I'm soooo sorry for this extremely late review. I've been so busy with school it isn't even funny.
I wrote an extra long chapter just for you guys!
PS. I'll say it again, but um, I have another exam coming up so I need to study so the next update may be in like maybe 5 days? (Possibly sooner)
Thanks for understanding.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice
Chapter 10:
*Mikan's POV*
I slowly opened my tired hazel orbs. I stared at the owner of the messy raven locks lying beside me—my brow furrowed in confusion.
What… I blinked and refocused on the raven hair.
I pulled myself up quickly. Natsume!
I blushed as last nights memories ran through my head. I slowly leaned back down against his chest, careful not to wake him. I exhaled and breathed in his musty scent—I studied his handsome face.
"Mikan, I love you"
A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
His brow furrowed and his crimson eyes slowly opened, his orbs landed on me.
A small grin meant only for me appeared on his face, lighting up his beautiful crimson orbs.
"G'morning," he mumbled. He ran a hand through his messy raven locks.
We laid in silence for a couple minutes just staring at each other. His crimson orbs pierced into mine and I felt myself melting and start to drift away.
He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a cough.
"Can you please stop staring at each other here. I would like to eat in peace" Hotaru's cold voice muttered.
I sat up quickly.
"I—I didn't think you were up yet," I stuttered watching as she popped a berry into her mouth.
She scowled and pointed to two plates of sandwiches and berries.
"We're leaving right away so hurry up and eat"
I did as I was told and handed Natsume his plate. I stuffed my face and was covered with the juices of different berries on my face. Before I got laughed at I quickly swiped at my mouth with the back of my hand.
After we ate, Hotaru grabbed out a map she had hidden and pointed out the way we were going to go to get to Natsume's Kingdom. The map had a big red circle around the cave that we were at right now with a dotted line leading through the forest towards a big area where The Hyuuga Kingdom's borders lay.
We were heading north of our cave right now and going for about 5 miles. Then we would be taking a little lunch break by a small stream. After our lunch break it would take us two minutes to reach the border.
"There's going to be Koizumi lurking there so we need to scout the area first and take them out so we can get safe passage through," Natsume said pointing to an area covered thickly in trees.
"We should avoid going through that area and head more to the left so we get closer to the guard house so we can get a ride from them up to the Palace"
"That would be a good idea," Ruka said plopping down beside Hotaru.
"We could take the carriage up to the Palace and get no attention at all from the towns people"
We nodded our heads in agreement.
"Okay, so we go through this way and take a carriage up to the Palace"
"Sounds good" I said.
"Okay, everyone start filling up the cart so we can get a move on" Ruka stated.
I walked back over to Natsume and my sleeping area.
I rolled up the sleeping bags and tied them shut.
"Need some help?" his warm breath brushed down my neck.
I shivered.
"Yeah," I handed him one sleeping bag and we walked out towards he cart.
He tossed both of our sleeping bags on top of the seat.
"All the sleeping bags are packed!" I yelled back into the cave. I ran around to the opposite side of the cart and tied the straps down.
Natsume rested his head on his arms and rested on the cart's floor. I stared at his drowsy face and moved my face closer to his to get a closer look.
I blushed when he opened his eyes and gave me a smirk.
"Staring at me now Polka?" he teased.
I smacked his forehead and went back into the cave. The floors looked bare without anything lying on them.
Hotaru handed me a giant basket of food.
"Why'd you give me this?" I asked.
She snorted.
"For you to take it out for me of course" she muttered.
"Well why can't you take it out yourself?"
"Why would I when your right there" she placed another basket on me blocking my vision.
I sweat dropped.
I carefully turned around and walked back towards the cart, moving very slowly. The top basket was lifted off and my orbs locked with those of Natsume's.
"Thanks," I breathed out a sigh of relief.
He smirked and set the basket beside the others, I did the same.
Hotaru and Ruka walked out with the rest of the things.
"We ready?"
I looked at Natsume.
"Yup,"
We were running for what seemed like hours, my legs felt like Jell-O. My breath was coming in small pants when Hotaru finally pointed ahead of us to a clearing with a running stream.
"Yay!" I ran over to the edge of the stream and ducked my head underneath the cool water. I stayed like that awhile, just cooling off until I realized I had to breath.
I pulled my head up and water dripped down my back.
I pulled off my sweater just leaving me in a red T-shirt.
"I don't think that was a really good idea," Natsume said sitting down next to me.
I shrugged and twisted my hair to get out the water. I watched as he leaned over the edge and grabbed a handful of water and splashed his face.
