Hey readers! Sorry for the long leave of absence, I just got a job so today I finally had the time to type this out. I spent 4 hours on this chapter so I hope you like it!

WARNING: This chapter may be a bit too descriptive for those who are 15 and below. So if you are, read at your own cost.

Those who wanted more NatsumeXMikan, I hope this chapter satisfies your craving!

Chapter 26

With the herb that Misaki-sensei brought back, after much digging and swimming as it was an underwater herb, Mikan had put on more weight and there was more colour in her cheeks. Her morning sickness subsided and her tummy began growing larger as she passed her first trimester. As the doctor came to do her usual morning checkup on the third day, she was pleased to announce that Mikan is now in her fourth month and the baby was growing just fine. This of course made Nonoko even happier as she now had more results regarding her experiment.

Narumi-sensei went to the large calendar again and crossed out 'Day 4', then turned around to the dining table and continued munching on a slice of toast. However he was cut short of his peaceful breakfast when Misaki-sensei and Tsubasa opened the front door and sat beside him. Staying silent as they did not want Mikan to be woken up, Misaki-sensei signaled to Misaki to join them at the table while Tsubasa brought forth a bloodied leather glove to the table.

"What's this?" Narumi-sensei asked in harsh tones.

"They've gotten worst, not only are they robbing those who stay at the outskirts of the kingdom, they're being more brutal. This is a glove from someone's hand, a hand that we found at the side of the road." Tsubasa explained grimly.

"How many were injured?" Misaki inquired.

"I would say 2 households of 5. The rest are so frightened that they are paying them protection money." Misaki-sensei said.

"What is their strength?" Narumi asked.

"There are 8 of them, all men ranging from their early twenties to their late thirties." Tsubasa replied.

Narumi looked at Mikan's open bedroom door and looked at the innocent sleeping girl, he knew that it was inevitable and it was part and parcel of her job, but this was just an impeccable timing for these bandits to stir up some trouble.

"Are they being hired by someone?" Narumi tried to dig further.

Misaki-sensei and Tsubasa looked at Narumi in the eye and nooded.

"It's him, isn't it? But it's dangerous to put Mikan in this mission; her body will be put under a massive strain."

"We don't have much of a choice; it's not that we didn't try to intervene in this matter. Kuonji knows that we would try to do something to prevent Mikan from leaving the palace and helping these people. The barrier that he has put up around each attack is impenetrable, or rather, its laced with so many layers that a mere alice stone wielder cannot pass through. He's trying to draw. Her. Out." Misaki-sensei emphasized the last three words.

"Hence letting her go would be walking into his trap." Narumi stared at Misaki-sensei in the eyes.

"You know well that by not letting her go, he would torture them slowly and let their cries reach Mikan. You know that would hurt Mikan the most, she could never stand the idea of innocent people being brought into this mess. She has to go." Tsubasa commented.

Mikan stirred in her sleep as she heard people mumbling outside.

"She's getting up…" Misaki urged the group. "Narumi, just agree to this mission. Knowing that she could have done something but was not permitted would damage her emotionally."

"Naturally, even if you did not give her permission, she would just sneak out against your orders. Either way, your hands are tied Narumi." Misaki-sensei mumbled.

"Fine fine! Prepare her things then. Misaki, brief her thoroughly, I want her in quickly and out the same way she went in. NO climbing. NO jumping and absolutely NO SPARRING." Narumi instructed.

"Yes yes, no harm to her, no harm to the baby. Misaki, go wake Mikan for breakfast, the milk's getting cold." Misaki-sensei drawled on in a bored tone.

Mikan rubbed her hazelnut brown eyes and sat up in her bed. Stretching, she pulled her legs over to the side of her bed and got up. Pulling the silk coat over her shoulders, she put on her satin slippers and walked into the dining room.

"Good morning everyone," Mikan smiled and took her seat, "It's been a while since we ate breakfast together." Taking a teacup, she poured the warm milk into her cup and started munching on a slice of honey toast.

Sipping it slowly, she looked past Narumi-sensei at the white grand piano which was sitting in the hall. On it sprawled many pieces of manuscript paper, most of them scribbled on for the tune to Enigma Sonata. Natsume's birthday was in a few more months' time and she wanted to complete the song before then and practice, so that it could be presented to him.

