Hi. Sorry for taking so long, I got lazy. Thanks to Emily-at-random, Queenzeze and xxmewawesomenessxx for reviewing. And for those of you who don't like technical writing, sorry, but the beginning has a lot. It's necessary to clear up all confusion.

Utau jabbed the handle of her trident into the ground, creating a small indent in the sand. "This is where we are now." Everyone leaned forward to observe Utau's crudely drawn valley. "Amu, where exactly is this?"

"Um, I think it's somewhere in the Elös Forest, where we've been since we arrived here. The Forest is in the Klohodäe Region, which is basically the north." I drew a large circle with the hilt of my sword around the dot Utau had made. It was a bit unnerving to have all those eyes watching me.

"And what did we wanna do again?" Yaya questioned.

Before Utau could open her mouth, Kairi intervened. "I believe it was to sneak into the capital city and break into the castle's main portal, which is the most stable and reliable in all of Tiraldae."

Kukai frowned. "Well, why couldn't we just invade the houses again instead?"

"Well," I began, unsure of how to tackle Kukai's question, "The houses will have much more security now. It was a risk we took, breaking in like that, and we utterly failed. Besides, there are some people in the capital who might be willing to help us." I finished, thinking of Nadeshiko.

"As in?" Rima asked. "I thought this whole world hated us."

I drew another circle in the sand, marking the center with a castle. "It's a risky bargain," I said. "But if we get through the rest of the forest, which won't take long, and through these mountains," I scribbled a mountain range with hastily drawn triangles, "And navigate through the central, most densely populated region, then we can get to the city. And I know a girl who may know how to help us, and desperately needs our help."

"Why?"

"Uhm, well...she's in prison right now." The outburst was overwhelming. Everybody began talking at once.

"She's a criminal?!"

"How's she going to help us?

"She kind of needs more help than she can give us!"

"What we break her outta prison and she bails on us?"

"Why the heck do you have such weird friends?"

"Hey, guys!" I exclaimed. "She's not bad! And she's indebted to me, so there's no way she can bail."

Kairi eyed me suspiciously. "You're sure about all of this?"

I nodded resolutely. "Of course."

"Alright, then," Nagihiko grabbed a nearby twig and drew a line from our location to the castle. "Let's commence Plan Escape."

It took only a few hours to trek through the forest. By noon, we were sitting down to eat in silence, lost in thought. I peered out at the plains that gave way to rolling hills and snow-capped mountains that lay on the horizon. It was an intimidating sight. I felt even more pressured after having the dream that said that we had only three months before the Guardians began to 'let loose'.

I knew very well what 'let loose' meant. The Guardians had several lethal weapons in the military warehouses, and if I didn't get out of here in three months then all those weapons would be fired at us. They would obliterate us even with our full magic protection employed. And even if we got back the Guardians would continue their search relentlessly. Once my people embarked on something, they would never give up.

But there was definitely something off about this whole thing. Why, after three years, would the Guardians suddenly decide to kill me? As far as I knew, King d'Atsa and Queen Kiandyr were the ones who made important decisions like this one. I had only seen them once, but that once had been enough to leave me with a memory engraved in my mind like carvings in stone.

I was sitting, head down, chained to the very chair that I sat in. The trial had just finished and I was still dealing with my fate of getting banished.

"Miss Hinamori." A melodious voice that flowed like silk caused my head to snap upward.

"My-my Queen!" I stammered. Another figure, tall and broad with a head of bushy brown hair and an equally voluminous beard moved to stand beside the queen. "My King!"

They lingered behind as the judges and jury exited, leaving the rulers of Tiraldae alone with me. Nadeshiko was still there, but she was chained far from me and she was turned away, expression unreadable.

"I trust the judge's verdict, but I want your opinion." King d'Atsa growled. "Why did you steal this priceless magic from us?"

"I...I don't even know the magic's name." I swallowed nervously. "And I didn't steal it-"

"Your Majesties!" The king and queen glanced up at the call of a maid. "You are needed in the South Wing." Queen Kiandyr gave me one last glance before hurrying out of the courtroom. It was a lingering look of anger and disappointment, touched with the slightest hint of sorrow.

"-of my own free will…"

That had been a fleeting chance at freedom for me. If I could have explained to the king and queen that I had only been following what Nadeshiko said, maybe I wouldn't even be in this predicament now. There were so many points in my life where, if I had chose to do something else, my life would have ended up in a completely different place. Or maybe, if the people around me had been better choices, it would have been easier for all of us.

"Amu." Ikuto approached me with a blank face. I scrambled away on instinct, my cheek suddenly burning as a reminder of yesterday.

