This is just a short one-shot about Kairi's love for Amu.

Samurai Soul

Crash!

I looked over to see Amu's bowl fall to the ground, splattering batter on anything within ten feet. The gooey mixture sopped down the cabinets as if crying at its hopeless fate. It will never become cookies.

"Joker, let me help you with that," I offered, already grabbing a towel. Her soft pink hair was tangled and her turquoise apron was covered in everything imaginable. Amu had rejected Su's help on these cookies and she was determined to make them on her own power. Her three guardian characters floated effortlessly just beside her head, and their large eyes were wide with worry.

"No, Kairi-kun…" her voice was full of tears. I swerved my head from the mess to see her eyes shining. They were full of sparkling tears that quickly fell into clear droplets on her ever reddening face. "I'm sorry," she buried her hands in her face and fell to her knees, "I can't do anything right."

Su, Amu's third guardian character, stared at Amu with similar tears trapped in her eyes,

"Amu-chan…"

Her outburst was a bit unexpected. What do I do? How do I comfort her? Why was she like this? All of these questions swirled in my head as I bent down to face her. My shugo chara, Musashi, just watched. Usually, he'd give me advice, but he really didn't have much help when it came to girls.

"Joker, are you okay?"

She lifted her head a little and I felt my heart ache at the sadness in her face,

"I'm just a little worked up is all. I just…just…"

"Hey," I slipped my hands into her's and gave them a light squeeze. Golden eyes peering into mine; I had her attention. Those eyes were the very example of beauty. They were just the right mix of reflective gold and a deep, cocoa brown. They were the eyes that I had fallen in love with.

"Do you need to talk?" I asked her, already feeling my face heat up. I was going a little out of my comfort zone.

"Um…yeah," she managed to say, trying to hide her tears in her sleeve. Not once did she let go of my hand. I couldn't help but think about the soft, smooth texture of her skin. The warmth that they emitted seemed to add to the heat of my ever reddening face.

Never did the thought cross me that getting together to bake cookies would end up so disastrous. I could only hope that my older sister wouldn't get home early, so I could clean up the terrible mess. Right now, all I could focus on was cleaning up the mess of Amu's problem. I yearned to see her smile once again.

Amu's smile.

It's joy appeared to light up her whole face and her eyes would shine like stars. I missed it so much.

With my free hand, I adjusted my glasses and tried to push the fact that our hands were linked out of my mind. Her face was beginning to return to its original color, save her still-red nose and watery eyes. Even in her tears she was beautiful.

As quickly as possible, I found a couch for us to sit on and she was soon propped up with a glass of water and a pillow. The four charas sat on the coffee table in front of us, watching expectantly.

"What's on your mind, Joker?" I asked gently, dying to comfort her.

"Well…" she began, voice still a little shaky from crying, "I've been really twisted up lately," she sighed deeply, trying to calm down and prepare herself for the next sentence, "I can't figure out whether I love Tadase or Ikuto."

It was as if someone had shot an arrow in to my heart.

That was the surging pain that I felt at that moment.

"What would stop you from loving one over the other?" I helped, in spite of my contradicting feelings.

"Well, Ikuto's really been mentally damaged through the years of service to Easter, and he's healing from that now. I think it might hurt our relationship, but I still love him in spite of it. And Tadase is so sweet, but he's still young and his ambition in life is a little…um, you know," she made a smug face and I laughed lightly at the thought of Tadase trying to take over the world, "But I don't want to let either of them down, because I love them both so much."

Her hair fell gently over her glittering eyes and my fingers itched to brush them back. I wanted to tell her how I felt and I wanted to take her sadness away forever, but I knew that both of these options were impossible and could never come to pass.

"Here's my advice," I began, my heart breaking inside, "First, keep in mind that these things take time. I suggest watching these two; observe them, grow with them, and learn more about them. In time, you'll just know who you'll spend the rest of your life with. Your heart will fill with love for that one person, whether Tadase or Ikuto, and you'll decide then. Right now, just focus on learning more about them and who they are."

I cringed as I studied Amu's face, hoping that my short speech helped her. It probably wasn't even the answer that she was looking for anyway. She probably wanted a literal answer: Ikuto or Tadase?

Ikuto or Tadase?

How could I even answer that? Inside, my whole being was crying to confess my love, but that would only complicate things. I had already told her once before anyway. It was a clear fact that Amu didn't return the feelings. Accepting that is one of the hardest things that I'll ever do.

"Kairi…thanks," came her ever sweet voice. I was lost in my thoughts when she brought me back to the here and now. I saw her face full of gratitude and her smile returned. Joy seeped into her face and she nearly jumped forward to hug me. "Thank you so much," she whispered. Blushing slightly, I returned the hug, embracing her warmth. She was so small and so fragile. I wanted to protect her. Protect her from these problems that were hurting her so much. Wasn't that why I wanted to become a samurai anyway? To protect the ones I loved?

"Amu, I-"

"Oh!"

She cut me off, suddenly standing up, "I just remembered that I have to meet Tadase-kun for a movie in ten minutes," her ever glistening eyes filled with worry, "Oh Kairi-kun, I'm so sorry about leaving you with the mess-"

"Don't worry about it," I told her, plastering a fake smile onto my face, "I'll take care of everything. Go meet up with Tadase-sama."

"Thanks Kairi," her smile makes another appearance, "Thank you so much."

And just like that, she's gone, her guardian characters trailing after her. Glad that I had something to do while I worked through everything that just happened, I picked up my towel and began wiping the batter off the walls and cabinets in the kitchen vigorously.

"Kairi, are you okay with this?" Musashi asked, genuinely worried.

"Of course," I replied, lying through my teeth, "Amu has a right to love whoever she wants."

Musashi doesn't seem convinced that I'm okay, but that's fine with me. I knew in my heart that Amu and I can never be together, but even that will never quench my love for her. Just seeing her happy is enough for me. I will cheer her on in life, whether I'm included in that life or not.

Because I love her.

Amu…ganbatte.

Update! I read over the story again and I realized that it's not much of a one-shot. They never fell in love in the end! :( I tried so hard, but it just didn't work so well. Poor Kairi...

Thank you if you read this :).