Okay, first of all, I would like to say thanks to those who have patiently waited for this chapter and I am soo terribly sorry that it took so long. I now have a part-time job so time has been a bit of pressure. But I hope I will finish this story before July... hopefully. Anyway, this chapter has been written but not typed up so that might have also been why it took so long. Thanks again for being here :)

Enjoy~

"Why do you cry?," "I cry, because I am sad"

Normal P.O.V

Knock Knock

Hotaru stood up from her spot at the couches and made her way towards the door. The maids were all out for a day off right now. "Who is it?"

"Hotaru..." Hotaru opened the door to a familiar brunette but what she noticed the most was her eyes were red and wet, her breathing, uneven and short. "Mikan? What are you doing here?" Mikan just continued to stare at her through her moist eyelids. "Mikan, what happened?" Mikan continued to be silent. "Okay, come on in then, we'll have a talk."

Mikan and Hotaru both took a seat on the couch in Hotaru's room. Mikan's breath was unsteady and short still. "Mikan, tell me what happened. Why are you here? Did you find Hyuuga?" Mikan stayed quiet, she didn't want to talk about it. What Natsume have said. Hotaru was getting impatient, but her amethyst eyes were filled with worry. It wasn't everyday that Mikan just turned up to your doorstep looking broken and lost. "Mikan?" Hotaru's voice brought Mikan back with a gasp. "Did you find him?" Mikan looked up, but a new wave of tears were dripping down her cheeks. She shook her head almost too hard, while trying to control her tears and breathing, she replied. "Worse, I lost him."

Hotaru went out of the room and came back in later with two cups of hot cocoa in hand. She gave one to Mikan. "Hotaru, he's Nat-kun! I know it! But he's changed so much. It's like he's completely forgotten about me!" Mikan gasped and coughed. "Hotaru... I so confused!"

"No, Mikan if he was talking to Ruka about looking for you then it must mean something right? It's obvious he hasn't forgotten you then." Mikan fidgeted with her cup so that it sat on her lap and her hands were clasped around it for warmth. Her voice was a mere whisper. "He hates me"

Hotaru stared at her best friend. It's been a long time since she saw Mikan like this. Ever after her parents had died. She put her hand to Mikan's face, drying the tears for her. "You know you look more ugly when you cry like that idiot." Hotaru got up and walked to the window beside her bed. "Mikan, do you want to hear a story?" Mikan's eyes glowered with tears but there was curiosity in them also.

"Not long ago, there was a young girl... she had just arrived to a new place where she had never been before, it terrified her, but she didn't have a choice. She had to leave the people she loved behind and all of her friends. It broke her, it turned her to stone. A heart of stone. She didn't want to talk to anyone or do anything. She just sat in her room staring at nothing."

Hotaru's eyes sparkled for a moment.

"But, one day she was forced to go out to a party, and if she didn't go she would be considered not respectful and people would lose respect for her family, so in the end she went. At first, people greeted her warmly and with great hospitality but as the night grew on, they discovered that she was cold, frozen and a complete disappointment. They left her alone then.

The ballroom was stuffy and filled with the smell of cigars so the girl walked out onto the balcony. She wasn't the only one there. A man, no a boy, maybe the same age as her, stood there, his tie gone and his top buttons deep set of blue eyes looked out into the cool night. His hair was a messy shade of gold, like the sun. The boy heard her footsteps and turned around, he greeted her with a smile, and the girl felt like she was in a fairytale. It was love at first sight."

Hotaru took a breath. She normally didn't talk this much, but she continued.

"The boy apologized and quickly returned to the ballroom. The girl however stood there stunned. Her heart beat fast and she couldn't move her body at all. Warmth invaded her whole being. She thought that was the last time she would see that boy again, but she was wrong. Over the next couple of days, she stayed in her room. There was another party that night, and she had to get ready soon. When she did arrive, nobody bothered with her. They didn't even realize she arrived, but one did."

Mikan felt something in her stir, something was real about this story, and she felt it. "It was the boy. His face never changed, and she instantly recognized him. He asked her for a dance. At first the girl was hesitant, it was a long time since she let someone be so close to her. The boy, not waiting for a reply, took her hand anyway and led her to the middle of the room. Bringing her in close, so close she could smell his cologne. It was sweet and tender... and it made her melt. Their dance ended but he escorted her over to the balcony. His eyes searched the night sky again. "I wasn't going to come today, I didn't have to anyway" He said into the air. "But I thought, what if she came?" The girl just stared at him. Hoping silently that it was a joke. "and you did" he turned to her then, a smile etched on his face.

But she didn't return it, she couldn't. So she ran off, out into the streets and down the road, hoping he didn't follow, and he didn't. She turned the corner but tripped, her hands scraping the uneven pavement. She didn't cry out, but just sat there. Weeks have passed and months have gone. She never saw the boy again. She probably frightened him away. One evening in autumn, she went down to the park for a walk. It was breezy and cold, and she was forgetful that she didn't bring a jacket. She bounded her arms around her body and crossed the road, back to her home. Her eyes searching the crowds for nothing in particular. A screech was heard, and a scream. She was tugged back by her arms and her legs were shaken onto the ground. Her eyes widen, as the truck zoomed past her. "Are you okay?" It was the boy.

