Morg: Heyo! I'm back again with a new chapter!

Ikuto: Obviously.

Amu: I wish you weren't.

Morg: Why do you both have to be like this?

Ikuto: Because it's fun.

Amu: Because you can't do anything about it.

Morg: Well, as I cannot stop you, you cannot stop me.

~The Eighth Sea~

Ikuto waited until he knew everyone was ready before he cleared his throat. He never liked having big meetings where everyone watched and listened to him speak. He always thought he sounded so dumb. It didn't help that there were certain members of the crew that wouldn't hesitate to make fun of him if he misspoke.

Still, he was the captain and he had certain duties.

So he cleared his throat again to give him time to pull himself together. He met the gazes of several of his crewmates and squared his shoulders. "We have the beginning of a plan. As you all know, we have seven of the eight pieces of the map. Getting this far when we first started collecting them seemed like a dream. Yet, here we are. We have these seven and we know where the eighth piece is."

Ikuto took a deep breath as he watched a few members of his crew shift their weight. "We all know how Dia reacted when we figured out where the eighth piece is. This is going to be dangerous. I know that we've done dangerous things to get some of the other pieces, but this is beyond that."

Utau nodded at her brother when Ikuto caught her eye. She knew how nervous he was about what he was about to say.

Swallowing, Ikuto nodded back at his sister. "I don't want to take anyone with me that doesn't want to go."

The outcry from the crew made Ikuto smile. Almost everyone was shouting something about going with him.

Holding up his hand, Ikuto waited for everyone to fall silent. "We have the beginnings of a plan. I want to share it with all of you so we can turn it into a good one. Dia saw death and destruction when we figured out where the eighth piece is. She saw Kiseki and the navy burning the world. We cannot let him get to the Eighth Sea. He would bind the magic to him and use it to open portals to rule all of the seas. You know why I want to go. If there was another way to save my father from that hell, I would burn all the map pieces right now. I would rather see the Seven Seas Treasure never recovered than let Kiseki get his greedy hands on anything there.

"Time works differently on the other side of the portal. By all rights, I should be several years older than I am. You have all heard the stories of how long it took me to convince my mother that I'm her Ikuto."

The crew around her chuckled. Amu smiled as she listened to them. Then his words sunk in. Ikuto was several years younger than he should be because he spent time in the Eighth Sea. He'd told her that before. He'd come back as sixteen instead of twenty. Ikuto was four years younger than he should have been. His mother had recognized him but couldn't believe it at first.

Amu felt her knees weaken. She was lucky she'd already been leaning against the railing of the ship. Ikuto was still talking but she couldn't hear him anymore.

His friend had gone first. His friend had made the crossing and he'd hoped to find them. His friend didn't keep their promise to remember him.

"Just promise me that you won't forget about me and make friends with some other boy."

Giggling, Amu couldn't believe Ikuto would be worried about such a thing. "I would never. Silly Ikuto. You are my best friend. Forever and always."

"Forever and always?"

Still giggling, Amu moved off her bed once more to press a kiss to his cheek and wrap her arms around him for another hug. "I could never forget you. Not in a million years."

How long had it been since she'd stopped hoping to see her best friend again? She used to sit at the window of her house in the colony and sing soft songs of longing and missing friends. She'd pray every night to see him again. When had she stopped?

Amu's gaze searched the deck before her until she lifted her eyes to look at Ikuto. The light was fading from the sky and her memories of him were foggy but she knew him. She'd thought he looked familiar the moment she'd laid her eyes on him but had dismissed the thought. There'd be no way she could have known him and everything was so crazy that she hadn't thought about it again.

Standing there as the crew discussed their plans around her, Amu dropped her gaze back to the deck of the ship as she bit at her lip. Ikuto hadn't been nice but he didn't become outright cold to her until she'd told him her name. He'd recognized her instantly.

Amu thought back to her first few weeks with the crew. She'd thought she had to prove herself to Ikuto because she'd stowed away, but that wasn't entirely true. Ikuto hadn't just been mad that she was stowing away. He'd been hurt that she didn't remember him. She didn't keep her promise.

Swallowing hard, Amu leaned more of her weight against the railing. She heard someone asking a question and Kukai answer it. She couldn't understand the words being said. Her mind felt too full.

She closed her eyes and fought down a gasp as more words rose from her memory.

"You promised me, you know? You promised to never forget me. But we've been together for so long now and you've never seen me. Why did you forget me, Amu? What happened to you after you left that made you forget your Ikuto?"

For a moment, she was back in that box buried underground. She'd been close to falling asleep when she had heard Ikuto talking but her brain at that time had not processed the words. Now she heard them.

"I have always loved you, Amu. But you were going to marry someone else. What was I supposed to think? I wanted to get you as far away from me as possible, but it didn't help. You kept sneaking right back onto my ship and into my heart. I don't know what to do with you anymore. But please, don't leave me anymore. Don't go somewhere without me again. Stay with me, Amu. Stay with me!"

