Keeping Warm
By Laura Schiller
Series: Shugo Chara
Copyright: Peach Pit
Amu stood inside the front gates of Seiyo Elementary, looking out at the snow-covered lawns, thorny hedges and row of naked sakura trees outside. The sky was grey, hanging above the world like a soggy wool blanket as a sharp wind whipped through the air outside. The weather forecast had predicted a heavy snowstorm for that night – and a temperature of minus fifteen degrees Celsius.
"Darn it," grumbled Amu, adjusting a white scarf and smoothing down the puffy, down-filled folds of her pale pink winter coat. Why couldn't she have been born to rich parents with cars to pick her up with, like Rima's?
"Are you going home, Hinamori-san?"
Tadase's light, clear, courteous voice sounded behind her; she whirled around, a rather undignified feat in that fluffy coat, to face him. His own coat was green, his golden hair hidden under a beige wool hat that looked as comfortable as it was endearingly tacky.
"Obviously," was the first thing that popped out of her mouth. "I'm not dressed like this for a luxury cruise."
She could have kicked herself. That was so not cute. Amulet Heart is never sarcastic because she's such a 'bright, positive thinker'.
Tadase laughed. "Doesn't look like it. Say, Hinamori-san – I have a few errands to run in your neighborhood, so, er...do you mind if I walk with you?"
Did she mind? Was the Earth flat?
"Nah, it's fine," she said, with a carefully calculated shrug, setting off to walk at a speed which made red cheeks the most natural thing in the world.
"Go, go, Amu-chan!" squeaked Ran, huddled inside Amu's coat pocket.
"Not so fast, please," said Suu plaintively, clinging to the pocket's lining. "It's so bumpy, desu!"
"You can't fool me," whispered Miki from inside Amu's fur-lined collar. "It's not the cold that's making you blush."
Tadase kept step with her, his eyes sparkling, clouds of steamy breath floating in front of them. A few families had already set up their Christmas lights, glittering chains of golden, red, green and white draped around trees and housefronts.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" said Tadase.
She nodded. Points of light and color in a grey world...just like my friends. And you.
It was snowing now, small hard flakes that blew into their faces with a biting cold touch. Amu had forgotten how her ears could sting when they got too cold. Also, gloves were of no use whatsoever in the back of the closet.
"Are you cold?" asked Tadase. "Your ears are red."
Was it that obvious?
"Uh, it's okay."
"Here." To her dismay, he pulled the hat off his head and took off his left mitten.
"Oh, no, no," she stuttered, waving her hands in refusal (which only showed how red they were). "I don't want Tadase-kun to get cold either!"
"Tadase has a strong body," Kiseki piped up, also inside his human's pocket. "He can handle any amount of cold. And since you, Hinamori Amu, are our servant, we have a duty to - "
"She's not a servant, Kiseki!" Tadase quenched him by zipping the pocket shut. "But he's right, you know. As your leader, I should...I want to look after you. Hold still."
He slipped his hat over her head, carefully pulling it down until it covered the X clips in her hair and her freezing ears. A delightful sensation of warmth flooded her – not only her ears, but her whole body – because of how close he was standing and the way his hand brushed her cheek, softly as a feather.
"Now, Hinamori-san, give me your hand."
He held out the white mitten, making Amu feel oddly like Cinderella – except in that case it had been a shoe. I can put on gloves by myself, you know, she almost said, but the sight of Tadase's face made that thought drift away. He was smiling slightly, showing affection, amusement and concern. He could probably guess that the prickly, independent part of her was protesting, and if she pushed the mitten away and said something cool and spicy, he wouldn't mind. But it was cold, and she did want him to touch her again, and she was so tired of being defensive around him...
She held out her left hand and he slowly eased the warm, fuzzy mitten over it, touching her bare skin just a little more than necessary – or was that her imagination?
"And as to your other hand, I know another way to keep it warm."
He took hold of her right hand in his uncovered left one, squeezed, and smiled nervously at her as they began walking again.
Cold? Amu forgot what the word meant. She might as well have been flying; the snowflakes suddenly changed in her perception from a nasty weather pattern to diamonds floating from the sky. They walked in perfect tandem, sometimes chatting about school, Guardian affairs or Christmas, sometimes comfortably silent. It got easier to be silent with Tadase the better she knew him; she was so happy she forgot to be nervous about it or wonder if she was saying the right thing. It felt like their time at the aquarium or at the ski resort, only better.
She had never been so disappointed to see her own home in all her life.
"By the way, Tadase-kun," she said, slowing her pace. "What was that errand you had to run? Maybe I can help you with it."
"Oh, that. Actually, it was just..." He looked away, then back at her, brushing his fringe out of his eyes. "I just wanted to see you safely home. Who knows – I mean, there could have been an Easter attack and..."
"...and you needed me and my amazing powers to protect you, just in case?" said Amu, pretending to be grumpy.
"Something like that." He shrugged, then became serious. "You should know, Hinamori-san... I'm glad to have you with me. Even if you didn't have your powers, you...you'd still be important to me."
He said the last so quietly, at first she did not hear him clearly.
"You mean, if I couldn't transform into..." Amulet Heart. "My other selves?"
"Yes."
For a moment, something flickered at the top of his head, looking like the crown he wore when he chara-changed. "Not this time, Kiseki," he hissed through gritted teeth, and the shimmer vanished.
All this time, he had been holding Amu's hand; now he lifted it up and dropped the lightest of kisses on the back of it. Amu could hear her heart pounding in her ears as he said:
"Hinamori-san, there's something I need to tell you. I wasn't ready before, but now I am. Please tell Amulet Heart that she is no longer first in my affections – since last winter, I've gotten to know a girl who fascinates me so much more.
"She's bright and positive, she can fly and play every sport – but she's also a gifted artist and a wonderful baker who once made sugar cookies shaped like card suits. She puts on a 'cool and spicy' act, but she has a kind heart and always wants to comfort people who are upset. Without her, Kiseki and I might have been corrupted for good, but she saved us. Her name is Hinamori Amu, and I hope it's not too late – I know I've been an idiot for a long time – because I love her. You. I love you, Amu, and I wish I were a real King so I could make you my Queen."
She thought of pinching herself just to make sure it wasn't a dream. She had never been confessed to in third person before; he had to be really nervous if he was pretending she wasn't there. Nervous about her. She couldn't decide whether to melt with joy or smack him on the head for being so dense – it should be obvious how she felt, given that she had once squealed out "I love you, my prince!" in front of the whole school. Under a forced chara-change meant to make her completely honest.
"Took you long enough, shortie," she sneered, coolly and spicily, then abandoned all pretense and hugged him with all the strength she had.
It must have been a clear enough answer, because as they pulled apart, his eyes shone like bright garnets.
"I tell you what," she said, rather breathlessly. "It looks like this snowstorm's getting worse. Why don't you stay here until it lets up?"
"Won't your parents mind?"
"Mama won't. Papa will throw a fit, of course, but just ignore him. And Ami worships you anyway."
"All right then. In that case, I'm happy to accept your invitation."
Amu went up the front steps and, glancing back lovingly at Tadase, unlocked the door to lead him in from the winter into her warm, hospitable home.