New Beginnings

By

Angel Della Notte

Chapter 1: Packages

Author Notes: Ok as promised here is my new story it takes place a year or so after Zwei with the start of the new school year. Basically everyone in Arika's class has graduated but Nina who still isn't sure what to do with her life. This story will follow the new coral class which includes Alyssa Kruger and the Pearl class that has some new characters from my other stories like Shie Hallard and Imari Retiko-Tokiha. As much as I wish I don't own Mai-Otome.

(Natsuki Kruger's Office, Garderobe)

"Shizuru," Natsuki said looking over a tower of papers at the brunette sitting on the sofa with a glass of tea. "What is going on with Maya? Has she found Nina Wang yet?"

"Not yet it seems the address we've been sending her school work is just a mailing address. She is living somewhere in the mountains." Shizuru said standing from the sofa refilling her glass then Natsuki's handing it to the principal.

"She needs to be found soon. This hiding can't go on forever she needs to make a choice. Either she returns to Garderobe or forfeits her GEM." Natsuki said taking the glass, "Thank you." Things had been going slow lately it was summer vacation meaning the students and most of the teachers got time off. Everyone but Natsuki, she had to review the corals from the year before place them in classes, approve the corals for the next year and summer vacation was when most of the yearly reviews were conducted.

"Understandable. Maya reported in earlier today while you were meeting with Miss Maria to go over the duties of the hold over students. She has a few leads but doesn't know when she will make contact." Shizuru said as there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

A young girl walked through the door and bowed before the desk she had long brown hair and a well portioned chest, "Principal, there is a courier from Aries for you."

"Thank you Itsuko send them in." Natsuki said moving a stack of papers so she could see clearly over the desk as an Otome in a military uniform with short black hair walked in. "Major Hallard have a seat." She gestured to the chair in front of the desk as the woman did after setting a folder down on the table.

"The applications from Aries for the next coral class," Chie said tapping the folder.

"Alright Hallard I know you, what have you done to earn courier duties?" Natsuki asked picking the folder up and setting it off to the side to review later. Packages like this were coming in from all over the world. Over four hundred girls had taken the entrance exams and each country was authorized so many spots in the academy it was Natsuki's job to choose who got in and who didn't.

"The General wasn't exactly pleased with the advancements in hydro-artillery that Junko and I have made." Chie chuckled.

"Hydro-artillery?" Natsuki asked ideas already running through her head.

"Yeah we discovered a way to rig a motor unit to launch water balloons." Chie said with a large grin on her face.

"And you decided to use your little toy on Haruka?" Shizuru asked serving Chie a glass of tea then sitting on the edge on Natsuki's desk imagining how pissed Haruka must have been.

"Not exactly, we were aiming for Hyoni but I forgot to account for wind and it nailed the General right in the back with a six balloon volley." Chie said.

"Oh I wish could have seen that." Natsuki said as she started laughing.

"So I'm stuck running errands and poor Junko is still polishing the Suzushiro." Chie said. "Say Principal, think you can do me a favor?"

"Depends on what you want me to do. I'm actually getting along with Haruka right now I would like to keep it that way." Natsuki said.

"The water balloon incident was a week ago since then I've been to Cardair, Florince, Annam, and both Lutesias not in that order. I need a break I've logged in way to many flying hours. I figured here I am in Windbloom home of a certain someone special wouldn't it be nice to spend the night here?" Chie said.

"I don't know; you want me to find some excuse so you can go snogger your girlfriend?" Natsuki asked.

"Well… yeah?" Chie said crossing her legs.

"I think we can swing something. Come by tomorrow morning I'll have a package for you to deliver to Haruka." Shizuru said.

"Thank you Shizuru-onee-sama." Chie said as she stood up. "I'll be by bright and early."

"Not too early Hallard tomorrow is Sunday and I enjoy sleeping in on Sundays." Natsuki said.

