Author's Note: Hi, again! Happy New Year to all of you! Sorry for the late update. Well, I unfortunately spent my first few days of 2013 in the hospital. Oh, for those who do not know what Hartshorn is, it's a smelling salt used by the English before who have headaches or fever.
yuki-chan - Oh, my first reviewer! Thank you so much! Yup, I'll finish this story for you, guys! :-)
dokiwuvnabi - Hey! Yup, another story for you, guys! Thank you so much you thought it was awesome! You are totally the awesome one, you! And yes, I just updated "If I'm Not In Love With You" and I apologize if it's short. Will try to make the next one long! Thank you! :-)
Shila - So glad you're looking forward to the next chapter! Here it is. Hope you'd like it!
Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana for the characters you'll distinguish. Judith McNaught for the awesome plot. Me for the... Uh, let me think. Oh! For the missing cookie in your house, maybe? ;-)
Breathless
Chapter 1: The Fiery Chit
England
1842
Mikan picked up her bags and strode off down the dock. Her ship arrived five days ahead of schedule and Mikan was really glad that finally, after five long, grueling months of sailing, she could feel the ground on her feet again.
Though the soil she was walking upon now was England's, she was still happy to finally have a breath of fresh air, not the sea's salty and kind of musty air. And she was, if she would truly admit, a little bit thrilled to meet her long-lost relatives again.
She looked around her for the coach that was supposedly would bring her to Thornton Park. She remembered distinctly what the letter said:
"There would be a coach to pick you up on the docks straight to Thornton Park where you would stay for a while, my dear. Please, come sooner." The Duke of Wieldingfort wrote. The letter was sealed with a wax, the crest of the Wieldingfort, red and black and silver, stamped upon it.
She craned her neck from left to right, looking around her. Failing to see any coach bearing the seal of the Duke of Wieldingfort, she continued to walk away from the ship. When she arrived at the port sheds, she slumped on one of the long wood benches.
"Finally," Mikan murmured to herself as she heaved a sigh of relief.
And then she waited.
And waited.
But no coach came.
When the sun was about to set, Mikan stood up from the benches and drudgingly went back to the ship, her bags dragged behind her. She spoke to Captain Tobita and asked if she could stay aboard while waiting for the coach that would pick her up. Captain Tobita, a middle-aged man with brown hair and circular eyeglasses, was more than glad to have Mikan in his company because, as Captain said, Mikan made him remember of his little niece back in America.
"Come, child. Go back to your room and change your clothes. Supper will be served in ten minutes," Captain Tobita told her.
"Thank you very much, Captain. I hope it wasn't too much trouble to you and your crew." Mikan warily answered.
"Nonsense. I could use some brains up here in the deck. These young men who were always with me made me feel like a nut crack. All they ever do were gamble and drown their selves in alcohol. Sometimes, I wonder why I ever chose those young men," Captain Tobita chuckled good-naturedly.
Mikan laughed with him but she could see how Captain Tobita valued his crew.
For two days, Mikan spent her nights and days in bored solitude inside her cabin, only saving herself from boredom whenever she got the chance to learn things from Captain Tobita's teachings. On the third day, Captain Tobita received a signal that they must sail to the Pacific immediately.
"I'm very sorry, Mikan. This event rarely occurs but it's an emergency, I believe," Captain Tobita told her that morning. "I don't want to leave you alone in here so I tried to hire a coach but blast it," he pushed back his glasses against his nose in frustration. "There is no available coach at the moment. Are you sure you'll be okay, child? I'd hate to think you will all be alone here, in foreign land." He asked, his old face wrinkling with concern.
Mikan nodded but kept the tears at bay. "Of course, Captain Tobita. I could take care of myself should anyone try to do ill to me. Remember I won the sabre-stick match with Mochu?" Captain Tobita shook his head in amusement as he remembered the mock sabre match his First Rank Officer had with this tiny slip of a girl. She won. She was good.
"So, you see, you have nothing to worry about me. I'll be okay. Thank you very much for all your help! Take care on your voyage and I hope to see you again someday, Captain Tobita," she said, giving a hug to the kind man. Captain patted her on her back then wished her good luck on her future endeavors.
She was still standing at the docks, seeing them sail, until the ship was out of sight of the English Channel.
She has never felt so alone in her life than in that moment.
Reaching for her bags, she walked back to the port sheds, her shoulders slumped. She crossed the small yard from the docks to the port sheds.
Then, everything went happened so fast. A farm cart, which caught a crack on the pavement, suddenly appeared at her side, sending Mikan in a heap of dust at the foot of her luggage. She stood immediately, dusting the grime and dust on her skirt. When she looked around, she saw the farmer a few feet away from the cart. He must have flew from his cart seat because of the impact.
She turned and ran to the farmer. "Are you okay, Mister?" Mikan asked, concern etched on her face and voice.
The farmer scratched his back and stood right away. "I'm okay, Ma'am. I'm sorry fo' wut happened. You okay?" He asked in return, dusting his hat off.
Mikan sighed in relief. "Oh, yes. Yes, I'm okay, too. Thank you. Please be careful next time," she said, smiling at the farmer. Then she remembered her strewn luggage in the middle of the road. She went back and carefully picked up everything. After, she sat at the bench again and waited for the carriage.
