Kitty: You know, I was thinking (there's a change)…"Why does Ikuto avoid Amu and not sit her down and go, HEY, I FRICKING LOVE YOU!, because we all know that's what he wants to say, right? But he's been dodging his feelings, letting Tadase win and worst of all, not telling Amu enough…just teasing her.

I found out the answer; he's trying to protect her. He's with the enemy and he's a good bit older then Amu, I'm sure he's trying to, in his own way, make Amu hate him so that she a) has the freedom to do whatever she wants in her life and b) grow up a bit…normally. You get what I mean, right? So Ikuto shall now suffer for his sins…breaking his own promise to protect and yet still, care for the one he loves…with Amu, herself.

"Amu, it would be best if you stayed here tonight," Ikuto told me, hanging above my window, his tail curled in the dim moonlight.

"What? Wh-Why?"

"Amu…Amu-chan-," he started, hopping down, taking my by the hands and sitting on my bed. He pulled me over to sit beside him, "We can establish that we have…hmm…feelings for each other, yeah?"

"Yeah…"

"Well…I promised myself I would not fall for you. I mean, look at your mother, she doesn't like to see you with me, does she? People would mistake us for brother and sister if we were girlfriend and boyfriend. There's just something between us, I can't figure it out, we're just not meant to be. This whole time, I've tried to protect you from afar, and now I'm too close. I'm so close I've even fallen in love with you."

"So? What does that matter? I like you too Ikuto, Mama can get over whatever I do and other people's opinions' don't matter!"

"I knew you wouldn't understand. You treat love like it's a game, running around and chasing people, love letters, fantasies…none of it is even close to love-"

"You treat me like a kid just because I'm a tiny bit younger then you! Well I'm not! I can do things on my own, just as you can! You always talk about how I need to be protected, or how defenceless I am, but you won't give me a chance to prove myself…I…"

I burst into tears. I thought it was stupid, but I couldn't help it. Was Ikuto really that different from me? I expected him to wrap his arm around me, pull me toward him so could rest my head on his chest and listen to him say something like, "It's okay, I didn't mean it, let's forget about this…" But when I wiped my eyes not very lady-like on my sleeves and looked up, he was gone. And the window was still left open so that a large gust of wind came though and made me shiver. A single cherry blossom petal, taken in by the wind, flew into my hands and stuck to the salty tears on my palm. Was it a sign?

It was a sign. A sign that even if I didn't know what love was, as Ikuto pointed out himself, somewhere deep down, he meant something to me and we belonged together.

"Ran! Miki! Suu! Get my coat! Dia, I'll have to Chara Nari with you in order to find my way in the dark…"

I scrambled up the window and down the roof somehow without Ran and jogged across the gardens of my neighbours and hopped over walls. I wasn't sure why I was doing it at the time, but I had a strong feeling that I needed to. Then, once I sprinted down the streets, I made it to the town. I wasn't sure where to look first. I finally realised that I needed Ikuto; I was cold, I was scared and after a while of searching, I was bored. He was annoying, but I was so used to him that he was a part of my life.

I stood in the middle of the town near the fountain. Where was he? I was about to walk back home when someone came from behind me and covered my mouth. They took me into one of the alleyways and tied my hands. Why couldn't anyone see this? I kicked and tried to scream, but it was no use. I could tell my the hand over my mouth that it was a woman. My Charas of course came to aid me, gnawing at the rope at my hands, but my kidnapper must have been able to see them, and swatted them away. As I tried a last time to escape, I seen Ran mouth, "Sorry, Amu-Chan," Suu frowned for the first time in her life, Dia's glow faded and Miki shed a tear.

I was thrown into a car with tinted windows and as my kidnapper entered the car with me, I could see her. The Easter freaks.

"What are you doing with me?" I yelled, just before she shut the door with a loud bang, "I thought Easter was no more!"

"Easter no longer exists, but we do!"

"Well, what do you want with me?"

"We're going to brainwash you and use you for world domination!" Her malevolent laughing sent a cold rush down my spine.

"Isn't that a little cliché?"

"Of course not! We have figured out the secret of the embryo, and now we bored…"

"Ugh…fine. But you do know that Ikuto will realise I'm gone and come to rescue me!"

"Tsukiyomi-san? Ha-ha. I don't think so. He's just a kid."

"He's not a kid! And he's well capable of saving me!"

"You sound like a hopeless romantic."

I had just realised what I had just said. I was wrong. I was not able to defend myself and I needed Ikuto there to pick me up when I fell, to rescue me from Easter these guys and to wipe away my tears. He was around for so long, he absence was the most painful thing in the world.

"Amu has a boyfriend! Amu has a boyfriend! And I'm going to date his Shugo Chara!" Miki sang, forgetting that we were kidnapped.

"Hey! I want a boyfriend too!" Ran demanded.

"You can have Daichi!" Miki exclaimed, taking one of her pom-poms and shaking it in Ran's face.

"Daichi! Oh, he's so perfect…when he's not kicking my butt in soccer…or skateboarding…or baseball…"

"Suu's only love is cooking!"

