Hi people, thanks for the reviews!
Now... because I don't know exactly the limit to a 3 year olds language skills I'm guessing here. I have a sister who is 1 year old and I'm currently working in a nursery with 0-5yrs so I have a fair idea. As for the rest, guess work, please bare with me...
P.S. – If there are any spelling or grammar errors please forgive me, I only checked this through once.
-X-
It was finally time.
As Amu stood in front of her apartment door, her hand hesitating a short distance from the handle she glanced towards the clock hung on the wall of her apartment.
11.45
Fifteen minutes...
Fifteen minutes to go into the park and greet her past friends.
Fifteen minutes to show to them one of the most important people in her life.
Fifteen minutes... and there was no going back this time.
Closing her eyes she bit her lip and tried to push all doubts to the back of her mind and instead replaced them with other thoughts.
She had sent out all the letters several months ago so as to make sure they received them in time; she could no longer take them back.
They would be waiting.
A tug on her jacket brought Amu back to reality, turning her head slightly she gazed down into two eyes that mirrored hers. As if a jewel had been split into two and each of them possessed one... that was how alike their eyes were.
"Mama?" came a sweet angelic voice.
Amu eradicated all nerves that she was feeling from her appearance and replaced it with a sweet smile; crouching down so their faces were level Amu placed a hand on her daughter's head and pressed her forehead against her daughters.
"It's gonna be okay." she assured her, "These people are..." the words caught in her throat and she paused before restarting her sentence, "These people were my friends many years ago, both you and they are special to me."
Amu's three year old daughter nodded, obviously not understanding completely yet still aware of the urgency within this situation.
Standing upright Amu took her daughter's fragile hand in hers and with her free hand she turned the handle and stepped out of the apartment, locking it behind her she began walking down the corridor.
No turning back now...
-X-
As the park she had arranged to meet in came to view, Amu's heart began thumping wildly. The only thing that prevented her from turning back was the figure walking alongside her.
Taking deep breathes she came onto the top of the park path just in time to hear an all too familiar voice yelling.
"Where the hell is this person then, is this some wild goose chase?"
Amu couldn't stop herself... she began chuckling. Raising her hand to cover her mouth she knew it was no use to try and stop it.
Her daughter timidly stepped behind Amy from view of the others at the loud voice that belonged to Ikuto.
After Amu had emptied herself of all her laughter she managed to speak, "My, my Ikuto, you haven't changed at all have you?"
All nerves Amu had felt had disappeared; she wouldn't act nervous in front of her daughter that mattered so much to her.
As silence followed Amu removed her hand to allow herself to get a better look at them...
All of them were there, each of them had responded to the letters she'd sent and now all of them had their eyes on her as shock spread across their faces.
If they were this shocked to see Amu, they'd be fainting when they saw what else she had in store for them.
"Hello... everyone." she said, pausing between the words in order to gather more courage.
When they remained silent Amu's eyes softened, what must they be thinking she wondered...
Deciding to not beat around the bush Amu directed her voice to the figure stood shyly behind her, "Be polite, say hello..."
As her daughter timidly stood in front of her Amu kept her eyes ahead, there was a pause before Amu's daughter spoke, "Hello... everybody."
As she spoke Amu's eyes met with two sapphire eyes, shock, confusion and several other emotions swirled through Ikuto's eyes.
It was Ikuto who was the first to speak...
"Amu?"
Amu continued to smile and replied by saying, "Ikuto..."
When nobody moved Amu felt her nerves beginning to rise again, was she supposed to speak again?
But what?
Glancing wearily down towards her daughter she raised her attention back up again only in time to find everybody suddenly rush forward.
In a few seconds Amu was being hugged by Utau, Rima and Yaya, the men stayed back a few steps, obviously knowing it was less appropriate for men to hug her.
"Amu-chi!" Yaya cried wrapping her arms around Amu's neck and threatening to block her airway.
Utau who had hugged her around the stomach whispered into her ear, "We missed you so much."
Rima meanwhile was squeezing her from the side and only said two words, "Thank goodness."
