Alrighty. Hasn't been too long since last chapter, which is pretty good I must say. Anyways, on to my reviews! :D

Nessz - Here he is! He'll be in this chapter! Don't you worry about it! :D

GakuenAliceGRL - dun dun dun!!!!!!!

AnimelovingCat - Yes, Ikuto is a bit impatient. And no problem. It's fun for me. :3

IC-ZPHUOCC - I'M GOING! XD

Ikuto: I'm in the chapter? Finally.

Oh be quiet. Disclaimer time! Take it away Nagi!

Nagihiko: Umm, she doesn't own shugo chara.

Jeez. Hide your excitement a little Nagi. Anyway, on with the story! :D

Different Worlds

Chapter 2: Ally Cat

Amu was sitting in her room, frozen to the spot. Her shugo chara were with her very confused. She had come to her room after Tadase had told her he was going to speak with their parents to tell them the news. Kiseki had run off to go see Tadase once Amu had come in the room.

"So what happened?" Ran asked.

"You don't know?" Amu asked her doubtfully.

They all just smiled looking innocent and she frowned. "Have you all known for long?" She asked angrily.

"No, no! Kiseki just told us now. I'm guessing you said yes?" Dia asked.

"Yeah, well I think I nodded through the shock somehow and mumbled a yes." She couldn't really remember what happened five minutes ago. She held out her left hand and the shugo chara all looked at the ring on her finger.

"Wow. That's a big ring." Miki said with sparkles in her eyes. "This will go great with any dress!"

"Apparently, my parents knew all about this. This was the deal they were making." Amu said, still shocked. She didn't really understand though. Shouldn't she be jumping up and down at this point? Why was she still in a state of shock? She should've been running around the room and jumping on her bed.

"Is something wrong with me?" She asked herself and her shugo chara looked on with frowns.

"Nothing's wrong with you! You're just a little surprised. Why don't we get some exercise! Get up and run! Do push ups! Play some sports!" Ran shouted and began to cheer. "Go! Go! Amu-chan!"

Amu looked at Ran and just smiled. Then she stood up quickly. "Your right! Let's do something! Can't sit around in my room. The ball isn't for another six hours." She ran into her closet and looked around a lot.

"What are you looking for?" Su asked quietly.

"A dress that doesn't show I'm a princess." She said as she threw things on the ground.

"Amu, your making a mess of your closet!" Su yelled and fell to the floor. Su always kept Amu's closet clean.

"Allow me to help." Miki said. After looking through everything they realized it was no use. There was nothing that wasn't fancy and rich looking.

"I know!" Miki said and took out her sketch pad. She began to draw quickly and when she was done she made the paper big and showed it to Amu. It was a picture of a dress that was blue, knee high, and average. It was something a normal working girl might wear.

"That's perfect!" Amu shouted.

"Drew, draw, drawn!"

And suddenly Amu was wearing the dress that was in Miki's picture. She smiled and looked at herself. "Thanks Miki!"

She looked at herself in the mirror and realized that her hair didn't go with the "working class" look. She found a blue scarf and put it over her hair. Now she wouldn't be recognizable at all.

"Ok guys. I need you to stay here. If someone comes to look for me and no one's here to explain they'll think the worst and things will get a little crazy. So just stay here."

"What do we say?" Miki asked and Amu frowned. "I don't know. Think of something." And with that she went out on her balcony and climbed down the siding. She wasn't high up. Only on the second floor so it didn't take long.

There was no one in the gardens because everyone was working in the ballroom or the castle to get ready.

She looked at her watch and realized it had taken her longer then she had realized to get ready. It was now 4:30 and the ball started at 8:00. That gave her a few hours at least. She knew she'd have to start getting ready at 8:00 because the royal family never entered until after all the guests had arrived. She'd make it back in time.

She ran out of the garden and through the gates without being seen. She knew all the right ways to get out since she'd always leave when she was younger. She liked walking among the people without being known. Just another face in a crowd.

She walked around for a bit and it was starting to get dark by 5:30. It was early in spring so it still got dark kind of early.

She decided it'd be best to probably get back to the castle. There was nothing here that made her mind any clearer. It hadn't relaxed her quite the way she had hoped it would.

As she was walking back she suddenly heard something. She was walking down the main street and she heard a noise. A grunt maybe? Someone in pain?

She looked around but didn't see anyone on the street that looked hurt. She looked right and left and finally she saw it.

In the ally next to her she saw a boy slumped against the wall. Her eyes widened and without thinking she ran in to see if he was alright.

"Are you hurt?" She asked. He lifted his head and looked at her and the moment he did her breath caught in her throat. It was him! It was the man in her dreams.

"Go away." He said coldly.

His cold voice made her recoil. She looked at him again and realized it wasn't the same man. This boy was much younger and although he looked just like the man in her dreams, it wasn't him. It was odd though. He had the same midnight blue hair and eyes to match. He was very good looking but the frown on his face caused her to frown as well.

