SECOND LAST CHAPTER BEFORE THE EPILOGUE PEOPLE!

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Chapter 23: Goodbye?

Amu's POV

I woke up to the familiar smell of the bedsheets in my room. I groggily scanned the area and found myself back in the room of our mansion.

Honey colored light rays poured from the windows of the room, alerting me that it was probably some time early in the morning.

The room was still, the only sound disturbing the quiet of the morning being the soft chirping of birds singing their morning tunes. It all seemed so serene, so peaceful.

I wish I could've stayed like this forever.

But, judging by my dream, forever was out of the question. Even a few days of serenity seemed so far our of reach.

"Amu," a husky voice whispered and I blinked in shock.

I turned to my side and saw him sitting on the couch, his hair disheveled and his mouth gaping open as he stared at me.

How had I missed him sitting there?

"Ikuto?" I stammered.

He walked slowly over to me as he sat on the bed and gently reached out to cup my face, searching my eyes as though afraid it might be a dream.

When his fingers brushed against the warmth of my skin, however, he laughed happily embraced me in a tight hug. And, before I knew what was going on, his lips were pressed against mine.

I immediately responded, wrapping my arms around his neck as he moved closer on the bed, his arms tight around my waist.

Happiness and relief flooded my system as I tangled my hand through his hair.

He was alive. He survived. He was okay.

When we pulled away, he looked at me hungrily, as if he was still drinking in the fact that I was alright.

And I was doing the same.

"Are you okay?" he fretted, "You've been out for awhile."

Just like that, all my elation disappeared and dread replaced it as my heart pounded nervously in my chest.

"How long is 'awhile'?" I asked shakily.

He looked away and I felt fear start to settle into my veins.

What if I had been asleep for years? The task the Keepers assigned me to do it could barely be put back a week, much less years…

I was pulled out of my worrying when he finally answered me.

"Five days," he sighed.

"Five days?!" I screeched as I shot upwards.

My head spun as I quickly threw my legs off the bed in a futile attempt to stand up, only I would've ended up sprawled on the floor had Ikuto not caught me in time.

"Amu!" he yelled in worry as he quickly scooped me up in his arms and laid me gently on the bed again.

My blood pounded in my head as horror filled me. I've been asleep for five days. Five days.

I had less than one week to set out on my task and I had wasted five days unconscious.

"Be more careful!" Ikuto scolded, "You just woke up after five days of being in a coma! Your body is weak! It needs to rest!"

I didn't pay him any heed.

"How did I get here?" I panicked, "The battle…what happened?" I asked, though, if my dreams were right I already knew the answer.

I just prayed like hell that they were wrong.

A shadow crossed Ikuto's face as he looked away and my fears were confirmed.

My heart plummeted to the ground.

"He got away, didn't he?" I sighed.

He nodded grimly, "During the fight, when you unleashed that power, we all were knocked out for awhile, and when we came to, all the other Fallen Angels had been purified, but he had escaped," he frowned.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "If we had reacted faster, maybe he wouldn't have gotten away."

I waved him off, "It's not your fault. He's crafty, I'm not really all that surprised he got away."

I'm not surprised at all.

Ikuto sighed and moved over, sitting at the edge of the bed.

"What's bothering you?" he asked, his blue eyes piercing me sharply.

"Nothing," I said, forcing a smile.

He just glared at me.

"I've known you for eons. Don't insult me, Amu," he said sternly. "I know when you fake a smile. So don't bother."

The smile dropped from my face as I sighed, I should've known he would've looked past any mask I set up.

He always did.

When we first met, I was new to my role and nervous about interacting with other people for the first time (I hadn't even met the girls at that time, it was absolutely traumatic), so I put up a front, trying to act aloof and uncaring, or Cool & Spicy as everyone else had seemed to dub it. Ikuto saw through it immediately and began teasing me, pushing my buttons and getting me to react in different ways to show my different sides.

He didn't become my friend immediately after that (Nagi claimed the spot of being my first friend) but he did become the best friend I would ever have.

God I was going to miss him.

I sighed, "I have to tell you something," I said seriously, staring at him in the eyes as firmly as I could.

Confusion reflected back at me in his midnight blue eyes and I tried to ignore the pang in my heart that I realized that this might be the last time in a long while that I would be able to see him looking at me.

He gently brushed lock of hair away from my face.

"If you're worried about finding Akanoko, don't. We will find him, Amu. I promise," he reassured.

I shook my head, "It's not about that."