Amu froze before a warm smile melted onto her face, "I missed you aswell."
As the three released from their grip they stood back to stare at her with the others, Amu noticed Ikuto join the group. He had been the only one to not rush forward but then again... she couldn't blame him.
"When did you get back into Japan?" Kukai asked.
"Three weeks ago." Amu replied.
"Where have you been all these years?" Nagehiko added.
"America."
"Why didn't you call?" Yaya asked with a frown.
Amu smiled weakly, "It's... complicated."
"We missed you." Tadase stated.
Amu met eyes with him and replied, "I did too."
There was a pause before Ikuto strode forward, as Amu gazed up towards him Ikuto an image flashed between them of something that had been left unfinished three years ago.
Amu had to torture herself to not tear her gaze away...
"More importantly," Ikuto began, "Who is this child?"
Amu blinked and turning her head slightly she gazed at the girl who had hidden behind her when Amu had been attacked by the three girls.
"Come forward and introduce yourself." Amu said gently.
The girl nodded and walking forward she stood in front of her, clinging onto Amu's leg Amu smiled and picked her up in her arms.
As the girl turned and gazed towards the others their eyes widened, Amu knew what they were seeing...
The exact same eyes as her's, not to mention the same hair. Amu knew it was already obvious what the relation was between this girl and her, Ikuto hadn't needed to ask... but of course he wanted Amu to say it out loud.
Amu was in a way chickening out of saying it; she was shifting the responsibility towards her daughter.
It was an irresponsible thing to do but Amu couldn't say it towards them face to face.
As Amu's daughter smiled sweetly in an attempt to not seem shy, she said in a quiet voice, "I'm Amulet and this is my mommy, nice to meet you."
At her name their eyes widened slightly but most recomposed themselves, Amu smiled at their reaction.
Knowing this wasn't the best place to discuss matters she said, "Should we go back to my place?"
-X-
As Amu entered the main area of her apartment with a tray holding mugs and biscuits she smiled at the sight before her.
Amu had one sofa in front of the TV along with two arm chairs on either side, sat on the sofa was Tadase and Yaya with Amulet in between them, everybody had their eyes on her as if she was a precious gem that brought light to wherever she went.
On the right armchair was Rima who was sat in it smiling as Amulet attempted to tell a joke – not a very good one but Rima found it funny even so. Sat on the arm rest of that chair was Nagehiko.
In the other armchair sat Utau and Kukai was sat on the floor between the sofa and TV, smiling as he always did.
None of them had changed...
As Amu walked forward her eyes gazed towards Ikuto who was leaned against a far wall with his arms crossed and his eyes directed at the floor, he looked like an outcast to the group.
"I brought some tea." Amu said with a smile causing Ikuto to look up.
Resting the tray on a coffee table to the side of the sofa Amu went and stood directly in front of the TV.
Nobody touched the tray...
As everyone's eyes gazed to her Amu felt her nerves once again beginning to build.
Smiling weakly she glanced towards Amulet, "Amulet, why don't you go do some drawing on the table over there whilst we grown ups speak."
Amulet nodded and hopping off the sofa waved towards everyone as she walked away, "Bye bye!" she cried with a smile plastered on her face.
Everyone sent her smiles and waves back as she went over to a small table in the far corner of the room and began continuing with some drawings that were already there.
Sighing Amu turned her attention back towards the others, "So..." she began, unsure as what to say.
It was weird, only now did Amu realised that in the entire month she had been here, not once had she thought of what she was going to say to them. She had never thought as far as this...
"Um..." she continued, "You sure have changed." she said in a weak attempt to start a conversation.
Tadase smiled back, "So have you, your hair is a lot different Amu."
And it was true... when Amu had left her hair had been much longer, around mid-back length but in the time she had been away she had cut it so that it only came past her shoulders.
"Quit trying to avoid the subject..." Ikuto interrupted from where he stood, "Just start from the beginning."
Amu gazed towards him in an attempt to meet his gaze however he was looking upwards, sighing she fiddled with her hands behind her back and decided where to begin.
"Well three years ago I left for America..."
