When I woke up to the beeping of my alarm, I considered shutting it off, going back to sleep, and skipping school. I hadn't had the best night's rest. I kept on having nightmares. They would start with Kazuomi, who had my purple energy in his hand. I would try and get it back in whatever way I could - by force, begging, anything - but he always just smiled at my futile attempts. There always seemed to be someone else in the dream, but the person never helped me. Then the purple haze in Kazuomi's hand would solidify until it was the size and shape of a heart's egg, and then he would crush it. That was when I would wake up in a cold sweat, shaking uncontrollably. It would take me a while to fall back to sleep, because whenever I closed my eyes, the image of the shattering egg always made me jerk back awake. And then, when I finally did drift off to sleep again, the nightmare would always come back, more vivid than the last time.

So when the alarm started going off, I wasn't just tired. I was exhausted. But I was afraid of what would happen if I did something like miss school. Kairi would probably tell Yukari, who would tell Kazuomi, who would probably punish me... and I didn't even want to think about that, nonetheless make it happen. I dragged myself out of bed, did my best to get ready for the day, and then left the house. Azami seemed somewhat tired as well, but as far as I knew, she hadn't had any problems sleeping. And though my nightmares had been bad, I never screamed during them, and so I didn't think I'd ever woken my chara up last night.

The walk to school helped to calm me down - even with the sun shining brightly overhead, I was somewhat jittery. I tried to think rationally about the situation, and talked with Azami about it as well. She was more reasonable than last night, but still angry. We figured that, as long as we did whatever Easter said, then we didn't have to be afraid of the punishment. But that was worth very little consolation. For one, that meant that I'd lost any choice I had. Before, when Nikaido told me to do something, I always had the option of refusing. Now, while I technically could refuse orders, that would mean having to face that pain again, and I didn't know if there was anything that would make me want to live through that again. Secondly, even if I did do my best to obey, I doubted that was any guarantee that I still wouldn't get punished. For example, what if I tried to do something, but messed up? Or what if I made some sort of stupid mistake that would show the Guardians that I work for Easter? I might be punished for my incompetence. Or maybe Kazuomi would think I messed up on purpose to help the Guardians, and discipline me for that.

Outwardly, I was calmer by the time I made it to school. Inwardly, however, I was going haywire. I was still afraid of what Kazuomi could do, though perhaps slightly less so. I was also angry with the world, and why something like this had to happen. It was partially my own fault, which only made me even angrier. Ginger had followed me out of the house, and she wouldn't go back home, and it annoyed me that she wouldn't do what I said. The increased amount of Darkness wasn't helping at all; I almost ended up stopping twice on the way to school, unable to carry on. Ginger helped me out at those times, but that made me more upset, in a way. I mean, was I such a loser that I needed help from a cat? Thankfully, she walked back the way we came when we were within about a block of the school. Maybe she had just realized that I needed some company on the way there, other than just Azami.

But as I entered the school, I realized something was going on. Groups of students were gathered around the walls, straining to look at pieces of paper that were taped up. As I got closer, I realized what they were, and groaned. I had forgotten that Seiyo mixes up which student are in which classes at the semester. I found the listings for the fifth grade, and moved through the swarm of students to get a better look. The first thing I noticed was that Nikaido was still teaching the star class. But how could that be? We'd found out that he wasn't really a teacher. So why was he still here?

A more pressing question popped into my mind: what if he told the Guardians that I was working for Easter? I thought about it, and realized that it might not be such a bad thing. There was nothing I could do if he was the one who told the Guardians. And Kazuomi wouldn't chastise me for something I couldn't prevent at all, would he? However, even though Nikaido wasn't a bad guy anymore, he didn't seem quite like a good guy, either. I didn't think that he would give me away, whether I wanted him to or not.

Then I scanned the list. I saw Amu and Tadase were both going to be in Nikaido's class, but I didn't see my name anywhere on it. I looked to the list of everyone who would be in the moon class, and sure enough, there I was. But other than Mai, there was no one that I knew very well in my new class. I was upset that I wouldn't be in a class with any of the Guardians. I saw them everyday at lunch and after school, but still... I was going to miss not having Amu in my class. As I backed out of the crowd and walked to my new classroom, it occurred to me that I hadn't seen Kairi's name on either of the two lists. He had looked my age, but I guess he could have been a year older or younger.