Finally putting the last bit of toast in her mouth, there was a knock on the door. Misaki rushed to open it, only to converse shortly with a palace maid and then close the door again.

"She says that Hyuuga-sama has requested for you to meet him at the palace gates in 1 hours' time. Let's get you ready my dear." Misaki then urged Mikan from her seat into the bath that she had prepared for her.

Helping Mikan into her white flat pumps, Mikan was dressed in a baby blue dress which was sleeveless and hugged just under her breast, highlighted by a white satin ribbon. The dressed flowed freely all the way down to mid-calve and swished softly with every step she took.

Twirling in the mirror, Mikan happily walked out of her room and decided to stop by the outside of Luna's room. Putting her ear close to the door she could hear her shouting at maids.

"I WANTED MY CHOCOLATE DARK! THIS IS LIGHT! GET ME ANOTHER CUP OF HOT COCO! NOOOWWW!" and a cup smashing onto the floor was heard.

"Do calm down Luna-hime, we're getting another cup ready."

"You said the same thing two cups ago! Is it SO HARD TO GET A DECENT CUP OF HOT COCO?"

Mikan chuckled because she knew that she did not have severe food cravings and because of what Nonoko has said, her just retribution was being served.

Continuing on her way, she finally reached the front gates of the palace while enjoying the cool breeze. Seeing Natsume lean against the side of the gates made her heart flutter for she had missed him dearly even though she saw him two days ago. He was dressed in a loose fitting white shirt which was tucked into a pair of dark brown breeches. Accompanied with his riding boots, a long rapier hung by his side and his messy bangs covered his crimson eyes. Hearing footsteps approaching him, he looked him and his crimson eyes reflected the light of the sun. He held out his hand and waited for Mikan to take it.

Mikan raised her arm and gently placed her hand on his, and then he suddenly pulled her close into a tight embrace. Taking in the soft strawberry scent that lingered on her hair, he held her protectively in his arms.

"Good morning Natsume." Mikan whispered softly into his ear.

"Good morning Mikan." Giving her a soft peck on the cheek, he released her from his embraced and led her towards the town.

"Where are we going? It's already 10am in the morning." Mikan asked as Natsume continued to pull her down the path and towards the town.

"It's a secret, but I promise that you will like it."

Entwining his fingers with hers, they diverted from the route to town and soon reached a small lake, a place slightly away from the town which was extremely quiet. There prepared was a checkered picnic mat with a brown picnic basket under a large tree. There were swans swimming in the lake and birds chirping in the tree. The way the sun reflected off the waters made Mikan all excited and happy for she could finally enjoy herself after the many days of throwing up.

"It's going to be only the two of us till 4pm. Then I'll have to send you back." Natsume said sadly as he gazed down at her.

"But you'll have 6 hours with me, so let's spend it fully shall we?" Mikan happily perked up and dragged Natsume to the picnic mat.

Sitting herself down on the mat, she laid back and stared at the clouds which were floating by. Natsume smiled at the brown haired girl whom he loves so much and realized that he could never be happy with anyone else but her. Joining her on the mat, he laid back and pulled her so that she laid on his arm. Mikan felt the warmth radiating from Natsume's body and she curled up closer to his body. With his free hand, Natsume took one of Mikan's small hand and held them.

"Neh Natsume, doesn't that cloud look a bit like Ruka's rabbit?" Mikan pointed at a passing cloud with her free hand.

"No… it looks more like a dog… or that effeminate teacher of yours wearing bunny ears…" Natsume mumbled the last part under his breath.

"It looks more like a rabbit to me." Mikan tried making Natsume see why it was a rabbit rather than a dog.

While Natsume was trying to outline the parts to tell Mikan that it was a dog, he accidentally brushed his hand against her baby bump.

Stopping in midsentence, he changed the topic and asked, "Hey Polka… what are you going to name the baby?"

Mikan thought a long time before answering, "I don't know, I haven't thought about it."

"How about we think about it together? Since I'm going to be its supposed father."

"Don't call the baby an it! She will have a name."

