Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Mai Hime and Mai Otome, I'm just borrowing them for awhile. This fic is also a expansion/adaption of the Otome no Inori picture drama from the recent Mai Hime blue ray release.
The Maiden's Wish
In another place, in another time the hall sits beneath the waves. One it was in the sun, and boys and girls visited and chattered there happily, and in a old custom tied ribbons with the name of their beloved on to the railing. Traditions and customs have power, even when they have been forgotten in time, and now that power awakens once again.
'This is a wish from a star far, far away,' the voice notes gently. 'This is a prayer, a strong yet sorrowful wish from the maidens.'
On the railing a necklace has somehow been caught, floating gently beneath the waves. 'Let me grant your prayers, then, let me make your wishes come true...'
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Ers-chan!" Arika cried happily as she grabbed her friend from behind, squeezing her rather impressive set of breasts.
"Eeeah!" Erstin squealed,.the blond stiffening in surprise as the fellow students on the walkway looked on in amusement. .
"Good morning," Arika was nearly cheek to cheek as she squeezed, the brown haired girl noting, "Your breasts are nice like usual today!"
"Jeeze, I had something nice to tell you too," Erstin said, blushing.
Arika let go, grabbing Erstin by the arm as they walked close together. "Oh," she eagerly asked, "What is it, what is it!" Her school bag swung as she added, "Tell me about it!"
"Well," Erstin smiled as she held up her cellphone, "Arika-chan, you're a Virgo right?"
"Yes!" Arika agreed eagerly.
"I looked up your horoscope," Erstin explained, "and today is your luckiest day." She warmly added, "You'll have a fateful encounter!"
"Oh?" Arika said as they walked along, "But I'd rather find a destined apartment than a fateful encounter."
"It's been two weeks since we transferred," Erstin asked curiously, "and you still haven't found one yet?"
"No," Arika shook her head, "They had no openings as the dorm, too."
"Well, they're still repairing that bridge which collapsed last year,." Erstin noted, "because of that, more people wanted to live on campus."
"I'm fine with my living conditions right now," Arika admitted as she thought of the tent she had set up in one of the local parks, "but the police and the teachers are a pain to deal with."
"I see...," Erstin said with a slight smile, "must be tough."
"But things will deffinately work out," Arika said with a firm nod of her head, "Today is my luckiest day, right?"
"Your fateful encounter," Erstin corrected with a sigh.
"Meow?" the noise came from nearby.
Both Erstin and Arika turned, walking to the side of the walkway were they saw a gray furred cat. It looked up at them with a plaintive look, a bell-collar around it's neck.
"It's a cat," Arika said, blinking with alarm, "She's hurt!"
"Should we...?" Erstin asked.
Arika reached out, picking up the cat and being careful of the injured front leg as she said, "Let's take her to Miss Youko."
Miss Youko was a tall, dark brown haired woman whom the students already felt comfortable talking too. She washed the cat's leg gently then applied a bandage, reassuring both girls that the cat would likely recover quickly.
"But what are we going to do with her?" Erstin asked as they walked from the nurse's office, Arika letting the cat ride on her head.
"Hey, Neko-chan, are you a wandering cat?" Arika asked the cat, both girls hearing the mild meow in response.
"It doesn't seem like it," Erstin pointed out reasonably, "she has a collar."
"I see," Arika mused then said excitedly, "hey, Ers-chan, let's find her owner!" Cheerfully she added, "Grandma told me if I helped out a cat in trouble, I'd be rewarded!"
"I think she was talking about a crane," Erstin offered, remembering the Japanese fairy tale.
The two girls went to the church first, reasoning that if someone had lost a cat they might have posted a notice there, or something. Seeing no notices they decided to ask the nuns, starting with Miyu Greer.
"Do you know anyone who's lost a cat?" Arika asked the tall blue haired girl and her companion, Alyssa Searrs, "We're looking for her owner."
"No, I have not," Miyu answered.
"How about you?" Arika asked Alyssa, the young girl shaking her head no, though she did pet the cat for a moment.
Nao Yuuki was sitting casually as she texted on her cellphone, the redhead looking rather odd in her nun's outfit. "Have you seen this cat?" Arika asked, but Nao shook her head no.
Leaving the church Arika and Erstin asked various students, looking for anyone who might recognize the cat or know about anyone who had lost their pet. They asked Mai Tokhia and her friends, they ran into Yukino and her friend Haruka Suzushiro at the JSDF recruitment drive, former president Fujino over at the college and a rather strangely dressed woman they THOUGHT might be their former teacher, Midori.
