Thanks for the wait. Yes I know, I suck at updating. I've never been able to write well at the drop of the hat. I'm more of a...open a word document and see if it comes to me...

And now, in celebration of finishing Mid-Terms... Chapter Twelve: Antebellum!

an·te·bel·lumDefinition of ANTEBELLUM: existing before a war.

Chapter Twelve: Antebellum

"We weren't expecting this."

Tamaki slammed his hands on the desk. "We know this Persona!" He roared. "No matter what I do tomorrow I'll be walking into a trap!"

Mikan put a hand on his. "Calm down, Tamaki." Tamaki spun to face Mikan, his face twisted in an ugly expression before he realized who he was talking to, and sat down gracelessly next to her. "We're not looking at this the right way."

After a brief silence, Persona clapped his hands together. "This is the reason why I paired you two together. Where one falters, the other picks back up the ball. Your observations Mikan?"

Tamaki huffed and crossed her arms, glancing sideways at Mikan. She was uncharacteristically calm; both physically and mentally.

"The only choice we have is for me to go undercover. I'll find Yuka, I'll figure out how they were able to hide Natsume in the first timeline, and I'll be able to discreetly steal alices. I just has to play the part of the dutiful daughter well." She said casually.

"And if Yuka isn't there?" Persona asked. At Mikan's startled glance, he added, "Just playing Devil's advocate Mr. Verdier…"

"Then I'll have to really convince them that I hate Gakuen Alice." Mikan said sitting forward. "I already did that with Imoto…"

"So this works out perfectly. However, you cannot stay there forever." They fell back into a pensive silence.

"I guess…Tamaki will just have to come for me. I mean, if I escape at the opportune moment, I suppose I could send you a signal, but I can't really just leave AAO. They'll have me under high lock-down. Natsume was trapped there for-" She broke off and cleared her throat before resuming again, much quieter. "Natsume was trapped there for years and couldn't escape. He'd been training under you, Persona, for nine years."

"And what about the possibility that he didn't want to escape Kuro Neko, hmm?" Mikan glared at him.

"Shut up." She hissed. "You don't know him the way I do."

"And I don't claim to. But I've seen him at his strongest and his weakest, Sakura. I've seen him happy and I've seen the poison of hatred seep into his mind and clear his senses. You forget that I received custody of him directly following the…incident regarding his village." Mikan's eyes lowered.

"What will the Academy say?" Tamaki spoke suddenly.

"The truth" Persona answered. "We'll have to say that Imoto was a spy and kidnapped her. As a policy, all of the students will be warned to not leave campus, only specific DA students will have permission to leave, the campus will be on lockdown, all alumni will have strict orders to keep an eye out for wandering children with her description…"

"My friends will be destroyed." Mikan said, still gazing at the floor. "What about Aoi?"

"Once Imoto has left, we will be free of spies yes?" He waited for Mikan's nod. "She'll be free to join Natsume in his dorm and her classmates in classes, if she wishes." Tamaki sighed loudly, frustrated at fighting a losing battle.

"Maybe we can put a tracking device on you…"

"We can't risk that, especially if there's an electronic Alice user at Headquarters Sakura needs to arrive clean with only intentions to destroy Gakuen Alice. If they suspect anything less, then they'll kill her."

"Don't worry, Tamaki. I have a trump card, remember? I have the S.E.C alice! There's no way that they can detect that as long as I Nullify it." Tamaki's lip curled and he stood up, storming out of the office. "Persona-"

"Good luck." He said, dismissing her. Mikan jumped up and ran after her friend.

"Tama, Tama, wait!" She grabbed his shoulder. "It's going to be fine." He jerked in her grip and turned to face her, eyes blazing.

"You don't know that! Just shut up! Just shut up with all your damn positivity! Can't I be sad?"

"No!" She roared. "You can't be sad! Because if you're sad, then I'll lose it too! And what use are we if we're both a mess! I need you to be you Tama! I need you…" Her voice lowered. "I need you to make me feel like everything will be okay." Mikan could feel the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She didn't know how she could do this. Especially without her partner in crime. This hadn't happened in the past. She'd be walking blindly into the AAO. She didn't know what they were planning to do to her, and she didn't know if they'd even leave her alone. "I won't be able to see you…and I love you Tamaki. I'm scared."

She may not live to next week.

No Natsume.

No Yoichi.

No Hotaru.

No Ruka.

No Aoi.

No Persona.

No Tama- NO! She refused to think of herself without him. She wouldn't through this again. No one was going anywhere. She would be going away for awhile...but she was doing this for them.

Her friends.

The hot air bubbling under Tamaki's skin seemed to burst as he visibly deflated. He pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes.

"I love you too." He mumbled. "And I'm scared too. But it'll be okay…it'll be okay Mikan…"

-x-

Ruka stared at the scene with wide eyes. It had started when he was passing the D.A office to get to Natsume's dorm, but he'd seen Tamaki tear out of the office and had gotten curious. His curiosity and fear spiked even higher when he saw Mikan come running after him.

He was frozen, hidden by the tree's shadows. Ruka leaned back against a tree and breathed in slowly, closing his eyes.

Mikan came out of Persona's office.

Mikan. Came. Out. Of. Persona's. Office.

She's been disappearing frequently.

She suddenly has been spending so much time with that Senior.

He came out of there too.

Mikan came out of Persona's Office.

Mikan. . His breathing picked up as he fought to keep back the conclusions he seemed to be jumping to.

Natsume and Yoichi are dismissed from D.A, the D.A students are all running free...

The teachers seem to be covering for Mikan. How could we not have noticed?
How could I not have noticed? Ruka's eyes opened. Tamaki and Mikan were gone.

She works for the academy now. He broke in a run towards Natsume's dorm room.

I have to tell them before it's too late.

-x-

Not very eventful, I know. But I had to take a step back and plan this out...and find a way to explain it to you, because technically a new section is starting. Yes, I do believe we are starting Part Two :)

See ya!

Love,

Baby

ps.

Oh yeah, please review. I just love reading them!