Morg: Heyo!

Ikuto: Well, look at that. You didn't wait ten years to update.

Amu: Still way too long.

Morg: Yeah, yeah. I know. I suck at updating.

Ikuto: At least you know you have a problem.

Amu: You could delete some of them. Then you'd have less.

Morg: Not happening!

Ikuto: No way!

Amu: I'm just glad you don't own us.

Morg: Keep telling yourself that.

~Queen's Decree~

Amu shifted her stance as she watched Ikuto approach her. "Anyone?"

Shaking his head, Ikuto stopped before the future queen as he scanned the garden around them. "I didn't find anyone nearby. I don't think anyone will see us."

"I told you before that they can't punish you without my permission or my mother's. She would not give it. Not if I did not wish for her to."

"That doesn't mean that people won't gossip, Amu," he said while finally meeting her gaze. "I don't want you to have to deal with the idiots at court finding something else to bother you about."

Shaking her head while biting back an amused smile, Amu couldn't help the warmth she felt building within her chest. A warmth that she hadn't ever felt before. "Thank you for worrying about me, but the members of the court are easy problems for me to deal with. They might think that they can gossip about me, but there are far worse things that I could say about them."

Ikuto shook his head without bothering to hide his smirk. "You'll be an excellent queen someday, Amu."

"Thanks."

"Let's work on keeping you alive until then, shall we?"

Scowling at that, Amu crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, let's do something about that. Sometimes I want to know who it is that is trying to have me killed. Other times, I think I don't want to know because then I can't behave any differently toward them."

Ikuto removed some of his gear and dropped it at the side of the clearing that they would use for their lessons. He kept a few of his daggers on him just in case they were interrupted. He didn't want to have to risk Amu's life just because he wasn't close enough to a weapon. "Politics are your domain, Amu. I just make sure that you remain alive to stay in them."

"Sometimes," Amu said with a smile, "I think you have the better deal out of the two of us."

Ikuto chuckled at that. "We're going to start with some basic maneuvers. I'm going to teach you what to do if someone charges you or if someone is shooting at you. A lot of self-defense is getting somewhere safe."

"But you will teach me hand-to-hand combat, won't you?"

Ikuto bit back a sigh as he looked down into Amu's wide golden eyes. "Yes, we'll work up to that."

Amu nodded at that. "Great. So what do you want me to do first?"

Ikuto straightened up before looking over her stance. "We've got a lot of work to do, Your Highness. I hope you're ready for it."

XXX

"You called for me, mother?"

"Amu, please come in and shut the door."

Following her mother's request, Amu entered her study and tightly shut the door behind her. She did her best not to show how sore she was in her movements. Ikuto was a brutal instructor, but Amu knew she was improving with every lesson. "Was there something we needed to discuss?"

"Yes," Midori replied. "Your birthday is quickly approaching. I think it is time for us to throw you a ball to celebrate."

"A ball?"

Midori set aside a few papers before putting her full attention on her daughter. It was hard for her to believe just how old her daughter was getting. "Yes. It is time you met people from the other kingdoms. I know that you have had regular correspondence with some of them and have met Rima and Utau a few times over the years, but we need to expand your circle."

"Expand my circle?"

Midori smiled at that. "Don't give me that disbelieving attitude, Amu. I didn't say that you had to like them. You just have to meet them."

With a sigh, Amu carefully sat down in an empty chair. Her mother was right, in a way. Amu did need to meet some of the royals from other kingdoms. Hosting a ball for her birthday would be an easy way to invite people to their kingdom. "How many people are you thinking?"

"No more than a few hundred."

Amu swallowed hard at that. They had had social gatherings before. The court basically demanded them on a monthly basis. They had not hosted one as large as her mother was describing. "What will I need to do?"

Smiling at that, Midori shifted to pick up another piece of paper. Something about someone wanting to fight someone else for more land. She put that on the rejected pile. "For the most part, you'll just need to greet people and talk with them. It won't be so different from some of the balls we've had before. You'll just have more peers in attendance rather than subjects."

"If you think this is best then that's what we'll do."

"I'm glad we're in agreement. Now, go and find your sister. I'm sure that she'll be excited about getting to pick out a new party dress."

Amu dipped her head before rising from her seat. She held her breath as she moved as to not let out any pained noises. Her mother watched her with a raised brow but otherwise didn't say anything about her stilted movements. "Do you know where she is?"

"I would try her new craft room. She said something about painting today."

Turning to leave, Amu didn't bother to hide her smile from her mother. "I'm sure her nanny is enjoying that."

