?"

Midori suddenly sat up, staring at Shizuru, then looking to Natsuki again. "Shizuru, what's going on? Why is Natsuki dressed like that?"

"Midori, there's a bit of a problem. Miyu sent Natsuki to take a look at the pillars and she disappeared. This isn't the Natsuki we know," Shizuru explained. "We'd like to go through your research and try to find anything relating to that underground area that could help us switch them back."

Nodding, Midori stood, moving over to the computer and brought up the thesis she had labored so much over. After scrolling through pages of long paragraphs and diagrams, she finally stopped on a page with some information she hoped was relevant. She backed up her chair and allowed Shizuru to take a closer look.

Underneath the school is a room which allows the HiMEs to exist. The HiME star's power is translated via the eleven crystal pillars to energy able to be used by the twelve HiMEs. When a HiME is defeated, that person's most important person takes the place of that energy. With the energy removed, the pillar rises. The energy that had been removed is then distributed amongst the remaining HiMEs. When all pillars are raised, the final HiME receives all of the power from the other eleven in addition, and all pillars raised causes the door to the Obsidian Lord's realm to open.

The pillars, being the same ones used in each HiME festival, may have a link to the previous festivals. It is possible that the pillars retain the knowledge of the HiMEs that they were assigned to. Seeing that a Child chooses the HiME, it may require less energy to be translated from the HiME star if the same pillar is used for each respective Child. The possibility of this is quite high, seeing as the winner of the festival twice in a row has been the HiME using Kagutsuchi.

What this means is that the pillars could provide a link to the time of the festival 300 years ago, 300 years from now, or even further back or forwards. Whether actual time travel is possible or not is nearly impossible to test, though further experimentation and research should be conducted...

"So if I stand where your Natsuki stood, I should return. Simple as that," Natsuki stated.

Midori shook her head, "No, you might end up in a different era entirely. This risk is way too high... but someone really cool might show up."

"So the burden is upon those for your time," Shizuru stated as she walked back over to the pot of tea - the fourth one she had made that afternoon - and poured another cupful.

Midori then looked at Natsuki with shining eyes, "Can I research you for another thesis? Please?"

"Not a chance."

Kuga Natsuki crossed her arms and sighed. This day was definitely not going well. First, she had woken up late and had almost killed herself riding to school. Second, that damned algebra test she had taken the day before had been handed back with a big red F marking on it (Damnit, Shizuru, help me study!). Third, at lunch the school cafeteria had run out of its seemingly endless mayonnaise supply that she couldn't live without. And fourth...

Well, she was here. With this strange Shizuru that really didn't seem to be much different at all. Well, not counting different in age, of course. But she was sure this Shizuru was just as smart, just as manipulative... and even just as dangerous.

It was more than she could handle right now. So, she simply asked, "Anything I can do to get me home?"

Shizuru paused on that question before answering, "The war that ended changed a lot of things for us that we don't quite understand. Do you have knowledge, by chance, about the HiME system?"

Not that - anything but that - anything but the memories of the fighting and the killing and oh god the killing theyhadkilledsomany-!

"I was one of twelve HiMEs. A HiME is a girl who has an element, which is our weapon, and a child, which fights alongside us. When we accept the choice to become a HiME, we make a sort of contract. If my Child dies, the person that I find the most important to me dies as well. If I were to die, my Child would die and therefore also the person most important to me.

"At first, the HiMEs just fought Orphans, which were alien creatures that inhabited the HiME star. As the star grew closer, the Orphans disappeared and we were told the new threat was each other. We had to destroy each other's Childs to be the last one standing. The last one standing gained all the powers of the other eleven and would then have married the Obsidian Lord, causing this cycle to repeat again in 300 years. The ending to the battle was different this time, though, as all of us who died were revived in the end," Natsuki grew silent and turned her body away from Shizuru, wishing she could talk to someone with less involvement in her real life.

Shizuru could tell something had just clicked off in Natsuki's head, so she began to pinpoint, "Your Shizuru was also a HiME and the reason you died."

"It was double suicide," Natsuki whispered. "We killed each other."

Shizuru was silent then. She couldn't imagine doing anything that would hurt her Natsuki. Only looking at the younger girl, she felt that providing comfort would be almost painful for both of them. There was so much that was still being a kept a secret, and she wasn't sure she had a right even to ask about it.

But she didn't have to ask. While Natsuki didn't enjoy telling this Shizuru about what had happened, she felt the sanity level of the older version of her friend was much higher, and could maybe decipher the actions of Shizuru better than she could. "She was going to kill everyone. I had to stop her - stop her massacre. And she... felt she had to win so I'd stay alive. She thought I hated her, thought she wasn't important to me, so she was very surprised when we died together... but I think she was very happy, more happy than I was."

The secrecy continued of course. There was no way Natsuki could talk about about the feelings Shizuru had for her. That might freak this woman out, just like it had to her. But she was almost sure this Shizuru knew anyway, which was a downright scary thought.

"She cared for you quite a bit then, yes?" Shizuru asked, smiling.

"A bit too much, I think," Natsuki mumbled.

Shizuru was now slightly taken aback. She remembered when she had first met her own Natsuki, back when she was a Pearl student here at Garderobe. The girl had followed her, practically stalked her, until Shizuru took her in as her room attendant. Even back then, Natsuki had been a very smart girl and had figured the real Shizuru out in a matter of minutes. It had probably taken her even less time to fall in love with her. So for Shizuru to hear Natsuki thinking her own Shizuru cared to much was a tough thing to hear. "What do you mean, Na-tsu-ki?"

Hearing her name pronounced like that nearly sent Natsuki into a fit of tears. Oh god not her too! "You and your Natsuki are... different than Shizuru and myself, aren't you?"

"Probably."

