Chapter 8 (Part 6): Resolution
"Um, Mikan-oneesan? I was a little confused about something that you said. You told me earlier that if I don't give Natsume a chance that you'll never be together what did you mean by that?" The young girl asked.
"Uh, well, I guess a time paradox happened. As soon as you ran away, my Natsume just faded from existence, it's kinda hard for me to explain but I saw it happen before my very eyes and it was really scary," Mikan said trying her best not to tear up.
"Oh no that's horrible. I-I don't really understand what a time paradox is but I didn't want Natsume to disappear or anything," The 10 year old Mikan said feeling guilty.
"You shouldn't bear all this guilt on yourself Mikan. I can't blame you for wanting to run away after being shocked by seeing your future self and fiancé, but you have the power to change Natsume's fate though Mikan," The older Mikan said while smiling.
"I-I have the power to save Natsume?" The young Mikan said bewildered by what her older counterpart meant.
"Yes Mikan, without you to protect him from himself, from his alice, Natsume will die because he has the fourth alice shape. Don't you see? He needs you Mikan, he may not show it but he does have feelings for you and only you have the power to save him from his alice, please I'm begging you Mikan!" The 17 year old girl said slightly clenching her hand that was holding the younger Mikan's hand.
"Ok, I'll try!" Said the 10 year old Mikan gaining new faith in her raven haired classmate. A few moments later, the two Mikan's finally found the 10 year old Natsume sitting by himself waiting for the two Mikans to find him.
"Mikan!?" Was all that the 10 year old boy could spit out of his mouth.
"Natsume," The 10 year old girl replied with a smile on her face. "Natsume, I know that we may have our differences but I'm willing to set those aside to get to know you better," The 10 year old Mikan said as she extended her arm out as an invitation for a handshake and blushing slightly.
"Hn," Was the only response Natsume had to give as he crossed his arms and turned his head while closing his eyes which angered both Mikans. But they were distracted with a bright light appearing in middle of the forest.
At this instant, a flash of light appeared in front of Natsume and the two Mikans within that flash of light a 16 year old Natsume reappeared from the disastrous time paradox.
"Natsume!" The 17 year old Mikan shouted in relief to see that her fiancé was able to return safe and sound from wherever he was.
"Oh, wha-what happened to me?" The 16 year old asked as he skimmed the area with a light head.
"You're back Natsume!" Mikan said as she ran towards her boyfriend, wrapped him in her arms and flooded the raven haired boy with a bunch of kisses which seemed to startle Natsume slightly.
"M-Mikan, what's gotten into you?" The 16 year old Natsume asked in confusion.
"Uh, Natsume-kun? You don't remember what happened? Apparently after I ran away, you popped out of existence due to a time paradox. Don't you remember anything? The young Mikan asked bewildered.
"Uh…..no. The only thing remember is you running away and that I was about to chase after you and then poof, here I am." The older Natsume said as rubbed his head.
"Aw it doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is that you're safe, you're here Natsume!" Mikan said as she engulfed her face further into his chest.
"Wow so am I really in the presence of my future self and fiancé?" The younger Mikan thought out loud.
"Hey older me, I need to talk to you in private," The younger Natsume said as he tugged onto his older counterpart's shirt and began pulling him.
"Uh, we'll be back Mikan, you two gossip or do something girly I guess in the meantime," The older Natsume said.
"Hey what do you mean by that?!" Both Mikans angrily shouted as the two Natsumes disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
"How old are you?" The young Natsume asked. The two 'men' were 'conversing' (well they are both Natsume so conversing would be an overstatement.) in private; away from the girls, who were busy gossiping about past and present.
"16," The older Natsume replied.
"Why did you come here in the first place?" The young boy wondered.
"We didn't mean to come here, we arrived on accident," The older Natsume replied.
There was a long period of silence when the younger one broke it.
"I still can't believe I fall for that idiot," The 10 year old mumbled in disbelief.
"I still can't believe I was such a jackass," The 16 year old stated.
"Watch your mouth!" His younger self was ready to fight again.
"Might wanna lose that temper. It's bad for you kid," The old Natsume said in annoyance.
"Don't call me a kid," The younger Natsume shouted back.
"Okay then, brat" He smirked and continued. "Stop lying to yourself. You've had crush on her ever since that day she came and rescued you from Reo," The older Natsume said taunting his younger self.
"I do not have a crush on Polka. Crushes are for girls. I am the Kuro Neko. I don't have crushes," The young boy said at the top of his lungs.
"You're right, brat. You DO NOT have a crush on her. You love her. More than your life." The older Natsume replied back.
"Shut up already! Old man!" The young Natsume snapped.