Midori's laughter followed Amu out of her mother's office and down the hall. She was glad that her mother was able to laugh again. It wasn't too long ago that they all felt like they would never smile again.

Ami was excited to see her older sister. She threw the paintbrush she'd been wielding down into the bucket on the floor before rushing to give Amu a hug. "Amu! Did you come to see my new work of art? I've been perfecting it all day."

Ignoring the paint that was being smeared onto her clothing and skin, Amu looked up from her hug with Ami to the wall her sister had been working on. "That is definitely something. Did you do all of that by yourself?"

Ami stepped back from her sister while puffing up her chest. "Of course I did! My nanny thinks painting is too messy for a lady. She stays well back out of the way."

Amu glanced over to where Ami had been gesturing. Her nanny curtsied when Amu caught her eye but stayed well away from the mess. Amu didn't blame her. "That's all right. That leaves more fun for you, doesn't it?"

Nodding hard, Ami took her sister's hand and led her to one side of the wall. "Let me tell you about my picture!"

Listening with half an ear, Amu watched her sister. It was good to see her so animated as she explained what she'd painted and why. Amu knew from the letters that she received from Utau and Rima that the lives of royals were hard. Not that Amu didn't know that personally, but it was good to see that their hardships were not dampening Ami's spirit.

Amu didn't know what she would do if something happened to her younger sister to take away her excitement for life.

"And this is a horse, or at least, it was supposed to be a horse. It kind of looks more like a cat. Maybe I'll just tell people it's a big cat."

"You did make it orange. If you add some stripes then people will think it is a tiger."

Ami scrunched up her face as she studied her picture. She nodded her head before smiling up at Amu. "Thanks, Amu! That's a great idea!"

Amu smiled at that. She turned to watch as Ami crossed the room, still talking about her picture as she went. It wasn't until Ami moved farther down the wall that Amu caught sight of Ikuto outside of the window. She wasn't entirely sure how her best guard always managed to get to places that were supposed to be unreachable, but Amu was thankful that he could.

He nodded to her through the window before turning to look out over the grounds below him. Amu found her attention caught on the sight of him. Something within her relaxed just at the sight of him. If Ikuto was there then she and Ami were safe. Amu knew she had nothing to fear.

"Come on, Ami. Let's go see if we can bother the cooks for a few snacks."

Ami grinned up at her sister before taking Amu's hand and following her out of her craft room. "I hope they made some of those little cakes that I like so much."

Amu was sure that they had them. The cooks loved to spoil the youngest princess and Amu loved to give them opportunities to do so. "Only one way to find out."

Racing with her sister through the halls, Amu allowed herself to laugh. She had little fear when she knew that Ikuto was protecting her.

XXX

She was sore and tired, but Amu wasn't ready to sleep. Everyone else had retired for the night. Amu knew that Ikuto was out on her balcony where he usually rested when the weather permitted it, but she let him rest. They weren't able to meet for her lessons every day, but they met for enough of them that Amu could feel the changes happening to her body. The places where she used to be soft and pudgy were becoming hard and firm. Her fat was giving away to muscle as her body became stronger with each session.

Stretching, Amu tried to loosen up her tight muscles before practicing some of the steps that Ikuto had taught her. She felt like an idiot moving around without an enemy there to avoid, but Ikuto wanted her to practice. The more she did the moves the more natural they would become. Considering he was taking the time to show her what to do, Amu figured she should listen to him.

Finished with the routine he'd taught her. Amu stretched once more before starting it over. She wasn't to start training to stand her ground and fight until she could show him that she could move fluidly to avoid attacks. Not only did Amu want to start learning to fight back, but she wanted to impress Ikuto with her ability to learn what he was teaching her.

She wanted him to look at her and see how much she'd improved and be proud of her. She wanted him to look at her and see that she was a good student and someone that could follow even if she was born to lead. She wanted him to look at her.

So instead of going to bed like the rest of the people in the castle, Amu stayed awake. She kept a single candle burning as she went through the motions several times more. She kept at it until she had worked up a sweat and could feel herself starting to stumble due to the late hour.

Then and only then did she clean herself up and crawl into her bed. She blew out her candle and snuggled into her blankets before sighing and letting sleep take her.

She did all of this while unaware that Ikuto already did look at her. He sat out on her balcony unable to take his eyes off of her. Amu had been all he could look at since the day she'd told her father to let him train to be a knight. She was all he could look at since the day he'd let his gaze fall upon her that first time. She was all that he could look at.

.

Morg: So there's that.

Ikuto: I would make a pretty good teacher.

Amu: No, you wouldn't.

Morg: Yes, he does.

Ikuto: I could teach you all sorts of things, Amu.

Amu: No thanks!