Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't Shugo Chara…

Chapter Ten: Has the Future Changed?

Ikuto looked Amu over and realized she was having a bad dream.

"Not again, this can't happen again," she whimpered in her sleep, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Ikuto held her close to him and soothed, "I haven't left. I'm right here, Amu." Suddenly she started.

Amu looked around. "Not again," she whispered before realizing Ikuto had his arms around her.

"Amu, what's wrong?" he asked.

Amu shook her head. "It was just a nightmare," she explained quietly.

Ikuto had a feeling she didn't want to talk about it. He was very curious, but didn't push his luck. He knew she was stubborn enough not to tell him. So he just gently pulled her back under the covers and closer to him. "Try to go back to sleep, okay?"

Amu leaned into him but didn't allow herself to sleep. She stayed like that one moment more before the alarm clock went off. She sighed and managed to wriggle out of Ikuto's arms. "I'd better get ready for school. You can stay here if you'd like," she said as she grabbed her uniform and went to the bathroom. She changed there and brushed her teeth and hair. Once she was satisfied, she went downstairs for breakfast and the conversation that she knew she would be having with her mom.

Sure enough, as she had been coming down the stairs her mama looked at her in surprise. "You're up early, Amu-chan."

Amu just nodded as she sat at the table. This time, though, she wasn't contemplating her nightmare. She was contemplating Ikuto as Ami came to the table.

"Onee-chan, onee-chan! Do you like my dwess?" she cried as she twirled around.

Amu smiled. "It looks great."

Ami frowned at her sister. "What's wong, onee-chan?" she asked.

Amu shook her head. "Nothing, Ami. Why do you ask?"

Ami just shrugged and, satisfied with her sister's answer, went back to being cute and striking poses for her dad who had just walked in with his camera.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Meanwhile, Ikuto got out of Amu's bed and stretched. "Ikuto~nya! Do you think Amu knows about Easter's plan?" Yoru asked.

"I don't know, Yoru. Something must have happened to her to make her cry like that, though," Ikuto answered.

"Are you going to tell her~nya?"

"No. I will just have to keep an eye on her. Let's go, Yoru."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Amu finished her breakfast quickly and left the house. Yet again she felt the sense that someone was watching her and yet again, she shrugged it off.

"Amu-chan? How are we going to save him this time?" Miki asked, an image of Yoru's egg shattering, filling her mind.

Amu thought about it. "This time we just have to pay attention so we can save him," she answered.

"Amu-chii~ desu? What do you think is going to happen today?" Su asked curiously.

"Probably the same thing that happened last time. We are going to run into Nagihiko soon and go to the Royal Garden with him. Rima's going to scare me. And then once we get seated and I stop listening to the meeting, Ikuto will show up and end up breaking things and—" Amu stopped there as she remembered that she had kissed him and not the other way around.

"Oh," she gasped. "That's right." She looked up at Su. "I don't know what will happen this time, but I imagine that nothing will change."

Ran looked around and pointed out, "I don't see Nagihiko anywhere, Amu-chan!"

Amu looked around as well. Ran's right, she thought. "Let's just go to the Royal Garden. I might be late." Amu ran as fast as she could to the garden. Once she got there, she stopped and allowed herself to catch her breath. Once she had, she walked in to see Rima, Yaya, Nagihiko, and Tadase already there. The atmosphere was really kind of tense. That didn't stop Yaya from running over to her crying, "Amu-chii!"

Amu hugged her friend back and asked, "What's going on?"

"Tadase insisted that we have this boring meeting," Yaya complained.

Amu made her way to her seat and felt everyone's eyes on her. Even Ran, Miki, and Su were quiet. When Amu had taken her seat, Tadase asked, "Why did you save him?"

Amu just gaped. "W-what do you mean?" she managed to say.

"I mean when you caught the Embryo, Hinamori-san."

Amu was silent for moment before she spoke. "So you guys remember what happened?" Amu thought back to what the embryo had said.

"You and your guardians will remember this, but Ikuto will not. It is important that he doesn't remember."

Must've meant more than one type of guardian, she thought. Amu looked around the room, suddenly paranoid. "Before I can discuss this with you guys, we need to make sure Ikuto isn't around. It's important that he doesn't remember."

Nagihiko nodded. "I'll go make sure," he reassured her.

Tadase remained silent. "Is he okay?" Amu asked Rima quietly.

Rima shrugged. She didn't know what was on the King chair's mind. "So why didn't you tell me you liked Ikuto before?"

Amu just shook her head. She had no idea what to say to that. Have I always liked Ikuto? Or have I changed since that day?

Nagihiko returned then. "I didn't see any sign of him."

Amu sighed in relief. She wasn't sure what would happen to Ikuto if he remembered, but she didn't have a good feeling about it.

A/N: Whoot! I got a lot done today! n.n I hope you guys enjoy! Read and review please!