Dulling The Flames

The Ball And Life And Other Things

"I-I don't know how to dance!" And with that said, the room fell silent. Natsume, Hotaru and Ruka all turned to Mikan to gauge her emotions from her outburst.

"What do you mean you don't know how to dance Mikan?" Ruka asked.

"Yeah," Natsume butted in. "you dance in front of our mirror every morning." She hit him in the chest, exasperated.

"Natsume!" He smirked and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her down to sit beside him on the couch as she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do I have to dance at the ball? I mean, I could just eat the food..." She trailed off as Natsume leaned forward to catch her eyes. He mouthed the word 'glutton' and she shook her head. "Okay, so, Natsume has now been deemed useless. Who's going to teach me how to dance?"

"Hey, I can dance y'know. I'll help you learn," Natsume murmured in her ear and her cheeks tinted red.

"What you mean is you'll spend all your time flirting with her." Hotaru chimed in. She was probably right too.

"And you'll get her to pay you, Hotaru. My services are free," Natsume danced his fingers up either side of her waist. "for now at least." Mikan's elbow connected with his ribs.

"I'll take an offer from anyone who isn't being confused by their hormones, thanks." She muttered, casting her eyes over to Ruka who shrugged.

"I couldn't dance to save my life," He murmured sheepishly. "I only know the tango." Natsume chortled.

"Natsume's probably right. My services would leave you in debt. Besides, you have to learn to follow a man's lead. Or whatever he is." Hotaru flourished her hand towards Natsume who leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. "Seriously, Mikan, what do you see in him?"

"Your insults don't leave a scratch, Hotaru." Natsume grinned.

"Oh, now he's grinning." Hotaru shook her head, pushing up from the kitchen counter and going around the island to rummage through the fridge. "What did you do to him, Mikan?" She asked, her head buried in the fridge.

"He hasn't had much sleep," Mikan sighed. Every mouth in the room opened to comment and Mikan quickly held up her hand, closing her eyes and rubbing her temple with her right hand. "Not what I meant." Hotaru raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, I think that's exactly what you meant." Beside her, Natsume hummed appreciatively.

"Everything is sexually implied in this household." He smiled against her shoulder. Mikan groaned and looked across at Ruka who had grown rather quiet. She pointed a perfectly manicured finger at him.

"Thank the lord that you're still innocent and good, Ruka."

"Praise the lord, alright." Natsume scoffed. "He's never even touched a woman-," Mikan's glare cut him off mid-sentence. "okay, okay."

"Why do we even have to attend this 'ball' anyway?" Mikan made air quotations around the word ball. "We finished school last year." Seeing as it was only mid-January, it had really only been a month since the four had finished Alice Academy.

"It's a graduates thing," Ruka spoke up. "I hear they do it the year after you graduate and then they have a reunion a few years down the track. You're not obliged to go to either but the teachers make you feel like you are."

"Jinno certainly didn't make us feel welcome to attend." Natsume snickered and Mikan shrugged.

"Some people just don't like you, Natsume," She smiled. "And I can never tell why." She added sarcastically.

"You weren't exactly his favourite student either." Natsume fired back. Hotaru laughed.

"No one was Jinno's favourite student. Not even Ruka the animal saint."

"That's true." Ruka nodded in agreement. The clock chimed twelve and Ruka and Hotaru looked at each other.

"We'd better get going." Hotaru murmured, coming back from the fridge with a piece of fudge between her teeth. "Thanks for the food. And Natsume," She poked at the back of his head when she grabbed her coat. "teach her how to dance. If you waste all this time, I'll kill you, Mikan's future husband or not." Mikan's cheeks grew red and she hit the back of Hotaru's arm.

"What's with you and planning my future!" She looked across at Natsume whose eyebrows were raised. "Uh- totally accurate though." He grinned.

"Bye Mikan, Natsume." And the two had left the apartment. Natsume covered his mouth, yawned, and laid down with his head on her lap, his knees arched. She swept his bangs to the sides of his face and smiled.

"Tired?" She asked. He watched her.

"Not really. I'm liking this accurate future, though." Mikan smiled and bopped his nose.

"I'm sure you are."

"Don't you think it was a little bit dodgy that they left at exactly twelve and they kept, like, looking at each other oddly all day?" Natsume asked as she played with a promise ring on her finger. He'd given it to her two years ago and she'd never taken it off. She'd even gotten into several fights with teachers and students alike who had told her to take it off because it wasn't part of the uniform; not that she'd listened to them. Mikan shrugged, casting her eyes to the closed door.

"Sort of. I didn't really pay it much heed. If something's going on, they'll tell us eventually." Natsume sighed and stood up, extending his hands to her. Cautiously, she took them and he pulled her up.

