Hi~

Finally, my update on a story, right? :D I've been updating my Songfics, but I haven't been updating my stories :/ Yeah, I know. LOL.

Okay, on with it.

I don't know why. But I have the sudden urge to thank all you guys who have been supporting me for these past ... months xD So ... thanks! ^^

xSnowiisan does not own Shugo Chara! or Heaven's Door.

"You know, you look really cute when you sleep."

Amu opened her eyes for the fifth time that night.

"Will you shut up?" she growled, narrowing her eyes at the blue-haired teen laying across from her on the bed.

"No. I can't. Like I said before, your face is way too beautiful to have me shut up."

Amu groaned inwardly, twisting so she wouldn't be facing him.

"What is wrong with you?" she muttered under her breath, but she couldn't help the blush on her cheeks when he said, "beautiful." Did he really think she was beautiful? Or was this some flirtatious way of his? Either way, she wouldn't have cared. But, deep inside, she felt her pulse quicken.

Amu heard Ikuto sigh, and she turned around to face him, but found him staring at the plastered ceiling with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Have you ever wondered what we could do if we were ... free?" he asked, quietly – almost too quiet that she wasn't even sure she heard him right. But, by the way he turned to look at her, his expression suddenly serious, his mouth pressed in a straight line, she knew he asked what she thought. Amu blushed from his intense gaze, and stared into the ceiling like he once was doing. Though her eyes were away from his face, she could feel him looking at her, waiting for her answer impatiently. She sighed inwardly.

"Sometimes, I guess," Amu said. "but mostly I avoid that subject. I guess I just want to be ... I dunno, actually."

"Hmm, I see," He looked up at the ceiling for a long moment, registering what her words meant. "What religion are you?" he asked abruptly. Amu twitched, her eyes sliding towards his to find midnight-blue colored eyes gazing at her.

"What?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"I said, what religion are you?"

Amu blushed, looking down at her hands before sitting up and tossing the covers off of her body, and scrambling off the bed. She pushed herself against the while, trying to catch her breath. That question always caught her off guard. She sinked to the ground.

"I actually ... don't know exactly." she confessed, loving the feel of the guilt come off of her chest. She remembered her family doing religious stuff, bringing stuff for Easter, giving her presents for Christmas, but truthfully, she never knew the meanings of the holiday. Or of any religion. She saw Ikuto stalk towards her, his strides long, his eyes calm, and a smile upon his face. He sat in front of her, and reached his long fingers out to stroke her cheek.

"Good," he breathed. "`Cause I thought I was the only one who didn't know what religion they were."

Amu's heartbeat quickened once his warm fingertips touched her cheek, and a blush appeared. Now, with his fingertips under her chin, his palm had started to cup her right cheek, and she tilted towards the warmness of his palm, loving the feel of it it on her skin. She was leaning in, she noticed, but she was too far to stop herself once she felt Ikuto's lips collide with hers. Had she been the one who made the first move? Or was it Ikuto?

Ikuto's hand appeared and pushed Amu closer with the small of her back. His kiss started out soft, and light, but when he felt Amu respond, he started getting passionate. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss. Every particle inside him felt as if they'd opened up, revealing whatever secrets he had left inside his body. His mind was reeling – but in satisfaction, and desire, and not in shock. It felt so natural kissing her, this girl that was sitting right here, that his arm snaked under her, lifting her up by the waist. He stood there for a while, holding her, kissing her, until they both fell on the bed, tangled in the sheets, exhausted.

~*~

The sunlight streaming in through the windows caused Amu's eyes to burn. She untangled herself from the sheets, adjusted her clothing, and walked into the bathroom, splashing water onto her face. It took her a minute to find the hickey on her neck.

The hickey. On her neck.

Her mind adjusted slowly, registering the wording of how her mind placed the words. Once she realized, she found a bucket underneath the sink, filled it with water, stomped out of the room, threw the sheets off of the bed, and splashed the cold water onto Ikuto's bare chest.

Ikuto snapped to attention, rapidly sitting up, the bedspread clutched in a fist as he yelled, "Amu?"

"I'm right here, you dimwit." she growled, placing her hands on her hips.

Ikuto let out a sigh of relief, and Amu saw bags underneath his eyes. Was he having a nightmare? Immediately, splashing the cold water onto his figure made her feel guilty. But, the guilt immediately vanished once she saw the smirk placed upon his features.

"I hate you!" she yelled, pointing towards her neck. Ikuto's eyes followed, and his smirk widened.

"Haha. That's nothing new I hear. And?"

