Chapter Thirty Five
"So, I have to combine my Healing Kiss with Hinamori's Remake Honey?" asked Sakura, holding her golden Egg in her hands. She gently placed it on her bed in front of her and her Charas stood around it.
"That's all!" nodded Mari, grinning. Setsuko sighed, shaking her head.
"This may be more difficult that we had thought," she realised, looking up at her owner.
"Right," Sakura frowned. "Hinamori and Hotori-san know I'm an Easter Agent now," she remembered, closing her eyes and falling back against her pillows with a heavy sigh. "This is my only hope, though! Surely Hinamori won't say no!" the pinkette tried to assure herself, though a somewhat cynical though entered her mind. 'She didn't say no to Ikuto,' she grouched, thinking back to the two looking so close and cosy.
"She can't," agreed Katsumi with a firm nod of her head. "Amu knows how hard it is to lose an Egg, so why wouldn't she help you with yours?"
"You're right," confirmed Sakura, standing from her bed and picking up the broken Egg, placing it on her dresser. "Asking her is all I can do and if she says no I'll have to beg. This Chara was meant to be born and I will not give up!"
"Right!" her Charas agreed.
"Afterwards, though," Sakura scowled, looking at her bedroom window with a glare. 'His entryway of choice,' she mused, thinking of windows in general – as far as she knew, Ikuto had never entered through her bedroom.
"I am not so sure the incident with Ikuto-san was an incident such as the one you are imagining, Saku-chan," the blue Chara of the trio attempted to soothe, but all three knew it was hopeless. Sakura was extremely jealous, and her inferiority complex regarding Amu only served to make the feeling worse.
"Why did he have to choose her?" she asked herself quietly, her saddened eyes looking only at her broken Egg. 'Hinamori's Egg has an 'X'. That's harder to fix than a break, right? My Egg broke accidentally, while Hinamori drove her Egg away. I'm better than her,' she tried to convince herself, only to sigh and bury her face in her hands.
Feeling a sharp coldness on her cheek, Sakura pulled her hands away and stared at her right middle finger, seeing the ring Kairi had given her. She frowned and made a move to take it off – obviously having forgotten before she went to bed – but paused, a small scowl appearing on her face. Amu had even received a gift first from Kairi – her punk-style wrist band.
Sure, the ring was more elegant and appeared to be far more expensive, but aside from her birthstone, the ring wasn't Sakura's style – it was beautiful, without a doubt, but the Haruno girl typically wore no jewellery; mainly because she found it uncomfortable. Amu's gift matched her usual style and personality, proving that more thought had gone into it.
"What is it, Saku-chan?" asked Katsumi, seeing the distressed expression covering her owner's face, as well as the sadness in her eyes.
"It seems as though I only get looked on with eyes filled with wonder, fear, or pity," Sakura realised, her gaze stuck to the ring. "The only person here to ever look at me and truly seem to want to be my friend over Hinamori Amu was Yaya-san, but she's just a friendly person."
"Not true!" rejected Mari, frowning. "What about Kukai?" she challenged and Sakura snorted.
"He was after Hinamori until he found out I was a girl," she recalled, "and then he fainted."
"Passed out," coughed the green Chara, but Sakura merely rolled her eyes.
"Next?" she dared and the Charas thought.
"Kairi-san came straight to you with his issues concerning his mission for Easter," Setsuko remember and Sakura sighed.
"I was the only one who knew his sister was a member," she countered.
"Nagihiko," cried Katsumi suddenly, remembering the long-haired youth.
"That cross-dresser only noticed me after he fell all over Hinamori, claiming that she was 'Nadeshiko's' best friend," the pinkette scoffed.
"Iku –"
"Don't," Sakura interrupted Mari with a groan as she placed a hand over her eyes, falling back onto her bed. A tear fell down her cheek. "Hinamori is taking Ikuto, and I still need her help. I have to ignore what I saw in favour of begging her to cast Remake Honey – it's already hard enough without you mentioning him."
{-}
Ikuto tried to catch Sakura on her way to school, as he had done when he had asked her about Easter and her father. It seemed, however, that she was either running late or early. When he came to the cross section he typically stopped her at when he needed to talk to her – also the place he had played her a violin song for her birthday – there was no sign on pink hair.
