Yep, this is the first epilogue. Let's find out what our lovely Guardians and Tsukiyomi siblings have been doing, shall we?
Four Years Later
Ikuto walked into the jewelers quietly. It was time, time to get the ring that he would ask the love of his life to be his forever. To take on his name; become Amu Tsukiyomi.
They have been dating for almost five years, she is now nineteen while he is twenty four, it is time to take the final step in settling down and ask Amu to be his wife. After graduation he and Amu had moved into their first home, along with Utau and Kukai. It had seemed a great idea, Utau and Kukai had their own apartment and had actually married last year at the ages of nineteen and twenty and had decided to get a real home and so he and Amu had pooled their resources with them and they had bought a three bedroom, two bath home. They had allowed Utau and Kukai to have the master bedroom while he and Amu took the second bedroom which was almost as big as the master and the third was a guest room which also doubled as a music room and the living room doubled as an office. It was a bit cramped but not too much. Nagihiko and Rima were engaged, he had asked her to marry him the day before they graduated, but they wanted a long engagement which was code for until he could get her mother to let her go.
Their lives had worked out well, all nine of them. Tadase was currently a go-getter at a top company and working his way at night through school to become a lawyer, he was actually dating Kikyo. She still, after so many years, was doing her best to become normal again and was going to school to become a social worker while she worked part time at a health clinic as a receptionist.
Yaya had matured, slightly, she was still pretty immature but she knew when to be serious, her immaturity is what people call fun. She was now a preschool teacher and got along great with the kids, her sort-of boyfriend Kairi was still in school but as soon as he was out was planning on going to work as an instructor at a dojo.
Nagi and Rima, besides being engaged, were having a bit of trouble. Still afraid because she had lost her husband Rima's mother held on as tightly as she could. Rima had made it known to just forget her mother and get married anyway, her mother had no say but Nagi knew she loved her mother and wouldn't give up. They had all the time in the world and he was determined. He actually had suggested the idea of a dance studio which taught male and female dominated dance to two of his dance instructors from when he was a child and they immediately jumped on it and started their own dance studio asking him to be a teacher. Rima was in the show business of a TV producing company that mostly dealt with comedy but some drama as well.
Kukai was now a soccer coach for the country's Olympics team. They had offered to let him be a player but he had, shockingly, refused and said he'd rather teach others since it would help them get the gold more than if he was a single player-a single player a team does not make they say. Utau had her own music studio, Devil-Angel Studios, which was a sister company to his own music studio, Black Cat Studios.
Both he and his younger sister had produced quiet a few up and coming artists who were quickly gaining prominence. They both produced every type of music from classic to pop and anything in between. He and Amu had even recorded one CD for each company he on the violin and she on the lyre. They were known as Amulet Lynx and for Devil-Angel Studios they produced one CD.
Transformations
Amulet Heart
Amulet Spade
Amulet Clover
Amulet Diamond
Amulet Fortune
Black Lynx
Death Rebel
Seven Seas Treasure
Lunatic Charm
Seraphic Charm
Sky Jack
Dear Baby
Samurai Dream
Yamato Maihime
Beat Jumper
Clown Drop
Platinum Royal
That CD had been decorated in a splurge of color for each transformation; pink, blue, green, yellow, white, navy, plum, deep blue, blood red, pinkish-white, bright green, baby pink, dark green-blue, violet, dark blue, red, and yellow beige. For Black Cat Studios they had also released one CD, while Transformations was much more upbeat this one was sad and dressed in black and white with a few laces of red.
Memorial
Little Sister
Dear Mother
Departed
Why
Father
Ami
Console
Breathe Again
Fate
Love
Midori
Moving On
Lullaby
That had been healing the last of her wounds and Amu had truly moved on. She would never not miss her mother and sister but it was easier. She actually produced her own magazine which was very popular for everyone. It was called Suits of Cards and had something for everyone. All the layout Amu did herself and it was inspired by her Charas. The cover was white and held a picture of her Charas except they didn't look like a Chara since they had the proportions of a human. It was a monthly magazine and so would change what they were wearing and doing but she almost always had them in the clothing they wore. Each would have a card and show it, Ran pink hearts, Miki blue spades, Su green clovers, and Kiki yellow diamonds, Which number, King, Queen, Jack, or Ace would change month to month as well as where they were positioned on the magazine.
That was how the magazine was broken down; along the edges of the paper was pink than blue than green and then yellow to make it easy to find while the page numbers were black inside a pink heart, blue spade, green clover, or yellow diamond. The first page of each of the sections had the girl as a Chara on a background of a darker version of their color; Ran on red, Miki on navy, Su on forest green, and Kiki on orange. Their poses would change but it'd be the same way.
Ran's section was for sports reviews and upcoming ones coming up that month as well as tips those who do the sports give. Miki's section was art and literature reviews as well as any newly coming out books and recommendations of other books or paintings someone might like based on what they already like. Su's section was cleaning tips and recipes. Kiki's section was music and movie reviews as well as interviews with musicians that she could get to allow her to interview them, usually from either Devil-Angel Studios or Black Cat Studios. The inside of the back cover she would make a small three to five panel comic of the four interacting while in their Chara proportions and everyone thought that she just made them up to personify the four different parts of the magazine except for Ikuto and her friends who all knew the truth.
Things had changed and he was ready for the ultimate change. Seeing the ring that he had custom ordered was well he paid for it and slipped it into his pocket. It was much like the ring Amu wore as Dark Amulet Fortune years ago. It was a silver ring, delicate and feminine as well as simple, in the center there was a multifaceted diamond while on one side was a amethyst cut into a heart, a sapphire cut into a spade, on the other side of the diamond was an emerald cut into a clover and a topaz cut into a diamond. Smirking Ikuto thought it cute that Amu's birthstone was a sapphire and his a topaz.