"Hands around my neck." He instructed. She mimicked choking him and he laughed, dipping his head so that his nose touched hers. "Very funny, Mikan." He breathed. She moved her hands into a light clasp around the back of his neck, her arms resting on his shoulders, and his hands moved to her waist. This was were they came to a stand still. Mikan began laughing, biting her lip to stop herself, and Natsume raised an eyebrow. "I know your ticklish, but really?" She grinned, her eyes crinkled.

"S-sorry," She gasped somewhat as he danced his fingers up her waist and pressed his lips to her collarbone.

"Dancing really isn't our thing, is it?" He murmured against her skin and she buried her face in his shoulder.

"We could always click our fingers in the corner and make it look like we know what we're doing." She suggested and he snorted with laughter. "That is the most unattractive noise you've ever made." She frowned. He began kissing down her collarbone, his smile wicked.

"I can get some pretty interesting noises out of you." He smirked, walking her back towards couch. After all, everything was sexually implied in this household.

~o~

"So," Hotaru murmured through her mouthful of eggs as they sat around a table outside their favourite cafe the next morning for brunch. "how'd your dance session go?"

"Oh, it was very entertaining, don't you worry." Natsume sent a sideways smirk towards Mikan from behind his slice of toast and she whacked his thigh under the table. Hotaru raised an eyebrow at them.

"Tell me you did something. Anything at all that relates to dancing."

"We made our own sort of dance." Natsume grinned and Mikan nearly choked on her chicken.

"Please don't refer to that as a dance."

"That?" Hotaru eyed them suspiciously and Mikan knew they were about to be busted.

"Uh- were's Ruka?" She asked hurriedly. But Hotaru didn't waver from the subject at hand.

"You had sex instead of teaching her how to dance!?" Natsume winced as Hotaru kicked him hard in the shin under the table. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you to teach her!" He shrugged.

"What can I say? The woman can't keep her hands off me." Both girls kicked him in reply.

"You're one to talk." Mikan grumbled into her toast as Ruka jogged up the sidewalk to meet them.

"And where have you been?" Natsume asked, his eyes flicking between Ruka who was catching his breath and Hotaru who was watching Ruka as though she was waiting for some sort of news.

"I took Poppy to the vet." He explained, sitting down beside Hotaru. Poppy was Ruka's golden lab.

"Is she okay?" Mikan asked, quickly forgetting everything else in her life.

"She's fine. It was just a check-up." Hotaru was frowning. This was clearly not the news she thought she'd be getting. Mikan let out a breath of relief.

"That's great." Hotaru cast her eyes around to Mikan.

"You two still aren't off the hook." She mumbled as Ruka raised his eyebrows.

"Off the hook for what?"

"Never your innocent ears mind it, Ruka." She huffed and bit down into her toast as the waiter came to take Ruka's order. Ruka seemed thoroughly confused.

~o~

Later that night, Mikan and Natsume lay in their bed, their legs tangled together under the sheets.

"We only have one and a half days left to teach you how to dance and we've gotten nowhere." She prodded at his chest with her blue fingernail.

"And whose fault is that?" She wondered aloud, trailing her fingernail up his chest and along his cheek.

"Okay, okay, sure. But blaming me for something you willingly went along with, well...," He trailed off and pressed his lips to her chin, looking up at her through his eyelashes. "who's really to blame?" His hand came to rest upon her hip and she burst out in a fit of laughter. "Seriously? What a way to ruin a moment." He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling as Mikan dragged herself up to sit on his stomach, her back pressing against his arched knees, her legs crossed and her knees dangerously close to his face. "You're squashing me." He mumbled and she uncrossed her legs, making it so that one was on either side of his chest, pinning him underneath her, as she leaned down and brushed her nose against his.

"Don't look so moody," She pouted, pushing her cheeks out. "it's not like I like being ticklish. I can't help it." She reasoned, peppering little kisses along his nose.
"It's not that," He admitted, averting his eyes. "I just don't want you to feel let down because I slept with you instead of teaching you what you wanted to learn." Her eyebrows raised in surprise and she burst out laughing again. His red eyes flickered. "What?"

"No- it's just, that's the cutest thing you've ever said," She directed his eyes to her face with her fingers, tilting his chin up gently. "you know, Natsume, I wouldn't fool around if I knew it was something worth worrying over. It's Hotaru who wants me to learn how to dance. For me, just turning up with you is enough. Okay? No dance lessons are necessary." He nodded and caught her lips with his own.

"Whatever you say." He smiled, reaching out his hands to tangle his fingers through her hair, his lips finding hers again. She yawned against his mouth and giggled sheepishly.

"I think we should call it a night," She murmured, her eyes drooping sleepily. He tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear and smiled again as she rolled off him and curled into his side. "I love you." His fingers came to twine through hers where they lay on his chest.

"I love you too."

~o~

The night of the ball came around quickly and, true to her word, Mikan didn't complain about not knowing how to dance. She slipped her arm through Natsume's as they got out of their cab and pressed her smile into his shoulder.

