Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, except of course, Su's chara.


The sun rose rather slowly. Amu looked at the ruins from the hospital window. Her mother was asleep. She was still alive thankfully but had many burn marks all over her body. She would survive, the doctors had said, but might wake up in a trauma.

Take a deep breath; it won't bode well to cry now Amu.

"Amu-chan…"

"T-Tadase-kun!" she jumped.

He gave her an apologetic smile. All goodness left her heart. People pitied her. She didn't want anybody's pity! None of them were really sorry, none of them understood her! No one!

She closed up; she was back, back to her old self again, only much more distant.

"I'm sorry Amu-chan, everything…" Tadase made to take her hand. She slapped it away. He was speechless.

"Save it shorty. I don't need to hear it" she gave him a cruel smile.

He was too shocked.

"Amu…"

She turned her head sharply.

Ikuto…

No… don't fall for him Amu. Your family needs you. Don't show weakness now!

"Ah, if it isn't the kitty cat..." She said in a sing-song tone. "Back now, are you? What are you going to do now Ikuto? Save us? Aw, how would you do that? Everything is already in ruins as it is." She smiled.

He didn't react but kept looking at her blankly with eyes that knew. What it was they knew was unknown to Amu but she was too far gone to care. There was no pity in his eyes; that at least, she was sure of.

She stared at him blankly, masking all her bubbling emotions. He stared back, probably taking her in.

He is probably shocked out of his mind that I am not melting after seeing him. Well, news Mr. Arrogant Bastard, I am grown past your silly charms!

A slight smirk played on her lips.

Suddenly out of nowhere, he hugged her.

She whimpered and tried to push him off when she recovered from her shock.

"Leave me you jerk!" she yelled. He said nothing. "Ikuto!" she yelled. "Damn it answer me, you nincompoop!" she growled. When no reply came she tried another technique. She bit his shoulder, hard. He winced but didn't move, not even an inch.

"Ikuto…" Tadase whispered sadly.

"Tadase-kun…" a hand clasped his.

Tadase turned to look at Ran who smiled uncertainly at him. He returned her smile.

Sob. Sob.

Their heads turned to the figure encircled in Ikuto's arms.

Amu couldn't stand her ground anymore. She couldn't stay strong anymore. It was over. Everything was over. She had lost.

"You haven't lost." Ikuto's deep voice whispered in her ear.

She jerked her head up to look at him. His face was blank but his eyes weren't. There was an understanding in them. He knew what she was going through; he understood her pain, the need to stay strong for others and her… childishness.

Fresh tears poured from her eyes, she couldn't stop anymore.


Darkness… I hate it. Where am I?

"I hate you" a voice echoed.

"You killed her" more voices came.

"You're so incompetent." Faces flashed by in front of her eyes.

"So weak, she is nothing like the Hinamori sisters!" So full of scorn and hate. Everyone was scoffing at her.

"Did you see the cupcake she drew? It was so childish and stupid!" They hate her.

"She is a bitch!" I'm not!

"Nakaidou's bitch" No...

"Show-off" I'm sorry...

"I hate you Su" I'm sorry!

"I hate you. You killed her. Incompetent. Idiot. Weak. Useless. Liar. Ungrateful. Burden. Hate, hate, die, leave, burn, you murderer!"

"No! I am sorry!"

She took a deep breath and looked around. Her eyes were glassy but surprisingly her brain was working even now.

It was hot and damp. She was soaked from head to toe. Her top was sticking to her figure and her skirt was wrinkled. Her hairs were sticking to her face and she probably looked a mess but she didn't care right now. She couldn't remember anything, her surroundings weren't familiar either. Where was she?

"Are you alright sweetie?" a soft voice called to her. She jerked her head in such haste she heard a cringe. Being a human was painful.

She opened her mouth to speak, to say something but her voice chords seems to have been cut down. She closed her mouth in failure and could feel her eyes fill up. Oh, why was she so damn weak?!