"How do you know it's a she?"

"I'm presuming the baby is going to be a she."

"Why not a boy?"

"Because I think looking after a boy who takes after you is going to drive me up the wall since you're already a handful."

"Excuse me… the boy will be exactly like me. He will inherit his father's good looks and mannerism."

"Not over my dead body. He will have proper manners, not going around grunting at people and being a pervert."

"I am NOT a pervert."

"Yes you were! You're always calling me names, by THE UNDERWEAR PRINT THAT I'M WEARING!"

"That's because you refuse to wear more womanly underwear."

"Well I'm SORRY for the choice of underwear."

"Anyway, why don't you ask the doctor to check for the sex of the baby?"

"What for? It'll spoil the surprise. Let's just decide on a name all right? We'll just pick one each for the girl and one each for the boy. Let's start with the girl's."

Both pondered for a long while before Natsume broke the silence and spoke.

"How's Nyoko? It means treasure."

"How about Keiko? It means adored."

"Hm… Keiko Hyuuga…Nyoko Hyuuga… Both seem fine to me. Which do you prefer?" Natsume turned to look at Mikan.

"How about we keep both in mind and decide later?" Mikan suggested.

Natsume nodded his head and could not contain his excitement anymore, "now let's go on to the boy's name! Akira! Let's name our son Akira! It means intelligent."

"Why must you name our son intelligent?"

"Cause if he has his mother's brains, he would be a prince who fails all his exams and what kind of ruler would he be?" Natsume started mocking Mikan.

Rolling her hand into a fist, Mikan gave Natsume a light punch on the face and he let out a small groan of pain.

"OUCH?"

"That was when I was younger. I tell you now, I'm much smarter. My turn, how's Satoshi? Its clear-thinker, or wise."

"Fine let's scrap Akira. I think Tadashi is good. It stands for loyal."

"So it's Tadashi Hyuuga or Satoshi Hyuuga?"

"Yeah… they're good names." Mikan looked at her baby bump and rubbed it affectionately. "It's so fast Natsume, I'm into my fourth month and it's only the fourth day."

"Luckily your morning sickness is gone, or else you wouldn't be saying that. How about having something to eat now?"

Mikan pushed herself up and turned to kiss Natsume on the lips.

"What's that for?" Natsume asked.

"Thanks. For everything." Mikan replied.

"You'll be a great mother, there's no doubt of it. Just promise me that you won't go running around and putting yourself in danger. You now have to be more wary of the baby."

"Even though it's not going to be real baby… that's the part that saddens me."

This time Natsume pressed his lips against Mikan's and pushed her down on the floor. Within seconds, the kiss was deepened and his hands began to roam her body. Mikan entwined her arms round Natsume's neck and pulled his closer to her. There seemed to be a mutual sense of urgency and soon Natsume parted Mikan's lips with his tongue. He could taste a faint taste of strawberry, most likely from her toast this morning.

Suddenly Natsume stopped and sat up.

"What's wrong Natsume?" Mikan asked. Then a thought hit her and she stuttered, "I…I kno…know I'm no…not experience in that a…area. Sorry."

"No it's not that. You're carrying a child now. It's a common fact, to not touch the body while carrying a child." Giving her a peck on the forehead, Natsume opened the picnic basket and handed her an egg sandwich.

"However, I can't get the feeling of urgency that I'm feeling. My intuition is never wrong, but nothing harmful will befall her. Right?"

"Mikan you've got a mission to do," Narumi said and Misaki-sensei started briefing her.

Narumi-sensei looked sadly at Mikan who just came back from her outing with Natsume. He hated breaking this news to her and seeing her crestfallen face. As much as he tried, Narumi did his best to hide the fact that the Kingdom of Firenze has had a rise in number of bandit attacks, killing and mysterious disappearance since the start of the bride selection. Usually when news from their network of spies is heard, he would dispatch Tsubasa and Misaki. The more serious cases were usually accompanied by Misaki-sensei.

