Morg: Heyo! I've been in the updating mood lately and some of my stories have been neglected.

Ikuto: Poor stories, then again the only ones that matter are rated M.

Amu: That's not true! You pervert.

Morg: Like I said, I'm updating.

Ikuto: Do you want an award?

Amu: A pervert and a jerk. You're going to die alone.

Morg: Harsh!

Ikuto: I'm not dying and neither will you. We'll be together forever, little strawberry.

Amu: I hope not!

Morg: If it were up to me then you would be, but, alas, I don't own you.

~Unspeakable~

The young girl blushed furiously under his gaze. Despite the dark, Ikuto knew that her face was a deep shade of red. "Really Amu, I'll hold you close if it gets too scary for you."

Staring into the dimly lit enclosure for the nocturnal animals, Amu ignored the boy beside her as he offered his assistance for the second time. She was determined to show him that she could handle anything the zoo had to throw at her. "I told you I'm fine. Stop being a pervert."

Holding her hand was the least perverted thing he could do to her down there in the dark, but with Amu being in the mindset of a twelve year old and Ikuto not knowing how long she was going to be awake meant that he couldn't try anything. "I can show you perverted if you want."

"Forget it; you don't listen to what I say anyways."

Making sure that she could see him react as though he was appalled by her words, Ikuto smirked in the dark. "I'm always listening to what you say."

Could have been the fact that he was whispering in her ear, or maybe it was the dark, could possibly have been the fact that she was only twelve and wasn't sure how to respond to his closeness, but his whispered words sent shivers down her spine. There was that heat in her face again. Amu ignored it and kept walking. Soon they were entering what looked to be an underground cave. She glanced around to see a waterfall and stalagmites and stalactites. This place was pretty cool and she was glad that she was there with Ikuto or else the young girl would have just rushed through without actually looking at anything.

Too bad the boy she was with couldn't behave. His firm grip on her hand never loosened as he dragged her from place to place looking at stuff. Amu didn't complain, however, even being twelve she knew that just spelled trouble. Instead she allowed Ikuto to point things out to her before dragging her on to the next display. The open cave was awesome. Amu stood in the center and looked up to the top of the mountain and felt so small.

Ikuto stood next to his 'date' and watched as she stared up at the ceiling. He didn't know why she was doing it, but she looked cute while she did it. "What's so interesting up there? All the bats are stuck behind the nets. They can't even fly freely in here."

Amu just sighed before glancing over at the taller boy. "Just look up, Ikuto. Enjoy the feeling of being small and knowing that the world isn't watching your every move."

"Are you sure you're twelve?"

"Just do it."

With a sigh of his own, Ikuto tilted his head back to look all the way up to the bottom of the top of the mountain that they'd previously walked around upstairs. She was right; looking up at it did make him feel small. "I don't like it."

Amu tore her gaze away again to look at the boy beside her. "Why not?"

"I've gone most of my life as being the insignificant boy on the couch that doesn't respond. I'm ready for the world to look at me. Then again, I don't know if the world is ready for that."

Amu swallowed as Ikuto's eyes met hers. "Do you know how long you have?"

The question seemed innocent to the people around them, but Ikuto knew what she meant. "That's not something we should be talking about on our date." After a few moments of silence and a disappointed yet worried look from Amu, Ikuto answered. "No."

The last part came so softly that for a moment she didn't think he'd actually said it. When it registered in her mind that he'd answered her question, Amu could only hold onto his hand tighter. "I'm sorry."

The tall boy laughed a little despite the fact that he felt the need to cry. "Your case is worse than mine. You haven't even come to terms yet. You could go at any second."

Somehow, this was different for Amu. "Doesn't matter, I want you to be able to live a normal life."

Ikuto had never felt so warm when anyone had spoken to him before. Down there in the dark with no one demanding anything from him, he felt so close to the girl beside him. His mind registered the fact that she was the one that had been with him continuously for the past few months, but he was more touched by the fact that she knew she was just as messed up as he was but wished better for him rather than her. In that moment, Ikuto felt greedy for thinking that he had it rough. Granted he did, but so did Amu and he hadn't been thinking about her.

Wanting to move on and have a lighter mood for their date, Ikuto started forwards, dragging the pinkette through more dark halls so that they could see more animals. "Oh look Amu, there's a cabin up ahead. I wonder where we're going."

Amu stared at the building before them. There were snakes in cages and through the door she could see a bridge. "I-I don't think I want to g-go in there."

Smirking as he pulled her closer to him but didn't slow down his pace, Ikuto leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I promise I'll protect you."

Shudders filled her body, but Amu was truly afraid. She felt her mind starting to shut down and that freaked her out even more. "Ikuto, I-I think I'm going. Don't let me. Ikuto!"

The world around her started going black and memories began flashing through her mind as she tried her best to focus on the boy that was now facing her. Amu felt his arms encircle her but no matter how she tried, she couldn't see him anymore. There she was, standing in her driveway with her dead sister, watching her mother burn inside her house. Tears streaked down her face.

