Christmas Wishes
₪▪▫By: Krissy▫▪₪
28 year old Amu blushed. Because it was Christmas, and Ikuto wanted the entire family to show Christmas spirit, she was forced into a Christmas outfit by her perverted husband.
She was wearing a red velour mini dress with white fur trim, frilly red and white arm bands, red knee high boots with faux fuzz, and a Santa hat with white fur trim.
"Are you coming out anytime soon?" Ikuto called.
Amu's face burned even more as she imagined the look on Ikuto's face. He was the one who had bought this get-up for her.
"No! I am not coming out of here with…this…on!" She could just see the pout on his face.
"Aw, come on, Amu! Get into the Christmas spirit!" he shouted.
Amu paused. Then she called out sweetly, "Ikuto? Are the kids out there?"
"Umm…no."
"Then, Christmas spirit my ass!"
Ikuto smirked from where he was. "Hey! Don't make me come in there and bring you out!"
Amu paled from inside the bathroom. "Y-you're bluffing!"
That was about the time that the door banged open. In the doorway was Ikuto.
"KYA!" Amu yelled. Ikuto hauled Amu over his shoulders and swiftly walked out of the bathroom.
"Mou, Ikuto! Hanashite!" Amu shouted, while bonking Ikuto on the back. Ikuto merely chuckled. He finally brought her down on his lap as they sat on the couch together.
"See? You look fine!"
"Yeah, right! In your mind, I'm beyond fine!" Amu retorted.
"Eh…you're okay looking," Ikuto teased. Ah, and here comes the 'swing' part of the mood swings. Amu's expression changed to one of grief.
Her bottom lip trembled, her face flushed, and tears formed in her amber eyes. "O-oh, really? Well, I thought it would be better than 'okay'," she whispered, her chibi sad face still on.
Ikuto regretted his little joke and said hastily, "I was just joking! You're way more than okay looking." And again, her moods swung.
"Pervert!!" she shouted. She turned away from him and hmphed. Ikuto sweat-dropped and thought, What the hell does she want me to say?!
Just then, an 8 year old boy who had all of Ikuto's looks as a child, besides the eyes, came sprinting in the room, carrying a porcelain baby doll and laughing like a maniac. Following him was a little girl, his identical twin, screaming, "Kodowari oni-san! Give me my dolly!"
In one swift motion, Ikuto caught Kodowari in his arms, and managed to yank the baby doll out of Kodowari's small hands. Amu gently took the doll, straightened out its dress and handed it back to the little girl.
"Kodowari-kun, stop being mean to Ameko-chan," Amu scolded. Kodowari looked up at his mother sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, Mama," he murmured. Amu's face softened, and she gently caressed his face. "My cute little Kodowari-kun," she whispered in a lulling tone.
Ikuto's face darkened at this. He clutched Amu by the stomach and cuddled even closer to her. Amu, who took notice of this, giggled.
"Don't tell me you're jealous of your own son," she murmured to him. Ikuto glowered at her. Amu decided to leave it at that. Suddenly, Amu realized something was missing.
"Hey, Ikuto. Where's Yume-chan?"
Ikuto's face went blank as he murmured, "Oh, crap."
Amu's expression turned livid as she yelled at him, "Ikuto! You let our toddler daughter wander off without anybody to watch her!!!???"
Ikuto shrank under her growing anger. Yep, that's right, the almighty Ikuto shrinking under our innocent heroine. Ikuto had learned ever since they had been graced with two beautiful twins that Amu had an unusually scary character that all women with children knew about: the motherly over-protectiveness. This character included being incredibly close to your children, and being unbelievably scary when she lost them from her sight.
Ikuto laughed nervously and said, "I bet she just went to the playroom to look at our Christmas tree; you know how much she loves to look at the tree's lights."
"For your sake, she better be," Amu breathed, still infuriated. Amu trudged to their playroom, dragging Ikuto with her. Naturally, Kodowari and Ameko followed to see if their father would be throttled by their mother.
Thankfully, Amu found her precious daughter, Yume, sitting on the mat that was placed underneath their balsam fir tree.
Three year old Yume was wearing a red-on-green plaid velour ruffle dress, brick red tights, and black boots; her waist-length, wavy, rose pink hair was tied up into a twirling ponytail by a Christmas themed X clip. Her golden eyes, which resembled her mother's, sparkled in awe as she stared at the shiny ornaments placed on their Christmas tree.
