Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters. This story is entirely mine though.

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Also I'd like to thank

animechic12

lenprz

adi

for reviewing the last chapter.

But I'll also like to apologise coz i screwed up the Thanks list in the Author note. I thought it was complete but it wasn't. Really sorry. So here is the complete list now:

jazziscool

JuSt To RaNdOm

Chin-92

greentulip

Heidee May Payas

Emmoria

shainingu etowa-ru

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kk

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PS - I am modifying this chapter coz some lines are missing. I just noticed it now. FF honestly made me rewrite stuff like 3 times for this chappie coz it would not save.. sigh... Gomenasai for the screw ups. :(


"Are you sure?" Mikan asked, barely able to stop herself from shouting.

"Yup." Hotaru said with a smile. Mikan jumped and grabbed her sister in a fierce hug, tears glittering in her eyes. "I am so happy for you two." she said with a slight sniff. Hotaru laughed and hugged her back.

"Did you tell her?" Ruka asked as he entered the room. But before he could say anything else, Mikan ran upto him and hugged him tightly. Then she moved back and gave him a wide smile, and a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're going to be a dad!" she exclaimed happily.

"Yup." Ruka said with a loving smile towards Hotaru.

"Have you told mom and dad yet? They're going to be so happy." Mikan said, still somewhat jumping around for joy.

"Actually, we were just heading to their place now. You wanna come with us?" Hotaru asked.

"For sure." Mikan just could not stop smiling. Ruka laughed and gave her another hug. Then he wrapped his arm around Hotaru and they went to give Mr. and Mrs. Imai the good news.


Ruka and Hotaru had been in Japan for two weeks now, while Mikan had come back from her very messed up trip to Europe 5 days ago. They were all on an extended vacation and were going to be in Japan for another three weeks. Since they were here for so long, they had just rented a house near to where the Imai's lived. Mikan had been hopping back and forth between the two houses all the time.

That night, once they had shared the news with their family, they had celebrated for a long time. The mood and the atmosphere could not have been better. Not one of them could stop smiling that night. Hotaru sat at Ruka's side, almost snuggled into his arms. as she gazed at them, Mikan suddenly realized that she had tears in her eyes. She did not have words to explain how glad she was to have her sister back and to see Ruka happy again.

For the first time since Natsume had left her, she was fine with it. That had led to the chain of events that brought back Hotaru, and no amount of pain she suffered could ever equal to the joy she felt at seeing Ruka happy again. Maybe it was okay to forgive the past now. It had led to the present after all, and she would not change this present for anything in the world.


Natsume lounged on the couch with a glass of scotch in his hand. The alcohol was mainly there because the cold glass gave him comfort, since Natsume seldom drank more than a few sips. He raised his eyes, when Damien entered the room. That was the only indication that he had noticed his brother's presence. Damien went straight to the small bar, and poured himself a drink of Natsume's favorite scotch. Then he downed it in one go, and poured himself another.

Natsume's POV

I watched silently as Damien came and sat on the couch across from me. I knew he wanted to talk to me, but I honestly had nothing to say. What could I say? That I wanted Mikan back even though I was not sure I would not break her heart and her trust again. I saw Damien take a breath to speak, and I flinched. I could not help it. I saw his eyes widen in shock, but I also saw the pain in them. My pain, reflected in his eyes. I closed my eyes. I could not see my brother in pain. I could not see him hurt. Yet, now there he was, in pain, hurt, because I was in pain, because I was hurt.

Slowly, it dawned on me. If our roles had been reversed, I would have moved heaven and hell to give my brother his happiness. Yet, I would not let him help me. I had hurt Mikan. I never wanted to admit it, but I was scared. Scared of how much I loved her. Scared that I would not survive if I lost her, so I had left her. Left her before I could lose her. I had wanted to protect her, of course, but I had been a coward. I had broken her heart. Now I had broken my own. In this process I had also hurt my brother. Not just him, I had hurt Aoi too. Even though I had only seen her once since coming back, she could tell something was wrong. Even though I don't talk to her, she constantly leaves messages. I was causing pain to everyone I loved, and just because I had not had the guts to take what life offered.

