Haleigh: Ok do NOT kill me! I told you softball would do this to my writing time!

Ikuto: Then why are you keeping them waiting? ON WITH THE CHAPTER ALREADY!

Amu: You know the drill...blah blah blah she doesn't own anything related to us blah blah blah....

Amu's POV

I was in a dark, cold room, but I wasn't alone. I looked to my right and I saw the only thing I could see in the entire room; what looked to be like clear, glistening, perfect sapphires. His eyes were so beautiful, and they were all I could see out of this dark room.

I blinked quickly, but when I opened my eyes he was gone. The room got even colder and I felt abandoned and scared. I took a step forward to go find him, but I never found the floor and I was falling. There was no one to catch me so I screamed, but no one heard.

After what seemed like forever I landed on a cold, hard floor. The hurt didn't last long, but when I looked up I was horrified. Tadase was standing next to me. I suddenly felt as if I wasn't ever going to get out of this terrible place. I closed my eyes tightly to see if it would make him go away. I re-opened them and he was gone, but instead of Tadase I saw Ikuto. But when I ran to get him, I couldn't. He was behind an invisible wall and I couldn't get through. I tried to break it, but I ended up hurting myself.

I slammed my body against the invisible wall and fell. I wasn't getting up, what was the point? I can't get to him either way, so I just sat there, against the wall. I was sobbing hard, and the tears were all over my face. Ikuto was longing after me, too. He had sadness in his eyes, one that I could share. He put his hand against the glass and I put mine against it where his was. It hurt to not be able to just touch him. I closed my eyes and I was falling again. Only this time, I never hit the bottom.

I gasped as I shot up into sitting position as fast as I could, and I realized I was in a cold sweat. I couldn't catch my breath enough, so I decided to get up and go downstairs for a drink of water. Ikuto was still sleeping soundly and Mom, Dad, and Ami were sound asleep as well.

I have got to stop it with these stupid dreams and these terrifying thoughts. It's interfering with my happiness.

I gulped the water down and just stayed down here. It was so peaceful and quiet. As I sat there I layed my head down on the counter for a few minutes. The surface was cool and calming, but I couldn't sleep. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and I knew it wasn't Mom or Dad. These familiar footsteps were much quieter than theirs.

I never looked up because I knew who it was. They were getting closer and soon I felt strong arms wrap around my waist. His slow breathing calmed me down even more. I felt so small and weak when he wrapped his arms around me, but I felt strong in a different way, and I also felt safe.

"Hey," he whispered in my ear. It tickled and I smiled slightly.

"Hey," I whispered back. I was facing the other direction, so I couldn't see his face. The moonlight shone in from the window, so I could see his shawdow against the wall.

"What are you doing down here?" he whispered while rubbing his head against my neck. His hair was so soft...

"Nightmare. Needed to come calm down," I whispered slowly. I was calmer now, but I still feared that if I went back to sleep that I would dream something like that again.

"I'm here now. I'm here. And I will always be with you even if I'm not physically with you, ok?" he said quietly trying to comfort me. Those were the exact words I needed to hear.

I turned to look at him and his face was outlined with the moonlight, leaving me speechless. He always looked so perfect...

"Thank you. Alot," was all that stumbled out of my mouth. My lips were slightly curled at the ends. I wasn't exactly in the mood for a full-fledged smile.

"Mmm....you're warm..." he said lowly with what I swore was a low purr.

"Um....thanks?" I replied with confusion in my voice. He was my own personal cat...

"Are you ok now?" he said stroking my hair. He really did care and that's one reason why I loved him.

"Yeah, I'm alot better thanks to you," I said actually smiling now.

He snuck a small kiss on the side of my neck and I giggled lightly. I still had my head laying on the cool counter, but now I had gotten sleepy again and I think he noticed.

"Come on," he said as he scooped me up in his arms. He quietly walked up the steps, careful to not wake up my parents or Ami and gently shut the door behind us when we were in my room. He layed me down on the bed and I waited for him to sit down, too. When he sat down, I could tell he had a distant look in his eyes. It was bothering him, too.

"You too, huh?" I said trying to sound strong. It makes it so much worse knowing that the time is ticking down.

"Yeah...but there isn't anything we can do about it now, is there?" he said bitterly. He had the most disgusted look on his face, and it made me hurt even more.

I sat up next to him and wrapped my arms around him from his side. I layed my head on his warm, bare shoulder and I could hear his breathing slow down. I could hear his heartbeat, it was getting faster the more I was next to him. It made me smile to know that I made his heart flutter the way he made mine.

I glanced at the clock and it read 2:34 am, not too early. Still plenty of time to sleep for school tomorrow.

"We think it's hard now, but what about after you're gone? We can't even imagine that yet, and I really don't want to. But Ikuto, remember out promise. We have to keep it, it's the only thing we have left to keep us from being depressed. Please don't do this to yourself..." I said as I felt the tears that I had been holding back flow down my cheeks. His sadness was making my heart break. I couldn't take it, I just couldn't take seeing him hurt like this!

"Don't cry, Amu..." he said as he turned to me and wiped the tears. He had a gentle smile on his face, and I knew he was just trying to cheer me up. It only made me smile a weak smile. He frowned a little and pulled me into his lap. I was sideways, which made it easier for me to

put my head into his neck.

"Isn't it getting a little late? You know we have school tomorrow," I said reminding him of that horrible place. The work was so easy! Why did they make us go?!

