Chapter 4
Amu was in wonder at all that she saw in the castle. The whole castle was vibrant and full of life. Amu twisted her hand this way and that, her golden eyes wide but her smile wider. She couldn't believe her eyes; 'if I had heard of this place instead of seen it, I wouldn't have thought it was a story. I could never have believed that a place like this was even possible.' She remembered the days when she had wondered if all life beyond those walls of that town was just as boring and gray. 'Compared to this castle, the town is like death.' "Really now?" Ikuto looked down at her as Amu looked up surprised, she didn't realize that she had just talked aloud. "Oh sorry, just talking to myself." Ikuto stared at the girl, "so, where were you born?" Amu pretended to not hear then she saw something, "Oh wow! Look at that, what is it?" A huge rectangle that held a people on horses with metal sticks in their hands pointed at another group of people charging them who looked malicious.
Ikuto looked at it, "oh, that's a painting of a war we had against a group of people who came from the north who tried to destroy our people. Why?" Amu reached out and was about to touch it until the 'why' came, she looked back, her hand still raised up to touch the painting. "I've never seen one before. It's beautiful." Ikuto raised an eyebrow, "what do you mean?" Amu sheepishly laughed, "well, um, where I came from, we, uh, never had such things." Ikuto nodded slowly, still unsure about how to react, he thankfully didn't have to, "so, could you show me the rest of the castle? I'd like to see what other beautiful things are here." Ikuto smiled, "right this way."
Ikuto led Amu to the garden. She had been staring at it for a while, 'might as well show it to her, I have to keep up my appearance as a gentleman after all.' He walked her under an arched tunnel that had ivy vines entwining itself through beautiful wood. Amu looked about her, her mouth formed in an 'o' from happiness. Rays of scattered sunshine shone through the green leaves giving a dramatic effect. When they got through the tunnel, they were surrounded by high dark green bushes. Amu looked about her, "woah, what is this? Where are we?" Ikuto chuckled, "you are in a labyrinth right now, isn't it cool?" Amu only nodded. "Once we get through here you'll see the actual garden. I personally think the labyrinth is unneeded but my-" "I think it's wonderful," Amu interrupted. "It's so creative, to use these things in such a creative way." "Things?" Ikuto thought that Amu was blushing but it was hard to tell with her hood up. "Sorry, I've never seen these things before so I don't know what to call them." "Ah, I see, well, they're called bushes." Amu smiled at the word. "Well, I think these 'bushes' are really cool. I've never seen anything like them. They fill this place with color, and they give the garden a mysterious flare."
Ikuto was surprised by this girl, he had never seen anyone quite as unique as her. 'how does she not know what a bush is?' Amu had placed her hand on the leaves of the bushes and felt them. She was surprised how on the face of the fan-like thing, it was smooth, yet the edge was almost ticklish. "Ikuto," she pointed at the leaf, "what is this?" Ikuto looked at it, "a leaf." Amu nodded. She ran the word over and over through her mind so that she wouldn't forget it. That's when she saw it, a light at the end of the labyrinth. As she neared the end, she saw tall, fancy white marble columns with fancy decoration at the top. Then the labyrinth opened up to reveal the actual garden.
It was amazing, around her were tall brown column like things with green leaves at the top, then flowers of all colors, shapes, and sizes circled around a fountain spewing crystal blue water. Amu pointed at the tall brown columns and asked what it was, "a tree." Amu looked up, then got an idea. She slightly hiked up her knee-length dark grey skirt and started to try to climb the tree. The prince looked at her, amused. "And what do you think you're doing?" "Climbing this tree, what does it look like?" Ikuto looked up at her, "do you even know how?" "Nope," Amu replied, popping the 'p'. Ikuto rolled his eyes, "you're going to get hurt." "Nah, it won't hurt." "Even if you fall?" 'Nope, there is always worse." Amu slightly shivered, remembering how the townspeople would throw grey stones at her if she got too near their children. Amu kept climbing, it was coming quite naturally to her, and soon she reached a branch in the middle of the tree and sat on it. She smiled down at him, "that was fun, I wish we had trees back at home." Ikuto cocked his head slightly, "so you didn't have trees in your town either?" "No, I saw them outside the walls but no one talked about them." Amu shrugged, "but I know what they are now, that's all that matters." Amu smiled down at the prince, then she looked around, something caught her eye and she leaned forward to get a better look at it.
CRACK! The branch snapped and Amu came tumbling down with it. She saw what was happening but couldn't do anything about it. Her eyes widened, she stretched her hand out for a branch but it was too late. She shut her eyes, preparing herself for impact, it never came. She slowly opened her eyes a crack, then widened when she saw who was staring straight down at her. Deep blue eyes were staring down at her with a worried look. Then she saw who owned those eyes… "AH! I'm so sorry!" She jumped out of his grasp. "You scared me there." Amu felt her cheeks heat up slightly, "y-you were worried?" Amu looked at him, her golden eyes big with hope and happiness. "Yeah why is that wrong?" Amu smiled, "I just never thought that I would ever see someone other than my mother who would be worried about me. It makes me happy." Ikuto looked at her, "huh, seems like you didn't have a happy childhood." Amu looked at him, she smiled but her eyes showed her true feelings, "Nah, it was ok. There is always worse."
Amu walked over to the fountain, "how to keep the water so clean here?" Ikuto looked at her, "the water comes from natural springs, I'm not really sure how it works though." Amu looked at him, "why not?" "I don't have the time." "Well then, why don't we go find out right now? You are the prince after all, I heard from my mother that most princes make it their business to try to find out as much as they can about their kingdom. Why not try it out?" Ikuto looked at her, then shrugged, "why not?" Amu smiled, she grabbed his hand and together they walked to the water manager of the castle.