A/N: This is really cheesy! I actually got this story from a dream (hence the title) and I was Amu in a dream and she was at a party hosted by Iru and Eru who were in human form and Ikuto was there, his arms wrapped around Amu and they talked about their "relationship" from they were "kids". The reason Amu's hair is brown is because in the dream, her hair was brown like it is in the manga when she transforms as Amulet Cover. I don't know why but it was my dream. Some parts of this I think I could've written better because I at least I wrote too much dialogue in some spots but other than that. . . .
I do not own Shugo Chara! or its characters. All copyrights go to Peach-Pit.
Dreams of the Heart
Amu fidgeted uncomfortably in her black school uniform. She stared at the massive numbers in front of her. She never liked big crowds. They made her anxious and made feel like an imbecile. She never got around to the point to why crowds made her feel this way. They just did and do.
The Hoshina triplets invited her here. At the beginning of the week, they invited her to come because they were throwing a launch party for their new album's promotional debut. The Hoshina Triplets were a three-woman band called the Charms. The last party they had news reporters and people from the show biz world. Now they just had friends here. That included Amu.
You couldn't say she went here by force. She chose to go no matter how reluctant. Ever since the triplets invited her personally, Amu had been brooding about it all week. She loved the Hoshinas like sisters, as if they were her own family but absolutely hated big, huge, massive, ginormous crowds. It drove her nuts.
Amu had decided last minute to come. She hadn't picked out anything nice to wear so she went digging into her grandmother's closet and found an old fashioned corset meant to install around your waist over and went over her school uniform. To finish the final touches Amu had discovered a grey ribbon cutting it half. One end was tied into a bow, holding the corset together in place under her breast line. The other half was in her auburn hair, serving as a headband. Finally, she put on suitable pantyhose and acceptable flats.
Although big crowds, getting dressed stylishly wasn't the entire reason Amu was nervous. It was what the Hoshina triplets had invited her for. The magic word! Wait for it: Matchmaking.
Amu noticed Iru and Eru the youngest of the Hoshina triplets coming towards her. Eru was grinning her eyes still closed as always but her angelic blond hair shone against the sunlight. Iru's hair sent raven streaks everywhere the sunlight touched them and her red eyes gleamed wickedly. They reached her at the bench Amu was sitting on.
"Amu-chan!" Eru cried delightfully. Eru was the worst of them all. She came up with the idea in the first place.
"Hey, you made it!" Iru snickered, winking at Amu.
Iru never made the situations better. If Iru agreed on something there was no help trying to make her disagree. Once Iru decided something. It was decided. It seemed Utau was the only compassionate one of the triplets. Amu scowled at the girls.
"Hey just keeping it real, hon," Iru replied, specifically choosing a quote from one of their favorite movies.
Twilight, Amu thought acidly as she reviewed Billy Black saying the line in her head as he spoke to Jacob Black, his son. She hated that movie. It was so self-centered and shallow. Bella was a completely Mary Sue and the characters had no personalities. Especially Edward Cullen. They were all too self-absorbed in their little world. The thought brought her back to Iru and Eru's little schemes.
"Why are you guys doing this to me?" Amu moaned in agony.
"Hey, hey! No sweat. We know what's good for you, Amu. You deserve a good guy. You've never been with one in your entire life," Iru was saying as gazed at Amu disapprovingly. "It's you got out in the open. Time to start mingling with the opposite sex. You know multi-gender interaction."
Amu's face scrunched up in the disgust. Wrong. Echoes erupted in her head. Amu had been one guy once but she was only eight then. "That's disgusting, Iru."
"Well, she's right," Eru backed her older sister up. "You deserve a good guy."
Amu smiled apologetically. "Thanks for the sympathy but it's really unnecessary."
"Hey, guys! What's going on?"
Amu's heart lightened when she saw Utau, her large blond pigtails standing out peering through the gap of her two younger sisters. Utau's face broke into a dazzling smile when she saw Amu.
"Utau!" Amu stretched out her arms in front of her. She hadn't seen Utau in weeks. It was always Iru and Eru that came to school.
"Amu!" Utau accepted the invitation and hugged her tightly.