"I speak from experience, you know. I am you. You are me. And I know I was a jackass, so I want you to be nice to her," The older Natsume said with a dead serious expression on his face.
"You can be 'nice' to whoever you want, to polka or whatever. I don't give a shit. I have a reputation to maintain here," The 10 year old replied.
"Is that so? You don't care about her at all?" The older Natsume asked.
"No!" His younger self replied.
"I knew I was a jerk, but I didn't know I was a coward. A coward who can't even confess to the girl I love. Tch," The 16 year old said while turning his head in shame of his younger self.
"Hey! Don't interfere in my life, okay? Especially my love life," The younger one was getting pissed off. "Did I ask you once about how hot Polka is in bed?" The younger Natsume snapped back. The older Natsume looked away. He himself wished he knew that himself.
"Don't avoid it," The 10 year old pushed on his older self.
"Don't irritate me brat!" The older Natsume replied.
"Wait. Don't tell me. You two…" He almost laughed. "You two haven't actually had sex? I wonder how Polka looks without her strawberries on," The older Natsume grabbed the younger by his collar and pulled him up close. His eyes were on fire.
"Don't ever talk so cheaply about her again," The older one grabbed his collar and was ready to hit his face if one more word came out of his mouth disrespecting Mikan.
"You really do love her," Admitted his younger self.
"Yeah. And I don't care about her body. I love her soul. Her heart. I will wait for her to be ready for it. I don't want to rush things and hurt her feelings," He released his grip on the boy's collar, "It's called 'making love' for a reason," The older Natsume stated.
"Whatever. I don't care about my future sex life now," He straightened his collar, "I can't believe I don't know how to shave properly," He commented, he had noticed the scratches and bruises on his cheek when he held himself closer.
"Mikan doesn't know how to shave," The 16 year old replied in slight embarrassment.
"You let her shave you?" The 10 year old asked, this was too much for the kura neko's reputation.
"Long story," The 16 year old replied.
"I am sure I don't wanna hear it," The 10 year old replied in annoyance.
"Hn," And silence followed again. Conversing with your self was like talking to your conscience, more like your bad ass conscience. The older Natsume wondered how those Mikans were doing it so smoothly.
"Hey brat," The older Natsume called out. The younger raised his eyebrow. "Thank you," Okay, so now he was apologizing as well. This old man was definitely not him.
"For?" The younger Natsume asked.
"Calling her 'Mikan' for the first time. It means alot to her," The 16 year old replied.
"I only did it so-" The young Natsume started but was then interrupted by his older self.
"-so that she would stop bothering you?" The kid was surprised at the fact that his future self knew the exact words he was about to articulate. This old man was a real deal.
He smiled at his naivety. "I said that to Ruka too when he asked me the same question. But deep down I did it to make her happy. And I know that for a fact," The older Natsume stated.
"Hey you guys!" Both Mikan's came running towards them.
"You two done 'gossiping'?" The older Natsume asked.
"We were not gossiping we were talking," The younger Mikan stated while pouting and then clenched as she felt a sharp pain in her feet. This was the first time that she was wearing her fancy white dress shoes for the Alice Festival Dance so she didn't have much time to break them in and her feet were just now starting to suffer from it."Ow, all this running around has made my feet sore, I could really use a piggy back ride from Ji-chan right about now," The younger Mikan said with a sad expression on her face due to the memories of her grandfather who she hasn't seen in awhile.
"Oh, hey Natsume, why don't you give the little me a piggyback ride?" The older Mikan said with a malicious grin on her face.
"What? Why do I have to give her one?" The older Natsume whined.
"Because you're still my servant remember? And that technically means that you're little Mikan's servant too riiiiiiiiiight?" The 17 year old said while winking. "And for both our sakes you should try to make her feel as happy as possible if you want to leave a good impression in contrast to your younger self," The older Mikan whispered in her boyfriend's ear.
"But…" The older Natsume started but was then interrupted by his girlfriend talking to her younger self.
"Hey little me guess what? Your future fiancé lost to me in a bet so now he has to do what we say so he can give you a piggyback ride if you want! In fact you can make him do ANYTHING you want. Think of this as payback for the outcome of the Genie RPG game!" The 17 year said while giving her younger self a high five which seemed to greatly cheer up the younger Mikan.
"Wow is that true Natsume-kun? Will you really do whatever I want?" The younger Mikan asked hardly believing what her older self said. Natsume looked like he wanted to strangle his girlfriend but gave in since making the little Mikan as happy as possible would probably be admittedly the best way to ensure that all would go well for his current relationship with Mikan. So Natsume took a deep breath and accepted his end of the bargain.
