Ku: Sorry for the long wait! I just had a hard time starting this chapter for some reason (I get distracted easy). Thank you KatieKat for that push to start. I'll get my sisters to slap me every time I don't work on it, so no worries! ^_^ Now on with the story!

I do NOT own Shugo Chara in any way imaginable! Well, except for this story but that doesn't really count.

The castle corridors were unusually quite and devoid of its normal busy servants and maids. From deeper within the castle a grandfather clock chimed slow and long.

Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong.

Only about three and a half more hours until the guests would start flooding through the main gate.

He stood there, alone, leaning against the wall staring through the giant window at the bustling servants in the royal garden. Normally he would be down there himself taking a nap in a tree, but no way could that happen today with all the work going on.

The tall figure sighed; his breath caught on the glass but quickly dissipated. He was dressed in a long sleeved navy dress shirt with the top three buttons unbuttoned, and long, tight black pants.

Everyone in the castle recognized him and was fully aware that he would only dress his class during formal events. But even that wasn't guaranteed.

Hearing footsteps approaching he glanced up for a moment, but paid no mind to the light brown haired man when he came and stood next to him. He also was watching the activity below, but with a smile.

"Won't the sky tonight be wonderful," the brown haired man said, not taking his eyes away from the scene down below. "There will be no clouds to block our view of the glittering stars."

The dark haired teen only grunted in response. His dark sapphire eyes betrayed no emotion of what he was thinking.

They continued to watch the preparations of this evening's 'ball' in silence. It wasn't really a ball –more like a party– but his mother insisted that it would be called a ball. Either way he didn't like it. All he got to do was stand around for hours until all the guests finally left. The adults would stand to the side talking amongst themselves, while letting their daughters loose on 'Prince Ikuto.'

At least Amu would be there. He couldn't stop himself from smirking slightly. She was someone he could talk to and tease. He was actually looking forward to meeting Amu tonight. Not in the way his parents wanted, but he just found the pinkette interesting. Her reactions to his teasing were amusing. Too bad that he couldn't play with her the entire time tonight.

It was a midnight blue dress with long sleeves and small silver dots, representing stars, that was spread all over the gown. Reaching down to my ankles, the gown felt as soft as velvet.

Perfectly matching the event tonight, I thought bitterly. I barely suppressed a groan from escaping when Father entered my room.

"Well? How is it?"

"Fine." I answered vaguely. I didn't want him to get any ideas if I sounded willing or happy to go to this outdoor party.

He briskly walked around me a few times inspecting me as if he was interrogating a suspect. I kept my face composed and said nothing.

He stopped in front of me, looking only a little bit pleased of what he saw. "Last evening you stood out, but it wasn't a good first impression of you now was it?" he asked, knowing the answer but asking anyway.

"No, Father, it wasn't very good."

"This time you will get better acquainted with him. Steal his attention away from others," he commanded.

"Yes, Father." I replied, struggling to keep my voice even.

I don't want to become a girl who only tries to gain the prince's fortune.

He then he turned on his heels and walked away. "You better not fail me tonight, Amu." He called over his shoulder.

As soon as he closed the door behind him I sighed out of both exasperation and relief. Father only saw me as a tool to bring him money. All he had to do was to find someone rich and wed me off to them. Marrying me to the prince, however, would be the best thing that would ever happen to him. The riches and power he would have after.

I would be just as bad as those other girls who wanted to marry the prince to become a princess and later the queen of the whole kingdom. And, of course their families would be set for life if that should happen to them.

I had seen the adults yesterday. They were all talking about business with each other, boasting at every chance, checking every so often to see how their daughter was doing in getting Prince Ikuto's hand in marriage. Anyone could see the greed and anxiety in their eyes. Otuki could see it.

I couldn't help but to sigh again as I slowly walked to my balcony. Resting my arms on the railing I gazed at the burning sky. The descending sun painted the sky a bright yellow-orange with a touch of pink, blending with the soft azure hews. The cloudless sky will look beautiful tonight. I smiled slightly at the thought.

Yes, I was actually looking forward to tonight. A walk in the royal garden under the stars sounded wonderful. Maybe I could get away from the party area and find a quieter place where I can get some peace. Otuki would probably help me do that.

Not that I want to be with him alone!

The sun had just slipped below the horizon with Amu's arrival at the palace. A servant dressed in a navy-blue uniform greeted her family and led them to the garden.

The same uniform as Otuki's, she thought absentmindedly.

There were already lots people in the garden, but something seemed missing and not just because there wasn't the table that she would sit at with Otuki. Amu frowned.

The adults huddled in groups talking business. Servants carrying trays of food walked around doing their job, serving people. The girls were mingling with each other while picking food off of trays rather casually.

Wait… Why were the girls doing that, instead of mobbing the prince? Looking around, Amu realized there was no prince to mob.

Her father just seemed to notice that too. (A/N: hehe, they're both slow)He caught a tall, dark haired servant carrying a tray of chocolates and demanded to know where Prince Ikuto was.

"The prince won't be joining us until 8, so till then do whatever you want, but don't leave the party area," he replied in a bored tone.