"You came!" Utau pulled briefly, away from her sighing happily as her amethyst eyes sparkled.
"You think I'd miss my best friend's promotional party other than the torment you guys are putting me through?" Amu asked rhetorically in a teasing way.
Utau giggled. "No," and there were more hugs.
Iru and Eru had left, leaving Utau and Amu to catch up. Utau had her arm around Amu's shoulders and Amu leaned into her more comfortable than ever to be with her best friend again. After Utau spilled everything about when she was gone, she finally asked Amu directly.
"So what's with this Tsukiyomi Ikuto, Iru and Eru kept telling me about? Is he the guy they want you to get to together with?" Utau asked.
I groaned. "Yes, but I haven't seen Ikuto in nine years. The last I saw him I was eight. We were childhood friends until I moved to Canada for a few years. When I came here for high school, Ikuto had moved away and he didn't live in my neighborhood anymore."
"How old is he?" I knew Utau couldn't help but ask.
"Well, I remember he was five years older than me. . . ." I trailed off, frowning.
Utau snorted. "Thirteen? Lovely," she whistled, her eyes far away.
I mocked punched her in the gut. "Come on, Utau. He was a really nice guy. Kid," I corrected myself. "Guy! Whatever! He was really nice to me okay?"
Utau stared at me skeptically. Great. Sarcastic Utau. I hated that side of most. She never took me seriously when she was in mood for sardonic humor. "Define nice."
"He. . . ." I paused wondering the best way to describe Ikuto, the boy whom I once had a crush on. I remembered the flashback clearly. I remembered when I first moved here, I wasn't what you call the most 'Cool & Spicy' girl around. I was very shy then. Often bullied because I wouldn't talk to the neighbors' kids. That made them angry and often beat me up to a pulp.
I would sneak in late at night despite my parents' worries. One day, a boy as silent as the night, who moved swiftly like a cat had defended me and instead beat most of those boys up and got himself injured instead of me. I was worried about him so in compensation I healed his wounds. As I took care of him, he told me that he often watched me from high trees and that I was a strange girl because I made him feel these strange urges to protect me.
After that, he would walk with me to school and almost spend half of his time with me. During school, I met Utau, although I never told her about Ikuto because it was never brought up.
Then I moved to Canada for junior high. I never made contact with Ikuto again since he watched drive away in my parents' car. Although I created an e-mail and me, Utau talked frequently until she revealed that she was not only a triplet but she was forming a band with her fellow sisters.
After that, I came back just in time for high school and I realized Ikuto had moved away somewhere. I shook myself out that train of thought and saw Utau smirking at me. I gaped at her. That smirk was so familiar!
"Utau. . . . Why are you smirking like that?"
"Smirking like what?" Her voice didn't sound so innocent beneath it. She seemed to be wondering why I would ask such a question. To her it might be so irrelevant.
"Your smirk is exactly like Ikuto's!" I exclaimed, unable to believe my eyes.
"Exactly like Ikuto's?" Utau blinked, her sarcasm gone. "I've never met him."
I narrowed my eyes. "That is weird. Not a coincidence exactly, either." Why the hell was Utau's smirk like Ikuto's? I should've known. I remembered the flashback from long ago.
"Ikuto!" I squeaked irritated, taking in his figure curled up in a ball against the alley wall. The hanging moon only highlighted everything. "You did it for me again! You're such a bum!"
He looked insulted and hurt. "I didn't want them to hurt you, Amu. It makes me mad when they say mean things about you that aren't true."
"That still makes you a bum for getting hurt," I scrambled up the hard pavement, reaching into the pocket of my dress to find a handkerchief to clean his wounds. "Isn't there any girls other than me you worry about?"
"Yes," he answered curtly, his saphire eyes looking at the ground. "But she was taken away from me a long time ago."
"Taken?!" I repeated, mortified. What did Ikuto mean by taken?
"Yeah. Her name's Utau. She has eyes like amethysts and blond hair like the morning sun."
"What are amethysts?" I asked, clueless. I was still staring at his face, as I cleaned him.
"Amethysts are pretty crystals the color of purple," he explained, smiling at me now.
"So Utau-chan's eyes are like purple crystals?" I mumbled, amazed. I had stopped cleaning his wounds.
