A/N: I hope I see some reviews for this. I was slow on putting the first chapter out though. Sorry it went through a rewrite. Anyway I kept the first part the same. XD amutoness.

Chapter 1: Birthday Party

"Mmmmm..." Ikuto murmured into my ear. I jumped, I hadn't realized that he'd been standing behind me.

"Ikut—" I began but then he turned me around and pressed his lips to mine. His soft lips wrestling with mine, he locked one arm around my waist while his other hand pulled at my pink hair. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself even closer to him.

Then there was a wrapping at my door. I heard my mom's voice through my room's closed and locked door.

"Amu-chan! Whatever you and Ikuto are doing, stop that and come downstairs! You promised to help with Ami-chan's birthday party."

I blushed and unwound myself from around Ikuto. He pouted at me, and when I reacted by muttering, "Pervert" he chuckled at me.

Ikuto and I went downstairs hand in hand. He wore a button up shirt and blue jeans while I wore a light pink dress stopped above my knees and polka-dotted knee socks; a couple locks of my hair were pulled up into a pony tail while the rest of my hair fell messily upon my shoulders.

My mother, who wore a simple lavender dress that went past her knees, smiled at us as we walked downstairs. I looked into the living room to see Papa trying to put up decorations and take Ami's picture at the same time. It was Ami's tenth birthday. She was so much taller than I remembered her, and even now as she hit double digits she wasn't any less cute. I was kind of jealous.

Ikuto walked over to my father to help him. Mama took me into the kitchen.

"Help prepare the food, Amu-chan! The guests will arrive in three hours, and I want to have the cake all ready by then!" Mama grinned excitedly at me. According to her I was a wonderful chef. This was true, of course only when I was character changed with Suu, otherwise a rat could out cook me.

Quickly character changing with Suu, I responded, "Uh yeah! No problem!" I tied all of my hair back and got out the ingredients for the cake. Suu didn't believe in using things that came from the box.

"Chocolate right?" I inquired, already mixing together the eggs and the butter.

"Ami wants a two layer cake, chocolate and strawberry."

"Okay." I replied grabbing a second pan and the extra ingredients needed for a strawberry cake.

My mother began setting out the cups and the plates and the napkins, making sure we had enough. Ami had twelve friends, but I remembered three of them couldn't make it, which meant nine friends. I did some other quick calculations in my head as I professionally mixed the flour and other stuff.

Ami has twelve friends that I know of. Five of them are boys; seven of them are girls. Two of the three who couldn't make it were girls, which means there are four boys and five girls coming to this party. It didn't really matter of course, but it was still good to know. Plus I needed something to think about while I baked the cake.

Soon the two layers were sitting in the oven and I set the timer. Having already washed the dishes (Suu's practically magic when it comes to housework) I wandered into the living room. Mama was chatting with Ikuto as he blew up balloons and she neatly put out the party favors. According to Mama's housewife magazines, birthday parties are important to children Ami's age and should be taken seriously.

"—Amu-chan was so cute!" I heard my mother giggle. Ikuto sat on the couch and tied a string to a pink balloon. Mama had gotten a tank of helium for the balloons so they could float. Ikuto chuckled at what ever my mother had been saying and looked over at me with a grin on his face. I walked over to him, and he held out the pink balloon he had been holding.

"For you Amu-koi!" his rare huge smile was warm and mischievous.

"Amu-koi?" My father nearly passed out. I smacked Ikuto softly on his head.

"Would you stop giving my dad heart attacks please?" Ikuto chuckled.

"Alright, alright Amu." he smiled again. It was so good to see him smile.

Then I ran back into the kitchen. I had heard the familiar "ding" of the timer. Putting on oven mitts, I carefully lifted the two cakes from the oven and set them on the counter to cool. Setting the timer for how long it should take to cool I started preparing the frosting and sprinkles.

"Ami-chan!" I called her into the kitchen. I knew she would like to decorate her cake. She ran into the room squealing as if she was already on a sugar high, Ikuto –smirking – followed. Ami ran for the frosting and automatically began squeezing frosting from the tube, and throwing fistfuls of sprinkles onto the cake.

"Mmmm, Amu-koi was so cute when she was little! You took your little teddy bear everywhere you went until you were seven!" I blushed as he smirked at me. Then we were interrupted with Ami's excited exclamations,

"ONEE-CHAN! I'm done! I'm done! Look! Look!" I looked over at the two layers of cake. Both were unorganized decorated in pink and blue frosting with rainbow sprinkles. I stared, not knowing what to say, but Ikuto grinned. He picked up Ami, and swung her around in the air.

"That's so great Ami-chan! Bravo!" I noted the imitation of my dad Ikuto was doing when he exclaimed "bravo", but I realized he really was being... fatherly. It was somehow... attractive.