Geez. Mostly everyone asked him, out of all the other servants there, where the prince was. Getting rather annoying.

"Otuki!" Amu exclaimed.

"You know this servant?" her father asked in a rough voice.

"Um…Yes. He was here for…" Amu realized that if she said both days, her father might suspect that she wasn't with the prince the entire time. "…The first day! Yeah. That's where I met him!"

Her father seemed to consider her words, glaring at Otuki, but shrugged it off. "Do what you want for now. But when the prince comes, be the first person around him." He didn't even wait for her answer before joining the closest group of adults without a second glance.

Amu watched her father's back for a few more seconds, vaguely aware of Otuki standing behind her. She sighed walking away. Deciding she would explore the royal garden made her more cheerful.

That's right, this is a once in a lifetime chance to be here and I have a little less than half an hour of my own free time with no one bothering me about the prince!

"I've been waiting all day for this after all. I have to enjoy myself as much as possible!"

An arm wrapped itself around her waist and pulled her back into a chest.

"You were excited to come see me? That make me so happy Amu-chan," a husky voice purred in her ear.

"Aah!" she screeched. Blushing bright pink, she closed her eyes, flailing her arms up and down. To her great surprise, Otuki released her without putting up any resistance. Confused by his unexpected reaction she stopped and opened her eyes. People shot her glances but ignored them further.

He'd give up in public? He didn't do that yesterday when he held her in front of the girls. Maybe there are adults around as well who saw him? Like her father?

Feeling triumphant over her new discovery, she finally turned to face him. Her smug smile was wiped off her face when she saw him only regaining balance of his tray of chocolates. He pushed it all onto the middle so they wouldn't slide off the edges.

"Don't waste perfectly good chocolate." He scolded her lightly, as if she was a little kid.

"Don't do that to me in public."

"So it's okay to do that when we're alone?"

She felt her cheeks flush. "No! Don't do that to me ever!"

"But Amu. I was really happy to see you," his sapphire eyes reflected hurt. "That's why I came to meet you."

Amu was stunned. Was he hanging around the front waiting for her to arrive? "R-really?"

"Nope." He replied, idly popped a chocolate in his mouth.

"H-hey, you can't just eat off of the tray! You're a servant and that's for guests."

He looked at her with a bored expression. "Your point is?"

"Argh! Never mind." She stormed off. There was no use in telling him. It didn't matter to her if he got in trouble for it.

She would enjoy herself looking around the garden. That's what she had been waiting for and she wasn't going to let some perverted servant keep her from doing so.

Silver lanterns, hanging on strings between trees, lit up the party area with an illuminating glow. The trees grew on the sides, leaving an open field for gatherings. Underneath the trees grew a few bushes and different kinds of flowers.

Strolling over to take a better look, out of the corner of her eye, she saw some perverted servant following her. Ignoring him, Amu bent down to examine the flowers. Those specific patches were made of tiny, delicate pink flowers mixed with bigger dark blue ones. Otuki bent down next to her.

"The flowers match us don't they?"

Amu didn't need to see the smirk on his face; she could hear it in his voice.

"S-shut up!" Amu got up and walked towards the gazebo with him following her. How was she supposed to enjoy her time here with Otuki bothering her?

Sighing, she stopped at the bottom of the steps. Otuki also stopped, curiosity shown in his eyes as he watched her. Amu was going to tell him to leave her alone, but noticed that half the chocolates on his tray were gone.

"You… You ate that much… already?" She pointed at the remaining chocolates.

He moved the tray farther away from her. "So? No one else was eating them."

"That's because you were following me around, so nobody else got any!"

"And I should care why?"

Amu was just about to answer when a man wearing the navy blue servant's uniform, from at the top of the gazebo called for everybody's undivided attention. The prince was going to take a walk with the girls farther in the garden. He would walk with two girls at a time so he could get to know them all better.

"Ohohoho! What better way to win Ikuto-sama's heart than a walk in the royal garden under the moonlight with nothing but the stars to guide us? I'm coming, Ikuto-sama!" Saaya took off towards the gazebo as fast as she could without out a care if she pushed someone out of the way.

"Go for it, Saaya-sama!" her group chorused, while blocking the way for the other girls.

Saaya rushed past Amu and topped next to the servant. The man looked down and called up Amu as the other girl.

"Eh?! Me?"

"What?! Her?!"

"Yes, you are right here so might as well be you."

Amu slowly trudged up the stairs. Each step feeling heavier than the last.

She was going to take a walk with the prince first! She couldn't believe her luck! Father won't be able to say anything to her. She was going to be one of the first people around him all right.

Making it to the top, Saaya glared at Amu as if it was her fault for being chosen to intervene with Saaya's plans.

Amu sighed mentally. This was going to be a long night.

Ku: Gah, my sisters really did slap me today. Apparently I work better at night because I kept telling myself to finish this chapt during the day but I just couldn't till it got dark. Maybe 'cause the time settings are the same? Who knows, I'm weird. (And lazy) Not so starry now but it should be better in the next chapt.

Thank you for all the reviews and favs/alerts. Makes me really happy and I promise (well can't guarantee, got hw) that I'll start working on the next chappie tomorrow. Bye-bye!