"Oh my, don't cry love!" the old woman with a chubby face rushed to her and pulled her in a motherly hug. Su cried.

"There, there. Tell me what happened, I might be able to help you." She kissed her forehead sloppily.

The words poured out naturally and easily as Su recounted everything, mind you, without mentioning anything about the charas. she couldn't tell the woman about them, she might think her mental and send her to some psych something, she couldn't remember what the healer -or was it doctor?- was called. Nikaidou-sensei will surely be disappointed in her.

The woman didn't for a bit loosen her hold on her. She drew comforting circles on her back, only straightening up when Su had calmed down.

"I'll go bring you some food. It won't do well for a young lady such as you to fall sick due to hunger, now would it?" the woman smiled warmly.

And as if commanded, Su's stomach growled.

The woman winked at her and Su giggled, surprising herself.


"How did you find me?" Su asked politely as she ate a spoonful of a delicious soup.

"Oh, a young man brought you to me. I always forget his name, so impolite of me. He said you were one of his students." The woman explained fondly as she too ate the soup.

Ba-dump.

Her heart speeded up and a flush adourned her cheeks.

"A young man…?" her voice came out rather squeaky.

Nikaidou-sensei?

Desu! The shugo chara… my… shugo…chara? What? Where is she? Was I dreaming?

Oh no! She looked at her hands and closed her eyes tightly. Her whole being was shaking due to embarrassment. What have I done? What would Nikaidou-sensei think of me now? How could I behave like that? So…

"Right!" a cheeky voice butted in her thoughts, shocking her out of her wits. As soon as Su opened her eyes she was greeted with a chibi blonde beauty in a green gown. She had a tiara just above her bangs which rested on her forehead just above her emerald eyes.

"Wow…" Su couldn't help it. The chara was absolutely gorgeous.

The chara smiled at her.

"I am Hime Filia, pleased to make your acquaintance Su-san." She held her gown daintily and bowed slightly in acknowledgement. Su was shocked speechless.

"Now, Su-chan, it is considered bad manners to stare so obviously at someone" the old woman grinned. Su looked from the chara to the old woman.

"H-how?" her throat sounded dry.

"Just like me and Nikaidou-sensei" a young man, a familiar young man graced her with a smile as he entered the dining room.

"Tsukasa-san!" she exclaimed and stood up politely. "G-good morning…" she stuttered.

"Good morning Su-san. You need not be so formal, please sit down." Tsukasa patted her head.

She gulped and awkwardly did what she was asked to.

"Ah, grandmother, the soup smells as delicious as ever!" Tsukasa gave a boyish grin, surprising Su, as he sat to eat his serving.

"Oh you spoil me child." She replied bashfully.

"For all the right reasons too. I want to thank you grandmother for taking care of dear Su here. I am sure she is grateful to you too." He smiled knowingly at Su.

She blushed and nodded.

"Hai. Grandmother?" she looked at the old woman uncertainly. She gave her an encouraging nod of approval. Su sighed in relief. "Grandmother, I am really thankful to you, if you would like, I want to help you in whatever you need my help with and you too Tsukasa-san, thank you for taking care of me while I was not in my right state and bringing me here." She bowed down to the two.

Tsukasa chuckled.

"I approve!" the forgotten shugo chara smiled nodding at Su. "That was very princess like."

Su sweat dropped while the grandmother and Tsukasa laughed gaily.

"I'm sure you are going to enjoy your time as a human Su with little Filia here."


Enjoyment was far from Su's mind as the whole team of the guardians was gathered to hear Tsukasa-san out on his view of the disaster.

"I dearly apologize for what happened. I hadn't seen it coming. To think everything had finally settled down." He took a calm breath.

"That creature was a result of the Sigmoid curve which has been growing larger day by day. At least that's what grandmother said. Truth to be said, even I am unknown to this part of the universe. I can't say much on this subject except warn you all to tread carefully and stay on your guard. I have no idea how you will be fighting this creature, if it is a result of an egg or not. I have no idea." Tsukasa let everything sink in as he noted all the expression. Everyone looked forlorn.