Under normal circumstances, anyone would presume that the rise in these cases were due to the higher chance of kidnapping, robbing and even killing a princess from the neighbouring kingdom. These thugs did not care much about diplomatic issues for they only need the money to feed their family, or in most cases, to secure their power in the underworld. However, the four of them, had evidence and sources saying that the rise in these cases were due to the workings of Kuonji. Having last seen him at the palace before the first selection test, he had been living amongst the town people and has been the mastermind in all that has happened.

Mikan nodded her head and then proceeded to her room to get ready. Misaki stood behind the door, carrying her black outfit and on top of it was her velvet mask. Unlacing the straps to her dress, she slipped out of it and put on the black breeches. Raising her hands, she pulled on the black long sleeved shirt and realized that it was larger than usual.

"Misaki-senpai, did you change the shirt that I usually wear?"

"Well, you could say that. I altered it, so that it would accommodate your growing belly. Here, let me help you dress up." Misaki placed the mask on the bed and walked behind Mikan. Taking the 2 loose silk ends, she wrapped each side round and under Mikan's bust, such that her belly was not constricted and the shirt was as close to her skin as possible. Mikan tucked in the ends of the shirt as Misaki tied the silk ends into a small but tight ribbon. Pulling her long hair into a bun and inserting the sapphire hairpins in a crisscross manner, Mikan placed the velvet mask over her face. She turned around to face Misaki who helped her secure the dagger around her right thigh and her rapier behind her back.

"I'm ready." Mikan said as she looked into the mirror. "I'm sorry Natsume, I can't keep your promise because the people needs Shadowfox right now. But I promise that I'll be back, with the baby.

"What did I say about NO SPARRING? MISAKI-SENSEI~" Narumi whinned.

"Oh shut it Narumi. What if she gets caught? She would have to be able to defend herself, and I don't think a puny dagger would be able to do that. Ready Mikan?"

Mikan was confused by the conversation which Misaki-sensei and Narumi-sensei were having, but this was not the first time and it was not going to be the last. She will be back safely.

"You understand the mission? You just need to stop the thugs from hurting this family, confirm that Kuonji is behind this, find out what he's offering them and get out safely. No direct confrontation unless it is absolutely dire. Keep your alice usage to a minimal, we don't want you passing out and we can't help you even if you did. The barrier which is set up is very complicated." Misaki-sensei briefed Mikan one more time as they stood 50 meters away from the targeted house.

Mikan looked at the humble cottage and saw that there was a barrier laced around the house and there were 4 colours, each representing a layer of the barrier. Due to the barrier being all mixed up, it would require an extreme amount of alice usage to penetrate it. However, Misaki-sensei had gotten Shiki's barrier and amplification alice stone.

Extending his hand to Mikan, he passed her the two alice stones. "Insert the amplification alice stone now. When you are 10 meters from the barrier, insert the barrier alice. Since Shiki's barrier alice is of the highest type, you should be able to penetrate the barrier easily. Climb up to the roof and enter through that window," Misaki-sensei pointed to the attic window.

The movement in the shadows caught their attention and they saw 5 burly men walk towards the house, dragging along a man whose hair was all over his face wearing torn and tattered clothes. Even though there was a barrier, the men passed with ease and started to bang on the front door.

"OPEN UP! There's no use hiding in this pathetic house of yours. Pay us the money we demanded or we will kill your father."

There was no light in the house but the men persisted.

"There's no use hiding, we know you're in there. You have 1 minute to open this door or your father will be killed right here. We know you're watching."

Mikan stood up from her hiding spot and started sprinting to the house. As instructed, she inserted the barrier alice in to her body and passed through the shield without much trouble.

"YOU HAVE 45 SECONDS."

"I have 45 seconds to climb into the house and find a way to save that man."

Digging her fingers into the uneven bricks of the house, Mikan started pulling herself up to the third window above her. Her lungs were screaming for air and her fingers were starting to hurt from all the climbing, but she knew that the children in the house depended on her. Within another 15 seconds, she hoisted herself into the attic and rushed down the stairs without making much sound. When she reached the front door, she saw three girls aged 5, 14 and 16 huddling round the front door. Mikan saw that the eldest girl was clutching on to a pouch of gold coins. Due to her misjudgment, her larger-than-usual belly bumped into the dining table as she tried to squeeze between the pulled out dining chair and the table.

