This is my first story on here. I Hope You Like It!

Chapter One: Seven Years Old

"So when your great, great, great grandfather took the throne at the age of twelve, a rebellion broke out. It lasted for nearly five years, and over fifteen courts were destroyed. Do you know how many people that is? No, of course not. Three thousand men and women, little boys and girls like you, my dear, had to be buried for their untimely death. King Lio grieved for their loss for as long as he lived. He was always saying how he should've been quicker to do something about it, way before his 16th celebration. After that – are you listening?"

I continued to try to rip the frills off my dress, tuning out everything Lady Gram said. Eventually, my ears reconnected with my brain and told me she was expecting an answer. "Huh?" I asked.

She squinted her dainty eyes at me. Old lady eyes. Gram eyes. "I asked," she began, "if you were listening to me, Princess. And it's not 'huh' when subjecting a question, but rather, 'excuse me.'"

"Oh." I quickly scrambled around the massive piles papers of the desk, trying to find the one we were working on. It was impossible, though. Gram was known for her hard and long lectures, and each session she brought with her about fifty pages of history to study. Looking for the right paper in those kinds of numbers was a task a god couldn't get done. I dropped my fiddling hands on my lap and started to pick at my frills again. "I'm sorry. I wasn't –"

"I apologize. You are a human, Princess. Not a state of mind."

Lady Gram motioned her hand through the air, coaxing me to continue. I sat up straighter as my pigtails came down on my bodice. "I apoli – apolu –"

"Apologize."

"I apologize," I huffed, "for drooling instead of listening to you."

A look of satisfaction crossed her face before turning into disgust upon realizing what I had blurted out. "Excuse me?"

Gotcha.

Secreting more saliva to scare her, my sleeved arm wiped the half-dried drool line on my chin. I held the gray stain out towards her. "See!" The fact that she backed up into her chair made me even more excited. My knees were on the table and I was crawling on the surface before I knew it.

"Princess Mikan!" Gram bellowed, appalled.

"I think I can do it in my sleep now. I haven't been able to before. Which is weird, Gram, because I never practiced! You told how you can only get better at stuff by practicing? Like with dancing and curtsying and all this history stuff? I didn't practice drooling but I'm so good at it!" I opened my mouth wide. "Wan-a s-hee?"

Her hand cradled my chin and jammed my mouth closed. My teeth rattled as a tingling sensation shock-waving through my gums. "No, I don't want to see!" she exclaimed, shooting to her feet. She grabbed under my arms, lifted me up, and set me on my feet on the marble ground beside her. She sat back down on her chair as shaky, wrinkly fingers held me by the shoulder.

"Princess, that is not how princesses act." She pointed her nose to the crumpled mess of papers on the table I left in my childish wake. "Hasn't Sir Frytier been teaching you about manners and behavior?"

"He hasn't."

"Princesses do not lie, either."

" . . . French Fry is doing a good job."

If she planned to scold me as usual for addressing one of my tutors like that, she had probably decided to put it off for later. "So why lie? To me, even?"

"I don't know."

She stared at me sharply. "You've been acting up. Do you want to tell me something?"

I pouted, looking down on my bejeweled, satin-glossed slippers. "It's not fun," I quietly said. "I wanna have fun. It's been lesson after lesson for a long time now."

"It's only been a few weeks, Princess."

"That's really long Gram! You would know if you were me."

She sighed and made an effort to place me on her lap, grunting as she did so. She wasn't as strong as she was back then. She nuzzled her soft chin on top of my head, caging her arms around my already air-tight torso. "I know it's not fun. And I know you know that most seven-year old kids have lots and lots of fun. But, Princess, remember that you are not like most. You are special. You are an heiress to a prospering kingdom. And though it might seem difficult now, I promise – it will be fun."

"When?"

She laughed. Her chest vibrated with the sound against my ear. "When you start taking your lessons seriously."

We stayed like that for a long time afterwards. She hummed one of my favorite melodies to me when I told her I was sleepy, but not actually letting me sleep. It was cruel on her part.

