... No words can explain how bad I feel about taking so long. I got edited and wrote most of it, then stopped. Well, what's done is done :)
So I thought I should explain something that I totally forgot about. You know how I write Luca instead of Ruka? Well, that's because I'm a major book follower, and it drives me nuts because like literally everyone on this site puts Ruka. So sorry about that, if you don't like it. It's just the way it is.

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice is not mine at all. But you all know that.

Previously:

The cold hit them like an icy blast, as they fought their way towards the woods where the girl was said to live near.

Trudging through the snow, Natsume had just one thought.

'We have to find her, no matter what we have to find her!'

They ran through the snow storm, slipped on ice, and trudged through slush, desperately searching for Shizuka.

Finally, after what seemed like hours (and probably was) they made it to the woods, which were surprisingly thick with trees, but not quite a forest.

"Shizuka!"
Luca called, listening for an answer. But none came. "Yeah, I didn't really expect one", he shrugged.

As they fought the fierce wind and snow, Natsume glanced at his friend.

'Thank you, Luca. You didn't have to come out here, but even though neither of us know much about her, you're still just as worried about her as am.'

After a while, they took a break. Both of them dropped to the ground, shivering from the dangerously cold weather.

"We can't stay out here for much longer", Luca concluded. Natsume grunted, to frozen to reply.
"Natsume! We both have cell phones, why don't we split up? That way we'll cover twice as much of this place. I mean, how far into these woods could she live?" Standing up, Natsume nodded. "We've probably got about 30 minutes left, so let's hurry up."

They immediately ran off in their separate ways, with fierce determination.

*o0o*

Sparkling like crystal, icicles hung from the branches of a solitary tree, in the heart of a forest. Under the tree, there was a girl.
She lay on a blanket of snow, her black hair contrasting sharply with the pure white surrounding her.

'I can't.. feel.. my body.'

Shizuka clenched her teeth in pain. The cold was swamping her body, until it was numb. But even though she was numb, it was still painful.

'Am I gonna die now? If so, then I beg of you, God, take me quickly. There's too much pain in me, I can't handle it!'

She wanted desperately to cry, to let the tears represent her pain, and maybe take it away. But even in this dark moment, there was nothing.
Finally, in a state of sheer agony, she let out a cry as the darkness filled her entire body and her eyes slowly closed.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

Natsume halted, when the sound of a heart wrenching cry broke into his thoughts.
He knew instinctively that the voice belonged to Shizuka, or whatever they called her now, and he ran desperately int he direction it came from.

God, let her be okay... Just please let her be okay.'

"Shizuka! Hey, Shizuka!"

Someone, whoever it was, was calling her, pulling her out of the darkness.

Her heart pounded in her ears, but she could still hear his voice, and she desperately tried to open her eyes.
She had managed to open her eyes long enough to see a boy with anxious red eyes staring worriedly at her., although the world was spinning, so she wasn't quite sure.

'That doesn't make sense, nobody would ever be worried about me... I must have imagined it all!'

Well, it didn't matter anyway. The darkness of death was overwhelming her, and she fell back into a dark and dreamless sleep.

Natsume knelt beside her, frantically checking for a pulse. He had seen her open her eyes for a brief moment, but then quickly shut them again.

With frozen fingers, he yanked out his phone, and called Luca.

"Hello?"

"Luca, I.. I found her. Just walk towards the sun, we're under a tree in a clearing."

"I'm on my way. How is she?"

"Not good. She's unconscious right now, and from the looks of it she's been out here for a while."

Natsume could hear Luca's uneven breathing, as he ran as fast as he could to where they were.

He stood up, carrying the girl in his arms.
Suddenly he realized that this was the first time that the girls hood was down, and her face showing.
He looked down at her sleeping face, covered with dirt and scratches, and yet beautiful.

"So that's what she looks like", he though to himself.

Her hair was pitch black, and it reached down to her shoulder. Her eyes were closed so he couldn't see them, but he imagined that they were probably a dark brown, or maybe even hazel.
He heard footsteps behind him, and when he turned around hastily he saw Luca stumbling towards him, panting.
Wasting no time with words, they immediately headed home with all the strength they could muster, exhausted as they were.

For some reason, getting out of the woods seemed to take a lot less time then getting in.

'It must be because we're not searching everywhere, and stopping every few minutes to call for her', Natsume thought to himself.

When they finally collapsed at their house, Luca and Natsume were beyond the point of exhaustion.

They had been outside in frigid weather for more than 3 hours, and could barely take another step before they used the last of their strength to fall to the warm carpet in the front room.
But they didn't have time to recuperate, and after warming up in front of the fire for 5 minutes, Luca picked up the girl, and Natsume grabbed some extra blankets as they entered a guest bedroom.

Gently, Luca placed her on the bed, and Natsume covered her in loads of blankets.
Awkwardly they stood back, and stared at her. Luca nudged Natsume.

"So.. What do we do now? Should we try to wake her up or something?"

Natsume shrugged. "Isn't there a book or something on this?"

Luca received a murderous glare for his chuckle. "What? Even if there were a book about taking care of little girls, we definitely don't have one-That would be ridiculous! We're just a little bit unused to having a kid in our care, that's all."

Sighing, they decided to let her sleep, when she didn't wake up after they called her name. In any case, she would be warm when she woke up.

They resulted to watching TV in the sitting room, laying on the floor in front of the fire.
Luca propped himself up on his elbows and stared absent-mindedly at the screen. "Ne, what are we gonna do when she wakes up? I mean, we can't just send her back into those wretched woods!"

Natsume rolled onto his back. "Well, why don't we ask her if she wants to stay here? Your parents are rarely here, but even when they are, I doubt they would mind at all. Anyways, she should at least stay here until we figure something out."

Luca nodded in agreement. They were both too tired to think hard about anything.

It was a few hours later when she finally started to stir, around 5:00 in the evening. they immediately hurried into the guest room when they heard the sounds of blankets being dropped on the floor.

"Look, she's waking up," Luca exclaimed in excitement.

They eagerly stood next to the bed, watching in anticipation as she slowly opened her eyes.

They found themselves staring into two crystal blue eyes.

Speechlessly, Natsume stared in shock, as the girl blinked at the two strange boys who were staring at her.

Her eyes, painfully beautiful. A pool of blue, yet clear as ice, they pierced his heart as he recalled a story that had been told to the entire school around 4 years ago.

There's another chapter for anyone who still sticks around. Please, review.
Oh, I almost forgot! I'm so glad that people over here have manners!

Example: Update please

I know, I'm weird.
So, just curious... Is anyone actually interested in my story - Like, is it one where you wait eagerly for the next chapter, or do you just forget about it until you see it's updated. Because since it's my story, I have no idea. Don't worry, you can be honest.
Thanks for reading :)