"Just as I thought." Ikuto kept his distance. "It's Big Bad Ikuto, the one who slapped you and said horrible things about you."

I said nothing, only bit my lip and gave him a wary glare.

Ikuto sighed and jammed his hands in his pockets. "Look here, Amu, I'm gonna make this quick. Sorry."

I was dumbfounded by his sudden action. Was it really guilt driving him? Or some other hidden motive? "...Usually, when people say they'll make it quick, they take forever." I finally said.

"Well, I guess I'm not normal, right?" Ikuto replied bitterly.

After a slight pause, I added, "What made you apologize?"

Ikuto shrugged. "Dunno." He began to walk off, but I stopped him with a quick call.

"Ikuto! I have one more question."

He turned, looking a bit annoyed that his short apology hadn't gone as expected. "Fine. But hurry."

"Last night, I talked to Utau, and she told me a bit about her past." Ikuto paled slightly, as if he knew what was coming. "Why'd you blame her for death of whoever it was? And who was she?"

Ikuto didn't answer at first. One, maybe two minutes ticked by with him staring at the ground and me shifting uncomfortably, waiting for a response.

"...Ko." He said softly after an endless pause. "That's all we ever knew her as. An enigmatic, yet wonderfully kind girl who befriended us all. A demon fighter as well, stronger than any of us. I had just turned sixteen at the time of her death. She and Utau fought over some matter of their friendship, and the next day we found her ribbon in a pond nearby. It was the very same pond you nearly drowned in after the Christmas party." Ikuto stopped abruptly. It was probably the most he'd ever said to me in one shot.

"I see. And you blamed Utau because she was the one who argued with Ko before?"

"Don't speak her name." Ikuto said harshly. "You should be thanking me-I wasx never going to tell you any of this." And he was gone, moving swiftly and silently back to the camp.

Ko. Though Ikuto's information had begun to fill in the gaps of his past, lots was still missing. Ikuto was hiding something. Whether it was about Ko, me, or something else entirely, I had no clue.

"Clohday?" Utau frowned, knowing she had pronounced it wrong.

I shook my head. "No, no, Klohodäe."

"Colodie." Kukai attempted.

"Klo-ho-die-eay." I spelled out every syllable for the two.

"Klodiee."

Utau gave Kukai a light punch. "Idiot, you forgot the 'ho'!"

"No fair! Why are we even doing this?" Kukai whined.

"Well, it'd be useful to know the name of the region we're in if we're ever questioned by the natives here." Rima chimed in.

"Well, then you try it!" Utau challenged."

"Klo-ho-die-eay. Klohodäe." She spoke the word without a flaw, making Utau and Kukai green with envy.

This little game of pronunciation was simply to pass the time as we crossed the open plains that were slowly giving way to foothills. While Utau, Kukai, and Rima attempted more of Tiraldae's language, I joined Kairi and Nagihiko.

"Two weeks at most to get to the mountains." said Kairi.

Nagihiko squinted past the huge peaks. "And about a month or so to get over the mountains, if what Amu said was tr-oh, hey Amu."

I caught up to the two guys. "Hi."

"We were just talking about how long it'll take us to get to the capital." Kairi supplied.

I nodded. "I know, I heard. We'll have to move fast, because we can't get caught and we have about three months at most."

"Three months?"

"The Guardians will start getting really violent if they can't get us within a couple months." I left out the fact that the Guardians would pursue me on Earth as well. If-no, when-we broke out of Tiraldae with Nadeshiko, I would take her and flee, leaving Ikuto, Utau, and all the others at their home. I'd figure out from Nadeshiko exactly what happened three years ago, and we'd spend the rest of our days fighting the Guardians together. It wasn't the best future, but it was worth a shot.

"What if the Guardians try to attack us here?" Nagihiko asked.

I shrugged. "We're going to have to fight." I remembered Rima and Yaya with a start. Those two had both left their weapons on Earth.

Kairi seemed to be sharing my thoughts. "Queen and Ace do not have weapons. Can we get some using magic?"

"No, we can't. Guardian magic is 'equal exchange' based. If we traded a stick for a sword via magic, the sword would have the power, or lack of it, of a stick." On a side note, I added, "Why do you call everybody names like 'Queen?'"

Kairi smiled briefly. "Those names were from better times. In elementary school we were all part of a club, a student council of sorts. Rima was the Queen's Chair, Yaya the Ace Chair, Kukai and Nagihiko in the Jack's Chair - Nagihiko took over for Kukai when he graduated into middle school - and Tadase was the King's Chair."

"What about Ikuto and Utau?"

"Utau was already in middle school and Ikuto in high school, so they missed the opportunity."

Ikuto sidled up next to us. "Good thing too. You guys were such kids, practically believing you were in charge of the world."

