Morg: Heyo! I'm sorry for taking forever to update this one. Besides! It is my birthday! So be nice!

Ikuto: Isn't that what you've been saying at the beginning of every story you've updated recently?

Amu: That's because she's lame and doesn't write as much anymore.

Morg: Not my fault. I just got a new job.

Ikuto: Excuses!

Amu: What excuse do you have for not owning us?

Morg: No monies…

Ikuto: Too bad for you.

Amu: I'd rather keep it this way.

~Guardian of Light~

"You will tell me what I want to know!"

The giant dragon refused to react to the Angel of Death's threats. She wasn't going to give the young boy the answers he wanted. "I know nothing."

Ikuto smirked as he cut off the flow of the light once again. Rima was once again plunged into darkness. There was no physical pain being done to her body, however, she was feeling weaker and weaker without the light. Her energy was draining along with her resistance towards his questioning. "You know something. I want to know it too, so why don't you share."

Rima couldn't even lift her head. There wasn't even enough energy in her body lift her head. Soon she was going to die. "I know… nothing."

Amu knew something was wrong. She could feel it. Her mind just kept screaming for her to get to Rima. Something was wrong with Rima.

Sliding around the corner, Amu continued her run through the dark halls. Within minutes she was panted as she came to a quick stop inside Rima's too dark room. "What is going on here? Ikuto! Stop it now! Can't you see that she is about to die?"

Instantly Rima began to feel better just because Amu was in the room. She refused to show any sort of strength. Doing so would only lead to Ikuto figuring out that she was the Guardian. The moment Amu touched her, strength flowed through her body. "A-Amu."

Ikuto scowled as he allowed the light to flood the room. No more than before, but enough for Rima to lift her head again. "Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?"

"I don't care who you are or what you control! You are not evil and you don't need to do evil things! If Rima doesn't want to tell you something then you need to try asking in a different way."

Ikuto watched as the blonde girl panted before him. She must have sprinted through his castle to reach them. But how could she have known what was happening? Shrugging the thought off, Ikuto frowned even more so. "Why do you care about her so much?"

Amu lined up with the Angel of Darkness toe to toe. "Because Rima is my friend! And you! You say that you are so evil but I see nothing so bad about you! Why are you trying so hard to be like the others before you?"

Ikuto scowled more so. No human had ever dared to stand up to him before and here she was almost yelling at him. "What is wrong with you? I am evil. I am darkness."

Amu sighed as she laid one of her hands on Ikuto's cheeks. "The darkness is not evil. Darkness can be beautiful; you just have to see it."

Ikuto was left stunned as Amu turned from him and began rubbing Rima's nose. Who was this girl and why was she so different? All the others would be dead already. "Fine. I'll let Rima alone for now. Nagihiko!"

A man that wasn't a man entered the room within a few seconds. "Master."

"You are the blacksmith, dark elf. You will put Rima to good use until she decides to tell me what she knows. And trust me, Amu. I know she knows something."

Amu only stuck her tongue out at Ikuto before turning to Rima. "Is that okay with you?"

Rima nodded her large head without taking her eyes off the dark elf. "It will have to be."

Amu narrowed her eyes as she turned to the elf. "Nagihiko isn't it? You will be nice to Rima or you will deal with me."

Without really knowing how to respond, Nagihiko looked towards his master. Ikuto gave a slight nod before Nagihiko looked back at Amu and gave a small smile, revealing sharp teeth. "Please, call me Nagi. I promise to work well with Rima."

"If I hear one complaint from my dragon then you'll be sorry."

Nagihiko continued to smile and despite having odd teeth, he looked rather handsome with his dark purplish skin. His long purple hair was beautiful as well. Amu wanted to become friends with the elf, but that wasn't to happen at the moment.

Giving one last look to Rima, Amu stormed back out of the room. For a reason that she didn't understand, Amu felt as though she needed to get away from Ikuto for a little bit. The urge in her made no sense. It was almost as if she heard Tadase's voice telling her that she needed to be alone for a little while.

