Chapter One

Summary: Princess Mikan is the beloved seventh daughter, raised up and fiercely protected by her six older brothers. But peace in the Sakura lands is shattered as the Lady Koizumi enters and destroys everything she loves, and binds her brothers to a terrible spell. To save her brothers, Mikan is set to do a task -to sew six shirts, one for each brother, out of a painful nettle plant. And, she must be silent. She accepts, and starts sewing the shirts, harming her hands. However, she did not predict that she would be kidnapped by her own country's enemy...And even fall in love with the one she perhaps was not meant to be with. The enemy prince. A raven haired man with crimson eyes, who always wore a black cat mask during his outings...

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice and Daughter of the Forest do not belong to me.

IMPORTANT! (ESPECIALLY TO MY READERS WHO HAVE BEEN READING FROM THE BEGINNING) PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTES AT THE END!

Run, Mikan, run!

The forest, now!

She had run through the midst of trees, earning the many bloody scratches on her arms and face. She had stumbled on jagged rocks and broken twigs, causing the blisters upon her bare feet. She had scampered up the trees, clinging onto the bark, to hide from the soldiers, causing the numerous rips and holes to be made upon her ragged brown dress-turned-sack.

But she had been through worse.

Just a bit further, she thought, swiping her arm to clear the branches in her way. She had absolutely no idea where she was going, but if it was going to be far away from the Sakura kingdom, she would go anywhere. She felt nauseous, and she continuously was getting dizzy spells. It was to her great fortune that she was protected from the scorching noon sun by the shades that the great lush trees were providing her.

Her heart clenched. She could not give up. One step in front of another...

She could not afford to stop. Early dawn, while the mist had not cleared yet, she had almost come face-to-face with a group of men, armed with weapons. They were probably scouting the area, as they were under war. It was a dear and careless mistake, and she prayed that no one had seen her as she slipped quietly away out of sight.

Ouch! she flinched, looking down at her foot clad in her ripped slippers. Blood seeped out of one of the holes. She had stepped yet again on a piece of rock, jutting out harshly from the soil. Wincing, she hurried on.

Soon, the Healer part of her made her forced to realize that she needed to stop and rest. She sat with a flomp and leaned back against a tree, its bark digging into her back. She was so tired. She took out her one water bottle from her meager pack and drained its last, precious drops. She licked her parched lips, but to no avail; her tongue was like sandpaper. She would need to find a lake or river to re-fill her water bottle. Which would be risky. Another problem to add upon all my worries.

A gentle spring breeze came upon her way. She closed her eyes, and enjoyed the coolness. She felt calm, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Looking up, she dazedly watched the tree branches sway gently in the breeze, the small wisps of clouds passing by in the blue sky.

Her eyes closed slowly. She would just rest for a little while to rest her aching, protesting limbs...Just for a little while. She stopped fighting her exhaustion, and succumbed to a fitful slumber.

Wait my brothers...I'll free you soon.

Two figures stood over a restless girl curled into a ball. Her eyes were darting from side to side under her eyelids, and her damp tangled hair swayed carelessly with her head.

"A girl."

"Wonder who she is...what should we do with her?"

She was hearing voices. Beads of sweat rolled down her face. Her face twitched, and her body started shaking.

No...nii-sama, don't leave...nii-sama...NII-SAMA! She gasped soundlessly, and jolted awake.

She clutched her heaving chest. Her other hand pressed into the earth, her fingers digging into the soil. She squeezed her eyes shut, shutting out the last demons of the nightmare.

That's when she felt a shadow looming over her.

She froze. Her eyes widened, her body tensing with fear. She raised her head slightly.

A pair of crimson eyes were staring back at her behind a black cat mask, surrounded by his raven hair. However, it was not the mask that made her more shocked beyond normal. Although it had been a long time since she had seen her people, or even a trace of human life, she still remembered of her past life. His attire was in some way different from that of her country men.

"Let's leave her here, shall we? We need to hurry, Yukihara's men are closing in on us."

Her eyes zoned on a familiar looking pouch hanging from his waist. It was crimson, just a shade darker than his eyes, and it bore an insignia of black flames, intertwined with the yin and yang. The insignia of the Hyuuga people.

Oh shit.

She should have acted sooner, as soon as she recognized that the words uttered were in a different language. But it was impossible. Surely there was no way those men were in the forest of her land. But the yin and yang, entwined with a black fire. It gave her enough confirmation.
Pure adrenaline ran through her. She jumped up and whirled away. Never before in her life was she that fast. But she didn't get far until she felt an arm around her waist and yanking her back.

