Sleeping Beauty's little Sister.

Chapter 1

Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter. Today's my birthday, and I'm in a good mood, so I think I'll add two chapters today! :) Please R&R

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Gakuen Alice, they belong to the amazing HIguchi Tachibana-sama; sorry for OOC-ness. Inspiration for this story is from E.D.B.'s story.

It was Princess Hotaru's sixteenth birthday and everyone was frantic. It wasn't that they weren't ready for the celebration; the kitchen had been in an uproar for days as cooks prepared all of Hotaru's favorite foods, the floors had been scrubbed and strewn with fresh herbs, and every inch of the Great Hall had been cleaned and decorated until it was almost unrecognizable. Everyone was agitated because it was the last day left for the curse placed on Hotaru to come true.

The people of Alicean lived in dread that their beautiful princess might still touch a spinning wheel. They had taken precautions and had searched every room twice a week since the witch announced the curse. Although spinning wheels had been banished, one never knew when a nasty witch or evil fairy could plant one in a room, just waiting for the princess to come along and start poking things she shouldn't. Early that morning the guards had begun to search the entire castle once again.

Princess Mikan, Hotaru's younger sister, offered to accompany the guards, just as she did at least once a week. They'd start with the old tower in the north end of castle. It had been abandoned years before and had fallen into disrepair, but it was on the inspection list because it was exactly the kind of place that evil people liked.

They had started at the top of the tower and were working their way down. The top two floors held only three rooms each, but the floors below them were riddled with small rooms, which made searching them that much slower. In order to speed it up, the guards divided themselves into smaller groups. Mikan went with Mr. Bear, an older man with light brown hair that was frosted with gray and a short beard, and Natsume, a new recruit who had come to the castle the week before.

Like her sister, Hotaru, Mikan was petite. Natsume was only a few years older than Mikan and taller than most boys his age; the top of Mikan's head came up only to the middle of his chest. Mikan liked his shaggy, dark hair and his deep red eyes, and she thought that his quick smile made him instantly likeable. The only things that kept him from being too handsome were his slightly crooked teeth and a dimple in one cheek but not the other. As far as Mikan was concerned, they were the very things that made him more attractive.

Normally, Mikan wasn't impressed by a handsome man, because nearly all of whom she'd met had been made that way by magic. Natsume was different, however. Although his glance was respectful and nothing more, it was distracting to have him there, and she had to force herself to think about the reason she had gone to the tower.

While the guards shoved doors open and peered around corners, Mikan wandered through the rooms, paying more attention to what she heard than what she saw. She was walking along the corridor when she heard a faint sound like pieces of metal clanging together a long way off. Although magic couldn't touch her, she could sense it's presence. The strength and type of magic determined how it sounded; the stronger the magic, the louder it was, and the good kind didn't sound anything like the bad.

Mikan followed the sound, trying to pinpoint where the magic was the strongest. There, behind the door with the cracked frame. Mikan knew that the door opened onto a room that was too small to be of much use, but big enough to fit a spinning wheel.

When Mr. Bear started toward her, Mikan shook her head. "Stay back. I'll let you know if I need you."

"What is it?" asked Natsume as he came up behind her.