"Over there – nya!" cried Yoru, spotting a head of pink. Ikuto whirled around, fully prepared to tackle Sakura and hold her in place until she listened, when he noticed that this girl was much taller than Sakura, with honeyed eyes rather than green.
"This isn't happening," he sighed, looking around and finally finding a tree to hide in until Amu passed by. The taller pinkette had become a thorn in his side, what with constantly putting herself – and the Humpty Lock – in danger. If it weren't for him, the lock would be in Easter's hands and for all he knew Sakura could have been made disposable.
He would never allow that to happen.
Sakura would be free of Easter, but through her own choice and not because they were kicking her to the curb. If she had no job at Easter then she would have to leave the apartment complex, and from there he didn't know if she would actually have a place to go. Ikuto couldn't allow the reluctantly sweet girl to be homeless and unable to afford schooling, even if he had to take her in and work twice as hard in the awful company to put her through school.
Ikuto shook this idea from his head, knowing it was completely implausible. For one thing, he wouldn't have been allowed to stay, unless she slept on the sofa or he snuck her past his mother and she shared his room. Also, Sakura probably hated him right now, and so would never accept his offer to live with him – and his mother – let alone his money. She would see it as charity, and would probably feel insulted; this would then make her hate him more.
"As if she probably doesn't hate me enough," he groaned, placing a hand over his eyes.
"There she is Ikuto – nya!" announced Yoru, pointing rapidly. Ikuto leapt out of the tree, landing directly in front of Sakura, unable to meet her eye.
Both stayed still, completely, for a moment. Even Katsumi was deceptively blank, not squealing or fawning over Yoru as usual. Concerned by this change in attitude, Ikuto looked up and midnight blue clashed with grassy green.
There was no anger or hate in her eyes, just hurt and confusion.
Stunned at the revelation that Sakura, in fact, did not despise his very existence, Ikuto couldn't move to stop her.
Sakura walked past him to school.
{-}
Amu and Tadase looked at each other nervously as they watched Sakura walking into school, looking around. She spotted Amu and seemed to hesitate, taking a step towards her before retreating into the school. Her Charas flew behind her, throwing the Guardians sad looks. Rima, Yaya, and Kairi had all witnessed this, and they looked at their King and Joker, confused.
"What's going on with Sakura-chi, Amu-chi?" asked Yaya.
"It seems strange – dechu," hummed Pepe.
"Well," Amu sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "It seems that Haruno is working for Easter."
"What?" yelled Yaya; so loudly that several students stopped to stare at the group. Unnoticed, Kairi looked away, a guilty expression on his face. "Saku-chi can't be in Easter – she's nice, and kind, and thoughtful, and she's never done anything bad!"
"She was there last night, helping whoever was gathering the X-Eggs," Tadase said sadly, looking down.
"It didn't seem like she wanted to hurt anyone, though," Amu recalled, staring at the sky in thought. "She faked an injury when she realised that we wouldn't fight her, and dropped the bag of X-Eggs so they could get out and I could use Open Heart on them. I don't think Haruno's bad, but I know for sure she's a part of Easter."
"She said so herself," nodded Ran, tears in her eyes.
"She looked so sad – desu," Suu hiccupped.
"And Katsumi, Setsuko and Mari looked hurt, like fighting against Amu-chan was painful," Miki added.
"Whatever's going on with Haruno, we need to help her," Amu decided, everyone agreeing. "For now, though, we have another problem, too."
"The teaser CDs are drawing out X-Eggs," Tadase picked up, telling the other Guardians of the trouble from last night as they all headed over to the Royal Garden.
{-}
When Sakura arrived at school, her eyes found Amu almost instantly. She was just standing there, and the smaller pinkette would have been fully able to go over and explain her situation without any problems. However, she then noticed that Amu was standing with the Guardians, and both she and Tadase were giving her rather wary, unsure looks. Shaking her head, she turned and walked inside the school building.
"Saku-chan!" yelled Katsumi in a scolding tone, "That was your chance! You should have asked her then!"
"I couldn't," Sakura whispered, rubbing her eyes and placing a gentle hand on her bag. The golden egg was lying inside, wrapped up carefully. "She was with the others – I'm going to have a hard enough time asking Hinamori for help without them hanging around."
"We have to ask her," said Setsuko, her eyes downturned.
"Yeah!" agreed Mari loudly, "I'm tired of being the youngest!" she joked, grinning as she floated down to the bag, patting it. "I'm gonna pick on you," she promised with a wide smile as she laughed. Sakura smiled too, watching as all three of her Charas cooed over their unborn sister and she felt her heart break.