"See that's how you're suppose to do it" he gave me a teasing smile.
I growled and splashed him.
"Woops" I got up and ran.
I heard him running behind me and I squealed. I turned suddenly to my left and covered my face.
"Ok! Ok!" I rushed squealing.
I peeked through my fingers and saw him looking at me.
He peeled my hands away.
Ba-thump Ba- thump Ba-thump
Blood rushed to my face. Then he did something I didn't expect.
He pressed his lips down gently against mine.
We're equal now. He murmured in my head.
I stood there and watched as he walked away.
"You know," he called over his shoulder "we're going to eat lunch with or without you"
"Hey!" I ran to catch up to him. We matched pace and I hesitantly reached towards his hand. He saw what I was doing and intertwined his fingers with mine.
I grinned to myself.
"Here comes the happy couple," Ruka sang in a mocking voice as we reached the spot where the cart was floating.
Natsume gave his best friend a glare.
He laughed and handed me a plate of bacon.
"Thanks," I plopped down against the trunk of a near by tree.
"Mmm," I savored the taste against my tongue. "This is yummy"
My chin and hands were covered in grease. I licked my fingertips clean.
A cool wet towel was thrust into my face.
"Seriously, wipe your face" Hotaru muttered.
I did as I was told. "You didn't need to throw the thing in my face"
"I know," she said.
I glared at her retreating figure.
15 minutes later we were up and running again. We had looked at the calculations and if they were right it would take up about 20 minutes to reach the borders of the Hyuuga Kingdom. Then we would have to be really careful to not catch the attention of any Koizumi who may be there, and reach the Hyuuga Guard House.
"5 more minutes," Ruka panted.
I groaned.
"Be ready for a fight," Natsume reminded us.
I remember what the Koizumi did to me before when they caught me. I mentally shivered with recalling that.
At least I can heal everyone.
My courage went up and I realized I would be fine if they spotted us. Natsume could surround them with fire and we wouldn't even need to fight them.
We stopped by the end of the tree line to catch our breath.
Looking in front of us lay the big clearing that we were suppose to cross, In the middle lay a giant group of trees.
That's where the Koizumi are.
Looking up you could see a big white Castle hiding just in the distance.
My breath caught as I looked at the place from my childhood memory. I studied it again seeing if I could remember anything else familiar.
I looked at Natsume from the corner of my eye. I somehow knew him from when I was younger, but I don't remember much. After I realized I had the healing Alice I couldn't remember anything from that dream, except for a younger looking Natsume and a big white castle.
Maybe I'll find out more when I'm staying here.
Ruka stood up and everyone else followed after his lead.
"On three we run straight through to the other side, and we don't stop until we reach a small cabin with Hyuuga Soldiers"
I clenched and unclenched my fists.
"One,"
I stared at the other tree line—just 200 meters away.
"Two,"
"Three!" We broke through the bush.
Our feet pounded on the ground and my heart was beating so quickly I was sure that the Koizumi would be running after us at any moment and it would all be over.
Don't even think about looking behind us. Natsume warned.
I glanced at him. Mikan, Don't look.
I fought against the temptation to look. But I was saved when leaves brushed my cheeks and I was pulled back into the safety of the trees.
"Keep going!"
I started running again and a couple seconds later a small cabin came into view. A group of older men standing outside the shed ran towards us—armed with weapons.
We have the right place, right?
Yeah, just wait for it.
The men stopped in front of us and dropped to their knees.
"Welcome home, Natsume-ouji, Ruka-ouji and Hotaru-hime," they said in unison.
They acknowledged the guards.
"It is an honor to meet you Mikan-hime"
I blinked at the very formal greetings.
"Thank you," Ruka said, "we need a ride up to the Palace. May we use your carriage?"
"Of course, Ruka-ouji"
They lead us to the shed.
A big black carriage sat parked to the side—beautiful black horses snorted when they saw us. Ruka went over to the horses and rubbed their heads, they leaned against his hand.
Ruka smiled and looked back over at us.
"Let's go!"
One of the guards got up to drive us to the Palace.
Everyone piled inside. A hand reached down in front of me.
I looked up and saw Natsume.
I smiled and grabbed his hand—he pulled me up inside the carriage.
Everyone was inside so it was very packed—I looked around to see if there was an open seat. Someone grabbed my wrist and I was pulled onto a lap. I turned around and saw no one other then Natsume.
He smirked.
My brow furrowed in response—but I still relaxed against him. I watched the scenery go by as I looked out the window.