I went up to my classroom and sat down next to Mai. We greeted each other, me doing my best to hide my mood. But I was practically falling asleep as we chatted, and even without that I think Mai could have realized that something was wrong. Thankfully, she didn't ask about it. My new teacher was an older woman. She was fairly nice, but kind of dull. I found myself thinking almost longingly of Nikaido and his klutziness. I dozed off more than once, but the teacher never noticed. I didn't have any nightmares, but sleeping in a desk isn't the most restful thing in the world. By the time lunch came around, I was almost more tired than I had been this morning.

I got in the lunch line with Mai. The lunchroom was noisy enough that any conversation we had probably wouldn't be overheard. Which is why Mai had waited till now to talk to me about the condition I was in.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You haven't been yourself all day."

I shrugged, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal. "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. That's all."

Mai frowned. "Miyuki, you know you don't have to lie to me," she said quietly, her voice almost too soft to hear. "You're tired, and I can see that. But something else is wrong. If you don't want to tell me what it is, that's fine. But you don't have to deny it." She didn't sound angry. She was more concerned than anything, and perhaps even a bit embarrassed that she was being so direct about the problem.

I wanted to tell her everything, right then and there. I wasn't sure if she'd even like me if I told her all the bad things I'd done, but at this point I just needed someone to listen to me. But I knew I couldn't. Still, I smiled, glad to have a friend like Mai. I mean, how many friends could really be able to tell that there was more to my mood than just lack of sleep? And how many of those would actually talk about it, rather than just pretend that everything was fine with the world? Not many. Amu was the only other possibility, and not even she could compare to Mai.

"You're right, Mai, and I didn't mean to cover it up." I said. Azami gave me a light whack on the head, which I supposed meant that I was being too polite or corny or friendly or something. But I ignored it, as I usually did, and continued, "There is something wrong, but I can't really talk about it. Thanks for asking, though."

Mai nodded understandingly. Once we were through the lunch line, Mai went off to her usual table and I sat down with the Guardians. The table felt unusually empty without Nadeshiko and Kukai.

Yaya started whining to Tadase as soon as I sat down, "Okay, everyone's here! Tadase, announce who the new Guardians are!"

"Okay," Tadase said, seeming relieved that he could finally start. Yaya had probably been bugging him all the time they had been waiting. "The new Jack chair will be Sanjo Kairi, who is in the fourth grade. Have you met him yet, Yuiki-san?"

Yaya shook her head, pouting. "He's probably in the other class. But I want to meet him!" Ignoring Yaya, I noted that Amu seemed to be distracted. She was hardly paying attention to the announcement of the new Guardians, which was odd. However, I didn't mention it.

Tadase continued, "The new Queen chair will be Mashiro Rima, who is in the fifth grade."

Amu had heard this at least, because she looked slightly stunned. "She's going to be a Guardian? Ran, Miki, and Su all felt a chara with her, but I didn't think she..." Amu trailed off. She didn't sound like she was trying to be mean, but nor did she seem too happy with the news.

Despite my bad mood, my curiosity was aroused. "Did I miss something? Is something wrong with the new Queen?"

"No, nothing's wrong with her." Amu said quickly. "It's just..."

"You haven't heard yet, Miyuki-chi?" Yaya asked.

"Heard what?" I wondered what Yaya could possibly know about the Queen. Then again, Yaya seemed to know all the latest news, whether it was true or not.

"Amu-chi's class is split practically in two right now." Yaya explained, looking excited at being the first to tell me the news. "All the guys immediately started following Rima around and doing whatever she says. All the girls got angry, and sided with Amu, so now there's a war in their class!"

"That seems a little over-exaggerated, Yuiki-san." Tadase said.

"And what about you, Tadase-kun?" I asked, a bit cheered up by the story. A war in Nikaido's class? Undoubtedly, that's a slight embellishment, but the idea was still funny. "Which side are you on?"