She couldn't be a coward.
Sakura knew her Egg could be healed, that her unknown Chara would be born and live happily as a part of their little family. All she had to do was ask Amu for help. This was the hard part, she realised with a wince. Asking for help was something she had never done – it wasn't in her to accept her own weakness when it was avoidable, but this time she knew it was not.
She would ask for help.
...First though, she would go to class.
As she made her way to her classroom, her mind wandered to Ikuto.
When he had fallen into her path, she had considered for a moment the option of just running away, far away, and escaping the argument she knew would come as soon as one of them spoke. However, he seemed to freeze when their eyes met, and she was able to make a stealthy escape.
Sakura had no doubts in her mind that he would try again – knowing her luck; he would be on her sofa when she returned home.
Trying her hardest to remove him from her thoughts, Sakura took out her school equipment and sat at her desk.
Jealousy would only halt her asking Amu for help.
After all, the taller pinkette seemed to have it all, but if she could forget about Ikuto, she could forget about one more think Amu had that Sakura wasn't good enough for.
{-}
First Period was a bore, as always. So, Sakura entertained herself by allowing Katsumi and Mari to play out a battle – with Mari being an X-Egg and Katsumi being Lonely Heart. When Setsuko floated in to play a rogue who deviously stole the Egg, her blood ran cold.
This was the company she was a part of.
Easter did this – steal X-Egg for their personal gain. They ignored the hopes and dreams of every child they stole from, sometimes destroying their distressed Heart's Eggs in the process. Tears sprung to her eyes when she realised how close she had come to helping them on the night she had confessed to Amu that she was an enemy.
Setsuko had lost the battle – as Easter tends to do – and had commented on how she preferred to play the damsel or Lonely Rose. So, the Charas switched around and though Mari complained about being a damsel in distress, Sakura was glad that there was no villain this time other than X-Egg-Katsumi, who found against Lonely Rose Setsuko.
Sakura smiled this time. Perhaps her Gold Chara would like playing the damsel, or maybe she – like the others – preferred playing her Chara Nari role. She may even enjoy adding a new role to the game, something the trio had not yet added to their playing.
With every thought of her unborn Egg, Sakura's drive to approach Amu became stronger and stronger until, eventually, she was almost leaping out of her seat in the middle of class and kidnapping Suu and Amu to perform Remake Honey. She only hoped that Amu would agree, but knew now that nothing was too low for her to consider – she would beg, if she had to.
When Second Period ended, Sakura used the break between classes to find Amu and carry out her plan. She walked up and down the Sixth Grade hallways, unable to find the taller pinkette. So, she descended the stairs and checked the Fifth Grade corridor, and then the Fourth Grade level. The small pinkette had very almost given up her search on this level and walked down to Third Grade when she found her.
Sakura turned a corner and paused, hiding back around it when she saw Amu and Rima, both with a collection box, taking the X-CDs from the students. She bit her lip and sighed, shaking her head as she straightened up and took a CD from the hands of an unknowing First Year. They were about to complain, but backed down when they saw that it was Haruno Sakura who had taken it.
"Saku-chan," whispered Katsumi, watching her owner bravely walk up to Amu and tap her shoulder.
"Yes?" responded Amu, turning. She glared when she saw that it was Sakura behind her, and the smaller pinkette quickly dropped the CD into the collection box.
"We need to talk," she said firmly, her expression set and leaving no room for argument. Sakura bit the inside of her cheek to stop from scowling at the Ikuto-stealer, remembering that she needed help not a fight.
"Right," Amu nodded, putting her box down. "I'll be back soon," she said to Rima, smiling. The two pinkettes then walked down the halls, side by side, ignoring the whispers of curious students as they strode up to the roof.
Sakura led the way once they got to the final flight of stairs; she pushed on the release bar, opening the door, and the two girls walked out to stand in the centre of the roof. They faces each other, neither speaking, both with blank expressions on their faces. Their Charas were beside them, and it seriously looked as though they were about to duel.
"Why did you join Easter?" asked Amu at last, and both girls dropped their blank expressions. Amu adopted a concerned look, while Sakura just looked upset.
"Personal reasons," she muttered and Amu frowned.
"Is it because of Ikuto?" she accused and the smaller pinkette looked up sharply, scowling.