(Artai Mountains)

A young girl tossed in bed her blue hair falling around her as she thrashed about. Her movements woke her partner in bed who quickly pulled her into his arms cradling her close to him. Sadly this was something the blonde haired man had gotten used to. As long as he could remember the girl had been plagued by nightmares. Though he couldn't really remember much more then a year and half ago. She had told him that he had raised her as his own daughter but she was adopted. He found that hard to believe in the year they had been living together he had come to care a great deal for her but it wasn't as a man would care for his daughter. True he was quite a bit older then her but still he had fallen in love with her. Hence why about four months ago he had married her, their marriage was a strange one. His wife was an Otome one of the maidens sworn to protect the world by serving her master. Nina Wang the Neptune Emerald one of Queen Mashiro's Otome. One of the sacrifices an Otome had to make was she could never know the love of a man else she would lose her right to be an Otome. He had heard that statement made many times but never fully understood it until he fell in love with one. It was false though he had learned an Otome could know the love of a man though she could never know the physical side of that love. He didn't seem to mind being with her was enough.

He pulled her closer to him and began stroking his hand through her hair softly calling out her name. "Nina, Nina it's only a dream." He said whispering to her. Slowly she woke up taking a minute to realize where she was and that it was just a dream. "You're covered in sweat come on let get you into some dry clothes we wouldn't want you to freeze."

"Sergay," Nina said holding to him and crying into his chest. Her dream hadn't truly been a nightmare it wasn't just a story that scared her at night it was something she had live. Destruction she had caused all in the name of duty and then in the name of love. She envied her husband in a way. He was guilty of the same crimes as she but he didn't remember any of them. His cruse she had thought at first but came to realize he was the lucky one. After he was healed and had gotten more comfortable she had told him the truth about what they had did and he had tried to comfort her then as he still did now.

"Nina that life is over we've been given a second chance." Sergay said helping her from the bed. He carefully unbuttoned the long over shirt of his that she slept in pushing it from her shoulders as he walked to the water basin wetting a cloth. Then he wiped it across her skin causing her to shiver from the cold. Being sure to be quick he cleaned her then pulled a fresh shirt around her. "Come back to bed love." He said guiding her there. Like always when she had these nightmares she just nodded and followed him crawling into the bed with him pressing up close to him. He reached for her chin bringing it to a gentle kiss.

"Sergay, I love you." Nina quietly said. It had taken some time for to get used to calling him by his name and not father at times it still felt strange and she did slip but he never seemed to mind.

"Nina, I love you too now we need to rest." He said kissing her again as she nodded and rested her head on his chest drifting off to sleep this time without the nightmares.

(Fuka Palace, Windbloom)

A young maid stood at a table folding a stack of laundry. She had long brown hair pulled into a braid. When she finished the stack of sheets she turned and walked over to a cabinet putting them away. She then turned back to the table to grab the next stack seeing a blue rose sitting on top of the sheets. The maid picked up the rose and smelled it turning around and looking for the only person she knew that would leave a blue rose. "Chie where are you?" The maid asked.

"Right here, Aoi." Chie said coming up behind her kissing the side of her neck and then her cheek.

Aoi turned around securely in Chie's arms standing on her toes planting a kiss on the Otome's lips. "What are you doing here?"

"I've got stuck running errands for the General just dropped a package off for Kruger." Chie said her fingers playing with the tie on Aoi's braid. "Viola has a package she wants delivered to the General but it won't be ready until tomorrow so I need a place to crash."

"So you thought you could worm your way into my bed?" Aoi said batting Chie away from her hair while at the same time taking a step forward.

"Worm? I never needed to worm my way. I'm just so charming that you can't resist me." Chie said her lips drawn to Aoi's neck.

"I suppose it would be nice to have someone share my bed keep me warm from those cool summer breezes." Aoi said standing on her toes leaning into Chie's touch.

"Warming beds happens to be my specialty among many other talents." Chie cooed blowing in Aoi's ear.

