Love's Identity

Disclaimer: Mai-HiME isn't mine. Wow the pun in that...sadness.

Note: I'm rusty with the way they address each other, so correct me if I'm ever wrong.

Beta: Arigatou Phantomblaze for betaing this chapter!

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Chapter 3: Lost and Found

Two women sat next to each other in a very confined area. The metals walls were rounded and emblazoned in white. Sitting next to the window was a young woman with wine-red hair, short and jagged. Her orange-haired and slightly longer haired companion sat between her and the aisle way.

"Man, this is such a pain in the ass," Nao grumbled. She lazily yawned and cupped her chin with one hand, setting her elbow onto the armrest. Crossing her legs, she reclined her seat with her free hand. "Such a pain in the ass," she repeated, crossing her other leg over and tapped on her thigh repetitively.

"No profanity, Nao-chan!" Tokiha Mai hissed, motioning her companion to 'shush' with a finger on her lips. Seeing Nao scoff at her, Mai massaged her temples and then proceeded to grab a cooking magazine from the compartment in front of her. The younger ex-HiME resumed her multiple seating poses.

"Ah...this is hell, I know it." She changed her posture again, this time leaning forward and slapping her hands onto her thighs. "That's it, I'm getting off!" Nao stood up, dark pink strands dancing momentarily in the process.

"Wait, what do you mean you're 'getting off?!'" Mai stared at her wide-eyed, "The plane has already taken off!"

"See if I care. I'll just jack one of those parachutes and do the thing those heroes do in those hijack movies." Nao seemed awkwardly desperate. "Move, Tokiha!"

"Are you crazy?! There's no way I'm letting you do that!" Hearing whispers around her, Mai quickly added, "Stop causing a commotion!"

"You...being in my way is the commotion! God, you're such a nagging mom. Don't you have a life besides playing the motherly role?! Dammit, I'm not some replacement for your 'little Mikoto-chan,'" Nao retorted angrily, stomping once on the carpet to make her point clear.

"What did you say?! I may be a mother at times, but Mikoto is not my child! She can't be, okay! If she was then we wouldn't be able to---" Mai stopped dead in her tracks. She almost said something she shouldn't have.

"Just move out of the way, so I can jump off! Anything...ANYWHERE is better than here!" Nao decided not to wait any longer and tried to barge through. The commotion finally caused a flight attendant to appear far down the aisle. Alarmed, Mai tried to pull Nao back into her seat.

A stern attendant hastily walked up to her row, brows furrowing in discontent.

Lips curved distastefully; the attendant gave the pair an icy glare before politely adding, "Please, you are disturbing the other passengers. If you continue to cause such a commotion, I'm afraid we'll have to force you off the plane."

"Hell yes! By all means please do!" Nao answered in feigned thanks and grunted in frustration, as her arms busily battled the oncoming assaults from Mai's. The attendant's eyes narrowed to thin slits.

"Wait! She doesn't mean that!" Mai stammered, face reddening with embarrassment as she felt a million pair of eyes were upon them.

"The two of--" The attendant was cut off.

"Will all flight attendants please meet in their designated area. I repeat..." Luckily, they were saved by the announcement. The attendant gave one last glare to the pair before swiveling on her heels, stilettos clacking away from the pair. Taking the moment into her hands, Mai pushed Nao back down in her seat with all her might. She sighed after her success, leaning back into her seat and massaging her throbbing temples.

"You are as annoying as you are persistent, Tokiha." Nao huffed. However, she was still on the edge of her seat, still unwilling to settle down. Truly, it was not in Nao's personality to be so rash and rude. Even though they still weren't too close, Mai knew that Nao was more mature and composed than that.

Then, it came to her.

"...Could it be," the orange-head started, pausing to find her words, "that this is your first time on an airplane? ...Are you scared?" Nao visibly jumped in her seat. Her eyebrows contorted, while her lips shook into a failed attempt of calmness. Shrugging as casually as she could, Nao fired back.

"What-what are you saying? Haha, very funny. M-me? Scared of airplanes? K-keh! Heh-heh...ha."

"Don't worry, Nao-chan, we're almost inGermany." Mai placed a hand on Nao's shoulder sympathetically with reassurance. "It's going to be okay, we have barf bags, too...if you need any," she smirked.

"I hate you--urgh!" As if she was jinxed, Nao suddenly turned green, immediately grabbing a barf bag that was tucked inside the magazine compartment.

---

"Tha-that face...haha...m-made my day!" Mai was doubled over, still laughing. Nao glared at her companion and decided to walk ahead of her. Mai wiped a tear of laughter and called out. "But...I'm glad to see that you're okay." Mai finished with a warm smile. "We got off safely in the end, didn't we?"

Nao blushed in embarrassment, stopping in her tracks. She waited for Mai to catch up to her, who gave a quick nod in thanks. The redhead decided to drop the whole event and changed the subject to a more significant one.

"Ah...so what? We have to find her right...that one girl?" She took a picture out of her jacket pocket. "God, she looks like her. With a face like that, it's amazing God didn't strike her with lightning at least ten times." Nao completed in a sardonic tone.

"Saying God's name carelessly so many times...no one would know you're a nun." Mai massaged her temples for the umpteenth time that day, while ignoring the latter comment. "But yeah, you're right; we have to find her after we check into our hotel."

With that, Mai and Nao grabbed their luggage and went off to wait for a taxi. The two stood, passing off idle talks. After some minutes later, a taxi arrived. Mai motioned for Nao to put their luggage in the trunk, while she discussed with their driver as to where to go.

Lifting up one of the bigger suitcases, Nao complained; face giving off a red hue as she gritted her teeth. "What the heck is she bringing with her...weird shapes are jutting out of the thing...Hey, Tokiha you had better not bring your cooking supplies with you!" No answer came from the front end of the taxi, so Nao reluctantly continued her task. "Argh, frea-king hea--vy..."

She grunted some more as she placed the last piece of luggage into the trunk. As she slammed the hood shut, lime orbs narrowed by a fraction. Lithe fingers rubbed the surface of the metal as her mask cracked, showing a tiny portion of her downcast visage. Hiding her anxiety throughout the whole ride was harder than she thought it would be. Her heart ached...probably more so each time she gazed at the photo. Shuffling her feet towards the passenger's door, the redhead tucked some loose strands behind one ear, glancing up at the roof of the terminal. She swallowed hard, licking the roof of her mouth before she hesitantly tasted the words.

"Natalia Kruger...was it."

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A/N: Semi rusty...or am I? Hopefully this toned things down a bit before some big things hit home. Heh, I shall await the revs. I'm currently researching about Germany, so if there are some knowledgeable people, please...please help me, haha.