I didn't mind though, because I loved being like this with Gram. Since mommy and daddy became busy with their work, I didn't really have someone to run to when I scratched my knees or had a bad nightmare. Gram was the only one who stepped up and took care of me. She was old, but she was a parent, a friend, a tutor, and a mentor, all in one. To me, she was as much of a queen as mommy was.

But I felt like our relationship was unfair. Though she knew the person I was inside-out, I didn't know something as simple as where she lived, or if she had grandkids or not. I'd be jealous of her grandkids, I realized. They get to be related to Gram, while I was nothing more than a child she was paid to look after.

No. No, I was more than that to her. For years, I'd been practically her grandkid, too. Gram loved me. She showed that every day.

Gram stopped humming, interrupting my thoughts, and carried me off of her. "Now, Princess, I do believe it's time to cut our lesson – if you can even call it that – short."

I cocked my head. "Why, Gram?"

"Oh, no, don't tell me you forgot! Oh, they'll be so hurt if you're telling the truth," she said, mockingly cupping her lips.

"Why, who?" I placed my hands on her knees and bounced up and down on my heels. "Who, Gram?"

"Your visitors of course, dear lady."

A smile ruptured to cover my face. "Visitors! I have visitors? Who!"

"Mmmm." She tapped her chin, contemplating, though I knew she had the answer waiting on the tip of her tongue. "I believe they go by the names Princess Hotaru – "

My eyes went wide. "Hotaru! Hotaru's coming!" I couldn't believe I had forgotten that. I'd been looking forward to it for the past two months, way before these crazy lessons begun.

"– Prince Ruka –"

Another surprised squeal. I forgot about him too.

Gram smiled at me. "– and Prince Natsume."

"Hotaru and Ruka are coming!" I leaped away and twirled on my toes, giggling and laughing and celebrating. My voice echoed throughout the four walls of my bedroom and exited through the opened window to my right. "I've missed them so much!"

"And Prince Natsume," Gram said again, more loudly. "Did you hear?"

I stopped and looked towards her. "Of course I heard you. But I don't care about him. I only care about Ruka and Hotaru." Their names brought a sense of joy to my heart, and I became jittery again.

"You don't get along well with him, is that right Princess?" She shook her head, stood up, and propped an arm on her hip. "I wonder why. He'd be such a good candidate as a husband in the future. So young, yet already so smart and talented. He's been promised fairly good looks, given that he's taking after his mother."

I doubled over, grabbing my stomach, and made hurling sounds for the next twenty seconds. It was only when Gram yelled at me to stop that I did.

"Gross, Gram!" I shouted, but I didn't sound as repulsed as I really was because happiness controlled the immaturity in me at the moment. "Ew!"

"Oh, Princess, don't be such a child."

Bundling the skirt of my dress in two hands, I spun around towards the doors of my closet installed in the wall next to the window. "I am a child!" I called over my shoulder. "But never mind that, Gram, I do remember them coming. And I remember that they should be here in the afternoon." I rushed over, grabbing the door handles as soon as they were in reach. Air caressed my cheeks as I pulled them open. To my right, outside, was the sun at its peak, which meant that morning was ending as well. "Help me get ready!"

Gram remained where she was. "I cannot be ordered arou -"

"Please!"

"Gladly." It was a matter of seconds before she was inside my closet and shuffling through my dresses. "I think white would suit you this spring, Princess."

Hotaru was the first to arrive. Of course. I didn't expect anything less from my best friend.

"Hotaru!" I shouted when I saw her carriage making its way around the main entrance pond. Much to Gram's dismay, I took the stairs two steps at a time, but even though, I didn't get to carriage before the footman opened the door for her; these stairs were made with three-hundred and five steps too many, after all.

"Hotaru!" I said once more as I jumped to hug her. She wasn't quite out yet, so the impact my leap made sent the both of us back into her carriage, me on top of her with my arms locked firmly around her neck. I nuzzled my face further into her shoulder.

"Princess Hotaru!" exclaimed a familiar voice from outside. "Princess!" It was her escort, I at last understood, Sir Dame. He was always with her for every spring she visited my castle. He was to Hotaru like Gram was to me.

"Calm down, Dame. It's just Mikan. I'm fine."