"Then you shouldn't ask," Natsuki responded coldly. She wasn't going to say anymore. What she had told was more than enough.

"Kruger-san, it is nearly dinnertime. Would Midori like to join the two of us for dinner?" Shizuru politely asked.

Natsuki looked at Shizuru intently with annoyance, "You mean I have to endure more of her?"

Nodding, Shizuru stated, "It would be very beneficial to allow her to learn about your wold. We may be able to find where your time and place is with relevance to our own. And learning about your HiME system would be a very good idea as well."

Midori opened her mouth to speak, but Natsuki stopped her by saying, "Only if I have to."

Ignoring Midori's excitement, Shizuru asked, "Should we see if Mai has enough extra ramen for the three of us? She may be able to help us also, being one of the last HiMEs standing, tied with Mikoto."

"Your Mai has amazing ramen too?" Natsuki blurted without thinking (as she usually did).

"It's what my Natsuki has told me," Shizuru replied, ignoring the knowledge of another Mai in the other world. After learning about Midori's and Nagi's duplicates in addition to herself and Natsuki, Mai certainly didn't surprise her. So she led the three to the dorm Mai, Mikoto, and Natsuki shared, startling Mai when the door opened.

"Kaichou-san, where is Natsuki? I thought she had agreed to stop skipping classes, but I haven't seen her at all this afternoon," Mai asked worriedly while trying to pry a very hungry Mikoto off her waist. "Mikoto - you can wait ten minutes! I just fed you a half hour ago!"

Shizuru pushed her way into the room, walking over to where she was sure Natsuki slept. The blankets were in disarray and an extra sweatshirt hung off of a knob on the headboard. Her riding suit was neatly folded (the only thing neat, by the way) and sitting where the pillow would have been if not for it being on the floor. She silently began to pull the blankets up and make the bed to distract her from the knowledge that this wonderful Natsuki she had loved since the moment she met her was missing.

"Kaichou-san, what are you-"

"Natsuki will be gone for some time. When she returns, she will appreciate a nice bed, yes?" Shizuru responded, no inflection in her voice betraying she had any emotion at all.

Mai ran over to Shizuru and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Snap out of it! What's going on?"

Shizuru didn't speak, but only pushed Mai away and continued her task, thinking only of Natsuki, the only thing that mattered. Only thing, only thing.

Deciding this was just plain scary, Midori walked in, pulling Natsuki by the arm. "Ah, geez, she's going psycho again. Mai-chan, you got food for three more?"

Mai looked over and was in shock by the new Natsuki that she didn't quite recognize. Something was very different and more than that, very strange. "Midori-sensei, who's this?"

Natsuki was getting pretty annoyed that she was being ignored at this point and wanted to hear how she'd get home. "My name is Natsuki Kruger. I'd like to get back to my own home in Windbloom City."

Mai looked over to Shizuru for a moment, who had finished tidying up Natsuki's area and was sitting on the floor, seemingly completely composed and sane, waiting for Natsuki to return. "So Natsuki disappears and Shizuru goes crazy again. And then you show up and her mind gets overloaded."

"Hopefully she doesn't go on a murderous rampage again," Midori mumbled, addressing a very illogical concern, as none of them retained their HiME status.

Mikoto, who had been silent, only exclaimed, "Mai! Food!"

So, Mai put a hand to her forehead, and, frustrated, resigned to the stove, letting Midori and Natsuki into the room. Of the two, Midori was the only one to get comfortable, sitting on the end of what one could assume was Mikoto's bed. Natsuki, on the other hand, stood still a few steps from the doorway, looking over to Shizuru, unsure of what to do. How is her own Shizuru acting without her? The thought was terrifying after remembering how Tomoe had tricked Shizuru into doing... certain things that even she was unsure of. Shizuru didn't talk about it and she didn't want to think about it.

Natsuki walked over to Shizuru and spoke quietly, "Shizuru, let's come and talk with the others. We'll get your Natsuki back, but we need to figure out how to first."

Shizuru looked up and Natsuki with tears in her eyes, showing the sanity which might not have left in the first place. She rushed over to Natsuki, burying her face in the older woman's jacket and finally letting out the tears that she would never let fall for the secrets, the murders, and above all, all the things she wished she could apologize for.

After discussing things with Shizuru, Youko allowed Natsuki to be taken back to Gakuenchou's office. The new knowledge about this HiME system had given the scientist plenty to analyze, so keeping Natsuki in the lab would just be wasting time.

So, Shizuru led Natsuki around the school, showing her the now empty classrooms - (the corals were busy preparing supper for the pearls, who were studying until the supper bell was called) - and the things that an Otome would learn. The curriculum hadn't changed much since the end of the war, to be perfectly honest. It was still just as difficult to become a Meister, but it was now less structured. Rather than having all students excel in all areas, they were allowed more specialization because Masters were non-existant and therefore they wouldn't be expected to have perfection in all aspects of life.

Before taking Natsuki back to the office, Shizuru decided to show her to the training field out behind the school. She was curious as to the ability of these HiMEs. From what she gathered by Natsuki's earlier statements, they had not been formally trained and had developed individual skills as they fought whatever threat decided to stand in their respective paths.

"This is where the Otome's practice with their robes during classes," Shizuru said. "Would you like a demonstration?"

Natsuki had been rather silent all day. After her own experience in her own war, she didn't like this idea of a school that trained fighters this way. But, she was still interested in a disapproving way. Not seeing an actual Otome materialise, she realized that although she had heard about the Otome system all evening, she had no idea about the power it really had. So she responded, "That would be nice."

Shizuru smiled and took a few steps back and then focused her attention on the blue star next to the moon. She gracefully pushed her hair back on the right side, showing Natsuki her G.E.M - the graceful amethyst, a name that had fitted her well.

"Materialise."