"You look adorable in a tux." She giggled. He rolled his eyes but smiled softly down at her.

"I'm not so good with compliments, can I offer you a sarcastic comment?" She whacked his arm in reply. When they entered, a handful of people, mainly the ones who had always stayed clear of Natsume in their first year, watched with wide eyes. It still seemed to surprise people that the two of them, what with such different and conflicting personalities and all, had ended up together and had stayed together. Mikan steered him over to a corner on the edge of the main dance floor and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'll behave." She smiled, seeing his eyes flicker from hers to her waist. Gently, he placed his hands on her waist and she only flinched before settling into swaying with him on the spot, her head finding its resting place on his chest. For the next three slow songs, all they did was stand there and sway, perfectly comfortable in each other's embrace. A more up-beat song began blasting from the speakers and Mikan reached up on her tippy toes, her hands grabbing Natsume's shoulders. She whispered something into his ear, so quietly that it was nearly drowned out by the speakers, but he heard it all the same. His eyes widened as she pulled back and smiled rather nervously. "Say something, Natsume." She looked conflicted, as if she wanted his opinion, but in the same second she didn't.

"We're having a baby..." He trailed off, repeating her words as if he were testing them on his tongue. A grin split across his face. "You're pregnant."

"Please tell me you're-," But his lips cut her off, his hands pressing her closer to him by the small of her back.

"We're having a child," He still seemed rather dazzled by the idea of his being a father that Mikan couldn't help but smile. She nodded. "a-and it's mine?" Mikan rolled her eyes.

"Who else gives me dance lessons?" She giggled and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "So, you're happy?"

"Beyond." He grinned again and kissed her gently. "Hold on a second-," He let her go and jogged over to the buffet table. Mikan raised her eyebrows questioningly as he made his to the DJ and the music suddenly ceased. Natsume made his way to the middle of the room, his hands behind his back. "since this is all happening tonight, it seems only right that I do this now-," Every pair of eyes was watching him. He got down on one knee, in the middle of the dance floor, and Mikan broke into a quiet sob at the edge of the tiled floor. It was if time slowed down and gently, making sure every moment lasted, she walked slowly towards him, her hands covering her mouth. "now, this was planned for your birthday, so it's not just because of what you said earlier, and I do have an actual ring at home," He pulled out a candy ring that he'd fished out of the lolly bowl at the buffet table. "but I'd like to know, Sakura Mikan, will you marry me?" The whole of the previous year's graduates were watching them now, waiting in an agonising silence for her reply. She savoured each second, watching the man she loved down on one knee as he grinned and held out a purple candy ring for her. She began nodding before she knew what she was doing, rapidly as if nothing else mattered.

"Yes," She broke through the silence. "a hundred times yes." Laughing, as the crowd around them burst into applause, Mikan held her hand out and Natsume slipped on the candy ring. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist before he could pull away and pulled him up to stand, wrapping her arms around his neck as she began crying once more into his shoulder. "You're lucky they had rings," She laughed through her tears. "you idiot. In front of all these people." She shook her head, burying her nose deeper into his shoulder. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mikan. Now, let's get out of here before it ends." A small handful of people were still clapping as Mikan dried her eyes and looped her arm around his. They made their way outside and the breeze cooled at her burning cheeks. Her stomach grumbled as they waited for a cab.

"Can I eat this?" She asked, peering longingly at her candy ring. Natsume chortled.

"So much for sentimental value. What are you supposed to say if someone hits on you?"

"I'm engaged but I ate my ring." She said and he made a game show noise, the kind they make when you get an answer incorrect.

"Wrong. You say nothing to the people who try and hit on you."

"But you said you had a proper ring, I can wear that." She reasoned. "Natsume, I'm really hungry." She moaned as the cab pulled up to the curb.

"Fine, fine," He murmrued, opening the door for her. She slipped inside, the cab was considerably warmer than the outside air. Once they were buckled up, Natsume told the driver their address and Mikan ripped the lolly jewel off her ring with her teeth, humming appreciatively. She snuggled into his shoulder.

"You want some?" She held her finger out towards his mouth and, blinking for a moment, he took a bite.

"I was right," He said through his small mouthful. His arm came to wrap around her shoulders. "I have a wonderful taste in rings." Mikan snickered.

"Oh, ha, ha."

~o~

One never knows how much a 'dance session' can change their life. For nine months later, Mikan and Natsume had a little baby boy. He grew into his big brown eyes and naturally untidy raven locks. He liked to learn, he liked to read, but he also had a talent for setting unsuspecting victims or regular everyday objects on fire. One couldn't tell whether he was more like his mother or his father. So, if you ever see their little boy, call out 'Ryuu'. For he owes his namesake to the ones who breathe fire, the dragons.

Xx SweetsPrincess-Sama