Ikuto called to her over and over again. He blamed himself for what had happened. If only he hadn't pushed her to go inside the damn cabin place. It wasn't even that scary, but it must have been enough for her tired mind. "Come back, Amu! Come back to me! Look at me! Focus, you can do it!"

He knew that she wasn't seeing him anymore, but that didn't stop him from pulling her closer to his body and cooing into her face. One of his hands brushed some of her hair back, but Amu's grip on him was slowly relaxing.

The cops pulled up and the sirens were blaring. Men in yellow sprinted forwards with a hose and started soaking the flames. Amu's sister was scooped up by men in white and a pretty lady with long brown hair seemed to float towards her to make sure she was okay. After that, a man with blue hair led her over to the police car.

"Can you tell me your name?"

Amu knew that voice. She knew that smell, and even if she didn't want to admit it, she liked them a lot. "I-Ikuto."

The blue haired teen held the girl that was now gone. Their date was over. He sighed as he took her hand and led her into the cabin. She followed without hesitation and he missed the slight pull that she'd put on his hand when he'd been leading her around before.

Now that she was out of it, Ikuto felt even more protective of the girl he had in tow. He didn't let anyone get too close to her in case they had impure intentions. Back through the gorilla complex they went, until Ikuto found his way back to the cat complex. He found the people he'd come with sitting on a bench. Midori and Tsumugu looked as though they were having the time of their lives. Kukai sat with his head in his hands. He looked miserable.

"Just so you know, she apologized for leaving and ruining your day before she…"

Kukai bounced to his feet and was instantly hugging both Ikuto and Amu. Despite the fact that Ikuto was seventeen, he let Kukai hug him. "I was so worried!"

"I'm sorry, man."

"Is she okay?"

Ikuto nodded as he pulled Amu forward. Tsumugu looked a little put out about the fact that she was gone, but he was happy that she was okay. "I found her as she went in the Desert Dome. We walked through it together and even went down into the Kingdom of the Night, but something scared her so she reverted. She knew it was coming too and it scared her."

Midori heard the distress in his voice and instantly stepped forwards to put her hand on his shoulder. "There was nothing you could have done to keep her here if her mind was already in the process of shutting down."

Ikuto nodded but didn't feel like that was true. It was still nice to hear that his new mother didn't blame him in the slightest. He had that need to cry again, but he wasn't about to let it happen. No seventeen year old boy cried while holding the hand of a mentally scarred person while standing in the middle of the zoo.

Tsumugu seemed to understand Ikuto's posture and silence. "I think we should call it a day. Let's go home and get something to eat."

Kukai nodded before seizing Amu's other hand and walking with her and Ikuto towards the exit. "I'm glad you guys got to go through there."

"I could tell that she wished that you were with us. I'm really sorry, Kukai."

His best friend waved away his apology. "Don't worry about it. Once we get her sorted out like you are, we can go anywhere we want."

Ikuto smiled his reply. Somehow he wanted to be able to live a normal life now, but he doubted that that was possible yet. A feeling in his gut told him that he was far from being 'healed'. "I'd like that."

Midori and Tsumugu exchanged knowing glances. They were going to have to watch the teen very closely to make sure that everything went well for him. There was no telling what an emotionally disturbed person viewed as right or wrong. For all they knew, Ikuto could be planning to run away from the house. Neither adult wanted that.

Midori took a second to grab Ikuto's free hand and squeeze it gently. "We're here for you. To take care of you, no matter what state of mind you're in."

Thanking the stars that they were at the car, Ikuto felt his tears beginning to run down his face. "You make me feel safe and I know that I can trust Amu with you. Thank you, Midori."

The older lady only smiled again before hugging Ikuto and enjoying the fact that he could actually hug back. "I'm here for you. I wouldn't have taken you in if I wasn't prepared to look after you for the rest of your life."

Now he was blubbering like an idiot. She really needed to stop hitting all the right emotional buttons. "You're too kind to me."

Tsumugu allowed the exchange to happen without stepping in to add anything from his end of their situation. Now that they were done exchanging their hugs and kind words, he decided to make sure that Ikuto knew that he was going to do everything he could to help out as well. "I'll be there to make sure that Midori has everything she needs to make sure that you and Amu keep progressing. Kukai's helping out too. We're here for you Ikuto. Don't worry so much and enjoy this time you have."

Damn them all. Even Kukai's enthusiastic nod of his head made the tears flow freely from Ikuto's eyes. He hated crying. Crying showed that he was weak and that he was feeling hurt, but at the moment he wasn't feeling hurt. There was no man torturing his mother and he wasn't being scolded or abused. He was being loved. For the first time since before they were taken, Ikuto was simply being loved.

.

Morg: There ya go!

Ikuto: I don't cry.

Amu: You just did.

Morg: It's an emotional story, okay!

Ikuto: Still don't cry.

Amu: Review if you think Ikuto cries.

Morg: Well you don't have to but it's nice to hear what you think!

Ikuto: I don't cry! Why aren't you listening?

Amu: Yep, ignore him!