DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GAKUEN ALICE BUT THIS STORY IS MINE.

Cinderella's Shoes

"Should have known that? So your favour goes to someone who's less annoying? Bravo, Hyuuga. Only you can think that way."

-Mikan Sakura

...

"I'm honour, your highness."

-Natsume Hyuuga

...

...

...

There was a huge uproar from the crowd when the participants of the Mr. and Ms. Beachside Contest stepped out in the stage. The girls were chanting Natsume's name as always and Mikan was trying her hardest not to shout at them. She didn't know why but she felt irritated watching them cheering for Natsume.

Unconsciously, she tightened her hold on his hand (she was forced to held hands with him because of the contest) which made him smirk with amusement and blissfully squeezed her hand back.

The host entered the stage with an envelope in his hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the results in my hands." He opened the envelope and continued, "The winner of this year's Mr. and Ms. Beachside contest is..." There was a drum roll in the background as he announced, "...Mr. Riku Matsumoto and Mika Yamada...let's give our winners a round of applause!"

Mikan and Sumire's jaw dropped. How could they lose to an unknown girl, moreover, a girl who isn't even a regular cast in the story? Sumire screamed like a man and Mikan rolled her eyes.

Sumire stomped towards Mikan and shouted, "How could I lose to her?" She pointed at the winner with her thumb.

"How should I know?" Mikan shrugged. "Ask the judges."

Sumire folded her arms against her chest and growled, "That means we're still tied." There was a long pause before she spoke again. "I've decided. We're going to settle this once and for all. Tomorrow, at the theatre stage, we will act out a scene and sing a song from the play. Narumi and the rest of the crew would be our judges. They would decide which one of us is the appropriate to play Anastasia."

"We should have done this sooner," Mikan told her. "There's really no point on those useless challenges we've done for the past days."

Sumire snorted. "Those challenges were not useless."

"Whatever," Mikan mumbled. "So what's the scene we're going to act? What song are we going to sing?"

"It's up to us to decide on that. For me, I'm going to sing "Journey to the Past" and act out the scene before that," Sumire said.

Mikan thought for a minute and spoke, "Then I'm going to sing "Once upon a December" and going to act the scene before and after that."

Sumire grinned. "It's a deal then. Better not cry when I steal your role away from you."

"Same goes to you. Better not cry when you're stuck to your grandmamma role."

"Yeah right," Sumire grunted then eyed her. "So how long are you going to hold hands with Natsume-kun?"

"Eh?" Mikan looked down at her hand that was still intertwined with Natsume's hand. She let out a shrilly shriek.

...

Before the last challenge at the theatre stage, Mikan had practiced tons with Natsume and Ruka. She fervently memorized her lines and the lyrics of the song by heart. She internalized her role very well and placed herself in Anastasia's shoes. What she's going to react or do? She's going to portray a young lady that has no recollections of the past. She thought she was an orphan. But she has a chance to know her family. And she would do everything for it.

"Are you ready?" Natsume asked her.

Mikan snorted. "I can't believe you're worried about me."

"No," Natsume sighed. "I just don't want Permy as my partner. She's a lot more annoying than you."

Mikan rolled her eyes. "Should have known that? So your favour goes to someone who's less annoying? Bravo, Hyuuga. Only you can think that way."

"I'm honour, your highness," Natsume said politely. He took her hand and bent down to kiss the back of it. This little scene caused her to blush but she instantly shook her head to cool down her reddened cheeks. She snatched her hand away from him and turned her back to him.

Both of them were in the backstage, fully dressed in their costumes. The set would also be moved according to the scene. In other words, it's like the actual play already.

"Hey guys." Hotaru appeared on the backstage with her usual impassive face. "Sumire's about to start...so quit wasting time here and go to the audience place to watch."

The pair nodded and together with Hotaru, they exited the backstage. They settled at the free seats in front to clearly see Sumire's performance. Hotaru, on the other hand, went to the music department and instructed them not to make a mistake or face the consequences for it. The music/sounds crew gulped and nodded.

After a few minutes, Sumire went to the stage, dressed in Anastasia's costume too.

"I'm about to start," she announced.

(Sumire's Act) – Kindly be reminded about these notes: "Talk." "Thought." "Sing." "Voice Over."

