AN: After two years, I've found this story again. I hope to publish more chapters on it, but first I'm going to go through and fix some grammar mistakes and the like. Please enjoy what I have so far!
'Goodbye…goodbye…goodbye.'
The only words that people seemed to say today. Tears, hugs, and in one person's case, a farewell kiss.
'I'll miss you…You'll come back right?' He asked, confusion and sorrow in his eyes.
'I can't say.' was her reply
"Miss! Miss!" an unfamiliar voice cut into her dream.
Yuko opened her eyes to come face to face with the flight attendant. Even though she didn't know the woman, her Japanese face and voice was welcoming. It was almost as if her moving to America was a horrendous nightmare.
"We will be landing in America shortly. Please return your seat to the upright position and fasten your seat belts." The woman told her in Japanese.
'So it wasn't a nightmare. I really did leave everyone behind.' Yuko thought to herself. Reluctantly, she sat her seat up and buckled the seat belt.
While she waited for the plane to land she made sure her Cello was still fastened to its seat. After all, the people she considered her family gave it to her for Christmas.
Gingerly, Yuko moved her carry on to her lap. She made sure no one was around before opening it.
Inside sat three brightly colored eggs surrounded by cloth and other soft things. "Don't worry you three. We'll be getting off soon." She whispered to them.
Within the next hour, Yuko was standing in the Los Angeles air port on the outside of a big crowd. Cameras were going off and lots of people where talking at once.
Then she saw them. Her "new family." There was a man, a woman, and two boys. Her "Mother" was smiling, but the smile didn't touch her eyes. Her "Father" was talking to the people with the cameras and microphones.
With a sigh, she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and gripped the heavy cello case tighter. She used said cello as a wedge between the people in order to get to the middle, to the family that was going to take care of her.
"Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse…ow!" someone stepped on her foot.
Finally, she broke through the crowd and was face to face with the group of four. "My name is Yuko Yuhi. Are you the Burbine family?" she asked, butchering their last name.
Frustration riddled her face. She hated to speak English because of the heavy Japanese accent she had.
"ごめん. I don't speak English very well." she muttered, wincing. She had accidentally said sorry in Japanese.
"Here she is! The new addition to the Burbine family!" the man boomed.
"Excuse me, Mr. Burbine! What made you and the missus decide to adopt and why a Japanese orphan as opposed to anywhere else?" One guy said. He had a note pad in one hand and a microphone to Mr. Burbine's mouth.
"No questions for now. I would like to show Yuko to our house now." was his reply.
Next thing she knew, Yuko was being whisked away by men in black suits to another plane.
This plane was different. It was open and comfortable. Despite this, Yuko was miserable. Being a foster child in Japan made her hate traveling. All she wanted to do was stay in one place for more than a few months.
"You might get your wish this time!" came a voice from her bag. Without taking her eyes off the window, she opened the top to let a small girl with teal hair out. "They're not considering adoption, they are adopting you!" she said excitedly.
"Megumi-chan, I don't want to be here. I don't want to be in America and you know it." Yuko hissed back to her guardian character in Japanese.
Megumi suddenly looked like she was going to cry. Megumi's tears always made Yuko feel guilty since she was the character born from her dream to bring beautiful music to the world.
Another head poked out from the bag, but she was silent for a second. "Hey, Megumi. You know you're not very good at talking Yuko into thinking something's for the best. That's Suren's job."
The one that spoke now revealed herself. She wore a purple ninja robe with a black sash around the middle. Her hair was such a dark purple it looked almost black. Finally, her eyes where a mysterious shade of purple.
"B-but…Lyn! Suren's asleep and you know she doesn't like to be woken up!" Megumi said, panicked. Tears began to well up in Megumi's eyes.
Yuko made a tsk sound. "Not even Suren could convince me this is good for me." she spat
"Who ya talkin' to?" asked the younger boy. He suddenly leaned over the top of Yuko's chair to see if anyone was there.
Yuko, shocked and surprised that anyone could hear her above the wisper she tried to speak with, sunk lower in her seat be eye to eye with the boy. He had sapphire blue eyes that seemed to glitter like the jewel they were colored after. His hair was the color of honey and his skin was sun tanned to a golden brown.
