After all the hype about Amu's brush with death had passed, the months seemingly flew by with the autumn breeze. Winter passed with a subtle chill, and suddenly it was spring. Amu had thankfully survived the accident unscathed, and had put all of that behind her. The Red X-Eggs—she disliked to think of them as broken hearts—had continued to pop up, continuously targeting her. Eventually she forced herself to tell Ikuto, who reacted with nothing less that panic.

His response was to make himself Amu's personal escort, with the current Guardians as her entourage whenever possible. All of the past Guardians had been informed of the crisis and everyone had been continuously searching for the source. So far, everyone had turned up empty-handed. But whenever the X-Eggs showed up, the Guardians were there to purify them. This left the amount of alone time Amu had with Ikuto to be rather restricted, but her boyfriend insisted that it was worth it as long as she was safe. The nights were still theirs at least...

And still though all of this... No one had seen Tadase.

The nature of the relationship between Amu and Ikuto had shifted since his reappearance. Ikuto was more open with her, and there was a seemingly unbreakable trust between them. Slowly, over the months he had managed to put Amu back together from a state she swore she would never heal from—despite the fact that he was the one who had put her in that state originally. There was much more to them than just love, it was... An indescribable completion of sorts. Of hearts, of souls.

The days they spent together followed a rather consistent cycle: they woke up, ate breakfast, Amu left for work, Ikuto went out and played his violin on the street or he goes for a ride on his recently acquired motorcycle—he justified the buy by saying that if another emergency ever happened, and should he have to get somewhere fast, he'd need something more reliable than a car. Continuing with their routine, in the afternoon Amu, escorted by a member of the Guardians, would arrive home and do work such as grading papers or whatnot, Ikuto would come home about ten minutes later and they would plan dinner. Afterwards, they would spend the remaining hours together as they pleased.

Amu had just gotten home; Ryuu had been selected as her sentinel for the day. The silver-haired boy hopped out of the car as she closed the door.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home? Isn't your house a bit far from here?"

"Hinamori-sensei, please don't worry about me. The X-Eggs are still at large and while they are, you're still at risk." He placed a fist over his heart and gave a short bow, Satoshi mimicked the gesture. "Our mission is to protect the Joker, no matter the cost!" The boy started down the road at a quick pace.

"Stay safe!" Amu called after him. He waved to let her know that he had heard her. She sighed as she went inside her house and hung up her coat. She pulled out a stack of papers that needed to be graded and sat down at her computer. She extracted a red pen from the depths of her satchel and went to work grading various quizzes, tests and assignments.

About fifteen minutes later the roar of an engine was heard, and then cut. Seconds later the front door was being opened, Ikuto was home. "Hey there," He walked up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Amu still had her back turned to him, "Hey," She replied. "How was your day?" She gathered a stack of completed papers and put them back into her bag, halfway done.

"Pretty normal... I had a run in with some of those Broken Heart Eggs, and the Guardians had a pretty fierce battle about thirty minutes ago."

She spun around to face him, "Is everyone okay? You didn't get hurt, did you?" He shook his head.

"They seemed to have targeted Ami and me, but everyone's fine, don't worry. You're sister sure is quite some fighter, I'll give her that. You taught them all very well."

Amu smiled, "Thank you!" She noticed that he was carrying a white motorcycle helmet under his arm, "Did you get a new helmet? What happened to your black one?"

"Oh, this?" He held it in his hands and walked over to her, putting it on her head in one fluid motion.

"Wh-What are you doing?"

"Hold still," He ordered. After looking at the helmet on her for a few moments, "Seems sturdy enough." He knocked on the helmet twice, "A perfect fit, good."

Amu yanked it off of her head and scowled momentarily, before smiling again, "Why did you get me a helmet? Is there a special occasion or something?"

"No special reason... I just wanna take you for a ride tonight, and I can't do that unless you got a helmet." He grinned. "I was thinking that maybe we could have a little picnic or something similar. I found this one spot that overlooks the town, I bet it would be beautiful to sit there and look at the stars tonight."

Amu laughed, "What brought this about?"

Ikuto shrugged, "I don't know, I'm feeling... Rather spontaneous."

She rolled her eyes as she finished grading the papers; as soon as she was done she headed to the kitchen. "What time is it?" She asked as she pulled out a loaf of bread from the pantry.

"Ten of six," Ikuto replied as he watched her begin to make a few sandwiches. She pulled out a small cooler, the kind that had the shoulder strap, and tossed a couple ice packs in there. She added two cans of soda and placed the entire thing in the refrigerator so that it would stay cold until they were ready to leave. He watched her intently, but a small frown graced his features. He walked over to the counter and leaned against it. "...Can I talk to you about something?"

Amu paused, and looked curiously at him, "Of course but... You know you don't have to ask, right?"