The scene on the background flashed a building with a sign: People's Orphanage. There was an artificial snow that was coming down from the ceiling. Sumire went to the side and a woman in tattered clothes with gray hair came from the backstage. A sound of children's laughter and playful voices were played in the setting too. There was a picture of them in the windows of the building.

The woman trotted in the stage while talking, "I got you a job in the fish factory. You go straight down this path 'till you get in the fork in the road. Go left –"

"Bye!" Sumire hollered, looking at the inanimate kids in the building.

"Are you listening?"

"Bye! Bye, everybody!" Sumire turned to the old woman and said, "I'm listening."

The old woman grabbed Sumire's scarf and told her, "You've been a storm in my sight since you were brought here." She manoeuvred her through her scarf and dragged her towards the gate. "Acting like the queen of Shiva instead of the nameless, low count you are."

Sumire rolled her eyes and imitated whatever the old woman said.

"For the last ten years, I feed you, I groomed you, I got..."

"Roof over my head..." Sumire supplied.

"Huh?" The old woman turned her head sharply at Sumire's words. She unlocked the gate and forcefully opened it, creating a creaking sound. "How is it that you don't have a clue to who you were before you came to us but you can't remember all that?"

Sumire held the pendant that was hanging in her neck. "Well, I do have a clue to – "

"Ack! I know!" the old woman grabbed the pendant from her. She looked at the pendant and mumbled, "Together in Paris." She glanced at Sumire and smiled, "So you want to go to France to find your family? Huh?"

Sumire nodded. The old woman chuckled and shoved her to the gate. "Little Miss Anya, it's time to take your place in life, in life and in line and be grateful to...together in Paris." The old woman laughed and closed the gate, walking away.

The scene changed into the snowy road ahead with two paths diverging.

"Be grateful Anya," Sumire murmured, "grateful to get away! Go left she says, well, I know what's to the left. I'll be Anya, the orphan forever. But if I go right, maybe I could find..." She clutched the pendant of her necklace, "...whoever gives me this necklace must have loved me."

She walked a little and growled, "This is crazy. Me? Go to Paris?" She looked at the ceiling and opened her arms. "Send me a sign, a hint, anything!" She slumped down at the floor.

Suddenly a dog appeared behind her and grabbed her scarf. "Hey! H-Hey!" She reached for her scarf. "I don't have time to play right now, ok?" She became indifferent and muttered, "Waiting for a sign!"

She wrestled with the dog to get her scarf. "Stop! Would you please leave me alone? Give me that back!" She slipped in the floor. The dog huffed and barked towards one of the roads.

"Oh great, a dog wants me to go to St. Petersburg." She gasped and stood up. She took her scarf from the dog and said, "Ok, I can take the hint."

A melodious sound filled the stage.

"Heart, don't fail me now. Courage, don't desert me. Don't turn back now that we're here." She walked further away. "People always say...life is full of choices. No one ever mentions fear or how the world can seem so vast on a journey...to the past."

She smiled as she turned around in the snow. "Somewhere down this road I know someone's waiting. Years of dreams just can't be wrong! Arms will open wide I'll be safe and wanted Fin'lly home where I belong. While Starting here, I'm learning fast on this journey...to the past."

She saw a family and started to have fun with them. Then she turned back and continued walking. "Home, Love, Family...there was once a time I must have had them too. Home, Love, Family...I will never be complete until I find you..."

She picked up the dog and skipped down the road. "One step at a time...One hope, then another who knows where this road may go...Back to who I was on to find my future, things my heart still needs to know yes, let this be a sign! Let this road be mine! Let it lead me to my past."

She twirled around and faced the audience, "...to bring me home...At last!"

(End of Sumire's Act)

Mikan was stunned by Sumire's performance, shaken a little after her display of her acting and singing. Natsume smirked at her and asked, "Scared?"

Mikan grunted and scowled at him. "Scared? Me?" She stood up. "I'll let you see a true performance. You'll forget you're Natsume Hyuuga. You'll forget you're in Japan right now. I'll take you to France with me, Dmitri." She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the stage. "Let's go now. It's our turn."

Natsume chuckled. "That's what I like about you."

Luckily for him, Mikan didn't hear what he said because she was too focused on her role on the play. Ruka went beside them on the stage.

"I'll start now," Mikan announced. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

The scene on the background faded into a setting inside a dark, mysterious mansion. Ruka and Natsume went to the side and a suspense sound was heard in the set.

(Mikan's Act) – Kindly be reminded about these notes: "Talk." "Thought." "Sing." "Voice Over."

