Morg: Heyo! First off! This story has tattoo/birthmark thingys that you can see on my deviant art! The link is on my profile!

Ikuto: What's the second thing?

Amu: I don't think we want to know.

Morg: There is no second thing.

Ikuto: Then why did you say first off?

Amu: Because she's an idiot.

Morg: I don't know if I should be more surprised that you caught that or because you actually were listening to what I was saying.

Ikuto: Forget it.

Amu: Thank goodness she owns nothing!

~Guardian of Light~

Amu didn't understand why she found it so easy to locate Rima in the random tunnels and open rooms of the underground cavern she was forced into, but it was. The large dragon was in a particularly dark room that allotted a tiny amount of sunlight in. One single beam was all that entered the room. There was no other source of light. Yet, Amu could clearly see Rima and Rima could clearly see the blonde girl before her. Amu didn't question her ability to see in the dark, couldn't all humans do it?

"Rima, when are they going to let you go? Didn't you say that you need sunlight to fully heal?"

The large dragon felt incredibly better just by having Amu touching her. The Creature of the Light knew what Amu was even though Amu herself didn't know. And though she felt immensely better, the sun was the only thing that could directly make the dragon fly again. With just the tiny beam that entered the room, Rima could live. Move a little sure, but nothing more than a few tail swipes and lifting her head.

At the moment, Amu lay on the back of the dragon's neck, just relaxing as she daydreamed of blue skies and the sun. Absentmindedly her fingers ran over the skin on her hip that was slightly raised higher than the rest. Some sort of birthmark, Tadase said so. The markings were strange though. Not just a splotch or circle or something more natural. Though it used to be clearer and have color, now it was the same milky color of her skin. Sometimes it changed color so Amu didn't think about it much.

Her mind drifted to wonder about Tsukasa and Tadase. There was no doubt in her blonde head that they were worried about her. The underground castle might be dark and filled with creatures she'd never seen before and Ikuto was hauntingly beautiful, but Amu wasn't being mistreated. She sort of liked it there.

Rima let out a long sigh, one that lifted the girl on her back and lowered her back down as she giggled. "I do need the sunlight, little one. The single beam over there does enough to keep me alive but that is all. I doubt they will let me go, though. Ikuto-sama believes that I have information for him regarding the whereabouts of the Guardian of Light."

Amu pulled a lock of her hair between her fingers and twirled it around. "I've heard of the Guardian of Light before. Doesn't he like, own the sun or something?"

A short laugh left the large beast that the human laid on. "The Guardian is a girl. She doesn't own the sun, but she protects those that need it to survive. Like me and the unicorn and many others."

"So she should come rescue you now. How does she know if you are in trouble?"

Rima felt herself going into territory that she should not be in while having a conversation with the particular human with her. "Amu, the Guardian has disappeared."

"Disappeared? She's not doing a good job then if she's supposed to protect everyone."

Rima let out a dragon size sigh before gathering her thoughts. "She didn't run away or anything. The Angel of Darkness, Ikuto-sama, betrayed her. He took her for himself rather than ruling with her equally and threw the balance of the world off. That is why Creatures of the Light are so hard to find and Creatures of the Night are everywhere."

Amu sat up to stare at the little bit of light coming in the room. She felt the need, suddenly, to be underneath it and feel the sun's rays upon her skin. So she moved to it and settled herself beneath it. "Ikuto did that? But then wouldn't everyone know where she was?"

"She escaped Ikuto with the help of the Knight of Light. He was created to bring balance back, though the Angel of Darkness was still upset and she was forced to go into hiding. That was before my time though; I wasn't around to see the betrayal. I only heard stories."

Amu let out a sigh of her own as she sat in silence with her thoughts for a few moments. "You say it happened so long ago but Ikuto isn't that old. He's hardly a few years older than I am."

Rima gave a dragon like chuckle. "That is true, but the Angel of Darkness and the Guardian of Light have been reincarnated many times over."

"Then it wasn't Ikuto."

The dragon didn't know what to say to that. Before she had the chance to even begin organizing her thoughts though, the Angel himself appeared before them. "Amu, come with me."

XXX

The unicorn stood panting in the middle of a dense forest. The cherub poofed beside her with Tsukasa in tow while Tadase jumped down from the noble beast's back. "This place is safe?"

The unicorn tossed its mane. "Yaya has used magic here to protect us while we gather."

Tadase nodded his head in response to what Ran told him. "We must gather whoever we can find. I let them take Rima so that she would have someone with her in that dungeon. I managed to cast one last spell before the Angel took her so that her powers would remain hidden for a while longer. We have time to plan, but we must hurry. That Angel must not learn that he already has the Guardian as his prisoner."

Eru giggled once before bowing to her commander. "I will go at once and bring others. We will gather before the week is out."