"Gomen'nasai, I don't understand." she told him. The surprise in her dark brown eyes began to fade.
He rolled his blue eyes a little. "I asked who you are talking to." He spoke slowly and pronounced every syllable.
"I know what you asked. I still don't understand. I wasn't talking to anyone." she replied, stumbling over some of the words.
"But I heard you talking to someone in some language. It would talk then you would reply. Who where you talking to?"
She had to hand it to the kid, he was persistent. Looking quickly to her left seemed to distract the kid. While he was distracted, Yuko grabbed his shoulders and flipped him over the chair onto her lap.
"Can you see them?" she whispered softly.
The young boy looked like he was on the verge of over loading. How could the small Japanese girl do something like that? The blood was rushing to his head now, since he was upside down. After a bit of a struggle, he managed to slide into the empty seat next to her.
"Are you crazy? If you wanted me to sit next to you, you should have asked!" he shouted.
"Can you see them?" she asked again, annoyance touching her voice.
"See who?" he replied, annoyance on his face.
"Us!" a voice growled beside him.
The boy turned his head so fast it cracked. He came face to face with a rather angry floating girl with wolf ears and a matching tail. She had shining silver hair and glowing red eyes. The red trimming on her white kimono where the same shade as her eyes.
"Oh! Suren, you finally up!" Megumi said happily, coming out of her hiding place. Lyn slowly followed the teal haired chibi out their hiding place.
"All the screaming woke me up." Suren snapped. She was not a morning chara…or a day chara for that matter.
The adolescent gasped and was about to scream, but Yuko put her hand over his mouth so he couldn't.
"So you can see them…Anata no namae wa nani desu ka? What is your name?" she asked him calmly. Her long black hair slid over her shoulders as she leaned over him.
The boy stopped struggling under her hand to just stare at her, taken off guard. He took the hand that was covering his mouth away so he could speak.
"The name's Ethan Connor Burbine." He said, eyes narrowing slightly. "You're weird."
An angry mark suddenly appeared on Yuko's forehead. 'Cheeky little…'she thought to herself.
"That was rather rude." Megumi told him scornfully. Ethan's eyes shifted to Megumi. He snatched her out of the air, making her scream and squeal.
"Just what are you?" he thought out loud.
"Ah! Yuko-chan, don't let him hurt me!" Megumi cried.
"She's a Shugo Chara." Yuko answered his question. She eased his fingers off of the green-haired girl.
"A what now?" Ethan asked, a little dumbstruck. Yuko had to think very hard to describe what she was.
"A Guardian Character. Your would be self. They are the kind of person I wish to be, so they are here to help me become who I want to be." Yuko explained while she rubbed her eyebrows in thought. She motioned to the three floating characters.
"You want to be really scary?" Ethan asked, pointing to Suren.
"N-no!" She stuttered as her cheeks turned red. Sure Suren could be scary and kinda mean, but that was only when she was woken up when she wanted to sleep.
Ethan just laughed at her reaction. His smile could cause cavities with how sweet it was. "What was your name again? I couldn't hear it at the airport." he said, wiping tears away from his eyes.
Yuko was captivated by him. He was an incredibly cute kid. He reminded her of her brother back in Japan.
"Yuhi Yuko. It is a pleasure to meet you." She replied. Her words where accompanied with a heavy Japanese accent as well as Japanese tradition.
"The pleasure is all mine, Yuhi. Since my parents adopted you, wouldn't your last name be Burbine, not Yuko?" He asked, curiosity swimming in his eyes.
Confusion filled Yuko's features. What was he talking about? "My last name is Yuhi. And I would never change it to Burbine." she said stubbornly. She mutilated the family's name again.
"But you said Yuhi first, so wouldn't that-"
"It's Japanese custom to say the family name first and the given name last." Yuko cut in before he could say anymore. "How old are you Ethan-kun?" she hoped to distract him before he could say anything more on her name.
"Coon? What does that mean? Did you just call me a raccoon?" He asked.
"Another Japanese custom. No, it does not mean raccoon. Please answer the question." She replied, eyebrow twitching. He was exactly like her brother.
"I'm nine and a half." he replied, still thinking about the kun thing. "What does coon mean if it doesn't mean raccoon?" he asked.
Yuko sighed. It was going to be a long ten hours till they got to D.C.