"Yup. She's a really beautiful girl. Maybe you'll get to meet her one day," he mused to himself, a hand under his chin.
I grinned like an idiot, imagining a girl with blond hair and purple eyes playing at my side. "I hope we can be friends."
"I think you guys will be the best of friends," Ikuto tussled my hair.
"Tell me more about Utau-chan!" I demanded, excited now. I really wanted to meet her.
Ikuto stared in my eyes for a period of time. He deliberated for a moment.
"Ikuto!" I whined, tugging on his white shirt.
"Well, she loves to sing and dance. And she's my sister," he informed me, a proud smile lighting his face.
"Your sister?" I blinked.
"Yeah. But my mom left my dad and she married this other guy. The other guy my mom's with thinks that Utau's his daughter." His face became grim.
"I'm sorry, Ikuto," my eyes started to water and I reached for his hand. He held it tightly.
Ikuto sighed, enjoying the warmth and softness of my hand. "It's okay, Amu. It wasn't your sister that got taken."
"Mommy and Daddy want me to have a little sister," I mumbled to myself. "They say if she's a girl then she'll be called Ami."
"Is your Mom's tummy big?" Ikuto asked gently, tugging tenderly on my hand.
"Oh yeah!" I huffed. "It's ginormous! Mommy says Ami gonna be born when I'm nine!"
"Maybe she'll be at your birthday party," Ikuto wondered. "Best birthday present is to have your little sister there."
I giggled. "You're invited too, Ikuto! Ami maybe won't be there but you will! You'll be my birthday present!"
Ikuto suddenly pulled me forward and hugged me tightly. I almost couldn't breathe.
"Thank you, Amu."
I sighed. That explained it. Ikuto's father possessed that smirk, Ikuto inherited the smirk and so did Utau. So Utau must've never known Ikuto was her blood related brother. That means that Utau isn't a triplet. She was a half-sister. Iru and Eru are twins. Holy crap, this is a small world.
I blushed when I remembered the moments me and Ikuto had. Oh my god. I exhaled trying to control myself. I clutched the fabric of my uniform where I felt my beating heart. I wish I could see him so bad.
"Amu," Utau hesitated, her eyes looking upwards. "I have to go."
"Okay then," I answered awkwardly.
After she was gone, I curled up in a ball, my legs against my chest and my arms wrapped around my knees. I so badly wanted to cry again. The agony finally settled on me. Ikuto. . . .
There she was, curled up in a ball of agony. It looked like she was about to cry. I so wanted to console her. It brought so many memories to when I was thirteen and she was eight. Although I remembered that, she was seventeen and I was twenty-two.
I couldn't take this anymore. The girl whom I had spent watching from trees for the remainders of my days, was being bullied once again by the neighboring kids. Just because she was afraid to talk to them, they had to come along and beat her up for no good friggin' reason!
No longer withstanding it, I leaped down from my tree. My reflexes were as swift a night prowler. In record time, I beaten those boys to a pulp and left the remainder of them running scared out of their wits. Although, I was clearly victorious, my body was covered with wounds nearly everywhere.
Finally, she sat in front of, Hinamori Amu, more frightened of then ever before. She gulped, her hand clutching her heart and her amber eyes gleamed into the moonlight. I remarked at the light reflecting off her pink hair.
"Who- who are you?" she asked in that clear voice I had fallen in love with.
I didn't answer her. Instead I collapsed, exhausted from the fight. Amu let out a cry of alarm. She crawled towards me, pulling out a soft and damp handkerchief from her dress pocket and cleaned my face. I was a completely stranger who might be just as menacing as the other boys in the neighborhood might yet she was cleaning my injuries.
"You know you're a bum," Amu spoke grudgingly staring at me but not directly looking into my eyes.
Is that what kids her age used as insults these days? Okay, I'll go along with it. "Why am I a bum?"
"It's stupid. You fight like a real alley cat. It's not smart," she scrubbed my face gently. Strange girl.
"Who said it wasn't smart?" I challenged in a competitive tone. "Your mommy?"
"No," she grinded her teeth. She scrubbed my face a little too roughly as the annoyance hovered around her. "I said it. So there."