"Yeah but I've been thinking..." He let the statement trail off.

She shook her head and said playfully, "Now Ikuto, don't you know thinking's a rather dangerous pastime?"

"Amu... I'm serious." He scratched the back of his head, letting his breath out in a great 'Whoosh!' "Ami and I were discussing the possible source of the X-Eggs."

"And...?" Amu prompted.

"And we think that... Tadase might be behind all of this," He held up his hand to silence her protest, "Let me finish. We only suspect him because he's the only one without an alibi and he's the only one with a possible motive. I don't want to blame him... I just can't... And since no one's been in contact with him, no one's able to prove anything, innocence or guilt."

She gasped, "But Tadase... he wouldn't! I know I hurt him, but there's no way—!"

"Some people do crazy things when their hearts get broken... I would know." They let the subject drop and were silent as Amu pulled out the cooler again and finished packing it. Ikuto checked his watch, "We better get on the road soon, the place I found is pretty off the beaten path, and I'm not quite sure on the exact route."

Amu chuckled and grabbed the cooler, putting the strap over her head so that it would stay in place when they were on the motorcycle. She then grabbed Ikuto's violin and slung it over her shoulder the same way. He looked at her questioningly when he saw the instrument across her back, but she simply replied, "It'll be easier traveling this way and you know it." He rolled his eyes and grabbed an old blanket for them to sit on, tossing it to Amu. He picked up her helmet, put in on her head, and led her outside.

They both mounted the bike. Ikuto put on his helmet as Amu wrapped her arms around his waist. He turned around, looking her dead in the eye. "Don't let go," He warned. She nodded, pressing the side of her face into his back. He revved the engine twice and sped off, "Hold on!" The speed was exhilarating. They sped along the streets. They weaved in and out of traffic, keeping just within the speed limit. They soared along the ground, racing along the edge on the road, alongside the tree line. Suddenly he veered of the road and into the woods.

"What are you doing?"

"I said the place I found was off the beaten path,"

"I didn't think you meant literally!"

He chuckled; she could feel his back rumble with the action. "Just hand tight!" The motorcycle went faster, free from the restraints of speed limits. They were approaching a large log that had fallen over. Amu began to panic.

"We're not going to jump that are—?" She screamed as the bike went airborne. They cleared the log with ease, having used a nearby rock as a ramp.

"You okay?" Ikuto quickly skidded to a halt, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I-I'm f-fine..." Her grip around his waist tightened. He started up the bike again and continued onward. They continued to zoom through the forest, eventually coming upon a small clearing that opened to a ridge. They pulled over and Ikuto smirked as they dismounted.

"Amu, you can let go now..." The entire ride had taken them a little over an hour. Ikuto led her over to the edge of the ridge, where they could see the entire town beneath them. The sun had finished setting a while ago and the moon and stars were shining brightly in the sky,

She gasped at the sight of all the twinkling lights, "So beautiful..." She whispered.

Ikuto snaked an arm around her shoulders, "Yes," He agreed. "You are."

She pushed herself away from him, embarrassed. He laid the old blanket down on the ground and sat on it, patting a spot next to him. Amu let out a sigh and unloaded her luggage before pulling out their food. So they sat and ate, talking all the while. They reminisced about everything, good times and bad. It was a joyous thing, to feel so free and at peace with the world. After they finished they laid down on the blanket together, looking at the stars. Ikuto knew a great deal about constellations, and he decided to teach Amu a thing or two.

"...If you look to those two stars right by the moon, that's Canis Minor, the Little Dog, and over there... over there that's Carnia. I don't really know what it is, but I've heard it was part of something much larger, like a ship or something."

Amu rolled onto her side, "Are then any cats up there?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed to a far corner of the sky, "If you look really hard, you can see Lynx. It wasn't named after the animal, but it was said that only one with the eyes of a lynx could see it."

"Hmm... I can't see it..." She sat up, Ikuto mimicked her. Her hand brushed against his, "Could you... play the violin for me, please?"

"Sure," He stood up and pulled out the instrument. He began to play a new song, and as Amu listened quickly the music evolved into a story. A tale of two lovers, torn apart and rejoined by fate. It spoke of strength, and of weakness, of sorrow, and of joy. Truly it was their song. She stared up at him in awestruck wonder, and again she realized with a tremendous surge of joy that he was hers. The song began to bridge into something much more familiar. It was Utau's song. Amu realized with a jolt that she could apply the song to them as well.

"In this world of darkness,

When my heart cries out for help,

You are the one there for me,

When the world starts to fall,

In the darkest moment of night,

The only start left in the sky,

Is you."