My mind wandered back to the voice of the Oracle and how my original Alice power has now been unlocked. I had to get three different Stones inside me first just to make it stable again—so what would the Alice be? I let out a breath of air I hadn't realized I had been holding.
That was just one of the mystery's I had to figure out. The next was Natsume.
How did I know him? Why do I remember seeing this place before when I didn't even remember coming here before.
My thoughts were forced to stop as the carriage stopped and we were told to get out.
We stepped out of the carriage and I was dumbstruck at how beautiful this place was up close.
The Palace was a beautiful white marble with gold trims around the windows and decorations. I looked up at the huge towering building—I felt so small compared to this huge place.
I turned around and looked down at the villages that were nestled against the hill for miles. The view was absolutely amazing!
"Come on, let's go"
I followed them to the gates and we walked inside into a mystical foyer. Complete with more marble inside and extremely fancy chandeliers—yet it was a very comfortable atmosphere.
We set are things down.
"Nat-kun!"
I looked up at the balcony by the top of the stairs and saw an older female version of Natsume. She had deep scarlet orbs and long raven hair.
She ran down the stairs at full speed and jump over the railing the last second—she landed on the floor graceful as ever.
"Nat-kun!" I saw Natsume grimace.
She tackled him in a big bear hug.
"Nat-kun! I missed you so much, I'm glad you're finally back" she pulled away from him and held his face, "Did you beat them to a pulp? Are they coming—"
"Mom," Natsume cut her off.
Mom?
My eyes widened.
"I'm fine, and yes we hurt 'em good"
"I'm so glad! I heard that the Sakura kingdom got invaded and I was so worried about you three," her eyes started tearing up.
She looked at me and blinked—then she looked back at Natsume, Ruka and Hotaru.
"Wait…" she walked up to me and studied me—her orbs widened.
"Your—how?" she whispered.
"I'm sure you know the princess of the Sakura Kingdom," Hotaru said inclining her head towards me "Mikan"
I fidgeted as The Queen looked at me.
"Um, It's nice to meet you your high—" I was cut off.
"No, No! Just Kaoru-chan for you Mikan-chan!" she gave me a hug, "Your Mom and I were really good friends"
"O-okay, Kaoru-chan" I said.
Just then another girl squealed.
"Onii-chan!" a girl that looked like a young female version of Natsume ran down the stairs into his arms.
She started sobbing.
"On—Onii-chan, I didn't think you would come home!"
He groaned and ruffled her hair.
"I'm fine, Aoi"
Her orbs traveled back to me.
After more introductions, we were—correction I was shown to my room which was beside Natsume's. Then Ruka and Hotaru's room was across the hall.
I plopped down on the bed and looked around the room. It was completely furnished with a TV, bookshelves, closet and an en-suite bathroom.
I didn't have anything that belonged to me personally except for the pouch my Jii-chan had given me. I had returned the clothes I had used from Hotaru except for the big red sweater and black skinny jeans, she said that they were a gift for me.
Speaking of clothes…
I got up and walked over to the closet. I gasped as I opened the big glass doors.
I slowly walked inside and stared.
To my left was a wall full of different colors and styles of kimonos, followed by lots and lots of different dresses. Then there was a section of every style of shoe available, plus an area full of make-up and hair supplies. Lastly there was everyday clothes, and PJ's.
I ran my finger along the clothes as I walked to the doors at the back of the closet. There were two doors—the one was a door that was made for sending clothes down to the laundry room. The other was a smaller closet area filled with a couple of dressers. I walked inside and opened the drawer closest to me—it was filled with an assortment of different styles and patterns of underwear. Then on the wall was a dresser of all kinds of jewelry and other accessories.
I walked over to another door that led into the en-suite bathroom.
I immediately spotted the strawberry bath soaps and oils.
"Wow!" I squealed.
A knock on the door made me wipe the drool off my chin.
"Coming!" I ran back into the bedroom and opened the door. Hotaru was leaning against the frame.
"Hotaru!" I opened the door for her to come all the way in.
"Have you seen the closet yet?" she muttered plopping on the bed.
"Yes, it's amazing!"
She smirked.
"I had them put your favorite soaps in the bathroom for you"
"That was your doing?" I sat down beside her.
She nodded.
"Oh, but there's going to be a celebration tonight for our returning. Including a ball, and food" she looked at me, "You have 3 hours to have a bath, pick out your dress and do your make-up and hair"
She walked back to the door.
"That's all I needed to tell you, I'll come back here 10 minutes before the party to make sure you didn't make yourself look stupid"
She closed the door behind her.