Mikan opened her eyes and her actions and little gestures seemed different from before. She walked deeper inside the castle with the dog barking alongside her. She looked at a plate on a table and blew off the dust. She grabbed the plate and looked at her reflection from it. She seemed to see something on it and she blinked her eyes. She placed back the plate on the table.

She walked around again. She stumbled upon a vase and said, "This place...it's...it's like a memory from a dream." She touched the vase and rubbed her hands on it.

"Dancing bears, Painted wings...Things I almost remember. And a song someone sings once upon a December."

She strolled around and hugged herself. "Someone holds me safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully across my memory..."

There was a long musical interlude and a number of people came from the backstage. They were wearing ball gowns and suits, dancing around Mikan. "Someone holds me safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully across my memory..."

She looked at her shabby dress and imagined it turned into a beautiful dress. She mingled in the crowd and started to dance. "Far away, long ago glowing dim as an ember. Things my heart used to know, things it yearns to remember..."

She twirled around and ended up in the arms of someone familiar. She felt safe and warm all of the sudden, like she knew him all her life. She shared a slow dance with him. "And a song someone sings once upon a December." The man left a kiss on her forehead and took a step backward. She slumped on the ground and looked at him as he outstretched his arms and reached out to her. She glanced down, felt sad all of the sudden.

"Hey!" Natsume's voice snapped out the melody from her song and made her look up, gasping when she was caught prowling around the castle. "What are you doing in here?"

Mikan stood up and attempted to run away. Natsume went after her. "Hey!" He shouted again. "Hey! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Hold on a minute! Hold on!"

She stopped in front of a big portrait and whirled around to meet him.

He huffed a little before looking at her properly. "Now, how did you get in..." He blinked first when he saw her face and stammered, "h-h-here?"

Mikan fluttered her eyes and sighed.

"Excuse me, child," Ruka joined in the conversation, as he at last caught up with them.

"Vlad," Natsume whispered. "Do you see what I see?" He pointed at Mikan.

"Hmmm...No..." Ruka answered. Natsume scoffed and pulled down his eyeglasses from his forehead. Ruka saw Mikan and gasped, "Yes! Yes!"

"A dog..." Natsume picked up the dog from the ground and placed it on Ruka's arms, patting it gently in the head. "Cute."

"Are you Dmitri?" Mikan asked.

"Perhaps that all depends on who's looking for him..." Natsume said, walking towards her.

"My name is Anya. I need travel papers." She began and continued in a very low voice, "They say that you're the man to see. Even though I can't tell you who said that."

"Hmmm..." Natsume tucked his fingers under his chin in a thinking pose and circled Mikan, looking at her from head to toe.

"Hey – uh – what – why are you circling me?" She folded and arms against her chest. "What were you...a vulture in another life?" She unfolded her arms from her chest and placed a hand on her hip.

"I'm sorry," Natsume said and gestured Ruka to go beside him.

"Anya," Mikan said, smacking lightly in the shoulder.

"Anya," Natsume repeated.

"Anya."

"It's just...It's just you look awfully a lot of like," Natsume pointed at the portrait but paused for a short while, "and never mind; now you said something about travel papers."

"Yes...I'd like to go to Paris," Mikan told him.

"You'd like to go to Paris?" Natsume asked. Mikan nodded.

He reached for Ruka's shoulder but he was too busy playing with the dog. So he turned around and faced her all by himself. "Now, let me ask you, ah, something...Anya was it? There's last name that goes with that?"

"Well, actually...this is gonna sound crazy I don't know my last name. I was found wondering around when I was eight years old."

"And the before that? Before you were eight?"

"Hey look, I know it's strange but I do not remember. I have a few memories of my past."

"Hmmm...that's...perfect!"

"But I do have one clue however and that is Paris."

"Paris?"

"Right, so, can you two help me or not?"

Natsume looked at Ruka again and muttered. "Vlad, Vlad...tickets..." He went to Mikan and said, "Sure, we'd like to, ah in fact, oddly enough, and we're going to Paris ourselves."

Ruka secretly placed the tickets on Natsume's hands. "And ah, I've got three –" He counted four tickets in his hands so he tossed one out, "this one's out. I got three tickets here. Unfortunately, the third one is for her...Anastasia."

Mikan tried to snatch the tickets away but Natsume brought it away from her.