"Yes"

He helped her up. "You should look where you're going next time" And he walked off. The next couple of days, she kept bumping into him, whether it was at the park, or at the book store, he was everywhere she went, and as she bumped into him at the computer store again. She confronted him. "Are you following me?!" He smiled at her, a smile that reached his deep blue eyes also.

"Of course not"

"So what, it's been coincidences?"

"Nope, not a coincidence. Maybe fate?" She laughed sarcastically. "What?"

"Nothing," she replied, "but, apparently it seems as though fate has a sense of humor really." He laughed. Freely. A happy laugh, like nothing was holding him down, and when she saw him like that she couldn't help that smile that grew on her face. He stopped, and said "You finally smiled"

"It was then that she realized, if it was meant to be, it always will be." Hotaru finished. Mikan sat there, staring at her best friend. Hotaru had never been as beautiful as she was now, glowing. Mikan realized it, the tears were replaced with a small smile. "That was you wasn't it Hotaru?"

"Natsume, are you sure, this is the right decision? Letting her go?" Ruka came over to talk to Natsume, after what Hotaru told him. He believed Natsume was the one to make the right choices, but this time... "Ruka, I'm not going to change my mind. She was the one who lied to me first"

"Did you let her explain? Maybe there was more to-"

"What's there to explain?!" Ruka couldn't believe this. Natsume was being unreasonable. "What if... what if it was a misunderstanding? Nastume?"

Natsume took a deep breath. "How, Ruka? How can it be a fucking misunderstanding?! The picture was clear on what she was doing. That it was her!"

"Natsume..."

"No Ruka, can we just change the topic now?!" Natsume moved over to his bookshelf where he picked out a manga, and glided back onto his bed. Ruka stayed at the doorway. "What if though, Natsume? Are you really just going to let her go so easily?" Natsume had enough of this, he stood up and stood in front of Ruka. His voice was restrained by his teeth, he hissed out "Ruka, I said leave it." Natsume turned his back around to his bed and said in a more softer voice. "It was never meant to be, she was nothing to me. We were nothing!" A fist came soaring into Natsume's left eye, stumbling him a couple feet back. "What the actual FUCK Ruka!" Ruka shook his hand out from the impact. Their eyes connected, and a fire burned furiously and brightly between them. "I don't know what happened, Natsume, but i refuse to let you say that!"

"Tch, why? Did you have a thing for her also? Geez just how many has she fucked?"

"Natsume..." It was Ruka who hissed back now. "How can you say something like that?! You loved her! This was fate. Fate decided to give you another chance, because you lost your Mi-chan! You're really going to give it up that easily?!" Nastume for once didn't say anything. His hair covered his ruby drops, and Ruka was speechless. His all-time best confident, arrogant, persistent best friend was giving up. "No, Natsume, no, I would not let you do that! And you know what?! You know what the issue with this world is? Everyone wants a magical solution for their problems..." Ruka's eyes softened and Natsume looked up. "... Yet they refuse to believe in magic."

"Mikan are you sure, you don't want to go talk to Hyuuga again? I can come," Hotaru held onto Mikan's hand, scared that she'll fall apart any moment, but Mikan's calmed down already now. "No, Hotaru, it's no use. If he's not going to listen anyway, I'm tired of trying. Mikan was always the optimistic one. She's got everything a girl wants. She was like an angel. Hotaru will not allow Hyuuga to do this to her. To stain her with his mistakes. Hyuuga will not let him turn Mikan's smiles into pained forced ones, she will not let him break her pure heart. "I'll never be a princess." Mikan whispered. "Mikan... don't-"

When i was just a little girl

My mama used to tuck me in-

Mikan's phone rang out. "Grand-Grandpa?!"

"Mikan! You sound well, do you still remember this old man?"

"Of course Grandpa!"

"heh, that's good, how are you doing over there?"

"I'm-I'm doing great Grandpa, I'm with Hotaru right now"

"Ah, okay, by the way have you met any boys of you interest?"

"Grandpa!"

"What?! Can't an old man at least dream?" Mikan's face blushed a bright pink. "I-um-I, no?"

"So, there is someone! Well, who is it? what's his name? Are you getting married?!"

"It-It's complicated." A pained expression on her face. Hotaru right beside her.

"Okay then, fine, but Mikan, I called today because there was something I wanted to tell you."

"What is it?"

"First, however Mikan, I hope you don't get too heartbroken or attached to that person."

"Y-Yep"

"The second thing is... I need to you to come back to America by Thursday next week."

OMG this took forever didn't it? Sorry about that and I know I have said sorry quite a lot. But as a warning the next chapter is not a chapter but an Omake about why Mikan came to Japan in the first place :0 Yea... so... bye! :)

Review if I need to fix anything or if you like it or something... yea...

Bye

xxx -A