Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara!

Chapter 4

First Outing

Amu was a mess. She had woken up early, around six in the morning, unable to sleep because she was so excited. She was going out today! OUT! She would finally get a taste of freedom, to meet her subjects at a closer distance than just from a balcony…and then she remembered who she had to go with.

Prince Ikuto, who was still a mystery to her, was the one who had suggested this outing in the first place, and the only reason both of her parents were letting her go. So technically, they were still being over-protective.

She sighed, going through her closet for the third time that morning. Since she had been cut off from most of the outside world her entire life, she didn't have many casual dresses, since she wore most of her outfits to formal events or her lessons. She decided on a black and white dress, entire dress was black, but there was a white underskirt that could be seen through a v cut in the fabric in the front of the dress A white ribbon also tied around her waist and she wore black ballet flats. She put two black x-shaped clips on the left side of her head to complete the look, only wearing a tiny bit of makeup.

After checking her appearance in her floor-length mirror, she nodded in approval and left her room.

"Good morning, your highness." Rima curtsied as soon as Amu exited her room.

Amu curtsied back, smiling. "Good morning."

"Well YOU'RE in a good mood." Rima smirked. "Does this have anything to do with a certain prince?"

Amu rolled her eyes. "No." She beamed. "I can't believe it! I get to meet people! PEOPLE!"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Rima joked.

Amu laughed. "Of course not, you know what I mean."

After breakfast, Amu waited in the front entry room for the last person she wanted to see at that moment. 'He IS the reason I'm even going out…' She shook her head. "Whatever." She grumbled.

"Princess? Prince Ikuto is waiting for you in the stables." Kukai said after entering the entry room and giving a slight bow.

Amu nodded. "Thank you." The two walked to the stables where Ikuto was already on his horse. Amu had ridden a horse only in the private arena at the back of the palace, but was good enough to ride a horse at a walk through the town. She nodded at Ikuto. "Tsukiyomi-san."

Ikuto nodded back. "Hinamori-san."

Amu mounted her horse so she was riding side-saddle.

"Ready?" Ikuto asked.

Amu nodded, smiling. "Yes."

The stable doors were opened, and they were off. The kept their horses at a walking pace as they left through the palace gates, with only Kukai and Ikuto's friend, Tadase, behind them.

Amu couldn't look at everything fast enough, her head constantly looking in a different direction as villagers greeted them. She smiled at everything, even pointing at things and telling Ikuto to look.

Ikuto was surprised to see this happy girl beside him. "So this is the real you." Ikuto smiled, amused by her behavior.

Amu blushed lightly, quickly looking away from him. "…it's just exciting, okay?"

Ikuto chuckled. "I'm glad you're excited. Would you like to get down and look around?"

Amu glanced at him and nodded.

As they dismounted their horses by a tree to the side of the village, Kukai and Tadase stayed on their horses, holding onto the other horses' reigns so that they would stay with them.

Ikuto offered Amu his arm, but she shook her head and said, "I'll be fine." He shrugged and walked next to her.

Just like when they had rode into the village, they were greeted by many villagers, all bowing and curtsying.

Amu smiled at them all, nodding back to all of them.

"Princess Amu?" A small girl asked.

Amu smiled at her and bent down so that she was at her eye level. "Yes, child?"

The girl smiled at her. "You're really pretty."

Amu smiled more. "Thank you. So are you, I like the braid in your hair."

The little girl giggled. "Thank you!" She noticed Ikuto and smiled, seeing his crown, and curtsied. "Is this prince your friend, princess Amu?"

Amu looked unsure of what to say. "Uh…"

"Yes, I'm her friend, from the neighboring kingdom of Easter." Ikuto said, placing a gentle hand on Amu's shoulder.

Amu froze at the contact, since her dress had spaghetti straps and he wore no gloves. She could have sworn some sort of electric shock had gone through her body, but she pushed that aside and smiled back at the little girl. "What is your name?"

"My name is Ran. And these three are my younger sisters-we're each a year apart." She motioned to the other three girls behind her. Ran had red hair.

"My name is Miki." A girl with blue hair curtsied.

"My name is Su." A girl with green hair curtsied.

"And my name is Dia." A girl with blond hair curtsied.

