I do not own Shugo Chara. This particular story popped up on my head while I was writing the ending of "Floating Away." Usually I have like a hundred things pop into my head over some little thing, but for some reason I couldn't let this one go. I started planning and…here we are.

TTT

Kukai grimaced as the shackles cut into his skin. There could be no tears though. None, because he had promised himself he wouldn't cry, no matter how much it hurt. He was only six, but he still knew what was happening.

"Mother," He gave a soft whimper. His mother wasn't with him. He was alone now, and the soldiers were taking him far away to a place he didn't know. His father, was most likely dead. His mother was probably gone forever.

All was fair in war.

"Keep moving!" He heard a soldier bark, and Kukai did. He couldn't stop, couldn't stop walking. Because if he stopped, then he was scared of not only what they would do to him, but that he would break his promise and let the tears fall.

And then they had to stop, because the road was barricaded and there was no where else to go. And then the arrows flew. And then people died.

And the only survivor was a young, red haired boy who stood near a creek edge with one name on his lips.

"Shartan."

TTT

Ten years Later

Utau Hoshina was the most beautiful girl in the castle. Sure she was a mere entertainer, her job only was to sing for the king and queen. But it was undisputed that she was the most lovely. However, she may have been beautiful, but she was equally cold. It seemed as if her heart warmed to no one.

She had no friends. She had no suitors. She had no family. And to the naked eye, it looked as if she were content with that. It seemed (and only seemed) as if she were happy in her own company, and nobody else was welcome.

But in truth, Utau was lonely. But it didn't stop her from being any less aloof to her fellow entertainers, or any more friendly with anyone who could possibly have become a friend.

Life had disappointed her to much for her to count on friends. Parents? One was gone and the other was dead. Friends? She hadn't had one since she was a young girl. Relatives? None that were living.

And so she had decided that the best way from being hurt, was to stay away from the very beings that could do the damage.

That was her arrangement.

TTT

"Calm down Utau."

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?" Utau almost screamed the last words. Leroy Fitch, stared at her with a gaze that was calm and collected. It made her temper rise even more. Her violet eyes flashed dangerously, and her mouth was set in a straight line.

"It's a generous offer. I don't see the problem."

"The problem is that you accepted for me. I didn't have a say in the whole matter." She hissed at him. He didn't show any signs that he had regretted what he had done which had made it worse. Leroy had to be the most deceitful person she had ever met.

And the most handsome. But dangerously so. Thank goodness Utau hadn't swooned like so many of the other girls that lived in the castle. Thankfully, she still had her wits about her.

"I thought you would accept. There is no earthly reason why you shouldn't." His voice was its usual velvet and rich tone, but it didn't work on her.

"I decline."

"You can't decline. You've already made a promise to the king."

"No, you've made a promise to the king. Deal with the consequences." She smiled sweetly at him. His eyes flashed, but there was nothing he could say. She was right, he knew it, and there was nothing to be done about it. All he could do, was politely tell the king that there had been a slight mix up and hope that the king didn't fire him; or worse have him beheaded.

"Can I go now?" Utau asked. Though her face and voice didn't show it, she was tired. She wanted to leave, and her patience was wearing thin.

"I urge you to reconsider."

"I wont."

He sighed. His perfect hazel eyes didn't leave her face, and she held his gaze evenly. He finally gave a resigned sigh.

"Dismissed."

Utau gave him a mock bow and gracefully walked to the door. It took all her inner strength not to slam with all the might she could muster, but she instead closed it softly. And faced the two maids, who were staring at the door with open mouths. Utau realized that she and Leroy had been screaming so loud that they had been heard out in the hallway.

"What is it?" She spat at them. They hurried back to their work, pretending that they hadn't heard a single one of the words that were spoken. But Utau knew better; the news of her argument with Leroy would soon spread all through the castle.

Great, she thought, Just great. The last thing I need is everyone gossiping about me.

She stamped down to the entertainers quarters, fuming. Her room was down at the very end of the hall. She had no doubt that the others could hear her angered footsteps but she didn't mind.

They'll all know about the argument soon anyway.

She flung open the door to her room and slammed it shut. It was then that she allowed her tears to fall.

Leroy was the head entertainer, her boss in other words. He was handsome and persuasive, and Utau often thought that she was the only one who saw the darker side to him. Deceitful and pushy, he had way to many hidden motives for her to even remotely trust him.

Today was only one example of his dishonesty. The king has asked her to be the royal families personal entertainer. She was a singer that they were fond of, and Leroy had been asked to deliver the message.

Instead he decided to accept for her.

Well now that she had declined, all this was now his mess. He could tell the king exactly what had happened. It wasn't like the king was actually going to behead him, he was to fair a man to do that. The worst that could happen was Leroy losing his job, and even that seemed unlikely considering how well liked he was around the castle.