Natsuki was unable to tear her eyes away as she watched Shizuru prepare for battle. All she could think of when she saw the robe fully activated was Shizuru's Child, Kiyohime. The colour of the robe, the cloth strips hanging from the waist, and - the weapon. Shizuru tested it on a tree branch as a warm up, breaking it off. The blade elongated and was flexible just like the tassel on the naginata that had defeated Nao and Yukino...

It was wrapped around her body, she couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, and as she was pulled towards Shizuru, she felt arms holding her closely, could feel against her chest a heart beating rapidly and she didn't know what to do so she decided to give Shizuru what she wanted, what she wanted, and so she...

"How about we fight each other? That'll show you more about an Otome's ability," Shizuru smiled, retracting the blade and then standing still, waiting patiently.

Natsuki wasn't thinking too logically, otherwise she would have remembered that she had lost her HiME status like all the others after they had destroyed the red star. But she was too deep into her own memories now of fighting Shizuru to notice what was happening around her. So, a gust of wind blew through her hair as a small gun appeared in each one of her hands. Her eyes darkened with a necessity to fight, and she raised both arms up parallel with the ground. Battle stance.

"Ara! Natsuki's guns are too cute!" Shizuru exclaimed with bright eyes. "I wonder what her Child looks like. I bet it looks like her guns - like an octopus!"

No. That's like yours.

"Duran!"

Instantly, Shizuru backed up in fear as ice crystals materialized out of thin air and stuck up in sharp spikes protruding from the ground. A huge mecha wolf hovered over them, the school, and even the forest behind, nearly taking up the entire training field. Shizuru thought the odds seemed so unfair before she remembered that size does not necessarily mean powerful. So, she took a few swings at Duran, each one parried either by a bullet from one of Natsuki's guns, or by Duran's powerful doges. Eventually, she let her blade expand and started swinging it in a wide arc which would cause Duran to be sliced cleanly in half when suddenly-

"No! Not Duran! Stop it! Shizuru will-"

Shizuru chuckled and retracted her blade the moment before it would have hit the metal. After deactivating her robe, she watched Natsuki drop her guns and Duran disappear into the air. At that point, she walked over to Natsuki, standing directly in front of her. "You care about your Shizuru more than you think. Maybe you're not too different from my Natsuki and myself."

Natsuki was too frozen to respond.

Natsuki Kruger wasn't used to helping people like this. Whenever a student had a problem, she sent her to Shizuru instead. So to have a young girl the age of one of the older students crying her heart out to her, it was a very strange situation. She did her best to try and comfort Shizuru, but she didn't know really what to say or do. Instead of saying or doing anything, she stood there until Mai's call of dinnertime caused Mikoto to jump around and disrupt everything.

At that point, Natsuki was able to lead Shizuru to the table and help her sit down. However, she was unable to force more than a few bites of the noodles into the girl's churning stomach, so she gave up. Mai took over, being much more adept in helping other people's problems.

This left Midori an opening to begin a conversation with Natsuki. "Where do you come from? What kind of HiME system do you have?

Surprisingly, this also grabbed Shizuru's attention enough to get her to subconsciously eat, which was a very good thing.

Natsuki's annoyance level was past just obvious, but once she thought of how much she missed her own Shizuru, she realized it was past time for her to find a way back home. "I come from a big city called Windbloom. We are ruled by Queen Mashiro Blan De Windbloom. I am the Headmaster of Garderobe, which is the academy that trains Otome. We used to only accept fifty applicants in a year, but new laws force us to school whomever applies. Due to this, we are building schools in Ealis and Artai, two other cities we are currently allied with. A special school dedicated to the knowledge of technology is being built at the edge of Windbloom for the people of Aswad, which is a faction we are allied with of a terrorist group we have defeated known as Schwartz.

"The war was caused by Archduke Nagi of Artai. When Queen Mashiro's castle was severely damaged by Schwartz, she demanded it to be redesigned in honor of her coronation. Unknown to all of us, Schwartz had infiltrated the construction team and had turned her castle into a weapon aimed at Garderobe. The beam pretty much destroyed the power supply of my school, causing it to be impossible to use the Otome power. We all wear a G.E.M. here -" at this point she pulled her hair back on the left, by her barrette "-that controls our power. It is connected to an Otome's master after graduation. For the five columns, which I am one of, and the students, it is connected to Fumi, our Shinso. One of the columns usually has to initiate for the students, though. Once I activate my G.E.M. my robe and weapon appears."

Midori stared wide eyed at Natsuki. "Will it work here?"

Shaking her head, Natsuki responded, "No. I have to get authorization through our Shinso. She is kept in stasis at the basement of the academy. Back to the war, we barely won it. In the end - well, the need of Masters was destroyed because of Miyu, who instated the HiME system, so we were all able to activate our robes and destroy the Harmonium, a weapon Nagi was using -"

Shizuru hadn't snapped out of her odd depression too much, but she felt inclined to point something out that her own Natsuki would have missed as well. "If you have no need for your Masters, you have no need for your Shinso."

Af that, Natsuki looked up at the smiling girl next to her in surprise. Thinking about the response for a minute, that is exactly what her own Shizuru would have said. And then Natsuki would grit her teeth, close her eyes, curse her own stupidity, and sincerely hope she wasn't blushing. Which she was.

"Right. Well, we're not used to it yet so I suppose that's why I overlooked it," Natsuki defended herself. She glanced at Midori across the table who was looking expectantly back. "All right, if you really need a demonstration..."

Natsuki got up from the table and took a few steps back. With the dorm rooms being so small, she wouldn't be able to summon her weapon as well, which was somewhat disappointing to her. But, she didn't let her thoughts run on for too long.

"Materialise!"