"AH-HA! We know you're inside! OPEN UP! YOU HAVE 15 MORE SECONDS!"

"Curse this pregnancy despite always wanting to be a mother."

The three girls whipped around and stared at Mikan who was like a phantom in the dark. Putting her finger to her lips, she instructed them to remain silent. Mikan walked over to them and held out her hand to the eldest girl. Out of fright, the girl handed her the pouch of gold coins, but Mikan bent down to their eye level and whispered, "I'm Shadowfox. Just a little bloated cause I ate too much." The three girls smiled at her little joke and Mikan knew that they trusted her.

"I'm going to save your papa, so go and hide in your wardrobe and don't make a sound. Onee-san, keep your sisters quiet and don't peek through the door."

"10 MORE SECONDS! PAPA YOU BETTER SAY YOUR PRAYS FOR YOUR DAUGHTERS RATHER SEE YOU DEAD THEN PAY US THE 80 GOLD COINS."

"Sheesh that leader is annoying."

Seeing the 3 girls run up to their room, Mikan put her hand into the coin bag and scattered handful on to the ground. She then ran up to the second floor, scattering the coins all over the place as she went, and upon reaching a window, she slowly opened it and found that it was directly above the men.

"3 SECONDS!"

Mikan placed her hand into the coin bag again.

"2 SECONDS!"

This time she saw the men unsheathe their swords and the man that was holding the father of the girls had a Cheshire grin on his face. When he heard the leader shout 2 more seconds, he pressed the dagger deeper into the man's throat.

"1 SECOND!"

"Yeah yeah, shut it noisy man."

Mikan put her hand out and let go of all the coins in her hand. Around 20 coins fell out of her hand and landed on the heads of the thugs. According to the law physics, gravity would do its magic and the coins would have the same impact as small pebbles. The rain of coins caused a confusion among the men and Mikan used this opportunity to throw a dagger and impale it into the man that had the dagger against the innocent man's throat. Seeing their comrade fall, the remaining men started to bang down the door. From the same window, Mikan threw one of her hairpins at another man and with deadly accuracy, the hairpin entered the man's heart.

Moving to another window on the second floor, Mikan opened it slowly and threw her second hairpin at the man nearest to the door and he too fell as the hairpin protruded out of his stomach. The leader saw 3 of his men fall right in front of his eyes and he could not comprehend the forces working against him. Again due to the slightly larger tummy, Mikan could not pull herself back into the shadows as quick as she used to and the leader saw her.

"BITCH! I SAW YOU! YOU KILLED MY BROTHERS AND NOW YOU WILL REGRET EVER DOING THAT. I'LL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB MYSELF!"

As soon as he completed his sentence, the wooden door finally gave way and the 2 remaining men rushed up the stairs. They plundered their way through the house, breaking everything in sight and smashing all the furniture. Mikan climbed up onto the banister and waited for the men to come up to the attic.

"BITCH! WHERE ARE YOU BITCH?"

Mikan waited for what seemed like eternity before she heard 3 girls scream.

"Shit! He found them."

The footsteps of the men got louder as they climbed up the stairs, but despite them being quite heavy, Mikan could make out 5 pairs of footsteps rather than 2.

"Bitch… we've heard of you from our master. We know your weakness." The leader taunted.

"Who's your master?" Mikan spoke from her position.

"Why don't you come down and talk to us face to face. I'm sure you have manners."

"As if you do, barging into people's house and smashing everything."

Mikan saw the man pop a vein.

"Fine if talking nicely won't do the trick, I'll just rape the eldest girl in front of you now. My friend here would just rape the second one."

"You wouldn't dare." Mikan threatened as she slowly unsheathe her rapier.

"Sure I would." The leader then grabbed the sixteen year old and ripped open her blouse. His companion then laughed at the sight while tightening his hold on the other two girls. The girl tried to cover herself but the man stronger than her and he pinned her down with his weight. Mikan slowly shifted her position while balancing on the beam of the house.

