Chapter Twenty-Four: Finally Free

"Miiiiiiiiikan!"

A childlike scream woke Mikan from her sleep. Startled, she shot upright in her bed and her head collided with something hard. She doubled over clutching her head, rubbing at the spot that hit something, or someone.

"Ugh, Natsume," a whine said. "This wasn't fun at all."

Mikan peeked out from her hands to see Aoi sprawled out on her bed rubbing her own forehead. The little girl must have wanted to scare her, and of course her brother had set her up to it. Mikan shifted her eyes across her room to see Natsume leaning against her dresser, a smirk played on his lips.

Mikan glared at him. "What're you smirking for?"

"You were drooling in your sleep," Natsume said shrugging.

Mikan patted her face for signs of drool but found none, she looked to her pillow and found none again. He was lying. She whipped her head back at him to retort but he beat her to it.

"Dreaming of me?" he asked walking towards her.

Mikan blushed slightly before she hastily reached for her pillow. She whipped it out from behind her, swinging it over Aoi's still sprawled body, and flung it at Natsume. He deflected it easily and Mikan watched as it fell to the floor, expecting it to magically cripple him.

He stepped over the pillow and walked slowly over to her bed. His gaze never left hers as he spoke. "Aoi, go find Yoichi and Ruka. Get started on your studies."

Aoi jumped off from the bed and ran out the door, waving at them. "Bye, Mikan!" she yelled, her short black hair trailing behind her.

Natsume sat down on the edge of her bed and placed his hand on the other side of her, effectively trapping her in her place. Mikan searched his eyes trying to guess his end game. She was not very good at it. He always had some sort of trick up his sleeve and she still couldn't believe that he had actually stuck around after everything that had happened a couple months ago.

Things had long since calmed down since the Persona fiasco. It had been about two months since the incident and Persona's ultimate demise. No one really knew how to proceed after Reo and Mihara bailed out. They kind of just stood around dumbfounded.

"Is it over?" Koko had asked.

"Did you kill Persona?" Sumire asked Natsume.

Natsume stared down at his hands. "I—"

"I think," Hotaru interjected, "his shadows devoured him first."

It was such an overwhelming moment. Persona's own shadows and ability over powered him and took him down, ultimately. All his goons had fled and remained in the dark as well, no one seemed to want to be associated with him. News of Persona spread rapidly and angels everywhere rejoiced at his disappearance and the knowledge that the shadow attacks were over.

Not a single shadow attack has occurred since that day. Sumire argues that their lives were tethered to Persona's, which would then actually make them dumb as they inadvertently killed themselves by killing their master. Hotaru hypothesized another scenario. She said they were under his control but he lost that control and the shadows retreated back to their natural creaks and corners. Their lust for wings was no longer present and they could simply go back to being lifeless shadows. Regardless of who was right, the shadows were gone and they weren't coming back.

Some brave soldier had ventured back into the tunnels with Sumire's guidance and discovered a small notebook. The hand writing was terribly illegible and was identified to be Mihara's. He had recorded the names of all of Persona's victims and how long their wings had lasted him. It was a numbing list to read, and more names than they all expected were present.

Then there was Aoi. She had been separated from normal society for so long that her adjustment was going poorly. She clung to those familiar to her, and Yoichi didn't take kindly to her taking his time with Natsume away from him. They were fighting for his affection and Natsume seemed to be in over his head, and sought out advice from his friends. So in the meantime, Aoi is being reintroduced to society slowly back at the temple. Which Mikan didn't mind as it was an excuse to see Natsume more often.

Mikan blinked back the memories and stared into Natsume's eyes. "Um," she said, dizzy off his scent.

"Go get dressed," he said.

"Oh," Mikan said. She shifted, expecting him move so she could put some clothes on but he didn't. He remained still with his eyes trained on her. The morning air was cool on her warm skin as she wiggled her way out from underneath his arm. She rolled off the bed and glanced to her balcony. The sun was barely up. She groaned. Natsume better have a good reason for this.

Once in her bathroom, she splashed some cold water on her face to wake herself up. She tied her hair back and slipped into the clothes she had grabbed. The mirror in front of her showed the reflection of a girl with sleep still etched onto her face. Mikan groaned and ran her hands down her face, hoping it would magically make her look presentable. She patted her cheeks to get some color into them and decided it was good enough.