The robe activated perfectly, just as it should. And as she looked at the four others in the room, she noticed Shizuru looked a bit uneasy. Since a large number of incidents relating to wardrobe malfunctions had happened to her recently, she looked down only to find every part of her body covered. So what was Shizuru so uncomfortable about?

"Shizuru, what-" Mai began quickly but was cut off by Shizuru's whispered words a moment later.

"It's Duran."

Kuga Natsuki felt herself unable to move as she tried to grasp what this Shizuru had told her. She had to be wrong - had to be! There was no way she could feel anything similar to her friend. She had already told her own Shizuru that she couldn't feel anything more than friendship, so why was she being accused otherwise. It didn't make sense, didn't work like that!

"Natsuki, what is it?" Shizuru asked, placing a caring hand on the young girl's shoulder. "She loves you too, there's no reason to be-"

"I don't love her that way!" Natsuki exclaimed, pulling away harshly. She took a few steps back until she hit a tree trunk and then stood still. "She loves me, I know that. She told me. She killed so many people because of me. She wanted to protect me. I'm grateful to her. I'm glad I have her as a friend. But to me... she'll never be more than that."

Shizuru looked down as Natsuki finished speaking. But then, an idea struck her and she smiled, taking steps towards the girl yet again. She walked slowly as to not scare her, but she soon saw the fear in her eyes and quickened her pace. Then, "Natsuki."

Shaking, Natsuki felt herself unable to move once more. She told herself to run away quickly before this Shizuru could hurt her, but her legs felt too heavy to more. She remembered now the kiss Shizuru had taken from her when she had been asleep those weeks ago. Seeing as this Shizuru was years older, would it be that much worse?

"Natsuki, I won't hurt you," Shizuru said, now standing only a few inches away. "My voice is the same as hers, isn't it? If you close your eyes and listen, won't you see her face?" Seeing how still Natsuki was, she reached her hand out and gently closed the girl's wide eyes, smirking slightly when she found no resistance. When she pulled her hand back, Natsuki's eyes stayed closed, only her eyelashes fluttering because of a slight breeze.

Shizuru thought back to what Natsuki had just told her. It was extremely important that she stayed in character in order to teach the girl about what was obviously being suppressed inside of her. So, she began in a soft tone, "Natsuki, I'm sorry for what I did during the HiME Festival. I was unable to think clearly because I love you so much. And I'm very sorry that I love you, Natsuki..."

"Shizu..ru?"

In a flash of green light, they were back at the church in ruins, kneeling on a dust covered floor covered in bronze fragments of the bell Natsuki had been encased it, living once again, but Shizuru was crying - she had only cried once in her life before - asking Natsuki to forgive her, forgive her, and Natsuki could only smile and do as she asked, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder and tell her it's alright, it'll all be alright...

Shizuru smiled and decided to finish the act quickly, before Natsuki broke the silence. So, Shizuru gently grabbed Natsuki's chin and leaned down, kissing the girl softly. As Natuki gasped in response, she held her firmly in place, noting that Natsuki ended up giving in after only a moment's hesitation.

After she pulled back, Natsuki stayed frozen with her eyes closed and her head tilted up towards Shizuru. During the kiss, Natsuki remembered how, back in the church, she had kissed Shizuru of her own decision. Then, it hadn't felt like much of anything, but this here... she was almost disappointed when the woman pulled away. But wait - no - she couldn't have enjoyed that, she didn't love Shizuru that way, she wasn't...

"Natsuki," Shizuru smiled. "Open your eyes, Natsuki."

And as Natsuki opened her eyes, she found herself disappointed with the sight in front of her. This wasn't Fujino Shizuru, her best friend who loved her with all of her being. It was Shizuru Viola, someone who she didn't really know at all. And so she was very confused as to how she had been so easily left so open, tricked, violated...

Shizuru took a step back, "You should tell her that you love her. I think she'd really like that."

"But - I -"

"Natsuki, you didn't push your image of Shizuru away, right? I know love isn't what you want to hear about, but you need to stop hurting both yourself and her. Okay?" Shizuru asked.

"I'm not..."

Shizuru reached out a hand, grasping Natsuki's arm. Right now, she chose to ignore the protests and bring this subject up later this evening. She was getting pretty hungry, so she pulled a little on the arm she was holding. "Come on, the students should be done eating now. Aren't you hungry?"

Confused, Natsuki let herself be led back inside.

Natsuki Kruger looked around at the faces of the other four in the room. Mai had quickly rushed to Shizuru's side and was trying to calm her down. Midori was taking in Natsuki's robe and committing all this knowledge to memory. Mikoto had grabbed herself seconds of supper and was busy stuffing her face with ramen. Needless to say, Natsuki just stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

After this moment, she deactivated her robe and stood, feeling useless once again. She focused her attention on Shizuru, noticing how there was something very unreadable in the girl's eyes. She had learned how to decode the emotions of her own friend long ago, but remembered an almost terrifying time when she couldn't - when every move Shizuru made, every word she spoke, confused Natsuki greatly. But she remembered also how nothing really changed within her, either. It was Shizuru who had torn down that invisible wall and let her in.

So she quickly took the few steps towards Shizuru. "Shizuru, who is Duran?"

Rather than helping, the question only seemed to hurt further. Shizuru stood, shaking away from Mai's grasp. Pressing her palm flat against the air beside her, lightning bolts crackled around her, forming an extending naginata in her right hand. She pulled it in an arc over her head and smiled as it rested on her shoulder. It took only a moment for Natsuki to notice how much that invisible wall had thickened just then.

"I'll show you who Duran is, Natsuki," Shizuru stated in monotone. "You'll be forced to call her."

Midori gasped, wondering how Shizuru had retained her HiME status when the rest of them had lost it. She tried to summon her own element and failed. Then, she noticed how Natsuki's G.E.M. was still glowing even when it was deactivated. If Shizuru could tap into that power - how would that be possible? Then, in a revelation, she realized this was the key to it all. Shizuru and Natsuki had a connection in their own world, so strong that this Shizuru was substituted in as a temporary replacement. This was the key - this would get Natsuki back.

