Disclaimer: Never, in my whole life, will I EVER own Gakuen Alice!! Only at night, with the lights off, my eyes closed, and on the golden road of Dreamland will I ever come close to my goal!

A Healing Touch

"Ugh. This is horrible." Natsume muttered as he stumbled to the kitchen.

Yeah, his room had a kitchen. 'Yes,' he had thought when he first saw it, 'this might work well for me…' And he was right! This lovely suite he had at the Alice Academy boarding school was very comfortable. Natsume's father had made absolutely sure of that! Only the best for his only son, his heir, his little man, his—well, you get the point.

Anyway no matter how awesome or cool the room was, Natsume still felt like crap. He had suspected he had caught a cold just this morning. But as he was readying himself for school, he began feeling dizzy and overheated. Now he had a high fever, a headache, an upset stomach, and was starting to hallucinate.

He staggered into the kitchen to take some medicine and almost fainted at the sight in front of him. It was Mikan Sakura, cooking a huge lunch just for him. The room was now spotless and bright. What stinks for Natsume is that this was pretty much just a mirage. The room being clean sure was.

With a confused look on his handsome face, he slowly approached the unsuspecting girl. He tried rapping his knuckles lightly on her head. But since she wasn't real, as he attempted the surprise, he pitched forward. As he fell, the sudden move jarred his brain, and he passed out.

So there he lay. On the cold kitchen floor, at 11:46 AM, and he was out cold. A door opened and a high scream permeated the dorm.

10 Minutes Earlier

"Hey, Ruka-pyon?" Mikan asked Ruka Nogi, quite loudly, if I may say so.

"What is it, Sakura?"

"Um… well…you see, it's… um… I…" She was at a loss for words. For some bizarre reasons, she had no idea what to say. Ruka waited patiently as she struggled. "I was… um… it's… I'm wondering… is…!! Where's N-Natsume?!" Ruka gave a sigh of relief after he realized she was finally finished. God, that girl could ramble!

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I don't know." She deflated, and he, being the Ruka-pyon we all know and love, felt guilty, and gave some advice. "It's lunch-time in… 3-2-1! Go look around! I'd check his room or the Sakura tree, if I were you! Good luck!" Ruka shouted over the noise of the growing crowd of hungry students.

So off she sped, looking everywhere. But there was no sign of our beloved dude across the whole campus. 'Ah, I haven't checked the dorms!' And she was gone! Faster even than the bus that would've taken half an hour to get there, (It took her 5 minutes.)



Mikan ran up the stairs 10 at a time. (Is that even possible?) She didn't gasp for breath or anything! She knocked on his door and listened for a response. But she didn't hear his voice shouting, "Come in!" Or even, "Go away, little girl!" Instead, she heard a dull thud. Fearing the worst, she flung open the door—which was unlocked, thank god!!—and rushed inside.

Checking through all of the—messy—rooms, her heart sank and grew tight. Where could he be? What was that thud? She stopped, "What was that?" she murmured. She listened again and heard a low groan. It was muffled and seemed to be coming from Natsume's kitchen.

Mikan grabbed a random baseball bat and inched forward. Throwing open the door, she jumped in… and screamed. For there, lying upon the cold floor tiles was none other than the boy she had been searching for. He groaned again, thus bringing her back to life. "Natsume!" She hurried forward and lifted his head. He was beginning to wake, she was so relieved.

"M-Mikan…" Natsume murmured, softly stroking her cheek. She blushed. He was amazed; he never knew hallucinations were so lifelike! The Mikan one even felt like her!

"Ah, ah, ah! Natsume! You're awake! Thank goodness! Um, um, um!" Mikan was so flustered, and she was flailing her arms wildly. "Are you okay? Do you need something to drink? Eat?" He chuckled. His images were so clear and realistic! But, he'd been imagining her all day! So he was sure this was just another dream! …Silly boy…

"Mmm, yeah, I do need something." His eyes glinted. 'Why not enjoy myself a little in this dream! I'll wake up soon, so what t he heck? Right??' Or so he thought.

She unthinkingly leaned forward. "Really? What is it? I can help!"

"I'm sure you can…" She looked so proud, just like the real thing would've! If only Natsume wasn't so stupid!

"Yay! Ok, what is it?"

"Come and bring me to the couch. The floor is way too uncomfortable." She didn't move. He watched as she bit her lip and looked at him. "What?"

"Um, I don't think I can do that."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I'm too weak! I could never move you!!" She had a good point. She was tiny! She probably couldn't lift a bird. How could she even hope of lifting him??

"Fine, just let me lean on you a bit, ok? I really need to get off the floor."

