Morg: Heyo!

Ikuto: …Was that it?

Amu: I know, right? Usually she makes lame excuses and is lame.

Morg: I don't need to give an excuse for being awesome.

Ikuto: It was better when she was quiet.

Amu: Agreed.

Morg: But I don't have anything to feel bad about. I update when I can.

Ikuto: What about not owning us and being unable to make Amuto a real thing?

Amu: Thank heavens for that never happening.

Morg: Good point. I'll work hard!

Ikuto: Yeah!

Amu: Like I said, never happening.

~Guardian of Light~

"Is everything ready?"

Different types of creatures stood around the small clearing. The cry they'd all felt from the Guardian had pushed everyone to work harder to be ready to rescue her. The amount of eyes they had watching the single entrance to the Angel of Darkness' underground layer tripled. Their rouse to draw of the Dame of Darkness worked. The girl was currently tracking false stories of there being gatherings in another part of the world. The Creatures of Light were ready to rescue their Guardian.

All but one, that was. Tsukasa understood the feeling of need and urgency. Amu's cry had been heart wrenching and painful. Still, something held the man back. Amu was the Guardian for a reason. She could handle herself, even though she was currently unaware of her powers. Despite everything that had happened, the Guardian's place was next to the Angel. Being with Ikuto, like she was, couldn't be a bad thing. Not all together. Knowing that he'd only be met with arguments for his thoughts, Tsukasa kept them to himself as he watched their camp getting ready to move.

Seeing his uncle watching silently off to the side, Tadase approached the older man. "Not long now and we'll have Amu back."

Knowing that the words were supposed to be reassuring and taken as a good thing, Tsukasa just smiled.

Patting the quiet man on the back, Tadase moved forwards to address the creatures around them. They were nervous. They'd be attacking at noon when the sun was at its highest. That gave them more power, but also limited the time they had to find Amu and get out of the maze of tunnels. "Are we ready?"

There were a few murmurs from within the crowd.

Frowning at the response he received, Tadase clasped his hands behind his back. "I think we're ready. Our Guardian needs us. Every single one of us. Just as we love her, she loves us. The Angel may have her, but our Guardian is not one to be kept prisoner! We have to get her back to let her lead us once more. The time of keeping her safe and hidden has passed. So into the dark we will go. Down deep into the earth where the sun can hardly reach, but like the sun we so love, we will rise again! We will have our Guardian and the Angel shall learn his place once more! So I ask you once again! Are we ready?"

The response this time was much greater than the previous.

Grinning at the creatures around him, Tadase urged everyone to finish their tasks to that they could go. The quicker they were in position, the quicker they'd be able to get Amu back.

XXX

Standing in front of Ikuto's bedroom door wasn't exactly where Amu wanted to be at the moment. The sounds of whimpers and cries could still be heard from the girl that he'd stolen. Part of the reason for her hesitation had to do with her reluctance to see what Ikuto had done. She knew. There was no erasing that memory from Amu's mind. She knew what had happened and how badly the girl was hurting.

Gathering her courage, Amu pushed the door to Ikuto's bedroom open. She could just make out a bundle of blankets on the large bed. The dark sheets quivered as sobs filled the air. The pinkish blonde approached the bed in order to offer some sort of comfort. At first, Amu had approached slowly in order to not scare the crying girl. As she got closer, Amu realized that the girl was more than aware of her presence, but could do nothing to get further away than what she was already doing. Her pain was so great that she was forced to stay in the bed soiled by her innocence.

Amu let out one quiet sigh before approaching the pair of frightened eyes fixed on her. "Please, I'm not going to hurt you. I was too late to stop this, but I can at least offer you some comfort. He won't come back. He's promised to send you home after I clean you up. I'm so sorry."

"Wh-why?"

The word held so many more questions than it should have. Amu knew that this terrified girl wanted to know why she was there, why she was chosen, why it had to be her, why did this happen. Those were all questions that Amu would never be able to answer. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're going to be okay and you're going home."

Small whimpers escaped her mouth before the girl shifted just slightly. A louder cry filled the air between them as she curled up on herself. "It does! It matters! H-he!"

"I know." Amu couldn't help the sympathy she felt for the poor girl in front of her. Seeing this sight made Amu wish she could have stopped this long ago. Ikuto had tortured other girls before Amu was brought to his castle. But this girl. This girl would be the last. Amu was determined. "I pushed him. This is my fault, and I take responsibility. But instead of focusing on the wrongs that have been done, let's worry about getting you better so you can go home. First, tell me your name."

Feeling anger filling her but unable to express it, the girl pushed her blankets off her head to give the new girl a better view of her face. "Mindy. I'm Mindy."