The farmer, seeing her dejected form under the shed, called out to her. "Are you goin' sumwhere, Ma'am? D'you want me to take yer with wherever yer going?" The farmer offered.
Mikan turned to him, smiled and shook her head. "That will be an awful lot of bother to you, Mister. No, I'll be okay here. I'll just wait for the coach to pick me up. Thank you for your offer," Mikan replied as she dusted the front of her black gown.
The farmer hesitated. "But, Ma'am, please, lemme offer ride yer a ride. That's the least I could do fo' ruining yer dress and yer luggage. That is, if you din't mind having yo' luggage at the back with them piglets. Is that okay? Please, Ma'am, I truly insist," The farmer bowed, clutching his worn hat.
Mikan thought that the man would not bulge from his form for hours unless she would accept his offer. And she also thought that she has been waiting for days for the coach which never came. No coach was also available for rental at the moment and Mikan thought she would not spend another day waiting in a foreign land for something that will not happen.
Or not coming, she thought dejectedly.
On the other hand, the farmer was kindly offering her a free ride to Thornton Park. What if she was really not awaited? What if there was no carriage to pick her up? What if it was all a cosmic joke?
No, she thought, as she touched the letter tucked in the folds of her black gown. The letter said otherwise. Even if Mikan was not truly invited, she would just talk and clear things up with her relatives. For the sake of her mother.
Decided, Mikan touched the farmer's shoulder and accepted his offer.
Mikan was grateful she accepted the farmer's offer. Not only she saw the view of England and its highlands, but she also loved the cool fresh air against her face. The squealing of the piglets and their rather foul smell behind her didn't deter her jubilant mood one bit.
After three hours of riding, Mikan realized that the cart suddenly turned onto a paved drive and passed between two imposing wrought-iron gates that opened into a seemingly endless manicured garden and parkland.
Where are we? She thought. But her questions soon banished from her mind as she beheld the magnificence in front of her.
The park stretched in both directions as far as the eye could see, bisected here and there by a stream that meandered about, its banks covered with flowers of different colors and kind.
"It's beautiful," Mikan breathed in awe, her admiring gaze roved across the beautiful park, admiring every landscape about. The rolling green hills, the banks, the fields from afar– it was such a perfect sight.
Fifteen minutes later, the farmer rounded in a corner, and said proudly, "There 'tis, Ma'am– The Thornton Park. I heard it has a-hunnerd and sixty rooms and a couplef hunnerd servants."
Mikan gasped, her empty stomach curling into tense knots. Stretched before her eyes in its magnificent splendor was a beautiful three-storey house built of mellow brick with huge forward wings and steep roofs lined with chimneys. It was a palace with terraced steps leading to the front door, sunlight glistening against the hundreds of panes of mullioned glass. The cart turned in the curved driveway and stopped in front of the beautiful house.
Mikan slowly descended the cart, not quite believing what she was seeing. The farmer helped her down. "Thank you, Mister. You've been very kind," Mikan said to him, feeling her knees turn jelly from nervousness and apprehension.
Just as the farmer was about to pull down Mikan's luggage, two piglets escaped from the back trunk and the farmer chased after it. Mikan, seeing what happened, tear her gaze from the magnificent mansion in front of her and hurriedly helped the farmer in chasing the escaped piglets.
The shouts and noise sent the double door of the mansion opening and a stiff-faced man with spectacles in shape of a frog went out. He was in a red, silver and black livery and a crest was on his left breast.
The head butler cast an outrage glance over the farmers, the piglets, and the dusty, disheveled female approaching him. "Delivers are made in the rear! Get your cart, your swine, and your person out of here. Now!" The man shouted. Mikan could have sworn there was lightning crackling behind his stern face.
She opened her mouth to explain to the man that she was a visitor, not a person making delivery, when she suddenly saw the other piglet the farmer was chasing was heading her way. Bending, she scooped the piglet straight to her arms and continued, laughing slightly, "Sir, please, you don't understand–" she started but was cut-off.
"I said get all of you on the rear where deliveries are made! Throw off–" The man in livery started.
"What the hell is going on here!" A tall man in his late twenties with raven-black hair and piercing ruby eyes stalked in front of the steps, his expression thunderous.
Mikan felt herself froze from the piercing stare of the man.
The butler pointed a finger at Mikan's face and said with ire, "That woman is–"
"Sakura. Mikan Sakura," She hastily said, trying to stifle her exhaustion and hunger at bay. When she saw the man's red eyes widen a fraction in unconcealed shock, Mikan's tension turned to hilarity. She turned around and gave the piglet to the farmer. Trying to dust her skirt off to no avail she turned to the tall man and continued, "I'm afraid there has been a mistake," She said in a suffocated giggle. "I've come here because of–"
The man with ruby eyes stopped her on mid-curtsy, his voice cold. "Your coming here was a mistake, Miss Sakura. However, it's too close to dark to send you back to where you came from. You'll wait for tomorrow early to have a coach to send you back wherever you came from." He caught her right arm and rudely pulled her forward.
