Shut Up For a Minute

You're Mine

"I missed you so much, Sakura!" Ruka gushed, blushing ruby red. Mikan smiled, wiping the giddy tears from her eyes. "I missed you both so much!" She cried, throwing her arms around a surprised Natsume and a greatful Ruka. "Even if I didn't remember you that whole time, I had a deep longing I was missing so many things...." Sakura trailed off, looking in the distance. "But now you're here, and it's all clear. I love you guys." Natsume smiled and Ruka covered his face and blushed. "Mikan, c'mon."
Mikan wasn't given a moment to protest as she was dragged from her spot into some nearby woods. Ruka smiled, waving a bashful farewell as he played with a nearby bird.
"Mikan." Natsume said softly after they sat facing the ocean on a cliff for a moment the moon reflecting on the water, enchanted in its beauty. Mikan wiped the uncontrollable tears flowing from her eyes and wrapped her arms around his thin yet strong form. "I... Before they wiped my memory I was sure you were dead! I was positive! I hoped with all my might we'd meet again as Hotaru told me! And when I couldn't really remember everything, when guys would fawn over me, I was of course honored, but I knew there was no way I could love them. Because some days I'd look at the sky and remember this... This unbelievably strong love I had that I knew nothing could compare to. And these uncontrollable tears would come from my eyes that I was never able to determine the exact meaning of, but now I get it all..." Natsume's eyes became increasingly softer as she finished her story. He removed her crying face from his shoulder and wiped the tears off. "Knock it off. Stop crying. Smile, dammit," he grinned, putting a hand on her cheek and wiping the tears from her eyes with his thumb. She leaned into his hand, continuing to cry. "Natsume... It's not sad tears... I'm so happy..."
Natsume's cheeks colored lightly as he squeezed her shoulders.
"You remember our promise, right?" He asked uneasily.
She blushed profusely. "Of course you'd bring that up, pervert. Of course I do, I mean it was the last time we properly saw each other before..."
Natsume raised an eyebrow. "Shut up for a minute, would ya?" He complained, pulling her closer, to his chest. Their foreheads touched lightly. "Just. Shut. Up."
He kissed her, on the lips of course, for the first time since that night under the moon so long ago. It was sweet, yet full of yearning, romantic, yet not to the point Mikan would explode from the circumstances. They separated for a moment, the tears still freely streaming down Mikan's face. "Natsume..." she whispered, grabbing the front of his shirt and smiling up at him. His cheeks couldn't help but color slightly. He narrowed his red, but gentle, eyes and grinned. "What did I tell you, Mikan?" She frowned. "Huh?" He rolled his eyes. "I said to shut up. I can't help but feel like you still owe me one wish as my slave, considering you never let your hair down." Mikan laughed. "Per-" He knew what she was going to say, and didn't really care, as he pulled her even closer, wrapping his strong arms around her, and kissed her one last time. He felt her heartbeat race, remembering the night so long ago when she'd been beet red after granting his Christmas wish. He still wore that Alice stone around his neck, and intended to keep the truth of his statement, that even if she came to hate him (he'd find it difficult to live on if she did) he'd keep that stone, no matter what.

Pulling away, she took deep breaths, covering her blushing and crying face with her delicate hands. "It's been too long for me, Mikan, too long," Natsume stated, looking wistfully out into the bay, grinning slightly at the sight of the moon. "I was only ever comforted by the Alice stone and the moon. Knowing that you were under the same moon kept me sane." He took a long breath, putting his head between his knees. "And through it all I wondered if you'd moved on. Forgot us entirely, forgot any feelings you had for anyone, weren't aware anything had happened. That you'd pave a new life for yourself and I'd turn up to you with a boyfriend, or a fiancee, or..." Mikan began to giggle. "Like I said, I knew I'd loved someone like that before. Don't be stupid, Natsume. How could I have two fiancees, eh?" she said, the blush seemingly permanent on her cheeks. He let his hair fall over his face. "You're still going to honor that? Are you sure that nothing has changed?" Mikan smiled. "Shut up, baka. You know damn well that nothing has changed, and didn't I swear that night? And you swore you'd save me. Maybe you didn't save me in the way you imagined, but you did. You saved me from my false life. Hotaru was right, fate meant for us to be together, so stop acting like something's changed." He looked up at her and smiled. "The moon is our witness again, Mikan. If you ever break this promise, the moon may not be happy with you..." he warned teasingly, standing up and taking both of her hands. "I think the moon will come to love us both, Natsume. But never as much as I love you."

"I love you more than anyone ever, Mikan, remember that. More than Ruka loves his animals."

"That's a pretty big promise, Natsume."

"Do I ever intend to break it?"

"Hopefully not."

"The answer is NO, stupid girl."

"Pervert."

"Polka dots."

"Are we gonna seal this or not?"

"Shut up, dammit, and we will."

So with the moon as their witness yet again, Mikan and Natsume doubled their promise to be together forever. Walking from the woods hand-in-hand, Ruka shooed his animal friends apologetically and turned to Natsume with a smile on his face. "Lemme guess, you're going all hush-hush again on what happened? Wish we had that mind reader here again." Natsume colored at the thought of Ruka knowing that. "I wish I had Hotaru's baka-gun, Ruka." Mikan stared. "Whaaa..." She held up a finger, eyes wide. Natsume flipped her skirt up, mostly in the hopes of pissing her off so she'd shut up, but it only made things worse. "DAMN! WHERE THE HELL DO YOU GET THESE HAMMERS?!" Natsume complained, running from a blushing, furious Mikan. "DOESN'T MATTER, PERVERT!"

"STRIPES!"

"UHHHHHHHG!!!! DON'T GO THERE!" 

Ruka watched from afar as they ran off down the sidewalk, talking to a young fawn. 

"What are they doing?" the fawn asked curiously. 

Ruka smiled. "Natsume and Mikan love one another very much. Fate has destined them to be together. Their love is a strange one, they seem to be able to say anything to the other and it only makes their love stronger. It's the purest kind of love that I wish most people could have, wouldn't you say?"

The fawn smiled, hopping back into the woods in search of such enlightenment. 

"Ok, look, it's not like I'm going to call you that anymore. Mikan suits you much better anyways." Natsume looked at the ground in defeat. "That's actually when I first fell in love with you. When I decided to call you Mikan." Mikan stared at him in awe. "You know, I'm not quite sure when I realized it. It happened pretty gradually." Natsume smirked. "Tell me again. You've missed years of Christmas presents, don't you know. Mikan smiled. "I love you, Natsume Huyga." Natsume pulled her hair from her bun, smiling at the sight of the downed brown locks. "Love you too, Mikan Sakura. More than you'll ever know. Don't forget your promise," he teased, planting a quick kiss on her lips and tapping her ring finger. She blushed intensely. "How could I forget when you keep reminding me?" "How can I stop reminding you when it's something so important to me?" "And how could I ever forget if it's what reminded me of my old life all that time." 

Natsume smiled, finally accepting that she was his, and everything was as it should be. He blinked the tears away.

"You're mine."