When Hotaru spoke, chills rolled down my spine. Oh, how I loved and missed her voice, and feeling those two things at once only made me want to cry even more. But I didn't cry. Hotaru hated that. She said that you could only cry when you were sad. I was extremely, extremely, happy.

So, I hugged her even tighter instead.

"Mikan," she said, "you're hurting me."

"I've missed you much, Hotaru." I raised myself on my elbows and looked down at her. "Did your hair grow?" Last I saw her, her violet-stricken hair barely touched her ears.

"Of course it did, idiot. What do you think it's been doing for a year? Learning Latin?"

Smiling was becoming so common today. And laughing.

A glare from her signaled me to get off, so I shut my mouth and rolled away from her, sitting on my knees while she propped herself up by her hands. She then sat crossed-legged.

"Welcome back to the Kingdom of Sakura," I started, curtseying as much as sitting would allow. "Here, as one of the kingdoms responsible for the balance of humi - humu - "

"Humanity!" I heard Gram (who else?) shout from the top of the stairs. I never did like her keen sense of hearing.

"Humanity," I continued through gritted teeth, annoyed at how much Gram was babying me in front of someone as mature and adult-like as Hotaru, "we are honored to represent by keeping peace between the Kingdoms through records, treaties, and relationships built through trust."

Hotaru cleared her throat. "I come from the Kingdom of Imai. We are responsible for providing the Kingdoms with apparatuses, to further better the lives of the citizens. We are honored."

"Okay, okay," broke in Dame with his head halfway in the carriage, "everyone is honored. But please, Princesses, do greet each other in a way that guarantees no bones will be bruised." I turned to meet his accusing eyes. "Princess Mikan."

"Sir Dumb. I mean, Dame."

"Your dress is going to be dirtied if you place yourself on the floor like that."

"It can be cleaned."

"It can also be an avoidable waste of soap and water, resources so many people lack nowadays."

"We're getting up," Hotaru said. "No need to make a fuss." I guessed she sensed the same thing I, and probably Dame, did - if left alone, he and I will likely fight. He's never liked me, that was certain, though I didn't know why. He seemed like a good man, given that Hotaru trusted him, and I hadn't done anything to upset him. At least, I didn't think I did. His dislike for me was personal; there was nothing I could do about it.

Once Hotaru and I came out, I immediately began tugging her towards a shortcut I knew that lead to the back of the palace. "Come on! They planted this tree last winter and it's so big now. I want to show you, it's really pretty!"

And almost as immediately, she pulled away from my grasp. "No. Like the other times before, Mikan, I am going to be here for a couple weeks. I have luggage and I want to get settled in."

"But you are settled in! You're staying in the same room as you did last year." Days after knowing the date of Hotaru's arrival, I had my maids clean and re-organize Hotaru's guest room. Compared to the other years she'd spent here the room was better than it's ever been. I give credit of that to Hotaru herself, because when she was dissatisfied with it at one point a year ago, she had a talk with the maids before she left. I wasn't allowed to listen. Hotaru told me I wouldn't want to be friends with her if I did.

Gram was now beside us. Her breathing was sort of ragged and uneven, with an uncommon strand of hair misplaced from her hair bun. "Princess Hotaru," she greeted. With her old age, that was record timing for her to come down these set of stairs.

"Hello, Lady Gramara."

"Princess, I would gladly call for someone to take your things to your room. The upcoming meal will also be served in two hours, so I suggest it's best to play with my lady here for a while. You left with a full stomach, yes?" Hotaru nodded. "Yes, you wouldn't want to eat more with no room to put it all in. It wouldn't taste as good."

Sometimes I hated how chatty Gram was, but sometimes, I loved how chatty Gram was. She backed her insights up with so much detail anyone would believe anything that came out of her mouth.

Hotaru emotionlessly complied after hearing what Gram had to say, but it was her escort Sir Dumb that was the problem. He'd argue with anything and everything I'd try to make Hotaru do, even if it was for her best interest in having fun during her stay here. It wasn't like I was suggesting jumping off a cliff. Geez. Anyways, he was forbidding her to come with me, and no matter what I, or Gram, said, his answer was a firm no.