"Yes master, I'm at your every command," The older Natsume said while trying his best not to barf after hearing what he just said. The younger Natsume's jaw dropped to the ground in awe of what his future self just said. What happened to the fierce kuro Neko. "Th-there's no way that I could become him?!" The younger Natsume angrily shouted.
"Wow Natsume-kun, you're such a gentleman. I wish the younger Natsume could be more like you!" The little Mikan squealed.
"Tch, like Hell," The younger Natsume replied as the 10 year old girl climbed on top of the older Natsume's shoulders who was kneeling down to his future girlfriend, she placed her legs on top of his shoulders hanging on as tight as she could.
"Wheeeeeee! This is fun Natsume-kun!" The 10 year old squealed. The younger Natsume was becoming very upset that his older self was hogging all the attention from the little Mikan. The 17 year old Mikan noticed this and tried to cheer him up.
"You know, you could just simply change your attitude if you want to get more attention from her Natsume," The 17 year old said while patting his head, which annoyed the 10 year old boy.
"Shut up! I don't have to do jack for her," The younger Natsume said as his older counterpart switched from piggyback position, to pony position as he got on his knees and hands and gave the 10 year old Mikan a pony ride. "Oh, how embarrassing!" The younger Natsume thought as the older Mikan continued to try and have a conversation with her future fiancé.
"Why don't you simply try being nicer to her Natsume? I'm sure that she'll come to like you more if you'd just drop the nasty attitude?" The 17 year old suggested.
"Hmph," Natsume nastily replied as he was now staring at his older counterpart who was massaging the younger Mikan's shoulders and then moved down to massage her sore feet.
"Natsume, I know that the real why reason why you continuously push her away is because you don't want to see her get hurt by getting close to you but in reality, I believe that she wants to become close to you so that she can prevent this academy from hurting you anymore than it already has. The older Mikan said while patting Natsume's back. The young Natsume then took a moment to think but was then engulfed by a pair of arms as the older Mikan hugged him.
"Try not to let your reputation make yourself hide your true feelings for ok. She really cares about you and I know that you really care about her ok?" The 17 year old said as she lifted her arms off him as the older Natsume and younger Mikan headed their way.
"*giggle* That was fun Natsume-kun!" The 10 year old said while clinging onto her future boyfriend's arm.
"*sigh* Yeah, fun for you." The 16 year old said to himself as a drop of sweat appeared on the back of his head.
"That's because it's always a blast to get a boy to do nice things for you," The older Mikan said while giving her younger self another high five. "Natsume how do we get back?" The older Mikan walked up to ask her Natsume.
"Now it dawns on her. Once an idiot always an idiot," The younger Natsume said.
"Don't talk to Mikan-oneesan like that!" A younger version snapped at him. The 16 year old Natsume smiled at how the two Mikans had gotten along so well. After all they were both Mikan. He felt a sudden urge to kiss her. Not the teenager. But the kid. He wanted to feel her tiny smooth lips again. And without thinking much he bent down and placed a hand on her shoulder and the other hand chining her up and pecked the little girl on lips. He smiled as he withdrew and whispered, "Thank you," Only loud enough for her to hear it. The little girl was dumbstruck to receive her first kiss from her future fiance who was right now 6 years older than her. She looked at her older oneesan for advice.
Mikan gave her a beaming smile which told her its okay. She bent and kissed her forehead as well, "Take care of him," She whispered. She walked to her kid Natsume and smiled at him, cupped his face much to his (and the future Natsume's) dismay. He wanted to snap back and yell at her but he couldn't he was frozen with...well….love. "Please don't die on her," She said as she planted a kiss on his lips and a tear escaped from her eyes knowing that he would indeed die in future, but then she saw him standing in front of her as a tall handsome 16 year old and she smiled.
"Stay strong Natsume," The 16 year old said as he held out a fist inviting his younger counterpart to a bro-fist. The younger Natsume held out his fist and accepted his older counterpart's invitation as their fist's peacefully met.
The two ten year olds were speechless. After all even in the strange and bizarre alice world it's not everyday you bump into your future selves and your future fiancés who give you your first kisses.
"You two have a knack for messing things up, don't you?" A familiar voice called out from behind.
"Paradox!" The older versions of the couples said in unison.
"What are you doing here?" Natsume asked him.
"Cleaning up your mess of course," He replied. "It wasn't easy you know. You two had almost changed the course of the future by meddling too much with your past!"
"Who's he?" The young Natsume asked.
"He's the reason we're here," His older version replied.
"He's a timetraveller. Noda sensei's friend. He's helping us sav-" Paradox interrupted Mikan,
"Spoiler alert. I think you've given them enough spoilers for today," Paradox took out his pocket watch and opened up a portal into time again, "Hop in," The grown man said.
