A/N- Hey guys, this is my first fic so I can't promise you that it will one of the best you have read but I can tell you that I tried my best . One warning though, you will not find me bitching about Tadase so if you want to read that go somewhere else.
Disclaimer- I don't own Shugo Chara. And special thanks to Mrs. Flamer for beta-reading this.
Summary- There is always a time in a person's life when he feels he can't go on anymore. That time is the test of life, everyone attempt it differently. Many get broken because of it or come out extra strong; it all depends on their way to take it. To pass it, lucky ones gets help of their dear ones, people who are not lucky enough have to deal with it alone or in some special cases god himself send his angels to help his dear children.
"No!" yelled a certain pink head.
"Amu, dear, try to understand," said Midori, Amu's mother, trying to calm down her daughter. However, Amu was in no mind to listen.
"Why can't you understand, mom?" asked Amu, yelling once again. She simply couldn't believe her mother after what she has done.
"Amu, you know I respect your views, but you are crossing your limits," said Midori, clearly looking angry over her daughter's attitude.
"Oh, I am 'crossing my limits'?" said Amu, heavily gesturing the quote. "What about you, who has forgotten all about humanity?"
"Enough! Hinamori Amu, you are forgetting with whom you are talking to!" shouted Midori, which was a rare sight to see. Midori was usually a very calm and understanding woman, but she, like every other parent, couldn't let her daughter talk to her like that. After all, every person has a limit.
"What's final is final. I don't want to hear anything else and you better go to your room and calm yourself, and after you have calmed down we will see if we can talk," continued Midori. Her voice had quieted down, but the authority she had still shone through in her tone.
Amu didn't really want to stop, but she knew if she offended her mother now she would see hell. Therefore, with an 'I hate you!', Amu ran to her room upstairs and threw herself in, not forgetting to loudly bang the door shut.
At the moment Amu really felt like a drama queen, you know, with all the banging and throwing herself on the bed. But as for now, she didn't really care. If it helped to prove her point to her parents, she would've done absolutely anything. Before this Amu has never offended her parents but this time it was different, she didn't like it herself but she has to stop them.
Hinamori was always bad in socializing; from the start she was shy and whenever someone said something she would give them a cold shoulder and therefore didn't have many friends. But now when she finally made some friends; her parents wanted her to move to a totally different city! No, she couldn't let it happen, she didn't want to lose all the friends she'd made. She had always hated loneliness, and now that she tasted something better, she didn't want to let go of it.
Shuffling outside her room snapped Amu out of her trance. Amu quickly went under her bedcovers and pretended to sleep, even though it was only six in the evening… But you won't know unless you try, right?
Midori waited for a minute after she'd knocked and when she was sure Amu wouldn't come by herself, she went in. She went near Amu's bed and saw her pretending to be asleep but nevertheless sat at her side. Looking at Amu's face she could clearly tell how sad she was. But this was a good opportunity for her husband, his new job was a once in a million opportunity for them. They were giving him an expensive flat to live in without any rent and with the money his new company was offering they could give Amu and her younger sister Ami a better life.
Stroking Amu's hair, Midori asked. "Hey, Amu, you are not asleep yet, are you?" when she received no reply, she continued with a sigh. "Amu, dear, both mama and papa love you and Ami more than anything else in the world and we want both of you to live a better life. With papa's new job, we could give you things, that we can't give you now, I know how you feel but this is all for you. You will get a bigger room which has a beautiful view and your new school is much closer so you don't have to leave so early to get on time. And as for your friends, you can always go to Osaka to visit them, and you can call them every night," said Midori, smiling a little bit.
"Amu, please try to understand your mama and papa's situation and also please forgive me for yelling at you back then. Please consider what I said and tell me your answer." With a kiss on her daughter's forehead, Midori went out. Hearing her mother say all that made Amu really sad, but she was really happy to make friends, maybe by acting like a rebel, she could stay with them. Tokyo seemed nice and all but she was not sure if she could make friends again so she has to try her best to stop their moving. Firstly, Amu has to think of an idea.
"Maybe I can go on hunger strike…No, never, I don't know how I will live without eating," said Amu, panicking a little over her own idea. OK, next idea.
