Konnichiwa beautiful people! This is my first published fanfic, so exciting! I hope you guys enjoy this Gakuen Alice fan fiction, titled "The Chocolate Factory" (I knoww...not very original, but I might /might not change it in the future). This fanfic is loosely based on this Brazilian telenovela I watched when I was a wee-little child and I thought it'd be really cool with the Gakuen Alice characters. Please leave any comments, suggestions, critiques. Again, I'm new to this, so any advice and constructive criticism is helpful. We're all writers here and we all want to improve in our craft. So let's help one another and not bring each down. Enjoy ^^

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice nor the Brazilian soap opera!

Note: Mikan is about 17 years old.


Chapter the First: The Flight

South Japan, 1922

Mikan Sakura woke to the sound of her father's frantic voice.

"Mikan, get up. You have to get up", he shook her shoulders. "Get up, please!"

Mikan sat up quickly and jammed her glasses into her face, taking in his expression and wild hair. "Father, what's going on?" But no soon were the words out of her mouth, did she suddenly hear the sound of hoofs outside her house. Horses. And yelling. She gasped. She could make out the flicker of fire outside her window. She became scared. "Father, what's going on? What's all this noise?"

"The bandits. They've come to take our land. Our home." He pulled her out of her bed."You have to go now!"

Mikan let his words sink in as Izumi pulled her out of bed and hurriedly draped a cloak over her nightgown. She zoned out her father, who was frantically explaining something to her, and focused on the noise outside. She could hear the horses pawing at the ground and neighing about. The shadows of the fire licked across her window pane. But the worst sound of all was what she heard next.

"Izumi, you coward! Come out and face me like a man!" He sneered loudly. "Or I'll drop my torch and burn down your house with you and your daughter in it." The men yelled even louder. "Or better yet, why don't you give me that daughter of yours and I'll spare this little piece of rock you call a home. I can have all sorts of fun with her." She heard laughing and whistling. She shivered.

She snapped out of her daze as her father pushed her towards the back door. "Wait, no...", she shook her head and held her foot in place. "No, Father, stop!" She looked up at his face. "I don't want to run away. I want to stay here with you and defend what's ours!"

"Mikan. Mikan, you can't. You can't. I can't let those men get you. Hurt you. You're the only one I have left." Tears welled up in his eyes and Mikan couldn't stop her eyes from tearing up as well. Izumi's voice cracked. "I can't lose you too."

"Then you're coming with me." It wasn't a question.

"No. I can't run away. I have to defend what's ours or die trying. I have to stay to protect you. To protect the memory of your mother."

At those words, Mikan broke down. There was no way she could dissuade her father. He was going to stay and die. She clung to him tightly, not wanting to let him go. "Father...", she sobbed.

"No matter what happens Mikan, always remember that I will always be watching over you from up there." He motioned upwards. "I want you get a train, go to your uncle's. He will take care of you." He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away little. He gave her a smile filled with tears. "I want you to go to school and study and be somebody someday. To have a better future than me."

Mikan sobbed harder and hugged him closer. He kissed her tear-stained cheeks and brushed back her long auburn hair. "Promise me you'll do that. For me. For your mother." He looked into her hazel eyes. "Promise me." Her lips quivered, but she managed to choke out."I promise..."

Something slammed against the door. "Izumi, you bastard!"

"Go now, Mikan!" Izumi opened the back door and pushed Mikan out. Mikan reached out her hand towards her father one last time. Her fingers brushed his. He gave her a heartbroken smile. "I love you Mikan." And gave her a final push, to urge her to run.

She almost tripped as she ran across the yard, pushing linens and clothes hanging in the clotheslines away. She hurried into the dark trees. Her breath started coming in heavy and her legs began to ache, but she pushed on. She suddenly became distracted at a sound that tore into her heart and she tripped over the fallen branches and landed hard against the ground. She looked back at the direction she came from and cried out even louder. What she had heard was the unmistakable sound of a pistol.

She couldn't dwell too much on the fate of her father, for she heard the angered cries of the men soon after. They discovered her missing and will soon be coming after her. She pushed herself up and forward and continued her track. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get as far away as possible from the sounds of the men pursuing her, coming ever closer.

Mikan came upon a short,steep hill and before she could slow her steps, she slipped and rolled down to the bottom, where her shoulder slammed into a boulder. She cried out from the sudden pain, and remembering her situation, closed her mouth immediately. But it was too late. "Over there!" A man shouted.

Mikan rolled herself up once more and ran forward, holding her injured shoulder. Suddenly, she heard the neighing of a horse and stopped short. Backing up quickly and turning to flea in the direction she'd come, she was horrified to come face to face with the sneering face of a scary-looking man.

"Now, now little girl, come to daddy." Mikan didn't think it was possible but his grin became larger as he looked down her body. She glared at him with all the anger and hate she could muster. "You're not my father."

He laughed out loud. "Of course not. I killed him. But I can be so much more."

Mikan suddenly darted off the trail and into the trees. She could hear the men right behind her. The sight of that man's leering face, staring at her body, pushed her to pump her arms as hard as she could, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. She did not want to fall into his hands.