"Yeah, Suu can be a maid for Kiseki," Miki and Ran laughed as Suu's cheeks turned fluorescent pink.

I sighed watching my carefree Charas. They had everything for them; they didn't age and were born without worries. If I could untie my hands, I could Chara Nari. But right now that was impossible. I would have to wait until we reached our destination.

When the car finally stopped, the girl shoved me out of the car and walked with me to an apartment. How embarrassing for them, having their headquarters in an apartment. Then she brought me upstairs and put me in a tiny room, probably used for laundry at one stage. Throwing me in, I landed at the back of the room, my back against the wall with the only window. She shut the door, almost in slow motion, enclosing my in complete darkness, until my eyes adjusted to the dark.

I looked around my prison walls. It was still late and the moon shone through the Venetian blinds. Pieces of dust flew around the room and made the dim light look like moonbeams. The wallpaper looked midnight blue in the darkness, peeling to reveal a sickly green paint. The floorboards were old and I was surprised that they even held my weight.

Suddenly, though the door, came an amazing shower of light. With my hand tied up, I couldn't turn around. Ran, Miki, Suu and Dia rushed in, panting.

"We had to run away from those goons!" cried Ran.

"Desu~"

"Hey! Get back here!" hissed a man's voice, he ran in, "Where are they?"

"I don't know what you mean," I told him, my Charas hiding and giggling behind my back.

"The Shugo Charas!"

"Didn't you have them?"

"Ugh!" he stormed out of the room in a huff, "I'm locking this door!"

I heard the key turn in the lock and fall to the floor. I'm guessing that dude was angry.

"Hey, Miki?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a craft knife?"

"Hang on…" she spent about five minutes rooting through her bag, "About 20 of them."

"Can you use them to free my hands?"

"Sure," she said enthusiastically and took out the smallest craft knife I've ever seen.

It took half an hour for her to cut through the thick rope, even with the help of Dia, Ran and Suu. I stood up, thanked them and opened the window.

"Ran, I want you to find Ikuto and tell him-"

"I want to do it!" Miki nervously flew over to me with her hand in the air.

"Um…okay. Go find Ikuto and tell him that I'm here, if you can't find your way back after ten minutes well, I'll get Dia to fly into the sky and be all shiny. Now go!"

She flew out the window, I could have sworn I saw a trail of little cartoon hearts following behind her. The other Charas and I played x's and o's in the dust while we waited. I won every time, but Ran was the fastest at playing, whereas Suu used the most logic. Dia just smiled and told us that everyone was a winner when anyone lost. It was kind of annoying.

"Amu?" a familiar deep, sexy voice came from outside.

"Ikuto?! You came?!"

"Yeah…and Amu, I'm not happy."

"I know, neither am I! How dare they kid-"

"I mean, I'm not happy about you leaving the house."

"Leave the house? Who left the house? They umm…came to my house. Kidnapped me from my own bedroom…my own bedroom!"

"Oh…I was wrong? Man, that's a first."

"So what's the plan to get out?"

"I'm not sure. I'll just go in and kick them around a bit."

"No, you can't! There's three of them. You'll be thrown in here with me."

"Oh, your such a damsel in distress," he sighed, putting his hand to his head.

"Why don't you get everyone and meet me here tomorrow?"

"Can't," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets, "I'm learning to drive tomorrow."

"Well…how about the next day?"

"The next day."

"Oh gosh! I forgot about my parents! I leave early in the morning so they won't notice that but…oh no…"

"It's okay Amu," came a sweet-as-sugar high-pitched voice, "I'll turn into you!"

I turned to see Ran smiling, "Ran, sorry to break it to you but you too small, plus my parents can't see you."

"Amu, as your would-be self, I can change into a human in order to give you an idea of who you want to be. But it only lasts about fifteen minutes, then I have to rest for an hour or two.

"That's perfect! Just go to dinner and go to bed at night, no one will know!"

"Will Ikuto still be crashing in your room?" Miki whispered in my ear.

"Yes I will," he called up. Curse his amazing hearing. His kitty ears twitched under his fluffy head of hair.

"I want to be Amu!" she said, I instantly understood that she only wanted to be with Yoru.

"Sorry, but I have bubblegum pink hair and orange-peel eyes, not blue hair and eyes!"

She sulked in a corner. Ran floated to the floor then closed her eyes. Just like that, she grew twenty times bigger. She was gorgeous. Her pink hair was straight down to her shoulders with a full fringe, no layers. Her outfit was a pink cheerleading outfit, ankle socks and runners. Her pom-poms were still in her hands. She looked like me but with different hair and pink eyes. She looked at herself and smiled.

"Wow," I said, "Just tie your hair up and you'll look just like me!"

She hopped out the window, but Ikuto nodded his head.

"No one will believe her. She looks nothing like you. You have amber eyes."

"Since when do you notice what colour my eyes are? She's fine."

They walked off and I felt a bit sad to see Ran able to keep up with Ikuto, who was tightrope walking across walls and washing lines. I stared at the moon. At least we could look at the same moon, right? I fell asleep soon afterwards, my three Charas curled up on my lap.