He eyebrows knitted in confusion, "Then what is it?"

Taking a deep breath, I tried to steel my nerves as I looked him firmly in the eyes.

"I'm leaving."

Ikuto's POV

"You're leaving?" I frowned, "Where to?" I asked, "When are we setting off?"

More questions buzzed in my mind but I bit my tongue, I didn't want to overwhelm her when she'd just regained consciousness. But where did we have to go now?

Her eyes darkened as she shook her head gravely.

"Not us," she sighed, "Just me."

"What do you mean 'just you'?" I asked hesitantly, "Why do you need to go?"

Amu sighed and looked at me mournfully.

"I had a dream last night," she hesitated, "It was a prophecy about what is to come."

My blood ran cold, prophecies were never a good thing.

"What…what is going to happen?" I asked nervously.

"Akanoko is weakened," she said, avoiding my question, "He will be easier to catch now that he's lost so many followers and we need to exploit this weakness and capture him."

"That's why we need to go together, we can catch him," I urged.

She shook her head, "We can't go together, Ikuto," she cried as she gently placed her hand on my cheek.

I rested my hand on top of hers, searching her eyes pleadingly.

"Why can't we follow you?" I demanded, "You don't have to keep doing everything by yourself! We're here for you, Amu, just please let us help!" I begged.

"I can't," she sobbed as she pushed me away.

"Why not?" I asked exasperatedly as I reached towards her, but stopped short when the next sentence left her lips.

"You'll die."

We were all seated in the living room. Kukai sat on the couch with Utau curled up on his lap. Rima and Nagihiko sat together on the love seat, their hands intertwined firmly with each other. Kairi and Yaya sat pressed together, shoulder to shoulder.

In other words, everyone was sitting next to their respective partners except for Amu and I.

I stood leaning against the fireplace with my arms crossed angrily in front of me as I glared at nothing while Amu sat with her arms wrapped around herself and Tadase beside her, placing a comfort hand on her shoulder.

I gritted my teeth and looked away in jealousy and anger.

The reason that we were all gathered around was that they had all heard mine and Amu's yelling and came rushing to our room. Amu had then had to explain why we were fighting and now we were all seated here.

Our fight had been bad, I wasn't surprised that they had all come rushing down thinking something was wrong. Because something was wrong.

I had just gotten her back and now she was leaving me again.

"I'm sorry everyone, but my decision is final," Amu piped up as she broke the silence, her voice cracking a little.

Kukai sighed, "As much as I hate this, I agree with Amu's decision. It's the best chance not only we, but she has."

Nagihiko nodded in agreement, "I see your point. If we all go, Amu will worry about our safety the entire time and probably wouldn't even think about her own well-being. It's the best shot any of us have," he admitted grudgingly.

"No!" Rima refused vehemently, "There must be another way!"

"We won't let you charge in by yourself," Utau spat, clenching her fists, "We just can't."

"I personally don't care," I spat out hotly, ignoring the visible wince on Amu's face.

"Just run again, like you always do," I sneered.

"Don't you dare talk to Amu like that!" Rima screamed as she made a lunge towards me but Nagihiko held her back.

"I'm only speaking the truth," I whispered, looking away from the broken look Amu gave me.

"Do you think Amu wants to leave us?!" Utau demanded as she too looked like she was going to kill me, and Kukai was having a much harder time holding her back than Nagihiko was.

"Guys," Amu piped up feebly, "Please stop fighting."

Of course, all of us ignored her and continued screaming and yelling at each other. Some very colorful curse words flew about, most of them coming from (surprise surprise) Rima and myself.

Finally, Amu seemed to have had enough.

"STOP!" she screamed and everyone froze at the anger in her voice as tears streamed down her face.

"I don't want to leave you, I really don't," she turned to me with tearful eyes, pleading for me to understand, "I want to stay with you guys forever. I don't want to leave," she sobbed, "But I have to. I have a duty to my people and I can't turn my back on them."

Silence filled the room as guilt washed over all of us. Especially me.

I knew Amu never would chose to leave us. She loved us. This wasn't her fault and I was being childish and selfish for blaming her for everything.

"I'm sorry, Amu," I apologized, walking over to her and wrapping my arms around her.

Pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, I whispered, "I'm sorry," I repeated.

She was stunned for awhile before she broke down in my arms, clutching my shirt as she cried into my chest.

We were all silent as I held her in my arms, comforting her as much as possible, but I could tell that we were all thinking the same thing.

She was leaving and we couldn't do anything to help her.