She came upon a small bridge. Instead of crossing to the other side, she quickly darted to the side, carefully climbing down the rocks and under the bridge. She held her breath and waited quietly. Within a minute, she heard the angry stomping of the horses over her head, shaking the bridge and showering her with dust and loose pebbles.

Once the sound of the stampede receded into nothing, Mikan reached her hands up to grasp the edge of the boulders and hoist herself up, but her foot slipped and she tumbled into the cold waters of the river. Her head broke through the surface of the water and she took in a breath of air. Luckily, the water wasn't too deep and the current too fast. Mikan managed to wade out of the water and flopped down onto the hard cold ground. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the sky. Fresh tears escaped her eyes, and she looked up at the brightest cluster of stars. They seemed to be winking at her, fading out and flaring up again.

A light rain began to drizzle down and blended with her tears. She turned on her side and crunched into a fetal position. Her body trembled. Not from the cold rain, but from the tears the racked her body. "I did it, Father. I got away."


Mikan stayed that way for a couple of hours. But when she saw the first signs of dawn coming, she knew she couldn't stay any longer. Her journey was not over.

Placing her now muddy glasses over her eyes, she hiked up her nightgown and began her ascent up the hill. Once she broke through the trees, she found herself across from a small farm, with sheets billowing in the light breeze on the clotheslines. A middle-aged woman, who was washing some clothes against a scrubbing board, picked her head up at the sound of shuffling feet. She took in the sight of Mikan, her nightgown muddy and wet, and rushed to her side.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to you child...", she ushered Mikan through the door and into the kitchen. "Kazuki!" She called out. The woman quickly filled a cattle of water and put it atop the fire.

"What is it Megumi..." A large man entered the kitchen, but stopped abruptly as he took Mikan in. "Sakura..."

His wife peered at him from besides the girl, whose eyes widened at the mention of her family name. "H-how do you k-know my name...sir", she stammered.

Kazuki sat opposite the child. "I know your father, we worked together down at the docks before I got this farm", he motioned around. "He used to take you there some a' days when you was little...but what happened?"

And there, Mikan broke down once again at the intense stare she was getting from the couple. But in between the sobs and breaths, she managed to explain the story to them. How she was awoken by her father in the middle of the night, and forced to flee, while he stood behind to keep the bandits from pursuing her. And the shot she heard moments later. Kazuki and Megumi stood there, mouths slightly agape, with horrified expressions.

Mikan wiped the tears away roughly. "But I want to go back", she had fierce expression on her face. "Why w-", Megumi started but was caught off by Mikan. "I want to see...with my own eyes. What happened to my Father."Megumi glanced towards Kazuki, who nodded briefly. "Well, me and Kazuki will take you. But first, you have to have clean up. Come..." She lifted Mikan up and noticed her flinch as she tried to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly. "You're hurt. We'll have to look at that as well." Megumi led Mikan towards the bathroom, where she helped her out of her wet, soggy nightgown and into the bath. She fetched some warm water and helped Mikan bathe, scrubbing her down and being careful with her shoulder.

After Mikan was all dry and dressed, she led Kazuki and Megumi down the road. After some time, she saw her house through the trees and broke into a run. "Father!" she cried out. She stopped abruptly when she saw the figure slumped on the ground, then ran towards it. She knelt besides her father's body and cried out. Megumi and Kazuki stood back a little, holding on to each other, sad expressions on their faces.

Mikan got up and turned to them. "I have to bury him, I can't leave him like this. W-will you help me?"

"Of course, of course!" Kazuki got to work digging the grave, while Megumi and Mikan found some sheets to wrap the body with.

Mikan placed a flower she picked from her garden on top of the small mound that now covered her father. "Goodbye Father", she sniffed. "I know you died to protect me. I know." Mikan looked towards the sky, where she knew her father was watching. "And I...I promise...no matter where you are, to make you proud of me for the rest of my life. I promise."


"I will never be able to thank you for what you've done for me", Mikan told Kazuki and Megumi as they stood outside the train station, waiting for the train that would take her to her uncle's. They smiled sadly at her. Megumi took hold of Mikan's hand and held it in her own. "One day, when someone needs help, help them. Today, I helped you. Tomorrow, you help someone else. That's how life should be. People helping people." Mikan smiled a that. Megumi took a small bundle from within her skirts and placed it in Mikan's hand. "It's not much, but it will get you to to where you need to be." They embraced and kissed just as the train announced its arrival.

As Mikan settled into her seat, she looked out the window towards the couple. They stood there, holding each other, smiling at her. She waved back as the train lurched forward. She tried to keep her eyes on them as long as she could, until they fell back and became too small. "Thank you..."she whispered. Silent tears streamed down her rosy cheeks. Tears of gratitude.


Author's Note: Thank you for taking your time to read this. I've had a lot of fun writing it, and that's just it...for fun! If you'd like to leave a review, please do so. I'm looking for constructive feedback, what you liked, what you didn't like, etc. I want to learn, and the best way to do that is with you guys! My uploading schedule is about once a week for starters (so next chapter will be up next Friday!), but as I get comfortable with the whole process, hopefully in the near future, I can upload more frequently. Have a beautiful week, until then ~ ^^