In the end, since Hotaru would have no say in it to avoid being caught up in a dispute between her friend and escort, I had to sneak us out. The moment Dumb's back was turned to retrieve luggage from the carriage, I grabbed Hotaru's hand and made a run for it.

"Hey!" Dumb called after us. I laughed louder as his voice got smaller with the distance. "Princess! Be careful!"

I swore he was chasing after us, so I kicked myself to go faster. I kept dragging Hotaru whenever she fell behind, making sure she was keeping up her pace too even though she wasn't as athletic. We ran around the palace until we came to the east wall. We stuck beside it and all the trees and bushes that were there.

"I hate - . . . being outside," Hotaru heaved.

We didn't stop until we reached the gates that enclosed the back field. It was black and thick and scary-looking, but fortunately not built in an unreasonable height. I was able to stretch and open the lock when I went on my tiptoes. The gates opened without a sound, and I ushered Hotaru through as if wolves were hot on our trail. I locked the gates with a click, and it was then that I let out a breathe.

"Y-Your escort, Dumb, probably won't like me after this," I said to her.

She didn't answer for the longest time. I felt bad as she tried over and over again to catch her breathe.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay. . . I'm going to go ahead and ask you to piggyback me to wherever you want to go."

She was speaking, so that was good. Nevertheless, I stopped feeling guilty and began to whine. "But, Hotaru! You're heavy!"

"And you're d-dumb to make me run all that. You owe me this –. . Mikan."

I knew I did. And I also knew how she was when it came to exerting her body. But, as I pulled her arms over my shoulders I kept whining. As I pulled her on my back, I kept whining. As I stood up with a new load on me, I kept whining.

"You're so heavy!"

"Let's go," she ordered, her voice like silk beside my left ear.

Huh? Why did she suddenly sound okay?

"Quickly, before Dame comes."

I began to start treading slowly. "Hotaru . . ."

"You're going so slow. Faster, Mikan."

"You sound fine, Hotaru," I struggled to say.

"What do you mean? I almost died back there."

"B-But – "

"Mikan, go. I see Dame! He's coming!"

I probably knew, I think, that she was lying, and that she tricked me just to get a free ride. This wasn't the first time she'd guilt-trip me like this, but when she mentioned the name of the one person who could ruin the whole day for the both of us, I willed myself to put up with whatever pain there was in my legs and run for it.

And, being the silly, little girl that I was, I asked, "Is he close? We're almost there, I promise!"

Eventually, through what seemed like hours of hard work and labor, we reached the back field of the palace. Upon seeing the tree I wanted to show her in the distance, I collapsed, taking in a face full of dirt and sending Hotaru to the ground.

"Oof!" she wheezed.

I peeled my forehead off the grass. "Sorry. I'm tired." I rolled onto my back, like how she had fallen, and lifted the skirt of my pure white dress to my eyes. It wasn't so white anymore. Grass stains, dirt – I was going to hear it from Gram.

"Mikan – " Hotaru whispered. Mikan, you idiot. That really hurt. I'm never to go outside with you ever again.

"Look, I'm really sor – "

"Is that what you wanted to show me?"

I craned my neck to her, then backwards to follow her pointing finger. A grin transformed my dirty face when I saw that she was pointing to the Sakura Tree. The young and beautiful and pink Sakura Tree.

I sat up on my butt, and then rose to my feet while patting my dress down, though it clearly didn't do any good. "Yeah, that's it," I said. I walked over to her and offered her a hand. "Here. I'll show you."

It was a while before she took it. When she did, I made her run again to the tree as soon as she set herself on her feet.

"Mikan! No more running!"

We eased to a stop underneath the branches, where we were shaded from the sun by its blushing petals. "Okay. That was the last time. I promise." I gazed out the edge of the field. My home was perched on what Gram told me was a mountain, a thing that upraised the castle to escape "downworld influence". Everything within ten miles was visible. Sakura Kingdom was in perfect view from here, although the houses, stores, and people looked so tiny. Like ants. Beyond the kingdom slept the weary Giving Sea. We, as one, depended so much on it, and I couldn't think of a future where the sea would stop giving.

I turned back to Hotaru. She was picking out a Sakura petal that fell on her bangs. Holding it out on her hand, a breeze came and carried it away into the village.