"Go wait in my room. I need to go talk to the Queen see if I can't get the afternoon off." Aoi said, "I rather not have her be pissy for the next week. Last time she was complained about how you had too much free time on your hands."

"I could think of a few things I would like to have my hands on." Chie said her hands dropping to Aoi's bottom giving it a squeeze, "Like this."

"Chie! Go wait in my room. I'll be up as soon as I can." Aoi said blushing then kissing Chie and sliding out of her arms. "I'll make it worth it."

(Mountain Town, Artai)

With her hood pulled tightly around her face partly to protect her from the cold but mostly to keep her from being seen she walked down the street a bag over her shoulder. She tried not to come into town but couldn't help it they needed supplies. Fortunately Queen Mashiro had given her enough money for them to survive while she discovered who she was and what she planned on doing with her life. She passed an old woman who spit on the ground in front of her. Something else she had gotten used to. No one saw her as the Neptune Emerald she would forever be known as the Ultimate Black Diamond loyal servant to Nagi D'Artai. She kept walking not really able to blame the woman and those like her that hated her. She knew what they felt she hated herself as well. Yes she had helped Arika and Mai fight off Yuna but that wasn't enough to make mends for the things she had done. Queen Mashiro had given her a full pardon and offered for her to remain as an Otome in her service. But Nina wasn't sure if that was a life she could go back to. Which lead to what she was doing in these mountains for the last year, taking the time she needed to find herself. It had been a year and still she was no closer to when she left. Natsuki Kruger had workbooks sent to her which she obediently filled out and returned. She walked into a store pulling her hood back and brushing the snow off her before she stepped completely in. She walked over to the clerk and handed him a list. "I would like to purchase these things please." Nina said.

"Too bad your money isn't worth anything here." The clerk said handing this list back.

"I understand." Nina said taking the list and walking back towards the door. Most of the stores in town would stop selling to her once they found out who she was. The city she was currently in was a good day's walk from the cabin she shared with her husband and two towns over but the other stores had refused to sell to her as well.

She felt someone pull the list from her hands and before she could say anything a blond woman walked over to the counter plopping the list down and looking at the clerk. "Perhaps my money is worth something." She said pulling her headdress back to show a white GEM on her ear.

"Hai, Lady Meister!" The man said running in the back to gather the things on the list.

"You are a difficult woman to find, Nina Wang." The woman said.

"Maya-onee-sama!" Nina said bowing to the older woman. "What are you doing here?"

"We have much to talk about but not here. After you've gathered your things I will take you to your cabin. I guess it's what a day's journey form here?" Maya asked.

"Yes, Maya-onee-sama," Nina said looking at the ground knowing that there was only one reason a pillar would travel out this far. Well actually there were two reasons they would and Nina wasn't sure she liked either of them.

"I'll take you there it will be less then an hour's trip then we can talk." Maya said as the clerk came back putting the supplies on the table. Maya gestured for Nina to pack them up in her bag then paid the man before walking outside with the girl. She pulled a cell phone out and dialed Garderobe. The system had been restored but was still having problems here and there. Natsuki had ordered that they were to get authorization to materialize before actually doing it unless in danger. "Maya Bythe Fifth Column, Swirling Dancing Fluorite requesting Materialization,"

"My system shows you are in Artai wow I didn't know the phones worked that far out amazing." A young voice on the line said. "The megahertz booster we installed last month must be really working on overload the farthest we tested it was in Annam. The reception quality is superb! I'm hardly getting any jitters or interface."

"Irina, stop fooling around, am I clear or not?" Maya barked into the phone.

"Sorry Maya-onee-sama yes you are clear to materialize all systems are normal and FCP usage is at twenty-five percent." Irina said. "The load should increase to about forty-five percent usage with your materialization and the pearl star class but still that is no where near the peak usage or the maximum usage. As long as the FCP core and the transmitters hold out we should be able to sustain peak usage of eighty-five percent for thirty-six hours as long as there are no surges and none of the motherboards decide to crash."