"I haven't seen Ikuto since I saw him with you," Sakura hissed, lying but still causing Amu to flinch, though the smaller girl was able to calm down. "After my father...you know...I had trouble with money. I was going to lose my apartment, my tuition, and have no money for food and clothes and stuff. They'd already invited me a while ago, but I turned them down. I only accepted because I was desperate."
"We could have helped you!" yelled Amu, storming across the roof and grasping Sakura's shoulders tightly. "I thought we were your friends, yet you tell us nothing!"
"You seem to do a good job of snooping around anyway!" roared Sakura, her original goal lost to her anger. "You had no right to break into my private records and find out about my life! I didn't tell you because I didn't want any of you to worry, because I care! I can't...I don't know how to accept help from friends," she admitted, heavy tears falling down her cheeks. "I never learned to ask for help – I was raised to be by myself, always, waiting for my Papa to come home. This time...This time he didn't, and I didn't know what to do."
"Sakura," Amu called and the smaller girl looked up, eyes still wet with unshed tears, and Amu smiled, pulling her into a hug. "We care, too," she told her, "and you never need to worry about asking for help. When there's something wrong, friends will always be there for you, no matter what."
"I'm with Easter now, though," she sniffed, pulling back and wiping her face on her sleeve. 'And I don't know if I can forgive you,' the girl added mentally as another flash of Ikuto's face flitted through her mind.
"Quit," said Amu without any hesitation.
"I live in their apartment building," the girl continued, 'Where he no longer visits me. Is he at your place, Hinamori?'
"Move out," retorted the taller girl with the same conviction. "You can move in with me!"
"You don't have the space," laughed Sakura, smiling weakly. 'I bet Ikuto's there all the time, taking up any spare room by lounging around and – stop it! He's not the focus right now!'
"Then live with Yaya or something," she shrugged, not giving up. "Tell the school Chairman what's going on – I'm sure he'll help out. He's always looking out for the students. I'll even go with you, if you want."
"I do," Sakura nodded, stepping forwards and taking Amu's arm as the girl began to walk towards the door. "Thank you, Amu."
"What're friends for?" giggled the taller girl, looking down. "Hey, did you hit a growth spurt or something? You've gotten a lot taller!"
"Ah, you noticed?" smiled Sakura, holding a hand above her head, "I'm 4'7" –nearly as tall as Yaya now! Not long until I'm taller than you, Amu!"
"It is gonna be a while before you hit 5'0", Sakura," Amu grinned, shaking her head slightly. "That's a really nice ring," she continued, noticing it on Sakura's hand as they walked down the stairs, arm-in-arm.
"I know," laughed Sakura, holding her hand out. "Kairi-san gave it to me."
"Really?" gasped the taller girl. "So, you two are actually dating?"
"Not in a million years."
"Still stuck on older guys?"
'Just like you, right?' thought Sakura with a mental sneer, but she shook it off and continued to smile.
{-}
Ikuto sat in his Third Period class, staring out of the window with his pen hanging between his lips. Yoru was off somewhere, as usual, and he found himself alone in a class full of people. A thousand thoughts were running through his mind, all focused on one this – and it wasn't the geometry test his teacher was droning on about.
Sakura – her bright green eyes, her long pink hair, her wounded expression when she saw him.
His eyes moved from the clouds to his desk and he sighed, the pen falling to the wood. All eyes swivelled to him at the noise and Ikuto looked up, glaring at his teacher. The man frowned and continued teaching, and a few sniggers travelled around the room. Most of the girls were now openly staring at the handsome student and he wished he'd skipped school, as per usual.
The bell sounded and Ikuto was the first to leave, having nothing to gather or pack away. He walked out of the classroom door, down the halls and stairs, and out of the front entrance, his eyes fixed on the school gates. He was so close now he could taste the freedom. Just before he'd made it off school grounds – fully intent on leaving and never coming back – a voice called out to him.
"Ikuto-san!" a girl's voice sounded from behind him. Ikuto's first thought was to ignore it and keep going, but he reluctantly turned around anyway.
"What is it, Itsumi-san?" he asked lazily and she blushed. Dread filled Ikuto at that point, knowing what was coming. The High School girl fiddled with the hem of her skirt and bit her lip, meeting his eye for a moment before her gaze fell to the ground.