Tadase looked embarrassed. "I'm trying to stay neutral."

I learned little more about the conflict, although I did manage to spy Rima in the lunchroom - a small, blonde girl, constantly surrounded by a flock of awestruck boys. In general, I hated those kind of stuck-up, perfect girls who get everything they want. I doubted I was going to get along with her, and the X-energy made me even more hostile to the idea of befriending her. My eyes kept on closing as I started to nod off, and Amu had to wake me up more than once to ask me if I was okay. I told her, Yaya, and Tadase that I was fine, just kind of tired. It didn't see like they believed me, or at least Amu didn't. I thought that I caught Tadase looking at me suspiciously a couple of times, but I was probably half delirious from lack of sleep, so I didn't think much of it.

We dispersed when lunch ended, and went back to our respective classrooms. Normally, I'd walk back with Amu, but she wasn't in my class anymore. I reallywasn't in the mood for company, anyway. I was hardly paying attention to where I was going, and I was moving so slow that a snail probably could have passed me. As I walked down the hallway, Rima passed by me. This was the first time I'd seen her up close - she was extremely petite, with extravagantly long blond hair.

But I got no more than a glimpse. I was pushed aside as her group of guys came by, trailing behind her. They took up almost all of the hallway, and the sad thing was that they were so obsessed with their queen that they didn't even know that they'd hit me. I lost what little balance I had, and toppled onto the ground. I wasn't even able to get my arms out in time to try and soften the fall, so I landed hard. I guess not getting a lot of rest kind of ruins your reflexes for the day.

"Miyuki! Are you okay?" I heard Amu call as she came rushing up from behind. She must have seen me fall. But I wasn't going to wait around for her to help me up. I was already angry and sleep-deprived, and getting knocked over had set me boiling. My chara-change came almost automatically, and I could tell that Azami was mad as well. Ignoring Amu's concern, I got up and walked quickly forward, pushing my way through the center of Rima's followers. When I was right behind her, I spoke up.

"Mashiro Rima," I said, using her full name for a better effect. Those boys that hadn't stopped already did now, and Rima halted and turned as well. We stood face to face, and I noticed that she was a full head shorter than me. However, she seemed no less confident in herself, despite the obvious size difference.

She looked at me calmly. Her eyes lingered on Azami for a moment, and then she turned her attention to me. "Who are you? Do you want to be one of my servants, too?"

What she said didn't bug me so much as the fact that she wasn't joking. At all. I clenched my fists, then relaxed them again. Even chara-changed, I wasn't going to resort to violence; beating up a little girl like this was below what little dignity I still had. I wasn't even thinking about how I must look to everyone else right now - at school, I was usually fairly nice. Now, I was the very image of wrath.

"Would you tell your posse of guys to stop following you around?" I asked, keeping my tone even in a way that was perhaps more frightening than if I'd been screaming at the top of my lungs. "They're crowding the hallway, and someone might get hurt if they aren't paying attention where they're going."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Rima asked innocently, though I could see defiance in her eyes. "It's they're choice where they want to walk. Tell them."

A couple of the guys cried out their support of Rima, though most wanted to hear what I would say next. I glared at her, unconsciously putting power into the gaze. "Maybe they can go where they want, but you are the source of the problem. You should take responsibility for it."

I doubted she would have been able to resist my hypnotizing powers for long, but luckily for her, Amu had pushed her way through the crowd as well.

"Miyuki! What are you doing?" she said from behind me. I wheeled around to face her, not realizing how close she was. One of my fingernails brushed against her arm. It had only lightly scraped her, but my nails were sharp: had it broken the skin? If it had, the effects could be serious. What if it ended up turning Ran, Miki, and Su into X-eggs? My chara-change immediately faded, and I realized how close I had been to losing my composure.

I did some speedy thinking, which would have been impressive even on a day when I did have a full night's rest. I turned to everyone in the small crowd of boys, and I shocked even myself with what I said. "I'm sorry, everyone. I didn't mean to be so rude. But seriously, you guys nearly trampled me as you were going down the hallway. I was a bit upset because of that. If you insist on staying in your group, then at least watch where you're going. Okay?"