The bathroom door squeaked open and Mikan paused when she found her balcony wide open. The wind was bitter and blew the curtains around frantically. She huffed in annoyance, noticing that Natsume was no longer on her bed.

"That jerk," she mumbled, turning around. "What was the point of all that?"

A yawn caught in her chest and she found herself unable to fight it. She closed her eyes and tried to hold the yawn as long as she could.

A soft rustling noise caught her attention and she spun back around to look at her balcony. Her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Natsume had reappeared inches in front of her. She stumbled back at his closeness. "Ahhh!" she exclaimed tripping over her feet.

He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him. His hair looked wind-swept, his black wings glistened with what must have been tiny snowflakes, and he looked absolutely breathtaking.

Mikan's eyes traveled all around his perfect figure. Everything about it seemed familiar and comforting, not at all terrifying like before. Instinctively she reached out for one of his wings and let her fingers trail across his feathers. They were cool to the touch. The flakes melted under her touch and she liked how they felt on her fingertips. A smile crept over her face. She couldn't believe this was real, this incredible angel, who had been to hell and back.

The wings suddenly disappeared from underneath her touch and her hand hung in the air. She glanced up at Natsume and found him smirking. The smile fell from her face and she grew annoyed again.

"What," she started, "Wait. What was that for?" She shoved him in the chest to make a point.

He caught the hand that shoved him easily and held it. "You have no idea what your touch does to me," he said.

Mikan blinked once at his response. She had meant for her question to be about him leaving so his response startled her. "No," she started, "I meant—"

He held up a small brown bag in front of her face before she could finish. "I brought breakfast," he said.

Mikan's mouth hung open as she decided that admitting defeat was the easiest action. Plus she was hungry.

Natsume, taking advantage of Mikan's confused state quickly maneuvered the bag open and pulled out a small pastry. He swiftly popped it into Mikan's open mouth.

Surprised by the action, Mikan took a few moments before she started to chew. The pastry was sweet and warm. It melted in her mouth and tasted like strawberries. She savored every moment of it, she had no idea Natsume had such good taste, literally. She closed her eyes to fully immerse herself in its flavor.

"What were you thinking about?" Natsume asked.

"Hmm?" Mikan mumbled, still obsessing over the pastry.

"When you were gawking at my wing," Natsume pressed on.

Mikan popped her eyes open. The deliciousness of the pastry had faded with his clarification. She was hoping he wouldn't ask. "Nothing," she said shrugging.

His eyes narrowed. He wasn't buying it. "Hn," he said, trailing his thumb over the bottom of her lip. "Are you sure?" he asked, moving her hand so that it wrapped around his waist.

Mikan's brain began to cloud and her pulse quickened. His damn thumb was way too distracting. "Um."

His other hand snaked around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He pulled up her chin and smoldered her with his gaze. Mikan was so close to breaking.

A quick knock on the door and it flying open seconds later interrupted them. Mikan tried backing away from Natsume and their closeness but he didn't let her budge. So instead, Mikan craned her neck to see a startled Misaki in the doorway.

"Yeah," she drawled. "I'm never going to get used to this."

Natsume released his grip on Mikan and removed himself from her grasp. He walked over to her dresser and leaned against it.

"Misaki!" Mikan shouted.

Misaki shifted her gaze between the two of them. "You know the balcony is open right? It's freezing in here."

"What?" Mikan turned around sharply to look at her balcony. It was still in fact open. "I didn't even notice."

Misaki glanced back and forth between the two angels. "Riiiiiiiight," she drawled.

Mikan quickly shuffled around to the balcony and latched the doors shut. The cool air engulfed her before she turned around to face Misaki. "So," she started, "What's up?"

Misaki grinned sneakily before she took a step back out the door. "You have kitchen duty!" She spun around and called out over her shoulder, "Okay bye!"

Before Mikan could react Misaki was gone and Mikan stood with a confused look on her face. She looked to Natsume and found him frowning at her.

"I don't have kitchen duty!"

He raised his eyebrows at her, making her frustration grow even more.

"I swear," Mikan huffed. "Come on," she said dragging him out of her room.

Natsume let her drag him down to the kitchen. He didn't say a word or resist at all until they reached the kitchen doors.

Mikan was about to shove through them when he pulled her back. She blinked at the sudden force he used. She questioned him with her eyes.

"I had something else in mind for today," he said.

Mikan looked around the hallway as if it would explain his statement. "What?"

