Pairings: Yaya x Kukai, Amu x Tadase, Amu x Ikuto & slight Amu x Kukai/Nagihiko (I've sort of reserved Kukai for Yaya… sorry Amu x Kukai fans!)
Chapter 1 – The Decision
"There!" a girl with brown hair tied up into two pigtails spun round as her pink-haired friend pointed to-.
"The X-Egg! Don't let it escape!" Yaya screamed and began running away from the advancing X-Egg.
"Pepe, Character Change!" skidding to a halt, Yaya and her Guardian Chara spun to face the X-Egg.
The black, X-marked egg halted in surprise at its attacker's new determination.
"Pretty, Cutie, Love Baby!" in her Character Change, Yaya ran towards the X-Egg raising the giant rattle with both hands.
Frightened at the oncoming assault, the egg turned and began flying- straight into the Character Transformed Amulet Heart.
"Negative Heart! Lock On! Open Heart!" with a bright shine of pink, the X-Egg shuddered losing its X-mark and the blackness.
Soon the egg rose up towards the sky and disappeared, returning to its owner.
Undoing their transformations Amu, Yaya and their Guardian Charas began walking towards the Royal Garden, meeting the other Guardian on the way.
"Hinamori-san, Yuiki-san! Are you alright?" a blond-haired boy asked the two girls.
Yaya nodded and smiled, prancing up and down as she went through the highlights of the cleansing while Amu blushed furiously. Trying to retain her 'Cool & Spicy' nature, Amu folded her arms and looked away from Tadase, occasionally nodding as Yaya talked animatedly. Tadase smiled knowingly at Amu's behaviour.
"Another one cleansed! Good work, Amu and Yaya now let's go and rest. I baked some cookies for everyone earlier. They're in the Royal-."
"YEAH! I love Nagihiko's cooking as much as Nadeshiko's! I want them all!" before the other Guardians could say another word, Yaya zoomed off towards the Royal Garden leaving behind a trail of laughter.
It's just like old times…Everyone's here, Tadase, Amu even Nadeshiko (well, Nagihiko brings her spirit anyway!). Yaya suddenly stopped running. Everyone, except Kukai.
"Is Yaya OK?" the Ace-Chair looked up at the floating Pepe.
"Pepe… do you miss Daichi?" Pepe blinked at her owner.
"Of course I do, just as Yaya misses Kukai," shoulders slumping a little, Yaya looked towards the sky sadly.
It feels as if something is missing from my heart-
"Are you going to go in or stand there and block the entrance? The cookies are going to get eaten if you don't hurry," Yaya blinked at the smooth voice.
A small girl with long wavy blonde hair stared up at Yaya. Silence stretched out between the two. Suddenly Yaya bowed. Smiling awkwardly at the Queen-Chair she began to apologise then her apology stopped short.
"Argh! The cookies! Thanks for the reminder, Rima-chan!" without another word, Yaya ran into the Royal Garden still shouting in anguish at herself.
Rima sighed then followed, more gracefully and quietly in the Royal Garden. Her Guardian Chara floated down next to Pepe.
"Right on time Kusu Kusu!" the dummy sucking Pepe squealed up as Kusu Kusu giggled.
"Always, always!" the two laughed and high-fived as they flew after their owners.
"Come on Amu-chan! The cookies are all going to get eaten if we don't hurry! Hurry, hurry!" Amu looked sideways at her pink Guardian Chara.
"That's right! Let's hurry and finish the banquet. Afterwards we can complete my master plan of how we're going to take over the world! Come hurry Tadase and my Loyal Subjects!" Tadase smiled awkwardly at Kiseki's resolve.
Amu's blue Guardian Chara floated next to Kiseki, sketch pad in hand.
"I have thought long and hard about this. How's this for your Royal Palace?" Miki asked.
Kiseki's eyes sparkled at the drawing as the other Charas looked over his shoulder but were soon scattered as the world-domination-obsessed Kiseki bounded up.
"Perfect! To work, my Loyal Subjects! The world will soon be ours! Mwuhahahaha!" Kiseki laughed aloud then flew away with Miki hot at his heels.
The other Guardian Charas sweated at the pair.
"Can't be helped," Temari whispered sullenly.
Ran and Suu nodded in agreement. Amu sighed, just as Tadase put his hand on her shoulder.
"They make a great pair don't they?" he smiled, his sweet heart racing smile! Amu thought to herself as she blushed furiously.
My Prince! His hand on my shoulder-!
"Uh…argh! Of-of course!" Amu turned away and folded her arms, frowning in concentration as she tried to rid the 'cute' side of her, "they've been good friends from the beginning."