"This was planted last winter," I began to tell her. "It's only been a couple of months and it's already gotten so big. Not only that, Hotaru, but listen, it's my favorite place. It's also my secret place because no one can come here."

"'Can'?"

"I mean, no one really goes here. I don't know why, Hotaru."

"It's pretty." She put her back against the body of the tree and sat down on one of its big roots. "You can see your kingdom from here."

"Right, right!" I exclaimed. "Listen, Hotaru, you're my best friend. I'm giving you permission to make this your secret place, too."

"Thank you, but that's going to be hard, considering I'm only here for three weeks."

I skipped closer to her, my pigtails swaying around like it's the leaves on the tree above me. "When do your parents come?"

"In a week."

"Then you've got a month! They stay here for three weeks, but you're a week earlier."

"Oh." She looked up at me. Then a small smile sprouted above her chin. "Then, this will my secret place too."

I really did miss her. This happened every year – she came, left, made me miss her, came again, left again, and made me miss her even more. It was ruthless cycle her and my parents forced us to go into. I wished I could just grow up always being with her. Then, I wouldn't have to notice the little changes she'd gone through.

This year, it was her hair. Last year, it was her way of speaking, like she was an adult already. I felt like one day, she'd come for her annual spring visit and I wouldn't know who she was. It scared me to think like that. But we were best friends. We'd get through anything.

"I suggest you let them make this their secret place, too, Mikan."

I snapped out of my thoughts just in time to hear what she said. I couldn't ask her what she meant though, because it was when someone jumped down from the tree and landed to my side, surprising me. I was so lost in a care-free dream that I didn't have the mind to do anything else but scream.

"Stop screaming. It's just me."

I didn't stop screaming.

"I said stop screaming."

Not for my life, murderer! Wait. You sound like a kid. And familiar.

"Mikan, stop."

A hand came over my parted mouth, forcing it to close and muffling my yell back down my throat. With a fist ready to do as much damage a little girl like me could do , I turned – and then froze.

Only one person, one person out of everyone in the whole, wide, entire universe owned a pair of eyes so red and, yes, beautiful.

I shook loose of his hold on my lips. "Natsume!" I couldn't deny the twinge of cheerfulness when I saw him. He hadn't changed. Well, he had, but he hadn't. He was confusing like that. He got taller, I could tell. But boys were naturally tall. A flood of memories washed over me: him pushing me into a creek, him calling me ugly, him giving me a frog for my birthday (which, I ended up keeping as a pet), him coming for his three-week spring stay, like Ruka and Hotaru, him leaving from his stay. I couldn't help myself from exclaiming once more, "Natsume!"

"I said stop yelling," he replied, then looked up at the tree. "Ruka. How long are you going to stay there?"

Ruka!

"Ruka's here? Where?" I followed Natsume's gaze. "Ruka!"

A blonde head peeked out from the edge of the biggest branch. Ruka's face followed suit. "H-Hi, Mikan." He hadn't changed much either, if any at all. Still baby-faced and innocent.

"Ruka!" I jumped as if I could touch him all the way up where he was. "Come down here!"

"I-I-I can't . . ."

It was Hotaru who answered to him. "Why? Scared?" She came and stood up next to us, also craning her neck.

Ruka nodded more than enough times, a hint that he wasn't lying. "I don't even know how I got up here. Natsume! This is your fault!" he accused.

"Hah? How is it my fault?"

"You told me to come up here!"

"I asked."

"Just get me down! Please!"

Natsume's hand went to his hair and ruffled it. Oh. His hair got longer too. "Ruka, just jump."

"Why are you asking me to die!"

"I'm asking you to jump, dumbass!"

I scooted closer to Hotaru, ignoring the situation for a second. "Hotaru," I nudged her, "what does dumba – "

"It's something I'm going to be calling you when we're older," she snapped. "Ruka! Jump!"

Confused on whether or not it was a term of endearment, I joined the two on the ground to try and coax the one on the tree to get off. Ruka wasn't budging though, and I was really starting to wander how he got up there. Or why.

"Why are you even up there?" I called, putting my thoughts into words.

"Because – because Natsume told me there was a bird's nest up here."

