Ikuto looked at the forty-some people in the room. He paced the room for a few seconds, and look out the window. The figures were getting ready to barricade the door.

"Alright," Ikuto started, "Does anyone know how to go through the storage rooms into the castle?" A few people nodded. "People who don't know follow the people who do. And when you get there, I want you," he said, pointing at a burley guard "To tell the soldiers to move into places to cover the castle flanks. I'll go and rig the front with some dynamite so we'll be covered from all sides. Good?" The guard quikly nodded and the people moved down a set of stairs hidden in the floor. Ikuto started moving crates around, when he noticed Amu behind him.

"What are you doing here? Go with the others."

"Why did you save me?"

Ikuto looked at her. "Because I wanted to."

"She was your wife."

"She was going to be."

"How could you Ikuto?"

"I have to get to work. Hurry or you'll lose them."

Amu looked down. "I want to help."

"Go."

"Make me."

Ikuto pushes Amu against the wall. He face was inches from hers, and she could smell the anxiety on him. "Amu I don't have time. Go or I will seriously regret saving you." He released her. She looked at him with large eyes.

"Are you saying you don't regret saving me now?"

He looked at her, and walked slowly towards her. She tilted her face to look him in the eyes. He slid one hand on the side of her face, talking in barely a whisper. "That's what I'm saying Amu." He moved closer, and their faces were millimeters apart it seemed. She could see the easy movement of his chest rising as he sucked in shallow breaths, he could see the confusion in her eyes, the confusion that was really longing. She was more aware of the distance between their lips that could be closed within mere seconds, the warm hand still caressing the side of her face than the thudding on the walls. Ikuto's eyes suddenly widened. "We need to get to work. Hand me those tubes over there."

Amu handed him the thin, waxy tubes. He measured out some gun powder that was only reserved for Tadase and the commander. But emergencies needed to be dealt with. He tried to empty the chambers from the rifle he found, but in the end decided they would need it. Guns were a new invention, and he was one of the few people who knew how to use them. He handed Amu a shortsword- just in case- and used a ladder to climb to the window.

"Get on my back." Ikuto said. Amu wrapped her arms around his neck while he shimmied along the window to the top of the battlements.

"All we need to do is walk around and get to the front. I'll put the dynamite there and we'll have to douse the place with some oil. Once we get there, I want you to go straight to the ballroom. That's where everyone should be provided they got there in time. Ready?" She nodded. "Let's go."

Ikuto punctured two barrels of lamp oil and doused the entire entrance of the castle. He methodically planted the dynamite near the door, the half full oil barrels, and the ends of the hallways.

"Ikuto I just realized something." Amu said. She'd been keeping watch near the window. The small army that had stormed the castle had found that everybody had left the barracks. Then a few more of their people joined them, and they were now preparing another invasion, this time head on from the looks of where they were positioning.

"What's that Amu?" He asked.

"How are we going to set the dynamite off? If the whole hall's going to blow then we don't have time to run."

"You're right. We don't. But you do." He said.

"Ikuto this is a suicide mission!"

"But it will save you, and this kingdom."

"It's not about the kingdom for me Ikuto. It's about you."

"It's time Amu. Go."

"Not without you."

Her eyes gazed defiantly at him. But he still had the upper hand. He gritted his teeth, an dhis voice was low and menacing as he spoke. "Amu, do as your told. Go now, or I will NOT be happy. At all."

Defeated, Amu looked down. "Goodbye Ikuto," she mumbled.

"Yeah." He said, his mind somewhere far away. She turned back one more time before leaving the hall, and was disappointed to see his eyes on the window. "I love you." She whispered, but the words were lost in the deafening silence that lay between them, forcing them apart, and eventually, consuming his life.