"Why?" Yaya asked.
Nobody answered... the answer was already in the room.
In a far corner of the room to be precise.
But of course, what everybody wanted to know was how this figure had come to be...
Amu continued, "When I came home one day with some particular news, it affected my entire family. Many decisions, talks and phone calls were made and in the end we decided it was best for us to have a clean break, after weeks of planning we packed up and moved to America where my dad had some close friends who took us in."
"Then that means..." Rima began, "For the several weeks before you left, you knew you were leaving yet you said nothing?"
Amu looked down with a guilty expression, "I couldn't tell you, I didn't know how. In the end I just remained quiet about it..."
Trailing off Amu remained silent.
"Please continue." Nagehiko added.
Amu glanced up, nodded then proceeded to speak, "Months later Amulet appeared, I carried on with a normal life. Me and Amulet lived in the same place as my mum, dad and Ami."
As she thought back to them Amu had to admit she missed them, but those thoughts aside.
"Anyway, Ami's got important exams coming up soon, my parents are in the midst of receiving a great opportunity in their careers and I realised... me being there with a child would only slow them down. So after a few months I returned to Japan with Amulet for a clean break, for now I'm only staying for three months but if I decide to stay then I'll arrange it with my family."
Amu paused for breathe and glanced towards everyone to see their reactions, they were all listening intently and so far none of them were giving anything away.
Breathing a few times Amu went on...
"I'm here in order to explain to you what happened, tell you the reasons for me leaving and not contacting you. I know what I did was terrible and so I've come to speak to all of you," meeting all their eyes Amu's eyes became serious, "I don't expect any forgiveness or pity, infact I'd probably refuse to receive that from you. All I want is your time... if not for my sake then Amulets, so please..."
When Amu finished nobody spoke, the only sound came from the scratch of pencil on paper as Amulet drew unidentifiable things in the far corner.
When Ikuto stood up straight Amu glanced towards him.
Raising his head Ikuto spoke, "It's stupid."
At this everybody lifted their heads and Amu continued to stare.
"You say you're sorry for leaving... it's taken three years for you to realise that?" as he spoke, his words were filled with ice, "We've continued our lives unable to contact or know what became of you and you want us to brush all that aside? Not only that..."
Turning his head Ikuto met Amu's gaze and narrowed his eyes, "...you suddenly come back and expect to allow you to waltz back into our lives? And as for the last part... saying it's for 'Amulet's sake'... that's merely a way of you making us feel guilty if we walk out. Stop joking around!"
Amu felt the room become smaller at each word, not because of the words but the fact that they were true.
Amulet remained unaware of the situation as Ikuto had managed to keep his voice low enough to not raise alarm.
Nobody else said anything as they also knew deep down it was the truth.
"Tell us what we all what to hear..." Ikuto said in lower voice.
As everyone lifted their heads higher, Amu's lips set into a thin line and she stared back at Ikuto. As his eyes met her's he saw her pleading to not do it... not to bring up the topic so soon. Ikuto's gaze merely reflected acceptance of the challenge, where he would usually smirk, his lips remained unturned.
Continuing in the same voice Ikuto asked what had been on everybody's mind since they saw Amulet.
"Who is Amulet's father?
-x-
Woot, I love cliffy's!
Just so you know, I'm planning on making this story around 20 to 25 chapters long so it'll be pretty long. Just to warn you there will be at least one very mature scene within this story.
--
I did plan on the young child having different coloured eyes and hair but of course I don't want to give away who the father is yet so instead she has the same hair and eyes as her mother.
---
As for the name... it's pretty obvious where I got it. I went through several ideas for the name, Japanese names, words that relate to the anime and translated them into Japanese, anagrams of characters names etc.
I wanted the name to have a hidden meaning which nobody could find but it the end I realised, I couldn't really. All somebody needed to do was unscramble the letters or use an online translator to find the meaning...
So I settled for 'Amulet,' a simple yet significant name for the anime. I did of course think of the name 'Amuto,' but to be honest it isn't really a girly name.
So yeah...
P.S. – Amulet contains 'Amu' within in.