Amu sang along to the violin, their voices merging into a beautiful duet. They continued to sing for a few minutes and as Ikuto brought the song to a close, a star suddenly shot across the sky. She hopped up, "A shooting star!" She folded her hands together to make a wish. The moment was so perfect, she couldn't really think of anything to wish for. Eventually she settled on, 'I wish we could be safe, I wish we could feel like this forever.' She looked to Ikuto to see that he had put his violin away and had his hands folded as well. She smiled, happy to see that even Ikuto wasn't too old for star-wishes.

Curious, Amu asked, "What did you wish for?"

He shook his head, "If I tell you, it won't come true."

"Oh come on! I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours first!"

"I'm not going to let your wish go to waste as well," He smirked and sighed.

"Can you please tell me?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No, Amu!" He was being highly evasive, and he actually seemed agitated by it at that point.

She frowned, "Okay, you don't have to tell me if you really won't want to..."

He let out a small chuckle, "It's not that..."

"Then what is it?"

"My wish, it's... Complicated."

"...Really?" Amu vividly remembered when they were hunting for the Embryo, his wish then was to be free... It seemed like such a simple concept, could a wish really be complicated?

He stood up and pulled something out of his pocket, a small black box, small enough to wrap his hand around it. He held it against his chest. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She was loved and admired by everyone she knew, for she was the fairest one of all. Among her admirers was a lonely alley cat, of whom no one really liked and preferred to stay away from. He tried to steal from the princess to get her attention; he had failed, but he began to get to know her. He learned that she was more than just a princess and she learned that he was more than just an alley cat. The alley cat vowed to always be there whenever the princess—his princess—needed him. But one day, dark clouds covered his mind, making him forget about the kindness she had shown him, and driving them to battle against one another."

Amu nodded slowly, she knew this story well, but how would he end it?

"But eventually, the princess was able to drive the clouds of darkness away from his mind, and for a while, they were happy," He took a deep breath. "The years pasted... and they were happy. Until one day, the alley cat had received an order that was supposedly from his princess, which banished him from the kingdom. Saddened and hurt by this, he fled to a faraway land, thinking that the princess no longer cared about him. But that wasn't true; the princess became worried when her dear friend had stopped visiting, and when she found out that he left, she became just as saddened as he was. And so the years passed... and they were completely and utterly miserable."

He focused on the moon; his eyes were conflicted, debating whether or not to go on. "The alley cat... he never forgot about his princess. One day, he decided that he would visit her, to try and discover the truth. He wanted to know why he was sent away, he wanted to see if he could set things right, and make the princess love him again. He wanted her back... more than everything. After days of searching the alley cat had finally found his princess, and they both discovered that he was tricked into leaving. They were overjoyed at their reunion, and rekindled their lost love."

"And do they live happily ever after?" Amu asked carefully.

"I... I don't know the end of the story, so I can't really say."

She then asked, "Well, what's the alley cat going to do now that he has his princess back? That would be a good place to start."

Ikuto looked to the black box in his hand, "What's the alley cat going to do...?" he softly repeated. He reached down and pulled Amu to her feet. "He's going to want to spend the rest of his life with her," He went down on one knee, opening the box to reveal a splendid diamond ring. It was silver, and the stone was crafted so that it looked like a blooming flower. "And that can only happen if his princess answers one simple question, a question that this alley cat has been dying to ask his entire life." He took one of her hands within his. It was like the moment he had reentered her life, but this time, his smile was warm and genuine; his eyes were anxious, yet hopeful.

Time.

Just.

Stopped.

"Amu Hinamori... Will you... Marry me?"

She couldn't help herself, she had started to cry. She nodded wordlessly, but eventually found the voice to whisper, "Yes... Oh God, of course I will!" After he had slid the ring on her finger she glomped him, crying, "I do, I do, I do!" They collapsed onto the old blanket, with Amu straddling him. Ikuto smiled, lighting up the entire night. He cupped her face.

"Mrs. Amu Tsukiyomi... It has a very nice ring to it, don't you think?"

She grabbed him and kissed him with a shocking amount of passion. Fireworks seemed to have ignited within them and about them. It was like they had just met for the first time, it was like their first kiss, it was like they had known each other their entire lives... it was an eternity of happiness of all possible situations within one solidarity moment.

Very reluctantly, they pulled apart. "I love you," She whispered. "You have no idea how much I love you."

Ikuto caressed the sides of her face with his hands, marveling at how it just fit between them, he embraced her, "Thank you," He murmured into her hair.

The amount of sincerity in his voice was absolutely stunning. It confused her, "For... what?"

He stroked her hair for a few moments, just cherishing the moment they were having. He stood up and pulled her up with him. The light of the moon reflected in his eyes an ethereal beauty, his eyes shone with the overwhelming amount of love he held for the woman beside him. He looked to the stars and smiled.

"Thank you... for making my wish come true."