The boys gave a general murmur of agreement, and a couple of the boys nearby even said that they were sorry for knocking me down. A lot of the group either fell back or went ahead, so as to leave more room in the hall. Rima seemed unconcerned and walked on, her small but loyal band still following. She probably hadn't learned her lesson, but at the very least, I had probably kept myself from being known as a girl with a anger-management problem.

But that wasn't important right now. Now that the commotion was over, I quickly glanced down at Amu's arm. There wasn't any scratch that I could see, and I just managed to hold back my sigh of relief. I quickly apologized. "Sorry, Amu - I wasn't quite in control of myself. I didn't hit you when I turned around, did I?" I couldn't exactly talk about the chara-change right now; there were still two girls behind Amu, who had apparently been watching the action.

"No, I'm fine," Amu said. She was about to say something else, but one of the girls stepped up from behind her and interrupted.

"Yamada-san, that was amazing!" she said.

The other of the girls stepped forward. "Yeah, way to tell that girl who's boss!"

I smiled at this unexpected praise, but I didn't really know how to respond. "We'd better get back to our rooms - class is going to be starting soon," I said truthfully. We all did go back to our classes, and though I didn't talk about it with anyone except Mai, by the end of the day two greatly-exaggerated versions of what happened were all across the school. One had me portrayed as a hero for standing up to Rima and her gang of guys. The other version portrayed me as being mean to pick on poor little Rima. And while I did here that second story quite a lot, it seemed most people were going along with the good portrayal of me. I had almost never been mean to anyone at school, and plus, I was a Guardian - meanness and Guardians just don't mix, apparently.

* * *

Tadase had already given both Rima and Kairi their invitations to join the Guardians for tea, and so both showed up in the garden after school. The first thing they did was introduce their charas. The little samurai that Kairi had was named Musashi. Rima's chara, who looked like a clown or a jester or something, was Kusukusu. Kusukusu giggled at almost everything, and I wondered how someone like Rima could possibly have such a fun chara.

The meeting was boring, even with the new people. Basically, Tadase just explained in detail what they would have to do as Guardians. Rima would occasionally comment on how much work it sounded like it was going to be, which irritated me. Kairi was always giving business-like suggestions on how we might be able to improve upon the efficiency of the Guardians. Maybe he got it from his sister. I fell asleep a couple of times, but Amu always came to my rescue, nudging me to wake me up. When I did happen to be awake enough to notice much, it seemed to me like Amu wanted to say something, but she couldn't work up the nerve to get it over with. Her charas kept on exchanging looks with each other, like they knew something that no one else did. But I was too out of it to care much.

Tadase's explanation of the Guardians' activities was short, which was one thing to be grateful for. But there were so many more things that I was angry about that one good thing didn't do much to make me happy. When the meeting ended, I decided not to go home quite yet. Besides, I had something I wanted to do. I told the rest of the Guardians that I had forgotten something in the school, then I headed off that way. But as soon as I was sure they were gone, I walked off through the school grounds, hoping that I was heading in the general direction of the planetarium. I'm not exactly sure why I wanted to go there so badly. Maybe because I hoped it would help me forget about my problem, at least for a little bit.

Eventually, after changing direction a couple of times, I saw the dome of the building rising up above the trees. I opened the door and slipped inside, glad to see that the projector was on. I took the same seat as last time, lied down, and relaxed. Surprisingly, just being in here was helping me to stop worrying about my problems. When I was in here, seeing the stars, the troubles outside just seemed so distant. Azami fell asleep on my leg, though I think she was more bored than tired. After just a few minutes in there, I was so much calmer that I couldn't help but close my eyes... you know, just for a couple minutes...

* * *

"So, you're back here again, Miyuki-san." I jerked awake at the voice. I looked up to see that the fortune-telling guy from last time was here again. I wished I could remember his name.

"Uh, yeah." I said, still a bit embarrassed that I'd fallen asleep. I wondered how long I'd been sleeping. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Don't worry - it's not too late in the evening. There's still plenty of daylight outside." He said with a kind smile.

