Prequel

Amu didn't care much for singing. That was Utau's job. She sang, Amu watched from the sidelines. And she was fine with being the supportive best friend. What are best friends for? But it wasn't enough. Soon it was the only thing Amu wanted to do. Singing in the shower was fine. Singing along to a song was acceptable. But practicing with her voice was weird. And singing in the school competition was unacceptable.

Soon, Utau and Amu weren't friends like they used to be. Soon they were wary of each other. And very soon they were throwing insults at each other as they crossed paths. They didn't think once about they're friendship that they once had.

Amu didn't even think about Tadase, about Yaya, or Kukai, Kairi, Nagehiko, Nadeshiko, or even much about Ikuto himself, which was probably the reason she started singing in the first place. He phoned her once a month, texted her twice a week, and sent her pictures everyday. She smiled on those occasions, and talked to him about the problems she faced with Utau and the others.

Her friendships with them became falling apart, and Amu had no one left but her family an Ikuto. Ikuto suggested that she sort it out with them, but she never did. She was too afraid they would reject her because of the many times she rejected them. All she had was her family.

Until that one mistake on the road took her mother and father, leaving Amu to raise Ami on her own.

She was old enough to raise a child, and had good experience with talking care of Ami. Ami kept singing despite their parent's death, and that was on of the reasons inspiring Amu to sing.

In about a week's time, each friend had phoned, talking to her for a while, sorting things out with her, until they could make up again. Utau never phoned. She didn't even text. Amu liked to think she didn't know, and stopped calling her names and teasing her.

Ikuto hadn't phoned in a couple weeks, and didn't send any pictures, and she had him on her mind all the time, wondering about whether or not he was okay. She worried he might have gotten into an accident, but always destroyed the thought. She could imagine Ikuto, Ikuto ever giving up on anything.

Maybe he found his father.

She liked to also keep a thought like that in her mind. That really, all he was doing was spending time with him. Getting to know each other again, he had momentarily forgotten about her. But that was okay. If he was okay, she was okay.

Then finally, Ikuto called. It wasn't a call she expected, and she was in the middle of a concert. He called again, about four times, and when she finally picked up, and heard his voice, she sighed with relief.

"Amu? Why didn't you pick up?"

"Was someone worrying? Been out partying, slept in." She lied. She could hear Ikuto let out a little chuckle.

"Yeah, don't want you getting yourself into any dangerous situations. And I'd like to see your bed head."

Amu blushed. He always got her. Every time she tried to say something back, to just one time render him speechless, he always got her and made her blush. Stupid Ikuto.

"I take your silence as a red face?"

"Damn. You got me." They both laughed.

"So why didn't you call me. I was worried about you actually," Amu admitted.

"That's cute."

"Don't be an idiot. What were you up to?"

"Ah… Getting caught up. And getting tickets. And currently, in the airport."

"You… you found your dad?"

"Yup. I'm at the airport; you think you can pick me up? Utau won't answer her damn phone, and you're one of the many people that would just die to drive home with me," he boasted.

Sure, that's a little more than true. Amu smiled, trying not to show it in her voice. "I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

She hung up. She practically ran to the airport, hoping to see a different Ikuto. But, no. Taller, and whole lot cuter, and you hit it right on the mark. She kept her cool, and walked up behind him, and look at the man in front of him. Also tall, also cute, like father like son, Amu supposed.

"Hi, peoples. What goes on?"

His father was sitting in one of the cheap airport chairs, while Ikuto leaned against the wall. They both turned their heads to meet Amu's eyes. "Who are you?" Ikuto asked. Amu was a little confused for a second. "Who? I'm Amu. You know, Amu, your crush, the girl you like, the one you've been thinking about the whole time you've been in and out of Japan?" Amu raised an eyebrow. She was keeping her cool, and she wasn't going to get flustered about the situation they were in at the moment.

He smiled. "Oh, that one."

She met his father, politely shaking his hand. Quiet one.

"Oh yeah, here you go."

It was pretty quick, but it was the first time, too. A kiss. Sweet and fast, but it was what stared it.

"I told you to prepare yourself. Now you've gone and fallen in love with me, stupid." Amu blushed. Again. Damn.

From then on, he tried smoothing the rough patch between Amu and Utau. It was a hard job, because Utau wouldn't much listen to Amu, Ikuto, or her boyfriend Kukai (A/N: We all knew that was coming, so shut up about the cliché). So eventually, they just left it where it was, because it wasn't going to get any better.

Ikuto visited a lot, and (unfortunately) Ami still remembered him, and made him dress up for tea parties and such.

"You have to have your pinky up!" Ikuto rolled his eyes and Ami, who was sitting in front if him pouting.

"Why am I doing this? You're eight, shouldn't you play with your friends?" He asked.

Ami frowned. "I don't have any friends."

Amu and Ikuto were, for a while, happy where they were. Ikuto moved in with Amu and Ami, and were fine until the inevitable happened (Because seriously, I'm not going into detail. Don't like it you perv? Go read something else, then).

Sora Tsukiyomi. Yeah, I know, weird to see then as parents at twenty and twenty four, but you know what? It actually worked out for a while. Ikuto cared for Sora like most fathers would. He made a corny little promise to himself that Sora wouldn't grow up without a father around, and Ikuto took a job as a musician and supported the family just like the way Amu toned down her fame for the baby.

A whole lot of controversy later, the public accepted that Amu was having her first born right after she turned twenty. The day after her birthday, she had Sora in her arms, seeing her for the first time.

They didn't go out a lot with the baby around. Amu imagined her life as a stay at home mom who unintentionally let herself go and cared for a baby who cried every night. But, no, again. Amu didn't have to be a stay at home mom all the time, and she didn't let herself go. In fact, she didn't have to care for a baby who cried all night.

Sora was the quietest baby on Earth. She never cried for no reason, and not even when she unintentionally hurt herself. The baby would just go on like nothing happened. It was strange, so they went to the doctor's to see if something was wrong with the baby. In actuality, the baby was a lot smart than she let on. Her brain development was growing steadily, and that puzzled the doctor, but nevertheless, they left the clinic on a good note.

Then, n Sora's third birthday, she was stolen right out of her cradle. The problem? She didn't cry. Didn't yelp, didn't scream, nothing. She just let the kidnapper take her.

Then, ten years passed, and they found her.

-End of Prequel