Birthday Tears and a Reason to Live

Summary: 6 year old Mikan Sakura was left outside to cry in the dead of winter. She was forgotten, her birthday had gone unchecked. But wait. Who's the little boy sitting with her? Natsume? Why's he…HOLDING HER HAND? 10 years later will it be the same?

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do NOT own Gakuen Alice.

Chapter 1: Meeting Natsume Hyuuga

It was a boring day in the middle of winter. It also happened to be someone's birthday. Not that you could tell or anything like that. She had no party, no one to celebrate, and no one to cheer her up.

Yep. She was all alone, in the middle of the park near her house. On her birthday. Freezing her six-year-old butt off.

Her name was Mikan Sakura. She just turned six years old. But she had no friends, no dad (he left when she was 2), and Mom is hardly ever around, always working. So today, on her day, she's all alone out in the cold snowy world.

She closed her eyes, leaned further back against the cold park bench, and sighed a world-weary sigh.

Snow crunched behind her. Someone was approaching. She decided she didn't care. It didn't concern her anyway. She was too numb and tired to bother trying to figure it out.

She snuggled deeper into her fluffy coat. Warmth. Need warmth.

Hm? That's weird…my face…it feels so warm…? I can hear something. What is that? She thought. She slowly creaked open her frozen eyelids and saw a pair of tantalizing crimson eyes staring straight back.

Mikan jumped. "Are you ok?" The raven-haired boy asked. "You look kind of red-faced."

"Um... I'm fine! Perfect! A-ok! See?" She stood up, trying to prove her point. It might have worked if she wasn't so dizzy.

"See?" She repeated, swaying slightly, and then she fell over. The boy sighed and helped her over to the bench.

"Are you sick or something?" The boy was getting kind of nervous, not that it was possible to tell. His face was clear of all emotion. "Should I get a doctor?"

"No, I'm fine. Seriously, I'm just a little cold, that's all. I'm Mikan. Mikan Sakura! Nice to meet you! What's your name?" she grinned.

The boy shrugged off his sweater and placed it on Mikan. "I'm Natsume Hyuuga, same to you." He said, with a cold and emotionless stare on his face.

"Um…" Mikan started, causing Natsume to turn and look at her. "Oh! …Never mind!"

"Airhead," he mumbled, thinking she couldn't hear him. Unfortunately for him, she did. Mikan started bopping him on the head with her little fists, pounding furiously.

"Take that back you-you-you-you-" Her rant was punctured by the small smacks of her hands.

"GET ON WITH IT!"

"IDIOTIC BOY!" she shouted. If there had been anyone on the street at this time (which there wasn't), they probably would have bled to death through the ears. She was just that loud.

The boy just rubbed his sore head and asked, "Why are you even out here? Shouldn't you be inside celebrating the New Year? It's too cold to be outside, too."

"I could say the same to you, Hyuuga!" Mikan retorted, sticking out her tongue.

"I'm serious. Why would a baby like you be out here? Why aren't you at home?"

"Today's my birthday." She stated simply.

"That's not a rea-"she cut him off, placing her hand lightly over his mouth.

"My dad's…gone. My mom is always off at work. And it's not like I have any friends to hang out with…" She pulled back her hand and looked down and her winding fingers.

Natsume stood up, and turned away. Thinking that the only person she could talk to now was going to leave her, Mikan crossed her arms and looked up at him slowly.

All of a sudden, there were warm arms enveloping her in their tight embrace. A quiet voice whispered in her ear, "I'm your friend."

With those three soft-spoken words, Mikan broke down. She cried into his shoulder, thinking, 'I'm not alone anymore!"

After a few seconds, she whispered, "Thank you…Natsume", softly into his ear. He merely hugged her tighter and ordered, "Cry."

Mikan obeyed, and over her shoulder, Natsume watched the snow fall. He smiled slowly and ducked his head.

REVISIONS! Wow. I sure was cheesy when I first wrote this. Its June 24, 2011 as I do this review and I'm shocked with how awful I was! How did you stand me? Anyway, I've made a few minor changes. I was going to completely revamp it, but I don't have the time or energy. So I'll make due with little things that bugged me! Stay tuned for the rest of my revisions!