"Right I'm going to pretend like I understood that. No don't try to explain. Maya out," She said closing the phone and placing it in her pocket turning to Nina. "Does that girl realize that most people haven't a clue what she is saying?" Irina Woods had graduated but hadn't been linked to a master. Instead she was hooked to the Fumi system much like the instructors and pillars only her job was to assist Youko Helene as the assistant Director of Garderobe.

"Probably not," Nina giggled.

"Alright enough of that Materialize!" Maya said her GEM going through the certification steps and her robe appearing before her then settling on her. "Climb on my back and we'll be at your cabin in no time."

A small group of people stood there staring they had never seen an Otome before much less one materialize before them. They watched in awe as the two flew into the skies. Some cheering as they thought Maya was there to take the traitor away for punishment. There had been news of her pardon in Windbloom and of here in Artai as she was just following orders but many still believed she should be sharing a cell with Nagi or worse off and dead.

(Natsuki Kruger's Office, Garderobe)

"God is that it?" Natsuki asked looking at the stack of paperwork on one side of her desk. She had moved everything she had completed to the far side of her desk. It had taken the better part of two weeks to sort through all the applications and would be glad it was over.

"We just have the applications Chie-kun brought from Aries." Shizuru said holding up the folder. "Looks like they have five applicants,"

"I thought there were only four candidates selected to back fill spots on Delta and Echo squad." Natsuki said remembering how Haruka had been talking about increasing the squads by two people each.

"Yes, four of them are for their military one is a private sponsorship." Shizuru said looking at the fifth application then going quiet.

"Who is it for?" Natsuki asked looking over to Shizuru who was sitting on the edge of the table. Shizuru just sat there looking at the folder as if she hadn't heard Natsuki. "Shizuru?"

"Huh?" Shizuru said looking up from the folder.

"Who is the application for?" Natsuki said but Shizuru just handed Natsuki the folder silently counting in her head, she got to three before Natsuki shouted, "What does that woman think she is doing?"

"Natsuki, calm down it's not that big of a deal." Shizuru said standing up and moving around to rub Natsuki's shoulders.

"Not that big of a deal?" Natsuki said standing up and pacing the room while she waved the folder around. "Does she think she could just slip this in and I wouldn't notice?"

"Natsuki…" Shizuru started to say but was cut off by Natsuki.

"That woman is impossible," Natsuki said still failing the folder around in the air "Really the nerve of her!"

"Natsuki I'm sure your mother is just doing what she thinks is best." Shizuru said timidly a rare trait for the Graceful Amethyst.

"What is best?" Natsuki said turning to glare at Shizuru. "By forcing her to become an Otome like she did me? Look she even had the gall to conduct the Otome interview herself."

"Well there is nothing in the regulations that says it can't be conducted by a retired Otome." Shizuru said trying to calm Natsuki down and failing.

"Don't you dare tell me you are on her side" Natsuki said still glaring at Shizuru.

"Natsuki do you really regret becoming an Otome that much?" Shizuru asked looking at her partner.

"No, it's just I don't want this for Alyssa. She should be free to choose for herself." Natsuki said as Shizuru walked over to Natsuki pulling her close. "Mother's got one Otome in the family. Why can't she be happy with that?"

"What if this is what Alyssa wants?" Shizuru said.

"And if it's not?" Natsuki said putting the folder down on the table and stamping it rejected.

(Nina's Cabin)

The three of them sat around the table while Nina poured them each a cup of coffee. The favored drink of most Otomes seemed to be tea but Nina had always preferred coffee. It was stronger and more of a kick to it. She especially enjoyed a good Artain brew something strong enough to not only wake you up but to keep you warm. She hand Maya who instantly began spooning sugar into it stopping at the fifth spoonful. Nina shrugged and thought Maya must be of the tea preferring kind. She handed Sergay a cup who put one spoonful of sugar in it then she sat down with her own cup taking a drink without any sugar added. "What did you want to talk about Maya-onee-sama?" Nina said taking another drink.