"Yeah, come on..." he said as he and I layed back on the pillows. I fell back to sleep easier this time. I reminded myself of the promise, and I was ok.

Ikuto's POV

Once that I saw that she was asleep, I felt a little better. I scooted my head a little closer to hers and breathed in the sweet smell of strawberries. It made me feel at ease, and so I was swept away into a wonderful dream of me and my little strawberry.

Next Morning: 6:57

I awoke to the sweetest, most beautiful face in the whole world. Her breathing was so slow and quiet that I could barely even tell if she was breathing at all. I gently placed my lips to hers and her eyes fluttered halfway open. She smiled into the tender kiss and placed her hands in my hair. We stopped it, but our lips were barely parted. She was stroking her fingers through the back of my hair. I loved the way it felt, and as ironic as it may be, it made me feel like a cat.

"I think maybe we should get ready now," she said as she opened her eyes again.

"I think maybe we should," I said smiling.

She sat up and stretched her arms. She let out a yawn and jumped out of bed, then when she grabbed her uniform and got to the door she turned around and smiled at me for a good 5 seconds. Of course I smiled back at her, how could I not? When she smiled, everything was alright in the world.

She stepped out of her room and into the bathroom, and I put my clothes on so I could run over to my house while she was getting ready and eating.

I woke Yoru up and got him to chara-change with me so I could reach my house faster. I hopped from house to house, hoping no one would see me in broad daylight. I reached my house in about a minute and jumped right to the balcony of my room. I opened the glass and got my clothes on quickly, walked down my steps and put some waffles in the toaster.

"Morning," I said when I heard my mom in the living room. She was probably packing...

"Good morning," she said as she set a heavy box down in the corner of other full boxes.

"I've got all the small things that we'll need all packed up. The rest should be easier now," she said as she slumped down into a chair next to me.

"That's good, I guess," I said with an "I don't care". Like I really want to hear about leaving even more than necessary?

"Look, I know that you don't want to leave, but you're going to have to face it. Stop moping and live it up untill Friday," she said with a little bit of anger in her voice.

"What do you think I'm doing, Mom? I'm having to face it every second of every day. Every time I look at my friends, especially Amu, I feel my heart sink. I try not to mope, because Amu and I made a promise. I'm trying," I said as I glared at my waffle that had just popped up out of the toaster.

"I know you are, sweetie. But right now all you need to focus on is being happy, not how it's going to be after we leave. Focus on right now, ok?" she said with a smile.

"Mom, you always know what to say. Why is that?" I asked as I took the last bite of the waffle. It was oh so tasty...

"It's a Mom thing. You'll understand when you become a father. Well it's not the same as a mother's instinct, but it's close," she said with a small smirk. Oh and I choked as I swallowed that last bite when she said "father."

"Gotta go, Mom," I said as I grabbed my bag off the table. "Oh, and thanks. Love you," I said as I stopped momentarily before I closed the door behind me.

As I was on my way back, I wasn't really paying attention. I was really just thinking how hard this was on my mom, too. This is where she grew up, and she had never really been gone for a long time like this. All 3 of us--me, Utau, and Mom--are giving up things for a while. I'm giving up Amu and my friends, Utau is giving up Kukai, her friends, and her fans here, and Mom is giving up some of her memories. Utau has fans in America, too, but I'm sure they aren't as committed as her Japanese fans.

I finally reached her house as she was leaving.

Perfect timing...

"Ready for another day of the best week ever?" I asked her as enthusiastically as I could.

"Umm...what do you mean by that?" she ased with a confused look on her face.

"We're going to make this the best week ever. We're going to have alot of fun. You'll see..." I said smirking.

"Tell me! What are we gonna do?!" she pleaded with a puppy-dog face.

"You may look adorable, but that's not going to work this time," I said sticking my tongue out playfully.

She stuck her tongue back at me as she hit me on the shoulder. I think she meant it to hurt, but it didn't. I pretended it did though...

"Ow!" I yelled as I bumped into her on purpose.

"Oh you're getting it now..." she said as she tried to kick me. I easily dodged her foot and jumped in front of her. I grabbed her by her legs and threw her over my shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down!" she protested! She started kicking playfully and eventually gave up and sighed.

"Are you really gonna walk all the way to school with me like this?" she said giggling.

"Yep!" I said as I scooted her up my back so she wouldn't fall off.

"Fine," she said laying her head down on my shoulder as I continued on the way to school. I don't know what it was, but I had a feeling that today was going to be different in a way...

Haleigh: I know it's been forever since I've updated, but I was working on this chapter little by little with what time I actually had on the computer!

Ikuto: Excuses!

Haleigh: Shut up! I would like to see you try to write when you have school, homework, sports, and other things 5 days of the week!

Ikuto: Ok that could be kinda hard, but whatever...

Haleigh: And absolutely NO ONE reviewed last time!!! I was so disappointed and hurt :(

Amu: They were probably mad with your late update...

Haleigh: Oh well...anyways, PLEASE review guys! If you did I would probably update faster!!!

P.S. You guys should REALLY check out WOLFboyLUVER's stories! She is an amazing writer and is so nice! She's a huge Shugo Chara and Twilight fan! Stories for both! Please go check her out!

Haleigh: Once again, PLEASE REVIEW!!! I'LL GIVE YOU YOUR FAVORITE FOOD!!!! :DDD And you'll also get your favorite dessert if you go vote on the poll on my profile. Just tell me if you did in your review :)