"I finally have Aoi and Yoichi off my back, and my whole day is free. There's no way I'm spending it in a damn kitchen."

"Uh," Mikan said hesitantly. "I can try to get out of it."

Natsume moved to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Good," he whispered huskily.

Mikan distracted by his movements didn't see the swinging doors open behind her. They smacked into her side, making her groan.

"Oh good!" Anna called out. "Can you start the fire? I can't get it."

Mikan turned to Natsume and shrugged at him. "Just this, I promise."

"Tch," Natsume replied.

Mikan walked into the kitchen and was met with a disaster of products thrown about the kitchen. Eggs, half peeled fruits, shopped onions, and loaves of bread littered the counter.

"Uh… Anna?" Mikan asked.

"Just start the stupid fire Mikan!" Anna yelled.

Mikan jumped out of her skin and hurried over to the brick oven. She fumbled with the kindling and reached for a match. Natsume hovered over her, making her nervous. She tried lighting the first math only to have it break on her. The second lit but the kindling wouldn't catch. Every passing second Natsume hovered closer. The fifth match broke again and Natsume bent down next to her.

Mikan glanced over to him and tried smiling off the annoyance. He glared at her before he sparked a flame easily in his hand. Mikan squeaked at the sudden heat and then paled. She stumbled backwards and reached for the bucket of water they kept by the oven. She hastily grabbed it and then threw its contents at Natsume.

The water from the bucket moved in slow motion as it cascaded over Natsume and soaked him. The flame remained intact, since water couldn't douse his ability so easily. Instead he extinguished the flame himself. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Mikan.

Mikan backed into the corner realizing her mistake. "Wait! Wait!" she said. She swore she could see steam coming from his body. He was furious.

Mikan babbled. "I—I only wanted to—because your fire—it weakens you." She scooted back some more as the intensity in the room grew. "You shouldn't use it…"

Anna briskly walked over to them and slid on the puddle of water. She slid and collided with the counter. "Ahhh!"

Mikan and Natsume watched as the breath was knocked out of her. "Argh!" she screamed. "Just get out! Out! Out! OUT!"

Mikan stumbled over her feet as she shot up and bee-lined for the door. She didn't look back or wait for Natsume. She assumed he'd follow in his own fury. She ran as fast as she could out of the temple's doors and into the courtyard.

She ran out of breath and her legs shook with exhaustion when she reached the fountain. She stopped to catch her breath. She bent down and rested her hand on her knees, and took in as much air as she could.

A fluttering noise and a whoosh of air caught her attention. Her head snapped up and she stared up at the fountain's head. Natsume stood gracefully on top of it. Perfectly balanced, like the first time they had ever met.

Mikan laughed. "Well, isn't this familiar she said?"

He stood as still as a statue, until he craned his head in her direction. "Why did you run here?"

Mikan looked at him before frowning. Flying would have been so much easier. Why didn't she think of that? She tried laughing in a menacing way at him but failed.

"Just saving my flying strength," she said casually.

"For what?" he asked.

"You know," Mikan said, popping out her wings.

He raised his eyebrows, and his eyes trailed over her two wings. They lingered on the black one longer, like they usually did.

She readied herself for a quick take off. "For our race," she said sheepishly.

"Race?" he questioned.

She flashed him a smile before she shot off the ground and into the air. She had been practicing since things had calmed down and she was pretty confident in her abilities. She cut through the wind with a speed she didn't know she had. It whipped her hair behind her and she couldn't help but smile at her own speed. She turned back to see where Natsume was and found an empty fountain instead.

Frowning, she turned back around only to almost collide with him. He hovered just in front of her. She abruptly had to veer out of the way to avoid crashing into him. He effortlessly beat his wings and flew in sync with her.

She noticed his eyes were lit with a fire she was all too familiar with. A fire that burned for excitement and thrill.

"Where to?" he asked.

Mikan smiled brightly at him. He looked so alive and so determined. She thought for a moment before her eyes found their destination. "The bridge," she said.

Natsume's eyes widened and a smirk fell across his face. Mikan marveled in the moment before she tucked in her wings and dove for the ground. For the first time in a long time, she truly felt weightless, and free. The bridge was in sight, and she didn't feel like losing.

The End.

Hi there.

So that's the end of my very first fic! I hope you enjoyed it and I'm glad you stuck with me until the end.

Thanks for all the support and the wonderful reviews. I hope I wrote something you could enjoy. Until next time.

SpaceOranges.