"Shizuru - stop it," Mai was begging. "I don't know how this is possible, but you can't do this. You just can't."

At that, Shizuru released a hollow laugh. "She wants me to. She needs me to. She's forgotten everything. She asked me yourself, you see. I'll do anything for Natsuki."

Midori then solemnly stood up and placed herself between Shizuru and Natsuki. As Shizuru brought her weapon forward, Midori pushed it back up. "This is not your Natsuki to play with, Shizuru. If you continue on, you may never get your own Natsuki back."

But Shizuru, blinded by what she felt Natsuki wanted, needed, only shook her head. She was seeing her own Natsuki in front of her, not the older Gakuenchou. So, she shook her head again and then, looking past Midori, stared deeply into Natsuki's eves with a harsh intensity. She would help her. She had to.

"Kiyohime."

Kuga Natsuki sat on a couch in the Headmistress's office, a tray on her lap. The students had cooked a traditional Windbloom meal that night (no mayonnaise, though - the horror!), and she found herself only able to move the vegetables around the plate aimlessly. Her appetite hadn't found her quite yet, and she ignored the caring eyes of the woman responsible for her. She couldn't deal with this right now. She was stuck in a world she didn't know, under the care of a person whom she didn't know well, but who strongly resembled her closest friend.

Who had kissed her.

And Natsuki, no matter how much she tried, couldn't deny her feelings. It was horrible, wrong, forbidden... but she found herself enjoying the kiss earlier. And that was - she should have found that wrong in itself, just like she had those months before. Something had to be messed up - it was this strange world doing it, not her real feelings.

"Natsuki? Is the food not good?"

Her head shot up. "What?"

Shizuru smiles, setting her empty tray on the coffee table. "You aren't eating. Is the food not good?"

"Oh - no, it's fine," Natsuki stated, surprised. She then proceeded to stuff a bite of rice in her mouth. "Could use a bit of mayo, though."

"Ara, I was hoping you wouldn't be so dependent on that stuff like my Natsuki is," Shizuru laughed.

Her Natsuki. As in not just her friend, but her girlfriend, her lover... her wife, even, maybe? Depends on the laws here. No, she couldn't let herself think like this. She wouldn't need to worry about laws since she was straight, would someday marry a nice man, have a normal wedding, an average family, and never have to worry about Shizuru again.

"Anyway, I'll grab some for you," Shizuru stated, quickly backing away to grab one of the squeeze bottles that had been left lying around in Gakuenchou's desk. Once retrieved from the unorganized mess of a drawer on the side, she resolved to speak with Natsuki about what had just taken place and what it meant for the young woman. She could tell the girl was extremely confused.

"Here," Shizuru smiled, handing the bottle to Natsuki, who hungrily grabbed it and poured half of its contents into the vegetables. She then proceeded to stir everything together into what looked like a white soup, causing Shizuru to step back, nauseous.

After a moment of frantic eating, Natsuki managed a "thank you" with her mouth full. Shizuru was appalled.

"Ara, Natsuki must learn her manners," Shizuru stated. "She is eating in a way most people would find quite revolting."

Natsuki choked on a piece of broccoli and looked up in shock. There was no way that this crazy woman would do anything else to her. Far too much had been done, she decided. She would eat in silence and then turn away and sleep on the couch until she could get back home. That was it.

"Natsuki, I'll let your horrible eating habits slide if you talk to me," Shizuru said. "You're not being fair to yourself. Your Shizuru wouldn't want you acting like this-"

"She's not my Shizuru," Natsuki said. "You and your Natsuki might be... involved together, but Shizuru and I are different. Don't get me caught up in whatever you have. That's not us."

Shizuru smiled and stated, pouring herself a small cup of tea, "Lying to yourself will only hurt you and everyone around you. The entire time you've been here, you've been very harsh with yourself. I'm trying to help you, but there's not much more I can do. You need to help yourself. Tea?"

The abrupt change in conversation startled Natsuki. She politely declined the offer and stood up. "I don't need any help, thank you," she stated, and then proceeded to walk to the bathroom, leaving Shizuru looking very disappointed.

The table in the dormitory shattered as Kiyohime appeared, still just as large as it had been. Each of its heads bared their teeth together, one's tongue leaping out in a hungry manner. The anger in their eyes didn't match the apathy in Shizuru's. Her face remained emotionless, as if she was lost inside her own head.

Which she was.

"I'm sorry, I really had no intention of hurting you..."

But Natsuki, I do still love you, so even if you hate me, I'll make you mine...

"Shizuru, stop it!" Mai screamed, her hands covering her eyes, in fear that they all would die because of Shizuru - she had gone crazy again - how on earth could that have happened?

Shizuru's eyes narrowed and one of Kiyohime's heads pushed Mai against a wall. She lay unconscious, Mikoto rushing over to help revive her, only realizing she didn't know how. So she cried, a loud screeching wail that prompted Midori to try and help Mai. And then Shizuru smiled her empty smile. No one was in her way now.

"Natsuki, I can crush you. If I lose, you will disappear," Shizuru said. "Why do you not summon Duran?"

"Who is Duran?" Natsuki asked, frightened. She couldn't activate her robe, as that would only anger the girl further, so she tried to stall, snap her out of this trance, make her see that this wasn't right. She wasn't the Natsuki this girl needed to see.

"Why don't you call her? Will she not come?" Shizuru emitted a hollow chuckle. "Why don't you try?"

To attempt to satisfy Shizuru, Natsuki sighed and irritably called out, "Duran!"