Great, but I'd still kind of like to know what time it is, I thought. I considered getting my cell phone and looking at the time on there, but I figured that might be kind of rude. I discreetly nudged Azami, who was still asleep. She woke up, realized that we weren't alone, and then flew right up in front of his face.

"It's the guy who likes stars." She said bluntly, which only made him smile more. "What was your name again?"

I was glad that I didn't have to be the one to ask. "Amakawa Tsukasa," he answered. Then he turned to me. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"Go right ahead," I replied. He sat down next to me, and we looked up at the stars in silence for a while. This seemed eerily similar to the first time I'd been in here. For a moment, I wished I could go back to then, and somehow keep myself from choosing to work for Easter. But that could never happen. And I knew that I never would have been satisfied if I hadn't joined up with Easter. Sure, if I hadn't, then I probably could have had a lot more fun with the Guardians, and I would've never had to hurt Mai. But then I also would never have had the chance to chara-nari with Azami, and I would have felt silly for sticking with the 'good guys.'

"So how are you and Azami doing?" asked Tsukasa after a while.

I sighed. "Not all that great." I had no idea why I was admitting this to him. I guess he just seemed like that kind of person who you couldtell things to.

There was another pause that lasted a couple minutes, where neither of us said anything. Then Tsukasa asked, "You're class had a poetry unit this past semester, correct?"

"Yes," I said, though I didn't particularly want to remember that. I didn't bother wondering how Tsukasa knew about it; he seemed to know everything, in his mysterious way.

"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind if I recited a favorite poem of my own?" Tsukasa said. "I don't normally get an audience, and I think you might like it." I shrugged in response, which he took as assent. "Okay then, let me see if I can remember it... It's called, "The Star," and it was written by Ann Taylor." He cleared his throat, then began:

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the trav'ller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often thro' my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

'Tis your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the trav'ller in the dark:
Tho' I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star."

Tsukasa was perfect for the poem. The words were filled with gratitude and hope, and his voice and demeanor matched that. This was nothing like the poems I'd been forced to read. Those had always left me feeling worse off than ever, with little to look forward to. But this had just the opposite effect - to me, the world was suddenly just a little less dark, and a little less cruel. The Darkness, which had been active all day, subsided somewhat. It was amazing what power words had, when said by the right person.

"You know," Tsukasa said as he looked up to the stars, "When the moon is new and has no light to shine, the stars remain to give what little light they have. Even on the stormiest of nights, though we may not be able to see them, the stars are always there, patiently waiting for the time when the clouds will part. In a way, I suppose they're a bit like hope. Do you see what I mean, Miyuki-san?"

He waited while I thought about what he had said. "Yeah, I suppose I do." I said, standing up. "Thanks."

He looked at me, with a hint of a smile showing. "Thanks? For what?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not sure." I said, with a smile of my own beginning to grow. "But thanks for it, anyway." And with that, I took my leave.

On my walk back home, I felt much better than I had all day. Don't get me wrong - I was still in a horrible situation, and I knew it. But... Well, I'll just say this: knowing that the stars were there, even in the darkest night, had helped this particular traveler to hope. And, as the expression goes - Where there's hope, there's life.

NOTE: When I first wrote chapter 18 of book 1, I was being an idiot or something. Although I fixed the error a long time ago, I keep on forgetting to mention it. That's the chapter where Miyuki meets Utau face to face. In that chapter, only one of Utau's charas are with her. It's supposed to be Iru, but I called her Eru throughout that entire chapter. This is fairly significant, so I thought I should let everyone know. Hopefully, those of you who read it in its uncorrected version realized that I was describing Iru(appearance-wise and personality-wise). And if you did recognize her as Iru, why in the world didn't you tell me I was messing up!?!?! (I'm not really mad, except at myself for being so stupid... I'm ashamed to call myself a Shugo Chara fan...)

Other than that, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Newest thanks goes to Jackinafrickinbox~ I shall treasure my zebra egg forever... or at least until it hatches. Once it hatches, then I'll treasure the zebra. It's nice to know that my story is special enough to deserve a zebra egg~

And sorry to all you Rima fans out there... Miyuki apparently doesn't like Rima much. That's just how it is, at least at the moment. (sorry, Sai)