I stared at her. What a strong child. With a will. I admired that. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to protect you."
"Well, why didn't you do it last week?" Amu asked, her voice hurt.
"Because up 'till now, I've been watching you from trees," I explained.
"Trees?" she repeated, perplexed.
"Trees are a good place to hide. They're very high."
Amu frowned at me. "You're weird."
She shouldn't be talking. "That's my middle name," I groaned as I sat up.
"What's your first name?" she asked, staring at me intently.
"Tsukiyomi Ikuto, pleased to meet you."
She stared at me intensely, for the last two seconds. "I'm Amu." She held out her hand.
"Isn't customary to bow instead of shaking hands?" I teased.
Amu's face scrunched up. "Customary?"
"Never mind," I ran a hand through my midnight hair.
"Can I be your friend?" Amu asked still staring intently at me.
She was so bizarre. She didn't mind our close proximity when half of the neighborhood was intent on beating her up.
"Why not?" I asked rhetorically, standing up.
Amu stuffed her handkerchief in her pocket, finally not staring at me. The way she did made it felt like my life was in danger. I stared at the night sky. The stars were still out and the moon almost midway in the sky. The way it glowed on Amu's hair and skin made my heart ache.
"Amu-chan!" a voice called from the other side of the street. "Bed time!"
"Coming, Mama!" Amu yelled back. She turns back at me. "Tomorrow's the weekend. Can you come to my house?"
I shrugged. "Sure whatever."
"Okay!" she nodded seriously. I suddenly wanted to laugh. "If you're not there, you're gonna be the biggest bum ever born on the planet!"
My reverie was broken by a pair of amber eyes staring at me from down the tree. They were brimming with silent tears. I extended a hand towards her, lifting her up into the closet branch that could support her weight.
Amu was very different from what I noticed before. Her pink hair was now warm brown and she developed the physique of a woman. Not should that bother me. I didn't either way. She was just Amu to me.
She huffed once before exploding. "You are the biggest bum I had ever met and deserved to be drowned in a toilet!"
I grabbed her and made sit on my lap. She stared at me unhappily. "Talk to me!" she whined.
"I'm really happy I get to see my childhood sweetheart again," I said truthfully, staring deep into her amber eyes.
"Ikuto. . . ." her eyes watered. "DON'T MAKE THIS MORE LOVEY-DOVEY THAN IT ALREADY IS YOU JERK!"
I smothered a laugh. Amu's hands curled into fists. "It is not funny, you stupid butt!"
I couldn't help laughing. Man, did I ever miss this girl. I hadn't realized it until now. I missed her laughter, her sadness, her anger, her happiness. I missed her eyes and most of all her clear voice that revealed a will of justice.
"So you met Utau," I went to a different topic.
"Um, yeah. Her smirk is exactly like yours," she muttered. "Urgh! You douche bag! Do not change the subject!"
"She doesn't remember me you know," I told her. "She wiped out all the memories we've had of each other since she left me when she was four."
Amu's anger cleared away, her eyes holding remorse. "I am sorry about that."
I tussled her hair again. "Like I said, it's not your little sister that was taken." That reminded me of something long ago. "How's Ami?"
"Oh! Great!" Amu rolled her eyes. I really had missed her. "Being obsessed with the band Charms doesn't really help anything!"
I grinned. "Your hair's brown."
"Oh yeah," Amu subconsciously grabbed a lock of her hair and started twirling it around her finger. "Canada does that to me."
"Where did you guys stay?" I asked casually.
"We lived in Banff, Alberta. Mom and Dad went to southern Alberta a lot. So much sun! It made my hair go brown. I actually kind of like it," she explained sheepishly.
"I as well," I gazed into her eyes as I ran a hand at the back of her head and into her hair.
She cuddled into my chest. "I missed you Ikuto. I won't go away again," she sighed.
My arms wrapped protectively around her. Despite our surroundings, I felt oddly at ease in this tree with Amu in my arms. "Me too."
"You know my summer vacation starts tomorrow," she murmured. "Will you play with me?"
I smiled at the same innocent question from years ago. "Of course. I'm your friend aren't I?"