Then Natsume and Ruka both occupied the vacant space beside her. They snaked their arms to hers and dragged her while explaining a lot of things.

"We are going to reunite the grand duchess Anastasia with her grandmamma," Ruka said.

"You do kind resemble her," Natsume told her.

"The same blue eyes..."

"The Romanov eyes..."

"Nicholas's smile..."

"Alexander's chin..."

"Oh good...she even has the grandmother's hand."

"She's the same age, the same physical type..."

"Are you trying to tell me that you think that I am Anastasia?" Mikan asked, looking at the two of them in surprise.

"All I'm trying to tell you is that I've seen thousand of girls all over the country and not one of them looks as much as the grand duchess as you..." Natsume said in one breath. Then pointed at the portrait behind them, "I mean look at the portrait."

Mikan looked at them, raising her eyebrows. She hit him lightly in the chest and told him, "I knew you were crazy from the beginning but now I think you're both mad." She glanced at Ruka and Natsume simultaneously and walked out.

Natsume followed Mikan. "Why? You don't know what happened to you!"

"No one knows what happened to her," Ruka added.

"You're looking for a family...in Paris," Natsume said.

"And her only family is in Paris..." Ruka pointed out.

Natsume twirled Mikan to the portrait. "You never thought of the possibility?"

"That I could be royalty?" Mikan spoke up. Natsume and Ruka nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I don't know. It's kinda hard to think yourself as a duchess when you're sleeping at a damp floor. But sure, yeah, I guess every lonely girl would hope that she's a princess..."

(End of Mikan's Act)

Everybody in the theatre couldn't speak, couldn't move. It's as if they've entered a movie screen and experienced firsthand what happened to Anastasia back then, heck they even thought that they time-travelled to Russia.

Mikan smiled at the judges and asked, "Well..."

Sumire joined her in the stage. She folded her arms against her chest.

"L-L-L-Let's decide on the main heroine through cheers and claps, shall we?" Narumi fished out his handkerchief from his pockets and wiped a sweat from the side of his face. The two competitors nodded.

"Now, first is Sumire-chan..." Narumi announced.

There were a series of loud claps that ensued.

"Then, lastly, Mikan-chan!" Narumi said.

It was quiet. Sumire smirked and closed her eyes. I've won!

All of the sudden, there was a loud cry from the audience followed by thousands of cheers, claps and whistles. Some of them even said, "You're perfect for the role of Anastasia."

Sumire opened her eyes and unfolded her arms, staring at the people who stood up for Mikan. She pouted and faced her rival. She pointed at Mikan and told her, "I know I say that there would be no hard feelings between us if either one of us gets the role. But I'm terribly pissed off." She went down the stage and before exiting the stadium she said, "I'm not going to lose to you next time. So be prepare, Mikan Sakura! From now on, you're my rival."

Mikan smiled at Sumire. Some of the crew went towards Mikan to congratulate her. They hugged her and showered her with praises.

...

After a few minutes of socializing with the rest of the crew of the play, she stepped in the backstage. She found Natsume smirking at her. "What are you smirking at?"

He walked towards her and dropped his head over her shoulder. "You've really surprised me. When you are in the stage, there's no Mikan Sakura but little Miss Anya. I momentarily forgot that I'm Natsume Hyuuga. So you're highness, oh grand duchess, did you have a good time performing on stage?

Mikan nodded. She stiffened a little because of the sudden body contact, cheeks tainted with shades of red. She could feel his hot breath on the base of her neck. Annoying pervert...But why didn't I push him away in the first place?

Natsume raised his head and chuckled at Mikan, "No...Maybe it's my powerful acting that inspired you." He stepped back and turned his back on Mikan. "I see...I'm really great!"

Mikan's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. She tugged her right boot on the feet and sent it flying towards Natsume. However, the young lad managed to evade it. He whirled around and looked at her, "Ha! I caught your –"

His sentence was cut in midair when he was hit by Mikan's left boot in the face.

Natsume stumbled backward while saying, "Don't throw boots like it's nothing, idiot. Are you trying to make me the first person to have amnesia or died because of some shoes targeted on the head?"

...

Author's Notes: Had a hard time doing this chapter, because of the acting scenes and everything. I hoped you like it. Thanks for reading the story. Drop by some great reviews, once and a while my dear readers. I'd update The Isolated Maidenanytime soon, watch out for it, ok?