"A ball huh!" I giggled, "This will be fun"
I locked the door and headed towards the bathroom.
I slipped into the warm water and soaked myself in strawberry scents.
After my bath I wrapped myself in a towel and walked into the room where the underwear and jewelry were. I opened the drawers and looked for something that wasn't… lacy. Finally I found a similar pattern to that of my polka dotted one and I picked out that set.
I looked at the jewelry and realized I would need to pick my dress first before I accessorize.
Walking into the closet I went towards the dresses. I looked through them and found one that really stood out.
It was a strapless white cocktail dress with a pink bow tied around the waist, then the top half of the dress was black. I pulled it on and twirled around in front of the mirror. It fit me perfectly, which was good news.
I put on a pair of cute black flats—I didn't want to wear heals and fall over when I was dancing.
I went back to the jewelry and grabbed a long dangling silver heart necklace, with small silver hoops for my ears.
I looked at my reflection again and nodded to myself in approval.
"Now for hair and make-up," I said to myself sitting down on the bench in front of the make-up table.
I brushed my hair out along my shoulders.
"I think… I'll leave my hair down tonight, but I'll spice it up"
I grabbed a few clips and twisted strands of hair and pinned them up on the top of my head. I let my hair dry out just like that—then I released all the clips and watched as my hair flowed down my back in long silky chestnut colored waves.
I curled the ends of my hair in spirals and finished it off with a sparkling mist that shimmered when it caught the light.
I looked at the different shades of eyeliner and finally settled with a brown. I just did a thin swipe so it still looked natural but it made my hazel orbs appear bigger and very pretty. I did a few coats of mascara.
I applied a light blush and a light brush of a sandy brown eyeshadow. I put a light pink lip-gloss on my lips and stood back to examine my final appearance.
"I look good," I murmured.
I grabbed a pink nail polish and did a quick layer on my nails.
"Done!"
I left my closet just as a knock on the door sounded.
I opened the door and Hotaru walked into the room.
She gave me a once over and nodded in approval.
"Good choice," she said.
I looked at her—she was wearing a dark purple dress that reached right below her knees and black flats just like mine.
Her amethyst orbs were lined in black and her raven hair was sleek straight.
"You look great, Hotaru!" I said in awe.
"Yeah yeah," she grabbed my wrist "Come on we have to go get the guys"
Ruka answered the door when we knocked on Natsume's door.
"Wow you girls look really nice,"
"Thanks," I giggled.
Hotaru gave a small smile.
Ruka was wearing a light blue dress shirt and black dress pants. His blonde hair was a little messy—but not a bad messy.
We walked into the room and sat down on the couch watching some TV while we waited for Natsume to finish.
About 5 minutes later he came out of the bathroom.
My orbs widened as they rested on him. He was wearing a crisp red dress shirt, white dark black bottoms. His raven hair was as messy as ever—but I couldn't stop my self from staring at him with my mouth open.
He looked… really good.
His crimson orbs looked at me and he gave me a mischievous grin.
"Ready to go?" he asked me.
I stood up and grabbed his awaiting hand.
"Yup!" I smiled up at him.
We walked into a huge ballroom filled with hundreds of people dressed in formal attire. Some people were already dancing to the music that was booming through the stereos.
Hotaru dragged Ruka over to the buffet table to eat to her hearts content.
"Come on, we'll sit at a table until the party really begins" he pulled me towards the open tables.
"The party hasn't even begun yet?" I said eyes wide as I looked at all the people in the room.
"No, not even half the people have arrived"
"There's more people!" I shouted in disbelief.
10 minutes later then room filled with lots more people—but it wasn't even that crowded in here, which was surprising.
"Everyone can I have your attention!" I looked up at the stage, where a man stood.
"Tonight we are celebrating the return of my son, Natsume"
"This won't take long," he whispered to me.
Natsume stood up and walked on stage—everyone was cheering and some girls beside me were screaming his name. I frowned at them but looked back at Natsume as he began to speak.
"The past couple of weeks hasn't been fun, being captured by the Koizumi with Ruka. But during that time we were able to rescue Ruka's fiancée, Imai" Ruka and Hotaru walked on stage hand in hand.
"After we escaped, Imai told us that the Sakura Kingdom had been invaded," a few gasps were heard throughout the crowd. "But with her inventions, we were able to understand that the princess had escaped and was travelling through the forest by herself," more gasps were heard, and he paused for a moment before locking his gaze with me.
"We soon found her afterwards, and we made our way back here"
I blinked.
