It had been 6 years since Ikuto had left, but even though he had been gone a long time, he was not long forgotten. The Guardians were no longer in middle school or had their meetings, yet they often met to hang out, sometimes with Utau joining them. Most of the times, Yaya would drag them to the nearest ice cream place where they could all sit and chat. Even though they were 18 Tadase would still order vanilla, while Amu would order chocolate. Some things never change. Nor did the fact that Ikuto was never far from the pinkette's mind.

Amu had realized that she loved that blue-haired boy a year or so after he left. Throughout the year they had messaged each other back and forth – sometimes through texts or email, other times he'd call, and once in a blue moon she'd receive a letter from him. He always seemed to be on her mind, and she often thought about what he was doing, if he was close to finding his father, if he was thinking of her… But she mostly wondered when he would come back home. Her friends would find her looking at the sky, playing with her Humpty lock absentmindedly, sometimes sighing to herself. More than once did they find her constantly checking her phone for messages.

Finally, Utau had had enough of it. It was clear that Amu loved him, or at least missed him greatly. Yet she never said a word about it to anyone besides her charas. Whenever someone questioned, she'd just put on her "cool and spicy" façade and brush them off. So one day in the Royal Gardens, Utau caught Amu staring into space and told her.

"Amu, I know you miss Ikuto, we all do. Not to mention the fact that you have the biggest crush on him I've ever seen. But will you please stop sighing all over the place? It's getting annoying," she stated. Amu jolted out of her reverie, and blushed.

"I don't have a c-crush on Tsukiyomi Ikuto!" she said, caught off guard for once. "I wasn't even thinking about him playing his violin!"

"Who said anything about a violin?" Kukai asked teasingly. Amu turned a darker shade of red.

"I still don't have a crush on him," she mumbled. Rima took a sip of tea.

"You need to be honest with yourself, Amu. Everyone else can see it anyway," she said as a matter of fact.

"I do not have a crush on Ikuto!" Amu repeated. Her friends just exchanged glances and secret smiles. Amu groaned.

It was that night as Amu stood on her balcony, drinking her nightly glass of milk, that she realized that she really did have a crush on him. No, it was more than that. She had had a crush on him ever since he helped her get her charas back from Nikaido-sensei. He had protected her and helped her when she truly needed it. He didn't stop her and even gave her directions to where she needed to go. No, she didn't have a crush on him anymore. That night, she realized that she loved him. Completely and truly loved him.

The two kept in touch over the years, and Amu and Ikuto grew closer. Ikuto only once told her that he loved her, and that was on her 16th birthday over the phone. She nervously responded with a shy "I love you too" on which he continued to tease her about. But after that day, it was never spoken of again. Once in a while, he would sign a letter with "Love, Ikuto" but that was it.

Amu would go crazy some days, as anyone would in a long distance relationship. There were days that Amu just wanted to die. Well, perhaps not die exactly, but she wanted to run. And keep running until she couldn't focus on anything else. She wanted to run so far that she could leave all her worries behind. Run into Ikuto's arms and stay there. But if she couldn't run to him, she'd rather run into oblivion and forget about all her cares.

But now she was 18, and he still wasn't back. She knew he'd come back eventually – Ikuto kept his promises – but it could be anytime between now and 30 years later. She wondered if she should just move on. His emails and calls kept being farther and farther apart. Whenever she messaged him, she felt like she was only being a bother. "It might just be best for me to move on. Then when he would eventually come back, it could just be like two friends who go get a bite to eat and catch up on their lives. Say what we've been up to, how our lives are changed, and then leave and never see each other again. It wouldn't hurt because we've past that chapter of our lives." Although deep down, she knew she couldn't let him go.

She tried though, oh she did try. Amu dated other guys, joined the art club and the tennis team. She entered a baking contest and went to Utau's concerts whenever she could, since Utau always sent her free tickets. Amu did all that, but she still couldn't let him go; Ikuto was always creeping into her thoughts and into her dreams. Speaking of which...

Her dreams were usually memories. She'd dream about that time at the abandoned fairground, or all the times he caught her when she was about to fall. On various occassions, she dreamt about all the times he had teased her, which left her frustrated when she woke up. Sometimes, he'd just be there while she went on her crazy fantasy-filled adventure wherever her mind took her. He would be just a background image. But he was always there. There was rarely a dream he wasn't in.

Still, Ikuto called less and less often, and Amu felt like she was forgotten, or at least put on the bottom of Ikuto's list of priorities. When he did call, there were times the conversation would drag on and on. Both not wanting to hang up, but unsure of what to say anymore. It was becoming awkward between them. Time and distance were catching up to them, creating times when Amu felt so disconnected from his life.

"Is it even worth it? And can I ever get him out of my mind?" she wondered. "I'm beginning to lose hope. One day, he might just call me and say "I'm sorry, Amu, but I'm not coming back, not for you. I don't care for you like that anymore. But hey, can we go get ice cream with Utau sometime?" And that would be the end of it. What would I do then?" Amu asked herself.

Ah, long distance romance. Please review, chapter 2 will hopefully come out shortly.

Please review, it always makes my day. ^_^

-Princessa Mia