Suddenly, Mikan did not see the scene as hilarious anymore but a terrifying one. Stepping timidly inside the grand house, she barely noticed the grand twin staircase leading to the second storey nor the skylight domed area.
She traveled for thousands of miles, across a stormy sea, fully expecting to be greeted by a kindly gentleman. Instead, she was going to be sent away again, she was going to sail a ship again for months where she would have to endure moving tables and beds. She was going– Wait, where would she go? She has nothing to go back to. She was going nowhere–
Mikan saw the kaleidoscope lights dancing against the mirrored ceilings as tears sprang helplessly on her eyes and suddenly, she felt the place around her spinning in a dizzying whirl.
"She's going to swoon, my lord!" The butler suddenly said.
"Oh, for God's sake!" The raven-haired man exploded in ire then swept Mikan into his arms without hesitation. The world was already coming back into focus for her and she started to protest. "Put me down, please," she said. "I'm perfectly fine and I can walk on my–"
"Hold still!" The man said, his voice not open for any arguments. He rounded a corner on the second floor then entered a dimly-lit room. He dumped Mikan unceremoniously on the purple coverlet of the soft bed and shoved her on her back when she tried to sit back up. He snatched the bottle the butler was holding then rammed it towards Mikan's nostrils.
"Don't!" She said as she twisted her face from the repugnant smell of the Hartshorn but the tall man continued to ram the bottle on her nose. In sheer desperation, she held his wrist with the small strength she still has and successfully escaped from the vicious force of the man.
"What are you trying to do? Feed it to me?" Mikan burst at him, her eyes flashing.
"What a delightful idea," he said nonchalantly but Mikan felt the pressure of his hand slowly relaxed.
Mikan Sakura – the product of seventeen years of careful upbringing – turned her face to the man and with animosity, she asked, "Are you Narumi Anjou Hyuuga?"
"No."
"In that case, kindly get off this bed or allow me to do so!"
Natsume Hyuuga's brows snapped together in surprise as he stared down at the rebellious chit who had the nerve to talk back to him. The little girl was glaring at him with her brilliant brown eyes. Her long red-brown hair were tousled about her slim shoulders like woods dancing against the fire, her brown eyes framed in long, thick lashes, her lips so full–
Abruptly, he got off the bed and walked out wordlessly from the room, the butler following him and closing the door behind.
Mikan slumped back on the silk coverlet, tired from all that happened to her. Who was that man? He looked like an upper-class gentleman but there were no gentlemanly in his ways or manners. Was he Narumi Anjou Hyuuga? The Duke of Wieldingfort? Mikan shook her head in disbelief. That couldn't be. The person who sent her the letter was "eagerly waiting" for her arrival. What happened downstairs was not an "eager" welcoming of someone.
She walked over to the huge window overlooking the manor and fixed her gaze on the sky, stars twinkling above her.
"Oh, Mama, Papa. I miss you so much. Please, help me get through here," she whispered, as she silently wept.
Rays of sunlight were breaking through the purple drapery when Mikan woke up. She was a bit rattled when she woke up.
Where was she? Was she still in the ship? Why was the bed not moving? She was still half-awake when she saw four maids inside her room. She jumped.
"Excuse me," she called to them.
"Good morning, Miss." The maids bowed to her. Oh, right. She was at Thornton Park.
Clearing her head, she saw the buckets the maids were holding. "What are those for?" She asked one of them.
"These are for your bath, Miss. My Lord ordered these for you," The maid, who has long blue hair, replied to her, her head still bowed down.
"Oh. I see. And is this, I mean, your Lord," she cleared her throat. She was not used to calling people "Lord" for goodness' sake. "Is he the Duke of Wieldingfort?" She asked as she slowly put the bed covers aside and slipped into the bedroom slippers placed near the bed.
Mikan noticed how the maids looked at each other uneasily, fidgeting, before the blue-haired answered, "No, Miss. He is the Marquess of Thornton. If you'll excuse us, Miss," she bowed and the others followed suit. They hurriedly went out of her room as soon as they put the water into the tub, but not before bowing to her again.
Mikan felt her brows knitted in dismay as she sighed. Might as well go and change, she thought to herself.
An hour later, someone knocked on her door. It was the long blue-haired maid she had asked earlier. "You can come in," she called. The maid bowed to her and relayed a message.
"The Duke of Wieldingfort has arrived just now. He wants to see you in the blue parlor at eleven o'clock, Miss Sakura." And with that, she bowed again and went out, closing the door gently behind her.
She wanted to ask more questions to her but it looked like it could wait.
Mikan looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It said nine in the morning. She still has two hours to spare.
Now, what to do?
She rummaged her bags and found a book.
After two hours, she got up from the bed and placed the book she was reading in the bedside table. She walked to the vanity mirror placed beside the door and sat down. She combed her hair and tied the sides with a ribbon. She smoothed down her mourning gown and reached for the door.
She whispered the names of her parents and offered a prayer as she went out to meet the Duke of Wieldingfort.
To Be Continued
Author's Note: How was it? Sweet criticisms are okay but positive reviews are craved!
Leave a mark. XX,
Alyx Hawthorne