Finally after several hours of searching the two girls took a break in one of the local parks, sitting on the swings as the sun dipped down towards the horizon. "Jeeze, we couldn't find the owner," Arika sighed. She looked up at the cat back calmly sitting on her head, "I guess I'll have to take care of her, then!"
"Meow?" the cat asked.
Arika looked up at the cat as she asked, "Hey, Neho-chan, want to come live at my place?"
Before the cat could answer they heard a surprised voice call, "Nina!"
Looking over both woman saw a senior in her tan uniform. She was surprisingly pretty with black hair tied in twin braids on either side of her face, with bunches of black hair sticking up on each side. Her face lit up with joy as the cat leaped into her arms, the Chinese girl snuggling the cat gently.
Introducing herself as Chun Mei she smiled warmly, "Are you the girls who found her? Thank you both very much!"
"I see, she's called Nina?" Arika adked, smiling at the older girl and her cat eagerly, unaware of Erstin's shy blushing beside her. She smiled at the cat, "Take care now, Nina-chan."
"It's nice to meet you," Erstin smiled shyly.
"All right! Times running out on my lucky day," Arika said as she turned with determination, "and I still have to find a apartment!"
"Oh, you're looking for a apartment?" Chun Mei asked.
"Yes," Arika turned back as she explained, "I just transferred here, but the dorms didn't have room to accomidate me."
"My apartment building still has empty rooms," she offered, Chun Mei smiling slightly as Arika gasped happily. "My grandfather built the apartments," she explained, "It's called Garderobe. Do you want to come have a look?"
"Yes!" Arika nodded eagerly, "I'd love to! Thank you very much!"
Chun Mei bit back a laugh at the girl's eagerness, then fought back another laugh at the girl's campsite. 'She was actually living like this?' she thought, surprised.
"But is this okay, senpai?" Arika asked as they walked to Garderobe. "We just met, and now all of a sudden..."
"Don't worry about it," Chun Mei smiled at the girls reassuringly, "You're Nina's saviors." She hesitated, looking at the two of them, "And how should I say this?"
"Hmm?" Erstin prompted her.
A bit sheepishly Chun Mei admitted, "I feel like this isn't the first time we're met..."
Arika's eyes widened as Nina put into words what she was sensing too. "Yeah," she agreed, "I feel that too."
"Actually," Erstin nodded, "me too."
"It's all very mysterious," Chun Mei noted as they walked, the scenery orange tinted in the setting sunlight, "but for some reason, I feel happy."
"Yes!" Arika agreed.
Tentatively Erstin added, "Uhm, I'd like to try living on my own too. If I could get permission from my parents..."
"Of course, you're welcome to join us," Chun Mei told her warmly. "We have quite a lot of rooms left, and I think it would make Nina glad too."
"Meow," the cat agreed as they walked up the steps, stopping at the doors.
"But it's kind of amasing you were able to find us with Nina-chan," Erstin noted as they looked up at the three story building, cheery blossoms falling around them.
"Someone told me," Chun Mei admitted as she quoted, "Your most important friends are here."
"Oh," Arika poked her cheek thoughtfully, "Who told you, I wonder? Must be someone very nice, Nina-chan."
"Merow," Nina the cat agreed.
Chun Mei smiled, charmed by how the girl talked to the cat like a person. "Let's go in," she said, unlocking the doors.
"Yes!" Arika cheered as they followed her in, unaware they were being watched.
The little boy and little girl watched from the shelter of the nearby archway. The purple haired girl, familiar to some as Mashiro murmured, "You'll be happy this time... just take your time and start slowly, and let us weave your stories once again."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
In another place, in another time the hall still sits beneath the waves. On the railing the necklace floats gently beneath the waves, disturbed by the gentle currents. Banging against the railing the necklace opens with a click, revealing a photo.
Three school girls smile out happy, Erstin Ho, Arika Yumemiya and Nina Wang. Friends pulled apart by cruel fate and obligation, in one time... friends who are coming together once more.
End.
Notes: I tried to flesh out the picture drama without contradicting anything too much. Added a few lines of dialog, to space things out a bit, too.
There are several theories about how Mai Hime & Mai Otome connect, from Hime being the past of Otome, to them being parallel universes. I tend to be a follower of parallel universe theory, in this case, and I've written it with that in mind.