Entering the house again the ring box weighted heavy in his pocket. He had asked Amu to come to dinner with him and was already dressed in his suit and tie when he went to the jewelers, coming out of their bedroom was Amu and his mouth dropped. She wore a spaghetti strapped midnight blue dress that showed just enough cleavage to make him yearn to see more and the dress ended just shy of her knees and on her feet were black high heels. She wore the bracelet he had given her for her fifteenth birthday and along her neck the Alice in Wonderland charmed necklace he had gotten her for their first Christmas as a couple. She held a black clutch bag and her hair was elegantly let down. Seeing him she smiled and made her way towards him.
She had grown much and filled in all the right places, he wasn't much taller than her anymore and with the heels she only had to lift her head slightly to reach his lips and he could taste the strawberry lip gloss she had on.
Tugging her they made their way to the restaurant. After a sweet candlelit dinner, which was normally not either of their normal wont but it was nice every once in awhile. Afterword they took a nice walk, the sun was set and the stars were out, not many people were around at all. Reaching the park that so much had happened for them, where he would play his violin where no one could hear he tugged her up on the gazebo and looked into her eyes seriously.
Pulling the ring out of his pocket he got down on one knee.
"Ikuto?" He smirked as he heard Amu gasp.
"Amu, I've been in love with you for longer than I realized," here he paused with a chuckle as he opened the box to show the ring."I think I've been in love with you since you fell on top of me, I just didn't' know it. For years I've been daydreaming about you walking down the aisle to me in white, of you with a ring around your finger and a blue or pink haired baby on your hip. Will you make my dreams come true strawberry? Will you become Amu Tsukiyomi, my princess?" He whispered gazing into her eyes as tears ran freely down her face. His gaze was hopeful, he didn't know what those tears meant. Sharking Amu nodded her head yes and Ikuto took the ring and slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand and was almost tackled as Amu wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed.
Making it to their home Amu gave off a squeak as Ikuto picked her up and carried her through the door. "Thresholds will soon be a part of my job description-I better practice." He said with a smirk and Amu let out a giggle as he carried her to their bedroom and laid her on the bed before crawling on top of her.
Kissing her deeply Ikuto held his body up with one hand as he stroked her arm with the other. "I love you so much, Mrs. Tsukiyomi." He said rejoicing in being able to hear the name.
"My last name isn't Tsukiyomi yet." She said with laughter as she kissed his grinning lips.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time princess, don't spoil it for me." He complained with a pout which transformed into a grin as Amu kissed his bottom lip that was sticking out slightly.
"You can call me that if you want to only add a soon-to-be or something in there, I'm not a Tsukiyomi yet." She teased and Ikuto grinned.
"You know, Strawberry," Ikuto said and grinned as he held back a chuckle. "Utau-nee-imoto and Rima-chan are probably going to argue over who the bridesmaid-of-honor will be." At this he let his chuckle out as his fiancee's face got pale.
"Oh no!" Amu said shooting up but Ikuto was still hovering over her so that she just ended up bouncing off of him and back onto the bed, which did interesting things to her cleavage which Ikuto may have been transfixed by for a moment or two. "They will kill each other, and be constantly asking about the plans and-"
Amu was getting more and more worked up and the last thing Ikuto wanted was for her to send herself into a panic attack so he quickly kissed her to snap her out of it.
"Amu, I was just kidding." He promised her kissing her forehead lovingly. "They both love you and wouldn't hold it against you no matter which you choose, or if you don't choose either. In the end the only thing the bridesmaid-of-honor actually does that the others don't is hold your bouquet." He promised kissing her cheek.
"You sure they won't take it personally?" Amu asked and Ikuto nodded happily.
"They love you Amu, and they know that you love them." He said kissing her lips between each word. "They know not to take it personally, you have enough love for the both of them." Ikuto promised nuzzling her cheek. "How about we get some sleep, and tomorrow we can tell everyone that you said yes." Amu nodded in agreement before her eyes widened.
"Won't we need to tell them the question I answered yes to?" Amu asked and her brow furrowed as she saw Ikuto's satisfied expression. "They didn't..." Amu muttered.
"They all knew Amu." He answered with a grin, "all of them knew what I was planning, they even helped with my confidence since I was so nervous to ask you." He said happily and Amu looked at him surprised.
"How long have you been planning to ask me?"
"That depends;" he said shrugging, "I told everyone what I was planning two months ago, I started designing the ring about a week before your eighteenth birthday. I first imagined you in a white gown at Yuu and Yukari's wedding, but I had actually first imagined you as my wife one day back when all your Charas were X Characters and you were cooking and I imagined all of them just being a few children and you with a ring around your finger." Saying that the neko lifted up the strawberry's left hand and kissed the delicate knuckle right underneath the ring. "I realized I was in love with you when I took you to the amusement park-do you remember? Riding the tea cups and you told me it felt like a beginning and why not I make it my beginning to, that was when I realized I had fallen for you. But I was yours from the moment you landed on me as I took a nap in the hole, I just didn't know it yet." He answered and Amu felt a few tears slip from her eyes.
Interlocking the fingers of her left hand with the hand that was still holding it Amu brought the back of his hands to her lips and gave it a light kiss.
My sappy, romantic side came out full force in this. I hope you like it. It was kind of difficult to figure out who was doing what because I wanted it to seem realistic and what each person would be happy to do based on their Charas. And when they are talking about graduation they mean graduation from the public school system, don't know how it is over there so to make it easier I just made it so that it was the same as here in America.