When no Child appeared, Shizuru fell to her knees in shock. Kiyohime disappeared, leaving the broken table and dented floor as the only evidence it still existed. "Natsuki couldn't summon Duran one time. She then discovered I was her most important person and was able to call her again. Her friendship for me was strong and I appreciated it. But now Duran won't respond. Has my love driven Natsuki away?"

It was then that Natsuki realized that things in the HiME world were quite different from her own world. Shizuru hadn't mentioned this Natsuki much yet, only in comparison. She had only assumed that this Natsuki was in love with this Shizuru as well, so this mention of friendship was startling.

"Shizuru... does Natsuki not love you?"

When Shizuru looked up this time, she saw the real Natsuki that stood confused before her, not her own friend who could never love her. And so she let herself become free for just a moment, allowing forbidden tears to run down her cheeks again. It was too much - all too much - and she had no idea what to do.

Shizuru Viola walked over to the coffee table and picked up Natsuki's empty supper tray and walked over to a box on the wall. She set the tray in the box, closed it, and pressed a button next to it, causing the box to disappear on a path to the kitchen. Looking back over to where Natsuki had disappeared to use the bathroom, she sighed to herself, dejected.

Natsuki needs to stop ignoring her true feelings. I can't understand what has hurt her this much to make her so terrified...

Natsuki was sitting on the bathroom floor, her back resting against the heavy wooden door. Her arms held her knees close to her chest, her head tilted forward, her hair cloaking her face. Was so she so scare after her mother had died and almost sold her to Searrs or was it just the fact that Shizuru was also a girl that terrified her? Because if it was the latter, then why did it matter if she loved her back...?

What?

No!

Natsuki's head shot up and she covered her ears, trying to stop the thoughts that conflicted inside her head. And for the first time in years, since her mother died, she cried, sobs wrecking her body back and forth until she felt a pair of arms pull her close. She felt safe in the embrace, warm and content, even though she knew it was Shizuru, a version of a girl who did love her. And so her eyes shot open and looked up at Shizuru kneeling in the doorway.

"You understand now, don't you?" Shizuru asked.

Natsuki nodded.

"It's all right, Natsuki," Shizuru smiled. "Tell me, why are you so scared?"

Tilting her head back towards the floor, Natsuki shook her head and pushed out of Shizuru's reach. She attempted to stand, but the sudden movement made her legs shake and she fell, falling back into Shizuru's arms, feeling comforted by the pair of hands stroking her messy hair. Her mind was racing, fluttering from one fuzzy mess of thoughts to the next, not really contemplating anything.

"Natsuki?"

Without any conscious though, Natsuki spoke, "My dad doesn't care about me - just his mistress in wherever-it-is that he lives. My mom's dead all because of me. I can't trust anyone..."

"I'll never trust another human."

"Natsuki, your father must care about you if you're still alive. Your mother couldn't have died because of you..."

"She did!... She did. Mom used to work for Iwasaka Pharmaceutical, which worked closely with two shady organizations, known as the Searrs Foundation and the First District... both deal with the HiMEs in somewhat opposing but not really ways. She - I though she cared about me - but she tried to sell me as some sort of... research specimen thing... to the Searrs Foundation was I was really young. They had paid her and everything. When trying to save me from... the Searrs Foundation, whoever was chasing her, she drove off a cliff... I was in the backseat with Duran and mom died because of me. My dad had left us already, and he has a mistress and lives off in god-knows-where, he sends me checks once a month. Shizuru was my only friend for years and she's in love with me. She killed so many people - murdered the entire First District for me. How am I supposed to trust anyone?"

Shizuru sighed, "Your Shizuru loves you. You have to trust her. Because if she's me, she's done whatever she's done with you in mind."

And then Shizuru's mind went back a few months ago to when she was a captive in the castle. Tomoe had told her they had Natsuki, and that she would put in a good word to treat Natsuki well if she would just... And so, in order to protect Natsuki...

"But it still won't work," Natsuki shook her head an pulled away from the older woman. "Because we're both girls. Society's stupid like that."

Not quite knowing what to say, Shizuru stood up and offered Natstuki a hand to help up. She led Natsuki to a guest room next to her own and simply told the girl to "contemplate a bit. Now that you understand and are sure, think about it." And that all the answers would be obvious in the morning.

"Will I go home tomorrow?" Natsuki asked.

"I'm not really sure."

Seeing how distressed Shizuru was, Main suggested Midori show Natuski to the college campus nearby to put the girl to bed. Terrified, Midori agreed and within minutes, Natsuki Kruger was sitting on a bed next to the shaking Shizuru, trying (unsuccessfully) to calm her down. The soft pink blanket was soaked with tears still, no matter what she said.

"All right, Shizuru, why don't you talk instead of cry now, hmmm?" Natsuki ventured.

It seemed just her voice was enough to throw Shizuru into a fit of sobs. Again. Shinso knew how much she tried to help, but none of that was working. And a thought struck her. It was cruel and potentially dangerous to the both of them, but the situation had grown desperate. So, she closed her eyes and shifted so she was facing Shizuru before pulling her close and guiltily kissing her.

As she pulled back, she looked at Shizuru, whose eyes were opened wide in disbelief. Her tears had stopped flowing the second their lips had touched and now, Natsuki wondered if maybe she had done the wrong thing, causing her to go completely apathetic, before the girl sighed and looked down. Natsuki then allowed herself to ask, "Shizuru, what is it?"

Shizuru's eyes slowly trailed back up from the floor to Natsuki's face. Her voice, when she spoke, still hadn't gained the past confidence. "You're right. Natsuki doesn't love me. She will never love me, especially after what I did during the festival before we died together..."

"Shizu...ru?"

