Chapter 8 (Part 1): Reunion

Mikan, Natsume, and Ruka found themselves wondering a strange time void. Everything around them had a blueish-grey aura. It looked like a regular hallway of Gakuen Alice, however unlike the academy, everything around them felt twisted and unstable.

"I'm a little scared," Mikan said as she clutched onto Natsume's arm. Natsume rubbed Mikan's back in an attempt to comfort his fiancé.

"Don't worry, we're almost there. Right Imai?" Natsume exclaimed with an unexpected peak in his voice. Normally in a situation like this Natsume would have teased Mikan for feeling so scared, but Natsume couldn't help but mentally admit that this place even made him feel uneasy. Ruka was shocked to see a side of Natsume that he never saw before, and it didn't make him feel any safer. They heard Hotaru sigh from the mushrooms.

"Will you scaredy cats quit whining?" Hotaru mocked as our three heroes continued walking through the time void. Mikan, Natsume, and Ruka continued to follow the ripples through time that Hotaru laid out for them to pursue. Each ripple that they passed made a horrific noise and tried to push them back as the time void knew that our heroes were not supposed to be here and were not welcomed.

"Hey Imai, how are you creating these ripples in the time void?" Ruka question his dark haired friend.

"It's not my doing, it's the electronic waves between our mushroom headphones that's causing a disturbance in this time void. Not only that but our very presence in this dimension have been having some crazy effects in this place. Keep in mind that no one is supposed to exist here so the void itself must be going through a state of shock thanks to its unwelcomed guests. That explains the ripples in time that are running amok as the element of electricity has been introduced to this zone of silence." Hotaru explained.

*creeeeeeeeeeeeeak*

"Ahhh, this place is so creepy! But I have to stay strong for Hotaru!" Mikan said out loud.

"Yeah and I need to hold it together for Mikan." Natsume told himself.

*creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak*

"Goodness gracious, for every step we take, the creaks become louder. It's as if this entire dimension is on the point of collapsing!" Ruka feared.

"Well I suppose that is a possibility, there are 5 people existing in a zone that was never meant to have any visitors so it's only natural that it has become unstable like this. Hmph, you boys should have left the brainless one at home that way this place would not have been as unstable." Hotaru implied.

"HOTARU, TAKE BA-" *CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK* The time zone made another horrendous noise in response to Mikan's unfinished outburst.

"Mikan your causing even more disturbances with your big mouth!" Natsume stated in annoyance.

"Eeeeeeeek, I'm sorry Mr. Time-Void thing please don't make that noise again!" Mikan squealed

"Are we almost there yet Hotaru?" Ruka asked his friend as the horror of the time void began to get the best of him as well.

"Yes, yes I can hear the three of you without the aid of the mushroom headphones. You must be really close by, just follow these last bit of ripples that should be in front of you." Hotaru stated as our three heroes quickly found themselves facing a handful of new ripples to deal with. Each ripple that they passed through seem to test the very limit of their body's. Mikan's heart rate began to increase, Natsume found every step that he took harder to breath than the last step, and Ruka felt as though he was about to pass out after making it past the time ripples with his friends following another horrendous noise produced by the time void.

*CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK*

Our heroes simply were not welcomed in this dimension but despite this, Mikan, Natsume, and Ruka continued pushing forward for the sake of their friend and against all odds, they finally found them, a 12 year old Hotaru and an 18 year old Subaru.

"Who are those three?" Subaru wondered out loud while placing his arm in front of his little sister as a means of protection.

"There they are!" The inventor sighed in relief.

"Hotaru!" Mikan squealed as she ran towards her young friend.

"Yeah that's definitely Mikan." Hotaru confirmed as she smacked Mikan in the face with her horse shoe glove.

"Ouch," Mikan started. "Hotaru you're too mean." Mikan's eyes filled with tears.

"No matter whether you're a little girl or a teenage, I'd rather stay trapped in a time void then be glomped by you, baka," Hotaru said.

"Imai, how are you still twelve? How is it that you and your brother haven't aged?" Ruka asked bewildered to see his friend in the exact same state that he last saw her four years ago.

"I would like to ask, how is that you three have grown so much? It's only been a few days hasn't it? Did you take some of that Gullivers Candy again? You could have at least told us so in advance so that we wouldn't be surprised when you arrived," Hotaru stated slightly annoyed at their supposedly lack of communication. Natsume cleared his throat.

"A few days? Imai, it's been a few years since we've seen you," Natsume replied.