"And–And ... oh, I don't know!" she flung her arms in the air in exasperation before turning to stomp towards the bathroom. But, before was even able to do that, a strong pair of hands snaked themselves around her waist, and pulled her into a strong chest. Their breath breathed hotly against her neck.

"Don't get mad, little Strawberry. We'll be leaving soon and you don't want to make your boyfriend mad, do you?"

Amu blushed.

"Strawberry? Boyfriend? Where are you getting this crap from?!"

Ikuto's grip tightened around her waist, and he chuckled, leaning down to nibble on her ear. Amu let out a little yelp. She tried squirming in his grasp – no use. He wouldn't budge. It was just now she was noticing the ripple of muscles on his arms. Not too much, but not too little either.

"Let me go," she growled, her muscles tense. To her surprise, Ikuto had taken his arms away from her waist. She looked up at him, but his eyes were closed, and he was yawning and stretching.

"Is it just me, or do you suspiciously remind me of a cat?" Ikuto's eyes seem to grin, and he stretched once more, therefore proving Amu's point of "acting like a cat." There was a tear coming from the corner of his eye from his yawn, and Amu stretched up on her tip-toes to wipe it off.

"There," she sighed, taking away her hand and wiping it on the hem of her shirt. "all better."

Ikuto gazed at her, before narrowing his eyes.

"You ... strangely remind me of my mother," Ikuto said, the words forming themselves before he could stop them. "and I don't know why."

Amu stiffened, her mind replying images of her parents face when she was leaving. Surely, they would be freaking out by now. Amu quickly dashed from the bedroom, searched for the remote and turned on the TV, turning it to the news channel. A woman with rectangular glasses, and yellow suit was sitting there, all business-like.

"It seems someone has kidnapped Hinamori Amu from the hospital," Amu heard her saying, "She was claimed to have been 'running away' – as some put it, with another hospital patient, Mr. Tsukiyomi Ikuto. They're disappearances were finalized on Monday after ..."

The woman drone on and on, and Amu's eyes widened. Police were all over the city, searching through homes, towns, and even stores. Who knew; maybe this place would be their next destination.

Suddenly, the news reporter switched the screen to her parents.

"Amu-chan, where are you? We're worried sick! Please come back to us!"

There were wailing, she noticed. Their cries were haunting her, thinking she'd done the wrong thing by going with Ikuto. Did she?

Amu's mind jerked back once she felt someone else's hand cup hers on her lap. She looked up to find Ikuto staring at her intently.

"Don't worry, Amu. I can return you to the hospital right now if you want," Though when he thought about it, the thought sent a spasm of emotion of which he never recognized through his body. He let out a shaky breath. "And you don't have to go to the beach with me anymore."

SLAP!

Ikuto gripped his cheek, the pain gnawing at the edges of his face. He looked at her, eyes full of suspicion and anger.

"What the hell was that for?"

Amu crossed her arms over her chest, and pouted.

"I want to go to the beach. If I didn't, wouldn't I have told you by now, "Let's go home!" or something?"

Ikuto gazed at her for a second, before chuckling quietly, and walking out of the room, thinking how he could've fallen for a girl like her.

~*~

"Ikuto, I don't --"

"Shh!" He put his index finger to his lips, indicating to "Shut up." Amu instinctively lowered her voice.

"Why?"

Ikuto looked around the corner for a second, gazing at the men with uniforms.

"Crap," he muttered. "Police." Amu felt her body freeze, and she gripped the wall for support.

"Th-they're h-h-here?" she stuttered, trying to walk around Ikuto, and peek through the corner. Ikuto suddenly grabbed her hand, and she blushed.

"Shh," he said. "I'm going to lead you to a path that'll – hopefully – not get us caught, 'kay? But you have to promise to listen to me."

Amu nodded dutifully. He stared at her and shook his head, before turning the other way towards the fire exit. He pushed open the door, and started running, down the stacks of stairs, until they reached the back door of the first floor. Ikuto and Amu quickly ran into the parking lot, and located their car. His hand rummaged in his jean pockets, pulled out a key, and jammed it into the ignition, making the engine purr to life. Ikuto, quickly as possible, reversed out of the parking lot, and into the highway. One hand went up to his temples, and he massaged them, staring straight at the road. Suddenly, a smirk broke out on his face.

"Idiots," he muttered. "They can't even catch us. And we were right there."

Amu laughed along with him for a second, before looking at the sun rising in the distance.

"How long has it been? Like, a week?" she asked, staring at him. He looked at her, and extended his arm to flick her forehead.