"I – I really like you," she confessed and it took everything in him to stop from groaning. This was not what he needed right now. At least, this wasn't coming from the right person.
'As if Sakura would ever confess like that,' he thought to himself, not daring to enter the territory of whether or not Sakura would even think of confessing to him. 'She may just confess to that Soma brat,' Ikuto scowled and the girl before him looked frightened, thinking the expression was directed at her.
"I-Ikuto-san?" she stuttered, now even more unsure of herself, and he snapped out of his thoughts, focusing on the girl. Her light blonde hair reminded him of Utau – another confession he shuddered to think of – while her green eyes brought up thoughts of the girl he wished was confessing to him right now.
"I'm sorry, Itsumi-san," he said blankly, shaking his head. Tears filled the girl's eyes as he rejected her, and she spun around, running back into the school crying. "Why do they always cry?" he hissed, covering his face with his hands.
"Break hearts, Tsukiyomi?" mused another voice, this time a boy, and Ikuto looked over his shoulder. Sandy hair and a Middle School uniform clued him in and Ikuto snorted.
"Shouldn't brats be in school right now?" he asked and Kukai rolled his eyes.
"You wouldn't be saying that if Sakura came to talk to you," the boy retorted quickly. Ikuto drew back, having no reply to that, and Kukai smirked.
"You came to talk to me?" asked Ikuto, his eyes narrowing as he grinned mockingly. "Are you here to confess too? Sorry, but I'm afraid –"
"You're really not my type," interrupted Kukai, his face angry. "I came to ask what you did to Sakura," he explained, knowing he had hit the mark when Ikuto flinched. The Middle School student had noticed – when Sakura was at his house – that she seemed to draw back whenever Ikuto was mentioned.
"I didn't do anything," muttered Ikuto, looking at the school building in distain.
"Then why was she so upset yesterday?" he persisted, not expecting Ikuto to whirl around and growl at him.
"She misunderstood a situation," the older teen said scornfully. "It has nothing to do with you, and I've had enough people ruin my day without you accusing me of hurting the one person I try to help more than anyone!"
"What have you ever done to help her!" roared Kukai. Ikuto sneered at him, bending until they were face-to-face.
"Did you know Sakura joined Easter?" he challenged and Kukai's eyes widened at the news. "Didn't think so," he mocked. "Well, I'm the reason she rarely got jobs. Every time they were thinking of assigning something to her, I picked up the job and did it before she caught wind of it. Every theft, espionage, and sabotage mission she would have been assigned fell to me, so that I could protect her."
"You –" Kukai cut his accusation off, knowing he was now fighting a losing battle.
"What did you ever do for her?" the teen continued, raising an eyebrow as he backed off slightly. Kukai looked down and sighed – he had listened, given her some half-baked advice from time to time, and since he'd entered Middle School he'd basically ignored her unless her situation was shoved in his face.
"You're right," admitted Kukai, but determination was written over his face rather than defeat, "but that doesn't mean I'll just give in. Sakura can't hear your name without flinching, yet she sat down to eat with me and my family just yesterday. I won't lose to you, Tsukiyomi."
"You're naive, brat," Ikuto snorted, shaking his head. "She ran to you once, but there have been so many times she's called for my help, come running to me, and you may have had a little family dinner with her, but she and I have actually sat on her sofa, sharing pasta and watching a movie."
"So?" asked Kukai, frowning. He had a lot of catching up to do.
"So, you've already lost," the older teen told him, patting his head. Kukai batted his hand away and turned, storming off and going back to school.
Shaking his head, Ikuto left the school grounds and walked towards his usual field, where he would no doubt find Yoru. There he would spend the rest of the day asleep, comfortably resting against the soft grass, and then he would find Sakura and explain everything to her.
He couldn't lose her to the brat for two reasons.
Firstly, Sakura meant too much to him to see her running off with another man.
He smiled, thinking of their spats and fallings out, but then the unspoken forgiveness and fresh meals sneakily put in the fridge before he came over.
Secondly, their friendship meant too much to her to allow someone else to come between them.
{-}
"So, you can't fix it?" hummed Amu, looking at the broken Egg sadly. They were both in the Royal Garden after school ended, where Sakura had spilled out her reason for seeking Amu in the first place. She had put her golden Egg on the table between them, sitting in her old seat, and they had talked about it at length.
"No, and that's why I need your help," Sakura told her, looking towards her gold-eyed friend. Amu looked up and nodded.