"No. Your clearly hurt." She looked to him and saw that his lip was bleeding. She took out her handkerchief and wiped the blood off his face.

He looked up at her and his expression softened. "How can you be so kind to a stranger?"

"It's my job to be kind to my-" She stopped short. She couldn't let him know she was the princess. Right now, they weren't her people. They were just people. She began again. "I mean, I feel like everyone should be kind to others, otherwise when your down and out who's gonna be kind to you?"

He looked at her and nodded slowly. "In that case. You shouldn't be kind to me."

She half ignored what he said and continued to look at him. "Anything else hurt? What happened?" She asked him.

"I got jumped by a few punks. I was able to get them away but not before they got in a few good hits." He told her although he wasn't looking at her face directly.

She nodded and frowned. She hadn't known crime had been so bad. "Can you…stand?" She asked.

He leaned against the wall and stood up. "Yeah I can stand, I-"

"Ikuto!!!" He was interrupted by a small voice screaming his name. They both looked at the mouth of the ally and Amu was surprised to see a small shugo chara come flying in.

Ikuto. So that was his name.

"Ikuto! I found you something to eat!" He flew over holding an apple. Amu looked at him and he looked back at her confused.

"Can you see him?" Ikuto asked her. She looked back at him and nodded. "I have my own shugo chara too." She told him.

"Really? Where are they? I'm Yoru by the way. And I guess you already met Ikuto." Said the little cat-like shugo chara.

Ikuto took the apple from Yoru and broke it in half. He held out one half to Amu. "Here."

She looked at it a moment and shook her head. "No it's ok. You eat it."

"No, it's thanks for helping me." He said and she took it slowly. She watched as he broke off a piece of his and gave it to Yoru who smiled and began to eat it.

She took a bite out of hers and smiled. "Thank you." She felt a bit bad taking his food though. She had plenty of food back at the castle and she wasn't really sure if he had quite so much back at his home.

"Where do you live. You should get home. It's dark out already." She said looking around.

"Why do you want to know where I live? Are you one of those creepy stalkers who follows people home?" He asked as he continued to eat his apple.

She looked at him in disbelief. "What!? Of course not!!! I was gonna make sure you got home save since your hurt but forget it now!" She yelled. She turned away from him and crossed her arms. She could hear him laughing behind her.

"Where do you live? I think I should make sure you get home safe. You're just a girl afterall. I think I'd be safer on my own then you would." He told her.

She froze. She couldn't tell him she was a princess. That was when she thought of an idea. "Oh, well, I work at the castle, well my parents do and there's a ball tonight so I should probably meet them there." She said after a moment.

"Ok." He said and began to walk out of the ally. She followed him as they walked down main street and back to the castle.

They walked silently, although it wasn't awkward or anything. It was a peaceful silence. She snuck glances at Ikuto every once and awhile trying to figure out why he looked so much like the man in her dreams.

They made it back to the castle quickly. He had taken some different routes to get there and when they were at the gates she turned towards him.

"Is your home far from here?" She asked and he shook his head.

"My home is close." He said although again he wasn't looking at her directly.

"I guess this is goodbye." He said and she nodded. He turned to leave but then stopped and turned back.

"Wait, what's your name?" He asked her.

"Amu." She said without thinking.

He looked at her, a bit puzzled. "Isn't that the name of the princess?" He asked her and she looked at him and frowned.

"Well, you see, my parents named me after the princess who had just been born around the same time. They did it in the royal family's honor." She said quickly.

He nodded, believing her lie and then waved a hand in her direction. "See you around then, Amu." And with that he walked away. She went through the gate and to the back gardens. She had to get back in her room. When she could see her balcony she saw Ran sitting and waiting.

"Ran?" She called and Ran looked down at her before flying to where she was. "Come on, Amu-chan! Your late. Hop, step, jump!" And with that Amu was jumping onto her balcony and ran into her room.

"Drew, draw, drawn!" Miki shouted quickly and before Amu knew it she was dressed in an eloquent gown. It was midnight blue with long sleeves and a poofy bottom. The design on the front was in diamonds that Dia was eyeing happily. It seemed they had all had a hand in creating this with Miki. It had all their tastes.

"Leave it you Miki to make it blue in the end." She laughed and Miki smiled. She went into the bathroom where the royal hair dresser looked at her hair with a frown. She saw that the curls from before had been a little squashed under the scarf.

She gave Amu curly twin tails, left her bangs down and left two straight pieces in the front. (A/N: You know how her hair is when she goes to Lulu's Christmas party in the anime? Just like that.)

She looked at herself and smiled. She was ready. She looked at her clock and saw it was 8:45. She was a little late but not too bad. Now she just had to find her parents and join the party.

That was a fun chapter. IKUTO! :D *swoons*

Tadase: I didn't like this chapter.

Shut up Tadase! Now review my readers! There must be more Ikuto so I want to write the next chapter! Off you go! Press that button right down there and write up a wonderful review that might just make me cry tears of joy! Ok, well just a smile would be nice. XD