She smiled and extended her hand. She pulled him up—barely—and he limped to the couch. He flopped down on it, totally exhausted. "Okie dokie! What else do you need?"

"Come here." He beckoned. Mikan looked confused, but willingly moved next to him. "Closer." She bent down in front of him. "Closer," Natsume whispered. She got on her knees right before his majesty.

"Ok, what now?"

His hand shot out around her head and he pulled her towards him. So she ended up seated next to him. He tipped up her chin and captured her lips in a sweet embrace. When they broke apart for air, Natsume slowly leaned back to her ear and murmured, "I love you, Mikan," before directly falling asleep.

She stared at him in amazement. Did he really just say that? Did he mean it? She touched her lips in shock. Then shook her head violently. 'No,' she thought, 'I need to help him. THEN I can think about it! Right! Onward!'

5 Hours Later

"Ugh." Natsume sat up in his bed and stretched his arms. Eyes closed, he reached for his clock. He opened his eyes, blinked, then looked around for the first time since he woke up.

He was in his bed, in his room, at 5:30 PM. Strange, last thing he knew, he was in the living room at noon. A Mikan hallucination was there, but that was all he could remember. Natsume turned and replaced the clock. Then he noticed the bedside table. There was a large tray placed upon it. Said tray was laid out with a glass of water, one of orange juice (yum!), 3 medicine tablets, 2 pills, 4 slices of light toast, and a small cup of fruit salad.

He picked it all up and gobbled it up. After he was finished, he noticed a small white square on the floor. It had probably been blown off the table by the wind. He picked it up and started for the kitchen with the tray. Here's where he got a little confused.

The rooms were all spotless! They even smelled like vanilla! He was felling all better and had somehow been changed into pj bottoms and a t-shirt. When he dropped the tray into the dish-washer, it was sparkly clean too! All the dishes and silverware had been dried and put away. All his clothes were clean, dry, and neatly folded in his closet. His fridge was now stocked with tons of healthy foods and his bathroom was beautiful! 'Who did this- this miracle?' he thought. He then remembered the note. It said:

'Dear Natsume,

Hi! Well, if you're reading this, you must be feeling all better! Yay! You've probably noticed that everything's different too, huh? Do you like it? All that cleaning took me two hours, so I hope you're appreciative! Grrrr! You had better be!

Are you wondering how I got you to your room? Simple! I just asked Ruka-pyon, Iincho, Koko-kun, and Tsubasa-senpai to help! They also changed your clothes!

I'm writing this at 5 PM, just so you know. You haven't woken up yet, but your fever broke! Yay! It was 102 Fahrenheit! Wowza! Well, I'm starving, so I'm gonna go eat! I'll be at the Sakura tree at 6, so come and see me, ok? Bye!

-Mikan'

Natsume looked at his watch and jumped. He only had ten minutes to get ready! He ran to the shower and bathed for 30 seconds. He ran to the closet and did his best not to destroy Mikan's hard work. 'What to wear, what to wear? Something casual, but that says "I-didn't-just-throw-this-together".' --Ooh, hey Natsume! How about these?—He picked up a pair of light jeans and a dark sweatshirt. He threw on a pair and Vans and ran like the wind!



Natsume sat at the foot of the tree and waited. Luckily, he had planned on her being late, and so had grabbed a manga. Now, as he sat reading it, Mikan ran up. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, and her hair was braided.

"Natsume!" she called. He grunted in reply. She frowned, "What no real greeting for the girl who saved your life??"

"Hey," she turned, "thanks." She grinned and sat down next to him.

"Um, Natsume?"

"What?"

"You're welcome."

"Whatever." He turned away to hide his adorable blush.

"Wow, look! Natsume, it's snowing! Kya!! It's so pretty!" She was right. Little white flakes drifted lazily from the heavens. She pulled him up and they stood amongst the splendor. He breathed deeply in the frigid air. 'She looks beautiful,' he thought, 'outlined against the snow and the stars.'

"Natsume?" she asked seriously.

"Yeah? What's wrong, little girl?"

Mikan turned to him, eyes sparking and said, "Natsume, earlier today, you told me something. It confused me. I didn't know what to think or feel. I felt happy and sad, lucky and doomed, blessed and excited."

"What're—"

"Ssh. Thinking back on it, I still have no idea what was going through my head. All I know is that I was so happy! When you told me this, I really had no clue as to what was going on. A lot of scenarios ran through my head. I first figured that you were feverish and not in control. Then that aliens had swooped in and took your brain.

"Then I thought, 'What the heck? What I've got to do is think about how I feel. And so I did."

She stepped closer. Her face was flushed from the cold and she was smiling so bright.

"Natsume."

"Mikan?"

"I love you too." And she reached up and gave him a slow, sweet, warm kiss.