"Whatever, Ruka, just jump!" Natsume hollered.

"Jump!" Hotaru backed up. "The branch is going to break!"

I swung my stare to her. "No it's not?"

She gave me a sidelong glance. "Yes it is," she whispered, "if you want him to get off."

Oh. Oh.

"Ruka!" I said, cupping my mouth. "It's breaking, it's breaking! Jump before it takes you down with it!"

"Wait, seriously! It's breaking? Help me! Mom! Dad!"

"Idiot, they're not here! Hurry up!" Apparently Natsume was in on the act too. "I'll catch you."

"So will I!" I went and stood beside him, putting my arms out like how he did.

Hotaru didn't move. "Trust them, they'll catch you," she said.

"What about you?" Ruka asked, sniffling. Oh geez, he was crying.

"I'll drop you if I try, so trust me when I say I'm doing you a favor right now."

Ruka then turned back to me and Natsume. He was shaking now. He was shaking and crying and was such a mess. To think, it's only his first day here. "Guys . . ."

"Trust me," Natsume and I said at the same time. We looked at each other, but it was only me who continued the sentence.

"Trust me, Ruka. We'll catch you."

It took a lot of convincing, but we finally got Ruka to his knees on the branch, and yelling at him for a few more minutes got him to his feet. He grabbed hold of another branch above him to keep steady.

"Just like that Ruka. We're ready. Jump."

" – But – !"

"Jump!" Natsume, Hotaru, me, and surprisingly Ruka shouted all at once.

And then he leaped, but he leaped in place, not to the side or down towards us.

"Ruka!" Natsume cried out. "You idiot, no!"

Ruka's feet touched the branch again, but because his momentum kept him going, the soles of his shoes caught the air and we all watched in horror as Ruka screamed and slipped head first.

It was instinct that drove me to dive for the falling boy. I looked to my sides, and I knew it was instinct that drove Hotaru and Natsume to do the same. We headed for Ruka's shadow as it began to disappear as he got closer to the ground.

"Aah!" he shrieked.

My breathe was knocked out of me when my chest collided with the ground. I slid for a few more feet until I felt Ruka's weight in my extended arms. Another load to my right told me Hotaru landed on top of me, and a pinching pain also told me she scratched my cheek in the process.

"Augh," I breathed.

Time seemed to freeze the second we did. Ruka stopped falling. I stopped sliding. Everything became quiet. The wet soil below my knees was definitely going to leave a stain. But what did it matter? My dress was probably ruined for life.

I noticed, without all the fuss happening, that the ground was softer than when I had fell landed on it. I peeked over my shoulder, and my eyes were staring into Natsume's from an inch away.

Rubies.

Rubies were definitely better than diamonds.

"You're heavy," he murmured.

I glanced around. "Oh, sorry," I said when I realized it wasn't the ground I fell on, but him. "I'll get off now – "

I tried, but couldn't. A grunt escaped my throat as I understood Natsume and I were the bottom half of the pile, while Hotaru and Ruka were the top.

I looked down towards him again. "It looks like we're stuck." He was about to reply, but was interrupted by Ruka laughing.

Laughing?

"What, Ruka?" slugged Hotaru from above me. "This is your fault."

"That was so scary!" he said.

I added, "And painful." Whoever came up with dog piles was a lunatic.

Ruka continued to laugh, making no effort to get up. I think he was still spooked and he tried to brush it off however a seven year old can. I eventually began to join him when I at last started the feel of all of us being together again, aside the negativity of the situation.

This was just like how we were in the past. Even though a year separated us, we were the same. We were still friends. And we can still be stupid like this. The only thing that was different was the Sakura tree. When we played around like this, there were no pink petals surrounding us. There were no branches to cover us. We were by ourselves, but now, with that changed, everything felt warmer.

"Get off," Natsume said.

Nobody moved. "Hotaru, you're heavy!"

"You already told me that Mikan."

"That was so scary!"

In between my laughs and with my crushed lungs, I had managed to say, "Welcome back, guys."

Any questions you have will probably be answered in the upcoming chapters. But if you cannot wait to ask me, feel free to PM me. Thank you for reading and please don't forget to review! All criticism and praise are accepted.