Maya took a sip of her own coffee thinking she should have put more sugar in. She looked over at Nina seeing the green GEM on her ear then looked at her hand noticing the gold band on her left ring finger. She raised an eyebrow but didn't comment she wasn't sure if that mattered it all depended on which choice Nina made. "I've been sent here because I am the closest Pillar to Artai. I left King Krau-xeku in Cardair with a Chastity belt. Principal Kruger has decided you have had long enough to find yourself and Queen Mashiro agrees. I've come here for one of two things. In three days I will be traveling from this place. Either you will be coming with me or the Neptune Emerald will be coming with me. That is unless you've lost your right to be an Otome, Mrs. Wang." Maya said.

Nina looked at the older woman she knew this day would come but had hoped it never would. She was caught in two worlds not really belonging to either. She stared at Maya knowing full well that the older woman was staring at her ring when she called by her last name. "I am still intact." Nina said and Sergay reached across the table putting his hand on hers.

"I'm surprised after Akane-chan married Kazuya-kun I still had to fight to keep them apart. I'll be returning to that village we met at they seemed to have a descent inn. I want you to meet me there on the third day. You either need to be ready for travel or you will need to surrender your GEM. Choose wisely Nina Wang this choice will forever decide your life." Maya said drinking the last of her coffee then stepping to the doorway, "Thanks for the coffee."

After she left Nina stared at the door not moving until Sergay squeezed her hand. "We knew this day would come." He said softly looking at his wife, "Nina whatever you choose I will support you."

"Sergay, I know if I go back I will still be treated like the criminal I am. How can I go back to all that?" Nina said looking away from the door to him. "But I can't live my life hiding here in the mountains."

"A hard choice indeed to make, you have three days Nina we can think about it later. Right now the news it too fresh let's go relax in the hot springs and take you mind from it a bit." Sergay said standing and holding his had out for her.

"You are right I need time to think this over." Nina said taking it and they walked to the springs together still holding hands. In the hills behind their cabin Maya sat on a tree branch nodding her head. They were lovers even if they had never been with each other as lovers would. Between how they acted, the rings and now this Maya was sure.

(Parliament Building, Aries)

It was late in the afternoon when Chie arrived at the Parliament Building. She had delivered a package a Saeko Kruger at the request of the principal even though Shizuru tried to convince her not to. She hadn't stuck around to figure out what was in the package instead had continued on to the Parliament Building hoping that whatever Shizuru had put in the package would excuse her fore being a day late. She stopped at the door and knocked before entering Haruka's office. "General," Chie said saluting Haruka she had the envelope tucked under her arm.

"You are late Hallard I was expecting you back last night." Haruka said looking up from the paperwork on her desk. "Have an exercise?"

"Excuse?" Chie said under her breath then looked at Haruka handing her the folder. "Meister Viola asked me to deliver this to you. It wasn't ready yesterday so she asked me to stay until the morning. Then Meister Kruger asked me to deliver a package to Kruger Manor."

"Okay what did the Bubuzuke Woman send?" Haruka asked opening the envelope and pulling out several photos the top one being a picture of Shizuru and Haruka as corals in a Butou. Haruka missed a block and Shizuru had broken a staff on Haruka's head. The blonde let out a small chuckle then turned to the next it was a picture of Haruka angry at Shizuru as she hid behind Ein. The photo after that was one of the pearl class, they were all lined up in ranking order. A smile cracked on Haruka's face and she looked up at Chie, "You are dismissed Hallard. You can find Fitzgerald and both of you can take the afternoon off."

To be continued…

Author Notes: The photos that Haruka are official artwork from the series. I don't know if they are in an art book or what but if you've never seen them shoot me an e-mail and I will send them to you. Oh and with all my stories they are set in the same universe and all tie into each other so if you run across something that you aren't familiar with check out my other stories you might find it there.