I opened my eyes then. I would not have my pain reflected in th eyes of my family. I am me. Not a coward, and not a runaway. It was high time I took the risk. It was time to ask Mikan if she would still have me. Because life without her was not a life at all. It was just a meaningless existence.

POV over

Damien looked at his brother and he knew something fundamental had changed in him. His heart had broken when Natsume had flinched just because he had wanted to talk, but now a moment later when his brother had opened his eyes, he had become himself again. Damien could not help but smile slightly, as Natsume sat up, and then downed his scotch in one go. He gave Damien one of his very confident looks, and left the room.


Mikan could not sleep. With a sigh, she left her room and went to the living room. Maybe watching tv would help. After a while, to her surprise Hotaru joined her.

"I never knew you were an insomniac." Mikan said.

"I am not. What I am is pregnant, and hence I have cravings." She replied pointing to the peanut butter ice cream she was eating.

"Fair enough." Mikan answered and they watched tv in companionable silence for a while. Then Hotaru turned it off.

"What gives?" Mikan protested.

"I've been meaning to talk to you. This seems as good a time as any." Hotaru said as a way of explanation.

"Okay, so what did you want talk about?" Mikan asked, giving her sister her full attention.

"I wanted to talk about your trip home. I know what you told Ruka. You shared a suite with him, then he flew the two of you to Athens, and then you stayed there a night, and took a flight home. I know that all of that is true, but I also know that something is missing." Hotaru had spoken in a gentle voice, yet Mikan had flinched.

Mikan was silent for a while. She actually considered lying to Hotaru, but then decided against it. Firstly she hated lying, and secondly she respected Hotaru too much to ever lie to her. In a soft voice Mikan started speaking. She told Hotaru about the suite she had shared with him. About the fact that he was probably the one who had covered her with a blanket when she had fallen asleep in a towel. About the way that he had held her hand against his chest to calm her down. About the way his heart had not raced even once in that entire flight, yet it had raced when he had looked at her. She told her about how much fun they had had together over dinner. And she told her how gently he had held her in his arms that night. She told Hotaru about the love she had seen in his eyes, and how strongly she had felt it in her heart.

Mikan's eyes glittered with unshed tears as she told Hotaru about the joy and love she had seen in his expression when she had come back to him after meeting Ruka, and about how empty his eyes were when she had said goodbye.

"He left me. He broke my heart. I wanted it over. But why do I feel like I am the one in the wrong? Why do I..." slowly the tears she had held back started falling from her eyes.

Hotaru hugged Mikan, as she wept. After a while she looked at Hotaru and said softly, "I love him. No matter what he has done, I still love him more than anything. I know he loves me madly, Hotaru. I can see it in his eyes. Then why, why do I have to be alone?" the last part was a whisper, a plea with a man who never seemed to hear it.

"If he really loves you as much as you believe he does, he will come back to you Mikan. Give him time, he is an idiot after all, but trust in your heart." Hotaru said quietly.

Mikan nodded as she wiped her tears. Hotaru suddenly gave her a wicked smile, "I mean after all Mikan, where can he go if not to you. No one else would ever be able to stand him." Mikan giggled at Hotaru's words, since she too knew that it was not that far from the truth.

"Come now, its time for bed. I'll sleep in your room. That way, you might actually fall asleep." Hotaru said taking Mikan's hand pulling her to her feet.

"Its okay..." Mikan started to protest but Hotaru cut her off. "I said I will sleep there. If you have a problem with that, you get to sleep in my room with me and Ruka, but if he mistakes you for me in the night, or even starts to mess with me, I am not responsible. He's always very romantic." she said with a smirk.

Mikan made a disgusted face, and pulled her towards her room. "I am fine with you sleeping in my room. There are somethings that I just do not want to see or know about you and Ruka." Hotaru laughed at that as she allowed Mikan to drag her.


Author Note: I am sorry for the blackmailing at the end of the last chapter. Well okay maybe I am not.. I did want reviews badly enough to do something like that.. sigh, desperation shows. Well I did not get any reviews for that anyways which seems fair.

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