She hadn't forgotten him. Not really. She'd thought he looked familiar and the name had always made her heart ache, but it couldn't have been him. He couldn't have been him! He'd been the wrong age. Her Ikuto had been five years older than her. This Ikuto was barely one year older than her.

But he'd told her, in his cabin. The Eighth Sea made time move differently. He'd been there for only a few months but years had passed.

How did she miss that?

Amu shook her head as she turned to slowly slide to the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest and pressed her face into her legs. She had broken her promise. She let the long hours and the hard work she had to do to support her family push him from her mind. She didn't let herself stop to think and connect all the dots once she had met him again.

"Amu?"

Amu swallowed back a sob as she hugged her knees tighter. She'd been through a lot since she'd joined the crew. It was understandable that she didn't recognize him. She'd just have to explain herself to him.

"Amu? Are you okay?"

She'd have to make him understand that she'd always kept him in her heart. She just hadn't let herself touch those memories of him for a long time because they hurt. She'd thought putting him to the side was part of growing up. She'd thought she'd never see him again.

"Something is wrong with Amu!"

He'd been right there in front of her for months and she'd been too dense to see him.

"My friend doesn't remember me anymore. They broke their promise."

She choked back another sob. He'd told her and she still didn't understand. He deserved someone much better than her. He said he loved her and didn't want her to leave him, but she'd broken his heart.

She was such an idiot!

"Amu! Can you hear me? Lift your head, Amu. Come back to me."

There were tears in her eyes when she lifted her face from her knees. She knew that voice. She'd always known that voice. "Ikuto."

"Hey," Ikuto said softly as he put one of his hands over where Amu's knuckles were turning white with how hard she was holding herself. "There you are. Are you okay? What happened?"

She tried to hold them back. She tried to tell herself that she needed to stay calm and collected. She needed to talk to him. Really talk to him.

Instead, she burst into tears. "I'm so sorry, Ikuto! I'm so sorry!"

Stunned, Ikuto wrapped his arms around Amu as she surged forward into him. He caught her as he fell back onto the deck of the ship. She sobbed into his shirt as he held her tight. "What are you talking about? You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Helplessly, Ikuto looked up at some of the concerned faces watching him hold Amu as she sobbed. He didn't understand what was happening. "It's okay, Amu. You're okay. I've got you."

He thought she'd calm down. After several minutes of her back heaving with her sobs, he tipped his head back. "Kukai, help me get up. I'm going to take her to go lie down."

Kukai stepped forward and heaved Ikuto to get him to his feet without making him let go of Amu. He steadied them as Ikuto picked Amu up. "We'll finish our discussion when Amu is feeling better. You've already given us all a lot to think and talk about."

Ikuto nodded before turning to face the rest of the crew. "I don't know what's wrong. I can't understand what she's saying. I'm going to take her to go lay down. Please come talk to me if you need me. Our discussion isn't over. Think about things carefully. We'll pick this up tomorrow. We won't go anywhere until we have to."

Utau stepped aside to give Ikuto room to move past her and up the stairs. "Let us know how she's doing."

Dipping his head into a nod, Ikuto carried Amu out of sight of the rest of the crew. His heart had stopped when he saw her curled up on the deck. He felt better now that he had her in his arms but he wouldn't be okay until he had the chance to talk to her and find out what had happened.

Ikuto gave Yoru a tight smile as he held the door to Ikuto's cabin open for him.

Yoru followed Ikuto inside and helped move some things out of his way so he could get Amu over to the bunk. "Do you want me to bring you anything?"

Ikuto managed to get onto his bunk without putting Amu down. Not that he thought she'd let him. She was holding onto him so tightly that he didn't think he'd be able to get her to let go. "Not right now. I'm hoping she'll calm down enough to either fall asleep or talk to me about what happened."

Yoru nodded before heading back to the door. "I'll bring you some water just in case."

"Thanks, Yoru."

Leaning back against the wall, Ikuto held Amu as she continued to shudder. Her breaths were not coming easy to her. It was frustrating that he didn't know why. He couldn't think of anything during their talk that would have made her react this way. It was mostly her plan. She shouldn't have been shocked to hear it.

Ikuto didn't look up as Yoru came in with a cup of water. He didn't say anything as his cabin boy put it on a small table next to the head of his bunk. All he did was sit there and hold Amu as she cried.

XXX

Dia stared off into the night. The ship rocked gently below her. She could hear some of the murmurings of the crew. They were concerned about Amu and talking over the plan and what it would mean for them to have two ships.

They would have to split up. This plan changed some things but it didn't change enough. She still followed the paths to the same conclusion. The world would burn if they opened the portal.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Dia watched as more and more of the stars appeared. She would tell Ikuto the truth. She would tell him that all his planning wouldn't be enough. She'd tell him what she saw.

He would be the one to decide if the life of one man was worth the fate of the world.

.

Morg: So that happens.

Ikuto: Wow.

Amu: Yeesh.