"Of course, you don't know that. But when we all defeated each other, the Obsidian Lord's power made all of our emotions stronger in order to allow us the ability to kill others," she sighed then. "And to protect Natsuki, I defeated to HiMEs and the entire First District organization. She had to stop me, and I understood why, but I was blinded by my need to protect her. The words I had spoken just minutes before now when I had been once again blinded were words I spoke back then-"

" 'I'm sorry, I really had no intention of hurting you'-"

" 'But, Natsuki, I do still love you. So even if you hate me, I'll make you mine...' "

Natsuki leaned back against the wall as she sat on the bed. These girls were far too young to really understand the true meanings of the words they had spoken to each other, but through this burden of killing to save the world, they had grown immensely. So this need for possession, dangerous as it seemed, wasn't too farfetched. The actual stating of it may seem extreme, but both her and Shizuru also had that need, even if unstated. It was obvious now, exemplified by the intense emotion she felt away from her lover, how much they missed and needed each other.

No matter what her Shizuru had done, they belonged together.

"I've been her friend for years, but I hurt her so much when trying to protect her. And when we went against each other, she brought me back to this earth in the same way you did, but then told me that she could never love me. And then, she commanded Duran to destroy us. When we came back, I realized that I didn't know what to do anymore... She will never love me."

Natsuki wasn't good at comforting people, but she tried. She told Shizuru, "Of course she will. My Shizuru and I struggled for quite some time before our relationship stabilized and now... we love each other very much.

"You're a lot like my Shizuru. You are so very devoted just to your Natsuki, just like my Shizuru is to me. You are able to hid some much behind your tea-brewing proper personality, just like my Shizuru hides herself behind her position, sometimes even with only myself in her company. But I know her hidden side, the teasing side, the side she may occasionally allow others to see but only me to understand. You are so much like my own Shizuru that I wonder if you are the exact same person she was. And so I must think - if you are the same person, I must be also. And if I am, I have no doubt that your Natsuki will love you just as much as you love her."

Shizuru forced a smile upon her face and sighed, exhausted. "Ookini, Kruger-san. I would like to believe you. But I must admit that I find myself to tired to contemplate this further. I have a guest room next to the bathroom further down the hall. Natsuki stays there sometimes. You may stay there tonight."

Natsuki nodded, stood up from the bed, and walked out the room, leaving the girl to her own demons.

Kuga Natsuki felt herself being shaken awake out of, for the first time in a long time, a peaceful slumber. This annoyed her a bit, because she was having a very nice dream - she had admitted her feelings to her friend and they had run off to a large field where they smiled and giggled and Shizuru was leaning in to kiss her and this time, she wasn't going to pull away, she was leaning in also and they were about to-"

"Natsuki, wake up," Shizuru Viola hastily attempted. Her next idea to wake her up was to pull back all of the blankets on the bed. When that didn't work, she pounced on the bed and chuckled when the sleeping girl rolled over to her side in response. She pushed her back on her back and leaned down, placing her head next to Natsuki's. Without warning, she yelled, "Wake up!" right in her ear.

Natsuki woke up with a start, trying to pull herself up from laying down, but she felt the pressure of something very heavy keeping her still. "Shizuru! Baka! Get off me!"

"Hmmm, but it took me so long to wake Natsuki up, I think I deserve this kind of payment, ne?"

"No! Get off!"

Faking a pout, Shizuru backed away and stood up. But rather than carrying the teasing further - which was what she really wanted to do - she composed herself again and stated, "You should get ready. Youko called me about ten minutes ago and I think she has some idea. Either that, or she needs your help. One of the two."

Natsuki nodded.

Midori's hasty knocking woke both Fujino Shizuru and Natsuki Kruger from uneasy sleep. " 'Ey, Kaichou! Kruger-san! I've solved it!" was the yell that resounded through the think wooden dorm door.

Shizuru jumped up, noticing how this Natsuki also rose easily from sleep as well. Her own Natsuki would be mumbling, clutching her pillow as if her life depended on it, trying to save the last few moments as her own. So, Shizuru, lost in her thoughts, didn't notice that Natsuki had made her way to the door and answered it already.

"I studied the diagrams I had made of the crystal room under the library and I think I've got it," Midori beamed. "Get dressed quick - let's hurry!"

Kuga Natuski stood with Shizuru Viola and Professor Youko and Youko stated her hypothesis. "The land of Fuuka was breached by Miyu during the battle with the Harmonium. If we can access that, with it's HiME connotations, I think we can make something of it."

"I trust we'll use Miyu for this?" Shizuru asked.

Youko nodded, "I've sent her a letter by bird and she should meet us at the underwater site this afternoon. We'll have to leave Garderobe immediately, though, to make it there by time, even if we travel by fast airship."

They stood then in silence before Natsuki nodded and the mission commenced.

Midori, Natsuki Kruger, and Fujino Shizuru sat in Midori's apartment with Miyu and Alyssa standing nearby. Midori's outlined plan seemed like a long shot, but it was all they had.

"Miyu should, using complex equations of calculus and physics, be able to compile a program that would tap into the system Searrs Foundation created in order to allow Alyssa into the HiME race for power. This should allow her to set a world to send Natsuki back into and hopefully retrieve our own Natsuki in the process," Midori stated. "We should make our way into the room with the pillars right away, because it may take a number of hours for Miyu to write this program."

"Miyu," Alyssa stated. "I give you the clearance to accomplish this task."

"As Alyssa-ojousama wishes."

Miyu met the three women at the buried land of Fuuka as they descended from the airship. She nodded at Youko before telling Kuga Natsuki, "This place is a direct link to your school. I will assist you in returning. Are you ready?"

Natsuki looked back to Shizuru, the woman who was an older mirror image of her best friend, who taught her so much in this day she had been here. "Thank you, Shizuru."

Shizuru smiled, then gently pushed Natsuki forward.

"Program compiled," Miyu stated. "Executing program."

