Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Shameless fluff set in medieval times.

When Mikan Sakura returned to the village, the second thing her neighbors told her was that her grandfather had gone missing. For the sixth time.

As a child, Mikan often threw tantrums, very loud ones, so her neighbors had grown well acquainted with her absolutely piercing screams. Of course, she had been gone for the last two months to visit her best friend, Hotaru Imai, who had left the village to pursue her dreams as a merchant, so as time took its due course, they had forgotten - and sometimes even missed - Mikan's voice.

And now that Mikan was back, her neighbors suddenly remembered how loud she could get.

"What?! When had this happened?" Mikan screeched. Her neighbors winced and took a small step back from the seething young lady. "How could he have gone missing? He's 87 years old! He needs a cane to walk! He's so lazy! He doesn't even want to walk to the market anymore!"

"Well," the husband started, but the brunette cut him off.

"Do you have a search party out for him? Why aren't you more worried about him? He's old!" Mikan waved her hands about emphatically, and her neighbor had to duck to avoid a swinging arm.

"Mikan, honey," the wife said soothingly, "like we said, it's the sixth time he's done this. He usually returns in a few days."

"Well, how long has he been missing?" Mikan demanded, eyes blazing, arms crossed, and lip jutting out in a pout, just how she had looked as a child.

The couple turned to each other to deliberate.

"About eight days?" the man offered.

Mikan swore her heart clenched so hard she thought she was having a heart attack.

"Eight days?!" she bellowed. Her neighbors nodded mutely. "He needs his special herbal ointment applied every three days so his joints don't act up!"

With another terrified scream, Mikan promptly turned around and ran down the lane to the edge of the village, forgetting about all her chests and bags to be unpacked.

Her neighbors watched her stomp away and nearly drooped in relief, finally able to breathe and relax.

"I can see why her grandfather didn't want to be here when she got back." Her neighbors chuckled and decided to help move some of Mikan's things inside.

"Oi, old man. Get up. It's time to apply your special herbal ointment so your joints don't act up."

Nonno Sakura ignored the rumbly, gruff voice and instead slid farther down into the pleasantly warm water, eyes closed and muscles happy. Why couldn't that grumpy delinquent let him relax? He was old, after all. He deserved this little joy in life.

"I'm serious, old man. If you don't get out, I'm not going to do it." The voice paused. "Honestly, it's disgusting."

"Yet you still do it every time, Natsume," the old man replied good-heartedly, opening one eye to sneak a peek at the young man's expression. Sure enough, there was that ever-present scowl. If Nonno had to describe Natsume's passions in life, there would only be two: gold and being grumpy no matter what.

"Because if I don't, it's such a hassle getting you to move anywhere, and you start to whine. 'Oh, Natsume, can you get my book from the table?' 'Oh, Natsume, my hips hurt so much,'" mocked Natsume in a high-pitched voice. The elder chuckled before deciding not to torment Natsume any longer. He stood up slowly, his joints definitely in need of some attending. "God damn, old man, what the hell did I say about wearing a towel?"

The old man simply waved his hand at Natsume and suddenly found himself smacked in the face with a nice, fluffy towel.

"Why, thank you, Natsume," he said with a grin. "You're being awfully kind today."

Narrowing his eyes, Natsume sneered. "Nobody, especially me, wants to look at your naked wrinkly body."

"And still, you're about to touch every inch of it." He met Natsume's deadly glare with a playful grin.

"...Don't ever say that ever again."

Despite Natsume's brutish attitude, he extended a hand to help the old man out of the hot springs and back to a small wooden cabin hidden in a clearing surrounding by tall, looming boulders.

Mikan's grandfather, Nonno Sakura, had accidentally stumbled across this cabin - and across Natsume - about two months ago. He had heard rumors from the other seniors of his village of a healing hot springs, the kind that could rejuvenate you with one dip, bring back your youth and fix your creaky, stiff body. Since his granddaughter had gone away, Nonno had to learn how to get around on his own, and rather than simply adapt to a more independent lifestyle, he decided to take a shortcut and try to regain his youthfulness.

It didn't work.

Still, the hot springs he had discovered was enjoyable, and the young man he had found, after some persuasion and grumbling, was willing to help.

Which included rubbing a stinky cream over his aching body parts.

"You know, my granddaughter never complains when she does this." Although Nonno had to admit, Natsume definitely massaged the ointment better into his skin with stronger, less clumsy hands.

Natsume rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, the pure and kind-hearted Saint Mikan. Who could ever live up to her name?"

The old man merely hummed thoughtfully, taking the time to think about his decision again.

Tall and lean, Natsume Hyuuga was a catch, for sure. With brilliant crimson eyes, a sharp chin, and a head full of hair - something the grandfather quite envied - Natsume was a devastatingly handsome young man who was sure to produce many healthy, beautiful babies. Sure, he was a little rough around the edges; when the old man first met the lad, he had a fiery temper and a dangerous look about him, the kind that said, "Don't let your precious granddaughter near me because I'm sure to knock her up ten seconds within meeting her." But Nonno saw the way Natsume welcomed him into his home, the way he begrudgingly carried out the old man's errands, the way he gently helped Nonno get around. Natsume grumbled and complained and acted brusquely, but there was compassion and respect and the capacity to care for others in his heart.

And well, as he got older, Mikan's grandfather had a lot to think about, starting with the fact that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if his granddaughter did get knocked up, especially by a thoughtful and caring man such as Natsume.

Partly, he would be overjoyed if he lived long enough to hold his great-grandchild, but mostly he knew that when he was gone forever, Mikan would have nobody. Her parents' death had wrecked her when she was little, her best friend had moved away, and while she had other friends and certainly other villagers would always care for her, Mikan's grandfather couldn't rest until he knew she was settled comfortably in the arms of someone who loved her.

It was pure chance that he and Natsume met, but it would be the sheer willpower of an old man that Mikan and Natsume met.

"You're done." Natsume patted the grandfather's leg and stood up. "I'll go make us some lunch."

"Thank you, Natsume," said Nonno. "Do we have any lamb left? A nice, hearty stew sounds especially filling today."

"No, but I can go get some."

"Oh, no, Natsume, you don't - "

Natsume ignored the senior's pathetic plea. "Oh, look, I'm already out the door."

The old man smiled. Yes, judging by the way Natsume took care of him, he knew the quiet, brooding man could definitely take care of his granddaughter.

However, there was that one problem…

A strong gust blew against the old man's face as Natsume soundlessly morphed from a strapping young man who was definitely human into a gigantic, fire-breathing winged beast with golden-red scales the color of a dying sunset. He beat his long, powerful wings twice (unpleasantly blowing debris into Nonno's grimacing face) before shooting off into the sky.

As he watched Natsume fly away in search of some poor farmer's lamb, Mikan's grandfather wasn't entirely sure how she'd react if he tried to set her up with a dragon.

...

He could still try, though.