"I can stay in school dorms. Yes, that's good, I will stay in the dorms, why haven't I thought of it before? I am a genius!" exclaimed Amu, grinning like an idiot, she had finally found a solution, and she was about to go and tell her mom but then realized their school didn't have dorms…
After about ten minutes of thinking about useless ideas, Amu finally made a decision, which was to take advice. "Yeah, I will go and ask Kimi-chan to help me out. We are friends after all and she will also be sad if I transfer. She can surely suggest some good ideas!" said Amu, smiling genuinely. "Next stop: Kimi's house!"
Amu stood up from the bed and started to get ready.
Amu somehow managed to sneak out of her house, without Midori seeing her. Midori wouldn't stop her from going anywhere but if she saw her daughter going out, she would ask her the question to which Amu didn't know the answer yet. OK, now the only thing left to do was open the main door and go out. Amu would've succeeded if it wasn't for her little sister's voice to interrupt her. Ami was five years younger than her but Amu never won a fight with her, she was really sweet but at times like this, she knew how to get her way.
"Sister, where are you going?" asked Ami, who was a devil in angel's disguise.
"I am just going and visiting my friend, is there a problem?" replied Amu turning around with a fake smile.
"Hmm… then why are you sneaking around like a thief?" One point for Ami, no points for Amu…
"Wha-? I am not sneaking around. Who told you that?" stuttered Amu, which made clear who would win the war.
A large smile came on Ami's cute face, her brown eyes shining with victory. "Oh, so you don't mind if I go and tell mom, that you're going outside?" asked Ami, clearly knowing what was coming next.
"Yeah, I don't mind," said Amu, trying to bluff.
"OK, Mo-"
"Hey, Ami, after I come back I think I will give you that shirt that you wanted." Sighed Amu at last, finally admitting her defeat.
"Yay, you are the best sister in the world! And don't worry I won't tell mom anything," said Ami, hugging her sister to death.
"You can stop hugging me now, and if mom does find out, tell her, OK?" asked Amu.
Ami nodded excitedly and ran towards her room, her brown ponytails swinging with her.
Really, kids these days are so hard to please.
…
"Oh! Hi aunty, how are you?" Amu asked as she saw her neighbor.
"I am fine sweetie, but you look really happy, going somewhere special?" inquired the lady with a kind smile, wondering how it came that Amu had noticed her first. Usually the girl was always off in her own little world.
"No, I'm just going to my friend's house. Oh, I have to go or I'll be late," replied Amu, grinning brightly at the woman before leaving.
Amu was still annoyed because of the moving, but still going to a friend's house made Amu extremely happy. She had gone to classmates' houses before to do homework, but never before like this. Like normal friends do.
Amu had reached Kimi's house a while ago, but she was too ashamed to ring the bell. What if the other girl didn't want her to come over? What if it wasn't something friends di-
Amu stopped her train of thought when she heard Kimi's and some other girl's voice.
"See, I told you, by making Hinamori Amu our friend we can get famous!"
"But who would have thought she will agree so fast?"
"Yup it was easy, and because of this everyone started talking to me!"
"Yeah, you are totally right, even Masaki came and started talking to me… Can you believe it?"
These sentences were enough to break Amu's heart. She was totally shocked, she couldn't believe that those girls faked their friendship with her just to become popular. Who had known they could act so well when they first started talking to Amu?
"Hi Hinamori-san, how are you?" Kimi asked Amu, who was sitting on her seat and looking out of the window.
"Hmm… I'm fine. So, what do you need?" Amu wasn't sure if she could trust the girl who out of the blue started to talk to her, but she felt good that they did.
"Hinamori-san, you're really popular but you don't have many friends. Do you mind if we start hanging out?"
When Amu had heard that, she totally believed their words and even smiled and thought that finally there were people who could understand her. Heck, she even gave them highly exclusive tickets for a concert in town. That she'd gotten them from a boy who confessed to her wasn't an important detail.
Yes, you're getting it right, Amu didn't have any friends because she was too popular, not because she was an outcast.. They treated her as special but what Amu couldn't understand at all was why they didn't talk to her, they really viewed her as some superior being. Really, according to Amu being special meant like a punishment, even if she wanted to do something, she couldn't because of her fake image.
It had happened to her from the very first day she started attending the school. She didn't talk because she didn't have the guts, but it was poorly translated as an act of coolness. There were those who adored her, others hated her for being 'stuck up'. Some people really needed to buy a dictionary to look up the words 'shy' and 'cool', Amu had thought.