"Don't forget me!" A boy with black hair said behind them. "I'm Yoru! I'm their brother!"

The girls smiled, feeling bad for forgetting he was there. "Eh heh…sorry, Yoru."

"It's very nice to meet you all." Amu smiled.

A teenage girl approached them. "Oh, there you all are!" She noticed Amu and Ikuto and curtsied. "I'm sorry, these five are all orphans at the orphanage, they ran off during play-time."

The children frowned. "Sorry."

Amu smiled at the teenager. "It's alright, I'm glad to meet you all."

"How come you don't come out down here?" Miki asked.

"Miki, don't pry." The teenager said.

Amu shook her head. "It's fine." She looked at Miki. "It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you someday, ok?"

Miki beamed and nodded.

"Alright, children, come on, snack time." The girl said.

"May I ask your name?" Amu asked the girl before they left.

The girl looked back at Amu and smiled. "My name is Yaya, and I help my parents run the town orphanage. You are welcome to visit anytime." She then hurried to follow the children who had ran ahead of her after they had waved good-bye to the royals.

"You're good with kids." Ikuto commented.

Amu shrugged. "I've helped raise Ami. I guess it just comes naturally for me." She noticed a nearby market, wandering in that direction.

Ikuto followed close behind her. "Town markets are good, everything is usually at least a couple hours fresher than at the palace because the goods come here before being sent to the palace. I hear that applies to both of our kingdoms."

Amu looked at all of the different fruits and vegetables. She found an apple stand and smiled.

"Good morning, your highnesses. How may I help you?" The merchant smiled as he bowed slightly.

Amu curtsied back. "How much for two apples?"

The man shook his head. "For your first time in town? Free! Your highness, you don't need to pay for these." He handed her two large red apples. "Enjoy!"

Amu surprised Ikuto by holding an apple out to him. "…here."

Ikuto blinked, genuinely surprised, since she obviously didn't want anything to do with him. "…thank you." He accepted the apple and held it in his hand. "Thank you." He repeated himself.

Amu thanked the merchant and began walking again, taking a bite of her apple without answering Ikuto, not wanting to say something she would later regret in front of any of the townsfolk. She smiled at the apple after chewing and swallowing. "It's delicious!"

Ikuto chuckled, having taken a bite of his own apple. He nodded in agreement as he chewed and swallowed. "Yes, it's very good."

As they reached a section of the market with different fabrics, Amu lightly moved her fingers from fabric sheet to fabric sheet. "So, Prince Ikuto?"

"Yes?"

"Do you do this much? Go out into town?" She asked.

Ikuto nodded. "My sister and I go into town quite often to greet our subjects. We've been doing so since I was ten years old."

Amu smiled a little. "Sounds great."

Ikuto looked at her as she looked at some yarn. "Do you knit?"

Amu shrugged. "A little, my mother has been teaching me for a couple months now."

They reached a table with lots of jewelry on it. One necklace immediately caught her attention. It was a silver chain with three beads on it-a pink in the middle and a white on each side of the pink bead.

Ikuto saw her admiring the necklace. He looked at the merchant and pointed at it.

The merchant smiled and nodded. "We made this one yesterday. The white beads are actually real pearls. You may have it, if you like, we have a couple more just like it that we've made."

Ikuto nodded, picking up the necklace. "Thank you."

Amu frowned. "What are you doing?"

Ikuto put on his "princely" smile. "Turn around and hold up your hair."

Understanding, Amu blushed lightly and did as she was told, feeling his fingers brush against her skin as he put the necklace on her before closing the clasp.

Ikuto took a step back and she turned around. He smiled kindly at her. "It looks beautiful on you."

Amu looked away from him. "You're just saying that."

Ikuto frowned. He walked up beside her and slowly took her hand in his. "Do you really think that?"

Amu jumped a little, surprised by the feeling of his warm hand on hers. "Y-Yes?" She looked up into his serious eyes. "Don't you? I mean, we still barely know each other, and on top of that this wasn't our ide…"

Ikuto cut her off. "So? I can call somebody beautiful if I choose to and mean it."

Amu looked at him with wide eyes, lips parted. She quickly pressed her lips together, looking away from him. "…What else is there to see here?"

And as Ikuto led her through town, not once did Amu move to let go of his hand.

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