"Everyone I give you the princess of the Sakura Kingdom and my girlfriend, Mikan Sakura"
The girls gasped when they heard that but it was matched with the gasps of everyone in the room.
I wanted to disappear when I felt them search the room to find 'this girl'.
Mikan, come here.
I sighed and stood up.
Brushing my skirt I walked up to the stage. I felt the glares of all the girls at the back of my head, and I nervously bit my bottom lip.
I reached the stage and was greeted by his hand. Seeing him standing there giving me a smile made the glares of the girls feel like nothing. I grabbed his hand and was pulled towards him. He gave me a brief kiss on the lips and pulled me beside Hotaru and Ruka.
Natsume's Dad took the microphone again.
"There you have it! The princes and Princesses our safe, let the celebration begin!" he concluded.
As soon as he said that, the music boomed shaking the glass in the windows.
"Let's get a drink," he shouted down in my ear.
I nodded showing him I heard him.
He pulled me back into the crowd and led me towards the food table.
He poured a glass of punch for me and I gladly accepted.
We went back to our table and talked, well shouted back and fourth. It was pretty funny actually.
A high screech of the microphone caught our attention and we looked back at the DJ who was set up on the stage.
"Hey party people!" He shouted.
The crowd cheered in response.
"Ya'll having fun?" he asked.
The crowd cheered again.
"That's what I thought!" he said, "We're going to slow things down a bit, so grab that special someone and get on the dance floor!"
The lights dimmed down and the dance floor began to fill with couples.
Natsume got out of his chair and walked towards me.
"Wanna dance?" he asked pulling me up.
"Yeah!"
He moved me towards the dance floor.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he set his hands around my waist.
Our eyes locked as we rotated around in time with the music, I smiled at him.
"You know what?" I whispered, "I never thought I would be at some place so amazing in my life. Or be at a ball with this many people"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you do this back at your Kingdom?" he asked.
I shook my head. "We haven't done anything like this," I gestured around us with my hand. "Since my parents death"
"Well," he murmured "I guess you'll just have to come here a lot for partying"
I giggled.
"Maybe"
We danced in silence for awhile.
"Well…" he whispered very low "I never thought I would be together with someone like this, and never want to let them go" his arms tightened around me.
Ba-thump Ba-thump Ba-thump
He leaned down towards me and I closed my eyes in response. I felt his nose press against my cheek—his warm breath gave me tingles.
I inched my face closer to his and his cool lips pressed down against mine. Every nerve in my body was alive. His lips moved against my own for a couple seconds and he pulled away.
I bit my lip and lifted my gaze up to his crimson orbs.
He gave me a small smile meant for only me.
I returned the grin and leaned my head down against his chest.
A few minutes later the song ended.
"Follow me, I want to show you something" he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the giant glass doors leading outside.
"Here's another slow one for you, so stay with that special someone!" the DJ called.
The cool air brushed through my hair as we stepped outside. We walked down a lit path with pretty lights and a big glowing pink Sakura tree came into view.
My breathing stopped—we had a Sakura tree like this back at home. We walked up to the tree—I pressed my palm against the rough bark.
"Give me your hand" I looked up at him sitting on a low tree branch.
"How'd you get up there?" I asked confused.
"I climbed, now give me your hand" he said.
I grabbed his out stretched hand and was lifted up on the branch beside him. He pulled me up onto his lap and held me against him. I rested my back against the branch behind me. He lit his fire up and made his flames dance in the dark sky in front of us.
"That's so pretty," I breathed.
He chuckled.
The flames danced around and around matching the falling petals of the Sakura tree.
"This tree is where I come when I'm bored or not feeling like being around anyone. I don't know why but this tree seems to have some kind of special feeling to it—like its important somehow" he murmured. His crimson orbs reflected the dancing of the flames and the beauty of it dazed me.
"That's weird right?"
I shook my head. "No, I think its sweet that you have a connection to the tree"
"Of course," he murmured against my hair.
I nestled against him.
"This tree does seem mystical when the petals fall every where and the only light is your flames and the twinkling lights on the path" I said.
"Reminds me of home," I whispered to myself.
I bit my lip fighting back tears. Natsume pulled me closer towards him and rubbed his fingers lightly up and down my arm.
I hid my face and let the tears fall for awhile until I slipped into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 10 done.
Remember to review please and thank you.
Thanks to,
BeHind ThY Hazel OrBs
kylee-Cat
VeronicaLover123
SakuraPetals13
bunnyjumps
KashinoXIchigo4ever & .twins
-Luna :)