Amu was definitely sad after hearing her friends' words, but she was more infuriated than hurt and in anger she ran at full speed towards god-knows-what-direction. She just went on running and running because if she saw her so called friends' faces, she was sure to cry and Amu didn't want that. Amu was angry at those girls because they betrayed her but she was even madder at herself. She couldn't believe that because of some greedy girls, yes, using someone to get popular is greedy, she talked back to her mother for the first time and created such a large fuss. She wanted to bury herself plus her fake friends into a deep hole. She didn't know how she was going to face her parents, they had always cared for her and gave her all the things she wanted. And Amu returned that love well, from the start Amu had been a responsible, ideal girl who always cooperated.
Would they forgive her? Will she be able to get even one true friend in her life? Streams of questions were running though Amu's mind and she could not think clear.
When Amu finally stopped running, she saw a red brick wall in front of her and no one around. She looked around, it has already started to get dark. Great, now Amu was lost, what more could happen to her?
Maybe rain will start pouring on me thought Amu as she fell down to her knees, her back being supported by the wall. Amu's thoughts got confirmed when a drop of water fell on her hand.
"Great," said Amu, closing her eyes as she faced the sky hoping for the water to hit her, but she didn't feel anything. Amu opened her eyes and saw that no clouds were visible in the sky, her hands moved automatically to her eyes.
"Oh no, I couldn't be crying. Stop, stupid tears, stop, please just stop." Amu begged to her tears, but they didn't listen. Amu was starting to lose hope and was about to break into full wailing mood but something stopped her. It was a sound, not just a sound, a beautiful sound which could pull anyone into it. It was just like a magic, Amu forgot about all her worries and directed her full attention to that sound.
"Wow, it's so beautiful, it makes me feel happy but at the same time it somehow makes me sad," whispered Amu, as she got enchanted by the song. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes as she peacefully listened to it.
After ten minutes the song stopped and Amu opened her eyes disappointed. "Why the hell did it stop?" Amu asked herself. Only then did she realized that she didn't know from where the song was playing or who was playing it.
"Oh no! How could I be that stupid and not follow that song?" Amu asked herself as she looked at the wall. The sound was coming from the opposite direction of it and Amu did what she never thought she would ever do. Yes, she climbed the wall without fearing anything to see the source of the sound. It took her less than one minute to climb it but climbing down was a different story. It took quite her effort to do so.
"It's okay, nothing will happen to me, it's just a jump from a small height. I can do this, yes, I can do this!" Amu reassured herself as she closed her eyes and jumped from the wall.
A small thud reached her ears when she was finally down.
"Ouch!" She cried out when she touched the ground.
"Hey, wait, it wasn't that difficult," said Amu when she found out she was perfectly okay. She slowly opened her eyes to look around and what she found was a large open ground, but it was empty. Amu looked around in panic, but there was nothing. Just when she was forced to believe she missed the source of the sound, a sudden light shone at the end of the field. There Amu saw a man's figure, holding a case over his shoulder. It was still dark and Amu couldn't see clearly how the person looked, but she was able to make out that that human was a boy and the case was for a violin, she knew it was because Ami had once played one in a school play.
"Hey, stop!" shouted Amu as she was running towards the boy. No answer came from the boy but still Amu continued to run toward the disappearing figure. After ten minutes of running Amu couldn't run anymore and fell on her knees.
"Shit! Where the hell did that boy go?" said Amu panting, she looked around but the only thing she saw was a market full of people but no sign of him. Amu closed her eyes trying to control her breathing.
Once Amu got relaxed she opened her eyes and realized she was being stared at, only then did it hit her that she was sitting on the side of a road surrounded by people which means right now she was making a fool of herself. Amu immediately got up and went over to sit on one of the benches. She looked up towards the sky and observed the moon's beauty, which continued for a few minutes creating a perfect silence. Sure, there were noises coming from the street but it didn't disturb her thoughts.
Amu's perfect silence was broken by her own laughter. "Oh my god, what was wrong with me? Really, what was I doing? Because of some selfish girls I was acting like my world was finished, really it's their loss that they didn't consider me as a friend, not mine. They don't deserve the time I have wasted on them, I am sure I am going to make some great friends in Tokyo!" exclaimed Amu releasing her mistake.
"As for mama and papa, I am sure they can forgive me this time, well, at least I hope they will." Chimed Amu as she returned back to her optimistic mood. "Okay I should get going I need to pack."
…
Amu breathed in deeply as she opened the door to her house; she needed to do some apologizing to her parents. "I am home!" shouted Amu when she entered the house. Not even two seconds must had passed when Amu saw her mom running from the kitchen towards her.