The girl started screaming and squirming, but the leader proceeded to pull her pants down but before he could do so, Mikan threw her rapier as hard as she could so that it speared his other companion holding on to the other two girls. Seeing that his companion had fallen dead with blood oozing out of his mouth, the leader transferred his anger to the sixteen year old beneath him. He clenched his fist and started to punch her. The two other girls tried to stop the man from hitting their elder sister but he pushed them to the side and they flew to the opposite side of the room. Though not seriously hurt, they were frightened and could not move. Mikan climbed down slowly from her position and grabbed a piece of the wooden banister from the floor.

"Hey, let the girl go and stop hitting her. What kind of man are you?" Mikan taunted him. The man merely stared at Mikan and started to burst out laughing.

"So the great Shadowfox is such a small person."

"Don't judge a person by their looks, bastard."

"What you say bitch?"

"So since I'm down why don't you answer my question, who's the person who hired you?"

"Why Ms Shadowfox, how about you guess? In the meantime, I've got a boner and need to take it out on this girl here." The girl then started to scream again as the man this time succeeded in pulling down the girl's pants. "Scream all you want girly, on one can enter within 5 meters of this house. Let's have some fun shall we?" Left in her underwear, she tried to kick the man, but he held her legs down with his knees.

"KUONJI! He's hiring you, isn't it?" Mikan screamed as she saw the sixteen year old girl screaming and crying her eyes out.

"Good… you guessed it right. You know what, for a reward I'll just let this girl go." Sqeezing her breast, he threw the girl towards her sisters. She slammed into them and the three of them fell into a heap. The two younger sisters got up and tried to comfort their elder sister who was sobbing uncontrollably.

"What is he offering you for doing all this?"

"Why should I tell you, a damn bitch who interferes with my plan and kill my brothers?"

"You know, whatever he offers you, won't benefit you at all. He will not be charged with any of this while your brothers will bear the brunt of his actions."

"Oh, we know… but his offer was just too great."

Mikan activated her intuition alice.

"What was his offer then? If it's money, he's offered it to everyone who has work under him. I'm guessing her offered you 1000 gold coins each."

"Wha…why do you know?"

"I told you he offers everyone the same thing. Let me guess, in order to ensure that you remain loyal to him, he killed a man in front of you, and that man was the leader of your gang. That would make you the new leader, a rather useless one that is."

The leader was stunned by the amount of knowledge this spy knew, he could not hold back the words he was going to say for his emotion now ruled his actions.

"The brotherhood is all we men have. We've lost our family in the war, we have nothing but each other, the leader was like a father to all of us and that man killed him. He killed him with his bare hands, and laughed as our leader's blood sprayed all over him."

"You should have stood up for what you believed in and not take up his offer."

"We tried, but he killed more people. Whoever denied his offer, he would kill one other man, regardless if he agreed or not. We were in fear. We couldn't do much."

"You could have seek help from the authorities. Not only are you useless, you're a coward. Admit your deeds to the authorities and be free of this guilt."

Mikan felt the amplification stone wear out and the intuition alice stone now required much greater use of her alice. With every second she used that alice, the more tired she felt. Despite using the alice, due to the small amount that is being used, the effects were minimal and the leader soon fought against her alice.

"Never. We've staked so much to get where we are. We are happy as it is. We've got money, food, women and a home. You can't make us give up what we've worked so hard for! Now enough chit chatting, I'm going to kill you as I promised." The leader took a step towards her and Mikan defensively held the broken wooden banister in front of her. Currently, that was the only thing that was in between him and her. With every step that he took forward, Mikan took two steps backwards. She knew that the banister was too weak to cause this huge man any damage. She tried circling round to the dead man for her rapier, but the leader merely laughed in her face and advanced towards her in a menacing way.

"Nowhere to run now little fox. Time to have some fun with me. My brothers don't call me big brother for nothing."

"Damn it, I'm trapped. Think Mikan, THINK!"

The man was now 2 steps away from her and she jumped up and smashed the banister down on his head hard. As expected, the man merely swayed and groaned in pain slightly as Mikan made a run for the dead man, but he caught her by the waist and pulled her back.

"Ohh, I feel a little bulge here… don't tell me, Shadowfox is a girl?" He tightened his grip around Mikan and spoke into her face.

"So what if I'm a woman?" Mikan spat back.

