Here's the next chapter!


As I was walking around the greenhouse trying to think of what to say to my prince when he got here, I almost tripped over a pile of strange-looking devices. Kneeling down, I turned one over and saw the name Hikaru written on the back in marker. I dropped it at once and quickly scooted away from the metal contraptions. I had heard from Rikka-chan that Hikaru started inventing new machines to help humankind further advance in technology, and although many of them were a great success, there were a handful of failures that he stored somewhere in the greenhouse. I remembered her saying that these machines were very defective and did strange things to you if you tried to activate them. Rikka-chan herself had to suffer three days with a duck bill instead of a mouth when she accidentally stepped on one.

I shuddered at the thought of that and stood up to get away from the dangerous devices and resume pacing.

I didn't know that there was a tree branch above me.

My head hit the bark hard, and as I was stumbling around and clutching it in agony, my foot made contact with something solid and I fell over, crashing to the ground and scattering what sounded like metal objects.

Oh crap, I am in big trouble now, was the last thing I thought before I blacked out.


I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was fuzzy and distorted. I blinked a few times. My vision came into focus. Then I turned my head to the side.

And almost had a heart attack.

An ant the size of my hand was marching right next to me.

I scrambled up, ignored the sharp pain from my head, and ran away from the monster bug as fast as I could.

I didn't scream, because that was so not me, but I did squeak, which I admit is not much better.

"I have to tell the others about this when they get here," I mumbled to myself, not watching where I was running. "That there's a mutant insect in the—"

I collided into another tree. This time with my face.

"Ow, ow, ow," I muttered, checking my nose to make sure it wasn't broken. "What the hell? This is the second time...today..." The words died on my lips as I looked up.

Not only was there a mutant bug, but there was also a mutant tree?

The trunk stretched farther than I could see and was almost as wide as my bedroom. I started to get a very bad feeling and frantically looked around. Yep, everything was way bigger than they were supposed to be. And the 'cool and spicy' Amu was not being very cool and spicy right now. Quite unsurprisingly, she was freaking out.

"This is just a dream, this is just a dream," I repeated over and over to myself. "Like Alice in Wonderland. Yeah, that's it, I'm having an Alice in Wonderland dream." I slapped my cheeks and pinched my arm hard. It hurt.

"No, of course I'm not having a dream. My face still hurts from the tree. And my cheeks sting. And my arm burns. Argggh! Somebody please tell me what's going on!" I yelled.

Nobody answered. Of course nobody did. I wasn't expecting an answer anyways.

That's when I heard someone—make that three people—calling my name.

I panicked for a second, thinking that now it would be ghosts, until I recognized the voices.

Relief flooded my entire being and I called out, "Ran, Miki, Su, I'm over heeeeeere!"

My three little Shugo Charas came into view. When I saw the trio, my face broke into a huge grin and I ran toward them, arms outstretched.

As they got closer I stopped, then watched them land next to me.

And my jaw dropped to the dirt-covered ground. The look on my face was priceless.

Nevermind what I said about my little Shugo Charas—they were now the same size as me.

"See, I knew this was a dream," I laughed nervously, trying very hard to convince myself.

"Dream?" Ran echoed.

"What dream?" Miki asked.

"Are we supposed to be dreaming?" Su wondered. "And Amu, why are you so small?"

That's when the truth hit me like a bucket of cold water.

Everything else hadn't grown bigger at all, it was just me that had shrunk down to the size of a Shugo Chara.

Oh boy, what fun.

"NOOOOOOOO! Why do these kinds of things always have to happen to meeeeee!"


It took some time for me to calm down, but when I finally did, I tried my best to tell everything to Ran, Miki, and Su. It's a lot harder to have a conversation with your Shugo Charas when they are suddenly freakishly big. The three of them flew me to the Guardian's tea table so we could be more comfortable, and I have to admit, that part was a little fun. I just finished my story when we heard the greenhouse door open and people come inside.

"Oh no, they're here!" I hid behind Ran. "Ran and Su, you two cover for me. Miki, make up an excuse, any excuse, to as why I cannot attend the reunion today."

I knew it wouldn't be that easy to back out though, and sure enough, Ran and Su shook their heads and turned me down. But Miki looked as though she were deep in thought.

"Did you say any excuse?" she asked me. There was a sly twinkle in her eye.

I had a feeling that she was scheming something, but I was too desperate to care.

"Yeah, yeah!" I nodded vigorously.

"Then leave it to me!" Miki grinned...triumphantly?

Before I could worry about that she shoved me into an empty teapot. And I just sat there listening while my friends approached.


Normal POV

Hey, where's Amu-chii?" Yaya whined, looking around as if she were hiding somewhere.

"I don't know. Amu-chan should've been the first one here. Her house is the closest and she's been excited about this for weeks." There was a tint of concern in Nagihiko's voice.

"Maybe she was held up by something," Kuukai suggested.

"Like what?" Rima asked.

"Like...I dunno, her parents...?" Kuukai answered.

"We all know very well that Amu's parents are not like that," Kairi adjusted his glasses.

"The reunion wouldn't be complete without Amu-chan." Tadase's voice was a mixture of worry and disappointment.

They reached the Guardian tea table.

"Oh look, Ran, Miki, and Su are here!" Yaya pointed.

Tadase bent down. "Do you know where Amu is?" he asked.

Miki nodded. "If you're looking for her, she's at home daydreaming about..."


Back to Amu's POV

Everything was going fine from what I heard inside the teapot, though it did make me feel horrible to hear my friends so worried about me when I was right there.

Well, it was going fine until Miki began her excuse.

"If you're looking for her, she's at home daydreaming about her prince—"

I furrowed my eyebrows. You call this an excuse? Then I gasped when I realized something. Miki wouldn't, would she?

"—who's name is—"

No, she was really going to say it!

"Shut up!" I shouted without thinking, jumped out of the teapot, and glared at Miki. "What kind of stupid excuse is that?" That's when I caught my mistake.

Oops.

I was so going to get Miki when I returned back to my normal size. She had planned this all along, didn't she?

But right now I had more pressing matters. I slowly turned to face my friends, who were all staring at me like I just fell from the sky.

I couldn't blame them.

So I glued a nervous smile onto my face and gave a feeble wave.

"Umm...hi everybody?"

How unlucky can one girl get?


Woohoo! Done with the second chapter! I've been pretty busy lately.

Please tell me your honest opinion about this story in your reviews!

Thanks!

-momocandy