"Let's go," she smiled, about to Chara Nari when the other Guardians walked in, Yaya spotting Sakura instantly.
"Spy!" she yelled, rushing forwards and tripping, all the CDs in the box she was carrying spilling out over the ground, "Wah! Injured!" she cried, nursing her aching knee.
"It's bad – dechu!" wailed Pepe over the superficial wound.
"Haruno-san," Tadase spoke loudly, "what're you doing here?"
"It's okay," Amu assured them. "Sakura explained everything, and it's getting fixed. Her being with Easter was a misunderstanding, but I'll explain more later on."
"What is she doing here?" asked Rima, eyeing the smaller of the pinkettes cautiously.
"My Gold Egg broke," she told them sadly and the Guardians walked over, looking down at her Egg. "Katsumi, Setsuko and Mari figured out a way that we might be able to fix it, but I need Amu's help."
"We're going to combine Remake Honey and Healing Kiss," Amu told them and they all gasped.
"Those are two very powerful manoeuvres," said Kairi, his eyes wide as he looked between the pink-haired girls. "We have no idea what combining them might lead to."
"Hopefully, a fixed Egg," Amu smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Suu," she called, glancing at her green Chara.
"Us too, Mari," Sakura smiled.
"Watashi no Kokoro," Amu spoke.
"Watashi no Kokoro," copied Sakura.
"Unlock!" they called in union, twisting their hands in front of their chests.
Mari and Suu floated together, their Eggs closing around them, and the girls drew them back into their hearts.
Green sparkles surrounded Sakura completely, covering her form. Starting at her feet, the sparkles shifted to create her outfit and then exploded from her body to reveal her clothes. On her feet, she wore green leather boots, and the sparkles on her legs blew off to reveal rainbow socks. Twisting in the air, Sakura moved her hips, the sparkles flying off to reveal a pair of dark green khaki shorts that folded at her thighs.
She spread her arms suddenly, the sparkles exploding from her chest to show a green, cross-strapped top that tied at the back on her neck with darker green patches all over it. The sparkles travelled down her arms and around her neck at the same time, flying off to show green striped arm socks and three green bangles on each arm, and a compass and goggles around her neck. The sparkles then gathered her hair up into two long pigtails.
In one final explosion of green sparkles, a large swirl appeared on her head, attached to a headband. Sakura spun around, her arms up, and she struck three poses – one of a mid-air kick, one of a punch, and the final one of a devious smile, before she crossed her arms and winked.
"Chara Nari: Lonely Fighter!" she and Mari called.
"Chara Nari: Amulet Clover!" the taller pinkette and Suu called, also finishing their transformation. The two green transformations stood next to each other, and nodded once. Sakura placed the broken Egg on the ground and the Guardians moved back as the girls placed themselves at a distance, on either side of the Egg.
"Remake honey!" called Amu, directing it straight towards the broken Egg.
"Healing Kiss!" cried Sakura at the same time.
Their attacks combined and filled the area with a bright light and everyone held their arms in front of their faces, their eyes narrowing at the blinding brightness of the light. The plants, Golden Egg, Charas, and people all began to glow as everything was fixed and restored to normal. The flowerbeds surrounding them seemed to brighten, filled with more life than ever before, the Charas felt themselves fill with warmth and the people felt refreshed. Sakura's broken golden Egg floated between the girls, glowing brightly.
"My Egg," gasped Sakura, watching in awe as the cracks slowly healed. Another formed around the middle of the Egg and Sakura panicked, Mari leaving her as she returned to normal. The light faded and Sakura stared at her Egg, watching it open as a Chara was revealed.
Her hair, black like her sisters, was long and loose, falling to her hips in waves of ebony. The clothing she wore comprised of a white dress with a sheer gold tabard, held close to her waist by a gold belt. On her feet were ballerina shoes, also gold, and atop her head was a headband – in gold as well – which held yellow sun symbol in the same way the other Charas' symbols were shown.
"Sakura-chan," the Chara smiled, opening her eyes to reveal a warm, dream-hazed gold.
"You're here," Sakura whispered in joy, tears collecting in her eyes.
"I am very glad that you never lost faith in me, Sakura-chan," the Chara said, floating to her master and remaining at face-level with the awed pinkette. "My name is Mitsu, and I am very happy to be here with you and my sisters."