Amu sighed in relief and said softly to Yume, "Don't make your mother worry like that, Yume!" Yume turned to face her mother and replied apologetically, "I'm sorry, hahaoya." Amu smiled caringly down at her. Picking her up and then carrying her back to their living room, Amu forgot all about strangling Ikuto.
It took a while for Amu to process that Ikuto and her three children were actually here with her. Usually, Amu was off on a modeling tour, or Ikuto was doing some sort of world-wide concert, or their kids were at school or music camp.
And for some reason, she was reminded of her Guardian Days. It was true, she missed everybody: Rima and Nagihiko (who had three children, like Amu and Ikuto), Yaya and Kairi (who had just recently had one child), Kukai and Utau (who were too busy and competitive to have children), and most of all, she missed Tadase.
Tadase and Amu hadn't seen each other in years. They had both realized that they may have been each other's first real loves, but they were most certainly not their last. Even then, they had come to a mental agreement to never stop being friends, no matter how tense it got. Of course, Ikuto still wasn't entirely tolerable of their friendship, in fear that Tadase would steal Amu away from him, but Ikuto and Tadase reconciled their companionship anyways.
But, now that all of their Guardian Days were over, she had realized how fierce and persistent a 'heroine' she had been. She also grasped realized how much she missed her days as being the famous Joker who possessed the four Guardian Characters. A troubling thought came across Amu's head.
Would I trade my life right now to go back to my Guardian Days?
"Amu, are you okay? You've got that far-off look in your eyes, like you're… don't tell me. You're dreaming of me again?" Ikuto teased. Amu glared at him, but then giggled.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'."
"Hey, Mama—what are these two things? And why do they look alike?" Ameko asked. Amu looked down to the little girl, who had her palms held out. And inside her palms was none other than the Humpty Lock and Dumpty Key. Yep, Amu and Ikuto never got rid of their blessed Lock and Key.
The Humpty Lock and Dumpty Key used to light up the darkest places with their radiant white glow, and there was never an end to the sparks that flew off the crystal that the Lock and Key were made up of.
Now, the Lock and Key lay dormant in Ameko's hands; their glow had been extinguished and the crystals were dim and grayer than usual. Amu was heartbroken to see her prized Lock in such a condition.
"They're very special to your mother and I. They used to be a symbol of our love. If you guys wish for something, the Lock and Key may grant it, since it's Christmas," Ikuto answered, seeing the hurt look in his wife's eyes.
Ameko's eyes suddenly brightened. "Wow! I want to make a wish!" she exclaimed. Ameko closed her eyes, and her fingers cupped the Lock and Key.
"I wish…that I could be as good a singer as Aunt Utau and be as pretty as Mama one day!" she whispered into her cupped hands. She was loud enough for her parents to hear, so Amu blushed when she heard the second half of her wish.
Abruptly, Kodowari snatched the Lock and Key from Ameko. He shut his eyes in concentration and clasped his fingers over the two antiques. He announced loudly into his fingers, "I wish I could be as good a violinist as dad!" Amu smiled and looked to Ikuto, who was also smiling.
Kodowari handed the Lock and Key to Yume, who looked down at the pair uncertainly. Finally, she closed her eyes and whispered into her clasped hands too quietly for Amu to hear. When she was finished, Amu asked her, "What did you wish for, honey?"
Yume gave her mother a genuine mother-to-daughter smile, and leaned up to her mother's ears to whisper her 'super-secret' wish. Amu's eyes widened in shock as Yume leaned back down, the Humpty Lock and Dumpty Key still in her tiny palms.
That's when Amu noticed the Humpty Lock and Dumpty Key shine for the first time in years. "Yume," Amu whispered to herself. Yume suddenly hopped down from her mothers lap and ran back to the play room, calling back to Amu, "I'm going to look at the pretty tree again, hahaoya!" Kodowari and Ameko followed after her, trying to get another look at the Lock and Key.
"So…what's your wish, Amu?" Ikuto murmured into her ear.
Amu snuggled into Ikuto's chest as she replied, "The same as Yume's. I wish that things can stay this way forever."
~THE END~
---
Disclaimer- I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of it's characters. All rights are licensed to Peach-Pit, Kodansha, and Satelite (respectively).
A/N: Well, this was my first one-shot...for Christmas! It's nothing much, but I'm still proud of it. Anyways, Happy Holidays, everyone!
EDIT: 12/26, I'm posting up my Shinshi Doumei Kurosu Christmas story sometime tonight. So, even if you're not a ShinKuro fan, it would be much appreciated if you would at least look at the story sometime.