Ikuto watched her leave but was rather confused by her actions. She left just as quickly as she stormed in. All of her actions confused him to no end. Amu really was different. The others would have already been crazy and deformed and yet she still pressed on as if she was completely normal. Things weren't adding up, but she couldn't have been more than a normal human. It had to be the dragon. That dragon had to be using the little energy she had to protect the young girl. They were friends, it made sense. The dragon was making sure that Amu stayed normal rather than saving energy to escape.

Nodding to himself, Ikuto left the room himself, leaving Rima and Nagihiko to become better acquainted.

Nagi looked up at the large dragon before him. "You may call me Nagi as well."

Rima lowered her large head to stare straight into the dark elf's eyes. "We might have to work together by decree of your master, but we will not get along. What do I have to do?"

Keeping his smile in place as to make it seem as if her words didn't affect him, Nagihiko motioned towards the huge doorway. "You will come with me every day to work the fires in the ovens for me. You will be given more sunlight to make sure that you can perform your tasks. If you attempt to do anything other than what I instruct, the Angel of Darkness will punish you."

Turning her head, Rima refused to look at the elf. "I will do what I must to protect myself. I have nothing to tell the Angel."

Nagi only smiled before waving over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow then!"

XXX

Amu's chest was still heaving as she returned to the room Ikuto gave her. She knew that Ikuto had treated the other girls he'd taken worse than he treated her. That's why she knew that Ikuto wasn't bad. He wasn't evil. Amu knew it. Why couldn't he see it?

Lying on her bed, Amu stared up at the ceiling with her arm draped across her forehead. These were things she shouldn't be worried about. The Angel of Darkness had nothing to do with her and once he let her go Amu would be free to live her life with Tadase and Tsukasa once more.

A knock sounded at her door so Amu got up to answer it. "Yes?"

Ikuto stood outside her door. He did not look angry but something told Amu that he wasn't happy either. "I need to speak with you. Come with me."

Since it wasn't a question, Amu had no choice but to follow the Angel as he started down the hall without waiting for any sort of answer. Ten minutes later he led her into a rather large room. The walls were lined with shelves full of books and several tables were covered with books that looked as if they were being read.

"What is this place?"

Ikuto turned back only slightly to glance at Amu as she looked around the room with interest. "This is where the previous Angels have left their notes and any information about the Guardian for the following Angels to read. I will do the same if I am not the one to find her."

Amu nodded her head as she began to walk around the room, looking at all the books. "Do you know what will happen if you do find her?"

Ikuto sat down at the large desk on the other side of the room and watched the blonde walk around. "The reincarnations will stop. I will live forever with the Guardian unless she is stolen from me again."

Amu nodded her head as she stared at a few more books. They didn't really tell her much since none of them had titles. Pulling one from the shelf, Amu began to read. That's when she realized that they weren't actual books. They were journals from the previous Angels. "Have you read all of these?"

"Yes. I keep my own as well."

Nodding her head, Amu understood. The reincarnated Angels were not born with the knowledge of the ones before them. That's why they kept the journals. Amu wondered if the Guardian did something like that as well. Thinking back, it was sort of like how Tadase and Tsukasa told her stories. Only they passed the information on verbally rather than written like Ikuto received it. "Am I in them?"

Ikuto was taken aback for only a moment by the question. "You are in my life so you must be put in my journals."

Amu blushed a little upon learning that. Ikuto wrote about her. The thoughts she had earlier about not being anything important to the Angel of Darkness or him not being important to her were slowly losing ground. Ikuto would never be able to forget now that she was written down in his set of journals and any Angels that followed him would know of her as well. The thought made Amu slightly nervous. What if they didn't like her? What if Ikuto wrote bad things about her? "Good things I hope."

Ikuto only smirked at the girl before him. "You'll never know."

Amu returned a weak smile and placed the journal back on the shelf. "So what did you need to talk to me about?"

Ikuto sighed before clasping his hands before him and resting his elbows on his desk while his chin lay on his interlocked fingers. "I think it is time to tell you a little more about myself and what I know about the Guardian since you seem to want to know as well."

Amu gulped but nodded. That sensation she had earlier to get away from Ikuto was strong again.

.

Morg: A rather short chapter, but this is where I wanted to stop it!

Ikuto: Whatever.

Amu: Just because it is your birthday…

Morg: Deal with it! Review please!