Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara. I also don't own the translation of the lyrics in Nagihiko's character song, "Hana Tegami". I found it on HaineOtomiya9076's video on YouTube.

Notes: Well, I haven't written a NagiAmu fic in a while, and as I was listening to "Hana Tegami", I was reminded of Shugo Chara's episode 25 (which I'm sure was supposed to happen). And so, I wrote this quick little ficcie… (I can't believe I just said "ficcie". xD)

--

Flower Letter

I don't decide to tell her that I'm leaving.

Maybe it's because I'm not deserving of a word such as "friend", and I don't trust that she can handle it without tears streaming from her eyes.

Or maybe it's because I am a friend, and to her a very close one, that I know that she'll cry and maybe, just maybe, I don't want to see those tears. Or how her golden orbs falter into that sorrowed wheat that I'd seen before, and vowed to never see again…

Seasons always come and go,

But where are they going at such a fast pace?

Besides, seeing four pairs of colorless eyes was enough to make my heart ache.

But the Guardians understand why I can't bring myself to tell her, and for that, I'm grateful. I smile at them though my cheeks hurt at the forced action, and I shakily ask, on the brink of pleading, "Please don't tell Amu-chan…" I know that they notice how my voice fades towards the end, and I know that they see that stray, betraying tear fall from my eye.

Still, they don't say anything.

They only nod solemnly, but it's enough.

The wind beats against the window gently;

I get an invitation to travel to a far-off land.

I sit upon the top of our family's gate, and I think silently to myself while I wait for her to arrive.

My hair is up into an effeminate ponytail, and it falls over my chin, past my shoulders, even. I sigh, wondering when I'd last seen a pair of scissors even go near my head…

I finally decide the moment that I see her approach my house. Slowly, I reach up and take the rubber band from my hair, letting the indigo waves fall freely – hopeless victims to the spring breeze that blows by.

She doesn't see me, and so I leap from my spot, landing safely on the ground before her. I chuckle softly at how she immediately steps back when she hears the thud of my boots on the pavement. "Relax," I murmur.

Though I must be a hypocrite, because my own heart is pounding uncontrollably…

She steps forward hesitantly, her salmon lips partly open with surprise. "Na-Nadeshiko?" she whispers, almost inaudible, as she takes yet another step toward me.

I shake my head and smile. "I'm Nagihiko," I correct, index finger knowingly pointed up to the sky. I explain her to that I am Nadeshiko's identical twin, and pause to let the news sink in. I'm telling her this lie a bit too late, but really, I've no choice. I hadn't expected to have to leave Japan, my friends, Amu

I hope that she doesn't know that different-gender identical twins are extremely rare, almost impossible even…

I'll be gone for a bit,

So don't cry.

She believes my little lie, and I'm as happy as the sun is bright. I'm so blinded in my ecstasy that I, without thinking, take her hand in mine and run from the house, unreasonably choosing to disobey my family's orders. I only notice that we are holding hands when I feel a small jolt of electricity coming from…somewhere. My eyes trace its route, and I find that it comes from my fingers; they are, at the sweet, sweet moment, intertwined with hers…

"W-where are going?" She stutters, and I blink, having been pulled from my reveries. I turn to look at her – she's staring down at our hands, and I can see a faint shade of pink coloring the skin on her face.

I realize, with some foolish sense of pride, that I had been the one who'd put it there. I bite down on my bottom lip to stifle the smile that's crawling up my tongue…

Instead I reply to her question. "The loveknot temple."

My hand squeezes hers, and I try not to sigh in my bliss as she shyly returns the gesture. "Seeing as I've gotten your permission, Amu-chan, off we go!" I laugh, because with her, it's such an easy thing to do.

-

That was our final moment together, wasn't it? For a while, that was, but still… It'd been so nice and warm while it'd all played out, and now…

Aboard the plane, I have nothing but the memories.

But reminiscing is not the same as actually being there, with her…

Let's make a pinky promise,

That we will certainly meet again.

I start to have my regrets. I look outside the window and expect to see her face amidst the gentle blue sky, but all I see are the invisible clouds that have blended in with the dark of the night.

I feel the tears threatening to fall, and I let them. I look down at my palm and find the souvenir of our trip to the loveknot temple. We'd gotten matching ones… I close my hand around it and promise never to lose such a precious item.

Feeling the material of the memento on my skin, I remember those words that I'd told her. That little piece of the truth that I'd allowed to slip out…

"But…there is a girl I'm interested in. Because of the circumstances, I can't show her my true self right now. But, until the day that I open myself up to her… Until that day, I'll watch over her…"

"…even if we are separated by a far distance." I finish the sentence myself, and the tears become stronger as they rush downwards.

My hand falls to my side, but as it does, it brushes against something in the fabric of my pocket. Slowly, in fear that it might be something that would only push more of the tears out, I reach inside and pull out…

A picture.

There's Hotori Tadase, the blonde King's Chair with the kind violet-red smile. There's Ace Chair's Yuiki Yaya, fingers pointing upwards in a goofy peace sign. Jack Chair's Souma Kukai, the Guardians' easygoing, friendly older brother. And then there was the Joker, Hinamori Amu, mouth curled in a sheepish grin. But her eyes were shining…

Somehow, the photograph – a special bond of such a deep friendship forever captured in a simple white frame – gives me courage, and I smile through the wetness on my face.

Because when someone departs, there is always that promise that you will see them again, an oath to look forward to, because it will be kept. A goodbye is never really a goodbye.

I'll see them, and her, again. Everyone, even I, might be different when that time comes – changed by the seasons that effortlessly come and pass like wind – and yet, there's that promise that nothing dear to oneself will go away.

And so, I look to the future with my head held high. There'll be a time for everything, for revealing my true self to her, for finally confessing to that one special person…

But for now…

I close my eyes and fall asleep with the picture, and the keepsake from the loveknot temple, in my hands…

One, two, the flower petals

Scattered and disappeared in a remote country.

I examined one of the memories that was hard to part with.

And though people meet, depart, and meet again

In some kind of cycle,

The time spent with you

Has been an important treasure.

I never want to forget it.

--

Notes: I know it's short, but that'd been my intention. ^^"

So yes, it's not my best, but the idea just randomly popped into my head and when I started to write, the words kept on coming…

Once again, the translation of Nagi's character theme "Hana Tegami" is not mine. I found it on YouTube, on a video by HaineOtomiya9076.

Thanks for reading! ^^

Review?