"Well, you're brave for someone who is in a tight spot right now, someone who is, pregnant."

Mikan stared back as hard as she could into the man's eyes, but fear soon flashed in those hazelnut orbs. The man took out a dagger from his back and started to cut the fabric from her skin, exposing her belly.

"I'll just slice you open then. Let's see how that baby looks like shall we?"

Mikan started pushing and shoving the man but his grip would not loosen on her. He pressed the sharp edge of the dagger on her stomach and started drawing along her stomach, all this while Mikan could feel the excruciating pain as blood oozed out from the wound.

"Stop, please!" She screamed and didn't stop screaming.

"That's what we said to Kuonji as well, but he didn't stop. He murdered our leader in front of us like that. Now I would let you taste what it feels like to have no pity shown on you." The man pushed Mikan on the floor and with one hand, held both her hands above her head. Using his knees, he held Mikan's legs together so she could not retaliate. He raised the dagger high above his head, ready for the plunge.

"HELP ME! NATSUME!"

A bright red flame burst in front man's face and he fell backwards, dropping his dagger.

"Who's there!" The man shouted into the shadows.

"Your worst nightmare." And a circle of fire encased the man within it, not allowing him out and creating a vacuum which was sucking off all the oxygen the man had in that circle.

Mikan watched the scene unfold from the ground as she was extremely exhausted and was hurting greatly from the wound on her stomach. She folded herself into a fetus position, as if it was instinctive of her to protect her unborn child. Blood oozed out at a constant rate, trickling down on to the wooden floor. The 3 girls rushed to Mikan and used the sixteen year old girl's clothing on the floor to try and stop the bleeding. Their father who was knocked unconscious, ran up to the third floor and tried to close the wound with his healing alice.

"Natsume… I'm… sorry." Mikan weakly called out.

As if she were in a dream, Natsume stepped out from the darkness and into the moonlight. Leaving the leader to suffocate in his circle, he bent down beside Mikan and wanted to picked her up, bridal style, but was stopped.

"It's best not to move her your majesty, I'm not sure of the extent of her wound. Moving her might aggravate the wound." The father humbly said.

"I've heard this from Shiki, I don't need this from someone else." Natsume said irritably as he tried to lift Mikan.

However Mikan put her hand on his arm and looked up at him, "I'm all right. It's a superficial wound, he didn't press down hard. The intuition alice told me that there was a part of him that had no choice but to do it as he didn't want to lose anymore brothers. He has been twisted in such a way to lock his emotions to do Kuonji's bidding. Let him live, he will atone for his sins the right way, I'm sure of it."

Natsume stopped his alice and the leader dropped onto the floor gasping for air. Ruka and Hotaru entered the house through a flying contraption and rushed to Mikan's side. Assessing the situation, Hotaru opened a pouch on her waist and thrust a purple alice stone into the father's hands.

"Absorb it. It's my brother's healing alice. Heal her wounds, and your daughters'." Hotaru instructed.

Ruka got up from his position and draped his coat over the barely dressed sixteen year old. "You'll catch a cold. Here, wear this."

The father concentrated hard and within seconds, the wound on Mikan's stomach began to close up and was almost barely visible. Seeing that Mikan was healed, he turned to heal his daughters wounds, both physical and emotional wounds. The gang did not stay around to watch this though, as Natsume finally carried Mikan into his arms and got into Hotaru's flying contraption. Hotaru dialed a few numbers on her phone and the whole police force was upon the house as they were flying away. They saw the leader being dragged out into the house with his head downcasted.

"You broke your promise Mikan." Natsume said, though not looking at her who was still in his arms.

"I'm sorry… these people… they need Shadowfox more than you know… I'm the only hope they have…"

"You could have been killed, did you ever think of that?" Natsume chided her, staring at her eyes with his crimson ones.

"I know… I had a plan… but I didn't expect him to find the girls. They made the situation difficult."

"For once can you stop thinking of others and more of yourself? More of the baby? What if you died? What if I lose you? How can you be so selfish? You know you can always ask me to help in state affairs! You could have told Hotaru your best friend! Do you not regard her as a friend? What about Ruka? Didn't you say you could always tell him everything? What about this? We all had to find out through Narumi!" Natsume was practically shouting at her.