"Aren't you coming?" Mikan asked him.
"I've got to finish some business here," Paradox replied. Mikan waved goodbye to her younger self and her kid fiancé. She was, both Mikans were, kinda teary eyed. "It's sad leaving yourself behind." She told Natsume.
"Stop being overdramatic," The older Natsume said, but deep down, he too couldn't help but feel melancholy for leaving their younger selves who they have had so much fun with tonight.
"Bye bye Mikan oneesan! Natsume-kun." Mikan waved them back as the two teenagers jumped into the window.
"Okay," Paradox turned to face the two 10 year olds. "One problem solved. One more to go," He raised his right hand. He opened his fist revealing a turquoise tainted alice stone.
"What are you doing?" Young Natsume asked as he approached them and the stone started glowing.
"Oh! don't worry kuro neko, just making sure not to create 'Paradoxes'," Paradox was nonchalant.
"Uh but what exactly is a Paradox?" Mikan asked, "The older me said we made one today but I thought that was your name!"
Natsume and Paradox sweat dropped at her ignorance.
"Don't worry about it, you won't remember a thing in a second," And saying this the stone was illuminated and before the two kids could act, their memories were erased. The entire incident about meeting up with their future selves was erased out from their minds and Paradox vanished into thin air.
"Mikan...A naive girl like you should stay in the light and out of the dark." A ten year old Natsume told the girl pestering him. But she wasn't listening to the latter half of it, she was madly blushing at the fact that he called her by her first name. Natsume finally acknowledged her name. But why was she blushing about it? It's just a name. She walked out of the bushes to enjoy the dance again, but somehow this was going to be different now. Her heart was pounding in her tiny flat chest.
"Natsume," Ruka walked in with two plates of Pastry, "That's the first time I heard you call a girl by her name," He knew his best friend well.
"It's just, because she kept bothering me!" It was strange. Natsume felt a strange sense of Deja vu. As if he had this conversation with someone before about his attitude towards Mikan and about how he hides how he really feels about her.
And the events of the Last Dance followed their normal course. Paradox managed to clean up the mess after all. God knows what paradoxes would have taken place if the two 10 year olds memories were not erased.
Before Paradox could bring the two teenagers back to their friends, he felt a pull on his sleeve. He turned, thinking that it would be Mikan, but to his surprise, it was Natsume.
"What is it?" Paradox asked him. Natsume opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but struggled to find the words.
"There's one more place I need to go. I won't mess up time, this is supposed to happen. I remember it," Mikan looked at him with confusion. Paradox raised his eyebrow and gave Natsume an expectant look.
"Where do you want to go?" he asked. Without waiting a second, Natsume answered.
"Christmas Eve two years from now." Mikan's head shot up. What could he have possibly wanted then? Did he want to watch the two of them on a the balcony dedicating themselves to each other?
"Why?" Mikan asked. Natsume could only shake his head, his eyes begging for Paradox's approval.
"Fine, make it quick," Paradox said and they were off. Christmas Eve two years from their last stop was snowy, but the sky was clear. The air was cold and sent tiny needles into Mikan's exposed legs. As soon as their feet touched the white ground, Natsume ran. Mikan followed behind him, but Natsume warned her not to stay too close. She watched him dart off into the night, his face determined. And then she saw it.
Natsume stood a few yards away from a young boy who looked no older than twelve. His hair was shaggy, and Mikan could've sworn she saw a flash of red from his eyes. She knew that boy well. The young boy was running. His eyes were scanning his surroundings and his face looked completely desperate. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was doing. He was looking for her. The younger twelve-year-old Natsume was looking for Mikan.
But he was going the wrong way. Suddenly, Mikan knew why Natsume was here. He knew why it was so vital that he had to come there. Natsume grabbed the younger one by his arm and stopped him. Both of their eyes were wide.
"That way," The 16 year old Natsume stated, pointing behind him. His voice dripped with honesty.
"She's that way. In the main building," The younger boy couldn't say a word, and he didn't need to. Instead, he tore his arm from the grasp of the teenager, and ran in the right direction.
Natsume walked back to Mikan and Paradox. He didn't say anything, he was breathless.
"Let's go back now," Paradox declared.
A/N: This chapter is inspired by "time traveler's wife" I(Ed) read the book recently while I (Ed) was travelling Europe. It's a great book if you love sci-fi and romance. Next chapter is a little about Persona. (as 'rima' had asked for)
Also, we would like to know which chapter you guys liked the most, please mention it in your reviews ^^
This chapter was written by all three authors Sonic-Keyblade007, edwardelric108, and Neverlookback756.