She could not scream, although that would not help, so she struggled against his hold with the last remains of her strength, beating her fists into his chest and kicking him squarely in the shins. Her actions probably gave her more pain than it was supposed to cause. But it did the job. The person holding her loosened his hold momentarily, causing her to squirm of out of his grasp. There was only one thing, one word coherent in her mind –and that was escape.

However, the man proved just as stubborn as she. He grabbed her wrists and pinned her against the tree. She kicked and twisted, but she was pinned.

"Whoa girl! Man, a scrawny thing like you sure can put up a fight!" A man with black hair with a star tattoo below his eye watched her beside the crimson-eyed man.

An animalistic scream was rising from her thoat. Willfully, she silenced it. She frantically tried to escape, struggling her arms, but the hold on her wrists just got tighter.

"Who are you?" growled the figure who was leaning in a very intimidating way over her. She just stared back, fear evident in her wide eyes.

"Just leave her, Heimao, she's just a little girl," said the star-tattooed man.

The other man didn't break his gaze upon her. Instead, he narrowed his eyes dangerously. She resisted an urge to whimper. The man was big, so big. And judging from the steel grip on her arms, he was strong. She was going to have bruises on her upper arms. Lovely. How was she to escape? Then, all rational thoughts went out the window as he flung her over his shoulder.

No! She desperately tried to wrestle herself out of his grip, squirming furiously and punching his back with her fists. Let me go!

"We're taking her with us," he growled, successfully restricting her movements. "Stay still!"

She bit his hand. He cussed, using a word she did not know, in the language of the Hyuugas.

"WHAT?! Are you crazy? She's one of the Sakura people! We can't take her back!"

"Shut up Shadow Freak –she saw us, and that's that. We can't leave her here."

"Don't call me that. And what can she do, inform the authorities? Look at her, she's pale as a ghost and dressed in rags instead of decent clothing! Half-wild, I'd say. She can cause no harm-"

The one carrying her whirled around. Which whirled her as well. Her stomach lurched. "And it's a coincidence that a wandering little girl suddenly appeared, so close to the Z zone, the boundary between the kingdoms? Especially when there is a war going around?"

"She's just a child! She's harmless!"

She bristled at the comment. She was fifteen years old, and definitely not a child! If she had been living peacefully at home, before the terrible event, she would have probably been already married off to one of their neighbouring lords to strengthen alliances for her father.

Heimao regarded his companion silently. "Then I see no problems with taking her with us."

The man with the star tattoo let out a groan of frustration. Heimao ignored him and hoisted her further up on his shoulder. She gave him one last kick, probably in the guts. He grunted, and his grasp loosened once more.

She needed no hesitation. She scampered up to her feet and ran for her life, her pack clutched safely in her hands. She could not be captured, no matter what! Contact with any humans were forbidden, less she wanted to be back at home. Back in the company of her parents. With a "s". And that was the last thing she needed.

But she was in no state to go for an escape.

Once again, as she had expected, she was taken hold from the behind, her legs kicking air uselessly.

The man growled and slung her on his shoulders. Then he started to run with the other man following him reluctantly, shaking his head.

His running shook her body to-and -fro. She gave up with her struggling. That was it with her strength. Plus, she did not exactly wish to fall headfirst to the ground, where rocks jutted out her and there. A head injury was the last thing she needed. At least she had her pack clung tightly in her arms, although the action hurt her arms.

Her eyes became half-closed as she saw the sky. It was starting to tinge with pink.

He's running west...West to the Z-zone...to the Hyuuga kingdom...

That was the last thought before blackness came upon her and she became unconcious.

A/N: Hi everyone! To my old readers (figuratively speaking), I've edited my story a bit to make it better. This story is undergoing revision. In some chapters, there may be only a few changes, but in others, there may be MAJOR changes. For more info, look at my profile page. So, you might just want to re-read this...And since it's been a long time since I updated (more than half a year I think), it will be good to refreshen your mind. For people who have a fantastic memory...sorry? But I promise, the story is better! And there are some new events here and there.

Well! That aside, to my new readers! How is it so far? Hope you enjoy :D

And don't forget to press that review button down there for each chapter please. Tell me what I need to improve on, what's good, and new ideas. Lengthy reviews are needed. I've been editing each chapter, working my butt off. Constructive criticism is what I love and devour. And I need to know what my readers like, want more, or don't like.

Reviews are almost better than chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. By the way, that's practically my favourite food, so to those who review, you are surely on my list of people I love.

-mikancchi

P.S. Anyone has a good title for this story (I think mine is grammatically wrong...for sure), please leave it in a review. Thanks!