"Retard," he murmured. "It's only been two days."

"Only two days? Are you serious? It seems like a week has passed or something."

"Yeah, well, you've heard the saying, 'Time seems slow when events happen in between.'" Ikuto said, trying not to focus on the girl beside him that made his heart pound, and how much he wanted to kiss her, but instead, his eyes staying on the road.

Amu sat quiet for a few moments. When he said, "events", did he mean the ... kiss? She had completely forgotten about it. His lips on hers – it made her feel – protected, actually. Protected from anything – even her disease. She didn't mind at first when he did it, but maybe that was because she enjoyed it, and wasn't denying that fact. The fact she was denying was whether or not she loved him or not. Besides, who could fall in love in the two days that she'd known him?

Too bad for Amu, `cause she had fallen in love; no matter how much she'd be denying it, the true would still be there.

~*~

Amu stretched out her feet in the passenger seat, and yawned, lifting her hands in the car, the wind pushing against them.

"When are we getting there?" she asked, the corner of her eyes glancing towards him. He was oddly quiet the past few hours, and she desperately tried to get him to talk. If not about why he was acting so strange, then just a conversation. Though, so far, no luck.

His voice was quiet when he answered, and she almost couldn't hear him over the roar of the car's engine and the wind.

"Almost there; I guess maybe it'll take two hours, total."

Amu nodded, and crossed her feet. Her heart pounded in excitement; her eyes were closing, imagining herself gazing at the tides of the sea, feeling the crumple of the sand underneath her feet, smelling the ocean's breeze. Soon, she'd be close enough she experience all that. Everything she'd ever wanted to feel. She wouldn't feel envy watching TV of couples running through the sand, or friends dancing in the rain. She wouldn't feel jealous or envious; she was lucky enough to experience this.

"Than–" she began to say, but was cut off abruptly by him clutching his forehead. The car lurched to a stop, and both of his palms were pressed severely to his forehead. Amu saw sweat leak through, and his voice was hoarse when he started talking to her.

"Amu ... the pills ... in the compartment," he croaked, and Amu immediately opened the compartment, finding no medication.

No medication.

What was she supposed to do now? Her voice was frantic; she couldn't bear to lose him now, after everything she went through.

"Ikuto! It's not in here," she cried, opening other compartments, and searching under the seats for the medication bottle. "I can't find it!"

Ikuto didn't have time to reply; he was too busy clutching him forehead, and struggling to breathe.

"Then ... try ... the ... trunk," his voice was barely above a whisper, and Amu frantically looked at him, tears threatening to leak through her eyes.

I will not cry, she thought. I have to be prepared and not let my emotions overpower me.

Amu desperately opened her passenger door, and ran to the back of the car, easily lifting the truck. Much to her shock, the small medicine bottle was sitting there idly. A wash of relief went through Amu as she picked it up, and ran back to Ikuto, thrusting the drug into his mouth. After a minute of nothing happening, his breathing quieted, his eyes closing in the process. For a moment, she thought he had fallen asleep, but when he reached out a shaky hand and pressed it to the back of her neck, pulling her closer so that his lips were centimeters away from her face, she realized he had just been sitting there to catch his breath. He then said,

"Thank you, Amu." And he softly pressed his lips against her cheek for a small peck before unconsciousness overpowered him.

Ahh, updating and then leaving you with a cliffhanger. That's me. I know; I'm cruel. But cruel makes you cool 8D And makes you receive more reviews.

Thankies for the reviews throughout my whole life on FanFiction so far. I'm lovin' it. Finally! During the months I haven't been updating my stories, I've been losing my interest in this story. Not in Shugo Chara!, but specifically in this story. So when I wrote the first chapter for, "Runaway," I had the sudden urge to write for "Sacrifice" again. Because, as you've probably noticed, my writing has improved immensely since I first signed up for this site in I look back over my first story, I realize how sucky my writing was. I can't believe you guys liked it ._. But, whatever.

I might be able to update on "Runaway" soon. Though I can't promise you it'd be really soon. I have an exam to prep for in the end of the month, and I'm freaking out over it.

Eh, sorry for the long A/N! *-*

Next chapter is the last. I might have an Epilouge. Though that's up to you guys if you think the last chapter wraps up the story. ^^ Though I have a hunch that I'm gonna have trouble writing it. `Cause those of you who have read Heaven's Door, you know what happens to the dude in the end .... =.='' So don't spoil it!

-- Bye & don't forget to review!

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Pointing out mistakes is fine.
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