"Well Mindy, I'm Amu. I've been down here with the Angel of Darkness for some time and he really isn't evil. I know you may forever think that way, but to me he isn't. He isn't the only one at fault, but he's agreed to attempt to make up for his wrongs. So in order to get you home, let's get you cleaned up. I'm going to help you over to the bathroom so you can wash up. I will get you some new clothes and when you feel that you are able, I'll tell him to send you back."

So many things filled Mindy's mind. Who was Amu to the Angel that she could do and say what she was? Why did this girl think that focusing on making her better was a better option? She'd just been raped and was already being told to forget about it and move on with her life. Mindy didn't think she could do it, but at the same time she found herself nodding along to what Amu wanted. "I'm… I'm naked."

Giving the girl an encouraging smile, Amu gestured to herself. "I've got the same things you do. I promise you that I'm only here to help you clean up."

Mindy nodded and allowed for the other to help her from the bed and to the bathroom. The trip was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. Her pain was so great as it took over her body. Several times, Mindy asked to stop their movements so she could force her lungs to take in air.

The warm water of the bath tub seemed to make things more bearable for the raped girl. Grateful to have Amu there as the girl began scrubbing her hair and her back, Mindy took a second to look at the girl helping her when Amu wasn't seated behind her. "You know, at first I thought your hair was blonde."

Smiling at the fact that the other sounded much less frightened, Amu made a face. "It is. Maybe being underground for so long has made it lose some of its shine."

Shaking her head, Mindy knew that that wasn't the case. Amu's hair wasn't not shiny. It just wasn't blonde like she originally thought. Not that it mattered. "What am I going to do when I get back?"

Moving back to put conditioner in the girl's hair so that it would be silky and soft, Amu continued their small talk in order to continue to calm down the girl she was helping. "What do you mean?"

"What guy will want someone tainted so horribly by the Angel of Darkness? What will my parents say? Will they keep me?"

The anguish was so great in the girl's words that Amu had to close her eyes to hold back her tears as she slid her fingers through wet strands of hair to spread the conditioner evenly. "Are your parents loving? Did you have someone in mind for a husband?"

Thinking about her life before this, Mindy shrugged. "I suppose they have always been there for me. I've never had any troubles before, though. What if this makes them hate me? A scornful daughter that was tainted. A disgrace."

"No. Not a disgrace. A survivor. Would you rather just forget everything?"

The offer was tempting. Even with Amu gently massaging her scalp and talking with her like they've known each other for years, Mindy could feel the fear still there. Her nights would forever be restless with images of what was done to her. Her future would be filled with darkness that would be hers alone. No one she knew at home would understand anything that she'd gone through and she'd be treated differently for it. "It might make things easier. I don't want to be an outcast."

Sighing, Amu knew what the girl would go through. If she could take everything away, she would. If Mindy could forget and heal, Amu would do it in a heartbeat. "Then forget. Don't speak of it ever again and cast this memory from your mind. Your body will heal and no one will ever know. Instead, believe that you went for a walk and was lost. Little time has passed since you were taken. Go back and sleep in your bed like none of this has never happened."

Neither girl was aware of the power passing between them. Being unaware of her powers, Amu used them without notice. Her words were made reality as the girl disappeared from the bath tub.

Surprised, Amu stared at the empty water. Ikuto must have figured that Mindy was ready to go and had sent her back. Sighing, the very unaware that she was definitely not a blonde girl pushed up from her spot and dried her hands before leaving the bathroom. Just as Amu crossed the floor of Ikuto's bedroom to find the Angel himself, a loud boom echoed through the earth. Amu felt the ground shaking around her.

In a moment of panic, Amu remembered the slit in the ceiling above Rima. Any sort of earthquake would cause the roof in that room to crack, bringing down dirt and rocks. The dragon would be smothered.

Running through the underground palace as more vibrations moved through the ground, walls and ceiling, Amu stayed focused on her need to get to Rima. She might have been too late for Mindy, but she wouldn't be for the dragon.

Creatures that followed Ikuto scurried through the halls, calling out orders to one another and passing on commands from the Angel himself. Amu forgot her original plan to find said Angel as she rushed past everyone else. No one hardly spared her a glance as she went by.

Sprinting down the small hallway that led to Rima's chamber, Amu felt her lungs burning. Something was happening. Something was definitely wrong, but she couldn't stop to think about what it might be. Rima came before all else. "Rima!"

The large dragon turned to look at the girl that entered the room. One huge eye remained on Amu as the other took in Nagihiko's response to seeing Amu with vibrant pink hair. Something else had happened to break the spell hiding Amu's powers completely. "Amu!"

Staring at the pinkette rushing towards the dragon, Nagihiko couldn't move. His brain simply wouldn't process what he was seeing. He'd been with Amu plenty of times and she'd never… "What?"