Ruka got up from his seat and placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

"The important thing is that she's safe." Ruka said.

"I'm sorry… I really am. I did think of the baby, I did think of you. In fact that was all I thought of when I saw the man attempting to rape that girl. I thought, 'what if that was our little girl?', 'what if Natsume was the one who got captured?'. I wasn't trained to sit around and be useless, I was trained to help the weak and defenseless. If you couldn't handle that, why did you fall in love with me, a woman who has a duty to the people?"

"You ask a good question. Why did I fall in love with you?"

"I knew of the consequences of revealing myself. You're selfish yourself, don't call the kettle black. Anyway, how did you find me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry for being concerned. Stop doing this. And…Narumi informed us. He said he didn't have a good feeling of tonight's mission. Of course I burnt that girlish freak into crisp for sending you on a mission."

Natsume then kept silent and talked to her through telepathy. "Don't do this to me again, do you know that my heart sank a million feet when I heard that you went on a mission that could POTENTIALLY be DEADLY? I can't live without you Mikan. Those six years without you were torture, don't put me through it again. I just want you to be safe, want the baby to be safe. I want to start a family with you one day because you complete me, you make me smile even though there's so much darkness around me. The duty to your people is something that is given, but what about your duty to me, your future husband?"

Mikan kept quiet as she tried to make sense of what Natsume just said, she didn't reply him in her thoughts, she placed a barrier around her to block him out and make sense of all that is said. Finally after a long while, she knew what she had to do, what she felt and what her choice of action was going to be for the future.

"Did I say I love you?" Mikan asked Natsume in her thoughts.

"You asked me why I fell in love with you, hence I'm guessing you've just said it, though never before." Natsume shrugged.

"Well then, I'm deeply sorry and… I will beat Luna in this test because, I want to be your wife. I want to be with you no matter what. I'm sorry that I made you worry and I won't do anything reckless. More importantly, I love you Natsume, with all my heart and my soul. That is my ultimate promise to you. No one can make me love another person more than I love you, and it took me tonight to realize that." Mikan smiled at him as he gaze soften as he looked tenderly at the woman now in his arms.

To end it all off, he gave her a sweet kiss on the lips but to Hotaru and Ruka who did not know they were communicating by telepathy, the both thought,"Love makes people do stupid things," Even though they themselves were in love with each other.

All right that's the end! Please R&R! I welcome criticism as well as compliments! :) Do state what name you would prefer for the baby as well, and whether you would like it to be a girl or a boy. I have not decided on the gender of the baby, so your feedback would determine the baby's outcome!

I've got 5000+ hits and 1000+ visitors for the month of december! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! I LOVE ALL OF YOU! Anyway...

Here are the replies!

Bueberryxn: Thanks for the compliment! Glad you like the idea of the final test.

Little Strawberry RiRin Chan: I'm not sure how many times she pukes, but i'm assuming it's a lot. haha. Haven't pictured how the baby is going to look like and look more like who. Do state your choice! :)

Saikono-san: Really? Do tell me! It would make it easier for me to write the about the baby!

enigmasonatarocks568: I'm not sure if you would read this but thanks for the compliment! I hope this chapter has enough NXM for you!

daintyran: I don't think I would make Luna's baby deformed, though there will be a twist in the story, especially regarding her baby. heh. Thanks for the support and the compliment!

SerialAnima: HAHA! That's the best compliment yet! No i'm not a professional writer! The idea for the last test was from a harry potter fanfic which i've read. I can't remember the writer nor the title of the story, so i couldn't credit it. I hope you like the plot though. :)

RandomDalmation326: Thanks for the help and guidance! I hope this chapter has less grammer and spelling mistakes, though i'm more accustomed to british spelling. For people who don't read my comments, they'll miss this. The wedding is part of this fanfic and will be the last chapter!

MistiLove: Thank you! I'm glad that my fanfic has the ability to make your new year great! Hope you like this chapter!

AlexandryaHale: I was really happy to get your review as I read it while on my holiday! :) I really appreciate readers like you! Hope this chapter was interesting for you!