Without thinking, Fujino Shizuru reached out and grabbed Natsuki's arm, noticing how this woman was just the same as the object of her desire and affection. "Thank you, Natsuki."

Natsuki gave a rare smile, then walked forward as Shizuru's grasp loosened.

Kuga Natsuki followed Miyu into the lake, thinking only of how she would finally gain the courage to confess her true feelings.

Fujino Shizuru watched Natsuki step forward, thinking only of how she would sit her own Natsuki down to apologize finally.

Natsuki Kruger stepped onto the column still implanted under the wreckage on the ground, thinking only of forgiving.

Shizuru Viola watched Natsuki dive into the water, thinking only of the love she also felt and how she almost sacrificed it.

The first thought Natuski Kruger had as she found herself being pushed in this passive pool of water was that that Midori person really was insane, no matter what defense Shizuru gave. Leader of the HiMEs? Those poor children, having a leader like that.

As she reached the surface, she coughed and sputtered, trying to regain breathing ability, only to be startled by a thrilled cry of "Natsuki!" that seemed to come from in front of her. She didn't have time to think, as Shizuru - her own Shizuru - pulled her up into a very tight hug noting after a moment where exactly her head had fallen - which was quite comfortable - but quite embarrassing if someone would see -

"Natsuki! Are you okay? Did anything happen to you I heard such awful things about that place... Ja-pa-n?" Shizuru's voice seemed frantic.

Natsuki chuckled a bit. "I'm fine. Nothing happened to me. I met a teenaged version of yourself who went psycho on me, but she's okay now. honestly, I think that Natsuki over there must be a real idiot in order to drag her down to that... What?"

Trying to hide a giggle, Shizuru managed to say, "No more of an idiot than you," causing Natsuki to, in her usual annoyed way, blush and tell her friend to shut up. Instead of furthering the teasing at the reaction, Shizuru spoke further in a serious tone. "She was... not understanding of emotions and feelings such as friendship and love, from what it seemed in the case of her own Shizuru. But in the end, I think she was finally able to see what it all meant."

"Shizuru."

The urgency in Natsuki's voice made Shizuru pause in her speech. "Natsuki, what is it? You said you weren't hurt - are you tired? Hungry?"

"No - Shizuru - stop it," Natsuki finally managed to wrestle out of the insane hug her (maybe not so) sane Shizuru had pulled her into, ending up kneeling in front of her also kneeling girlfriend. "Shizuru. Because of all this, I need to tell you that what happened in Windbloom when I was gone... I understand. It was stupid, but I understand."

And Shizuru decided nicely to hold back another burst of laughter, knowing that no matter how pathetic it was, it was one of Natsuki's most sincere statements to her. And so Shizuru leaned forward and softly kissed Natsuki, only afterwards being able to manage a serious, "Thank you. I'm so sorry for what I did. I only thought of protecting you - what they would do to you -"

"I understand, Shizuru. It's all over now," Natsuki smiled.

Youko ran over from the airship that was was transporting the group around in. "Gakuenchou! Are you all right?"

Embarrassed at the closeness she was displaying to Shizuru, Natsuki quickly pulled at least a meter away. "I'm fine, thank you."

Shizuru stood up. "I'm sure Natsuki would like to return home, Professor."

Youko nodded and walked off to start the airship back up again, giving Natuski a brief moment to tell Shizuru, "thank you."

Kuga Natsuki stumbled and fell to her knees as she found herself back where this whole ordeal started. She was back home - oh thank god - and she planned now to have a long discussion with Shizuru. Naturally then, she was surprised when she noticed Shizuru standing a few meters away, tears in her eyes, but still holding back.

So, Natsuki took it upon herself to free her friend. She got up to standing after a moment's effort and walked slowly over to Shizuru and stopped about a meter away, contemplating what to do at this point. But, Shizuru was the one who spoke first, "Natsuki," and let the tears pass the barrier she had set.

"Shizuru," Natsuki spoke, finally closing the gap between them and holding her in comfort.

Immediately, Shizuru's tears halted and she pulled back quickly. "No, Natsuki, I can't let myself... While you were gone, I realized I couldn't do this anymore. I can't hurt you anymore. Natsuki - forgive me!"

"No."

Shizuru, shocked and hurt, looked up from the floor to Natsuki's face, confused when she saw a smile. She was all prepared to apologize for all she had done and be honest about what she was capable of doing. So, she tried again, "Natsuki, I've thought a lot about everything I've done and I... can't make you endure this any longer. Things aren't going well for us anymore and so...

"Shizuru, no, don't think like that," Natsuki tried taking a step forward, but Shizuru's stance - weaker than what she was used to seeing - prevented her from carrying through with the movement.

"But how can I not? Natsuki, I love you. And you shouldn't have to know that, think about that, have to consider everything I do in terms of that. It's not fair to you."

Natsuki's hands had balled up in fists now, and were shaking. Her teeth were clenched together as she listened. Finally, after all this time she had been able to realize... And Shizuru had decided to let her go, to stop the suffering on both sides. But she didn't need to. There wouldn't be suffering anymore - she loved Shizuru. And so her head shot up and she quickly walked over to Shizuru, grasping her tightly before she could react.

"I love you, also, Shizuru," she whispered.

Shizuru's eyes widened and she pulled back just far enough away to see Natsuki's eyes. There was a sense of understanding in her eyes, and emotion of love that was definitely stronger than before. "Natsuki, how do you...?"

"When I was gone, I ended up learning a lot about... things and I learned about how scared I was. I'm not anymore. Shizuru..."

Shizuru smiled then, a real smile, unguarded, unlike the smile she usually gave to people. A few tears escaped from her heavy eyes and she leaned in, whispering, "I love you, Natsuki," before they met in a kiss both of them were ready for, waiting for, wanting, needing... and for the both of them, it was, finally, the truth.

End