After Ikuto put Ami down and she ran into the other room, I stepped closer to him. Leaning against his chest I murmured into his ear.

"You know, that was somehow attractive. And you said you wouldn't make a good father!"

"Hmmm? Did I?" he lowered his lips to my ear, licking it gently. I shivered, but the sensation coursing through me wasn't unpleasant.

"Yes. On the island. You know... you kinda proposed to me on that island."

"Heh. I guess I did. Of course now I've proposed twice and still I haven't received an answer." I bit my lip. Why wasn't I sure? Why didn't I just say "yes"? Anyone would! It wasn't like I had doubts. I loved Ikuto. It was a pure fact. Yet somehow I couldn't answer him. I chalked it up to being unable to decide how to respond.

Luckily Mama called from the other room, apparently Papa had taped himself to the wall. Mama wanted me to get the camera.

After the whole tape fiasco Ikuto was back to helping with the superfluous decorations, and I went back to put a finishing touch on the cake. My Charas wanted to add their own unique flare to the cake and I decided Ami wouldn't mind, so I let them at it.

"This cake! It – its beautiful!" Miki exclaimed with stars in her eyes once they were done. There were random spades, clovers, diamonds, and hearts all over the thing. Plus I made out the shapes of musical notes and pencils and lots and lots of frosting. The side Suu had decorated looked truly magnificent, with a beautiful frosting flower design, covered in silvery sprinkles. To top it all off Ran had made a frosting angel and was now covered in chocolate.

I grabbed my tiny Chara and ran water over her to clean her off.

"Bath time! Bath time!" Ran cheered. She was so perky it was inconceivable. It wasn't that surprising though. Birthday parties made her like this every year.

A little later the guests began to arrive. Soon there were ten little hyperactive kids in my living room. There was an hour and a half of screaming children and karaoke and "pin the tail on the donkey". More like pin the tail on Amu!

There was no piñata this year. There was an... accident with on last year. I ended up having to go to school with a black eye while my mom needed to buy two new vases and my dad had to patch a hole in the wall. So, instead of reliving that nightmare, we decided against a piñata despite Ami's persistent complaints.

And then it was time for presents. What little kid doesn't love that part right? Ami unwrapped all her gifts. The wrapping papers were all in pinks and baby blues, or had designs of polka-dots all over. There was one with a giant bow and one with strips and two with kitty cats. Each held some kind of doll or accessory that Ami would no doubt love for at least a weak but forget about too quickly.

Suddenly Ami grabbed my arm. I looked down. Her eyes were huge, sad honey colored spheres. Like a puppy dog she whimpered,

"Where's my present Onee-chan? Doesn't Onee-chan wuv Ami?" I rolled my eyes. Ami was cute, but she was greedy as ever.

I went over to the hallway closet and grabbed a box. It was wrapped in shimmering pink wrapping paper with a multi-colored bow. I think Ami was disappointed by its size. Was she really expecting anything bigger? I didn't even have a proper job.

Despite her obvious disappointment she tore away the paper to reveal a shining necklace. It had a thick silver chain and a white crystal orb the size of a penny. The room echoed with her squeal of excitement. She started bouncing up and down. I smirked happily. I'd known from the moment I'd seen that thing in the little shop's window that Ami would love it.

"Ami happy! Ami happy!" Ami cried joyfully. Even her guy friends were dancing excitedly, but maybe that was just because of the emotion in the room or maybe Ami had really guy friends. Who knows, right? Ikuto strode over and hugged my shoulders.

"I just figured that would make her stop trying to steal my shell bracelet." I explained holding up the hand that held the bracelet made of seashells. Ikuto had made it for me while we were trapped on that island. That seemed like it had been forever ago. I leaned back my head, resting it against his shoulder.

"Do you ever miss the island?" I asked. He looked down at me and answered,

"Every second I'm not kissing you." I blushed as he pecked me on the cheek. I was sure if it had been any other time or place we'd already be making out, but this was a ten year old's birthday party, plus my parents were standing too close for more than a casual hug and a short kiss here and there.

"Mmm... I miss the island too." I whispered, and then I admitted, "You look really good without a shirt on." Ikuto started chuckling at me. Instead of over-reacting like I might have I just rolled my eyes and let it slide.

Author's Note: Ok, first chappie done! Hope you liked it! NOW YOU NEED TO REVIEW OR I'M JUST TAKING THIS OFF MY LIST OF FANFICS TO WRITE! WHICH MEANS I'LL NEVER MAKE IT EVER! but if you don't care, fine. Doesn't matter to me. I love writing, but there are plenty of other things I should be working on. Like math or French or Japanese or history or... actually those are the only ones I need to improve on. O.O gosh I need help in math. DAMN YOU WHOEVER INVENTED COMPLETING THE SQUARE AND GRAPHING PARABOLAS!!!!!!