Tadase only nodded before the cherub disappeared into her puff of white smoke. Tsukasa jokingly coughed and swatted his hand as if the innocent smoke could actually hurt him. "That was an interesting way to travel. How are your legs doing, my boy?"

Part of Tadase felt annoyed at his uncle's behavior but the rest of him was grateful for it. Tsukasa was letting him know, in his own special way, that everything was going to be alright. They would get Amu back and they would do so without panicking. "The sun is up, Uncle. I feel no pain."

"Ah, that's right. I forgot that your crazy invincible during the daylight. Silly me."

Tadase couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Thanks for coming, Tsukasa."

"Well someone has to be around to save you. I can't seem to trust other people to do it right so here I am, getting my old bones involved in yet another rescue mission."

"You aren't that old. The Creator stopped you from aging when you took up the task to protect."

"Rubbing it in my face, are you? I told you that I'm old, I didn't say my body was."

The unicorn only snorted in laughter while Tadase scowled at his uncle. "I regret my decision to ask for your help."

Tsukasa only ruffled his nephew's hair. "I'm sure you don't, but by the time this is through I'll make sure that you do."

XXX

With no other choice, Amu followed Ikuto out of Rima's chamber and through the hallways. She had no idea what to expect and Ikuto hadn't said anything since he'd pulled her out from Rima's presence.

Ikuto had meant to pull her along with him and be harsh to the girl since he was angry. They hadn't managed to learn anything new about the Guardian or her protectors even with the dragon as their prisoner. He had been angry, until he entered that room and his heart had stopped. Amu had been sitting under the single beam of sunlight that reached that room. The beam was tiny, yet it cascaded around her as if bathing her in its glory. She had looked absolutely breathtaking.

Everything he was going to say, or yell, had instantly vanished from his mind. All his worries, all his anger was just gone. Never before had that ever happened. For a single moment he'd frozen while he just stared at her. Then he found words to speak; only they sounded much kinder than the original ones he was going to scream at her.

Now with her calmly following him through the halls, Ikuto couldn't seem to go through with his plan of tossing her onto her bed and having his way with her. She was completely appealing to him in that aspect just like the other human girls had been, but that one second of seeing her in that light had made him rethink what he was going to do with her. For just a moment he thought of protecting her rather than slowly killing her.

"Ikuto, why are you holding Rima here?"

The Angel of Darkness halted in his footsteps. Never before had anyone ever questioned what he did. "That is not your business."

Amu balled her fists before moving to stand in front of the stationary being. "It is too my business! She was captured while trying to protect me because she was my friend! It is my fault that she was brought here and I know that she can't heal without more sunlight! That little beam isn't enough! I suggest you hurry up and let her go!"

The fact that she looked angry surprised Ikuto. The stomping thing she did with her foot while she talked only made her look cuter. "That isn't why she's here."

Amu gasped a little as Ikuto moved closer to her. All too soon she was pinned against the wall with his breath fanning out across her lips and cheeks. "Then why is she here?"

If this girl were any other then she'd be unable to speak. At least that was what Ikuto's previous trials with humans had taught him. This girl must have lived under a rock. Man could he pick them. "She's here because I want to know what she knows about the Guardian of Light. Dragons are old beings that have knowledge. They don't forget anything they've learned. I do believe she knows something and I must know what she knows."

Amu pushed her way out of his arms and took a few steps away. "Why? Why do you care about the Guardian of Light? Rima told me that a previous Angel of Darkness was too greedy and ruined the balance of light and dark. But why do you search for her?"

Ikuto let out a long sigh. That was something he had often wondered on his own. Why did she matter so much to him? "Because she is my other half. I fell empty without her presence beside me. That is the way it is supposed to be. I feel the need to possess her and make sure that she sees only me. I want to be the only one in her eyes."

Amu could see that Ikuto knew what he was saying without actually knowing what he was saying. "That is what I don't understand. How could you feel that way about someone without actually meeting them and knowing who they are? What makes you think that when you find the Guardian of Light, she'll still want to be your other half? Didn't you betray her? Shouldn't you be trying to make amends? Maybe that way she'll come back on her own."

A dark, rich laugh filled the empty hallway. "You are a simple human. What would you know about the Guardian? The only reason that you are here is so that you can take her place as my lover until I do find her. Or until you go crazy. Either one works for me."

Amu shuddered at that but paid little attention to her reaction to his words. They didn't make her scared or worried and that somehow made her worried. "Just another reason for her to not want to come back to you."

Ikuto had had enough. He didn't want to hear anything else from the girl before him. Without another word he turned and left her there in the hall.

.

Morg: I hope you liked it!

Ikuto: Not as good as it could have been.

Amu: Lots of information.

Morg: Important information.

Ikuto: We'll let the readers decide that.

Amu: So review!