Looking up at the ceiling to see that there were indeed cracks in the rock, Amu wrapped both of her arms around Rima's snout. "I was so scared that the roof was going to cave in on you!"

Still watching the dark elf, Rima tried to reassure the Guardian. There was no way that Amu knew the truth. The girl wasn't aware of her powers yet, even if she had been using them. "If everything shakes any more than it will come down. You shouldn't be in here, Amu. The falling rocks won't hurt me as much as they might hurt you."

"I won't leave you!"

Nagi knew that he should go find Ikuto and tell him. The elf should have been sounding the alarm and calling off the search of the girl that was standing right before him. The one that had been with them for some time. The one that they should have known, but didn't. The weirdest part was that Amu didn't seem to know. "Rima's right, Amu. You shouldn't be here."

The dragon was beyond surprised at the elf's reaction, but Rima didn't argue. They didn't know what was happening and they couldn't allow for Amu to get hurt. "Go back to your room and don't leave it, Amu. We don't know what's wrong. You just stay out of the way until it's figured out."

Shaking her head without letting go of the dragon, Amu wasn't going to leave for safety when her friends were in danger. "I won't! I'll stay here with you!"

Sighing, Rima looked for Nagi to help. Just as she moved to try and shake the girl off her nose the ground shook and the ceiling broke. Roaring, the dragon managed to get Amu off her snout to lift her head and blast any falling rocks or dirt away with her ability to breathe fire. The dragon was expecting to see sky once she finished. An escape route that she could hopefully use to get her and Amu to safety. Instead, she was met with Creatures of the Light pouring into the opening and landing amongst the rubble around them. "What's happening?"

Landing, Tadase moved away from the creature that had carried him. "Amu! Rima! Are you safe? We have to go. We must get out of here!"

Confused as to what Tadase was doing there, Amu stared at the boy in shock for a few seconds before looking around at all the other creatures from her spot of safety beneath Rima's large chin. "Why are you here?"

Eyes taking in the sight of Amu's fully pink hair, Tadase felt his fear grow. If the Angel knew… "We're here to rescue you. Amu, there are lots of things that we have to talk about, but this isn't the place to do it. We have to go! Rima, can you fly?"

The dragon nodded. She didn't notice if Nagihiko had just gone unnoticed or if Tadase was ignoring the elf on purpose, but the dragon didn't want anything to happen to the man she'd spent so much time with. "I can. I'll carry you and Amu. Let's go."

Amu didn't have a chance to protest as she was grabbed around her waist by a Tadase wearing an odd looking suit of armor-with a cape that she found ridiculous-and hoisted onto the dragon. Before she could so much as settle, he was already behind her and holding onto her tightly.

Rima bent her large legs, getting ready to push off the ground and stretch her wings for the first time in weeks. If it hadn't been just after noon, Rima knew she'd never manage to get off the ground, but the sun and the touch of the Guardian gave her strength. Still, the dragon couldn't help but send a look towards the elf standing back in the shadows. He watched without comment as she began to escape. Rima wanted to say something to him, but no words would come.

The underground castle began shaking once more causing Tadase to tighten his grip around Amu. "That's the wizard, Rhythm, signaling that we must go. Hold on tight."

The other creatures escaped as Rima began using her powerful wings. Amu couldn't understand what was happening. One minute it felt as though the castle was collapsing and the next she was being whisked away by Tadase. Her eyes managed to catch sight of several of the creatures of Ikuto's castle filing into the room as Rima lifted from the floor. Ikuto followed. "Ikuto!"

Reacting to the call of his name, Ikuto locked eyes with Amu. At first he was stunned to see her held so tightly by the Knight of Light on Rima's back as the dragon took off. So much to rescue one human? Then the sight of her pink hair registered in his brain. She wasn't some human. There was a reason why Amu was unaffected even being underground. "You're the Guardian!?"

The surprise and hurt in Ikuto's voice made Amu cringe. The movement brought a few locks of her hair into her face. The pink color shocked her, but Amu knew, just as everyone else alive, that pink haired signaled the Guardian. "Ikuto! No, Ikuto! I didn't know! Ikuto!"

Even as she screamed for him, Amu could see the hatred filling Ikuto's eyes. He would never forgive her for this.

.

Morg: Well this chapter was a bitch to write.

Ikuto: Why do you say that?

Amu: Probably because she kept trying to put it off.

Morg: Nope, but do you see everything that happened? There was just so much and I didn't want to split it.

Ikuto: Just as everyone understands that I'll be getting Amu back.

Amu: Good luck.

Morg: Was that encouragement?

Ikuto: Yep!

Amu: No!