"Oh, Ikuto." Nagihiko greeted the older teen. "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"I was never sick in the first place."

"You've been quiet since we got here, though." Kairi said.

"Quiet? I thought he was always like this!" I exclaimed.

"Nah, the guy's just shy." Nagihiko teased. "But yeah, Ikuto's not the friendliest guy."

All of a sudden a thought struck me and before Ikuto could shoot an insult back at Nagihiko, I asked, "If Ikuto was in high school when you guys were younger, wouldn't he be college age now?"

Ikuto sighed. "Yup. I'm missing classes at the Tokyo Academy of Music and Art right now. Not that it was any fun, though. Or of any use." His statement didn't really surprise me. Ikuto didn't seem like the kind of guy who enjoyed school. Unlike some people, namely Kairi.

"Where else would you go?" Kairi challenged. "College is your one path to a future. And music is your strength, so shouldn't you be happy?" Yup, there's our 'go to school' advocate right there.

"I hate music." Ikuto hissed, demeanor suddenly shifting to menacing. His eyes narrowed and his hands clenched.

Kairi sighed. "How long will it take you to realize that even if your father's gone, you can still play? You haven't even opened that violin case since your father and Ko-" Nagihiko elbowed Kairi sharply. He glanced over at me and cursed under his breath. Except that his curse words were more like Shakespeare insults.

Ikuto's fists clenched. "My father doesn't-I don't care about him. He was supposedly a great musician. If that is what a musician is, then I don't want to be one."

Nagihiko replied, calm as ever, "Then what are you going to do with your life? Music is destined for you. You can't just ignore a gift like that."

"You have a 'gift' for dancing. but that gift has forced you to be a girl for seven years." Ikuto said quietly, though every syllable was accented with scorn. My mouth literally dropped open. Nagihiko, a girl?

Nagihiko himself was now tomato red. " Amu-chan doesn't know my secret!"

"But I intend to," I cut in. "Ikuto, tell me everything. What's the deal with your father-why'd he disappear and why does everyone seem to pity you about it now? What about your music? And why, oh why does Nagihiko crossdress?!"

Ikuto's eyes flashed. "I never asked them to pity me. And as for my music, that's something I'd like to keep to myself."

"But I can't just not know!"

"I'll tell you once we go home." Ikuto procastinated.

"Like we'll ever get home! Ninety-nine percent chance we're going to DIE!" As soon as the words flew out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back. Ikuto froze, but relaxed as quickly as he had tensed.

"If we die, then maybe I can be with all those I've lost already."

"Ikuto!" scolded Kairi. "Don't think like that."

Nagihiko, whose cheeks had drained to peach pink, added, "What do you think we live for?"

Ikuto shrugged, resuming his trademark bored expression. "Fine. Forget I ever said that." It was almost like he was backing off. Like he was only agreeing to satisfy his friends.

But though Kairi and Nagihiko let it go, I was still filled with unease. I had realized long before that Ikuto was filled with secrets and tragedy, but I was slowly finding out that all of the people I called friends had something to hide.

"Ikuto! IKUTO!"

"What is it, Mom?" Ikuto groaned, still half asleep.

"Aruto-Daddy's gone!" She cried, voice trembling as she kept herself from bursting into tears.

Ikuto jolted out of bed. "What?!"

Before her mother could reply, however, Utau thrust open the door. Tears streamed down her face. In one hand she clutched a pink ribbon. "Rima found this in the pond."

"Ko…Father..." Ikuto's voice broke as all the truths hit him with full force.

That day, the world came crashing down on his head. His father and friend were forever gone.

December eighteenth. The day when his life turned dark.

Ikuto couldn't stop thinking about that day. Amu's insistent questions had brought up memories he wanted hidden. She was just the Guardian who knew how to get them home. Heck, she wasn't even human. Ikuto had tried to convince himself that she wasn't one of his friends. Those days were over now, though. He had to trust Amu.

She was figuring out, slowly but surely, the secrets they all shared. He wasn't going to stop her-maybe he even wanted Amu to know. But he'd seen sides of Amu she kept carefully guarded, the tears that welled up in her golden eyes at every memory and the pained whispers through the night that carried evidence of nightmares. The way her face would darken so suddenly and how her façade would crumble so swiftly. And Ikuto had come to realize that Amu was more than the leader of this quest or a little crybaby of a girl.

She had secrets of her own.

And the ironic thing is, I had a really cheery song stuck in my head as I typed that last part.

Please, no flaming about Ko. It'll all come together in the end. Ko's not that perfect OC, let alone an OC at all. Think about it. Which character, main or minor, from SC could be Ko?

ReachForTheSky is out.