"Y-years!? Preposterous! We've been in here for less than a week!" Subaru exclaimed.

"Noda didn't say anything about this," Hotaru said with a slight bit of anxiety in her voice. "The measure of time in this dimension must be different than the measure of time in the outside world. I'm no expert in time logic but I'll assume that what may be one day in this time void can be an entire year in the outside world!" Hotaru explained.

"Aw! Don't feel bad about being younger Hotaru even though we may have a four year difference in our age now, we're still best friends no matter what! Besides, now you can be my cute little imooto hee hee hee," Mikan squealed as she glomped Hotaru while she had a ''Get off me if you want to live" look.

"Well, even if you two haven't aged, you should have no problem coming back with us to our home dimension, right?" Ruka questioned. Hotaru sighed.

"I'm not sure. If four years have passed then there's no guarantee that our bodies will even be able to exist in the real world now. There will definitely be some nasty side effects. There's a good chance we'll die. We can't know for sure. An outcome such as this is a proper cost I suppose. For changing fate and saving a life that could have been lost, two lives must be given up." Hotaru said while giving off a melancholy expression.

Natsume couldn't help but feel a huge sting of guilt in his heart as he was well aware for the past four years that the reason why Hotaru and her brother were suffering and stuck in this time void was because of him. Because he was so reckless to use his alice in an attempt to protect his fiancé. Given, anyone in his shoes would sacrifice themselves for the ones they loved, right? And he was more than happy to sacrifice his life for the sake of Mikan. He never asked Hotaru and her brother to save him, and now because of this he had to carry the sting of guilt in his heart. For the past four years, he wondered "If only I would have been a little less reckless, things could have turned out differently." And so Natsume did something for the first time in his life that he thought he'd never do. Everyone was shocked by his actions, for he approached Hotaru, dropped his arms and knees to the ground, and bowed to her.

"I can not begin to tell you how grateful I am." The words sounded forced, but sincere. "You could have just left me, but you didn't. You didn't give up, and you sacrificed yourself." Natsume breathed heavily, his throat closing up. Hotaru's eyes widened when she saw Natsume's eyes turn a little glossy, but no one was more shocked than Mikan. Natsume was never like this. He was collected and cool. Remembering this himself, he picked himself back up and gave Hotaru a look she couldn't decipher. "I owe my entire life to you. I won't break our promise again."

"Natsume-kun, you never broke the promise to begin with. You're here now, aren't you?" Hotaru said. "Mikan needs you. She doesn't need a lot of things, but she needs you. You're my friend and the person my best friend is in love with. I wasn't about to let you die." The air dripped of a thick understanding and forgiveness. Hotaru continued.

"No matter what punishment the laws of time may await me, I'm still glad we saved you." She grabbed her brother's hand. "Besides, being trapped in this time void allowed me to gain a real relationship with my brother," Hotaru said as she happily looked towards her older brother. "Please don't feel sad Natsume, every decision that I have made for you and Mikan, I was glad to do." Hotaru gave him the sincerest look she'd ever given him.

"Thank you," Natsume said as he returned the sincere expression to her. He grabbed Mikan's hand, and smiled at her. Ruka couldn't help but feel a bit of shame for his lack of heroic deeds. Mikan was willing to sacrifice her life to stop Persona from hurting Natsume and his sister, and her happiness for the sake of the entire academy. Natsume was willing to give his life to stop the ESP's wrath on the students and protect MIkan, and the Imai siblings were willing to isolate themselves into an eternity of time to save Natsume's life. And here was Ruka jealous to even see Mikan and Natsume share a kiss. What right did he have to hold these feelings? He never did anything to sacrifice himself for the sake of his friends so what right did he have to bear these negative feelings towards them. But no matter how many times he told himself this, he just couldn't seem to escape the mental poison known a jealousy.

"I'm sorry," Ruka said under his breath as the five alices gathered round and gave thanks for their long awaited reunion. Hotaru wrapped her arms around Mikan and the best friends reunited. They all couldn't help but smile.

"Now that we're all together, we can finally return to the present time safe and sound...which we have no idea how to do..." Natsume, Ruka, Hotaru, and Subaru all turned blue in the face.

A/N: Mikan and friends have finally reunited with Hotaru and her brother in the time void, but how will they return home? Feel free to leave comments on your prediction and thoughts. ^_^

This chapter was written by Sonic-Keyblade 007 and edited by edwardelric108 and Neverlookback756.