Amu was holding onto Ikuto's hand, Rima was holding Amu and Nadeshiko's hand. Tadase sat straight in adapt attention and with clear determination. Ran sat next to him with her sisters. Su was playing with the plaids of her skirt. Nikaidou-sensei was sitting with Sanjou-san, Utau and Kukai, with his arm draped around Sanjou-san. Su bit her lip.

"Su" Tsukasa called out. She jumped and turned her head to the Chairman. "It's time you inform them" he smiled gently.

She gulped but did as she was told none the less. Everyone was looking at her. It made her nervous.

"I-I…" her lips quivered. She took a deep breath and tried again. She was utterly useless, wasn't she? She couldn't even tell her friends what had taken place last night.

She unconsciously looked at Nikaidou-sensei. He seemed much more of a stranger than he did when she was still a chara. She turned her face quickly only to catch Tsukasa's eyes. He nodded at her and blinked approval. She smiled uncertainly and straightened her shoulders in determination. She owed Tsukasa-san at least this much.

"Last night…" she cast a fleeting glance at Amu who wasn't looking at her. "Stuff happened and I was left with a Shugo chara. Meet Hime Filia, my Shugo Chara. Filia-chan, they are my friends and…" she glanced at Tsukasa-san again and at her shugo chara before continuing, "… fellow guardians; my team in guarding this city of all the evils that destroy a person's mind and dreams and shatter their persona." She took in everyone's face. There was wonder, surprise, pride and shock on some faces. Nakaidou sensei was shocked to say the least yet he looked as though he had been expecting it. Amu looked as though someone had just punched her; her sisters looked at her proudly. Ikuto, Rima and Nadeshiko too were paying her their attention. Sanjou-san, Utau-san and Kekai-san were thoughtful and Tsukasa-san was grinning boyishly which at the moment went unnoticed by everyone else since they were either staring at her or Filia. She grinned back at him and was awarded with a wink.

"I know many of you are upset, we all have lost someone or something. I don't want that sadness or any misunderstanding to come between us. This is not the time for us to fight each other. This is the time for us to look out for those who are well and to make sure none of the mistakes are repeated again. We have to stay strong for all of us. Grandmother, Tsukasa-san and I have discussed it and decided to divide in teams. The teams will mainly comprise the ones who stay together most of the time so as not to disrupt our routine. These teams will be patrolling the city from time to time." Su informed the already shocked public.

"We have even informed your brother Sanjou-san, he is trying to contact all the Shugo Chara holders all over the world and explaining the situation to them. I am afraid that this problem of ours is not little and might cause harm in other places too. And as Su-san said, you all have been divided into teams. Mashiro-san, Fujisaki-san and Tsukiyomi-kun will be Team 1. Hoshina-san and Soma-kun will be in Team 2. Tadase-kun, Hinamori-san and Miki-san in Team 3 and Ran-san, Su-san and Dia-san will comprise Team 4. Nikaidou-sensei and Sanjou-san will team up with me as the master team. We'll be doing research and such on these creatures."


A/N: Alright I suppose that's all for this chapter. Yes, I realize I haven't updated for a year but I have my reasons, the main reason being that I had a major writer's block and the last year had been quite hectic, what with tests and exams every other day, not to mention we had a school exhibition in January and board exams in late March. I have had a lot to work on and study since then, we had holidays from school till June but the coaching institute guys were drilling us. I am on a sick leave today and just couldn't get myself to do my homework, so hey, why not update the story rather than sleeping in all day? I hope you guys are not too upset with me and are satisfied with this chapter even though there are no Sukaidou moments.

Thanks and sorry to all who haven't lost hope in this story and have been waiting for this update. I couldn't be any more thankful to you guys. Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and alerts. I hope I won't disappoint you.