In a desperate need to clear her head, Utau threw on her cloak and started down the hall. She would go on a walk, perhaps through the forest. The village was not favored with her, because so many people often whispering the words "Bitter" when she was near.

She walked out the servant's door, and the guards nodded to her. Not to say hello really, but to take note that she had left the castle. The comings and goings of the castle staff and others were always remembered, for safety precautions. So like always, Utau ignored them and kept on walking.

Past the cobble stones that led to the great city capitol. Past the tiny village several miles away from the city. Past the rolling meadows that left the village. And finally into the woods that few entered.

It was her one place to come where she could truly be herself. It was here and only here that Utau felt that she was more then a popular castle singer, and merely Utau Hoshina. The girl with everything, at the same time the girl with nothing.

"I can't believe he did that." Utau finally spoke with a calm voice, her rage now turning into nothing more then frustration. Perhaps she had overreacted, but she shoved the thought aside. Leroy had meddled with her future, so that he would be paid more.

It was darker in the woods, which was natural considering the trees hid the sun. Utau closed her eyes and let the cool silence and solitude wash over her. At the castle silence was rare. Here, in these dark depths of trees and bushes, was her home.

And it did indeed remind her of home. Back when she was younger, living in the tinier forest village, just before the war started. And although the war had only lasted a year, the opposing side had made it count. The village was destroyed. Utau was alone.

Her father had merely been a violinist who longed to do his duty. And so he had joined an army, had gone off to war. He didn't return. They never heard a word from him, and her mother had no choice but to assume that he had died.

And the day that she had stopped waiting was the day that she had died. Leaving Utau alone, with only the talent of being able to sing prettily.

Utau snapped her eyes open. That was enough remembering. She didn't want to keep up the sad memories, they only got into her way. She pulled her cloak closer and trotted expertly out of the forest.

When she arrived at the castle it was in turmoil. The maids were being rushed into one room, the butlers into another, and she too was being swept up into the chaos. She pulled her cloak even closer around her body, as if it were a protective cocoon.

That's when she saw him.

He moved as expertly through the crowd, just as easily as she moved through the forest. Red hair, spiky and messy, but it made him appealing. He had bright green eyes, eyes that were intelligent, that seemed to give the message: Just try and catch me!

He did not work at the castle, this she was sure of. She would have remembered those captivating eyes, and she had seen almost everyone here. She locked her eyes with his.

Are you going to turn me in? His eyes asked, dancing with challenge. Or are you going to play along?

Utau didn't have a good reason to raise the alarm. But, she mused, she didn't have a reason not to either. Oh the decisions. She turned her head away, and kept walking forward, being rounded up with all the other castle workers.

She glanced back, only briefly. Briefly enough to know that he had slipped through the crowd, undetected. They probably hadn't even realized that he was there.

A phantom. She decided. I'm going to call him a phantom. The phantom with those captivating eyes.

TTT

"So it was the Queen's favored diamond necklace?" Asked a brown haired, wide eyes maid with a charming smile and equally charming voice. Utau wondered if the girl was an entertainer, but glancing at the maid uniform told her otherwise.

"Aye. Someone stole it." The older maid gave the younger one a look that unmistakably meant Questions later, work now. The younger maid either chose to ignore it, or was to silly to see when she should drop a sore subject.

"Imagine, all those diamonds stolen from right under her own nose. She had it on while it was stolen, I heard." The younger girl paused and considered her statement. "Must be some thief to be able to be so skilled."

"Are you going to work, or are you going to jabber all day?" The elderly maid asked wearily. It had been a week since the necklace had been stolen and the chaos had hardly settled down. The Queen was in absolute hysterics.

"Just imagine how close to me he was!" she had gasped with drama laced in her voice. "Good Heavens, he could have killed me!" Her eyelids fluttered, as if proving that she could and would faint in the name of theatrics.

"But he obviously didn't dear," The king had pointed out. The Queen nodded but continued on. "But he could have. It is the principle of the matter!"

"I don't think he was after your neck, love, I think he was after your diamonds." The kind replied with the kind of nonchalance that few people saw in him. You couldn't let the people think you were a laid back king, otherwise they themselves would become the same.

"Almost as important!" The Queen cried.

"Almost as important as your neck?"

The discussion had ended there. In truth, the King secretly admired the thief, whoever he was, at how easily he had taken the necklace and slipped out. True, he could have killed the Queen, but the King had figured out that the person had some morals. It hadn't been a brutal mugging really. Almost like a work of art.

But as king he wouldn't say that.

Utau for her part, never said a word to a single living soul about the boy she had seen. She only told the tree's about him, when she visited the woods again. But people? Well she supposed they could all wait.

Because something in his eyes had spoken to her. She didn't know how to explain it, but somehow she knew that their paths were destined to cross again.

TTT

Please leave a review. This is off to a fairly good start…I like where its headed.