Soro-chan: Hello minna-san! It's a oneshot because today is a day I remembered something very tragic. Romance/Tragedy/Hurt/Comfort. Enjoy. Based on a woman in the snow who made it to the news in the morning as I ate my breakfast. I do not own Shugo Chara.

Taking Flight

It was another cold, winter day. Snow fluttered in the air like butterflies, gently touching the floor before melting in a microscopic puddle of white. The winter breeze was light and soft, but no snow remained around Amu.

Amu defied snow.

She reached her hand out for snow, but before she could register the touch the soft, velvet layer surrounding her, it melted away and became dirt. She scowled as even the water from the ice crystals withdrew from her slender, pale fingers, which were cold to the touch. But even though they felt like ice, the snow would always melt within range before she could describe in her head how it felt.

Amu despised it. Laying on the ground covered in soft, chilled soil, she sighed and glided her hand through the soil. That, at least she had. Dirt.

Amu wasn't your ordinary human. She was a cursed girl that no one pitied, no one cared about. She was the girl who laid in the soil forever. Since she was a baby, perhaps 3 or 4 years old, she was abandoned on the floor, eating bits of dirt and grass to keep her by. Occasionally she would find a rare delicacy such as an ant or grasshoppers wandering by her dirt island. Around 5 or 6, she tried to leave her little soil home. But she couldn't. Her legs were stuck to the ground, as if there were no more strength in them, no more will to move. She could barely crawl. At 7 to 8, she gave up trying to leave and continued to survive off of her surroundings.

At 9 to 10 years of age, people migrated to her forest and moved in. They found her, laying on the ground, sleeping. A man thought she was dead until she flipped over, her hair swept from her face. Another saw that she was homeless and warned her children to stay away from her. Others made fun of her and threw rocks at her when they had free time. She hid behind her only defense: dirt.

Years passed by and now she was 12. All those mean townspeople were gone, moved to another place where they could make fun of helpless children. But Amu stayed. She, still, was here.

Clothed in nothing but a old, floral dress and ripped stockings covered with dirt and snow, she sighed and stared at the sky as snow fell around her. Her stomach growled, and with a handful of weeds and melted snow, she shoved the particles in her hand into her mouth to chew. The taste wasn't so bad after about 9 years or so.

She was the helpless girl no one wanted to help. Hinamori Amu, the girl in the dirt. Another winter she might not survive. The other winters, people had given her blankets and clothes. Everything now was gone though.

All Amu could taste was dirt. All she could feel was dirt. She FELT like dirt. That's why it was about time her guardian angel sent her some goddamn wings. If she had one.

As she spit out the hard stem pieces from the weeds in her mouth, she could hear voices. Actually, she could only hear one; it seemed like he was talking to himself. Amu, curious by a man's presence, took some snow and began rubbing her face, her arms and legs with it. The voice gradually became just a bit closer once she finished. She saw that her skin was pale and strangely smooth. Her hair was pink but had bits of brown dirt in the strands, but she didn't care.

The man became closer and Amu could just barely see his faint figure if the distance, blurred by the presence of snow.

Amu wondered what he would think of her. Would she be another helpless girl to him, laying on the floor in the dirt and snow? Would he ignore her as so many had done? Or would he laugh at her, maybe even throw a couple of rocks at her to pass the time? She was curious.

Then, for the first time, she thought about how she looked. Was she pretty? Was she hideous? Laced with dirt, who knew what her outer appearance was. She had never looked herself in the mirror before. Now she felt self-conscious.

The man came closer.

"... I found her," she heard the man murmur quietly, though with her hearing skills she was able to pick up his voice. She took in his godly appearance: blue hair, indigo eyes, a porcelain face. His body was covered in warm fabric. Their eyes met.

"...Go away," Amu said. She didn't know why she said that. She had no right to say that to someone who just might be saving her. The guy in front of her chuckled.

"Well, aren't you the one with attitude." Amu growled. When the mean townspeople were still here, they would call Amu's attitude "cool and spicy" for fun, but they would always use the term for their own amusement.

"I mean it, boy." She didn't mean it.

"I'm not 'boy', I'm Ikuto. And you must be Amu."

She did her best to hide her surprise. "...How did you know my name?"

"I'm here to help you."

Help. The word rang in Amu's mind. Help. She did not want help. She wanted him to leave her alone. This was her home and she was somewhat reluctant to leave. "I'm here to take you to a better place. A much better place than here in this cold, snowy dump you're staying in."

Amu wasn't sure to trust this man or not. She had never trusted anyone before.

But the man before her had such a sweet voice, and such a sweet man he was. easy on the eyes and ears... "Come, Amu, let's go."

Suddenly, her back felt light. Her body felt relieved of something heavy, a heavy burden she had been carrying all her life. And she didn't know it until now. "Amu, let's go." The ocean-haired man held her hand and lifted her up, up high into the sky. She looked below to see a girl with pink hair, pale body, frozen. Was that her? But she was in the air, so how?

"Amu... Welcome to Heaven," he said as Amu landed on a perfect, white cloud in front of golden gates lined with pearls. Ikuto smiled. "You've had a rough time... but now, you're going to be okay. You'll be with me," he hugged Amu, letting he experience something she had never known before: a simple, friendly hug. And then, his mouth touched hers in a passionate manner. His tongue entangled itself with hers, which she remembered only using to eat with. He let go once he saw her face reddening from the lack of oxygen.

"I'll be your angel. And I'll always take care of you. You will always have a home and someone to love, and someone to love you even more back. I've been watching you for a very long time as your guardian angel... I wasn't able to help you." A silent tear slid down his cheek. "But I'm here to help you now, okay? Why don't you try out your new wings?" Amu turned around and found wings turning around with her. "I have wings!"

"Yes, you do. Do you like them?"

Amu nodded and embraced him. "Thank you... for giving me wings."

Ikuto smiled and looked at his gift for her: a pair of slightly rose tinted, white wings.

"You needed it more than me." That's when Amu realized he had no wings. Then how did he get up here? He must have surely had wings as well. "I had mine, then I gave it to you once you stepped on the cloud of Eden."

Amu cried.

"You can be my wings," he whispered in her ear. She shivered with delight.

"Thank you..." She murmured in his warmth. "The taste of dirt is nothing compared to the taste of happiness."

Newscast:

On Friday, December 11th, 2011, a young woman was found preserved in ice and snow in the forest of Seiyo. She had pink hair and pale skin, a couple people seem to know her as Hinamori Amu from long ago. Printed in the snow beside her were the faint image of wings. On her death day, she wore a worn-out floral dress and stockings, her skin clean and pale. She was found with a genuine smile on her blue lips.

Today is December 12th, 2011.

May she rest in peace.

Dedicated to the child of a dear friend of mine who died from sleeping in the snow. She had just finished making a snow angel before she fell asleep forever, leaving the image of wings in the snow where she laid. May she rest in peace.

Thank you for reading.