"Ma-" Amu tried to say something but was stopped by a tight embrace of her mother. Midori started to speak, worry laced in her tone. "Thank god, Amu you are safe, I thought you did something to yourself. Thank god you are okay!"
"Wait mama what are you saying? I told Ami where I went, so why are you behaving like this?" asked Amu.
"You told her you were going at Kimi-chan's house but when I called there, she told me you didn't even arrive there and I tried to call you but your phone was at home and I thought you did something to yourself because of the transfer and I-I" broke off Midori still holding Amu.
"Mom, calm down, see I am perfectly alright. I didn't do anything to myself, actually on my way to Kimi-chan's house I changed my mind and went off to take a walk to clear up my mind. And in a hurry of getting out of the house I forgot to take my mobile with me but see I am all okay so don't cry, please. I am sorry so please stop crying," said Amu trying to soothe her mother. After a few moments of hugging, Midori calmed down and finally let go of Amu.
"Amu, never ever do that to me again, you can't image how scared I was. And I have talked with papa about moving and he said he will talk with the company and reject the offer by tomorrow evening," said Midori which left Amu wide eyed.
"Wait no-no mama that's not what I want, remember I just told you that I went for a walk to think over things and after thinking I realized that I was being a spoiled child. You were right with this job we all will be better off and we will even get a big house plus I can chat with my friends whenever I want. So there is no need to reject the offer, now I don't have any more problems with the moving so please tell papa not to cancel it," said Amu and it was Midori's turn to be shocked.
"Amu, dear what are you saying? Up until now you were struck on not going to Tokyo and now when I am ready to give you what you wanted."
"Mom, I think that was just the work of hormones or something because now when I think about it carefully, I see how stupid I was acting and remember you yourself said that with this job you can give us an easy and better life. So don't just reject that job because of me."
"Amu, you are totally sure of what you are saying, right?"
"Yes, I am absolutely sure!"
"You're not going to change your mind after this?"
"Nope, I am not."
"I am giving you one more chance. You can still change your mind."
"No, mama, I will not change my mind, I swear. So now please can I go in my room and rest? I am tired."
"OK, you can go but make sure to start packing your things because now I am not going to listen to you."
"Yeah, I know!" And with that; Amu ran towards her room, closed her room's door and fell on her bed. If Amu didn't then her mother would have continued to ask her same question again and again.
She sighed.
So much happened today! First of all I fought with mom because I didn't wanted to move but then I got deceived by Kimi and the others. Got lost and got rescued by following a song and then again did I argue with mom but this time because I wanted to move. Wait, that remind me the lullaby which I heard today I wonder who played it…played? Wait, played? It reminds me of something… Uh, what wa-
"Amu! Dinner's ready come down!" shouted Midori from downstairs.
"Coming! Just give me a minute, mom!" Amu shouted back.
Well whatever I will remember it afterwards and it's not like I will be able to meet that guy after moving.
"Hey papa, how was your day?" asked Amu approaching her father, who was sitting at the dining table.
"Ah! My little sparrow you gave me a fright today. Never do that again and thank you for approving my job," said Tsumugu pulling Amu into a tight hug.
Amu sighed again, feeling a tad guilty. "Sorry, I won't do it again."
"Yeah, never do it again or papa doesn't know what will happen to him!"
"Papa, don't speak like that, I am perfectly alright. See?"
"OK, everyone, today as a celebration of resolving our problems we are going to have a feast!" announced Midori coming from the kitchen with dishes in her hands.
"Yay! We will have a feast!" came Ami's voice from the staircase and she was wearing the top Amu promised to give her.
Who told you to take it this fast? Amu glared in Ami's direction but Ami just smirked in return like she knew what Amu just thought.
"Mom, do you need some help?" asked Amu deciding to ignore Ami.
"Yeah sure, please help me bring things from the kitchen." said Midori placing things on the table.
"Papa, take a picture of me in this top please," said Ami showing puppy dog eyes to Tsumugu. "Sure my little beautiful sparrow!" exclaimed Tsumugu as excited as Ami.
"Eat your dinner first, those photos can wait." scolded Midori. Ami and Tsumugu both pouted childishly, at which both Amu as her mom started to laugh.
After that the whole family ate together, laughing with each other, taking pictures, doing friendly fights and most of all enjoying themselves. Amu's world was coming together again, although she hadn't expected that when as the day had progressed. If that wasn't God's work… Whose was it, then?