"Have you found it yet?" Mikan asked.

"Mikan..."

"Yes Hotaru?"

"Shut UP!!"

"Okay okay, no need to shout you know."

"I think you should calm down Mikan, Hotaru is doing her best you know. Just give her some time and I am sure we'll have the information we need."

"I guess you are right Ruka-pyon. I'll try."

Ruka and Mikan were in Hotaru's room waiting for her to find out information about Natsume and his current whereabouts. It had just been a day since he had left and Mikan was already worried sick. It was only to shut her constant whining that Hotaru had agreed to help, or so she said, but in truth she hated to see Mikan worried.

"Got it!"

"What is it?" Mikan and Ruka yelled at the same time.

Hotaru glared at them both and then continued.

"As you both know the AAO has been destroyed, so the academy does not need Natsume to do missions any more. So now they are paying him back for services rendered by sending him to receive a newly found treatment that stops a persons alice from affecting their life span. It says here that the treatment is so good that given enough time, it might even reverse the damage, done by the alice, to the life span."

Both Mikan and Ruka were silent for a while and then Mikan smiled brightly.
"I am so glad Natsume will not suffer any more." She said with genuine happiness.

Hotaru looked at her and then said softly, "It does not say how long the treatment will take Mikan. So we have no idea when Hyugga will be back and the treatment itself is a secret so I don't think he'll be allowed to contact anyone while its underway."

Her smile never wavered. "That's all right. I'll wait until he returns and I am sure he'll find me wherever I may be at the time."

It had been two years since they had had that conversation about Natsume. He still wasn't back and it was their last alice festival in the academy.

Mikan was a stunning beauty of 18, and she turned every single guy who confessed to her down. She had been nicknamed "touch me not" by her fan-club coz not only did she refuse all guys, but any guy to even slightly cross the line with her was taught a very painful lesson by either her best friend Hotaru or her (Hotaru's) boyfriend Ruka.

It was the last day of the alice festival, Mikan danced through the ball with all her friends but when it came to the last dance, she refused all the requests that came her way and sat down to watch her friends, who were all couples now, dance.

Hotaru and Ruka

Yuu and Anna

Koko and Nonoko

She was happy for them, but her heart was aching to be with him.

I'll wait for you Natsume, I'll wait because I know that one day you will come back. and until that day I will keep on waiting.