"Ne… there goes Amu-chan's obstinate side again," Ran whispered to her fellow green Guardian Chara.
Amu looked daggers at Ran who instinctively flew off with Suu and Temari knowing that Amu's temperament was short-lived.
"Shall we go, Hinamori-san?" Tadase bowed slightly, indicating the direction of the Royal Garden with his right hand.
Here returns Amu's blush. Having to draw up her 'Cool & Spicy' attitude once again, she nodded and began walking. Behind her Tadase and Nagihiko grinned at each other then began to catch up with the others.
"COOKIES!" Amu and Tadase winced slightly as they heard Yaya's shout of happiness.
"Nagihiko-san, these are lovely!" the A-Chair said between mouthfuls, spraying crumbs everywhere.
"How disgraceful! Stop spraying the crumbs on my Royal Gown at once!" Kiseki shouted angrily.
"Do not fear, Your Highness I will design a new gown for you if necessary," drawing out her sketch pad and pencil once again, Miki began scribbling across her pad.
The other Guardian Charas stared in wonder as Miki worked ferociously away.
"Ta da!" Miki held up the pad triumphantly as the others admired the sketch.
"Amazing, desu!!"
"Very manly!"
"Indeed. Now, for the good of our future let's get down to work Loyal Subjects!" everyone groaned except for Miki who was smiling up at a determined Kiseki.
The Guardians laughed at their Charas' behaviour before joining the greedy Yaya.
"Yaya, not too many otherwise that Royal Cape won't fit you!" Nagihiko teased as he picked up a cookie.
"Eh! That's mean, Nagihiko! Yaya likes cookies!" pretending to sob, Yaya moved sneakily across the table then snatched up another cookie.
"I saw that! That's the last one!" the purple-haired boy said in mock anger.
Yaya giggled and looked at the cookie in her hand. Only slightly, her smile fell.
Star-shaped, just like the star that Kukai wears when he Character Changes-
"Are you going to eat that? It looks very nice and tasty," Rima's eyes bored into Yaya's confused ones.
Quicker than a blink of an eye, the star disappeared in Yaya's mouth.
"Too late," sticking out her tongue slightly the A-Chair pranced away from the giggling Rima.
As laughter filled the garden once again, Tadase walked around the table with a sheet in one hand.
"That reminds me. We were supposed to organise a Summer outing for Grades Five and Six. Anyone have any ideas?" the garden was soon filled with 'hmmms' and 'uhs' as everyone racked their brains for ideas.
All of a sudden, Nagihiko's eyes brightened and edged gracefully towards the King-Chair. Tadase's eyes widened at Nagihiko's idea. Both nodded secretively to each other then Tadase cleared his throat. The remaining Guardians looked up as Tadase revealed Nagihiko's idea.
"How about we go to the seaside?" a chorus of appraise escaped from everyone.
"Yeah! It'll be so fun by the sea! Although I'm staying on shore since I can't swim…" everyone laughed at Yaya's unease.
Rima was the only one who looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Ano… what about the X-Eggs that will appear?" the cheers died down.
Amu looked at the floor sadly. How did I forget about that? I forgot my duty as the Joker completely… Picking up Amu's rising depression, Tadase instantly replied to Rima's question.
"I'll stay here with Hinamori-san to back her up. Everyone else can go."
"But I'm sure everyone will be happier if we stay together. If you guys stay, we stay too," the Jack-Chair said while Rima and Yaya nodded in agreement.
Without warning, Ran floated down next to Amu.
"Amu-chan, everything will be fine! You could go to the beach with everyone! Charas can sense X-Eggs and we'll alert you if we sense any!"
"But we'll never get there in time! The beach is miles away from town!"
"It's alright, if you Character Change with me, it'll only take a few minutes before you're back in town!" Amu groaned at the thought of rushing around when she should be relaxing.
"Everything will be fine, Hinamori-san. I believe you can do it," Amu looked up at the beaming Tadase her heart racing again as his hand touched her arm.
My Prince is cheering me on…-
"What a natural playboy," Miki muttered.
Recovering quickly from Tadase's encouragement, Amu closed her eyes and frowned.
"H-humph, OK then," the Joker's sullen agreement was then drowned in a tide of cheers.
"Good going, Hinamori-san," Amu turned to hide her embarrassment, "all set then! This Summer's outing: the beach!"
Tys for reading, sorry that was a bit long... reviews wud b GREATLY appreciated! Tys again! For the next few chapters, press the forward arrow near the top of page!
Shaari